Ultrablamtacular!

Hey, I know, get cracking on that edit. But while I’m here, I just wanted to say a few things:

1. It felt good to post again. How are you out there, anyhow? I don’t expect anyone is still with me at this point and that’s good – there’s been nothing happening. That’s going to change RSN, I promise.
2. My web host is making me very angry w/ downtime and increased expense. Expect some bumps in the upcoming transition.
3. That goes for the wiki and other sites, too. I’m not thrilled with any wiki engine yet.

That’s it! More soon!

OK.  So, I’m a cliché. I do a lot of work on this game at a Starbucks. Yes, yes, I’m a deluded john to a disease-ridden corporate whore. Whatever. I wrote a good chunk of Ultrablamtacular at this place and I’ve done a lot of editing there, too. It’s right near my workplace, but the reason I end up working here is that it is close to where my son takes Kung Fu, and I have time to work while waiting for him. Plus wifi, so, score. I call it The Worst Starbucks In The World (TM) and tonight’s blog is from its parking lot.

I took Lenny (my netbook) there to get the rest of the simple notes I made on my recently completed read-through into the electronic manuscript. But they just shouted “Five minutes til close!” and started booting us out. So, I’ve lost the chance for outlet power, but the wifi still seems to be working, and I’m here, in my car, FINISHING THIS DAMNED EDIT.

Do you want to know why? Google “August 5-8 2010″ and see if anything jumps out at you.

So. I’ll bet you thought this site was dead. Not so neither.

I mentioned I was in a play…which was awesome, if time consuming. Now it’s over. So, to get back into the swing of things, I’m reading the text of the rules again. Remarkably, it does not suck. That’s always a fear when I return to a project after a break. What if it was just the momentum that made it seem good? What if in the harsh light of reality it was just awful?

Anyhow, so far, so good. I’m only a few pages into it, but they are the first pages – “What’s a roleplaying game?” and so forth, which I had particular trouble with and didn’t expect to like on this reading at all.

And another thing that really provided a lot of motivation was my way-early and totally awesome Valentine’s day gift: Dice. Custom dice. That say “Ultrablam!” on the 1 side. They are awesome. I got two sets from the smartest wife in the world (a name she earned many years and several blogs ago). A fantastic sparkly-shiny-translucent-iridescent set that change depending on how you look at them, and a classic set in basic black with red pips – twins of my go-to dice for d6 based games for the last…ugh…20+ years. Anyhow, they were a total surprise and the best thing I could have gotten. I totally want to use them during playtests! I’ll get a picture of some of them up sometime if I can.

Anyhow…game on!

Well, I know it’s been a long time coming, but I wanted to drop a quick note to everyone who might have wanted to know what’s going on with Ultrablam. What’s going on is this: I’m still working on the playtest materials – but a couple of things happened along the way. Read more…

It’s been a long time coming, but there’s finally some movement on the playtesting front. I’m building the packet for playtesters, and that means trying out everything with my group beforehand. Lots of things have changed since the last round of playtests – even the character sheet is undergoing some serious work!

Last time, we got as far as the  setting introduction, trying out the new directed preparation template, (if you want to see it for yourself, check out the Ashes setting on the wiki), and making characters with the new rules balancing Experience and Confidence at the time play starts.

It all went well, as far as I could tell. I got a lot of input on how the character sheet should work now, so I’m laying that out again. I sat down to figure out exactly what I needed for playtesters, and created the initial playtest application form, which I’ll make available as soon as the rest of the materials are ready. I’m working on those materials – the playtest instructions, the sample adventure, character suggestions, and the post-playtest report form – as fast as I can.

So. I know it’s been quiet on the blog side. I’ll try to provide more information starting again now.

How come when they’re talking about porn, they (the mysterious powers that be…folks also responsible for posting signs from “The Management”, one would suppose) talk about “hardcore” and “softcore.” But when talking about other things that have a hardcore component, the converse is “casual” instead?

Read more…

The more they change, actually. Wise sayings to the contrary notwithstanding. The particular changes I’m thinking of came from Jona’s thorough and insightful readthrough. They’re all in the text now. Said text is different, and better, for them.  Now it goes to Zach for more reading. I hope he leaves it in better shape than he finds it, too.

My awesome editrix is going out of town this week. And I just found out tonight that she ordered the new Batman video game to keep me company while she’s away. Jona rocks.

Well, it’s been approximately forever, or more like twelve days. But the first of my trusty editors has delivered her notes. And the news is good.

Read more…

The read-through was finished today. That is all.