The above image is from my working cover for my first premium module, Fey Infestation, which I am writing for the Pathfinder 2e system. I did all my preliminary work in Foundry, but I knew that I also wanted to make a PDF version because most gamemasters run tabletop games. I have been working on it since the beginning of the summer. During this timeframe, I also purchased the Affinity suite of art programs and started learning those apps.

I started pulling all of the text of the module in a Word document, using the official template for Pathfinder Infinite, but after playing with it in Word for a while, I decided I was ready to dive into Affinity Publisher, so I created a document and started pulling things over.

There’s all sorts of things that you have to worry about when designing a module for a VTT, that you don’t need to worry about when designing for a PDF.

AND there’s all sort of things that you have to worry about when designing a module for PDF, that you don’t need to worry about when designing for a VTT.

Here’s a breakdown:

VTT Modules – you don’t need to worry about

• a cover image – although landing pages are nice
• typography – just use Foundry and Pathfinder built-in styles
• layout – every topic is in a separate journal
• whether your map will fit inside a printed page

PDF Modules – you don’t need to worry about

• token art – the biggest headache of VTT modules
• overhead tiles – although they are always fun
• lighting and effects – which you might build into your map
• ambient sounds and battle music

When you’re doing both, you’ve gotta do it all.

So it has been a large learning curve.

While I was polishing things up and getting ready to playtest, Paizo, Pathfinder’s publisher, made some changes to their licenses, and I had to make some decisions. I was using very little, if any, content that takes place in the Pathfinder game world. Also, I had not found any Paizo art that I might have been able to use in Pathfinder Infinite. Therefore, I decided to go forward using the ORC license. This required me to re-invent some monsters, a task which is now mostly complete.

When it is ready, I plan to release the VTT version on Foundry and the PDF version on DriveThru RPG.

Here’s what I have left to do:

• Playtest it with my playtest group, I am already running in a game to build the characters up to third level
• Synchronize all changes with the PDF
• Add any automation to the maps
• Create final version of maps with the grid (for the PDF) and without the grid (for the VTT)
• Find or create (!) token artwork
• Deploy it as a module in Foundry
• Publish it in a two-PDF bundle (maps and scenario) on DriveThru RPg
• Probably much more.

What about D&D? Well, we are currently not into D&D, but it would be smart to make a version for it, since the potential audience is much larger. D&D has been going through a lot of changes, but the 5e version is pretty stable. So I may will work on a conversion once I publish. That will involve recreating all creatures and traps, and replacing most dice rolls.

I am thinking I might be done with the Pathfinder version by maybe January.

Since this is such a complete subject change from when I was previously actively blogging, I would not blame you at all if you unsubscribed. This is very geeky stuff that I am posting about and to make matters worse, it is both technical and geeky. It is not for everyone, or even very many people. So if you survive this post without unsubscribing, then I am going to assume you still want these emails going forward.

And now, I shall carry on with this post …

My first Foundry VTT module is live! Behold: https://foundryvtt.com/packages/tianzes-otari-extras

Tianze’s Otari Extras is a content module for Pathfinder Second Edition that takes place in the Otari area. If you know Pathfinder, you know what and where (and maybe even who) Otari is.

Here are some snips from the maps. This is the kitchen area of a tavern.

This is another tavern. It was once a fishery, so it features fishing hatches in the middle of the room. Within the game, these hatches open and close using tile overlays and macros.

And here is part of a monster warren under a ruin:

I first started putting it together over the summer when I started redrawing old maps using Forgotten Adventures (FA) assets. I decided to go whole-hog and make it into a module just to sort of get my name out there, because I have other, original modules in the words. It was kind of a way to learn what I need to know about module development. I had to learn the following:

• How to draw maps in DungeonDraft using FA assets, which is very different from the default assets,
• A little bit about how to program in Javascript. I am definitely still a beginner at this and am mostly reusing the work of others.
• How to use github and to create a release. This was not strictly required, but all the cool kids are on github, so I wanted to be there as well. I brushed off an account I have had since about 2015 and finally created a repo. A repository, that is.
• All the intricacies of how to create a module, which is very specific to Foundry VTT, and which includes things like diving into the licensing terms of various asset providers and ensuring what I am using is legal for what is essentially fan content.

I took my own sweet time in putting it together, because I don’t have a lot of spare time, and this isn’t the only thing I like doing. I still like playing my violin and viola with my church choir, and that still takes a lot of time. I also worked on another module in parallel with this one, which won’t be ready for a few more weeks.

While all this is fresh in my brain, I want to do a post that gathers in all the various sources I used to create the module, because sometimes what I had to do next was not entirely clear. But that probably won’t be until next week.

