A Bard’s Tale Untold.

So, Adam and I were huge fans of BBS Door Games (if you don’t know what a BBS or a BBS Door Game is – don’t worry!) – one of our favorites was “L.O.R.D.” which was an acronym for “Legend of the Red Dragon.” In NeN, you will notice there was mention of a “Red Dragon Inn” which was in L.O.R.D.

Well, while cleaning out my archived mail – I came across this gem from April 2005. I had found Seth Able, the designer of L.O.R.D. and had asked him to do a small bit for us – here’s the emails:

From: “Tawmis”
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 1:14 PM
To: “Seth Able”
Subject: Attention: Seth Able (Neverending Nights)

Hello ‘Seth Able!’

Needless to say, let me start this off by saying that my friend Adam and I have been long time fans of L.O.R.D. But that isn’t really saying much. Back in the BBS days, let’s face it, L.O.R.D. ruled supreme in the world of BBS ANSI door games.

Recently (well late in Dec of 2004), Adam and I began a machinima project, using Bioware’s NEVERWINTER NIGHTS game engine. (Machinima is the art of filming using a game engine – you can read more about it over at Machinima.com).

Well, much to our surprise our little series has taken off rather well!

In Jan 2005, we had an article written about us calling us the “Bill & Ted of Dungeons & Dragons” – and they included a small write up, plus the first five episodes (and a special episode we did for PC GAMER UK), on their Coverdisc (which comes with the magazine in either CD or DVD format).

The official thread is found here:
http://forum.pcgamer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=59385

As if that wasn’t surprising enough – Bioware, the makers of Neverwinter Nights (whose game engine we use to make our videos), contacted us and cornered us to do an interview on their site.

The Interview on Bioware’s site can be found here:
http://nwn.bioware.com/players/profile_machinima.html

The official thread on Bioware’s forum is here:
http://nwn.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?forum=41&topic=415513

So why all of this back news? To show off our glistening piece of fame?

No. Not at all. But rather to show you we’re not just two wild fan boys doing something that’s going to fade. We’re quite serious about this hobby (having invested in new video capture equipment and audio equipment – including mics and a analog/digital converter, all debuting in Episode 9, which is noticeably better in all forms of quality).

Still – you’re probably wondering – Okay, got this – you still haven’t told me why you’ve written me this odd email!

Well here it is. We were both avid fans of LORD (as I mentioned), and the Inn that we’re in in Episode 1 is called The Red Dragon Inn (in honor of that) – but one day it struck me. “How cool would it be to get Seth Able to appear as a voice and play the part of a bard, the way he did in L.O.R.D.?”

So here I am, throwing myself before you, to ask – would this be something you’re interested in doing? Sadly there’s no form of pay – it’s all for entertainment and free. So if you say no, it’s more than understood. But my momma always said, it never hurts to ask! 🙂

Best regards,
Tawmis
www.neverendingnights.com

From: “Seth A. Robinson”
To: “Tawmis”
Subject: RE: Attention: Seth Able (Neverending Nights)
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 22:03:25 +0900
Hey man,

First, thanks for the kind words about LORD. Second, I watched all the episodes, pretty funny. Definitely getting better as you go. More helium voiced gnomes please, they rule.

It’s an honor to be asked to lend a voice and I’d like to do it, but I gotta warn you, I’m kind of backed up right now and even the simplest dumb things that I promise to do I fail to deliver on due to a really grueling schedule. (and laziness)

For instance, I’ve made the BBS documentary guy wait so long I don’t think my video is even going to get on the DVD, assuming I get it ready and send it! I really suck.

But I’d love to do it, maybe I can drop you a line in three months or so, I should be done with this contract work I’m doing (5 games at once! I don’t recommend it) and should have a good mic by then too. I want to buy one of those really good ones.

I assume you guys would send a script and be ok with letting me fiddle with the text in my parts a little bit to give it my own personal touch.

Thanks,
Seth A. Robinson
www.rtsoft.com

> First, thanks for the kind words about LORD. Second,
> I watched all the episodes, pretty funny. Definitely
> getting better as you go. More helium voiced gnomes
> please, they rule.

Hey Seth!

If you enjoyed the helium sounded gnomes – you will enjoy Episode 11 (when we finish filming it!) – because it features the introduction of three goblins (basically goblin counter parts to: Grayson, Peter, and Pawl the Dorf), and the voices are modified in a similiar fashion (but make us sound more like chipmunks than helium).

Probably one of my favorite episodes to date (we already did the audio for it), just because of how we sound! 🙂

> It’s an honor to be asked to lend a voice and I’d
> like to do it, but I gotta warn you, I’m kind of
> backed up right now and even the simplest dumb
> things that I promise to do I fail to deliver on
> due to a really grueling schedule. (and laziness)

I don’t know much about grueling schedules… but I am right there with you on the laziness side of things! 🙂

> But I’d love to do it, maybe I can drop you a line
> in three months or so, I should be done with this
> contract work I’m doing (5 games at once! I don’t
> recommend it) and should have a good mic by then
> too. I want to buy one of those really good ones.
> I assume you guys would send a script and be ok
> with letting me fiddle with the text in my parts
> a little bit to give it my own personal touch.

Not a problem! Whenever you’re able is perfect with us! If it’s going to be 3 months, we can easily find a place for you in Season 2. (Season 1 will run 21 episodes, and we have it all mapped out – but if you finished early by some miracle, we could easily slide you somewhere in Season 1 as well!)

As for the lines, of course! We would be more than willing to have you tinker with your lines, and add your own personal touch to the character’s dialogue! Also, if you have Neverwinter Nights, you can create the character and send us a screen shot; or tell us what you would like him to look like, and we can try to find the best modified model to represent you in the series! 🙂

Best regards,
Tawmis
www.neverendingnights.com

There were a few more email exchanges – but in the end, he was unable to do it for us. Just thought this was an interesting piece of history to share.

– Tawmis