In Which The Warlock Returns From Hiatus...

So, it's been a while!

I decided to take off some time following the ChristmaHannuKwanzaakah holiday, so that I could recover from the fatigue of running the Cold Steel Wardens Kickstarter and focus on preparing the beta rules draft for KS backers.  While I'd like to say that I had a relaxing time off...well, it hasn't really been that, now has it?

A fantastic art piece for CSW, by Eric Douthitt.
This will become the opening "splash page",
at the start of the Equipment chapter!

Art direction's taken up a significant amount of my time, this past month, as it's really not something I've ever done before.  While I have a stable of capable, talented artists, I've been working to provide them quality, thorough notes on what I'm looking for to make Cold Steel Wardens a reality.  The art pieces that have been coming in, so far, have really been impressive.  There's almost a noir-quality about them, inked in black and white, which really complement the mood of the game brilliantly.  While I've only gotten a few pieces in, the art will be mounting up as we start approaching the end of March!

Earlier this month--and much to the detriment of my health, after I came down with an upper respiratory infection!--my editors and I held our "staff meeting" where we hammered out quite a few of the niggling issues surrounding CSW.  One of these was a chapter that I was particularly proud of, outlining a history of the Five Ages of Comics, but is probably going to get the axe.  While the content is solid, it reads too much like a textbook or a dissertation, rather than a rule-book   And, while the discussion is important, there's just no place for it when discussing rules, GMing and providing an evocative setting.

Almost unsurprisingly, we haven't exactly gotten a whole lot of gaming in over the past few weeks.  While we've managed to slide in a few sessions of Hell on Earth--including a great improv session in which the PlatinumChick almost managed to take out two party members in one combat!--they've been few and far between.  I did pick up a new game:  the co-operative superhero rumble Sentinels of the Multiverse.  You can be sure to expect a full review, once we get a play-through in!

And, most excitingly, I'm locked and loaded for this year's convention schedule!  Starting in March, the blitz for Cold Steel Wardens begins, as I'll be heading all over the Ohio Valley running demos and full investigative session of the first ever Iron Age Superheroes game.  Stay tuned to see the schedule!