Show and Tell

I was recently reminded of the old tale of "how I got into writing roleplaying games". The weird thing is, it wasn't anything to do with gaming, it was movies. Neill Blomkamp.

You've probably seen online the recent announcement that Neill Blomkamp, the genius of the high-tech, super-realistic sci-fi genre and director of District 9, and most recently Chappie, was going to direct a new Alien movie, starring Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn. This rather excellent news stemmed from conversations Blomkamp had had with Sigourney Weaver while filming Chappie, and his imagination was fired up. From what I could tell he just wanted to make an Alien sequel, did some designs, some concept artwork, and the project kinda stalled. So, he put it on his Instagram account, saying he was disappointed...

The internet went wild. The internet spoke.

The world wanted to see Blomkamp's Alien sequel, and Fox listened. They greenlit the project, everyone's happy. The fans get the Alien sequel they want. Fox are ensured the interest is there for an expensive movie.

This isn't the only time this has happened, and recently too. The awesome Gillian Anderson was on the Nerdist podcast being her usual hilarious and brilliant self. Naturally, the topic of The X-Files came up. In a jokey way, she asked "Do you think people want a new X-Files?" and listeners were encouraged to show their support by spreading the tag #XFiles2015. Again, the internet answered in their thousands, and Fox listened. Lo and behold, Fox announces the return of The X-Files for a six episode event series. Fantastic!

Though that was a little different, and maybe a little off topic. Any excuse to mention Gillian Anderson. I know... sorry...

Maybe it would be better to use the Deadpool movie as another example. A film the studio had very little faith in - but a short "sample" video to show off the tone and type of movie it would be ends up online, and the massive internet response means that the studio - oh, look... it's Fox again - can make a film that they have an audience for. Clever...

Other examples could be said to include the current spate of "fan videos" that populate Youtube - incredibly high quality short movies such as "Dirty Laundry" or "Judge Minty", that are made by filmmakers who want to prove to the  world that their vision, their creative ideal, is what the world wants. It's like they're making short "showreel" videos, hoping a studio takes note, and gives them the greenlight, or a job.

And that brings me back to Blomkamp again, with his short "Alive in Joburg" which really made everyone aware of his work and really lead to District 9.

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What does this have to do with RPGs I hear you say?

I guess it's really just a case of being able to show (a) that you can do it, and (b) what you have in mind. Then you have hope that (c) someone likes it enough to have faith in you.

When I wanted to get into roleplaying game writing oh-so-many years ago, back in the late 80's, I wrote to West End Games, asked for guidelines and if it was okay if had a go at writing an adventure for their Ghostbusters game. You can read about how their positive feedback kept me trying here.

And then when I first talked to Eden Studios about writing for them, for their All Flesh Must Be Eaten line, they said "Sure, show us you can write!" - so I submitted a complete supplement to them. While it wasn't what they wanted there and then, I proved I knew the system and was willing to do the work - and they gave me the task of putting together Terra Primate... and the rest is history.

--

That said, my head is full of crazy ideas. Games and settings, licenses and designs that I'm convinced would be popular but I can't just publish. So, inspired by Blomkamp, instead of just leaving them in notebooks and as files on the computer, I thought I'd polish them up and put them out as an open letter - a pitch, of sorts - to show the world what I had in mind.

The many notebooks for WILD

If they're licensed properties, they're not designed to infringe on any copyright - they're just ideas for cool games I had in mind that I wanted to share. Who knows, maybe the IP owners will like what they see and think it's an idea worthy of pursuing.

So, if you see a post on here called "Blomkamping", pay it no mind. It's just me, airing the crazy creations that circle my mind. Who knows where it may lead...

Welcome to the (Creative) Desert of the Real...

From my trip to Australia, 2014

The above picture from the window of The Ghan train, travelling up the middle of Australia, summarises everything going on in my head at the moment. It's one big desert, with little glimpses of life in the distance that look exciting and interesting, but too far away to reach.

I have this problem where I get very excited about a project, and it dominates my thoughts. When the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG was in playtest I was incredibly excited, and devoured the TV series again (I mean, any excuse to rewatch Buffy? Right?), and ended up writing parts of the Slayer's Handbook, and helping to edit that and Monster Smackdown. 

When I thought about Conspiracy X (fantastic game!) and how it didn't have the same system as other Eden games (Unisystem), I became obsessed with the idea of converting ConX to Unisystem, and pitched to Eden to do it. I signed the contract to do the new incarnation of Conspiracy X just a couple of weeks before my father died, and I immersed myself in game. Maybe it was my way of dealing with it all. It took a couple of years of rewriting, updating and editing, but eventually Conspiracy X 2.0 was released with the new system. 

