Tortured Earth

Social media has been the bane of my existence since the company got started. It's not that I don't appreciate it as a method of communication. It's keeping up with it that has always been a problem. However, with my retirement, I find myself able to turn to it more frequently and attend to it with greater regularity.  The main social media we currently use are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), and the website. Discord has now been added to that list. Articles I write in this forum will be circulated among the various services. Discord, as I have been recently educated on, offers a more direct approach. It also offers opportunities to get direct feedback on conceptual topics before it has to play tested. The hope is this will speed up development and cut unnecessary play-throughs on poorly conceived mechanics. Tortured Earth Discord Facebook Twitter (X) www.torturedearth.com Today, we being the setup at Iron City Comic Con. We should have a light day before the madness begi...

Today we leave for Birmingham, AL to vend at Iron City Comic Con . We're actually pretty excited about it. Birmingham used to be a staple on our convention circuit. The company we used to follow split apart and the original show fell by the wayside. One of the partners of the original show decided to return to Birmingham and rebrand under the new name. We are VERY excited about the return! In other news, we do have a few announcements. First, Dark Origins has finally arrived. We will showcase the new module at Iron City Comic Con. When formatting the book, I had some reservations about going full color. We received some negative feedback on the original books color format, I was hesitant to produce another full color print. However, the text layout against the faded page looks really good. The pages are interesting and the text is easy to read. Of course, the story is amazing! We're really happy to have Anthony Kallas on board. Anthony has also announced he's working on a ...

I have to begin with an apology. The convention was incredibly busy on Sunday. We were hit like a storm and it didn't let up until the doors closed on Monday. Of course, the end of the show marked us packing up and beginning the long drive home. We're definitely returning to MomoCon next year, if they'll have us. After the show on Sunday, we decided to head over to a nearby Mellow Mushroom and have a few slices of pizza and more than a few laughs. It was a the perfect end to a very busy day. I think everyone at the table was either drained or ready to snooze when this picture was taken. The weather was perfect for an outdoor meal and the company was excellent. While working the floor on Sunday, I had an unexpected visitor Karan Ashley! She played the yellow power ranger. When she came up to the booth, I kept looking at her like I should know her. It took a few moments for me to put it together. She asked for a yellow Power Ranger flag. The gentleman she was with...

I can say it's a good convention. As I've mentioned before, that breakeven point is a major threshold for us. We crossed it and we are now in a good spot with 2 more days to go. The audience has a high energy and are excited to not only see what the convention holds but what the vendors have as well. The show does a really good job at keeping the audience entertained with guests, panels, game rooms, vendors, cosplay, and a whole host of other events and engagements.  While ambling around this morning, I bumped into another vendor friend of mine: John. He's the owner of Galaxy Props and hand makes all of his masks and helmets. It's an impressive product line with an amazing quality. At the moment, he has designs for Fallout, Warhammer, and Star Wars accessories. On a side note, my nephew has been trying his hand at photography. I think he's going to run some of these images through a few filters to see how he can improve them. They were taken near our hotel in downto...

Today was a whirlwind to put it mildly. Tons of people, lots of interesting cosplay, and some familiar faces. It's always amazing when someone breaks from the crowd and shouts, "KB, you're here? That's awesome!" We've been on the circuit long enough that we're now being recognized as both a vendor and a game developer. It's a really good feeling. That's not to undermine the great conversations we've had with people who are new to us. The amazing thing about this convention is the audience it attracts. We've met people from Italy, England, and a couple of Australians to boot. As far as Friday goes, it's been a really good one. We're not quite at break even, but it is well within sight. The game tables have been a little quiet but that's to be expected for an opening day. Hopefully, tomorrow will have a larger crowd testing our product. Below are a few pictures I managed to take before it got too mad. The two above pictures are th...

We managed to get the booth set up in record time! That’s always a good thing. We arrived early, managed to get a decent spot in the load-in line and went straight to work. The parking here is still pretty bad - $35 per day for vendors. However, the people running the show are super nice and very helpful. Despite the size of this show, there is not a whole lot of overlap in the type of items sold. Of course, you have a vendors selling Pops and wall scrolls. The types of items they have are different. Just walking around the vendor room floor, we found people selling similar items but definitely not the same items. That’s always a good sign.  Word around the convention center was there were nearly 40,000 people at the show last year. Hopefully, we see similar numbers this year. The layout of the room is huge! As before, there is a massive gaming area set aside.  We were surprised to see some familiar faces here. A good friend of mine, Brandon with Tyr 3 (Booth 1523, Yum-yum bag...

  For the past three weeks, we’ve had no conventions on schedule. The two worst months for conventions are May and December. May has high school graduations nationwide and December is a major holiday time. It’s not to say we haven’t been busy. Both Kevin and I are working on a tome of artifacts, trying to polish off a module, along with living our normal lives. However, staying home for three weeks is a bit wearing. Traveling from city to city and meeting some of the people we meet is actually very exciting. There is a certain allure to the open road. Of course, this is coming from a person who taught in a classroom for 30 years and lived on a shoestring budget, supported four boys, and ‘made it work’. There’s not a whole lot of time for extended travel or resources to do it. As a retiree, the rules have changed. This week, we’re on our way to MomoCon. We’ve worked this show before and it’s always been a good performer for us. Most impressive is the game presence. Showcasing ...

  For those of you who write, this writer's block is the impenetrable, merciless wall requiring vast amounts of personal energy to overcome. For a game writer, it can be the undoing of a company. Especially if you are a small company. We must create rules, creatures, and adventures. We correspond with other game creators, artists, and supply companies. Interruptions in those lines of communication can quickly undo the best of organizations. At first, writing was a means to an end. Writing for the game required constant effort. After a while, it became just part of my day. Reflecting on it, it’s evident a routine was established. The trick has become just that, a routine. During the construction of our 2.0 version, I also decided to start a blog to journal the effort required to complete the project. The blog quickly became my free writing time in which I simply poured out my thoughts and feelings for the world to see. As we moved from actual writing to editing (still have cold ...

  In the initial 1.0 phase of Tortured Earth, we approached the project with an idea, enthusiasm, and a shoestring budget. One of my students was working on a comic book project with another friend and, as happens with so many first attempts, it flaked out. He was left with a large amount of artwork that really had no purpose. I was in desperate need of A LOT of artwork. I purchased the images from him and used them throughout the book. Even his concept art and doodles found a place in the book. To make up for the lack of art, we used colorful background images which alluded to the general theme of the core storyline. It was a graphics design tactic suggested to me by a friend who majored in the topic. When the book was released, we immediately underwent criticism for the boldness of the pages, color choices of the text blocking, and lack of illustration. There was no mercy from the critics for our lack of resources. There was no understanding that this was a first print or the...

For those of you following the website, you may note we’ve picked up a new talent – Anthony Kallas. Like so many personalities we meet at conventions, Anthony was an avid gamer. Unlike many, he was also an established author. He expressed a keen interest in the Tortured Earth multiverse and was anxious to contribute to it. Surprisingly, he produced a module in short order. Kevin and I were able to reliably promise to have the module edited and ready for publication by the beginning of March. We put in the hours to edit the module and made sure it conformed the to Tortured Earth universe. I present this background to set the stage for the establishment of realistic expectations. The issue with publishing is this: the publisher. We use Ingram Spark as our printing agency. The company is reliable, produces quality products, and has print houses worldwide. The downside of the company is the process one must undergo to actually see their product in print. Modules and game guides are gra...