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8/9/04: And the ENnie goes to... Me?! That's right: Thieves' Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook has been awarded the gold ENnie trophy for Best Cartography and the silver ENnie for Best Setting Sourcebook! If this wasn't enough to surpass my wildest expectations, Crooks! (for which I also did some cartography work) won the gold in Best Setting Sourcebook and Best Monster Supplement. Additionally, The Game Mechanics took home the gold in Best Free Product or Web Enhancement for their Initative Cards, and SWRPGnetwork won the silver for Best Fan Site! To say that I'm delighted with the outcome
would be an understatement. I had been trying to avoid getting
my hopes up, but the thrill when they announced the winning product
was undeniable! To all of you who have supported my work with
purchases, ENnie ratings, or simple encouragement: you have my
most sincere thanks! |
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8/9/04: ENnie Voting Now Open... Public voting on the ENnie Awards has begun at http://www.enworld.org/voting/ If you've seen "Thieves' Quarter" and have a minute, please swing by that site and give it a rating from 1 to 10 (1 being worst, 10 being best). You don't have to rate products you aren't familiar with, so feel free to skip through the categories until you get to the ones you know. Thieves' Quarter is nominated in two categories, so make sure you rate it in each: "Best Cartography" and "Best Setting Sourcebook". I also did some work for Green Ronin's "Crooks" sourcebook, and fully endorse The Game Mechanics "Initiative Cards"; if you're looking for other items worthy of closer examination, check them out and give them your informed support in the relevant categories. :) Warning: You can only enter the ENnie voting booth once from a particular computer address, so have patience with the page load times as you go from category to category! If you close the window before you're done voting, you won't be able to continue. Request: At
this phase of the ENnie awards, the public decides who wins.
If you know anyone who is familiar with Thieves' Quarter or any
other nominated product, spread the word and encourage them to
give their honest ratings to products they know, so that the
awards can be as fair as possible. |
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8/2/04: Honored and Humbled, all at once! It is my great pleasure to announce that "Thieves' Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook", has been nominated for ENnie Awards in both the "Best Cartography" and "Best Setting Sourcebook" categories! To say that I'm stunned would be an understatement. This is my first and (so far) only big writing credit, and to be selected as a finalist in two different categories is an astounding honor, especially when looking at the competition. I also did some cartography work for the "Crooks" sourcebook from Green Ronin, which received nominations as well! Voting hasn't opened yet, but you can be sure
that I'll post an announcement here when the public is allowed
to judge the finalists and select a winner. |
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7/26/04: "Every City Has A Dark Side..." Time to scour those bookshelves at your Friendly Local Game Store..."Thieves' Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook" is now available at better retail stores everywhere! (It has been for some time, actually, but I won't mention the lateness of this website update if you won't. Er...oops. My bad.) Anyway, if you haven't already picked up this book, I shamelessly urge you to do so. I'm extremely proud of this book, and not just because it's the first one to have my name on the cover. The Game Mechanics and I poured a lot of time and energy into the project, and my enormous ego must be appeased. Uh, I mean...you owe it to yourself to give it a look. Yeah, that's the ticket. :) But don't take my word for it! Eric Noah, renowned pillar of D&D fandom, had this to say of the PDF version: "Wow, I am really enjoying this product.
The maps are beautiful and it looks to be chock full of good
urban adventuring material. Great job! [5 of 5 Stars!]" |
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7/26/04: "Imperial Troops Have Entered The Base..." Now that photos and information about the upcoming Star Wars miniatures game have begun to appear from conventions like Origins and Comic Con, I am finally able to deliver a glimpse of my role in the project. Click on the showcase image above for a larger view of the poster map, or click here for more photos. Special thanks to BillyC for taking the photos and Ghengis Ska for bringing them to the fans via his excellent website. It's definately worth a look (and a bookmark) due to the steady stream of informational updates. Rebel Storm Starter Sets and Expansion Packs go on sale in September, and "Clone Strike" will follow later this year. Some retailers are now taking preorders; ask about them when you're buying your copies of Thieves' Quarter... |
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5/3/04: Coming Soon, to a Bookstore Near You: Thieves' Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook has been printed, and will be traveling with all haste towards better retail stores very soon! This will be the first printed book to bear my name on the cover, and to say that I'm exceptionally proud of it would be an understatement. If you're a roleplayer with any interest whatsoever in medieval fantasy cities, this product is for you! Crib bits and pieces for your adventures, or drop the whole city on a coastline in your campaign setting. Show it to your DM as incentive to take your characters to a city they--and you--will never forget! The book is designed with "plug and play" functionality in mind, so you can conveniently use as much--or as little--as you like. Make it your own! This is a Game Mechanics product co-authored by d20 guru JD Wiker (and me) and printed in association with Green Ronin. Be sure to check out these free samples: Tymdrin's House of Fortune & the Dancing
Kegs Tavern (PDF), The Sea-Wolf Tavern (zipped PDF), and The Lover's Quarrel (zipped PDF). |
