Anyway, it's been a rough day. I've been working hard to master the nuances of InDesign and the great stuff that is Adobe. I've been converted. Many wise men have told me to get with the program, so I've capitulated and retired my alternative software programs and outsourcing the layout. What's that mean? Well, maybe the logjam will be no more. Maybe, you won't care for the layout as much at first or maybe you'll like it better. Who knows? I used to do graphic design once upon a time, but my choices may not be your choices. I do know this speeds up the process tremendously, so that can be nothing but good, and I'm upping the quality of art in our products which comes from a bit of sweat equity on my part, but the words are still the main thing and we're making sure they stay pure and shiny as possible and are jammed up with crunch and flavor as appropriate. I've slowly assembled a good team of folks and it's been an exciting time.

What does that mean for you? Hopefully, a more steady and regular release of products. We don't like sporadic any more than you do. I promise. I can also assure you that our established and burgeoning product lines will get the attention they so richly deserve. While chaos surrounds the gaming industry, we're doing a Nero and fiddling away, hoping you enjoy our tune. Just pray we don't get burned. Will ya?

Here's hoping for a great rest of the year!

Regards,

Sean

I'm not typically prone to sentimentality, at least not in a public forum and I'm not going to start now. Everyone has said a great deal about this man today. The internet is popping with posts and comments of praise about Gary Gygax. Instead, I'm going to take a moment of reflection to see how he impacted me. Did I know him? Sure, as many of us did through his works and he impacted a lot of us. I got indoctrinated into the Cult of the Die at a young age. Heck, I go back to Chainmail and I grew up in a family run hobby shop, Viking Hobbies. We introduced roleplaying to the Midsouth Area and we had guests from TSR come down from time to time. Did I love D&D? Yes. Did I think Gygax was awesome? Sure enough? Do I wonder how things would've developed had roleplaying had its roots in different soil? Certainly. Game designers and developers are a creative lot and I often wonder how things might have been instead of how they are. Take, for example, comics in North America versus Japan if you want to see another what if scenario being played out before your very eyes.

Roleplaying has been a part of my life. Always. It's one of the things that define me. Still, as I've grown, I've expanded my horizons beyond D&D into other worlds, other settings, other systems, and at some point I began to set sail to seek out horizons of my own. Okay. I wax poetic (blame my often ill-used Literature degree).

When I discovered the passing of Gary Gygax was through trying to get my email to work. It was jammed up. The reason? A lot of posts about Gary's passing. His work touched a lot of people and we all owe a debt to him. It's strange to think of how one person can have such a huge impact on some many people. You don't think of it a whole lot until they're gone. I haven't played D&D in years since moving onto systems I develop for, but I'll be buying the new books when they come out, intrigued and excited about what's under the hood in 4th Edition, but a part of me sees this as the defining point of the end of an era. Arguably, you can say the industry already passed Gary Gygax and that is, in a large part true. Think of all the amazing things that D&D has spawned...look at video games and now MMOs. Things are constantly evolving and changing, but I doubt the Wright brothers would shake their head at the planes in the skies today, but only marvel at what they wrought. With the passing of Gygax, it's hard to imagine the elbow grease it takes to get into the industry today and one must certainly need equal parts elbow grease and madness to attempt such a thing. Still, the bell sounds loudly as we pause in our toil. The King is Dead! The King is Dead! We have to wonder who shall next pull the sword from the stone? Who shall rise to the throne? One must note it sits sad and vacant and, it is apparent, now more than ever, it has not truly been occupied in years.

More than anything else he has been credited with, he gave us gamers something far more precious to us than most might mention, he gave us memories.

Rest In Peace, Gygax!

Sincerely,

Sean

Things are moving right along here. We've just gotten Powers & Perils #1: Orwell Industries out in print and are ramping up for the release of Agents of Oblivion: Mission 001: Starfall Jungle.

We're working on more stuff, so check out the Mad Lab for more news.

It's remiss to not mention the big news on every gamer's lips today, the passing of Gary Gygax. Mark it on your calendars and remember it.

