I’ve been thinking about writing a novel set in Cimmeria for a while. I’ve always wanted to write something set in the campaign world, but it took me a while to land on the idea. The basics is to cover the story of Blendegad, Galandir, and Tereman that I outlined in the First Vampire of Cimmeria series. After writing that series I knew I had my novel’s concept.

Why write a novel? Well, I like writing. The blog is big evidence of that. I’ve written over half a million words of content since the blog started. If all that writing was novels instead of blog posts I’d have 4 or 5 books done at this point. When I’m feeling sad, crumby, or angry, writing helps me feel good again. One of my life goals is to write some significant piece of fiction and get it published, even if it’s just a few copies for my friends and family. Lots of emotional goals that writing fulfills. I’d say writing a book of some kind is something I’ve wanted to do since high school.

There’s also a business perspective to my writing. I’ve been slowly working towards publishing Cimmeria as a campaign setting. And it’d be cool if publishing was actually successful instead of just a friends and family announcement. What’s the best way to make something successful? INTEGRATED MARKETING!

Gotta get that campaign setting present in other media. A campaign setting, a novel, an adventure series, and a custom Magic the Gathering set. All the weak attention that’s given to each release will add together into a snowball of attention.

Of course, that means more initial work so that I can release all of them close together in time. Or a massively increased work ethic so that I complete stuff a lot faster. I’m mostly doing this for fun though, so this is all just a theoretical media strategy that I’ve made up for fun as well.

Back to the actual writing of the novel! I’ll plan on writing it on the blog here. Maybe even do National Novel Writing Month this year! I’m not sure the whole First Vampire story fits in a single novel, but that’s the story I want to tell. Maybe it’ll get split up. I’ve got to write it first to find out.

Leave a comment

I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

88 – DM & Roleplaying Tips with Balance of Aksio (Jay + Sandra! and 3RPG) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

Our guests today are Jay and Sandra from the 3RPG podcast. Their podcast is a talk show, typically with three hosts. Unfortunately the third host Chris was unable to make it.Jay and Sandra are working on a RPG product dubbed The Balance of Aksio. It's a new narrative fantasy TTRPG system with point buy character creation. The world within Balance of Aksio grew out of games that Jay and Sandra have been playing together since high school. Lots of history from important characters over the in-game centuries they have been playing. Balance of Aksio comes with numerous storytelling aids to help with character decision making, generational play, and how to cover long gaps between adventures.Balance of Aksio also introduces a unique idea for running your NPCs. Rather than make all the decisions yourself, Jay and Sandra recommend outsourcing the NPC actions to people you know outside of the campaign. Give those people a profile of the NPC and the decision they are facing. Then let those people decide what the NPC would do without your own biases as a GM entering the equation. Quite a clever way to introduce new developments in your game that even you can't predict!There's a 3RPG Podcast website and the show itself is available on all major podcast platforms.I guested on the 3RPG podcast for episode 61. Check it out!Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 88 – DM & Roleplaying Tips with Balance of Aksio (Jay + Sandra! and 3RPG)
  2. 87 – Adapted Azeroth D&D (Flare and Akridon)
  3. 86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen)
  4. 85 – Medical Doctor D&D (Justin and Oops! All Healers!)
  5. 84 – Horseback Riding D&D Camp (Michael and SaddleSnaps)