Open Call: Petty Gods

Inspired by this post over at Planet Algol (and with Blair's permission to pursue this), I've decided, likely foolishly, to put together a book with the help of anyone who's willing to donate their time, energy, and creativity to it. The working title is Petty Gods and it's intended as an homage to Judges Guild's awesome Unknown Gods, which presented 83 minor gods -- complete with stats -- for use in your D&D adventures and campaigns.

And when I say "minor gods," I mean it: we're talking deities like the goddess of dancing girls, the god of summer storms, and the goddess of deep water fish, among others. That's the vibe I'm aiming for with this project too. If anything, I'd prefer that the divinities in Petty Gods be even more minor, esoteric, and obscure than those in Unknown Gods -- the kinds of beings worshiped only by a handful of devoted (and probably crazed) followers and whose power is limited enough that they could conceivably be offed by a party of appropriately bloody-minded PCs. In short, this is a "Monster Manual" for swords-and-sorcery in the manner of Elric.

So, here's the plan. If you're interested in participating in this project, send a description of the minor god(s) to me at jmaliszeATgmail.com with the tag [Petty Gods] in the subject line, using the format presented below. There's no limit to the number of words per submission as such but each deity should have no more than a paragraph or two of descriptive text; the idea here is to be evocative and inspirational rather than exhaustive. If possible, stats should be as compatible with Labyrinth Lord as possible, since that's my go-to game for "generic" old school D&D, but I can make adjustments as necessary, if you make a submission using OSRIC or Swords & Wizardry or whatever.

I'd also love to get some artwork for this project. Unknown Gods includes an illustration for every deity, such as Paul Jaquays's portrait of Tangadorn above. That's probably too much to expect in this case, but a guy can dream, can't he? So, if you're an artist with lots of spare time and a willingness to do some pro bono illustrating, I'd be in your debt if you'd drop me a line too. I won't know how many illustrations I'll need until after I get all the submissions in -- which reminds me: the deadline for submission is December 31, 2010, though I reserve the right to extend it a little beyond that date if I deem it useful to do so. But, if you're at all interested in contributing, I recommend doing your best to get your stuff to me before the end of the year.

This is a volunteer project without any compensation beyond a free PDF of the final product, so I don't begrudge anyone who prefers to devote their creativity to other, more lucrative projects. I'll also make the book available through Lulu.com at cost, since I know there are many folks, such as myself, who prefer physical books to electronic ones. My goal isn't to make any money off this, but simply to put together a cool collaborative project that fills a niche no one else has yet filled. This is the kind of thing at which the old school community excels, so I have little doubt I'll get great submissions.

Here's the format I'd like to see for the submissions:

Name:
Symbol:
Alignment:
Movement:
Armor Class:
Hit Points (Hit Dice):
Attacks:
Damage:
Save:
Morale:
Hoard Class:
XP:

Each entry should also include a specialized Reaction Table to represent how the minor god reacts to any who encounter him. The standard Reaction Table uses a 2D6 roll, modified by Charisma, but, these being gods, and petty ones at that, their tables could just as easily use 1D20, 2D12, 3D6, or whatever and be modified by other ability scores. Use your imagination. The important thing is that each petty god make an interesting potential enemy or ally of PCs in a swords-and-sorcery style fantasy campaign. Go wild!

I'll post a sample petty god on my blog Saturday, in case anyone is unclear about what I'm asking for here. Thanks in advance to everyone who submits. This is going to be fun.

A Bit of Petty Gods News

Though I have been quiet on the matter, rest assured that Petty Gods is slowly winding its way toward release. I spent a lot of time in June getting the entries ready, as well as making sure I had all the art needed. There are still some holes to plug, as well as some further tweaking on the entries, not to mention the creation of some supplementary material I think would make good additions to the overall book. You'll be able to see a preview of the book in issue #6 of the fanzine Oubliette, which comes out in a few weeks.

One of the reasons I've been moving slowly on Petty Gods, aside from being distracted by the Dwimmermount Codex and the revision of Thousand Suns, is that I was awaiting word on a possible inclusion from a very special contributor. Happily, I am now able to tell you that, in addition to a foreword by Paul Jaquays, Petty Gods will include the entirety of Professor M.A.R. Barker's 1980 essay, "How to Create a Religion in Your Spare Time for Fun and Profit." It's a terrific article, filled with lots of great ideas and not a few insights. It's long been one of my favorite of Professor Barker's writings and I'm honored that he's granted me permission to include it in Petty Gods. Many thanks to Victor Raymond for making this happen.

