Tuesday, June 16, 2009

One Dozen Days

For the next twelve days or so I'll be fairly scarce here as I have two pressing tasks which I need to see through to completion before the 28th. First is my contribution as one of the judges for the One Page Dungeon Contest. I'm nearly done with that effort. The second is finishing up the long lingering, somewhat troublesome Lower Caves of the Darkness Beneath level for Fight On!, something I've been wrestling with for far too long.

Speaking of the One Page Dungeon Contest, little did I know when I signed on to help judge these entries that we'd end up with so many! The daunting task of reading through the sheer number of entries was compounded by the fact that there are numerous fantastic One Page Dungeons in the mix, making the rating process harder than I would've imagined. There's some real talent out there and I'm convinced that once you see the winning entries you'll agree.

After many hours gnashing teeth and wringing hands, I am moving forward with a revamped, plot-lite version of the Lower Caves. The involved backstory and entangled scenarios of the original notes were proving to be too much. The sheer weight of the project was causing me to continually set it aside for another date. After 10 months of stop and start I've reworked those notes and begun anew. The map and most of the encounters remain unchanged, but the bulk of the story, ramifications of player actions and adventure paths have been expunged.

Before I sign off to focus on the above items, I'll tip my hand just a bit. For your viewing pleasure, below the break you'll find a sneak peek into my adventure design methods.

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Welcome to the Lair of Sham! Here you will discover images detailing my three step dungeon writing process; Inspiration, Notes, and the magic of Technology!


INSPIRATION must not be rushed. The One Page Dungeon Concept came to me here after an unfortunate TP supply oversight.


Me and my Lower Caves NOTES. Definitely one of my better photos. I know, I know, Brad Pitt...I get it all the time. Thank you Nutri-System!


Where the MAGIC happens! Hard to call myself a Grognard with all these new fangled geegaws. Oops, forgot to empty the wastebasket before snapping that photo.
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I'll be lurking in the shadows until I've finished judging those entries and writing the Lower Caves. Once those two tasks are wrapped up it's back to semi-regular blogging and another long lingering project, this time thankfully one with no deadline.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

2 comments:

ze bulette said...

i don't believe those first 2 pics are real, but looking at my own office, i wouldn't doubt the last one there...

Sham aka Dave said...

Sometimes I feel as if the truth is close to that last one. Of course all three are a Sham, but you already knew that.