Some days the creative juices not only flow but they simply have to. Yesterday was a day like that.
Following the regular Friday Roleplay session of GURPS, in which the heroes escaped from the clutches of the Witchfinder and discovered that something fishy was happening under that wide-brimmed hat, someone made a comment which literally sparked off a day of writing.
“Could we play your Mykovnia setting with Pathfinder?”
My reply was simple: “It’s possible.”
Enter The Far North
You can read the product of yesterday's work on the
Mykovnia website (click -->
here<--) and even download the player's introduction that I drafted to help orientate folk to the setting.
What was remarkable, however, was the effect that this one question had upon me. I was transported back to the fantasy world that I most want to explore in a strange sequence of events.
Firstly, I dreamt of Mykovnia again that night. I was walking through the snow-laden plains of the Far North, alone, and looking up at the clear sky and the many millions of stars. There was an earthquake and the ground beneath my feet literally gave way, opening a massive chasm in the ground. As I looked around it dawned upon me that a buried terror was ready to be released... and then I woke up.
Once awake, the creative juices were flowing. Over breakfast I heard about the real-world snow flurries being predicted for our part of the UK and, once again, the connection to those snow-laden plains was firing. I sat down with the laptop and began to draft an introduction to the setting for the aspiring Pathfinder player, drawing directly on the advice in the GamesMastery Guide.
Everything seemed to come together in one flurry of writing. Before I knew it there were character creation guidelines drafted too and, as the afternoon arrived, I couldn't resist opening up Hero Lab and bashing out a few pregenerated heroes... just in case.
Letting It Flow
There's a large part of my mind that questions yesterday's activity. The logical brain wants to hold onto the plan to develop the setting seriously and in a measured fashion, utilising the highly customisable GURPS rules. And yet the passionate, fiery GM inside is screaming still to let things flow with Pathfinder in hand.
What is happening..?
It's hard to be sure. The end result, however, is that I have begun to write a campaign set in Mykovnia that has touched a nerve and sparked off an immense passion-driven energy and enthusiasm. The opening of the Frozen Chasm, the hunt for the beast within, has begun... at least in my own mind. It is screaming demands to be played out.
My gut feeling is to let it flow... let it happen and see where it leads.
There is a scenario to write before I can hope to tempt players to the table. Yet the fun has begun and something awesome this way comes.
Game on!
