The Thrill of Creation

There is a nerve-wracking, nail-biting, anxiety-fueled moment when you hit send on a pitch for an RPG product. Because then you wait for a few days—a week? To see if your ideas made the cut. If someone thought they were worth investing time and money into developing, creating some real visual art, and printing on the page. 

There’s also nothing so thrilling as seeing one of your articles commissioned. Sometimes which ones made it baffles you. Like that one that was written feverishly in ten minutes at five in the morning on the due date before going to work so the noon deadline doesn’t creep up on you—yeah, somehow that throwaway is now in print, while the others I spent weeks thinking about didn’t make the cut. 

It doesn’t need to make sense. Creativity means giving other people control once you’ve made something. They get to form their own opinions, cut it apart, critique it…or maybe enjoy it, be inspired. They get to decide. And you just get to be happy you got to make something.

Reflections on Adventure Writing

Image courtesy of Pixabay

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to write my first published adventure. It was a rewarding experience and one that I learned a great deal from. Here are some reflections and thoughts that this process prompted.

Deadlines

When I pitched my idea, I did not expect to be picked for the theme of apocalyptic fantasy. I felt my concept was relatively undeveloped, and when the editor mentioned that for that particular adventure slot and another issue that nineteen pitches had been submitted, I was even more sure that mine would not be picked.

How wrong was I...

I was flattered to have mine picked, but slightly alarmed that I had one month to write and submit the text. I had other adventure pitches that went unselected that felt more developed to me and which I thought I could write faster. But this particular theme?

Setting some goals, along with a convenient trip that gave me some more personal time to write managed to make up for that, and I somehow completed the work on time.

Feedback and Collaboration

Immediately upon being selected, I reached out to the editor to look for feedback or thoughts regarding the pitch concept. As I suspected, major portions would need to be altered, and the desire was tight integration with the other authors of the articles appearing within. 

As this collaboration developed, active brainstorming and discussion within the designer Discord provided me the revised antagonists for my adventure, along with major details of the plot. And the suggestion that it would be great if a complimentary article of monsters was integrated into the adventure too! 

Pulling all these disparate bits together was a challenge. Initially it felt like I'd lost a degree of creative control, but I did my best to embrace the challenge, and enjoy the constraints. That is how we grow, yes? Through the experience I realized how much constraints can actually enhance your creativity, as you are forced to ask "how can I realistically get all these pieces to pastiche into something unique that works?" It also requires an author to set aside their personal thoughts and accept other perspectives and ideas, even if they are not exactly what you had initially envisioned. This seems to be a crucial still for collaborative development projects.

Growth

Some authors might find these constraints limiting or frustrating. I empathize with that, particularly as they piled up and I had to organize myself to make sure I hit all of the boxes. But exactly that experience was extremely valuable. Because the process of collaboration with editorial feedback and interacting with other creators helped me grow. Although this was a short project, I felt like it was training me to be able to navigate requirements in future larger collaborative projects. I had to let go of some of my own desires for independence and work to make something better than I would have on my own.

So next time you examine a sourcebook with highly integrated lore, or cross references to other material, consider the massive effort than a group of writers and editor(s) had to put in to ensure that their ideas were complimentary and met the requirements for that product. Communication is hard in most industries. Communicating creative vision is even harder, because our opinions are strong and do matter. I truly appreciated the collaborative environment, and openness to discussion that our editor fostered with that group on that project. 

This was an amazing experience overall—and even better, if you would like to check out the adventure I wrote, go subscribe to the En5ider Patreon campaign. To be upfront, I don’t get anything for promoting their page, but I true appreciate their efforts and willingness to allow untested and untrained RPG designers and writers who are just starting out to write for them. Any support you can give them will enable that to continue!

Why Read so Many RPG Magazines?

A few months back, I read Anatomy of an Adventure by M.T. Black. Then I also noticed Black’s highly viewed posts on EN World looking at old issues of Dragon Magazine. He practices what he preaches in terms of adventure and game design—read and copy the masters, and when you finish you’ll have discovered your own style. So though I was reading both old and new RPG magazines before this, it gave new impetus. 

In fact, based on what I’ve read about this hobby, the zine predates the game, and provided a common forum for discussion of ideas and concepts. Later descendants of the fanzine format were and are the official magazines of various publishers. 

These types of products play an important role in continuing to develop the hobby, I think even to this day. Take a look at the names in many of the magazines, old and new, for newer and more established publishers. Then take a look at the writers and designers in their books on your shelve or in your digital library. Magazines provide a place for new freelance writers and designers to cut their teeth in a more traditional publication space. Anyone can make a product and put it on DriveThruRPG (that’s not to diminish the self-publishing route, which is very hard on its own). But the process of working with editors and other designers fostered by magazines seems to fuel the larger TTRPG industry, and is the path towards authors credits in hardbacks from established publishers. 

Take a look at the early publishing credits of most of Wizards of the Coast’s design team if you don’t believe me. Experienced designers learned their craft writing then editing for Dungeon or Dragon magazines. More recent designers have some of their first publication credits in MCDM’s Arcadia. You’ll see En5ider authors in the author and designers credits sections of hardback titles from MCDM, Kobold Press, Ghostfire Gaming, and more.

So if you want to understand this hobby, find great ideas for your home games, or even start writing, take a look at EN Publishing’s En5ider, or Gate Pass Gazette. Learn from the work in Wildmage Press’ Horizons. Read the magazines from decades past and you’ll find things that inspire you, and you’ll drive your own creative energy.

Review: Anatomy of an Adventure

Anatomy of an Adventure is the first book I've encountered by a TTRPG designer for other designers. Written by M.T. Black, a prolific writer of 5e D&D material, I found it to be an extremely enjoyable and inspiring read. 

Written in a conversational voice, Black's work is enhanced by his own analysis of his earliest works, identifying strengths and areas he'd do things differently given the chance. It certainly leans towards the art side of the craft of adventure design rather than the science. 

Most work in this very niche subject area is actually advice written for GMs, who act essentially as their own independent adventure designers routinely. Instead Black approaches the subject as an introduction to the industry and aid for aspiring designers to create their own first adventures.

Some nuggets that I took away:

• Emulate (i.e. copy) those adventures and elements of stories that you love. Adding enough things together and doing it you way will make it your own.
• Other adventures, or old issues of Dragon or Dungeon magazine provide great inspiration and examples of things to try.
• This journey takes practice, repetition, and failures. Working through these and learning from them is valuable.
• Random tables can provide inspiration and break up stale thinking.

This was an extremely interesting and engaging read for me. In parallel I took a look at some of Black's adventures to see other examples of his thoughts. I think this is a great resource and motivator to try designing their own original material.