Sunday, December 13, 2015

Welcome to my Fantastic Adventures!!

Hello World!! To the many of you who do not know me (and the few who do), I am Brian DiTullio, a full-time liquor store manager (12) and part-time fantasy game designer(4)/writer(10)/wizard(1)/delusional fanatic(36). I was introduced to the world's oldest RPG fantasy game in 1984 with the old D&D Red Box. It only took one session and I was hooked. I became a rabid fan of the Gazetteer series and Mystara, Dragonlance, Greyhawk and the Realms.

As time went by, I focused my energies on becoming a professional in the industry. I did succeed in getting a few publishing credits, but the dream of working for TSR (and then WotC) never quite came to fruition. I spent seven years as a reporter, won a few awards, and freelancing for the RPGA. I even interviewed for two WotC jobs, but never got picked. Since both jobs no longer exist, I guess it wasn't entirely a bad thing. If you played the 2002 D&D Open at GenCon, then you will know some of my work. I wrote the Open that year, the last in Milwaukee. It was titled "The Proving Grounds," and featured the players versus a Humongous Red Dragon in the final. Having been involved in the Open since 1996, and being a student of the tournament, that plot never actually had been done, and when the opportunity was offered to me, that seemed like a great way to bid farewell to the longtime home of GenCon. It was very well received, there was talk of actually revising it and publishing it . . . but then it never happened. Such is life in the industry. That being said, everyone involved in the process was great and I am forever grateful to Stephen Radney-MacFarland for his help during that time. You couldn't ask for a nicer guy to look out for you.

After that, I was referred to Creighton Broadhurst and I wrote a scenario called "Holding the Fort" for GenCon UK in 2004. It even won an award for "Funniest Event." Since that was the goal, I'm very proud of this. Not much happened after that as the industry changed, heaved, and moved on. I got more focused on my career, kept getting laid off as the newspaper industry collapsed, moving five times in four years, and eventually ending up back where I started in Northeast Ohio after a four-year sojourn in Arizona.

I disliked fourth edition, my gaming group had moved on, and I didn't play for several years. Starting a few years ago, I got back in the saddle, started gaming again and getting my appetite whetted for more. I have begun writing some pieces for Frog God Games in the last year that hopefully will see publication soon online. I'll advertise them here when they go live.

More recently, I got involved in the Mystara community and have been delighted to communicate with the esteemed Bruce Heard. It rekindled my love of the Mystara Campaign and what "I would have done had I been in charge," the ultimate in Fanboy speak. After some searching through my library, and a little bit of a faithful leap, I will begin writing my Mystara Campaign in journal form. This campaign only existed as a hand-written outline and a handful of session. We never finished it.

I, and a few others, were big fans of the Wrath of the Immortals, but we weren't happy with how the campaign ended. While sinking Alphatia certainly was a bold move, we always felt like it was "too much." Rather than just say, "That didn't happen on our campaign world," I decided to make a campaign out of it. What if an immortal discovered Rad and Ixiom had been manipulated by a greater power? What if the Nucleus of the Spheres had more than one purpose? What if someone were to find a way to destroy the Nucleus of the Spheres before it began draining the energy from the world?

In the coming days, weeks, months, I will (hopefully) provide regular entries on this story.

Now, a short tease for the story, Title TBD:

“This should not have happened,” said a voice with no form.
“So you have said, several times,” replied Barbaro.
Rad is arrogant, but the complete destruction of Alphatia goes beyond what even he comprehended,” said the voice.
“There were more of you Immortals than just Rad involved in that catastrophe,” remarked Barbaro. “If I recall correctly, there were several alliances. The world was not pushed to the brink of destruction by accident.”
“I have searched the stars and planes, I have felt the . . . 'wrongness' of this world,” said the voice. “This world should not be. We have been victimized in ways even most immortals did not think possible.”
“You have said this before,” said Barbaro, flipping through a large book in his private study. “You believe a greater conspiracy led us to where we are now with Alphatia sunk, Glantri and Thyatis a shell of their former selves and Alfheim now a complete nightmare. I am not sure what your endgame is here.”
“We fix it,” said the voice.
“What's done is done,” said Barbaro. “It is now in the past.”
“What if it wasn't?” asked the voice.
Barbaro paused in his research. “What are you saying?”
“There are ways to manipulate time and space . . .”
“What if you're wrong? What if we end up making things worse?” asked Barbaro, but his interest clearly had been peaked.
“Does it matter? We succeed, or we die.”