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What creative projects have you been working on?
This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on.
Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just ideas.
If you have any creative projects that you have been working on or want to eventually work on, this is a place for discussing those.
I've been working on a new novel called Chaplin_13. It's a kind of literary science fantasy young adult adventure that I first conceived about 40 years ago. On my first of many trips to the San Juan Islands in Washington and BC, I imagined a remote and isolated society there 300 years in the future, where they have decided to use tech advances to create a fantasy-themed existence of competing kingdoms and constant medieval and "magical" warfare.
Our hero Chaplin is 13 and lives on the mainland in a reclusive community called the Thirties, which is a society that has turned away from the horrors of modern technology and refuses to progress beyond the world of the 1930s. But a mysterious violent bank robbery then suicide pulls Chaplin and his friends into a much wider plot and soon they find themselves on a boat out to the Isles, where they are kidnapped by monsters, sold to a dissolute court, studied by inhuman Doctors, and escape with the help of a pair of old souls.
What they don't know is that one bit of tech that they embrace on the Isles which they don't in the Thirties is a tiny white indestructible capsule they each have at the base of their skulls, which records every bit of their biological states. When they are killed, these capsules float away for the people to be reborn in the cycle of Fortune and for them to once again strive in the Endeavor. They have basically turned every moment of their lives completely into an MMORPG.
When I first thought of this in the 80s there were no MMORPGs or RPGLit or any of the things that make this idea seem suitable, if not even a bit passé by now. But it has finally bloomed in full detail and the world is there for the exploring. So I'm about 150 pages in now and having a grand time.
This one's a little out there, even for me, but I'm giving it a try.
Basically, it all boils down to wanting to run TTRPG games online, but not being a huge fan of having my face on video. So, I worked with a really amazing puppet maker overseas (Shout out to Woolacraft on etsy!) who made me both an absolutely amazing gelatinous cube and a very cool kobold.
Now, I have the puppets, but the next step has been learning how to... you know... puppet them.
This is actually a hell of a lot harder than I thought. So, here I am, a grown man sitting at my desk watching youtubes on how to lip sync, use those hand rods, and all the other stuff I haven't even begun to dive into.
Thankfully, my wife has been supportive, and last night when my teenager pulled into the driveway with friends and there was a kobold waving to them from the window she laughed, but this is proving to be far more challenging than I thought.
So, yeah. That's my creative insanity at present. Now, pardon me while I stick a hand up this kobold's tailpipe and try to have him read the news.
US news sounds far more on-brand delivered by a kobold these days.
That's pretty damn cool. But honest question, why would you even need to show your face on video? I have both ran and played countless online TTRPG games over the last few decades, and I've never shown my face on video while playing them. My play groups have always just used VOIP services like Teamspeak, Discord, etc, alongside Virtual Tabletop apps/services like Tabletop Simulator, Fantasy Grounds, Roll20, etc.
p.s. Any chance we could see a pic of the kobold and gelatinous cube? I would love to see them! But I also totally understand if you would rather not, so no pressure.
Sure thing. DM me an email and I'll send you some pics. Yeah, I thought about that (ie why am i doing this) but my problem is that I don't know many (any?) people to game with and I thought this might help me break the ice.
It's silly, I know, but it's also a great way to procrastinate and never actually get around to that thing you wanted to do but couldn't seem to get over the hump of actually doing.
PM'd email. Looking forwards to seeing the pics! :)
And ah, heh. It certainly would break the ice! If I was hosting a VTT game group and our new player popped in with puppets like that, I would be ecstatic. :P
BTW, if you're looking for people to play with, here are a few of the forums I've used in the past to find players:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/286160/discussions/2/
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?40-LFG-Looking-for-Group
https://app.roll20.net/forum/category/22
https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/
Step one, acquire courage... Step two...
Seriously though, I wrote a long post on reddit dnd way back in the before times about the road back to the game after 25+ years.
I've included it below to give you some context and to avoid a trip to reddit ;)
Original post from Reddit... The long road back, returning to DnD after 25+ years away
Wow, this was really hard to write.
25+ years away from something will do that I guess. When I was into Dungeons & Dragons it was at the height of the religious objection period, so you'll have to forgive me if I regress into that teenager trying to quickly hide his DnD books under the bed.
Fast forward 25+ years and my youngest child is old enough to start to show an interest in fantasy (How to train your dragon, Wings of Fire, etc) and I somehow find myself staring at the RPG section at the book store. Always keen to make sure I am alone, ready with a quick "It's for my friend's kid" response if someone makes eye contact. Yet here they are, a portal to my teenage years, waiting for me to simply pick them up. Sadly, the thought of the checkout counter was enough to freeze my wallet in its place. In the end almost a year went by without me doing much more than walking past them at the store. The siren call was strong, but not strong enough, old stigmas die hard.
