Of Star Wars, Little Girls, Finland and Cornwall!

For most of October, most of my writing time was split between this blog and generally doing nothing useful - playing Star Wars: The Old Republic mostly. Not overly exciting is it?

Well actually it was... I also did a number of small things that got me fired up to do more, different things. As a means of recharging my batteries, I have been working on adventures for other settings/ campaigns.

I have been initiating my two princesses (the ones on the left) and their friend to Pathfinder. I ran them through 1-35 Voice in the Void and they had a good time with it. They followed more than I expected them to follow, which is good.

I use the game as an opportunity to dress them as Princesses (hence the hats). They really like the dressing-up part in addition to the playing. Because of that, I have been GMing PFS for the first time in months and having fun with it. No politics, no argument, just running the adventure for fun. If it helps Chad (my VC) at the same time, then great!

So what have I been writing? I have been working on the next adventure for Legacies, called "Sugar and Spice". I really like the idea but I am currently "stuck" with it. I am missing one encounter to make it come together, and I don't like the ones I come up with...

In the Dominion, one never finds a cool day. The flames of anger and hatred are never far behind when the fate of a little girl is at stake. An adventure written for APLs 3, 5 and 7 (character levels 3-8).

Another project I am working on involves Finland and World War II. I had to do a fair amount of research for this mostly-historical adventure. However like a lot of things about WWII, as you begin digging factoids and interesting things keep appearing everywhere. I knew little about Finland of that era, a glossy overview really, but this has expanded my horizons and I would really like to do a wargames scenario set there.

When I first talked about this adventure, I asked what type of adventure my editor was looking for, whether he wanted something very war-filled or more along the lines of a spy movie. I will admit that I was quite happy when he said "a spy story would be cool." Though a war story would've been awesome, it would've taken the story a different direction.

I think I can share the blurb with you (it should go live soon enough).

Blow blow, thou winter wind October 1939. A new battlefield may begin in Europe as Finland’s ambassador visits Moscow for talks that could lead to war or peace in the North. Helsinki is now a hotbed of activity as people from every nation and allegiance flock to the Finnish capital to advance their cause.

The title is taken from one of Shakespeare's work ("As you like it") I think fits quite well. The main theme of the poem is human thanklessness, comparing people ingratitude with the harshness of winter.

I will let you know once the full details are out and available, which should be soon.

The other project is the one I am writing most of the time now - while watching my backlog of October horror movies. This is another historical setting, this time England (well Cornwall) in 1690. The setting is fine, but I'm having difficulty with the rule set, mostly how to manage game balance in a system I am not very familiar with. Lucky for me, I have a good editor so I trust him on that.

It has been such a long time since I wrote something in a style that was not "D&D"-esque that I find myself wondering questions such as: Will this be too long? Will it be too short? Is there enough action in the story? Is the plot too difficult? Are the clues too obvious?

You might've guessed this is an investigative adventure using a system that feels rather old-school. I'll let you guess which one...

JP