Petty Gods Roster

Submissions to the Petty Gods project continue to roll in. We're closing in on 50 submissions, but the deadline is still nearly two months away, so there's plenty of time to get more in if you're interested in participating. I've updated the list here to include most of the recent submissions and, as you can see, there are lots of areas of patronage no one has yet covered. I think, however, that we have enough submissions for lost/misplaced items, as that seems to be a popular one. Of course, if you think you have a really great take on it, feel free to send it in; just be aware that there will competition.

I'll be contacting artists toward the end of this week with the first round of illustrations. I've got so many offers of help -- and thank you all for that -- it'll take me a bit longer to organize the artwork, so I beg a little more indulgence, if you don't mind. On the plus side, there's no question that I'll be able to get all the petty gods illustrated for the full compilation.

I should note here, in case anyone was unclear on this, that Petty Gods will be released under the OGL, so the entirety of its text will be Open Content. If anyone is uncomfortable with this, let me know, because I don't want to include any text that someone would rather not be released as OGC. All artwork will remain the property of the artists, who are free to re-use the art however they wish. This is to be a free and collaborative project and that means making sure everyone involved is comfortable with the terms under which it's operating.

As ever, if you have any questions, drop me a note and I'll do my best to get back to you in a timely fashion.

Latest Word on Petty Gods

The text to Petty Gods is more or less done and has been for a while. The cover is likewise done. What remains, besides layout, is artwork or, more precisely, artwork that I assigned to a number of people who offered to help but who have not yet followed through. Now, this is a volunteer project, so I haven't been a taskmaster about deadlines and the like. No one, including myself, is going to make any money from this endeavor, so I've been loath to crack the whip thus far. However, waiting on artwork people promised me more than three months ago is holding up the release of Petty Gods and I'm only willing to go so far to accommodate the schedules of others.

So, here's the deal: if you're someone who offered to do any kind of artwork, illustration, or graphic for Petty Gods, you've got one week -- till April 19, 2011 -- to give me an update on the status of your contribution. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll re-assign the work to one of the many, many artists who've not only offered to help and came through for me but has asked to do more. In deference to others, I've kept too many of these kind offers on hold, but I can't do that any longer, because it's not fair to the artists who've gone above and beyond. Plus, I want to get this book out to everyone before summer.

Next Tuesday, I'll post an update on this project and, depending on what sort of response I get on outstanding artwork, begin assigning illustrations for any entries that still don't have them. With luck, this will ensure the book can go into layout next month sometime, with an idea toward its seeing the light of day not long thereafter.

More Petty Gods Artwork

I'm getting closer to working my way through the Petty Gods submissions, but there are still many more to sort, so never fear if you haven't yet heard from me, either for a submission or an offer of helping out with artwork. My hope (ha, ha) is to be fully caught up by Friday, December 3, 2010. I will also make a point of posting an updated listing of all the accepted submissions to date, so that anyone still thinking of making a submission will see which petty gods are already accounted for.

In the meantime, enjoy these two illustrations by the ever-awesome Mark Allen. First, Tau, guardian of tombs and cemeteries:

Second, Drasheeng, petty goddess of misperception due to intoxication:

Pulp Fantasy Library: Under the Thumbs of the Gods

I've regularly remarked on this blog that Dungeons & Dragons (and, by extension, most fantasy roleplaying games, with a few notable exceptions) doesn't take the matter of religion very seriously. By "seriously," I mean only that very little thought seems to have been given to the nature of the gods, their relationship to mortals, and the consequences that follow from that. To some extent, that's understandable, since comparatively few of the pulp fantasies that inspired D&D deal directly with the gods (though, of course, ancient mythologies do). Even so, it's long been disappointing to me, because I think there's a rich vein of ideas to be mined when it comes to faith, religion, and the gods.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fritz Leiber was already well ahead of me when he wrote "Under the Thumbs of the Gods." Appearing for the first time in the April 1975 issue of Fantastic, the story finds Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser "drinking strong drink one night at the Silver Eel," when they become "complacently, even luxuriously, nostalgic about their past loves and amorous exploits." This is, of course, very much in character for the Twain, whose adventures are filled with all manner of love affairs, including the tragic.

