The Dresden Files RPG

So on July 10th, just a few weeks after Origins wraps  up, a game store up in Oakland, California is holding an in-store mini-convention dubbed Dresdacon, to celebrate the release of the game. That store is Endgame, which may well be one of the best game stores, if not the best game store, in the USA.  Endgame is local to lead project developer Ryan Macklin, who will be on hand and running one of the sold-out tables of Dresden Files RPG goodness. Evil Hat collaborator Paul Tevis, author of A Penny For My Thoughts, will be on hand as well.

Recently we’ve been able to announce that Fred Hicks, one of the game’s authors and the guy who did the layout (and forgot to give himself a credit in the book — typical), will be on hand as well, all the way over from the East Coast, cementing Dresdacon as the official west coast release party. Fred won’t be running a table, but he will be on hand behind the counter to shake hands, sign books, and answer questions all day long. He can also talk about the other games in Evil Hat’s catalog, of course.

If you live in the area, we hope you’ll come by to join us, even if it’s just for conversation! Though if you’ve already downloaded the game’s PDFs and think you’d be up for running a game, Endgame still has room for two more tables and plenty of players clamoring for a chance to play.  We’d certainly appreciate your help in making this as big of an event as we can make it!

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Hey folks! We’ve had our heads down & nose to the grindstone for a while, trying to deal with the Dresden Files RPG Entropy Curse Effect (more on that in a later post) and watching the Burning Alpha play itself out.

That said, we wanted to call your attention to a series of podcasts over on Narrative Control. These guys were part of the Burning Alpha and give the game some good attention. (That said, a lot of our playtesters got caught up in city creation more than anticipated — something we’re working on in our current revisions — so you’ll be seeing a fair amount of that in this round, too.)

Here’s a guide to the Dresden Files Burning Alpha episodes on Narrative Control:

Title: Episode 3: City Creation – Part 1
Topics: Picking a City and Themes
Link: http://www.narrativecontrol.com/index.php?post_id=380416

Title: Episode 4: City Creation – Part 2
Topics: People and Places
Link: http://www.narrativecontrol.com/index.php?post_id=382891

Title: Episode 10: Actual Play Report
Topics: Compels and Fate Chip Economy
Link: http://www.narrativecontrol.com/index.php?post_id=400612

And here’s where they talk with Evil Hatter Fred Hicks:

Title: Episode 13: Interview with Fred Hicks
Topics: Points of Tension, System and Setting Integration, Advancement System, Stunts and Damage
Link: http://www.narrativecontrol.com/index.php?post_id=407242

General fred, interview, playtest, podcast

[45min 38sec] While in Las Vegas for GTS, Fred sits down with Lenny to talk about all sorts of things. In this first part, they cover what it means to be a game designer, the mayor of Las Vegas, and some of the things Lenny’s been working on with the Dresden Files RPG.

You can download the episode from this page:
http://thatshowweroll.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=336154

General dev, fred, lenny, podcast, system

Hey folks, and welcome back from the holidays!

Fred Hicks, Chad Underkoffler, and Leonard Balsera got interviewed recently by RPG Virtual Tabletop. We say a few things about the Dresden Files RPG in the interview, so run on over and give it a read.

In playtesting news, we’ve gotten over 600 (not-spam!) applications since the we opened up the door for it in late 2007. Thanks very much to everyone who submitted an application — and rest assured, even if we don’t end up selecting you at some point in the process, we’ll be doing what we can to show our appreciation for you taking the time & effort to fill out those applications as we get closer to publication.

Of those 600+ folks, we’ve narrowed the field down to less than 5% (about 30) applicants to get an opportunity to participate in our first phase: the “bleeding edge alpha”. These folks are the ones who are going to get an experience most like seeing how sausage gets made, and honestly we don’t envy them their jobs. The documents are still messy and occasionally disorganized, not to mention incomplete, and we’re going to be relying heavy on these folks’ familiarity with Spirit of the Century so we can shorthand some parts of the system for them (“like SOTC, only something nasty can eat your face as follows!”)

This is just the first step of many we have planned. Eventually we’ll get past the bleeding edge and on into an alpha-test proper. Once we get past the alpha stage, we’ll start one (of possibly several) beta tests. How long will it take? We aren’t Cassandra, people — and besides you’d never believe us!

Still, if you put in an application and haven’t heard from us, *don’t despair*. We may yet have use for you in the months to come. And regardless, as I said, we will be saying *thank you* in some way once we’re past all of this, whether you end up as a playtester or not!

General chad, fred, interview, playtest

The mighty Endgame in Oakland, California will be celebrating its sixth anniversary on Saturday, October 27th. Endgame has been very good to us at Evil Hat Productions, and for some reason, they think we’ve been very good to them.

So they’re having me out there as a guest for the big shindig on the 27th!

Folks looking to jaw about Evil Hat’s various projects, or maybe get their copies of Don’t Rest Your Head or Spirit of the Century signed, are encouraged to come on down and join in the festivities. I’m eager to get a chance to meet the West Coast crowd— y’all don’t make it over to this coast nearly enough (and vice-versa where I’m concerned).

We’ll be doing an “official” book signing around noon on Saturday the 27th, but I’m planning on being at the store for almost the entire day, possibly running a few 15-minute “convention floor” style game demos, and maybe dragging in a few other game designers from the small press scene to join in on the fun.

Folks looking for me to talk about all sorts of Jim Butcher stuff, or to do a repeat of my “Fred Hicks Spends My Money” act as heard on the Game Master Show or a general tour of Endgame’s selection of the Indie Press Revolution catalog won’t be disappointed, either. I’m happy to talk about anything, really; so drop on by and join with your friends in a tactical assault against my vocal cords.

See you at the end of the month!

– Fred

General fred

Fred Hicks cannot contain his flabberghastitude at the output of collaborator Chad Underkoffler’s work on the Dresden Files RPG setting bible. Check out Fred’s post on his LiveJournal blog. Explicit lyrics!

General chad, fred, setting