Return to Form

I've written less posts this year, but I've written a lot.  Quite a few of the posts these last few months have been the length of two or three posts all at once.  In general, I've felt more restored as a person than in many years past; more creative; and more conscious of the good of that creativity.

I apologise for the last post.  Social conditions build up in me over time and need an outlet, and ViP's comment set the light.  That's going to happen from time to time.  It's better than a blog where the writer doesn't post often.

My D&D running was last night.  Previously, one of my players had sketched out an idea for his character's monastery, which I'd said didn't need to be especially details, so long as he provided the basic shape.  This is his sketch on the right.

This is good enough.  I encourage players to dream big, to give shape to something they'd really like to have in a property.  It's an opportunity to express oneself in the manner that the Sims made easily possible.  Your character has reached a certain level, they have a considerable pile of money and they're nearing name level.  In this case, the monk is close to getting his pile of lesser monk followers, so naturally he wants a place to put them.

The space doesn't need much detail.  I've been building up a visual library of objects, spaces and textures for years, so I can steal from other buildings — from the player, all I need is for them to commit to the idea itself.  It's awful to ask a DM to "just make me a castle;" there's nothing expressive in that.  A player needs to step out of his or her comfort zone, taking their first steps into something new.  If they contribute to the design of the space, they're more likely to grow attached to it; to perceive themselves adding to the basic model over a period of years.  I've had players arrive at my game announcing they've found the perfect curtains for the castle's throne room — and yes, I'm talking about a cis male character here.  As immersion goes, these things are important.

I spent an hour on the above, scanning the image and putting it on my desktop.  As I said, all I really need to do is pirate pre-existing features; and I don't want to get too details either, because my sketch is going to be reworked by the player in turn, as he realises he was thinking too small, and what else he might want to add to the general plan. 

He saw what I added, and we discussed some changes, moving buildings around ... and he's going to do more designing, as there ended up being no room for the main house.  The stable and smithy shown are the minimum size for these buildings, much bigger than the player's original sketch.  Here's the version we ended with last night; first, with his sketch in the background.

Then without his sketch:

Remember ... every time you draw one door on a computer, you're drawing an infinite number of doors.  Or beds.  Or walls.  Or full-sized rooms.  It's extraordinarily convenient.  And with very little work, it makes a strong impression on the player, while at some future time down the road a reworked version of the above becomes the site of a battle or a raid.

If the last post was anti-D&D, this is as D&D as it gets.