Nicolas Logue's page

Aloha Paizo Fans,

Loooooooooong time! My day job as Professor and Education Coordinator at Hawai'i Conservatory of Performing Arts has kept me out of the online game scene for awhile, but I'm breaking back in (don't call it a comeback!) with a very exciting live-streamed actual play of a new adventure - all to raise money for a good cause.

The event is called "The Red Raven" and its streaming 9am - 4pm Hawai'i Standard Time on Sunday April 2nd (this coming Sunday).

You can find out more here: Red Raven

Definitely watch the video - it's good fun.

But if you want the skinny - I'm running an adventure for some awesome celebrity guests who are playing alongside my students on live stream, and we'll be raising money for scholarships and production costs.

"Though she be but little, she is fierce" - Midsummer Night's Dream

Our tiny college's brand new conservatory is small, but we broke onto the scene last month by winning the highest honor in the nation for theatre education - the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion. We took 18 students to a festival to perform our original show "Demigods Anonymous" written by one of alumni (who got offered a tv writing slot immediately when we won this award - off and running - couldn't be more proud)!

We have almost no institutional support (we are home-grown program) and our students are drawn from the most impoverished and underserved parts of Oahu. People like to think of Hawai'i as paradise, but our students have a different experience out here, and our conservatory is a crucial life-line that gives them a shot a serious career.

"How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world."
-Merchant of Venice

If you want to watch me GM for some crazy awesome celebrities, and throw in a few gold pieces (or sp or cp, every bit helps) to support our hard-working servants, I'd be so grateful, and I think you'll deeply enjoy the adventure.

The Twitch and Youtube pages will go up on the crowdfunding site I posted above on Wednesday, the game starts at 9am HST on Sunday April 2nd.

Hope to see some of you there! Hit me up here with any questions. Good to be back on the boards!

Just a quick clarification! These adventures will be during Paizocon, but not actually part of the show! They will be in my private suite - "welcome to my parlor said the spider to the flies!" LOL!

Aloha Pathfinders!

I'm running two private exclusive PF sessions and one SF game at Paizoncon 2019 for special backers of our crazy new kickstarter.

The best thing - all the funds raised go to help a young man shoulder the financial burdens of his education.

Here's the link to our kickstarter:

Order of the Black Arrow

Aloha Paizonians!

Hope you are all doing wonderfully!

I've been absent from the boards for waaaaay too long - my quest to achieve tenure ate my life!

Now that I'm a professor, I am beginning to branch out into new and interesting projects and this improvised action film I'm kickstarting is truly something unique.

Not to mention all proceeds go to a very good cause.

Have a look at our kickstarter - the project speaks to the young gamer's heart in all of us, and is making a young man's dreams come true.

Order of the Black Arrow

There are some pretty hilarious Pathfinder easter eggs in the movie as well.

Thanks you for checking it out!

Aloha,

Nick

Just signed up for the course. I probably have no time available and this will end up being a huge mistake but I don't care and I'm really looking forward to it.

Luckily I'm not binge-watching anything right now....

Nick, I'm going to review the outline you provided and scan the thread for any other tips; trying to prep as much as possible, so hit us with any further suggestions.

No worries, UrJac. If you fall behind, the material will stay up for ages. I'll be contacting you all before the weekend with some tips for prep. :-)

To anyone else thinking of registering: TODAY IS THE LAST DAY. A few hours left to jump onboard this out-of-control freight train to adventure town. :-)

I just listened to the Know Direction recording of Nick's PaizoCon seminar.

Really interesting and enjoyable.

That's right - they were recording those! I strove to be on my best behavior! ;-)

I too have taken the plunge and signed up for this course. Your panels/ games last year and this year at PaizoCon were amazing and so intriguing Nic. I cannot wait for this to begin!!

Excellent, Darran! Welcome to the party! I'm very excited about the community we are gathering to this course - should make for mind-blowing explorations of adventure!

Having attended his panel last year and his White Lotus game this year, I have no doubts about the value to be found here. :)

Magistrate Yang Shen and his brave headmen ensured the demise of the White Lotus once and for all! Glad to have you aboard TriOmegaZero!

After meeting Nick and riding on the shuttle from the airport to the hotel at PaizoCon, then attending his Dramatic Narrative in RPGs, I can say that there was so much knowledge and wisdom rocketing out of his mouth I couldn't write fast enough! I am so excited for this to start!

Aw shucks, Jeff. Thanks! Was great chatting with you at the con!

That's okay. I post enough for her here on the forums anyway. We're used to it. :)

Heh. Excellent! Hope you both enjoy and glean much from the course!

