Art Imitating Life

There are times when writing for games is a truly magical experience--even a transformative one. I have said in the past how wonderful it is to be able to work closely with artists and how much I admire their ability to bring life to text and ideas. Watching an artist interpret and transform the text you've written and take it into a new creative dimension is quite an extraordinary thing. Or at least, for me, it is. So imagine my delight then at having an artist--in this case, the talented Scott Purdy--take my likeness and transform it into artwork for an upcoming, storytelling card game. Well, you can see the results to the left and the transformation below.

The 'Family Doctor' card here is part of the recently funded Cthulhu Tales game which I worked on with Francesco Nepitello and Marco Maggi, perhaps best known for 'The War of the Ring' board-game. In the game, players are inmates of an asylum desperately trying to convince doctors, police, or whomever will listen that you are, in fact, wrongly incarcerate and should be freed. Unfortunately for them, the other players are trying to escape as well and more than willing to throw hazards into the inmates way.

My unwholesome transformation into Dr Willett, Charles Dexter Ward's family physician, began with a simple photograph taken by my wife. This was whisked away to Mr Purdy's diabolical workshop and, voila!, my visage became that of the family doctor. You can see three stages of this transformation below.

I love the resulting graphic and I am particularly fond of the final resemblance to the late, great Roger Delgado, 'The Master' of Doctor Who fame. (That's the old, classic 1970's Doctor Who serial, folks, pre-Eccleston/Tennant/Smith/Capaldi/etc.) Anyway, it's an amusing comparison, although Delgado's sinister look beats mine any day.

So, yes, writing for games might not bring you critical accolades, great wealth, or fame, but there are very real perks to be had in working with great people, producing great games, and occasionally being turned into a family doctor.

Up next: An update on the novel...