After months of on and off writing, I am extremely pleased to present to the world my first D&D publication – the Ring Mimic, published on DM’s Guild on December 20 by my friends at LM Publishing.
Publishing a D&D supplement has been on my bucket list for a long time now.
At the end of March 2022, I badly needed a break from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Polish politics, and the world in general.
So I created a TTRPG Twitter account and started tweeting.
Shortly after that, I stumbled upon the excellent ring mimic artwork by Andy Lever.
Cute, funny, and more than a little macabre, I just had to create game stats for this critter. And Andy was kind enough to allow me to use his art as an illustration for the stat block and my writing.
Starting out small
Now, I have started and never finished more game design projects than I can count.
I think what worked here is the fact that the project was limited in scope. Just one monster, one magic item, one page of rules.
With larger projects, my ADHD brain sooner or later switches to a a new idea. So taking on a bite-sized (pun intended) mimic was short, sweet, and doable.
Defining the finish line
And yet, even with this small project the most difficult thing for me was… actually finishing this project.
Half of the challenge was staying focused on this one text (see ADHD note above).
The other half was me – and others – constantly coming up with more ideas to add to the text, resulting in the project growing from a simple monster description into much more.
Due to a combination of writer’s block and a need to see this thing finally out, I finally decided what I had – though not perfect or exhaustive – is enough and is good enough for publication.
Ideas realized
- plot hooks and story ideas;
- suggestions on how to react to PCs investigating the ring they found, including through magical means;
- ring mimics in Ravenloft.
Ideas for later
- roleplaying the ring mimic;
- ring mimics in Eberron;
- ring mimics in Braythe.
And so I continue to see the ring mimic as a living document, to be periodically returned to and updated with more delicious ideas.
What comes next
I am moving on to my next D&D projects:
- the Fury Elemental, a monster and mini-adventure;
- my Innistrad: Silver & Salt adventure and related Magic: the Gathering inspired mechanics (more on this soon);
- Gifts of the Raven Queen, a collection of grim spells and magic items.
Keep your fingers crossed for progress on all three fronts! And get your copy of the Ring Mimic!