Nic, would it be a problem for my wife to shadow the course without registering? I, of course, would be registered.

Sure thing, TriOmegaZero - I imagine you two can sit together and look over the course materials - she won't be able to post or submit assignments, but you can certainly include her thoughts on your own work. :-)

Here's an early look at our syllabus - this will definitely change a bit, with some Writing Prompts swapped out perhaps and what not, but it should give you all an idea of the arc of the course. :-)

ADVENTURE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
FOR THE PATHFINDER ROLEPLAYING GAME
An Online Course

Dates of Instruction: June 20th – July 7th (three weeks)
Days of “Meeting”: MTWRF (Weekends and Monday July 4th Off).
Recommended Daily Commitment: 3-5 hours each weekday.
Instructor: Nicolas Logue
Email: logue@hawaii.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This non-credit, personal enrichment, online course is a crash introduction to the wide and wild world of adventure design for the Pathfinder RPG. Mini creative writing prompts will be given daily – these will literally only require a few minutes of work each. One or two larger pieces of assigned design work shall be handed out weekly. Assignments will be posted and utilized in online development jam sessions in the third week of the course.
Each week, live chats will also facilitate the learning, and in the third week shall help the class focus on the creation of an exclusive PDF one-shot adventure of a handful of encounters to be designed and developed by the instructor with input and assistance from the students – this completed short adventure will be sent to all students as a memento from the class for their own personal use, and never be sold or shared publicly.

ONLINE ENGAGEMENT:

Students will interface with the course through Eliademy online course management software (https://eliademy.com/) where assignments will be posted and design jam sessions will take place in Discussions. Additionally, Blackboard will be utilized. Enrollees will be invited to Blackboard sessions for the live chat sessions listed below.
Smaller breakout symposiums and seminars will occur via Google hangouts each week. None of the above software requires any kind of fee on behalf of the student (the free version of Eliademy is all that will be required). You will need to have an email account and access to the internet that is fast enough to allow for video streaming.
The Discussion Topics are listed below. Details will be provided online for each posting. The Handouts, also listed below, will be available as PDF files that can be downloaded through the Eliademy site.

Learning Outcomes of this Course:

1. Construct and script strong and interesting PLOTS for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatible Adventures.
2. Develop compelling and atmospheric SETTINGS for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatible Adventures.
3. Conjure and color interesting VILLIANS and SUPPORTING NPCS for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatible Adventures.
4. Craft balanced, exciting and multi-faceted ENCOUNTERS that escalate in challenge to a capstone climax in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatible Adventures.
5. Exercise an understanding of the opportunities and methods of achieving PUBLICTION of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatible Adventures.

COURSE OUTLINE

WEEK ONE (Plot/Setting/NPCs): June 20th – 24th

MONDAY June 20th
Introduction to Eliademy
1st Assignment – Self-Introduction and Personal Goals in Design Worksheet
(DUE Tues June 21st)
Posted Discussions
What is an “Adventure”?
Food for the Creative Mind
When/Where/How to Create
The Plot Thickens, Bubbles, Boils and Troubles
Suggested Viewing/Reading/Playing for Plots
Handouts
#1 Plot Structure According to Aristotle and Others
#2 Nick’s Tricks for Hot Plots
Writing Prompts
#1 – High Adventure in Three Quick Sentences (DUE Tues June 21st)
#2 – Do the Fairy Tale Twist! (Due Wed June 22nd)
Welcome Live Chat – 2pm – 3pm Honolulu Time
Nick-at-Night Chat – 10pm – 11pm Honolulu Time

TUESDAY June 21st
Posted Discussions
Every Story is a Mystery
Rising Action – Complications and Pushing the Action Forward
Revelation and Information Flow
Non Linear Adventure Plots/Sandboxing Your Adventure
Best Chat Times for You All
Writing Prompts
#3 – Genre Mash-Up Theatre (Due Wed June 22nd)
Live Chat Jam Session PLOT: 3pm – 5pm Honolulu Time

WEDNESDAY June 22nd
Posted Discussions
Magnificent Vistas and Wild Frontiers
Atmosphere and Interactive Environments
So Many Dungeons…So Few Reasons For Their Existence
Designers as Writers/Producers/Directors/Casting Agents
Maps for the Incompetent Cartographer
Handouts
#3 – On the Set with Nick Logue
Writing Prompts
#4 – Re-imagining Real Life Adventure Locales (DUE Thurs June 23rd)
#5 – When Worlds Collide (DUE Fri June 24th)
#6 – Nonsuch Palace: Dungeons Beyond Imagination (DUE Fri June 24th)
Live Chat Jam Session SETTING: TBD (Based on response to best times for chats)
Nick-at-Night Chat Session: 10pm – 11pm

