Cawood Publishing – Githyanki Diaspora

Woke up and jotted down some gaming notes. Found monsters I like for the upcoming Shadowfell Exodus or as the Thursday Night Gamers are calling it, Shadowfell Oregon Trail. The process reminds me of looking at the Monster Manuals when I was 14, reverently reading each entry, daydreaming about how I’d use them in a game. I can still remember borrowing Rob’s copies of Monster Manuals 1 and 2 and his Fiend Folio; I remember that his Monster Manual 1 had no cover. Odd, I can see that coverless book so vividly.

I am digging Cawood Publishing‘s Monsters of the Underworld and will likely make use of Monsters of the City: Sins & Virtues when they eventually reach Gloomwrought. I am still very much a sucker for monster manuals and these are fun bits of world building and monster design.

Cawood Publishing books mentioned above, as they sit on my desk.

There’s an idea that needs marinating inspired by Blades in the Dark‘s Entanglement’s tables, starting out as 1d6 but adding d6’s, up to 3d6, as the Shadows grow long. The idea crystalized for me when I realized what I wanted the 18 result to be. Also, notes for things moving, sometimes randomly and other times at the whim of Fell Powers, out there in the Shadowfell on the map creating chaos. While I’m at it, I should probably think about my Context, Cool Shit and Consequences.

Map of the upcoming exodus to Gloomwrought

Spears Subject Divider
From: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1789

Mothership is a published adventure, so I am perusing and digesting that over again during this week off. Slowly moving to get a game going with my dad. I showed him the following and he said the first two spoke to him most. We’ll make a character this week, I hope.

I need to write something about GMing published adventures rather than running from personal notes. It really feels like a different muscle all-together. When it works it feels like running with support and having room to move and improvise within a well wrought structure. When it doesn’t work, for me, it feels like homework in junior high school.

I went to bed fairly early and woke up in the middle of the night. Now it is more Saturday morning than Friday evening but I’ve got ideas for the dragon-slaying D&D-houserules-turned-game project that has been on my mind since Jay mentioned that he had not ever encountered a dragon as a player at the gaming table. Those notes are dangerously close to being playtestable.

My artish hobby that began with getting the Affinity Art Suite for a birthday gift a few years ago means that sometimes I start making images for games or book-covers for books long before those games/books/vague ideas are ready for it. Speaking of which…