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!

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.

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!

The second thing that’s going on is that I’m in a play. It’s Twelfth Night, and will be playing at the Adobe Theater this January. It’s a lot of fun, but its eating all of my time until its over. And not just mine. My playtest group is largely either in or directing this show, and they don’t have time for Ultrablam right now, either.

So, I haven’t forgotten about it, it’s not just a “dead” project or anything. It’s just on hold until after…Twelfth Night, or so.

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.

Seriously. Google “softcore” (presuming that you’re not under 18 and also not reading this at your ever-more-precious place of employment). All porn, all the time. Now Google “casual” and the third hit is for gaming. Anyhow, I got on my motorcycle this morning (that’s not me and that’s not mine, but that’s what I ride) and it was cool this morning – 50°F according to yahoo – and living in the shadows of mountains as I do, it was probably colder than that, but the point is, we’re talking about cool, not freezing. Anyhow, I changed to my cold gloves, because they were right with the bike. But I only got a couple of blocks before I realized that my all-mesh summer jacket just wasn’t going to cut it. I rode home. Did I trade jackets? No. I drove to work. Because I’m not hardcore any more.

Eleven or twelve years ago, by way of contrast, I once rode to work (different bike, different job) over an inch or two of packed snow, warming my freezing hands on the engine at stoplights. At the morning meeting, the guy who drove his jeep with the top down year-round pointed at me and asked the whole office, “He rode his motorcycle today. Can we stop calling me crazy now?” Because I was hardcore.

I’m not hardcore anymore. But, luckily for anyone who might find a picture of me on the internet, I’m not softcore, either. I’m casual. I’m a casual motorcyclist. I’m a casual gamer. And that’s OK.

And I think I just realized that Ultrablamtacular is a casual game. Let me tell you why:

A hardcore enthusiast will endure discomfort, hardship, and pain for his chosen pursuit. See the frostbitten me of long ago pulling into work, trusting to numb feet to carry me from my bike into the warm safety of the lobby. Ultrablam is written to remove the pain of the pursuit of gaming. The pain inflicted by hardcore games? That’s antitainment, which I have written on at length. The cold I suffered riding to work? Antitainment.

A casual enthusiast has just as much fun (I can tell you, I have more fun now with motorcycling and gaming than I did when I would suffer for either of them) at the cost of a lot less discomfort, hardship, and pain than a hardcore enthusiast.

So if someone reviews Ultrablamtacular someday, and paints it as a “casual” RPG, I think I’m prepared to take it as a compliment.

That’s not to say that she loved everything – but that’s fine. In many cases, she confirmed my suspicions that what was there was not lovable. Suspecting that something is bad is torture, like a sore tooth you can’t stop messing with. Knowing that it’s bad is a relief, like having that tooth pulled.

On the other hand, a lot of the text was left bare of comments – and she assured me she was being picky. So that means that much of what I have is, in fact, good. This includes sections that nobody else has ever even seen, let alone playtested, like the sections on bad guys, resisting damage, and avoiding death.

She helped me flesh out what remains to do with a lot of great sections that should even be fun to add. Sort of kicks that “90% written” theory out the window, though.

All in all, this was one of the most gratifying and useful instances of feedback I’ve gotten so far. I’m very much looking forward to making all the recommended changes because I think they’ll help smooth out those parts I just couldn’t polish properly on my own.

Once that’s done (but before I add all the new material), I’ll be sending the manuscript out to my other really awesome volunteer editor. And with luck, that will be the last draft that’s edited in the word processor, because it’s time for this puppy to start moving into layout. That way we can start looking critically at a whole new category of issues.

Yay!