From Rich Lescouflair: On RPG Design
over 2 years ago
– Sun, Jun 26, 2022 at 07:21:57 AM
Hello all!
I want to thank you for your support to this campaign. It means a lot to me and our team, and I’m excited to work on this TTRPG in a world I find really intriguing and am looking forward to playing in. I thought people might like hearing a few of the principles I put behind designing a game like this.
When designing rules for any tabletop system, I always strive for a few essential standards. The rules need to be simple to learn, easily adaptable, and most importantly, created with the intent of making the game more fun. As someone who has been roleplaying for almost four decades, I can say the core 5E rules embody the best aspects of D&D, while remaining fast-paced, fun, and versatile.
This is the reason why I chose 5E for Esper Genesis—a sci-fi universe inspired by my favorite movies, games, and stories from my childhood. Like the fantasy games I grew up on, it was designed to be a fun and easy way to build and play in a sci-fi setting limited only by the imagination.
Because of 5E’s broad compatibility and versatility, it inspired me to launch Expedition from the Mysterious Peaks, a homage to an old idea of combining the fantasy and sci-fi genres into something new and extraordinary game setting. We are making good progress on getting the adventures finalized from the writers, and in fact Greg Wilson will be premiering a Session Zero of it tonight on his Twitch channel.
And so I’m equally thrilled to bring these concepts to the setting of Cohrelle, the realm of the Gray Assassin.
I mention setting often, since a great setting is the foundation for making a versatile rules system truly sing. The world of Grayshade is such an environment in which to make a great game—filled with conflict, intrigue, and mystery within a city of shadows, with the specter of hope always on the horizon. (Not to mention a shady tavern; I definitely know some people who’d be hanging out there.) Its rich detail and captivating lore provide the framework to create amazing encounters for all three pillars of play: combat, social, and exploration.
I’m excited to work on adapting Grayshade to 5E, with new and exciting options that would allow players and GMs to truly immerse themselves into the city of Cohrelle and its ever-expanding world beyond. I think it’s a game RPG-lovers (like me) are going to sink right into and then make their own.
And if you’re here for the novels, maybe you’ll give this game a look. Playing RPGs is storytelling at its core, and it’s something that has brought our team here the joy we needed when things are tough.
If you have any questions, please feel free to post in the comments. This game is going to be super fun to work on. The more this campaign is seen, the more stretch goals and lore we can put into it, so please share this post where you can to help us get the word out.
Thank you!
From Marie: On Grit
over 2 years ago
– Wed, Jun 22, 2022 at 07:32:24 PM
Hi all,
We continue to make good, steady progress on our Kickstarter, and as we pass the week mark we're already one third of the way funded--an excellent start. We would ask that you continue to spread the word about the project and what we're trying to do here; the more we get involved, the better for all concerned, and we're excited to see how things proceed as we move forward!
Our update today comes from someone who had a lot to do with the earliest versions of Grayshade, author, editor, and storyteller Marie Bilodeau. Our thanks to her for this, and thanks to all of you for your continued support and signal boosting of Grayshade!
Greg
From Marie:
You know who’s got grit? Grayshade. You know who else? Greg Wilson.
And, as sad as it is to say, grit is an important quality because the publishing industry can be harsh. But there’s also so much hope in the industry, so many stories of people continuing forward despite adversity…well, it’s a harsh industry, but one filled with light, too.
Now, onto Grayshade. I first had the honor of working on Grayshade when I was Deputy Publisher of an up-and-coming press. Slotted to be the second release of our main line, the book resonated with its characters and setting. I left shortly before it was released, but couldn’t wait for the world to devour it.
But, as is the way of the publishing industry at times, the publisher folded around its release, leaving many books orphaned, including Grayshade.
This is where the grit comes in. Having a small press fold while the ink still feels wet on your publishing contract can be extremely disheartening. Grayshade wasn’t the only book abandoned. Many other books were, as well. Then good news began to erupt over the few following years. These books found new homes. New champions to help them see the light of day.
And new editors to make them shine even more. I was thrilled to hear Atthis Arts was taking Grayshade out, since they produce fantastic books with beautiful covers. It’s the second chance Grayshade, and Gregory A. Wilson, deserved, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
So, here’s to grit, and getting it done, and for beloved books to get their second well-deserved chance at the spotlight.
From Greg: "The Crimson Demon"
over 2 years ago
– Tue, Jun 21, 2022 at 09:45:56 PM
Hi, everyone! We've passed our first stretch goal of one hundred backers (amazing and great work from all of you!), and that means I get to share a story of Grayshade's past, in this prequel story "The Crimson Demon." I hope you enjoy the story, and that it gives you a bit of insight into the time before The Gray Assassin Trilogy picks up the tale.
And remember: the more we can spread the word about this project, the more we can get people to take a look and support it, the more we can offer as time goes on. Next up, at 350 backers (remember, even a dollar backer counts here!), is a bonus class for the TTRPG, details to be announced as we get closer to the milestone--and right past that we have the audiobook from Tren Sparks, which is going to be incredible (if you've heard any of Tren's work in Battletech, Shadowrun, or elsewhere, you'll know what I mean--it's truly amazing stuff)! Again, thanks for your support, enjoy the story, and please spread the word to everyone you can, using the tag #GrayAssassin when you do so on social media. Thank you!
