The Secret DM

An Art Sample of Issyka: Scene and Logo by Khairul Hisham

2013-06-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

One of the projects I'm working on this year is my Issyka campaign setting. Issyka has been in the works behind the scenes for over a year; it's a post-apocalyptic dreamscape, like The Road Warrior meets Inception meets The Neverending Story.

Sort of. I'll get into more details in future posts, but basically it's a godless world of erosion, decay, and suffering where travelers fear sleep because their dreams come to life as nightmarish creatures stalking the open, empty plains.

It's D&D based, although I'm still hacking/cobbling the exact rules together. It features non-standard playable races, and some new mechanics I'm looking forward to testing.

One of those non-standard races is featured in the attached image by Khairul Hisham: an illadon Wayfarer, far from his home in the Silk Kingdoms of the; Living Forest (which is the last great wilderness of the world, growing on the back of a megaturtle as it slowly walks through the Vapor Canyons, where the worlds great oceans once lay before they all evaporated...you get the idea), caught in surprise by two human warriors.
But who is afraid of whom here? The illadon is a creature unlike any the humans have ever seen, and this world is full of monstrous beasts pulled from the dreams of careless travelers.

But to the illadon, these humans are just as frightening, the young female warrior brandishing her weaopon, ready to kill to save her and her helpless companion.

Just how will this encounter end?

I'm planning to commission a follow-up piece to answer that question.

This concept was a lot of fun to see brought to life, and the initial idea went through various changes, which itself affected the very nature of the illadon themselves. Originally, these were earth burrowing carrion-crawler cousins:

...but they turned out to be too monstrous in that design, and it was Khairul's artistic style that made that clear to me. Khairul was gracious enough to rework the picture though, eventually creating the more timid, traveler-centipede featured in the final drawing.

This was an important design change, because the whole point for me of having playable centipedes was to challenge the traditional aesthetics of "monstrous".

Issyka is a setting about adaptability, facing the unknown, and dealing with and managing alien situations in new and interesting ways.

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

5 Reasons Why You Should Attend ConTessa

2013-06-05T00:14:00.001-04:00

There's a new convention coming soon to the gaming world, and I've honestly been excited about this for months.

I'm talking about ConTessa (http://www.contessaonline.com/about-contessa/), the online gaming convention BY women, FOR everyone. It's helmed by some amazing people in the gaming industry, and I couldn't be more excited to see it finally come to fruition.

Here are 5 reasons why if you only attend one convention this year, it should be ConTessa:

#1) This convention is FREE.

Standard conventions have registration fees, on top of sometimes separate charges for specific events, along with hotel fees, parking, gas, tolls...but ConTessa takes place entirely online and is being offered free of charge, so you can save your money to spend instead on gaming products.

All you'll need is a computer, a webcam, and a working Internet connection, which, if you're reading this, I'll assume you've got covered.

#2) You can't catch "Con Crud".

We all know what it's like to experience the marathon of gaming events at a convention only to come home and be sick for the next week (or longer). With ConTessa though, the only germs you'll have to worry about are the ones already inhabiting your home. Not only that, you can even be sick and no one will mind (unless your hacking cough is disruptive).

In addition, you can attend events in your pajamas, and you don't even have to worry about showering. Heck, pants are even optional, as long as you keep your lower body off-camera.

(Update: I've talked with the con organizers and been informed pants are definitely NOT "optional".)

#3) Wherever you live in the world, there's probably a game available for you.

Even if you're in the middle of nowhere in Siberia, chances are you can find a game that suits your availability, because events are occurring at various times.

Even better, the website will determine your time zone and show you the events going on based on your personal local time. Which is pretty cool.

#4) You can work your attendance around your regular life.

Normally attending a convention requires a huge commitment of time and tons of planning, sometimes forcing you to invest vacation time at work. But since ConTessa takes place online, you can continue to work your regular job, spend time with family and friends, and still find an event or two at the con to attend. What other non-online convention lets you do that?

Of course, to get the most out of ConTessa, I do recommend taking vacation and trying to experience as much of the event as possible, but since this is such short notice, I understand it may not be feasible. So plan better for next year, and attend what you can this year.

#5) The people involved in putting this con together are awesome, hard working people who are all well worth your time.

Managing a con is no easy task, even if it's online-only, and I can tell you without a doubt that all of the people involved in this project have spent a lot of time, money, and personal resources making sure this event is as awesome and kick-ass as they are (and keep in mind, they've done it all for free).

They are super cool people, hosting and managing super cool events, and offering some amazing content, rewards, and prizes as well. I highly recommend heading over to ConTessa's website and learning more about the convention, how you can help, how you can participate, and how you can get in on some neat prizes.

Keep in mind that ConTessa is still seeking people to run events and panels, and registration is open until June 17th.

For details on registering, look here: http://www.contessaonline.com/contessa-registration-is-open/

ConTessa is also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/contessaonline

...and FaceBook: https://facebook.com/contessacon

What experience have you had with online conventions? What are some of your concerns about participating in an online convention?

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

I've Hired an Assistant!

2013-04-18T14:27:00.001-04:00

I'm very excited to announce that I've officially hired an assistant. Lillian Cohen-Moore is a writer, editor, blogger, journalist...actually, I'm not sure what she isn't capable of, considering her incredible talents and diverse body of work. In fact, I had first heard about her through her successful kickstarter for an upcoming work of fiction titled "The Guide to the Village by the Sea", of which I'm happily a backer.

That work is now nearing completion, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading it.

