So we here at Ruminant Productions would like to call attention to a neat idea. It is called Read an RPG in Public Week and it just so happens to be, this week.

http://www.theescapist.com/readrpgsinpublic/

The idea is to actually call attention to the the roleplaying game hobby. Sit outside, read an RPG book, let curious people who see you ask about it. We, of course, would love it if you read your Vanished Lands book out in public for all to see but in the interest of the hobby in general, whatever book you feel comfortable discussing!

Happy Reading!

I am happy to announce that we now have news feeds available for your consuming pleasure! Its a new page on the website which lists all the current feeds we’re supporting for you to plug into your favorite feed reader. That way you don’t have to constantly keep checking back at the site to check for the latest news, just check your feeds and click on through! Enjoy.

We like to think that.

But then there are these guys. These guys who contribute their time and skills towards making our products even better! As if they could help fix perfection right? Right? Guys?

In all seriousness I’d like to announce the Ruminant Productions Contributor’s Page. This page highlights the people and companies who have helped get Ruminant Productions where it is today. We’re glad to have had their help in the past and hopefully in the future as well.

So now you’ve taken a look at the page and gone. “Wow. Those guys are kinda cool. I want be up there on the list too.” Well in the near future we’ll be rolling out a contributions page telling you exactly how you can help us to make some awesome games. In the mean time though you can do your part by telling your friends about us and Vanished Lands and participate in our contest!

Yes I said Contest! Ruminant Productions has rolled out its first contest. Entrants who take this survey are entered to win one of our awesome books for free. The contest runs until March 14th so take the survey soon!

Those of you who wander the site regularly might see a bit of dust and debris about. We’re in the middle of phasing in some new pages and content and re-structuring some of our old content. Because of that we might spill a little paint here and a bit of ASCII there. So please, don’t mind our dust. And feel free to point out any scratches in the paint you might see here or there. You’d be doing us a kindness.

Stay tuned. There is always more to come!

Just a quick update. I know there may be some advertisements out there that may hint that our new book Vanished Lands: Storyteller Archive Vol. 1 is already out, but those advertisements are not correct. We tried to rein them in but they unfortunately distracted our Manager with cookies and they got out before he could stop them. That guy REALLY likes cookies. Anyways, our book is off to the presses but it won’t be out to buy yet for just a little bit.

In the mean time….You can take our new survey! And possibly win one of the new books, or a copy of the Vanished Lands book if you prefer. It’s your choice if you win. So head to the contest page here and check it out :)

- Pat

Also this year will be having a new GM and a brand new adventure. I’m actually working on the pre-generated characters as you read this! (Unless its 4am CST, and then I am likely asleep!) We’re looking forward to seeing you at the convention.

Remember Aggiecon is not on the Texas A&M campus this year but is instead in the Hilton. You can find directions here.

We’re getting the ball rolling early this year, starting in beginning Feburary rather than our usual March! Only 3 weeks away!

Note:  This is a tentative schedule. We’re investigating attending all of these cons right now but we will keep you updated as to our activities and where we will be so keep an eye out.

Aggiecon

February 5-7 2010

College Station Hilton, College Station,  Texas

Aggiecon, our traditional convention, has been moved this year due to an unfortunate event of the Memorial Student Center closing for massive repairs. Which means that the convention also had to change dates.  So it is earlier this year! But still we will be attending Aggiecon and running several games of Vanished Lands. No dealer’s room table this year unfortunately but be sure to get to gaming early to sign up for the games we’re running.

ConDFW

February 12-14, 2010

Crowne Plaza Suites Hotel, Dallas TX

ConDFW is a Literary Sci-Fi Convention in Dallas, Texas, and a regular hangout for those of us here at Ruminant Productions. This is actually an unofficial convention as Ruminant Productions will not be having any official presence (no games, dealer’s room table, panels) at the convention. But keep an eye on the program book for a possible surprise. That being said a large number of us are attending this convention so come on over and see if you can find us. Hint: Check gaming or the bar.

