Sellsword Special: Non-disclosure agreements

In my day job, I've been working under NDAs for nearly 10 years. The main reason for NDAs in my line of work is outsourcing/subcontracting/partnerships between companies. The client companies, which may be in IT, healthcare, telecommunications, military technology, and many other fields, outsource some functions to other companies so they can better focus on their core competencies.

With most customers, I don't have to sign a separate NDA because the company-level agreement already covers everything. Some customers, however, have much stricter policies, and they may require not only an NDA but also a background check.

In the RPG industry, it's also common to outsource work to freelancers. The work often involves confidential information, such as details about future products before the products have been released or even announced. This article discusses NDA both within and outside the RPG industry.

Loot & Experience part III: Making of House of the Serpent's Son map

In this article, I'll discuss the process of making the map for my round 3 entry in RPG Superstar 2014. While round 3 was by far the most stressful round, and a round full of self-doubt, in the end, the encounter took the round by storm.

This is not a tutorial or an advice article (though there are some design tips there too), but rather, a description of some parts of the process I went through while designing the encounter and location. 

Serpent's Stash, part V: Spellcracker's Tools

Here's a bonus post for this Saturday! I recently posted it in the Nine Blazing Months thread. Wink wink, check out the link on the right. -->

Serpent's Stash part IV: Fleshbinder

In 2011, I made the "top 36" in RPG Superstar, i.e. I was an alternate. Just like everyone in the top 32, the alternates also created archetypes and the judges commented on them. Around that time there were no official summoner archetypes, so any similarities between my entry and the synthesist archetype published later that year in Ultimate Magic are coincidental. Which archetype do you think is more balanced, this one or the official synthesist?

Sellsword, part I: March-April 2014

In this new series of articles, I'll discuss actual freelancing projects and other related things I've been up to. I'll probably be posting these updates rather randomly, whenever something new and interesting happens.

Upcoming updates

So, recently I've been slowing down the pace to just one post per week so I can keep up.

Here are some of the upcoming articles I've been planning and preparing (they won't be necessarily published in this order):

Interview with a Designer: Mikko Kallio

A while back, Finnish RPG journalist Sami Koponen interviewed me about this year's RPGSS contest. Here's a translation of the interview!

Interview with a Designer: Mike Kimmel

In the first installment of the Interview with a Designer series, I'm interviewing Mike Kimmel, the founder of Freelance Forge and a fellow top 4 contestant from this year's RPG Superstar. Besides the same initials, Mike and I have eerily similar track records in RPGSS, and I jokingly call him my nemesis. Let's hear some of Mike's thoughts about RPGSS, Freelance Forge and freelancing!

Interviewed for a Finnish RPG website

I just sent in my answers to an email interview about the RPGSS 2014. The interview was conducted by Sami Koponen, the webmaster of Roolipelitiedotus. The website publishes news about the Finnish RPG scene in Finnish. I might translate the interview sometime later and publish it here.

Nine Blazing Months begins!

For years now, it has been a tradition for some of the most dedicated RPGSS contestants to start practicing for the next year shortly after the winner is announced. Participating in the Blazing 9 is a great way to get feedback on your wondrous items, so have a look and post an item you're not going to submit in RPGSS.

Read more here.

Serpent's Stash part III: Whispering Watcher

Back in 2011, I submitted this item that placed me in the top 36, i.e. I was an alt. I won't be reviewing the item this time, I'll just post the comments I got from the judges. Perhaps the lesson learned here is that I overthought the item and the judges could not magically read my thoughts. Also, removing the Stealth bonus was unnecessarily complicated. A simple blur effect would have been, in fact, much much better and something the rules already support.

Serpent's Stash part II: Besmara's Inkwell

Here's a throw-away item from 2011. That year I designed four items and debated much whether I should submit this one or whispering watcher that I ended up submitting. In 2011, I was an alt (but no-one dropped out so I didn't advance) so at least I wasn't very badly wrong about choosing the other item. Whether this item would have fared better, your guess is a good as mine.

Serpent's Stash, part I: Murderbloom

Let's go back to 2007 when the first RPGSS was announced. A friend of mine told me about the contest and I submitted something... the best item I could come up with! (Note: We used the 3.5 rules and formatting back then, so the entry looks different from the current format.)

RPG Superstar 2014 winner announced

Congratulations to Victoria Jaczko, who won this year's RPGSS contest! Also, congratulations to the runner-ups, Mike, Robert and myself. ;-)

Also, check out Andrew Marlowe's new design blog, GAM3 g33k! Andrew is a two-time top 16 contestant, so I'm sure he also has a lot of interesting ideas and tips to share!

Loot & Experience part II: Mikko's recipe for a wondrous item

There's already a lot of advice about wondrous items on the RPGSS boards. Instead of repeating what has been said there, I try to focus on things that I've discovered myself. Like all my articles about RPGSS, this one too assumes that you know the basics, i.e. you've read SKR's advice.

I'm calling this article a "recipe" because there are many ways to craft a good item. This is just one of them and may not work for everyone.

Loot & Experience part I: General advice for RPGSS

Here's my first article in the Loot & Experience series. The purpose of this series of articles is to share my thoughts and ideas about the RPG Superstar contest and what I've learned over the years.

The first article discusses very general things about the contest, while the later parts are about the specific challenges the contestants face in R1 and later rounds. I hope it doesn't come across as too Sun Tzu. ;-)

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.