From Emily: The Stone Star
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Jun 20, 2022 at 06:16:31 AM
Hello, and happy #IAmFerndalePride from Ferndale, Michigan! Emily here. Today’s update is a little aside, but one I hope is a bit of fun. One of the prizes from #ArvCon2022, the community charity event run by Gregory A. Wilson to benefit the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, was a short story written by me (along with a copy of my upcoming novel Night Ivy.) The winner, romance writer Kella Campbell, wanted me to write about a rock star, a lovely and complimentary challenge, as she writes spicy romances about the members of a rock band in the fanulous Smidge series. Both excited about this, Kella and Arvanaut Arudanel decided to collaborate on the prize, work together on an idea, and share it with backers of this campaign to help promote Grayshade. (♥ !) Arudanel wanted to build on Kella’s prompt, stay with the idea of romantic energy, and request that the rock star be made of literal rock, and maybe have lyrics about rock that are thus misunderstood.
I love a challenge. And so I wrote for Arudanel, for Kella, and for you. I hope you enjoy. (If you do, please share out the story!)
Thanks for your support to our campaign, for your love of indie art, and for letting people know.
The Stone Star by E.D.E. Bell
They called her The Stone Star. A rotund, chain-clad statue on the shadowy side of the plaza who spent her days singing to the people of the town. Not just the people of the town. Visitors started to show and gather in the shade of the nicer days, wanting a glimpse at the unique and interesting object, its history unclear.
She called herself a rock star. Stone was not her own. Stone was the lines of trim and rounded skin and etchings of lace that her artist had chiseled into her, one at a time. These ideas were human ideas. Her heart was made of rock.
And she sang for him. The statue on the sunny side of the plaza, facing away from her. Unable to approach, she watched the crowds gather in the light around him. She could hear his music from where she stood. Soft, joyful, and occasionally buoyant, like the bay that rippled, waving and thriving with edges of froth, to her back.
She could hear him. And so, she hoped, maybe when the winds were low and the crowds were light, he could hear her too.
The gatherers did not understand. She sang for rock. Wanting rock. Needing rock. Rock forever, and rock within her soul. Those who gathered cheered with glee, praising her passion for the genre as they danced and swayed and drank from life, but did not understand.
They never understood.
This did not quell her art; her art was hers, its desire as fierce as her words, the compression and release forming beats to be filled. She sang in measures. She pulled in the wind chimes and window screens, and the birds of the bay, and everything capable of sound joined her in her plea. She sang in harmony with the wind.
And at night, when the people left, she sang harder, truer, pulling the darkness into velvet chords, and letting the thunder strum her deepest notes, the streaks of light her stage.
She never tired of her song.
Someday, she knew that statues of human stone would always tumble to dust.
This brought her no sadness. She had a heart of rock.
To follow E.D.E. Bell, check out her social media links at edebell.com.
Find books and social media links for Atthis Arts at atthisarts.com and please consider subscribing to our new Atthis Arts Sketchbook on Patreon, featuring global experimental fiction. Thanks for your support!
Welcome, everyone, to the world of Grayshade!
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Jun 20, 2022 at 12:33:54 AM
Hi all,
I just wanted to send out a quick update thanking you all for jumping on board this project, which is really a labor of love for me--taking a book, world, and characters I care about deeply and expanding those things into a series, TTRPG, audiobooks, and more. Grayshade is a dark story infused with hope, and I'd like to think that balance resonates with us and our time as much as it does with the people within the story and universe. It's taken a long time to get to the point where we feel we have the right team assembled and the right project structure for them to do their work, and so it's really gratifying to see so many of you get involved so quickly. As I write this we've just passed $3300 and 44 backers, a very solid start less than 12 hours in, and we have a number of other promotional posts and the like going out over the next few days, so we feel good about where we are.
You can expect regular updates from us as the Kickstarter progresses; I'll have another one up in a couple of days talking about the world and the idea behind the books, plus some details about a special event happening on my Twitch channel on Thursday the 16th with authors Carlos Hernandez and C.S.E. Cooney, using their game in development but customized for our Grayshade world, followed by an update from poet and game designer (and Grayshade sensitivity reader) Brandon O'Brien a couple of days after that. All the while, we'll be monitoring how things are going, updating the stretch goals and other such items along the road...and we'll be making sure to stay in contact with you as we do so.
So we do indeed feel good, and you folks are the reason! And the best way to keep that momentum going is to spread the word--so please do let others know about this project and what we're trying to accomplish here. If you have and like to use social media, using the hashtag #GrayAssassin along with posts and tweets about Grayshade will help us all pull together in the same direction. If you have questions, please ask us here or drop us a line privately. And on behalf of the team, and from me directly: thank you all so much for supporting this project and believing in what we're doing here. We're incredibly excited to bring you the world of Grayshade in both fiction and game form, and can't wait to show you what's next. Let's make that possible together!
Thanks again, and talk soon,
Greg
