Like many creatives, I suffer from a type of fear known as “perfectionism.” For months, I’ve been taking baby-steps towards publishing my own RPG materials. You’ve seen many of those steps here on the blog. But I’ve been afraid to actually release anything because it never seems quite good enough. I’ve been obsessing over first impressions and comparing my stuff to products from outfits with 20 times my resources. I see my shortcomings, and I freeze.
Ultimately, it’s a fear of failure. Yes, I know it’s a cliche, and I’m all the more ashamed because of it, but it’s true. While hiding behind perfectionism, I was actually embracing the idea that if you never try, you can never fail.
Enough hiding. It’s time to try.
I’m kicking off my new publishing venture, Hardy Tales, with a short sourcebook of fantasy characters. Lords of Westmoor presents details on most powerful people in the fantasy barony of Westmoor. Yes, there are stats (for Pathfinder), but the meat of the book is the characters’ motivations,weaknesses, and relationships to each other — all with an eye towards creating fun and interesting plot hooks for roleplaying adventures.
And no, it’s not perfect. But that’s okay. It has to be okay, or else I’ll take another thousand baby steps but never go anywhere.