Having someone of Lillian's talent and professionalism is a dream come true for me, as I work to move forward and get more serious about my writing and game design.

Lillian inspires energy and focus, and has already helped me organize my priorities for the coming year.

I look forward to working more with Lillian, and all the new and wondrous things I can achieve as a result of this partnership.

For more on Lillian, be sure to check out her website at http://www.lilliancohenmoore.com

Many thanks to everyone who applied for the position; it was difficult making a final decision, because there were a number of exceptional applicants and a great many of whom I'd love to work with.

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

Building a Rumor List

2013-04-02T11:41:00.001-04:00

Looking to build a rumour list for a Multi-dimensional, Multi-temporal rogue (as in not fixed in a system/place, as opposed to having to do with thieves) dungeon that shifts through planes and places and times. Share this with anyone you know who might find this interesting and/or would like to help.

There is a dungeon in your world that few know about; a secret place with deep chasms more ancient than time itself. It is a dark place, full of strangeness, and home to creatures and beasts and men who are all filled with an insatiable hunger.

Those who know of this place know some of what lies hidden inside: the terrible and wondrous things that fill the many chambers and intersecting hallways.

It is a place of secrets; of forbidden knowledge, and future history. It hoards information like treasure, filling its deepest recesses with legend and mysteries of worlds and times and places that lie far beyond this one.

What rumors have you heard of this place? What secrets are whispered in your world of this dimension-spanning structure?

Help me build a rumour list. If there are a lot of comments, I will create lists based on specific categories, such as inhabitants, entryways, artifacts, etc.

Below, tell me what you know, or think you know, or have heard of the Secret Dungeon.

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

The Secret DM is Looking to Hire an Assistant!

2013-03-25T00:15:00.004-04:00

(NOTE: THE POSITION OUTLINED BELOW HAS BEEN FILLED. SEE MY FOLLOW-UP POST HERE. THANK YOU AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO APPLIED.)

Job Opportunity! Please share this if you know someone who might be a perfect fit for this position. All interested applicants: e-mail me at: thesecretdm@gmail.com

The Secret DM is hiring!

I'm interested in hiring a Part-Time Assistant. The person I'm looking for should be:

• Outgoing, motivated, and able to work quickly and efficiently
• able to communicate clearly and concisely
• capable of reading, editing, and suggesting improvements to writing
• organized and task-minded
• able to read and respond to e-mails, post online at forums and via social media outlets, and elsewhere as needed
• able to catalog material, establish and track priorities, set reminders and due dates for progression of projects
• able to work alone with little instruction/guidance

The position requires:

• Reading/Reviewing content (including writing, concepts, game ideas, etc.) and organizing content into "projects" to be tracked/updated and establishing schedules to complete specific projects
• Establishing deadlines for and following up via reminders and personal messages to ensure current projects stay on track
• Researching content online and tagging/linking it to projects as needed (based on relevance) in manageable, organized logs
• Reading e-mails as needed and assisting with writing appropriate responses
• Accessing my calendar and setting up reminders, scheduling appointments, and establishing due dates as needed for specific projects, content, and tasks

The person should be familiar with:

• Google products: including Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Docs
• Social Media websites: Facebook, Google+, Twitter
• if possible, GTD

This position is for a 1-month paid time period, with options to expand to 3-months, 6-months, and 12-months based on efficiency, performance, and overall task completion.

All interested parties should e-mail me at: thesecretdm@gmail.com

Feel free to share this job listing with anyone you know who might be interested and/or capable. Thanks so much for your time and interest!

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

The Secret DM is going back...to the future!

2013-03-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

"The Secret DM Goes Back to the Future", by +Joel Poirier.
Copyright © 2013 Christopher Mennell. All rights reserved.

The Secret DM has gone back to 1985 with Doc Brown to roll some dice, slay some orcs, and reconnect with his childhood...because that's when he got started with this whole gaming mess to begin with.

While he's away, this website is on hiatus.

The Secret DM will return with all new content and a brand new site layout on April 1st.

Many thanks to +Joel Poirier who created the "Back to the Future" artwork. You can find more of Joel's work at strippedcomics.com. Check it out!

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

A Finished Map (Level 1)

2013-03-01T07:09:00.003-05:00

Here's a map I [finally] finished. I opted for a "classic blue" color.

Well, level 1 anyway. Next post I'll describe some of the locations.

And just in case you' prefer your maps in black & white, here you go:

Map Making: Filling in Details

2013-02-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a section of map I started drawing.
So far, I have six rooms, one of which features a platform of some kind.
I'm at an impasse though. Before I progress, I want to make sure what these rooms are, why they were created, what purpose they serve now, and who the current residents are, if different from the builders of this dungeon.
I'm also curious what caused the cave-in in the corridor (towards the bottom).
What are your thoughts? How should I complete the map? What sort of elements should I sketch in each room (cobwebs, barrels, book shelves. etc.)?

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

Cyberpsychosis

2013-02-19T10:33:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry...I just couldn't resist. Too soon?

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

New on Kickstarter: Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls!

2013-01-08T11:22:00.000-05:00

One of the very first role playing games, Tunnels & Trolls, has a new edition in development, written by the game's original creator, +Ken St. Andre!

You can support the project with a pledge on Kickstarter. If you aren't sure what Kickstarter is, read this.

I've never played Tunnels & Trolls myself, but I've always been very interested in the game. To find out more about this project, I went right to source, asking Ken to shed some light on what this game is all about.

A Brief History

Tunnels & Trolls ad from The Space Gamer,
circa 1980.

