We have forums now. They’re quiet, but if you want to ask questions about our games, our development, or anything of the sort, they’re here: Transneptune Forums.
I’ve been continuing to work on Et in Arcadia Ego, my Regency-magicians game. The current issue is how the magic in the game should work. For magic to be weird and a bit wild, it has to strain the boundaries of something very important to a story-game: cause and effect.
I’ve brought up the unease with which I view things like The Big Model before, but I don’t think I’ve ever really explained why the whole mess gives me hives. Ironically, I haven’t had the words to express what my problem with it is succinctly. Now that we’re out of the woods with editing Becoming Heroes, I have a better sense of my own mind and want to put those thoughts down before I lose them.
A curiosity of language is its inseparability from context. Sure, we can use words and have a limited success at conveying them without context, but when we try and convey meaning, we’re inextricably bound to interpretation and contextualization. Which means that names and jargon are both impossible to avoid and unavoidably shaping.
We’ve already sold two copies! I’m very excited. It’s like framing our first dollar and putting it up on the wall of our restaurant.
If you’ve bought a copy, be sure to get in touch so that we can send you a PDF copy.
Thanks, and we hope you like it.
Great news! We finalized our print layout and are ready to accept orders for Becoming Heroes. You can pick it up here. We’re still working on the PDF/digital formats—we’re hoping to create a full-size and tablet version, and should have them soon. This is the culmination of a year of work for us and we’re very pleased with the results; I hope that you all feel the same.
Our chief weapon is… supplies!
In other great news, we will have a booth at Gen Con! Number 1745 to be precise. We’ll be in the back right of the dealer room in the space reserved for first time exhibitors. You’ll be able to pick up print copies of the book, sets of beads, art from the game, and a copy of our free leaflet RPG Lucid. (What’s Lucid, you ask? Swing by to find out!) Alas, we’re still playtesting some changes for Piece of Work and have decided not to rush the game for the convention.
If you’re going to Gen Con, you should also stop by the various indie booths on display. Of course, the DriveThrough RPG booth (767), but also the amazing folk over at Margaret Weis Productions (1619); we are uncertain if Evil Hat or Bully Pulpit will be in attendance. [Edit: Bully Pulpit will be there. Rejoice!] All of these people have been a huge influence on us and we owe them all collectively a beverage of their choice. (Feel free to swing by and collect—we will make time for you!)
Expect traffic on this blog to drop during the con. Until then, look for several posts over the next few days!
Some games have what I call “grabby”. That special something that makes you feel, viscerally, the desire to play them. For me, Dogs in the Vineyard has it. World of Darkness had it. It didn’t have it when I read it, but after playing it, Apocalypse World has it in spades. And I’m beginning to suspect that Becoming Heroes has it.
Rob Donoghue has recently mentioned that it takes more than being a great game to get a place in his collection. I think that, for me, grabby is part of this additional something. So what’s grabby? I doubt I can answer that, but I can at least explore it.
We at Transneptune Games have recently discovered that we are pretentious.
This came to light while we were editing our game Becoming Heroes (which is the final title of In a Dragon-Guarded Land). One fine editor was kind enough to point out that our in-text language was a little on the pretentious side. At first we were (briefly) dismissive of his point on the grounds that it was okay to be so. After all, we’re indie gamers. We speak of IIEE and narrative authority as casually as sane people might talk about their coffee this morning. But after sleeping on this criticism and re-reading the game, we realized the horrible truth of the matter. We were not just pretentious, we were unbelievably pretentious.
