Weekend Update 5
almost 4 years ago
– Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 12:42:34 AM
Hi!
Another quick update: The Dungeon Bastard's Deep Dungeon Delve of Dangerous Deathy Death (ie, the Kickstarter Dungeon) looks like it will be closer to 15,000 or 20,000 words than the 6,000 words we had been planning on. So says Tom Lommel (aka The Dungeon Bastard).
I would still very much like this to run in The Tao of Igor itself, which would mean another page count increase. My guy feeling is that this remains do-able.
In the meantime, here's Tom's PLAYERS" BACKGROUND, from the adventure:
Players' Background
In ancient eons past, the grand temple of Nittreen, Goddess of Knowledge, sat
atop Wyrmfang Peak, its great chambers hosting wisdom for all to share.
One fateful day, the evil sorceror Rac'Fuhno entered the temple and conducted a
foul ritual. Mixing vampire blood, troll bones, and infernal incantations found in
the Ashen Book of A Thousand Faces, Rac'Fuhno attempted to bypass the
inevitable decay of lichdom and achieve true immortal life.
He succeeded, but not in the manner he expected.
The temple and indeed the very top of Wyrmfang Peak itself was wrenched from
the Prime Material plane and shunted into the pocket dimension of Ye'thad Theda
where time, space, and the very rules of physics themselves shift without
meaning. A seething prison of eternal nightmares.
The Temple of Nittreen was isolated, lost, and inaccessible.
Except for one night every 319 years where, under the light of the Bloodweavers'
Moon, the remnants of the mountaintop reappear.
Tonight is that night.
Those bold enough may gain entry, but beware: no one has ever returned from
the cursed temple. It is said that the broken halls have become an inescapable
cauldron of immeasurable suffering and Rac'Fuhno himself waits inside, twisted
and hungering, calling for challengers to grant him the cold and final embrace of
death.
Dangerous, deathy, death.
Other stuff: this has been mostly a Layout and Organization week. That is going well.
Storywise, I want to add one more page, to give Kayleigh her due. There's an important scene that just needs a biiiiiiit more space to breathe. I was struck by an idea for it that won't go away. It shouldn't take more that a couple of hours to draw, so that's good.
Apologies there's not as much Crunchy Info this Update. Progress was steady, but slower this week than I had hoped. Turning that around, tomorrow!
I hope you and yours have the best week possible, and are doing as well as can be expected.
- John
Weekend Update 4
almost 4 years ago
– Sun, Oct 04, 2020 at 11:04:54 PM
This is a very unsexy update.
Much of this week was simply spent organizing and laying out Tao of Igor pages, searching for old files, and backing up a 2009 Mac Pro tower, just to be on the safe side. (Need to replace it with a Mac Mini asap - the Mac Pro tower is not my current machine, but my (very) old one, and it has many, many old files on it that my newer iMac seems to not have)).
Monday and Tuesday were Dork Tower web strips days. I'm ahead on the strip again.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all to have been Tao of Igor days, and much unsexy layout business happened Wednesday and Thursday. They were very productive.
Friday was to have been a drawing day, and, well...big national news happened. So I was doomscrolling Friday and some of Saturday, stunned.
FUN TIMES, right?
Tomorrow should be a normal work day. My head's back in the game. I bounce back quicker, anymore. It seems most of us do.
The good news is that the first 160-170 pages of The Tao of Igor are now present and accounted for, and should begin close-to-final layout next week.
This is further along than I believed I'd be at the start of the week.
The bad news is I didn't finish a two-page spread that's critical to the plot line. But I may get much of that done tomorrow.
Since I've no new colored pages to show you, here's tomorrow's Dork Tower web strip (WARNING: there may be typos):
With luck, next weekend's update will be crunchier. But tldr: VERY DULL yet important STUFF was accomplished, this week.
- John
Weekend Update 3
almost 4 years ago
– Mon, Sep 28, 2020 at 03:16:07 PM
I'm trying to get to bed at 10 pm, so this will be shorter than usual.
All in all, this last week was a pretty decent week, as far as Tao of Igor work went. Important stuff was accomplished.
Here's a page I had hoped to finish coloring tonight (it must wait until tomorrow - I'm taking the 10 pm bedtime seriously). It's page 24 in what would have been Dork Tower 37. In the Tao of Igor, it will more likely run around page 200-and-something.
Oooooooo! SOMETHING HAPPENS!
