Observations of the Fox

Sceletus was initially meant to be released with 4 books. The first was the core rules for the players, the second was the supplemental rules for someone who was running a game. Two extra booklets were intended to be released with those first two. Now Erin and I have finally completed them to a point where we are happy with the results, and they've finally been completed and are available for sale over on Itch. Orders of the Bones The Grey and the Green The "Orders of the Bones" booklet provides details on some factions that might provide help or hindrance to the players as their tell the stories of their animated dead characters. The booklet entitled "The Grey and the Green" is all about a mysterious fungal hive-mind entity that threatens to wipe out everything the characters know.     These additional booklets haven't seen any sales yet. I thought about putting them up for sale on the Vulpinoid Studios shopfront at DrivethruRPG in addition to Erin's It...

I'm thinking of writing up a bunch of mini games. I did it a few years ago, focusing on the Pocketmod format. I might go back to that, but then again, I might use Erin's " Trifold Manifesto " format. I really should be focusing on finishing off my SNAFU stuff... and really shouldn't be starting something new, but need a palette cleanser in my design work at the moment, and getting some simple games out of the way might get me back into the frame of mind to start things again.    

Ever since I was first introduced to the concept of perfect being the enemy of good. I've been a fan of it. That doesn't mea that I've been able to internalise it, but I have been able to see it as symbolic of the struggles I've often had.  The two game projects Walkabout and Familiar have definitely been framed by this idea. However, I'm  not sure if this is for the better or the worse. I could have released both of these games years ago, but they would not have been games I'd have been happy with.I probably could have released them months ago, and they'd have been better, but certainly not what I'd had in mind as a "perfect" interpretation of my vision for them. The games are closer now that they've ever been, but I have to wonder if they'd still meet my expectations. Should I just release what I've got?...or should I keep refining?? Will the refinement ever end? Illustration by Erin Gumiho  

It's been a busy month outside of the blog, but it has regularly been the case that I've had over 1000 daily visitors here (sometimes 1500+, occasionally 2000+).  Three things have happened this month that are newsworthy.  I've managed to get back in contact with Sasha Morgan, and this will allow a few more images for the SNAFU projects (the "Cookbook", the. "SRD", "Familiar", and "Walkabout"). I know I mentioned that in the last post, but a few more images have arrived and I'll be happy to share them soon.    My design protege, Erin, has received her first payment for a game on Itch. She has been making monthly games for about a year, offering them as free downloads. However, it looks like someone decided not to just download a game for free an has actually purchased it for the suggested $2 price. It may not be much, but I remember when I sold my first game about 30 years ago, and the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing I'd done so...

A few months ago, I showed Erin how I'd been doing some images to get an effect that looked like  etching or a woodcut. In the last couple of days, she's been working through a few pictures of her own. These will probably end up being used as a part of the Inquisitrix game that I've basically handed over to her. She's got some good ideas, and if she's happy to run with them, then I'm happy to let her. At the moment she's got more traction on Itch through her online presence there , ad I'm more than happy to support a designer who is enthusiastic.  Anyway, here's what she's been working on... I've also been getting a trickle of images coming through Sasha Morgan, from one of my old collaborators in the "Beneath the Glass and Steel" zine. They've been developing some interesting grungy pieces that will probably end up being included in the Walkabout game, and the SNAFU documentation that goes with it. 

Back in October I posted this ... It was the "soft launch" of Sceletus.  In the time since then, the little game that Erin and I designed has seen over 400 downloads. So that's a good sign. Like FUBAR, which has always bee free and has seen almost 10,000 downloads in the 15 years it's been available, I've discussed the idea with Erin, and we'll release a few paid supplements to expand the game in different ways. I don't know if these will sell, or if it's just the novelty of a free game that's drawing attention. But it will be a useful experiment to see if this is a worthwhile game to keep developing. I'm probably going to redevelop some ideas I've been finding in my notebooks recently, and offering them to Erin as a part of the ongoing development of this project. There's so many ideas there, and Sceletus is a big void waiting to be filled with wonder and nastiness.