[13 Chapters in 13 Weeks] Short Stories

There will be two posts this week about the changes in Colonial Gothic. This week I plan on writing about Chapter 7 which begins the massive amount of background found in the game. What I want to talk about today is one of the bigger changes to the game — fiction.

Fiction is something I typically do not like in my rulebooks. The reason is that I think fiction clutters a game and blurs the line between what a gamebook should be. For me, a gamebook should be about the game. It should contain all the rules and items you need, and fiction should be saved for books.

Still in thinking about Colonial Gothic’s revision, I realized that the game missed the boat in trying to get across the style and feeling of the game. Fiction, when done correctly, is perfect for doing this. So making the decision that I wanted fiction, it almost did not happen. Why? No writer. Now, one can rightly ask, why didn’t I write it. The answer is simple, I am not a fiction writer. I do not have the skills. I write game material, and that is far different than fiction writing. So thinking about the fiction, I could not find a writer who could do what I wanted.

So it was at GenCon 2008 that I was at the booth taking a break — I was by myself and there was a lull in the hall — that I met Jennifer Brozek. Colonial Gothic’s cover and title caught her eye, and the next thing I know we’re having a great conversation about the game and the like. At the end of our chat, she said she be in touch, and that was it. Few days later I get an email and she says she was interested in doing some work and pitched the idea of writing some fiction. I had found my writer, and the rest is history.

Working with Jennifer has been great, because she gets what Colonial Gothic is about. Using history as the springboard, and the effort to keep it as “real” as possible. So, Jennifer wrote three short stories: Curious Words, Safehouse and Where Loyalties Lie. All three stories help show off what the world of Colonial Gothic is like. Of the three my favorite is Curious Words. Why? I am a sucker for stories like this, and Jennifer did an awesome job of pulling me in.

As for what else Jennifer has planed. Well she is already working on a PDF supplement for later this year, and we are talking about a few other projects. I can safely say as long as she wants to work with us, she always has a place at Rogue Games.