TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Hopefully this won't derail this thread too much; but Steve, if you ever feel a desire to revisit the Turakian Age, I hope you'll put up an inquiry thread for that as well. TA is my favorite of HG's official settings, and I'd love to see more done with it "officially."

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Steve, if you ever feel a desire to revisit the Turakian Age, I hope you'll put up an inquiry thread for that as well. TA is my favorite of HG's official settings, and I'd love to see more done with it "officially."

 

If I did, I certainly would, but for now at least I have no interest in revisiting TA. At this point I'm mainly using it to crib names for my fiction projects.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

If I did' date=' I certainly would, but for now at least I have no interest in revisiting TA. At this point I'm mainly using it to crib names for my fiction projects. [/quote']

 

You certainly did come up with an avalanche of fantasy-suitable names for persons, places, and things to borrow from. Not the least of the book's many treasures.

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Yesterday I wrote up Armorica and Autun; today it's on to Auverne, Aveyron, Brigainne, and perhaps beyond. Plenty of duchies to go; hopefully I will run out of duchies before I run out of interesting ideas to describe them.

[ghost-angel]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

So... you're not done yet? damn.

 

Well, when you are I have some coins ready. Tuala Morn was an excellent book and I look forward to more in that world.

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

I'm a long way from done, I'm afraid. Besides the various duchies remaining to be described, I have to write up a section on creating Acquitainian characters, and then a potentially long section on Acquitainian magic. Those are the two major bits left. After that I just have a few tidbits left to fill in and it'll be done... but the magic alone could take quite awhile, depending on how detailed I feel it needs to be.

[ghost-angel]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

ah, well. two supplements! pick a home Dutchy and all the other parts. Then release packs of dutchies as you write them! (take us for all our money Steve. All of it.)

[Zen Archer]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

pick a home Dutchy and all the other parts.

 

Or just pass the Dutchy on the left hand side.

 

 

 

What?

 

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

pick a home Dutchy and all the other parts. Then release packs of dutchies as you write them!

 

I have a feeling the average HERO fan would regard that as an attempted money grab.

[DrFaust]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

I happened to be wandering by the forum and this thread caught my eye. My copy of Tuala Morn's been serving on a gang of books flattening out some prints, so the cover keeps catching my eye. Every time, I think, "I wish they'd published supplementary material for that world."

 

So I am completely on board with snapping up new Tuala Morn material. Subscribing to the thread for updates!

[ghost-angel]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

I have a feeling the average HERO fan would regard that as an attempted money grab.

 

*throws money at Steve*

 

That's the point! now gimme the goods

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Since someone asked for an update, in the past few days I've progressed through the duchies to do Brigainne, Canais, and Estmarque. Next up is Guyenne, which as a potential bad guy/royal rival in the setting may require a few more details than average. After that it's on to Mornac, Navairre, Neustria, and beyond.

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Good progress today, for those interested -- I wrote up the sections on Guyenne, Mornac, Navairre, Neustria, and Perigorde.

 

That leaves Rossilon, Touraine, Tournai, Viennes, Vivrais, and Ronceval Forest. Gettin' there....

 

After that it's on to Character Creation, which should be pretty simple -- just a few Templates and such, really. Then Magic, which won't be simple at all. I keep having good ideas, but the more ideas I have the longer that section's going to get....

[Doc Quantum]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Write them and I'll buy them. To borrow an idea from Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody, I move that we confine Steve to a secured room with a chair, a table, a laptop and a floor rigged to administer electric shocks if he falls below a certain number of words per minute. Any seconds?

[ghost-angel]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Good progress today, for those interested -- I wrote up the sections on Guyenne, Mornac, Navairre, Neustria, and Perigorde.

 

That leaves Rossilon, Touraine, Tournai, Viennes, Vivrais, and Ronceval Forest. Gettin' there....

 

After that it's on to Character Creation, which should be pretty simple -- just a few Templates and such, really. Then Magic, which won't be simple at all. I keep having good ideas, but the more ideas I have the longer that section's going to get....

 

Have you ever considered writing up small supplements "The Ways Of Magic" or something, and just putting out a magic system for a 1-2$ every once in a while? Possibly with quick notes on how to use them in various settings... You certainly seem to think of enough ways to make magic with Hero.

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Have you ever considered writing up small supplements "The Ways Of Magic" or something, and just putting out a magic system for a 1-2$ every once in a while? Possibly with quick notes on how to use them in various settings... You certainly seem to think of enough ways to make magic with Hero.

 

Actually I'd thought at one point of doing a whole book that would basically collect up all the magic systems we'd published, update them to 6E as necessary, add a few all-new ones, and then release it as an FH supplement. Still might try it sometime, if a poll of consumer interest indicated feasability.

