I just wanted to give everyone an update about where we're at with various projects. Some weeks we accomplish quite a bit, while others our projects stall a bit while we deal with real life situations (the only down-side to being a small company). For that reason, rather than weekly, we're going to try to give updates like this on or around the 15th and 30th of every month. This way you'll see what we're up to (in an almost-stalker fashion, really) when we seem like we're not releasing stuff. Since this is the first of this attempt at a committed progress blog, we'll start with an overview of the pans we currently have in the fire. Sorry for the long blog, subsequent ones will be lighter reads.

Role-Playing Games

BareBones Fantasy

Although we have a lot more in the back burner, these are the projects we're currently working on.

• FreeMapFriday - In case you've missed it, we've been trying to increase our map-making skill set while simultaneously giving you all some fun free GM tools to make your session prep time as light as possible. This means creating a map every week and giving it to you for free! You can even use them commercially if you want, we don't care! Check out the downloads area to find the ones we've developed for you so far (all in different styles) and let us know how you use them (it encourages us to keep up the weekly releases).

• GM Screen Print & Play - based on the very positive feedback we’ve had on our GM screen for Covert Ops, which you print at home and mount to chipboard or slide into tri-fold screen inserts, we’re building a BareBones Fantasy GM screen. It will contain the most common tables and charts used in playing the game in an attractive and easy-to-use format. This, like the one made for Covert Ops, will be a pay-what-you-want product and should be a must-have for GMs.

• Bestiary Supplement - We finally identified where Larry left off with the Bestiary. We are going over its many pages and looking for opportunities for editing, grouping, organizing, and layout. We're also trying to figure out a strategy regarding art for this game; we've had a meeting about it already, and maybe your opinions could be added to the mix: illustrating every creature would be cost prohibitive, based on the low cost we charge for our lite gaming content. If we instead went with silhouettes like the core rulebook, then it's not much of an expansion of the original creature list (other than the addition of descriptions and a lot more monsters). So I think we're going to just do choice illustrations, like the old editions of D&D where not every creature stat block included an image. This project is quite large, and we want to get it right.

• Western Reaches Supplement - We're currently looking over a supplement for the Western Reaches, submitted to us and quite good. It gives more detail to that interesting location in the Keranak Kingdoms, but only enough to get your creativity flowing. We're excited to see a submission like this from a writer who seems to share our exact opinions on how much is too much and how much is too little detail. It's going to be an excellent addition to the setting. It even includes a new type of spellcaster skill to illustrate the strange wild magic of the Western Reaches!

• What the Heart Desires - An adventure module (developed internally) about an ogre king, a forbidden love affair, a power-hungry Ogre shaman, and the village caught in the middle. This adventure has been run multiple times and is well tested, in layout, and maps are underway.

• The Abandoned Labyrinth of Grable the Mad - an adventure module (submitted from outside DwD Studios) about an eccentric wizard and the mess of experiments he leaves behind when he moves on. Maps are nearly complete, just need some edits, initial editing complete, layout and playtesting is pending. This one was really fun to read and inspired us to expand on one of the author's cool aspects he presented. can't wait to playtest this one.

• Collaborative Project - We are collaborating with one of our regular artists and one a cartographer we sometimes use to try a new collaborative effort: an as-yet-untitled adventure. Normally we build an adventure then seek art and cartography. We decided to try something different: art came first, totally off the artist's head. Then we gave the art to the cartographer to be inspired to make maps of his own design. Then we at DwD Studios will brainstorm to turn all this inspiring imagery into a fun adventure module. This backwards collaboration project will be a ton of fun, and will likely produce results we never would have considered had we designed the module the more conventional way. As we continue this collaborative project, we'll give you more updates!

Covert Ops

Again, we have a lot of projects on the back burner ready to be brought to the forefront and worked on, but here's what we're currently spending time on.

• Motor Pool Supplement - An operational addendum that includes new options for vehicles, as well as new vehicle upgrades, weapon systems, different types of ammunition for various vehicle-mounted weapons, a new handy vehicle template for tracking your vehicle's stats, and lots of more fun rules for vehicle stunts and combat. There's even a specific damage critical hit table that looks like a lot of fun - except to the poor guy driving the vehicle that gets critically hit, of course. The original vehicle rules in the core rulebook are functional, but if you want your game to have a bit more focus on vehicles, this is the supplement for you!

• Continental Express - an adventure (developed internally) about a meeting of international arms dealers and the governments, agencies, and… freedom fighters that they cater to, on a train travelling through Russia. Something is not right, and they're hiding something. Many players are involved and the operatives have to investigate and neutralize a very dangerous threat before it gets into the wrong hands. This mission can go many directions and is well-written. Get ready for some great high-speed fights on top of train cars, roleplaying with dangerous people, and more intrigue than you can juggle.

