Beers and Beards

Book 1 Changes - Read this before starting Book 2!

Here are some of the major edits to book 1!

Octa Millenial! Somebody on RR pointed out that the decamillenium shouldn't be important given that everything is in eights! They were right! So, the deca-millenial has been changed to the Octa-Millenial! 8000 years vs 10,000 is pretty much the same to us humans, so not much of a difference there.

Minnova Reform Mine! The name of the Minnova Prison Mine has been changed to Minnova Reform Mine. Its stated purpose is still pretty much the same, to help down on their luck dwarves and/or minor criminals get reformed. It may sound similar but they have very different tones, and in a cozy genre book like beers and beards, tone is important. Almost nothing changes in the book as a result since it still feels like a prison to Pete, but the general feeling in the mine changed to one of growth and learning, and now the parties make a lot more sense!

Stats! Pete's stats have been fine tuned, and I added a couple more quests to the book. This has resulted in an increase of stats across the board, and Pete will update everyone on his new stats at the start of book 2.

What stats mean! A young teenager in Erd will now average out at around 8 across the board, and every 4 is now an increase of 1.5 times. That means an adult with a strength of 12 will have about 1.5 times higher strength than a teenager. Stats now max out at 32. I felt that was about right and lets me have a fantasy level progression without reaching DBZ levels. A max strength dwarf will be about 12 times stronger than an average 12 year old. That tracks, and makes any magical strength above that really *pop*.

The Boulder! is an actual character from Avatar and using him was iffy, so THE BOULDER!! is now THE STONER! I got to add some fun quips about that, let me tell you! It's now safely parody.

More songs! I added more original mining songs to volume 1, and plan to keep doing so for volume 2.

100% More Dwarf Tossing! I'm not sure on the exact numbers, but I tried to make it 100% more for the final draft. Did you know dwarf tossing was almost illegal in Canada?

Tim! Tim got toned the eff down. His powers are much more an addition to a swindling set rather than mind control. They have clearer limitations and are an aid rather than doing straight mind wiping etc. There's still some stat manipulation involving wisdom theft, but it feels more systemy now. The chapters have been re-written a bit to reflect this, and according to beta readers the entire mine section just feels much cleaner and happier now.

Extra Chapters! A few extra chapters were added to flesh things out in the mine and add a bit more 'cozy'. Bran has a much bigger presence in the first half now! It worked out to about an extra 10,000+ words.

Pub Food! As part of my edits, using the Sacred Brew in something as mundane as FOOD has been added to the list of dwarven Taboos. It helped make Bran an eager conspirator instead of a willing participant.

Pete's Motivations! Pete has clearer motivations now. I can't really describe them in a few short paragraphs, but Pete has tied himself to his quest for better beer a bit more clearly and cleanly in the final edit.