ahem

Good evening.

Welcome to my den of delights and despair. A place of wild dreams and horrifying nightmares. Of lost souls, weeping angels, laughing demons and things that would drive you mad with a simple glance. A place outside of time, space and imagination. A place...

God, sometimes even I can suprise myself with the nonsense I can come up with. I mean look at that drivel. It's like If I didn't know better, I could swear I was trying to set an atmosphere or general mood, if it weren't for how bad it was. I really should stop reading Gaiman, it only encourages me...

Anyway.

Have you ever watched a game, any game and wondered how it would look as a narritive? Short story? Brief drama series that runs for about three episodes before the network axes it in the favour of , shudder, reality TV? Imagine what could happen if someone took a game of chess or snakes and ladders and added characters, plot and a nice coda to give a bit of closure?

Those of you who have ever partaken in a roleplaying game, from Dungeons and Dragons to Vampire: The Requiem to Toon may argue that you've already visited that brave new world where the game and fiction meet.

If that's what you really think , I give you this piece of dialogue:

DM: So, uh, you enter the guy pulls out his...oh heck, where are the guys stats... Oh let's just call it a longsword, and he shouts "who goes there?".

Player 1: I roll Intimidate! /rolls/ I add my charisma right?

DM: /checks PHB/ yeah, that's right.

Player 1: Will a 24 do it?

Player 2: Hey, do you guys want some beer?

DM: Yeah sure, just a sec. Hey what are you saying?

Player 1: Oh, uh...I guess something like "I am sir Justinian the noble, let us pass commoner"!

DM: Okay, so the guard looks at you and says...

Player 2: /shouts/ where's the beer?

DM: /shouts/ Check in the cooler! Anyway, the guard backs off a bit and says "oh, uh, if that's the case then come on through".

Player 3: /wakes up/ What's happening?

...Gripping. Can't wait for the movie version.

Anyway, my goal is to take some actual roleplaying sessions I have either played or run and turn them into proper fictional works. There will be all sorts of stories, in genres from pulp adventure to epic fantasy to horro. You'll meet superpowered WW2 commandos, animistic werewolves, Duchesses turned secret agent and intelligent cats from hell dimensions.

Even if you've never seen a roleplaying book, Have a look at the stories to come.I may even help pique the interest of some of you to try the games I describe for yourself. After all, what writer wouldn't want to get inside the heads of their character and dictate their actions in a story they are merely a part of?