I use the shadow paths that came with my subscription to Forgotten Adventures DungeonDraft Integration assets. As I said in my earlier post, I have a very light touch with shadows, as I generally want just enough to indicate a sense of depth, but not enough that my light placement might not make sense.

Shadowing Stairways

To start, here is how I shadow stairways. Consider this image:

Of interest are the two oblique shadows cast by each level of stairway.

Ordinarily, shadows look something like A when you select the “shrink” or “grow” option when creating the path.

To get it to appear like it does in B, take a look at this version, with all the points visible:

I have a bunch of points opposite where I want my shadow to taper. This image shows the points spaced apart, so you can see them. But in reality, I have all four points on top of the point at the end of the path. Each point that you add will sharpen the opposing point even more. You could also space them apart to make a more gradual taper.

This trick also works quite well with most paths that can taper, such as cliffs and ridges.

Shadowing Corners

Forgotten Adventures provides a large number of shadow options in the Object menu, including a full circle, three quarters of a circle, a half circle and a quarter circle. I prefer to use paths just to avoid having a lot of objects on top of each other. However, it is difficult to fold paths around corners without this feathering effect:

I have taken advantage of this feathering for certain visual effects, but most of the time, it is not ideal.

I tried deleting one point at each corner, and the feathering looked worse. However, I next moved each point on top of the closest corner point, and behold!

So to be clear, each corner has two points, one on top of the other. (I also switched out the 60% shadow for a 40%, so you could better see the gradual transition of the shadow.)

Shadow Paths Around Objects

Although I enjoy placing the shadow objects around my map and I make abundant use of them, sometimes I would rather have a path, especially if I have a piece of furniture. Here are some examples:

This shadow uses the technique described above. I might also cap off the shadow ends with a matching half-shadow from the Object menu.

This is a simple shadow, with one point per shadow, with the screenshot taken from the Select view in DungeonDraft.

Now, go have some fun with shadows!

Here is an example.

In this image, I placed the light shines from the fireplace using the light tool in Dungeon Draft. Once I pulled it into foundry, I animated the light using a ghostly lighting effect in Foundry. The result is more diffuse shadows that I would have gotten using Foundry alone, and a very cool-looking fire that I could not have produced in DungeonDraft.

Speaking of shadows, I have a light touch with shadows, generally adding only a diffuse 20 or 40% shadow patch under substantial furnishings, and I don’t attempt to cast direct shadows. It is just a diffuse shadow under the object itself, to give it some depth. I don’t have any such shadows in the above image, but I do in this homey yurt:

There is a shadow under each camp chair, the desk, the chair, the hammock, and the junk to the left. I did not place a shadow in the firepit area, because it is supposed to be just above the ground. I probably could also have placed some small shadows under the chest and the box. Oops.

There is also a shadow path around the entire yurt. I will write more about shadow paths in an upcoming post.

I also like to make use of either an overhead map or overhead tiles to bring another dimension to the map. So I plan for this by leaving things like tree shadows and trees off of the map, and I pull them all together in the VTT.

Here is an example of how another part of this map looks when you look at the map image by itself:

Here’s how the same map looks in-game with trees, tents, fire, lighting and tokens (people and creatures):

It’s hard to believe it is the same map. This is why I love creating for VTTs.

If I were to create this same map for print, I would add another layer in DungeonDraft for the tree shadows and another for the treetops, make them slightly offset from each other, add lights, and include all three layers in the exported image.

Where have I been? Doing the usual stuff. But my creativity has taken a turn in another direction.

Yeah, I still have 3 unpublished novels that I am sitting on. And yeah, I have no plans to publish them at present. I have tested the waters, and they are unfriendly. When I do decide to publish my stories, I will most likely be doing so as an independent. In other words, I’ll (most likely) self-publish.

But I’m not doing that now. I mentioned above that my creativity has taken a different turn.

I am starting to dip my toe into game development. As in role-playing game mods and scenarios. Therefore, the purpose of this blog will turn to game topics. I may even do some videos.

How very geeky, I know. But y’all knew I was a geek all along.

So before I put my first mod out there — it’s all ready to go — I am going to do a little rebranding of this site, and also my Twitter/X, my Facebook, and a video site (maybe Twitch?) I’ll add links to things like my github, Patreon, and Discord. But I’d like to keep my home here, because I still like blogging.

I just didn’t have a topic, until now.

Okay, we’ll see if it takes me another three years to write my next post. If you’re still here, thanks for reading!

I am happy to report that we are now preparing for my daughter’s graduation. We have paid the diploma fee, and I hope to set the date this weekend. It will be a private graduation.

