I just turned in the manuscript for Queen of Death, the third and final book in my Lost Mark trilogy for the Eberron world. This started with Marked for Death, which hit stores in March of 2005, and continued in Road to Death, which saw print in January of 2006. The whole thing should wrap up this October, and I …
Costikyan’s History of Games
In the latest issue of The Escapist, legendary game designer and Manifesto Games CEO Greg Costikyan offers up a history of tabletop gaming and shows how such games have inspired and informed the computer games of today. He argues that tabletop games will continue to do so, and I hope he’s right. This essay should be required reading for any …
Dansky on Blood Bowl
My pal Richard Dansky commented on my Blood Bowl novel on his blog today: You can tell this book was written by a Packers fan in, say, ten to fifteen seconds. Lots of fun and a good ride, though I’m disappointed that there weren’t more exploding spiked footballs. Rest assured, I’m taking notes.
Rockford Files–Death Match Style!
My latest novel, Blood Bowl: Death Match, hits store shelves in the US today! This is the third in the Blood Bowl trilogy, and it wraps up most if not all of the loose plot threads I left dangling throughout the first two books. The climactic match takes place in the Realms of Chaos. Talk about one Hell of a …
Battle Dice Contest
SuperHeroTimes.com is running a Marvel Heroes Battle Dice contest. To sign up, you just have to register in their forums and post a note saying you’d like to win. Those who do win get a free starter pack and a dice chucker to go with it.
Game Designer Advice Redux
Board game super-fan Tom Vasel writes tons of great reviews and interviews game designers and publishers of all stripes. On the website for his podcast, The Dice Tower, Tom presents excerpts from several of those interviews, in which he asks for advice for aspiring designers. It’s well worth the read.
Beloit Cops Rock
I get a phone call at 3 AM on Saturday, and the first thing I think is that it must be something horrible–or a wrong number. No one calls with good news or to say hi at 3 AM, so I’m really hoping for a wrong number when I pick up the phone. “Hello?” “Mr. Forbeck?” Ouch. No wrong number …
Game Designer Advice
People contact me from time to time and ask me what kind of advice I can give to aspiring or beginning freelance game designers. This morning, my succinct response was: Do the best work you can, do exactly what your developer asks (within reason), and hit your deadline. If you manage that, you’ll go far. It’s easier said than done, …
Palliate Palladium’s Woes
As ICv2.com reports, Palladium Books (publisher of the Rifts roleplaying game, among others) is on the ropes. In an open letter to the company’s fans, president Kevin Siembieda announces that the company fell victim to treachery from within to the tune of $850,000 to $1,300,000. I don’t know if it’s that Kevin can’t or won’t pin down an exact number. …
Games To Troops a Go
GAMA just launched a new program called Games to Troops. Publishers who wish to donate 168 games can have them sent to US military Moral, Welfare, and Recreation locations around the world. I’m wondering if I can find 168 authors’ copies of things around here somewhere. No matter what my opinion might be of my country’s leadership, I always support …