What Fafhrd and the Mouser don't know is that their boasts "about their most recent erotic solacings" have been overheard – but not by men.

In the Land of the Gods, in short in Godsland and near Nehwon's Life Pole there, which lies in the southron hemisphere at the antipodes from the Shadowland (the abode of Death), three gods sitting together cross-legged in a circle picked out Fafhrd and the Mouser's voices from the general mutter of their worshippers, both loyal and lapsed, which resounds eternally in any god's ear, as if he held a seashell to it.

The three gods in question are Issek, who "had the appearance of a delicate youth with wrists and ankles broken;" Kos, "a squat, brawny god bundled up in furs, with a grim, not to say surly, heavily bearded visage;" and Mog, "who resembled a four-limbed spider with a quite handsome, though not entirely human face." 

These three deities had taken an interest in these particular mortals because they had, at one time or another, been – or feigned to be – one of their devotees. Fafhrd had revered Kos during his youth in the Cold Waste and had become an acolyte of Issek during a low point in his life. while the Mouser "made a game for several weeks of firmly believing in Mog," because his lover, Ivrian, "had taken a fancy to a jet statuette of Mog." More than that,

the three gods singled out their voices ... because they were the most noteworthy worshippers these three gods had ever had and because they were boasting. For the gods have very sharp ears for boasts, or for declarations of happiness and self-satisfaction, or for assertions of a firm intention to do this or that, or for statements that this or that must surely happen, or any other words hinting that a man is in the slightest control of his destiny. And the gods are jealous, easily angered, perverse, and swift to thwart.

This is delightful stuff, in my opinion, full of both the wit and cynicism that are hallmarks of the tales of the Nehwon. In the span of just a couple of paragraphs, Leiber has painted a striking portrait of the gods of his fantasy setting. He goes on:

"It's them, alright – the haughty bastards!" Kos grunted, sweating under his furs – for Godsland is paradisal.

"They haven't called on me for years – the ingrates!" Issek with a toss of his delicate chin. "We'd be dead for all they care, except we've our other worshippers. But they don't know that – they're heartless."

"They have not even taken our names in vain," said Mog. "I believe, gentlemen, it is time they suffered divine displeasure. Agreed?"

Nehwon's gods, you can see, are petty and vain, not unlike the gods of ancient Greece or Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborea. They bristle at being ignored – and are more than prepared to smite their wayward followers to assuage their feelings of abandonment. In this case, the three gods decide to make use of the Twain's plan to seek excitement in Lankhmar: "We will hunt girls – ourselves the bait!" in the words of the Mouser. 

Mog said, smiling lopsidedly because of his partially arachnid jaw structure, "They seem to have chosen their punishment."

"The torture of hope!" Issek smiled eagerly, catching on. "We grant them their wishes –"

"– and then leave the rest to the girls," Mog finished.

"You can't trust women," Kos asserted darkly.

"On the contrary, my dear fellow," Mog said, "when a god's in good form, he can safely trust worshippers, female and male alike, to do all the work."

"Under the Thumbs of the Gods" is a fast-moving yarn that might, on first reading, seem fun but fairly insubstantial. In fact, I think it one of Leiber's most fascinating later stories. Not only do we learn a lot more about the gods of Nehwon, but we also learn a thing or two about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser themselves, which is always worthwhile. 

Petty Gods Update

That's Khaldranath the Ox Lord, another petty god who'll be making his appearance once this book is made available.

So, where do things stand on this project? There are still some late submissions I haven't yet looked at, as well as quite a few art descriptions I need to send out. My plan -- and we all know how good I am at following through with such things -- is to sort through the last submissions today. Then I'll final table of contents for the book, which I'll post here in a few days, listing the names of all the gods, their areas of patronage, and their authors, as well as whether I have an illustration for them. That way artists who'd still like to contribute can pick a deity of their choice rather than having one assigned to them by me. My hope is to have the text all done and ready to go by month's end. After that, it's just a question of layout, which in turn depends on having all the illustrations in my hands. Once I do, we're in the home stretch. The final book will be made available as a free PDF or as a for-cost book on Lulu.com.

Let me also state here that, while I plan to release the text of the gods as Open Content under the Open Game License, neither Paul Jaquays's foreword nor any of the artwork are Open Content, with the copyrights to each remaining with their creators. If anyone who contributed to Petty Gods does not want their submission to be released as OGC, please contact me separately and I can accommodate you to the extent it's possible under the OGL. Otherwise, my intention is to release this material to the world in the hopes that others will adopt and adapt some of it in their own games and projects.

