It's been a while since I checked in here, but here's a small update concerning Mor Aldenn.

Wizard's Path - Chapter II
The newest installment of Sean Holland's fiction, Wizard's Path is finally here! This time Cellian Varr and her friends visit the Barrowdelve, discover that something is amiss and maybe, just maybe, does the city yet another favor!

http://cityofmages.wordpress.com/wizards-path-fiction/chapter-ii/

The Mor Aldenn Notebook - Expanded!
I've finally released the expanded version of the Mor Aldenn Notebbok, complete with a greyscale map of the city and lots of headlines, oh yeah, and 10 adventure hooks!

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=65175&filters=0_0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2779

The Barrowdelve Map Pack!
For a while now, I've been excited about the maps of newcomer Rene Walk. And by newcomer, I mean of course, new to the cartography world. This map pack gives you 4 full-colour dungeon maps, and 4 greyscale versions of the same maps. It also gives you a very brief introduction to the Barrowdelve. I just hope that you enjoy these maps as much as I do!

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=65111&filters=0_0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2779

The Mor Aldenn Glossary!
I recently got this idea of making a glossary, and not just an online glossary, like the one that you can find at the City of Mages website. No, this had to be a complete glossary, with lots of cool illustrations. It took a while to collect the information, but from thereon it was quite easy. Enjoy!

Oh yeah, and it's free until November 18th!

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=65188&filters=0_0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2779


Thats it for now, but stay tuned for more!

In celebration of the new Pathfinder Setting from Headless Hydra Games, we have decided to publish a serial, which will (initially) be made freely available on the City of Mages Design Blog.

http://cityofmages.wordpress.com

The serial is called Wizard’s Path and details the life and explorations of a young abjuror called Cellian Varr.

The serial is written by Sean Holland and will, in time, be lavishly illustrated by all the official Mor Aldenn illustrators.

Drop by once every month and read a new chapter of this wonderful story!

Here's when I realised this movie was bad...well, I knew it was bad within 5 minutes, so really bad, then.

The main character has been taken by the police, with his girlfriend, when he utters the following words... "I don't know this woman! Millie please go to the hotel!"

You see the problem here... it reminds me of Mortal Combat (the movie) where the protagonists are chasing an enemy down a labyrinth, when they suddenly arrive at a cross section. One of the characters then say, "I think he went this way..." and where do he point?

Down a corridor filled with cobwebs, and I dont just mean a few cobwebs in the corner, I mean all over the fu... place!

You see the problem? :)

Headless Hydra Games is looking for a new idea to a future city setting!

If you think you might have a great (and even original) idea, then head on over to the HHG headquarters and see what you can do to make it happen!

http://headlesshydragames.wordpress.com/

Everybody is welcome to participate in the setting search, even if you just have a cool idea and dont want to write an entire setting bible. Afterall, coming up with a great and original idea is absolutely the hardest part! Writers can always be hired to do the rest of the work.

K. Axel Carlsson
Headless Hydra Games

[I'm really excited about this new project and looking forward to seeing the proposals that people come up with. I'm open for anything, as long as it works as a secluded city setting. If there was one particular idea I was looking for, well, I'm sure I could come up with an idea on my own. Personally, I'm mostly into fantasy settings, but every now and again, I feel myself drawn towards the future, and this is one of those times!]

Apparently I can't sleep, so I'm just gonna stop trying, at least for now. The apartment's really hot and I've just had a strangely exhilarating experience :) an experience that reminded me a lot like every english exams I've ever taken.

It seems that one of my products, the Mor Aldenn Cartography package, has sold fairly well on RPGNow.com, meaning that it might appear in the RPGCountDown podcast... yeah, that's pretty cool. I received an email from the guy running the show, Ed Healy (great guy) that he wanted a few words about the product, well, a small interview actually.

So, to make a short story even shorter... he calls me in the middle of the night and we make the interview, and wow, am I bad when put in the spotlight? It's quite different standing in front of 18 students speaking english (I'm an english teacher), than doing an interview in english, in the middle of the night, having to answer questions I've never given any thought. :)

So, I guess my final words are this; if you wanna hear me in the RPGCountDown podcast, then go buy the Mor Aldenn maps! :) And don't waste too much time, do it right now before someone else takes my spot in the Top10...

