Creative Consumption
I wonder what it would be like to be consumed by a creative endeavour. To be so invested in something...a drawing, a story, a painting, a sculpture, or even a role on stage...that every aspect of your life becomes little more than a lens through which you gaze upon it.
I think that's part of the problem with my approach to creation. Usually I use creation as a hobby, something to do in my spare time. Rarely do I use it as something to lead my life, not actively but effectively; something to direct my thoughts as I go about my business, to shape my perspective until its completion.
I'd like to unlock something so incredible, so engaging, that I get absorbed into it. And if I had a choice, it would happen with Mobius.
Mobius is a new story/game/concept I'm constructing, in a similar vein to Groundhog Day and Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It's a D&D game at its roots, but at the moment, so far from it's beginning, I'm working first on a series of short stories, which in due course will extend into longer ones, creating the lives of an entire region.
In the D&D setting, there are a few basic approaches one can use to basically accomplish anything plot-related. These are usually called "tropes." Artifacts, prophecies, meeting in taverns...all are examples. Artifacts and prophecies are made even more trope-tastic if they are ancient.
Not wanting to mess with the stereotypical, somewhat fragile structure of D&D gaming, it is indeed an ancient artifact, and a headstrong young wizard, to blame for the events. Or should I say, the repetition of the event. Suffice to say, the artifact folds time over itself, repeating a series of X days (where X is currently yet to be determined) ad infinitum. The only way to stop this is for someone who is mystically immune to the effects (usually based on another artifact; or in this case, a certain bloodline, which is a slightly less popular but nonetheless effective trope) to stop the person who activated the artifact from...well, activating the artifact.
Enter the PC's, Player Characters. The PC's are a group of adventurers or mercenaries or something, charged with some task such as stopping a dragon from destroying a town. They wake up a few days later to discover that the townspeople have returned, or think that the dragon is still going to come, and sure enough, it does. It doesn't take long for the PC's to recognize that something fishy is going on, and so, off they go to figure out WHAT.
The details of this story are not yet concrete, and I'm hoping to draft a few other members on the D&D online games site where I play, to help me architecture the story and the setting, so that I can successfully execute something of nearly infinite complexity like this.
In some ways, this setting is more complex than your average country, because not only do most characters have to be at least foundationally created or conceptualized, but most characters have to be created or conceptualized and then tracked through their lives, with the effects of the changing events showing an impact on what they do each day. For instance, if a village is destroyed, then the characters all die. But if a village is saved, then a caravan may go out from the village the next day, or later that very day; then, it may or may not be attacked by bandits on its way; then, if the dragon was defeated with valor and bravery, the merchants and guards on the caravan may fight off the bandits, but if the dragon was defeated with an obvious show of extreme force, the guards and merchants may feel their strength inadequate to deal with the threat.
This is one example. The PC's will interact with dozens of characters in the setting EACH RUN, and it will likely take them many, many runs to finally secure the artifact, because first, of course, they must FIND it.
Were there one project in my life that took up my entire being, this would probably be it. Somehow, though, I doubt it will be...not because it lacks merit, but because *I* lack dedication. Not just dedication to this project, but dedication to ANYTHING. It's part of the reason I'm purposefully staying single. It's part of the reason I don't yet have a job. And it's part of the reason, I'm sure, that I'm not still trucking. I'm sure it's part of the reason I am where I am with God these days. Where ever that may be.
Still, it's fun to think about being completely devoured by something like this, especially something so deserving of true work and effort.
I think that's part of the problem with my approach to creation. Usually I use creation as a hobby, something to do in my spare time. Rarely do I use it as something to lead my life, not actively but effectively; something to direct my thoughts as I go about my business, to shape my perspective until its completion.
I'd like to unlock something so incredible, so engaging, that I get absorbed into it. And if I had a choice, it would happen with Mobius.
Mobius is a new story/game/concept I'm constructing, in a similar vein to Groundhog Day and Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It's a D&D game at its roots, but at the moment, so far from it's beginning, I'm working first on a series of short stories, which in due course will extend into longer ones, creating the lives of an entire region.
In the D&D setting, there are a few basic approaches one can use to basically accomplish anything plot-related. These are usually called "tropes." Artifacts, prophecies, meeting in taverns...all are examples. Artifacts and prophecies are made even more trope-tastic if they are ancient.
Not wanting to mess with the stereotypical, somewhat fragile structure of D&D gaming, it is indeed an ancient artifact, and a headstrong young wizard, to blame for the events. Or should I say, the repetition of the event. Suffice to say, the artifact folds time over itself, repeating a series of X days (where X is currently yet to be determined) ad infinitum. The only way to stop this is for someone who is mystically immune to the effects (usually based on another artifact; or in this case, a certain bloodline, which is a slightly less popular but nonetheless effective trope) to stop the person who activated the artifact from...well, activating the artifact.
Enter the PC's, Player Characters. The PC's are a group of adventurers or mercenaries or something, charged with some task such as stopping a dragon from destroying a town. They wake up a few days later to discover that the townspeople have returned, or think that the dragon is still going to come, and sure enough, it does. It doesn't take long for the PC's to recognize that something fishy is going on, and so, off they go to figure out WHAT.
The details of this story are not yet concrete, and I'm hoping to draft a few other members on the D&D online games site where I play, to help me architecture the story and the setting, so that I can successfully execute something of nearly infinite complexity like this.
In some ways, this setting is more complex than your average country, because not only do most characters have to be at least foundationally created or conceptualized, but most characters have to be created or conceptualized and then tracked through their lives, with the effects of the changing events showing an impact on what they do each day. For instance, if a village is destroyed, then the characters all die. But if a village is saved, then a caravan may go out from the village the next day, or later that very day; then, it may or may not be attacked by bandits on its way; then, if the dragon was defeated with valor and bravery, the merchants and guards on the caravan may fight off the bandits, but if the dragon was defeated with an obvious show of extreme force, the guards and merchants may feel their strength inadequate to deal with the threat.
This is one example. The PC's will interact with dozens of characters in the setting EACH RUN, and it will likely take them many, many runs to finally secure the artifact, because first, of course, they must FIND it.
Were there one project in my life that took up my entire being, this would probably be it. Somehow, though, I doubt it will be...not because it lacks merit, but because *I* lack dedication. Not just dedication to this project, but dedication to ANYTHING. It's part of the reason I'm purposefully staying single. It's part of the reason I don't yet have a job. And it's part of the reason, I'm sure, that I'm not still trucking. I'm sure it's part of the reason I am where I am with God these days. Where ever that may be.
Still, it's fun to think about being completely devoured by something like this, especially something so deserving of true work and effort.