Tunnels & Trolls was the 2nd published role playing game, released in 1975, one year after Dungeons & Dragons was introduced. According to Ken, T&T developed out of his reactions to D&D; he thought D&D was a great idea, but he wanted something simpler.

While there were some glaring similarities (T&T has Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Charisma, for example), Ken felt some aspects of D&D were unnecessarily complicated:

"Wisdom? What the hell is that? I'll take luck any day. Hit points? Why do I need hit points if I have Constitution -- that tells me how much damage a character can take."

Other examples include saving throws that are based on the actual attributes, rather than an arbitrary target number on a d20. Ken also felt clunky mechanics like THAC0 (click here to learn what THAC0 is if you don't know that term) were stupid, and noted that "armor doesn't make anybody harder to hit...usually it makes a character bigger and easier to hit." So having armor makes you an easier target in T&T, but if that armor is doing its job, it's going to absorb damage before it gets through and kills your character.

One of the major differences was magic. Dungeons & Dragons relies on Vancian magic (named for Jack Vance's Dying Earth series), but Ken felt it was simpler to just have wizards expend energy to cast spells they've learned.

These changes and others would help Tunnels & Trolls separate itself from Dungeons & Dragons, and led to a strong and faithful following that continues to this day.

What's New in Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls

Since 1975, Tunnels & Trolls has been revised numerous times, and while one of those versions is unofficial and completely unrecognized by Ken and his design team, all of the other versions play very similarly, with only slight tweaks here and there to improve the game or add some new rules to clarify play.

This is very different from Dungeons & Dragons, which has had many versions as well, although each edition tends to play very differently from the others.

So why the revisions, and what new aspects can players expect to see in this deluxe edition that's currently in development? To find out the answer to that question, I once more went to the source. First Ken assured me that combat in the deluxe edition is still the same as in 5th edition (which is still the same as it was in 1st edition) and works something like this:

"Side A generates a hit point total. So does side B. This applies whether it's one person against one person or group on group. The lesser total is deducted from the greater and the losing side takes the damage, divided any way they choose."

Ken added, "There are complications that can be introduced, such as using saving rolls in combat to accomplish various things. Hitting with a missile weapon requires a DEX saving roll, for example. But even if the missile doesn't hit, the weapons total for missiles is added into a general melee, as it is part of the effort."

So if I'm understanding that correctly, even if your attack misses, that miss is factored into the total results, so your side of the conflict might still generate a success in that combat round, which sounds like an interesting way of keeping players engaged in each round of combat...even if their attack misses.

It might be important to note how saving rolls work in T&T:

"Saving rolls can be used with any attribute, or any Talent, and it truly counts on the character's ability to determine probability of success. There are no pluses on D20 rolls in T & T. Attribute + 2D6 roll (DARO--doubles add and roll over) plus character level number determines success or failure. Saving rolls may be of any level of difficulty, although I think I will discourage anything over 10th level. Lift a heavy boulder--saving roll on STR; sweet talk a tavern wench--saving roll on CHA; avoid catching the plague--saving roll on CON; hit a distant target with bow and arrow--saving roll on Marksmanship Talent."

Other updates being included in the deluxe edition of the game:

Wizards can crank off a spell at the beginning of a combat turn, and defend themselves physically at the end of it. They don't just stand their drooling until the end of the round. :)
Warriors are better fighters than anybody. True warrior characters get an extra D6 for each of their levels added to their weapons total. Example, Cloyd the level 2 human warrior has an urukish scimitar worth 4D6 in combat. In his hands it is worth 6D6 because he is a L2 warrior. Garr Bajj, the uruk is a fierce fighter but is not a member of the warrior class. He has the same weapon, but it is only worth 4D6 in his hands.
Human advantage: different kindred are mostly their own class as well as kindred. Only humans have the kind of society that produces dedicated warriors, wizards, and rogues. That is to say you can't have an elf wizard or warrior, just that you have to go out of your way as player to construct a back story that explains why he would get that class benefit when most elves wouldn't.
I intend to break magic out by the kindred that uses it. Human magic is the standard for the game, but Elves will have their own subset of spells. So will dwarves, uruks, goblins, even ogres. Trolls don't. Trolls are magic, but don't use magic.
There will be greater differentiation between the character types. Citizens and Specialists are important types of Trollworld characters.
Players get more instruction on how to use saving rolls to their advantage. Gonna die in that uneven combat? Come up with a trick of some sort that a saving roll could account for, and possibly save that character.

About Tunnels & Trolls: Player Opinions

I've never personally played Tunnels & Trolls, although I've always been interested in the game. I have backed this kickstarter campaign though, so I'm looking forward to getting my copy of the deluxe edition and playing both the solo and the group versions.

Because I haven't played though, I decided to reach out to the gaming community and get a perspective from people who actually play the game. +Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern and +Scott Malthouse of The Trollish Delver were both willing to share their stories.

Scott: "To me T&T is one of the best games around for various reasons. I love the Discworld-esque humour that's inherent in the writing, Ken's chatty style, the saving roll system and the fact that you can play as a balrog (sorry, balrukh).
"The thing about T&T is that it's so flexible, you don't feel restrained at all, players and GMs alike. It offered a much needed respite during a two-year long D&D 4e campaign we were playing at the time. It felt like an antidote to all the complexities that sometimes infuriated me with that system.

"What I love most about T&T is the community because it's unlike anything you've ever seen. We've all got the personal email of Ken St Andre, the creator and we know we can hit him up anytime we want. He's always been, for me anyway, the integral part of the game and I'm glad he's stuck by the fan base in such an amazing way. Many fans are creators, like myself, releasing their own adventures into the wild."

