I was a Cub Scout, and later a Venturer, but never an actual “Boy Scout”. Nevertheless, I took the motto “Be prepared” to heart, and so have began to get ready for the upcoming NaGa DeMon 2012. I am working on my game Perpetual City, a dark, gothic, edgy fantasypunk roleplaying game of action and adventure. It is something that I first wrote back in 2009 as part of a 24-hour RPG competition, but the setting was so cool (IMHO) that I just couldn’t let it rest. I attempted to re-write it last year, but that was not so successful. So I am having another go this year. I will not let my soul be crushed upon the rocks of this game!
So, what am I doing to prepare?
The real trick when approaching a game that already exists, and has been beating around a variety of notebooks for years, is consistency. There is a real danger that this year I might start somewhere tangental to what the game is really about. I needed to dig back into the game and find out where I was heading, where I thought I was heading, and where I was really at. I have re-read the original rules, the background info I wrote for last year’s NaGa DeMon, and all the articles I have previously posted on the game. I have paid particular attention to the “inspiration” posts as I think they have some good detail on the mood and feel of the game. I also referred back to my “mood board” over on Pinterest.
Definitions
I also dug into the definitions I had come up with for “cyberpunk” and “fantasypunk”. I feel I need to know what the game is about before I can really write it. And by “what”, I mean the theme, tone or central concept. I referred back to this blog post I wrote on cyberpunk. I am still pretty happy with this definition of cyberpunk:
Cyberpunk stories are about characters disconnected from the world at large who find themselves in situations beyond their own control. They are struggling to find their place in a hostile world.
I think that will work pretty well for Perpetual City, too. Particularly when I combine it with what I wrote in the original game:
It is a game of little people in a big city, doing what they can to survive in a world where a lot more is going on than they are ever likely to know or understand.
If I keep these two ideas in mind as I go forward, i will be on the right track.
What next?
The next thing I need to do is make a plan for November. For me, it will be a table of contents. I will write the table of contents for the final book / game, and compare it to a couple of other RPG’s to make sure I haven’t missed anything obvious. I have done this before, and it is a great way to make sure I cover everything I need to. As I write I can “tick” chapters off and feel like I am making real progress.
But that is a job for tomorrow!
