NathanKlas

Night Trails was my submission to the 2025 Delta Green Shotgun Scenario Contest . It didn't really make a splash, and I think that's because I had to cut it to the bone to get it under the word count. I'm not complaining, I did it to challenge myself, but I think I found the limit. When I first started practicing summary writing, I learned the difference between the fat and the meat: do you really need that elaborate backstory if the players have no way to learn it, and it doesn't really change the scenario to learn it?  Then I pushed myself further, and learned that there are different kinds of meat: an NPC can be described in 6, 60, or 600 words. How many do they really need, and how much can be left to the imagination?  With this product, I learned that underpinning that meat is bone, and with an elaborate enough structure that bone adds up to a lot. I had multiple bespoke mechanics, a 3-location investigation, three procedurally-generated areas each with a travel ...

Just a cute little story, inspired by my cats.  ... I stirred and stretched, lazily blinking awake. My tangled limbs had thrown the sheets halfway off the bed. Dora was curled up under the crook of my arm, her tail tucked under her chin, her whiskers tickling my cheek. “O-o-a-a-ah” she purred, extending her forked tongue to lick the tip of my nose. “Baby time. Sleep now. Sleep.” Those cold eyes stared languidly into mine. A sliver of sun peeking through the curtains shone across her face, making the skin look golden, like her namesake. She didn’t blink even though the sun was beaming right into her- Sunlight? I flipped around in bed, immediately awake. Dora grunted. The clock was dead. But the noisemaker was still on, so there was still power. I traced my hand down the cord until I found the end. Unplugged. “What.” I said. “I kill machine.” Dora said, curling back into place. “Now baby time forever.” “No, the clock isn’t what makes me leave! I have to work! Oh…” I hurried out of be...