So what is this really?

Howdy.

So first question, what is this exactly? How did all these posts end up here? What the heck is going on?

This is the archive of my original blog, Wandering Mind Online Almost Live  – which itself was It was an extension of a ‘zine I once produced titled Wandering Mind. Since 2000, I have been experimenting with the concept of Wandering Mind. It all started when I was an active contributor to the APA ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS. My ‘zine was something that really helped me develop as a writer, in that it forced me to meet a deadline, opened me up to criticism, and allowed me to clear the mind out. It was a strange mix of various gaming bits, rants and the like. I stuck with it for three years, but suddenly found myself without a voice.  

The ‘zine ended in February, 2002. I just got a job in Milwaukee, was commuting back and forth everyday from the apartment in Wheeling, IL to work everyday at Cardinal Stritch University (this will be the second to last time I type this name) in Milwaukee. The commute was a killer, two and half hours each way. I did this because we could not break our lease in Wheeling, and had to wait till May to move. Thus, all this time spent driving, it sapped all my strength and energy from me. It also did not leave me in a creative mood. So I took a two-year break, and then started it up again June of 2004.

Before I restarted the ‘zine, I started up my blog on LiveJournal. That blog became my home on the web for years. I used it to market myself, rant, and experiment. The blog also chronicled a lot of things I was going through, and it saw me through a lot of pain. The blog also help me connect with friends, and make new friends.

Late last year I started thinking about changing blogs. Wandering Mind Online Almost Live was nice, but it really did not represent me any more. I have grown up, both as a writer, a game designer and a man. Add to this was my growing frustrations with LJ, the changes that have taken place, and the general lack of having fun with it anymore. Then the news broke dealing with the cloudy future of LJ.

Still, I almost did not do this. I have made a lot of friends on LJ, and a lot of them have not moved to Facebook or other places I hang out. Then I looked at old posts, and I realized the blog was not me anymore.

I now co-own a game company with my friend. I have published games I am proud of. Produced work that I am even more proud of. I am a different man, and because of this the old me needed to be left in the past. The fact that this is a New Year made the choice easier.

The question then was simple: what should I do with the old blog? First, I was going to do nothing, but then I thought in case the worse happened I would archive it. Here it is. I will not be updating the archive, and during the months to come, I will be rebuilding the tags to help make things easier to find — such as my lost game writings.

As for my new blog, you can read it here.

So this is a New Year, huh?

More things change, the more they stay the same.

• Russian Natural Gas Supply to Europe Dwindles
• India formally accuses Pakistan of involvement in Mumbai attacks
• Eni says Russia gas imports down 90 pct Tuesday
• Warnings Not Enough for Gaza Families

People wonder why I am so bitter. Not even Frank Sinatra can break this funk I find myself in.

Yeah, I am back

Busy two weeks. I am back. Happy belated New Year.

Yeah, I am back

Busy two weeks. I am back. Happy belated New Year.

When is too much, too much and not enough not enough?

The above subject line is a long way to go for me to sum up a design issue in Ninja. That issue is detail.

One of the main goals behind the 12° Cookbook is for James and I to create two playable games, self contained between the covers. By this, we each have a game that says what it needs to say in a minimal amount of space. The design is focused, the rules are focused, and the writing is focused. Both games deal with specific themes, and both games differ from what we have done in Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns.

First a little back story/history.

When coming up with the idea of the 12° Cookbook about 16-months ago, James and I had some ideas that on their own did not support a full game. Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns had and still have specific goals. There is a vision at play here, in that we wanted two games that not only appealed to us as designers, but allowed for a style of play we enjoyed.

In the case of Colonial Gothic I wanted supernatural historical horror, and I wanted to play with the entire tapestry of Colonial American History (not just the original Thirteen, but the New World). With Thousand Suns, James wanted to create a sci-fi game that was “generic” in the sense that it gave players the tools they need so they could create their own setting.

As we worked on the games, the thread for Colonial Gothic was lost for awhile, but has since been found. While Thousand Suns became a love letter to not only a certain style of science fiction, but a a love letter to a favorite game.

The 12° Cookbook is a different beast. The Cookbook is a concept that takes the 12° mechanic, and with it, we cook up the little game ideas we have. These ideas are ones that could not support a whole game, let along a whole book. These are mini-games in a sense, but it sells the games short. Ninja deals with the concepts of family and clan. By that, what come first for you as a player: your family ties or your clan loyalty? Depending on how you answer this question, your role as player changes as you take part in missions with your fellow players.

The design of Ninja is tight. The rules are tight, and what you do as a player and as a game master is tight. I like this. For me, Ninja is the first time I have ever been this focused as a designer. I knew what I wanted to design. I knew what I wanted to “say.”

Now with the rules done, and the revision underway, I find I am stuck. The area I am stuck on is the world. When you do a focused design for rules, that is easy. With a world, it is not so easy. Part of me wants to leave it vague and let the game master design their own. Part of me thinks this is bad, because you need to have some type of setting for a game master so that they can see how the rules work. For me, a setting is flesh that rests on the skeleton of good rule design. By skimping on the setting, or worse, not including one, you are putting out a naked skeleton. This might appear to be okay at first, but after awhile you want to see something more than bones and organs.

So I am stuck. I can easily write many words on the setting, but this detail will derail the tight design and writing I have done. I can go the minimalist way, and give the barest of sketches, but this I feel, weakens the tightness of the game in that a game master does not have a enough out of the book they could use.

Writing this I realize I might be over thinking things a tad much. Would not be the first time.

So anyway, that is the current dilemma I find myself in. When do I say too much and when do I say not enough?

Let’s get into the spirit

Currently the wind is howling outside my window, the snow is swirling, and it is going to be 10 below. I love this time of year.

Teaser for The Defeated Dead

Due out next month is a new adventure, titled The Defeated Dead.

Taking place in a new region of the colonies, it is filled with some very nice bits. Written by Bryce Whitacre and with maps by Jeff Preston, the adventure is shaping up to be a good one. So where is this adventure going to be set? Here is a hint:

More to come.

Teaser for The Defeated Dead

Due out next month is a new adventure, titled The Defeated Dead.

Taking place in a new region of the colonies, it is filled with some very nice bits. Written by Bryce Whitacre and with maps by Jeff Preston, the adventure is shaping up to be a good one. So where is this adventure going to be set? Here is a hint:

More to come.

I am back

And digging out. Still getting up to speed. Give me a day or two.

And I am out of here

Crazy week.

It is over.

I am on vacation.

Come tomorrow morning my beautiful wife and I will be on a plane, flying to sunny Miami Florida.

This time tomrrow night, I will be eating a fabulous dinner in South Beach with some close friends.

Saturday morning we board the ship and I sail away. I am unplugging from the grid as of right now.

I will not be back on the grid until next Saturday.

Be good to each other while I am gone.