Preorders for Houses of the Blooded are now LIVE!

Order your Standard Edition for $40!
Standard Edition is a special pre-order price. Regular price ($45) will go live on June 1st. 
* Complete PDF of the book for player and Narrator use
* Details on the ven and their culture
* Systems for The Duel, Warfare, Romance, Revenge and Art
* A huge Narrator chapter, filled with advice for new and experienced game masters
* "Seasons": a system for long-term goals usually absent in most fantasy roleplaying games
* Both "friendly game" and "cut-throat" modes for players who enjoy a quiet game with friends and those who love destroying their favorite enemies 

Order your Limited Edition (only 100 printed) for $75! 
* ONLY 100 COPIES PRINTED
* A distinct cover (different than the Standard Edition)
* Hard cover with dust jacket
* Details on the ven and their culture
* Systems for The Duel, Warfare, Romance, Revenge and Art
* A huge Narrator chapter, filled with advice for new and experienced game masters
* "Seasons": a system for long-term goals usually absent in most fantasy roleplaying games
* Both "friendly game" and "cut-throat" modes for players who enjoy a quiet game with friends and those who love destroying their favorite enemies

The Limited Edition also includes a bonus CD:
* Complete PDF of the book for player and Narrator use
* Blood Opera: over an hour of music drawn from and inspired by the ven musical tradition
* HotB Graphics Package: all the InDesign templates and graphic elements used in the book for player and Narrator use 

Task Resolution and the Whiff Factor.

When we started designing the first Legend of the Five Rings CCG expansion (Shadowlands), one of the local LA players approached us. He was enthusiastic about the game, knew its subtleties well, and was also an artist. His name was Ben and when we saw what he could do, we jumped on the opportunity to use him. When his art came in, it was obvious he understood the game. He put easter eggs in every card that the players would understand. He was a fan and his enthusiasm showed in the art, making it some of the best in the set. Sure, some of the other artists had better technical skills, but Ben's cards were always right on the top of the heap for the players and they looked forward to each and every one.

When I started looking for an artist for Houses of the Blooded, I wanted an artist who would understand my goals. I didn't want someone with just the best technical skills; I wanted someone who would appreciate the ideas behind the game and be familiar with the subtleties. Someone who would get it.

Without a doubt, that someone was Storn Cook.

Storn is a talented artist--no doubt--but more importantly, he understands the game. That's because he's playing the game. He's part of the Sons of Kryos playtest crew. And Storn gets it... as can be demonstrated by his first two pieces for the book.

My goal with the art--something Storn understood right away--was creating an environment. The moment the players see the book--not just pick it up, but see it--is when their experience with the ven begins. The cover has to intrigue them enough to pick it up, but it also has to be the first line in a long, epic poem. It has to hook them, but also has to show them--not just tell, but show--what they're getting into here. Then, when they pick the book up, open its pages, smell the ink and the paper, hear the crink in the binding, see the layout and see the art... all of these things sell the book. A book isn't just an intellectual experience; it's a tangible one, too.

Storn's art helps us reach that goal. We came up with an art list that made the book feel like a piece of ven archeology. Each piece is a sketch from an anthropologist's notebook, complete with handwritten notes, observations and speculations. We get no direct look at the ven--just a peek through a dim glass. Peering back through time. The illustrations do not show you who the ven were, but who they might have been. A look at how they saw themselves.

Go check out Storn's journal and take a look. Hot damn, we's gonna have a damn pretty book.
 

"I'm far less interested in what people believe than I am in why they believe it."

I think my time in AZ has softened me a bit. Maybe made me a little less cynical, a little less... nah. Those are negative words and I'm about to talk about friends, so I should be as fair as I can.

I saw Gay Meme Thing this morning while I was answering calls at work. I didn't really think twice about it. Someone asked me, "Do you believe in gay rights?" and I said, "Yes." I believe in being open and honest about the things you believe in. I believe in wearing my heart on my sleeve. So, naturally, someone asks me if I believe in gay rights, I say yes.