 

The difficulty with just doing one here and there as $1-2 products (aside from the administrative hassle) is that any new magic system I think up that's likely to merit writing up on its own will probably involve creating at least a few, and possibly a lot, of new spells and other stuff. It's enough work that I'd have to charge more for it, based on however long it got.

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Update: aside from filling in a few bits and pieces, the "Lands And Lords Of Acquitaine" section is at long last done! It came to nearly 12,000 words, making the manuscript as a whole so far about 20,000 words. (By comparison, for those who are interested, Tuala Morn is 170,000 words.)

 

If I feel like doing any more today I may whip up some Templates for the Character Creation section, or write up some of the two or three new monsters I haven't created yet.

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Gettin' my ducks in a row to work on Acquitainian magic as time allows over the coming week. I think I've figured out a way to cut down on the workload significantly while still presenting a full magic system with some interesting aspects and tidbits.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

What are you doing for income while you work on this? I mean, I'm glad you're writing it, but I know you can't expect it to pay the bills.

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

What are you doing for income while you work on this?

 

Not having any.

 

I have a few fiction projects floating around out there that in theory might lead to some small amount of income, but realistically what that means is waiting a few weeks or months to add to my rejection slip collection.

 

 

I mean, I'm glad you're writing it, but I know you can't expect it to pay the bills.

 

Well, to be fair, I'm not working on this full-time -- if I were I'd be long done. I just plink away at it when time/mood allow. In theory these days my plan is this: work on fiction projects that aren't likely to pay me anything in the morning; work on gaming-related projects that aren't likely to pay me anything in the afternoon; continue slogging my way through the new Tome Of Ultimate Mapping for Campaign Cartographer 3 in the evening. But those plans are subject to all sorts of interruptions -- having to take Osiris to the vet, visiting my Dad for lunch, doctor appointments, meals with friends. It'll all get done eventually, I suppose.

[smoelf]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

This is looking good. Will you be including a bibliography as well?

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Will you be including a bibliography as well?

 

Sure. It won't really be very extensive, but I'll be glad to mention anything I think you might enjoy reading that's related to the subject.

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

I didn't have time to do any more work on the magic system yesterday (and probably none until the weekend, the way this week's shaping up), but in my PM Inbox this morning I found a generous offer from a French HERO System fan to check over the names in Acquitaine if I need any backup.

[Orion]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Steve - just curious about something. Has much of this stuff been floating around in your brain for a while, just waiting to be written down? Are you going off messy notes gathered through time? Or are you just staring at the screen and letting something flow forth? I ask, because when I write, it usually has to be something I've thought over for a while. Just sitting down and deciding I'm writing today usually doesn't produce much. In fact, any day I can do 1 full page of single-spaced text is a pretty good day for me.

 

And this is why Steve gets paid to do this, while I'd starve to death as a writer.....

[Steve Long]

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff?

 

Steve - just curious about something. Has much of this stuff been floating around in your brain for a while, just waiting to be written down? Are you going off messy notes gathered through time? Or are you just staring at the screen and letting something flow forth? I ask, because when I write, it usually has to be something I've thought over for a while. Just sitting down and deciding I'm writing today usually doesn't produce much. In fact, any day I can do 1 full page of single-spaced text is a pretty good day for me.

 

And this is why Steve gets paid to do this, while I'd starve to death as a writer.....

 

Wait... I'm supposed to get paid? Nobody told me that....

 

The main ideas for Acquitaine have been floating around in my fevered little brain for about three years. I was inspired to choose it to write about by reading some of CAS's "Averoigne" stories while doing the "research" for the 6E Fantasy Hero. So some of the ideas are things that have been lurking around for quite awhile. But a lot of it, I just have to sit down and do it. I know there are X duchies, and that each duchy therefore needs a description, and I don't necessarily think about that in advance. I know I want some dynastic sort of intrigue, so in the descriptions I devote a lot of attention to which dukes have which kids, who's married to whom, and how this affects the interplay of politics in the kingdom. (Within reason -- I can't go too far down that route without tying the GM's hands. One aspect of game writing is knowing when to back off and let the GM take the reins.) I know I want one duke who's secretly a wizard, one who's dying childless, one who's a close relative of King Helsicar, and so on -- but those are just rudimentary ideas that get fleshed out as I do the work.

 

Part of the fun of writing RPG material is seeing how these rudimentary ideas develop, though. It's always awesome when a cool new idea comes to me mid-manuscript, or I think of a way to tie two elements of a setting together really elegantly, or I come up with a great new twist for an NPC's background. As a novelist once said, "I had to finish the book because I wanted to find out how the story ended!"

 

For better or worse, to make money at writing I have to be able to just sit down and start working, day after day. That's what makes doing some books, like The Turakian Age, so difficult. Having to come up with 60-some different kingdoms/political entities and make each one interesting and cool somehow really taxes the creativity!