Regards,

Sean

I'm typing away on my new super sytem that I got on Monday after major technical issues over the weekend with my laptop shut things down.

As luck would have it, a super deal on a Seagate Externall 500 GB HDD lured me out of the house where I was able to snag something to back up all my writing which I dutifully did just three days before my computer sytem went on the fritz. I'm sending it off to the darkness of space (errr, system repair) and will anxiouslly await its return.

When I got my new system and plugged it all in and booted it up, the thing sounded like a chopper coming down over 'Nam and I ducked for cover, but the thing never booted up, so I low crawled over and unplugged it, said a few choice words, tromped back to the store (that shall remain nameless), and the guys there checked it and indeed agreed it was broken, so I got another system, came home, booted it up, and was relieved that it booted up just fine. However...after a few moments of browsing around Vista...which I've never seen outside of the stores, commercials, and catalogs, and the disc that I've got for my laptop, but have yet to install...find the sytem falling apart around me, like I'm in some kind of Salvador Dali painting. I find some repair feature that works...for about 5 minutes until the system says I have an inadequate graphics card and starts melting down even faster. At that point, I say a few more choice words to myself, vowing vengeance upon the store if I can't get this thing operational, and do a complete system reimage (which took an hour and a half to two hours, at this point, I think I'm somehow sharing time and space with a gremlin (or two). Magically, this longshot reimage idea fixed things up and the system is now as stable as can be. Though, I have backed everything up on this machine as well, just in case.

At any rate, work continues apace, and the only reason I post this here is that there is oftimes a tenuous relationship between the writer and his machine. Regardless of our background, technical or otherwise, we just want it to work and be a transparent helper in our creative business endeavors. To that end, I do believe this new machine is going to really ramp up productivity!

Who knows? I might even install BioShock on this if I get it for Christmas. (Ummmm...this counts as research for work, right?);)

Regards,

Sean

Okay, now that that's out of the way. Let's talk gaming principles. Something I've drifted from in awhile, but a good topic to revisit often. First off, none of us create in a vacuum. We are influenced, for good or ill, by everything around us. The noisy neighbors across the street. The streak of hot weather. Arguments initiated or overheard. Everything impacts us and is absorbed by us on an almost eerily cellular level. The thing is what to do with all this stuff, because all this stuff isn't good. Some books I've read by greatly learned people discuss the whole cerebral deal and it boils down to what some of the more analytical like to call the filter, while the more prosaic of our ilk like to call the muse. You can even call it intuition, gut, or common sense. Whatever it is, it's important as it helps you decide what to keep in and what to throw out. Influences, in what is obviously my opinion, are not bad things. They can provide needed nourishment to seedlings of ideas and help them flourish into incredbile, vital oaks of awesome proportions. Of course, some influences, as we all know, are not good things and are more akin to pouring antifreeze on a delicate African violet. Not highly recommended. Some ideas are fragile and need isolation, but eventually, any idea, project, whatever, to transcend the status of trunk book or pet project, must get thrown into the mix and see if it has what it takes to survive. One can only hope their ideas have the vitality and clarity of vision to survive.

My influences inform me and expand my horizons. My influences add to the robustness of my visions. My influences are me and I, in turn, are them. A wise man told me to focus on the setting...the world...and he was write and I tip my hat to that my and offer my thanks for what's been a great year for my friends and family and we look forward to what tomorrow holds in store.

Is every day great? Of course not. Am I informed by the pain intrinsic to life? Of course. Those are more influences and of use to one honing his craft. Now, lest you think I've drank a gallon of perfumed arrogance and am vomiting up billious words, I shall leave you with a few of my latest influences...Myths and Legends of Japan, Seven Swords, and the PS3 with the amazing games I've already accumulated of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (which I hope to explore a bit more tonight), and the most amazing Assassin's Creed, that I find a true watershed moment for gaming and a glimpse at the potential of electronic interactivity the future holds.

There. I've bared enough of what's bouncing around in my brain for one week. Take care and look for more ruminations coming soon.

