Craftsmanship

As I start to lay the preliminary groundwork for Devil's Fork, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what kind of module I am really making. I know several areas where I aim to innovate, and traditionally (sounds weird to say about only a year or so) I have hung my hat on innovation. So it is important to me that things be fresh and new.

However, I also want to bring a lot of polish to this piece. I don't want any portion to feel rushed or underdeveloped. I think that we don't often apply the term craftsmanship to writing, but I think it is apt in this case. I want to create something that is well crafted.

Innovation is mostly about functionality. Some new thing to do. Craftsmanship is about quality. Something done really well. It is an important distinction and one that I think people sometimes ignore. Craftsmanship is what brings a lot of people back to the OSR model. They don't want the newest or fanciest thing. They want the solid time-tested quality of the old design.

So as I write the Devil's Fork, I am going to be innovating, but also crafting. I want every named NPC to be not just functional, not just good enough, not just there so the GM can build from it; but something that someone can read and say "wow, that is a really great NPC."

Here is a really well-crafted NPC and kudos to Christian for making it.

The level of detail is terrific. Precise information is provided about how much he charges, charges for extra services, how much he can carry, languages known, several behavioral notes, etc. There is even leading notes like the notation of his Guild standing that provide contextual information to connect him to the rest of the setting. He even has a little minor special ability of sorts in the form of his diety's blessing.

This is the level of craftsmanship that I aspire to provide in Devil's Fork, not just for a few NPCs (and I am not implying anything about Christian with that statement, he brings craftsmanship almost all the time). I want every single NPC to really resonate with you. I want every location to really inspire you. I want everything about the entire work to just scream quality.

And I want you to hold my feet to the fire in the coming months as I make posts that contain elements from the book as it is written. I want serious criticism to make sure I stay true to my oath.

Party on, Dudes!