As Gencon comes to a close, so too does my story:
Unsurprisingly, my map did not go over well. I'll save myself the embarrassment of linking the map here. Besides, I'm doing all the writing. You should at least have to put in a little work as a reader.
It was a flop for a number of reasons, but the primary problems were pretty much what I'd expected: it didn't really stand on its own, and it wasn't really good from the how-to-cartograph-stuff perspective. The former was a problem with how I envisioned the challenge, really. The map made a ton of sense with the story I had in my head (I swear!), but none of that story was really visible from the map. It was just a bunch of disjointed pieces all thrown into one poorly-drawn 8.5x11 grid.
The latter, of course, was a matter of practice. My map making skills were terrible because my map making skills are terrible.
Circular logic? Perhaps, but also true. I've gone well and above the call of duty deliberately avoiding maps in my games because they always come out terrible. I keep the games as cinematic and loose as possible because the second I start drawing squiggly lines on the wet erase board, all suspension of disbelief disintegrates. Suddenly everyone is all too aware of being grown adults sitting around playing with tiny little robed metrosexual elven wizards and mostly naked herculean barbarians. It gets a bit awkward.
But that's really besides the point. I think.
So I left RPG Superstar 2015 almost as soon as I'd made it in. Despite knowing I'd have never succeeded, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I should have--could have?--done better. I just wasn't exactly sure how. I was woefully unprepared. My initial assessment of being among peers of far greater skill and experience was correct.
The point here is that the only way to get better at these things is to throw yourself at them like an idiot until something works. If I really wanted to get anywhere in the industry (I still do, fyi), I had to suck it up and suck it up. So my maps were going to be terrible for a while? Probably better for my terrible maps to be thrown onto a shelf and collect dust than shared on the internet! I started screwing around and drawing maps. Not even for any particular adventure or anything, but just doodling about and seeing what worked. Doing weekly random prompts my friends threw at me to try out different locations and styles and methods and whatever else.
The end result? My maps are still shit, but less so. I'm never going to grow artistic skill or a true cartographer's hand, but maybe with a bit of practice I can just fake it. They're never going to be the amazing works of art that other people produce, but maybe they can serve as passable.
So if there's a lesson to be learned in all of this, it's a simple one. If you want to be an RPG Superstar, don't just ignore your weaknesses. There's a lot of different elements to the hobby. Fluffing the fluff and crunching the crunch and mapping the maps are only the tip of the iceberg. It's as important to be versed in the stuff you suck at as it is to excel with the bits you love.
I'm no RPG Superstar and I certainly don't claim to be. But I do have a little title next to my Paizo account name that serves as a constant reminder that maybe, one day, I could stand up there with the big boys.
And play with tiny, ambiguously gendered wizards.
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