Grell Head Studios

News 9/14

I've made mad progress on the Characters chapter of Sprawling Shadows over the past twenty four hours. The chapter intro, and the intro for the Class section are both complete, and the layout for the whole chapter is also in place. I'm about 2/3 finished with the creation of our new character class, the city shaman. It's a LOT of work creating a new class... until you actually sit down and do it, you just don't have a grasp of how much thought and background material goes into a single character class.

The artwork for the "chapter cover" is also done, and has been added to the layout. It looks fantastic, and I'm itching to show it of... but, I do have to save some things for the actual release date of the completed book!

Published author, Lanny Rose has written a one-page character "soliloquy" as a warm-up for the Sprawling Shadows novella. With his permission, I may include what he wrote in the first Sprawling Shadows newsletter, due out October 1.

Spove's Online Campaign has moved to a new message board. He is hosting the board on his own web space, so he'll have more control over its features. My ezBoard subscription runs out in a couple of days, but I shan't be renewing. Within the next couple of months, when I begin hosting my own site, I'll switch over to the same message board software being used by the DM Spove. Until then, I apologize for the nasty popup windows that'll be popping up on my message board.

News 9/15

I'm afraid there's not much to report today. Can't blame us, though. There have been updates every day for ten days straight! That's not to say that nothing was done today, however.

While I was off 1/2 way across the state all day playing D&D with the DM Jodo Kast, Malessa was faithfully working on her art. Today, she finished the color picture of Bale, from the DM Spove's Online Campaign. You check it out as Malessa's Pic of the Week. (Okay, this is the 3rd Pic of the Week this week. Somebody needs to remind me that SUNDAY is "Pic of the Week" day!)

She also completed the pencil sketch for the new city shaman class in Sprawling Shadows, and she got it scanned in. Once it's colored, I'll add it to the layout.

Yesterday, she did an important sketch for the History chapter. That one won't be colored. I did some PSP tricks and gave it an aged, "historical document" look and placed it in the layout. Looks great!

Well, I said there wasn't much news, but filled the page anyway. Silly me! -- cheers!

News 9/16

Sprawling Shadows: Exclusive Preview, vol. 1

The link to this much-anticipated preview will be included in the first Sprawling Shadows Newsletter, which will be arriving in your inbox on October 1st. It is a single-page .pdf, and it will be exclusive to mailing list members. If you are not yet a member of the Sprawling Shadows Mailing List, join now so you don't miss out on the first glimpse of our exciting new world!

I'm not going to give any specific details away; other than to say it will include selected excerpted text from two chapters of the book, a reduced-size sample of some interior art, and a brief fictional narration written specifically for the preview. So, don't hesitate... join the Mailing List today!

In other news, Malessa did a beautiful job coloring the sketch she did for the city shaman section of the Characters chapter. I tucked it in the layout just to see how it would look, but I can't permanently place it until I finish writing all the race information that will come before it (causing the pagination to shift). Y'all will have to wait for the release date to see that one!

This is interesting... Malessa and I home-school our nine year old son, Zach. We will be building social studies lessons on several ancient cultures into his curriculum. This will serve a twofold purpose. First, it will aid in Zach's early education in the humanities... something you seldom see in public schools nowadays! Second... and even more importantly... the research he does will provide us with valuable material for the enculturization of the Cityfolk in the Sprawling Shadows!

Finally, I gave the Campaign Art by Malessa page a minor facelift. With all the projects she's done, it was becoming a bit cluttered. Therefore, I separated it into PC's, NPC's, Monsters, and a couple other categories. It's a bit easier on the eyes

News 9/17

Doh! Here is yesterday's news... sorry, I posted it on my web site and forgot to place it here!

I started going through the spell lists last night to see what existing spells would be compatible with the Sprawling Shadows environment, and what changes would need to be made. BOY do we have our work cut out for us! In addition to the 49 spelldances required for the new city shaman class, I eliminated about 20 spells each for the other magic using classes. All said and done, there are going to be a TON of new spells in the Sprawling Shadows sourcebook!

