World of Warcraft RPG Summit

One year later...

2009-08-14T23:08:00.000-07:00

And "Four years have passed since the drums of war thundered once again..."

It's been quite long, the Lich King might as well be vanquished sooner or later, and as much awaited as that, our project ended up seeming like nothing but another myth sown across the lands. However, rest asured this will come to a conclusion.

I received a few days ago a rough draft of the almost finished version of Even More Magic & Mayhem, we're still missing some art for the book and that is basically the reason why it was and it still is kept inside the Frozen Throne. Jordan has done some exceptional work cleaning up and reformating my layout and we can pretty much confirm that now the book looks better and smaller (in terms of file size).

We're still looking for some competent artists to create the artwork that we need right now. If you have some warcraftian fan art or you know someone qualified for this, please contact us at:

evenmoreproject@warcraftrpg.cjb.net

We'll take a look at every entry and let the volunteers know what kind of pieces we need to finish this. Proper crediting will be given and disclosed in the Credits section of the electronic file.

Thanks for your attention and for your help in advance.

Marcos "Salsa" Bolton

Art Direction/Layout and Typesetting

Countdown to More Mayhem: Sneak Peak #4

2008-07-09T04:18:00.000-07:00

First of all, I need to apologize since I haven't been posting for a long time. Life can be quite busy sometimes and I didn't have time for editing or posting. However, I can tell you that the book is almost done, only 2 chapters remaining.

Meanwhile, I'm posting here something from the Spells section. Those who play the MMORPG will recognize it right away.

Song of the Flaming Fire
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting, Sonic]
Level: Mage 3
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: All creatures within range
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You sing or play a melody, and no matter how well or how badly you perform, all (including friends and foes) within range who fail their Will saves hear it as irresistibly catchy music fit, and begin to dance to it to the best of their abilities.

Each affected creature must pass a Concentrate check (DC 13 + your Charisma bonus) or be forced to waste a move-equivalent action dancing and prancing in place; the creature may still perform a standard action, but at a -4 penalty to all skill and attack rolls for the round, and may not engage in spellcasting or make attacks of opportunity. Each creature that passes the Concentrate check for that round may move, act, and attack normally, though “dancing” all the while.

Any creature with ranks in Perform (dancing) may opt to use that skill instead of Concentrate for the skill check above.

Creatures must hear the magically-enhanced song in order to be affected, and therefore the effect can be suppressed by silence. Any creature that passes out of the area of effect (which follows with the caster) is no longer affected. However, if any creature (including one who has been previously affected by this spell) reenters the area of effect, it must make a Will save again, or be affected. Once any creature successfully makes a Will save against this spell, it is unaffected for the remainder of the spell’s duration, even if entering and leaving the area of effect multiple times.

Deafened creatures cannot hear the music and thus are unaffected. Undead creatures are affected by this spell (even though undead are normally immune to mind-affecting spells).

Focus: A masterwork musical instrument of any type.

GM's Day and Gary Gygax's Day.

2008-03-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

Today, I had something really special uploaded for you and many people who kept asking for it, a documentary I made 2 years ago while I was at Filmmaking College. So, I decided "okay I'll do it now, it's been quite a while and people over the internet would enjoy watching it".

And guess what? I decided to do it for GM's Day and while I was subtitling it to english (cause it's in portuguese, my native language, and I did it on a hurry so there might be mistakes) I received this message that dropped like a bomb.

Gary Gygax passed away.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080304/ap_en_ot/obit_gygax

So, now it's became more than just a GM's day, it's a day when all roleplayers will remember Mr. Gygax and what he has done to our lives. I hope you enjoy this short film, and I hope that wherever our true Game Master is, he will join the greatest master of all and together they will look for all of us.

Here's the Part 1:

Here's the Part 2:

WoW Players Wear Sunscreen

2008-03-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

The following video (some of you may have seen it in the past, some may not) is a montage with various famous WoW videos and some original footage recorded by myself. It is a music video using the Baz Luhrmann's Everybody is Free (To Wear Sunscreen) song. It's not complete as you will notice, there are some black parts where there should be more videos or pictures. I still have the intention to finish it someday but for now, enjoy:

Dungeons and Dragons MMO Edition

2008-03-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Wizards just released a preview with 6 characters from the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Well it has something familiar but I won't draw any conclusions (damn I already have with that title... anyways), I'll let you do it and then don't forget to vote on our pool (upper left)

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/ExperienceCharacters.zip

Subliminal msg: D&D 4th edition sux! D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux! D&D 4th edition sux!D&D 4th edition sux!

