Hearts & Souls 2E

I've been having a heck of a time working on H&S2E, mostly I've not started the heavy lifting of mechanics. Primarily because other than a few minor changes the overt differences will be pretty small. The changes will be noticeable, but the effects will be to maintain the same play as before, just with some improvements brought on by the game design elements I've learned in the mean time.

The setting however is what is bothering me. I want this wonderful vast setting that is as wild as Marvel or DC, but without their depth of history or racism. I loathe racism. Even when I notice it in myself. (I fight it, seriously. Yet even then some slips in from my upbringing without thinking about it.)

It was something that was rampant and accepted in earlier eras of comic books. I could be true to them and allow it to slip in in the past and say "that was accurate for the time..."

Yet at the same time, I've the advantage of being able to look at that era with disgust at how we could have ever been so blind towards others (though we often still are...)

The setting is the big issue though. I want it to be filled with heroes and villains who are interesting, but unlike some settings I don't want to overlook that some were truly terrible ideas--even if they stuck around. (Example: Turner D. Century)

Yet still I want a few of.."hey that's mad, crazy, silly, and makes little sense, but what the heck..."

I'm a bit too serious at times to truly think of these though, and sometimes they come on me easily.

The joys of having an over-active brain.

Humor.

I don't do humor games. That isn't to say I don't put humor in the games I play, run, etc. I just don't do them explicitly. I played Paranoia 1E, I played Ghostbusters 1E, I wouldn't choose them today.

I prefer my humor more natural, more an aspect of situations that come out of things in games, than things "forced" into them. Same thing goes for April's Fools day. It is forced humor. Mostly unfunny. It is at best tiresome, at worst a way to really head down the path to ruining your reputation. I've seen so called "April Fool's" behaviors that if anyone had chosen to approach them could have put a few game designers years back into a real problem. Actual fraudulent statements, ones they used to make money.

Don't do that. Just don't be that person. Enjoy humor, make it subtle, but don't abuse the rights of others with it.

My April Fools post isn't a joke. It's not a laughing matter. I'm not going to say I sold out to some big company, or bought another one.

No. I'm writing games, I'm having fun with that. After all, its delightful to have a reptiloid Esper flare her frill at the other PC's because she doesn't want them to buy the "cursed" asteroid crawler at the local outposts rental place. It's fun and giggle worthy when she uses that as a "threat" to make them do what she wants. Especially when she interrupted the conversation, everyone paused, and then went right on. Maybe nudged by her antics, maybe not.

I giggle everytime my wife puts her hands up to her ears and flutters them and goes "flttrrrr" to mimic the action. She's a hoot to game with, soon it will be time for a Dwarf wedding that may resurrect a lost clan, and give them heirs. If of course the bride and groom actually go through with it. I can't wait to cause chaos, that has nothing to do with big dangers. Just small nutsy NPC's..

Chaos is fun.

Game Writing.

I'm currently at work on Derelict Delvers. I've hit a few snags with its old school flavor, because even when I played old school games I ignored things light weight carried unless it was an absurd amount. I in short "eyeballed" it because I don't care for the nickel-and-dime complications applied to a character with specific pounds/kilograms of weight.

On the other hand a simple encumbrance system makes a big difference in being able to manage resources and have fun with that aspect of play. I think I've managed it, now the hard part of explaining it, and making sure it balances well enough to avoid Murphy Rule's type situations where one can carry an infinite number of hand weapons because of the way they stack.

E.o.N (Empire of Night) is coming together in my head. SF weapons, monsters, and the like all swirl in my imagination. Dark ships lurking dead in space, waiting for newcomers to come claim them and filled with stigmatim, waiting to feast on human suffering.

Places long thought safe now slowly becoming dangerous as old monsters creep back into their ancient homes.

Necrosculpted creatures born of the dead and reshaped into new forms by surgery and dark science.

So many images of blood and terror, and the few humans standing against it all.

[Derelict Delvers] Playtesters Needed...

I'm in dire need of some playtesters to take Derelict Delvers and run some games and see how the rules play out in this iteration of them.

I've done quite a bit of expanding and cleaning to develop the character creation aspects and improve the special abilities of the characters. I suspect more work is needed but I need testing to be sure.

If interested please Email me at silverlion@gmail.com or tim@silverlionstudios.com so I can get the files to you.

The price of this business

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the work I put into game design.

It isn't the fact that I desire to get rich, its the shear amount of effort I put into getting things together. I know more than one designer who makes this look effortless. Yet for every hurdle I overcome, a new one is put in place. Yet it isn't the changing hurdles that is the most significant one. It is the problem of layout which continues to plague my games.

Hearts & Souls suffered from the failure of several layout people to do their job. (I cannot fault the assistance I got early on from Clash Bowley of Flyingmice, LLC.) Or the help of Jerry Grayson in the end. They were very willing to help and do their thing. It's a bigger problem that several freelancers flaked in between as I tried to improve the layout from Clash's workmanlike style.

Now High Valor is mired in the same place. Only this time I arranged to pay someone who I know can do incredible things. I just haven't seen them finish it in the time they have it.

I've been exceedingly patient, but I'm getting a bit past the point where I can afford to be patient, I need to get it finished so I can get print books on the way.

I wonder if it would be easier to learn layout myself than suffer through this frustration. It is a skill I lack, and have not managed to teach myself.


I love the design, the writing, even looking for art at times can be full of fun as I search for good styles that fit the imagery in my head. Yet the waiting aspect of those things I can't do myself? Those are a real killer at times.

Miscellaneous Things

High Valor continues to be in layout. It's coming along, but I'm not sure when it will be done. It isn't anyone's fault really, just life getting in the way of the layout mistress. I complete understand those circumstances and they happen to all of us. Patience is my mantra at the moment because of that.

I've decided to do a little redirect on E.O.N, and I'm not sure if it will work. Rereading Mutant Chronicles source books, and more recent horror novels and shorts. I'm wanting to evoke terror and horror in the future, not just a more moral fight against a terrible Empire. The Empire itself will be a bit more inspired by that real world one, and its horrors, and it will only be the tip of the iceberg for the greater evils that prevail. I'm not sure entirely how to do that, as the original game wasn't much about horror, and more about horror monsters in an action setting.

Now I'm aiming to go a more horror driven path, still a bit action heavy, but I want to make everything truly darker. Evoke horror at the things the Empire does. but push some darker things underneath the bed, waiting to reach out. I'm not sure how plausible it will be, and I'm trying to avoid "Cthulhu in space." So we'll see where it goes for a bit.


Derelict Delvers is going in for a rewrite, I've got the ideas down but I'm going to do the full 10 levels of the basic set, and all the powers, special abilities, etc. It needs more robust writing behind it. The cover art from Jeremy McHugh is awesome. Very pulp with a touch of old school, yet its own thing at the same time, it neatly fits what I want for the game.

Great News

I've had a strange and convoluted life. One of struggling to deal with many things, bipolar depression is but one. However, this post is not about the struggles, but one momentous triumph.

At 330Pm CST, I marred a wonderful woman named Amanda. It was a small affair at the justice of the peace's office with two close friends. I shook like a leaf and forgot what hand was which. (I put out the wrong hand for my ring, *facepalm*)

I never thought I'd get to this point. Not for any specific reason but for past broken hearts.

Anyway, thanks for letting me tell you about it.