Inspiration and the other -ation

I recently saw this video, which in my opinion is superb. It has a an easy-to-follow story arc, plenty of action and it's not without some tongue-in-cheek silliness either; I'd suggest if you haven't watched it yet you go and do so right now.

It's fun, and you like fun, right? Go on. Do it.

Now that you've watched it, I want to talk about how it made me feel. That video, although not quite ten minutes long, made me want to write about epic adventures. It made me want to take down an RPG book and start writing up a campaign for a fantastical world of magic and monsters (although I might skip out the bamboo-legged bee-creatures, no matter how much I laughed at their misfortune). It inspired me.

I don't know so much about anyone else, but normally when it comes to inspiration I have to work at it. I have to read a variety of material with some suitable music (currently soundtracks for the silver screen, such as those from Equilibrium, Dredd and Game of Thrones Season 2 are favourites), or I go on a walk - when I lived in Aberystwyth this could be up in the hills/woods or down on the seafront and through the castle, which was great for thinking and getting ideas. I find that when I'm alone is most often when I get hit by something, so... often in the bathroom, and also when I can't sleep at night I'll get struck by a thought that I just have to write down. I even have a particular association with a urinal in a certain pub that always make me think of a concept I had, as I had it whilst standing there, uh, doing what you do. OK, so that's a bit TMI but it's an illustration of how my mind wanders when alone.

It's OK, it was nothing like this (terrifying) image. 

For me there's also another -ation involved in the whole process - you know the one. No? It starts with 'm' and ends in 'otivation'.

A lot of the time I'll write something down in a book, in my 'phone, on a clean body part, etc, and be quietly smug about it. Aren't I clever at what I've thought up, it's sure to be a great plot hook/character development/general MacGuffin that will help make me famous throughout the land for my literary/gaming skills! What's more likely is that these these notes get left somewhere safe, filed away for use during the mythical, unspecified time of promise known as 'later'. This changes under two circumstances:

1. I have to do it. Deadline coming up for a game publisher? I'll get that written up, no problem. Need to write up and send out information for players in a game I'm running in two days? Easy. I have an idea for a short story that I've already plotted in my head, made notes of in half a dozen different mediums and that will probably not even go over 2,000 words? Pfft, that'll... happen... at some point... 
2. Something particularly 'clicks' with me. Taste is subjective, and can vary wildly but there are some things that just make me want to write something. I love certain things like dystopian futures, historical periods not normally examined in-depth and stories with a Lovecraftian element.

Also the colour orange and Aztecs, those are good too. Who am I kidding, I just love this picture. 

The video I linked to way up there at the top met this second criteria. It's a powerful feeling that sort of overtook me and seems to still be casting its FANTASY ADVENTURE spell on me. The only things standing in its way? Other writing commitments, work and the awkward situation where you may or may not be able to put a gaming group together, depending on time, system, whether online or real-life, etc.

So what have we learnt here? Well, I have issues when it come to making coherent points. I've also outlined some of the things that help me when it comes to inspiration and motivation, and hopefully this will be of mild interest to others. Now to deal with all this stuff, but then again... I'll just put these notes in a file, I'll probably get round to it later.







P.s. Also, have this because I shouldn't have to experience these murdermaw slitherhorrors alone.

I EAT YOUR DREAMS. 

The first update

Recently I've been working on the setting for my Rogue Trader game, the Morana Gulf, a perilous region full of lawlessness, fiercely independent pocket empires, insidious aliens and Warp nastiness. At some point I will finish up the document with all this information and put it up here, but for now here's a map of the Gulf that the talented Isak put together (more on him later).

So, after a few months without a gaming group (moving house, new location, etc), I've started running an online game of Rogue Trader based in, guess where... the Morana Gulf! The group is six-strong, larger than I'd ordinarily be comfortable with, but they're all people I know and trust to RP well so I thought it was a challenge I could overcome. The group is composed of Daniel (enigmatic and mysterious Rogue Trader who employs body doubles), Luke (Seneschal), Mark (punk-chick Navigator), Fraser (Astropath), John  (Explorator) and Isak (loyal Arch-Militant - see, told you there'd be more on him). 

I could go on about how the first session went, but I don't think that would be of interest to many as there were no murderhobo-ing antics and it was mostly discussion. Instead, I'm going to go and spend some time reading about lampreys on Wikipedia and other places. It's OK, it's totally related to development with the Morana Gulf. So far I have learnt that these things were probably dreamt up by Lovecraft and that every time I close my eyes I see lots and lots of sharp teeth. 

Can't wait for my dreams tonight...

In a hole in the ground there lived a Robert...

I've never done one of these before, so I have no idea how it will turn out. Consider this the test article, where I discover I have no understanding of how to use this and through a series of unfortunate events manage to accidentally post my bank account details and that picture of me in a corset I keep meaning to have destroyed. 

Moving swiftly on, I intend this blog to be a place I can put my thoughts on various games (mostly RPGs), my homebrew material for systems as well as my hamfisted attempts at fiction. In fact, so porcine will they be I'm sure they'll be veritable baconfisted attempts at fiction. 

To keep vaguely to theme I will begin with a little introduction to my own corner of that grimmest and darkest of grimdark futures, the 41st Millennium. In the several years that I have been playing the 40K RPG line I have developed my own region to run games in - this is not that I dislike the material from the core books (quite the contrary, I find them very evocative and compelling - what the hell is the Tyrant Star? Will the Jericho Reach campaign end in misery for the Imperium? Why do I love the Slaugth so much? Why won't Aspyce Chorda return any of my calls?), but I do have a minor world-building compulsion. I have notebooks of scribblings detailing various worlds for RPGs to take place in, maps I've drawn in the simple-but-friendly AutoRealm and surreal notes I keep finding on my 'phone from 4 a.m. half-asleep 'inspiration'. What did I even mean by 'Choir sings to the sea!' and why was it so important I had to note it down? 

Anyway, yes, my own little corner of the 40kverse! It's called the Perios Sector and has been developed over several years with the aid of a few gaming groups (thanks guys!). This is what it looks like at the moment: 

That took about a day to do and I was so damn proud of it, although it may not be the best looking example of cartography. I have several thousand words of background information, equipment, super-secret GM notes, NPCs and alternative careers for Dark Heresy alone, although it has also been visited by a group in Rogue Trader. The Sector is undergoing a mostly successful war against Orks to the south and a less successful war with secessionists in the north, is often riven with clandestine religious strife and is home to one of the most unfriendly Space Marine Chapters since the Marines Malevolent all stepped on Lego bricks after they got their trouser zippers caught. 

Located in the Ultima Segmentum (galactic east), the sector is bordered to the north by the Morana Gulf (the 'Rogue Trader' zone, more on it at a later date), the north-east-ish by the Salanid Sector (I liked the name), the south by the Harald Sector (a location I used in my younger, forum freeform-RP days) and the north-west by the Galvixus Cluster (inspired by St Evisser's Trail from Ben Counter's very readable Grey Knights). It's not had any Tyranid attention as of yet, but the high-ups know it's only a matter of time, adding another pressing issue to an already unstable region. 


That's the overview anyway, I should really tidy up some of the documents and put them in a fancy .pdf format at some point. Some point... soon. Until the next time I update, farewell from the Vault and may you roll the desired digits.