If at first you don't succeed

I was getting all cozy this morning, writing about Calidar's Amazing Flying Circus.  Here I am thinking about the look and feel of a magical circus populated with freaks and a menagerie of monsters, with weird stuff here and there.  I imagine a swirl of smells, noises, color, and movement all about, getting deeply immersed in the writing. . .

Boing!  "You Got Mail!"  (Cripes!  What?)  "Bruce, I lost your earlier e-mail. Can you resend those ads for Calidar?"

Groan.  Yeah, okay.  It's urgent.  Let's get this out of the way.

...back to writing.  I need an artifact hidden under the center ring.  That's it, and nobody owns that business, they're all owned by the circus enchantment. And...

Janet runs down the stairs.  "Back in an hour.  Gotta go take care of the dogs."

Hmm?  What?  Oh yeah, dem dang dawgs... Sure.  Drive safely.  Now, what was that about the circus magical thing? 

CC1 Calidar "Beyond the Skies"

So, what am I up to these days?

CAL2?  Not yet.  An adventure module?  Not quite yet either.  There’s been a lot of thinking about what is needed most at this point.  Several ideas came and went before I settled on the current project.  It is one that will cover a lot of ground, though once again the title refers to something hailing from the heavens.  It touches upon the people of Calidar, their histories, and the hearts of their cultures. I’m therefore pleased to announce the next title in the series expanding from the CAL1 "In Stranger Skies" core book:

I’ve let out the news that I was working on the gods of the Great Caldera, and have posted seven big blog articles as previews.  While the book gets fleshed out, this material will, of course, undergo further development and receive additional “meat.”  Certain details will also change to stay consistent with new ideas and directions.  In fact, a lot of extra content is forthcoming on this topic alone.  Other related concepts have emerged as well, making the whole genre of “spiritual patrons” and special powers a lot more substantial and broad-reaching.  This will affect how player characters are developed, and also provide additional dynamics to Calidar’s universe.

So, what does CC1 “Beyond the Skies” offer?  Here’s a general overview:

When Old is New

“Lair of the Vipermen” was a fun idea for a game demonstration at the Burlington Public Library introducing the World of Calidar.  The adventure, which borrowed mechanics from the D&D game’s old Basic/Expert version, took place on January 15^th.  The “dungeon” was fully written in advance, with an eye toward possibly publishing it as a standalone title later.  I’d made myself a promise to keep things short and sweet.  I succeeded, kind of.  The adventure still features three levels and some outdoor adventuring in the foothills of Meryath’s Matai Nui range.  Long story short: a second session will be needed to complete the party’s foray, and perhaps a third to complete the whole adventure.

A few days before the event, I went digging into my trove of old D&D figurines.  I found my old box (nay: ancient, I should say) from Grenadier Models: “Wizards Room” Ref. #2009.  Its pieces had already been assembled in a diorama, which now sits in a larger box.  In the Grenadier’s box, instead, I’d stored original gaming pieces from my (AD&D 1st ed) campaign of 1982, thirty-year-old figurines with which I’d started my gaming hobby.  

Happy New Year 2015

©2014 Art by Terzaa -- please visit http://terzaaa.deviantart.com/

Introductory Game Session

*Special Event*

Bruce Heard will be running a role-playing game session introducing The World of Calidar on Wednesday evening, January 14th 2015, at the Burlington (WI) Public Library, from 06:30pm to 09:00pm.

The next session is scheduled for February 11th.

The game system used will be D&D/BECMI. No prior experience with tabletop gaming is needed (just bring an open mind and a sense of humor). For further information, please contact the library at:

https://www.facebook.com/burlingtonwipubliclibrarypg

or: http://www.burlingtonlibrary.com/

Happy Holidays!

©2013-2014 DragonosX  Please visit http://dragonosx.deviantart.com/

Critical Hit!

     
  Soon after I woke up and while I was having my morning coffee, I discovered a kind e-mail from a friend who brought to my attention #Calidar's rating on EnWorld.org 

Thanks to all of you who jumped in and put in their two-cents' worth!  That this happened largely on Thanksgiving is amusing.  The image's comment says this:

Fun with stats: Calidar, In Stranger Skies is ranked #1 out of 17 products with 10 or more reviews, placing it in the 100% percentile. It is rated 20.8 points higher than the overall average product rating of 79.2%. With 10 reviews, this is the #15 most reviewed product.