I finally got Headless Hydra Games set up on RPGNow... so now you can actually buy my products, which is pretty nice.

Follow this link; http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?cPath=4974

And not to worry, the products will never be too expensive to buy! There's even a small free product to download - the Mor Aldenn Notebook!

Even if I knew exactly what this movie was about, I wouldn't tell you. I believe this is art brought to the cinema... amazingly insightful and obscure! If you haven't seen it yet... now's your chance! You won't regret it.

I haven't really used my xbox 360 to its fullest, but then a new game came along, a small game called Damnation!

Its pretty straight forward, very linear... but the graphic is stunning and dark, and then there are all the moves. I guess its sort of "Assassins Creed" meets Steampunk...

I just posted another preview of a Mor Aldenn cover to the Design Blog; http://cityofmages.wordpress.com this one is, like the first cover with the harpies, the work of artist Mario Zuccarello (http://www.zuccarelloartworks.com), a great and easy-to-work-with, artist.

Personally, I think that this illustration is much better than the first one, mostly because of the colouring. However, both covers have turned out better than I could ever have hoped for.

Now I'm just looking forward to the last one, which will, of course, be just as great as the previous two! :)

I've posted a few possible Mor Aldenn covers over at the Design Blog; http://cityofmages.wordpress.com if you want to head on over and take a look.

I'm rather proud of them, but they were done rather quick and may need some minor or major changes, also, a book can only have one cover... I think!

The question is... which one??

Embarking on the great Mor Aldenn adventure has really gotten me thinking. Thinking about publishing this great setting on my own... yeah, I said it.

I'm not sure if I can do it or not, so to test my skills, I've used this weekend to explore the wonders of open source desktop publishing software, meaning mainly, Scribus. I'm a rookie still, of course, but actually, it doesn't seem all that difficult. I've already created a cover for Crown thats much cooler than the one that was actually published.

Doing it on my own gives me a great freedom, and since I'm not looking to make lots of money on this project, I think I prefer that freedom. I might get a little bit of outside help, but I think I can handle most of the design work on my own.

Any thoughts on what desktop publishing is best and (possibly) easiest to use? Also, I welcome any advice all you hardened publishers has to offer a rookie...

I have a newfound appreciation for Ryan Reynolds... in case you are wondering what I'm talking about, go watch Chaos Theory, Fireflies in the Garden and my all-time favorite... the Nines!

...pays off!

This upcoming wednesday, I'm going to spend an entire day (at work) roleplaying with 12 of my students. They are just 3rd graders, which means that roleplaying is all new to them. I'm basically going to teach them the magic of roleplaying and using their imagination!

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this, and yeah, I know it will be nothing like playing with the guys on saturday night, but thats so far from the point. We're going to have some serious fun and the kids (all boys, btw) are going to use their imagination in new and interesting ways. All they know are LARP, and what I'm going to teach them will have nothing to do with that.

Now all I have to decide on is what system to use... I'm leaning on creating my own system, or using a system called Windows (I think..)

I recently bought a new bike... well, new to me, but it wasn't really new. It was actually a rusty piece of junk, but it was extremelly cheap (of course!) and I saw the opportunity for a real challenge.

It did have some good qualities, like some good strong tires, good brakes and... well, thats it basically. I've now had the chance to work on the bike for a few days, buying a new chain and a new seat, and its actually starting to look rather decent! I'm waiting for the rest of the spare parts to arrive, but at least now the bike can run.

Working on the bike also means that I've neglected working on Mor Aldenn, but thats going to change now. Next week is a loong weekend and I hope to finish the short guide to Mor Aldenn that I'm currently working on. It will become available on the Design Blog; http://cityofmages.wordpress.com

I can't even say the word. Its really beginning to annoy me. So, I've taken action and removed a couple of people whose blogs I used to read, just because they had started posting regular twitterings. I mean...why? If I wanted to read what you did or said at 5:06 on any given day, I could just follow your twitter-blog... couldn't I?

