I am on track for releasing the next playtesting draft to backers by November 30.

It will have about 150 pages at 8.5 x 5 digest book size. At this point there is no art or index. However, there is a LOT of brand new stuff, along with retooled material from the last playtest.

This book is still small enough to fit in a pocket. I plan to keep it that way (for Book I) because I want players to find it easy to introduce new people and get new games started.

I am in a fairly comfortable spot at the moment. I feel I could release the document as it is and it would be great for a playtesting draft, but I’ve left myself some time to look it over, think about it, and make any other adjustments (instead of flopping over the finish line, spent.) I know there will be more changes, and they will be significant; my group is slated to playtest the game through the month of December, and great improvements always emerge based on game experience with a new system.

Here is my initial thinking for structuring the Axes and Anvils project. THIS IS A DRAFT. I am confident it will undergo changes in order and content as the work continues.

I am still thinking through what size book will work best; it will likely be smaller than 8.5 x 11.

Part One will be in its own slim book. This will cater to those who want a pick-up-and-play game, and those who will not look at a book beyond a certain trim page count. Everything you need to apply the system and run games in your own setting or out of your imagination is in Part One.

Then there will be a book with Part One, Two, and Three in it.

The web site will have each tool in the toolbox (Part Three), free online.  The number of tools can be expanded over time. People will still get the bigger book, to have it collected and available, and to get Part Two. Some people want more than the basics, and the collection of all three parts will have some really great stuff in it. I will likely have a blog post for each tool with some explanation and the tool as a .pdf in the post, and link an index to the blog posts. As tools get updated, they’ll get a new blog post, and the destination of the link on the index page will change.

Then I’ve started a list of other, related products beyond the Pt. 1 book and the omnibus.

PART ONE: GAME

1. Rules.
2. Clan Generation.
3. Character Generation.
4. Character Advancement.
5. Clan Advancement.
6. Challenges and Foes.

PART TWO: WORLD

1. Epochal History.
2. Dwarven History.
3. Dwarven Religion.
4. Allies and Antagonists.
5. Gods and Monsters.
6. Flavors and Themes.

PART THREE: TOOLBOX

1. Name Generators.
2. Mission Generator.
3. Dwarven Road Generator.
4. Playing Without a GM.
5. Treasures.
6. Monster Maker.
7. Warbands.
8. Playing Other Races.
9. Enchanting Objects.
10. Weather, Terrain, Natural Hazards.
11. Henchmen.
12. Politics and Heresies.

OTHER PRODUCTS

1. Legend Generator [Card Deck].
2. Short Story Anthology.