Erik: "I cut my teeth on AD&D at the age of 13 way back in 1980. It was (and still is) my “go to” game, a game I have run so many times it's probably part of my genetic code now. I can run it with minimal referencing of rules during play. There's only one other game I can run like that, and that's Tunnels & Trolls 5 / 5.5e.

"My wife is not a gamer. I am, literally, the first gamer she had ever met. Yet she allowed me to run a T&T solo as a one on one adventure for her. Her first time playing any RPG and my first time running a T&T session.

"You know what? It went better then either of us had expected. She had a blast and wanted to learn more about the system and I realized that T&T was amazingly easy to run as a DM. If you are going to run an RPG session for your non-gaming wife, you want the experience I had. Because once she had her first combat over with, she felt like she knew the game.

"If I could only keep one game, it would be T&T. Why?

"Because if I couldn't find a group to play with, I'd still have access to countless solos. Besides, my wife is willing to play it too ;)"

Ken St. Andre: On Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls

Here's the video of Ken discussing his new kickstarter for this latest edition of his game:

Further Reading

As Scott mentioned above, the Tunnels & Trolls community is thriving, and a simple Google search will net you quite a few websites to check out. Here are some suggestions:

http://www.tunnelsandtrolls.com -- The official website of Tunnels & Trolls

http://trollhalla.com/outer-sanctum -- Ken St. Andre's official personal website dedicated to Tunnels & Trolls

http://www.freedungeons.com/rules -- A summary of the T&T rules system

http://bit.ly/Si6dXF (rpgnow.com) -- A link to a free copy of the T&T Quick Start rules!

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=4283 -- T&T product by Trollish Delver Games

Hopefully this overview is helpful for you in deciding if Tunnels & Trolls is the right game. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, I highly recommend heading over to Kickstarter and pledging whatever you can to support the cause. There are some really great reward packages available, and as the total pledge amount continues to go up, new stretch goals (or "milestones" as Ken refers to them) are being added.

My thanks to +Ken St. Andre and the entire team behind Tunnels & Trolls, as well as +Erik Tenkar and +Scott Malthouse for taking the time to share their personal experiences.

If you have any personal experiences with Tunnels & Trolls you'd like to share, I'd love to hear about them. Overall it sounds like a fun experience that's easy to pick up and play, and it offers both solo and group play, with a ton of resources and adventures available online.

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

Follow Up: The Gygax Contest, the Blog, Me, and the New Year

2012-12-27T17:18:00.000-05:00

So +Jason Paul McCartan received a very special package today.

As you may recall, Jason was one of the 1st prize winners of the Gygax Contest I hosted on my website over the summer.

It's actually the last thing I blogged about here on this website, although I have been busy elsewhere, as well as working on a new SF project, which should get itself off the ground in January.

(I'll be talking more about Across the Stars here on this blog over the coming weeks, but for the latest news, in addition to the link above, there's also a community for it on Google+)

But before I get ahead of myself talking about what else is on the way, I wanted to discuss the Gygax Contest as a whole.

Overall, the contest was an incredible success and a real pleasure to put together and participate in. The entries were phenomenal, and October was the month to get everything together and start pulling in the content from the artists to compile professional products for the two first prize winners.

Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues, the production of the two first prize entries had to be suspended. My personal schedule got busy, and while I don't mean to speak for everyone, I imagine the same is true for everyone else involved as the holidays quickly approached.

Of course the adventures themselves will get finished and be released, but I still have to discuss the process with the parties involved and determine a more accurate release schedule.

In the mean time, I started to put together the packages for the 2nd part of the prize, which meant for +Jason Paul McCartan and +Erik Jensen a complete set of the 1st edition books, while +John Hazen was due to receive the Dungeon Master's Guide for his 2nd place winning entry.

Unfortunately, I ended up with a bad case of bronchitis during the last week before Christmas, and even went into the hospital Christmas night from blacking out after coughing.

Which is apparently a thing. Who knew?

So needless to say, while I was able to finish up Jason's care package and get that out, I wasn't able to send out either Erik's or John's, although those should be mailed out next week, due to arrive in the first week of the New Year.

One cool story I'd like to share about my hospital experience is my nurse when I was admitted to the hospital. Needless to say that, by 3 in the morning, I was exhausted and a little bit anxious to have to stay overnight, but then I met Sandy, who was the nurse on duty and came to my room to check me in and get me settled for the night.

As it turns out, Sandy is a two-time attendee of Comic-Con. We talked about True Blood for a bit, and then the conversation led to her brother, who turns out to be an avid D&D player and runs a regular group.

Now as you know, even since "coming out of the dungeon" (a phrase Sandy provided! Thanks Sandy!) this past July and transferring from being "David Melmo" to "Christopher Mennell", I'm still a little bit uncomfortable talking publicly about my gaming interests. But having Sandy as my nurse and having the conversation casually turn to gaming really helped put me at ease. AND it felt great talking about gaming openly, especially with my wife in the room.

Everyone at the hospital was great, but Sandy was especially a large part of me feeling cool with staying at the hospital instead of heading home.

Now regarding my blog, my recovery calls for a lot of rest, so I'm not entirely sure how many updates you might see around the blog here in the coming days, but with the start of the new year, I'm launching a redesigned website, which will hopefully expand over the coming months to feature additional content from other contributors/bloggers you're probably already familiar with.

Here's a sneak peak of some new content that will be featured on the blog:

...and one more:

I'm looking forward to the redesign and the new content.