The logic I used was this: The Cityfolk of Sprawling Shadows do not yet have knowledge of the multiverse. Therefore, I eliminated all spells with interplanar connotation. They will be replaced with spells of a "shadow" nature. Also, spells that are largely reliant on wild plants and/or animals had to go. There's no real wilderness, so to speak, in the Sprawling Shadows... although there WILL be urban wastelands. So, appropriate new spells will need to be created along that line of thought as well.

Malessa worked on practice sketches all day. She's trying to learn how to draw dragons. Her first couple attempts are pretty good! Can't wait to see what she comes up with once she's confident in her dragon-drawing and gets one into Paint Shop Pro!

My mind shifted gears a bit today, and I didn't get much done on the book. I've been trying to figure out what kind of FREE STUFF we could offer you between now and next year's release of the Sprawling Shadows source book. I'd like the material to promote our upcoming product... but at the same time, I don't want to give too much away this early in the game. So, I'm looking for suggestions. What do you, the public, want to see released as FREE STUFF?

News 9/18

There was exciting progress on Sprawling Shadows in the past 24 hours, mainly involving spells. I have just about the entire spells chapter laid out, and now it just needs fleshing out. I still have to go through the spell list with a fine tooth comb and decide what needs to be changed, but at this point, I can just insert the new material into the otherwise complete chapter. It looks good, too!

I'm skipping back and forth between sections a lot for a couple of reasons. First, so I don't burn out on any one part of the book, and give in to the temptation to "just get it done". I want the end product to be a representation my 110% effort from cover to cover. Second, as I move from chapter to chapter, my ideas grow and expand. As I get new ideas, it's easier to integrate them all into the book if I haven't already declared large portions of it "done".

Normally, I come home from my day job and work on Sprawling Shadows until I can't keep my eyes open any more. Tonight, I took a 2 hour break for a very important cause. Iron Maiden's Rock in Rio DVD was FINALLY released in the United States, and I FINALLY had the cash in my checking account to go pick it up. So, I've been parked on the couch for the past 125 minutes with my jaw on the floor, drooling over the BEST rock 'n roll performance I've ever seen on video. OMG, the sound quality is perfect! I don't care if you're not an Iron Maiden fan... go pick this one up... you'll become a fan! You know what I really like about this concert video? These guys have been doing this for 26 years, and every one of them still has a broad smile on his face from the first song to the last. I have fun watching them because they have so much fun doing their jobs. Their sincere enjoyment is obvious when they're up on that stage.

All that Iron Maiden babble had a purpose... I just wanted to let y'all know that I'm having a lot of fun writing this book, and I hope my enjoyment of this task shows in my work! When you get past all the rules, and stats, and tables... this game is all about FUN.

Think about that the next time you're squabbling at the game table over something silly.....

-cheers!

News 9/19

FREE STUFF!! I have taken the special ECL +1 Weretiger character template that I created for Cthulu Ftaghn's Campaigns, and I converted it into an attractive downloadable .pdf to share with you all. In a manner of speaking, this is Grell Head Studios' first real publication! The download is 100% Open Game Content, and it is 100% free. Grab your copy now on the Grell Head Studios Open Game Content page!

I chatted with Tapestry author, Lanny Rose, today concerning the Sprawling Shadows novella, which will be released approximately six weeks before the sourcebook becomes available for purchase. He told me that he has already developed the plot, and we spent a good chunk of the morning bouncing character ideas back and forth. This is something to be truly excited about, both for me as a publisher, and you as readers and gamers. Sprawling Shadows is shaping up to be more than just a new sourcebook, but a complete game world product package!

