Some years ago, I was headed up to Edinburgh for the first time to go
to Conpulsion with two of my good friends,
Benedict and Graham, and we stopped off at Banburgh Castle on the way up
the A1. Lovely place Banburgh, just
across the way from Holy Island, indeed how was I to know that three years from
then, I’d be up that way again, but this time taking my new wife on our
Honeymoon to Holy Island.
But I digress, while we were sitting on the green looking down towards
the crowds below, I saw a 4x4 down on the grass with a huge roof box on the top
of it, and the thought occurred.
How better would a vampire move
around during the day.
And the thought occurred that that would make a brilliant game, so in
the manner of all things, I put a few rules together, got some artwork on them,
did the cards, did some playtesting, and then as things often do, the world
smashed me a number of times and I lost the impetus for it, put it to the back
of my mind, and never thought again about it.
Until now
The problem back then was that I didn’t have a sense of my own worth in
the world, I figured (like so many others) that nothing I did would ever amount
to anything, and as a result, didn’t consider that other people might find it
interesting, even though all the playtest groups were interested and wanted to see
it released and there’d been a lot of work done on the rules and art and quotes
and everything else. So, I’ve still got
all the rules in place, still got the card listings, and now I’m considering
releasing it to the world at large, as things have moved on significantly from
where they were originally and I can see now that there’s space in the world
for all sorts of games, particularly those that have an idea and a committed
team behind them. I’m already working on
an RPG and I’ve got several conventions to organise, but I also get a lot of
time off in the week, and a lot of that time is spent by myself because Jude
works through the week and Mark has his own life to lead rather than just
playing games with his dad.
So I have to keep busy...
The other thing is that when you’re trying to write as many words as I
am through the day, sometimes you need new subjects to work on, because the
words won’t come for the thing that you’re working on and you can’t stop, not
for a second, because if you do, you’ll fall behind, and while I’ve made a lot
of progress towards that in the last few days, I’m still short, and there needs
to be more.
So this is the first of two posts this evening, with the second being
the call to playtest the game.
So I’m doing what I can to keep myself busy, and therein lies the point
for today, which is that I can’t be alone in the world when it comes to game
ideas and thoughts for things which would be good to play, and that begs the
question, in the age of Kickstarter, crowdfunding, and so many ways to get
publicity out there that the mind boggles, is there any reason why all of us
shouldn’t be living the dream, getting our game out there, and at least trying?
One at least...
What If...
What if it’s no good...
What if people laugh...
What if it doesn’t work...
What if it’s not as good as I think it is...
What If...
Well, there is no what if, there is only what is, and hopefully here’s
where what is starts...
I’ve got intentions of putting this out in the first quarter of next
year when the million word challenge has been completed. I’m finding that while I have good days and
bad days, it only takes a few bad days in a row this year and suddenly the
whole world looks like it’s come to get me, which is never good, and I have
intentions on making this as good as it should be, rather than just adequate
for purpose...
But the other thing is that I want to be telling other people it’s
alright to put their idea out there, that it’s alright to dream, to reach
higher, to do things that they didn’t think they could do. I’ve been trying it with this blog all year
in telling people that they can write and they don’t have to worry, because at
least one other person is doing the same.
So tomorrow, after I’ve made sure that I can offer it, I’m going to put
something up, and that will run until the end of the first quarter of next
year, when everyone reading this blog will get the chance to make a difference
to at least one person in the world...
More tomorrow
This is John Dodd in the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire, and Goodnight England, Wherever you are...
