Lycan’s Bane to the Printer!

On May 2nd the first adventure set in the Realms of Twilight setting was released in its digital format on www.paizo.com and www.drivethrurpg.com.  As exciting as this was the project still wasn’t finished.  Yesterday I approved the printed proofs of Lycan’s Bane for our first print run.  I know many of you are fans of the artwork done by Jocelyn Sarvida, but you have not yet been able to see her work in its full glory due to the cost of printing the Campaign Setting in color.  Well, with Lycan’s Bane you will get your first real look at the quality of her work.  This adventure (a 42 page 8.5″ x11″ soft cover book) is being printed in full color.  The cover and interior artwork were done, as usual, by Jocelyn Sarvida and the cartography was done by Michael Arrington.  Both of which did a fantastic job.

If the printer can keep to the deadline I’ve given them (and I have confidence they will) I will have the printed copies available by the 1st of June.  They will likely only be available at the Realms of Twilight Marketplace, so keep an eye out for it.

I hope you all enjoy the adventure and the artwork within.

Until next week, good gaming to all.

Announcing NORM THE GNOME!!!

Well, I’m sure some of you are curious about who our legendary bard is going to be at Gencon this year.  Perhaps a bit intrigued?  Well, it took me a while to find him and get him to book the trip, but we’ve got Norm the Gnome!  He has great credentials, including graduating from the College of Song in the northern city of Requiem, telling tales for the King Balingaugh of Valin and his court, and performing at Nightshade’s Comfort, a very well known high end venue in the capital city of the Illurian Empire.

Norm has graciously agreed to be present at Silver Crescent Publishing’s booth at Gencon for the entire weekend!  Well, portions of each day anyway.  He will have scheduled times that he will be performing, telling tales he has acquired throughout his travels and studies in the world of Relistan.  While I haven’t yet heard the tales he will be telling, rest assured he will at the very least entertain us all!

I look forward to seeing you all in a few months.  Stop in and say hi to Norm and enjoy a tale or two.

Until then, good gaming to you all.

Gencon 2011

Silver Crescent Publishing will officially be attending Gencon in Indianapolis, Indiana this year.  I have already booked a booth in entreprenuer’s avenue.  I went as an attendee and it was a huge event.  I think the final tally was over 30,000 people that came through visting booths and experiencing gaming on a whole new level.  I learned a lot by looking at the booths last year.  I saw many thinks that seemed to work and some things that didn’t.  I could go on for quite a while on my experiences last year (and I’m sure I will at some point) but for now let me tkae a moment to mention a few things we are thinking about for our booth this year.  Feel free to comment with any suggestions or opinions you might have on these.

1) We will be having a bard, dressed in costume, that will be reciting stories and legends from the Realms of Twilight setting.

2) We will be having a drawing for a large (36″ x 48″) color printing of the world of Relistan on canvas.

3) For sale will be the campaign setting hardcover book, Lycan’s Bane (the first adventure in the Realms of Twilight World) and Into the Night, a novel set in the Illurian Empire as well as several prints bookmarks and buttons to display the work of our outstanding artists.

This is just the first post about Gen Con, with many more to come.  Can you tell that excitement is running rampant?  Anyway, until further news presents itself, good gaming and have a good weekend.

Happy Yule!!!

I know I am a few days late for Yule and a few days early for Christmas but Happy Holidays(!) all the same.  As I’m sure you all know I’ve been working hard on trying to get something out to you by the end of the year.  Unfortunately it now doesn’t look like it will happen.  There have been some snags on the Lycan’s Bane project that have set its release date back a bit.

I would also like to mention that it has not yet been determined whether the Lycan’s Bane adventure will be released only in PDF format or if it will be released in print as well.  I would appreciate any feedback and opinions people have regarding this so I can decide what the best course of action is.

The second printing of the Realms of Twilight Campaign Setting is on the horizon.  There have been a few edits to the book since the first printing.  Most of them have been wording fixes to more clearly communicate descriptions and such.  Others are just some formating issues that have been resolved.  I intend to release a free downloadable PDF that talks about the changes made so those of you who have purchased a print cpy will have an update as well.  As far as I can remember right now, no significant rule changes have been made.

That’s all I’ve got for now.   I hope you all have a great holiday and a happy New Year!

Realms of Twilight edited material

With every major project (particularly in the roleplaying game industry) there are always a number of things that are edited out for various reasons.  Perhaps it just didn’t fit with the theme of the book, or it was cut to maintain the length of book within the set limits.  well, today I give you the first glimpse into some of the material that was edited out of the Realms of Twilight Campaign Setting book.