I have an overdue interview with +James Maliszewski to post, which will be coming officially in the new year, and a very overdue interview with artist +Chris Malidore. There's also the finished artwork by +Scrap Princess for a micro-contest I ran in October.

In addition I'll be discussing Across the Stars in more detail, as well as developing my play-by-post rules system currently in development called IF, as well as Five Cities and the world of Issyka it resides in.

Not to mention my plans for several Google+ Hangout games during the new year, including +Jennifer Steen's Project Ninja Panda Taco, +Robin Laws's Hillfolk, and Goblinoid Games' Starships & Spacemen.

Thank you again to everyone for your continued support of my writing, this blog, my projects, the well wishes for my health, and everything in between. 2012 was a fantastic year for me, and 2013 is looking better than ever.

Oh! One more thing:

As many of you are aware, Secret Santicore wasn't able to be put together as a single .pdf for everyone's enjoyment this year, but that didn't stop +Erik Jensen, +Mike Evans, and others from releasing each entry in the contest via a variety of blogs. Here's my submission, which was to come up with an adventure location that utilized minis from the recently über-successful +Reaper Miniatures kickstarter.

Here is Revenon, a strange adventure site, complete with suggestions for what kinds of minis to use during play. Note that the original plan was to have the map I drew turned over to someone with a bit more skill to develop some more detailed sections, but hopefully you still understand what the map represents in comparison to the room descriptions, and you'll be able to modify the map at your leisure following the suggestions I wrote on the bottom.

I also didn't see my request get answered; it's possible it got lost in the shuffle, or wasn't able to be finished in time, or maybe I simply missed it. But that wasn't the point of participating; it was a blast to be able to contribute something to the project.

If Secret Santicore rises again next year, I'll submit my request again then. :)

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

And the Winner is...

2012-10-29T08:49:00.002-04:00

For those of you who aren't aware, I hosted a contest here on the blog, dedicated to the memory of Gary Gygax. The contest ran from July 27th through September 27th:

And the entries were amazing. 12 people submitted dungeons, each one hoping to achieve the grand prize: having their submission converted into a published work, complete with layout by Jez Gordon, cover art by Chris Malidore, interior art by both Khairul Hisham and Jason Sholtis, a map by Matt Jackson, and additional writing by Quinn Conklin.

Deciding on a winner wasn't easy; every single entry had something to offer, and the judges and I took our time to make sure we picked the right one to win.

Of course, I know you didn't come here to listen to me talk about the contest. So without further delay, let's find out who the winners are:

...but wait! There's one more important announcement you need to hear before I mention who has won!

The entries for this contest were so good, and so inspired, that through the process of voting we ended up with a tie! So guess what we did for a tiebreaker!

We didn't!

That's right! After careful consideration of the entries, we determined it was impossible to break the tie, so we've decided to make both titles into two separate professional products!

All of the entries listed below represent really tough decisions that had to be made; it was only a couple of points that separated each title!

So, without further ado, let's see who the winners are...

In 3rd place we have The Halls of the Hidden Prince, by Michael Gibbons!

About the Entry: Some very original, interesting monsters that I would've loved to see illustrated; it also featured a really great map with awesome hatchwork. Overall it was very impressive.

About the Author: Michael manages the Metal Earth blog, which is a really cool website with awesome art, awesome maps, and a really awesome game world.

In 2nd place, and winner of the runner-up prize of the reprinted Dungeon Master's Guide, is The Temple of Ygg'ax, by John Hazen!

About the Entry: A very old-school feeling dungeon, complete with classic "blue and white" stylized dungeon map, interesting traps, and plenty to keep a party busy.

About the Author: John runs Undercity Games, which provides really cool game content, available for download at RPGNow.

And finally, in 1st place...

The Tomb of Bashyr by Jason Paul McCarten and Bonespur Glacier by Erik Jensen!

Both of these titles offered really interesting, original locations with a lot to come back to; Tomb of Bashyr is a great 1st level entry, while Bonespur Glacier makes for a great, mid-level location with a diverse range of dungeon locales strewn throughout the glacier location.

About the Authors: Jason runs the Infinibadger blog, and Erik runs Wampus Country! Both offer really cool gaming content, so if you aren't following them already, you definitely should start.

Both Jason and Erik will have their adventures converted into professional products, and they will both receive a complete set of the reprinted AD&D 1st edition rulebooks.

Honorable Mentions to each of the remaining 8 entrants:

Mike Miller, Gabriel Perez Gallardi, Patrick Downs, Andrew Shields, Andrew Schwartz, Stefanos Patelis, Mark L. Chance, and William Cohen!

As I mentioned, every single entry was great and was very hard to narrow down. This was a lot of fun to do and I'll definitely consider doing something similar next year.

I'll be in touch with all of the entrants over the next few days, and discuss some options for bringing all of the entries to the blog for everyone to download and enjoy.

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to enter, and to everyone who helped spread the word about this contest.

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

IF: A Play-by-Post Role Playing Game

2012-10-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

IF: A Play-by-Post Role Playing Game

So I've written a game.

Kind of.

It's a very rough, very early stage, very preliminary skeleton of a thing that could potentially grow into a game.

It's designed for play-by-post role playing, and is built around epistolary writing, which is a form of writing involving a stream of letters, journal/diary entries, newspaper articles, etc. that move a story forward, building tension by revealing details about the setting, plot, and characters through personal reflections, insights, and eye-witness accounts.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is probably the most popular version of this style of writing.

This all started when I posted this on Google+ yesterday:

A couple of people expressed interest in wanting to play, and some said they just wanted to follow along with the progress.

