Friday, September 27, 2013

Cepheus Subsector: Defenders of the Disciplined...

Good Afternoon, All:

Today, I wanted to introduce you to Cepheus Subsector, the focus of my next Traveller publication, by introducing an antagonist for adventures set in the region. I've often written about the psionic terrorist cells sponsored by the Republic's enemies, the Covenant of Discipline. I think it's about time I gave them a name. Here's the write-up I'm including on one of the more powerful enemies of the setting:

Defenders of the Disciplined: A terrorist organization based out of the Covenant of Discipline, these subversives operate on numerous worlds both inside and beyond the borders of the Dracosian Republic. The Defenders systematically use violence and terror to strike against the Dracosian Republic in retaliation for the Republic's official stance on psionics and the treatment of the Disciplined, in particular. Attacks made by clandestine Defender terrorist cells are usually carried out in such a way as to maximize the severity and length of the psychological impact on the greater population, in addition to causing immediate political and economic damage, particularly against anti-psionic targets. The Defenders of the Disciplined are organized in a conspiratorial cell structure formed of members often recruited locally, with individuals cell members having limited contact with other cells. Each cell fulfills specific roles within the organization: infrastructure, operations, indirect support, etc. This structure allows the Defenders of the Disciplined to minimize their losses upon discovery, and also makes it very difficult for authorities to insure that all elements of a discovered threat have been removed. The Covenant of Discipline does not officially condone the actions of these terrorists, claiming that the practices of the Defenders of the Disciplined does not hold true to the core values of the psionic philosophy known as the Discipline. The media often portrays Defender conspiratorial cells as “Disciplined Terrorist Cells,” blurring the distinction between the government of the Covenant of Discipline and the terrorist organization.

As I mentioned in my previous efforts to develop sandbox-style campaign settings, having a Hall of Infamy, a roster of antagonists, can be very helpful for developing adventures and story arcs. The Defenders of the Disciplined are one of the seven multiworld entites that make up the Hall of Infamy for Flynn's Guide to Azri Drakara: Cepheus Subsector.

Enjoy,
Flynn

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Site Moves On Monday, And We Start Monster Creation...

Good Afternoon, All:

I am slowly in the process of porting over the In Like Flynn blog to the new website, and will officially launch the site on Monday, September 30th, 2013. I may not have all the features up by then (namely, a storefront for my PDF products), but if it isn't up on Monday, it will be up shortly thereafter. I'll post here when I'm ready to migrate people over.

Kobold posted a comment to my previous entry, and so I'll address his requests. Starting on Monday, I'll begin a short series on how I go about creating monsters, and even create a few. Although I prefer to keep this blog generally system-less going forward (except for possibly Traveller bits, since I want to start focusing in that area), I will probably offer creature stats in a number of different systems, in case they should prove useful for Referees. Also, it will demonstrate how I might port the same description over into multiple systems. Let's build a few monsters for a fantasy game, a sci-fi game and a horror game. Sound like fun?

With Regards,
Flynn

Friday, September 20, 2013

Reader Poll: Challenges in Campaign Execution...

Good Afternoon:

My apologies for the lack of entries lately. I am still working on the new website, getting the design to look the way I want it to. In the end, I think I'll end up going with a minimalistic design, because anything else I've tried simply looks too busy. When all else fails, going back to the basics is generally considered a good thing.

Once I get the blog moved over to the new site, Fridays will become the day that I discuss the current project I'm working on for Samardan Press. Do you think that Mondays and Wednesdays also need their own theme?

When I think about the kinds of challenges that all Referees, GMs and DMs face when running a campaign, I come up with a short list of different things I could address as the next series for In Like Flynn. Here are some of my thoughts:

  • Adventure Creation
  • Challenges of Running a Long-Term Campaign
  • Encounters or Scenario Creation
  • Finding New Players
  • Handling Different Player Types
  • Locations
  • Making Combat Fun and Entertaining
  • Map Creation
  • Monster Creation
  • Organizing Campaign Data
  • Role of Organizations
  • Running a Focused Campaign (Political, Military, Mercantile, Exploration, etc.)
  • Running a Prep Lite Campaign (aka Winging It)
  • Setting Creation (Campaign or Mini-Settings)
  • Stock NPCs
  • Story Arcs
  • Unique NPC Creation

What sounds like fun to you? What would you be most interested in reading about? What aspects of running a campaign cause you problems? Please let me know in the Comments section. Remember that your words will help determine the direction of my next series of posts.

With Regards,
Flynn

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

New Product Release: Patrons By The Dozen...

Good Afternoon, All:

It is my pleasure to announce that I have released my latest Traveller product this weekend:

Flynn's Guide to Azri Drakara: Patrons by the Dozen is an adventure sourcebook for Traveller that contains a dozen Patron Encounters, each one defining an adventure scenario with six possible resolutions. These adventures can be used with the Traveller system, or even other science fiction rules sets. These Patron Encounters are intended for use in the Azri Drakara campaign setting, but can be used in any Traveller campaign with little or no changes.

Cover - Patrons by the Dozen

Flynn's Guide to Azri Drakara: Patrons by the Dozen is the next product of the Flynn's Guide to Azri Drakara series. This series details various aspects of the Azri Drakara sector, an interstellar region designed to offer Referees and players opportunities to engage in all manner of science fiction adventuring.

Pick up your copy at either location: Patrons by the Dozen on RPGNow or Patrons by the Dozen on Lulu.

Watch for future releases of the Flynn's Guide to Azri Drakara series from Samardan Press in the coming months!

Enjoy,
Flynn

Friday, September 06, 2013

New Gaming Products On The Horizon...

Good Afternoon, All:

I realize that I've been quiet recently, but that's because I've been working hard on developing several new gaming products for launch this fall.

Next week, I will release Flynn's Guide to Azri Drakara: Patrons by the Dozen. It contains a dozen Patron Encounters, each one defining an adventure scenario with six possible resolutions. For an example of the contents, please check out Bruce Ayala, Interplanetary Playboy.

By the end of September, I will be moving this blog to a new website. I'll provide more information on that later, as things develop.

In October, I will be releasing Flynn's Guide to Azri Drakara: Cepheus Subsector. This campaign resource and supplement is similar to Flynn's Guide To Azri Drakara: Rodan Subsector, in that it provides a complete game setting which can be used with the Traveller system, or even other science fiction rules sets. This book focuses on a single subsector on the frontier of the Azri Drakara sector. The guide provides astrography maps, world data, library data, rumors and a number of patron encounters to help you begin your next science-fiction campaign on the frontier of the Dracosian Republic.

More Later,
Flynn