As someone who played more table top role-playing games than maybe I should have in college I have a distinct soft spot in my heart for that genre of games. I have probably played more White Wolf, GURPS, and D&D than I care to admit. I still will revel in old plot lines I participated with friends like veterans trading war stories. We often mention to each other that a clever one of us would put together some of our better story lines and try to pitch them as a book. George R. R. Martin of current Game of Thrones fame did just what with a long running super hero game he ran that included several noted authors that became the Wild Cards series. There are currently 21 books in the series with more coming out next year with a possible movie on the way. Also the Record of Lodoss War franchise started as a series of replay transcripts that eventually became a larger multimedia franchise. In fact these replay novels are not uncommon in Japan and there is one such series on the horizon that looks amazing. Red Dragon has become one of the properties I am most looking forward to in 2012. Continue reading →