Wellness Check

I know it’s been a while. I do. I’ve been working on a project now that is sluggish in nature. We’re needing help in order to get the podcast running again. For one, we’d like an audio editor. Our loyal Joey is now dealing with some Imperial entanglements. I CAN do it but it won’t be nearly as good.

Don is working his tail off making the Discord server a cool place to be. Hang out there some time. If you’re needing the link, you can find it by heading to our Google Plus Community.

In brighter news, I’m finally moving into  my new home sometime near the end of July/beginning of August. I’ll be sharing video of the place and probably hosting a one-shot shortly afterward. I will be sharing news of this once I’m in, Internet running, and things have settled down. This will also herald even more good news as I’ll have a better environment to record in, and Don and I have discussed doing a series of live shows on Discord with Q&A with the fans.

Thank you all for your support. It keeps us going, and it keeps this community going.

Unnamed Living Campaign-Type Project

Yep, unnamed. We’ll work it out as it goes.

So, we had a discussion pop up in the Google Plus community about the upcoming “Legends of the Galaxy” community-fueled campaign.

We need this. Well, not that. We need something similar to it, but for us. Convert Legends of the Galaxy, sure. But we don’t want to be the same thing

I’m going to go ahead and green light this. I’ll need help, of course, but what we really need is a team of people dedicated to helping with shaping it all out. Writing adventures, art, NPCs, aliens, beasts, you name it. You don’t have to be super talented to have an idea….and we want them. Email us at shootingwomprats at the gmail, or reach out to +Daniel Stull or +Oliver Queen on G+ and let us know.

My current idea is to keep it to one planetary system. Multiple worlds, each with their own unique environments and peoples. I’m going to keep it un-named at the moment. Again, if you have an idea, and you want in on this at the ground floor, let us know.

New Video, New Update

Well, we’re ankle deep in the holiday season, and I’ve released another video, this time from my new lair.  I’m working towards getting a holiday podcast out the door as well, so keep an eye out, Joey. It’s time to fire up Garageband once again.

It’s Quiet…

…too quiet? Aw hell, xenomorphs in the blog? Again?

All that aside, we’re doing good. Having to work on a lot of personal issues, but Don and I both have been tackling projects. There’s a Scoundrels Guide that I’m on at the moment, trying to throw together. Doesn’t help that I lost one of my files…

Thanks to you guys so much for what you’ve done and your support. We’re going to get back on our podcast road soon. Until then…here’s a little something I cooked up.

 

 

Don Needs Your Help

From here:

Hey there people. Many of you who follow my postings know I had a very serious illness in June that required just under two weeks in two different hospitals and another two weeks bed rest once I got home.

It has been a very slow healing process and it wasn’t until I was well on the road to recovery I found out how sick I had been. Lucky I have my own insurance policy. The problem is paying all these people off.

Everyone wants paid now and I have around twenty or more people who want paid and are not willing to defer so I can get caught up. I am looking at things like two different hospital stays, an emergency room visit, a $2,000 non-emergency ambulance ride, which they will not even deal or offer leniency. They would rather have me pay $30 a month for the next couple of years than take less or offer to reduce the bill.

So, over the last two months we have tightened our belts considerably, cut our expenses as much as possible, cashed out our Roth IRAs (Sorry Megan, our daughter, I know you have college in four years, but the medical people don’t care), and sold off items we did not need, like a cargo van.

Still we are being eaten alive and are falling behind. It is insane. We are not a deadbeat family. We own a modest home, we do not splurge, we a frugal where we can be, we try to save money.

A friend suggested creating a GoFundMe page, so I investigated this.  As much as it punches me in the ego, if you could chip in, that is fantastic, any amount would help.

https://www.gofundme.com/2kfnpcjw

Also, exposure is important. I personally do not use social media and therefore its a dead end for me, but if you could, please share it among your contacts.

If you took the time to read the entire post, thank you so much. Thanks to everyone for taking a look.

Please help Don if at all possible. He’s been an integral part of this community for years now, and without his help, we would never be where we are now.

