Dark Designs Progress

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:15 pm

Vidynn wrote:good luck Warwolf!

my "wish-list" for new Nightbane-books:

more world info (outside the US would be GREAT) and history
more fully fleshed out adventures plus HLS

no more morphus-tables, talents, skills and factions. we got enough already.

Thanks. Know that your wants are duly noted and I DO have plans to do more with world info and history both, as well as giving fans plenty of material to spark adventures. Just keep in mind that Dark Designs IS largely Talents, tables, etc., as there are a number of fans that want to see more of this type of material and I had enough material left over from the NSG that I didn't get to flesh out to make a seperate book. Hopefully my stuff will be different enough from what is already out there to make even the skeptics think it is worthwhile to purchase... especially since I HOPE to at least give some guidelines on how to convert superpowers, spells, etc. and/or create your own Talents.

jaymz · Unread post by **jaymz** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:23 pm

Warwolf wrote: especially since I HOPE to at least give some guidelines on how to convert superpowers, spells, etc. and/or create your own Talents.

THIS I would be looking forward to and I don't play Nightbane.

Shawn Merrow · Unread post by **Shawn Merrow** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:29 pm

jaymz wrote:
Warwolf wrote: especially since I HOPE to at least give some guidelines on how to convert superpowers, spells, etc. and/or create your own Talents.

THIS I would be looking forward to and I don't play Nightbane.

That would be very useful and I also hope it makes it. :ok:

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 4:20 pm

Halfway done with the manuscript. Over ten new Morphus tables and over 50 new Talents so far. Hoping to put in a couple of large time-blocks before the week is out.

Shawn Merrow · Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:18 pm

Josh Hilden wrote:
Warwolf wrote:Halfway done with the manuscript. Over ten new Morphus tables and over 50 new Talents so far. Hoping to put in a couple of large time-blocks before the week is out.

Awesome, that book is so going to be on my "Buy Now" list!

Same

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:42 pm

Literate Wolf wrote:Will the new Morpheus tables have a chart to add them to the core Morpheus tables?

I would expect a new nightbane characteristics table like we got in NBSG

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 4:01 pm

Literate Wolf wrote:Will the new Morpheus tables have a chart to add them to the core Morpheus tables?

You know, I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm honestly not sure yet how I'm going to integrate them. I'd hate for those same tables to be reprinted over and over every time new Morphus tables are added, but then I haven't come up with a satisfactory way around it so far. :-?

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 5:16 pm

Warwolf wrote:
Literate Wolf wrote:Will the new Morpheus tables have a chart to add them to the core Morpheus tables?

You know, I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm honestly not sure yet how I'm going to integrate them. I'd hate for those same tables to be reprinted over and over every time new Morphus tables are added, but then I haven't come up with a satisfactory way around it so far.

An ever-updating page on the palladium site

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:32 pm

Jedrious wrote:
Warwolf wrote:
Literate Wolf wrote:Will the new Morpheus tables have a chart to add them to the core Morpheus tables?

You know, I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm honestly not sure yet how I'm going to integrate them. I'd hate for those same tables to be reprinted over and over every time new Morphus tables are added, but then I haven't come up with a satisfactory way around it so far.

An ever-updating page on the palladium site

good luck with that. palladium doesn't even have an updating FAQ, and hasn't for years...

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:13 pm

Jedrious wrote:An ever-updating page on the palladium site

Yeah, I don't think that'll fly. Not only is Kev averse to putting print material up online but it's also an issue of not giving the consumer all the info they need within the book (and we see how well that's gone over with BtS). Maybe that's something we could examine for the future as "additional content" for the new site, but for now I need to keep the material grounded in the printed product.

Specter · Unread post by **Specter** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:03 am

I'll be buying this as Nightbane is my favorite setting. I wouldn't mind some info for different countries but I would prefer more info on Nightlords, Hook and Sink adventure ideas, and Nightbane throughout history (if only because the next nightbane game I run will be history spanning romp.)

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:37 pm

Specter wrote:I'll be buying this as Nightbane is my favorite setting. I wouldn't mind some info for different countries but I would prefer more info on Nightlords, Hook and Sink adventure ideas, and Nightbane throughout history (if only because the next nightbane game I run will be history spanning romp.)

