Working Notes 03: Integration
From what I’ve already written in these notes, it should be clear that this is one bit project with a lot of little pieces, not a series of random projects. Curricula feeds interpretations of the material in articles and narrative roleplaying scenarios. That part is hopefully clear, but if not, please let me know.
The real integration is my target audience. For years I banged my head against the wall trying to convince tabletop roleplaying gamers to try something different. Something more literate and intellectual. It’s taken me far too long to abandon hope on that front, and I don’t know why. All of the cries about having no pictures inside the books, no character death, backlash from my criticism of violence-first wargame rooted play ought to have been a hint.
So I’m not doing that. I realized I that my target audience were avid readers who might not have considered roleplaying. It’s all storytelling. It’s all rooted in the humanities. Okay, maybe not the constant killing thing, but literature, history, mythology, it’s all in there. I want to show people that there’s far, far more to this medium than Dungeons & Dragons. Hopefully it’s an easier sell than convincing D&D players that there’s a whole world of possibilities beyond kill-loot-level-repeat.
This is why I need to be writing about literature and film in the same space as narrative roleplaying. Don’t care? Skip those articles. But I need to try to cross the streams. Get people to discover. Get the guy who reads nothing but fantasy and comic books to try Jane Austen. Get the person who loves talking about classics to rolls some dice. This is the mission. I need to work on better articulating it and marketing it, but that’s it.
All of the trade dress is up in all of the places, so it should all match and make it clear that Story at the Table and The Narrative Core and Lightspress Principia are all connected. I need to put markers in all of the places to be sure the hierarchy is clear and the purpose the three platforms serve. It’s complimentary, if not fully integrated.
And I finally got around to adding welcome messages to new subscribers on Patreon and Substack. I know, it’s a reflection of my lack of social graces that this wasn’t higher on the list. I forgot to put it on the list, and there have been so many fiddly bits to deal with, personally and professionally, over the past three months that things slip. Even though they’re small, they’re important. I appreciate your patience and understanding.
Oh, and I know this is displaying weirdly for some people. I’ve been trying to fix it since Monday. I looks fine in the preview, but when I publish to either smashes the paragraphs together into a wall of text or creates too much space between them. Ongoing. Thank you for your patience.
Please share this. Leave comments. Tell other people about what I’m trying to do here. Subscribe to the Patreon and Substack, even if they’re free accounts. It helps. Buy me a coffee, if an ongoing subscription isn’t in the budget. I appreciate you, no matter what.
Daily Updates
The new RSS feed is live, and has been added to the header and footer menus.
Still working on the weird changing font sizes and paragraph smushing on these posts. Your patience is appreciated.
We have new merch! Hats and t-shirts. More shirts and tote bags are coming, perfect for lounging around and reading books at the beach or in the woods.
I’m working on a new, free version of the corebook. Not as comprehensive as the Canonica, but all you need to play. A lot more streamlined than previous versions. I say free, but I will be attaching a Buy Me A Coffee button if you feel so inclined to further support the cause.
