After School Revival
I've been using the term "After School Revival" (hereafter ASR) a lot recently, and a few other people have also picked it up and started to use it, so I figured I should probably set down something somewhere that actually lays out what this term means to me.
Here, then, are some principles of the After School Revival.
1. Don't trust thought leaders.
Nobody who has ever sought to be in charge of a community, a space, or a movement has been deserving of that power. Most people who write manifestos should be mocked and then ignored. Don't trust people who seek power.
"But Chris," I can already hear you say, predictably and boringly, "isn't that what you're doing right now?"
No. It is not. This is what I mean when I use the term ASR. If you want to use the term but have decided it means something else I literally don't care and there's nothing I could or would do to stop you even if I did.
2. Play is prime.
Play is the single most important part of games. If a game book isn't being read, if the ideas inside it aren't being made manifest at a table somewhere, it is worthless. Everything we do is in service of play.
Flowing from that...
3. Supplements, not systems.
ASR doesn't care about which specific adventure ruleset you're using and it's not trying to replicate older editions of D&D like the OSR. But one thing we can learn from D&D is the importance of supplements.
From 1978 to 2000 TSR published nearly 300 adventures plus however many hundreds more in the pages of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. These are where the bulk of the creativity in the hobby lies. These are where the fun lies. These are where we should focus our attention.
4. Humble books, made humbly.
This is a phrase I stole from Jared and it's an important one.
Make the book you're able to make, to the best of your ability. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars on art. You don't need to make a 300 page game book.
"Humble books made humbly" is about working towards a goal of artists doing their work and living lives that don't consist of prostrating themselves upon the altar of capitalism, shoving their faces against the grindstone and hoping to get lucky on Kickstarter. Humble books, from humble means, with humble print runs, building slowly and sustainably over time.
Which feeds into the next thing...
5. Everything flows from good prose.
If the writing is good, you don't need anything else. People will tell you that isn't true. I'm telling you that they're wrong, and they don't know they're wrong because they haven't tried. If you need proof of this point, listen to Jason and Tom talk about FEAST on the most recent episode of Fear Of A Black Dragon. Pick up a copy of The Isle or Wolves Upon The Coast and read it.
Writing is a craft. It can be learned. It takes practice, and time, and dedication. It's hard, at times. People won't respond to it on Twitter the way they respond to a painting. But Twitter is dying anyway, so who gives a shit?
6. Be curious.
Read voraciously and widely, and read outside of games. There is nothing more dull than a person with only one interest, and that will be reflected in your work. Curiosity is where creativity is born.
That's it.