I swear I read The Hobbit as a kid. I remember finishing the last page and excitedly running to talk to my brother about it. I’d even seen the cartoon several times. Despite these memories, I walked into the movie knowing exactly three things: there were younger versions of characters I already knew in it, and also a dragon. (I was also pretty sure Gollum was in it somewhere, but that was just hearsay.) So it was that, yet again, I watch a Tolkien movie and everything is new to me.
Nantes as Inspiration for RPGs: Dark Secrets and Bright Machines
In which Chatty tackles two gaming inspirations that the city of Nantes gave him. Expect dark secrets and strange machinations!
Paris as Inspiration for RPGs: Its All in the Culture
In which Chatty explores Parisian culture, it’s people, its architecture and even tries to explain why service is so bad in Paris. Added bonus, a juicy Adventure/Campaign hook based on one very disturbing picture.
Zen and the Art of Dungeon Mastering #3: Mind Your Players’ Styles, Part 3 of 4
Chatty’s series on adapting a DM’s natural style to take into account those of his players continue with three more set of player motivations: Specialty Characters, Method Acting and Storyteling. Don’t miss it!
Thirteen Books Nerds Should Read
Do you collect facts like little boys collect dirt? Do you read nearly all morphemes that flit past your eyes (including cereal boxes and the fine print on DVD cases?) Did you already know the definition of morpheme? If you didn’t, do you have at least five apps on your phone that could tell you? If you said yes to two or more of those questions, read on.
Musings on Continuity
Sometimes, in any fantasy world where you have invested a large amount of your imagination, you start to append your real-world experiences to those of the characters being portrayed. For example, in the Star Wars universe, characters such as Luke are relatable, in that most people understand the story of “the everyman.” He is compelling because of the extraordinary destiny that lies ahead in his life.
Pain of Publication Review: “Dinocalypse Now”
“Dinocalypse Now” is the first entry into the fiction line based in the “Spirit of the Century” universe made by Evil Hat Productions. With Wendig’s mixing of pulpy goodness and a dash of panache, he effortlessly cooks up an exciting story set in the Spirit of the Century universe that stands on its own without knowing the original book..
The Swag of Yore
When I was a kid, we could watch a D&D cartoon and buy AD&D toys at most toy stores. Now, our selection of D&D items appears to be mostly limited to games. t-shirts, and leather goods. Read for musings about how things have changed for D&D merch over the last 30 years, and childish hopes for the future. My heart and wallet ache.
O The Tangled Webs We Weep, When Breathe We Don’t When Go To Sleep
Ever since I was a wee lad, I’ve always had really vivid dreams. On occasion, this translates into really vivid nightmares, which sucks mightily. Usually, though, it just means I’m going to have a good story to tell come the dawn. Well, that is, until I found out I had sleep apnea. Turns out, one of the side effects of stopping to take a break during sleep to not breathe every few minutes is that you never really leave REM sleep — causing incredibly vivid dreams. Getting a machine to help with that provides me with a lot more energy during the day, but I only get a tiny fraction of the WTF I used to reap each night. This week, however, my sinuses have decided to clog up everything, making it really hard for my machine to blow air down my throat to keep me breathing normally. And that meant it was SHOWTIME.
Pain of Publication: Writing to Revise
Even though revisions are a pain in the ass, there’s a feeling of wizardry when you combine two throwaway characters into one quirky minor character or change a few proper nouns around to create foreshadowing. It almost feels like cheating. Knowing that revisions will be made should inform how you write a draft. I have learned to prioritize certain aspects of writing in my first draft and give other considerations lower priority.
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