There is a lot of RPG discussion happening on Google+, and now that the service is open to the public, I would love to have you take part in it.
If you have an account, just click the links below, leave a comment there (this is important, or won’t get my RPG posts), and add us to a circle. I’ve also included a list of great people worth following on the service.
If you prefer Twitter or Facebook, don’t worry. We’ll continue our sporadic updates there as well. Tyson uses Twitter, whereas I prefer Google+, so there should be discussion to be found wherever you go.
[SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't had a chance to check out our FREE TPA adventure Flight 101 then do so now as I'm about to dissect it in detail]
Adventure rewrites are exhausting and tough. We learned a ton from releasing the first act of TPA; layout choices, adventure designs, writing styles, how to edit and play test our game. During a recent playtest I began to think about our choice in adventure design, specifically running an adventure on rails. We chose to write our adventures on rails purely because it fit well with our setting. When Daisy sends out the agents into the world she does so with a plan in mind (the adventure) which makes it easy to guide the players as we have an in-game reason for them to follow the path set out. As players we hate feeling that we’re on rails that our choices don’t matter, but when given the illusion of choice we think it’s the greatest game ever.
The Patriot pre-gen was my first character idea for TPA; I fell in love with him at first thought. Daisy had always been designed to choose the agents that were best suited for the task. Agents couldn’t volunteer, train, or even will themselves into the TPA. They had to be chosen. The concept that this strong jawed, ex-government type not only wanted to volunteer but was actively throwing himself into danger was bit of a wet dream; he was perfect. The Patriot unlocked a number of writing bits for us, we began to understand the greater mythos of the world, and we had a great deal of fun deciding how he’d likely react to things. We began weaving these ideas into our adventures, planning bits for all of our character types (PUSH LITTLE CART!). Backstory can be mind blowing when used correctly and can be developed using a couple of simple rules.
Part of the fun of a TPA campaign is that it’s set in the real world, today. Inspiration for a mission can easily be found in the news or on Wikipedia. Take for example, the Phillips explosion of 2000. On March 27th, 2000 (which coincidentally, is the day Daisy went live), an explosion in a polyethylene plant killed one and injured seventy one people. This could be the basis of an adventure. The most obvious possibility is to have the PCs stop it or a similar industrial accident. But what about some other ideas?
As most of you may have read we found out a little over a week ago that we made the first cut of ENnie nomination’s. Our biggest thanks to the judges but now its up to you our readers to help us take home the win. Please help us by voting for Apathy!
Voting takes about 30 seconds, is open to everyone, and doesn’t require registration. You can vote in just the Best Electronic Book category, if you like, and voting is open through July 24th.
I woke up this morning and began my day checking my e-mail/social media updates as always and found this nice little message from ChoaticGM (@ChoaticGM)
My morning brain was confused by the congrats then woke up enough to point out the fact that I should probably go check the ENnie Awards website. My phone almost lazily pulls up this years nomination list. I began thumbing down trying to find our name. It takes me two passes through the entire list to finally find it. I found it in one of the best lists we can be in:
Early this week we received a fantastic e-mail from a reader and TPA fan. I found it so amusing I immediately read it to my wife, the baby, in womb, and sent it on to the entire Apathy crew. After I was finished nerding out I asked for permission to repost the letter to all of you and share how awesome our fans are.
I want to thank everyone who entered the contest, and do apologize deeply for not drawing the winners sooner. I will make no excuse for what happened but will vow it won’t happen again in future contests, thank you.
So as we announced we’d be entering everyones entries and picking three at random, the first drawing would win the grand prize, a copy of the Complete Pack (All Three Acts, and the Agent’s Handbook, with the follow up drawings winning the Agency Core (Act 1, and the Agent’s Handbook).
We loved everyone’s entries and are proud to announce the following winners:
It’s the end of the line for the TPA Complete Pack. If you want to get in on the special $9.99 price, you must act by the end of the day on July 7th.
The complete pack comes with the Agent’s Handbook, Act I of To Predict and Serve, and will be updated to include Acts II and III when they become available.
I was quite honored when Aaron of Mystical Throne Entertainment approached me to write a developers diary, and a round robin Q&A for Savage Insider Vol. 1. Not only do I get to ramble on about my favorite Savage setting, but I get to join the ranks of White Haired Man, Reality Blurs, and Triple Ace Games as actual licensees; recognized and everything!