We (Irvin and I) have plans to expand more on the setting in the relatively near future. However, Dark Designs has to get finished before I think too much more about that.

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 4:47 pm

Any progress updates?

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 1:17 pm

Jedrious wrote:Any progress updates?

Nothing much positive, I'm afraid. As I mentioned on the thread about new character sheets I had some family business blindside me last month. It's not worth detailing it here, but that on top of GenCon knocked me about a month off my planned production schedule. In turn, that's put me into the position of trying to find time to finish Dark Designs while attending graduate courses full-time and working a practicum. I'm doing what I can when I can, though. I know you and others are waiting to see what I've got in store, so I don't intend to disappoint.

I do at least have the proof-reader comments back on the general Talents and I'm roughly halfway done with the new Morphus Tables, it's just that working on the manuscript has been hard to find time for (I'm getting about 4-6 hours of sleep per night as is). I'll probably try and devote a full evening to the manuscript some time this weekend and try to find my stride again.

Thanks for keeping that whip crackin'. :wink:

MurderCityDisciple · Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:56 pm

What I really would like is to have all the talents and morphs in one book...I can't stand having to look thru multiple books. Even if it's just a list (with or without short description), with book and page numbers if otherwise.

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 6:06 pm

MurderCityDisciple wrote:What I really would like is to have all the talents and morphs in one book...I can't stand having to look thru multiple books. Even if it's just a list (with or without short description), with book and page numbers if otherwise.

I understand the sentiment, but collecting this info in one place would potentially undercut sales of the other books. However, you might be able to find a fan-compiled reference list. If not, I know I have one for the Talents I could send you (Talent and location, nothing else).

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 1:26 am

Warwolf wrote:
MurderCityDisciple wrote:What I really would like is to have all the talents and morphs in one book...I can't stand having to look thru multiple books. Even if it's just a list (with or without short description), with book and page numbers if otherwise.

I understand the sentiment, but collecting this info in one place would potentially undercut sales of the other books. However, you might be able to find a fan-compiled reference list. If not, I know I have one for the Talents I could send you (Talent and location, nothing else).

there's also the fact that the moment they release a new book or rifter article with new talents, morphus tables, or whatever, your list is no longer complete.

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:14 am

Shark_Force wrote:
Warwolf wrote:
MurderCityDisciple wrote:What I really would like is to have all the talents and morphs in one book...I can't stand having to look thru multiple books. Even if it's just a list (with or without short description), with book and page numbers if otherwise.

I understand the sentiment, but collecting this info in one place would potentially undercut sales of the other books. However, you might be able to find a fan-compiled reference list. If not, I know I have one for the Talents I could send you (Talent and location, nothing else).

there's also the fact that the moment they release a new book or rifter article with new talents, morphus tables, or whatever, your list is no longer complete.

Which is why basically every Palladium setting needs and online, dynamically updated index (this issue is actually not unique to Palladium)

MurderCityDisciple · Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:23 am

I think if Palladium actually kept an updated list of the what's and where's for all the game lines it would generate sales. For instance if they had a list of all the Nightbane talents that appeared in the various Rifter's, Customer X would seek out said Rifter isssues. Me being Customer X.

Who here agrees?

Oh I think this thread just got sidetracked.....anyway...Dark Designs hopefully is creeping along.

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 6:12 pm

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:29 pm

Jedrious wrote:<Insert Obligatory Monthly Progress Inquiry Here>

Sorry, man. As I was afraid, school has been pretty demanding. On top of that there are some ongoing personal issues consuming what would otherwise be my free time and capacity to concentrate on writing. I had hoped they would have been resolved by now, but instead things have only taken a turn for the worse. It's nothing that is going to keep me from the project long-term, I promise you that, but it's been a HUGE stumbling block to this point. Heck, it's been tough to try and check in here and the Facebook page on a semi-regular basis the past couple of weeks... :-(

Interestingly, I just started having some inspiration for unrelated material just last night. So, I'm hoping that maybe trying to re-connect with gaming as a way to get away from the crappy stuff for a little while is slowly putting my writing capacity back in gear. I also have to thank Kev and crew as well as my fellow Freelancers for their support, and the fans for staying at least somewhat interested in what I'm doing. Barring some unforseen circumstance, I'll be back in the game relatively soon, count on it.