Rated by 10 readers at 100% who deem this a CRITICAL HIT. This should be part of your collection. 

Read all 10 reviews | Write Your Own

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

Black Blood in the Night: Player Characters Listing

Thief: T6, AC4, hp24, MV 120’(40’), THAC0 17, AT 1 sword, Dmg d6+1, Save T6, AL N; St12, In11, Wi10, Dx17, Co13, Ch15. Abilities: OpLk40, FnTr35, RmTr34, CmWa92, MvSi44, HdSh32, PkPk45, HrNs54, RdLg80; backstab for double damage; has skyship sails operations skill (Intelligence); Follower of Istra: +1 to ability checks when performed with unusual panache. Equipment: +1 short sword, +1 leather armor, potion of invisibility, ring of fire resistance, scroll of protection from undead.

Prior of Soltan: C5, AC3, hp28, MV 90’(30’), THAC0 17, AT 1 sword, Dmg d6+2/+5, Save C5, AL L; St13 In10, Wi17, Dx11, Co15, Ch12. Abilities: Turn Undead; Clerical Spells: I (x4), II (x2); +1 bonus to attack rolls with flaming sword; Soltan’s limited prescience (+2 bonus to Initiative once per day); reads old Tanethian (-4 penalty to Intelligence check to converse in that language); has Ancient Religions Lore skill (Intelligence). Equipment: +1/+3 flaming sword, +1 chain mail, +1 shield, ring of regeneration.

Fighter: F5, AC-3, hp35, MV 90’(30’), THAC0 17, AT 1 sword, Dmg d8+4, Save F5, AL L; St17, In10, Wi12, Dx13, Co15, Ch11. Abilities: as a follower of Odin gains +1 bonus to Wisdom checks; enjoys skyship helmsman skill (Wisdom). Equipment: +2 sword, +1 plate armor (total +3 bonus to saving throws), +1 shield, potion of heroism, bag of holding.

Dwarf: D5, AC3, hp40, MV 90’(30’), THAC0 17, AT 1 axe or light crossbow, Dmg d6+4 or d6+1, Save D5, AL N; St16, In12, Wi13, Dx11, Co16, Ch10. Abilities: infravision; as a faithful of Khrâlia possesses basic knowledge of rocks and precious stones; has skyship engineering/carpentry skills (Intelligence). Equipment: +2 battleaxe, +1 crossbow, +2 chain mail, potion of super-healing.

Magic User: MU5, AC6, hp20, MV 120’(40’), THAC0 19, AT 1 staff, Dmg 2d6, Save MU5, AL N; St10, In17, Wi11, Dx15, Co13, Ch12. Abilities: as a follower of the Great Turtle gains a +1 bonus to saves vs. magical attacks; has charting/navigation skill (Intelligence). Wizard spells: I (x4), II (x2), III (x1). Equipment: +1 dagger, staff of striking, +2 ring of protection, scroll of communication. Spell book: I. analyze, detect magic, light, magic missiles, protection from evil, read languages, read magic; II. detect evil, invisibility, knock, wizard lock; III. lightning bolt, haste.

Elf: E5, AC2, hp28, MV 120’(40’), THAC0 17, AT 1 bow or sword, Dmg d6+2 or d8+2, Save E5, AL L; St15, In16, Wi10, Dx14, Co13, Ch10. Abilities: immune to ghoul paralysis, detect secret doors, infravision; as a follower of Delathien, enjoys basic knowledge of plants; possesses Ancient Ships Lore skill (Intelligence -4). Wizard spells: I (x4), II (x2), III (x1). Equipment: +2 long bow, +1 sword, +1 banded mail, elven boots. Spell book: I. charm person, floating disk, hold person, light, shield, read magic, ventriloquism; II. levitate, mirror image, web; III. dispel magic, protection from normal missiles.

Note: the first player whose character is eliminated gets to run Constable Crayne (who decides to rejoin the party to check up on them first hand).

