I never quite know which project is going to pull off the upset.

Way back when, I was sure that the Lost City was going to win, and Angels of Our Better Nature, and pretty much every time, I'm wrong. So... I shouldn't be surprised to see that now it's Wrath of the River King, the project that doesn't begin until July and that uses a GSL I haven't seen, that is drawing patron attention. It is just 15 patrons behind Tales of Zobeck, in fact.

And why not the 4E contender? If the Wrath of the River King commission is funded before the Tales of Zobeck/Courts of the Shadow Fey, I will write that one first. The paranoid side of me is convinced that patrons just want to see me flail around with a new format/ruleset/design parameters. "Wrath" would certainly involve a lot of that, as I'll be ramping up in a hurry.

Donate for Tales of Zobeck
Donate for Court of the Shadow Fey
Donate for Wrath of the River King

In other news, I've posted the first design essay for new project (or, if you prefer, another in the continuing series of Blood of the Gorgon design essays). This one is about encounter design, and especially about non-standard encounters. Patrons, give it a look and tell me what you think!

UPDATE: There seems to be some confusion about what I mean by writing Wrath first if it is commissioned first. It won't prevent Tales or Court of the Shadow Fey from moving ahead, but I can only write one project at a time, really. So, the first project to be commissioned gets more of my attention in June/July/August, but both will be written for the patrons who support them.

The commission has been met, and the Arabian Nights project is moving ahead. Thank you to everyone who donated.

Design starts tonight, with quick outlines (these are miniadventures, after all) and then text.

One of the adventures will be written by Jeff Grubb, the author of Arabian Adventures! The working title for his piece is "Blood Oasis". More to come.

The goal for the Arabian Nights project is to have something in hand for patrons in mid-to-late January. To get there, the commission needs to be met on or before October 15th, which is fast approaching.

Current status is pretty good, but there's still a definite gap between 80% there and 100% there. If you have considered supporting this one, now's a great time to jump on board. The first design essays have already been posted, and the strongest adventure ideas are battling it out. Sign up today and see how six playable, portable adventures are put together. UPDATE: The project is done! Thanks to those who supported this commission.

The commission for the Arabian project is about 5/6 funded. I fully expect we'll reach it by the 15th.

In addition, the second poll has chosen the another of the topics for the Arabian Nights. The second adventure will be "The Sand Pirates", originally pitched by valmiras and incorporating refinements from a number of patrons. I'm really looking forward to this one, as it will feature lots of heroic action and mayhem.

The field included 15 strong candidates; of those, six survive to fight it out for the next slot. The survivors are:

• The Buried Tower
  
• Cult of the Howling God
  
• Chasing the Harem Thief
  
• The Haunted Caravanserai
  
• The Red Oracle
  
• The Sailing Turtle

If you are a patron with an idea to throw into the arena for the next round, please let me know by email. If you are not a patron yet, what are you waiting for?Alas, you waited too long, effendi! Now only the patrons of Blood of the Gorgon may acquire this rare treasure!

After a big initial wave of patrons and proposals, things have calmed down a lot. One might say that our Sinbad has hit the doldrums. Funding is almost exactly where it was a week ago.

On the bright side, project ideas and discussion are going well, and this week the patrons will choose the second of pitch to be developed, from a field of about a dozen or so.

Join the project today, and you'll help choose that adventure — or maybe it will be the one you propose! These one-shot adventures range from the macabre Dark Arabia to desert-themed tombs and genies, usable anywhere.

So it's been a week since OD4 opened for patrons, and the commission is half met, with the Arabian project trailing just behind the "Either One" choice in the patron votes so far.

That makes me confident enough that I'll see whether Mssrs. Waller, Cook, Grubb, and Kurtz are interested and available, and see where that goes.

If you are interested in being a patron for this project, but haven't signed up yet, I would say that it probably will launch sooner rather than later. All the interesting foundation decisions are already being made and posted to the site; please sign up today!