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:45 pm

I can understand School being demanding, I'm full-time at DeVry while working full-time. Get what you can in order so you can get back to the important work of making my free-time more interesting!!!

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:36 pm

Jedrious wrote:I can understand School being demanding, I'm full-time at DeVry while working full-time. Get what you can in order so you can get back to the important work of making my free-time more interesting!!!

I'm trying, man, I'm trying. :lol:

MurderCityDisciple · Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:38 pm

Warwolf wrote:
Jedrious wrote:I can understand School being demanding, I'm full-time at DeVry while working full-time. Get what you can in order so you can get back to the important work of making my free-time more interesting!!!

I'm trying, man, I'm trying.

Life gets in the way...don't fret Warwolf.

You aren't in jeopardy of rattling us Palladamites who are kinda used to seeing release dates whistle by and over the horizon at warp speeds.

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:55 pm

MurderCityDisciple wrote:Life gets in the way...don't fret Warwolf.

You aren't in jeopardy of rattling us Palladamites who are kinda used to seeing release dates whistle by and over the horizon at warp speeds.

Of course not, there wasn't a release date set on my book to begin with. :wink:

But then the whole reason I started this thread was so the fanbase could get a little better look at what a messy process the writing of a manuscript can be. As you said, sometimes life just gets in the way. I know that doesn't make for great PR, but it's the truth.

I'll probably continue to fret a little as I would like to have the manuscript finished before the end of the year, though. We'll just have to see if my schedule lets me.

Traska · Unread post by **Traska** » Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:54 pm

I just wanted to say, good luck. We're all counting on you.

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:17 pm

Happy Native American Subjugation Day, and on that note, how's my book coming?

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:45 pm

Traska wrote:I just wanted to say, good luck. We're all counting on you.

Thanks, Traska. I certainly feel the weight of those expectations, but that's a good thing. It helps to motivate me. :wink:

Jedrious wrote:Happy Native American Subjugation Day, and on that note, how's my book coming?

Hah! Thanks for that one (did you know I'm Native American?). Well, luckily the personal side of things has calmed drastically since I last posted about it. Unfortunately, it is now the most hellish part of the semester. I am hoping that since we get a full month off for winter break I'll have ample time to jump back into things head-first with renewed energy. With any luck I'll still be able to finish it by the end of the year. Of course, the best laid plans... keep your fingers crossed for me folks.

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:48 pm

Warwolf wrote:
Jedrious wrote:Happy Native American Subjugation Day, and on that note, how's my book coming?

Hah! Thanks for that one (did you know I'm Native American?).

Didn't know that, I'm 1/8 Apache myself.

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:52 pm

Warwolf wrote:
Traska wrote:I just wanted to say, good luck. We're all counting on you.

Thanks, Traska. I certainly feel the weight of those expectations, but that's a good thing. It helps to motivate me.

Jedrious wrote:Happy Native American Subjugation Day, and on that note, how's my book coming?

Hah! Thanks for that one (did you know I'm Native American?). Well, luckily the personal side of things has calmed drastically since I last posted about it. Unfortunately, it is now the most hellish part of the semester. I am hoping that since we get a full month off for winter break I'll have ample time to jump back into things head-first with renewed energy. With any luck I'll still be able to finish it by the end of the year. Of course, the best laid plans... keep your fingers crossed for me folks.

Alright, I gave you a reprieve for the Holidays, back to work! :whipcrack:

The Dark Elf · Unread post by **The Dark Elf** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:57 am

Jedrious wrote:
Warwolf wrote:
Jedrious wrote:Happy Native American Subjugation Day, and on that note, how's my book coming?

Hah! Thanks for that one (did you know I'm Native American?).

Didn't know that, I'm 1/8 Apache myself.

Part man, part helicopter?

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:16 pm

:whipcrack:

ScottBernard · Unread post by **ScottBernard** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:19 pm

Almost 4 months since the last update.

