Savage Worlds fan Will Herrmann has launched a Kickstarter for a quick-and-easy character generation program called Wild Card Creator. You can check out the details here.

I’ve seen the Wild Card Creator alpha at work and it’s impressive. It’s easy to use, has a clean interface, and requires nothing on the user’s part to get up and running (outside of owning the PDFs you wish to use). The Wild Card Creator will fully support Streets of Bedlam and all its future supplements, so you can whip up dirty-dealin’ thugs and gun-totin’ dames with just a few clicks, but also the entire Deadlands line, Agents of Oblivion, Realms of Cthulhu, Kerberos Club, Hellfrost, Low Life, and tons more.

I hope you check it out. For a genre-hopping game system like Savage Worlds, a universal character creator seems like a great fit.

The second of the two Kickstarter-exclusive Archetype bundles is now out! Get deep into the game as the undercover [Redacted] or get what’s yours as the manipulative Trouble.

If you are a Kickstarter backer who pledged $60 or more, you should have received a message from Kickstarter with instructions for downloading your pdf copy. If you did not, please check the Kickstarter website. If you still don’t see it, send me an email at JasonLBlair@gmail.com.

Please note: These Archetypes are exclusive to Kickstarter backers and will not be reproduced in pdf or print format.

The first of the two Kickstarter-exclusive Archetype bundles is now out! Reach for the stars as the talented-yet-naive Ingenue or sit on the razor’s edge as the high-pressure combat doc Sawbones.

If you are a Kickstarter backer who pledged $10 or more, you should have received a message from Kickstarter with instructions for downloading your pdf copy. If you did not, please check the Kickstarter website. If you still don’t see it, send me an email at JasonLBlair@gmail.com.

Please note: These Archetypes are exclusive to Kickstarter backers and will not be reproduced in pdf or print format.

Something Shawn and I noticed going through the NPCs list is that a good 90% of the Kickstarter characters are men. This is a product of the Kickstarter demographics, of course, but it makes for a heavily-skewed public directory. Normally I’d just add a bunch more female NPCs but I’ve created some 250+ characters and, hey, I still need to get the book out.

So, here’s the thing: If you are a male Kickstarter backer who is being represented in the book (and if you pledged at least $5, that includes you) and would like to volunteer to have your NPC turned into a female, that would be awesome.

Shawn and I realize this is a strange request. And none of you are under any obligation to volunteer. I realize part of the incentive in being an NPC in the book is the ability to point at the listing and say, “Hey, that’s me! I’m a coked-out corrupt cop under investigation by Internal Affairs. SWEET!”

But if you’re up for it, just let me know.

Hey everyone, just a quick update to let folks know where things are at.

Work continues on Streets of Bedlam (of course) and I’m cautiously optimistic about it seeing release in PDF next Wednesday. I’m working hard as I can but I want everyone to know that I recently accepted a (fantastic) job in another state. While this means wonderful things for my financial situation and career future, it also means chaos and panic as my family and I prep for a move.

This is all the more impetus to get Streets of Bedlam out the door, as I don’t relish balancing both finalizing a book release and packing up a house. So I’ll be dedicating every non-packing hour to finalizing this book.

My hope is, once the PDF is out and folks have a chance to point out all the errors in it, I’ll be able to get the files to the printer in mid-June and have the books in-hand by the end of the month. If I make the window, that’ll mean we’re already moved in by then and I’ll be able to get all the books out (as soon as I figure out where the post office is in the new place).

Other Archetypes and Sounds of Bedlam
While the book is being printed, I’ll get the Kickstarter-exclusive Archetypes released in the wild. I’m also aiming to get Sounds of Bedlam out in July or so.

Five-Story Drop
What that means for Five-Story Drop is that it’ll likely be out in August. After it gets released, I’ll work on working with the high-level backers on the standalone SoB Stories that’ll see release in PDF.

In Closing
I’ve had a lot of folks tell me they’d rather see Streets of Bedlam done well than done early, and I appreciate the support. I’m ready to get this out the door though. You all have been very patient with me as each deadline slipped past and with the chaos of the summer rushing toward me full-speed now’s a good time to get this done.

Which is the political way of saying I’m pushing back the release date.

I have to. The book’s in good shape but I don’t want to sprint to the finish with a rushed ending. Most likely, I’ll have the book done next Wednesday, the 23rd, but I want to make sure I give plenty of time so I don’t have to push this back again. So:

The new release date for the Streets of Bedlam corebook in PDF is May 30th.

Also, for those who missed out on getting the custom dice from the Kickstarter, you’ll be able to pre-order the dice starting this Wednesday. You’ll be able to pre-order the pdf and/or book plus the dice, as well as add the dice to an existing pre-order or Kickstarter pledge if you like. Check back Wednesday for details.

This past week has been a blur of faces as I work through the 250 minor NPCs and good dozen or so Major NPCs from the Kickstarter backers. And that’s not including the other Major NPCs. So, yeah, lots of characters for you Savage Worlds gamemasters.

The rest has been fine-tuning the Archetypes. If you checked out the Bulldog PDF preview last week, you got a good glimpse of what I’m doing for all the Archetypes in the book and the Kickstarter-exclusive Archetypes and the Archetypes I’ll be rolling out for special events and promotions and whatnot.

When I said Streets of Bedlam was all about character, I wasn’t kidding.

I’m having outsiders put their eyes on the write-ups to make sure the rules-related stuff is crystal clear. The game has a definite voice, and I really like writing that way, but I don’t want the mechanic and system stuff to be obscured by lingo or flavor. In fact, thanks in big part to Streets backer Josh Bazin, the “Can Take a Punch” Edge description for the Bulldog is now much clearer.