Talking to a Conspiracy X fan online who turned out to be Chris Birch, founder of Modiphius Games (publisher of some awesome titles, and the new Kickstarter for the ultra-cool Thunderbirds co-operative boardgame), we discussed properties that could introduce roleplaying games to a new generation of players. The discussion continued, and it evolved into a crazy pitch to the BBC with Dominic McDowall-Thomas, Angus Abranson and Fred Hicks to do the Doctor Who roleplaying game. None of us thought we'd have a chance, but it lead to producing the award winning Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG for 

Cubicle 7.

Doctor Who became the be-all-end-all of my working existence. Unfortunately, my day-job when I wasn't working on the game was very focused on Doctor Who as well - selling Doctor Who merchandise and DVDs. I think I saturated my head too much in all things Time Lord and burned out. 

Then I made a mistake. Another one, of many...

I thought I'd do something else. I turned my back on the RPG writing, and thought I'd try something completely different. Needless to say it didn't pan out. I was stupid, foolish and deluded.

Thankfully, Conspiracy X came to the rescue again. Kickstarters saw the last of these published which meant I was called back to a game I hadn't looked at for a while, and again I immersed myself in the that world at a time when I needed it again, just as I lost my mother.

I was having a tough time, and after Conspiracy X my head wasn't really in the "game" (so to speak) for anything too depressing, and then...

I made another mistake. Or rather, series of mistakes...

I started turning RPG work down. 

I had WILD starting, an incredibly personal project for me about dreamshare, and the more I thought about it the more "into" it I got. So much so, that when I did NaNoWriMo I started writing the backstory of the game as a novel - or rather a trilogy of novels. 

But I've been working on WILD for over two years now, and I'm floundering. The first novel is in the middle of rewrite, and I'm convinced no one will ever want to read it. The game's system has had some rewrites and may be moving away from the "Rapid Die Movement" I'd planned to being purely card-based. I look at the game and wonder if anyone would ever want to play it. And again, I'm feeling burned out.

I want enthusiasm again.

In the back of my head I have that nagging doubt - imposter syndrome - telling me I shouldn't bother. I'm nothing important, past game development successes were a fluke. Hell, I work 5-6 days a week in a shop.

In the back of my head I have that goading chatter - telling me that after Doctor Who I should be trying something else, like Harry Potter, James Bond, Sherlock, or Star Trek. A couple of those have lead to phonecalls, and emails with property owners, despite it just being me... a little nobody without a publisher...

These voices argue with each other, like past characters from games I've played (one probably has hair). In the middle of it all, I just want to be writing. To continue on WILD. To write something different - I had ideas for a more kid-friendly RPG like Adventure Time called "Awesonomicon" ((c)2015 David F. Chapman - just in case), and for a Twin Peaks-like setting for multiple game systems for a town full of secrets that could be used with anything, inspired by Peaks, Fortitude, Under the Dome, and so on...

But nothing will probably come of it.

I tried doing videos, I saw it as a means of showing off the cool of the gaming world, but when each video only gets about 30 views I have to wonder if I'm wasting my time.

So that's where I am at the moment. The real world is being hard on those I hold dear, making it hard to concentrate. But I wanted to get it all down, to state where I am, and apologise. 

Maybe I should just dig out the cards and try to tell my future...

Thanks for listening.

Dave

Pleasant Dreams and WILD cards

Sorry it's been very quiet on here for a while, but this year has not been brilliant so far.

Things being the way they are, this is possibly my last video for a while. I promised I'd look at the awesome Kickstarted card game Pleasant Dreams by Aerjen Games. It's a beautifully produced little game where players try to remain happily asleep and fight off the horrific nastiness that can plague a good night's sleep.

You can purchase the game direct from their website.

On the subject of cards, I've been tinkering with using the Tarot as the main mechanic rather than using dice. The second half of the video looks at some of the ways the cards may work. They're still roughs, and I'm still not sure if they work (or if they're anywhere near as quick as using dice), but I'm pondering.

Well, that's it. Next blog post will probably be more text than not, but in the meantime be good to each other, and stay multiclassy.

A World of Infinite Possibilities

I had this moment of revelation over the Christmas holidays, and it was all about Disney. Playing Disney Infinity 2.0 with the lovely wifey, I was struck by how similar the skill trees for the characters, gaining extra "feats" when they "levelled up", looked to the skill trees for the Fantasy Flight Star Wars RPGs... in fact, like most RPGs that use skill trees dating right back to the first one I can think of, which was the old Games Workshop UK reprint of Paranoia.

