I just finished my convention scenario "Fear Itself" for In Nomine in the last day or two, and there's an interesting lesson here. I lost everything I'd done over the last few months less than two weeks ago and started from scratch. In that short span of time, I managed to not only recreate the scenario entirely, but improved it in virtually every way. The only thing that I don't think is better is the relationships of the townspeople, and I'll have a better handle on what I'll need for that after playtest. Granted, I'd already had the creative part done and just had to reconstruct a lot of what I'd already done, but it's interesting just how much of it is different.
So what have I learned? That I can do quality work a lot faster than I have in the past if I choose to focus sufficiently on it. That it might be worth starting something over if it's not really working. That I can tell if something's not working by paying attention to my own lack of interest in the project, if it occurs. If I'm not interested in it, why should anyone else be?
I now have "Fear Itself" for In Nomine and "A Dance of Pairs" for Sorcerer ready for playtest, and a Don't Rest Your Head scenario that needs only a minimum of work to be ready, so that's obviously the next project, and that would be all I'll really need for my 2008 conventions.
I've also had a great idea for a TOON scenario, but it'll only be funny if run in an election year, and I don't want to wait another four years to run it, so that'll be up right after the DRYH scenario. The TOON idea will also test something I've wanted to try for ages, which was to try running a roleplaying slot only two hours long to see if people will sign up for it. And of course, TOON is extremely low prep.
And after that? I have two GURPS ideas cooking, both of which will be more substantial projects, but I have a story outline and all of the characters made already for one (which is a sequel to a previous scenario), and a solid story idea and all of the character concepts made for the other. It's a good start for my 2009 material, and it's only February 2008.
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2 comments:
Hi, Scott.
What's your con schedule for this year? I know Dreamation always falls at a bad time for you, but we missed you!
I'll put it in the regular blog as well sometime soon, but here's the capsule version: Sorcerer at PoliCon (assuming that there is one and I'm invited); Sorcerer, In Nomine, GURPS Banestorm, and Don't Rest Your Head at DexCon (plus TOON if it comes together fast enough); all of the above plus GURPS Horror at the fall MEPACon. It'll probably be a relatively light year for me. My wife is encouraging me to go to GenCon as well because I enjoyed it so much last year, but I also have a wedding to go to in Hawaii and a likely change in residence, so affording both of those and GenCon is probably more than my finances can handle. I'm scheduling the time off from work anyway and considering the possibility.
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