So I opened up a new post, set it to a private view for the people who expressed interest, and then decided to summarize the game concept.

That "summary" became a 5 hour session of continuous streaming thought, featuring an overview of story flow, game mechanics, and examples of play for a new kind of play-by-post based role playing.

In other words, IF.

I've already received great feedback from some amazing people, including game designer Filamena Young of Machine Age Productions (Flatpack: Fix the Future, Farewell to Fear) and author Tristan Tarwater (Back That Elf Up) and I'm hard at work on a second version based on their input.

Of course, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. Keep in mind the document is in a really rough state; I've also disabled comments on the document itself (to cut back on spam), but you may comment below with any thoughts/suggestions you might have of what I should change, what's missing, what doesn't make sense, etc.

I'll follow up on Thursday here on the blog with my original plans for how I wanted players to choose a time period and genre/style, and what impact that would have on story development.

I'm also still looking for anyone interested in playtesting this system; e-mail me at thesecretdm@gmail.com if you'd like to get involved.

Here is the link to the document: http://bit.ly/IFrpg

Thanks so much for your interest!

A Brief Glimpse of Madness and Awesome

2012-10-12T00:36:00.001-04:00

So over on Google+, I posted this:

Now if you aren't familiar with who "Scrap Princess" is, she's a gamer/blogger/artist with an incredible mind for taking anything at all and turning it into something impossible and awesome and frightening and bad ass and wonderful and dream-like and OH GOD THAT BABY DOLL FACE IS STARING AT ME AND IT'S REALLY CREEPY AND I WANT TO JUST STAB IT IN THE EYE!

Sorry.

So yeah, Scrap Princess.

She once responded to a request I made for a new kind of monster with this:

Scissorbirds.

IF you don't have a mental image for a scissor bird, imagine a crow the size of a horse with black dirty blades for wing feathers, and a long glistening (as if freshly born) pair of scissors for a head. They rotate and twist their heads as birds do, so sometimes the scissors appear like the pincers of a horrible crab, and sometimes less jarringly as a beak. They are fidgety, prone to sudden stops and starts, and they communicate with snickts and the soft rasp of blade on blade. They are agents of punishment for the most cruel, pointless and forgotten laws.

And that's just the tip of a mind-jarringly complex and diverse iceberg of knock-your-socks-off monster-punk that is so wildly original and equally breathtaking that you'll find yourself questioning your creativity like its some second hand throw away of conceptual filth someone pulled out of a dumpster by a thrift store.

(And if you like the "Scissorbirds" description above, stay tuned; you might be getting a kick-ass treat in the next week or so...)

Here's another example of why I want my brain to have Scrap's parasitic mind-babies:

Wolfheads Golem. For those evenings you never want
your players to sleep ever again. Ever.

WolfHeads Golem:

This is a golem made from wolf heads. It rolls towards you in a snapping snarling broil of lupine chaos. It causes Fear as the spell and can howl inflicting a Hold Person affecting anyone who hears it and is more than 300 metres away. If on a surface softer than stone (or if it inflicts more than 10 points of damage in a round), it regenerates 3 hit points per round by devouring the material it's on and vomiting up more wolf heads.

The crucial step in the rituals required to make it involves severing the heads off 12 werewolves, reducing the rest of their bodies to slurry, throw the heads into this mix, and seal it off. The resulting regeneration, starvation, cannibalism and autophagy will form the base material of your wolfshead golem.

Seriously. That's a thing now, because Scrap Princess made it a thing.

And now that thing is somewhere killing and maiming PCs who have no idea what the @#$% it is and have no idea how to handle seeing it, let alone figuring out how to kill the thing.

You can find the WolfHeads Golem, and many other monsters, at Scrap Princess's blog, the cleverly named:

Monster Manual Sewn From Pants

So getting back to the request I made on Google+:

So Scrap responded, and, as is her style, offered up an amazing, twisting, insane, how does she think of these things entry. Here is what she suggested:

Okay so there's a royal palace? And it seems normal and sh*t but there is all kinds of strange cults and goings on in the kingdom. If detective work happens it can be traced back to the palace. BUT IT DOES NOT STOP THERE, for in actually fact, all the royalty takes advice from their doubles from an alternate palace, dimensionally folded inside the original. All the mirrors in the palace are just doors and windows, a hive minded team of hasted mimics and doppelgangers, makes the effect of a mirror. The one with the mothhead? Yeah she controls them all. Coz if she whispers sweet nothings into her cupped palms, it creates a moth which can climb inside your head and makes your mind hers. The other one, that's the queen. She's kinda heaps bugf*ck. If she opens that mask you will see a vision of the only person who will ever understand you crying and begging you to stop attacking them. Also she can selectively reverse gravity things with a touch. The Alternated palace has all kinds of horrible hooks and spears on the ceiling for this purpose.

How could you not fall in love with that kind of creativity?

Okay, so maybe you just read this blog entry and saw me swooning over Scrap's genius but you think you could do the same thing or better.

Oh yeah? Prove it.

Here's a picture I found on the internet (aren't you lucky):

I think she might've gotten too much sun.

In the comments below, post your best rendition of a monster based on this picture in a style like Scrap Princess. I'll ask Scrap to pop in on this thread, check out your creations, and let me know which one, if any, is her favorite.

And if she does pick a favorite? I'll feature it in a future post on the blog, with art by Scrap Princess.

Get those creative meat-gears grinding, folks!

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

Contest Time! The Super Secret Happy Birthday Gary Gygax Giveaway Bundle Extravapalooza!

