Creating Adventure to Dragon's Tooth Mountain

Creating Adventure to Dragon’s Tooth Mountain: The Process Book for the Project Book Dallas Scholten 1

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Creating Adventure to Dragon’s Tooth Mountain

Creating Adventure to Dragon’s Tooth Mountain: The Process Book for the Project Book Dallas Scholten

Fairfax, VA

CREATING ADVENTURE TO DRAGON’S TOOTH MOUNTAIN Copyright © Text and design 2020 by Dallas Scholten All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For information, contact Dallas Scholten 10570 Main St. #402 Fairfax, Virginia 22030

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For Mike,

Whose love of adventure and unwavering belief in me made this possible.

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Table of Contents Brainstorming & Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Writing the Plot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Book Layout & Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 A Change in Direction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 World Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Printing & Binding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Final Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

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Dallas Scholten AVT 498-002 dscholte@gmu.edu Word Count: 150 Project 2 Concept For my senior project I plan to make a choose your own adventure style book, but incorporating some roll playing elements from tabletop games like D&D. Readers will take on the role of an adventurer trying to protect the world from forces of evil, and will make decisions and resolve combat rolls using a D20 that will influence the story. Readers can “personalize” their character by adding a specific D4 that would take the role of a proficiency bonus, encouraging a different play style each read-through.

Physically, I want to create a book, but I want the book to be able to incorporate pop-ups for enemies, different page sizes for resolving decisions/combat, and some kind of storage option for the dice. Depending on how much time I have over the course of the semester, I would also like to create a dice tower to add to the experience as well.

Dallas Scholten AVT 498-002 dscholte@gmu.edu Word Count: Creative Brief Over my time as a design student at Mason, I have worked a lot with corporate branding and graphic design that focused on layout and typography. I feel my portfolio has more than enough content to show that I’m able to easily demonstrate my competence in this area, but not as much for showing how many other talents I have.

The goals of this project are to not only highlight my work with typography and layout

Initial Book Concept

design, but to show off my ability to create 3D elements in the form of objects to accompany the book as well as creating a more artistic approach to my work as well.

Project Summary The main book will tell the story of an adventurer on a quest to rescue the kingdom’s heir to the throne. To accomplish their quest, the reader will have to make decisions or resolve encounters to move forward. Other elements on display with the book will help the reader better understand the world or will add to the experience.

Deliverables The main deliverable will be a choose your own adventure style book, complete with pop-up elements and half pages throughout. The book will also have specific places to store the dice that will be needed to make the story work. To accompany the book, I’ll create a poster, a map of the world, a branded dice tray for the reader/player to roll, as well as stickers, notepads, and pens to be used to take notes if need be.

The dice holding section of the book and the dice tray will most likely need to be 3D printed. The pens, stickers, and notepads will be ordered through a company such as 4imprint, and the poster can be printed on campus. Due to the sheer number of technical elements, I will most likely bind the book myself.

Creative Brief

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Brainstorming & Concepts Coming into this class, I was absolutely stumped for what to create. One of the first class meetings we had, the idea of a pop-up book was brought up, and I started getting ideas.

I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) for a few years now, and spend a large chunk of my free time listening to real-play D&D podcasts as well. (For those interested, I recommend Not Another D&D Podcast, Dungeons and Daddies, and Rude Tales of Magic!) My group of friends also make it a habit to host board game nights fairly regularly. Because of these hobbies, I was also thinking of creating some kind of board game or adventure book as well. I decided to blend the two and create a choose your own adventure style book, complete with pop-ups.

Briefly, I was thinking of bringing my love of running into my senior project and creating a road race and all the branding to go with it instead, but I was so excited about my choose your own adventure book that I didn’t spend more than a day expanding on the idea.

For the pop-up book, I came up with the idea to give the player a different experience each time they played, and at some point was trying to give the player the option to maybe even play as different characters with their own unique set of skills. Ultimately, I decided to give the player the option to add an extra dice to their roles of a specific type.

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Story map for Island of Time

Story map for Adventure to Dragon’s Tooth Mountain

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Writing the Plot As I started brainstorming what kind of story I wanted to write, I was also beginning to overwhelm myself with how large of a project this was going to be. I decided to try and narrow my scope and pursue a fairly cliché plotline of rescuing a “damsel in distress” from a dragon, but making a point to add my own twist to it.

I didn’t want to fall too far into the classic tropes, though, so I always knew that the “damsel” would most likely be the prince rather than the princess, and although I never specify the reader’s gender, I did make the decision to illustrate them as a female.

When it came to actually writing the story though, I had no clue where to start. Luckily, I was sent an Atlas Obscura article that broke down the maps of established choose your own adventure books, and had a direction.