THURSDAY June 23rd
Posted Discussions
The Seed of Evil
Villains we Love to Hate
I’m Evil. I Get It. But, What’s My Motivation?
Archetypes, Foils and Raconteurs
The Ties That Bind
Handouts
#4 – Logue’s Gallery of NPC Design
Writing Prompts
#7 – He’s/She’s A Baaaaad Man/Woman (DUE Fri June 24th)
#8 – Twisted Origins (DUE Mon June 27th)
#9 – My Friend, the Villain (Due Mon June 27th)
#10 – Ten NPCS Tweaked Twisted Shaken and Stirred (Due Mon June 27th)
2nd Assignment – Dramatis Personae (500 – 1500 words, due Mon June 27th)
Live Chat Jam Session CAST OF NPCS – TBD

FRIDAY June 24th
Posted Discussions
Making a Plot, Setting, NPC Sandwich or Rolling It All Together
Bait the Hook For All Manner of PCs
Foreshadowing in Adventures
Handouts
#5 – On the Hook: Feel-Good Encounters to Draw the Party In.
3rd Assignment – Adventure Background, Synopsis and Hooks
(1000 – 2000 words, DUE Tues June 28th)
Live Chat Jam Session: Week One Reporting Out TBD
Nick-at-Night Chat: 10pm – 11pm

WEEK TWO (Encounters): June 27th - July 1st

MONDAY June 27th
Posted Discussions
Mixing It Up: Types and Balance of Encounters
Pacing The Adventure
Let the Heroes be Heroes
Best Encounters of Your Gaming Life
Handouts
#6 – An Encounter to Remember
Writing Prompts
#11 – Favorite Scene Re-Designed! (DUE Tues June 28th)
Live Chat Jam Session on Memorable Encounters – TBD

TUESDAY June 28th
Posted Discussions
Interactive Elements in Combat Encounters
Complicating Combat Encounters
Monsters Made New
Monsters and Minions Matched Mercilessly
Handouts
#7 – Uncomplicated Complications and Interactive Environments
Writing Prompts
#12 – We Fight, But Also… (DUE Wed June 29th)
#13 – Monsters Have Bad Days Too (DUE Wed June 29th)
**Schedule Hangouts for Breakout Discussions on Week One Work**

WEDNESDAY June 29th
Posted Discussions
Engaging PCs with Non-Combat Encounters
Choices and Consequences in Later Encounters
Mini Game Encounters
Writing Prompts
#14 – Dance for Me! (DUE Thurs June 30th)
#15 – Re-skin Non-Combat Scene (DUE Thurs June 30th)
4th Assignment – Combat Encounter (500 – 1500 words, DUE Tues July 5th)
5th Assignment – Non-Combat Encounter (500 – 1500 words, DUE Tues July 5th)
Live Chat Jam Session on Non-Combat Encounters and Mini Games – TBD
Nick-at-Night Chat: 10pm – 11pm

THURSDAY June 30th
Posted Discussion
Something for Everyone
Connecting the Dots
Misunderstanding and Misinformation
Points: Recognition, Reversal and No Return
Obligatory Scenes
Climaxing Hard
Epilogues and Cliffhanging
Handouts
#8 – Plot Flow Chart Sample Worksheet
Writing Prompts
#16 – The Skeleton of Your Adventure (DUE Fri July 1st)
#17 – Bait and Switch (DUE Fri July 1st)
#18 – The Tide Turns (DUE Fri July 1st)
#19 – And They Lived Miserably Ever After (DUE Tues July 5th)
#20 – JUMP THE SHARK CLIMAX! (DUE Tues July 5th)
Live Chat Jam Session: Our Exclusive Game Jam #1 TBD

FRIDAY July 1st
CATCH-UP and CHECK IN DAY!
Two Live Chats Scheduled Throughout Day
Google Hangouts Scheduled Throughout Day

WEEK THREE (Development/Publishing/Wrap-up): July 4th – July 8th

MONDAY July 4th: AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY
OFF…well except for one fun assignment
Writing Prompt
#21 – The Tree of Liberty (DUE Wed July 6th)

