Acknowledgements
... with great thanks.
I’ve spent a lot of time writing in my life. At the start it was novels. I have drawers with complete-but-not-finished manuscripts. One of the idle dreams I had about getting these things published was that I would get to write an acknowledgements page. I used to think about being able to thank all the people in my life, having all their names written down in a book that could exist (probably unread) beyond any of our time on the earth.
But today I have real thanks to give. I’ve been freelancing for a couple of months now and I’ve only been able to keep everything relatively normal at home because of the opportunities which I have been given by extremely kind people in the Tabletop Industry. I like to imagine I’ve been offered these gigs because I’m either a safe pair of hands, they like how I think, or because of my writing elsewhere – but I know it’s also because these are some of the nicest people in the business.
So, here’s an acknowledgement page:
Thanks to John at Wyrd Science, who not only gave me tons of space in the upcoming issue of Wyrd Science – but also allowed me to write on two of my favourite subjects: Mausritter and third party adventures/modules. You should buy some magazines.
Thank you to Matt and Tamzin Henderson at Loke Battle Mats who made me a early bird special. I got to put together what ended up being something like a regional setting across 12 months. The almanac is full of cool ideas for events, celebrations and adventure in a magically radiated rural setting. I think Loke will have it on sale on their site eventually, but for now: you should buy some maps.
Thank you to Anna Blackwell for giving me the great privilege of editing For Small Creatures Such As We. I was tasked with picking up the last typos, making sure every page reference was correct and the usual editing stuff. It was 246 pages and we were aiming for a 6 day turnaround. And we did it. This is a solo game of space and self exploration with a scope I’ve rarely seen. It weirdly reminds me of Yakuza 0 – you can choose your own path through the game, explore the world and place your own meaning on things, but also there’s a million distracting mini games. You could be running a business, fighting evil, doing evil, gambling, podracing – you know, all that stuff! It’s a great work and pre-orders are open for small creatures such as you.
Thank you to Chris at Beyond Cataclysm for letting me write an adventure for his incredibly innovative FÖUR BORG. You know what people say about MÖRK BORG right? “It’s simply too complicated” and “There are too many sides to those dice. Who needs 20 sided-anything?” Luckily for you, Chris Lowry has solved this by creating FOUR BORG. All dice are replaced with a D4s in an exploding dice pool system that is both brilliant and brutal. Chris let me write the rest of the included adventure, which happens in a pyramid of course. I think I’ve made a really good puzzle-or-die adventure. Buy four copies here.
and thank you Charlie at Tabletop Gaming, who still puts up with my reviews :)
So, thanks!
Making a monster is hard. Apparently. Though I think I’ve just broken the back of the problem I’ve had with the FRANKENSTEIN MEETING SOCIETY HANDBOOK. I had sold the book as a 1-99 player game – i.e. a funny range that publishers like Big Potato stick on their game boxes to indicate it’s for everyone! I’m happy with the way I’ve planned out the solo mode (it’s a correspondence course for making monsters where you’re paired with another and very quickly generate their monster progress and news). But the multiplayer game just didn’t feel right, especially at two where it could be a bit slow.
Anyway, the conclusion I’ve come to is that we can use the solo mode monster generation to represent Absent Members who have posted in their news to boost the effect of having more people around the table. I’ve basically added ‘bots’ to the game, except they’re just a couple of dice rolls and look-ups on a table. It works nicely and give the host role a bit more of a ‘GM’ feel.
Anyway, progress on the game is finally coming along now, thankfully!
You might be wondering: ‘how do I get on a big sexy thank you list like that one at the start of this email?’
Well, you’re in luck. I am still available for freelance work!
Adventure/scenario writing – Need a starter adventure for your game’s system? Need a campaign for your board game? Scenarios for your wargame? I’m in!
Reviews, development, consultancy – Want to know if your game is good, finished, or correctly pitched? Let me tell you! I can provide extensive development feedback, mock reviews and useful criticism. Let me fix your rulebook.
Lore, fiction, short stories, vibes, ephemera – Want more vibes? I’m happy to provide stories, in world documents, background and pretty much any style of fiction you need.
I can make your kickstarter page not shit – Mostly by putting words in the right order and making your game’s proposition really clear. It’s easy to get muddled and think that your clever use of dice is why people want to play, when actually it’s because you’ve got a cool world to explore.
Email me at christopherjohneggett@gmail.com and we’ll work out what I can do for you!