I did some more work on the Spells chapter tonight, but I was more concerned with polishing off the FREE ECL +1 Weretiger template so I could make it available to you right away. There are lots of changes going on at Grell Head Studios right now (okay... so there are lots of changes going on in our household), so work on the book has become sporadic, at least for the next few days. Don't worry though... we're still 100% dedicated to this project, and as promised earlier, it will be a 110% effort from cover to cover.

--cheers!

News 9/21

First off, sorry for no update yesterday. Our youngest son, Xander, turned two yesterday! Happy Birthday Xander!! We love you, buddy! (Zach is the older of the two boys in the picture... yet another handsome fellow!)

Okay, so I'm totally impatient... I just can't wait to show you guys SOMETHING from Sprawling Shadows. With Malessa starting her night job this weekend, I've had plenty of lonely time at home to work on the book, and I've finished the complete intro to the Characters chapter. So, for the heck of it, here is the first page of Chapter 3: Characters. Please enjoy the first....

SPRAWLING SAMPLE
39kb pdf requires
Acrobat Reader

Please note that this is a copyrighted sample of Sprawling Shadows, and no portion of what is presented here should be considered Open Game Content. The above "Sprawling Sample" is © 2002 Brian M. Danford, Malessa D. Danford, Grell Head Studios. All rights reserved. The final Sprawling Shadows product will be released under version 1.0, 1.0a, and/or draft versions of the Open Game License, by permission of Wizards of the Coast.

Until next time....

News 9/22

After this weekend's progress, I'm getting really excited about this project. The big news is, I finished the new City Shaman character class! I just finished emailing the "final" version off to a couple trusted advisors for proofreading and opinions. If they give the thumbs up, then it's more or less ready to move on to play testing.

In the meantime, I'll continue working on the Spells chapter, and fleshing out the new character race that is being created exclusively for the Sprawling Shadows sourcebook.

A month ago, this was all just a "concept." Shortly thereafter, it was upgraded to a "project." After tonight, however, I feel confident that I can safely refer to Sprawling Shadows as a BOOK! Regardless of how many sales we make, I know that my play group is going to have a blast in this new world. It's something my wife and I can be very proud of.

Speaking of my wife (who is off at work again), she has a new Pic of the Week. These skeletons gained some positive recognition over on her EN World thread this past week, so I figured it was a good time to show them off here. --enjoy!

News 9/23

There's a map! What else can I say? I spent about three days creating and changing and tweaking and moving and destroying and re-creating.... now I have a globe! I think the writing process will become much easier now that I have a visual aid.

I've also read the rough draft of the prologue, written by Lanny Rose, to the Sprawling Shadows novella. I don't know how to put this, other than... wow! In just five short pages, the Roseman has managed to totally bring the feel of the Sprawling Shadows environment to life. I can't wait to see what the next hundred pages have to offer!

My "trusted advisors" have given me their honest opinion of my work on the city shaman character class. I had a couple minor details to tweak... a grammar fix here, a balance issue there. The changes have been made, and I hereby declare the city shaman done! (until I find something else to change).

News 9/25

The reason that there was no update yesterday is because Malessa and I were up way too late working on the book. We started going through the cleric spell list with a fine toothed comb, and we created 13 new spells between 0 and 6th level. We plan on polishing off the cleric spells tonight, then moving on to druids.

I started working the October 1st edition of the Sprawling Shadows newsletter this afternoon. I don't want everybody to get TOO excited over the actual newsletter... it's going to be, in essence, just a detailed outline of our progress on the book, and an overview of our plans for the near future. What you SHOULD be excited about, however, is the single-page PDF preview that's going to come along with it!

The preview contains selected excerpted text from the History chapter, and the Characters chapter, a brief blurb from Bradshaw, Scribe of Amherst, a small art sample from the book, and a piece of original Sprawling Shadows fiction, by author, Lanny Rose.

So, if you are not yet a member of the Sprawling Shadows mailing list, join now!

Malessa has new art posted in her gallery! She answered a challenge on the EN World message boards to draw a scene from one of the Story Hours. It came out quite well!