2.12.2007

Another Day at the Office

Just got some of the art from an upcoming DCC special – a great piece by the brilliant (though slightly askew) Chuck Whelon, the same man that is the mastermind behind the Pewfell comic. Due to a severe crunch timeline, I had to order some of the art before I had written the adventure. The end result required a little bit of retrofitting to get the adventure to match the art, but that’s not so far from my usual modus.

When running games at home or abroad, I’m always playing from the hip to match the current mood of the group. (Just don’t tell the players that --- they’re under the misconception that I actually plan these things.) It’s a style of play that doesn’t suit all gamers, but it has served me well so far. Last GenCon I was even editing my own published material on the fly, tearing apart and rebuilding maps, just to make sure that the groups got to the dramatic conclusion in 4 hours or less. Good times.

What else? Even though the event is 6 months away, GenCon madness is nearly upon us. Things have ramped up considerably inside the Goodman Games’ secret arctic headquarters, and I’m assuming this is true for most other small publishers. We take a busy schedule, double the work, add absolute deadlines, and somehow are all friends afterwards. Last year’s schedule was a bit feverish, so this time I’m striving to set aside time to simply sit down with folks and chat. But at the end of the day, it really is a business trip --- albeit with people in furry tails and feathered wings.

Heh. And what a great industry to be in.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're doing our best to make sure Matt makes GenCon this year. Heck, we may even be within driving distance!

Harley said...

It would be awesome to have him, if only for the experience of Matt getting to see the costume contest ... crazy.

I'm coming down the mountain next weekend. Are you guys around?

saurus said...

Bah! I don't need Gencon to wear my furry tail! In fact, I'm wearing it to the office today!

Jw said...

e and I already have our hotel room booked- we'll be there for more than just a day this time, so I expect you to see more of you!

Harley said...

JW,

Rock and/or Roll! There are supposed to be great 24 hour anime rooms, but I didn't have the time to track them down last year. Be good to have some company as I go wandering around at 3:AM this year...

Anonymous said...

When's next weekend? We're probably going to Steamboat 2/24...

Mike said...

Last GenCon I was even editing my own published material on the fly, tearing apart and rebuilding maps, just to make sure that the groups got to the dramatic conclusion in 4 hours or less.

Ha! Sounds exactly like how I ran "Dreaming Caverns" at Dreamation 2007. I knew what the starting encounter would be, what the ending encounter would be ... and everything in between changed half a dozen times in four hours. Rooms appeared, disappeared, bobbed and weaved south before heading north ... good times.

I might be running something at GenCon. If I do, I'm sure it'll go exactly the same way.