UPDATE FCCP: Bethesda says NO to a coloring book..sort of.

I am writing today's post in response to multiple requests that I compile actual coloring books for the Fallout Community Coloring Project. As I answered before, I could only do what would be a commercially sold book with support and agreement from Bethesda. I wouldn't serve to go through all that work to make a book and put it up on Amazon if I wound up head to head with Bethesda's legal department.

So I wrote to them. I explained how the project is 100% community supported and how much interest it is gathering. I gave them every positive point I could think of and they responded pretty quickly. They listed it as an "incident" with an identification number and said the following:

Greetings!

Thank you for contacting Bethesda Customer Support. 

Bethesda Softworks appreciates our fans and generally does not discourage posting of non-commercial fan created tributes.  Any use of our intellectual property for commercial purposes, however, including The Elder Scrolls® or Skyrim® names, logos, branding elements, artwork, etc., is strictly forbidden without a written license agreement.  We regret that we are unable to grant licenses for the commercialization of fan fiction.

 

We also cannot accept unsolicited manuscripts or other material.  Please do not send us any submissions.

 

Please be advised that any commercial use or exploitation of our intellectual property rights is not permitted.  Bethesda Softworks will strictly enforce its rights.

 

 I hope this information helps! Thank you for your interest in Bethesda Softworks.

Kind Regards,
Bethesda Softworks

So, as I understand this, so long as I keep doing the project more or less as I'm doing it, which is not for profit, I can keep on drawing the coloring pages for the community. If I try to put out an actually coloring book... that will be responded to in a negative fashion. 

Let me be clear, I want to keep drawing your pictures. This project has been a source of great positivity for me and I love that I'm doing something so many are enjoying. So I am going to continue giving you guys and my coloring book page this source for something positive and different.  This of what I do, shall remain as free. Should anyone wish to support me as an artist, there are several ways to accomplish that and you need only ask. I have a patreon and other books as well.  You can share me in all sorts of ways. All things that help out wonderfully. 

In further news, this Saturday's release of new images will be my biggest one yet. Thank you all for being part of this project and it shall go on!

Choose the Ending! "The Mastodon's Heart" Pt2

Image By Rembrandt Peale

Hello reader! Welcome to part two of our story where you will guide what happens next. You are a Paleontologist/Archaeologist. You are a top person in your field. You have special abilities that no one knows about just yet. You have moderate super strength, telekinesis and random visions. You have been called to Siberia to investigate fossilized remains that shouldn't be there. You already found a strange stone arrangement in the fossilized ribs of the mastodon and you've had a vision of death and blood.  Catch part 1 HERE.

 You decide to take a closer look at the huge stone with the ribs embedded in it. You know better than to take your visions too literally. You will have to take some time to get to know what's going on before you react. The tool marks are confusing because they seem too elaborate for the time of the Mastodons. Unfortunately, the equipment for carbon dating is extremely large and samples would have to be sent away. You simply don't have that kind of time.

"So this is old, but how old is it really?" You murmur to yourself.

"We've already sent samples out for carbon dating." Jessica piped in.

"I'm not about to wait for that. How much more of this stone can we uncover? It was obviously put this way on purpose. Look how it holds these ribs far out from the angle of the others." You make your way to where the stone meets dirt and rock. "And where does anyone find a chunk of obsidian this size? It must weigh over a ton."

"Oh, I agree. It's definitely out of place." Jessica doesn't realize you aren't talking for her benefit, rather your own process of thought.

You reach into you bag and bring out your father's hand pick. There's a hollowed out shape where the stone appears to edge with the dugout wall. The dirt and rocks fall away easily from the black stone to reveal a rectangular hole. It's big enough to put your hand in. You shine a small flashlight into the opening. At a distance that would be all of your forearm is a lever. You already knew this wasn't a natural arrangement, but now it's confirmed.

"Jessica, I need some twine." You say. "And get the Professor back here right away."

Minutes feel like years before Jessica returns with your request. She's followed by Amikam and Professor Sigmund. They watch with interest as you make a loop out of one end of the twine. You reach the loop in and slip it over the end of the lever. Your father taught you not to learn from the movies. Never put an appendage into and opening to pull levers if you don't have to. Use another tool to protect your hands. Once the twine is attached, you stand back a couple of feet and give it a firm pull. The lever has some resistance from age, but grinds into movement.

The ground under your feet rumbles as the stone lowers itself, revealing a tunnel.

"Incredible!" Sigmund exclaims. "We must get some lights and go in there."

"Whew!" Jessica waves a hand in front of  her face. "We should let it air out for a minute or two first."

You shine a flashlight into the maw of the tunnel. The ground slopes downward and away from your field of vision.

"It goes deeper underground from here." You say. "Better get some safety equipment together."

