This is the last new bit to be added I promise!
over 3 years ago – Fri, Sep 02, 2022 at 06:20:50 AM

Hi everybody,

It's been another interesting week at Imaginarium towers. As I'm getting ready to put the book out, I checked with my printer on page count, and it turns out they favour multiples of 8. This gave me a slight problem as I was at 132 pages without the index. Hmm, need to fill 6 pages or thereabouts, or cut a few. I decided on the former.

I decided to do something useful instead of filling the space with art or adverts, and I found myself able to put back something I had previously discounted for space reasons, the random name generators. So you now have, if I've done the maths right, a toolkit with the potential to generate over 30,000 first name / surname combinations across six nationalities. This is all done with two or three card draws and can be done as GM prep, or on-the-fly when an unplanned NPC pops up. Used in combination with the other NPC tools I've created, fully fleshed out and motivated NPCs can be created with five or six card draws. 

So today I'm moving on to getting the links / bookmarks done and then I can release the PDF!

Watch this space.

Allan.

Stretch Goal annoncement
over 3 years ago – Wed, Aug 17, 2022 at 09:44:12 PM

Hi guys,

So I got to the end of laying out everything apart from the contents page, the credits page and the index (plus a couple of art assets I need to drop in). And then I remembered that I have a stretch goal to add into the main book, the character archetypes.

The archetypes are done, and will be in the book, but due to time constraints (I know you're all itching to get your rewards) and physical space, they won't be exactly as described. Basically I can't do male and female versions as I'd need to get around 18 pages of stuff into about 8 pages. The proposed 200 pages is actually going to be closer to 240 so it all counts. There are still 9 archetypes in the book, with artwork, just not male and female.

Once I have the book and the adventures out, I'll make up for this with a seperate, and free, PDF of the archetypes. I'm really sorry it's worked out this way.

On the positive side, the whole thing is now with my awesome proof / test readers and will be released to backers very soon. 

Thanks to all,

Allan.

Quick update
over 3 years ago – Sat, Aug 13, 2022 at 05:11:19 AM

Hi guys,

A quick update for you. In my last post I said I was into the final chapter to layout and that is very much the case. Things were going well until about 10 days ago when I got hit with a barrage of issues which needed attention. Some domestic stuff, my sister having major surgery, and my Dad needing to attend medical appointments which would normally be handled by the aforementioned sister who's had major surgery. 

The upshot is I haven't been working on the book for most of that period. 

The good news is, I'm now back at it, and I have 6-8 more monsters to do layout for before I can start finalising things. Finalising means stuff like the credits page and table of contents etc. 

Those of you who visit the Discord channel may have see this already, but I'm particularly pleased with how this page turned out.

Take care folks, and happy gaming,

Allan.

Round the final bend
over 3 years ago – Tue, Jul 19, 2022 at 12:41:56 AM

So, first things first, I can now say from personal experience that Covid really sucks! I managed to avoid it for over 2 years but unfortunately it tagged me while I was at a con at the beginning of the month and really got hold of me about a week later. Cue about a week flu like symptoms and fatigue while being unable to sleep. Go figure. 

The good news is, the end of layout is now in sight. Here's a spread of the final chapter header.

Chapter 10, Threat Assessments (my Section D way of saying bestiary) is underway and it's the final chapter to be laid out. The first section, Enemies of the Empire, gives details on the Axis forces  your agents might come up against, and gives GMs basic profiles for soldiers ets, plus ideas for creating elite units for the Axis powers. I've got the Germans all done, the Italians nearly finished apart from a rank table, and the Japanese ready to go.

Agents and spies is the bestiary section which puts numbers on the meat of the information given in a previous chapter about the various agencies. This section is written and ready for layout. 

Cults and secret societies. I've written some cool alternative enemies for this section and this also is ready for layout. 

Monsters and Stranger Things is exactly what it says on the tin. Some cryptids interpreted for Section D, and a couple of new things as well. 

Page count for the book is looking more like 220 pages rather than the 200 I originally thought. Given that I've re-formatted to a larger page size as well, I think there's a lot more to get into now. 

So once these final sections are laid out there is just the technical bit of building the links and bookmarks into the PDF and it will be ready to go!

I'll keep you all posted on progress.

Allan.

Progress report and the ultimate play test
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 03:28:02 AM

Hi guys,

Progress report

So things have been going well, but not as fast I would have liked on the final layout. The good news is, at the time of writing there are only three sections left to lay out. These are:

• The Military Campaign mode which allows players to explore what the work of the real Section D and SOE might have been like. It's gritty and focused on a lot more roleplay than you might think. Note, the Pulp and Espionage campaign modes are all finished.
• The Bestiary. Or as I'm calling it, the threat assessment reports section. This section covers the military of the axis powers, and guidelines for others. It's not a comprehensive guide on vehicles etc, but is more focused on the personnel and how to use them. There's also a section with some new beasties, and a great introduction to some new cults and secret societies.
• The McGuffin creator. This is a framework for creating mystical, arcane, or relic type devices for use in Section D (or other setting) adventures.

All the writing is done for these sections, excluding minor edits, and they are ready to go in terms of layout.

The ultimate play test

This very morning I have had the opportunity to put one of the tool kits in Section D to the ultimate test. 10 year olds!

The Secret Files of Section D includes a tool kit for creating all manner of NPCs for your games. One of the elements helps create a back story, goals, and motivations for NPCs with a few card draws. It's a great 'on-the-fly' tool for an unplanned NPC, an can really assist a busy GM with their game preparation ahead of table time. 

When my daughter's teacher heard I was working on a book, she asked if I would come into the class and give a talk about it. I suggested doing a character development workshop instead and she jumped on the idea. 

So this morning, 30 year 5 pupils used a simplified version of the Section D NPC tables to create characters for new stories. I'm pleased to say the workshop went really well and the imagination of the students is amazing! They very quickly made complex characters with back stories and believable motivations for their current actions. All in all, a success. I've had positive feedback from test readers on these tools, but seeing it in frontline action with a large group of non-gamers was really worthwhile. I'm very confident this toolkit will be great for you guys. 

Proof reading

Over the last month or so I've had a fantastic group of proof readers looking over the completed sections of the book and being brutally honest on things that need an edit or quick correction. Fully 75% of the book is now with the proof readers and I will be getting more to them soon.

As I've said many times, my goal here is to get the book right. I know it's long overdue and I really appreciate the patience of the backers. It's not far away now! Here's a teaser for you, this is the adventure seeds page for the Espionage Campaign mode. 

Happy gaming folks,

Allan.