I based my story structure off of the map provided for Island of Time by starting with a rough outline based on the map. I wrote in the rough areas of the plot that I wanted to take the story in until it had been filled out to my liking, and then fleshed out the rest of my story.

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Adventure to Dragon’s Tooth Mountain You are an adventurer in the Kingdom Of Cerath.

Ezra, the heir to the throne, has been taken captive by a dragon from the Dragon’s Tooth mountain, east of the Kingdom Of Varem. Knights from all over the Cerath set off on the quest to save the heir, but none have returned successful.

The king sent out a plea to the people of his kingdom, asking someone, anyone to help. He asks you directly. Will you take up the quest to rescue his only child?

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Yep​!

You accept the king’s quest. He has just enough time to train you in one of three disciplines: ​fighting​, ​diplomacy​, or ​sneak​.

Add a D4 of the corresponding color to your dice pool. Add this D4 to any checks that you make of that kind.

How do you want to get there?

1.1.

Go by boat!

You set sail, and the seas are calm and the wind is at your back. You’re making excellent time, when halfway between continents, you're attacked by a kraken!

Attack check of 5+ 1.1.1.

Succeed!

You manage to successfully hit one of his arms and get him to release the boat.

Eventually you reach the Kingdom of Varem, but as you come ashore you’re surrounded by guards of that kingdom.

Try to persuade the guards to let you go Diplomacy check of 5+ 1.1.1.1.

Succeed!

You tell them of your quest, and they agree to let you pass through their kingdom on the way to the dragon’s lair. * After a few more days of travel, you arrive at the mouth of the cave where the dragon has claimed a lair. You can hear the dragon inside and can very easily smell him as well.

You can choose to sneak into the dragon’s cave or burst in swords blazing.

1.1.1.1.1.

Fight!

You draw your sword and rush in to engage the dragon in glorious combat!

Attack check of 8+

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1.1.1.1.1.1.

Succeed​!

You attack the dragon, and you’re calculated with your swings. You see a scale missing near the dragon’s heart, and you thrust your sword, striking true. ** You find Ezra bound and gagged in the back of the cave.

You realize at this moment that you’ve never seen the young ruler before. The two of you look almost identical. In theory, you could steal their crown (still balanced precariously on their head) and assume their identity. No one would be the wiser!

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.

You push the idea out of your head. Don’t be ridiculous!

You untie Ezra and escort the young ruler out. You both return to your kingdom, and the people are overjoyed.

You live your life with the favor of the royal family and the entire kingdom. You’re welcomed as an advisor and a close friend.

Ezra becomes a great ruler, and for as long as they live the people of the kingdom never know suffering.

The End 1.1.1.1.1.1.2.

You’re overcome by the thought of power and steal the crown, leaving Ezra behind.

You return to the kingdom alone, but tell the tale of how the real you fought so bravely to defeat the dragon, but in smiting the dragon also died yourself after freeing the captive.

You blame the differences in your demeanor to the stress of your capture, but people notice that you don’t have the tenacity for leadership that the true Ezra did.

You secede the king after his death, but the power of leadership goes to your head. You lead your kingdom into many wars, and your people grow to hate you.

The End 1.1.1.1.1.2.

Fail Although you fight bravely, you’re no match for a full grown dragon. Your first swing bounces off of

the dragon’s scales, and you do not get the opportunity for a second.

The last thing you see is dragon fire.

The End Sneak You wait until the fall of night and attempt to sneak into the cave.

Stealth check of 8+ 1.1.1.1.2.1.

Succeed You nimbley sneak into the cave. The dragon is sleeping as you enter, and you get around him easily.

Go to ** 1.1.1.1.2.2.

Fail In the dark of night, it’s harder to be seen but also harder to see. You kick over a large sack of gold coins, alerting the dragon to both your presence as well as your location.

The last thing you see is dragon fire.

The End 1.1.1.2.

Fail You’re taken in front of the kingdom’s leader.

Try to barter for your lives Diplomacy check of 5+ 1.1.1.2.1.

Succeed The leader allows you to continue your quest, but they are not happy that you have wasted their time. They escort you to the gates of the kingdom and kick you through.

Go to * 1.1.1.2.2.

Fail You accidentally insult the ruler.

You get thrown into jail without trial.

You can either attempt to break out or choose to serve your life sentence. [​Sneak check of 8+​] 1.1.1.2.2.1.

Succeed You manage to break out of your cell.

Go to * 1.1.1.2.2.2.

Fail You get caught attempting to break out of your cell.

You are executed.

The End 1.1.1.2.2.3.

Stay

You live out your life sentence making friends with the mice who live in your cell with you. You failed your quest, but you still feel strangely fulfilled.

The End

1.1.1.1.2.

1.1.2.