Oh, man!  Now *THAT's* scary! Hooooo...

Calidar Softcover Approved

After many troubles related entirely to internal issues at DTRPG and Lightning Source (the printer), the softcover version of Calidar's book finally earned its approval.  I received a clean proof yesterday, Sept. 30th, and straight away ordered copies for the backers who wanted them.  It'll take a few weeks for everyone to receive their packages. General sales on DTRPG will be available later today (I'll amend the related page on this blog this morning). Here are a few pictures.

Calidar General Sales Are On!

At long last Calidar's hardcover book, its PDF files, and the poster maps are now available for general sales. If you missed the original Kickstarter, now is the time to jump in! 

Click here to locate the links

Calidar Sales Kickoff

Many among you who missed Calidar's original Kickstarter event, along with backers who picked an entry-level tier, have been asking: "when and where will I be able to get all that good stuff?"

Fret not!  This day is fast coming.  

I placed the answer to your question in a separate page to be easier to locate later on.  Sorry for the redirect.  Click here for the right location, or at the top of the blog page on the tab labeled:

Where Can I Get Calidar?

Sending Kickstarter Rewards

You know what they say about the best laid plans.  So far, the book's softcover version still lies with the printer, waiting to be cleared.  It's now been ten days, a longer period than the hardcover book demanded, which is basically identical save for its cover format.  I sent a query to DTRPG and am waiting for an answer on the reason for this unexplained delay.  At this point, it seems unfair to hold up the entire fulfillment as a consequence, especially considering nearly three quarters of Calidar's backers are either at the Admiral or Captain tiers, which both call for hardcover books.  I hope you will agree with me that fulfillment should begin now.

So here's the plan.  

• Today or Tomorrow: I'll ship the packages to those Admiral backers who did not order a softcover book.  Four will be withheld until the softcover books come in.  Delivery should take in most cases a week to ten days. [Update: 9/9/2014 10:03 am, first batch of Admiral tier packages dropped off at post office.]
• This week: I'll process hardcover book rewards on DTRPG so shipping can begin.  In general for the USA, figure ten days or more for the books to be printed and shipped (remember, these are printed on demand).  Those intended for overseas addresses will ship directly from the UK.  Delivery could take from a few more days in western Europe to at least three weeks everywhere else. [Update: 09/12/2014, most of the hardcover books for foreign backers have been ordered via DTRPG.  General order processing, printing, & handling will likely take about a week.  For delivery to Western Europe, figure another 5-10 days.  For delivery everywhere else overseas, figure another 3-7 weeks.  For Brazil, I'll have to send those via USPS from Burlington WI.  Hardcover books will be likely processed on 09/13/2014.  09/13/2014, hardcover books ordered for Canada; unfortunately, due to Canada's crazy customs regulations, printing & shipping will be from the UK; delivery is now 3-7 weeks, and I'm shaking my head in utter frustration.  Also on 09/13/2014, hardcover books ordered for the USA; delivery time is 2-4 weeks incl. printing & handling.]      
• Later this week: I'll drop off at the local post office the six bins of padded mailers with the poster maps.  For delivery in continental USA, figure about a week or less, and anywhere from a week to ten days everywhere else (depending on where you reside, international mail can take longer). [Update: 9/10/2014 08:41 am, poster maps mailed to foreign addresses. 09/11/2014 08:47 am, poster maps mailed to US addresses with est. delivery mostly on 09/15. Watch your mail!  Some have already been delivered as of 09/12/2014.]
• Over the weekend: (or earlier) I'll process online PDF files for all backers.  These will come in the form of a DTRPG coupon emailed to your accounts.  You can redeem these coupons at DTRPG.com in order to obtain your copies of the PDF files. [Update: 09/14/2014, all coupons  for the full PDF version of "In Stranger Skies" have been e-mailed from DTRPG.  Watch your spam boxes!  09/14/15, two coupons were mailed, one Sunday and the other today, Sept. 15th.  The first coupon turned out to be for a bundled download of three PDFs, which does work.  The one sent today was redundant and does not work anyway.  Sorry for the confusion.  Airman-level backers have not yet received their coupons.  They will as soon as the above issue is resolved with DTRPG's tech staff.]

