Category Archives: News

We recently switched to a new web host, I thought I had all the links working but just found out a good number of them don’t. My apologies. I’ve fixed the core rulebook download so that works again. The Players Handbook and the setting book links all work but some of the other downloads still don’t. I’ll be hunting these down and fixing them shortly.

Update: I found the problem. It was a small configuration error which has been corrected.

I will be GMing a game at Queen City Conquest on Saturday September 9th. If you’re interested and in the area come out and play!

I just got my new art tablet working. I have a big backlog of art to do and in amongst that backlog is the art for The Artifact’s last sourcebook Imbalance of Power. This is a chronological sourcebook rather than location-based. It’s events happen five years after the initial arrival on The Artifact and things are really changing.

The biggest hurdle I’ve had with this sourcebook is core to the story. In the quickstart The Warp and scattered in other sourcebooks and the website are hints to what’s happening in this book, but I’ve struggled with getting the feel just right.

As far as art, I’ve had the book fully illustrated for a long time now. Only the art looks dated now, so I have to redo a lot of it. I’ve been frustrated with my old art tablet, it works, but not well. It made drawing a frustrating process. This new tablet is much easier and I’m feeling like drawing again.

So watch this space, a new sourcebook might be on the way in the next few months.

I’ve been seeing a lot of international traffic to the website, welcome all! If you are reading this and would like to do an official translation of the book for your language, I can provide source material like maps and images. Technically you don’t even need my permission since the game is creative commons, but I’m willing to go a step further by providing my higher resolution images to make things easier.

I’m feeling mighty disgruntled lately about working on games. I probably did it to myself, but I’d like to talk about what’s been bothering me. I’m all for nostalgia. If something from your childhood gives you the warm an fuzzies, go ahead and bask in it. The problem I have is that there are huge numbers of RPG players out there that basically feel all they ever need to wear again is Underoos.

Not literally, I’m talking about the gaming equivalent. I mean Underoos were fun and all, but haven’t we grown past that? They’ve decided that games from their childhood is all they should ever run. That’s backwards, it’s reversion.

I think there’s something to be learned here from the rejection of modern games but it’s the rejection part that’s getting me down. Honestly, there’s always a lot of rejection going on in RPG circles, so that’s nothing new. It’s the rejection of anything that isn’t directly modeled on their nostalgia. When there are so many possibilities that could be explored in RPGs, they only want to revisit their childhood.

That’s not where I want to be though. I’d like to build on what the past has taught us. I want new players to come into the hobby, not having to relive my childhood, but find something demonstrably better.

I’m still alive! As to what I’m up to, I’ve been working on a space opera I’m calling Jump Temp and talking about it over at Store32. It’s almost done, but I just thought of an important rule that needs to be added today, so I’ll have to get at it. Jump Temp is almost done being written but needs more art. I just haven’t felt like drawing lately. If anyone wants to put art in a project, let me know in the comments.

As for the novel The Imbalance, I know what I want to write but I’ve just been having too much fun putting together Jump Temp to sit down and hammer out the next chapter. I started it, but each time I get a little time to write, I feel like working on rules or other fiddly bits.

I haven’t sat down lately to work on the last sourcebook for The Artifact, although I have talked about it with my son. He’s starting to play with some of the ideas in it and I really need that kind of feedback, because I don’t know if what I’ve written makes any sense to anyone but me. Although There’s work to do on some elements in the book, I think the core of the book is where I want it to be. It’s been my big worry, that the systems introduced aren’t coherent enough, but an intelligent 13 year old is able to throw them around easily enough, I’m pretty happy with that.

I’ve had a bunch of different thoughts going through my mind lately but they all lead to the same conclusion.

One is that I’d like to do something a bit revolutionary as far as game design is concerned. I’d like to bring RPGs into the 21st century.

Another has to do with a couple threads on an RPG forum. Among the respondents of those threads, there was a strong disregard for anyone trying to produce an RPG and trying to make some money. Now I’m not here to make money, but I think what I do has value, so the conversation struck me as disrespectful. If RPG enthusiasts look so poorly on the efforts of designers, then why would someone want to work for them?

A third thought is about sunk costs. In economics, it’s considered an error in logic to keep putting resources into something because you’ve already “sunk” a lot of resources into it. I’ve certainly sunk a lot of resources into making RPGs and I had plans to do a lot more.

Each thought is important to me. I have the desire and ability to do more game design but there is no reason for me to do it. I’m not designing for money, I’m not looking for accolades. But I put money and time into keeping these websites running. I’d like it if that was for something. I could easily play my games with friends and it would be a lot easier than trying to typeset everything exactly right, to have enough artwork to balance the text, to buy new software and equipment to handle a gigabyte and a half book file, to maintain these blogs and pay to keep them running.

I love designing and developing RPGs but does the RPG community care? Let’s be honest, for the most part, no. There are a few people that have cheered me on and I appreciate them immensely. They’ve been wonderful and I can’t thank them enough.

When I was about half as old as I am now, I saw something ugly. I was working for my Father in the construction industry, in the region where I live, people we were doing work for didn’t want us to succeed. They viewed us succeeding as them being ripped off. We started working in other parts of the country and guess what? People wanted us to succeed, they would help us to protect our profits when changes were made or when we had to compensate for mistakes by others. We started traveling all over to do work.

I think I need to do some metaphorical traveling. If I’m going to do design work, I need to leave this place I’m in and find a place that wants me to succeed.

Now be honest, when you read that last sentence, did you think “I want you to succeed?” There are about five people that I know that will, the majority of people probably are indifferent or even adversarial. That is a sad statement for the RPG community. Someone giving away product that they pour themselves into should not be someone you’d be indifferent to.

I’m not giving up. I’m not quitting, but if I’m going to do something to bring RPGs into the 21st century and find the place where I can succeed, I need to leave what has become comfortable behind. I’m going to have to develop new skills. That will take time. So for now, this is goodbye. I have a few projects that are mostly done. For closure I’ll probably finish them off.

I certainly hope that the lessons I’ve learned here will be useful wherever I travel to.

There’s something that video games, movies and tv have that RPGs traditionally don’t. Music.

The Artifact has a sound.

You can get it on the downloads page.

Thank you to Joachim Heise who’s the artist behind the sound. If you like his work, look at his other music at Absolution Ceramics.

It’s finally here! The Artifact Player’s Handbook is available as a hardcopy.

Order your own copy today!

Full color books are great, but what if you’re strapped for cash? What if you already have the full color book, but want another for passing around the table? What if you have a son like mine that destroys books?

For you, I introduce The Artifact RPG Economy Edition. The same great game, in black and white. You get the full book for less than half the price!