Flametoad

I’ve kind-of lost track of where I’ve talked about my writing, but yes, I’m still working on ETU. I’ve been working on the plot point section, and I think I’m starting to get momentum again. I’ve written about ETU development on the Savage Worlds forums and on our 12 to Midnight front page. I was also invited by our friends at Flames Rising to submit an essay on the creative process of writing roleplaying games. That was a fun thing to write, since it gave me the opportunity to talk about collaborative writing. At 12 to Midnight, we’ve almost always each done our own thing. The only exception was Green’s Guide to Ghosts, another collaboration between Ed and I. Maybe it’s my imagination, but I think we’re slowly learning more about how to collaborate.

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Unless your geek rating is particularly high, you probably missed the tiny ripple in the Force associated with the release of an all-new edition of Dungeons & Dragons several weeks ago. The release (and run-up over the last few months) has caused a stir among gamers because it made many changes to the rules. Some people loudly proclaim that the 30 year old game isn’t really D&D, it’s just a game that happens to go by that name. They claim that the rules have been heavily influenced by online games, with renewed emphasis on combat.

To my surprise, I discovered that I don’t really care.

I don’t care about D&D, that is. I fell out of love with the game roughly six years ago, and even though I have played it since then, the old spark was gone. Dungeons & Dragons is more than a system. It’s a style of gaming in a fantasy setting. It’s the game that coined the term “dungeon crawl”, meaning going from location to location (be it rooms in a dungeon or clearings in a forest) exploring and fighting. That style of play can be summed up as “beat up monsters and take their stuff”. Oh, freeze your tongues. Yes, I know there have been countless campaigns that don’t revolve around the acquisition of power and wealth. I’ve just never played in one.

I’m not even disparaging the acqusition of wealth and power. Heck, sign me up for some! But in the D&D games I’ve played, the acquisition of power seemed the central pillar from which everything else was supported. Think about it. In any edition of D&D, the system is based on the idea of overcoming obstacles to gain experience points to gain a level to gain skill/feats to get better at overcoming obstacles to gain experience. Roleplay is something that’s done between episdoes of combat. In that regard, maybe the new edition of D&D is just embracing its true nature.

I’ll admit, there are times when think about what I consider neat concepts for fantasy campaigns. For instance, I think it would be neat to have a campaign in which all the heroes were the same class or race. For instance, a group of paladins. I also think it would be neat to play a group of Warforged mercenaries in the Eberron setting. That being said, the first time I encountered a dungeon crawl I think the game would be over for me. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy tabletop combat. I just don’t want it to be the foundation of the game.

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So I’m heading on a vacation shortly. One of my goals was to be able to do some photoposts to the blog while I’m gone. I just installed a WordPress plugin called Postie to help with that. I don’t have a lot of time to test it, so I’m hoping this works.

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Okay, so I haven’t watched Hellboy II yet, and I doubt I’ll get to see Batman this weekend. The best I’ve been able to do this week is keep up with Dr. Horrible (He saw the operation that you tried to pull today, but your humiliation means he still votes neigh!)

However, there’s yet another movie that I want to highlight today. There’s a new trailer out for The Watchmen, and it is absolutely fantastic. I can’t find a menu for embedding it yet, but follow the link and check it out. Each scene is straight out of the graphic novel, so I feel pretty good about getting a movie that is true to the book.

Like the title said, it’s a good time to be a geek.

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For you writerly types, did you know that the U.S Copyright Office finally entered the late 20th century? It’s true! You can now file your copyright registratrion online! Go forth and… um… register!

via Teleread.

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