Mark Your Calendar for WisCon

I am pleased to announce that my next convention will be WisCon at the end of May. The guests of honor are Amal El-Mohtar and Kelly Sue DeConnick. I am participating and moderating several panels, and I am anxious to hear what this year’s stellar speakers have to say. Hope to see you at the show!

Tropes In SF Novels, Comics, and Video Games
Sat, 1:00–2:15 pm Location: Conference 1
Kate M Lansky (M), Jake Casella, Monica Valentinelli
SF is a genre that crosses media — novels, poetry, comics, video games, movies, and TV. How do SF stories differ from medium to medium? What tropes does each medium use and why? What kinds of stories are in vogue in each medium? Are there SF tropes that are better used in novels? In games? And why?

Portraying Resistance: Fiction Media and News Media
Sun, 10:00–11:15 am Location: Assembly
Monica Valentinelli (M), Nino Cipri, Ian K. Hagemann
How are resistance movements portrayed in speculative fiction? While some forms of fiction glamorize resistance movements (Star Wars comes to mind) there is a wide gap between this and how news media portrays, for example, the Ferguson movement. Are the only safe resistances fictional (or historical) ones? How do we get from “riots” to “heroic uprisings”? Fictional resistances are also able to gloss over the problematic details of committee meetings, arguments between members, lack of funds, trying to feed crowds, unequal division of labor, and trying to come to consensus. Are there fictional resistances that deal with these details and with sexism, racism, homophobia? Can we learn from fiction how to portray real resistance movements as heroic?

Why Is “Casual” a Dirty Word in Gaming?
Sun, 1:00–2:15 pm Location: University C
Monica Valentinelli (M), Katherine Cross, Ann Lemay, Katherine Olson (Kayjayoh), Beth Plutchak, Katie Sapede
Video gaming is set to become a 99.6 billion dollar industry and is cemented into the mainstream. Why are “casual gamers” still a hated group? Why do we need to separate them from “hard-core gamers”? Let’s explore why some in the gaming community hold on tightly to excluding “casual gamers.”

Worldbuilding Through Profanity
Sun, 4:00–5:15 pm Location: Caucus
Monica Valentinelli (M), Dylan Edwards, Benjamin Rosenbaum
Swearing is something that comes naturally to people. Swearing is also highly cultural. ‘Damn!’ only works if a culture has the concept of damnation. Short versus long invocations, it all goes together. How do you construct a swearing culture for a new people? How does it vary by social class? Let’s find out.

Registration is capped, so if you’re interested in attending be sure to visit the WisCon website.

May 4, 2017
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[New Release] Geist: The Sin-Eater’s Foreboding Lands for Dark Eras

Today, I am pleased to announce that the Dark Eras Companion, the second massive volume filled with alternate history settings for the Chronicles of Darkness, is now available. In Dark Eras, I wrote “Doubting Souls” for Hunter: The Vigil. For the companion, I was one of the writers who contributed to “Foreboding Lands”. Set in the world of Geist: The Sin-Eaters, the chapter takes place in and around Roanoke Island approximately a hundred years earlier.

“Foreboding Lands” was a fan-requested era that was funded during the original Kickstarter for Geist: The Sin-Eaters. Instead of fixating on the Lost Colony of Roanoke, we did end up taking a different and broader direction tapping into the history of the period and the core aspect of Geist: ghosts. I found that this chapter was more demanding to write for than the previous one for several reasons, and hope that my nuanced and complex presentation of the subject is something you’ll dig.

If you’re interested in “Foreboding Lands”, you can pick up a copy of the Dark Eras Companion filled with multiple, haunted settings at DriveThruRPG.com.

May 3, 2017
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Vampire: The Masquerade is a Fab Bundle of Holding Deal!

If you’re curious about Vampire: The Masquerade, the 20th anniversary corebook and many of the supplements are now part of a fabulous Bundle of Holding deal. A portion of the proceeds goes to the RPG Creator’s Relief Fund, as well, so you can get a little something for yourself and do good works.

There are two bundles to pick from. The Starter Collection gives you four invaluable tools to dive into Vampire, and the Storyteller’s Collection enhances that set. If you’re interested in checking this out, I thought I’d mention I worked on Dread Names, Red List, which is part of the Storyteller’s Collection.

In the effort of full disclosure, the RPG Creator’s Relief Fund is a charity I advise for; I feel that groups like this and The Hero Initiative are incredibly important to help creators when disastrous situations strike.

May 2, 2017
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[New Release] Kobold Guide to Gamemastering

Kobold Guide to GM'ing

I am pleased to announce that my essay “Planning Your Campaign in Four Stages” is now available in the Kobold Guide to Gamemastering. In the essay, I introduce a spiderweb method to reduce the appearance of a linear plot.

Assigning a number of sessions and scenes to a campaign often traps you
in the idea that plots must be linear, and the scenes become points along
that line that always advance the story forward and in a specific direction. If or when players go off-script, GMs then compensate by creating other
towns or NPCs to lead the group back to the main story.

To reduce linear-campaign situations like these, reshape the plot to
accommodate for movement.

“Planning Your Campaign in Four Stages” is but one of the stellar essays available in the Kobold Guide to Game Mastering. I had a lot of fun geeking out about organizational methods, and I hope you enjoy my take on planning a campaign.

About Kobold Guide to Game Mastering

Every GM has struggled with some aspect of their game. Maybe it’s session prep or sustaining a long-term campaign. Perhaps it’s a more external issue such as problem players or limited play time. Many of these concerns, and others, will be addressed in the Kobold Guide to Gamemastering.

The latest in the award-winning and fan-favorite series from Kobold Press tackles gameplay head-on, with advice from everyone from veterans to talented newcomers on how to make a tabletop RPG session snap, crackle, and shine!

Edited by Sean Reynolds, the book’s writers include Frank Mentzer, Keith Baker, Zeb Cook, James Jacobs, Monica Valentinelli, Shanna Germain, and many other well-known industry vets and long-time GMs.

This 150 page, 6” x 9” softcover features cover art by Blizzard and Magic: the Gathering artist Eva Widermann and is part of the award-winning Kobold Guide series. So, if you know a new or long-time GM that could use some helpful, practical advice, or a few handy tips and tricks, this is the book for them.

This book is available in digital and print.

April 17, 2017
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Announcing I’m a Guest Lecturer for Shared Worlds

Shared Worlds 2017

Hello! I am pleased to announce that I have accepted a position as a guest lecturer for Shared Worlds this July. I will be dropping in via Skype to answer the student’s questions about worldbuilding.

Shared Worlds is an annual summer program designed for teen writers interested in speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, etc.). The students work in groups with an experienced “world-building coordinator” to design and build a world. They also attend sessions on particular aspects of world-building with historians, scientists, authors and philosophers. Within a few days, the students have produced a world complete with its own life forms, languages, laws, and cultures. The students then write stories set in the worlds they have built. –SOURCE: SharedWorldsCamp.com

I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be invited to this. The camp has a stellar staff, including writers like Jeff VanderMeer and Will Hindmarch, and features a long list of really wonderful authors like Tobias Buckell, Ann VanderMeer, Sofia Samatar, N.K. Jemisin and many others.

The information to register for the Shared Worlds Camp is on the website, and I encourage you to check out the amazing works produced by these fine guest and staff instructors.

April 13, 2017
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