"I'm sure we can walk in a little way." Sigmund says, clearly excited by the find.

You remember your vision of the red stone and seeing the Professor's dead body. You wonder if you shouldn't suggest that he wait outside for his own safety. Still, you shouldn't enter alone.

So what do you do now? Do you suggest the Professor let you and someone else take a look first? If so, who do you take with you? Jessica or Amikam?

You're going to fail!

When I was a kid, I wanted to write books and I wanted to be a detective. Yeah, I'm always a mixture of things.

"You'll never be worth anything." Those were the words of my abusive stepmother. I won't go into the things she did because I'm not looking to shock or trigger you. Suffice to say I left home at age 14 to escape the abuse. I showed my determination by trying to travel from Utah to Florida. I started by hiking over the Wasatch mountain front. I was caught and sent home but left again and made it from Kaysville to the Colorado state line.

In my fleeing home I was made a ward of the State of Utah and the social worker assigned to me didn't seem to like kids much. "You'll never be a detective. You'll never be anything." She said it in such a matter of fact tone that I didn't say anything back. But my determination only grew.

I was told to give up on writing because I would never publish. But I proved them wrong on all counts. I joined the army and the 186th Military Police. I became professional security, a bodyguard, and eventually, I became a sort of detective. I became an animal cop and investigated things like animal cruelty and animal fighting. I send dozens of cases to court every year. I wrote official tickets with official fines. So I didn't become Sherlock Holmes, but I still achieved a great deal.

Then MS came along. It wasn't first, but it's here now. So I did the next thing that they said I wouldn't do. I published two books. I'm about release the third. Are they perfect? No, but who is? The fact I carried through to the end in my condition should tell you volumes. But to some people it still doesn't. I must just have a look about me that says "don't take this guy seriously". Yet, my track record continues to prove them wrong. And I'm not done.

Here is the thing. Critics will always look down their nose at everything you do. You can show them that your Facebook page has over 750 likes, but they'll go through and count the likes on independent posts and tell you your page isn't worth it. They'll look at your artwork and say that you should give up and go to paying someone else to do it (never mind that there's way simpler art out there that's making millions, just see Cartoon Network ;) ).

I could have listened to them a long time ago and maybe went to some mundane, who knows what, dead end life (I don't know). But I didn't. I didn't listen to them. Look where that got me. I'm here and I've done more than a few things they said I couldn't do. So if there's anything that my project could teach you, it's that you never give up because they say you're going to fail. You may restart, you may reposition, but you don't give up.

So, it's time to show people what you're made of. Show them that you can do it. I'm certainly not done. Why should you be?

GZ character stat cards!

Some may have noticed that I'm doing my characters from A-Z with some special info. I've hinted at future use for these cards and I wasn't bluffing. These are the first GZ character stat cards. They are based on the formula I use for the role playing game. Yes, I said "role playing game". It's a ways of in the distance yet, but in the meanwhile, you can enjoy the amazing stats and info of these characters.

So what do the numbers mean? In the five stats STRength, ENDurance, SPEed, AGiLity, and MeNTality, you will note a number from 1-10. 1 is the level of a very average human being. 10 is godlike. So, the higher then number you see, the more powerful they are in that stat.

Above that, you see the minimum character level they would start at, their sex/race if applicable, and their alignment from good- evil with personality scale if applicable.

You can clearly read what powers they have and then see any equipment they carry. Don't worry to much about the numbers you see with the equipment. Suffice to say that a number with a + sign is for dealing damage and a number with a minus (-) sign is for reducing damage.

The info section gives you a little bit of insight to the character. There will be a lot of info from stories, so be sure to catch up on the stories of GZ if you haven't already.

Right now, I'm working on this in between other projects What's my current schedule, you ask?

This is my tentative schedule:

Kickstarter for board game (coming very very soon)
Chaos Rising (novel)
GZ Tales 2 (short stories)
GZ Tales game expansion cards
Chessmen 2 (novel)
GZ New York (game expansion with new board)
Wicked Ways (novel to follow Chaos Rising)
GZ Tales 3

That doesn't include the fact that I plan on being at Geekonomicon in December and then Southern Geek Fest next year.

I know you see a lot of reused artwork, but I assure you, I am working on new artwork too! There are definitely exciting days to come. I can hardly wait!

Boardgame Kickstarter Rewards by Level!

Here it is, folks! 8 levels of Kickstarter rewards so you can plan ahead! I just sent out the written agreement to TheGameCrafter and once they respond, it will be GO TIME! Till then, check out what you can get for each level. Everyone gets their name on a thank you list that will either be on the bottom of the box or back of the rulebook.

1: 10 Dollars:  I know not everyone can unload on this so there is just this little level. You get an 11x6 signed artwork. What pic will it be? Not totally sure yet. I'm thinking about conducting a vote.

