Grell Head Studios

[cthuluftaghn]

I am very pleased to announce the publication of the new Grell Head Studios web site!

I have taken my old home page for Cthulu Ftaghn's Campaigns, and given it a facelift to match the new look of Grell Head Studios. Hopefully, the purple and gray color scheme will one day become a prominent feature on every d20 player's game table!

We have just started work on our first publication, and expect that it will take at least six months. The site will be updated regularly with our progress, once we have something substantial to share.

For now, the Grell Head Studios web site is loaded with custom art by Malessa, stories and campaign material by the DM Cthulu Ftaghn, news, reviews, important d20 links, our own message boards, and much, much more!

Stop by often to find out what is going on at Grell Head Studios. I will also post the updated news on this thread as it appears on the site.

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/5/02

The first piece of news is, obviously, that the website has had a facelift. I got bored with looking at the same old thing for the past four months, and decided it was time for a change.

Malessa has been busy creating tons of new art, both for my campaign, and for her own personal projects. I'd like to congratulate her on getting her first unofficial "commissioned project." She is working on a campaign logo, of sorts, for the Tucson Gamers web site.

A "sneak preview" of her work is featured to the right. (click here) The pencil sketch has been completed, and she's in the process of coloring it. I'm already impressed! Don't forget to check out her complete gallery of campaign art below. (click here)

In other news, Malessa and I are in the process of putting together our own d20 publishing label... Grell Head Studios. More on that, and our first super-secret project in future updates

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/6/02

I fixed the Characters pages. They should properly display the pictures now. Thanks to Thorntangle on the EN World message boards for pointing that out!

I also cleaned up the Links page a bit. When I started trying to review all the d20 publisher sites out there, I bit off more than I could chew. I simplified the page, and it only includes the sites I've visited. I'll add more when and if time permits. Feel free to submit ideas for useful or entertaining d20 related links.

There was some humorous interaction today in Spove's Online Campaign. Poor Melden was the butt of some innuendo. If you're not following along with that campaign yet, you're missing out on a good read. Start with the Game On! thread before moving on to 1 Marpenoth, 1372.

I made good progress on our "super secret" project this week. I have the overall design finished, and I waded through all the complicated d20 Open Game License stuff... Grell Head Studios' first publication, while very far from complete, is now officially d20 legal! Maybe next week, I'll reveal a bit more about that project.

Finally, our Message Boards have also been completely revamped. I created new forums, and I organized them into discussions on each aspect of the Grell Head Studios site, plus a few extra topics of interest. Our ezBoard gold membership expires in two weeks. If you'd care to make a contribution towards its renewal, it would be greatly appreciated! Regardless, please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions at any time.

Cheers!

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/7/02

With the updated content of this web site, Grell Head Studios is now officially a d20 publisher! First and foremost, we have made every attempt to comply with the Open Game License Version 1.0a, the d20 System Usage Guide, and the d20 System Trademark License. If, for any reason, any part of this web site is not in compliance with the above mentioned documents, please contact me immediately so that I may remedy the situation. (cthuluftaghn@cfl.rr.com)

The Grell Head Studios web site will continue to grow and expand as we complete more work to offer you. You can look forward to lots of OGC freebees such as art, NPC's, encounters, adventure hooks, and fiction. For now, check out our Open Game Content page for three free low-level encounters... complete with everything you need to run them. Just print and play.

I have also carefully documented all of our legal information on the OGL Info page. That's the first place to look if you have any question about what, on this site, is OGC, and what is Product Identity. Essentially, all OGC is presented on the Open Game Content page. Unless stated otherwise, all other content is © 2002 Brian M. Danford or Malessa D. Danford. All rights reserved.

A LOT has happened in just the past three days, so you can be sure to expect great things from Grell Head Studios !

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/8/02

Note: These news updates are taken directly from the Grell Head Studios web site. To explore references to links that may be mentioned, please visit the site. Thank you!

PRODUCT NEWS! The Grell Head Products page has been added to this site, and our first planned publication has been announced. Visit the Grell Head Products page today to learn all about Sprawling Shadows... a comprehensive new campaign world source book, unlike any you have seen before.

In other news, Malessa has been offered a second commission for custom art! The deal has not yet been finalized, so I won't share any details at this time. Regardless, we are very excited that her work is being noticed and appreciated. Thank you all for your support.

As a minor detail, I cleaned up the look of this page a little bit... primarily the buttons. I was told that they had a fuzzy white outline... apparently the background wasn't entirely transparent. Being semi color blind, I hadn't noticed. They're fixed now.

Lastly, PLEASE check out the link for Tapestry: Return of the Fae Princess on the left side of this page. I've read hundreds of great fantasy novels in my day, and you won't see them all listed here. I have a special reason for pitching this particular publication to you. Click on the link to find out why.

Until next time....

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/9/02

Monte Who?