It got me thinking of the reverse too... how a tabletop RPG based on Disney as a whole could work, with supplements that would allow you to play in all of the Disney properties, from Frozen and Brave, to Pirates of the Caribbean, to Tron, to Marvel and even Star Wars...

I made a video talking about my theories... please watch, share and comment!!

Until next time, stay multi-classy!!

Catching Up - Part 2: Hogwarts

Desperately trying to catch up with the events of December, continuing to the next cool and exciting thing which was another trip to Hogwarts - or rather the Warner Bros. Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter.

The wife and I at the Studio Tour...

We've been to the Studio Tour so many times now I've actually lost count. It's awesome, and if you're even remotely interested in Harry Potter you'll have a great time. If, however, you're a bit of a fan-boy like me, you'll spend hours pouring over every exhibit, and will be counting the days after you leave before you can visit again.

This time, it was part of a "Groupon" event where you paid a little extra on the usual ticket price, but in return you went around the tour in the evening, technically after it had closed. It meant that there were fewer people about, and they'd put on a host of extras including free Butterbeer, food, tour guide, and invited the animals and some of the prop-makers from the movies to add to the experience.

I took some video footage, check it out!!

Catching up - Part 1: Dragonmeet

Wow, has it really been a month since I blogged last? I'm so sorry. In the next couple of days I'm going to desperately try to catch up with everything, with a recap of what happened in December (well, the exciting bits that aren't just working in retail, fighting off the crowds like Helm's Deep) and what is to come in 2015...

First of all, my previous post listed the upcoming (then) Dragonmeet.

The Dragonmeet 2014 convention took place on the 6th December at the ILEC convention centre in London - a new home for the convention that has been running for years. Not only was it a new location, but also a new team running the convention after Cubicle 7 Entertainment handed the keys over to Modiphius earlier this year.

The convention was a complete blast. Really busy, and great to catch up with loads of people I hadn't seen in ages, or had only really met over the Book of Faces. There were cool seminars that completely changed the way I looked at the games I've been designing, and I got to look at some of the coolest games currently available.

I made a short video looking at the convention and my experiences...

The convention was especially cool as those amazing people at Cubicle 7 brought me in to do a signing at their booth to sign copies of the limited anniversary Doctor Who RPG core rulebook.

Me signing the Dr Who core rulebook for a couple of fans of the game!

Me at the Cubicle 7 booth, sitting next to the legendary Joe Dever!

Awesome experience. Thanks to all at Dragonmeet, and all at Cubicle 7 for letting me grace their booth with my strange baldness...

Really cool!!!

Next up, was the wonders of Hogwarts and Harry Potter!!

Dragonmeet - Signing and Stuff

This Saturday, 6th December 2014, is Dragonmeet - the UK's biggest convention for RPGs and gaming since GenConUK came to an untimely end.

I've not been able to make it to a Dragonmeet in many, many years. 2007 was the last one I attended when I was on a panel with some very recognisable names in the RPG world.

Dragonmeet 2007:(L-R) - Me, Dominic McDowall-Thomas, Chris Birch
Angus Abranson and Fred Hicks

That was back when we were just announcing that we had the Doctor Who license and would be producing the official RPG with the BBC's blessing.

Since then, Dragonmeet has changed hands, changed location, and attendance seems to have increased tremendously - looks like it's going to be a busy one!

I'll be filming a little for the vid-blogs while I'm there, but those lovely people at Cubicle 7 have deemed me important enough to do a signing! I'll be at their stand at 2.30pm, signing the last remaining copies of the Limited Edition Anniversary Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG core rulebook. I must admit, I never thought I was important enough for a signing... I've not really done anything like that before... okay, sure I had a stand at the last UKCAC for the comic, but it's different when a publisher asks you to do a signing rather than you just pimping your own produce.

Seems especially weird when the other name for signings they have is the legend that is Joe Dever, creator of Lone Wolf. The guy is a legend, I'm honoured and a little baffled to be even given remotely similar billing to him on C7's page...

If you're attending Dragonmeet, come and say "hi"!! I'll be the bald one with a red tie and Autocratik badge (courtesy of Chimeric Garnish).

TOP 5 - RPGs I've Not Played (but want to)...

First in a few "Top 5" videos - the first looking at tabletop roleplaying games that I'd really like to play but ever have... Upcoming ones include Top 5 Bond Movies, and Top 5 Video Games I've Not Finished!

If you have a suggestion for a Top 5 video, post it in the comments below!

Share and enjoy.

Stay Multi-classy!

Autocratik Broadcast 3 - WILD Down Under

The second half of the videos about my time in Australia looks a little at Dreamtime, and incorporating it into the WILD RPG, as well as some cute footage of koalas and kangaroos. Awwww...

