Saturday 5 August 2017

Basic/Expert Core Rules -- Illustrators, Publication, and Further Plans


I've been a bit quiet on my Basic/Expert Core Rules project over the last two weeks. In this case, though, no news is good news. The layout is finished and the book is now in the hands of a super talented bunch of illustrators. I'm super excited to announce that I have the following folks on board:


This is going to be a great looking book!

I plan to publish Basic/Expert Core Rules in September, all going well. It'll be released in print and PDF, along with a text-only version for others to take a use as a basis for their own house rules / games.

But, what's next?

Yes, there will be a "next" with this project. Following directly on from Basic/Expert Core Rules, I've started work on the next in the series: Basic/Expert Classes and Equipment. This will be "character creation" part of the series, with all the rules for creating and equipping a B/X character. Again, this book will focus on a clean, easy-to-read and -reference rendition of the B/X rules. All the information about each class (including saving throw and combat charts) will be presented in one place.

In addition, I'll be doing an expanded book (probably called Basic/Expert/Advanced Classes and Equipment) that will contain all of the Advanced character options from AD&D 1st edition. So there you'll find assassins, illusionists, rangers, paladins, half-elves, gnomes, multi-classing, and so on. All presented in a way that's 100% compatible with the B/X core rules.

I also have ideas for future books in the series, but for now will leave those unstated. Their creation depends on how well-received the first two books are, essentially.

All for now!

7 comments:

  1. Too much awesome in one place. Really looking forward to having these at the table.

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  2. How do contact and contract with your illustrators?

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    1. For the most part, they're people whom I know on g+. For a project like this, I'm paying them a flat fee, up front, based on the quantity and sizes of illustrations.

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  3. How will this differ from B/X or labyrinth lord as written now?

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    1. The big differences are:
      * All the rules are combined, not separated into Basic and Expert sections (unlike B/X).
      * The writing, editing, and layout focus on clarity, readability, and ease of reference. (This is especially in contrast to LL, which is written in quite a sprawling way.)
      * The rules aim to be 100% accurate to B/X. (In contrast to LL, which has quite a few deviations.)
      * Some rules are clarified. A large part of the work I've done on this project was poring over B/X and reading everything, in depth. I was surprised to find a few inconsistencies and a few rules which are described in a pretty ambiguous or confusing way (e.g. encumbrance, wilderness chases). I've made an effort to present these rules in a clarified, easier to understand way.

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  4. thanks looking forward to it

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