CYCLOPAEDIA 0: INTRODUCING A NEW CREATIVE RESOURCE

Telling stories and GMing games has been a passion of mine for decades. I am also a sage at heart who loves to delve into libraries and archives of information regarding games I am developing or playing. I like my characters to have extensive backstories, NPCs with fleshed out personalities, and well detailed campaign worlds full of history, culture, science and geography. I want to share my passion for research and resources to help enhance your games and storytelling.

Welcome to Cyclopaedia, a new monthly article on the InnRoads Ministries website as part of the Getting Started series.

What is a Cyclopaedia? It is an archaic term for an encyclopedia which Wikipedia states “is a type of reference work or compendium holding a comprehensive summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge.” Cyclopaedia will be a monthly article that delves deeply into sources for a particular topic helping prospective game masters, game designers, writers, and storytellers to know where to start their research. Think of each article as a very detailed “Additional Resources” like you often find at the back of roleplaying source books.

Each article begins with an overview of the topic, defining it, and discussing some of its history. The rest of the article lists detailed resources including:

• Articles – Journal Articles and Online Posts
• Books – Physical Books and E-Books
• Cinema – Television, Movies, and other Media
• Games – Digital and Tabletop Games
• Locations – Buildings, Memorials, Museums, Parks, and Other Physical Sites
• People – Famous People Pertinent To The Topic

I will include a downloadable PDF version of the articles to make them easier for archiving and printing.

So, do you like lots of resources to help get the creative juices flowing? Are you excited to learn more about various topics and themes? Then check back here on the InnRroads Ministries website the first Saturday of each month for a new article. Our first full Cyclopaedia article will be in January on the topic of Steampunk. I thought you might like more info regarding the world of Victoriana as depicted in the currently running InnRoads Plays “Kensington by Torchlight.” If you have questions about this article series or topics you would like me to consider researching for future Cyclopaedia articles, please leave a comment below.

Stay Creative!

T.R. Knight

WHO IS T.R. KNIGHT?
He is a freelance editor, proofreader, and writer in the game industry. He is also a Husband and Caregiver to his wife Angie, Father of Twins Emily and Rachel, Gardner and Hobby Chef, and Director of Academic Technology and User Services at Taylor University. You can learn more about T.R. at his blog http://www.thomasrknight.com.