We (Faster Monkey) were approached by another company to do some work on a large project they were trying to get completed. Without going into a lot of details, such a job would have probably meant a share of the crowdfunding that had been raised as well as being able to sell a version of the product ourselves. It was gratifying to be asked to do this. It was a kind of confirmation that the hard work we put into our own products was being noticed.
At the same time, it would have meant getting up to speed on a large amount of someone else's previously written material, trying to work within the creative confines of that, as well as the timetable the other company was trying to maintain. Definitely a bit outside my comfort zone, but then I am a lazy creature. Nevertheless, we were excited to try.
After some initial back & forth, it turned out that the other group was going to try and keep things more "in-house." I felt somewhat disappointed, but at the same time relieved. I have a couple of my own projects nearing completion, and Mr. Joel has a few large, long term things he's been working on for a while. Part of me would have resented putting our own work on the back burner to satisfy the requirements of this outside project.
Does this mean I would never take on such a job? Of course not. I would rather write my own things rather than trying to adapt to someone else's vision, though. The indie-RPG publishing world is a tiny pond full of some very creative fish, and if we didn't each have our own ideas about things, we wouldn't be doing this.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Wasting Time
First off, let me bore you with a little bit of shoptalk.
I just got back from Garycon last week. It was great fun and I had a blast, playing, running, and working the vendor hall. Of course, having been an exhibitor, it meant wearing my "publisher" hat a little more than I normally would, but one the plus side, it meant my ego had the satisfaction of people asking me to sign some products (Really! I swear!) and having Frank Mentzer call me over saying "Jeff! I need to talk some business with you!" So, yes, while a small-press RPG publisher is not making money hand over first, the nerd cred is gratifying in a hobby I love.
That said, I have two products I am writing simultaneously. One has seen playtesting and is in rewrite stage now. The other is in rough draft form, less one section we decided to add at the last minute (that's been giving me minor fits, but mostly a matter of slogging through it). There are maps to clean up and other steps that will have to happen from there, but the point is I have projects on my desk to keep me plenty occupied.
Now, in case you didn't know, I have a day job. It gives me enough flexibility that I can, for the most part, block off my time to get my work done and still push ahead on my writing projects around the edges. But the job is my livelihood, not Faster Monkey.
Like so many writers and other "creative" types, it is terribly easy to get sidetracked by life and the internet. (If you've never seen the Simpsons episode in which Neil Gaiman guest stars; Lisa's writing troubles? THAT! EXACTLY THAT!)* which brings me to the title of today's post: Wasting Time.
When you look at the hours in the day, it seems like there are enough to do what you want to do, whether it's writing, cleaning the house, exercise, fixing that broken lamp, etc. but somehow the time just slips away. You just pop over to Facebook for a minute, you watch that one YouTube video, or you decide to go grab a Starbucks. Next thing you know, the day is over. Of course, life is filled with plenty of distractions beyond your control: kids, jobs, flat tires, errands, etc. too, but enough of them are of your own making, that it can be infuriating sometimes.
It is one of the ongoing challenges in my life (and many other peoples', I suspect) to budget time wisely and effectively. Reams of self-help advice have been written on the subject. I don't pretend to advise anyone here, I'm just noting that the condition exists. (In fact, just writing this blog post about it instead of working on stuff is evidence of the condition itself!)
Now, onto how all this relates to gaming.
I mentioned trying to get things written for publication, and of course the same issues would apply even if the adventures were just for personal use (though perhaps to a lesser degree). Apart from players (and GMs) dealing with prepping and making time for gaming, I wonder at the characters and their time management skills.
Keeping track of time in the dungeon makes sense. After all, you've got wandering monsters, torches burning out, rations, etc. It also makes sense when talking about travel time. Are you riding or walking? Is it rough terrain or a smooth road? Or are you taking a ship? What are the prevailing winds? The list goes on.
What about PCs that are just easily distracted or lazy or overworked? Do player characters ever say "I meant to get my armor repaired while we were in town, but there was a great game of cards down in the pub and I lost track of time." or "I was going to transcribe that spell at the mage's guild, but I found a note tucked between the pages of a book full of dirty limericks about the faculty. It was HILARIOUS!"
Probably not.
In truth, I don't even know that it would really add to the overall enjoyment of the game, but it might provide some amusing roleplaying fodder.
* Looks like the video isn't there anymore. Sorry
I just got back from Garycon last week. It was great fun and I had a blast, playing, running, and working the vendor hall. Of course, having been an exhibitor, it meant wearing my "publisher" hat a little more than I normally would, but one the plus side, it meant my ego had the satisfaction of people asking me to sign some products (Really! I swear!) and having Frank Mentzer call me over saying "Jeff! I need to talk some business with you!" So, yes, while a small-press RPG publisher is not making money hand over first, the nerd cred is gratifying in a hobby I love.
That said, I have two products I am writing simultaneously. One has seen playtesting and is in rewrite stage now. The other is in rough draft form, less one section we decided to add at the last minute (that's been giving me minor fits, but mostly a matter of slogging through it). There are maps to clean up and other steps that will have to happen from there, but the point is I have projects on my desk to keep me plenty occupied.