(As I've noted before, this final chapter is 40 pages long, which really makes it Dork Tower 47 and 48. Or perhaps it would have been a double-sized special issue.)
I'm not a great colorist. This preliminary work was done entirely in Photoshop, on my iMac. However, I'm learning a few tricks of the trade, and there'll be some details and shading added using Clip Studio, on my iPad Pro.
Something I forgot to do this week: get quotes and endorsements for the back of the book. In the old days, I used mostly the same quotes, over and over again. I haven't had to ask friends for such nonsense in more than a decade.
I also need to lay out the introduction and afterward to the book. Both are terribly flattering. I've lived in the midwest too long: I sort of want to ask the authors if they'd care to tone it down a little...
Overall, world news is still unrelentingly awful. Working on Dork Tower helps me cope, now, though, and it's a huge change from months ago, when I'd just be sitting on the couch in the fetal position, doomscrolling.
I hope you all are coping with things the best you can.
To the point: good stuff last week. This new week now thrust rudely upon us is mostly a coloring and layout week, but I hope to get a critical two-page spread finished: I want these pages to soar!
The story has come together marvelously, though, and it's exciting to watch it finally getting to this point.
****
Quick update on INSANE CHARITY BIKE RIDE 2020:
The goal was to raise $10,000 in four weeks, to help local farmers and low-income families. Instead...
<Insert “Hamilton wrote the other FIFTY-ONE” voice here>
YOU FOLKS RAISED SEVENTEEN. THOUSAND. DOLLARS! And it keeps going up (non-stop)
This is amazing to me on a number of levels.
Like many smaller local charities, the FairShare CSA Coalition’s work directly impacts people.
But again like many smaller local charities, COVID hit their fundraising HARD.
The Army of Dorkness usually raises around 30% of the funds for this event. This is huge. Literally.
Right now, however, you are responsible for SIXTY-FIVE PERCENT of it! That goes a *long* way to helping offset this awful year’s fundraising woes, for an important local charity.
Almost EVERY penny of that goes to getting farm-fresh food to low-income families.
You folks are the BEST.
- John
Friday/Weekend Update 2
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 05:02:56 PM
Hey, all!
First things first: I'm thinking of changing these from Friday Updates to Weekend Updates. I'll still be aiming to post on Fridays. But I want nobody panicking if they see nothing until Saturday or Sunday. Somedays, the days just work out that way.
Things are going really well, though. Right now, I feel like this is a puzzle, and the final pieces are coming together. And most of them even seem to fit! Imagine that!
Here's a page I drew today:
Don't worry - it's numbered page "21" as if this was an actual issue of a Dork Tower comic book. Once in the Tao of Igor, it'll be closer to page 120 than it will be to page number 20.
This is the payoff of a three-page set-up. The other pages are far more detailed and really lovely. They are also very spoiler-y, so I can't show you them until it's all done.
This is the first time I've drawn Kayleigh in a couple of years, so I had to look her up in back issues of the comic. Once Tao comes out, though, the online comic strip timeline will be meshing closer with the printed storylines, and she'll be turning up more often.
It's odd drawing Wil Wheaton without a beard. But this is where he was, 12 or 13 years ago.
I briefly considered having him grow one, due to the stress of Mud Con, over the course of The Tao of Igor. But I thought it better left alone.
If he shows up in future strips or books, he will be bearded.
In fact, here's how I drew him in 2012:
Although, dammit, now I've made myself feel sad because we lost the wonderful Grant Imahara this terrible, terrible year.
Bottom line, though: much is being accomplished, and things are going great. Progress is steady, and I am so happy with how The Tao of Igor is finishing up.
It feels good.
Honestly, at times it feels like the only thing keeping me sane.
Imagine: once upon a time, there were conventions. And people were offering FREE HUGS! And we backed away from them, slowly...
*****
My INSANE CHARITY BIKE RIDE is this coming Sunday. I'll probably post another update before that, because I'll be in far too much pain Sunday evening.
Did I ever show you the Charity Munchkin Postcard for this year's ride? You get one, signed, at the $25 donation level.
(If you wnatb to USE it in a game, you need a witness' signature).
Here is this year's Ride Supporter Badge, in keeping with the Pandemic theme.
(I realize Staph Infections have nothing to do with COVID. But a pun's a pun, and "Sergeant" is the traditional Army of Dorkness level, for charity support.) It and the postcard are the swag you'll receive at the $50 donation level.
