Tortured Earth

Part of launching into this industry is the continual creation process. The development of Tortured Earth was a means to an end - the development of a framework in which a broad range of stories could be told. Now that the system is finalized, the process of storytelling must begin. Kevin and I are currently focusing on the development of one-shot adventures. These kits are retrofitted from the 2.0 Core Ruleset and give players a taste of the system without having to invest in multiple books. Other game systems have developed similar products for the same goal. The Rules Lite versions allow for replayability while the core books provide the full flexibility of the system. A creative GM will be able to adapt the Rules Lite version for homebrew adventures fitting in the world setting for which the kit was built. Currently in the editing phase are four such adventures. Two have been completed and are already in production and being distributed through the convention circuit. Eventually, t...

Image Courtesy of Shutterstock The day I thought would never get here has finally arrived! The new books are finally in print. After editing what seemed like an eternity, and formatting for a lifetime after that, we are now in print. Currently, only two titles are available - with the third soon to be released: Tortured Earth Core Rule Book  Tortured Earth Supplemental: The Unofficial Account of Gavin Harris Tortured Earth Supplemental: The Travel Journal of Mica Greer (Releases on 7/16/2021) With the core books released, we now shift gears to writing modules and stories to expand the Tortured Earth universe. Over the next several months, we will travel through the convention circuit promoting the new books, writing new material and, hopefully, pick up a few new writers. A few items of interest: We will travel with Cactyys Totem and Chronicles of Ember to Arklatex Comic Con and host an independent gaming area.  Our convention schedule is pretty much packed. However, if you're...

Two of our March conventions were canceled. The COVID restrictions are causing delays and cancellations in a lot of cities. At the earliest, we are looking at April (realistically, May) before the convention circuits begin to open again. Fortunately, our time has not been idled away. We have been creating and refining since the closures began. The game guide is edited and printed for the graphic design phase. Next on the menu is the editing of the creatures. The creature manuals will be a little different from most other creature manuals. They are shaping up to become more or less expansion material. There are certain spells and abilities that did not fit in the main guide because they referred to creatures. This has been pulled and placed in the appropriate creature manual.   To add interest to the main guide, I've embedded a story in the form of journal entries throughout the document. Does anyone have thoughts or comments on this concept? The game guide is a technical manua...

Image by   veeterzy Tonight, I enjoyed a pleasant phone conversation with an old convention friend. Robert Stikmanz has always held a special place with Tortured Earth. He is the creator of the D'Varsh language, writer of Nod's Way, and a novelist to boot! Since we've met, he's proven to be possibly one of the most creative people I've known. As old friends, we're pretty much open with one another regarding our businesses, promotional strategies, and general operating practices. We are also very open with one another regarding the issues and hurdles we face. Robert mentioned a friend who has basically called him out for wasting his time on his labor of love. From the conversation, I had the feeling his intention was to shame Robert into giving up his project and pursue more profitable ventures. For those of you reading these blogs and never having attempted to create anything, please pay attention. A creator pours their heart and soul into their projects. When y...

Last night was spent refining the Magic section, ensuring the abilities align with the new rules, and correcting grammar. A large part of the editing process is making sure that official terms are capitalized while the usage of the same word as a description is lower case. It. Is. Maddening! I managed to squeeze in a little time working on the setting for the podcast. I'm not sure if it is the prospect of working on something that is not editing or the opportunity to write creatively again, but I find the work gratifying and refreshing. After editing, I did take some time to record the intro segment for the podcast. A few minutes ago, I let a colleague listen to it. He was impressed. Despite editing dragging on for what seems ages, I still feel confident the final product will be available in March. The podcast is scheduled to begin recording on February 6th, with releases beginning two weeks later. For those interested in the intro to Tortured Earth Presents , please click on the ...

After about two hours of editing last night, we broke and worked on our separate projects. I started on the one thing about this industry I absolutely love - story creation. I worked on maps in Dungeon Forge, fleshing out the community of Gatlinburg. When creating this way, I usually begin with the key figures - providing backgrounds and environments useful to the game master. Today, I managed to get some of the destination maps completed - setting the stage for the preliminary campaign elements. I also dedicated a little effort to build the character profiles for the main players in the upcoming story. I know this is not often an important step, but it helps keep character personalities and interactions in line with the main storyboard from a writer's perspective. With the physical environment beginning to take place, I dedicate time to the missions through which the characters will segway into the main storyline. Normally, when homebrewing adventures, I don't dedicate this mu...

