Well, THAT's Done

Yesterday was the last of the school year for my kids. I am now in full-time daycare mode (in addition to my other daily duties).

It was a busy week...though not one devoid of fun, gaming, or (indeed) even writing. But the blogging's been tricky to get to, even though I have several discussions percolating in Ye Old Noggin at the moment. 

However, blogging IS going to be on the back-burner over the next couple months, unless I somehow steel myself to rise at 5ish every morning, before the rest of the fam. Maybe. Maybe I'd just end up working one of my other projects.

As far as writing goes, those are the priority. I have THREE (and a half) projects going at the moment, all demanding my attention...a plethora of riches when one considers how dry inspiration can run at times. Ah, well. The trick of the matter is staying focused and locked in so as to finish them; challenging given the size of two of those projects. Hopefully I'll be able to knock-out the long-neglected YEAR OF THE RAT before the end of the month. Boy, that's an embarrassment (though at least the winners already received their prizes). Still, it's nearly done.

The second project is a setting/supplement book and it's a pretty daunting task. The good news it's a collaborative effort...I'm really just organizing someone else's work. The bad news is, there's a LOT of material to shape. More on that one later...I suspect it will take at least a couple months to get a draft of (what will probably be) "volume one."

The third project is a total vanity one: I've got a bee up my bonnet about re-writing a classic AD&D adventure module, and publishing it. This one is all about my own ego...it's not even something I'd have an opportunity to use/playtest anytime soon (as it's waaaay too lofty for my current crop of players). But it's an idea that just won't go away. And, no, it's not a Dragonlance or Hickman module. We'll see what happens. It would require a re-drawing of multiple maps (not my strong suit) and working in a classic format (32 page adventure) that I'm not particularly used to. But it DOES get me excited...trips the little wire in my brain that tells me 'ooo, this is a GOOD one.' Usually when that bell rings, it's a sign that I'm actually going to get something done. We'll see if that holds true.

OH...and speaking of the Hickman's: I've finished twisting, re-stocking I6: Ravenloft for use in my own campaign. Completed it circa 2am this morning. Diego has been begging and pleading to play D&D since...well, since the last time we broke off play (on Wednesday), so yesterday I sat down and finished going through the thing, fixing the monsters, correcting the treasure, etc. It was a slog (over 120 numbered encounter areas in the castle alone!), and I had to update my previous (very sketchy) notes for AD&D (since I had been re-writing it for B/X), but I'm quite pleased with the result. I'm looking forward to wrecking the PCs' new sailing ship on the shoals beneath the windswept bluffs of Port Angeles, Washington...we've been in Idaho far too long!

[how do I propose to get their vessel from Lake Coeur d'Alene to the Salish Sea? Magic, fools! Jeez...we're playing D&D here, aren't we?]

Whoops!

'Course I don't suspect the kids will be terribly happy about the loss of the ship...some 56 hundred gold in sunk costs there. But the "new and improved" Ravenloft...er, "Ravenspire"...has some 75 thousand gold worth of monetary treasure...and much more than that should they decide to sell any of the HEAP of magic items scattered throughout the place. 

Yeah, that's what I was up doing till 2am...treasure accounting. I didn't bother fixing the existing hoards (why O why are there so many 6000 coin piles of electrum in this stupid thing?) figuring it will be easier to retain the VALUES while adjusting them on-the-fly, in-play. 

[for instance: 6100ep coin hoard suggests some 600# of semi-precious goods with a total value of 3,050g.p. Now some would ask, why would 600# of anything be lying in a 10' by 10' prison cell under 5' of water (and next to multiple similarly stocked cells), to which the CORRECT answer is "it's Ravenloft and it is poorly designed." But the more charitable answer, based on textual interpretation ("In each cell below, many previous adventurers gave up their gold") is that this is simply another typo/editing error/gross oversight and what they MEANT was for their to be a VALUE of 3050, but perhaps something more along the lines of platinum pieces (61#) which could be accounted for with high priced equipment on dead adventurers: filigreed arms, solid gold buckles, silk clothing and sable capes, and boots crafted by elven shoemakers...all of which have somehow managed to miraculously preserve their value while soaking for years in a waterlogged dungeon]

[hmm. Okay, probably there is no charitable interpretation. Might as well say it's 300# of coal or loose gemstones. Sigh...this module]

ANYway...that's on the agenda for today (as soon as the kids are awake and breakfasted). Oops! They both just woke up! More later...

; )