The week of problems…

This week was tough for Jeff. Finn and I, we caught a bad summer flu – a really terrible one – and of course Jeff has it now. In addition, after a big thunderstorm Thursday evening our internet connection died – very terrible for Jeff because he needs it desperately for his work and to talk to the Moon Design Team. The telecom company promised to send somebody over on Monday – hopefully everything will be al right then (means also that I write this today but it will be posted when our internet is working again). Due to the flu and the curses of the bits and bytes in Jeff’s opinion there are not many new things to talk about but I think that’s not true.

As an example, early this week I got a peek on the cover for the Sartar Companion book. It will of course be in the style of the Sartar book –it is a Simon Bray cover. And I already checked – this time no sword is pointing at a delicate area (for the innocent ones: in an early version of the Sartar Book the sword held by one of the guys in the front pointed directly on the priestess’ cleavage – it was by accident and we hadn’t seen it! Some fans made some a bit overenthusiastic comments about this but Jeff and Simon were thankful because they could change it before the book was sent to the printer.
The Sartar Companion cover shows an adventurer group fighting trolls and trollkins. Simon is working on the right perspectives, the last bits of shadings, details on the trolls, visualisation of the use of magic and so on. However – it’s so much more difficult to make a cool colour picture than a black and white. For me it is much more difficult to find a colour fantasy art picture I like than the ones I don’t like (and which does not look too kitschy). I mean think about photos – everybody makes colour pictures as a rememberance of holidays or whatsoever. The pictures are nice but usually you really like only a few.

Black and white photographs, on the other hand, are always looking somehow cool and mysterious. They have charm. It’s not totally the same with fantasy art but I’m often fascinated how much power a black and white drawing has and how often coloured pictures look ugly (especially when artists combine a lot of red, pink and blue, mixed with some yellow lightning and half naked women – but taste is different as we know). Sorry – I got carried away. As I said the cover will be in the same style like the Sartar cover and I like it. There you will find a Lhankor Mhy priest calling a spell on a trollkin, a fighter women with an axe (hmm which Gloranthan fighter women use axes…), a Yinkin worshiper fighting on a tree stomp, a lot of ugly trolls and a bunch of scared trollkins.

Now something else. Today is the second wedding anniversary of Jeff and me (yes – we are still happy). Using the two years as a starting point I asked Jeff what he did two years ago in the Gloranthan context and then we let the conversation drift…

Jeff: “Two years ago I wasn’t involved in MoonDesign. I worked with Greg on the Stafford Library Books. I think we just did the Esrolia Book. And a book with some info on the Dara Happen Cities.”

Claudia: “What pop’s into your mind on the word ‘Library’”?

Jeff: “Glorantha is a Library of non-existent books. We refer to things like the ‘Jonstown Library’ or the ‘Abiding Book’ or the ‘Eternal Book of Lhankor Mhy’ – all are texts that do not exist. Like the fictional books of Jorge Luis Borges or Umberto Eco. This is one of my favourite things about Glorantha and Call of Cthulhu. All of these are books that the fans know all about but not a page of any of them has ever been written down.”

Claudia: “Would you like to write one of this well known books?”

Jeff: “No, absolutely not. The power of these nonexistent books is that they are conduits for our imagination. True tabulae rasae to be filled with our imagination. Whatever I write or anybody else for that matter would be a disappointment. Imagine how lame it would be to read the ‘Necronomicon’ and not go insane!”

Claudia: “What is the most famous nonexistent book in Glorantha in your opinion?”

Jeff: “Either the ‘Abiding Book’ (the sacred grimoire of the Malkioni religion) or the ‘Jonstown Compendium’ (a collection of writings kept in the Jonstown temple of Knowledge). In my mind the ‘Jonstown Compendium’ looks like one of the big old catalogues like the ones we have seen in the Herzog Augustus Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel – a library which I strongly recommend to visit! The place is like a Lhankor Mhy temple filled with medieval and renaissance era books.”

Claudia: “Does one of this books appear in one of your (real) next books?”

Jeff: “The ‘Jonstown Compendium’ appears in Sartar and the Sartar Companion. Plenty of non-existent books will appear in the Pavis Book. The ‘Abiding Book’ will make it’s first appearance in the Guide to Glorantha – although Greg and I have written loads about it in the Middle Sea Empire book.”

I promise from now on I will try to be more interested in all the important non-existent books my husband refers to but won’t write!

Like last time here a new piece of cool art (black and white) which will appear in the Sartar Companion book. This time the scene is inside the Jonstown temple of knowledge (location of the Jonstown Compendium – see how we come around to where we started!).

The artist is Jan Pospisil, a fantastic Czech artist doing some really cool pictures in the Sartar Companion. Jeff better have him do more art in the future books, because his stuff is great.

