Transylvanian Adventures - Land of Phantoms - Ask-Me-Anything

[smathis]

Hi all:

It's been a while! Sorry for being gone so long. A lot's happened in the... (checks watch... checks calendar... sighs deeply) time I've been away. I'm happy to see folks like finarvyn, crowking, gnomeboy, and others I remember still around here. It's nice that there are familiar faces in the community still.

I was considering doing a blog post but decided that a one-way communication wasn't appropriate. I did let some folks down and they deserve to know why. But only if they want that "Thing On The Doorstep", to be honest. A lot has happened and I'm comfortable talking about it now. I can't say I'm ready, really, to talk. But the silence has to come off at some point.

In this spirit, I thought an ask-me-anything format would be good. The experience of putting together Transylvanian Adventures was amazing. And so many folks reached out during that time period and I'm thankful to all of them. This includes crowking, gnomeboy, Joseph, tacojohn, Doug Kovacs, Jobe, and many others I am surely forgetting.

So what happened? Where's the second book? Will there be a second book?

Well, that's why I wanted to do an ask-me-anything kind of thread. I don't want to write some long post sharing info that nobody cares about anymore.

Please feel free to post questions. I'll answer any question with total candor. If I can't answer or don't feel comfortable answering, then I'll say so. No harm, no foul on that front. I suppose I have lessons learned worth sharing. I'm basically a failed(?) third-party publisher. Hurts to say that. But I promised candor/honesty and if I can't be honest with myself, well... that's me not holding up my end of the bargain.

I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully I will see you all around at a game or convention at some point.

[Raven_Crowking]

Scott, so glad to see you back here! I feel really badly about losing touch when you wanted my help.

[GnomeBoy]

Scott! Good to see you!

I guess the thing that comes to mind is this: If there are new things for TA or even a revamped TA in the pipeline, my question is: How can I help?

[smathis]

Scott, so glad to see you back here! I feel really badly about losing touch when you wanted my help.

Thanks! It's all good. I had a lot happening all at once then. I lost touch too.

[smathis]

Scott! Good to see you!

I guess the thing that comes to mind is this: If there are new things for TA or even a revamped TA in the pipeline, my question is: How can I help?

Hi GnomeBoy.

I still have a ton of notes and even an early draft of some things. There are probably a few things I could put out as pay-what-you-want. The big blocker there is really a template for formatting these PDFs. I'm just indecisive on that front. I kind-of, sort-of have one. But I'm never happy with it.

But the DCC community and gaming community at large has mostly bypassed TA. The advancements in the presentation of settings and adventures is really amazing. I'm a huge fan of a lot of the work associated with DCC and OSE these days. But it would be a mistake for me to commit to producing a another full-on book. I just don't see how that would be possible. It's more likely that I write some blogs or small PDFs that cover some of the hanging threads left by the TA book.

As for a revamp, I don't think so. There's some cool stuff in TA. But there's so much other cool stuff out there right now. And a decent chunk of it is just better than what I did.

For help... That time has flown by. I think the window has closed.

[herecomethejudge]

For help... That time has flown by. I think the window has closed.

You sound a little depressed, but I don't know why. TA is a really cool product; it's just lacking in support. I'd strongly suggest putting out what you have, and I think you'd see a big surge in interest. There's no remotely comparable product for DCC IMO, and I would love to see more content for this setting! I think of it as DCC's Ravenloft.

You mentioned that you're getting hung up on PDF formatting, but that sounds like more of a psychological block to me, a sort of perfectionism maybe? Just run with what you have. Trust me; people will want the content. I know I do!

[smathis]

You mentioned that you're getting hung up on PDF formatting, but that sounds like more of a psychological block to me, a sort of perfectionism maybe? Just run with what you have. Trust me; people will want the content. I know I do!

You're not wrong. I am depressed. Not about TA. But it has affected it.

And you're also spot on about the PDF formatting being a perfectionism thing. All of that is good feedback. Thank you.

[herecomethejudge]

You mentioned that you're getting hung up on PDF formatting, but that sounds like more of a psychological block to me, a sort of perfectionism maybe? Just run with what you have. Trust me; people will want the content. I know I do!

You're not wrong. I am depressed. Not about TA. But it has affected it.

And you're also spot on about the PDF formatting being a perfectionism thing. All of that is good feedback. Thank you.

Welcome! TA is a great product, and you should be proud of it and keep developing it! More modules, especially funnels, I'm sure would also give it a boost.