« October 2005 | Main | January 2006 »
December 24, 2005
Almost made it...
As the year draws to a close, there are things I can't yet disclose, but all will become clear as we enter the next year.
2005 introduced Agents of Oblivion and Iron Dynasty in a capsulated form and I made a lot of good contacts in the industry. It may not be apparent, but I've been working on a lot of things simultaneously, rather than just the one thing, but the focus has been narrowed and people have been brought in to help in the flow of things.
Announcements on certain things are imminent, I assure you.
What's in store for next year? RunePunk, most assuredly, and the Unnamed Book of Villainy for M&M Superlink, to be followed up by some things that shall be announced here in January, that are in the works.
I want to thank everybody for their support and good will and the friendships and acquaintances I've already made. I'm doing what I want to do and giving it my all. It's hard work and getting strep throat two weeks ago has really hammered my enthusiasm a bit, but I'm getting better. Promise. That's what the almost made it references. I nearly didn't get sick this year. I'm not about to wax on about my puny childhood...at least not today, but, hey, I've got one more report before the year's over.
Hang tough. Have a good Christmas. Drink some egg nog. Enjoy your time with family and friends. Reflect on inner peace and outer tolerance and chill out for at least a few days doing nothing game related so you'll be ready to get your game on in the New Year!
Peace out.
Sean
Posted by razorwise at 10:27 AM
December 12, 2005
Pink Shoes and Spelling Bees: A Personal Day
Greetings.
An entirely different and possibly useless post follows. If you don't like warm fuzzies, you can stop reading now. If you want to get into my head a little bit and wonder if anything else lurks in there besides dystopian fantasies and madness, by all means, please continue.
Today, my daughter, China, was the representative of her 6th grade class in her spelling bee. Not the entire sixth grade but one of 8th 6th graders going up against a like number of 7th and 8th graders. Naturally, I was there. Not being particularly competitive myself, I told her I was already proud of her and to relax, have fun, and do her best. As the first round started with the word Waffle for some kid, I began doodling out some organizations for AoO....Circle of Osiris...Hand of Rasputin, and, oh yeah, do I want the Cult of the Owl in this or replace it with the Circle of Osiris? Then it gets close to her and I start getting nervous. Don't get out the first round, I think. No one should punk out the first round.
Round 1: Sensory. Piece of cake. She rattles it off this round and every round with perfect composure.
The rounds in order.
Round 1: sensory
Four kids drop out.
Round 2: pursuer
Another four. Down to sixteen. I'm doodling pictures and paying rapt attention now.
Round 3: precipitation. I'm thinking, take your time. Most of the audience was markedly impressed. Lost two. I'm thinking, we'll be here all day at this rate. Down to fourteen. One girl walked off the stage in tears. I think she must've studied all weekend for this or something.
The next round was the round of attrition.
Round 4: interference. I'm thinking, if all the words are like this, she'll win. End of the round leaves eight standing. Then she gets the friggin' word, quiche. It's a friggin' French word for Christ's sake. How many 11 year olds know that word anyway? My daughter sure isn't the next Martha Stewart. She fails.
Being my girl, she leaves the stage head high and pissed. She glowers as she sits down, eyes burning holes in the lunch table. Suddenly, a reprieve. The winner is declared and she gets to go back up for second and third place run-offs. This round she takes the first seat and misses this word and the next word after...entymologist was one word.
Did I mention she's been the last 6th grader since round 3? Anyway...she gets the word luminosity on the final round and nails it. There is a collective gasp from all the kids and adults. I don't if anyone besides my girl and me knew how to spell it. She gets third place. A trophy in the spring awaits her. The kids cheered her by name. She let out a little cheer for herself and did the victory arm pump. She might've gotten third, but she rocked it for the 6th grade class and her attitude carried the Spelling Bee.
Then I had to get pink shoes for her Christmas show thing. Two hours, two light pink closed-toe shoes. One for each foot for a half hour shoe. Such is life.