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:23 am

Sorry. I've been updating in other places and not in this thread. School continues to steal the vast majority of my time, especially now that I'm in the crunch on my thesis (which is why I haven't even been around the boards much). Like I mentioned elsewhere, it is solely my fault that new Nightbane material hasn't hit Kev's desk yet and for that I apologize profusely. I know you guys want to see more. Indeed, a number of fans told me this at VisionCon while I was helping Kev at the table and with the EPIC Panel Talk (TM). Heck, I want to see more too. But with Irvin the sole writer tackling Robotech and me busy with school, it's tough.

I promise, though, this isn't one of those projects that will fade into the annals of abandonment. Especially since it's sitting around halfway finished. I'm now hoping that I'll get some writing time back some time shortly after the Open House as I'll be done with my Practicum around that time and in a lull of the data-collection phase of the thesis. In the meantime, my imagination has still been kicking out ideas for source material so by the time I'm done with Dark Designs I MIGHT even be ready to jump right into the book after that (no promises, though).

In short, please continue to be patient with me, I'm doing the best I can. I'll also try to keep you all a little more in the loop in the near future.

MurderCityDisciple · Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:01 am

Warwolf wrote:Sorry. I've been updating in other places and not in this thread. School continues to steal the vast majority of my time, especially now that I'm in the crunch on my thesis (which is why I haven't even been around the boards much). Like I mentioned elsewhere, it is solely my fault that new Nightbane material hasn't hit Kev's desk yet and for that I apologize profusely. I know you guys want to see more. Indeed, a number of fans told me this at VisionCon while I was helping Kev at the table and with the EPIC Panel Talk (TM). Heck, I want to see more too. But with Irvin the sole writer tackling Robotech and me busy with school, it's tough.

I promise, though, this isn't one of those projects that will fade into the annals of abandonment. Especially since it's sitting around halfway finished. I'm now hoping that I'll get some writing time back some time shortly after the Open House as I'll be done with my Practicum around that time and in a lull of the data-collection phase of the thesis. In the meantime, my imagination has still been kicking out ideas for source material so by the time I'm done with Dark Designs I MIGHT even be ready to jump right into the book after that (no promises, though).

In short, please continue to be patient with me, I'm doing the best I can. I'll also try to keep you all a little more in the loop in the near future.

Like I said before...we're talking about Palladium...all good things take time. Sometimes infinite amounts of it.

Take your time friend, no anxiety, think of your happy place.
I'm very patient.

I still haven't given up on Pulp Cthulhu and that's been pending for now over 10 years.

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Thu May 31, 2012 4:29 pm

Update: I'm slowly starting to chip away at the manuscript again. My practicum is done as of this week, which should free up some more time for finishing this up. Of course, I'm also in the process of finding a new place to live and wrapping up some loose academic ends before I move...

Oh, an did I mention that this book will easily double the number of Talents available?

Jedrious · Unread post by **Jedrious** » Thu May 31, 2012 5:10 pm

Warwolf wrote:Update: I'm slowly starting to chip away at the manuscript again. My practicum is done as of this week, which should free up some more time for finishing this up. Of course, I'm also in the process of finding a new place to live and wrapping up some loose academic ends before I move...

Oh, an did I mention that this book will easily double the number of Talents available?

Good to hear, I'm in the middle of a move myself, where abouts are you relocating to?

The Dark Elf · Unread post by **The Dark Elf** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:13 am

Warwolf wrote:Update: I'm slowly starting to chip away at the manuscript again. My practicum is done as of this week, which should free up some more time for finishing this up. Of course, I'm also in the process of finding a new place to live and wrapping up some loose academic ends before I move...

Move to England dude!

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:35 pm

The Dark Elf wrote:
Warwolf wrote:Update: I'm slowly starting to chip away at the manuscript again. My practicum is done as of this week, which should free up some more time for finishing this up. Of course, I'm also in the process of finding a new place to live and wrapping up some loose academic ends before I move...

Move to England dude!

Pretty sure U-Haul doesn't rent shipping containers for under $300. Plus, that would be one heck of an expense to come back and defend my thesis in the fall...

Actually, I'm returning to my home-county. Better job prospects up that way and I have family matters to attend to. I'd certainly like to visit the U.K. one of these days, though.

Anywho, I've been churning out a page or so a day this week, so barring the move becoming a major disruption I should be on track to have this manuscript finished some time in August. Well, hopefully.

