Love is in the air, exciting and new…

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we got to thinking about connections, history, beginnings.

In the beginning

Long, long ago, A First Salvo began as a studio of writers and arts eager to tell stories. We worked as a group and merged our childhood tales into a larger, cohesive whole known as the SalvoVerse.

Today, that history reinforces our dedication and the strength of the world-building found in our stories.

Our goal was to create stories—it always has been. We gathered together and shared our characters, our gaming adventures, our favorite movies, comics, and TV shows. This was all as the internet was flourishing and the potential was incredible—what might we achieve? Fast-forward and the world of social media, block chains, and the wider internet has opened up the information highway to deliver content to everyone.

Character

In those days gone by, as we developed system mechanics by which our stories and characters could function, we understood the importance of a sound foundation.

Much like RPG statistics, each of our characters interacted with a sound base understood by each of us. If Van achieved some feat of strength, magic, or martial arts skill, we knew how that compared to other characters. It didn’t limit the stories; it enhanced them. We paired this with the story-building techniques of the lie, the truth, the ghost, and the wound. The backgrounds and histories of our characters drove the plots—the stories—we forged. The decisions and actions taken by the characters became our own, as we knew what they would do and say. Whether outlining or pantsing, we knew.

Characters drive stories. It isn’t the stories that pull us in; it is what happens to the characters in those stories. Even when a story is “plot driven,” character guides the plot.

The possibilities are endless.

Creativity is doing!