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Sorry to go so long between newsletters, it’s been busy.
Gygax 75 Challenge
The Gygax 75 Challenge ended up being way more time-consuming than I expected. Part of the reason, I realized about halfway through, is that Gygax’s timeline was based on the idea of getting enough notes and playable bits to run a game. It’s a little more time-consuming if you also want to make it accessible to other people. In any case, it’s done now and you can read the adventure and what I have so far for the world it takes place in at World Anvil. I’ll be adding more in the future, so make sure to follow the world for updates.
Million Colored Sun
The final layout for Million Colored Sun was completed this weekend. As soon as we get the backers their copies, the PDF and print versions will go on sale to the general public.
Castaways & Conspiracies
Castaways & Conspiracies is written except for a few tables and assembling the character sheets. Leighton and Stacy have already begun editing and the artists have their assignments, so not much longer.
Etsy Store
I’ve put a few new shirts up at the Etsy shop, mostly from the public domain.
Recent Reading
Illuminations, Alan Moore
This is a collection of Moore’s short stories, the largest of which might technically be a novella. That one’s all about a slightly more sinister version of the comics industry with very thinly-veiled stand-ins for actual people and characters. It’s dark, disgusting at times, and hilarious. Plus people living backward through time, a fantastical whorehouse, protozoan orgies, essays on imaginary beat poets and more!
Is This Guy For Real?: The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman Story, Box Brown
This comic doesn’t have much new information if you’ve read Zmuda’s book, but is still enjoyable. It focuses mostly on Kaufman’s wrestling gags, which means there’s a nice mini-biography of Jerry Lawler that runs parallel to Andy’s bio.
Wizard Van: The Roleplaying Game Where Rock Never Dies, James M. Spahn
This is really more of a vibe than a game. It just gives you a very broad idea and a couple of starting points, and the system is one of those that basically uses the same roll for everything no matter what the character is doing or who’s doing it. While there’s not much to it, it does do a very good job of getting across the vibe and has several playable ideas that could be used in a Rock/Fantasy game. I don’t feel cheated, I just wish there was more.
Recently Watched
Dead Boy Detectives: I know I’ve read a few comics with these characters, but other than “They’re dead detectives” I couldn’t remember much. Good show with fun characters and there’s a skeleton doing The Carlton in the opening credits, which has to count for something.
Fallout: I know nothing of the video game, but it’s hard to go wrong with Walton Goggins. I’ll watch the next season.
My Breakfast with Blassie: While reading the Kaufman comic I realized I’d never actually seen this. Luckily it was on Youtube. It’s very Kaufman, but not particularly entertaining to watch.
Furiosa: Not as good as Fury Road, but still a lot of fun. I was expecting Hemsworth to be funnier.
American Fiction: I thought it was very funny, but if you posted a picture of your copy of White Fragility, you’ll probably hate it.
Asteroid City: It’s a very Wes Andersony Wes Anderson movie.
The Hunt: This is a movie about shitlibs hunting people for sport because they did wrongthink on the internet. If you can get past the conceit that shitlibs would ever do something that requires that much effort, it’s pretty fun to watch them die.
That’s it for this time. I’ll try not to let a month and change pass before the next one.
TYTYVM,
Steve
©2024, Steve Johnson