Countdown to More Mayhem: Sneak Peak #3

2008-02-29T10:18:00.000-08:00

Feat

Definition: [n] a notable achievement; "he performed a great deed"; "the book was her finest effort"
Synonyms: deed, effort, exploit

Yeah, it's been 8 years since you incorporated that word to your Dungeons and Dragons game, and it spread out to many other OGL games, more than 50% of the whole d20 material in the world contains a chapter or section dedicated to Feats. Hell, there's even whole books with only feats.

These cannot be classified as the equivalent of advantages or qualities in other RPGs, as the definition implies these are sometimes mind-boggling, rule-bending, argument fodder abilities that in the right hands can build the perfect character or wreak havoc and despair around a gaming table. In some games you can guess or identify what will be the new advantages or qualities that will show up in the next book, you just see what hasn't been covered yet. However, d20 has reached a different scope, you can never expect what possibilities a new book might bring with its feat variety, some times it's even scary.

Well, Even More Magic & Mayhem... Let's begin with that "Even More", you bet it's more! In fact this book has so many new options and varieties that any pathological rules addicted scavenger will feel satisfied. So you can understand what I mean here is some of the feats you will see in EMM&M:

Amplify Curse, Cold-blooded Killer, Dual Blessings, Gouge, Hamstring, Improved Industrious Haste, Improved Tricks, Judgement, Moonkin Form, Runic Engineer, Shred.

And these are just the names, some will stare in awe, some won't see what the words actually mean. What you need to know is this... There are MORE. And you won't be disappointed.

Even More Magic and Mayhem is due before June 2008. And when I say before it can be in May or three weeks from now. Who knows? Like feats, expect the unexpected.

P.S. funny WotC chose this word... "synonim: exploit". Naaaah....

Dark Factions Cover and new release

2008-02-28T04:02:00.000-08:00

It can't be more official than that. White Wolf's Online Store and Amazon.com have links for pre-ordering Dark Factions.

The coolest thing is the possible release date which is stated in both sites. April 16th 2008. If it really does happen, it's going to be 3 days after my birthdate, which is awesome. The cover looks extremelly evil, thanks to Samwise Didier's spectacular job. So don't waste anymore time to check out the cover image and pre-order yours or guarantee its acquirement by your local gaming store now!

Amazon's product link
White Wolf's product link

Once the book is released in DriveThruRPG I'll add a link to the left column.

In other news, I'm currently past half of Chapter 3 in the layout process of Even More Magic and Mayhem. Expect later this week a new sneak peak.

On The Question of Balance

2008-02-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

In all games it comes up. Sooner or later you crack open a book, look over a character sheet or simply come across it in-game. Then, arguments ensue, game mechanics are changed, forum posts are made, it gets debated some more and the universe itself shifts. I speak to you of balance.

What is balance in a game where competition between players is theoretically non-existent? Where the idea is to be challenged by a person that essentially has a god like will over the game? Ultimately the answer is a balance of ego's. The ego of the DM and the ego of the players. The GM wants to believe his skill with the system and his knowledge is enough to provide a fun challenge while telling a good story. Players want to believe they provide a good believable character that will deal with the challenges in a heroic fashion. That's how it is in a perfect world.

Sadly, the world is far from perfect. GM's are normally far from skilled enough to stop a well focused player from exploiting one mechanic or another. And players are normally far from sensible enough to restrain themselves. They don't simply want to be heroic, they want to be antagonists themselves. They want to challenge the GM, to write a character and say "I dare you, mere mortal, to put an obstacle in my path I cannot crush within the laws and realities of this petty imaginary world! *cue lightning and thunder followed by maniacal laughter*"

Thus, competition ensues, often unconsciously, and one or more mechanic is changed for the sake of balance. Balance is a funny word to apply to a game that has no distinct rewards for defeating your fellow players. But, human ego is fragile, and no one likes to feel useless. And on the same end there's the desire to go above and beyond your fellow players ad take the spotlight whenever and however one can.

