Just a quick statblock for a fun item. The story of this ring is on my bluesky.
Behold! The Ring of Dumb Frog!
Read MoreDM War School: The Frontal Assault Pattern
Aka, how to make a fight easier than it looks.
For DMs learning to up their tactical acumen, read on. I’m going to talk about the most common combat encounter type, why it makes things easy, and how you can use that to your advantage. (Or at least avoid making things easy on accident.)
Read MoreThe Table of Random Drama
Have you ever had your players lock-in on a random NPC of no consequence? Or perhaps dig up an old one who’s arc is really done and there’s not much else going on in their life?
Do you need someone interesting right now?
Do you have no inspiration or ideas for such at this moment?
Yeah, that happens to even the best of us. The DM faucet of creativity is often forced to work right now despite that it' doesn’t always have something. That’s ok though, cause random tables can help.
Today, I’m going to show you one of my favorite tables. I call it, The Drama Engine and it’s prefect for creating interesting problems and secrets that players can chase. It’s also good for causing trouble, hehehe.
Read on!
Read MoreYour Mileage May Vary
My primary job is being an editor which is a concise way of saying that my job is analyzing writing and giving writing advice to authors on how to better not only their manuscript, but themselves.
So let me be the first to tell you that all writing advice comes with the huge * of YMMV.
As in your mileage may vary. Why? Well, it all starts with my favorite line from Freiren which is, “The world of magic can be overturned in a day…”
Read MoreConflict vs Competition
Have you ever heard of “central conflict” in writing? Probably, maybe? It’s kind of a screenwriter’s term in many ways but its really a story term. The idea is that the protagonist of the story should be embroiled in a conflict over something important and that this conflict is what the entire story revolves around.
Its a pretty usable concept, but one that I find limiting. Today I’d like to offer up a different term that’s a bit more broad and definitely more flexible.
Read MoreThe Hag Report
Twitter is being a piece and eating my thread, so here is the accounting of a play session where my players took a death priest to a midnight exchange with hags in trade for dirt on the god of death.
Read MoreTravis Bach's Story Questionnaire
Hi Folks, I’m mostly an editor much more than a writer but over the years of solving story problems on both sides of the fence, I’ve come up with a short - pointed - quiz that often solves both my problems as a writer and which serves as a tool to help the writers I serve. It’s only 8 questions. Each is likely answerable in a few paragraphs.
If your story is stuck in the mud, lost in the trees, or plagued with doubts and you don’t know how to fix it - give this a try.
Answer my questions and BE SPECIFIC. If you are vague… -10 for Ravenclaw… haha, ok not really. Vague answers means you don’t know enough and that’s a trouble spot. Go gnaw on it until you can give a specific answer that you like. You’ll be amazed at how often this will fix problems.
Interactive Systems are Big Fun
Valhiem, Minecraft, Rocket League, Etc…
Physics systems, resource systems, exploration systems…
Mastering new skills and environments is hugely fun (with good rewards.)
But what is a system and how do you design one of your own?
Read on to find out,
Read MoreChallenges vs Chores in Game Design
in Game Design
“Go fetch three parts of a gun for me.”
Is this quest a challenge or just a chore?
The answer is - it depends. Read on for what makes the difference.
Read MoreThe Five Stages of AI - where we're headed.
I remember reading someone said, “Once we make AI that’s smarter than us, we won’t be able to keep control of it.”
And immediately a host of people said various versions of, “but we control it’s programming.”
Which is totally ignorant to the fact that machine learning is this black-box we through data sets into in order to get AI out. Exhibit A - Google translate invented its own internal language that we don’t know and can’t understand.
With this present and a bunch of history in mind, I’d like to make a prediction about how all this AI stuff is going to go for us humans. Because we humans cannot stop ourselves from making this thing. That’s cause we love good tools more than anything. So hey, the first phase is…
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Ready the final boss music cause FFO3: The Once King is now up for pre-order.
Oh yeah. The third book of the series is coming out on November 12th in eBook, KU, and audio. This is the climactic wrap-up of the series. There’s tons of action, drama, and reveals galore to be had.
I’ve loved every second of working on this book and I hope you all laugh, cry, “ooh”, and “ahh” as much while reading it as I did while writing it.
Gearstorm: Go! Save Northpoint! (Short story)
Today’s the last day of the Gearstorm kickstarter! It’s been a wild ride and I’d like to finish it by treating everyone to an action extravaganza of a story. This is the last story in my Gearstorm series and I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading them.
Enjoy!