However, there's a second badge available to folks who have backed the Tao of Igor Kickstarter and/or are Dork Tower Patreon supporters, and who donate to the charity ride. This possibly means YOU!
It's a special Gilly M*A*S*H pin. Anybody who is a Kickstarter or Patreon backer will get one, if they donate to the charity bike ride, no matter what their donation!
If you back at the $25 level or above, it will be automatically sent with your swag.
If you back at a lower, non-swag level, YOU ARE STILL IMPORTANT! You'll have to order one, and pay postage, but it's still free!
*****
Once more I did not manage to keep this update short. I'll work on that.
Stay safe, be well, and be healthy!
- John
Friday Countdown Update 1
about 4 years ago
– Fri, Sep 11, 2020 at 11:39:59 PM
Is a Countdown Update redundant? Possibly "Taodown" is better..?
It's Friday, and here's how things are going, as we countdown what's left on The Tao of Igor.
This was a short week, with the Monday Holiday in the US.
The Dork Tower web strip completed a two-week daily run, which also took up some time. This was an important series for me, on a number of levels, and it was an emotional roller coaster, but extraordinarily well received, which I am grateful for, and relieved at. (The story arc begins here, in case you're interested).
These days, the Tao of Igor should take up between half to perhaps two-thirds of my working days. The Dork Tower web strip should take up between one third to half the time. This last fortnight, it was really more like 75% web strip, 25% Tao of Igor. But next week, the web strip goes back to three times a week.
On the Good News front, it does look like the Kickstarter Dungeon should be finished in time to be included in the physical book. Yay!
No real bad news, save for the web strip taking up more of my worktime than usual.
Today, I finished inking a page that I had been postponing for weeks. Knowing I was doing a Friday Update was the motivation I needed. It's an important page, and was slightly intimidating on a number of levels (large crowd scene, some caricatures, important plot point). I'd love to show it off, but it's a real spoiler.
This weekend, among others, I am hoping to color one page in particular that I can show off. But the remaining pages left to ink are incredibly spoiler-y.
(It frustrates me that I take longer to draw a page than I used to, but it cheers me that these pages look far better than the ones from the old Dork Tower comic book. They are far more detailed, and fun. Looking back, the last few issues of the comic book now seemed rushed, to me. And that's disappointing.)
I do have a question, though, if you'd care to respond in the comments.
Dork Tower 34 ("A Brief History of Gaming") and Dork Tower 35 ("The Geeks of the Magi") will be included in the collection. BUT, they sort of interrupt the main storyline, in a self-conscious, fourth-wall-breaking kind of way.
So what I'm wondering is, do I include the comic books chronologically (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36), or do I pull out the "Brief History" and "Magi," running them following the conclusion of the main storyline?
Huh. Just typing that out, I believe I have my answer. But I'd be interested to hear your opinions.
****
A couple of quick charity notes:
I'm still fundraising for INSANE CHARITY BIKE RIDE 2020.
This is a small but important Madison-area charity, helping local farmers bring farm-fresh food to families in need.
The ride is two weeks away. Due to COVID, ridership is way down (all riders will be doing their own routes, separately), and therefore, so is fundraising.
I believe the Army of Dorkness can go a long way to making up for that. If you are so inclined, please check out the fundraising page. I don't sell original Munchkin art - the only way to get it is through a charity donation. But if you can't afford that, I'll also be randomly selecting ten backers from other levels, to also receive original art.
There's a lot of other swag, as well. I'm even creating an Army of Dorkness button for Kickstarter and Patreon backers who support the ride. Check it out. And even if you can't back the ride this year, helping to spread the word would be wonderful.
***
If you're a coffee drinker, MUSKRAT MORNINGS coffee blend is now available from Portland's Fetch Coffee Roasters. Carson's Coffee Cart's first release!
This is an absolutely delicious medium/dark coffee, and I adore it. Fetch worked closely with me to develop a blend that I can get behind 100%
Most importantly, every single penny of my royalties goes to the dog charities that Fetch supports. It's the Muskrat Way.
Muskrat Morning comes with a Carson's Coffee Cart collector card, and I also I signed the bags.
YES, it is an odd feeling, signing coffee bags. But it's for charity.
Use the code CARSONSAYSTHANKS for 10% off, from now until September 30, and have some totally terrific coffee, while helping doggos who need it.
But TLDR: every penny of royalties goes to dog charities!
***
This turned out way longer than a short Friday update.
To bed now, and have a great weekend!
- John
