After the Flood

To say that traffic to this little electronic fish-wrapper increased a bit over the past few days would be akin to saying that the Atlantic Ocean holds a bit of water. This is no doubt thanks to James Maliszewski’s post over at Grognardia in regards to the Dungeon Alphabet series. While I have no illusions that that increase is permanent, I’m grateful for the exposure and I hope that those of you who return do so because you find some of these treatises interesting and/or useful. To you, a hearty welcome and an invitation to stay awhile.

The Dungeon Alphabet was originally written as a personal reminder of those classic elements of the dungeon crawl. When I finished it, I figured that it might make a nice filler piece here while I took some time off to attend to other offline issues. I never expected the response that it generated; going to show, once again, that the preferences of the people are never easily predicted. If only Hollywood would learn that lesson, we might get something other than the formulaic clap-trap we’ve become used to. But I digress. I’m sincerely astonished and greatly pleased that so many people were inspired by that piece and that the feedback I’ve received has been encouraging and kind.

A comment by James Edward Raggi IV of Lamentations of the Flame Princess got me thinking. He suggested that the Alphabet could be expanded, perhaps as a community project, to a veritable Encyclopedia, thus allowing for the addition of tropes and clichés that got short shrift in the original treatment. I think that there is much possibility in this idea. From the feedback I’ve received about the Alphabet, it seems that the off-the-cuff inspirational ideas I included in the entries were the most popular feature of the piece. I think a larger work, one where a variety of authors added entries with their own inspirational ideas and suggestions, might be an extremely useful reference source for the referee experiencing adventuring idea vapor-lock. Or as I like to call it in regards to the megadungeon: “stock-block.” Unfortunately, my time is fairly occupied at the moment, but I’d like to hear if anyone else thinks this idea might float. This could be a possible future project.

In other news, you might notice that I’ve re-ordered some of the links to the right. Over the past few months I’ve become more familiar with the various blogs and resources dedicated to the classic editions of the game, but not had the time to give them a complete read as I’ve done with others in the past. Rather than delay their addition to the link list until I’ve had the chance to acquaint myself with their entire run, I’ve gone ahead and added them without further comment, unlike I’ve been wont to do in the past. The past few days has made me aware of some blogs and resources that I’ve overlooked previously and I’ve attempted to correct that oversight with the improvements and changes to the right. More will undoubtedly be added in the future without addition comments in order to expedite the process.

Lastly, one gentle reminder that, as of tomorrow, I’m back to my usual Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule of posts. The thrice-weekly pattern allows me to provide posts that are of a higher signal-to-noise ratio, with the added bonus of preserving my sanity and stress levels. In light of the success of the Dungeon Alphabet this past week, I hope future posts won’t be a complete disappointment. I’m very aware of the advice that Orson Welles should have heeded: “Never make your first film your best.” Hopefully I’ll prove to be something more than a one-trick pony. I’ll see you all tomorrow.