So,I guess the ability to change people is still beyond the limits of your average GM or player. Perhaps for the best. Still, how does one determine whats balanced? At what point is the fragile line from "powerful" and "broken" crossed into a tear jerking, argument inducing pain in the butt?

Well, it all starts when a group of writers sits around a table (a process I'm slowly becoming more and more familiar with) and decides on mechanics to the content of the book. A good portion of the time the crunch(mechanical content) is there to simply full holes and give some neat options for the players. The trouble begins when new mechanics or new twists on old mechanics are brought to the table. I've had the fortune of working with some very intelligent writers on EMM&M and we've done a relatively good job of keeping our mechanics in line. And even now as the fan book is on the verge of being released we still have the occasional thought or debate on how one or more mechanic we've introduced will affect the game. Even now we still discuss it. It's in this relatively chaotic process that sometimes a small detail or another gets by. Sometimes it's a small typo that seems almost insignificant turns into a massive explosion in game. This happens the most rarely, but, is the most commonly blamed.

The second cause of imbalance is misinterpretation. It's generally the plague of newness. New GM's, new players, new mechanics, all these things have a habit of misinterpreting something into something that is not. Sometimes, the easiest solution is education, other players, a rereading, or the rare case of clairfying errata is all it takes. Deliberate misinterpretation is rare but it does happen. In those cases the offender is quick to change his ways when he's caught red handed.

The third and final cause of imbalance is rules lawyering for the purposes of getting the upper hand. These people will twink, min-max, power game, and nitpick there way to glory and massive GM headaches. It's been said on the DnD official forums that with enough supplements one can do anything. This statement has proven itself true time and time again regardless of game. In other words: the more content you introduce the more chance their is that some combination of that content will create imbalance. As a GM, I both love and loathe these people. They're the ones that force me to get creative. They're the ones that make me consider all possibilities in an encounter and to decide how my NPC's should level and build. They're also the ones that give me a massive migraine.

Why should it you ask? Well, for the sake of the other players who for one reason or another either cannot accomplish the same level of power gaming or simply refuse to. And when one character or another simply overpowers the others a few things tend to happen. First, they tend to look to that character for leadership. After all he who is most effective likely has the better decision making capabilities. Second, the other players tend to get lazier and more distracted. Why should they spend more effort then necessary working together when Timmy has all the answers and all the muscle to accomplish the tasks? Ultimately, you're forced to balance encounters around that one player, either nullifying them and forcing the other players to act or increasing the difficulty of the encounters so the other players must act as support or the group as a whole falls rather quickly. Of course this creates resentment, the GM gets blamed, arguments about balance ensue and the circle of life moves on.

The results of this complaining often lead to changes to the game, which leads to more arguments, etc. etc. A lot of games get torn apart due to these things. But, is that the fault of the game and its writers? Or, rather, the fault of the players who use the rule set? Ultimately, I feel it's the fault of all involved. The writers are only human and can't be expected to catch every little thing that goes by. But, when that does happen they need to be prepared to fix it in some manner. DnD has been real good about this and individual fans and writers for WoW:RPG have been good about releasing errata when needed in order to answer the many problems that arise when new controversial content is released. White Wolf, on the other hand, has a very poor history of releasing errata. But, I suppose this is the difference in gaming philosophy between the two games. Storyteller games place a lot of power in the players and storytellers, therefore, it is their responsibility for maintaining balance. The rules themselves are merely guidelines. Unlike DnD and consequently WoW: RPG which has hard fast rules for practically everything.

On the player side of things it's really more about shutting up and enjoying the game. If there's a problem, fix it, and move on. If a player has a problem with a GM ruling, he's the GM get over it or leave. After all the goal is to have fun, not nitpick, not argue, not rules lawyer. Writers tend to be rules lawyers because that's their job description. Players are defined as having fun. So, leave the rules mongering and "balance" to those who get paid. I just wanna play.

