#017en - december 2022 TTRPG newsletter
The last newsletter of this year!
I hope you have or will have a good holiday season, here is a report of my RPG activity - and a bit more.
Latest articles published on the blog
Remember that even if I write in french, there is a little Google Translate button on the bottom right which allows you to read the articles in english.
Three articles this month on the blog! The first one is a reflection on an "enlarged" bestiary for Middle Earth (well, the one of The One Ring and Adventures in Middle Earth) where I was inspired by D&D but also by the Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG because I find the rules of the RPG rather sparse in opponents. Everyone will put the cursor where he wants!
The second article talks about the #Dungeon23 project which aims to create a dungeon room per day, a level per month and to arrive at the end of 2023 with a complete megadungeon. As I had already thought about it in the past, it's the impulse I was lacking to start it. Will I be able to keep it up? You'll have to follow the blog and this newsletter (or the social networks) to find out!
At last, I've done the summary of 2022 both as a gamemaster (most of the case) and as a player, with no less than 59 games. Mainly D&D but also a bit of Call of Cthulhu! All the stats are here.
What's new at my gaming table?
The holiday season isn't the easier to play RPG, so this month we only did one session of my campaign for D&D, Adventures in Phandalin. However, I was able to play a scenario from The One Ring 2E Starter Box thanks to the ‘Rôle the Dice’ YouTube channel. The game was recorded so you can find it here and below to enjoy my sweet voice (I played the young hobbit Primula Brandebouc, Frodo's future mother!). It’s only in french but maybe you can use CC in your language?
I was thinking of proposing some tests for my D100 universe, and doing one or two games with my family, but events decided otherwise. We'll see in 2023!
On the preparation side, I'm making progress on the next part of my D&D campaign (the characters will level up soon, reachning level 9 and one of the story arcs against the god Talos' henchmen just ended). I'm going to send them to the Mere of the Dead Men near Leilon and I'm taking inspiration from Hoard of the Dragon Queen, with some serious adjustments. And I'm also working on a description of the city where the D100 system adventures will take place that I'll be advancing alongside #Dungeon23.
Readings and inspirations
I read the DragonBane QuickStart, a "D&D-like" fantasy game from Free League. It's nice, well presented but I didn't find anything original in it (unless you like playing ducks and wolfmen, yes, yes).
Just for Christmas, Black Book has made available to contributors the pdf of Chroniques Oubliées Galactiques. And also offered C.O. Fantasy on December 25th only. The opportunity to dive back into this game system in 2023, where C.O.G. will compete with Traveller on my project list! Chroniques Oubliées is a french popular RPG derivated from D&D 3.5 and is the main structure of other universes like Fantasy, Cthulhu, Modern Days and soon Space Opera.
I also read Other Minds magazine, issue 26 celebrates the 15th anniversary of the magazine! There is an article about magic in Tolkien-inspired RPGs, another one about the Rangers of the North with a lot of interesting background, an opinion about Ruins of the lost realm (the bokk for The One Ring 2E, to come in french during 2023), the continuation of a campaign near Angmar and a scenario going to Gondor! Not to mention a discussion about the Bree-Land and its surroundings with sometimes... unclear locations. A very good read for Tolkien fans and players.
In novels, I enjoyed Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, which revisits the adventures of Thor, Odin and Loki, often quite far from the Marvel universe that popularized them to many people (including Gaiman and me, uh uh!). I did a quick review of it in podcast and on Youtube, in french only, sorry!
My reading list has grown a bit more with Reaper's Gale, volume 7 of Steven Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I haven't started the 6th one yet, but I saw that the 10th (and last) volume is out in french. Léha, the french publisher, have succeeded in publishing this whole saga and it was not obvious as it was the third try of a french company to translate this saga (only the two first volumes were released in previous attempts).
TTRPG creations
This month, I released a new battlemap: The Temple of the Dragon Queen. Who said it was inspired by the release of the Dragonlance campaign?
At last, I was able to finish and launch The Necroplis of the Damned, an undead-themed classic dungeon, with a full map and 3D-screenshots of all rooms. I rewrote and redesigned it in Affinity publisher while learning how to use the software and I’m pretty happy with the result.
And I sent a special newsletter for year’s end to this letter’s subscribers and Twitter followers, with a free and exclusive battlemap. Visit your old uncle in his cabin but beware, as YOU may be the meal! There was also a One Page Dungeon named The Halls of Horror, perfect for old school games!
In January, you may see a necromancer’s workshop and… you’ll see what my subscribers may decide…
Follow me on the web
With Twitter recent turmoils, I decided to have an account on Mastodon and also have a small website just in case…
I also added Memberships to my Ko-fi page if you want to support me monthly, with discounts, Discord roles, behind the screens informations and polls!
follow me on Twitter as long as it lasts…
Buy me a coffee, or a tea, or a beer! Explore my shop, if you dare!
my TTRPG blog (in french - with a translation widget)
Happy New Year 2023 and thank you for your loyalty, see you soon!
And do not hesitate to leave a message or comment below to let me know what you think of this letter.