Burnout. Boredom. So much other content to compete with. Screaming into the void.
You know, the usual problems of any creative endeavor.
And now for something different with creators of Glumdark.
Q&A With Creators of Glumdark
How did Glumdark come to be?
CTRO: Glumdark is the two of us–me and McGlintlock. We’ve been friends in meatspace for many years and have worked on a ton of random projects together.
We made a video game in 2011, we’ve done interactive art projects and built furniture. We once made a board game for a Thanksgiving party. Tons of stuff I’ve probably forgotten. We both just like to create stuff and sometimes we’re inspired to work on the same thing at the same time.
Glumdark came about because we’d both been playing a lot of TTRPGs, both of us as game masters, and we really like using random tables and generators.
Initially we wanted to make a book. But a book requires a Kickstarter, which requires an audience.
So we decided to work backwards and build the website first so that we could build an audience for our work through the Patreon.
What generators are you most proud of creating and why?
CTRO: I really enjoyed writing the Incendiary Incidents table, because I think they’re ideas which can really shake up a campaign in a fun way.
I’m probably most proud of our big interactive tools like the NPC generator. We’ve been working on a Quest Generator for a while too, but it’s been difficult. The big interactive ones are doing the most things behind the scenes and require by far the most programming work and endless tuning.
I’d say I’m also really proud of the Normal People generator. It is dead simple, but that simplicity tends to make the results really evocative. Which I think is cool.
What is the most fun thing about creating generators?
MCGLINTLOCK: Flow and discovery.
Flow as in flow state, really getting into the mood or vibe of what you're writing and creating, and then creating things feels easy and time breezes by.
Discovery – or amusement? – happens when the generator we've made starts to surprise me, makes things that are unexpected or just crack me up.
When something we've created can amuse me, bring something fresh… I consider that a win, and the whole reason for making this stuff. It's fun to see it come about, then tune it, hone it, feel it becoming its own awesome thing.
What are the biggest challenges of creating generators?
MCGLINTLOCK: Burnout.
Boredom.
So much other content to compete with.
Screaming into the void.
You know, the usual problems of any creative endeavor.
CTRO: Yeah, that.
How do you use random generators yourself?
CTRO: I use them both in-game to keep things interesting and while I’m planning a session as a DM when I’m dry for ideas.
It’s the in-game rolling which is most exciting for me though. This is probably why we’ve made so many random loot tables.
I’ve found that having just the right or just the wrong thing for a situation can really spice up role playing.
This is also why I want to make a book. I would love to create a resource that DMs can pick up during a session and quickly find a random table which totally changes the game session.
What is the most interesting generator or tool you've seen?
MCGLINTLOCK: I like Karl Druid's work a whole lot (Scvmbirther, Scvmatorium, DNGNGEN, A Monster Approaches). I am also a huge fan of Watabou's stuff (One Page Dungeon, City Generator, Perilous Shores).
CTRO: I really like stylish stuff like DNGNGEN the most. But I also think it’s cool when folks make stuff that’s just clean and super accessible like Donjon.
What are your next big projects (generators or otherwise) that you can talk about?
MCGLINTLOCK: A quest generator. CTRO called it "an albatross." Sounds about right.
CTRO: I’d also really like to work with some artists to make visual generators.
A dungeon or character generator, maybe. The more complex generators don’t necessarily add more value than a well written table that’s all done by hand.
But they can be a lot more satisfying to iterate on. And they can provide that “aha” moment when things finally click together and they start to produce something cool and original.
Where can people find you on social media?
CTRO: We’re not very big on social media. I mostly just retweet political memes. So the best place to contact us is probably Discord.
[There is also a Glumdark Patreon]
Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
CTRO: We’re just happy that folks are using the tools and content that we’ve created. We would love to hear how they’ve impacted campaigns and play sessions. Feel free to hop onto our Discord to chat!
More Interviews
There are more Creator Interviews. Including a more recent one from donjon and a more recent one from watabou.