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Fail You miss your swing, knock into a brazier, and the boat catches on fire.

The boat sinks and no one survives.

The End 1.2.

Go by horse!

1.2.1.

Go West!

You go west for three weeks. You eventually come up to the mountain range that the dragon’s lair is hidden in, but from the opposite direction that you were supposed to. You distinctly remember the king stating that you had to cross an ocean to get here. You realize you went the complete wrong way, and in doing so not only proved that the earth is round but that it is also incredibly small. [​Go to *​] 1.2.2.

Go East​!

You go East for a day and a half. You eventually reach the coast, and can’t go any farther. You charter a boat and continue East. [​Go to 1.1​] Thanks, but no thanks.

Although the call to adventure is strong, you don’t feel that you can take on the challenge. You don’t rise to the occasion, but no one else does either.

The kingdom is alright for a while, but without an heir, the king’s eventual death plummets the kingdom into anarchy. No one knows what eventually became of the prince.

The End

I knew from the start that what I was writing was incredibly cheesy, and tried to be as self-aware of that as possible, even by poking fun at my own plot holes. I even gave the reader options to avoid going on the adventure altogether, or riding a horse west when the provided map implied that the best route would have been a boat to the east.

Images on this spread: Early version of the plot

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Once I had my plot written, I turned it into a Google Form that allowed users to play through the plot, and sent it out to friends, classmates, and internet strangers for review.

Some of the feedback was useful, but then I also had someone who opted not to go on the adventure complain that the story was over too quickly for them.

After making some adjustments, the plot was finished.

Starting page for the Google Form Playthrough

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Feedback from friends, classmates, and strangers on the internet

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Pop-up experimenting

Pop-up prototype

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Book Layout & Design Although I had plenty of experience working with my hands, I really didn’t have any with “paper engineering,” or making pop-ups, and reference books and Youtube tutorials left a lot to be desired. I struggled in a mountain of paper scraps for a while, before eventually simplifying the pop-ups to something that would be a lot more manageable to create.

I designed the pop-ups to work as a single sheet of paper that would simply fold into the book. I would only need to create one large illustration, rather than multiple little bits that would have to work together with each other. This kept me from needing to design multiple pieces that would have to be assembled later.

Knowing that there were going to be a lot of encounter checks to resolve, I wanted to give the reader an easy way to be able to find out the result quickly (and to be able to get around making a new illustration and pop up for every succeed or fail result). I eventually settled on adding two half-pages to the spreads where the reader would have to resolve an encounter that didn’t lead to an immediate change in scenery. I made myself a mockup of the book with the pop-ups and half pages in place, and used that to later decide on the page order.

Next spread: pop-up prototype and page setup prototype

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InDesign guides and text boxes

I wanted to include tabs along the outside edge of the book to make it easier for the reader to flip between sections as they moved throughout the book.

Mason’s MIX was a resource that I kept in mind through the planning and design process.

I planned to build a section to store the set of dice needed to play the game into the book, and was planning to 3D print that piece. I was also ecstatic about the ability to use a laser cutter to perfectly trim out my pop-ups and tabs.

I had planned on making each page 9 inches square, meaning that each printed spread would be 18 inches wide and 12 inches tall. Using the mock up I created, I meticulously planned out where I could design the pop ups to fit without breaking out of the pages once the book was closed, as well as the locations for all 15 tabs and half pages.

I used these measurements to create a set of master pages in InDesign, complete with guides, textboxes, and areas that I knew would later be removed.

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Section Heading Germania One 26/28

Section Subheading Germania One 20/24

Highlight

Germania One 16/20 Callout

Open Sans Regular 12/12 Instructions Open Sans Semibold 14/16 Body Text Open Sans Regular 14/16 Folio Germania One 14/16

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For the typography, I wanted to choose a typeface that would fit in with my medieval fantasy theme, while still carrying the more lighthearted goofy feel that I was aiming for when writing. I found the perfect display type for the job: Germania One. This display type worked well with Open Sans, which I set all of the non-display type in.

When designing my tabs, I decided to number each spread as a section rather than as pages to make flipping between them a bit easier to understand. I numbered each section on its respective tabs and had them set up so that the reader knew immediately where to go after resolving a check.

The half pages were designed so that there would be an overhang allowing for a kind of tab to show where the reader should flip to when resolving a check immediately.

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A Change in Direction When I had reached this point, it was about halfway through spring break. Right before we left, Covid-19 cases had started increasing bit by bit, and the professor mentioned that if it got bad enough, there might be a chance that the senior show would switch from being held in person at the School of Art to being hosted online instead. At the time, I was positive that wouldn’t be the case.

However, the school decided to switch to online learning temporarily, so spring break was extended an extra week to allow for that adjustment, and before the end of the second week, it was announced that we would not be returning to campus that spring.

