Updated on:
Original published on:
September 30, 2022
I have been doing some wicked things with my writing. In 2022, I was offered a chance to write for MCDM’s ARCADIA magazine by my friend James Introcaso. It was an incredible experience. Not only did I get to flex my writing skills beyond a DMsGuild adventure module, I got to work with two of my best friends turned family; Jordan and Travis from Hook & Chance. The three of us writing together came up with, The Scribes. Issue 20, Published September 2022.
This is how Matt Colville presented it in his reddit post:
The Scribes by Hook & Chance and The GM Tim with art from Matheus Graef and cartography from Miska Fredman
A mysterious group of Writers who seek to make everyone’s lives worthy of an epic tale, the Scribes are a secret organization that can enrich the player characters’ own stories as allies, antagonists, or mentors. Putting an entire library in a secret base beneath a lake is pretty audacious and totally epic—just like the Librarian herself.
Travis, Jordan, and I had such a great time doing this project. By that point I had written a few adventures for the League, and one module on my own, yet I had not done a lot of setting work outside my own games. Travis had an idea he’d been sitting on for a few years and hadn’t had a chance to develop. We took it to some wild places as we refined The Scribes.
We wanted it to have a greek Fates vibe where everyone has a thread or story to tell. Then we thought, What if this person can’t leave and isn’t interested in power, just in being entertained? The Librarian is a celestial who is beyond wanting power, she wants a good story. And if that means casting your PC as the plucky comic relief? So be it. It’s not personal; it’s narrative. One of our favourite ideas was having a Writer show up mid-campaign and go, “No, no, you’re not the hero, they are,” and suddenly your party has to decide how much of their fate is actually theirs. I also really reallyenjoy the tools we built for applying such a grand concept to an adventure.
As I look back now, this could be a cool way to play with the “someone has to be the villain” trope. What happens if the Librarian decides a PC is to be the villain? She sends Writers to ensure the story plays out. When the PCs figure it out, the options become: A. take on the mantle, or B. find someone else who will.
Honestly? I feel like this is a solid plot for an “evil” game that players always as for.
Something else really cool that I wish I had been more aware of at the time, was how WELL this was received. Celeste Conowich gave us a wicked review,
And Jared Rascher on the What Do I Know website.
The D&D 3rd edition…organizations were always a bit frustrating to me…they managed to be oddly specific in some areas…yet not given enough plot hooks…[for} campaigns. I say that to point out that this is not one of those kind of organizations.
It’s been a few years now, and I am still exceedingly proud of this work. The magazine ARCADIA is out of official print, although you can get the bundle at the MCDM store. Issues are also slowly being released on Roll20, so keep an eye out.
If you’ve used the Scribes in your game, I’d love to hear how they played out!
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