OwlCon

Feburary 19-21, 2010

Rice University’s RMC/Ley Student Center, Houston, TX

Hotel Information

OwlCon is a gaming convention in Houston’s Rice University. This will be our first year at Owl Con and we’re looking into getting a table. Which might mean we’ll have something to sell you. Hint hint. But you’re going to have to show up to find out! Unfortunately we missed the deadline for running games at this con but we’re confidant there will be plenty of other cool games to try out. This Con doesn’t have a dedicated hotel to warn you so the helpful staff have listed several hotels nearby. I’ve posted the link above.

Other conventions we’re looking into:

• ApolloCon (June 25-27, 2010)
• CONvergence (July 1-4, 2010)
• DragonCon (Sept 3-6, 2010)
• GenCon (August 5-8, 2010)
• MarsCon (March 5-7, 2010)
• MiniCon (April 2-4, 2010)
• Origins (June 22 -27, 2010)
• ProtoCon (Sometime in the Fall of 2010)

More info about those cons as we get closer to them!

If you have any suggestions where we might spread the word about Vanished Lands and Ruminant Productions, please comment or contact us.

Thanks for hanging with us for so long and waiting for this next book. I think you will all be pleasantly surprised with what it turned out to be. We’ve got a book here that covers many of the dangers in the Vanished Lands such as The Mists, Ferals, Demons, the Sea, Poisons, and Diseases and gives everyone a little look into one of the possible Vanished Lands timeline. The book is going through final review now and should be out and about in February, but don’t worry, we’ll warn you about it’s debut here first!

For now, here’s a sneak peak at the opening section…

- Pat

The Council was concerned that if we forgot our past, we would become more and more like the Ferals . . .something truly abhorrent. The Council handpicked a group of twelve young Mailmen to travel the world gathering what information they could about the Hard Times and the days preceding the Vanishing. I was one of the chosen. It was an honor never matched in my life. Not even the day I was elevated to colonel was I filled with so much pride. Of course, if I had known the hardship that would follow I would have been less cheery, but no less honored.

Yes Vanished Lands fans, that means you can pick up the current copy of Vanished Lands D20 for a whopping $25 dollars!

Don’t you think your gift giving this year should include cowboys, demons, magic, and no corpses whatsoever? So do we! But the code only lasts until December 31st so get to ordering quick! Enjoy!

So we’re all hard at work on our next upcoming book. A full fledged announcement and press release will be coming soon, we suspect.

We’re also somewhat hard at work on a new back end for the website you see and love. Not much will change for our end users are first but as we start ramping up, you’ll start to see a few small things here and there change. Don’t worry, we’ll be keeping you up to date!

In the mean time, while you’r waiting in anticipation, why don’t you go wander over to the Vanished Lands page. You know I bet it’d make a great holiday gift for that grumpy little gamer who needs a little something both old and new at the same time.

We here at Ruminant Productions take the holiday of Halloween very seriously. It is a time of trickery, and a time of treat…ery. And while we all love getting treats, remember that a good trick will make that chocolate taste all that much sweeter.

I wish I could say that we have some new an interesting content for you to peruse over while waiting for your game to start but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) we are still hard at work on getting our newest Vanished Lands book ready for publishing. Once that is off to the publisher you will likely start to see a lot of changes around here, so keep your eyes peeled.

And remember. Stay out of mist banks, beware of Ferals, and don’t let yourself vanish! Muahahaha!

Take a look around and tell us what you think. Like any major redesign, I expect a few of the skeletons in our closet have gotten up and decided to wandered around, so if you see them, please tell us so we can quickly sweep them under the rug. So dig around the site and see what you think, and don’t be shy to give us some feed back, even if its bad. We can take it.

And like our main page says, we may be small but we have a lot of big things planned. So keep an eye on the site and see how we grow. You will find something you like.