Now back to my usual madness.
Regards,
Sean
Posted by razorwise at 10:10 PM
December 05, 2005
Constructing Plot Points
A thread came up on the 18th of November and I gave my insight after having completed the plot points for RunePunk: Steam and Shadow. I got some good feedback about it, so I thought I'd post it here for your edification. You may also wish to go back and look at my post on sources for inspiration. ;)
I'm going to lead off by defining plot points for the unitiated.
Plot Points are major adventures that advance the story. Not to be confused with a metaplot which is the overarching storyline. I liken them best to triggers in a video game like Final Fantasy where you can wander around (i.e. take side adventures), but when you accomplish a major task (i.e. slay a boss, find someone, etc.) you move the story ahead and change the environmental factors of the world. Rinse and repeat until you reach the story's final logical-branch point of "defeat the bad guy or fail terribly" (and reload from last save point.) ;)
Now, on to this whole plot point business.
* * *SNIP* * *
I'll offer a few of my own thoughts with the following caveat borrowed from Kipling as a preface. "There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, And every single one of them is right!" and this is just as applicable when writing game stuff.
1. Draw up a map of your campaign space.
2. Label it with appropriately good names.
3. Think up the focus of your campaign.
4. Think up the opposition (beasts, organizations, etc.)
Now, with all of that in hand, you're ready to get down to the business of the Plot Points. One of the interesting things about Plot Points is that they should be designed with a twofold purpose. The first is to advance the storyline and the second is to help reveal a bit more of your world to the players. Think of a good novel or a good movie, that's what they do. Heck, even bad movies and low budget flicks are good to watch too as you can see where they had to choose certain scenes.
If your world is like Tomb Raider, you want to whisk your characters across the Aegean Sea in search of ancient artifacts or to the Jungles of Guatemala for a reason. Dust off your Indiana Jones DVD for inspiration. If your world is a dystopian city of broken social strata, put your characters into situations wherein they see the contrasts clearly. I often use Star Wars analogies when talking to new gamers about Savage Worlds. Ahem, returning to the list.
Remember, you don't have to have your ENTIRE cast together yet. As you develop your plot points, ideas should suggest themselves. Jot those down. They can be later fleshed out into Plot Points or they might work as a small diversion, a savage tale, if you will.
5. Create a laundry list of Plot Points. I'd suggest anywhere from eight to twelve. Come up with a nice introductory Plot Point...the reason the characters are all together, whether it's a shipwrecked crew of pirates or a group fighting the growing forces of darkness and, as you define and refine your focus, look towards where you want everything, ultimately, to end up. You want the climactic finish, but that doesn't necessarily mean tearing your world apart in the process.
6. Define and refine. After you've got your list of Plot Points...start fleshing them out. Leave the game mechanics until the end of this process. You don't need to engage that side of your brain until you've got everything else down. And, regarding working on your Plot Points, work on them in whatever order you'd like, as it should be a somewhat fun process. If you're boring yourself at this stage, you're not going to instill fun in your gamers.
7. Spit and polish. After doing all of the suggested stuff (above), go back and add in the stats for characters and creatures. This is where the game system is particularly kind.
Hmmm...anything else to add. Probably. I'll mull things over and probably revisit this thread again if there is any more interest.
Hope this gives you some insight.
Regards,
Sean
* * *END SNIP* * *
Note: The above was posted on November 18th at 5:07pm, so you now know that I DO post regularly, not necessarily on the Blur website. I want to say that I'm currently reading a great book on Writing for Interactive Media that I'll break down after I get an opportunity to fully absorb it. In the meantime, have good holidays, get your shopping done, and enjoy life as best as you're able, whether that means gaming or dancing or whatever. Getting to the destination is great, but the journey along the way can be quite pleasant too if you let it.
Sincerely,
Sean
Posted by razorwise at 10:55 PM