The fine folks at Pelgrane Press have compiled a list of game designers’ favorite, underrated roleplaying games. Simon Rogers (of ProFantasy Software fame) is kind enough to name-check me near the top, but you’ll have to scroll down a bit to find my answer to his question.
Survey Says?
GAMA needs your help. In partnership with Ohio State and the Wargamer, they’ve set up a website through which they hope to survey adventure gamers of all kinds. If you qualify, be sure to take the survey and be counted!
Scribe Awards Now Open
The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers just announced the opening of its first Scribe Awards. If you, or anyone you know, has a tie-in novel due or already out this year, be sure to submit your work for these inaugural awards. As a charter member myself, you can be sure I’ll be putting my books in the judges’ hands.
Because of a lack of sufficient entries, the Origins Awards won’t have a fiction category this year. The Scribe’s Speculative Fiction: Original category fills that gap perfectly. You authors of game-related novels out there, get yours in!
York’s Minions
J. Steven York, author of the Stygian trilogy for the Age of Conan, just launched a new website celebrating the efforts of minions everywhere. Seems appropriate for May Day (which was yesterday) somehow.
Prey on the Way
Human Head Studios shows its hard-core tabletop gamer roots with some of the special bits to come with its limited edition of Prey: three pewter miniatures sculpted and cast by Reaper Miniatures. They even have shots of the greens available in a 360°, rotatable view.
Ah, to have an Xbox 360 or PC gaming rig and the hours to spend on it… Fortunately, I got to play some of the game back when I worked at the studio. It rocks.
The Palladium Plot Thickens
It seems that some of the people who heard of Palladium’s plight wanted to find out if Kevin Siembieda was telling the truth about his company’s troubles. They did some digging and found out the name of the perpetrator who harmed the RPG publisher so badly. Kevin got wind of this and issued a reasonable statement about it, urging people to leave the guy alone. It’s a horrible tale of trust and friendship gone wrong.
Signing in Rockford this Saturday
Just a reminder that I’ll be at the Barnes & Noble in Rockford, Illinois, tomorrow (Saturday, April 29) to meet readers, chat, and sign books. I’m scheduled to be there from 3—5 PM, so please stop by and say hi if you’re in the area!
Queen of Death Done and Gone
I just turned in the manuscript for Queen of Death, the third and final book in my Lost Mark trilogy for the Eberron world. This started with Marked for Death, which hit stores in March of 2005, and continued in Road to Death, which saw print in January of 2006. The whole thing should wrap up this October, and I can’t wait to see it happen.
This also marks the first time in what seems like forever that I’m caught up on all my deadlines. Between the novels for Wizards and the Black Library, working on Marvel Battle Dice and REVs for Playmates, tackling countless smaller projects, and helping raise five young kids, it felt like I might never get back on track again, but here I am!
My next novel isn’t due until mid-June, and since it’s a shorter book (my next Knights of the Silver Dragon installment), I should be able to get that done on time. Woot!
Costikyan’s History of Games
In the latest issue of The Escapist, legendary game designer and Manifesto Games CEO Greg Costikyan offers up a history of tabletop gaming and shows how such games have inspired and informed the computer games of today. He argues that tabletop games will continue to do so, and I hope he’s right.
This essay should be required reading for any student of adventure games. The historical notes alone are well worth the time–and it’s all free for the reading.
Dansky on Blood Bowl
My pal Richard Dansky commented on my Blood Bowl novel on his blog today:
You can tell this book was written by a Packers fan in, say, ten to fifteen seconds. Lots of fun and a good ride, though I’m disappointed that there weren’t more exploding spiked footballs.
Rest assured, I’m taking notes.