2012-07-27T07:48:00.001-04:00

UPDATE 8/27/2012: Someone expressed confusion over this contest being "based on the OGL" while also asking for a "1st edition feel". The reason for this is to just avoid any sort of legal action by Wizards of the Coast, as all other editions of D&D are copyrighted and NOT sanctioned for use by the OGL. Your submissions could in fact avoid specific stat information altogether; Quinn Conklin will be working to make sure the winning submission is written to avoid any sort of legal problems.

UPDATE: The contest has been extended by 1 month, so you now have even longer to finish up your submissions and get them in! We've also added some new contributors, and a very special bonus prize up for grabs as well! Keep reading to find out everything we've added!

The Super Secret*

Happy Birthday Gary Gygax

Giveaway Bundle Extravapalooza!
*(Note: Secrecy not guaranteed)

July 27th, 2012

Today is a very special day...Gary Gygax's birthday. It also happens to be my birthday, so I thought what better way to celebrate the occasion than by launching a contest to honor Gary's memory!

How would you like to win a complete set of Wizards of the Coast®'s recently reprinted 1st edition AD&D® books?

Character sheets not included. You'll need a lot of them, though.

How would you also like to have your submission converted into a digitally published work?

Jez Gordon will give your submission a professional look!

And that's not all...read on for more details!

How to Enter: During the months from July 27th, 2012 through ~~August 27th, 2012~~ September 27th, 2012, you may submit one(1) entry consisting of 10 to 20 room descriptions that evoke the feeling of a 1st edition dungeon crawl. The specifics are entirely up to you, and may include whatever traps, monsters, treasures, etc. you feel necessary...just be sure to keep your submission OGL friendly! Your submission should be a complete dungeon (no back story or anything; just the dungeon rooms, please), or it could be the start of a larger dungeon (even a megadungeon).

Each entry will be reviewed by a panel of judges (see below), and an overall winner will be declared based on quality, originality, fun, playability, and 1st edition-ness (that's totally a word).

Send your submissions to thesecretdm@gmail.com, with the subject line: Gygax Contest. Be sure to include your name, address, and e-mail address (for prize/contact purposes).

PLEASE NOTE: This contest, while designed to honor the memory of Gary Gygax, is not officially supported by either Wizards of the Coast® or the Gygax Estate, so please base any items, monsters, encounters, etc. on the OGL (Open Game License). Original content is welcome (and encouraged), but it's important that any trademarked or copyrighted material be avoided. Failure to do so may cause your submission to be disqualified.

This contest does not directly benefit the Gygax Memorial Fund, although some of the money from my purchase of the core books does go to support the fund. In addition, I'll be making a donation directly to the fund in the winner's name, to help support the cause. If you're interested in contributing directly yourself, or would just like more information about the fund, please visit their website: www.gygaxmemorialfund.org.

The Prizes:

The Grand Prize (1) (aka The Kit and Caboodle, The Whole Shebang, etc.): One (1) winner will receive:

A complete set of 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons® Reprints, recently released by Wizards of the Coast®

In addition, the winner will also have their submission converted into a professional quality .pdf, complete with:

editing/proofreading by Christopher Mennell (You're on my blog right now)
layout by Jez Gordon (Secret Santicore, Death Love Doom)
a custom map supplied by Matt Jackson (Chubby Monster Games, Map Tiles for Tabletop Forge),
cover art by Chris Malidore (Fantasy Flight Games, Wizards of the Coast),
interior illustration by Khairul Hisham (Westward, Monsters of the Shattered World)
additional interior illustration by Jason Sholtis (The Dungeon Dozen, Appendix D12)
additional writing by Quinn Conklin (Toys for the Sandbox, The Mighty Us) to make sure your submission is OGL compatible and primed for quality!

Runner-up (1): One (1) runner-up will receive a copy of the 1st Edition Dungeon Master's Guide Reprint.

NOTE: All of the books for this contest have been paid for through and provided by Gary Anderson at Money G Cards and Collectables in New York. Check out their website for more info, and be sure to "like" them on Facebook!

BONUS #2!: WIN A $75 GIFT CARD TO AMAZON.COM OR DrivethruRPG.COM - YOUR CHOICE!

Do you have a blog or website? How would you like to win a $75 gift card redeemable at either Amazon.com or DrivethruRPG? Here's what you need to do:

Simply mention this contest on your blog, encouraging your followers to submit their dungeon entries to thesecretdm@gmail.com with the subject line Gygax Contest. Then post a comment below and include a link to your blog (or website) post as well as an e-mail address to contact you at. You'll be entered into a random drawing for a chance to win a $75 gift card (your choice of either Amazon or Drivethru RPG). Winners will be chosen by random selection via random.org. All entries must be in by 11:59pm EST September 26th, 2012 (a day earlier than the main contest ends). The drawing will take place October 1st, 2012, and the winner will be informed by e-mail (hence why it's important to include your e-mail in the comment!). This mini-contest is open to contributors and judges for the Gygax Contest as well, so feel free to enter yourselves for a chance to win the $75!

Note: I don't believe in contests that require you to "like" a page on Facebook or "follow me" on Twitter or anything of that nature; I feel that defeats what it means to "like" or "follow" or "circle" someone, because it's no longer about how relevant the content is to you, just how large a boost I get in my numbers vs. how likely you are to win a contest. However, that being said, you are welcome to follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, and circle me on Google+, especially if you like this blog and would like to stay informed whenever I host a contest like this.

