The Curse of Er'Mah'Gerd cover

The indominable Mary Christopherson has done it again!

It is my pleasure to share the cover design for my upcoming tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG), The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd.

Inspired by The Lost Tale of Sir Larpsalot—the source material for the game—the cover for The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd reverses the color scheme of the novel while paying homage to its predecessor’s overall composition.

Honestly, I love it, and I can’t wait to see it on the shelf beside all my other books.

About that, though…

Project Update

When pondering a plethora of possibilities for 2022, my hope was to release The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd in June and then fill the third and fourth quarters of the year working on my next project (whatever that will be). Sadly, that summer deadline must be delayed for two major reasons:

1. More Games!

Over the past couple of months, I have been busy freelancing for another TTRPG publisher, proofing a standalone adventure as well as four chapters of a campaign for an excess of 100,000 words—the equivalent of a novel!

I will complete these jobs up at the end of April, at which point I can turn my attention back to The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd. But I seriously doubt I’ll be able to whip my TTRPG into shape in a mere month.

Especially since my next steps are somewhat muddles…

2. Analysis Paralysis

Following internal playtesting, external playtesting, and other miscellaneous feedback, I am left with a long list of questions, concerns, and other considerations that could impact fundamental aspects of the game.

To be fair, I tend to experience a bout of panic (or outright despair) in between drafts, convincing myself that I will have to completely rework a project before it is fit for publication. The reality tends to be far less severe, but since I haven’t had a chance to wrap my mind around the matter these past few months, I can’t yet say how long it will take me to reimagine, rearrange, and otherwise repair the game.

All I can say is, God willing, this work in progress will see the light of day before year’s end!

The silver lining is that even while I press the pause button on The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd, the project still moves forward in small ways, including additional character illustrations, which I hope to share next month.

As much as I define myself as a progress junky, I won’t rush this. I want to be proud of every works that bear my name. If that means taking some extra time for quality control, so be it!