Game on!

Sean

Chaos seems to be the theme for fall. I've written as much as I could these few months and a lot of words have been spilled across monitors, notebooks, and scribbled upon random fragments of paper. However, none of those words found their way to the Reality Blurs website. Apologies all around. The thing is, time has been precious here, and I've been narrowed my focus to what I've been working on to the near-exclusion of all else, but it's essential I maintain contact with you guys. I need it as much as you do. It's good to tell you what's been going on and what hasn't.

Rest assured that we haven't disappeared. We're daily working on goodness for RunePunk, Iron Dynasty, and Agents of Oblivion and happily look forward to the day that all three campaign books are out and in your hands so we can work on more killer adventures for your pleasure and mine.

If you haven't read elsewhere, I'm hoping to get a new RunePunk adventure out before the end of the year while the guys are playtesting Iron Dynasty. Yes. When you keep a lot of balls in the air, you have little time for talks like these, but it's certainly nice to drop in, give you all a heads up and say hello!

Take care!

Regards,

Sean

Recovering from the past con was not as difficult as in ages past, thanks, in part, to plenty of taking plenty of Vitamin C. (I swear by dosing up on Emergen-C during the shows and diligent use of Purel.) Nope. I'm not sponsored, but just sharing some wisdom that comes from experience (of both myself and others.) For example, Stan!, yes, that Stan!, told me at GenCon SoCal '04 that Purel was one of the most important things a designer should have. You may laugh, but he's right. You meet a lot of people. You shake a lot of hands. You encounter a bunch of germs from all over the country you're not normally exposed to. Couple that with long days and short nights and you've got a recipe for a post-con cold. Wow. That sounds upbeat. Doesn't it?

Oh well. Get over it.

Origins was great. Through a casual remark to Shane Hensley, I found myself playing poker the first night of Origins (or attempting to play). I don't take my poker game as seriously as others. Now, if it's a pool game, that's another matter. The next day, we ran a number of RunePunk games that went swimmingly well, and then the nights ran long with more gaming. Friday was a highlight as I got to see my madness through the lense of others. Norm Hensley and Dave McGuire conspired to contact a fabulous RunePunk Showdown complete with the streets of ScatterPoint nestled up against a toxic factory. I played the Sequitor and Stacy managed the Whitecloaks. It was a great time and I paused a few times to look at the tableau and comment, "What madness have I wrought?" It was a cool feeling that makes the solitude of writing less solitary. That's the whole weirdness of a writer's life is that, ultimately, we're solitary creatures who get thrust out into highly social situations on a sporadic basis. Sunday night, I got to wrap up the convention after a nice dinner at Martini's, by running a laidback session of RunePunk complete with moral and ethical dilemmas. Shane Hensley, the mysterious Teller, Ed Wetterman, Jerry Blakemore, Jodi Black, and Clint Black all got a sneak peak at DarkSummer, the latest offering for RunePunk and, by all indications, they had as great a time as I did.

So, all in all, despite some scheduling snafus on the part of Origins, the convention went well. Stacy ran a lot of Iron Dynasty demos and showed off his minis, and I played a lot of RunePunk, got to play in some Solomon Kane with some cool folks, and ran a pick up game of True20 Agents of Oblivion for Ed Wetterman, Neal Hyde, Stacy Young, and Jerry Blakemore. Everyone had fun and we had guest appearances by Trey Gordon and Clint Black (who was held hostage as he was waiting on us to eat.)

Hope to see some of you guys at the next show. We'll be at GenCon and then at Con on the Cob before calling it a year.