I gradually forgot about D&D, days bled together and I became more entrenched in my role of grass cutter, bill payer, and he that fixes all things great and small with tape and glue. It was then, deep in thought replacing outdoor lights when I received a phone call from my mother. I was stunned. My mother called to tell me one of my old high school friends died suddenly overnight. Now I hadn't been close with this guy since High School, which for those keeping track was a while ago, but he was a frequent member of my gaming group. It was funny, at that moment I didn't remember him as a high school kid, I remembered him as his character. A true and sudden sadness came over me, I guess I'd always hoped like the Heros of the Lance my gaming group would meet up again at the "Inn of my old home" and play one last time. Well if we did, it would be without our dearest bard.
That was the moment it hit me full on, standing outside on a ladder holding an old burned out bulb. I decided if I didn't at least try to play D&D again I never would. You see, the bard and I were the same age, almost to the day. We may have run out of time to play together, but it wasn't too late for me. The ghost of Christmas Future be damned. That night I stayed up late to order all the base 5E materials from Amazon. I must have agonized over it for an hour, even without a clerk to check me out I was still nervous.
As luck (and Amazon Prime!) would have it, the package arrived the following day. Late that evening, with wife and daughter asleep, I carefully opened it. Quick to use a pair of scissors to slice the tape, not wanting to wake the two or four legged members of the house.
There they were, fresh binding faintly cracking under my fingers, each turned page filling the air with an inky aroma slowly dulling my senses to the outside world. The players handbook, dungeon masters guide, and monster manual. They were far more beautiful than I remember my 1st edition Ad&d books, full color throughout, gorgeous illustrations, and paper just like you'd find in top shelf publications.
That's when it happened. They say time is one directional, but at that moment the river ran backwards. I could remember all the campaigns, all the stories, all the adventures. I could feel the dice in my hands, in fact I would later discover I had unknowingly removed them from a hidden pouch I'd kept in my desk for the last 20 years. I may have lost all the books I owned, but here in my hands were the dice I used to slay a frost giant. Was it my imagination, or were they still cold?
It wasn't until many hours had gone by and Tenser's floating disc raised my head enough to see the clock that I realized I was still a Dad, and still had work in the morning. I quietly put the books under the coach, then stopped, I'm old enough now to not be afraid. So I left them on the desk and went to bed.
As the days continued I have spent my evenings reading each book, trying to remember the rules, and stories, the monsters. It's been liberating in a way I can hardly put into words. Each evening when I read and re-read the rules, classes, monsters, and spells I'm transported back to my childhood. Oh I still have my silver cord, however I'm smarter now than that first evening. Now I ask Alexa to warn me when I've been gone too long. When the alarm sounds it's a reminder that the real world exists and that I need to return to being a multi-classed Father, Husband, and Professional.
So far reading the books has been a sort of catharsis for me. However, now I'd like to play again. I have to admit, though that I'm finding all the online options a bit overwhelming, there are graphics, interactive maps, grids, tiles, all things that either didn't exist, or we didn't have the money for as kids. The game online appears to be very different, is there a way to play online that is more like my "theatre of the mind" campaigns of the 80s and 90s? Any old(er) gamers out there reading this post and thinking, "yeah, I remember those times, I'd love to dip myself in those elysian springs and play again". Post here, or pm me, forgive my lack of understanding when it comes to things like discord, map grids, or fancy tiles. Let's have a chat and tell a story or two, who knows perhaps these dice can be giant slayers again.
Damn, sorry to hear about your friend. That was a wonderfully written account though.
I also grew up during the Satanic panic period of the 80s/90s where, for some weird reason, D&D got lumped in with metal music, Ouija boards, and the like... but we were thankfully a bit further removed from the worst of it up here in Canada. And I also had parents that weren't concerned about any of the fear-mongering nonsense, so I never felt fear or shame about playing D&D with my friends... and still don't.
As to your question:
It can just be a "theatre of the mind" if that's what you really want, but it will just depend on the group. I have DM'd campaigns where I provided plenty of reference images and made incredibly detailed world/encounter maps ahead of time, and the players also provided reference images for their characters and such. But I have also DM'd and played in groups that were entirely narrative, with only a few quickly sketched out maps whenever they were needed. But most of my campaigns, and campaigns I've joined, have fallen somewhere in the middle, and I suspect that is true for most online play groups. So it might be a bit harder to find an entirely narrative group, if that's the only thing you're interested in. Although, I suspect that would have been the case 30+ years ago too, since even back then me and my elementary/high-school friends were using reference images, maps, minifigs, and music in our campaigns. ;)
Thanks, buddy. Yeah. I feel like everything today looks like Neverwinter Nights or Diablo. I'm a novelist, so I greatly prefer the words to the pictures, but I get that I'm the minority. So for now I'll keep working on puppets and try to get past the procrastination.
Hmmmm... you being a novelist, here's a potential idea for you, if you really want to play a narrative only campaign. You could try hosting a campaign yourself that works like a collective Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book for your players. You could write a few paragraphs describing things, then have your players read that and submit their desired actions to you. You could then roll for the results and write another few paragraphs in response. Rinse, repeat.
