News in Productivity

Johnny Rook Games is a go!

I've joined forces with someone to start a publishing company, and the first product is now for sale!  The 1e module Watchtower on the Hill can be purchased through Lulu, and the basics of a website have been put together.

When my business partner first approached me about a publishing company, it was several years ago, and the idea felt more like a pipe dream.  The more we talked about things, though, the more we liked the idea and thought we could realize it.  Even though we were woefully low on start-up funds, we talked about producing a game and threw some ideas back and forth.  We wanted to develop a full product before we tried to sell it.

Our biggest problem had been trying not to reinvent the wheel.  Every time we came up with a solution to a problem with game mechanics, we realized that it had been done already (or better) by previous products.  Then we saw what was happening in the self-publishing world and how that was being used to put out 1e material.  We were hooked in an instant, and we devoted our time to producing a few things for the growing community of traditional role playing enthusiasts!

Now, we still have a few tricks up our sleeves.  We spent a lot of time working angles, altering rule sets, clarifying mechanics, and tweaking what was left.  While the products we're putting out now are intended to be compatible with the OSRIC rules, we still plan on including original material.  It will be an evolutionary process, as we tidy up loose ends and fine tune the rules we've been working on.  In production right now is a new campaign setting that will include much of the hard work we've been putting in over the last few years.  These are products not for us, but for the hobby, and we can only hope that our small contribution helps push the hobby forward. 

This blog will continue as a separate entity from the Johnny Rook Games company, as I meditate or play around with ideas or games that have little or nothing to do with what the company publishes.  Go out and play games, everyone, and bring some new players into the fold.  Good gaming to you all!

Important Links:
Lulu
Johnny Rook Games
Watchtower on the Hill