Illuminated Manuscripts

"Never judge a book by its cover."
-oft ignored proverb

I hate Jason Blair.

Right now, his new RPG Little Fears is getting all sorts of positive reactions. Industry professionals are falling over themselves to buy this game. Pinnacle linked to him from their homepage, dedicating an entire paragraph to the game, where games like Rune received only a brief mention. Gamers seem to be drooling to get their hands on this game. Now, I am proud to say that I worked on Little Fears but it is not my game. I can't stand in the limelight like Jason can. I am only the loyal flunky. I'd give my right lung to have Alyria be as well received as Little Fears is being received.

Hmm. I guess I don't hate Jason. I actually envy him. That's right. I envy Jason Blair. Wouldn't Rael-Schol be proud?

However, I am very glad that I had the opportunity to work on Little Fears. I am proud to have contributed to a game that shows such a social conscience and is really trying to make a difference in the world. However, I am even more glad that I worked on Little Fears because I learned something vital about game design while aiding and abetting Jason.

I wish that I could just hand you one of my copies of Little Fears. Instead, you will have to be content to hear my description of it. First, the book is not the normal game book size. Instead it is 9 1/2 inches long by 7 1/2 inches wide. The cover art, which was done by hive, is dark and moody. The overall effect feels more like an artsy photography book than a nerdy game book. The interior is equally sharp. The layout is dark and brooding, and the art and photography are vivid. The book looks sharp and professional. I am deadly serious. I think that this book could sit next to White Wolf releases on a shelf and not be ashamed.

I have a lot of respect for the subject matter of Little Fears but I have to say that I think that many of the sales of the game at Origins were prompted initially by the impressive appearance of Little Fears. However, there is more to this discussion of the appearance of Little Fears than the merely economic. In order to explain this, I need to talk about the work of Veronica Jones for a minute.

In my opinion, Veronica Jones' art is the best by far of the art included in Little Fears. She captures the faces of the children so well, it's frightening. Her website is at www.moonshines.com if you are curious to take a look at her work. However, I would like to draw your attention to this piece entitled "Self Defense". This incredibly evocative piece, in my opinion, sums up Little Fears. Take a look at it. Let it burn into your soul. Here is a young girl, being threatened by something or, more likely, someone. She's holding a gun, but she is no action hero. Instead she is feeling scared and alone, so very alone, as she raises the gun, knowing oh so well that by pulling the trigger she will be burning this moment into her soul forever. You can see the terror in her eyes, the sadness, the pain. Now, what if I were to tell you that it is this picture that is nestled up against the firearms rules in Little Fears. Gives an entirely different perspective on those rules, doesn't it? A gun is no longer the necessary fashion accessory that many other RPGs make it out to be. In Little Fears, guns are terrible instruments of death and destruction whose use violates Innocence almost as much as the monsters that might be felled by them. This is not conveyed by the text. The text barely discusses this at all. However, by associating these rules with this picture, the message is conveyed loudly. Rather than merely being filler space, the art actively conveys both the mood and the message of Little Fears.

Now, why am I rambling on about Little Fears in a column that is supposed to be about designed Alyria? Is it just because I am a Little Fears fanboy in the making? Perhaps. However, there is the matter of the lesson that I learned from Little Fears. Quite simply it is this: the presentation of your book as a physical object matters.

Now I know that the industry professionals that are reading this are probably underwhelmed. They are probably thinking, "Duh. We already knew that." You would be right. The industry is very aware of the importance of visual impact on the games that they produce. No, this comment is aimed straight at the developing indie RPG movement. As I watch the development of this movement, I am very impressed. There is a lot of thought going into the underlying philosophy of roleplaying. There are plenty of discussions of premise and theme, of using mechanics to express these things, and constructing a tight, elegant system. However, something that is frequently lacking is a discussion of the physical presentation of the game or how art and graphic design can enhance the communication of the message. So often it seems that indie games that actually have art use it only as filler. "Hey, it's an RPG. We need something in here to break up the monotony." So we get generic pictures of fantasy monsters or SF spaceships. Others seem to shy away from the use of art altogether. Maybe it's a reaction to the perceived commercial glitz of the big publishers. Maybe it is because art can be expensive.

I rather think that our model should be that of the medieval monks and their illuminated manuscripts. The monks did us a great service by preserving many ancient writings and manuscripts. However, they were not content merely to copy these old works. Rather they created beautiful illuminations, using illustrations and painstakingly inked capital letters. Paint and golf leaf adorned their pages. No mere hard copies are these! Rather, these books and manuscripts are prized art objects, treasured both for their scholarship and their beauty.

Already I am scheming the artistic feel of Alyria. There are many questions and concerns to address. Certainly there are the interesting problems of balancing artistic vision and economic reality. However, I have a goal now, a vision. Certainly I want people to read Alyria and say, "What a fascinating read!" Certainly I want people to play Alyria and say, "What a wonderful game!" But I now know that I also want people to pick up Alyria, to look at it, to hold it, to smell it, and say, "What a beautiful book!"