TUESDAY July 5th
Posted Discussions
Design and Development…Difference?
Eating Your Constructive Feedback
Networking and Freelancing in RPGs
Develop Student Adventure Background/Synopsis/Hooks #1
Develop Student Adventure Background/Synopsis/Hooks #2
Writing Prompt
#22 – Twisted Sisters
6th Assignment: Partnered Development Exercise (DUE Fri July 8th)
Live Chat Jam Session: Our Exclusive Adventure Jam #2 TBD
Nick-at-Night Live Chat: 10pm – 11pm

WEDNESDAY July 6th
Posted Discussions
Playtesting? Nah…PLAYSTORMING!
Alpha/Beta Testing and Your Content
Develop Student Encounter #1
Develop Student Encounter #2
Breaking the Publishing Barrier
To Kickstart or Not to Kickstart
Freelancing and Networking
Handout
#9 – Nick’s Sample Kickstarter Plan
Writing Prompt
#23 – Encounter Hijack!
7th Assignment: Kickstarter Design (DUE Fri July 8th)
Live Chat Jam Session: Getting Published – TBD
Nick-at-Night Live Chat: 10pm – 11pm

THURSDAY July 7th
Posted Discussions
Breaking the Publishing Barrier
To Kickstart or Not to Kickstart
Freelancing and Networking
OTHER POSTED DISCUSSIONS RELATED TO OUR EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURE
Five Live Chats Scheduled Throughout the Day to Jam on Our Exclusive Adventure

FRIDAY July 8th
Posted Discussions Related to Our Exclusive Adventure
Five Live Chats Scheduled Throughout the Day
Writing Prompt
#24 – Reporting Out (DUE Monday July 11th)

ALL MATERIAL WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE ON ELIADEMY AFTER THE COURSE FOR ENROLLED STUDENTS TO REFERENCE HEREAFTER – SO IF YOU FALL BEHIND, NULL SHEEN, CHUMMERS.

CODE OF CONDUCT: Professional Etiquette shall be expected of all students at all times. Anyone engaging in hate speech of any kind, making personal attacks on other students or the like shall be expelled from the course with no refund. Please let’s all behave and make great games together!

owenstreetpress wrote:

Just signed up for this, which brings the total number of higher education institutions at which I've taken courses higher than I really feel like enumerating.

And those of you attending (or thinking of doing so): don't forget to save your receipt because you can probably write this off on your taxes.

Anyway, a bit about me. My actual name is Jason Owen Black, and I've been playing RPGs since 2nd Edition back in the early 90s. I've been interested in game design since about the same time, and did some freelance stuff for the d20 System before I went off to grad school. Since then I've gotten back into game design and have some third party credits for Pathfinder. I'm interested in developing my skills both as a GM and a designer.

I haven't actually read any of Nick's adventures, but I did take a GMing on the fly workshop at PaizoCon 2015 which was great (and helpful in my current 5e game I'm running). I also got to play some Call of Cthulhu and Pathfinder with Greg Vaughn at PaizoCon 2016 so I get where Nick's coming from there :)

Looking forward to the class!

Revenge of the Kobold King is a free FreeRPGday module published by Paizo and written by Nick. It is 3.5 but also ace and free.

Oooooh! Good resource, GeraintElberion. Thanks! :-)

I too am registered for this course! I'm a freelancer that has done work for Paizo, Raging Swan Press, Dreamscarred Press, Fat Goblin Games, and many other publishers. I can't wait to see how this goes!

Wonderful, Eric! Welcome aboard! Its awesome to have some accomplished veterans on the course - should make for a very engaging community!

Just signed up for this, which brings the total number of higher education institutions at which I've taken courses higher than I really feel like enumerating.

And those of you attending (or thinking of doing so): don't forget to save your receipt because you can probably write this off on your taxes.

Anyway, a bit about me. My actual name is Jason Owen Black, and I've been playing RPGs since 2nd Edition back in the early 90s. I've been interested in game design since about the same time, and did some freelance stuff for the d20 System before I went off to grad school. Since then I've gotten back into game design and have some third party credits for Pathfinder. I'm interested in developing my skills both as a GM and a designer.

I haven't actually read any of Nick's adventures, but I did take a GMing on the fly workshop at PaizoCon 2015 which was great (and helpful in my current 5e game I'm running). I also got to play some Call of Cthulhu and Pathfinder with Greg Vaughn at PaizoCon 2016 so I get where Nick's coming from there :)

Looking forward to the class!

Welcome aboard, Jason! Glad you enjoyed the GMing on the Fly workshop! I too am very excited to dive in with this course in a couple weeks! :-)

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I've never taken one of these online courses before.

