Students at Taylor University to write and publish a Call of Cthulhu Adventure in new Professional Writing course

[MOB]

We are excited to announce a collaboration between Chaosium and Prof T.R. Knight in the Professional Writing department at Taylor University, Upland IN.

With the mentorship of Call of Cthulhu line editors Mike Mason and Lynne Hardy, seven students will be picking a topic, outlining, researching, writing, editing, rewriting, proofreading, choosing art, laying out, and publishing the finished book on the Miskatonic Repository. The students plan to build upon an existing legend or supernaturally rumored location in Indiana, as that is where Taylor University is located. 

https://www.chaosium.com/blogstudents-at-taylor-university-to-write-and-publish-a-call-of-cthulhu-adventure-in-new-professional-writing-course

Edited August 22, 2019 by MOB

[stadi]

This is a really great idea! Can't wait for the updates.

[soltakss]

Interesting. Academics accessing Elder Lore in order to write Call of Cthulhu scenarios. What could possibly go wrong?

[foolcat]

This sounds like a lot of fun! Both in a professional and, well, fun way. I envy American students for the flexibility of their curricula. The same thing happening at a stuffy German university? Unthinkable!

[klecser]

As someone who is a professional in teaching and learning, an enthusiast of Chaosium products, and an advocate for writing/publication for all audiences, this sounds like a win-win-win for everyone involved. 

[Mankcam]

Writing rpgs as part of university course work?

These Millenials are having such a good life! 😁

[MOB]

The Fall semester at Taylor University is in full swing and Mike and Lynne from Chaosium are in the thick of it! They're collaborating with seven Tabletop Game Writing Lab students as they experience an accelerated development of a Call of Cthulhu RPG adventure, which will be published in the Miskatonic Repository.

The instructor, Prof TR Knight describes how it is going, and reveals the elevator pitch for the students' scenario. After studying the 'Cryptids and Mysteries of Indiana' and some video-conference sessions with Mike and Lynne, the Taylor U Writing Lab students have devised their scenario pitch: "Refractions of Glasston - A 1920s horror scenario set in Northern Indiana". Looking forward to seeing what they create!

https://www.chaosium.com/blogupdate-on-chaosiums-collaboration-with-taylor-universitys-professional-writing-course

[MOB]

The Fall semester at Taylor U has passed the half-way point, and the seven students in the Tabletop Game Writing Lab are deep into the writing of their Call of Cthulhu RPG adventure, 'Refractions of Glasston'. Here's an update from their teacher, Prof. T.R. Knight:

https://www.chaosium.com/blogat-the-halfway-point-our-call-of-cthulhu-collaboration-with-taylor-universitys-professional-writing-course

[T.R. Knight]

Sorry I haven't been communicating here about the course. I have been busy with the course and recovering from back surgery. If you would like to know more about the course you can check out my blog posts here or ask me questions. http://www.freelanceknight.com/category/tabletop-game-writing-lab/

The students are finishing up the layout and final proofreading of their adventure now and will be publishing it to Miskatonic Repository at the end of the semester which is in less than two weeks. 

[g33k]

On 12/2/2019 at 5:19 AM, T.R. Knight said:

Sorry I haven't been communicating here about the course. I have been busy with the course and recovering from back surgery. If you would like to know more about the course you can check out my blog posts here or ask me questions. http://www.freelanceknight.com/category/tabletop-game-writing-lab/

The students are finishing up the layout and final proofreading of their adventure now and will be publishing it to Miskatonic Repository at the end of the semester which is in less than two weeks. 

Hey there... Welcome, Prof. Knight!  And kudo's for a great class.

A question for you:  do you anticipate more/other such classes in your future?  More CoC, or might you do other Chaosium products (e.g. for Jonstown Compendium), or consider other publishers' games such as D&D5e, Savage Worlds, etc?

Thanks!

I hope you stick around here on BRPCentral, whatever the future holds!

 

[T.R. Knight]

1 minute ago, g33k said:

Hey there... Welcome, Prof. Knight!  And kudo's for a great class.

A question for you:  do you anticipate more/other such classes in your future?  More CoC, or might you do other Chaosium products (e.g. for Jonstown Compendium), or consider other publishers' games such as D&D5e, Savage Worlds, etc?

Thanks!

I hope you stick around here on BRPCentral, whatever the future holds!

 

Thanks! This class has been a challenge and a joy to teach. I am discussing this course and its predecessor, Writing & Editing for Gaming, with the Professional Writing Department at Taylor University now. I have taught the Writing & Editing for Gaming class twice now and this Tabletop Game Writing Lab this first time. They have been very successful and popular, so we are discussing how best to proceed and if we should make these a permanent addition to the department course offerings 

If I were to teach this in the future, which I am hoping to, I would discuss possibilities again with Chaosium, Inc. and some other publishers I know well. I think it would be interesting to vary what genre and game system we focus the class on each time we teach it, perhaps returning to CoC again later in the future. But it will depend on collaboration with a publisher. That element is what really made this class a great and professional experience for the students. 

[T.R. Knight]

The student designed adventure, Refractions of Glasston, is now live and available for you to download.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/297601/Refractions-of-Glasston

Please download it and provide the students feedback. They would really enjoy hearing what others think of their creative work. 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2019 by T.R. Knight

[MOB]

Here is the final update:

https://www.chaosium.com/blogthe-semester-is-over-and-taylor-u-students-call-of-cthulhu-scenario-refractions-of-glasston-is-now-out

Congratulations to students at Taylor U!

[T.R. Knight]

My students from the Fall 2019 Tabletop Game Writing Lab have updated their Call of Cthulhu scenario, Refractions of Glasston, responding to the great feedback they received. They even created a hyperlinked PDF along with a Black and White Printer Friendly edition. The revised edition and printer friendly edition are posted and ready for download. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/297601/Refractions-of-Glasston