And why don't I like twitter, you say?

Well, mostly because its weird and annoying. Its a blog, buts its very short and not very interesting and extremely limiting. Why not just post short blog posts, if you only have so much to say, and if you want to post every 5 minutes... feel free.

I'm currently working on a few adventures that can both start a campaign in Mor Aldenn. If you are curious, head on over to the Design Blog and watch as the adventure write-up continues.

You can find one of the adventures here; http://cityofmages.wordpress.com/adventures/iv-a-trail-of-poison-adventure/

Please head on over to the Design Blog; http://cityofmages.wordpress.com and help me decide which will be the first adventure of Mor Aldenn!

Well, its almost done, there are still a few small details to be taken care of. I've posted a small version of it on the Design Blog; http://cityofmages.wordpress.com if you want to drop by and have a look! :)

Yeah, I'm quite happy about Will's work...amazing!

I now understand what this city is all about... its a home. Adventurers can see themselves grow old here, among the ancient oaks, hanging out with mage friends, centaurs, elves and whatnot... and for that very reason, are willing to do anything in their power to protect it! You wont find many enemies here within the city (oh, sure, you'll find the occasional spy, thief and braggart who wish to test your patience, but no really evil dudes, dark elves and mindflayers) for those you'll have to travel into the wilderness, or down below, in the deeper levels of the Barrowdelve. Mor Aldenn is basically a cozy, interesting place and whenever a threat arise, the city stand united.

Looking for a place to start your evil campaign... find another city, looking for a place to start a real adventure...come visit Mor Aldenn, the City of Mages! :)

By accident, I stumbled upon this small site called; http://www.literature-map.com/

I have just tried it a few times, but it does seem to link similar authors. So if you have a favorite author and is searching for other authors with similar writing styles, themes and, then you ought to check out this site and give it a try.

By accident, I happened to cancel my charter member subscription to Dungeonaday.com, Monte Cook's new big D&D thing. This got me thinking... what do I think about the project thus far? Was it really such a bad thing that I happened to cancel my year subscription?

So... here's my thoughts so far;

If you are looking for a megadungeon, then this is definitely the place. I've read/played a few megadungeons in my time, among them Ruins of the Dragon Lord (Mongoose) and Castle Whiterock (Goodman Games), but this is so far, the absolutely best of them, and that says a lot since I haven't read about the entire dungeon.

But, there are still a lot of things that I miss;

More background story: Lots of rooms have no story behind them, even though it seems that they should. I agree, there should be holes for the DM to fill out, but there should also be something to spark the imagination.

Artwork: I love illustrations. Dragon's Delve doesn't really have any illustrations, thus far. What's there, is illustrations from other Malhavoc Press products. This is a shame and for this reason alone, I may find myself glad that I accidentially cancelled my charter membership. As a game designer and art director, I know how much art costs, and hopefully Monte isn't saving his money. A megadungeon definitely should have great art and hopefully Dragon's Delve will have.

Dwarven Forge and Reaper Miniatures: It strikes me that Monte is doing some serious advertising for these two companies, and they probably pays him to. This may not be a bad idea, but I'm not that much into miniatures and it just annoys me. Sorry.

Pace of material: One room per day, sure we all knew this from the beginning, but it isn't that much. If I had begun playing the megadungeon already, I would have to stop and wait for new material, lots of open ends.

There are other things as well, but I'll leave them to myself for now. Overall, I dont think you need a charter membership to really use this dungeon, just check in a few months from now and take what you need.

The charter membership is really for those who wants to join the forum, taking serious part on the discussions there, and for that, I know a lot of other great forums. I probably wont renew my membership, but I will definitely look in on the megadungeon now and again.

I can definitely see this megadungeon as part of a Mor Aldenn campaign, perhaps found below the Barrowdelve!

Fun note: Before deciding on Barrowdelve, I thought about naming this dungeon in Mor Aldenn, Dragondelve! I'm glad, now, that I didn't!