Now, in case you didn't know, I have a day job. It gives me enough flexibility that I can, for the most part, block off my time to get my work done and still push ahead on my writing projects around the edges. But the job is my livelihood, not Faster Monkey.
Like so many writers and other "creative" types, it is terribly easy to get sidetracked by life and the internet. (If you've never seen the Simpsons episode in which Neil Gaiman guest stars; Lisa's writing troubles? THAT! EXACTLY THAT!)* which brings me to the title of today's post: Wasting Time.
When you look at the hours in the day, it seems like there are enough to do what you want to do, whether it's writing, cleaning the house, exercise, fixing that broken lamp, etc. but somehow the time just slips away. You just pop over to Facebook for a minute, you watch that one YouTube video, or you decide to go grab a Starbucks. Next thing you know, the day is over. Of course, life is filled with plenty of distractions beyond your control: kids, jobs, flat tires, errands, etc. too, but enough of them are of your own making, that it can be infuriating sometimes.
It is one of the ongoing challenges in my life (and many other peoples', I suspect) to budget time wisely and effectively. Reams of self-help advice have been written on the subject. I don't pretend to advise anyone here, I'm just noting that the condition exists. (In fact, just writing this blog post about it instead of working on stuff is evidence of the condition itself!)
Now, onto how all this relates to gaming.
I mentioned trying to get things written for publication, and of course the same issues would apply even if the adventures were just for personal use (though perhaps to a lesser degree). Apart from players (and GMs) dealing with prepping and making time for gaming, I wonder at the characters and their time management skills.
Keeping track of time in the dungeon makes sense. After all, you've got wandering monsters, torches burning out, rations, etc. It also makes sense when talking about travel time. Are you riding or walking? Is it rough terrain or a smooth road? Or are you taking a ship? What are the prevailing winds? The list goes on.
What about PCs that are just easily distracted or lazy or overworked? Do player characters ever say "I meant to get my armor repaired while we were in town, but there was a great game of cards down in the pub and I lost track of time." or "I was going to transcribe that spell at the mage's guild, but I found a note tucked between the pages of a book full of dirty limericks about the faculty. It was HILARIOUS!"
Probably not.
In truth, I don't even know that it would really add to the overall enjoyment of the game, but it might provide some amusing roleplaying fodder.
* Looks like the video isn't there anymore. Sorry
Monday, March 11, 2013
New campaign and impending Garycon
Tonight is the second session of the new LL campaign. I'm trying not to steer things too much, but –following Beedo's advice– I want to give them a definite adventure hook to follow initially. I haven't had oodles of time to prep more than that, but hopefully it'll be enough to carry them along into the setting, where the broad strokes I laid out will guide things a bit.
All this is right in the middle of getting ready for Garycon. I shipped our merchandise last week and I fly out to Milwaukee Wednesday afternoon. This will be a very different experience for me, as I am both GM-ing and exhibiting at the con. Still, I did manage to make some room for actual gaming.
All this is right in the middle of getting ready for Garycon. I shipped our merchandise last week and I fly out to Milwaukee Wednesday afternoon. This will be a very different experience for me, as I am both GM-ing and exhibiting at the con. Still, I did manage to make some room for actual gaming.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
vlog? What vlog?
I know I haven't been posting videos as much lately. I tend to do them when a topic occurs to me. I've just posted a new (albeit short) one about the "ClassicDnD" pdfs being available again.
I look like I'm singing the National Anthem or something in that thumbnail.
Monday, February 25, 2013
What to Run: Part 2
Plans are progressing on the campaign front. I sent a "broad strokes" email to the group and got some good response from a few people. Enough so that I felt justified in setting up an Obsidian Portal page for them to peruse (If you've never checked OP out, do so. It's a terrific online resource, even for face to face playing).
Taltos is the setting that Reaper's "Warlord" game uses. I've always liked it (and the minis), as it allows for a lot of fluidity to events. Instead of a nice, stable kingdom, the whole region's power structure is in constant flux. This gives the PCs a lot of freedom, but also less security. It should be interesting to see how they handle it.
I plan on tweaking things a bit from canon, of course. Partially to avoid spoilers (though I imagine most of players have not read the setting fluff) and partially to tailor it to an RPG format instead of a wargame.
Taltos is the setting that Reaper's "Warlord" game uses. I've always liked it (and the minis), as it allows for a lot of fluidity to events. Instead of a nice, stable kingdom, the whole region's power structure is in constant flux. This gives the PCs a lot of freedom, but also less security. It should be interesting to see how they handle it.
I plan on tweaking things a bit from canon, of course. Partially to avoid spoilers (though I imagine most of players have not read the setting fluff) and partially to tailor it to an RPG format instead of a wargame.
Friday, February 22, 2013
What to run?
(Forgive the lengthy rambling. I'm working a few things out in my head as I type.)