So that goal is almost achieved.

Therefore, over the last few months, I did a sweep through MAGIC BY STARLIGHT because, as I mentioned in the previous post, it in the best shape. I have finished that effort. I also have a lengthy scene that was not needed to drive the plot for the main story, but it has a plot of its own, and introduces most of the principal characters. I am considering publishing as a free ebook it to see how it is received.

Once I finished my readthrough of MBS, I turned my attention to EAST OF YESTERDAY, where I have some decisions to make. However, when I opened Scrivener to take a look, I had an unwelcome surprise regarding Scrivener. That will be the subject of another post.

I worked on my space epic until I reached a major decision point. Then, I set it aside to complete the above work, and to let that decision peculate. I am pretty sure I know what I am going to do.

If you came upon this site in the last few days and found it down, that is because I inadvertently let it expire due to an expired credit card. I paid up just in time, as I made this discovery on the very day that my data would have been purged.

I hope you all have fared well during the last, very challenging, year.

Finally, with a lot of help from my awesome webhost provider, siteground.com, I wrested my domain from my crappy old domain provider, and moved it to Siteground, which I have been happily using as a web host for several years.

So that’s where I’ve been. Oh, and my back is much better now, too.

I have also struggled with whether or not to write this blog post.

When I made this decision about two years ago, I had two completed novels. One, MAGIC BY STARLIGHT is ready to submit. I am delighted with it, and would love to get it out there. The other, EAST OF YESTERDAY, was ready to submit until I decided to revert some revisions while keeping others. That work is ongoing.

In the meantime, I started a third novel, tentatively titled FOREVER A SLAVE. It’s a space epic about freedom. Plus, I have never given up on FORGING A LEGEND.

But I have decided not to publish anything, for now.

My reasons for sitting on these books are mostly personal. My daughter has special needs, and we are in her last year of high school. We homeschool. It is very challenging. I also have a challenging job. These activities do not leave enough time for the publishing process.

When I published my last book, THE MAGIC MIRROR AND THE SEVENTH DWARF, I had to take time off work in order to make the publishing deadlines, which were very tight. When I still had trouble meeting the deadlines, I was given some additional time, but it was still extremely stressful. It made an impact.

Before I attempt publication again, something needs to come off my list. I suspect that sometime in the next year and a half, my daughter will either complete her graduation credits, or we will make the determination that she is unable to. Either event should free up my time.

Life gets more complicated the older you get. Plus, it gets more absorbing. I am blogging less, reading less, writing less–but I am also living life so much more completely. I love to do too many things. There are only so many hours in the day. These are good problems to have.

I have considered blogging chapter-by-chapter, which is something that one of my sisters wants me to do for EAST OF YESTERDAY. I am not convinced that it is a good way of getting my hands into a large number of readers, but at least it would get it into the hands of the readers of this blog. Plus, I am not sure if I have anything to lose.

Opinions?

• I’m still writing.
• I’m still reading. Just not as much fiction.
• I’m not watching many movies these days.
• My job sucks brainpower out of my head, leaving me a husk at the end of the day, and throughout most weekends.
• I still like my job.
• I just had a root canal. My tooth is dead now.
• I need a root filling on my dead tooth.
• I need a crown on my dead tooth.
• My dead tooth is going to cost me about a thousand dollars.
• I still have my Jeep.
• It’s almost paid off.
• Once again, my website domain renewed before I had a chance to switch it over to my host. Not a big deal, but something I’ve been meaning to do for two years or so.
• My website is languishing.
• My social media presence is languishing.
• My dog is healthy.
• My humans are healthy.
• This is the most hectic summer I have had in forever.
• I am still playing my violin.
• However, I have been unable to play my violin due to jaw swelling issues from aforementioned dead tooth.
• However however, I am going to try tonight for the first time in two weeks, or else my hard-one fingertip calluses will fall off.
• I have been playing Skyrim again.
• My playing of Skyrim has been giving my aforementioned sapped brain a break, and helped me take my mind off my aforementioned dead tooth.
• My dead tooth hurt like hell before my aforementioned root canal.
• The aforementioned root canal was both terrifying and fascinating at the same time.
• I hate dental dams.
• I hate that I know now what a dental dam is.
• That dental dam made my root canal possible.
• The root canal procedure had about a thousand terrifying steps, I think.
• I re-read The Martian. Awesome book. Did I ever review it? I don’t think I did. Get it. It’s good.
• ^^^ shortest book review ever ^^^

I guess I’m done. Hope everyone is having some fun this summer!

