Category Archives: Industry

Paper, PoD, PDF

Posted on May 18, 2008 by AJ

All of the books we’ve published (whether as Crucible Design or LateGaming) have been less than 100 pages. In general, this has felt big enough for the game that was being written, and every time we start out with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Printing | Leave a comment

Game book layout: the four parts

Posted on May 16, 2008 by AJ

In trying to layout some of our recent game projects, I’ve noticed some common components in every book, which has led me to the conclusion that every game book really consists of four parts: Character Generation/Creation (Chargen) Game Rules Setting … Continue reading →

Posted in Game Design, Layout | 5 Comments

Ransom

Posted on May 6, 2008 by matt

The idea of ransoming game material is definitely new and innovative. It’s being done rather successfully by Greg Stolze for his Reign supplements and there’s a Delta Green book ‘Targets of Opportunity’ which is being funded this way as well. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Industry | 2 Comments

WotW: Earth – 21 Days of Invasion

Posted on April 22, 2008 by matt

The Narrator of the book was close to one of the arrival sites but this was not necessarily the most active site. He also spent more than two weeks (or a three week invasion) hiding in a collapsed house. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Game Design, WotW: Earth, Writing | Leave a comment

Subversion for Writers.

Posted on April 21, 2008 by matt

TUAW has a link about Subversion for Writers. Subversion is a popular open source version control system. “It allows you to work collaboratively with folks on the same files (in most cases code) without fear of overwriting the work of … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Leave a comment

What’s He Building In There?

Posted on April 20, 2008 by matt

Title taken from the Tom Waits track. This blossomed into a scenario where the PCs were sent to investigate a murder. A newcomer to a quiet US suburb was found beaten to death in his home. The house is trashed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool, Cthulhu, Qabal, Writing | 2 Comments

Starship Concept Art

Posted on April 20, 2008 by matt

Picked up this link to amazing starship concept art over on theRPGSite forums.

Posted in Art, Cool | 1 Comment

Archaeology

Posted on April 19, 2008 by matt

I spent a couple of hours in the attic of my parent’s house excavating some old books. I have a notion to sell some of them considering that I’ve not looked at them in a decade but as I continued … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Commentary | Leave a comment

WotW: Earth – Art

Posted on April 18, 2008 by matt

Last night I commissioned two art pieces from Storn Cook for the upcoming War of the Worlds book. I really like Storn’s art (massive thread on RPG.net here) and he was very nice when I enquired about the commission and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, WotW: Earth | Leave a comment

23rd Letter: Projects Campaigns

Posted on April 16, 2008 by matt

A Project-based campaign is as flexible as the players want. The G.M. may choose themes as he or she wants. PCs working for a Project are relieved of many of the worries of Network members or other independent espers. Usually … Continue reading →

Posted in 23rd Letter, LateGaming | Leave a comment

The 23rd Letter

Posted on April 10, 2008 by matt

Balbinus on RPG.net responds to someone asking for sourcebooks about running a campaign about the whole concept of PSI powers: “IMO the best is a game called 23rd Letter, it’s basically Firestarter (the Stephen King book/movie) the rpg. Probably OOP … Continue reading →

Posted in 23rd Letter, LateGaming | Leave a comment

Raising the bar

Posted on April 9, 2008 by matt

I’m arrogant to believe that I can write and, to be honest, most of the time the feedback has been pretty good. I like writing, it’d be nice to do it for a living (and not the stressful but boring … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Commentary, Layout | 4 Comments

Shit one.

Posted on April 8, 2008 by matt

A real shame.

Posted in Commentary, Industry, Ireland | 3 Comments

Spiralling Down

Posted on April 8, 2008 by matt

I don’t blame anyone really. Sometimes I get angry or depressed and curse my friends, my family, the company, the system, the church and anyone else I can name. But it’s a short madness and like all things, it will … Continue reading →

Posted in Game Design, Writing | Leave a comment

New Downloads

Posted on April 4, 2008 by matt

Some people were looking for them so I’ve put some downloads on the books page: Wildtalents fanzine 1 60K PDF Wildtalents 3 fanzine 1.5MB PDF Wildtalents 5 fanzine 373K PDF 23rd letter character sheet 22K PDF zombi character sheet 86K … Continue reading →

Posted in 23rd Letter, Commentary, Game Design, LateGaming, Zombi | Leave a comment

Man vs…

Posted on April 4, 2008 by matt

The topic of conversation this morning in the car was the substance of plots. Traditionally, we have plots which are Man versus Man (and yes, I intend to keep the male pronoun because anyone who would be sensitive to it … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, In-Character, Industry, Out-of-Character, Qabal | Leave a comment

The State of the RPG Industry

Posted on April 4, 2008 by matt

An article on MSNBC writes about the woes in the RPG market: “Wizards does not reveal sales figures, but Pramas estimates the overall market for traditional role-playing games at $30 million annually.” When I first read this, my immediate thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Industry | 11 Comments

So you want to be a writer

Posted on February 28, 2008 by matt

I got this from the blog of reknowned comic artist PJ Holden So you want to be a writer? Or do you want to make a living as a writer?

Posted in Art, Commentary, Game Design, Industry, Layout, Writing | Leave a comment

Q-CON XIV video

Posted on October 14, 2007 by matt

The official video for Q-CON XIV was posted today: It’s good to see it running as I did all the research for the first Q-CON by visiting cons around the country when I was President of ‘Slayers the year before. … Continue reading →

Posted in Conventions, Industry | 1 Comment

Crucible Design’s Games on Sale at Key20.

Posted on September 22, 2007 by matt

After what seems an age, the first roleplaying games I wrote are on sale again at Key20 SpaceNinjaCyberCrisis XDO The 23rd Letter ( RPG.net Review ) Zombi: The Earth Won’t Hold The Dead ( Review by Jeff Rients ) I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Game Design, Industry, LateGaming | Leave a comment