Chimera Creative

So, it’s unofficially In a Wicked Age week, well, everywhere. Vincent Baker’s newly released game promises to be a big hit. I’ve got the PDF already, and it’ll no doubt take upcoming Dreamation con in New Jersey by storm. More power to Vincent, too. It’s a rockin’ game, by all accounts.

Now, what kills me is the already dizzying amount of new Oracles popping up on online communities. Oracles are these wonderful little snippets in the game that, when randomly tossed together like a casserole, make for some rich situation dripping with Vincent’s sword-and-sorcery setting.

Of course, gamers everywhere can’t leave it at that. We’ve already got a Hellboy Oracle, a Discworld Oracle, a modern thriller oracle, and so on. Hell, my man John Harper’s doing on based on the music of The Decemberists, a frickin’ band! Hell, the game hasn’t even been out one week! Role-players are nothing if not an eagerly creative bunch.

While the speed of these new ideas popping up to riff on Vincent’s latest game machine (engine? heh) is stupifying, it was certainly inevitable. And, it’s flattering to Vincent. Rightly so.

Still, a little part of me shakes a fist, albeit in good humor. Play the game’s setting already! It’s obviously a labor of love for Vincent. I mean, I still don’t understand the whole Star Wars (or whatever) using Dogs in the Vineyard thing. I understand and expect that people will tinker with games they love to play settings and situations they love. I do it! I’m not criticizing. I’m just, well, amazed. 

I also stand in awe at the viral marketing beast that Vincent has created. He issued a game that isn’t even in print yet as far as I know, and in one frickin’ week people are already playing it “their way.” Amazing.

Eat your heart out, Baker. As for the rest of you, check out In a Wicked Age. It does so many things right.

There was a time when I’d pursue any fun game design idea that popped into my head. But those ideas rarely went anywhere, either. Let alone reaching strangers, they didn’t live within my own groups’ actual play sessions.

Dust Devils came as one of those fun ideas to tinker with. But, then I found some success with it and other works. And, now, those popping ideas are distracting as often as inspiring.

The equation gets tangled for indie designers as they go from enthusiast with a cool idea to self-publisher with a goal of reaching others through actual play. That’s my goal, but getting there isn’t easy.

Currently, I’ve got a number of fun and compelling ideas, but I can’t square them with my goal — getting people to enjoy actual play. It’s not that I can’t design a game at this moment. It’s not even that I can’t create something fun to play. I can do those things.

The question is which one should I do? Which one do I think will make the most important kind of play happen at people’s tables? Important to me, that is. Whom do I design for? Whom do I identify with? Whom do I want to entertain and engage the most? What stories do I want you to play?

This needs an answer. When I answer it, you might be that person I design for. I hope you enjoy it! How’s that for a tease?

I have previously done strange and fun things to inspire my designs. I sought others’ ideas with 44: A Game of Automatic Horror. I wanted to design someone’s game idea, to build in interest. Wonderfully, it became my own thing. John Harper inspired a fantastic game idea, but I really took ownership of it. True, 44 still has a little way to go to be complete.

That was fun, but that’s not the place I’m at as a designer now. I have several game ideas brewing within my head. (What game designer doesn’t? I don’t know any.) Seeking out some kind of poll on which one I should do next isn’t going to answer the question for me. It’s going to answer it for you.

Here’s to a year of figuring out the stories I want you to play.

I just learned that Jonathan Tweet is running his own game of Nine Worlds using the new D&D Fourth Edition rules. This is pretty cool. It’s also pretty weird. And, it’s also pretty funny, given my most recent podcast (ep. 5). I would love to see what he and his group come up with. I mean, are hydras skirmishers or tanks?

But, I don’t want to explain any of that. I want to link to Jonathan’s post about it and give it a big thumbs up. I think it’s really cool he wants to tool around in the Nine Worlds universe. Far out! Jonathan and I talked very briefly about Nine Worlds at GenCon in 2004. I remember him saying he was fond of the setting and wanted to run it in a different system. Cool by me.

Check it out: Jonathan Tweet’s “Wandering Star” Nine Worlds game.

Matt is back to his preachy self! This time, he talks about the need for less celebrity and more collaboration and peer appreciation among game designers. He urges you to think about the hobby not a thing produced and consumed, but as an activity creatively shared by enthusiasts.

 Episode 5 [12:11m]: Download

When I start designing a new project, one of the first things I tackle is the look and feel. I have a blurry vision in my mind of what I want the project to look like, how I want it to feel. As the project develops, that vision starts to come into focus, bit by bit.

