Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

Presently reading The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas. Fantastic so far—gothic horror set in the years immediately following the Mexican War of Independence. Beautifully written and scary.

Right on time: I’m a hustler, I’m a marketer, I’m a relentless self-promoter. I’m anything but a good game designer whose work resonates with people.

A vector we rarely use to evaluate indie versus mainstream in TTRPGs is tolerance of stuff like sex and gore. Big “influx” moments like Quinns Quest are a reminder that much of the player base is quite conservative. And I don’t mean politically, but in terms of taste level and subject matter.

Happy Wednesday! (And not so happy Tax Day)

Happy Wednesday! (And not so happy Tax Day)

Three people I love to hear talking about games. I finally got a chance to listen. Great talk. @jasoncordova.bsky.social @burnafterrunning.bsky.social @evilgaz.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

There is a none zero chance that a part of this episode might make you cry.

If you are fan of actual plays and souls-like games this is great watch.

For all the grim details and brutal lore we start to weave together into a hideous tapestry in this episode, @michellicopter.bsky.social pulls out an absolute blinder out of the bag that basically heals the entire table and has Matt looking like everything might be ok. (Spoiler: nothing is ok)

I've been informed by two people that a little stunt I pulled towards the end of this episode nearly made them cry. Perhaps you too will be brought gently the edge of feeling an intense emotion by my antics

RPG Zine Club 2027 Story Games Pitch form is open! We are looking for small games with rich narrative choices using systems like Belonging Outside Belonging, PBTA, CFB, or other more bespoke mechanics. Solo, duet, GMful, or GMed #TTRPGs are welcome. Games from diverse voices are desired. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ 1/3

Also in this episode: in a display of unmitigated Britishness, all four cast members demonstrate hatred for the ruling class via the medium of talking about them in a very cutting way

The brilliance of the Traveller 5E campaign is that it’s engineered to take advantage of the K-shaped economy. We’re going to see more and more of this—games made to appeal to a tiny, wealthy slice of the market. That’s how the whole economy has been for awhile, and now it’s here for TTRPGs.

I think we moved on too quickly from DOGE. Tens of thousands of federal workers fired overnight, countless poor people dead because USAID was snapped out of existence, and unfathomable damage to medical and scientific research. Just so we could save 0 dollars and Elon could plunder our private data.

Just ran my first session of Public Access by @jasoncordova.bsky.social! I've ran many pnta games and this was my first foray into anything Carved From Brindlewood. I was absolutely floored by the GM support and how effortless the House on Escondido Street mystery felt at the table!

Happy Monday!

The Doordash Grandma story is like a nesting doll of bleakness the more you learn about it.

Okay who decided to mash up Kids on Bikes with Brindlewood Bay? @jasoncordova.bsky.social look at this! youtu.be/6NRtOOiSvVI?...

Happy Monday!

We’ve unlocked The Mourning Tower. Now let’s see if we can get off this accursed isle… @jessjewell.bsky.social @michellicopter.bsky.social @masquewren.bsky.social @jasoncordova.bsky.social @fkth.bsky.social youtu.be/hba1qIx1SrU

If Biden had done all this shit, investors would have pulled all their money out of the stock market and businesses would have raised their prices 75%. I’m not saying they should do those things now, but it’s frustrating how little grace they give Democrats versus, specifically, this awful man.

That’s a wrap! A little over $562K raised from 7150 backers! Yesterday was so stressful, but today was really fun and exciting. Thanks so much to everyone who helped get this thing across the finish line!

Now that the campaign is over I’m catching up on world news and politics. Hell yeah, fuck Orban. Wait, *we’re* blockading the Strait of Hormuz now? Wtf.

👏 Congrats, Latchkeys 👏 See y’all in Deep Lake~

That’s a wrap! A little over $562K raised from 7150 backers! Yesterday was so stressful, but today was really fun and exciting. Thanks so much to everyone who helped get this thing across the finish line!

20 minutes left to back this!

Less than 1 hour to go in the Public Access campaign! www.kickstarter.com/projects/gau...

I’m not sure who’s taking the crown on Drag Race, but Discord Addams was hands down the true winner of the season.

Someone bought the $8K tier!!!

The final hours! Don't miss out on a chance to fund a great horror #TTRPG

So close to 7000 backers…

LOL

The solo game sounds awesome and they're so close to getting it.

Someone bought the $8K tier!!!

I ❤️ this game.

If you've ever said "ttrpgs can't do horror", you owe it to yourself to look at the free preview at least.

We need to raise $15K in four hours to unlock this solo journaling game, Public Access: Apartment 319. Can we do it? www.kickstarter.com/projects/gau...

I have literally not stopped cringing since we began character creation.

Settling in to play a session of @carrion-comfort.com's DEADPILLED with @iamatrex.com and pals. We're playing terrible manosphere dudes who are going to get put through a meat-grinder; I hope none of us make it through.

CfB games are touted as being easy to run for new GMs, but they are also amazing at amplifying the effort of experienced GMs and Certified Prep Enjoyers (ie perverts). A couple hours of pre-session work results in incredible payoff at the table using only the mystery sheets and what's in the book

I promise if this gets funded to make an actual play audio drama piece from it

Listen: I know it’s a lot of money, but you get four copies of everything, shipped for free to anywhere in the world, and I, Jason Cordova, game creator and arguably one of the best GMs around, will run *a whole campaign for you.* It’s only $2K per person—a complete steal!

The kids? They love Public Access.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/gau... Part of me genuinely thinks that, as D&D continues to be "the" heroic fantasy standard, this game will become *the* horror standard. Because the horror is backed by the mechanics in ways no other system can, or has. Don't miss this.

Look, I've never had 2k at once ever, but this is the rare chance that the "premium product" is worth it.

Less Than $25,000 to go to unlock a second (!) subgame for Public Access - that means everyone will get Three (yes Three!) games out of this baddie... ... 6 Hours to go. Do The Thing. The Great Hungers Command It!