Later,

Sean

I've popped up on some boards here and there, but I've been maintaining a pretty low profile since I got sick in April. I didn't have the pixel-twitch I normally get when I stay away from the computer for long. So, when I came back, I used it as the amazing tool for research that it can be and dove headlong into the Big Book, the project name for Agents of Oblivion. I've dug up a lot of killer stuff to really expand out the cultures and the world. I've got supernatural factoids, world faqs, spy gear, and lots of unique secret societies and groups all operating on this blue blue marble we've got home. I've been writing some much my fingers ache and I have slowly gotten back to posting on forums and making the outside world aware that I haven't faded into oblivion or, more accurately, tell them I have. Just not the Oblivion they might have thought. ;)

And earlier today, I finally achieved my personal grail of some simple, smooth playing chase rules for a game. They've been tested and they're quite solid. I still have to run the rules through a handful of tests and a few more pair of eyes but I am delighted with them. They are called Narrative Chase rules and are probably not what you think. They combine simplicity, flexibility, and crunch in an easily digested little package. I've just gotta polish it up a little and they'll be good to go.

Later,

Sean

Just thought I'd offer up a moment of silence for the brilliant Kurt Vonnegut who passed away today at the age of 85. If you've never read any of his work, you should. It's good stuff! We should mourn the loss of such a literary treasure.

For me, Kurt Vonnegut has alway been there and he's had a profund impact on writing. Not necessarily the tone or the texture or even the subject matter, but the clarity of vision and his mastery of words. He took science fiction and made it cut through the clutter and noise of a genre. In doing so, he created literature. A most impressive feat, wouldn't you say?

Remembering him for his wry wit and common sense, I present the following list of his eight rules of writing a short story for your enjoyment and edification.

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Regards,

Sean

Here is the place where I come to rant and ramble. Though, I suppose, I do more of the latter than the former. My rants are far too spontaneous to be confined to a keyboard, though I can make do and get a good ramble on just about anywhere.

I'm happy to say that the Iron Dynasty playtesting is going awesome, that Pinnacle has announced the availability of the RunePunk hardback through them (and, yes, it's still shiny) and you can get it just about everywhere else, including Amazon.com. It's awesome to know people all over the world are undertaking their first journeys into ScatterPoint and even more awesome to realize there are already people with well established campaigns of RunePunk since its debut and there is a dedicated newsletter - The ScatterPoint Sentinel - out there as well. There are a bunch of good people who have gather around Reality Blurs and I've not got a bad word to say today - hence today's title of sunshine and daffodils. I'm not going to complain about wishing I had a higher word count today or that the internet connection was a bit spottier than I'm used to. (Actually, I will complain about that, but I'm sure I'm to blame. I rarely do a full reboot and I know better. I keep typing and putting this mechanical beast on standby, in case I have a sudden burst of inspiration. Which I actually did by the way, but it's filed under Iron Dynasty, so you'll have to wander over there and see what my epiphany was.)

At any rate, I'm super busy and juggling projects and getting quite in the groove. Still reflecting a bit about the whole Guest of Honor thing and I suppose I should give it a more serious treatment, but now is not the time. I'm in full on ramble, rather than reflection today, and am trying to be shiny. Speaking of shiny, I noted earlier this afternoon on RPGNow, that the True20 Companion is the hottest moving property and I'm glad to have worked on the thing. Very, very cool. I'm working on RunePunk stuff as well as Agents of Oblivion and Iron Dynasty and somehow managing to keep a smile on my face and my fingers to the keyboards. Okay, not always. I'm getting more playtest sessions in of this and that and getting to do a bit of M&M gaming as well. Do I have plans for some more Superlink stuff? Why, of course. Do I keep myself entirely too busy? Yeah. I do that too.

Take care.

Regards,

Sean

P.S. And buy RunePunk (in whatever form you can.) ;)

I'm scrambling around, working on lots and lots of projects, while making certain to keep a keen eye on RunePunk and being certain to provide it with the support that I'd expect. I look forward to letting my mind wander down the narrow streets of ScatterPoint and may slip in there as time permits, but I'm focusing on the darkest bits of Oblivion at the moment. Things are moving along well, but I certainly do wish things were moving faster, but there are only so many hours in so many days and I'm trying to not burn the candles on both ends, though I do seem to be awake a lot more lately than usual. What do I do with this "free" time? I've been learning InDesign and Illustrator and Photoshop and am certain that the time invested now will pay dividends in expediting both the development and production cycles. Yeah. Not the exciting things you get to read here sometimes, this is one of the more introspective turns on the business side of things. Rest assured that the mind is turning, the words are burning through my fingertips, and more madness awaits upon the horizon. :)

Regards,

Sean

As Reality Blurs is suddenly thrust out there upon boards all over the net with people asking about RunePunk, we realize how sheltered we've been within the cocoon of the Pinnacle Forums, nestled away in the Licensees Section. What wonderful, encouraging folks the Savages are.