Is there a place--this thread or otherwise--that we should be paying attention to for information about the class (and notification of when it starts)? Or will we be getting an email (or something similar) on the topic?

Aloha Terminalmancer!

You'll all be getting emails a few days before the course begins (once registration closes on the 13th).

I'll also be posting a draft of syllabus up here tomorrow - just finished it today, but want to run it by a few other eyes before I hurl it at the interwebs. :-)

I just registered! I am looking forward to the course.

. Welcome aboard, Kate! Me as well! Very excited to work with you all! I'll post the syllabi next week sometime, should be fun!

Deadline is the 13th you say? I meant to corner you and get the pitch in person at PaizoCon, but you were ALWAYS engaged (and very animate!). What is the class count looking like so far?

We have a little over 30 or so thus far, Christen! We have more slots open - up to about 50. We can take more really, but that was our limit so far. If we hit it, I'll see if we'll open more slots, but 50 is nice and manageable for the format. :-)

Aloha Everyone!

I just found out that there IS a deadline for registration for the course - it's June 13th. Be advised!

Looking forward to working with you all, and weaving high adventure madness together!

Hey Nick. Just wondering if you have any more published work in the pipeline. I admire your work a great deal and always eagerly look forward to new material you create.

Aloha Ragusa!

I've taken a wee break from game design projects for the last few months - applying for tenure in October, so I'm head-down focused on that, and tackling some other creative writing pursuits. Looking forward to leaping back in soon though, some interesting things on the horizon that I can't talk about yet. :-)

This class looks absolutely fascinating! I'm totally interested--have some gaming experience, but only adventure writing for home groups. Can you give me an idea of how much time will be needed to do readings and assignments? I'm told I need to get better at work/life balance... Also, will there be 18 sessions or just 15 for Monday through Friday each week?

Aloha Gladior!

There will be 15 sessions (Mon - Fri) but I'll probably assign some things to mull over on the weekends - each weekday there will be posted readings with questions and subsequent forum discussions. I'll be available for chat sessions each day as well at various times to try to accomodate as many geographic zones as possible. :-)

The work load is a bit of a "you decide the level of your involvement" (like Project Mayhem), since it isn't a credit-based course for a grade, but in order to get the most out of the material, I would plan to have about 2-3 hours a day on hand to tackle the work.

Hope that helps!

This is a great idea, by the perfect teacher. I remember long ago attending my first Gen Con in a pre-Pathfinder era. Completely lost, I asked a veteran by the name of Tim Hitchock what I should be doing. He said (though I paraphrase, it was a long time ago): "...do whatever you have to do to attend a game run by Nick Logue. It'll raise your game." I had read the name Nicolas Logue before and seen him posting, but never met the guy in person. Tim did not steer me wrong.

Later at the same con, I attended an event called Iron GM, an entertaining GMing competition. One of the volunteers told me: "The reason they have Nick Logue act as the Master of Ceremonies is so he can't enter. It would be wrong if he won it every year."

That later quote was a bit false though. As I dimly understand, Nick Logue, (along with Lou Agresta of course), was actually one of the event's co-creators, so of course he should not enter. But you get the idea.

And as I finish my post, I realize technically nothing I said actually speaks to whether the guy has any skill as a designer of gaming material -- meaning, I failed to support my original point which was that this course sounds like an excellent opportunity. So in lieu of actually being persuasive, I will instead refer you to "The Winding Way" (Dungeon #117) a classic adventure by Nicolas Logue which many have been seeking to duplicate ever since.

Awwww...I miss you, Master Kortes!

"The Winding Way" - that IS a classic, and even its making has strange and great tales embedded within. For one, it's the first adventure I did for James Jacobs. After Dungeon had transitioned a bunch of staff, like a year after I submitted that manuscript, I had given up on hearing back about anything, then suddenly, James Jacobs writes me out of the blue asking me to rework the adventure. It was such a treat to do so under his guidance.

Then, after re-writing it practically entirely, my computer crashed, the whole 30,000 words gone. I just sat back down and re-wrote the entire thing from memory in less than a day. It was insane, but a breakthrough moment for me as a human being (or demon-thing, the jury is still out).

Any chance of ever catching up with you at a con again, Kortes?

Exciting!

Will we be able to download the course content or will it be available after the 7th?

Hey Captain!

Do you mean, will you still have access after the course closes (July 7th) - if so, yes indeed. I'll make sure all resources remain open to you all.

