Silvervine Games : Svg / Silvervine News and Updates

2008-06-30 :: Origins Great! - 06/30/08

Got back from Origins last night around 11pm. Everything went great! We had 16 people or so show up for our last game on Saturday night. Expect a full Con report by the end of the week.

- John Arcadian

2008-06-26 :: Origins Go! - 06/26/08

Well we are all set for Origins tomorrow. Thankfully an 11th hour save happened and we got the quick character creation guide books in today. A lot of stuff came together at the last moment, now it is all about getting there and getting down to some serious gaming. The number of pre-registrants is pretty low, but Origins didn't have their registration up as quickly as they did in previous years. Hopefully we can garner a lot of pick up gamers. If you are going to be at Origins then stop by and play a game or make a character. When I get back I'll throw together an Origins report and get that up.

Be Seeing you ~ At Origins! John Arcadian

2008-06-19 :: Origins Information Page up - 06/19/08

Despite things being incredibly hectic around here we've got a lot of our prep work done for origins and are set to go. Here is a quick origins information page. If you are going to be attending Origins this year then stop by and check out a game.

http://www.silvervinegames.com/Svg/Origins2008

Hope to see you there.

- John Arcadian

2008-06-12 :: The Origins That Almost Wasn't - 06/12/08

Hey Folks,

Lots of fun stuff going on over here, little of it Silvervine related. At the current time things have become very fractured in all the developer's lives. We are working on getting things pulled together for Origins and will be there, but we are definitely pulling it out by the skin of our teeth. Still we plan to have some excellent games, and this weekend is the big work weekend for getting everything finalized. I hope to post some art and other fun things after Origins, and if we can get a handle on things we will start blasting through the remaining issues with the nearly finalized core rulebook.

Be Seeing You

- John Arcadian -

2008-05-18 :: Origins Event Listings Up - 05/18/08

Origins got their events listing put up, and Silvervine will be demoing there. I hope to have an origins page up before the end of the month. Until then check out the origins event listings here:

http://www.originsgamefair.com/2008/events

Here is a quick listing of our events:

6285	Silvervine CC and Intro Game	06-26 10:00 am	Armored Mage,Ninja Paladin,Suave Orc Spy? Try Silvervine’s unlimited character creation and an intro game. Then use your character in our other games. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6313	Silvervine CC and Intro Game	06-26 12:00 pm	Armored Mage,Ninja Paladin,Suave Orc Spy? Try Silvervine’s unlimited character creation and an intro game. Then use your character in our other games. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6315	To the Heart of the Matter - Silvervine Games	06-26 12:00 pm	Anacandra, where necromancy is legal, is not a nice city. Infiltrate a noble’s estate, kill a beating heart, prevent zombie war. Fantasy/Noir themes. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6401	Andred River Woes - Silvervine Games	06-26 2:00 pm	The boatman has the paddle. The sheriff has the boatman. The miners are revolting. Untangle local politics, get the paddle, and get up the river. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6404	Catastrophy in the Clouds - Silvervine Games	06-26 2:00 pm	Airships are very safe,yet thick clouds offer surprises. A sudden crash forces you to explore a floating derelict, and discover the fate of its crew. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6699	Silvervine CC and Intro Game	06-27 10:00 am	Armored Mage,Ninja Paladin,Suave Orc Spy? Try Silvervine’s unlimited character creation and an intro game. Then use your character in our other games. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6723	Catastrophy in the Clouds - Silvervine Games	06-27 12:00 pm	Airships are very safe,yet thick clouds offer surprises. A sudden crash forces you to explore a floating derelict, and discover the fate of its crew. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6736	Silvervine CC and Intro Game	06-27 12:00 pm	Armored Mage,Ninja Paladin,Suave Orc Spy? Try Silvervine’s unlimited character creation and an intro game. Then use your character in our other games. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6832	Assault of the Undead - Silvervine Games	06-27 2:00 pm	Starreach is overrun by the undead. Avoid infection and decimate zombie hordes using Silvervine’s cinematic and simple Heroes in Mass Combat system. Evoking the feel of incredible warriors plowing through fields of enemies, the Heroes in Mass Combat system takes the Cinematic effects of Silvervine one step farther. Each level of damage that would normally be assigned in combat destroys one enemy instead. Shared Narrative lets the player describe how incredibly they just took out 7 with 1 blow. Check out Heroes in Mass combat, and Unchain your character with Silvervine.
6854	To the Heart of the Matter - Silvervine Games	06-27 2:00 pm	Anacandra, where necromancy is legal, is not a nice city. Infiltrate a noble’s estate, kill a beating heart, prevent zombie war. Fantasy/Noir themes. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
7103	Silvervine CC and Intro Game	06-28 10:00 am	Armored Mage,Ninja Paladin,Suave Orc Spy? Try Silvervine’s unlimited character creation and an intro game. Then use your character in our other games. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
7137	Silvervine CC and Intro Game	06-28 12:00 pm	Armored Mage,Ninja Paladin,Suave Orc Spy? Try Silvervine’s unlimited character creation and an intro game. Then use your character in our other games. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
7138	To the Heart of the Matter - Silvervine Games	06-28 12:00 pm	Anacandra, where necromancy is legal, is not a nice city. Infiltrate a noble’s estate, kill a beating heart, prevent zombie war. Fantasy/Noir themes. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
7225	Assault of the Undead - Silvervine Games	06-28 2:00 pm	Starreach is overrun by the undead. Avoid infection and decimate zombie hordes using Silvervine’s cinematic and simple Heroes in Mass Combat system. Evoking the feel of incredible warriors plowing through fields of enemies, the Heroes in Mass Combat system takes the Cinematic effects of Silvervine one step farther. Each level of damage that would normally be assigned in combat destroys one enemy instead. Shared Narrative lets the player describe how incredibly they just took out 7 with 1 blow. Check out Heroes in Mass combat, and Unchain your character with Silvervine.
7226	Catastrophy in the Clouds - Silvervine Games	06-28 2:00 pm	Airships are very safe,yet thick clouds offer surprises. A sudden crash forces you to explore a floating derelict, and discover the fate of its crew. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.
7455	To the Heart of the Matter - Silvervine Games	06-29 09:00 am	Anacandra, where necromancy is legal, is not a nice city. Infiltrate a noble’s estate, kill a beating heart, prevent zombie war. Fantasy/Noir themes. Silvervine offers unlimited character creation options with a straightforward point buy system. Thematic elements allow you to customize even further. Your armor looks however you want it to, your spells have whatever effects you describe. Dice rolls determine the success of an action, while Cinematic and Shared Narrative determines what actually happens. The game is shaped by the player’s descriptions of their incredible actions as much as it is by the Game Master. Unchain your character with Silvervine.

- John Arcadian -

2008-05-05 :: Site all fixed, check out Gnome Stew- 05/05/08

I think I've gotten all the little bugs worked out, but if any of the readers out there see any issues then let us know through the contact page .

There is a very cool new site that is going to come into being on 05/12/08. It is a stie started, and managed, by Martin Rayla. He is the guy who made http://www.treasuretables.org so great. He is starting up a new collective GMing Advice Blog called Gnome Stew (http://www.gnomestew.com) and I got invited to be part of it. I've got a few posts written and ready and I've got a few more in the works. Go check it out. It gets unveiled on 05/12/08.

- John Arcadian -

2008-04-28 :: Feed Issues, Subwiki Issues - 04/28/08

The server upgrade is complete, and we are shaking out the dust right now. We just fixed some issues with the feed, and it should be back to normal now. If not, grab it with the following link: http://www.silvervinegames.com/Svg/SilvervineNews?action=rsss .

We will be plowing through with the upgrades, and will hopefully have everything back to normal soon. We are working out some URL issues, and subwikis (like http://www.silvervinegames.com/cyrus) are still affected.

Update: Most issues are fixed, but the search function is still fubarred. I'm going to keep working on it as I have time, I just have to do some updating of the skins and templates.

- John Arcadian -

2008-04-26 :: Server Upgrade - 04/27/08

We went through a bit of a server upgrade, and some things about our content generation engine got a little screwed up. So, I'll be working on getting things back to normal for the next few days. The good thing about this is that we will have more functionality to upgrade things like our news RSS and our developers journals. So bear with us for a little bit, and we will have some great new things.