I have no clue if that would actually work, but the idea popped into my head just now, and I think it could at least be a fun experiment. :P
Dude! That's interesting. Where would I host such a thing?
Something like that would be relatively easy to do on just about any forum-ish type platform. Discord could work. Reddit or Tildes could work. Or even doing it on your own personal blog (if you have one) and communicating via email with your players could work.
As with most games, finding players would probably be the hardest part. But that format in particular would probably be a lot easier to attract players for, since it would be played somewhat asynchronously and doesn't take a huge commitment from the players themselves.
Pretty sure Gygax DM'd fully Wizard of Oz style by hiding in cabinets or behind curtains. The disembodied voice or puppet style can work well if you try.
"if you try."
And therein lies the rub, but that's a funny visual, Gygax in a cabinet booming his words out. Thanks!
Well, I challenge you to find something wherein a rub doesn't lie. Doesn't it always?
I was pretty late to posting this in the previous thread, so pardon me for reposting. I did a risograph workshop the other week where we learned the basic operation of the machine and got some practice with printing. This is what I ended up making and I'm pretty happy with it! I am thinking of becoming a member at the press — they have different types of printing equipment that I want to try out. But the risograph was fun and I'm already planning my next print!
Wow! That's really cool. I have to go look up what a risograph is.
It started very innocently. The idea was something I thought about for a long time: what if Vulcans were actually logical? Not just common sense with pointy ears, but a species that was truly structured around logic. That would be at the formation of their language and the way they interact with the world in a very deep way. So I started writing and kept going for a while. I wrote the most about language. How they have an actual language of thought that is bootstraped in the way people write a programming language using another, and then make a compiler in the new language. My Vulcans are incapable of thought without symbolic representation. Anyway, there is a lot to write and think about.
UPDATE: I may have gone too far. It turns out that, when creating a truly logical species, they may get too weird. These people barely have any reason to do anything now. Or communicate with outsiders. That's kinda boring unless I'm planning for them to remain distant and mysterious. I will follow this "super logical Vulcan" impulse to its end. And then I will go back one or two steps.
I've been into modular paper folding lately, namely the Bascetta Star.
I screwed up 2024 Christmas gift giving (a personal annual tradition), so I want to stay on top of it for 2025. I learned these stars when I was a Mormon missionary (no longer Mormon) in Germany, and I would come back to them from time to time. When I was working in a call center, when they still allowed paper, I would churn them out while I was on talking to customers, and they littered the tops of the cubical dividers.
But this year, it's my objective to make as many of them as I can before December and give them all away. I can make them without thinking at this point, and can knock one out in an hour and a half. So, while we're watching something in the evening, I'm generally making them.
And the more I make, the more interesting I find them. I've started cutting my own paper from books (working through Ender's Game right now, and I've done a couple with the Hitchhiker's Guide). I've done a few with graphic novels (most recently Full Metal Alchemist). My favorite so far is for a communist friend of mine - 20 of the squares are from an old copy of the Communist Manifesto, and 10 of the squares are gold foil, red backed paper. Monster Manuals make pretty cool ones too.
I've made a plexiglass square (jig?) that I can use to figure out what parts of each piece of paper are going to be visible on the star and which parts are going to be hidden in the folds. I was going to make a bunch of pieces of plexiglass, each a different size, until I realized I could just use one window and hold the piece of paper further from it to visualize what's going to be visible. It's been fun learning how to make sure the right words from a book or faces from a manga show up in the end result.
My goal is ~4 a week until I get tired of it.
I've been potting! Or maybe Pottering? Anyway I'm making ceramic stuff.
I got most of the throwing basic down ok during my pottery class last fall so I decided to push the wagon out and try some weird, fun things this session. Most of what I've made has been to learn more about specific parts of the process. I wanted to try out hand building and mess around with glazes, so I build a weird wave made of faces and glazed each a different color. I don't have high hopes of it coming out well, but the noses didn't fall off in the initial firing process so who knows. I did fill the eyes in a bit too much with glaze so it might just look like a lumpy bunch of fragments, we'll see. I also tried combining glazes (like straight up mixing together before application and tinting glazes - which I've learned you're not supposed to do because they are chemical compounds rather than tints - but I'm excited to see what they do.
I also threw a vase successfully for the first time. It's the biggest thing, I've thrown, about 3-4 lbs of clay, and 10 inches tall. I still need to trim and glaze it but I'm feeling hopeful. I have it a nice shape with a sharp taper from the middle to the rim and base. I pretty much copied a Florian Gadsby style I liked and we'll see if I pull it off.
Otherwise I still need to finish the pregnancy figurine I made for a friend and a few plates.
It's been a fun session, but I haven't found the same amount of time to attend as the fall. Really makes me want a wheel at home, but having other folks fire things, buy glazes, prep the clay is very, very nice.