Human Head Studios is proud to present three special events at this year’s Gen Con. This includes an ongoing series of demonstrations of Dracula’s Revenge™, a fast-playing, horror-themed, tabletop game of tactical combat. To play in one of the demos, players must simply stop by the Green Ronin Publishing booth. Each player’s name will be entered into a drawing, and at 3:30 PM each day, Human Head Studios will draw a name from that day’s players and reward the winner with a brand-new PC graphics card courtesy of ATI. There is no cost to enter, but players must be present to win.
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Of a Certain Age
I turned 36 last week. I’ve never been one of those who shy from their birthdays. I’d rather keep having them than not. Still, it got me thinking about the adventure gaming industry.
When I look around at my peers, it seems that most of the “young” designers are people in their mid to late thirties, right around my age. This raises the question: Where are all the younger designers?
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Gen Con Ho!
I’m in the throes of preparing for Gen Con this week. The show, the greatest adventure gaming convention on the planet, runs from August 19–22 in Indianapolis. I miss having it in Milwaukee, but last year Indy proved itself to be a fine venue, and you couldn’t ask for a better group of people to run the show than Peter Adkison and his crew.
I plan on spending much of my time in the Green Ronin booth, running demos of Dracula’s Revenge. We worked out this great promotion that I can’t quite tell you about yet, but it involves a chance to win some pretty cool prizes if you play in one of the demos.
However, I also have five different seminars I’m working at the show, along with two signings of Secret of the Spiritkeeper, my new young adult novel from Wizards of the Coast. For details on my schedule, just click here
If you’re an industry professional coming to the show, be sure to drop me a line about the Diana Jones Award party. It’s Wednesday night at 9 PM, and all industry folk are invited.
I’m going to be busy next week, so there won’t be an update then. Look for news from Gen Con the week after though. If you can make it to the show, be sure to stop by and say hi. Otherwise, I’ll be back in two weeks.
The Authority RPG Due Before Gen Con
The kind people at Guardians of Order state on their website that The Authority Role-Playing Game should be out August 16, just in time for Gen Con. I wrote the player’s chapter for the book, which was a blast and a half. I’ve been a fan of The Authority comic book since issue #1, so it was a thrill to work with these characters. I can’t wait to see the final book.
Dracula’s Revenge In Stores By Gen Con
The fine people at Osseum Entertainment tell me that Dracula’s Revenge, the board game I designed for Human Head Studios should be in stores by Gen Con, right around August 18 or 19. Be sure to ask for it at your friendly local gaming store!
ENnies Voting Now Open!
You can now vote in the ENnie Awards. Just click here. The voting is open to the public, and it uses a system designed to level out problems with voters unfamiliar with all of the nominees. So go vote now!
While I won’t tell you what you have to vote for, I should mention that The Redhurst Academy of Magic, which I produced for Human Head Studios has been nominated for three ENnies. The recognition came for Best Cartography, Best Graphic Design, and Best Campaign Setting. Vote your conscience, of course, but please do vote.
Spiritkeeper Interview
The fine folks at Wizards of the Coast recently posted an interview with me about Secret of the Spiritkeeper. You can read it here.
Spiritkeeper in Stores!
I stopped into a Barnes and Noble in Madison, WI, yesterday, to check up on Secret of the Spiritkeeper. They had nine copies in stock, which seems like a good sign. They also had the second book in the series, Ree Soesbee’s Riddle in Stone.
This is my first mass-market novel in print, and it’s a great thrill to finally see it on shelves. If you’re at all interested in fantasy stories for young adults, please check it out!
Games Quarterly Magazine #2 Ready
Issue #2 of Games Quarterly Magazine ships out today and should be in stores soon. You can also visit the website to download the content of the magazine for free. I wrote an article called “Spiele Uber Alles.” It’s about the two top gaming awards given out in Germany. Did you know that the game that wins the Spiel des Jahres usually sells 100 times as much as it did before? If you’re a fan of quality board games, read the article to learn more.
Hungry Little Monsters
Sean K. Reynolds is just over a week away from releasing the latest of his charity jam projects. (Anyone remember Swords into Plowshares?) Hungry Little Monsters is due out August 15 as a PDF. It’s a monster book with contributions from all over the adventure gaming industry. I wrote up a creature known as the doubler, a cannibalistic doppelganger. You can find a color illustration of it by Scott Purdy here.
All proceeds from this project are donated to Food for All , a project of the food industry to end hunger via teaching self-reliance. It’s a good cause, and although I haven’t seen the final version yet, I’d put money on it being a great book.