New Wondrous Item - The Hand of Midhas

2008-02-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

Speaking of gold and speaking of Dark Factions, here's a little freebie for all the DotA enthusiastics. However, you'll only be able to use it once the famous "Independent Player's Guide" is released. Just another thing to make you consider getting it in July.

The Hand of Midhas

Midhas Eagersome was a renown alchemist goblin, no one has ever known how was he able to finance all his chemical engineerings. Over the course of 20 years, he achieved the record mark of mixing over 250,000 magical potions. Some say he would have worked nonstop. Some truly believe he created a device or a magical item capable of funding his experiments. Either way, that still had meant 34 potions a day and required huge amounts of gold. Funny that even with an huge and unknow source of gold he didn't have that many enemies... Go figure.

The Hand of Midhas is a metallic golden glove, once per day thewearer of the glove can transmute any living creature into gold by simply touching them. When touched the target is affected by the Flesh to Gold spell.

Strong Transmutation; CL 13th; Craft Woundrous Item, Flesh to Gold*; Price 23,100; 11,550 Cost + 924 XP

*Flesh to Gold is described in Dark Factions: Chapter 4.

I came up with this idea of doing this item a long time ago but was never able to recreate it with a spell such as polymorph any object or anything less than a wish. Thanks to Dark Factions now it's possible. Next week, a brand new sneak peak of Even More Magic & Mayhem which is moving towards its completition.

Countdown to More Mayhem: Sneak Peak #2

2008-02-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

After mentioning the new optional mana point system (Thanks to a post at the forums) in this blog with the intention of clarifying a specific rule. It's time to yet another preview of Even More Magic & Mayhem, the not-so-official-but-almost-there sourcebook that is being created by our Dream Team.

Once again this was prompted thanks to a post concerning the Trade Skills. This optional rule never made it to the corebook but it was supposed to be there in the first place. How does one use Trade Skills in the MMO?

You gather and create. Those two concepts are tied together in a single skill in the RPG and each kind of Trade Skill will grant you synergy bonuses to certain tasks and the best of all: IT WILL GRANT YOU GOLD!! The Trade Skills list is also enhanced with new ones and includes Jewelcrafting!

Having a profession never made you happier in a D&D game, now you have a reason to be proud of it. Stop earning copper and be a trader!

More Magic and Mayhem is scheduled to be released sometime before Dark Factions, so stay tuned.

WoW vs. WoW:RPG

2008-02-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

When one runs into a D&D or Vampire based video game one can usually find a book at their local gaming store on the same regions and peoples that video game is based upon this conversion from table top to electronic format is practically traditional and in many cases is the first experience anyone has with a table top game.

In my case the first experience I had with table tops was through the Pool of Radiance game on my dad’s old commodore 64. Some years later I'm in a comic book store rolling a Barbarian.

I'm sure similar patterns have repeated themselves over and over again every time such a game comes out. Can you imagine how many people started playing D&D when Never Winter Nights came out? Imagine there surprise when they found out D&D doesn't actually have a point system that pushes your alignment one way or another.

In any case Warcraft is unique in that it doesn't base itself off a tabletop. Rather, it is a tabletop based off a videogame. This in and of itself creates some unique problems. Particularly when one must work with a company as tight lipped as Blizzard.

The first problem one has to deal with is translating a video game into a table-top, and not just any table top, but one that has been hailed and recognized before the concept of Night Elves was dancing nakedly in the back of someone’s head (purple elves? hawt!). This creates some challenges that the writers have proudly faced in WoW:RPG and its Predecessor Warcraft: The Role Playing Game. After all while videogames take their basic game mechanics from the tabletop itself the writers are forced to handle the ever changing philosophy of blizzards developers regarding the game while still keeping to their own format. Thankfully d20 is adaptable enough that no matter what direction blizz decides to go with the game the writers will always be able to keep up mechanically. But then, we get into lore....

Blizzard loves to retcon so much that it gave players an instance in which they can retcon time itself at the behest of times lords and masters. This is easy for them, after all they own the property and retconning is as easy as making a few code changes and releasing another patch. For the writers, retconning isn't really an option, once a book is out: it's out. The writer of those oh so popular Drizzt novels may have decided midway through the series that a Star Elf might have made a more popular choice then the now cliché drow (by the way if anyone ever pick up the new Drow book I recommend it, it gives them their balls back). But, because he can't simply grab every book in the world and rewrite history he has to stick to his guns and keep Drizzt a drow.