New Year's Updates

Happy 2011! I'm still recovering from holiday visits and distractions, so it'll be a couple days more before life returns to something resembling normalcy.

Petty Gods submissions are now closed. I'll be sorting through those submissions I've received over the last couple of weeks soon, along with offers of help with artwork. If you haven't heard back from me yet, hold tight and I'll be in touch between now and Monday. Once I'm done, I'll be posting a tentative table of contents for the book, which should include more than 100 gods, probably closer to 120 or thereabouts. Thanks once again to everyone who submitted and thank you to all the artists who've offered their talents in service to this project. Thanks too to Paul Jaquays for agreeing to write a brief foreword to the book.

With luck, Petty Gods will be available, both as a free PDF and as a for-cost print product fairly soon. I have no firm date on its release just yet, since laying this out and getting it ready may take a while, but I'm hoping it won't take too long. I'll keep everyone updated on this as things progress. In the meantime, enjoy this illustration of Screbblo, the petty god of quality footware, as imagined by M.T. Black and drawn by Wesley Godley.

See you all on Monday, when regular posting resumes, including several reviews that are long overdue.

Petty Gods Update

I've already gotten quite a few submissions for the Petty Gods project, as well as even more offers to do illustrations. I can't say how happy I am that this endeavor has generated such enthusiasm within the first 24 hours. However, the project has also generated some questions, so, in an effort to clarify at least some of these matters, I offer this brief update:

• Sample Entry: I'll post a sample entry tomorrow, for those who are still unclear what I'm looking for.
• Entry Length: As I noted previously, there's no upper limit on the length of an entry, but shorter is always better. Given the number of submissions it looks like I'll receive, I may not be able to accept them all, in which case length will become a bigger issue, with shorter entries being viewed more favorably than longer ones. As ever, a brilliant idea will always trump the format, so don't feel constrained if you think you've got a really good idea.
• Total Number of Entries: I honestly have no idea how many entries I'll accept. In a perfect world, I'd like to be able to accept each and every one, but that might not happen for one reason or another. Getting an entry in early is no guarantee of acceptance BUT, if two people submit similar ideas, assuming they're both equally good and I can't find a way to use them both, the earlier entry will get the nod. However, in such cases, I'll do my best to work with both writers to find a solution to such a problem.
• Tone: Several people asked me about the tone of this project, whether I meant it to be serious, silly, or something in between. I'd rather not limit the creativity of anyone by saying absolutely what I will or won't accept. In general, it's true, my tastes veer more toward the "serious" end of the spectrum, but, contrary to caricatures of me, I do have a sense of humor, so I wouldn't summarily dismiss an entry about the god of flatulence or the goddess of go-go dancing if it were well-done and of obvious use in a campaign. That said, I prefer "weird" gods to outright goofy ones.
• Art: I'll start sending out assignments to individual artists once I have enough submissions that I know I'll be accepting. Most such art assignments, though, won't come till next month or January, so, if you're an artist and your time is limited, let me know now, so I can aim to get you assignments when it's most convenient for your schedule.

And that's about it for the moment. I'll answer any other questions as they come up.

On the Horizon

In addition to the Thousand Suns revision I've been working on for what seems like forever (with a late summer release date looking more likely), two other projects have been occupying my time. Both ought to see daylight before Thousand Suns.

First, there's Petty Gods. There's still a few pieces of artwork left to be done, but the big delay at the moment is awaiting word on whether or not I have permission to include an article written by an important figure of the early hobby as a kind of framing device/introduction to the whole work. If I can't, that's no big deal and certainly won't hurt the final version, since it was only by chance that the opportunity to include it was even viewed as a possibility. Regardless, June will be devoted to getting Petty Gods out the door at last, with or without the article.

Second, there's what I think will be known as the Dwimmermount Codex series. Originally, I wanted to present a single volume with multiple levels of my Dwimmermount megadungeon. Later, people started asking me for more information on the world outside the dungeon. Later still, people wanted my OD&D/Labyrinth Lord house rules. I toyed with several different ways to present all this stuff and ultimately decided to go the route of multiple small (32-64 digest-sized page) PDFs/booklets released on a monthly/bimonthly basis. Each volume would present some of my house rules, plus new monsters, spells, treasures, magic items, and a level of the dungeon, a quarter of the city-state of Adamas, or a wilderness area.