Finally I want to thank you for all the encouraging comments on my writing from last week! Answering all of them is not possible or our one year old would be very very angry with me! However -  Jeff wrote a few answers and I promise to read all of them carefully, shake them, stir them, scramble them and use the essence as input to pester Jeff or to peak around files or whatever and write about the results.

Claudia

Introduction:

My name is Claudia Loroff and I’m married to Jeff Richard – main writer of Moon Design. I love gaming for many years and I met Jeff gaming. However, making a hobby to your business is a very different thing and gives a new perspective on your hobby. Jeff did this and his work for Moon Design dominates a lot of our time at home – even if I’m working in a very different area.

During breakfast I get all the news about the good and bad comments fans made in several forums Jeff regularly checks (please – I prefer the good comments much more than the complaints about little things – criticisms are very important and good but also keep in mind what you do to our theoretically harmonious breakfast – please do it in a decent tone you would like to be treated when criticised and fair comments are even better and very helpful!), having lunch together he tells me about new projects and in the evening I’m allowed to make my comments about new art sketches coming in.

Finn – our one year old son – is used as a name creator by Jeff – more about that you can read later. You see – we are not only frequent con goers and play games from time to time (we are not students anymore so the time of having a game twice a week or more often is over but we still enjoy gaming when we have the time for it!) but gaming dominates a lot of our time (and space – all the rule and source books, print outs, my board games…).

Why do I write all of this?

A lot of people share our hobbies and are interested in what Jeff is doing for Moon Design. However – he is the main writer and does also a lot other organisational work. And sometimes his family needs him a well. It’s very tough for him to keep everybody in the loop posting news and so on. Because I hear a lot of the ongoing stuff anyways I offered to write about it – bits and pieces we talk about anyways or things I’m allowed to peek into and so on. And of course – sold books means new diapers for Finn – another good reason to support Jeff’s work with a bit of writing!

What will be the content?

The goal is to give you a peak into what is going on at Moon Design and maybe make you curious about new releases, let you know about new projects, introduce you to the team behind Moon Design and so on. However – this is a blog and following the spirit of this medium I plan to write about things which had popped up during the week without following a special structure. It could be about a new book or how Finn had eaten some of Jeff’s precious notes (yesterday during gaming it was close – he snatched Jeff’s notebook and ripped a few pages out until we could get it back…).

What is the frequency of new posts?

I will try to post something once a week (very likely during the weekend).

One last thing before I end this introduction and jump into the “content”: English is not my native language and I’m sure some denglisch or germlish will slip into my writings more often than I like. However – I’m sure you can cope with that.

17^th July 2010

Hmmm… the next paragraphs sound more like an advertisement bit than what I promised above but as a start into the Blog an overview is maybe a good thing. I asked Jeff this morning at the breakfast table between pancakes, jam and butter what he is just working on. “A lot of different projects” was his answer and that’s true:

A scenario section for the Pavis book containing scenarios for Pavis itself and around Pavis which can be played as a campaign or not: Some scenarios have the Griselda-Feeling (means stealing things, dealing with the criminal elements of Pavis and so on), others are radical updates of old adventures (the word “radical” was very important for him) from 20-30 years ago (like fighting against Muriay, witch queen of the broos, stealing from duke Raus). Some adventures reintroduce you to old acquaintances and famous items (a new adventure with Treasure Trove Hurbi, something in Sun County and the Yelmalions, an adventure around one of the fabled organ stone of Pavis).

Jeff says that he expects to finish the texts in about a month. Add another 2-3 month for art and layout and the release could be somewhere in fall of 2010.

The next project he is working on is editing Ian Coopers “Coming Storm”. This will be a book with adventures and background for Sartar but not connected to the Colymars (you will read about them in Sartar Companion coming out next month) but the Cinsina-Tribe. The release of the book is roughly planned for fall-winter 2010.

Jeff is also working on a Big Rubble Adventure pack (this reminds me of our game where he sent us into the Devils Playground but our group decided that it was too dangerous and after putting our noses into we immediately decided to leave. It was a short adventure but still a good one – and we survived! Jeff says that Devils Playground will make it into the new book – maybe there are braver adventurers to deal with it than we were!) which will be available around winter 2010.

The next thing he is working on are the final bits and pieces for the Sartar Companion book (final art and layout) which will – if everything is going fine – released sometime in august.

Two books are in commission (not playing in Glorantha) – one is Hero Quest Horror, written by Ben Monroe and the other one is as Jeff describes it a “Victorian literary HeroQuest Game” with the feeling of being in the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe. No idea for when they are scheduled but I will asked Jeff about it.

So much for the overview. Now I will lift the secret of creating cool names for NPCs. All you need a little kid preferably around one year and just learning how to speak and some imagination. Due to the fact that our son Finn is challenged to learn two languages (English and German) right from the beginning he plays around with the stuff he hears and makes up new words which sound English or German (even if he can not speak yet). Jeff uses his approaches with some fantasy as input for cool names for monsters and weird foreigners. One example you will find in the Sartar Companion book: Ecklar the Easterner is one of Finn’s creations and one of his first words which nearly sounded like a word and not only like baby talk! Who still needs computerised name generators if you have somebody doing it for you?

