Foresight or Folly? A Behind-the-Scenes E.G.O. Adventure

Sometimes, life really does work like a TTRPG adventure. Here’s an example:

Preface:

Great adventures have some commonalities. For example, there tends to be a convergence of two elements at the outset: a compelling threat for a group of heroes to face, and a reason for urgency that compels them to act…now. And, as the adventure unfolds, there have to be a series of unforeseen challenges that force the heroes to work and rely on each other as a team, overcoming together what they never could have faced alone.

Adventure Background:

Back in the last week of February, I was in a quandary. E.G.O. Assignment 3, Thomas Pugh’s fantastic All Rhodes Lead to Redemption was due to be published. However, as the week went on, it became clear that we going to have to delay getting this Assignment through layout and proofreading until after GAMA. But if we did, we were going to miss putting out something new for E.G.O. in February. This was the compelling threat.

Fortunately, I had been talking with one of our E.G.O. volunteers, who had asked me when we going to release The Crow: Foresight’s Folly as an E.G.O. adventure. And I may have said that I would see what I could do. Anyway, when I saw that we were running out of February, I recalled that conversation and thought, “Maybe there is something I can do.” But with only four days left, there was definitely a reason for urgency.

And so, a quest was born…

Act I: As the Crow Flies

A fortuitous investigation check of the Gameplay Options led to the discovery that not only was Foresight’s Follyavailable for E.G.O. play, it was, in fact, already identified as a Scheme. So, at our weekly team meeting at the Zoom Inn, I broached the idea of putting out Foresight’s Folly before the end of the month, now just three days away.

To my amazement, no one stared at me as if I were insane. Instead, they agreed. And so, our intrepid party set out to encounter our first challenge, which was to locate the correct InDesign files and extricate them from their secure location in the Dropbox Temple of Doom.

Thanks to Haley’s navigation talent, we were able to enter the temple and not only find, but also retrieve, the coveted files. So far, so good.

Or so it seemed.

Act II: Resurrection is Harder Than You Think

But, alas, there were (as with any great adventure) unforeseen complications: the cover and layout of the previous Halloween edition needed to be tweaked for its new purpose. The content and rules needed to be scouted for lurking dangers. And to make sure that some hobgoblin had not snuck into the text before us, editing and proofing would need to be redone. Moreover, there was no product listing. To create one would require a side-adventure into the depths of the WordPress labyrinth, a maze that, to the uninitiated, can seem replete with trap-door tabs, secret toggles, treacherous text boxes, and perilous plugins.

Things were looking grim.

Act III: To Battle, Together

But did we give up? Throw up our hands and gnash our teeth? No! We’re gamers! Well, okay, we did gnash a few teeth, but our party nevertheless leapt into action. Paul dusted off his 20-year-old InDesign spells to work some kind of sorcery on the cover and other layout challenges. Bryan and Sig scouted the text and rules to make sure they were still sound. Once they gave the all-clear, Awen went in, wielding her plasma pens with precision strikes to re-edit and re-proof the text, and created a new pdf.

Meanwhile, I obtained the keys and secret passwords to the WordPress labyrinth. After a couple of false turns, I managed to find my way to the secret chamber where I created a new product listing without crashing the website. Awen passed me the pdf and, as our other colleagues hurriedly prepared to wing their way to GAMA, I raced back through the tortured WordPress corridors and, in the absolute nick of time, plugged the product in. It worked.

We had done it. A new E.G.O.-Edition Scheme of The Crow: Foresight’s Folly shone like a February beacon to spine-tingling adventure on the Evil Genius store.

It was time for waffles.

Conclusion: I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

This almost-too-thrilling publishing adventure illustrates why I love working at Evil Genius Games with my band of talented and collegial colleagues, and I thought that it was something to, ahem, “crow” about. I couldn’t ask for a better or more talented group to be a part of when facing challenges in creating and publishing awesome, fun games, or for a better group of people, like our volunteers and fans, to share them with.

The Crow: Foresight’s Folly, the E.G.O. Edition, now available at Evil Genius Games store. Get yours today!

Please note: if you have previously purchased Foresight’s Folly, you do NOT have to purchase this new edition if you want to play it for E.G.O. The fantastic (or should I say, “phantasmagoric”?) adventure remains essentially the same.