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Latest Updates from Our Project:
AMETHYST FACTIONS
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Feb 07, 2023 at 09:45:13 AM
HEY EVERYONE!
Minor update today.
This week marks the 2.0 update of Amethyst Factions. Along with it, we also launched the revised novel Controlling Chaos. Also, as promised, we have released EPUB versions of both it and Aiden’s Way. Check your DriveThruRPG accounts for the updated downloads.
Concerning Amethyst Factions, it doesn’t have nearly as many changes as Quintessence, but there was still a lot, mostly grammar and layout, though we have updated the races and backgrounds to follow our new design philosophy. The funny part is that because it now matches Quintessence’s layout format, it’s a few pages shorter than the original. But don’t worry. Nothing has been cut. In fact, we pulled a few illustrations from other books for fun.
WHAT’S NEXT?
While I would like to say Revelations is being jumped into immediately, in truth, we have a few admin and smaller projects to put out for the next week. Most of this is being handled by our new collaborator.
MORE STUFF TO COME!
Chris
WHAT A JANUARY!
about 2 years ago
– Fri, Feb 03, 2023 at 12:07:55 PM
HEY EVERYONE!
The month of January was a…well, you can imagine it was a bit of a mess. I don’t think I need to explain why; it was international news for some time. I also had to keep re-writing updates as every day would bring new information that would change the landscape on which we travel. Each time there was an update, I would imagine, “we’re unlikely to know more for a couple of weeks,” only for everything to change the next day.
I made NUMEROUS videos on my YouTube Channel detailing our opinion, our change in opinion, our final decision, and our revised decision. I mentioned in a previous update that the OGL fiasco was not going to alter our release schedule, and ultimately, it wasn’t. Likewise, in reference to our plans to support 5E.
People have asked why we don’t publish for multiple systems. Well, obviously, we do with Amethyst. The core book and Factions are available for Savage Worlds, Fate, 13th Age, Pathfinder, and 4E, and those sales combined are 10x less than the 5E sales. And when I have to create the same book for multiple systems, it is time-consuming and a nightmare. The first Amethyst Kickstarter took four years to finish. I would spend more time adapting than writing new content. The only reason we can offer Amethyst Revelations for both Savage Worlds and Fate is that Christopher Stilson offered to write those adaptations. We are not offering a Pathfinder, 4E, or 13th Age edition because if I did, you wouldn’t be receiving books until 2025. That being said, I am not against it, and if someone reading this is interested in handling a mechanical adaptation for another ruleset, reach out to me, and let’s talk.
So I am grateful for the recent update from WOTC, where they offered all of their rules to Creative Commons. For one, it finally means that we may be able to say “Dungeons & Dragons” on our promotional material as that was a condition of the 2000 OGL, which, technically, books like ours don’t need to adhere to anymore.
Will Dias Ex Machina produce content for One D&D? Potentially, but it will depend on what WOTC offers to entice us. They’ll have to win us over by this point.
As we move into February, the unfortunate rollercoaster means that the revised edition of Amethyst Factions is late. Not by much; it’ll be out next week, as will the revised novel, Controlling Chaos. Then I have a script I need to finish before moving on to Revelations, which will begin several months of non-stop writing. I will be posting samples and artwork from now until then. Planning out what will be offered in this book, I can confirm that there could potentially be one more volume in “Amethyst”, officially titled Amethyst: Absolution, which will cover the rest of the world not covered in the previous three books and answer the final questions regarding the setting. I know; I am looking very far ahead. That would be the end of Amethyst as a name, but potentially not the setting. But we’ll get into that later.
I can also announce that in order for Dias Ex Machina to grow (which it hasn’t for the past two years), I have brought on a business partner that will take over much of the admin that takes me away from writing. I am doing this in an attempt to increase output. This will also allow us to publish side projects through this and successive years. We’ll have more on that later on.
OSG 5.75
Also, some of you know that as an experiment, I have been running live streams where I invite people to watch and throw out ideas for a variant ruleset. This is entirely a thought experiment and we are still on the fence if we plan on publishing it.
You can check out the current progress in this video...
And download the current iteration of rules here:
DOWNLOAD THE CURRENT OSG 5.75 HERE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BYddn3ZydBNNHI0-mXEU0e4zYvHUlXDh/view?usp=sharing
Anyways, this was technically January’s update and I do plan for another soon.
I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE WONDERING....
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 02:35:47 PM
HEY EVERYONE!
An official January update is still coming, but I just wanted to say this quickly to alleviate any concerns.
Some of you might be aware of the news from Wizards and Hasbro, and updates are occurring daily…however…
None of Dias Ex Machina’s Kickstarters will be canceled. None of our products will be removed from any storefronts unless the storefronts themselves remove them.
We still have future 5E products to be released, and their publication will not be halted.
We will not abandon the OGL and RPG communities, and certainly not our fans and backers.
Also, on a side, I am hosting a livestream Wednesday at 11 PST where I will, as primarily a thought experiment, design a new 5.75 ruleset with live community feedback.
Amethyst Quintessence
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Dec 21, 2022 at 10:08:39 PM
HEY EVERYONE!
Quick Update!
The 2nd Edition of Amethyst Quintessence has been uploaded to DriveThruRPG.
It is an update to the previous Quintessence and is not under a new entry. If you own Quintessence, all you need to do is check your downloads to see the new file. If anyone has any issues or notices any problems with the file, feel free to DM me.
Merry Christmas!
Chris
The SUPER IMPORTANT Xmas Update
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Dec 20, 2022 at 03:32:17 AM
Hey everyone!
We’re closing in on Christmas, but that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped working. Far from it.
If you want to know the SUPER BIG NEWS, jump to the end of the update...
AMETHYST QUINTESSENCE
I mentioned in my last update that I was hoping to release the rebuild of Amethyst Quintessence in mid-December. Thankfully, that is happening.
Expect the revised book next week. Factions is next; it won’t require nearly as much work, so I hope to have that end of January or early February.
Upon Quintessence’s release, I’ll send the revised files to Chris Stilson to begin the Savage Worlds and Fate Core adaptations.
I wish I could go into detail about the number of changes made, but as I might have mentioned in the previous update, there are thousands. However, the significant change is updating the techan classes to the revised builds found in Ultramodern5-REDUX. In fact, we have pushed PAST that and have updated them further based on feedback.
Distribution will be done via DriveThruRPG. The original Quintessence will be updated, meaning if you already own Quintessence, you will receive an email to receive the updated version. POD will take a bit.
ARTWORK
Nick Greenwood and I have been discussing our budget and proposed illustrations and are looking at options to ensure all commissions are delivered in a timely fashion. As Nick is the only artist on Amethyst, completing the illustrations required before publication can be a bit tricky, and we ran into time issues with both Affinity and Naramata.
We’ve discussed options for accelerating this process to maximize our budget. I have not eliminated or forbade Nick from employing some form of artificial intelligence to accelerate this process. I know AI has been a hot topic of late, but rest assured, no artist is being circumvented, and we would not employ any process that would take money away from someone’s pocketbook.
I discuss the recent issues in this video…
THE SUPER BIG UPDATE
Here is the moment you’ve all been waiting for. That’s right…as per our last stretch goal.