I would say this is now enough for the start.

I plan to present on the end of every entry an art piece which will make it in one of the next books and which I personally find cool.

As an appetizer for the coming Sartar Companion book here a very cthulhuid picture which is actually the Crimson Bat approaching from Jed Dougherty, a fantastic artist from California. The resolution of the picture in the book will of course be much better than here.

Meanwhile I am finishing up the draft for Pavis: Gateway to Adventure, which details New Pavis and the River of Cradles, provides lots of encounters outside the walls and in the new city, six new cults, and bunches of adventures. After that, I have to finish up the Big Rubble, which provides loads of new information and material for the Big Rubble, plus lots of adventures.  These books build on the classic Chaosium Pavis and Big Rubble books and hopefully take them several big leaps forward. Originally, I had planned to have one big book, but we have so much new material that it will have to be two.

At the same time, work goes forward on the Guide to Glorantha. Colin Driver and our new map intern are busy working on new maps of Glorantha and I think we have worked out the kinks in our draft Lunar and Malkioni magic rules for HQ2. Greg has worked out some interested charts to present the Gloranthan Gods Age in a more visual manner, showing events that were observed by nearly ALL cultures during the Gods Age.

Anyways, got to get back to work – I don’t want to be holding any of this up!

For a larger image of the list, click here.

However, for those of you going to Eternal Convention at Bacharach, you can get your hands on a copy for just €30 (and no postage). If you want a reserve a copy, just email jeff@glorantha.com and let him know. Offer good as long as supplies last.

This volume of the Stafford Library is a compilation of every Orlanthi myth, god, and hero published or unpublished known by Greg Stafford at the time of printing. The Book of Heortling Mythology contains myths from the entirety of the Orlanthi God Time: from the Creation of Glorantha to the Lightbringers Quest and and the Death of Heort. It also provides dozens of short tales about various Orlanthi gods and heroes, maps of the various God Ages, a complete list of all canonical Orlanthi gods, demons, and heroes, and much much more. The revised edition includes all-new maps of the Storm Realm, the Storm Age, the Great Flood, and the Great Darkness, an expanded index and more!

For some images of the maps in Heortling Mythology check out this page.

If you already bought a PDF of Heortling Mythology, Moon Design will send you a free PDF of the revised edition once the book is generally available.

The adventure takes you from the Dwarf Knoll to Battle Valley and the Haunted Ruins. Telling much more might spoil the fun!

THE ETERNAL CONVENTION

Bacharach, Germany

May 21st – May 24th

THE ETERNAL CONVENTION is your chance to spend a weekend gaming in a  castle on the Rhine River! Unbelievable scenery, great people, and amazing fun! There are still spaces so – Register now!

ETERNAL CONVENTION features HeroQuest Glorantha, Mongoose Runequest, Call of Cthulhu, Traveler and much more. There will be a Glorantha seminar featuring members of the Moon Design team.

ETERNAL CONVENTION is a residential convention, you can sleep, game, drink, and eat all in Castle Stahleck.

UPDATE: Get your ETERNAL CONVENTION German beer stein, t-shirt, or more, featuring art by our own Dan Barker! Just check it out here and order!

CONTINUUM 2010

Leicester, England

July 2nd – July 5th

CONTINUUM is a weekend-long celebration of table-top roleplaying, miniatures, freeform and board gaming. Held at Leicester University’s John Foster Hall you can spend a relaxed weekend in a friendly atmosphere playing a whole host of different types of game.

CONTINUUM’s focus is on pen, paper and dice roleplaying games but the variety we support is truly extraordinary. CONTINUUM is a residential convention with comfortable rooms and great local facilities.

THE KRAKEN

THE KRAKEN is a new gaming event in Germany brought to you by the fabled Tentacles team. Check out their website:

www.the-kraken.de

THE KRAKEN will host the creator of Glorantha Greg Stafford and the designer of Call of Cthulhu Sandy Petersen!

THE KRAKEN is a baroque gathering of international gamers and game creators to play and create fine quality games. Taking place at Schloss Neuhausen, a Prussian Château, in the middle of summer it is primed to become the icon of a new generation of gaming events. Combining high comfort, fine food, German beer, a picturesque venue and the best in gaming THE KRAKEN will be a true gaming vacation.

THE KRAKEN is by the same people who brought you the Tentacles Convention. It honors the tradition of supporting the classic games of Chaosium, Inc., Issaries, Inc. and their offspring by Moon Design, Mongoose, Pegasus Spiele and Éditions Sans Détour but will be open to all kinds of quality games. THE KRAKEN is also the heir to the crazy, fun and innovative spirit of Tentacles.

THE KRAKEN is a non-profit event.