LEGAL

This contest is being hosted by Christopher Mennell, aka The Secret DM™ ("Sponsor").
All entries must be received no later than 11:59pm EST on September 27th, 2012.
Only One (1) submission per person.
All entries must be the original work of the entrant; no derivative works will be accepted, and any content discovered to be copied from another source will automatically disqualify the entrant from the contest.
This contest, blog, prizes, etc. are in no way endorsed by Wizards of the Coast®, the Gygax Estate, or any of their partners, nor is this contest intended to imply Wizards of the Coast®'s, the Gygax Estate's, or any of their partners endorsement in any way.
All submissions become the property of The Secret DM™/Christopher Mennell.
By entering this contest, you give The Secret DM™, Christopher Mennell, as well as any and all partners the express permission to distribute/publish your submission.
Both #5 and #6 (above) are needed in order to provide the winner with the prize of a professional quality product, and are not intended to imply that The Secret DM™, Christopher Mennell, or any partners will in any way profit off of your personal work.
The prizes awarded are for personal use and may not be resold or used for commercial purposes.
Prizes are non-transferable and have no cash value.
Questions about this contest, its prizes, or the people providing for the prizes may be directed to the Sponsor at thesecretdm@gmail.com.

Who are the Judges?

The judges are (in no particular order):

Christopher Mennell (The Secret DM): Christopher Mennell is a freelance writer and editor. His recent projects include work for Purple Duck Games and 4 Winds Fantasy Gaming. Chris also writes a feature column for Ancient Scroll called Upstarter!, which focuses on cool new projects seeking funding on both Kickstarter and IndieGoGo.

Jez Gordon: Jez helped facilitate the Secret Santicore project last December, which features some incredible content, including original artwork by Jez and others. You can download the book for free, and I can guarantee you it's definitely worth the read. His most recent project was as cartographer and graphic design/layout for Death Love Doom for James Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

Matt Jackson: Matt's a phenomenal artist whose maps evoke depth and quality. Most recently, Matt supplied a number of tiles for the Tabletop Forge Kickstarter, but his more traditional maps are equally good:

Chris Malidore: For the last ten years, Chris has been providing art for a number of game companies, including Wizards of the Coast®, Fantasy Flight Games, and most recently, Dark Skull Studios. Here are two art pieces that exemplify the quality of Chris's work:

Quinn Conklin has been very busy building a name for himself in the industry. When he's not working on the Toys for the Sandbox line of game master aids from Occult Moon, Quinn writes for Troll in the Corner, a popular website dedicated to gaming. Quinn also did the layout for Homicidal Transients, a game that's all about wandering around aimlessly, killing things, and looting their stuff (hey wait, that sounds really familiar...).

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Before you comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

Dungeons, Dragons, and my Daughter

2012-07-06T03:37:00.000-04:00

So this totally just happened, and I'm not ashamed to admit it:

Tonight I read the intro from the red box (classic red box) D&D as my daughter's bedtime story.

Before you say anything, consider the following:

She's 4.
She told me she didn't know how to draw a dragon.
Never mind that I'm trying to solicit art from a 4 year old; I don't come to your job and tell you how to illustrate your campaign sourcebooks, do I?
I changed all the bad words, like "kill", to more visually softer things. Like "hurt" and "maim".
She saw the picture of the snake:

and told me she doesn't like snakes, so I just skipped that part of the story; I'm not a monster.

Now all of this came about because yes, I asked her to draw a dragon and she told me she didn't know how because she didn't know what a dragon looked like. So I did what any respectable parent who somewhat-likes-their-child-but-clearly-not-as-much-as-they-passionately-love-their-gaming would do: I broke out my red box and showed her this:

Yes its right before bedtime. She's going to need the visual stimulus for her dreams to make sure when she draws the picture it's that much more vivid and real (and bad ass).

So she's sleeping with the lights on tonight. Anyway, I'm flipping through the book and showing her some of the other artwork (See honey? It's not all dragons and snakes...you can stop crying now. Huh? Oh, those are ghouls...they're a kind of zombie. What? No, silly...they're trying to grab Aleena so they can eat her. She's a cleric. Why are you crying again?!) and then she sees this on the Cleric page:

And she asks, "Is that a knight?"

I love her.

(Note: Last week, she told me she wanted to be a spaceman. So gender roles aren't really an issue in my household.)

P.S: Here's the excerpt of the text I read her tonight from the player's manual:

Your home town is just a small place with dirt roads. You set off one morning and hike to the nearby hills. There are several caves in the hills, caves where treasures can be found, guarded by monsters. You have heard that a man named Bargle may also be found in these caves. Bargle is a sort of bandit, who has been stealing money, hurting* people, and terrorizing your town. If you can catch him, you can become a hero!

As you approach the entrance, you look around. It’s a nice day, and everything seems peaceful. You know that things aren't usually peaceful in caves where monsters live, and it’s usually dark, too. So you get out your lantern and a tinderbox (matches haven’t been invented yet, so the box has flint and steel), and carefully light the wick. The flame sputters a bit, but the oil soon burns with a soft glow. With your sword ready, you step into the cave.

It’s dark and musty inside. A passage leads inward from the entrance, going deeper into the hill. It looks like the only way to go, so you head in that direction, watching carefully for bats and other nasty creatures.

Suddenly, you see a goblin! He is smaller than you are, and looks like an ugly little man with gray skin. He sees you, gives a scream, waves his sword, and attacks! You dodge his blow, and raise your sword to swing.

*modified from the original source material, because killing is bad. Hurting people is bad too, but killing is a little bit worse.