We know it's a tough industry and a tough market and gamers are demanding sorts, but so are we. I've gamed and written for a long time and was even a moderator for Bioware a lifetime ago, so I know just how some people can be and so grin and shrug, read the nice things and the not-so-nice things and resume typing away. I'm happy with the work I put (and continue to put) into RunePunk. Nothing's perfect in this big, broad world, but it delights and excites me to no end to hear the wonderful stories people are already sharing about RunePunk. Not just any stories, but their stories. It's an absolute delight to think of all those people wandering the streets and fringes and barrens of ScatterPoint and I humbly appeal to Umbriel to watch over each and every one.

Take care and keep your eyes sharp.

Thank you,

Sean

Nervous energy permeates the air as a write these words. Wow. Reality is blurring after all. I've created RunePunk and already you guys are breathing life into it. How awesome is that? I'm excited that I'm able to bring something unique and novel to the marketplace and I want to let you know this is only the beginning. We're getting better understandings of things to make the entire experience better. I'm delighted people often talk about "how RunePunk reads like a story". For me, that's very exciting. It was a novel direction for a mainstream RPG, but I strived to make it the RPG I always wanted. Direct. Honest. Exciting. Fun. Hopefully, I've accomplished these goals. It's ultimately up to you to decide. At the end of the day, if I may be direct, you find it exciting and fun. Honest!

Take care,

Sean

I got up absurdly early and began revamping the website. It's not completely down, there's still a few aesthetic issues of a technical nature to address, but the site has served me quite well over the past handful of years I've been using it. It's hard to believe it's going on three years now!

Please remember, however, that the writing is of paramount importance so if you see any weirdnesses for a bit, please be kind and be aware that they are still in progress. When I announce, I'm all done, then you can voice your constructive criticisms.

I've been busily scribbling away on Agents of Oblivion and having a terrific time with that and hope to provide some sneak peaks at the development of it in the near future.

Until next time!

Take care,

Sean

If you've been following along, it's 2007 and I've been derelict in my duty, to both of us, to encapsulate my experiences as I evolve in the gaming industry. Some people post constantly, such as "today, I got a hangnail" and some people post all to infrequently, such as yours truly of late. It's not because I don't like it here, nor because I don't like writing, it's just that I'm writing stuff that needs to be done and some of that stuff can't be talked about yet and some of that stuff may well end up completely different than it currently appears or some of that stuff is lower than the bottom shelf stuff, some of it is the dank, dark brew the bartender keeps near the drain cleaner. This is pure rotgut he collects by looting the near-comatose forms of whinos twitching in the cold in the back alleys, shrouded in mist and magazines. In other words, stuff that isn't fit for human consumption. Honest writers admit they create that from time to time as well. (And the other kind, well, we know better don't we?) So, that's why there are doldrums of words here and there. Sometimes, it's like my fingers only have so many words in them during a day and once they are spent, that's it. No more. Mind you leave off crosswords, they say. Don't dare jot down a post it. They are done. They say stick to your memory for once. We'll see you tomorrow. Why not hike a bit while you're at it? We fingers do more work than the lot of you. Of course, this could be entirely my imagination or my fingers having a mind of their own. But if it were the latter...well, nevermind.

I'm writing profusely. I didn't stop. I just stopped doing it where you could see it for a bit. ;)

I'm every bit as passionate about writing today as ever. In all honesty, probably moreso. I could explain why, but my fingers are threatening to go on holiday and I might need them later.

Take care,

Sean