The Story of Trolls 2

History is often a cloud of information, half remembered, half forgotten, half glossed over with wishes of what should have been, could have been and may have been if the this or the that had been the other and as such the whole becomes a jumbled mess of half remembered deeds. Somewhere there is a universal truth, but no one much cares about it.

Continuing from the story here.

Once it was decided that they'd start a game company, they set up deciding what next to do. Putting together the Seeker had provided some valuable (if scant) experience; the cost of $500.00 for 1000 copies for a legal length, two sided piece of fun-filled gamer lore seemed a bit steep, but manageable. It was decided in the coming week that they'd meet regularly, aside from game night to discuss the formation of the company, what direction to take it and how to finance it.

Mac and Steve had worked together before, buying and running All My Comics in Jonesboro Arkansas some years back. Those days were remembered fondly, if not too accurately, and the echo of gaming behind the glass (we gamed there all the time) left an indelible print upon their minds. So they were not strangers to the basic shape of what was to come.

Then Davis arrived. A cloud of chaos with a thousand ideas and mountains of half tested notes on his own fantastic world. He was in the game before he got out of his truck.

So without further ado they gathered, as any good entrepreneur does, for a business strategy session. They chose as their locale, Vinos.

Vinos was, as it remains, well known for their great pizza, and other eatable sundries. Its a quiet place, with few distractions, allowing conversation aplenty. And they have beer; one of the best local micro-brewies in Little Rock. Vinos proved an excellent choice. The discussion turned to business immediately, the what's and hows were laid out, ideas spun, propositions made. For hours they labored over the projected idea; brew after brew passed around and the ideas became more fantastic as the amorphous concept of a game company took shape.

It centered around who sat at the table: Mac and Davis were avid gamers, playing with mechanics for a variety of systems, both thoroughly enjoying the design side of games, particularly RPGs. Steve wasn't much for that, but enjoyed spinning yarns, ran most of their games and had several written adventures and the campaign setting penned out.

How to get started was the foremost thing on the table, and that meant what to publish. After much deliberation the crew decided to shoot for inexpensive adventures; create them with a universal concept, where the mechanics played little role. But those would be a spring board to an eventual game, so a small rules set would be joined to each adventure, Swords and Sorcery. The adventures, already penned, and previously rejected by TSR were two, The Mortality of Green and a smaller piece about a ruined monastery.

After much deliberation the idea was struck to go to Gencon as exhibitors. Use the experience of the zine to publish some adventures. Get a booth, sell the adventures and make their money back. It would increase the start up cost, but also came with an increased chance to pay for the trip, offer exposure to a broader market and give them a better chance than not. What could they loose? Years of attending Dragoncon had consumed money and mirth aplenty with no chance of ever a return? Why not go north with games in hand and sell them . . . even if all failed, the trip there would be ever bit as good as Dragoncon and at least have the chance to give a little back.

Thus the trio convinced themselves to start a company and attend a party, it seemed a brilliant idea. All they needed was some start up capital . . . and a name.