Create Using the OSR Rules 'You Know" and Your Audience Will Find You

Over in The Tavern's Facebook Community, a discussion asking about the size of the Swords & Wizardry Community and whether it was a viable community to create for, slid in the direction of system preference (or more exactly in this case, system dislike)

Here's how I see it - all things being equal (size and activity of the various gaming communities, commitment of the publisher to support the material and the communities' support of the systems in question) write for the OSR system you know the best.

Not that surprising, it it?

Obviously for me that means writing my material for Swords & Wizardry Light and Complete. For +Pete Spahn that would likely be Labyrinth Lord. For +joseph browning it would likely be OSRIC. For +Chris Gonnerman it would be likely be  Basic Fantasy RPG. +James Spahn S&W White Box or White Star. The list goes on.

The truth is, any DM worth their salt is going to convert adventures from one OSR system to the ruleset of their choice, with little difficulty and often on the fly, just was many of us used Basic and Expert adventures in AD&D back in the day and I do with DCC RPG Adventures to Swords & Wizardry today.

Some will say writing for the "hot" system of the day can help sales and I'm sure it did with White Star and third party publishers. I'm just not so sure that system loyalty is a driving point among the majority of the OSR community.

The question then becomes, is there an OSR system that is a sort of Rosetta Stone between the various clones. I'd suggest Swords & Wizardry Core for this, but it's more about the ascending / descending AC and perhaps single save than in being "Swords & Wizardry". Adventures written for S&W don't need an AC adjustment to be used with the other clones or original systems, but in truth, you could write an adventure for ANY clone and include ascending and descending AC in the stats and be 100% compatible with every OSR system.

There is a reason that the OSR graphic is popular to place on OSR products - its the OSR damn it!

Creativity is Fed by Illness it Seems

So, yesterday I was pretty much laid out for the day and something strange happened - the writer's block I've suffered recently didn't just end, it started me back at the beginning and moved forward.

Whereas before I had a half dozen adventure seeds that weren't able to get over the creative hump, last night I had an adventure outlined on paper, rooms being detailed and everything already detailed in my head. Surprisingly, I don't seem to have lost anything in that head of mine after a solid 10 hours sleep.

Now, life rarely cooperates with such niceties, and lo and behold, Pinkie and my sis are coming over in half an hour. Thankfully, Pinkie, all of six years going on middle age in some ways, has been known to order me to sit at my desk and write - just need to see if I can convince her to do the same today.

So, a dozen kobolds and an ogre walk into a tomb...

Creativity Coupled with Fear of Critique is Doomed to Failure - Creative Writing Professor, Queens College, Spring 88

At the end of my third year of undergrad I took a Creative Writing Class at Queens College. I had always dabbled in writing stories. What gamer hasn't? My professor had a ponytail, was in his late 30s or early 40s and had a couple of works of fiction behind him. He fit the look of "a creative".

The first day of class he mentioned that the course was a "peer review" type course. We were going to read each other's works and critique them. Afterwards, he would critique both the work submitted and the critiques.

One student balked at the "peer review". He didn't like the idea that other students would be reading his work, let alone offering critique publicly in class. He signed up to have his work reviewed and edited by the professor, not other students.

The professor's response still resonates with me today:

Creativity coupled with the fear of critique is doomed to failure. If you create just for yourself and not for your audience, you may as well stay in bed each morning and masturbate. You'll find it both more satisfying and more pleasurable. Creativity finds it's spark when enjoyed by another, and it's flame when those touched by it share with others. 

Creativity often goes hand in hand with playing RPG. You create adventures, map out worlds, some even create their own rules. Then you share it with your gaming group. If you did well, they not only enjoyed it but maybe offered suggestions to make it better. Maybe not better in your eyes, but in their eyes.

The eyes of your audience.

These days I blog and write gaming material. This summer I've been working on the whole idea of a 4 page OSR system, stripping down Swords & Wizardry: White Box to what I'm currently calling Swords & Wizardry: Light. Rules, adventure, setting, my plate is full.

I'm not writing this for myself, although I have written gaming material in the past more as an exercise and less for an audience.

This project, however, has a targeted audience - The Lapsed Gamer. So, it must appeal to that audience as well as the current OSR gamer who may be looking for a ruleset that will slip into a back pocket and that can be printed on a single sheet, ready to go when needed. Tall order, as small as it is.

I've been silent on it recently, mainly because I haven't gotten as far with it as I would like - or had hoped. Summers are busy times and even the recently retired can find themselves stretched beyond their normal time constraints. But it is progressing. Material will be making it's way here to The Tavern over the next few weeks. At which point, you, my loyal reader, will have a responsibility.