In blizzards case they've had a very hard time deciding just where their characters stand. Garona for example was a half human half orc. Then by Warcraft 2 one of her parents was Draeni. There was only one variety of troll, now there's five. All in all Blizzard loves to implement new ideas with the exuberance of a new GM constantly adding new details to his world despite already laid foundations from earlier in his campaign. That’s great for them but bad for the RPG.

If we sit down and think about all the stuff released, particularly about content which hasn't been released yet, then there’s a huge margin for error, and it already shows. How? Just look at Lands of Mystery, particularly the section on Northrend, then go to the World of Warcraft website and check out Wrath of The Lich King. See some problems? Already a lot of the preconceptions and lore given out in Lands of Mystery is being proven as not what Blizzard intended.

So, what are the repercussions of this on the line? Well, it hurts. New players will pick up the book, find the differences, and not buy it. After all, the book is called World of Warcraft. Automatically that associates it with the videogame, and automatically that gives the impression that the content and lore of the book will be identical if not more then what the game provides. But, if there are contradictions and errors in the book in comparison then it's not World of Warcraft. Thus, the prospective buyer won't spend the time, let alone the money on it. I don't think it takes an economics class to spell out what that means for the line. No money = no new books.

Unfortunately the eventual opening up of blizzard to the people who have the license to write these games is out of ours, the fans, hands. Blizzard isn't going to change it's tight lipped policy, and the writers and developers still need to eat, so sooner or later something is going to have to give and either the line will die out or simply go in a completely different direction.

But, that doesn't help us. So what are we to do? IF you don't play WoW online and are happy with the books, then good for you have nothing to worry about or think about until some player that does comes in and points out the inconsistencies. But, for the rest of us there are only two real solutions. The first is simply roll with the punches and retcon campaigns as easily as blizzard retcons itself. This has problems, but for those that want to maintain consistency that’s the best solution. The other solution, and the best in my opinion, is simply ignoring the inconsistencies if they're already in your game. Simply put your game is simply that: yours. So what if blizzard decides that Blood Elves now serve the Naaru? That’s fine, move on and continue having your Bloodknight BBEG give your ally players a hard time. Thrall assassinated? Who cares? In other words D&D is your game, your rules, the writers might have contract obligations, but you don't nor should you. So, go forth, have fun and decide how Your World of Warcraft should be run.

The Mana Gem Syndrome

2008-01-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

Recently an issue has proved to be quite popular around the forum. Is the combination "pyroblast + mana ruby" broken? And in the advent of our upcoming sourcebook, I decided to analyze the use of mana gems if you decide to implement our new Mana Point System.

I won't give away the intricacies of our newest optinal rule; however, I will indulge to this complex matter. Many takes for a resolution were given in the refered thread (http://forums.white-wolf.com/viewtopic.php?t=69090) and I'll try to get the best out of it. Let's consider it part of the unofficial errata.

Channeling spells can't be kept inside a gem after channel begins.
A new mana gem will destroy the previous one, regardless of type.
Mana gems can be detected by a careful caster using any spell detection.
Treat mana gems like any other magic item in possession of the bearer and which can be destroyed if hit in combat. (totally optional, since some GMs are afraid of casters.)

Let's consider a few things before we move forward.

The main difference between conjure mana water and conjure mana gem is that one restores spell slots and the other readies a spell. (tabletop RPG)
The main difference between both spells is that one recovers mana while out of combat and the other while in combat. (WoW MMORPG)

If you change the way it works in a mana point system, it will make both spells work the same way with different names... A little lame and kind of pointless. Either way, I will provide the proper usage of Mana Gems if you were to change it to our current mana system*.

Mana Jades restore 5 mana points.
Mana Citrines restore 10 mana points.
Mana Rubies restore 15 mana points.

* The Mana Point system will be revealed in the upcoming e-book: Even More Magic & Mayhem.

We Were Prepared!