If the softcover book is approved today, I still have to order a proof copy from DTRPG to verify that it is printed correctly.  This can take ten days or more before I receive it.  If no corrections are needed, I can then process through DTRPG the remainder of the rewards.  Timing is the same as described in the bullet points above.  If corrections are necessary (let's hope not), this could add another two weeks or more to the process.  Alas, those softcover books intended for the four Admiral backers who requested them still need to be sent to me (after the proof copy's final approval) so I can package them with the rest of their rewards.
[Update: 09/13/2014, unfortunately, a correction was required for the softcover book. DTRPG remains entirely at fault for failing to update their web site which showed obsolete printing options. Consequently, our cover spine isn't of the right size.  The corrected files have been uploaded this morning.  The new expected timetable is: printer's approval next week; receipt of the printer's proof late the following week (at the earliest); possibly passing orders for the softcover books immediately afterward *if* the proof is correct.]

The situation isn't ideal, but at least things are finally moving.  Keep your eyes open for e-mails and packages.  [Update: 09/13/2014, Some have already begun to arrive.]  Thanks again for your support and for making this project possible.

Update: 09/17/2014, I received notification from the printer that hardcover books have shipped from both UK and US plants.  For most of you, this means it'll be a few more days before your receive your books.  For destinations in Asia/Pacific, figure about 10 days.  Woot!

Update: 09/17/2014 at 02:00pm, DTRPG coupons to download Calidar's Airman Edition and Under the Great Vault PDFs have been sent to Kickstarter backers at the Airman tier.  By now all backers should have received links to download their PDFs.  Please contact DTRPG's customer service (or me, privately) if you're still experiencing difficulties obtaining your PDFs

Update: 09/26/2014, the softcover version of the book has finally received approval from the printer.  I've ordered the proof.

Update: 10/01/2014, Received the softcover proof from the printer.  Looks good (see today's blog post).  I immediately ordered the books still due to the remaining Kickstarter backers.  Delivery should take place within 1-3 weeks for the USA and Western Europe, 3-7 weeks everywhere else.  Some of the books ordered earlier and poster maps are still reaching their destinations as of Sept. 30th.

Update: 10/06/2014, the softcover books have shipped to both US and foreign addresses. 
   

Printer's Proof Received

Calidar takes another step forward.

The printer delivered the book's proof copy yesterday.  The UPS fellow left the box outside, at my door, and drove away without ringing my bell.  Since it was a stormy day, this could have been bad.  But I was expecting his visit, so I rushed downstairs and grabbed it.  Before going further, I'll post a few pictures of the book for a sneak preview of the real thing.

 

Off to the Printer

At long last, Calidar's book has been submitted to the printer.  We're now awaiting to clear premedia (format approvals).  We'll get an answer in the coming days.  DTRPG's staff isn't returning from Gen Con until Tuesday 19th, so this might have an impact on timing.  Next stop: either more alterations to the file or I'll order a pre-press version of the hardback to be mailed to me for final approval.  I'll post a few pictures.  Here's a montage of what the internals look like for your enjoyment.

As soon as the hardbound book is approved, the soft cover version will follow, along with the various PDF documents intended for digital releases only, which include the book's main PDF, the Airman's version with just the Star Phoenix's story, and the release titled "Under the Great Vault" which is the compilation of the kickstarter short stories.  We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

There were delays during the original layout process which swallowed yet another week's worth of time.  Thankfully, Thorfinn stepped up to the bat and scored another home run, addressing successfully a number of unresolved issues. He smacked that ball over the fence and out of the park.  I'd like to take the opportunity to thank him for his stalwart support of the project.  His contribution has been above and beyond the call of duty.

Hail to this Hero!

And don't miss his new page, on Google + or on Facebook.

Thorfinn's Calidar Presentation

I think I would be remiss if I failed to post this here as well, since it has begun popping up in various places already this morning.  Thorfinn's awesome presentation works as well as a charming introduction to the World of Calidar as it does showcasing his skills has a professional cartographer.  I'm certain at this point, Thorfinn is available for freelance work.  I couldn't recommend anyone else's talents more to any publisher.  I'll let you enjoy the tour and the lilt of his lovely accent.