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5/3/04: "We'd Like to Avoid Any Imperial Entanglements..." But where's the fun in that? "Ultimate Missions: Rebel Storm"--a sourcebook due out in November for the Star Wars miniatures line--will expand your Star Wars miniatures experience and empower you to mix it up with the little plastic stormtroopers in whole new ways (and places). It will also happen to include more cartography work by yours truly...an all-new double-sided poster map and additional terrain pieces! I can't yet reveal the specifics, but rest
assured that this book will add some welcome variety to your
rebellion-era skirmishes! |
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4/4/04: "Begun, This Clone War Has..." I'm pleased to announce that I've been contracted to do new cartography work for "Clone Strike", the second set of Star Wars miniatures scheduled to arrive in stores this November. It will include miniatures based on Episodes I, II, and III. Wizards of the Coast is keeping me very busy indeed, and I couldn't be happier! Look for similar announcements in the future... The first collection, "Rebel Storm",
will also prominently feature my work in the starter set. It
goes on sale in September. |
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4/4/04: What's Better Than a Chocolate Bunny? Well, not much...but if you're looking for something a little different to fill an Easter basket, Dungeon Magazine #110 is now arriving in subscribers' mailboxes, and it's sure to be an instant collector's item! "Why," you might ask? "Is it because it brings the world of Dark Sun into the light of 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons® for the first time?" Nope, though that's cool too. What makes this issue so special is that it features exactly none of my maps! There are only a couple of issues in the last few years that can make such a claim! Enjoy your reprieve while you can, though,
for issue #111 is only a month away, and the Adventure Path is
set to continue with "Lords of Oblivion"...where one
of the campaign's major villains will be revealed at last! If
that's not enough, the second installment of the new "Dungeon's
Delve" feature will take you deep into dwarven mines and
untamed caverns! Foolish adventurers, ye have been warned... |
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3/7/04: I'd Like to Thank the Academy... Thieves' Quarter Hits #1! Well...in its category bestseller list on RPGNow.com for the first full week of its release, anyway. (It's currently back down to #5.) What can I say? It's Oscar season...I'll take whatever acclaim I can get. Want to put it back at the top? Buy it today and make a grown cartographer rewrite his acceptance speech with tear-filled eyes! (Or maybe I'll just smile a bit. Either way, you'll get a quality d20 product...) In other news: Dungeon / Polyhedron Magazine #109 is now
available in stores, featuring a Modern Cineplax Global Posiitoning
map, a fresh installment in the ongoing Adventure Path series,
and an all-new connectable map feature I like to call "Dungeon's
Delve". Issue #110 should be shipping to subscribers pretty
soon, too. Watch those mailboxes! |
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2/17/04: Thieves' Quarter: On Sale Now! After many months of careful preparation and
anticipation, I'm proud to say that "Thieves' Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook"
is finally available to the public! This is my first major writing
credit and a huge showcase of my fantasy cartography work. Co-authored
by RPG guru JD
Wiker and published by The Game Mechanics, this book is a treasure
trove of fantasy d20 goodness. As a peek at what's inside, I've
added an unlabeled map of the city of Liberty to the map vault.
Check it out, and if you like what you see, consider this: Thieves'
Quarter contains more than two dozen maps by yours truly, all
in full glorious color! Buy it today, at RPGNow.com! |
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2/11/04: It's all about the Little People... Miniatures, that is. I'm finally able to announce that I was contracted by Wizards of the Coast to create a double-sided poster map and terrain cards for their upcoming Star Wars miniatures game! I'm truly proud of my contribution to the project, and thrilled to be able to confirm my involvement. The Entry Pack for this product will showcase some of my very best work. I'm incredibly excited about the whole thing and can't wait to see people playing out epic skirmish battles and roleplaying adventures on pieces of my artwork! You just know I'll be slinging the dice right along with 'em... Look for the first set (based on the original
three Star Wars films) to go on sale this summer. |
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2/11/04: Hot off the Presses... Dungeon / Polyhedron Magazine #108 has shipped to subscribers, and should be showing up in stores soon. My work for the Dungeon side of this issue includes a "Stone Giant Caverns" Map of Mystery on page 47, while Polyhedron presents my X-Files inspired "Arctic Research Station" Global Positioning map on page 76. By an event of serendipity (or careful planning),
this issue also marks the return of the truly spectacular "Dark
Matter" setting, newly translated for the d20 Modern RPG.
That Arctic Research Station should be perfectly suited to a
chilling paranormal excursion... |
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2/11/04: Welcome to my Cartographical World! After many frustrating delays, setbacks, and conceptual changes, my newly revised website has finally gone live! While many regions of this website are still "under construction", it is my hope and lasting goal to add new content and complete additional sections of the site on a regular basis. You can expect to see the Map Vaults and other listings grow whenever I have something new to announce...and since I do regular work for Paizo Publishing and other great RPG publishers, this should translate to a monthly updating schedule. In the meantime, have a look around and enjoy
this work in progress as it unfolds... |