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To view more of my Entertainment Industry illustrations, click here. |
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A Never-Ending Story
My entertainment writing experience includes roleplay and miniatures games (rules, adventures, narrative and descriptive text), a comic book series (A Hero Named Harold), magazine articles (sf-media and game magazines, film reviews, interviews, analysis and commentary).
I'm drawn to this type of writing because I like telling stories and I've always been fascinated with storytelling media, whether it's books, comics, games or film. It is my desire to produce more work in this area in the years to come.
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Science Fiction Media Magazines
While still a student in high school, in 1979 I co-published, art directed, and wrote for Intrepid, a science fiction media magazine that included articles on science, media, original fiction, and film reviews; it received commercial distribution.
From 1980 to 1982 I co-published, art directed, took photographs, and wrote for Miriad, a sf-media magazine with an international circulation that reached 10,000 copies. We featured extensive previews of upcoming films that included interviews with directors and producers. We interviewed authors, and profiled artists and comic book creators.
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An Original Comic Book Series
During 1985 and 1986 I co-wrote (with Steve Stirling) and illustrated a comic series, A Hero Named Harold, published by Warp Graphics/Apple Comics. Conceived as a fixed-length mini-series and published in installments, it ran for ten issues and more than 100 pages.
A Roleplay Game Adventure
In 1989, while preparing to launch my own game company, Peregrine, I had a roleplay adventure, To Serve the Pixie Crown, published in the Palladium RPG book Adventures in the Northern Wilderness.
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Murphy’s World
An entire planet ruled by Murphy's Laws — "if something can go wrong it will" — Murphy's World, a humorous techno-fantasy roleplay game, which was published in 1995 and ultimately sold out. A European game company purchased the rights and produced a hardbound French-language edition.
The descriptions of places and cultures of the Faerie Lands parody the classic themes and elements of fantasy and mythology. Much of the content of the book is provided in the context of a narrative detailing the misadventures of Sean Murphy, an intergalactic entrepreneur who 'discovers' the planet, only to become stranded on the world he has an 'official claim' on.
The book describes the planet, its sun Ludo, and the strange effects it has on the forces of nature and the unpopulated geography, teleportation gates, technology, and magic. It includes races and cultures described via their Physical Characteristics and Abilities, Special Traits and Powers, Language, Geographic Distribution and settlements, Customs and Lifestyle, Skills and Labor Practices, Religion and Superstition, along with a profile of several actual settlements and kingdoms. Also provided are adventure creation and management tips, sample characters, creatures, places, and things.
A complete 19 page adventure: Robyn's Summer Romance in Asgard (or Robyn and Her Merry Sven), is also included.
The original draft was written by myself; gameplay was handled by a simplified version of Weapons & Wonder, roleplaying rules that I had designed previously. A partner I acquired for my company Peregrine, David Brown, contributed some written material and assisted with the editing of the final draft.
Promotional Adventures & Narratives
As part of the task of promoting Murphy's World to retailers and the public I co-wrote with David Brown an introductory adventure, A Slice of Life (published in Adventures Unlimited magazine), and a narrative gazetteer, Asgard – The Vacation Pick of the Multiverse! (published in The Familiar magazine). Both publications were also provided free by our distributors to retailers and game conventions. The gazetteer describes Sean Murphy's adventures in the Aesir Giants' capital city — which resembles Las Vegas — while providing sufficient setting details so that a gamer could recreate the place in their game.
From 1995 to 2000 various adventure scenarios were written and used to demonstrate Murphy's World and Bob, Lord of Evil at various conventions in the USA and Canada. They included: The Trowlish Triangle (Dwarvish pirates and Elvish spies clash in a race to salvage a submarine), The Goblin King (a Dark Lands tale of royal treachery with a nod to Shakespeare), and Boburbia, The Suburban Inferno (a campaign beneath the Dark Lands and a parody of Dante's Inferno).
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Bob, Lord of Evil
With the success of Murphy's World, I decided to produce a sequel, Bob, Lord of Evil, a humorous techno-horror roleplay game published by Peregrine in 1998. It employs the same planetary setting as Murphy's World but functions as a stand-alone game that parodies the classic themes and elements of the horror genre.
The book describes Tir Nan Bob and the surrounding Dark Lands, along with the strange supernatural effects affecting those within its borders. It includes races and cultures described via their Physical Characteristics and Abilities, Special Traits and Powers, Language, Geographic Distribution and settlements, Customs and Lifestyle, Skills and Labor Practices, Religion and Superstition, along with a profile of several actual settlements and kingdoms. Also provided are adventure creation and management tips, sample characters, creatures, places, and things, and some special rules exploiting classic horror clichés. Narrative descriptions of Sean Murphy's encounters with Dark Lands denizens also punctuate the text.
A complete 20 page adventure: Bob’s Horizon (or On a Mission From Bob), is also included.
I wrote practically all of this book; my publishing and writing partner David Brown, ceased his work on the project and his association with Peregrine part-way through its development.
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To view a PDF of my article ‘Anime and Gaming’ contained in the issue above, click here. |
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Game Magazine Articles
From the Summer of 2001 to the Summer of 2002 I wrote 6 articles for a gaming column published in Parsec, a multi-media magazine.
They were titled:
1) What Games Do You Want! You Can Influence the Games Manufacturers Produce;
2) The End of Social Gaming? Why Traditional Face-to-Face Gaming Should Not Be Abandoned;
3) The Future of Gaming – The Virtual Shape of Things to Come;
4) Anime and Gaming – Storytelling With Attitude and Style;
5) Attack on Freedom – Games Are Not the Enemy;
6) A Tidal Wave of Change – Reflecting on the History of the Specialty Game Industry
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Writing, Game Design, Illustration & Graphic Design Assignments
I am always seeking new commissions and assignments. Please contact me to discuss the details.
Contact Kevin Davies
by email: kevin@peregrine-net.com
by phone: 416-461-9884.
or by mail:
Kevin Davies
40 Seymour Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4J 3T4, Canada
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