This was one of the entries to the Call of Cthulhu Adventure Writing Contest. The only problem is, we don’t have the author’s name! If the author is reading this, contact us so we can give you the credit.

Just last week, a group of people (who shall remain anonymous for the moment) asked me a bunch of questions about game design. When I finished writing the answers, I thought, Wow. This would make a really cool GDJ.

As anybody who has ever talked to me about games for more than a few moments is sure to know, Im a big fan of Atlas Games Unknown Armies. Ever since I read my friends laser-proof, Ive loved the game and Ive picked up all the supplements so far (although there are, admittedly, only four, including Postmodern Magick). The gritty, realistic and visceral feel the game has in its clutches easily makes it one of the best games on the market, but sometimes that very interesting mystery also makes it hard to develop some elements of the game.

Spirit Warriors is a new 128 page sourcebook for Pinnacles Hell on Earth setting, detailing what the American Indian Tribes have been up to these last umpty hundred years. It also adds a new archetype, the Toxic Shaman, and gives you the skinny on how this new breed of Medicine Man views the world around him. How does it stack up to the rest of the line? Lets take a look.

Were at the end here. Im finishing up the editing/re-writing, my wifes scanning in all the art/designing the logo for our company (Wicked Press), and Rich will be writing a check on Friday for the books. But this weeks column isnt about what Im doing, its more about what I dont get to do. Ive addressed this briefly in the Forums, but Id like to talk about it in full here.

The winning entry in the Silent Death Fiction Contest belong to Neil Gaughan, who will receive a copy of Silent Death: The Next Millennium, deluxe edition, as well as one house book of his choosing and the minis necessary to fly that house.

The winning entry in our Deadlands Fiction Contest is written by Seth Gilbert, who gets a leatherbound edition of the Deadlands: Hell On Earth RPG!

Hala Winter and I were standing on the corner of Bleeker and Sixth, preparing to make the long trek from the Village to the Lower East Side. She knows The Last Exodus better then I do (by some accounts) and has been a vital part of concept design. She pulls double duty at Synister simultaneously serving as Creative Director and my stress management.

I am talking about eschewing normality a bit, which may just give you a campaign that breaks with convention. The trouble with most campaigns is role-players are a unique breed; they watch a lot of T.V, read a lot of books and also play a lot of role-playing games. This means the more intelligent and astute of the species are very wise to the art of story construction, allowing them to see not so obvious clues and possible nefarious bad guys a mile away no matter how convoluted the plot.

As we get closer to deadline, these little episodes get shorter and shorter. I suspect thats because as I make each decision, I have less to say. I also suspect that this last bit is the most boring part of game design. There isnt a whole lot to talk about. Im editing, editing, editing.