Autocratik Broadcast 2 - A Land Down Under

In a bid to catch up with things, here's the first of two videos that tell of my exploits in Australia. Hope you enjoy!

Now, I must get back to writing for #NaNoWriMo!!!

The Dreaming

Sorry it has been a while since I posted last, or made a video, or actually did anything even remotely productive. I do have an excuse! I was on the other side of the planet...

Me, photobombing Uluru

A bulk of October was spent in Australia, and a great deal of that was spent in the Northern Territories at Uluru. I guess it could be called a research trip, looking into Dreamtime, but the trip - combined with jet lag and making up time in the day-job - has meant it has been very sparse creatively.

However, all that is going to change.

I'm back, and I have a couple of videos in progress - one an abridged version of the interview I did recently with the amazing and wonderful Twisted Twins, Jen and Sylvia Soska, the other a look at the time spent "down under" and my first real experience of visiting another country... (Yeah, I'm not much of a traveller).

In addition to that, I've foolishly signed up for this year's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to try to get back into the swing of writing. I don't think I'm going to get anywhere near the word count expected, but some / ANY kind of motivation is great at the moment.

So, expect more to come, and in the meantime, I'll leave you with Kate Bush...

Autocratik Broadcast Treks onto Youtube

Last week I posted the first of my little vid-blogs about RPGs that wasn't connected to #RPGaDAY. It was really just a test for the new microphone (so hopefully gone is the background hiss) and to dig out the old studio lights that I haven't used since the dawn of time and making sure they still worked.

Unfortunately, I really couldn't think of anything to talk about, but I'd just received my copy of The Whispering Road RPG that I'd backed on Kickstarter a while ago. Really nice little storytelling game in the style of a Studio Ghibli movie.

Whispering Road RPG page

It got me thinking about the size of books. I really like a big, glossy hardcover that I can put on the shelves, take down from time to time and marvel at its loveliness. Nobilis immediately comes to mind.

But these huge books are not entirely practical when it comes to being used for gaming. They're not very portable. I remember lugging 10+ Vampire: The Masquerade books about with me for the various games I used to play and run. Not so easy.

Thinking back to the first RPG I played, which was original "little black books" Traveller, I wondered if the small book format is a way to go? FATE certainly seems to be joining the trend for smaller, more portable rulebooks. A bit like the cool smaller Unisystem books that Eden have produced, like WitchCraft and Conspiracy X 2.0.

What do you prefer for your gaming needs? A big, glossy, shiny (but heavy) book, or lots of little ones?

I put the theory into practice and created mock-ups of the Star Trek RPG I'd do if I had the chance. Yes, I know, another displacement from writing WILD...

Let me know what you think of the big vs small book argument. And if you get chance, please subscribe to my Youtube channel. It'd be greatly appreciated. Maybe even click "like" on the video if you liked it. (I already have a dislike... does this mean I've really made it on the interwebs?)

Until next time, Stay Multi-classy!!

Autocratik Channel Trailer - The Shape of Things to Come is Polyhedral

On the Autocratik Channel, coming soon will be a host of videos. 

I'll be looking at my history of roleplaying gaming as well as talking to other gamers and game designers about their gaming history in "Roll Your Own Life". 

There will be gameplay videos (that may or may not involve a cat - the worst GM ever). 

There will be videos of taking old stuff out of boxes. 

There will be videos of taking NEW stuff out of boxes!

There will be videos of putting the stuff back in the boxes!

Videos of general nerdery, as well as film and TV reviews, and reporting from press conferences and game conventions.

Please click subscribe to ensure you don't miss a single thing!!

Roll Your Own Youtube Series

Today has been spent working on a channel ident for my Youtube channel. Haven't made too much progress, but it's early days yet before I launch my webseries based on the blog entries of Roll Your Own Life.

The series will look at old games, the old game group I used to be in, how friendships were formed, and how gaming has changed and shaped my life. I'm also hoping to interview other gamers and game designers, chatting about how they first started gaming, and how tabletop gaming has shaped their lives.

Between these episodes, I'll be doing some unboxing videos of some ancient RPGs that I haven't opened for decades, looking at some of the old character sheets and notes that may remain, as well as a look at some new releases to see how they compare.

I'll also be chronicling the writing of WILD, and hoping that having to produce videos regularly about its development will encourage me to keep writing it!

Hopefully, it'll be engaging, entertaining, and amusing. (And will probably involve our cat)

If that sounds appealing, please head over to the Youtube channel and click subscribe so you don't miss out when things start happening (though it may not be for a while yet).

Thanks everyone,

Stay Multi-classy!