- John Arcadian -

2008-04-17 :: Oh the updgrades you will see - 04/17/08

Mucking around in SQL and PHP,
A rather startling thought occurred to me.
We need to make changes,
things could be rearranged,
no we're not deranged,
things definitely need changed!

So I sat there, pondering,
what should we do with our little web,
and it came to me,
a brilliant thought in my head!

So I went and installed a few things,
and am testing them out with glorious pings!
Soon we shall have a new news-site and journal,
and you shall be impressed, it won't be a urinal!

But now I shall end this seussian silliness,
hopefully it hasn't made you supercilious!

- John "E.G." Arcadian

Right: Seussian, photo by David Bjorgen, under a CC license.

2008-04-08 :: Vested - 9.17 Edition Up On Lulu - 04/08/08

Never got around to posting it last night, but today we have the 9.17 edition up on lulu. We've had the 9.15 up for a while, and it is definitely showing its age. There are multiple changes and incredible leaps in usability in this new version. If you want a paper copy to look over this is the one you want. It is probably the last version we will put up there before the final one.

The chapter 1 of this book is the final formatted version, incorporating all of Alec's design. It is there to test the printing and see how it comes out. One worry I have is that LULU didn't recognize some of our formatting. I noticed in their preview that the SVG logo became completely black instead of the grayscale 20% lightened version that it was. Hopefully that is just in their preview compression, but it might be flowing over into the book. Hopefully not. I caused an error on the cover by reformatting it to fit the size required for the one piece cover. Unfortunately I did it wrong. I can fix it, but not until I get to a computer with our design programs installed on them. You will notice the error that the goat seems to be about an inch too high off the cutaway mountainscape in the background. This is not because he has the levitation focus. He is just misplaced. He will be fixed.

- John Arcadian

2008-04-07 :: A conveniently shifting line - Chris Chinn's blog - 04/07/08

So in about 7 hours I'll have exciting news to post as there will be a new lulu book edition up. I just have to get to a place where I can create it and upload it. In the meantime, here is a nifty post that I found over at Chris Chinn's blog.

http://bankuei.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/a-conveniently-shifting-line/

The subject matter is about people who espouse "Real Roleplaying" in an elitist way. It is nifty stuff and covers the subject in a rather complete way, as is the way of Chris's posts. Check it out until I can get the new lulu book up tonight.

- John Arcadian

2008-04-01 :: Silvervinegames, the Anime!!!! - 04/01/08

Well folks, sometimes things just move fast. I was on a business trip about a week ago, and in an airport bar I met a very interesting fellow who was looking to drop some venture capital to take advantage of the fantasy craze that has been going on since Lord Of The Rings came out as a movie, and World of Warcraft became the crack of the digital generation. After talking and a bit of negotiation, he decided to drop some money and hook us up with an animation studio, Esfera Do Espaço, a portugese firm that specializes in high quality anime productions. In about a year we should be ready to release Silvervine: The Anime: War of Venture!

We are currently in negotiation with voice casting, but here are a few tidbits we are releasing.

Cast:

Corvis, Gentleman Thief - Voiced by Rick Moranis

Jyre, Feychylde Adventurer - Voiced by Alicia Witt

Lurris, Elven Military Ranger - Voiced by Jack Black

Braknor, Ogre Philosopher - voiced by Gary Coleman

More information as it becomes available.

- John Arcadian

2008-03-26 :: One out the barrel, one in the chamber, and one more being made - 03/26/08

Real Silvervine News!!! I'm happy to announce that chapter 1 is completely done and formatted. Chapter 2 is ready to undergo the design process, and the final content and grammar editing for chapter 3 (the big one with character creation) begins this Saturday. Chapter 9 is off to the outside grammar editor right now because it was completed and ready to go. Things are really starting to move to that final place. In the next few days I hope to have a new playtester's book up on Lulu. This version will have chapter 1 with the full design implemented.