And I am just going to pick up right where I left off …

Organizing

The Corkboard view gives you the option of seeing the outline of your novel in an outline view, a corkboard view, or as snippets of your manuscript. I am enjoying the Outliner view, but have also used the Corkboard. The Scrivenings view is the view in which you edit your manuscript.

Here is a screenshot of the Outliner view for the first chapter of my work-in-progress. Click to enlarge.

Worldbuilding

I was the most skeptical about the ability for Scrivener to replace my worldbuilding gazetteer. I have used TiddlyWiki for all the novels I have written in the last dozen or so years. However, due to the new security features that browsers were forced to implement in response to hackers, this has become less convenient. I use the modern version of TiddlyWiki, which operates out of a desktop app, but again, having all the gazetteer elements in my manuscript file seems very convenient.

Scrivener handles this well. Linking from one document to another is not as convenient as using a wikiword, but it is not cumbersome, either. Create your folder of concepts, and link them together by right-clicking and selecting Scrivener Link and browsing to your document.

You can also drag and drop page links. Here’s a snapshot of one of my characters from my WIP:

Researching

At present, I am not writing a novel that requires much research, because it takes place in an alternate galaxy. No history needed, and my science elements are, so far, within my body of knowledge. I only need to do some light space research for some very specific questions.

Scrivener does include the ability to capture a PDF of a webpage. However, my efforts to download

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/oir/open-clusters

all failed except the option to export using MSOffice, and it produced badly formatted output.

Ultimately, I found a better solution by saving the webpage as a pdf using the browser print functions, and then import that, (which is what I hoped Scrivener would do automagically). The reason I want to capture a hard copy of the webpage–with a datestamp and the original web address–is because web pages can disappear, and it is helpful to have the webpage as it existed when you found it.

As you can probably tell, I have been very pleased with Scrivener. I now only use Word for documents that I started in Word because I have not found any good way to import a Word document without having a lot of manual work for breaking it into chapters and scenes.

Other features I’ve used:

• Written a screenplay. The screenplay mode is so powerful that it actually taught me how to write a screenplay. I took one of my “Petroleum Sunset” short stories and made it in to a complete screenplay, just for fun. I can see easily modifying the screenplay output to work as a comic book “screenplay” as well, which uses a modified screenplay output
• Created my own templates. Scrivener provides templates for Characters and Settings right out of the box, and I added one for Concepts. I find Scrivener tables difficult to use, so I lay it out in Word and paste it into the template. Once there, it works just fine.
• Messed around with Keywords and Custom Meta-Data, but ultimately did not find them very useful so far.
• Changed the default font of my manuscript so it is easy-on-the-eyes Bookman Old Style. I can use whatever font I want when I eventually compile.

I have not yet completed or compiled a manuscript. Once I am ready to start submitting something again, here’s my plan:

• Create a new section in the binder for queries. Right now, I keep all query versions in a very long Word document that has every change I made to the query over time. Obsessive? Maybe, but I got tired of looking in old emails for that one particular version of the query. I want to keep every version that I personalized for every agent, because I end up doing that anyway and it’ll be much easier this way.
• Create another section in the binder for synopses. I generally have a six-to-eight sentence synopsis, another version with six to eight paragraphs, which usually takes about one page, and a longer version, not much longer than two pages. With versions, of course.

On my wishlist:

• I wish Scrivener would improve the table functionality. It is terrible. True, I don’t use tables at all in a manuscript, but I use them extensively in my wiki.
• When I link a document in the Inspector (the right panel) I really wish I could see the link from the other end. When I click on a character, I would love for the Inspector to show all the documents that I linked that character to. I think this should easily be added because scrivener probably uses a relational database and databases are … yanno, relational.
• They should put some thought into a less cumbersome way of importing a document and breaking it into chapters and scenes. I may have overlooked a feature, but I tried twice and as a business analyst, I am pretty darned savvy about how software should work. This should be easier.
• Add a real help system. To learn how to do something, you have to crack open the user manual PDF. This is a lazy developer’s help system. Get serious about your software.

One final note–Scrivener 3 was just released. If you have a Mac, you’re in luck–it’s already available. This review covers the current Windows version. If you have a Windows machine and buy the current version, you will get a free upgrade when Scrivener 3 becomes available. I will have to fork over 25 dollars, but it seems worth it.

Overall verdict: I recommend scrivener if you are a serious novelist or screen-playwright. Some of the features are a bit archaic and it can be a challenge to figure out how to do things. But once you get over the learning curve, it is a highly useful tool, and Version 3 shows great promise for even better usability.

Scrivener – outlining and writing software for Windows, Mac and IOS