2008-01-27T15:55:00.000-08:00

Great news everyone, I just started Even More Magic & Mayhem's Chapter One layout, revised manuscripts of Chapters I to VII were sent this morning to me by MagusRogue. We still need some last minute filler art and some magic items need thorough revisions, anyway, the project is taking now its final steps. And you shall see a finished book sooner or later. I hope you like the way I'm putting the book cause what you'll see is what I decide how you'll see it :P

I won't put here a release date yet, simply because there's a lot of stuff to layout and typeset, the book has a solid 200+ pages and I have my own life schedules which can make it slower or faster depending on how busy I will be.

Once again, thanks for your support and especially for your imense patience.

Dark Factions Release

2008-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! So, after a long, looooooong wait, we have a release date for Dark Factions! It will be in stores in June of this year: a real, live, hard-bound book. I don't know about you, but this makes me happy. Hopefully I'll remember to post some previews and such as the release approaches.
_________________
Luke Johnson
WoW RPG and McWoD Developer
http://www.lukejohnson.com

Happy Winter Veil!! /gasp

2007-12-25T16:12:00.000-08:00

We wish you a merry xmas, we wish you a merry xmas, we wish you a merry xmas and a happy new year.

Those are our votes to all you readers around the globe who are ansiously waiting for the highly claimed Even More Magic & Mayhem. Though I don't like to make promises, we are back on track and Magus wants to have it finished it by new year's eve. I hope so.

Anyway, happy holidays for everyone. See you soon.

http://handclaw.rampagingpolygons.com/FESTIVAL/MerryChristmas.jpg (by HandClaw)

"Blizzard" troubles Even More Magic & Mayhem

2007-12-13T04:42:00.000-08:00

Okay no updates for EMM&M in a long time, however I received the following e-mail from Adam "MagusRogue" Loyd concerning the final steps and I was shocked:

Gonna keep this short and simple, since im borrowing someone's pc. I haven't had internet in over a week. Furthermore, unless you live in a hole, you've probably heard of how bad Sunday's ice storm has hit Oklahoma. I'm currently alive and well, but my house has been out of power for three days now, and it won't be back on till at least next Tuesday........ life is interesting. Just to let you know, however, the final proofs are almost up...
...Once I get power on, I promise to have proofs over to Marcos before Christmas, and hopefully a book by new years. Cross our fingers, and I promise the next book will be faster. We're all learning this as we go, you know.

As you can see, we are working hard on this. And hopefuly everything will turn out better for our friend Adam who's been going through hell but never gave up on the project.

Stories from Dragoncon...someday maybe.

2007-09-08T18:59:00.001-07:00

Okay okay I'll write soemthing eventually I just haven't been in the mood. :P

Donation Expiration

2007-08-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

I'd like to inform here that after one month and due to the extremely low rate of donators during that period, we're returning all donations to their rightful owners and we like to apologize for the fact that we can't be giving the mentioned prize and I'm (Salsa) personally sad with this cause I really wanted to help Magus on this situation, anyway I'd like to thank those who tried but unfortunely we couldn't even reach the 30 dollars mark.

I spoke to his wife the other day and Adam decided to use dial-up for the time being, I just hope he can get back on track with his life. By the way if anyone living close to his region still willing to help and who would like to adopt some of his cats, throw me an e-mail I'll let him know.

As for myself, I haven't been updating the blog because recently I'm working on two different short movies, writing a feature film script and doing some research for college about Clerks and Kevin Smith. So come back once in a while check for updates from the other contributors. And expect a new pdf containing the Draenei racial stats.

See ya, Marcos "Salsa" Bolton

who finally finished reading the Sunwell Trilogy, comments soon.

Tech Primer

2007-08-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

There's been some questions on the forums regarding tech devices, crafting, and the tinker. I figured it was about time someone compile a primer for those new to the game or confused about the tech rules. Attached is the result Jordan and I put together. Complete with page references to the books.

http://www.geocities.com/logsmole/Tech_Primer.pdf

Note: This is NOT the netbook, Even More Magic and Mayhem. In fact, the primer references a few things in the forthcoming netbook. As such, these referenced items are subject to change.

Enjoy!

Jeff "Trousers" Moller

And Jordan, simply put: you rock.