So my group is talking about wanting a more extended campaign instead of a series of short adventures and round-robin GM-ing. After Night's Dark Terror (which ran almost a year), we kind of took a break from longer campaigns. I totally understand wanting to play the same character for a longer stretch though. The question: What to play?
I had suggested running an LL/AEC megadungeon campaign for them, using either Barrowmaze, Anomalous Subsurface Environment, or Stonehell. All outstanding products, BTW. (I wish I'd written one or all of them!) The thinking was that it gave the campaign a definite structure, or at least a sort of axis to revolve around. Also, if the PCs had a base of operations (nearby town, etc.), it would make it easier to change the party makeup when one player couldn't make it or one that missed the previous session came to the next (PCs coming or going from town).
I didn't get a lot of buy-in on the idea, so it left me wondering what to try next. I considered Kelvernia, but the cross-genre aspects were a turn off to some. I realized that you can't please everyone, so I should focus on running something I wanted to run. The trouble was none of these choices really "grabbed" me.
I pondered various settings, modules, systems, etc. for a while, but none seemed a good fit for various reasons. Some of them had to do with me, but I couldn't ignore that player buy-in was crucial to not only the campaign's health, but my enthusiasm as a GM as well. It's hard to sit down behind the screen week after week when the people at the table aren't having fun. Then it occurred to me that I could try approaching this in a different way. I decided to start with what I knew about the players at my table and what motivated them (much like Robin Laws' player types and hooks), then I could look at those things and see where it led my imagination. I've always been more creative with a springboard instead of cut loose in a void.
By the way, if you haven't read Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering, do so. NOW.
In the end, a series of distinct, but not wholly incompatible, trends emerged. Without naming names or pointing fingers, this is what I found defined my group as an aggregate. Some are more typical than others, but needed to be accounted for, IMO:
So my group is talking about wanting a more extended campaign instead of a series of short adventures and round-robin GM-ing. After Night's Dark Terror (which ran almost a year), we kind of took a break from longer campaigns. I totally understand wanting to play the same character for a longer stretch though. The question: What to play?
I had suggested running an LL/AEC megadungeon campaign for them, using either Barrowmaze, Anomalous Subsurface Environment, or Stonehell. All outstanding products, BTW. (I wish I'd written one or all of them!) The thinking was that it gave the campaign a definite structure, or at least a sort of axis to revolve around. Also, if the PCs had a base of operations (nearby town, etc.), it would make it easier to change the party makeup when one player couldn't make it or one that missed the previous session came to the next (PCs coming or going from town).
I didn't get a lot of buy-in on the idea, so it left me wondering what to try next. I considered Kelvernia, but the cross-genre aspects were a turn off to some. I realized that you can't please everyone, so I should focus on running something I wanted to run. The trouble was none of these choices really "grabbed" me.
I pondered various settings, modules, systems, etc. for a while, but none seemed a good fit for various reasons. Some of them had to do with me, but I couldn't ignore that player buy-in was crucial to not only the campaign's health, but my enthusiasm as a GM as well. It's hard to sit down behind the screen week after week when the people at the table aren't having fun. Then it occurred to me that I could try approaching this in a different way. I decided to start with what I knew about the players at my table and what motivated them (much like Robin Laws' player types and hooks), then I could look at those things and see where it led my imagination. I've always been more creative with a springboard instead of cut loose in a void.
By the way, if you haven't read Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering, do so. NOW.
In the end, a series of distinct, but not wholly incompatible, trends emerged. Without naming names or pointing fingers, this is what I found defined my group as an aggregate. Some are more typical than others, but needed to be accounted for, IMO:
- A desire to see characters progress and "power up" through experience, influence, skill, loot, etc.
- Escapism into a fantasy world where the character can do cool things competently, including a reasonable amount of good old hack & slash.
- A chance to influence the story and the world around them.
- Opportunities to role play and character development through role play, including intra-party relationships and conflict.
- A fondness for military and martial themes (wars, invasions, special ops, etc.)
- A fondness for dark/horror themes.
- Different character types should have their chance to shine.
- A chance to think and act tactically, trying unorthodox or unexpected things. Also having the potential to be rewarded (in-game or meta) for doing so.
Not everyone displays all these traits, but almost none of them are utterly exclusive to one player.
So what was my takeaway?
1) A sandbox environment with no predetermined story arc. There should be good chances at combat, treasure, and magic.
2) The rules should allow for on-the-fly rulings that let players be creative and clever when dealing with the challenges in front of them, as well as a variety of challenges besides just dungeon crawls and combats.
3) Next, some sort of conflict like a war or rebellion would be a good hook generator, with a chance for the PCs to become involved, willingly or not.
4) Ideally, there would be enough diversity and detail in the setting to make it immersive without being overwhelming, and provide RP opps for those who wished to interact with things like NPCs and forge ties to people and places.
5) Lastly, there should be some element of darkness or weirdness to the place. It's shouldn't just be orcs and dragons. There should be real horrors out there that aren't going away because you can swing a sword.
What do I do with all this? Well, it gave me the germ of an idea. Let's just say that it involves LL+AEC and a published setting, but not a D&D one. Further bulletins as events warrant.
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