The disease affected me in many ways, and working on this project became one of a large number of things that I would have to find a way to creatively work around.

I had to shift how I was hoping to work on my book dramatically. I didn’t have access to a working printer from home, I wouldn’t be able to create the 3D printed elements that would be part of my presentation, and I wouldn’t be able to display my work in person, and all of that had to be addressed.

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Credit: Kostic Dusan

Credit: Heidi Bay

Rough sketch

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Credit: Rod Mendez

Illustrations I’m not much of an illustrator, so I relied heavily on reference images and tutorials to make my illustrations come together. I followed the illustration process that an artist named Agusta Scarlett uses when creating her fantasy book covers.

For each one, I started by pulling in any stock images that I wanted to use for poses or structures, and then loosely sketched over the parts of the references that I wanted. I adjusted my sketches to fit with what I had in mind for the final line work.

Linework

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Shading

From there, I filled in all of the shadows and highlights, and set the blending mode to multiply and screen respectively. I then chose the flat colors, and filled in the colors that I wanted. For many illustrations, this was enough to create a convincing illustration, but other illustrations needed more attention.

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Colored & Finished

Anything that was lit by fire, for example, had to be worked to make the fire believable, be it a warmer highlight, a deeper shadow, or an extra glow. Extra details were added to some illustrations, and with that they were done.

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Breaking down the illustration process makes it seem like it wasn’t too difficult, but, repeated so many times, this was by far the most time consuming and difficult part of the project. I had hoped that it would only take a handful of days or a couple of weeks to get them all done, but it took almost a month of work.

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Because it took so long, I overshot my deadline to have the book done by a week and a half, so when I finally received my prints, I was unable to take the time to make adjustments that were needed.

Shown: all 15 complete illustrations

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World Map Designing the world map was one of my favorite parts to design, and remains one of my favorite spreads in the final book.

I started by loosely sketching out where I wanted land masses to be on paper, and scanning that into Photoshop where I added other elements, like the castles, mountains, and other details throughout that brought the final piece together.

I based the design off of other styles of fantasy maps, specifically some of the D&D maps that had initially inspired me to create the project.

I named some of the other locations that you could see on the map, and gave the world a name. I opted to give the important locations some extra emphasis by setting the text to look like it was written on a handful of scrolls.

Left: sketched map outline Next page: finished map

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Printing & Binding I had been planning all along to print on campus, and made the mistake not to readjust my sizing when I had to print through FedEx instead. Where SOA print would have allowed me to print on 12 by 18 inch paper, FedEx only allowed for up to 11 by 17. I came up with a solution to mostly get around the problem by printing to 17 inches wide and then attaching two sheets of paper together above the text box. It worked alright, but it wasn’t pretty, and was far from flawless.

When I got my prints back though, the front and back side of the spreads weren’t aligned properly, the scale had somehow shifted, and the half pages were entirely off. If I had the ability to have printed my progress out as I was working on the book, even at a smaller scale, I know I would have caught the mistakes ahead of time and been able to fix them.

Out of patience and out of time, I worked through the struggles and hoped for the best.

At the very least, I was happy that my colors had printed well.

Cutting out the pop ups took a full day due to the amount of detail that each one had.

I was desperately missing the opportunity to use the laser cutter that I had initially designed the pop-ups for, but after a few hours, and another mountain of paper scraps later, they were done.

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I hand stitched the book together in two sections and treated each page and half page duo as its own signature. The first section of stitching bound the full pages and the half pages together through the bottom half of the book, and the second only bound the top of the full pages together. After applying the binding tape and letting the pva glue dry overnight, I glued in the pop ups. I created the cover based off of the size of the final text block and attached the cover, finishing the book.

If I had the chance, I would have loved to hand letter the book title on the cover in blackletter, but I unfortunately was unable to do so. If I had the ability to print at a much larger size, I also would have designed a dust jacket to complete the book.

This was the first time I had ever hand bound any book, let alone a hardcover, and there was definitely a learning curve to it. Overall, I am happy with the final product.

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Final Notes I have mixed feelings about how Adventure to Dragon’s Tooth Mountain turned out. I had a lot of high hopes and grand ideas for this book, and due to the semester being so thoroughly shaken up a lot of those fell by the wayside.

All of the imperfections almost hurt to see, especially knowing that if given the chance I really could have made this book shine. But overall, I’m still proud of what I created. The imperfections in the book are the result of pushing through an incredibly uncertain time, and the fact that I finished it, hand bound it, and have something that I can show off speaks to my resilience as a person and as a designer. Once the world returns to normal, I have plans to make the adjustments necessary to make this book into what I know what it can be, but I will still hold this imperfect copy close to my heart.

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