Imminent Update Incoming!

Dec 05, 2023

Hi everyone! I hope things are going well outside Haleland. I’ve been stuck inside for a bit, and I’ve been so unlike my usual self I even did this Dungeons & Dragons painting!

The original pen drawing, alongside the fantastic original by Larry Elmore.

EEK! So ironic! So tasteful! Yet sadly, a reference that only the groggiest of grognars would get at first glance. Maybe not so tasteful.

Also……………… I finished this like two weeks ago…………………

But no matter! Work has begun in earnest on a new RPG! What is an RPG you ask? A role-playing game (RPG), also sometimes called a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) is like playing dolls as a kid, but you eventually you got really serious about how your Barbie embarked on an epic quest to save the Dreamhouse from the vile clutches of Lord Kenneth. Dungeons & Dragons is the first of these games that became commercially available, and how I was introduced to TTRPGs.

Sometime in the future I’ll go more in depth about why many of us think D&D is more of a Settler Colonial Power Fantasy than the lighthearted social romp Hasbro might lead you to believe. About three years ago, I began the search for a new RPG, one that would correct all the wrongs of D&D and carry me off into the sunset. The bells would chime, and we would be together forever…

Suffice it to say that I’m still looking.

Interlude

End Interlude

RPGS are a relatively new artform, so it only took me about three months to read my way through enough of the RPG landscape to look around and say, “Fuck. I’m gonna have to make this thing myself.”

Let the games begin!

Sometime in the future I’m planning on doing really deep dives into my design philosophy, process, and playtesting experience. Alas, some of my older notebooks are at my parents’ house, so I’ll have to get those before I can really peel back the orange peel. In the meantime, here are some pictures I do have. This one is on my birthday, playing my most recent prototype The Gift.

Before that comes my first finished (I think) game, Cartoodle. My baby. My pride and joy. My one-stop-shop to most of the things I don’t like about Dungeons & Dragons. Within the next week or two, I’ll start playtesting the sequel to Cartoodle (I am not excited at all). This picture is of a game played by my Rabbi’s kids… and I wasn’t even there! How awesome!

And last but not least, we have AND WHAT IF YOU LOSE? The predecessor to Cartoodle. This game hinged on wagering major story beats on a 50/50 coin flip, which had the feeling of going all in on every turn of a board game. This was really cool as long as you didn’t have the statistically probable chance of losing a bunch of coin flips in a row.

Yeah… I ended up moving on from that. But I did really like it!