While designing the Combat Alchemist class there were a number of alchemical mixtures that there simply wasn’t enough room for.  I tried to keep with the already established quasi-magical premise of alchemical items, but in ancient times alchemy and mysticism were one and the same.  Several of the mixtures that were removed were the more mystic types such as the Essence of Earth that has an effect similar to a lesser stoneskin spell.  There were several grenade-type mixtures that were also edited out.  The Frost Bomb series (lesser, normal and greater) were removed as well as acid type grenades.

Many of these you can expect to see in supplement books as they are released.  I’m always interested in hearing ideas for alchemical mixtures as well.  If you have suggestions feel free to email them to me.  Just be sure that they do not exactly mimic spells, or at the very least are less powerful than an equivalent level spell.  The Combat Alchemist is intended to be a versatile class, but in doing so they are not as good at any one thing as classes that specialize in those areas (clerics or wizards for example).

That is it for now.  I hope you enjoyed your first glimpse into the vaults of Silver Crescent Publishing.  Until next week, good gaming to you all.

Outstanding Artist Returns!

I am thrilled to announce that Jocelyn Sarvida, the artist who created much of the imagery for the Realms of Twilight campaign setting, and worked on its cover, has agreed to work on the Lycan’s Bane adventure project.  She has agreed to work on interior artwork as well as the cover art for the adventure.

And there was much rejoicing… YEAH!

I’m currently working on an arrangement for the encounter maps for the adventure that I think will turn out very positive.  Once that agreement is settled I will announce the name of the artist for those.  Until then and as always, good gaming to you all.

Demo at Comic Quest in Evansville

On October 30th, I am going to be running a demo adventure at Comic Quest on Morgan Avenue in Evansville, IN.  The adventure is entitled Lycan’s Bane and will start between 5 and 5:30 PM.  There are 6 pre-generated characters that can be played for this adventure.  They include a half-elf summoner (with a serpentine eidolon from the Advanced Player’s Guide), a half-orc fighter wielding a scythe, a valshari cleric of Steelight Shadowborne, a gnome rogue, a valshari wizard and a human monk.  The setting is in the Illurian Empire on the continent of Kesuril.  I look forward to seeing any of you who are local there on the 30th.  The characters will be first come first serve so the earlier you get there the more likely the character you want will be available.

Curiosity Poll

One of the things we are looking at is creating a world book for each continent.  If I did this post right you’ll find the poll below.  Voice your opinion.  It’ll have impact on what we choose for our first continent!

Upcoming Projects

August and the first part of September has been a very busy time for us.  We have a lot of projects in the works, and we are making good progress on all of them.  Here is a list of our current projects for your perusal:

A periodical containing at least 4 full adventures spanning 3 continents (format inspired by Dungeon Magazine).

A Whispered Requiem (working title): a 3-section adventure set in the nothern city-states on the continent of Kesuril.

Investigating the creation of spell cards and mixture cards as supplementary material for the Realms of Twilight Campaign Setting.

Into the Night: The first novel in the Master of Shadows trilogy, set primarily in the Illurian Empire.

The search for new artistic talent: With all of the projects going on, Silver Crescent Publishing is looking for a few new artists that can do anything from line-art maps (for the beginning of the Into the Night novel) to fuill page, full color cover and interior art.  Post a comment if you are interested in applying for a contract for these works.

The investigation of which continent the first world book supplement should focus on: Thus far Kesuril is on the top of the list for the focus of the first world book.  Though I’m sure there are plenty of people whose opinions haven’t been heard yet.  Voice them now!  We are waiting.

So, as you can see we’ve got a lot going on.  And on top of that we are beginning a marketing campaign for the Realms of Twilight Campaign Setting hardcover book and PDF.  Keep us posted with what you think.  Feedback is a must for any publisher to succeed.  I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Progress Report

Well, things have gone well over the past week.  PDF sales are ever increasing, development of several projects is continuing and we are getting some good suggestions through various pathways about our products and marketing plans.

The most immediate additions to our library include a free 9 page sample of the Realms of Twilight Campaign Setting book.  This will be available at paizo.com as well as our new partner drivethrurpg.com.  Drivethrurpg.com also has both the PDF version of the Realms of Twilight Campaign Setting and the Legends & Histories Volume 1 eBook.  We are considering putting these two PDF products together in a package for an overall savings, but the release of that possibility has yet to be determined.

The short adventure called Lycan’s Bane is also over half way done.  Maps still need to be created and the final stage of the adventure still needs to be written, but it is coming along quickly.  The first large, three-part adventureset on the continent of Kesuril is also moving along well.  I’m excited about being able to present both to are ever growing fan base.

Thanks for your continued support and suggestions.  I hope we at Silver Crescent Publishing can continue to give you guys what you want to see.

Good gaming to you all.