I'll have a syllabi available by about a week before the class opens (around June 13th), I'm running it by a few folks first and making sure it's perfect. I'm really enjoying designing the course itself! It's a fun merging of designer-madman-Nick and Confucian-educator-Nick...two of the many Nicks who rarely share space/time! :-)

Nick,

Do you have any favorite modules and adventures that you love because of their writing?

Any works that inspire you?

Oh yes! A fine question, Brian! To be honest I tend to go to other media for my inspiration often (and I'll have a lot of fun creative prompts for you all about this when we get underway), but there are a few designers whose work I truly adore.

It goes without saying that James Jacobs is my idol. I've been enamored of his works since long before I began designing, he's my mentor in every way. Here's a list of other game designers I adore in no particular order:

Tito Leati - A master of merging plot and action, and reaching for subtle and interesting ideas in his adventures.

Amber Scott - I had the deep pleasure of working on one book with Amber for Eberron ages ago, and have loved her stuff forever.

Keith Baker - He reaches the thematic level more successfully than any other designer I've read - except maybe Tito. There's a very good reason that Eberron was my favorite playground. I miss it so muchly.

Tim Hitchcock - A fellow madman...we walks, and writes on the edge of a knife. I love every word Tim has put his twisted mind towards.

Richard Pett - As much as it pains me to admit it, Pett is my most hated foe for good reason. He's a genius, and far more subtle and brilliant than me.

Greg Vaughan - I love him, because his style is the polar opposite of mine, yet every adventure he writes absolutely sings to me - that's mastery - the transcendence of style to pure goodness. I love Greg's adventures the way I love The Wire - I usually DESPISE realism, but The Wire is my all time favorite show. I usually am not a fan of old school, but Greg's old school captures me in a way the best of old school always did when I was young. It transports me back to being 10 years old and playing Isle of Dread, or White Plume Mountain. His best adventure still in my book is Tammeraut's Fate - get your hands on it.

Brandon Hodge - Bradon's one of the best. A master who knows his material inside and out and whose best work is unpublishable (the mark of any great designer).

Crystal Fraiser - I adore her style and her gift for weaving narrative with player action. Never not enjoyed something by her.

Erik Mona - He never ever gets the time, sadly, but The Whispering Cairn is a modern classic, that is one of those rare adventures that is not only incredibly fun to read, but even more fun to play.

Jason Bulmahn - Often swept up into rules (cause his brain is so potent), but every adventure of his I've read has blown my mind!

Michael Kortes - A lost master and a blast from the past. I remember coming up with The Kortes and loving every adventure he put his mind to. He was top of my short list for writers for the first Pathfinder Scenarios waaaaay back when I was charged with charting the course of Season 0 (in another life).

I'm actually boning up on some new comers as well in prep for this workshop. I'm very interested in Robert Brookes, his passion for the form is second to none, he loves designing games fiercely and it shows in his work. Looking forward to reading more of his stuff, and discovering some new masters who will no doubt leave my paltry efforts in the dust, especially as transition from creator to educator.

Hope that's a good start - dig in and enjoy their work! ;-)

And when does the class start? 6/20?

Thanks,
Old Man

Yep! Three weeks long - starts June 20th, ends July 7th. :-)

Is it too late to register for this class?

On no! You can register up until a day before it begins. :-)

Nicolas - what writing software do you like to use for making adventures?

I have Scrivener (which I'm still learning) and MS Word. I use EverNote for ideas and dropbox for saving my work.

What programs do you use for your work?

Oooooo! I've not used Scrivener yet, but I hear good things from all my writer-monkey friends.

I use MS word for the actual writing, but I love love love Hero Lab for statting up all my NPCs and baddies and what not.

I also use Campaign Cartographer (or have recently started to - my map turnovers were legendarily bad before...just ask James Jacobs...he'll regale you with terrifying tales of terrible maps). ;-)

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

Intriguing. Is there any limit to the number of participants? And do we get college credit? :)

First, congrats to Nick for doing this! My university is just now looking into Continuing Ed, so this is an idea I might steal.

Second, I am just about to complete running a course for college credit at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. It is called WRIT311X: Writing Narrative for Tabletop Role-Playing Games. My students built a 64-page gaming supplement over the course of the class. I'm going to see about publishing it.

It may be something I move to an online platform at some point. Winthrop is accredited through SACS.

That sounds like an awesome course, Christina! I'd love to have a credit class at WCC that focuses just on table-top RPG writing! For our Intro to Games and Gaming, many students choose to write RPG supplements for their final game design project, but I'd love to be able to focus solely on it in a class. :-)

Hello Heine.

We have some extremely talented students enrolled in this course. Published modules, Paizo Superstar placers... I am really looking forward to this class. I will learn quite a bit from the students themselves. This is going to be an impressive course.