Read MoreGearstorm: The Mars Blockade (Short Story)
I hope you all have been enjoying the Gearstorm short stories so far. Unfortunately, I’m pretty much out of ICA colony stuff. But there are a few other points in the history that I’d love to visit. Today we’re going back to get a glimpse of what went down in the Sol system after the ICA Vanguard made its desperate launch.
This will be the second-to-last story in the Gearstorm series. But I did promise a grand finale and that’s coming up. The very next post will be about a pivotal and hella-dramatic point in the history of Apollyon. I can’t wait for ya’ll to read it.
But for now, we’ll share a tough moment with the crew of the MSS Duty.
Read MoreGearstorm: What's Cooking? (Short Story)
Today we get to see our fictional ICA colony at around day 500 as a great discovery is revealed to our cast and crew.
But before you click read more, please help us out by visiting the Gearstorm kickstarter page or sharing it’s link around. We’re hoping to strap on the rocket-boosters the game needs to become its best.
If you’re knew to the Gearstorm series, I’d encourage you to start at the beginning with The Last Day at the ICA story.
Anyway, on to the show!
Read MoreThe sequel to Forever Fantasy Online is out today!
It’s here! It’s finally here! Last Bastion, book 2 in the FFO series, is out now in eBook and Audiobook on Amazon. I’m hopping with joy and uncomfortable levels of excitement right now folks. My poor dog is looking at me like I’m a lunatic. ^_^
The first reviews are starting to appear already and things are looking good. The wonderful TS Chan said that Last Bastion has a “Sanderson-esque level of addictiveness”. I’m absolutely floored by such praise!
Also, you can read the whole series for free if you have Kindle Unlimited. Which, by the way, please don’t worry about me if you do. Amazon pays authors on a per-page basis for KU. Someone reading the full FFO2 on Kindle Unlimited actually earns me more than an eBook sale. So it’s guilt-free all around.
I hope you all enjoy Last Bastion. It was a wild ride to write, that’s for sure.
Gearstorm: We don't believe in reincarnation
I’m glad ya’ll have enjoyed the Gearstorm stories so far. We still have high hopes on the kickstarter and it’s only half-done. Today I have another story for you. This one takes place after Day 1, Reboot Humanity and continues to focus on the oddities and dangers of the ICA colony.
If you are enjoying these shorts, please hop over to the game’s kickstarter page and take a look. Thanks!
Now, on to the fiction!
Read MoreGearstorm: Lore and History
If you’re curious to learn more of Gearstorms’s lore, I’m here today with some links for you.
"Apollyon...what a cruel fate for man's second Eden to be named so. That such a grim name comes from the highest bidder's list is, I find, a most fitting start to its prophecy of our destruction." -Jorg Neuman, Astrophysicist. 2191 AD.
Links inside the post. ^_^
Read MoreGearstorm: Day 1, Reboot Humanity (Short Story)
Hi everyone, the Gearstorm kickstarter is well under way and funding is rising. To help build awareness, I’m running up a series of short stories set in the Gearstorm setting. There’s gonna be a new one every few days and the last story will be a grande finale of space-zombie action.
Today’s offering is the ‘sequel’ to the first story (The Last Day at the ICA).
Read MoreGearstorm: The Last Day at the ICA
So, ya’ll remember that video game I was hinting at doing some writing for? Guess what - I can finally talk about it! The game is called Gearstorm and it’s a military sci-fi survival game. If base-building on an alien world infested with space-zombies is your thing, or might be your thing, check out the kickstarter. Also, keep reading cause I’ve got something special down below.
Anyway, Gearstorm is made by my friends over at Iron City Games. They’re a gutsy two-man game dev company and they’ve been inventing new wheels (like Unreal engine terrain generation algorithms) to put on this crazy game for almost five years now. So I really hope they succeed.
But today isn’t just me advertising my friends’ game, I come bearing gifts in the form of free fiction for you all! While working on the lore of the Gearstorm setting, I got all inspired and wrote some fun short-stories set in the world. These helped us get a feel for the game back when it was little more than rag-dolls and zombies.
So, without further adieu, I give you the start - the last day at the ICA.
Read MoreLast Bastion (FFO2) is available for pre-order
It’s time! After many months of hinting, I am proud to announce that the sequel to Forever Fantasy Online is coming out soon! As in April 30th, 2019.
Bonus: It’s a simultaneous release of the ebook and the audio book. (print will follow as always)
You’ll have to stay tuned for sample chapters as those are going up later. ^_~ But, without further adieu, I give you FFO book 2…
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