The Sterling Vermin in 2017

Happy new year, patrons!

I was daydreaming today about some of the things I'd like to accomplish with the Sterling Vermin this year and decided I'd like to talk a bit about that with all of you!

In terms of content, I have a lot of projects I'm interest in as well as an open mind about projects I haven't even considered yet. Obviously the Scholar will continue development and be released in 2017. I also would like to revise and get original art for the Saurian race first posted a couple months ago.

A longer term project that I'd like to do is to go back through the Complete ________ Handbook series I wrote at the start of last year.  I'd like to do this because, first of all, I think I could dramatically improve their balance with an additional year of D&D 5e design under my belt and, second of all, I'd like to add new content to them. I'm not sure exactly when I would expect to start working on this project but probably the first half of 2017.

Other content ideas I'd like to work on this year include Darkest Dungeons & Dragons (D&D rules that incorporate some of the themes and feel of the Darkest Dungeon video game), Kingdom Death & Dragons (D&D rules that incorporate some of the themes and feel of the Kingdom Death boardgame), and dive back into exploring science fantasy as a genre in 5e. While I'd like to do all of these, their status is more up in the air than the other content - they are all big commitments and I will likely only complete one or two of them.

Finally, I've let you all know that I'm interested in creating a print book themed around taverns. While the work has gotten slow on it recently I still fully intend to complete the project as a printed Sterling Vermin book would be a real dream come true for me.

Other than content, I have some other ambitions for the Sterling Vermin Adventuring Co this year as well. Last year I toyed with the idea of starting a podcast but about the time I did that my old computer died. I've been writing for the blog on a Chrome book since then and, while it does the trick, it's certainly harder to write longer pieces on it and it's impossible to do more complicated projects (like recording and editing a podcast). With the money I've made from DM's Guild I can finally afford to replace my old computer so I'll be doing that next month and, when I do, I can finally look more seriously at producing a podcast and / or doing a video series.

At the same time as I'm looking to expand into new formats of content I'll also be considering how to update this Patreon to the new opportunities that come from that. I have been considering the idea of tiers that would open up a monthly chat room for those who pledge at a particular level or possibly even running games for folks. I don't have a lot of solid ideas about this yet but I am focused on maximizing the number of people I can reach without necessarily adding a lot to my workload - I want to keep myself as busy with I can writing new material!

Finally, while I don't have any specific plans around this yet, I'm hoping that 2017 brings me some opportunities to partner with others in the community. There are several folks out there doing their thing with D&D 5e be it by writing adventures, creating videos, or some other innovative projects.

And that's about it! If you're interested in sharing I'd love to hear what your personal D&D goals are for 2017 or what you'd like to see out of the Sterling Vermin this year.

Happy new year!
Benjamin