On a Sail and a Prayer (Part Two)

As I pointed out earlier, there are many more skyship designs than the six presented in the previous article. Today I’d like to focus on a Calidaran concept—at least its “alpha” version.  A “beta” will be needed eventually, and you’ll discover why in a moment.  This skyship is not intended to appear in the upcoming book release.

I present you the Spirit of Osriel. It is the result of an association between a human trader of Lorical and a dwarven engineer who’d emigrated to the merchant republic a few decades ago. Her Grace Felìcita Calitani, a prominent figure at the capital city, sought a vessel relying on winds as its main propulsion, but with a secondary device ensuring safe travel during adverse conditions.  Thus was born the Spirit of Osriel, a steam-powered paddle wheel boat fitted with masts and an enchanted hull to make it airworthy.  Its design flaws soon came to light, the first being the amount of space the dwarven-built engines required, along with their blackstone stores and water tanks.  Freight capacity was therefore reduced accordingly.  Regular supplies of blackstone proved expensive and unpredictable.  With few sails, it couldn’t go as fast as dedicated sailing skyships.  Yet the idea remained attractive.  None of Felìcita’s competitors owned such a vessel, and the ability to reach a destination slowly but safely despite the Great Caldera’s fitful weather became an advantage to her and clients wishing to hire the vessel.  Sails luffing amid the clouds, masts creaking and groaning, funnels spouting sooty billows, and engines thumping faithfully below deck, the Spirit of Osriel specialized in carrying passengers as well as small but precious cargo.

On a Sail and a Prayer

One of Calidar’s objectives is to depict a world whose skies are ruled by flying ships, and whose people yearn to conquer their corner of space.  Naturally, I won’t get into too much detail before the book’s release, but I can give a glimpse of skyship design and styling.

Inspired from Earth’s Age of Sail, most human and elven airborne vessels are powered by atmospheric or ethereal wind, at least as regards short distances and battles.  The dwarves of Kragdûr rely instead on pressurized, steam-powered vessels.  On Calidar, the main races live in close proximity to each other.  Some of their skyships combine different technologies relying on wind, magic, and mechanical power.  When space travel is involved, each culture exploits a different technique to overcome the vast distances between their worlds.

Behind the Maps (Part 3)

I’m pleased to announce that Meryath’s poster map is ready to go to the printer.  This one’s story is as long as the Great Caldera’s (see my previous blog articles).  The two were developed concurrently, as soon as we had a viable coastal outline.  Some of Meryath’s geographical details carried over to the Great Caldera map, while some of latter’s graphic styling, especially the labels’ fonts and color scheme, found its way into Meryath’s poster map after Thorfinn and I settled final cosmetic details.

At a glance, Meryath’s poster map relates directly to Mystara’s Gazetteer maps, although hex symbols were altered to avoid copyright issues.  Our favorite Master Cartographer designed new topographical symbols (hills, mountains, forests, etc) and selected their colors.  I drew the tower, village, and various town symbols, besides generating basic map details.

Happy Birthday, Thorfinn!

May fate shower upon you, O Master Cartographer, felicity, good fortune, and endless maps of fantasy!

Behind the Maps (Part 2)

Dealing with Alfdaín presented the challenge of generating Elvish names without sounding too much like a Tolkien-wannabe.  The names used here blend Nordic-sounding syllables, old English/Germanic, and Breton Celtic. I reverted to plain modern English for geographical features, like bays, forests, and mountains.  I may yet invent a new language, as I already did for the dwarves.  Instilling some rhyme and reason to all these fancy words may be just the thing I’ll do when the time comes to focus on Alfdaín (or Alorea).  This parenthetical reference does bring up another issue.  While rereading the manuscript, I noticed a curious discrepancy.  All accents in Alfdaín names rise toward the right. However, there is the Alorean society called Tòrr-Gàrraidh whose accents rise toward the left.  If you’re tending toward OCD, the compulsion is to fix the disturbing detail, immediately nudging all accents to lean the same way.  But no-no-no: any OCD predisposition on my side rests backwards and upside-down (especially on even-numbered days).  I decided that Alorean accents should aim one way and Alfdaín’s the other, if you get my penchant.  The logic behind the offending accents is a form of subtle intellectual mutiny only making sense among elves (and French readers).  Elven grammarians on either side will never agree on which is the right way and, if given the opportunity, will probably come to bold words (no doubt appropriately accented) and italic blows over their diverging linguistic standards.  The dwarves quietly snicker at the oh-so pedantic conflict.  Their accents look like miniature mountains (sans serif), making everyone there ever so smug about their stonelike cultural rectitude.

