So – what is my muse for games? This is a difficult question to answer…

Day 26: Favourite inspiration for your game

Mark:

I have always loved the idea of a muse in the classical sense.  It would be forgiven of younger people today to think that Muse is nothing but a rock band.  I seriously had trouble finding any details for the term.  Not that I needed to learn, I had hoped to edumacate people though.  And this is what this question is all about – what Muse do I call on lady Calliope, in my quest for the perfect game.

I struggle with these questions as I do not really consume a lot of media.  I do not really watch TV, I rarely read novels these days and I also do not browse the internet a great deal.  My muse really comes from my past.  I enjoyed classical history and the hint of the spiritual.  I am not religious to any degree and have no full belief but I like the world of the spirit and supernatural and did a lot of research in that area when I was young.  I also learned Astrology when I was younger and was fascinated by the pseudo science behind it all (not that I ended up believing it).

I am not sure if it is this mix of learning that makes my creativeness spin but I am a very creative person.  I tend to have a good deal of dreams that translate directly into ideas for adventures and world building.  Day dreams also come to me and I use these to fuel my games and ideas for games.

But nailing down the specific muse is a hard thing to do.  I have largely always been attracted to story telling as opposed to die rolling (and yes I know I play Pathfinder) but I also like to explore ideas of my choosing.  That is why I like to plan my games and have a series of likely encounters to explore various issues.  Many players that I have had would probably be surprised to find out that they turned left at “Albuquerque” as Buggs would say when I did not expect them too and I had been winging large portions of an adventure.

I play to learn and I think that is the key here.  My muse is on the inside.  She is young, idealistic and interested in exploring the depths of the human mind.  She struggles with the human heart and does not know if such a thing is an actual thing, but is keen to find out.  My muse is a listener and she listens closely to those that sit at my table and thinks about what they have to say.  She seeks to take that information away, ponder over it and hand back more that can be used in the future to test them and their responses.

So, I am sorry if this whole thing was a little metaphorical for you.  I am sure some will answer this question with a ready made “Battlestar Galactica mixed with Star Wars mixed with Legend” approach but I truly do not know where that inspiration comes from.  It comes to me in the way I suggest my Muse works and in all honesty, if when I shake off this mortal coil I turn and face the muse above, I will not be surprised in the least.  Keep rolling!