Image by Forrest Kidder Chicot State Park, Louisiana I'd like to begin with an apology.  Normally, I'm very focused on the blog and social media promoting our game and new developments. Christmas was a busy time - in both personal and business arenas. I've been writing, editing, and preparing. On top of it all, I'm now involved with a video game development business. Despite the excuses, I am sorry for pushing the blog to a back burner. This project is far from an afterthought. With all that laid out, here is the update: First, Sanctum Games is officially up and running. The company is now an independent entity with its first product available. I've met with the other owners and am impressed with the talent on board. The small company has its own programmer, sound personnel, and writers. Already, plans are being laid out for a new game, and the group is looking for ideas for a third. The edits are speeding along. The writing on the new game guide is not so much the ...

  I am finally able to take a few steps from grammar editing and focus on creatures. Naturally, updates and refinements are needed. Some creatures were created in the early stages of revision and needed to be brought in line with current rule sets. Fortunately, these corrections are not nearly as complicated as balancing the rules. The process is not as paralyzingly slow as it is in the rule book. Kevin is going back through the chapters and making sure the rules align throughout the entire book. It is one of those projects that the more you have working on it, the more distracting it becomes. As hard as it is, I am taking my hands off that part of the project and allowing him to work as needed. Naturally, modifications to the rules still need to be reviewed, but this is an editing element, not a development issue. Honestly, I am quite excited as I edit the creatures. Going through the descriptions and stats is refreshing after the previous work. Adding abilities, modifying sta...

Picture by Dakota Naramore, Facebook Group: Abandoned Louisiana The current edits are resulting in fewer and fewer mechanical errors. Most corrections are grammatical errors caught with Grammarly and other editing software packages. We have made a few changes from the original version, which change how gameplay. During combat, characters received damage as LP (or Life Points), and weapons received damage only on critical fails as IE (Item Efficiency Points). The system was clunky and prevented an easy transition from item to character damages. Questions often arose when a character decided to wail away at a wall to knock a hole in it. How did was damage dealt? At what rate did it accrue? At what point did the weapon damage convert into IE damage? Items still receive damage on critical fails. The Item LP serves a function similar to that of IE. Now, attachments require the Item LP of the host item and are lost when the Item LP holds them in place. Specific Status Effects can now del...

One of my former convention workers stopped by today for a visit. Normally a rather mundane exercise, the visit brought to light several interesting things. First, on the realizations list: I need to put more effort into maintaining contact with friends. Over the course of a year, not only has my young friend traveled a rough road, but he'd grown considerably in the interim. Despite all he'd been through, the changes in his self-awareness were refreshing. At the end of the visit, we parted with a heartfelt hug and promises to make a better effort on both our parts. A large part of his visit was spent with him flipping in amazement at the new Tortured Earth edition. Over the past year, only a handful of people have seen pieces of the project. To date, he was the first to see the entire scope of the new edition. With each page turned, he seemed to glow with anticipation of the next page. It was quite a show. After spending nearly a year burrowed in balancing mechanics, formatting...

Source: Dakota Naramore, Abandoned Louisiana Today, we reviewed the first 13 chapters of the GM Guide. The goal was to make sure each was grammatically correct and mechanically sound. Although we covered 13 chapters, it does say something to the refinement of this review. It is nearing the final stages.   The process is actually sped along by various types of editing software, our ability to align the items we've written with those we are currently checking, and the nearly wrote familiarity with the document. Finding repeated information and previous references is far quicker than it was at the start of the process. Barring any unforeseen disasters, I'm hopeful we will wrap up the GM and Player's guides by the beginning of the new year. This leaves January and February to complete the Creature Portfolios and launch a Kickstarter. The ultimate goal is to have the source material ready by the opening of Convention Season and promote the new version of the game heavily over th...

Original Image by: Zoe Dauser Group: Abandoned Louisiana Tonight was spent aligning Magic, Psychic, and Weapon abilities, ensuring their descriptions fell into the current rule set, and tweaking abilities to refine their effectiveness and viability as mechanics within the Tortured Earth multiverse. Although this part of the editing process is tedious, it is also refreshing. A majority of the mechanical errors and inconsistencies are fixed. The remainder of the project is refinement, editing grammar, and formatting issues. Hopefully, before the first of the year, the Game Guide will be completed and we will be into the creature descriptions. The goal is to have all three books released for March (the opening of the convention season) and immediately pick up module writing. Naturally, now that the rule book is being finalized, the next major fix will be the mechanical aspects of the creature descriptions. Creatures, wrapped up at the onset of the COVID outbreak, represents the oldest fil...