Random Loot: Issue 10
Reinvigorating this old corpse one last time in 2023
It’s been a while since I wrote my regular monthly newsletter. There have been a few reasons for that: lack of time, treading the edge of burnout (for months and months and months), going off-meds again (will I get back on them next year? Let’s see!), family stuff, and on and on and on.
There’s always a reason to not do something, isn’t there? Especially working in a creative field. It’s an uncomfortable truth that most people working in creative fields prefer the feeling of having made something to the actual process of making it. Traditionally I’m one of the people who really loves my job. I love sitting down with the raw stuff of language and doing the hard work of sculpting it into something people will want to soak themselves in. One of the ways I know burnout is on the horizon is that it stops being fun and starts to feel hard and like something I don’t want to do. When that happens, I’ve found that the best way to deal with it is to aggressively cull anything and everything that isn’t Actually Important. Anything that feels like work but that doesn’t need to be done? Gone. Dead.
The newsletter didn’t make the cull. I’ve been recharging for months now, working on the things I have to work on and letting everything else just disappear behind me. And it’s been great, frankly.
And now I’m back in your inbox. Hello. Thanks for having me.
What have I been doing?
It’s probably not that surprising that I don’t have much to report here, given that I took several months to chill out and recharge. Here’s some stuff you might have missed, though.
My annual advent calendar adventure is going strong, with just a few days left to run. This one has been heavy on the fiction (though there’s still lots of game-able stuff in there), so even if you don’t play Mörk Borg I think you’ll enjoy it. As with past years the price has been rising every day since day one. Since I didn’t announce it here at the beginning of the month you may have missed it, so I’ve gone ahead and created a secret sale just for newsletter readers so you can pick it up at an earlier price point.
I found the time to do a long read of the first issue of D&D Adventurer, the new magazine from Hachette aimed at teaching 5e to new players.
I finally finished the second draft of Down In Yongardy, and backers will be receiving a pre-editing digital version around the end of January.
What’s good?
I’ll be honest, part of recharging has been staying away from social media in a big way. The result of that is that I simply don’t know what’s been released recently. Instead I thought I’d do a little year-end list of my favourite adventures released this year.
Slate & Chalcedony is a pair of very weird linked wizard’s towers. Written for TROIKA! but easy to drop into your game of choice. I haven’t had a chance to run this yet (it’s sitting on the hex map in my weekly Mörk Borg game waiting for the players to run into it) but I’ve been enjoying dipping into it and just revelling in the strangeness. The bestiary alone is worth its weight in gold.
Dungeon Grand Prix: Two Clan Tango is classic Luke Gearing. You’ve got a small town populated by two dwarven clans who hate each other and both have a claim on the same mine, you’ve got a giant dwarf mech that functions as both dungeon and race track, and everything that can be in a kart is in a kart. What’s not to love?
The Bastardized Classics is a collection of classic adventures (think Tomb of Horrors and White Plume Mountain) updated and reimagined for use with Bastards. (which means they’ll work with basically anything). These aren’t just the old modules re-statted - they’re completely rebuilt from the ground up. Think of them as reboots rather than remakes. They’re very good, and there’s more to come.
Is it gauche to include my own adventure on my year-end list? Probably. Do I care? Absolutely not. I’ve released a lot of work I’m really proud of this year and I want to make sure people know about it. The Moss Mother’s Maze is the most beautiful book I’ve ever printed, and it’s also just a damn good adventure. It’s written for A Dungeon Game, but as with everything OSR you could run it in just about everything. Run it using Lancer and then tell me about it.
Inspiration Station
Part of recharging always involves me immersing myself in a ton of non-games stuff. (This past week I’ve read 9 books, for example). Here’s a short list of things I’ve been really enjoying over the past couple of months.
Godzilla (1954) and sequels. I’m working my way through all of the Showa Era films in order, but the original is by far the best.
How To Have Sex (2023) is one of the best films I’ve seen in a long, long time. Just, watch it.
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander is a short alternate history novella about radiated elephants. I read it last night and haven’t stopped thinking about it. I don’t actually know anything about either of the historical events referenced in it, but that didn’t impact my enjoyment of it in any way and now I’m very interested to learn more about them.
Bone White by Ronald Malfi is one of the best horror novels I’ve read in a long time. I haven’t been scared by a book or a film since 1990, but this came very close to creeping me out.
Comeback Kid are back with Trouble In The Winner’s Circle and I’m once again remembering that they’re the most consistent hardcore band in the business.
Alkaline Trio are also back with the two of the best songs they’ve released in years. At one time they were my favourite band in the world but I haven’t really liked anything they’ve done since 2010’s ‘This Addiction’. I really, really hope that changes with this new record.
That’s it. In January I’ll be announcing a few changes to my Patreon and how I use Substack, so keep an eye out for that. Have a good Christmas and New Year. Let’s see if I can make it through 2024 without burning out.
-Chris