Work continues...
about 9 years ago – Mon, Mar 06, 2017 at 06:07:25 PM

Work continues on the Asatania Crashing Chaos campaign.

I've spent the last week primarily on the Asatania Campaign Guide and ASX-4 Rock Point Keep. The campaign guide is mostly written, though I'm waiting for ASX-1 The New Mine Masters to come in before I can call it done. Our editor has been working on the text that is available and cleaning things up.

I also worked on expanding ASX-4 Rock Point Keep and it is more or less where I want it in terms of content. Our editor will turn his attention to that once the guides are finished up.

I received and approved a plot outline from the writer I hired for ASX-1 The New Mine Masters and I am hoping to receive a draft of that soon.

AS-4 Released and Status Update
over 9 years ago – Fri, Jul 08, 2016 at 08:23:29 PM

AS-4 The Rebel Prince is Now Available

The Rebel Prince has been released to BackerKit and everyone who asked for RPGNow/DriveThruRPG distribution should also have a copy available there.

This adventure is the culmination of the Crashing Chaos story arc of the Asatania campaign and sets the players up perfectly for future arcs. 

This adventure sets a major challenge in front of the players as they need to find a way to rally the townsfolk of Harborhume to throw out an occupying force. Stealth, diplomacy and combat are all viable options to overcome the obstacles.

I've had a lot of fun writing and playing this adventure, and I hope you do as well.

Status Update

AS-1 Face Down in a Muddy Road - PUBLISHED
AS-2 Smoke on the Horizon - PUBLISHED
AS-3 Muscle, Sinew, and Wood - PUBLISHED
AS-4 The Rebel Prince - PUBLISHED

ASX-1 The New Mine Masters - I loved the work that John Jessop did on this side adventure, but I decided that this particular adventure needs to fit in a different spot in the campaign. I hope to release it later in a more appropriate part of the campaign. In the meantime, I've put this adventure back on my plate. About half the first draft is written and I'm expecting an August release.

ASX-2 The Ghost of Jarvis Island - PUBLISHED
ASX-3 The Prisoner of Spur Rock - PUBLISHED

ASX-4 Rock Point Keep - Late July or perhaps early August release.

Asatania: Crashing Chaos Campaign Sourcebook - the first thing you may notice is that the name has changed. Asatania is being released as a set of story arcs and this Kickstarter project is just the first of several planned. These eight adventures and the associated guides are all part of "Crashing Chaos." 

For future arcs, I'll update the sourcebooks with additional information relevant to those adventures.

All that said, I've been spending a lot of time recently on this particular book and it will be my main focus until its complete. I'm hoping to have it either complete or in final edits by the end of this month. 

Asatania: Crashing Chaos Player's Sourcebook - No change from before. August release most likely.

Revisions to Adventures

Asatania is one of those projects that's never really complete. Many of the adventures have gone through several minor revisions since they were released. If you are signed up for RPGNow / DriveThruRPG distribution, you should receive an automatic notification whenever an updated version is available. 

For those who only receive via BackerKit, I need to talk with their support people and figure out how to upload new files. It isn't clear how to replace what's already there.

As always, you can reach me at [email protected] with questions, concerns and comments.

ASX-3 The Prisoner of Spur Rock released! (and status update...)
almost 10 years ago – Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 04:18:02 PM

The Prisoner of Spur Rock is Now Available!

I released ASX-3 The Prisoner of Spur Rock to your BackerKit dashboards a few moments ago and you should be able to download at your convenience.

Spur Rock is a side adventure that fits near the start of AS-4 The Rebel Prince. Prince Christianos Thixx needs a prisoner busted out of the notorious Spur Rock prison and he knows just the adventurers to do it.

The Prisoner of Spur Rock was written by James "Grim" Desborough, a well-known figure in the role playing game space. Grim has written for Wizards of the Coast, Steve Jackson Games, Cubicle 7, and now for us at Fantastic Reality.

Once again, Stephanie McAlea was commissioned to do the cartography for the adventure. Christopher Zakrzewski contributed cover art and Olie Boldador did most of the character portraits.

I connected with a new illustrator recently and the first piece of her work appears in this adventure. Darya Makarava did the artwork which I used for the NPC Ralf Yao. Darya does pieces that a little afield of the normal European-influenced fantasy fare and I like her aesthetic quite a lot. 

While I encourage everyone to take a look at ASX-3 The Prisoner of Spur Rock, it is best played during the events of AS-4 The Rebel Prince, which is unfortunately not out yet. I'm expecting to have it ready to go before the end of the month though, so it won't be too long a way.

For those that asked for the Asatania pieces to also be sent via RPGNow, you should receive ASX-3 within a few days.

Status Update

AS-1 Face Down in a Muddy Road - PUBLISHED
AS-2 Smoke on the Horizon - PUBLISHED
AS-3 Muscle, Sinew, and Wood - PUBLISHED

AS-4 The Rebel Prince - During the last week, I finished the first complete draft of the adventure. Editing and layout remain. Release before the end of June still seems likely.

ASX-1 The New Mine Masters - John T Jessop's first draft of this side adventure is complete and we went through a round of playtests this last weekend. As I expected, it needs to be trimmed a bit. I'm expecting content editing to take another week or two before we can move to copy editing. Sometime in July seems like the most likely release date, though it could be sooner.

