Monday, April 5, 2010

Wilderness Alphabet Book

About a month ago, I purchased an excellent pdf, "The Dungeon Alphabet" by Michael Curtis of "Society of Torch, Pole and Rope" fame.  It has sold out in its dead tree form, but they are planning a second printing.  I heartily endorse it.  Run, don't walk...

In any case, the product got me thinking about making my own 'alphabet' book.  I am excited by the prospect and I love random tables.  :)  They are a GREAT way to get the creative juices flowing and these days I love to improvise.  Someone out there in the blogosphere (should have wrote it down just who) said that they like random tables because it lets them "explore their own world."  I couldn't agree more.  Patrick Armstrong at "Ode to Black Dougal" put it this way:
I love die rolls and randomness. Not simply for randomness' sake but instead for the creative muse they provide. Trying to figure out why there are ghouls in the elven forest is part of the fun.
So I wrote an email to Michael and asked him if he had plans to write any more 'alphabet' books.  I didn't want to step on his plans if he did.  It took a few days (he's a busy guy) but he wrote back.  Here's a quote from the email:

As for the future of an Alphabet series of books, I'm not sure if there will be more titles in that line. I have reason to suspect that the success of the Dungeon Alphabet has more to do with the "Dungeon" portion of the title than the "Alphabet" part.
Of course, if you'd like to write an Alphabet of your own, go right ahead and do so. I think someone is already doing a post-apocalyptic alphabet, so it's not as if the field is restricted just to my efforts. 
Thanks for the "go ahead" Michael and the encouragement.  I appreciate you taking the time to write back.

I'll post here from time to time, sharing updates and letting folks know when the project is complete.

Wish me luck!

1 comment:

Norman J. Harman Jr. said...

Great idea, good luck, and get crackin! We the blog readers of the internet demand faster progress! :)