Classic Adventures Errata Released!

Find it here!

 

From “Van Dyke Ross:”

Greetings All,

We have just completed the errata update for Star Wars: Classic Adventures and I am posting the files here:

Star Wars Classic Adventures Ebook
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwS75vvAnmTKSERvU1g4UkQ5WFU/view?usp=sharing

Star Wars Classic Adventures Lulu Hardcover Files
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BwS75vvAnmTKclo3dUxZZ2oxWWc&usp=sharing

And yes, I know July is spelled Jult… I have no time to remedy this, so we will all just have to be bigger people and learn to live with slight imperfections… Remember there are no mistakes just happy accidents.

Work is well underway for Classic Heroes, but a happy little hitch has occurred. The Classic/REUP team has been able to produce material with such efficiency because we have worked together on actual “legitimate” RPG publications. One such publication has been slated for a new edition, and several of your Classic/REUP team members have signed on to develop that new edition. Of course, the identity of the game will remain confidential, not only have we signed NDAs, but such a revelation would allow folks to easily determine our actual identities. Suffice it to say it is not a Star Wars IP, nor is it Sci Fi.

Nonetheless we will have to suspend development of Classic Heroes, Clear Skies, and the Journal until after completing our future work. We are just as excited to see these books come to life, and we are a little disappointed that we can not finish them this year. But rather than rush them to print, we decided to put them in a holding pattern until a time when we can give them the treatment they deserve.

Again thanks for your support, see you next year…

-Your REUP/CLASSIC team: Van Dyke, Steve Ross, 1st Ed guy and Mike Fett

A Sad Day…

It would appear that the REUP/Classic Adventures team is going into hiding due to legal issues. From a post in our Google Plus Community:

Hey Folks,

Some recent developments have had us make a few tough decisions here at “The Joy of Roleplaying.” We have had a few people comment about the legality of what we are doing with Star Wars: Classic Adventures, the DarkStryder Campaign Complete, Classic Heroes, and The Star Wars Classic Adventure Journal.

Let me just put this to rest so we can all bury the hatchet. I have always felt that what we do is quite obviously unofficial. Some folks have felt it necessary to inform us that “unofficial” is a padded term for blatant IP copyright infringement of LucasFilm, Disney and the “real” owner of the remaining West End Games intellectual Property; and you know what? They’re right.

Not that we suddenly had an epiphany and came to this conclusion. We just made an assumption that we all had a common interest which precluded stating the obvious. We all wanted to protect the fun we were having by not making it that “big of a deal” or making casual comments about the fact that this whole massive project is “law suite bait.”

Well unfortunately our assumption about the better-nature of folks has been proven wrong on several occasions. I am sick and tired of putting out brush fires and telling people to just shut up about the legality of it. Today I kind of went off on someone who started this up again… even though it may have been mentioned with the best of intentions.

That being said… with folks always itching to skew negative and spout the obvious when it need not be stated, we are pulling all of our existing links from public access. This is not a vindictive move, just a practical one. We all discussed it and determined that it is best to squirrel into a private community reserved for our trustworthy friends.

So if you receive an invite to the Star Wars: Classic Adventures Community, that’s why. We are still planning on finishing Classic Heroes, DarkStryder, and a continuing periodical journal. So our plans haven’t changed, just been altered.

If you don’t have an invite, fear not. I’m sure this stuff will leak out somewhere… Just not from us.

We wish the team the best in their future endeavors, and hope that the material will leak soon.

Catchup and Other Things

First, health issues have struck both Don and I. Don is currently in the hospital, a victim of cellulitis out of control. I spoke to him on the phone today and he’s doing better, heavily medicated but recovering.

I’m a bit different. May 25th, I had a seizure while working . I’m under the care of a neurologist, and am waiting my turn to get an MRI to see if, like my daughter, I have epilepsy. The downside? State law dictates that I am not allowed to drive for six months.

Thank goodness I work from home…

I will be making a Holonet Newswire series of posts soon. We aren’t dead yet.