And then, an hour or so later, I saw the response. Like I said, I didn't really give it a second thought, but others saw the meme as an "us or them" thing. Divide and conquer. Looking back now, I can understand that point-of-view. That's not how I saw it, but I understand how someone else might.

I don't second-guess the originators of the meme. I assume they wrote it with the same intention I read into it. "Honk if you heart queers." I heart everyone, so it wasn't a big deal for me.

Now, I do know--for a fact--that people on my Friends List won't post it because they don't believe in the equal rights gays are looking for. While I respect and love my friends, I do not respect that opinion. I think it's wrong and I have reasons for thinking it's wrong. They have reasons for thinking it's right. And we both have language to discuss our differences.

I guess what I'm saying is this. I respect the intent of asking people to say, "We think this is right." At the same time, I understand why people saw the question as a divisive measure.

So, instead, I ask this. "Why don't you believe in gay rights? Let's sit down and talk about it. I might convince you otherwise and I'm open to the option that I might be wrong."

An invitation to conversation, I think, is an approach I prefer.

The book will be 6"x9". Two different covers (different styles for both standard softcover and limited hardcover). All purchases receive a free .pdf version of the game.

Standard Edition
Paperback edition
6"x9"
PDF of the book e-mailed to you

Limited Edition (Limited to 100 print run!)
Hardcover edition
6"x9"
Unique cover design/color with dust jacket

Limited Edition includes a Bonus CD:

Blood Opera: Romance and Revenge from the Ven Stage
Over 1 hour of music!

HotB PDF Reference Pack
PDF of the book
8"x11" character sheets, reference sheets and other goodies

HotB Graphics Pack
Everything you need to build your own HotB supplement!*
InDesign templates
Graphic Elements
Ven "Rune Font"
(* Except body and header fonts; colophon included)

The Graphics Pack is what excites me the most. I'll be opening up a page at HotB.com for folks to upload their own houserules, NPCs, adventures, sourcebooks. And there's a plan for making those "peer reviewed research." Yeah, that means official canon. And yeah, that means you can sell it.

More on that later. Spread the word.

Hey guys,

As you watch episodes of the game design seminar, please feel free to ask questions, post comments and rate the videos.

Thanks!

I'll be making an announcement about the pre-orders for Houses of the Blooded by the end of April. I'm still finalizing the last details. If all goes well, pre-orders will go live on May 5th (Discordia Day!).

Start saving your nickels.

Hey folks.

Here's a website that takes a long, hard and honest look at the forthcoming trainwreck of a propaganda movie called Expelled.

Go check it out.

 

I went to a troupe game last night. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of the contact information for anyone--not even a website. Got news of the game from Smitty. Had fun. Didn't get fucked with or killed. 

Lots of folks. Easily quadruple the number at the other game. If someone was at the game last night, can they let me know how to contact the ST? 

Entitled "The Beautiful Fallen," Episode Three talks about the apparent "system vs. setting" conflict and how I address it in my games (including Houses of the Blooded).

Three Questions
(with a special guest star!)

Hey guys. I'm looking for a hand-and-a-half saber used in the Netherlands or thereabouts. Kind of like a European version of the katana. I forget what it's called. Can anyone help? 

storn_cook has put up a bunch of sketches he's drawn for the Sons of Kryos podcast playtest. Go check 'em out!

Despite the fact I can be as pleasant as a vasectomy, she always smiled and bounced and hugged me when she saw me. At LARPs, she always went out of her way to engage my character. I did not know her well, but I knew her well enough to feel all the weight in my body sink to my shoes.

We all have flaws. We all have problems. Most of them are invisible to the majority of the people we know. Only those closest to us get to see them. For me, all I ever saw was a girl who embodied John Kovalic's "Perky Goth" right down to her spiked heels.

I'm very sorry, Greg. I wish I could do more.

Elric and The Soliloquator!

(This is a re-posting. Forgot to make it a public post rather than a private one.)

May as well do something foolish...