I have had a bit of progress with Spark of late and I thought I would explain where I am at in a bit more detail. My master plan is to produce a single printed book which will be 8 chapters in length. The first four chapters would contain everything you need to play or run a game, from character creation to funky powers to the intricacies of narrative arcs. These four chapters would be freely available in PDF form on my site as soon as they are completed.
Chapter 1: Character Creation
Chapter 2: Mechanics
Chapter 3: Powers
Chapter 4: Fate
The last four chapters would contain some of the useful tools for running a game. This would only be found in the dead-tree versions, or in the PDF version which I will have up for sale. This is the full toolbox to help a GM tinker under the hood, build their own settings and would present three new settings to play in.
Chapter 5: Setting Design
Chapter 6: Hacks
Chapter 7: Stock
Chapter 8: Three Unique Settings
Since I have stated this publicly, I suspect that some of the above information will be forced to change. Still, at this point, that is how the book is organized.
I have written first drafts of the first four chapters already. I have done substantial revisions to Chapters 1 and 2 thus far, based on my early playtest feedback. Chapter 3 revision is proceeding apace and I have a decent plan of attack for Chapter 4 when I reach that point. I hope to have this (chapters 1-4) out to external playtesters in a few months and with luck I will be able to complete all of my editing by end of 2010. I have a lovely line editor who will be helping me polish and clean up the countless residual errors when I am ready. If all things go as planned, I should have chapters 1-4 complete in time for GenCon and on sale in a printed AshCan format.
So that is the current status of the Spark RPG. I haven’t leaked that much content thus far, chiefly because at this early stage in development things are likely to change. I just hacked off a significant sub-system the other day for example. Still, I will try to give a few more trinkets as the editing progresses.
Anyone have any thoughts, comments, questions or concerns on my so-called master plan?