RPG Superstar 2010

Following ancient tradition -- I'm guessing three years now -- Paizo has kicked off this year's RPG Superstar design contest, an event in which everyone interested in RPG design can compete in several rounds for the title of Superstar. It's an excellent way to make a name for oneself and get a foot in the door for a professional career in this excitingly creative business. The winner gets to write a 32-page adventure module commissioned and published by Paizo.

And in following up with my previous post "RPGs for a living?", I've joined in.

In the first round everybody's allowed to participate. We were asked to submit a fully fleshed out wondrous magic item in 500 words or less, following the rules and style of Paizo's latest flagship product Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Out of all these submissions, 32 will be elected to go on to the next round to design something else (they won't tell yet what exactly, until the first round is closed on January 19).

I don't expect to get very far into the contest this year due to time constraints, but I see this as an incentive to actually work on something RPG related and an opportunity to learn about professional design and publishing. However, I do have ambitions to win this contest at some time in the future and land a professional career in RPG design, so I plan to compete every year from now on.

Wish me luck.

Aim for the moon ...

... because if you miss, you may hit a star. -- W. Clement Stone

The purpose of life, if you ask me, is not so difficult to discern. The way I see it, it's to have dreams and try to make those dreams come true.

However, it's important to realize that the collection of dreams you have is not set in stone. Some will turn out to be unreachable -- this we have to face. Some will eventually be reached, whether in a matter of weeks, or over the course of several years. And, what's most important, new ones will flare up. And it's not just dreams coming true that make you happy, it's just as much the journey itself that can be rewarding.

In my life, I have seen a couple of major dreams realized in the last few years. The two most important ones are having a family, and getting a job as a game software developer. The next dream I'm chasing is that of finding a safe and comfortable place to spend the rest of my life. I even got a relatively new one to enjoy: to some day be able to make money from drawing and painting.

I look forward to chasing them, even if I might not succeed.

Household challenges

Until recently I figured that when two people have been together for over 4 years, have been friends for over 8 years, and have successfully (i.e. without any fights or much doubt) lived through the first year of raising a child, any challenge would be easy to overcome.

Apparently, I was not entirely correct. It's very important to think of your wife and kids first, and to talk things out at the earliest opportunity, but lately I have come to the realisation that it's equally important to not stop thinking about yourself.

The trick in keeping a happy family is finding the balance between providing for your loved ones and keeping yourself happy and healthy. But that can be hard sometimes when exhaustion finally catches up with you.

I, for one, am EXTREMELY lucky to have a wife (well, actually a fiancee) who thinks on the same level, whom I can discuss these issues with, and who actually helps me better myself and at the same time allows me to help her better herself.

I'm also EXTREMELY lucky to have a very healthy, very kind, very calm, and very intelligent son, who makes it all worth the trouble.