#049 - august 2025 TTRPG newsletter
The monthly TTRPG newsletter from Xapur
What's new at my gaming table?
August has been a bit calm as I offered to master some Shadowdark game but there was not enough players avilable on my Discord server to have a successful session. So instead I read and prepped a lot for future games, my homebrew world (and had a blast working on my megadungeon). Still a long way to go but at least, some progress has been made!
On a side note I could find another player for my Otari/AV PF2 campaign so we’ll be able to go on more often (so I hope) as we’ll begin soon year 2.
I worked a lot on Obsidian (my favorite software atm for prepping as I’m less interested with Notion these days) and even put inside my (long almost lost) novel’s debut.
Latest articles published on the blog
As always, my posts are written in french but your browser may propose to translate them
I wrote an article on Casus Belli issue 34 (summer 2020). It is a french magazine (halas coming to an end very soon, because facing economic problems) and this issue was a special anniversary, celebrating 40 years of the mag (which had several iterations over the years).
I don’t know if it will last so long but I read D12 Monthly, and while YumDM just released issue 50, I’m a little back behind with issue 47. The first of of ‘trilogy’ about treasures in ttrpg/OSR.
I also wrote an article about encounter tables. Most of the times, these tables are about monsters and combat, but I prefer to use them to put some more on the table(top). Lost objects, pilgrims, scenic views, ruins or buildings, animal trails, there is so much more that can add to the gameplay and the lore of a campaign!
What’s next ?
As you may see by the numbering of this newsletter, next issue will be #50.
I started this newsletter on march 2022, and maybe it is now time to rethink a bit about it and change things. What would you see in the future?
Here is a poll to let me know if you prefer that I go on with the same kind of monthly newsletter, or publish gameplay articles (maybe 1-2 per month) or just send you a letter with scenarios-dungeons-battlemaps at random times. Your feedback matters to me, so please VOTE!
Readings and inspirations
Readings: I read volume 4 of the Legend of Drizzt (very) long saga. The Cristal Shard is not perfect by any means (it was Salvatore’s first book, after all) but it is a good summer reading (not only because it was refreshing to (re)discover Icewind Dale while it was so hot here in the center of France !). And then I picked up the Malazan Book of the Fallen again with volume 9, Dust of Dreams, that will be my september read (at least!). Isn’t the french cover (by Marc Simonetti) epic?
Films & Series: I watched the first two episodes of Alien Earth on Disney+. Not good, not too bad but bad enough so that I don’t think I’ll watch the rest of the season. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was not great either (and much to long) so I won’t write much about it. Rewatch the LOTR movies instead of this one!
Creations, tips, shop…
As I said above, I worked a lot on my megadungeon but it is still far from release and, to be honest, I don’t know if I’ll translate it in english one day (my first draft is around 100 pages, maps included, at the moment and I have the feeling it will grow by 30-50% more).
I’m not sure 1. someone will find it interesting in french (lol), 2. it is worth the time and the pain to release it in english (there are already lots of good megadungeons around).
So I’ll see when it is finished, my main goal is to achieve it and print a copy for me. By the end of this year, I hope.
Not released, still worked on (but with a little writer’s block), I can only show you the image I’ll use as cover for the Monastery of the Howling Moon.
My creations are on DriveThruRPG and/or my Ko-fi shop.
Follow me on the web
That’s it for this issue, see you soon!
And do not hesitate to leave a message or comment below or answer to the email to let me know what you think of this letter.