Indie Games On Demand at Gencon Oz 2009

Do you like indie games?

Are you undecided about going to Gencon Oz 2009?

I have good news for you! With some other indie-minded GMs, the indie games on demand event will run on Friday and Saturday of the con. We were booked solid last year, running as the indie games explosion, so make sure you register early.

And to whet your appettite, go and see the indie games on demand event site. Go see it now!

Options for digital publishing

I've just seen a link to Scribd, a publishing company that refers to itself as a "social publishing" company. Whatever that means - if it's not a cheap attempt to capitalise on the phenomenon of social networking - it's certainly yet another publishing option for indie games.

A quick search through the place shows results for Mouse Guard, Zombie Hero, Star Trek and others. Add it to your potential publishing list, along with Lulu, IPR, RPGNow and the Pirate Bay.

Although, maybe the last one isn't such a great idea.

Vincent Baker on Clouds and Character Sheets

Vincent Baker has written a brief post on the level at which RPG play operates, and the level at which he thinks it ought to operate. If you're interested in making your game experience more about the fiction than the rules then you should at least read what he's written because in one way or another it will contribute to your RPG experience.

I take his point to mean that roleplaying should be about the story, and that events in the story should trigger game mechanisms or character sheet information rather than the other way around. Game rules should also immediately redirect the players back to the fiction in order to make events happen.

I think he has a valid point, but perhaps an incomplete one. There could be some interesting progress made on helping to identify characteristics of game rules which support this style of play so that game designers can create those kinds of rules.

Over to you, dear internet.