I have spent the last week on a writing streak. I’ve written more than five thousand words, not including my blog posts. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but when I consider how little I actually wrote in the last year or more, I feel like I accomplished something. It’s much easier to … Continue reading Staying Busy
(C) 2022, JJ ShaunA set of Dungeons & Dragons dice. If you’ve read this blog, you know that I don’t just whine about losing my home to wildfire. I also write fantasy fiction. One of my launch pads for storytelling has always been Dungeons & Dragons. From the moment that the half-elf, Meegan Redoak, rolled … Continue reading Confessions of A Role-Player
“There is no winning or losing, but rather the value is in the experience of imagining yourself as a character in whatever genre you're involved in, whether it's a fantasy game, the Wild West, secret agents or whatever else. You get to sort of vicariously experience those things.”~Gary Gygax American game designer Gary Gygax was … Continue reading Random Quote for July 27, 2020
It’s been a wild couple of weeks. With all that’s happening in the “real world,” I’ve had a difficult time concentrating on the characters tiptoeing through my imagination. But as things calmed down to a dull roar last week, I watched a scene unfold with the twins as they discovered a hidden cavern. In this … Continue reading Using Life to Create Fiction
(C) 2019, JJ Shaun The series of stories I have in mind will take place in a variety of settings. I even started one of the stories a couple of years ago when the group I play online games with were thinking of writing in a different realm. When the group moved on to something … Continue reading Where Am I?
(C) 2020, JJ ShaunPainting D&D miniatures while practicing "social distancing." People around the world are about to spend more time with their loved ones than they ever thought possible. In some cases, that will be okay, in others, not so much. Some people will be spending more time alone than anticipated. In all cases, now … Continue reading Pandemic, Week 1
(C) 2020, JJ ShaunThe Happy Harpy I’ve spent the past week or so looking for ways to introduce the player characters (PCs) to the homebrew Dungeons & Dragons campaign I’m creating. I have a place to start them out—the Happy Harpy Inn—and a destination if they play it out to reach the Great Evil. As … Continue reading Building Adara
(C) 2000, JJ ShaunThe Adaran continent. I spent this week combing the Internet looking for information on how to build a better fantasy world. I created an account with the Dungeon Master’s Guild and went trolling for information. The DM’s Guild is a site on which a bunch of DM-created guides and play modules are … Continue reading Building Adara
(C) 2020 JJ ShaunThe gate to the Happy Harpy I’ve spent the last week creating characters to fill my fantasy outpost, the Happy Harpy. Making up the characters has been an exciting exercise. I have a good idea of how a small group can interact over time. (I spent four years on two different Navy … Continue reading Staffing a Fantasy Outpost
(C) 2000, JJ Shaun I have spent the last week creating characters and building a fantasy outpost called The Happy Harpy. This enclave sits along a major trade road on the eastern side of the Dragonspine Mountains, on the Adaran continent. Located in the southern hemisphere of its world, this continent has had virtually no … Continue reading Worldbuilding V
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50,000 Monkeys at 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong
J.J. Shaun 