Brief Translation Update
over 7 years ago – Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 11:01:08 PM

Welcome to 2017... the Year of Aquelarre!

I do not yet have a link to new edited content for you, but the translators have been making excellent progress. I reply in the Comments on the main project page with snippets of progress reports, but not everyone sees those and they're also difficult find after they get buried, so a brief note directly to all of you seemed in order.

Lester has continued to make progress through the huge spells chapter (Chapter Six). He's now completed through the 3rd level spells.

Cabell is picking up steam! In addition to a completed Chapter Seven (Ars Theologica) that I reported earlier in January (in the Comments section), he has now also completed Chapter Eight (Rerum Demoni). Both of these chapters are about 30 pages long in the printed rulebook.

We're still aiming toward end of March to have the translation complete, though that will require this pace to continue to accelerate up as it has over the month.

Thanks for your patience and support!

Translation Update + New Links
over 7 years ago – Fri, Oct 21, 2016 at 10:06:29 PM

Lots of ground to cover in this update, so let’s get right to it!

Translation Update

I’m pleased to release a new chapter of Aquelarre to all of you (see below), but as you know, the translation is well behind schedule. I assure you that Lester shares your chagrin. As was posted in the Project Comments, Lester has had a rough stretch recently, and he discusses it in a blog on his own website.

http://lestersmith.com/2016/10/state-of-the-smithy/

The short version is that Lester is suffering through medical troubles severing affecting both himself and family members.

The net result is that he is months the pace of translation that he anticipated. As a result, we’ve added a new translator to the team. Cabell Venable has enormous experience translating Spanish to English and he’s already started on Aquelarre. He will be slow to start as we catch him up on the translation decisions we've made thus far, but he'll soon be rolling. Meanwhile, Lester will continue translating through Chapter Six: Magic.

The goal is a completed translation in five months. So, end of March 2017 is approximately when we expect the entire rulebook to be translated. Roderick’s copy editing will require a month beyond that, and then there’s a month for layout. This process hopefully puts a PDF of completed game in your hands before the end of May 2017.

New Backer-Only PDFs

Chapter Four: Combat is now available for your comments. This chapter has been added to a folder that also contains all-new versions of the Introduction and Chapters 1-3. All of these new versions incorporate the feedback provided by several generous and helpful backers.

Also included in this new folder is the Example of Play that appears in the rulebook immediately after the Introduction.

All of these files are available for you now. This material is for Kickstarter backers only, please. It is not for public release.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/asx2zmid7y69j50/AABUxsOMHK42SN7QEV67I0Naa?dl=0

The new arrangements for translation will result in more chapters very soon. I’ll continue to send an update as each new one is available.

Thanks for your patience as we put this new plan together. It’s been clear for a while that Lester was slipping from his schedule, but we hoped things would clear up for him and he could complete the work by himself even if it would be a bit late. Once it became clear that was not going to happen, Lester and I decided it was time to enlist help.

We regret the delay, but I guarantee that you will eventually have an English-language version of the great Aquelarre.

Medieval Demons & Noir Demons
almost 8 years ago – Wed, Jun 01, 2016 at 04:46:35 PM

Welcome to the first week of June 2016, which means that we're about halfway from the end of the Aquelarre project to actually putting Aquelarre in your hands... or at least on your screen. Editor Roderick Robertson has completed a thorough reading of chapters 2 and 3 and has questions back to Lester. And Lester continues to plow through the Spanish text, indicating that he remains on schedule.

I've now added the layout version of the six pages of Aquelarre introduction to DTRPG. If you'd like to add it to your library, then please please grab it here:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/184527/Aquelarre--Translated-Introduction

I've launched a new project on Kickstarter, and while I often send notices of new projects to backers of past projects, this one is especially important to share with you. It's because you made this project for Aquelarre such a success, and because many of you encouraged both in general and specifically to take a look at other European games, that I found John Doe Editions and their amazing noir RPG, Hellywood.

Hellywood is a French RPG set in the1949 California city of Heaven Harbor (nicknamed Hellywood). All the greed, corruption and violence you expect form a noir game is present in Hellywood, but the game also includes the supernatural. They call them "hornheads" — the golem, succubi, seraphim and possessed — and they arrived in Heaven Harbor on the Day of Ashes in 1942 when the sky literally rained ash for a day.

The game also features a great 2d6 game system that's fittingly based on Craps:

Add the amazing description of Heaven Harbor itself and details like calling the GM the "Voiceover" and you see that Hellywood has a lot to offer.

But Hellywood is especially important here because it's the next step in a goal to translate many great European games into English. By this announcement on the Nocturnal Media website (you subscribe for updates, right? scroll to the bottom!) you can see more Spanish games that are already in the works.

The project seeks to fund the translation of not just the Hellywood rulebook, but also a major expansion called Justice of Angels. In what might be a first, we're running the Kickstarter project at the same time that John Doe Editions is funding their project for this sourcebook. We're also offering the GM/VO Screen, a ton of scenarios as stretch goals, and some cool add-ons.

I don't expect every game to be a good fit for you, but your support for these translation projects is very welcome and especially gratifying! Thanks!

Here's a Treat: Layout Version of the Introduction
almost 8 years ago – Sat, May 07, 2016 at 04:02:19 PM

Thank you everyone for the comments to the text file of the first chapter of the game. Given the large number of very useful comments, I've pulled the plug on layout formatting for the entire *huge* chapter. Too many changes seem likely!

Still, for those of you who prefer reading formatted text, and as a treat for everyone to see something close to the final layout for the book, here's the complete Introduction in "final" format.

This file is one you are welcome to share with others because it doesn't contain any core elements of the game. In fact, if you have friends/associates who would like to see this, then you could also direct them to the Aquelarre pre-order page!

Finally, I'm very pleased to announce that the project to translate Aquelarre has opened my eyes to a great number of very nice Spanish games. If you're not subscribed for updates at www.nocturnal-media.com then I encourage you to scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your email address. This is the kind of cool news you're missing.

More Progress! More Projects.
about 8 years ago – Wed, Apr 13, 2016 at 08:25:01 PM

Progress!

The editing process has been very exacting and more time-consuming at the start than expected, but the dialogue between Lester and the editor for the all-important first chapter has almost concluded. Which is to say that Chapter One is *almost* ready to show you in raw text form. An "Aquelarre-formatted" version will follow soon thereafter.

Even More Progress!

While the editor has been combing through the first chapter, Lester has hardly been idle. He's completed and delivered Chapter Two!

And More Projects

If you're a fan of storytelling and player participation in the narrative in roleplaying games, then please take a look at my project for Storypath Cards that is closing in on its final day on Kickstarter. You can get one deck of the tarot-sized cards for only $12 (+$2 outside the US) and help power the project to a final stretch goal to give backers at $40+ a free deck.