• More Stuff - The above two items are being worked on now, but we have other projects in various states of readiness and play test. Specifically, an Operational Addendum that is a psionics supplement for running espionage games with super-spies (E.S.P.ionage? haha), an Operational Addendum that provides stats for more firearms and weapons, and may include a list of gadgets for use in the game. And finally, several more missions in the works (mostly developed by Tristam, whose work with Continental Express has been exemplary). These supplements don’t have the current focus, but may in future months, so stay tuned to our updates!

FrontierSpace

This project was back-burnered in an attempt to build a following, gain some revenue, and commission art. In the process, we learned a lot, and those areas of learning have resulted in a large-scale modification to the FrontierSpace game as developed thus far. This means more work for us, but also means a better product. Well the project has been back-burnered for long enough and development is underway. Here's what we're currently developing (all titles are W.I.P. titles, names still forthcoming):

• Core Rulebook - Rather than being setting agnostic as originally designed, the player's book will include the races and a broad brushstroke overview of the setting, just like Covert Ops and BareBones Fantasy did. It may end up all in one book, or might end up in three separate books (player's , GM's, and Equipment). Currently it's being developed as three separate ones, being converted from a larger/crunchier d00 system to a d00lite system, without sacrificing complexity of setting or technology. We think what we've come up with will be very popular, and we're very excited about it. In future updates I'll give some screenshots of work in process, to let you see how things are developing. This week we worked more on the equipment/tech book. It has sections for weapons, defenses, cybernetics, robots, vehicles, spaceships, buildings, as well as a lot of adventuring gear for exploring a galaxy. Gear in FrontierSpace simply can't be as simple as an equipment list like BareBones Fantasy... while everyone knows what a dagger is in BBF, not everyone knows the rules governing a sonic devastator.

• Setting Book - Elaborating on the broad-brushstroke setting's races, locations and organizations, this setting is going to be not only fun to play but fun to read. It's more than a collection of maps, this thing is going to be littered with threads of adventure. The setting will be completed after the rules, but will be developed in tandem. When we start to shift our focus to it you'll get more updates about it.

Malevolent Domain

Our zombie apocalypse survival role-playing game of hopelessness and despair. The development of this is mostly completed, and as autumn approaches this year we'll shift our resources back to it. Interior art and layout is mostly done/settled, but there is still some playtesting and tweaks to make. Additionally, our cover art is still pending, though an artist has committed and has shown us updates. This will likely be a stand-alone product, and will include some innovations to the d00lite system that you may not see elsewhere. Making customizations to the game system to accommodate a specific setting is always something we've done. This is back-burnered until later in the year.

Sigil & Shadow

Being developed by an outside developer, in coordination with input from DwD Studios staff, this is an awesome RPG of modern urban horror using an adaptation of the d00lite rules set. It's coming along wonderfully and its author is quite good at presenting the genre through the rules. As we get more updates from the author, we'll see what we can do to post about them.

-Bill

Board and Card Games

So, Bill has had his say and now it is my turn. While we know that DwD is most known for our RPG games we also have a strong interest in board and card games, which we hope you will enjoy as well. We have three completed games which we will give a quick rundown on and many more in development which I will touch on quickly.

Salvage Ops

As you hopefully know Salvage Ops is a complete game currently available for purchase. We have improved the quality of the game pieces and more excitingly are working on a potential tie in game which uses many of the same pieces but creates a more tactical/strategic game than the press your luck current version. Our vision is to market the two games together in one box.

Dunjonworx

Our second game available for purchase, Dunjonworx is a fun, light, game of dungeon creation and exploration. We are currently playtesting a couple of rules variances designed to make the game play a bit quicker.

Agents of SECTOR

Our most complex and “meatiest” game thus far AoS has received extensive game testing and has received immensely positive responses from our playtesters as well as “common” folk that have played the game at gaming conventions where Bill, TC, and I have been running it. We are currently seeking a distributor for the game. This is a challenge in and of itself, and a whole new world of experiences and headaches.

Merchant's Bay

A game built for a game contest designed for younger players, Merchant's Bay is undergoing some tweaks to make it more enjoyable for older players too. It was fairly well received and did well in the contest (it was a finalist but alas wasn't selected as winner), but we know it can be an even better game. Keep a look out for updates coming in the near future!

In Progress

DwD has a number of games in development and I will discuss these over time in these bimonthly updates. The total number is almost a dozen, with at the moment two taking precedence. As a small company new game development sometimes has to take a back seat to meeting our internal deadlines concerning RPG products. As you can understand the big difference between RGPs and board games is that RPGs need continuous support in the form of modules, supplements, and ;additions. This is part of what makes them enjoyable to play, we know that, we feel that, we play them ourselves. But as a game company it creates a constant pressure that must be met, we owe that to you, our customers and fans of our RPGs. The down side is that for a small company, it takes time away from other things we would also would like to do. Game design is one of those things.

-Mark