One Last Little Peek, And other broken thoughts Options

[Ancient History]

I seem to be writing more endings than beginnings these days. Originally I was saving these for when I could put them together into something more substantive, but my energy and enthusiasm have failed. So I'm going to post them here for those who might be interested, with a few comments and explanations. Anyone not interested in some potential spoilers should probably stop reading now.

If you look hard enough on the internet you might run across something called The Corruption; this was a big metaplot arc developed for Shadowrun from some ideas that the higher ups had, and it basically failed to launch. The reasons are many and varied, no need to go into it here, but as books came out and things were planned the plot was subject to several re-writes, eventually culminating with what would be the gist of the Dawn of the Artifact adventure series.

I was unsatisfied with the plotting of DotA for various reasons, and when the ball was being tossed around about righting a "conclusion" campaign to it. There were some stipulations placed on the book, because it was going to be an anniversary product, a follow up to Harlequin and Harlequin's Back, and it had to involve the DotA artifacts in some way. I ended up writing a proposal for a book to be called Harlequin's Gambit, and with some other freelancers was assigned to write the book.

You can download and read my proposal here: Harlequin's Gambit Proposal.

Then the troubles with CGL came. At the time I terminated my contracts, the drafts for the various chapters were incomplete. I was not entirely satisfied with what I'd written, but I'd meant to complete the drafts and then do revisions - but the opportunity never came, and it doesn't look like an official opportunity ever will. My intent later was to rewrite my two chapters, with a few brief bridging scenarios, and package it as a mini-campaign entitled Harlequin's Daughter...until I just ran out of steam.

You can download and read my incomplete drafts here:

• Ch. 2 - London Calling
• Ch. 4 - End of Journey
• Cast of Shadows

Around the time the first DotA adventure was being, Jennifer Harding and I proposed for a companion ebook that addressed the primary arcanoarcheology organizations, talislegging, and rules/guidelines for building your own unique enchantments, with samples. The ebook, Field Guide to Arcanoarcheology, was never completed. Jen and I were going to abuse the low pay rate for ebooks by making this an excuse to write as much as we wanted on the subjects, to hell with word counts...but other projects got in the way. I have a partial draft of the first chapter for those interested. It's very short, but I like it - the intro fiction is based on an idea that I had proposed for a Missions tie-in to DotA, where the Missions characters are hired by the Atlantean Foundation to retrieve a fragment of the Piri Reis map from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan - unfortunately, efforts at getting a tie-in with Missions never happened. I rarely got the chance to write intro fiction with Elijah, which is a shame because I very much enjoy the character.

You can download and read the incomplete draft here: FGAA - Intro Fiction

Last and mostly least - the intention for Harlequin's Gambit was to set up a situation where the occult world of Shadowrun would be shaken up. I had played with this idea relatively early on when freelancing for Shadowrun, by asking why someone didn't just upload the details of the blood magic techniques to the Matrix, where they would go from underground data haven to pirate network, never to be recaptured. The end scenario of Harlequin's Gambit was supposed to be something similar, with a group deliberately leaking or releasing vast amounts of obscure magical knowledge on an unsuspecting Matrix - and the possibilities that carried. Not everyone liked it. Some freelancers hate it. Some freelancers think SR should go back to pink mohawks and frag those motherfraggers right the frag now, chummer! I empathize, but for me things that stay still long enough tend to die.

So Jen and I had tentative approval for a new magic supplement, in the same vein as what War! should have been. It was to be called High Magic, and Jen would have covered the location (Portland, Tir Tairngire) and I was going to handle the mechanics. Despite the name, this book was meant to be an expansion of magical ideas at all levels, from ivory tower corporate magisters to gutter wizards trying to brew Awakened drugs in old coffee machines from the blue moss they scraped off the subway wall. The location was to give a setting where such magic and options could be pervasive; where it wasn't uncommon to see a pixie sucking on a crack pipe in an alley or a dragon giving impromptu lectures and signing autographs to school kids at the mall. We never got as far as writing it, but I did start an excessive and eccentric collection of notes.

You can download and read these notes here: Notes Towards the Advanced Magic Sourcebook


Good night, shadowkids, and happy trails.