This summer, Wofford College in South Carolina is putting on its first Shared Worlds program. It proposes to teach kids entering grades 8 through 12 all about creating fictional settings for fiction, art, and games. Jeremy Jones, who sometimes comments around these parts, put it all together, and the lineup of teachers and speakers is phenomenal. It makes me wish …
Congratulations All Around
Seems like my friends are breaking out all over. Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast finally announced its long-in-the-works imprint for creator-owned fiction, Wizards of the Coast Discoveries. The initial list of writers includes my pals Richard Danksy and Rob King. \ In other news, podcasting author Scott Sigler just sold three novels to Crown at auction. Scott’s spent some time …
Beware Shadowcrag
Fellow Alliterate and adventure designer extraordinaire Wolfgang Baur has announced that his second patronage project–Castle Shadowcrag–is on. It’s too late to get in on it cheap, but it’s not too late to get in.
Manifesto Reviews
I just turned in my first game review for Manifesto Games. It’s a new website that sells downloadable computer games of all sorts–from independent developers. They give me a free copy of the game and then pay me to tell people what I think of it. This sounds like a sweet gig–until you remember how long it can take you …
Stan!’s Doodles
Besides being a solid game designer, a wonderful writer, and great friend (and fellow Alliterate) Stan! is also a talented cartoonist. He’s just started up a new site called Doodle-a-Day. You can probably guess what it’s all about. Check it out.
Steam & Brass Released
Today, as a patron of Wolfgang Baur‘s Open Design experiment, I received my copy of Steam & Brass, the first fruit of my fellow Alliterate‘s efforts. At first glance, it looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to dig into it farther. Wolf’s a great adventure designer, and the patronage system gave me a chance to peer over his shoulder as …
Free Guild Wars Weekend
Another of my Alliterate pals, Jeff Grubb, announced that the MMORPG he’s been working on (Guild Wars Nightfall) is available for free play all weekend. Woot!
Last Call for Steam & Brass
If you’re interested in getting a copy of Steam & Brass–the results of Wolfgang Baur‘s experiment in game-designer patronage–you have until September 30, 2006. That’s less than two weeks from now, so if you’ve been on the fence, now’s the time to leap off it and get your hands on a very exclusive and excellent adventure by one of my …
New Alliterates Site
The Alliterates site has a fresh, new look, courtesy of our webmaestro Lester Smith. Stop by and check it out. It looks great, although most of us haven’t had much of a chance to tinker with our sections yet. Look for more content there soon.
The 49th Patron
Yesterday was the deadline for Wolfgang Baur‘s grand experiment in roleplaying game design funding. The Open Design concept models itself on the old system of patronage in which a creator gathers one or more people interested in paying for the work and then collaborates with them on producing the creation. In this case, Wolf needed one more patron to pitch …