Is this summer? Why don't you roll to find out
Monthly Musings: August 2024
It's August and as always that means I am yet again NOT AT GENCON! I know it's the biggest four days in gaming but as a Brit it's a long way to go and I just can't justify the cost, either as a visitor or a publisher. I might get there one day but until then I hope those of you that are there have a great time and supported all the amazing publishers that were present.
Instead I've been digging my teeth into the Alien RPG at the fantastic Liverpool branch of the RP Haven. I somehow came within a whisker of surviving Chariot of the Gods but that’s looking unlikely for my marine in Destroyer of Worlds - the luck of the dice are most definitely not with her!
Getting to play these two scenarios has only reinforced my early thoughts about the game - cinematic mode, with its tight, focused stories is fantastic. The rest? Not so much. The core rulebook lacks focus - it’s too long and large sections should have been cut or saved for a dedicated campaign book. I really hope the surprise announcement of a 2nd edition means Free League are planning to resolve some of these issues but we’ll have to wait and see on that one.
The Words We Leave Behind
With Tabletop Scotland rapidly approaching work on The Words We Leave Behind is shifting up another gear. I'm excited to be able to share the latest draft with you, which is available here. Version 0.33 features a major rewrite, with new mechanics and a significantly expanded word count. I'm hurriedly working to shore up the text ahead of releasing the ashcan in time for the con.
But wait, that's not all! I've also got a brand new cover by the fantastic Carly A-F and right now you're the only people who are getting to see it!
This version of the cover will be featured on the ashcan while Carly is preparing a variant of it for the final release. I still don’t know when that will be - I want to ensure that the game is polished as much as possible before I decide whether to kickstart it or not.
Links Roundup
Starscape is a found family sci-fi RPG by Kimi Hughes, host of the HappyJacks podcast. It's a game about starship crews and the relationships that tie them together as they traverse the galaxy. The Kickstarter has just entered its final stretch so check it out quickly.
Against Time and Death by Nick Bate is a duet game about time travelling agents building a relationship as they fight for reality. If that sounds familiar that's because like The Words We Leave Behind it was also inspired by This is how you lose the time war (Full disclosure: I read Nick's first draft this time last year - it inspired me to pick up and read the novella and write my own take on it). It's a fantastic game that takes a very different approach from my own effort and as with all of his games Nick manages to write concise, evocative text that invites you to fill in the gaps and imagine a larger world.
Jude’s World by Yvris Burke is a solo, tarot RPG about a pre-teen trying to reunite their parents following a messy separation, as recorded in their journal. It promises to be an emotional, thought provoking game that touches on a topic many children experience growing up. The Kickstarter launches on the 13th August.
Wyrd Science vol 1 issue 6 is (almost) here! Wyrd Science is an amazing magazine, full of insightful articles about the past, present and future of the hobby space, reviews and creator interviews. If you’ve somehow missed out on the earlier issues go check them out in PDF before picking up the latest release.
In Dark and Lonely Waters by Kev Walsh is a Miskatonic Repository scenario for Call of Cthulhu that taps into the urban, working class horrors of 1980s Britain. It’s a decade that is often overlooked in mythos stories despite being a dark, and often grim, period as working class families struggled under Thatcherism and a rapidly changing society.
The James Webb Space Telescope has snapped a direct image of a planet 12 light years away! While this isn’t the first time this has been achieved it’s a phenomenal accomplishment and one that I’ll always get excited about. The star system, Epsilon Indi A, is roughly the same distance from Earth as Tau Ceti, the setting of the Dyson Eclipse. So if the Arrays did exist it’s possible that Earth could directly photograph them as they wondered if the generation fleet ever reached them.
The Wrap Up
Summer is finally (maybe) here in the NW of England - you can tell because we’ve had close to a whole week of nice weather so I’m off out to enjoy it while it lasts. This time next month I’ll be packing for Tabletop Scotland - if you’ll be there come by and say hello!