Earlier this year I wrapped up a year and a half long Fantasy Craft campaign. It was our first time using the system and it was one of the best campaigns my group has ever played (their words), it was the best campaign I had ever run, and it was the first game that we ever really finished. It had a plot that carried from the earliest sessions and was carried all the way to the final game, complete with closure and a final sense of accomplishment.
Oct 23, 2012
Jul 13, 2012
On the subject of writing and other shit.
Well, somehow, a month has gone by and I don't really have anything to show for it, game design-wise. I wish I had more to show for it, but all I've really got are lots of odds and ends. I stopped working on one project, started working on another, put that one down for a little while, then started on yet another.. Then put that one down and revisited an older project after my friends expressed interest and offered input on the ideas I was laying out. I am particularly invigorated by the feedback from my friends in particular because they are my playtest group and they are the people I want to make games for and then run those games for.
I wouldn't quite say they are my inspiration or anything sappy like that, although they are an astoundingly potent resource for bouncing ideas around with. Something about explaining my ideas to them just makes me think so much more clearly and makes the end goal of a completed game seem so much more feasible. Fortunately, I'm looking forward to more discussions like those in the future for a couple reasons. Firstly, we finished our first ever Fantasy Craft campaign after a year and a half and we are currently between games, giving me a good excuse to get some of my projects playable and ready for playtest. Secondly, they've been wanting me to finish a game for a while now and that's just even more reason to get off my ass and finish something.
I wouldn't quite say they are my inspiration or anything sappy like that, although they are an astoundingly potent resource for bouncing ideas around with. Something about explaining my ideas to them just makes me think so much more clearly and makes the end goal of a completed game seem so much more feasible. Fortunately, I'm looking forward to more discussions like those in the future for a couple reasons. Firstly, we finished our first ever Fantasy Craft campaign after a year and a half and we are currently between games, giving me a good excuse to get some of my projects playable and ready for playtest. Secondly, they've been wanting me to finish a game for a while now and that's just even more reason to get off my ass and finish something.
Jun 6, 2012
Card Mages and the Aspect system
Card Mages were an idea I had on a train-ride that involved creating a sort of meta-game for casting spells. Like many of my ideas, after toying with it for a while, I took it to /tg/, kicked it around a bit further, then shelved it for later, after my frigid bitch of a muse decided it had enough of my shit, and left. I eventually ran a quest with the idea that seemed pretty well received, even if it was a very slow moving affair. I've been meaning to pick that up again, but the time it took to run just one thread was more than I'm comfortable spending on a single thing.
Card Mages and Card Magic are one of my more complete and usable projects. After reading through the threads and my notes, one of the players in my Fantasy Craft campaign was actually eager to try and transplant it into our current game, but I didn't want him killing off his current character just to playtest it.
Card Mages and Card Magic are one of my more complete and usable projects. After reading through the threads and my notes, one of the players in my Fantasy Craft campaign was actually eager to try and transplant it into our current game, but I didn't want him killing off his current character just to playtest it.
May 30, 2012
Dungeons and Dragons NEXT: First Playtest Kit
I was working on another post, which I'll probably have up soon, but the playtest kit for Dungeons & Dragon's NEXT (aka D&D 5e) was released a little while back and let's just say that I have... concerns.
May 17, 2012
Together as One: An Overview
I've brought up this project a couple times before, but unlike InfiniCon and The Endless Wilds, this is one of the few projects where I started working on mechanics and rule systems first because this was based off an already existing concept and setting. There's something to be said about having a solid concept before working on mechanics, but that's a rambling post for another time.
First off, it should go without saying that this system isn't finished yet and certain parts are still unclear or not fully explored yet. Secondly, this is just a brief overview to give you an idea of what I'm doing with this system.
First off, it should go without saying that this system isn't finished yet and certain parts are still unclear or not fully explored yet. Secondly, this is just a brief overview to give you an idea of what I'm doing with this system.
Apr 18, 2012
From the /tg/ Archives
So, I'm well aware that 4chan has a bad reputation and even though I think of it as a wonderful creative resource, I still wince a bit when I have to explain to friends and other net-folk that I do some of my best work on /tg/. What I urge people to really understand is that 4chan is so much more than just /b/. There are other boards and other communities where wonderful, entertaining, fascinating things are happening all the time. Look at their /diy/ board and see what I mean.
With that said, though, my most creative and best times are spent on /tg/ - traditional games. Luckily, some of my best threads were archived and saved, and in a few cases they've been turned into lengthy pages on 1d4chan.
I've already introduced and glossed over a couple of my projects in the past few postings, but if you want to see where they started and how they were discussed or even just to see the current state they may be in, here is a giant pile of links of archived threads from /tg/ for you to check out.
With that said, though, my most creative and best times are spent on /tg/ - traditional games. Luckily, some of my best threads were archived and saved, and in a few cases they've been turned into lengthy pages on 1d4chan.
I've already introduced and glossed over a couple of my projects in the past few postings, but if you want to see where they started and how they were discussed or even just to see the current state they may be in, here is a giant pile of links of archived threads from /tg/ for you to check out.
