More on Completionism

(Whoa, two posts in one month, when was the last time I pulled that off?)

I don't expect this will be a very lengthy post, just an addendum to what I had to say in February about feeling the need to have everything I  want present and accounted for. Much as this previously led me to spend a great deal of time and stress attempting to get the exact system I wanted, it also tends to haunt my creative process when it comes to creating settings or planning out adventures or campaigns. A place for everything and everything in its place is a fine ethos when it comes to tidying up the house, but when it comes to worldbuilding it is somewhat trickier-- it's fine to utilize it, but sometimes that place has to be well off from the path the adventure is likely to follow.

Let us take the Eberron campaign setting as an example, mainly because it consigns some very popular elements off to certain corners of the world, well away from the continent where most of the "main" action takes place. As obvious as it might seem, an Eberron campaign will probably not involve a lot of giants and dragons, unless one goes out of one's way to allow for trips to Xen'Drik and Argonessen. Something focused on the internal politics of the five nations doesn't generally need them-- and that's perfectly alright, more than that, it's something that one needs to learn and internalize to DM Eberron well. This does not only apply to published settings, of course-- it's okay for things to be out there in your campaign world that the players may never see, may never even hear directly about.

I guess what I'm getting at is that an important skill in GMing, and one I struggle to master, is restraint in the name of focus. This is important in general, but especially so when one is building from the bottom upwards-- a barony or province in the Tiny Bickering Fiefdoms does not need to contain the whole of your Monster Manual, just enough variety to keep things interesting. This is something that to the mind that has already internalized it seems obvious, but something I think it benefits us all to hear now and again.

And here I am, three months later.

Don't worry, it hasn't been anything too horrible. But when my depression and stress claw at my life, gaming in general is the first thing to give and this blog in particular suffers as my creative juices slow to a crawl and what inspiration does come gets constantly second-guessed. It's no way to live, but we all keep trying like fools. Now that all three core books for 5e are out, and hopefully, I'll be getting for Christmas, maybe I'll get the chance to flex my gaming muscle a little more... But by saying that I've probably jinxed it.

I have been gaming a little, in a Forgotten Realms campaign over at the BFRPG forums. I may have mentioned that earlier this year. But it's been a big help to me. It's given me a little bit of creative outlet, and my pair of halflings in that game has been a much-needed opportunity to spread my wings a little bit.

That's the paradox of depression, isn't it? It sucks all the joy out of doing things, but then if you actually knuckle down and do them it turns out to not be so bad after all. This blog is probably the same way. If I got back in the swing of things I bet it'd come as naturally as anything.

In which I shamelessly panhandle

It's been a slow month for me, as you can tell. I've been a bit depressed, and I've had some money troubles. I hate to ask for help, because, rationally or not, it makes me feel like a moocher, but the time has come that I need to. I've set up an account on GoFundMe, in which I have explained my situation more thoroughly. For those of you who feel like helping out, you can find it here. Mention you came from my blog and I'll write a post dedicated to a prompt of your choice (within reason). So far it's been off to a productive start-- I set it up this afternoon and I already have over 2% of my (very long term) goal, enough to help me get over one of the medical bills that prompted me to set this up in the first place.