Ideation: The Joys of Fanwork
I have a theory.
You see, I believe that TTRPG designers share the most, not with the board game designers or the graphic novelists but with members of the Fandom.
Mind you, this isn’t a very complex theory. Indeed, my main point of evidence is that most of ttrpg designers don’t do it for money or clout. Just like the authors of fan-fiction, we design because we are inspired by the games that we love and for this both communities are sometimes derided as derivative
Hell, I’m willing to bet more than your fair share of ttrpg designers have cut their teeth on a fan-fic or two and, possibly, the reverse is true as well. Indie RPG fic when?
Cozy up for a family dinner in this horror themed playset for Fiasco. In designing it, I wanted to emulate some of may favorite horror media and express what I love about this particular sub-genre to my fellow fans.
As for myself, the most appealing connection between the communities is a true and thorough appreciation of others ideas. In terms of appreciating the individual contributions of authors and in terms of boosting and consuming fellow creators of derivative work, we are one. If you’ve followed me and wondered why I do so much work in the “forged in the dark” space, this is why: I’m an unabashed fan of the game and of the fan-work that has flooded the scene, hence my involvement in stuff like the Unusual Suspects jam or the Hacked in the Dark podcast.
Blades in the Dark isn’t my only fandom, however. I actually got my start designing scenarios for Fiasco and Dungeon World, both of which had large fan-communities of their own in the fabled G+ era. In fact one of the first games I ever self published was a supplement for Dungeon World titled Saviors of Hogtown. Inspired by my favorite DnD modules as well as other fan-works such as as The Perilous Wilds, Saviors was the first product I really put my heart and soul into and THAT wouldn’t have happened if not for the short-lived but influential Sword Dream movement.
To this day, when my creative spirits are low, I find comfort in Fandom. Back in 2019, at the start of the pandemic, I created two playsets for Fiasco 2.0. One of those playsets, FAMILY, is heavily inspired by my love of horror films. In particular the familial horror embodied by Bong Joon Ho’s The Host and the work of Jordan Peele (Us, Get Out).
The second work in that series, Bluff City Zoo, is unique. Ostensibly based on the actual play podcast Friends at the Table, my inspirations for this playset run layers deep. Friends at the Table, you see, is a podcast about people playing many of the RPGs I love. Making a playset using Fiasco, a game used by the Friends themselves to realize their own setting, is like writing fanfic about a fanfic about a fanfic. A phenomena which, I understand, isn’t all that uncommon in Fandom, so go figure. Is this the ttrpg version of an Omegaverse? Color me intrigued.
The only thing I can truly say I designed by myself in All Hands is the cover and even that is thanks, in part, to a vector from Pixabay. It was truly a collective effort.
While my timing was a bit off with Fiasco 2.0, (the second edition is largely centered around in-person play), I really enjoyed working on those playsets. If you’re interested, you can find them for free right here. I actually revisited the collection recently to make some minor improvements to the work and to add a third scenario that’s especially close to my heart.
All Hands is a fiasco playset I designed alongside members of the, now defunct, RPG Workshop in Seattle. I have complicated feelings about that group, so fulfilling my personal promise of making this playset available to the public was an act of catharsis for me. The scenario is designed to riff on modern dating apps, toxic corporate cultures, as well as late 90s action films like the Speed series. Considering we designed it in just about six hours, collectively, I think our group did a great job. In fact, I’d love to facilitate more collaborative design projects for conventions, meetups, and conferences in the future. If you have any opportunities relating to this, I’d love to hear them.
That’s where the fans are, after all.
Thanks for following along as I explore my own connection to RPG fandom. If anything I said speaks to you, comment below and tell me: what is the nature of your fandom? Barring monetary considerations or other confounding factors, what would you most like to create fan-work for? What lessons can the ttrpg space learn from the Fandom and what would you like to see cross-over from that space?
I’d love to hear from you <3