- John Arcadian

2008-03-21 :: Advice from the Game Industry, link to The Escapist - 03/21/08

For the lack of any real relevant Silvervine news, here is a nifty article over at the escapist. It talks about advice from insiders in the Game (as in Video) Industry, but there are a lot of good crossover themes going on with it.

I truly hope to have some more major announcements up soon. Namely that the newest 9.17 playtester's book is up at Lulu. I'm just waiting on one key component to put it up there, and then it will be set.

- John Arcadian

2008-03-19 :: Stop it you - by way of http://gameplaywright.net - 03/19/08

There is an nifty article called Stop It You, over at http://gameplaywright.net/?p=69.

While I'm not known to be the most meticulous person when it comes to grammar I couldn't agree more. I've been working on culling this problem out of SVG currently, and this article just gave me more impetus as to why I need to. Go check it out, and if you haven't yet found http://gameplaywright.net, you should. It can get a little intellectual, but it is intellectual in a good way, not in an intellectual for intellectual's sake type of way.

- John Arcadian

2008-03-15 :: Thematics, Glamour - 03/15/08

Just got a very nifty picture back from one of our Artists. It's the one crowding the page to the right. The nifty thing about this is that it defines very much what Thematics is about. Having the player describe what it looks like. The picture is an example of something in magic called "Glamour". Glamour is the visual effects of the spell. It is a thematic element, but it is something that is there to give the player the ability to make their spell look the way they want it. This is one interpretation of using the Orb of Silence spell.

There is more news to be put out soon, and in a week or so we should have a new edition of the playtesting book up at lulu. More to come . . . .

- John Arcadian

2008-03-04 :: Gary Gygax - July 27th 1938 to March 4th 2008

Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons and Dragons, and THE Name in Roleplaying Games passed away today, March 4th 2008, at the age of 69 in his home. Nobody would be doing Roleplaying games the way they are today if it weren't for him.

The entire industry will miss Gary, and everyone owes him a lot for setting the bedrock that anything else can be created on.

More information can be found in the following locations:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gygax

http://chattydm.net/2008/03/04/thanks-gary/#comment-2119 - Has a list of tributes or blog posts about Gary's passing.

- John Arcadian

Right: Gary Gygax, photo by Alan De Smit, under a CC license.

2008-02-26 :: ChattyDM's most recent review - 02/26/08

Phil over at http://chattydm.net has posted his latest review of Silvervine. It is a good and interesting review, although I think he might have some confusion as to what R# really means, and this causes him to misinterpret some of the systems. The confusion is probably due to the (now fixed) subpar writing in the setting R# section from before. He is working on a fairly old version, and I've sent him a new one that has gone through part of the editing process. Phil's detailed review is really helping us to work out many of the kinks in the writing and how we portray some of the systems. Go check it out:

http://chattydm.net/2008/02/24/chatty%e2%80%99s-review-silvervine-detailed-mechanics/

- John Arcadian

Right: Part of the banner image currently up at http://chattydm.net, a stylized version of Phil himself, drawn by Veronica Pare

2008-02-12 :: Origins and Gencon Prep - 02/12/08

Whewww did that come up fast. We got our basic origins prep done, and are looking at having a minor showing at Gencon this year. I just have to verify one or two more things then I can submit the events. We've got some very nifty things lined up despite having a few less people there this year. With the basic stuff out of the way I can concentrate on the book and getting it finished, hopefully by Origins, but it all depends on a few semi-controllable factors. We will put an origins and gencon page up once we have any full information.

- John Arcadian

Right: Origin's popular picture of me playing ADGNESPEF555. They use this on their webpage, in their postcards last year, in the promo book.

2008-01-30 :: And we have . . . . . a Logo! - 01/30/08

Alec's baby

We've finalized our design and made work copies of our final logo. It will take us a bit of time to incorporate it into some of our productions, like replacing our temporary "quasi" logo on the webpage, and including it into our soon to be finalized character sheet, but we've got it and it is ready to go. It is a little abstract, but the design fits in well with our philosophy of stretching your mind a bit when gaming, breaking the old stereotypes.

