CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

SCENE 4A: INVESTIGATING LEYILA’S HOME When PCs reach Leyila’s home, read or paraphrase the following: Leyila’s family lives in a small, two-story house with a tiny front lawn. You can see two policemen standing on the steps near the front door. They’re not knocking, or trying to get in, but seem to be on guard. Two squad cars are pulled up out the front, but there is no one inside, either. The other policemen must either be inside the house, or around the back. General information: The Policemen Outside : The policemen are under strict orders not to let anyone in without authorization. No one wants the Press snooping around and giving out information that the police are not yet ready to release. One of police officers is inside with Mr. and Mrs. Andrews; the other is guarding the back door. All the windows (on both the upper and lower floors) have been locked, as has the entrance to the coal cellar, and the external doors. PCs facing the house can see there is a na...

FINALIZING SCENE THREE After Searching Anika’s House: When PCs have finished searching Anika’s house, they have a number of options. They can: go and search Leyila’s House (Go To Act II, Scene 4 ) go and investigate the gallery in Islington to find out about the painter David Markovin who has a studio in Camden (go to Act III, Scene 1 ); go to David Markovin’s studio in Camden (go to Act III, Scene 1 );   try to find mythological references to red boars (go to Act III, Scene 4 );   try to find out what the symbol on the disc and the Red Boars means (go to Act III, Scene 4 ); go to Emblae (if they have played The Fire Within )—in which case the faery identifies the creatures as the Red Boars of Set and gives them the information listed on pp. 36-37; go the Fae of Haverhill (if they have played The Fire Within ) in which case PCs receive the information on p. 37 check out ‘Half-Time Nursery & Landscaping Services’. (Go to Act 4, Scene 1 .) NOTE: This adve...

SCENE THREE C: Friends of Kredak Ending the Battle and Aftermath: If Things Go Badly : PCs are rescued by two other members of Kredak’s brood. Read, or paraphrase, the following: With your brood badly wounded, and the strange dragon looking more injured than ever, you think this is going to be the end. So much for good intentions, you’re thinking, when another roar breaks through the noise of the storm. “GET BACK!” you hear, but the voice is inside your head, and you find yourself backing up before you have time to think. Fire bursts over the giant boar-men, singing your skin as lightning rips through the flying sand. The stinging grains feel heavy against your flesh, coagulating as rain begins to fall. Two other forms plunge into the midst of the battle, landing on the boar men, great jaws snapping closed as teeth and claws tear your opponents apart. Go to ‘Aftermath’ . If Things Go Well : read, or paraphrase, the following: “Thank you,” the dragon says, sinking t...

SCENE THREE C: FRIENDS OF KREDAK If PCs decide to do battle : Give players the choice of what form to use in the battle to come and role initiative. (For new characters/players, go to the Notes for New Characters Sidebar II.) NOTES FOR NEW CHARACTERS SIDEBAR II: New players/characters may not know they can use their draconic form in this battle so have them turn to their dragon descriptions and read, or paraphrase the following: With the beating these things are giving that dragon, you’d be a fool to take them on in any other form—and you are sure you were something else, when you last met them in combat. You feel your bones shifting as you leap into the fray with a roar.     If PCs decide not to do battle : read or paraphrase the following: No, that’s not how it happened. There was a battle, a glorious battle and you won the admiration of your host, as well as a new friend. The creatures were destroyed, shatterin...

I’m going to start up, or restart, a series of posts titled ‘The Writing Life:’. These will consist of things that I’ve found important as a writer, things that have made me stop and think, and mostly just my thought processes and opinions. If it bothers me, and it has something to do with writing, or being a writer, or the business of writing, you’ll find it here. And because these posts will be dealing with my thoughts on writing as I find my way in this crazy old business, they might even get contradictory, or even, heavens forbid, get it wrong. They’re not intended to be a ‘how to’ series to give direction, they’re just going to be my own thoughts and my own opinions. If you think something in them makes sense for you to try, go ahead. If not, then don’t. What I’m doing is taking a leaf out of the book of more experienced writers, and sharing what I learn along the way. Some of it will be useful to you, and some of it won’t, but you can decide for yourself what might, or might not...

SCENE THREE C: FRIENDS OF KREDAK You are sitting around a rough, wooden table on benches worn smooth by use and time. The walls appear to be made of mud bricks and heavy wooden shutters cover deep, narrow windows. Outside a storm wind howls but, somehow, you know that the constant hiss against the shutters is sand, not rain. It is not a day to be outside. Or, possibly, a night. Who can tell? The storm has raged for so long it could be either. Your host is about to continue the epic he was reciting for your entertainment when there is a sudden thud from the trap door at the top of the stairs leading to the roof. For a few seconds it is followed by nothing more than the howling wind, and then a roar shakes the building. Either there’s a lion on steroids out there, or you’ve got company… Let the PCs decide what to do. Inspired by the heroic deeds in the epic he was reciting, their host is all for climbing the stairs and taking a peek, something he does on his own if the PCs tak...

I had a bunch of things I wanted to do this week, but I’m still trying to find an even keel. Stuff got done, despite me changing things around, though, and I found my feet on Babes , but it's been slow, progress-wise.   June Progress New words produced: 6,626 Outlines and Notes: 0 Works completed: 27 (22 poems, 5 flash fiction) Works edited: 1 Covers created: 0 Works published: 0 Works submitted: 0 Competitions Entered: 0 Bloggery: 1,552 University Prep and Assignments: N/A Writing News This week, in addition to working on getting my fitness and languages back in line I returned to writing a poem and a piece of flash fiction each day. It’s a lot harder to get into this habit than I remember, but I like the unexpected turn of each piece. For the flash fiction pieces, I tend to write into the dark, not knowing what I’m writing when I lay down the first few words. The poetry is much the same, although I will often choose a poetry form if I fee...