Indeed, Brian! This is shaping up to be a fine roster! I'm looking forward to learning from you all as well!

Welcome aboard to all the recent sign-ups and posters here - it's lovely getting to know you all and I'm taking heed of your interest in the course curriculum.

Love that there are lots of creative writers leaping aboard too, we should enjoy dreaming up some interesting scenarios, plots, villains and encounters together!

Hey Nick! I just signed up (after seeing a note about it in the Kobold Press newsletter yesterday, and am very excited. I love DMing for the gaming group I've been playing with for the last 30 years, and run a mix of published and homebrew adventures.

I'd love to improve running games for my own group, and have no intention of ever publishing anything... please don't neglect my demographic! :-)

Ha! Good to meet ya Jason! Never fear! Something for everyone is my favorite way to do up a class.

I've been tinkering with some bits and its actually proving pretty easy to cover both bases with most of the material. We win! :-)

Very interested in this, but as someone living on the other side of the Pond (specifically Denmark), would I be able to join this course?

Shouldn't be a problem, Heine! As long as you have internet access and can somehow pay the reg fee in dollars or the like. I believe other international folk are on board. :-)

I'll second or third the desire for a focus on designing for publication.

I'm taking this out of idle curiosity and my love of storytelling and gaming. I started with the blue box in 1977 or so, played AD&D 1st edition and then sort of dropped out until eight years ago when I picked up some 3.5 and then Pathfinder.

My day job is in technology at a little shoe company here in Oregon. In my spare time I do some film-related stuff—I'm on the board of a documentary filmmaking non-profit, teach some editing classes, and run the Portland Motorcycle Film Festival. I've become enamored with the Pathfinder Adventure Paths because of the great story arcs and am really looking forward to getting some insight from Nick.

Good to know! Thanks for sharing everyone and nice to get to know you all a little better! I'll go ahead and start leaning the curricula more toward publishable adventures then. :-)

Is there a registration deadline (obviously prior to the start date mentioned)? I can't pull the trigger right now, but in a couple weeks I may be able to sign up multiple people.

You should be able to sign up within days of the course's launch. I'll verify that with our Office of Continuing and Career Education staff in my Tues meeting and get you guys the details. :-)

Oooooooo! Love the idea of getting to know each other here before things officially get underway. That will help me as well, as (in partial answer to Thundertusk's queries) I'm still refining the details of the curriculum and experience.

I've come up with a slew of course material concerning theme, plot, flow of information/action/narrative, encounter design, and use of literary and screenwriting techniques, but the aspect of the course I'm trying to find the perfect balance for is this: designing perfect adventures for your players vs. designing strong published adventure material (very different beasts).

I plan to address both heavily, but would be curious to hear what the majority of you signing up for are interested in most.

@Thundertusk, specifically: This will be more like the first few weeks of Blood of the Gorgon, in so much to say that there will be posts about adventure-writing technique and sharing and developing our collective responses, but many of these posts and topics will have a related short-assignment that will relate specifically to one short adventure (much shorter than Blood - more of a one-shot or two-nighter) that you will all pitch-in with me to design - and you will be the only people to receive the PDF it ends up as.

I will use mostly text, but will also host at least one hangout a week to facilitate a symposium-style discussion of some of the topics and threads.

I'm meeting with our tech staff on Tuesday to firm up which online resources we will make the most of to deliver the best experience possible, so I'll chime back in after that meeting. :-)

Please do introduce yourselves and let me know what you are looking for most out of this course, so I can factor that in to the curriculum and experience for you all.

Very excited about leaping in with all of you!

Cannot attend. Hope this will happen again later on :-)

No worries, The Raven Black - If people enjoy it, I'm sure we'll bring it back again!

Welcome aboard, Paizonians! :-)

Intriguing. Is there any limit to the number of participants? And do we get college credit? :)

Aloha Jacob!

It is non-credit course, sadly - though I do offer a credit course in Games and Gaming (IS 271), but its face-to-face, not online...for now. ;-)

I don't believe there is a limit to participants for the class, no.

Interesting! Do you know what the schedule of the "various meetings" might be? And do you know about how many hours a week we're looking at?

The course will take place over three weeks with assignments, online chats and forum posts each week. No required online meetings, though I'll make myself available daily in chat sessions to field questions and offer feedback on assigned work.

:-)

What a great idea! I'm kind of surprised this is the first time I've seen something like this personally. Nice work Nick!