I'm nearly done the first volume and it includes the following:

• Wisdom-related rules
• Clerics, Druids, and Cultists
• Dwarves and Gnomes
• New Cleric, Druid, and Gnome spells
• Saving throw rules
• New monsters
• New magic items
• Details on the gods of Dwimmermount
• Level 1 of the Dungeon (The Path of Mavors), which consists of just shy of 70 rooms.

With luck, I'll finish this in a couple of days. Then I just need to scrounge up some art and lay the thing out and I'll make it available for sale. I don't know how long it'll be in its final form, so that'll determine the price, but I can't imagine it'll be more than a few dollars for the PDF and a bit more for the printed copy, should anyone want that. It'd be nice to make a little profit off this project, but I'm also a big believer in keeping RPG products as inexpensive as possible, especially since the best ones are idea mines rather than completely usable "out of the box" and the Dwimmermount Codex volumes certainly follow that model.

To clarify: I use Labyrinth Lord as my rules base and riff off them in my modifications. If you have the LL rulebook, you need nothing else to use what I've written and, honestly, you don't even need that, since the material is easily adaptable to any TSR era version of D&D and its clones. I personally use Labyrinth Lord for reasons I've discussed elsewhere, but that doesn't mean you have to in order to get any use out of what I've written.

I'll have more information in a couple of days once I've finished the last tweaks to the text.

Various Updates

I've been distracted over the last week and a bit as I plow through the final edits on the revision of the Thousand Suns rulebook. Consequently, my posting has dropped off (especially reviews, of which I have a backlog) and my correspondence has been much less quick than usual. If you've sent me something recently and I've not responded, give me a day or two more and I should get caught up.

The Petty Gods project is in fine shape, with close to 100 accepted submissions now. Speaking of which: if you've received an email from me confirming acceptance and the RPGNow codes I sent to you for the complimentary Labyrinth Lord PDFs do not work, please drop me a note so that I can fix the problem.

I'd like to thank all the artists who've been helping to ensure that this book looks absolutely awesome. Of course, with nearly 100 petty gods to illustrate, I can always use more assistance, so, if you've got some artistic ability and don't mind working pro bono on a community-based project, let me know.

In the meantime, to inspire you, here's a picture of Chulg, petty god of heptagons and funerary malachite, created and illustrated by Tom Fitzgerald of the Middenmurk blog.

Petty Gods, Once More

I'll be posting a sample petty god later today, as promised, along with some other things, but the morning and afternoon have proven a lot busier than I'd expected and my attention is elsewhere at the moment. Until then, though, I just wanted once more to thank everyone who's already made submissions to Petty Gods. I'm simply astounded by the level of enthusiasm this project has generated in its first 48 hours. I'm likewise amazed at how clever the submissions are.

This is going to be a great little book, I have no doubt.

First Petty Gods Art

I'm knee-deep in selecting entries to include in Petty Gods, but there are already several entries that stand out as particularly good. For these, I've already contacted a few artists about getting illustrations to accompany them and I've been frankly amazed by not only the quick turnaround time for these illustrations but also by their quality. For example, here's a terrific piece by Chris Huth that depicts Tricruxia, the petty goddess of forked tunnels (submitted by John Stater).

Anyway, this is just a brief update to let everyone know that I am working through all the entries and am (slowly) getting in touch with artists, but it's a time-consuming process, so I appreciate the continued indulgence. If you haven't heard from me yet, don't worry. That's not an indication of anything other than my simply being a slacker who's not yet caught up with all his emails.

On the plus side, as I work my way through all the submissions and start to see some of the artwork, I am more convinced than ever that this is going to be an awesome little book.

Petty Gods Update

There's still a little over two weeks till the deadline I set for Petty Gods submissions, so there's time left if you'd like to be involved. I've gone through most of the submissions and accepted about 90 of the I-don't-know-how-many submissions I've gotten. Thanks to everyone who's submitted so far.