Apr 17, 2012
The Endless Wilds: Another Introduction
Yet another part in my never-ending quest to revive and pursue the completion of my various projects. Unlike InfiniCon, this idea mostly exists due to /tg/'s help. If you don't mind me saying, there is a lot of good to be gained from that particular board on that specific site. It's not always a wonderful resource, but when it is, I can't think of a better place to seek people to bounce ideas off of.
Now, in the case of this project, it started with another simple idea. Someone had posted a page from the webcomic Rusty and Co. wherein a character used their cellphone to check facebook while tracking a band of gnolls. A funny little one-off gag, but it got me thinking, like things usually do.
Now, in the case of this project, it started with another simple idea. Someone had posted a page from the webcomic Rusty and Co. wherein a character used their cellphone to check facebook while tracking a band of gnolls. A funny little one-off gag, but it got me thinking, like things usually do.
Apr 3, 2012
InfiniCon: An Introduction
Much to my surprise, a friend on /tg/ went and picked up a project I had started on a few months back. Seeing as I've sort of slacked on the updates already, this seems like just as good a reason as any to post.
First off, InfiniCon is an idea I had a couple years back. I never did anything with it because I wasn't sure what to do with it. I never wrote it down or anything, I just sort of had it floating around. It came to me after leaving an anime convention on a Sunday, wherein the real world sets in again and you come back down from that weird feeling of being surrounded by all that shit you know and love.. Then I thought, "what would it even be like if this never ended?" It was one of those wishful, escapist thoughts you get sometimes.
Later, I started thinking more about that idea. "What if there was a Convention that never ended?" At the time, this thought led to some strange stories about a film noir sort of detective, examining a crime scene at a hotel room, getting into shit with some local costumed thugs, and running for his life down the back halls and service tunnels of an enormous city-tower Hotel, clinging to a well-worn wooden sword for dear life.
First off, InfiniCon is an idea I had a couple years back. I never did anything with it because I wasn't sure what to do with it. I never wrote it down or anything, I just sort of had it floating around. It came to me after leaving an anime convention on a Sunday, wherein the real world sets in again and you come back down from that weird feeling of being surrounded by all that shit you know and love.. Then I thought, "what would it even be like if this never ended?" It was one of those wishful, escapist thoughts you get sometimes.
Later, I started thinking more about that idea. "What if there was a Convention that never ended?" At the time, this thought led to some strange stories about a film noir sort of detective, examining a crime scene at a hotel room, getting into shit with some local costumed thugs, and running for his life down the back halls and service tunnels of an enormous city-tower Hotel, clinging to a well-worn wooden sword for dear life.
Mar 11, 2012
Game Design intro
Okay, so I've been neglecting this thing, mostly because I'm a lazy twit and I'm really opposed to using it as my personal outlet for whining and personal life bullshit and so on. I don't even use facebook for that shit. I'm just not that kind of guy.
I don't produce nearly enough props or costumes to keep something like this updated regularly. .. However, I do regularly toss together various game design ideas. In fact, Game Design is a real passion of mine. One day I hope to complete and publish a pen and paper RPG of my own. I have several projects, settings, ideas, and systems in the works, but I've kind of been sitting on them and stashing them away. While I still revisit most ideas over time, just letting them gather dust is bad for the development process. So, to further help myself, I figure I could share these ideas through this blog.
Whether any of these ideas actually reach fruition and become full games or what have you is something I can't really foresee, but I think that putting these ideas out there is better than just letting them rot in my cluttered onenote files. Maybe they'll inspire someone, maybe they'll get people interested enough to urge me into finishing them.
Also, I'm trying to figure out some stuff. For some reason all of my "read more" page breaks come up as "older posts"... So.. Click Older posts to read more.
I don't produce nearly enough props or costumes to keep something like this updated regularly. .. However, I do regularly toss together various game design ideas. In fact, Game Design is a real passion of mine. One day I hope to complete and publish a pen and paper RPG of my own. I have several projects, settings, ideas, and systems in the works, but I've kind of been sitting on them and stashing them away. While I still revisit most ideas over time, just letting them gather dust is bad for the development process. So, to further help myself, I figure I could share these ideas through this blog.
Whether any of these ideas actually reach fruition and become full games or what have you is something I can't really foresee, but I think that putting these ideas out there is better than just letting them rot in my cluttered onenote files. Maybe they'll inspire someone, maybe they'll get people interested enough to urge me into finishing them.
Also, I'm trying to figure out some stuff. For some reason all of my "read more" page breaks come up as "older posts"... So.. Click Older posts to read more.
Jun 27, 2011
The Wire and Mesh Technique
So, I've been meaning to update this thing more often, but I just kept putting it off. So, until I get around to writing entries about the rest of my projects, let's talk about a method I've been messing with for a while now.
The Wire and Mesh Technique is actually really simple and can be several different ways. I've used the wireframe thing in the past to create large structures and then cover them in cardboard, which gives okay results, but is is flawed for a few reasons. Most of them being the the wireframe shows through beneath all that cardboard and duct tape if you don't make the framework tight enough.
The Wire and Mesh Technique is actually really simple and can be several different ways. I've used the wireframe thing in the past to create large structures and then cover them in cardboard, which gives okay results, but is is flawed for a few reasons. Most of them being the the wireframe shows through beneath all that cardboard and duct tape if you don't make the framework tight enough.
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