Anyway, working through the character sections of the corebook is like trudging through the swamp. It’s seemingly slow progress because it’s a series of heavy, concentrated steps. Once you’re free from it though, you’re running like the wind.

To give myself breaks, I’ve been alternating between PC and NPC work with setting stuff and scenario stuff. This is all coming together very well. I’m not 100% sure this book will be out in PDF before month’s end but whatever delay comes shouldn’t be crazy.

Sounds of Bedlam
The stuff Ed has sent over is jaw-dropping. Cannot wait for it all to come in. If you haven’t already, check out the teaser I posted last week. You can hear a full track on the trailer I posted a few months ago as well.

I’m so very happy that Streets of Bedlam will have a soundtrack of this quality. Thank you so much for making this happen. I never could have commissioned it without your Kickstarter support. I hope you all enjoy the tracks as much as I do.

Five-Story Drop
Outside the initial scenario write-ups, I haven’t yet touched this. My entire focus has been on the corebook.

In Sum
That’s where things are at! I have three full workdays this week and plan to get A LOT done. I’m aiming to finish up all but the last chapter this week. Can’t guarantee it, but that’s definitely the goal.

Later this Week
Could it be…the cover reveal?

For those of you who may have missed it, last week was a bit of a crazy one for me. The first half anyway. While resuming the hunt for full-time employment ate some more of my time after, I did manage some work on Streets at the tail end. This week, though, I’m all about the Streets of Bedlam and should have a much more impressive “done” list next week. My goal right now is to get the PDF out by month’s end.

My focus has been on characters: PCs, Major NPCs, and Minor NPCs. My thanks goes out to everyone who has submitted their Kickstarter questionnaire. Using your bases to add variety and personality to Bedlam has been a treat. I should be through them all by week’s end. That’ll be a big load off my plate and should put us in the home stretch.

Sounds of Bedlam
Ed sent over some tracks this past week and, lemme tell ya, they are so good. I’ll be sharing some samples later this week along with the final track list.

Five-Story Drop
I’m in talks to bring another writer into the mix for the scenarios. Nothing finalized yet but I’ll let you know how that goes.

In Sum
Not nearly as much as I hoped but I’ll be pushing along hard this week. Speaking of which, today is a full-day workday for me so I best get back to it. Talk to you later this week!

The initial plan, as listed on the Streets of Bedlam Kickstarter, was to release the corebook in April. As it is now the first weekday of that month, let’s take a look at where things stand.

Text
The text is going well. As of today, the parts of the book are in the following state:

Introduction (Premise and Basics): Written, Edited, Laid Out—COMPLETE
Chapter One (Setting): Written, Edited, Laid Out—COMPLETE
Chapter Two (Characters): 75% Written, Initial Stages of Layout (To give some context, this is a BIG chapter. It covers all the Archetypes.)
Chapter Three (Setting Rules): 50% Written
Chapter Four (NPCs): 20% Written (Still compiling backer data, speaking with high-level backers to get more info. This will go smoothly once I put my back into it.)
Chapter Five (Plot Point and Orphan Stories): 0% Written (But the backbone is there.)

Art
Shawn continues to crank out images. They look great. Being the only artist on a book carries a heavy burden but Shawn’s taking it in stride. All the character archetypes are in, along with most of the chapter intro images, about a dozen interiors, and a handful of “filler” pieces (standalone images for end-of-chapter white space).

In sum
That’s the state of the book. If the unfinished parts look scary to you, please don’t be alarmed. I’ll have a lot of time the next two weeks to focus on this book. I plan to finish both the writing and layout for Chapter Two and Three this week (I tend to do those stages in tandem) and get them over to the editor. I’ll knock out Chapter Four in a weekend, which will leave me with Chapter Five. That should take another week or so.

I wish I was farther along but some medical issues (including a broken elbow/sprained left wrist/bruised right hand following a fall and an outpatient surgery slated for tomorrow) and a sudden influx of job opportunities (one of which I accepted) pushed me well off-track. I’m not offering these as excuses, just a look at what’s happening behind the scenes.

Once the PDF is up, I want to give folks a week or so to find all the typos and errors that escaped our attention and make the corrections to the corebook. The corebook will take about a week and a half to get to me in print. I’ll ship them out immediately. I’ll keep everyone abreast of that process as well.

Soundtrack
The tracklist and intent/mood/tone of all the pieces have been finalized. We’ve gone over the broad strokes so now it’s on Ed. He is currently working his magic and I hope to have some preview tracks up this month.

Five-Story Drop
The first supplement is slated for June but I will try to pull it forward, if at all possible, so that I can get it out before my impending move (see “accepting a job” above). I will begin that immediately after finishing the corebook. If that experiences any hiccups, I will let you all know immediately.

Next Update
I will update again next Monday to let you all know how things are going. I like to be transparent and honest with folks so nobody’s wondering or making bad assumptions. I’ll keep updating as the book wraps up so everybody knows their money isn’t vanishing into thin air. In the mean time, if you have any questions, please get a hold of me at jasonlblair@gmail.com.

Good morning! It’s all Streets of Bedlam all the time for Shawn and Ed and I (well, at least for me) so I don’t have a lot of time for updates. Still, I want to get you all something, so let’s take another look at what I’m spending all my time doing:

I hope you dig what you see! It’s really exciting seeing this all come together.

Remember: If you are a Kickstarter backer, be sure to make sure you double-check your name as it appears on the credits. See this post here for details.