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Before I get into today’s question, I’ve got a new article up on HubPages called “Five RPG Characters To Watch Out For,” the topic of which should be obvious from the title. Give it a read, take the poll, comment, share it, like it, Tweet it, etc.
26. Favorite inspiration for your game.Â
I get inspiration from a lot of places. At DieCon this year, I ran a game where the characters were all alternate versions of Rob Lowe from those Direct TV commercials, I wrote an adventure (Waxman’s Warriors) inspired by Jack Chick tracts, and the most successful game I’ve worked on (Hobomancer) probably wouldn’t have happened if Leighton, Carter, and I hadn’t all just read John Hodgman’s first book. There are a few creators (Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Joss Whedon, Robert Anton Wilson, Tim Powers, and lots of others) whose influence is present in a lot of the stuff I do, but the single biggest influence for me is probably Fortean Times magazine and a bunch of websites and blogs that cover similar subject matter.
If you’re not familiar with FT, I kind of think of it as Weekly World News for smart people. The magazine covers all sorts of weird stuff, from UFOs to conspiracy theories to crytozoology, mythology, folklore, and magic, all from a perspective that’s neither wide-eyed “true believer” credulity or dogmatic skeptical disbelief. The baseline tone is along the lines of “this might be real or it might not, but isn’t it damned interesting?” A lot of their coverage focuses more on the psychological, historical, and societal factors that may contribute to a weird belief than whether the belief itself is true or false. It’s all in keeping with the philosophy of Charles Fort, who inspired the name of both the magazine and the way of thinking it embraces. I rarely read an issue without finding something that would be cool in a game.
