August (and Everything After)
The View from Here
Hello and welcome! You're getting this email because, at some point in time, you said you wanted to be on my mailing list. If that's not still the case, there's an unsubscribe option at the bottom.
So, this is my August update. My goal is to write at least one of these a month. I figure I've either got enough going on (or have enough I want to write) that I can manage that.
So. Let's do this, shall we?
I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats
Do you know The Mountain Goats? They're an indie rock-type outfit that's now four people, but has always been a man named John Darnielle. There's a thing that started as a joke with them about people who only listen to their music, to the exclusion of all else. There's even a podcast with the same name.
Here's the thing.
For the last, what, three months? That's pretty much been true for me.
When it comes to things I love, I've always been the kind of person to dive deep in a sustained way. Way back when my only game console was a Super Nintendo, I only got one game a year. I would play the life out of that game, just going over and over and over again through the levels. I'd develop a muscle memory, some of which has stuck with me, almost 30 years after the fact.
I feel like I'm developing a creative muscle memory around the music of this band. There's something, some deeply seated itch that I'm trying to scratch. Something I'm trying to dig up and identify. And it's in this music, I know it.
It's almost all deeply sad stuff. John Darnielle is a recovered drug addict and lived a hard life before he got sober. He has this amazing (maybe unenviable) ability to empathize with seeminly anyone he sees in life. It's a way of taking the stories of people who are broken, abused, misunderstood, and making them relatable.
Maybe that's what it's all about.
I've loved this band for a few years, now. My current, well, let's just call it an obsession, started in the final months of my wife's pregnancy. Now our daughter is here in the world (currently sleeping in a pad on my desk as I type). Empathy is something I'm pretty sure I needed to tap into to welcome her. I've spent a lot of time being a proundly selfish person. I've done my best to mask it but the turmoil I would feel when things wouldn't go my way... it was profound.
The way for me to be better in the world, to wish the best for other people, to not be envious and jealous, that way it through empathy. Something I see in spades in the songs of The Mountain Goats.
Or maybe it's something else and I'm getting empathy anyway. Not a bad deal. if you ask me.
I've long said that I want to be the same kind of game designer as John Darnielle is a songwriter. If I can work to include more humanity and more empathy in the things I write, I think I'll be on the right track.
Sliding Into Project Organization
Speaking of writing games...
There was a question going around RPG Twitter (you can find me here) about how many projects you, as a designer, have ongoing at any one time. I did a quick count and I have about 10 going right now. Not all of them are in active development. Still, that's a lot to have on my brain at any given point in time.
I made a project management tool for myself (in Google Slides because I love it) and that has helped a lot. Having a place where I can see what's actually in-progress is super useful. If I don't have that then my ability to prioritize basically goes out the window. The game I wrote 150 words of (but am still interested in) has nearly the same importance to me as a project that needs final layout so I can post it to Patreon and sell it.
That's very inconvenient.
When you factor in taking care of a newborn? Forget about it. I need something and this deck of slides is the current (effective) solution. If you're interested in how I set it up, I did a rundown of the process on Twitter a few days ago. Check it out.
Also, check out the reason that I need both empathy and better organization. She's amazing, right?
Flavor of the Moment
You're a cool-talking, hip-shotting rhinestone cowboy, working as a bounty hunter on the streets of Strip City. You take down and take in those who've done wrong, those who tread on the folk who've been walked on long enough. You'll go until you've got nothing left, until you ride off into the neon sundown.
This is one of those games that came to me quickly. Sometimes I just get a conept in my mind and find mechanics to pair it with. From there, it's muscle memory. Organize the document into sections, write down the easy bits, come back and fill in the difficult bits later.
Neon Sundown is inspired by/based on Honey Heist by Grant Howit. It's easy to pick up and play and is designed for a cool, smooth one shot experience. If you need something different for your group sometime this month, amble on over to itch.io or DriveThruRPG and grab a copy.
### Music of the Moment With how I kicked off this newsletter, did you think there was any chance I wouldn't give you a Mountain Goats song?
Right now, on the heels of Neon Sundown, give a listen to Dark in Here.
### Plug Zone If you want games like Neon Sundown as often as I make them, you can support me over on Patreon!
You can give any amount you want per month and you get access to all of the games I release, early access to audio for any podcasts I do, and access to my Discord where there's a growing community of excellent people.
Every dollar of support goes to help me keep doing this kind of creative work as my regular job. Things like health insurance and electric bills aren't cool and exciting to talk about but this Patreon literally helps keep the lights on. Your support means a lot!
The Sign-off
With the baby starting to ask for a bottle and with a growing sense of contentment, I'm wrapping up this newsletter. I enjoyed writing it and I hope to continue to do so.
Wherever this finds you, I hope it finds you well. -Tracy