Thanks! I'm excited about it. I don't often get to mix educator-Nick with gamer-Nick...though at WCC, they encourage it! :-)

Aloha Everyone!

Hope ye denizens of the boards have been well in my absence - now with my semester winding to a close and thoughts of Paizocon dancing like sugarplums in my rotting, pus-filled head, I'm turning my dark musings towards my next evil endeavor...

A three week online course in Adventure Design and Development for the Pathfinder RPG.

All participants will receive an exclusive PDF adventure designed my myself...and you, as part of the process of the course.

Scope all this out at the link below:

Pathfinder Adventure Design Course

Hope to see many of you at the con this summer as well!

I adore Nick both as an author and a human being.

He is hands down one of the most gifted game designers I have ever met.

He can write an entire game on the spot, just make it up in full detail as you're playing it.
He can write an entire game world (soup to nuts) in about a week.

He made IRON GM just because he figured thats how he could get the most people to have the most fun in one room at one time.

He consistently raises the bar for both writing and creativity. His ideas are always innovated and his characters never short of epic.

Most importantly, a five minute conversation with Nick Logue makes you a better person.

Tim, you are too kind, as ever, my man. I love you, deeply. You have a once in a generation mind and wild-side. I love the way you tango in the design world, sexy. You remain my favorite co-writer. Carnival of Tears forever! :-)

You're welcome, Vuahgna!

Remember that Shadowrun adventure I ran for you and bunch of Paizo Peeps at Origins all those years past?

That's why you got bumped to #2, Vraundargn. ;-)

First!

I'd like to thank Nick Logue for bumping me to Celebrity Game "#2" AND clearly paying some Paizo staffer to purposely misspell the unusual elongation of my last name with its far more commonly encountered, truncated form in the event title. He truly is a diabolical fiend.

Heh. I may need to fire up Flash now, thanks Darius. :-)

Sorry, Kajehase: I'm afraid my contract precisely stipulates - its Blessed, or no one.

While I'm a great fan of both Winstone and Oldman's bodies...of work, I mean...its all about casting. Only Brian Blessed could capture my...well...Logueness, as Sissyl put a finger on it earlier.

Yes, Rutger Hauer would make a fine Pett!

I would only sign off on my life rights if they guaranteed Brian Blessed would play me. :-)

I'm a huge fan of Logue's module Hangman's Noose. I GM'd it for my husband. We sat at the kitchen table after our son was asleep at night, with all the other lights in the house off. It was creepy cool as all get out! :)

Awesome, Lady Firedove! I loved Hangman as well. Though I know its unconventional (survival horror and Pathfinder are a weird mix for some), I had a delightful time writing it, and running it for my playtest group.

Glad you and your husband enjoyed it! :-)

Nicolas Logue wrote:

See some of you at Paizocon, I hope. I'll be there this year! So excited! :-)

I also will be at Paizocon again this year, and I believe I still owe you a beer...

I'll take it, Jeremy! :-)

That would be excellent! Hope you've been well, my good man! Those of you who enjoyed Carnival of Tears should know that Jeremy developed that adventure for Tim and I! Like a boss!

Looking forward to catching up with you and other wonderful folks at the con!

Ahhh, there it is.

The nostalgia resulting from such posts has brought my fragile mind back to a place of glee and hope. When we were much younger, and the world looked brighter and we all believed good could still triumph over evil.

Thank you gentlemen...now I can rest.

Yes, I'm positively brimming with glee and hope as I scrub my stovetop for the 50th time today. ;-)

Oh, don't take Rich's posting here to heart.

He typed that post while I was at work yesterday. He typed it in my house - on my laptop - squatted over my stove, where he made quite a mess resulting in my stovetop being too unsanitary for use for weeks. Then he dumped my laptop in the washing machine and set it for super cycle.

All of Pett's gifts are poisoned!

Is the Fragged Empire you're talking about?

Yep! That's the one!

I wrote a good chunk of the Core Rulebook and a bunch of the Antagonist Archive. I'm also working on a large module for the game as well.

Wade, the creator, is a fine human being, a kind soul, and has a real passion for RPGs.

I'd highly recommend the game!

Nick

Ask me about the time my party left the loggers to their fates when you see me at PaizoCon. ;)

That's awesome! How it should go, really! :-)

Ebon Shroud !!!

Ebon Shroud !!!
Ebon Shroud !!!
Ebon Shroud !!!
Ebon Shroud !!!
Ebon Shroud !!!
Ebon Shroud !!!

I want Ebon Shroud !!!

Please !!!

Heh. Maybe someday! :-)