Back from the Apocalypse!

I am back in Venice, after the six-days trip to Edinburgh for Conpulsion 2012! I had a fantastic time, thanks to the marvellous people I met there. Gregor Hutton, Phil Harris, Cat Tobin and their friends made sure I enjoyed the visit, caring for me and showing me around Edinburgh. Particular thanks go to Gregor, who made sure my luggage was packed with games, books and t-shirts on the return trip, and among other things has made me want to write an indie style rpg... I actually started on the plane! ;)

Also, many thanks go to all the green and blue shirts I saw every day at the con working to make sure everything was going well - the end result has been amazing, to everyone who attended the various seminars I was in, and my fellow players in the TOR game conducted by Gar - Liam, Steven, Gecko, Jo, Charles, and the other guy I couldn't grasp the name, sorry! I enjoyed myself a lot playing with you! Finally, I have met a lot of really nice individuals, gamers and professionals, and I hope I'll meet them again. I chatted pleasantly at the pub with artists like Dave Allsop, Andrew Hepworth and Scott Neill (Scotty?), and kindred spirits like Stuart Boon and Georgios Panagiotidis (aka Jo) to name a few.

The convention has also given me the chance to meet for the first time most of the people who work with me on The One Ring: I got to meet our fundamental pillars - Jon Hodgson (plus his lovely wife Nina) and Paul Bourne, and Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, whose talent is turning into reality a number of books I could only wish one day would exist. Dominic McDowall was there with us too, and we even put together a twenty minutes business meeting at a local Starbucks! New things coming up for all TOR fans...

From the left: Gareth Hanrahan, Cat Tobin, Phil Harris, Gregor Hutton and Paul Bourne posing on the Antonine Wall.

...expanding boundaries

Now, why no two cartographers can simply agree? :)

Now look at that...

The picture above comes from Jan Pospíšil's blog found here. It was brought to my attention by TOR's very own Jon Hodgson, who unsurprisingly enough seems to feel a strong artistic bond with Jan (also known as Merlkir).

I was familiar with Jan's previous work, but something about this one strikes me as so just right. So, I wonder, is there anyone who like Jon wants to see more Middle-earth stuff from this talented czech artist? I certainly do.

Inner workings

When you design a game and go to great lengths to do something, you are bound to ask yourself whether anyone will ever appreciate the effort, or even be aware of the effort itself! So, when I read something like what Brian writes in his blog about TOR's skill points distribution among the various cultures of Wilderland, I see that all the hours I poured in them weren't really spent in vain...

TOR's cultural skills

Brian's commentary makes for an insightful read, one that could be profitable for anyone about to create a character for The One Ring. And surprisingly enough, I agree with most of his conclusions. Which is something, considering that Tolkien readers find reasons to disagree very easily on matters concerning Middle-earth! :)

Latest news

Well, well, it seems all too likely that next April I will be flying to Edinburgh to attend Conpulsion 2012! I am very happy that this is happening, and I wish to thank Gregor Hutton for inviting me (I am sure there will be more people to thank, but I will be more thorough when the thing will be official).

I am really excited at the prospect of visiting Edinburgh, as I have never been to Scotland before, and it's fantastic to have the chance to go there thanks to a game. I'll get to see somewhere new, I'll get to meet many friends I only met through the internet so far (see you there, Jon! Is Paul going to be there too?) and I'll get to see some of the gamers that basically made this thing happen. Can't really wait for this...

Alright, enough for something that is yet to be confirmed. I'll better go back under my little rock, to work on those things we planned for 2012 that should soon be made public... ;)

Thinking out loud...

A month has passed since my last blog entry. Way too long, considering my initial intentions. I can identify several causes for the delay, in particular the fact that I have been busy going to conventions and promoting the publication of The One Ring rpg. Essen Spiel in Germany and Lucca Comics and Games in Italy have been very exciting, but also time-consuming and energy-draining.
Lucca wrapped almost a month ago, you say? Well, it's true, but when I got back I was tired, and in no time I got sucked into a frenzy of deadlines and urgent projects that really have plunged me in a kind of perpetual twilight, where I enter my studio in the morning and resurface only when it's dark already. It's probably an experience shared by many western-world workers, and it's certainly not the worst...
Especially for one reason: I am basically doing something I like. I read and reference books, I look at pictures, I write and I play and I rewrite what I wrote, I discuss and brainstorm and argue with fellow game designers. In time I see something take form, and eventually be physically created. Every time it happens I marvel at the beauty of having played a part in the birth of that something, a new set of dice, a boxed game, miniatures, pieces of artwork that I didn't draw myself but that recreate something I described...

Prototype Feat die and final one compared

My map of Wilderland, after my daughter Anita

started using it as a pirate treasure map...

Someone might argue that I am not making a lot of money out of what I do (and I know some of those someones...!); especially since it seems I reinvest a lot of that money into books and games that someone else designed! But wouldn't I do that anyway, as any self-respecting gamer out there? I think so. 

So, no, I am not complaining, just thinking out loud. And it's very easy to feel comforted in my persuasion: all I need is to take a look around the studio here, and see all the prototypes of maps, and dice and counters I have lying around in heaps, or laid out on the table, and then look at the shelves where the final things sit, in all their production glory. Almost everyone I described my job to has commented what I do in the same way, even if with differing intentions: "You just never stopped playing games since you were a kid! Do you call that a job?" Well, yes, I do. But I do see what they mean... :)

But wasn't the Ring supposed to be One??

I just finished working on The One Ring basic set of books! Again!! Yes, as I wrote here before, I have been working on L'Unico Anello for Giochi Uniti, 336 pages of rules and background in Italian. And finally it is over... It's been exhausting, but it seems we did it! Many thanks again go to Marco Crosa who translated it, to Amado Angulo who spent some sleepless nights checking for errors (I don't feel sorry though, he doesn't sleep anyway...) and to Marco Maggi, who made the final editing pass. Judging from the pictures taken by Federico Burchianti of Giochi Uniti who received the galley proofs it will look as magnificent as the original version from Cubicle 7/Sophisticated Games. The cherry on top is that we had the chance to include the handful of errata that were found in the English-language edition so far. So, a big thank you goes to all The One Ring early fans out there!

It's a good feeling... now I am free to pack up my things and fly to Essen, Germany, for Spiel 2011, the biggest gaming convention in the known world: I cant' wait to see what our friends at Uhrwerk have done with Der Eine Ring...  wait! Yet another ring?