Let it Breathe!

An exercise in revising my work

I originally wrote Abigail’s Wedding as a way to break my writers block.

Abigail’s Wedding Cover Image

I envisioned it as a 1 pager that was something small a referee could drop into their game.

And then I started talking to people about it.

The universal feedback I got was that it was cool, but it could have been much better if it was bigger, easier to parse, had more room to breathe.

I had intended to just release it and move on. But then Odinson encouraged me to write more of them. So now it’s a whole thing. My intention is to release one lair a month for the year and then collate a dozen Dolmenwood lairs into a zine (Working title - Twelve Tall Tales). That means I need to up my game and I need to listen to the advice people are giving me.

And these are people that know their stuff. Odinson. Murkdice. Brad Kerr. Luke Gearing. All of them thought the Dolmenwood lair could be improved by expanding the piece so that’s exactly what I did. I’ve settled on a two column layout and a look and I’m writing in my own take on the Old School Essentials house style that has a little more vibes and atmosphere. I hope folk enjoy it. I picked out additional art and restructured the whole scenario. It now runs to six pages and I have to admit, the advice was bang one. I’m really pleased with it and you can see the results below.

I think one thing I’ve learned is that a one pager is a fun exercise, but it hampered what I was trying to create. I think I’ll try not to let myself be so constrained in the future. Letting it breathe was the right call.

I’m finishing the second lair right now - it’s almost done, so should have A Parliament of Owls released on schedule. I’ve got the third lair sketched out and have concepts for a fourth and fifth. I’m collaborating with Per on lair two and I think the art will blow people away. I’m working on another project with Odinson which is much grimmer and witchier than Dolmenwood and I’m looking forward to sharing something on that soon too!

If you want to grab a copy of the revised Abigail’s Wedding you can find it here:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/555160/abigail-s-wedding

https://doogface.itch.io/abigails-wedding

Behold - the new and improved format!