You'll need to critique my work. In public. For all to see. And yes, even your critique may be - critiqued.

All feedback is valuable, perhaps even more so if I disagree with it. The tendency to get too attached to your creation is always a fear one rarely wishes to acknowledge, especially to oneself.

Thank you in advance and I'll thank you again when the finished product is better for the eyes put upon it.

What I Need to Clear My Mind for Writing - Nature

I'm in the Poconos for an extended weekend with Rach and my parents. I"m still amazed I spent nearly 10 months without spending a night out of the city.

For me to create and create effectively, I need to be in the right mindset. Nature not only recharges my batteries, but it invigorates my mind. I did a lot of brainstorming last night for the Swords & Wizardry 4 page / 1 sheet project. I need to update the Google Community with some of the changes / solutions that are likely to be used.

Now, a question that can come now or later, but must be addressed at some point is what do you call rules that are lighter than S&W White Box?

eXtra Light? Vanilla Unboxed? Pale Whiter? White Lite Rules? Simple & Succinct? God only knows...

Seven Unique Magic Sword Attributes

Yep, still trying to squeeze in some creativity with the new work hours...

Alright, here's 7 Unique Magic Sword Attributes / Abilities:

1 - Wounds inflicted by the sword only heal for half when magical healing is used (spells, wands, potions, etc.) Non magical healing works as normal.

2 - Each consecutive miss against the same target adds a cumulative + 1 to hit until a successful hit is landed, at which point the bonus is reset. Note, the bonus to hit is also added to the damage roll if and when the successful hit is made.

3 - Swords Whistles While it Works - The whistling effect distracts nearby foes, resulting in a - 2 to their attack rolls (no save.) The resulting noise requires a random encounter check every third consecutive round the sword is wielded.

4 - Sword Crackles with Electrical Energy - Sword inflicts + 2 damage to foes wearing metal armosr and wielder's hair stands on end.

5 - Sword acts as Feather Fall Spell When Held - Due to lighter effective weight damage rolls are made at -1.

6 - Sword is Extremely Dense - -1 to hit rolls due to weird balance but + 2 to damage rolls due to extra weight.

7 - Sword Channels Negative Energy - Each successful hit by the sword on a foe causes a cumulative - 1 hit penalty for the foe. This penalty lessens at a rate of 1 per day

Random Thoughts & The Moments Between - Part 1, Monday Night Scattershot

So, I experimented with some creative thinking in the free moments at work. I took a legal sheet of paper, folded it so I had 8 quadrants to work with and had at it.

I used 6 quadrants, so maybe a letter sized sheet of paper will have sufficed ;)

As a side note - yes, my handwriting sucks.

I'll do the same for the next 3 nights and see what the results are.

You Know Those Pesky "I's" & "T's"? Project is Now Done!

Yep, I finally finished the f'er. For some reason, the last bits are the hardest, and I really suck at self editing (as anyone that reads this blog on a regular basis can attest to). In truth, I finished it last night, as I suddenly found the zone and went through the different parts and did what I needed to do.

I like the sound of "and then I sent it to my publisher" as it draws images of the postal service and large manilla envelopes and and someone smoking a cigar as an oldie style fan circulates air in the background. The reality is I sent an update via Google Chat saying to check the Google Docs folder as I finally finished my end. Now it's off to layout, and if that person is as slow as I apparently am at getting shit done, lord know when this will come out ;) (trust me when I say "I know he's faster than me").

So, what is it?

Options.

What kind of options?

Army Options sir! (sorry, insert Stripes joke in front of this).

It's about halflings and options and brewing beer.

Alright, less about the beer than the other stuff.

I'm excited to see what the finished product looks like. I'll also be excited to talk about it in more detail when the finished product hits the virtual shelves.

I'm "This Close" to Announcing the Completion of my First Project

Thank the Gods it's Nearly Done

Alright, I just finished the bulk of the project I've been working on over the last two weeks or so. I still have to tighten stuff up and work on some "fluff", but the meat and potatoes are done.

I'm really not used to writing stuff that isn't for the blog directly, let alone working on a project by terms that resemble a schedule. It almost would seem like work, except for the fact that most of it has written itself. If I had to force this stuff it wouldn't be suitable for even orcish consumption.

Once I dot the "I's" and cross the "T's" on this project I'll talk more about it in detail (as it will then be in the hands of someone that can turn it into something worth publishing - oh, and an artist too. Sweet!) Then I go back to working on a yet earlier project, one that's been slowly coming together but needs a decent push on my end.

I'm slowly transforming myself into one of those "creative types".

Scary, ain't it? ;)