Glittering Prizes

2007-07-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. Our project will probably be postponed again unless of course you can help us. So I'm here in the name of Adam who can't log into the internet for reasons you'll understand as follows:

Alright, here's the deal. I've been out of work for two months due to some.... stupid decisions in my life. Currently I'm back to work, but I'm so behind on bills that catching up is like pulling teeth I no longer have. Perhaps the worst for my profession at current is a $500 bill to my cable company. Why is this such a problem, you ask? No cable = no internet. No internet = no writing jobs. In fact, this current lack of internet cost me a VERY valuable opportunity to be a new RPG developer for White Wolf!!! No!!!!!!! I could have been up there with Ethan Kamp or the like..... And, considering I have twins due in September, finances are making it impossible for me to get my internet turned back on. For a LONG time.

So.... here's the question. Any way any generous and loving fans out there wish to donate to my cause? I'll even throw in an incentive, so here it is:

To the highest two contributers, I offer two personally-signed books: The Alliance Player's Guide and the Horde Player's Guide. One to one, one to the other. (no, you can't get both, you only get one or the other). Conditions: If you want the books, please, a minimum of 20-25 bucks. Of course, if you pass me a hundred (or more), I'll definately be more appreciative and may through something else sweet into the mix....... *hint hint*

So, if you're generous, please flit over to Paypal and donate to my cause to get my internet back up and me outa debt hell. Thanks guys!

-- Adam C Loyd
Your friendly neighborhood game designer!
WoW RPG Freelancer

So, as you can see guys that's our problem. Remember that you don't HAVE to donate more than 20 bucks, any help is appreciated. And also you're not paying for any of our services, you'll just be helping from your own volition. Adam threw the books into the thing to motivate people and make things faster. But if you want to help with 10, 5 or even 1 dollar you won't be forgotten. We will be posting a list of the top 10 donations once this moment of crisis is over and also the names of all donators along with our gratitude.

You can send an e-mail to magus asking if this is true: magusrogue@gmail.com
And you can donate clicking on the button below:

2007-07-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to place here some old files that might be useful to some people. The Steamthrone was something I created once I saw the drawings (or dare I say blueprints :P) for it at the forums. The Spellbreaker needs a revamp, don't know when Adam and I will get to it. And there is also the WoW Unofficial Errata. All those were files I created exactly one year ago.

I have some of the old D&D Warcraft files, one of them being the old Pandaren Brewmaster. But since that prestige class is going to be covered by Dark Factions I decided to not include it here. I also have the Acolyte, the Goblin Baloonist, the Spell Sniper, and the Axethrower/Warlord. As well as some scourge racial classes. But all that stuff is old now and I'll only upload it if people ask for it.

Edit: Ok, I remembered that my files are hosted in another website (not mine) here is the link http://www.freewebs.com/lands_of_chaos/files.htm I would post the credits for the person who created the website but there is no info about him/her in it.

And so I met a guy named Murphy...

2007-07-09T03:10:00.001-07:00

Ok, before I go into the details about how things went wrong, I'll tell you the good stuff. The convention was awesome, we didn't have as much people as in other years cause there was an anime convention happening in the city and also some kind of japanese ceremony or fair or whatever since São Paulo is the second biggest japanese colony in the world after Japan itself.

So we had a bus full of geeks and not-so-geeks going towards the "Smog City" (and it's not LA guys) I like to compare it to what the Matrix did to the world on the movie where the sunlight it's something rare, lol. Anyway a fun trip and including toothpaste!

For some unexplainable reason my first day was boring... As my friend said (it can't be "as boring as hell" hell is much more fun than this). However there was one good thing about it. BOOZE! Malt beer for me, regular for the other guys, by the way those three are basically my official gaming group (sergio, naddo, thiago and me; attention to thiago's shirt).

Among the interesting things that happened on sunday morning (and this is the fun day). It began with breakfast at the hotel and guess what? the Pan American Games torch passes right by our hotel's window!
But the day is just beginning! We had the ninja day with many different activities and prizes for everyone and we went on delivering real hamburguers and soda to the major staff members of the convention and to Monte Cook himself! Who also tried one of our activity games - the ninja ball - hehe. And won! I even got it all recorded but I'm still going to edit it.

