I just turned in my first game review for Manifesto Games. It’s a new website that sells downloadable computer games of all sorts—from independent developers. They give me a free copy of the game and then pay me to tell people what I think of it. This sounds like a sweet gig—until you remember how long it can take you to play through a full game. Still, getting paid to play games isn’t something you’d ever catch me complaining about.

I’ve been following Manifesto since it was a gleam in the eyes of its founders, Greg Costikyan and Johnny Wilson. Each of them is an industry legend, both in computer and tabletop games. Best of all, Johnny’s a fellow Alliterate, so I’m rooting hard for them to succeed. The state of innovation in computer games could be at stake—or so they believe—and they’ve staked their entire business on it.

Today, as a patron of Wolfgang Baur‘s Open Design experiment, I received my copy of Steam & Brass, the first fruit of my fellow Alliterate‘s efforts. At first glance, it looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to dig into it farther. Wolf’s a great adventure designer, and the patronage system gave me a chance to peer over his shoulder as he created the work. I watched him pour loads of heart and effort into it, and I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic.

Sadly, those of you who didn’t join in can’t have access to the module now. Once it’s released, it’s closed to further patrons. Those of us who ponied up, however, can now enjoy the entirety of this 115-page adventure. The rest of you must weep in your ale.

Has it been worth the money and the wait? Hey, it has a zombie angel in it. Really, what else do you need to know?

If you’re interested in getting a copy of Steam & Brass—the results of Wolfgang Baur‘s experiment in game-designer patronage—you have until September 30, 2006. That’s less than two weeks from now, so if you’ve been on the fence, now’s the time to leap off it and get your hands on a very exclusive and excellent adventure by one of my fellow Alliterates.

Yesterday was the deadline for Wolfgang Baur‘s grand experiment in roleplaying game design funding. The Open Design concept models itself on the old system of patronage in which a creator gathers one or more people interested in paying for the work and then collaborates with them on producing the creation. In this case, Wolf needed one more patron to pitch in so he could green-light the project. Otherwise, he’d end up giving everyone their money back and calling it a day.

Never one to leave a fellow Alliterate holding a bag of great ideas, I chipped in the last little bit. I’d only hesitated so long because I know I’ll probably never have a chance to run the adventure. I’m interested enough in the experiment, though, and in supporting Wolf’s grand ideas, that I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t wither on the vine for lack of a single, last donor.

This made me the 49th patron.

It’s already shaping up to be a lot of fun. It’s wild to be involved in helping direct the creation of an adventure with so many other people—and yet have someone of Wolf’s caliber doing all the heavy lifting.