Author: postworldgames

Running a game studio by yourself is no easy task. If I get worn down by the work, there’s no one else here to pick up the slack. And I’ve been running at a break-neck pace for four years now.

The last six months have been especially tiring and my productivity has waned as a result.

For those who watch my projects and know what I’m behind on, let me elucidate you with some updates, while talking about what I’m excited for…

First, Toolcards 2 is finally nearing its end. It is so late, I can’t even sleep. The anxiety of letting people down on a project like this wears me down. But I’m finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to Alan Bahr for kicking my ass on this one.

The Carcass: Exodus is also late and I have a new schedule for myself to get this done by mid-May. I seriously need to get this game off my plate. It’s not fun to have it hanging over me.

I still owe people four praxis games (1 bonus and 3 customs). The customs are coming slowly, but the bonus one is 99% done. Whew. Something is nearly finished.

All the while, I’ve been working on new material for many other projects. I know. It’s insane. I overbooked myself as usual, which is just a stupid trend for me, but Aaron and Sara Hubrich are releasing a D&D5 book about gods and goddesses. I couldn’t say no when they asked for help (even if the research nearly killed me).

I’ve also started writing four more Black Monk Praxis games AND a Black Monk stand alone game. This character and world have really captivated me. The ideas that are coming out for it won’t stop. It’s like I’m bleeding stories. Much thanks to Juan Ochoa’s art…

This guy is the grave digger. A tough job in a world where no one dies.

Ben Woerner and I have plans for a fantasy game that’s underway. And would you believe me if I said Anthony Moro and I have FOUR nearly finished game worlds that have been in the pipe for more years that I care to think about?

There’s also some notes for TWO large dungeon projects, and two more game systems that should make for their own series. Honest, they play nothing like Protocol or Praxis. Rob Vaux is finishing one of them up, now.

As you can see, I’m not slacking, I’m just not focusing.

And I have no idea how I’ll have time to release ALL of these games soon. Even if they were done right now, there’s just not enough months in the year.

Okay. This is getting exhausting just thinking about (let alone writing).

Ugh. I didn’t even mention City of Masks, which is coming soon, too. Alyssa promised me a map.

We have a special guest coming on the podcast soon, too. Blimey! The time?

Gamex 2017

I’ve already bought my ticket for Gamex 2017 in Los Angeles. I’ll be running games all weekend. In fact, as soon as I post this, I’m heading over there to enter my game events. Praxis. Carcass. A game called Fairview. More?

Feel free to find me on Facebook is there’s something you want to know about. Or if you think I’m slacking.

I usually write these up at the end of the year, but things have been chaotic around here for two months and I just haven’t gotten back into my groove. Today is January 6, and I am spending the better part of the day just writing everything that needs to be done.

So.

In no short order, here is a bullet point list of everything that happened in 2016, followed by what is going to happen in the first quarter of 2017.

• Productivity-wise 2016 was the worst year yet (less than 30 games were released this year)
• Sales-wise, it was the best year yet (go figure)
• Praxis is probably the single-best thing I’ve ever produced in such a short time and there are still 10 more ideas for this game mechanic in the queue.
• Carcass and City of Masks are very late
• Toolcards 2 is even later
• Wendy Reischl has been helping here and there and her input has been invaluable
• Which indicates to me that this company needs one helper-monkey (“You’re supposed to be a helper monkey. This isn’t helping!”

Moving forward, the next 3 months will be focused on finishing old business. I can’t and won’t do another kickstarter until everything on my plate is done. That said:

• Carcass is 75% complete
• City of Masks is 33% complete
• Toolcards is nearly there (I really am just crippled creatively by these Archetype cards)
• After that, this year will see the release of new protocols, praxis games, a new game system called Providence, and some new RPGs by myself and some freelance writers.
• No spoilers at this moment

This is really the crappiest update I’ve ever done, but I need to buckle down and finish work. For those of you who’ve been patient, I promise the future of Post World Games is to revamp the release process so these backups in production never happen again.

Four Games.

One low price of $25.

Seriously? How is this confusing?

Click on the link and get some PDFs before the year is over.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/218255739/4-piece-bucket-o-games?ref=user_menu

Okay.

I just had an idea for a contest that you can all enter. In fact, you can enter as many times as you like. Here’s how it will work.

• Play a post world games game.
• Write up a report about it.
• Post the report on your blog, as a review on drive thru rpg, or on facebook.
• Send the link to me twitter (postworldgames).
• On Dec 31, the contest closes and I select the best story from the lot.

Winner receives a limited edition, King for a Day Hardcover. Only 50 were ever printed and only 8 remain.

That was easy.

I look forward to hearing what you’ve done with the games.

We all know I hate spam. I hate marketing. I hate talking about what I’m doing.

But.

I love making games.

So. Of course, in the middle of my 2016 schedule, I decided to spend three months making five more games.

Five more GMless games that use a new system, very different from Protocol. Sure. You can see some Protocol in there. But not really. I’ve borrowed the language of scene-framing and scene-types, but that’s where the similarities end.

In fact, my upcoming game Last 12 Hours, will be borrowing from Protocol as well.

But that’s tangential. You want to know about this project. Right?

There are five games in this series. The first is called King of Storms. That sounds suitably over the top and masculine. Right?

(Maybe Blooddrinking King of Storms of Doom would have been a better title)

And then there’s Lambs, which is only available until the end of the Kickstarter. After that… it’s gone forever.

I feel as though that should convince you to at least go check it out.

Collector edition games. I mean, really?

Board Game Geek has a series of draconian rules about what and WHAT NOT can be posted on their website, so I’m making the rules to dice crawl available here. For free.

If you don’t know what dice crawl is, it’s a board game I designed about dungeon-crawling with a fistful of dice. And yes. It actually has a strategy element. If you’re interested in learning more, you can look it up on Board Game Geek.

dicecrawl rules

dicecrawl rules solo

dicecrawl rules iron man

So. I was told the old site didn’t look user friendly. And now I’m trying out this new look. I might tinker until I land on something stunning, but I think this is a better way to go to make the site look ‘happier.’

In other news, I’m developing a new GMless story-game system.

The first game will be book only and available ONLY in kickstarter format, once it’s done. That means if you don’t buy game 0 from the kickstarter, you’ll never get a copy. This will be a test of the new system. Players will be encouraged to provide feedback on the game and help shape games 1 through 10.

Here’s a look at the cover.

That’s it for now. Remember. I’m on facebook, twitter, and e-mail. If you’re not seeing it here, you can always ask me questions there.