Of course, whoever it was that asked for that primate table did me no favors. Has to be the most research I've put into a Morphus table yet. Sheesh.

Icefalcon · Unread post by **Icefalcon** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:53 am

Don't forget those ancient Nightbane I asked you about at the Open House.

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:54 pm

Icefalcon wrote:Don't forget those ancient Nightbane I asked you about at the Open House.

Probably not in this book. But there's more to come. I won't forget. :wink:

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 4:11 pm

Mephisto wrote:Will there be any more Reshapers appearing in canon?

Sorry it's taking me so long between posts again... don't have even a semi-regular connection to the net for now.

To answer your question? I'm not sure. The Reshapers are rare birds indeed, so they're going to be few and far-between. However, while I don't have any immediate plans for the Reshapers (and there's none that I know of on Irvin's side of things) it's certainly possible that one to a few might pop up in a future book. In fact, there's at least one that I can think of off the top of my head that would be ripe for at least mentioning them and perhaps giving further clues about them. :wink:

Icefalcon · Unread post by **Icefalcon** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:27 pm

Have you been getting much done between the move and academic last minutes?

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:26 pm

Icefalcon wrote:Have you been getting much done between the move and academic last minutes?

Unfortunately, no, as further family difficulties crimped my schedule beyond the move. However, I've almost completed the majority of my obligations for a while. I'm looking to September to be a big month for productivity. Of course, my target date has been pushed back now that I have new material I plan to include. (Could it have something to do with those ancient Nightbane? Perhaps so.) In other good news I'm back to being hot on the material again after a long lull, so as long as I can clear my schedule it'll mean I'm cranking on the book full-bore.

Lothos wrote:Just wanted to state my excitement and anticipation for a new Nightbane book. Nightbane is definitely my favorite PB setting and even though I haven't played for a few years I'd still be quite willing to buy anything new for NB. Even if it's just to read it and imagine the adventures I could have.

That's exactly what happened with the Survival Guide, now that I think about it.

Thanks for the encouragement and kind words. I hope the latest book lives up to expectations.

Icefalcon · Unread post by **Icefalcon** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:23 pm

Thanks for the update. Don't push yourself too hard, I am willing to wait for priomo material.

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 3:14 pm

Update time. Sorry it's been a bit, but life has been fairly hectic since moving this summer. I had gotten hot on Dark Designs again, but after GenCon I got a bit distracted writing material on-spec for a future Rifts supplement. I didn't intend to, honestly, but the ideas just wouldn't leave me alone and kept getting in the way of writing for Nightbane. I am happy to report that the intrusive ideas have been expelled and I am creatively clear to finish up the expanded Dark Designs.

What I am not so happy to report is that I am now up to my eyeballs in (somewhat problematic) thesis data and have approximately 2.5 weeks to do something with it if I want to graduate this semester. Thus, the manuscript has to wait just a little while longer. Once I get the first draft of the thesis finished I should start having time to devote to Nightbane again... and I cant wait. I'm able to find my groove again after a long absence. I owe you guys and gals a book and a book you shall have. One way or another.

Icefalcon · Unread post by **Icefalcon** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 7:47 pm

Take care of yourself before you take care of us.

The Dark Elf · Unread post by **The Dark Elf** » Tue Nov 06, 2012 2:27 pm

Icefalcon wrote:Take care of yourself before you take care of us.

Ignore this and leave your notes to us in your will. :clown:

Warwolf · Unread post by **Warwolf** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:29 am

Time once again for another update:

Well, the thesis debacle continues as my research team didn't finish data collection in time for me to graduate in the fall. That has prevented me from getting the job I was lining up and left me scrambling to find gainful employment. But fear not, I'll get things straightened out... I always seem to. However, this along with other matters has once again limited my ability to work on Dark Designs. I have managed to log a bit of time here and there on it (roughly 1/3 finished with the new Morphus tables now... just knocked off the Clown/Jester Table yesterday). As long as I can get something to pay my bills and round off this thesis in the next couple months I should be able to block out a regular writing schedule and get this thing to you folks. Let's keep our fingers crossed for 2013 everybody.

The Dark Elf · Unread post by **The Dark Elf** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:00 pm

Just got the Pornstar and Fancy dress morphus tables to do.....?