ASX-2 The Ghost of Jarvis Island - PUBLISHED
ASX-3 The Prisoner of Spur Rock - PUBLISHED

ASX-4 Rock Point Keep - No change from last week. Still expecting a late July release.

Asatania Campaign Sourcebook - I made a few minor edits this week. Once AS-4 is released, this will receive the majority of my attention. Late July still the goal.

Asatania Player's Guide - No change from last week. July or August release.

Fantastic-Reality Website

Fantastic Reality has a website now. 

I occasionally post pieces about the development and thoughts behind Asatania there. Right now, there is an excerpt from the upcoming Asatania Campaign Sourcebook, a piece on how I approach NPC development from AS-4, and a bit about playtesting. 

Its worth checking out.

June 15 Update
almost 10 years ago – Wed, Jun 15, 2016 at 07:14:01 PM

I have a few minutes and want to update on where everything stands. Overall, good progress this week.

Individual Publications

AS-1 Face Down in a Muddy Road - PUBLISHED
AS-2 Smoke on the Horizon - PUBLISHED
AS-3 Muscle, Sinew, and Wood - PUBLISHED

AS-4 The Rebel Prince - I spent a fair amount of time on this adventure last week, cleaning up some details and added some background information. I also needed to do some work to make James 'Grim' Desborough's ASX-3 The Prisoner of Spur Rock fit in seamlessly. Though I am often more optimistic than I should be, I think having it done before the end of June is reasonable.

ASX-1 The New Mine Masters - John T Jessop continues to hammer away at this side adventure. Last time I checked, it was sitting at around 12,000 words. I haven't edited yet, so I'm not sure where it will end up, but that's pretty darn beefy for a side jaunt. 

It is big enough that I actually may need to rethink where it fits into the campaign. I don't want to cut it down - I really like the approach he is taking, but I may need to move it later in this set of adventures, rather than right near the beginning. Overall, a good problem to have. 

ASX-2 The Ghost of Jarvis Island - PUBLISHED

ASX-3 The Prisoner of Spur Rock - I spent a fair amount of time over the weekend playtesting the final draft of the adventure. There was some great feedback that we're incorporating this week and then final editing and layout. I've seen the draft of the cartography and it looks pretty good. I should be getting the final maps from Stephanie McAlea (https://sjworthington.wordpress.com/) tomorrow.

This side adventure will be ready to publish before the end of June. HOWEVER, it really needs AS-4 The Rebel Prince for context, so I'll hold it and release the two of them at the same time.

(I made a small update about the playtesting on our Facebook page.)

ASX-4 Rock Point Keep - No change from last week. Still expecting a late July release.

Asatania Campaign Guide - I spent a ton of time on this last week. I think I now have entries for everything that I need to have entries for. Many of them are fleshed out and in final draft mode, but a lot still need me to go through and work on. Late July is still the goal.

Asatania Player's Guide - No change from last week. July or August release.

Artwork

I am working with an up-and-coming artist to pick up some additional art for Asatania. Not finalized yet, but I'm hoping to have something to announce soon. 

Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FantasticRealityGames/
Twitter: @AsataniaGM

Update on Progress...
almost 10 years ago – Tue, Jun 07, 2016 at 07:05:11 PM

I wanted to sketch out a brief update outlining what we've been up to for the last week as well as expectations for the future releases:

AS-1 Face Down in a Muddy Road - PUBLISHED
AS-2 Smoke on the Horizon - PUBLISHED
AS-3 Muscle, Sinew, and Wood - PUBLISHED

AS-4 The Rebel Prince - Artwork and cartography are complete and we're nearing a final draft to hand off to editing and then to layout. Getting this final story adventure (of this Kickstarter!) completed is a priority and I'm hoping to have it released before the end of June.

ASX-1 The New Mine Masters - This is one of the two side adventures that I brought an outside writer in for. John T Jessop's story is shaping up really nicely - he's gone above and beyond what I originally spec'ed out and we're all going to benefit from that. The artwork for the adventure is complete and I hope to send out the cartography work in a week or two. I'm expecting a July final release.

ASX-2 The Ghost of Jarvis Island - PUBLISHED

ASX-3 The Prisoner of Spur Rock - This is the second side adventure that I commissioned a third party author (James 'Grim' Desborough) to write. The final draft has been submitted to me, artwork is complete, and I'm waiting for the cartography to come back. It needs a final round of editing and then off to layout. I'm hopeful that we'll see this one done before the end of June. 

ASX-4 Rock Point Keep - The artwork and cartography are done and there is a draft of the text. I'm expecting a late July release.

Asatania Campaign Guide - This involves pulling together the piles of notes that exist on Asatania, the updates the have occurred in the published an in-work adventures, the feedback I've got from playtesters and early readers, and the miscellaneous "to-do" list I'd like to tackle. The artwork and most of the cartography is complete and getting this piece done is a priority. I'm targeting a July release.

Asatania Player's Guide - Essentially a cut-down version of the campaign guide, designed to give players information that they need without spoiling story information. Work will begin once the campaign guide is in final draft. July or August release likely.

In the meantime, I hope you are all enjoying the adventures that have already been published. I'm collecting feedback for errata releases and updates, so if you have thoughts or comments, please send them along (either here, or at [email protected])

Michael
Fantastic Reality

P.S. I haven't forgotten about the printed book. Once everything is published, I'll begin the layout process for Print of Demand via DriveThruRPG.