Good March

Thomas Manuel

I. Dear Reader,

Taking my regularly planned break from writing this section this week but I’ve got a cool announcement for next time. I think I’ve figured out a running series to explore over the course of the next few months.

Till then, have a safe week,

Thomas

II. Media of the Week

  • Dice Exploder is doing a little larp mini-series and this episode about workshops with Marc Majcher is a nice explanation about what they do before starting larps to prep participants.

III. Links of the Week

  • Sidney Icarus nails four criticisms to the door of Clocks, describing where they work best and where they don’t seem to work at all: “This Clock-Fuckery is leading us into a ludic recurrence where we make all the same mistakes all over again.”
  • Enjoyed this edition of the Owl Knight Games newsletter that talks about a lot of things including how to know when a game is done: “I’ve talked before about being a nervous wreck before playtests, just a big horrible ball of anxiety. But as a game gets closer and closer to finished, I get more confident in it, and that goes away.”
  • Grognardia writes about a re-released classic Rune Quest supplement, Sun County: “This is precisely the kind of supplement I like, where cultural and philosophical conflicts drive the action as much as physical threats.”
  • Jack Edward writes about new fantasy worldbuilding game, Worldwizard from Jason Lutes.
  • Jay Dragon writes about a new safety tool, the Palette Grid which breaks subject matter into two axes: ignore-explore, comfortable-risky.
  • Not RPGs but: Joey Schutz has a lovely essay about videogames and the ongoing manufacture of addiction that goes far and wide in covering the issue.
  • Florence Smith Nicholls writes about 99 Poets of Revachol, a Disco Elysium larp in Czechia: “The sheer number of great paintings, sculptures, spray tags, and even songs was just astonishing.”
  • On Old Men Running The World, an interview with Malcolm Craig about his two games about the Cold War: “Cold City is a game of trust, hidden agendas, and monster hunting in Berlin in 1950, and Hot War is a game of friends, enemies, relationships, and horror in the aftermath of nuclear war, set in London in late 1963.”

From the archive:

  • On the Sword queen Games blog, a great post about “post-colonial game design” and what it means in a game of political intrigue: “In general, a powerful person who seeks out genuine relationships and nurtures them is one who stays in power.” (First included in Issue 88, April 2022)

IV. Small Ads

All links in the newsletter are completely based on my own interest. But to help support my work, this section contains sponsored links and advertisements. If you’d like your products to appear here, read the submission form.

  • Pilot your mech to wage war over the bodies of dead gods in Celestial Bodies, a GMless tactical TTRPG! Back it now on Kickstarter.
  • Grab your rosary and your revolver and join the Sisterhood ✝️ Take your vows and become a nun on mission to fight demons and save the world in this multiplayer TTRPG. Quickstart on Backerkit here.
  • Evergreen is a game about a vengeful Nature and those who endure Her. Join our public playtest, give us your feedback and we’ll mention you in the book!
  • Vesta Mandate is a Sci-Fi political thriller TTRPG inspired by The Expanse, Silo, and Andor.

This newsletter is sponsored by the the wonderful Bundle of Holding.

Hello, dear readers. This newsletter is written by me, Thomas Manuel. If you’d like to support this newsletter, share it with a friend or buy one of my games from my itch store. If you’d like to say something to me, you can reply to this email or click below!

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