The Beginning

I have always wanted to be a writer.

Tell a story.

Allow others to escape from the hardships of this world by entering a new one.

I have always been lazy.

Reading a story is easier.

Escaping into other worlds constructed by more disciplined people is fun!

Tabletop RPG gaming changed how I consume entertainment. It pushed me to use my imagination. Forced me to engage in entertaining activities rather than asking to be entertained. Now it provides me an avenue to explore ideas I have been writing in notebooks and phones for years. 

Do you know how frustrating it is to change phones and lose all your "book" ideas? All those awful ideas you scribble into your phone that made perfect sense due to fever-induced dreams. Probably for the best they are gone before this project brought them to light...

So, what is this project?

This is a blog where I will: first, explore my TTRPG ideas, then research and design the right medium to exposit those ideas (is this a megadungeon? should it be a pointcrawl? what about a sandbox setting? this magic idea is dope enough to be its own book!), and finally, freely distribute previews of the work to see if I am producing a resource someone will actually want to read and use at their table!

What is the goal?

Research an obscene amount about both adventure design and inspirational source material (I went to school for history, anthropology, religious studies so I love finding nuggets that are stranger than fiction and making them, well, fiction!). Explore my ideas and try to build something useful that you can playtest at home. Write one entry every month and fight my urge to hide the ugly warts of my writing.

Then listen to feedback. Put the ego away and do the hard work of editing and rewriting to make something work. I won't settle for anything but the evocation of raw emotions from my work. That is why the blog is titled Evocative Works. If something I produce doesn't evoke: joy, glee, horror, anger, fear...I have failed to invite you into a new shared reality. 

At the end of this year, I would like to put all this work together and build 'the thing' whatever it is after 12 months of work. Hopefully, by then a lot of people will have become active participants in this process and pounding on my door, demanding I publish this so they can have it on their bookshelf.

If I end up posting into the ether and no one ever cares about my journey and my ideas; well at least I will have tried my best to achieve that goal of being a writer. I will still be a middle manager, a husband, and father. Most importantly I will no longer be able to say "I have never written anything."

Great so what is the problem?

I am torn between two ideas. I have spent weeks going over them and both are exciting and interesting opportunities for me to explore my imagination this year. Both will get made eventually, the gravitational pull will not be denied. Below are the two elevator pitches and a poll for you to express your interest. People say writing is a selfish endeavor, I think it can be, but I refuse to let it be the case for me. I am not here for self-indulgence. I could just go read a book or play a game if that was the goal. I am here to be a springboard for your imagination. Next time you sit at your desk or comfy couch to prep your next game, I want you to feel like you have to use this random table, monster, spell, or idea from my blog. What better way for me to assure that happens than asking you what you are interested in? Here goes nothing!

Slot Canyon Megadungeon (inspired by Made in Abyss, The Shattered Plains in the Stormlight Archive, a Bear Grylls episode with Joel McHale...really!)

• Open-air dungeon crawling with threats you usually can ignore in a dungeon.
• Flash Floods keep danger up while changing the landscape and potential treasure in the slot canyon network.
• Alien flora & fauna that somehow can survive in the harshest environment.
• Narrow passages that risk claustrophobia and hide the best loot or refuge.
• Survival tools, methods, and planning for longer expeditions are necessary.
• Opposing adventure parties and NPC factions that live in the plateaus. You will have to work with NPCs to guarantee safer exploration the further out you go into the dungeon.

Underwater Pointcrawl (inspired by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Sealab 2020, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Origin of the Species, Ultraviolet Grasslands)

• The Galapagos attracts adventurers and scholars alike, start here as you join a secret society charged with the understanding of the unknown animal kingdom in the sea.
• Use animal migration patterns to discover new adventure hubs for scientific anomalies like the Great Barrier Reef, the Bermuda Triangle, and the people studying at those locations who can be a friend or foe.
• Deep-sea exploration of trenches and the ocean floor.
• The weirdest animals in the world never see the light, how can you study them and survive?
• Underwater civilizations that want to remain unknown to the world above.
• 16-17th century instead of 1850-1950 era highlighted in the inspirations.

What tickles your fancy? Vote!

Thank you for joining me on this journey 30 years in the making.