A new beginning

Paizo's annual RPG Superstar contest is nearing its end. This year I placed in the top 4, which means I cannot enter next year. In a way I'm greatly relieved because these past three months have been very stressful for me. On the other hand, I'm a little sad because I know I'll miss the excitement.



However, I'm sure I'll maintain a presence on the boards in the future years of the contest. I'll be sure to vote and comment on entries, and I'm sure I'll continue to learn new things about RPG design each year as a spectator. Perhaps I'll be able to be more objective as I no longer have to think about other people and their entries as potential threats. ;-)

One of the reasons I want to start a blog is that over the years, I've been theorizing a lot about RPG design and I've developed principles and methods for improving my entries. While I continue to use them whenever I do RPG design, I see no reason to keep this information all to myself. Perhaps someone will find them useful, or better yet, find ways to improve them.

Over and above that, I want to promote the RPG Superstar contest because I'm a fan. Of course, I'll hope to also gain visibility personally to help me get interesting freelancing jobs. And lastly, if possible, I want to help 3rd party publishers by advertising them and their products.

I hope the readers will find my blog interesting and may gain some useful information about the contest, freelancing and RPG design.

I plan to write several series of articles, including the following:

• Loot & Experience: Discussion about RPG Superstar 2014 rounds and lessons learned.
• Sellsword: Personal experiences about writing PF RPG material for Paizo and 3pp.
• Serpent's Stash: Discussion about what thinking went into my previous R1 (and some R2) entries and some items I almost submitted, and reviewing them with the benefit of hindsight.
• The Third Party Perspective: Articles about 3pp businesses both big and small.
• Con-Troll: Articles about RPG cons, meet-ups and PFS here in Finland and abroad.
• Interview with a Designer: Interviews with RPG Superstar contestants who have placed in top 32, including discussion about what publishers and projects they have been working with. Occasional special guests will be featured!
• The Black Art: Articles about wondrous items, including more scientific analyses using statistics.

Let's see how it goes!