- John Arcadian

2008-01-28 :: Rarely News When We Are Busy Working - 01/28/08

Just a minor update. We are busy at work in getting the final rough draft stabilized and making our changes. I am happy to say that we have entered the final editing processes. Our meetings have turned towards reviewing the book and finding discrepancies or better ways to word things. The final writing on the world of Cyrus has begun, and so all the compiled playtesting information is being formatted into its final version. More news to come, regarding a new version of the book up on Lulu.

- John Arcadian

2008-01-09 :: Rough Draft Finished - 01-09-08

Sometimes you find motivation...

As of last night, we finished the final chapter that remained to be written. Chapter 2, an example of character creation, couldn't be written until we had finished a few major changes to the system and the later chapters. Having gotten those done, I set to work getting chapter 2 written. The newest version is up for the privately invited playtesters, and we will probably upload a new beta to lulu in about a week.

- John Arcadian

2008-01-07 :: First Meeting of the New Year - 01-07-08

We had the first meeting of the new year last night. As is tradition, we talked about game stuff for about an hour to kind of set the course of the new year, then we gamed for about 4. I ran an adventure I had run before. One which Ed had already played in. In order to make it mesh, I fast forwarded and went with what happened afterwards, changed around the locations of enemies and put the new group of adventurers on more of a cleanup detail, as opposed to the original sneak in and obtain the item that the first group went through.

The Game stuff aside, from the little bit we did with the first meeting of the year, it looks like it is going to be a great year for Silvervine!

- John Arcadian

2008-01-04 :: Images, Book Revisions, Get Chatty - 01-04-08

I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way . . .

A few quick news updates, one concerning the news section.

In an effort to "pretty up" the website, we will be including pictures with some of the news posts, probably with a little unrelated but semi-funny caption. Once we've gotten through another few cycles of the production process and have some more concrete work done on the book, we will be putting up an image gallery that lists a lot of our artwork.
Speaking of the production process, a new version of the book is ready, but is not up at the playtester's website as of yet. Somewhat in response to Chattydm's (http://chattydm.net/) review of the first few chapters of the playtesting book, I got off my butt and started the editing process on the rules section. Since the start of version 9 the rules section (chapters 1 -6) has been neglected as we have been working out specific rules, focuses, and spell issues. The first revision of the section is done, and I'm working on a few other changes (like re-writing chapter 2). Once that is done I'll post the new version up on the playtester's website for those lucky enough to be playtesters. I passed the new version along to Phil (chattydm), so he could see the improved version.
Speaking of Phil, go check out his website. Nothing will ever replace www.treasuretables.org in my heart, but http://chattydm.net/ is a close contender.

- John Arcadian

2008-01-01 :: Silvervine In the New Year 2008 - 01-01-08

I told you to pack only the essentials . . .

Silvervine has had a great time in 2007, and we are now preparing to step into 2008 with lots of exciting things.

What 2007 brought:

With a better than expected showing at Origins 2007, the development team became revved up to finish the project. 2007 was definitely the year we got a sense of group unity and exactly where our little project was going.
We started the weekly meeting and the projects list, which helped us stay focused and brought everyone in on the design process a little bit more.
We began a full review of the system's crunchy bits and we completed it by the end of the year, meaning that, barring a few tweaks, we have the full and ready system ready to go for the New Year.

What 2008 is going to bring:

We will be getting down and dirty in the final stages of getting the first book out for consumption. Final writing and clarification, final tweaks, content and grammar editing, and then we'll be cracking the whip on Alec to implement the design.
Final writing for the world of Cyrus, the first world setting for Silvervine will be taking place. Once this is done and the first book is out, the development team will be pursuing new world designs and working on Silvervine's version of an Open Gaming License
With much of the work nearing completion on the main book, we will begin tweaking and editing the website. Visual improvements, grammar editing, all sorts of luxuries that were neglected before will be incorporated soon.
And finally to announce it here, we plan to have the book finished around May/June of the year. We aren't going to make any definite date deadline announcement just yet, but we've got one in mind.

News Archive One 12/05 to 06/06
News Archive Two 07/06 to 12/06
News Archive Three 01/07 to 06/07
News Archive Four 07/07 to 12/07