Tag: Storytelling

Dungeon Master Writer – How RPG Storytelling can improve your writing – Part 1: Audience & Senses

Weeks ago, I spoke of how much I enjoy storytelling and my love for being a dungeon master. I do really love creating and playing in fantasy worlds and taking players through perils and adventures.

But even though I consider myself a storyteller first, writer second, the art of storytelling, specifically being a Dungeon Master—or any kind of RPG narrator, again just using one of the most popular titles—has had a profound impact on my writing, as I’ve learned many things in taking people through the theatre of the mind. Continue reading Dungeon Master Writer – How RPG Storytelling can improve your writing – Part 1: Audience & Senses

Preview – Tanzia

Some time ago I received a preview key for an action RPG called Tanzia by Arcanity Inc., which opted for an MMORPG feel and control scheme for its action. From the few screenshots and videos I’d seen before giving it a try, it looked pretty interesting, with a strange blue character blasting things to bit on a tropical island.

Now that I’ve had a chance to play around with the Early Access build, I can say that there’s a lot of potential in the title, but it’s too rough to enjoy right now, with some bizarre design decisions that make the action feel like a slog instead of a fun time. Continue reading Preview – Tanzia

Favourite Japanese Media Tropes – Main Theme Insert

Lately I’ve been watching a lot of Japanese television series, from anime to Live action series and I’ve come to realise that the tropes we often refer to as “Anime Tropes” are predominant across all Japanese media, with some of it even crossing over into the world of gaming. Continue reading Favourite Japanese Media Tropes – Main Theme Insert

Resuming Fiction!

It’s been a while since I posted my last short story, or even a proposal for one. I’ve been busy, stressed, ill, dealing with issues and many more excuses you really don’t want to know about.

In the past couple of weeks though, as things have cleared up, I’ve managed to finish up a first version of one of the stories I proposed oh so many moons ago:  The Song, a Sci-Fi Noir story. The bad news is that I’ve decided to do something else with that particular story as soon as I’ve put it through a few revisions and test reads. I’ve never submitted a short story for publication in a magazine, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do but I’ll admit that it terrifies me. I don’t know if I’m even half the writer needed to pull that one off. But you know, fear is the mind killer after all, so I won’t let that stop me. Continue reading Resuming Fiction!

Campaign Preparations – Player Homes

As I continue my preparations for an upcoming D&D campaign, set in my original world, Telia, I’ve come across an interesting challenge. In other settings, where a guide or sourcebook properly defines every culture and piece of the map, players can easily figure out their character’s place in the world, but when the world itself isn’t ready yet, how do you help the players figure out their origin? Continue reading Campaign Preparations – Player Homes

Campaign Preparations – World Building

A long time ago (in a galaxy far far away), I began my series of articles on writing a novel, detailing the steps to follow to write your story, how to prepare and break down your tasks in a way that works…for me. And last week I mentioned I was preparing a D&D campaign on my original world, Telia, which I’m building along with some of my players, as they’re incredibly creative people.

One of the things I spent time explaining in that little writing series was the planning stage, and particularly on the world building. In building this D&D world I’ve come to realise the major difference between doing so for a novel and for an RPG campaign. Continue reading Campaign Preparations – World Building

Gaming Q&A: Most Surprising Twists in Video Games

You know me, I’m always up for a good discussion, no matter if it’s games, films, TV series or even books and writing. So, when the crew of Later Levels approached me for a monthly gaming Q&A, hopefully to create some great debates around video games, it didn’t take much for me to see that it could be fun.

Every month, I’ll present you with the question and my answer. If you’d like to join, get in touch with Later Levels. The rules are simple, in fact there is only one to note: your answer must be in 100 words or fewer.

This month’s question is: Which is the most surprising plot twist you’ve seen in a video game? Continue reading Gaming Q&A: Most Surprising Twists in Video Games

Dungeon Master – The Joy of Storytelling

Rainer Maria Rilke, in Letters to a Young Poet, says “If, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing…then you’re a writer.” I consider myself a writer and it’s one of the greatest passions of my life, but under that statement, I’m not one.

When I wake up, the thing I want to do the most is to tell stories and create them, to lose myself in my mind’s eye as I explore strange new lands and create the tales of normal people and heroes alike.

So, more than a writer, I’m a storyteller, and Tabletop RPGs have always been a way for me to thoroughly enjoy the art of storytelling. And as much as I love donning the armour of the warrior, defiantly raise the staff of the wizard and fiercely grip the holy symbol of the cleric, and joining my fellow adventurers as we defeat bandits, or demigods in the streets of New York, there is something I love even more than playing and it’s, of course, being the game master, the person running the story and telling the plot, adjudicating results and placing the challenges. Continue reading Dungeon Master – The Joy of Storytelling

Gaming Tendencies – Button Holding

I’ve been playing games for decades now and I’ve seen many trends go by, some all about the graphical power of a game and many more on control schemes and in-game mechanics. Some hang around for a while like a bad cough and others, thankfully, go by without much consequence.

But for the past few years there’s been one such trend that has not only remained but seems to be spreading across the entire industry, infecting games of every genre and developers or every calibre. This trend is not only annoying on its impact on gameplay but also on how much it diminishes what used to be a valuable tool for creating tension and excitement.

The trend I’m being vague about is pressing and holding the buttons down for every single action, from picking up an item to opening a door.

Continue reading Gaming Tendencies – Button Holding

Countdown to Nintendo Switch – Top 5 Zelda – The Wind Waker

Just one week to go before the Nintendo Switch arrives and I get to enjoy the next instalment in the glorious The Legend of Zelda series. You can’t imagine the goosebumps I have just thinking about it and I’m counting the days until I can play with the Nintendo Switch.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know what makes me more excited, having the Switch on Launch Day or having a new Zelda to play. Probably the latter. As you know, I have a very close relationship with The Legend of Zelda.

But let’s get to down to what we’re all here for, my number 3 in the Top 5 favourite Legend of Zelda titles:

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker 
Continue reading Countdown to Nintendo Switch – Top 5 Zelda – The Wind Waker