Behind the Maps

Putting together the main poster map for the World of Calidar has been a major project. On the one hand there was a long learning curve for Thorfinn Tait, the project’s Master Cartographer, to handle the array of software generating the map’s terrain detail, color, and texture. On the other hand, work quality had to be high because this map is the one from which most others will derive. The structure of the Calidar series calls for each book focusing on a particular area of the world, like the original Princess Ark episodes in Dragon Magazine twenty years ago. The starting point is the Great Caldera, Calidar’s “Known World.” It features ten realms, although some of them include vassal powers that could be treated separately. The main source map must therefore be detailed, exciting, and as perfectly rendered as possible for close-up work. Here are a few sample images that will give you an idea of what went into this map.

Voices of Calidar

I'm about to begin work on map labels for the Great Caldera poster map. The map itself is practically complete, thanks to Thorfinn Tait's tenacious efforts. Coming up with hundreds of unique, cool-sounding, and evocative map labels is usually a thankless, fastidious, if not mind-numbing process. I probably will generate many of the tags myself, but I thought I'd extend an invitation to anyone willing to pitch in. If you're interested, pick one of the realms, as defined below, and organize labels as shown at the end of this message. You can post them as comments here or on the original discussion thread (for the sake of feedback and such). Please don't kill yourself with hundreds of names. Keep your list to a manageable length. There is no guarantee I'll use all your suggestions (or use them without modification), but they will certainly help. I included a few below to give you some ideas of where I'm going with the various nations, etymologically or as far as their approximate ethnic consonances are concerned.

Meryath: all done! (But you already knew that, didn't you?) These are mostly Polynesian in style with Greco-Byzantine influences.

Ellyrium: pseudo-Greek-Byzantine, with some Romanian influence (more or less in Karameikos style if you will) -- Teosopolis, Teosion, Hadradas, Hurion, Lamazu, Rasku, Arathon, Taitu, Lammathu, Mormion, Bellerion, Antas, Nervion, Gynaion, Arthenion, Trithon, Locathas, Minothas, Aranion, Basilion, Elyrikos, Antiatis, Temenopolis, Thrakesian, Helioklios, Erebos, etc. Many of these came from Meryath's early map and got moved since then to Ellyrium proper. So I do have a head start here.

Of Glantri and Time-Travel

I got a tap on the shoulder yesterday about GAZ3 Principalities of Glantri getting translated into French.  Thanks to the good work of the fans at Donjon du Dragon, the D&D Game fan site east of the Channel, and in particular of the mysterious translator by the name of Squilnozor.  Thank you!  I rushed to peek at the result—a most impressive PDF at first glance, free for registered members.  Nearly thirty years ago, the French market was blessed with official hardcopy translations of the Basic and Expert sets, IIRC, and the first two Gazetteers—barely enough to whet a gamer’s appetite.  Since then, the fans have taken over, filling the gaping void left by TSR.  Seems strangely familiar, doesn’t it?

You might wonder why I post this here, given that the majority of this blog’s readers are English speakers who already have access to the original print or to the PDF recently released by WotC on DTRPG.  It’s a source of nostalgia for me to find both the American and French versions on an equal footing, sort of, at least as far as PDF files are concerned.

I wrote GAZ3 on a freelance basis while employed at TSR.  This meant feverishly designing and giggling maniacally in my office at home, late into the night.  Details of how I generated this much material in a few short months, besides being married and having a full-time job, faded amid the fog of decades past.  I do remember being awfully busy.  All things considered, I also recall some pointed comments from my ex about not paying quite as much attention to her as she felt I should.  In retrospect, she was probably justified.  This in part explains why I didn’t go into turbo mode and write a whole lot more Gazetteers.

Happy Easter!