2: 20 Dollars: This will net you the signed artwork mentioned above and a signed copy of the novel: Chessmen: Opening Moves. I know what people are really after though, and that's a copy of the game. Well, that's next.

3: 50 Dollars: You get the art and novel and of course a signed copy of the game itself! This is the sweet spot! But it does get better than this.

4: 75 Dollars: Now we add a magnet, book of short stories, and a PC expansion booster. The PC Expansion has 18 additional Player Characters that you can be at random for the game. Be an Assassin, Faerie, Superhuman, Minotaur and many others. Of course, the art, game and novel will be signed. I can sign the wrapper on the expansion cards if you want and I'm open to signing requests if you want certain items signed. The magnets are too small to sign but very colorful and cool!

5: 100 Dollars: All of the above and another expansion bonus. It's the Kickstarter Bonus Deck. It's packed with 36 cards to enhance the main deck for game play. Characters, beasts, artifacts, powers and more that you can't get any other way. This deck will not be available for sale past the kickstarter, while some cards may show up in future expansions.

6: 150 Dollars: All of the above and a signed mousepad with GZ artwork on it. Again, what art has yet to be decided. I assure you, everything will look sharp!

7: 200 Dollars: Again, you get the whole pile from above but there's a new addition. A custom Player Character card all your own! Limit of 50 custom cards! You can even send me your own artwork to put on it! Want to use your old DND character? No problem! Want your own homemade superhero? No problem! I don't want to get into copyright trouble though, so no copyrighted material unless it belongs to you personally.

8: 500 Dollars:  The final tier lands you with the books, cards, mousepad, game, and the rest with a very special final reward. With a limit of ten, I will make you an 18x25 acrylic painting of Galaxy Zento art. If you are wondering what kind of painter I am, just look at what I did to my son's dresser.

Naturally, 7 and 8 may have some time constraints to keep in mind. I won't be slow about it whatsoever, but still. So here you have it. I'm hoping to start things off within the next two weeks so be watching! Lots of coolness still to come! Thanks to everyone who has been sharing and following along!

Kickstarter Reward: 36 extra deck cards!

I've been working in fervor to get these ready for you happy gamers out there! I'm sure you'll love adding these to your game of Galaxy Zento! But what fun is keeping them a total secret? Check out some of the awesomeness you can get your hands on!

Artifacts are fun, fun, fun, but now there's an extra bit of zip. What if you find an artifact that belongs to a character specifically? Uh oh. Well, maybe he won't find out. Scratch that, he definitely will! When you successfully obtain the Axe of Arconia, King Falcon will come from where ever he is (discard, deck, or even from being another player's ally) to make you face him for it.

If you are of good alignment, you can recruit him (and have to in order to keep the ax). Yes, that means you might just steal KF away from another player! But if you can't do that, you have to fight him (no evading). And just check out his card!

So you beat KF in a fight (that won't be easy), there is a chance that he'll come back in a burst of flames to face you a second time. Good thing it only happens once!

Want a way to mess with your opponents? How about making them draw a new card if you don't want them to have that cool object they just revealed? You have to be close enough on the board to use it, but Luck Control will make messing with your opponents a fun reality. Once they reveal a card from the deck on their turn, you can decide that they have to draw a different card. Of course, it's very chancy. You don't know if you helped them or messed them up until that next card hits the table.

How about some mean beasties to fight or run from? This one is sure to please on both counts. Watch out for that acid spit! You lose an item when you are hit! All four beasts in this bonus set will set your game on its ear!

Whoops! Don't get caught! This is one unforgiving trap! If you don't escape the first time, you have to try again on your next turn! Just hope you are having good luck with your dice rolls!

What's this? An item you have to roll to obtain? Yes it is! But look at what it does for you. If you have the "obtain skill" or some achievement tokens, you'll have no trouble adding this to your game arsenal. It gives you the psychic ability. Nice!

Can't leave cool events out and this one is a major game changer. Hope you weren't feeling too comfortable with your player character, because it just changed on you. If the guy playing the Wizard was getting annoying, you may be glad to see this card hit the table.








Those are just a few examples of the cool reward that you will only be able to get through the Kickstarter. I'm still working on all the details, but I assure you, the rewards and bonuses will be more than worth the price of admission! So stay tuned faithful heroes! There's more to come!

GZ Legends 42: The Eye of Destruction pt2

           

 The ground cracked and shook. Dust rose and small rocks jumped into the air. Sandstorm used his elemental powers with all his might, straining against the power of the gem in Michael’s hand. The more the gem was used, the stronger it became. Sandstorm could feel its influence growing the longer he fought against it. It was only a matter of time before the Eye of Destruction overwhelmed the world’s most powerful elemental.

