Really looking for the right rhythm. When do I talk about the process of making, the process of thinking, the process of performing. All of it. Today I want to talk about making - just a bit, so that's what this will be. I'm just wondering if I could aim to do this on a certain day of the week, maybe the first of the month?
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Let me complain about organizing a book. I don't know that there's any sourcebook, rulebook or splatbook that is unanimously praised for its organization. Tables appear in confusing places, XP expenditures & level up mechanics, items, monsters? It's not obvious when you're assembling these disparate pieces of the Holistic & Totalizing text where things should appear. When you think about it the mentality of the author & editor compared to that of the reader.
I'm writing the text about the specific setting in the Iollan Riparia, the text I'm aiming to complete in the next month. I got through a long section on the introductory area of the campaign & finished up a section on ecology. Now, moved by the sentiments expressed about the setting, I'm carried away, thinking about it, visualizing the setting & then trying to describe it back in text. There are so many kind of fish, so, so many... (I save my better writing for when I'm not blogging) I don't want to stat up or name or describe a million kinds of fish, obviously. I need maybe a couple of iconic fishes, these are the ones that are known in the setting. Like, think Louisiana you think of Catfish. There's all kinds no doubt, but there's the iconic association - I should make a couple of fishes like that, sure. But I've written down that there's so, so, so many different kinds.
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You know what to do when there's a lot of options that you can mix & match right? I'm ALWAYS prepped for this. Random fish generation tables - Got Em. Made. So where do I put them then? Do they belong in this book? Are they a supplement for next year's TTT? Do they go in an appendix about the creatures of the setting? Should I mash the monster book into the setting book? Do people want two books or one? If they're print-on-demand how much is it either way? Do I make a cheaper paperback one with less colors?
And on & on. See, there's so many choices & it's actually pretty hard to build an index or hyperlink entire docs after they've been made & remade a few times. Which isn't to say that there's not a better way of doing things, but I've got the method I taught myself & using that method is part of the process now. It's too disruptive to make a change in how things are done because...
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And on & on. I'm going to tuck this fish table under this opening section on the local ecology. It's not meant for making monsters but for fishing out easter-eggs when the players decide to pay attention to the water. Tables are good because they can make absurdities that are fun to think about & amazing outliers that can change the course of a campaign. If they don't, they're not very fun as random tables go. Even if no big swings occur, no magic-wish-granting-fishes are caught nor any giant-talking-snakes & all they fish out are bony sturgeons or whatever - the possibility exists. It's on the table & there it can sit like an ejector seat for the DM. "Eh, this session needs more, let's add a giant talking snake for a while." or "let's calm it down with some casual fishing, yes, you spend the day taking all the bass you can eat, it's a good time with your party & some appreciative townsfolk show up to get a barbecue going." Yeah. The table doesn't tell you what's there, it gives a range of the kinds of possibilities! Or a emergency outlet if you want a break in the action & need to add some stochastic amusement.
Point being, it's not meant to go along with the monster-guide or encounter book. Try to keep it confined to a local minigame in that part of the setting . Yeah... People are going to complain. For. Sure.
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