We had some nice cosplayers, but I only got a few pictures since I was busier with the whole ninja thing. So what went wrong Salsa? Everything is so cool so far. Well, my friends...

Murphy attacked when we left the convention...

"And so you guys were on the convention bus, when suddenly you see smoke coming out of your window at the right side. What do you do?"

- I get pissed off and start complaining.

"You find out it's the bus brake compartment burning rubber for reason only explained by your host as the car part being new. The driver decides to stop on a gas station and clean it with a water hose. What do you do?"

- I'm watching through the window and I still can't believe this is happening.

"The trip continues and around the middle of Return of the King, you hear what appears to be a small blast and a whistle sound followed by the feeling that the bus is running through heavy terrain. Roll an intelligence check. Wow! you're smart enough to realize it's a flat tire. What do you do?"

- I start cursing and informing the other passengers about the occurence.

"Many minutes later, once the bus gets back to the trip, your friends start saying things like 'this is going to fuck up again' or 'I heard a metal clank, I think the wheel is not properly attached' which doesn't comfort you either, cause hey you're just going down a road hill full of curves. The bus comes to a halt AGAIN minutes after leaving the hill. You see the trip host and other friends running on the road along with the bus driver trying to find something at road midsection where there's also knee-high grass. Hey guess what you're seeing at your window this time?"

-No... It can't be what I think it is, gamemaster...

"Hell yeah! The bus driver is rolling the wheel that got off across the road and wooooah he just missed a speeding car by an inch!"

-Holy #$%! What the... I'm tired of this, I'm tearing this character sheet, just fucking kill me already! What's next? A hijack?

Well, no fellas but for a moment if it did happen, I'd be ready for it anyway, so we had to wait for a new bus to come get us. And a 6 hour trip became a 12 hour trip, back home... And now I'm tired, I'm gonna get some sleep. I'll post the links for more pictures and the video footage later this week.

Trip to São Paulo and Note to Contributors

2007-07-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at midnight I'll be on my way to the "Encontro Internacional de RPG" (International RPG Con, in a free translation). I attend every year and this one couldn't be different. A friend of mine is responsible for the Brazilian Ninja Day the same comemorative day that happens in the US around December (www.ninjaburger.com and here is the brazilian ninja day website: http://www.emnomedorei.com.br/home_ninja.php). We had some great and incredible support from the creator who even sent us a package with advertising material including rpg books and other neat stuff to give away during the event. And since everyone is going dressed as a different kind of ninja, I'm gonna be the cowboy ninja (go figure :P).

I was gonna run a big world of warcraft with the coming of the burning crusade and all, probably a thematic game involving the characters trying to cross the Dark Portal, I had it all planned, two tables two different game masters, same story but one group would be alliance and the other group the horde. Each group's action would affect the other's outcome. But so many other things to do in college and movie projects that I had to give up. Maybe next year.

One interesting thing is the fact that this year we have the presence of Monte Cook, he will be here for the portuguese release (hopefully with no delay excuses this time) of Arcana Evolved. I might be wrong on saying that cause we don't even have Arcana Unearthed translated... so it could be the later one.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that it's really good to be back and help on this project (and many others to come). I'll be back to Rio de Janeiro (hence back home) on Monday, so don't worry I'm not gonna disappear again.

And to all contributors; that is Magus, Tark and Twilight. You guys can post here anything you want about world of warcraft, rpg, updates on this project etc. Feel at home, just log in, new post and voilá!

Bye to all and see ya next week.

Return

2007-07-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

"...when duty's done, and glory earned.

I swore my heart, I would return."

Humans learn, societies grow, creatures evolve and time is always at motion. Why should magic act differently? Aeons of knowledge are scattered around the corners of the Twisting Nether, ancient secrets probably caved in in the depths of Anh'Qiraj. And you really thought only two books could cover it all? You were wrong...

The Warcraft RPG Resource Homepage returns in a moment of triumph with an upcoming project that will tremble the very foundations of the internet. Under the provisional name of WoW RPG Blog, we will once again provide you with loads of new content to be used with the World of Warcraft Roleplaying Game and all that packed into neat PDF netbooks very close-looking to books from the official line.

Warcraft RPG: Even More Magic & Mayhem (preview)