I've also gone through nearly all the offers of help with illustrations. Thanks to all the artists who've stepped up to the plate to ensure that this project looks as good as it'll read. Here's another sample to whet your appetites, this time from Thomas Denmark, who illustrated Garrett Weinstein's submission, Azwa, the petty god of giant stone heads:

[UPDATED] Current Petty Gods Submissions

As of this moment, I have submissions for petty gods with the following areas of patronage:

• Accidental Death
• Addiction, Recidivism, and Uncontrolled Urges
  
• Axe Executions
• Beggars, Mendicants, and Drifters
• Blood Letting
  
• Boredom and Ennui
  
• Broken Glass
  
• Broken Relationships
  
• Butcher's Alley
• Charlatans
• Closing Time
  
• Concubines
• Cornfields
  
• Corroded Cookware and Brewing Gone Bad
• Crossroads
  
• Currency Debasement
• Damsels in Distress
  
• Doors and Locks
• Drowned Sailors
• Dying Men's Breaths
  
• Female Scholars
• Finances and Investments
  
• Forked Tunnels
  
• Frayed Ropes
• Giant Stone Heads in the Wilderness
  
• Hats
  
• Hiccups
• Hunger
• Judicious Retreat
  
• Kidnapping
  
• Lost Chapters
• Lost Items
  
• Lost Time
  
• Medlars (a kind of fruit tree)
• Misperception Due to Intoxication
  
• Misplaced Items
• Mocking
• Molds and Jellies
  
• Oppressed and Downtrodden
  
• Plagues and Traitors
• Pratfalls
  
• Preventing Flatulence
  
• Print Errors and Minor Heresies
• Protection from Angry Gamblers
• Pub-Crawling and Drunken Love
  
• Quality Footwear
• Silence
  
• Southeast Wind
• Stains
  
• Streetlamp Lighters
  
• Subterranean Darkness
• Swamps
• Ten-Foot Poles
  
• The Rock
• Things Mislaid and Unexpectedly Found
• Vandals
• Very Small Spiders
  
• Wine and Merriment
  

Now, simply because a god appears on this list does not mean that it will necessarily be included in the final product. Likewise, there's no reason that someone couldn't submit a different entry for any of the above areas of patronage. However, I think it's a good idea to inform potential submitters of the submissions I've already received so that they can tailor their entries accordingly.

I'll include an up-to-date version of this list each Sunday, so people can see how the project is progressing, but I'm exceedingly happy so far. Nearly 60 entries is pretty remarkable and enough artists have stepped up to offer their services illustrating this that I have no doubt every god will have a portrait accompanying it.

Thanks again to everyone for helping to get this project off to a great start.

The Latest Word on Petty Gods

The Petty Gods project I announced nearly a week ago is still going strong. I now have nearly 60 submissions and promises of more, so I suspect the final compilation will be very meaty indeed. An updated list of all current submissions is available here. Though the deadline for submission is December 31, 2010, I appreciate the fact that so many people have already sent me their submissions. For those of you who want to take your time, please do so. This is a volunteer project, after all, and no one should be under any undue pressure. If you can submit something to me before the end of the year, great; if not, I have a feeling I'll do at least one more project of this sort in 2011, so you can always participate in that.

Now, some important updates:

• Dan Proctor of Goblinoid Games has generously offered to provide RPGNow coupon codes for Labyrinth Lord and the Advanced Edition Companion to PDFs to anyone who helps out with the book by writing, illustrating, or otherwise getting it ready for print. That was very kind of Dan and I hope it'll provide an additional incentive to send in your ideas to this collaborative project.
• I'll be spending a lot of tomorrow going through the current entries to see which ones I want to use, which ones require some reworking, etc. If you haven't heard anything from me yet -- and that's most of you, alas -- I'll be getting in touch sometime tomorrow, so thanks again for your patience.
• Once I've made some decisions about which submissions will definitely be in the book, I'll be contacting artists about illustrations. My plan, at present anyway, is to give each artist a single illustration to start, both so that we get a wide diversity of styles and because I don't want to overtax anyone's time with a volunteer project like this. If, after you've completed an assignment, you're able to do more art, let me know, but I don't want to presume too much of anyone's time unless specifically told to so.

And that's it for the moment. Thanks again to everyone who's submitted so far and I look forward to even more submissions between now and the end of next month.

Petty Gods Cover

Just in case you were wondering, work on Petty Gods is proceeding, albeit slower than expected. I'll have an update on that sometime this coming week, so please don't pester me about it. I feel bad enough for how long it's taken me to tie up the last few loose ends from it as it is.

In the meantime, though, enjoy this awesome cover image, produced by Thomas Denmark, which strikes exactly the right chord with me. I can't tell you how blown away I was when I saw it. Bravo.