For Mirage, I knew I wanted to capture a middle eastern feel. But, I had a problem. Nearly every game or product in this vein has the same Arabian Nights look and feel, and that’s not quite what I want with Mirage. The fonts all look the same. I want to break out of that cliché a little, open it up and give the look an edge, a roughness that takes away a bit of the overblown romance of just another flowing Arabian style script font with gold lettering and an archway that looks like a nasty case of priapism. Enough!

So, I started where I always start — typography. Choosing type can be a tricky business. I’m picky. Typography is one of my strong suits as a designer. If you’re interested in type and design, Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style is a must read. It’s my design bible.

I really believe typography is overlooked as a design tool. In some of my design work, I’ve captured more of the look and feel with tastefully chosen typography than any illustration or other graphic elements. Type is really powerful, and it’s also really important that  you use it well. Getting a font that looks good is, say, one-third of the job. The rest of the work is making absolutely certain the font actually helps readers use the information you’re providing to them.

I wanted a display face I could use to make that first step toward focusing my vision for Mirage. In essence, I wanted a logo — something I could use to anchor blog posts as I design, and help people get a first feel for the game project.

I started my search for something unique with some basic Google searching. I tried terms like “Arabian Fonts” and “Middle Eastern fonts” and so on. I found a lot of junk, a handful of language sites with free (and probably terrible quality) fonts for actual Arabic.

But, I also found myself at a website I’ve visited before, MyFonts.com and their “Arabian Fonts” page. It’s not the No. 1 site for type, but I’ve used it before with good results.

Now, like I said. I’m picky. This site has an interesting mix of fonts from various companies. I’m pretty skeptical of fonts in general if they don’t come from a big company I know of, like Adobe or Linotype. Not everyone likes to throw down money for fonts. I find that the quality of those pricey fonts is usually worth it.

This page had a mix of scipts and display fonts. Some were the usual fare. Some were awful (Scimitar is just a terribly ugly face, for one.) But there were some unique looks in there. Sultan in particular caught my eye.

If it catches your eye, too, you might be surprised. It’s actually a modern mix of Arabic styling and Celtic lettering. Which doesn’t surprise me. What surprises me is that the creators say it’s based on lettering done near 1900, and the original was used for the old New York Yankees logo, with the “N” and “Y” overlapping. Who knew!?!

So, Sultan is a good choice. In the next entry, I’ll go step-by-step from placing the type to finishing the color fills and sandy background.

I’m working on something new. 

A couple weeks ago, Clinton R. Nixon’s gave the hobby a gift. He opened up the the license for The Shadow of Yesterday, one of my favorite games. So, I’m taking up his gift for my next project, Mirage.

I’ll be chronicling the graphic design of the Mirage book here in this blog. I’ll show some basic screenshots of how I design, and explain some of the decisions about it. Meanwhile, I’m already re-writing the system text along with new material for Kyrsia. Think of it as the Far to the World of Near. It’s a mish-mash of Middle Eastern fantasy with fanatical alchemists, heathen freedom fighters, nomadic sorcerers, word-weaving astrologer-merchants, and a hidden city where spiders spin silky illusions to keep the city’s treasures hidden.

I’m pretty early on in the project. Like all things, it’s bound to change as I create. The aim all along, though, will be an inside look at my graphic design craft, and likely some sneak peeks at my re-imagining of The Shadow of Yesterday.

In my first post, I’ll detail my process to create this initial Mirage titling. The final book will probably have a better, more carefully crafted piece, but this will serve in the meantime as a workable visual.

Andreas, who commented recently, alerted me that my PayPal button for purchasing 44: A Game of Automatic Horror was broken! This issue is now fixed.

Better yet! The attractive print ashcan edition of 44: A Game of Automatic Horror is now only $14 with FREE shipping anywhere in the world.

Finally, The Score returns, alive and kicking! This is the second half of the interview with Seth Ben-Ezra, creator of Dirty Secrets and Legends of Alyria. We talk about board games, the influences of Reiner Knizia, fatherhood, and more.

• Dark Omen Games
• Dirty Secrets

 The Score, Episode 4 [22:24m]: Download

Rob Wieland has written a review on RPG.net for 44: A Game of Automatic  Horror. He introduces his review with this funny quip:

The maker of Dust Devils tries his hand at a body snatcher game. Pending this positive review, I am unsure as to whether or not I have been replaced by a robot yet.

Read the review of 44.

This year at GenCon, Paul Czege and I spearheaded the Ashcan Front. We had a great time, and I think we’re both very pleased with the overall success of the booth.

Paul and I, along with Paul’s wife Danielle who was instrumental to the booth, talked about it with Clyde Rhoer, who does the Theory From the Closet podcast. Check out our conversation about the Ashcan Front and more in the new podcast.