The fans have spoken! As of 09/09/2002 18:30:00 EST, the Grell Head Studios web site surpassed Malhavoc Press in the number of votes for EN World's D&D/D20 System Top Sites. Step aside Monte Cook... after just 2 days in the market, the DM Cthulu Ftaghn's a-comin' through! I'd like to thank the academy....

Seriously though, folks. Must have been a temporary fluke in the number crunching. It's a cool thing to see our name posted in full public view right along side the likes of Monte Cook and Sean K. Reynolds... but 'tis to be taken with a grain of salt. Once the numbers are in, Monte'll be back on top where he truly belongs... amongst the legends. [end blatant brown-nosing here]

I would like to thank those that did vote for Grell Head Studios, though. Our "voting campaign" dried up days ago, so there are some new folks out there taking notice! That's exciting!

I made quite a bit of layout progress on Sprawling Shadows last night. Hopefully, by the end of the week, we'll be able to start actually "writing". I have the 2 page intro and a good chunk of the history done, but I'm anxious to get some free OGC teasers out to y'all. -- cheers!

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/10/02

Before I forget... any D20 publisher that wants to be added to my Links page, please e-mail me with your URL and the name of your site. You may write your own synopsis if you wish, or I'll write one up after visiting your site. If you send me a product for review, I'll add your banner as well.

I started working on the first new character class for Sprawling Shadows last night, the City Shaman. I stayed up way too late, but I'm happy with what I got accomplished.

Malessa finished her artwork for the Tucson Gamers today! For now, you can check it out on the EN World message boards in the Art Gallery and Miniatures forum. I'll have it up on Malessa's Campaign Art gallery tonight, when I get home from work.

Speaking of work, lunch time's over. Back to the grind. Until next time, cheers....

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/11/02

In Remembrance: 9/11/2001

Big day for Grell Head Studios, yesterday. Not only did we purchase .pdf software last night... we also learned how to use it!! It's almost like we're trying to be a real publishing company, or something. All we need now is printable material.

In addition to the big .pdf news, Malessa also finished her commissioned work for the Tucson Gamers. Granted, it's only been a couple of days since I posted the last Pic of the Week, but I thought the occasion deserved an early update.

Other than that, it was a rather frustrating day of screwed up print drivers, re-installing operating systems, cussing out buggy software, and kicking the ol' computer a bit harder than I probably should have. Dude, you're gettin' a Dell alright... right up your...

Anyway, problem's fixed. Looking forward to more progress later in the week. -- cheers!

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/12

Children of the Grave Press and Anubium have both been added to our Links page. If you are a D20 publisher, or have a cool D20 web site and you want to have a link added, just ask. As a reminder, write a synopsis if you want control over how your site is described. If you send me a product for Review, I'll upgrade your link to a banner ad.

Speaking of links, I'd like to point out the links in the left column of this page... the News Archives is where these little daily blurbs go whenever I put a new one up. Cthulu Ftaghn's Campaigns is my private web site where I keep all my campaign stuff to share with y'all. I added that link because I think a lot of you missed out on the fact that the banner at the top of this page actually links to that site.

The three discussion links go to the EN World message boards where you can leave comments on Malessa's art, my EN World Story Hour, or Spove's Online Campaign. (I don't fully understand why I did that, since I DO have my own message board, above!) Jodo Kast is a friend and fellow DM, and his EN World Story Hour is also linked to. Check 'em out!

Oh yeah... and since I brought up the subject of Reviews... I've also added the spiffy new Reviews button to the lower left.

Lastly, the Sprawling Shadows mailing list finally qualifies as a true "list"... meaning, it now has more than one person on it! Starting in October, I'll be putting out a monthly newsletter outlining our progress. I may even throw in some free goodies, exclusive to mailing list members... who knows?

 

[cthuluftaghn]

News 9/13/02 (a little early)

Anubium has submitted a copy of The Toad God's Treasure for review. My write-up can be found on the Reviews page, and the Anubium banner ad has been added to the Links page. Thank you for the submission!

Malessa has finished her color picture of Melden, and it is posted on Malessa's Campaign Art gallery. For those of you who have not been following along with Spove's Online Campaign, Melden is a young, slightly overweight, and balding elven bard, of the Monte Cook Eldritch Might variety. His background can be found here. If you are interested in what Melden has been up to, along with his new friends, Bale and Joss, then read along with the campaign as it happens!

I ran out of web space this week. I had to upgrade my account beyond the 5 free megabytes that comes with my ISP subscription... for much too much money. I am looking into several web hosting services, and I hope to have us up and running with our own domain name and expanded web site by the end of the year.

Malessa and I have been kicking around the idea of releasing a 70-100 page short story, set in the Sprawling Shadows, a couple of months before the source book comes out. Today, I discussed the novella concept with a good friend, and fellow writer. With all the time involved in writing the source material, I don't think I could handle a side project on my own right now. He was very enthusiastic about being asked, and he seems more than willing to take up the mighty pen and get to work on the story. Input on this innovative idea (for an independent publisher, anyway) is welcome and encouraged!