Petty Gods Update

Just popping in briefly to let everyone know that -- shock and surprise! -- I'm not yet through all the Petty Gods submissions, but I'm getting closer. The same goes for all the offers of help for art. If you haven't heard back from me yet, give me another day or two more and I should be up to date. I'll also be posting an updated list of all accepted submissions, so those of you who still want to send me stuff will know what I've already got.

More soon.

Petty Gods News

I can now formally announce that Paul Jaquays has graciously agreed to write the foreword to Petty Gods. I'd alluded to this earlier, but I didn't want to say anything specific until it was confirmed. Now that it has been, I'm quite happy to pass the news along to everyone.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM EST on Friday, December 31, 2010. I'd originally intended to be flexible with the deadline, but, since I've now got way more than 100 submissions -- honestly, I'm not even sure how many I have -- I'm going to be firm with the cut-off and not accept anything more after Friday evening, regardless of the quality or who it's from. I have a large pile of new submissions to work my way through, so please be patient while I do so.

Likewise, there are still illustrations available, if you'd like to donate a piece of art or two to this project. I'll be sending out more art descriptions to artists later today and tomorrow, so if you've not heard from me recently, hang tight a little longer. Christmas festivities have kept me away from my computer, so I'm even slower than usual to respond to these (and other) emails.

Thinkin' 'bout Dwimmermount

I'm waiting on a single piece of art for the first part of the Dwimmermount Codex that I've been showing off over the last couple of weeks. Once I have it, I can make the final tweaks to the text and layout and then send it off to DriveThruRPG.com for sale. In the meantime, I've also been working on the second part -- Monsters & Treasures -- and that's coming along nicely, too. And since deciding that doing things myself is probably the fastest way to get it done to my satisfaction, the months-long logjam on Petty Gods has also broken. I'll have more to say about that unduly delayed project over the weekend, but suffice it to say that there will be an early Christmas present waiting for old school fans this year. There's also Thousand Suns, too, and I'll have more to say about that once it's ready for sale.

I've also been giving a lot of thought to the publication of the Dwimmermount megadungeon. It's something I very much want to do and, judging from the comments and emails I get regularly, it's something a lot of people want to see. So, it's not so much a question of if or even when so much as how. I mean, the dungeon is done. I have all my notes and maps and other write-ups. Turning that stuff into something others can use is the issue. For example, I'm a terrible mapper, as I've admitted many times before. To produce a Dwimmermount project, I'll need to pay someone to do the cartography for me and good cartography costs money. Likewise, I'd like to include artwork, both for purely esthetic reasons and also to illustrate some of the more interesting sites in the megadungeon. That, too, requires money to hire people with skills I lack in abundance.

Ultimately, money is the biggest hurdle. Unlike Petty Gods, which was never conceived as a for-profit project, the Dwimmermount megadungeon product would be for sale. If I'm going to ask others to pay for what I've written, it goes without saying that I'd, in turn, pay those who lent their talents to assist me in bringing the megadungeon to print. And, having been a freelance writer in the RPG biz in the past, I know all too well how poorly it treats creatives, especially artists. I don't want to contribute to that sad history, which is why Dwimmermount will likely need to wait till I've accumulated a bit of cash through the sale of stuff I can produce on my own.

On the plus side, I have a very clear idea of how I plan to present the megadungeon. My model is Mike Carr's In Search of the Unknown -- all the rooms in the dungeon are described, but there's also a high degree of customizability, allowing each referee to place whatever monsters and treasures he wishes into many of the room. This, coupled with the ability to expand the maps through the use of geomorphs and self-contained sub-levels, would turn Dwimmermount at least partially into a "design your own megadungeon kit." But, as I said, I'll need a lot of maps to do this right and I can't map to save my life. The other neat part of what I have in mind is the inclusion of integral sandboxes for the worlds of Areon, Kythirea, and Ioun, since there are active portals to all three of these worlds on Level 3A. Those worlds have generated a lot of interest in Dwimmermount over the last couple of years, so their inclusion seems a no-brainer to me.

That's where things stand at the moment. In between my other work, I've been transferring my notes into legible formats and trying to get a sense of how many maps and how much art I'd like to have for this Dwimmermount product. Then I can start to assess how much it'd all cost to produce in the manner I'd like. I suspect it'll be enough that completing it will be a long-term goal -- that is unless one or more of my regular readers is a millionaire with money to burn. A guy can dream, right?