It was my intention today to write about the new open play-test of Eclipse Phase 2nd Edition. As it happens on Saturday morning the play test files were updated the latest edition so before I can post about it I need to check everything to make sure I am still right.

So today I am going to write a bit more about me.

I have set my self a challenge recently to try and write 2,000 to 3,000 words a day either blog posts, game notes or creating resources. The actual target is 20,000 words a month. I am lucky in that I have a variety of outlets so I do not have to sit and grind away as just one document if the ideas are not coming. This week I have written posts for three blogs, six posts in all. I have written the first drafts of seven articles for a fanzine I publish. I have written one adventure, also destined for the fanzine. In addition I have started writing chapter one of my latest gaming book.

The book is the most interesting project and it is my carrot. I am not allowed to work on it until I have finished my other tasks for the day. This book is a sort of roleplaying for dummies. I didn’t actually realise that there were Dummies books for role playing but they have a range for D&D, GURPS and Vampire Requiem. What I have in mind is a little broader than their offerings and to be honest the examples that refer to actual play examples all use my own game as the rules system. You can spot the ulterior motive there I guess.

As a daily target I only hit the 3,000 words on two days this week but the lower goal of 2,000 I managed on three more days. I am pretty pleased so far. It seems to be a case of the more I write the easier it is to sit down and write. I think it is a case of once I have an achievable goal it is easier to strive to hit it. If on the other hand if you just say I want to write a book, a manual or a game then the goal is a bit amorphous and way too big to tackle in a single hit.

So why am I telling you all this? Well Roberto mentioned the other day that he has ambitions to write his own game. Michael has written Warrior, Rogue & Mage and I have released 3Deep.

The 3Deep core rules is about 30,000 words. WR&M is 5,400 words. It is very easy to produce a first draft of a game in just two weeks. Mind you, unless you are an absolute genius then writing a game is not going to make you rich. What sites like rpgnow have done is democratise games publishing so that anyone can produce their own game. The market is extremely crowded with homebrew (or roll your own as we always called them in our gaming circle) games, adventures and settings. Sorting the diamonds from the lumps of coal is a task in itself and trying to get your own game to stand out is even harder.

My RPG Howto guide is going to cover fantasy, modern and Sci Fi settings so I don’t care about the context. I just want to make the booklet as good as it can be. If I base it just upon my own experiences then that is a pretty limited window of experience.

So this is hopefully where you all come in. If you could give yourself some advice as a starting out role player what would it be?

P.S. That is 621 words done, 2,379 more to go.