What cool stuff is going on with the rpg?

[Tush Hog]

It's been a while since the last status update, and I was just wondering what kind of things are going on right now with the rpg?

[iago]

LOTS of editing still underway.  We're close to first-draft-text complete, with just a couple of chapters still underway. 

Procedurally, or in terms of "telling the story of the book", this is mostly boring-ass stuff, which is probably why you haven't seen as much said about it.  It's the part of book work that's slow and grindy.  The every-two-weeks peeks that we've been posting over on the site -- that's the stuff that's actually exciting.

Editing page after page of statblocks?  Dull as dirt.

[ludomaniac]

In terms of source material, is SmF still the cutoff?  There was a lot of cool stuff in TC about the White Council's HQ and general organization, ancient spirits with Intellectus, and so forth.

Also, what happens are first draft?  Second draft, I suppose, but does Jim have to approve the text at this point?

[iago]

We're still cutting things off at Small Favor because we want there to be chance in hell of finishing the thing.

I'm assuming the question is what happens after the first draft.  We spend a few months editing and revising.  It's sort of useless to say whether this results in a second draft or 100th draft, the way relentless revisioning and refactoring tends to work.

After that the text is considered "finalized", and proceeds into layout and a lot of business-logistics planning that I don't currently have time to get into.

[ludomaniac]

Yes, I meant after.  What a silly typo! 

I see what you mean about drafts.  I guess making a game does not necessarily follow the classic model of three drafts.

[Bosh]

With a game that's been in development as long as DFRPG I think that really really thorough editing is the way to go. I'm certainly willing to wait as long as it takes for a game that's as typo and errata free as possible. With a game as awesome as SotC to work off of, I can really see this game being a steady seller for a good long time.

[Tush Hog]

LOTS of editing still underway.  We're close to first-draft-text complete, with just a couple of chapters still underway. 

Procedurally, or in terms of "telling the story of the book", this is mostly boring-ass stuff, which is probably why you haven't seen as much said about it.  It's the part of book work that's slow and grindy.  The every-two-weeks peeks that we've been posting over on the site -- that's the stuff that's actually exciting.

Editing page after page of statblocks?  Dull as dirt.

I'm sure it can be dull, but I've been listening to some of your gaming podcasts and have become fascinated with the process of how an rpg gets made. Kind of like the first time I watched the show How it's made and came away thinking "wow, so that's how they make a microphone."

How long does it take to put an rpg through layout? I know it probably depends on size and graphics of the rpg, but how long did it take for SotC and how much time are you preparing for DFRPG?

[iago]

I'm sure it can be dull, but I've been listening to some of your gaming podcasts and have become fascinated with the process of how an rpg gets made. Kind of like the first time I watched the show How it's made and came away thinking "wow, so that's how they make a microphone."

How long does it take to put an rpg through layout? I know it probably depends on size and graphics of the rpg, but how long did it take for SotC and how much time are you preparing for DFRPG?

All of the "production" work, from layout to proofing to printing to shipping, can take as much as 6 months, easy, if you've got a fairly rich layout you're going for and you're using an overseas/non-domestic printer.

SotC was a very lightweight layout compared to what I'll be doing with DFRPG, so it doesn't really compare.

[Magus-k]

Here's a good question, when can we start giving you money?   

[iago]

Here's a good question, when can we start giving you money?   

Sometime in 2010, hopefully.

We'll try to be more specific about that before the end of this year.