Wraeththu Watch: Long Overdue Update

Right around the time my old PC was gasping out its last dying breath, I got a couple of emails from Gabriel Strange, also known as gabby2600, the primary on the new Wraeththu rpg. The initial email to me is currently stuck on my old harddrive. In that email reported that the DragonCon release date was missed because he was drawn into an ever increasing role in running the Storm Constantine sub-convention that was part of this year's DragonCon. I can totally sympathize. Even running a small con can take over your life in the run-up to the actual event, as my friends Don and Sue can no doubt testify to in relation to WinterWar, which is a pretty small con by most standards. Gabby mentioned in that email that his new target date for publication was the beginning of November, and I wish him all the best of luck on that count.

Gabby also mentioned some details on the distribution of Wraeththu: From Enchantment to Fufilment (the full title of the rpg). Gabby reports that no gaming distribution outfit they talked to would buy a unknown product like Wraeththu from an unknown company. This jobes very well with reports I've heard on other new products from new companies. For example, it has been reported that Tower Ravens ended up releasing The Universe Primer, a significantly chopped-down version of their sci-fi rpg Universe, because their distributors wouldn't buy the full-sized game from an unproven company. However, the folks over at Immanion Press, would-be publishers of the Wraeththu rpg, have an advantage that Tower Ravens does not. They have a proven track record publishing reprints of Ms. Constantine's fiction. Apparently Immanion's mainstream book publisher is willing to pick up the rpg, so it should be available at your major bookseller, at least by special order if nothing else.

Finally, the other major Wraeththu rpg news I have to report is that an 8-page sample PDF has been posted to the Wreaththu rpg website. It's nice to see some pages. The editing has a few rough spots to be worked out yet and I'm not too sure that the flavor quotes add anything substantive to the main text. I sure hope the art looks better in the final version, as all the excellent illos look flat and grainy. That's probably to make the PDf file smaller, as the art on the website is top notch stuff.