RPG Awesome 1: Ex Machina

[james_davis_nicoll]

And now for something more positive: ten awesome little moments in RPGs, beginning with a very self-serving one.

Bruce Baugh, Rebecca Borgstrom, Christian Gossett, Bradley Kayl and Michelle Lyons’ 2004 Ex Machina was a cyperpunk roleplaying game, published by Canadian game company Guardians of Order. It got a very favourable review from BoingBoing. It was also my first professional editing credit.


It only took me a quarter century of playing and selling RPGs to get into the design end of things.

It was a very educational experience for me:

Always back up your projects: After a month of working on this, my computer suddenly died with my only copy of the file. As it happened, my brother was able to get it working again but since then I’ve been diligent about off-site backups.

Reality is always worse than you think [1]: There were a couple of details I thought were implausibly dystopic that Michelle revealed were taken from real life.

Amazon does not care: This may be my only Amazon credit. They spelled my last name ​“Micoll”. Never got it fixed.

Reality is always worse than you think [2]: Guardians of Order tossed a lot of work my way. At the time it was flattering. In retrospect it was more likely because I was available, enthusiastic, and gullible enough to accept payment terms that let them get six months of work out of me before owner Mark C. MacKinnon admitted they had no means to pay me. Since I declined work I could have been paid for to focus on GOO stuff I didn’t get paid for, I figure I got screwed two different ways.

But still! I have professional gaming credits and physical artifacts to which I can point!

Comments

[connactic]

So, this isn't a "WTF" since the cover was meant to be ironic?

https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/12540648.html#comments

If cover cleavage was stupid and sexist in the 1980s (and it was), what made it acceptable in 2004?

[james_davis_nicoll]

Feel free to track Mark down to ask him.

[kiya]

I volunteer-edited a Paranoia supplement at the author's editing party once! (We were all passing pages around like it was an Eye of Argon reading.) No pay or credit or anything, just for the "helping out a friend" factor, but we were told that the publisher had never gotten such a clean manuscript...

... I always felt that said something.

[kedamono]

It was the time when a lot of folks writing for many a garage RPG company had the "Fame and Fortune" contract: You'd be Famous if you're Fortunate enough to get your name in the book.

[(Anonymous)]

Should have held out for the Standard Rich and Famous Contract.

[ba_munronoe]

I think that one requires your immortal soul rather than just your dignity and ability to function without caffeine.