            The other heroes convened to try again. A shockwave of force threw them all backwards. Kyte crashed to the ground and lay unconscious. Dreamseer lay on the convulsing Earth as well and didn’t get back up. Electrode was first back to his feet with an idea. In his fight with the Deformer, he used a turbine attack. Maybe such an attack would short out the energy of the gem? Electrode raced in circles around Michael, building up nuclear electric power as he went. As Electrode reached top speeds, Sandstorm could feel the strain give way ever so slightly.

            Sandstorm could feel changes in the power aura but the strain was so great, he couldn’t cry out to warn his partner. Electrode let loose a tremendous surge of force into the center at Michael with explosive results. Atomizer and Redeagle had already thrown themselves into a shaking ditch for cover; right after they dragged their unconscious friends there.

            “I’m going to lose my lunch!” Atomizer shouted over the loud rumbling.

            “I didn’t even eat any lunch!” Redeagle shouted back.

            The blast blinded them all and made their ears ring. As Atomizer and Redeagle fought to stand up, they heard Michael laughing. Electrode and Sandstorm were on the ground. The explosion was a wave of power feedback that knocked them both out. The red aura shined as bright and powerful as ever. The shaking amplified, making the two friends stagger to stay on their feet.

            “I’m going to rule the world!” Micheal laughed in madness.

            “There isn’t going to be a world, you idiot!” Atomizer shouted.

            Redeagle grabbed his partner by the arm. “Listen, this is on you now. You have to stop that guy!”

            “How? My power won’t work on the gem or living tissue!”

            “You have to come up with something, Jason! You have to do this!”

            “What if my power reacts with that energy field and I blow us all up?” Atomizer remembered when he used his power on an alien weapon. The results were a blast he couldn’t control. He never wanted to see anything like that again.

            Redeagle grabbed Atomizer by the front of his jacket and nearly shook him. “Either way, we’d be dead! Come on! I know you can do this!”

            “All right, all right! Easy on the jacket, partner!” Atomizer turned to the maniacal laughing Michael and fixed his eyes on the gem.

            The earthquake was already claiming lives in towns a hundred miles in every direction. Every minute the influence of the gem spread another 20 miles. Atomizer studied his target hard and finally, in those dread moments, saw something he could latch onto. It was something that couldn’t resist him and looked to be the perfect sized. As he stared at that target, he could see its molecular makeup as if zooming in with a microscope. He saw past fibers, past strands, to the point where its atomic structure shined. The rest of the world tuned out as he focused all his concentration on his target. As Atomizer blinked, he activated his power by mental command.

          

  Michael screamed as his face was covered in spraying blood. The explosion sounded like no more than a “pop” compared to the outrageous rumbling of the land around them. The red aura vanished and Michael’s right hand thudded to the ground. The gem bounced out of the twitching fingers and rolled away into the dust. Michael fell to his knees, screaming as he held the stump where a single button on the sleeve of his shirt had blown his hand off.

            Atomizer also dropped to his knees in exhaustion as a portal opened a few feet away. Dr. Vampire and the rest of their friends were with them. Nyhtwulf stopped Michael’s bleeding as the rest saw to fallen friends. Before Dreamseer fell, she sent a telepathic distress call. As soon as they were done with the TANK, Dr. Vampire had Traveler send his half of the team to South Dakota.

            Michael saw the healing power of Nyhtwulf while crying over his lost hand. “Can you put it back on?”

            Nyhtwulf shook his lupine head, “No, there is too much damage.”

            Anubis watched the exchange and said nothing. This man almost destroyed the world. Maybe he deserved to lose a hand?

            In the following moments, friends were healed of minor injuries and both teams of heroes were back at full strength. Doctor Vampire carefully nudged the gem into a containment bag meant for holding such dangerous items.

            “Now that we have that, we can send Michael and his hand to a hospital,” Dr. Vampire said.

            “I’ll take care of that,” Anubis volunteered. “Nightfall, will you knock him out please? That way he’s not screaming in agony all the way there.”

            “Sure.” Nightfall touched Michael on his cheek and he fell unconscious. “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine. I just want to get this lunatic out of our way.” Anubis grabbed up Michael and flew him away to a hospital.

            “I’m glad we’re all together,” Dr. Vampire said. “I think the last artifact is going to need all of us. It’s far more dangerous than anything we’ve faced so far.”

            “Worse than that gem?” Sandstorm asked. “I couldn’t stop that thing.” It was a feeling Sandstorm wasn’t accustomed too. Nothing of this Earth had ever stopped him before.

            “Yes. But all of us together should be able to get it. I just hope who ever has it, doesn’t know how to use it.”

            “Are you going to tell us what it is, or do we guess?” Electrode said.

            “It’s the Hourglass of Time.”