Somewhere between Hope and Despair lies the Akashic Library, its wobbly shelves stretching off endlessly toward the horizon. What bitter truths will you uncover today? Read on, friend, if you dare . . .

Summer’s over and I’ve started working at a new school. The school’s pretty great, I’m lucky to be here, and also I’m exhausted. This will be a short one! I have lessons to plan!

But don’t worry, I’ll endeavor to see that you, the faithful reader of this newsletter, get your money’s worth.

I WENT TO GEN CON
We went to Gen Con from July 30 to August 2. Great to spend time with awesome people there but, hoo boy, was it crowded. Kind of overwhelming at times. And then there was the Great Deluge.

Thursday morning I worked a shift at the Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN) table, as shown here:

That was fun for a few hours. But the main things people do at Gen Con are play games and buy things. Here’s what I bought:

The MCC rulebook and the DCC rulebook were only $10 each at the Goodman Games booth; I picked them up so I'd have extra reference copies at the gaming table. I also got Year of the Unicorn at the Goodman booth, because the cover is pretty. I got Playing at the World 2E Volume 1 last year so I got Volume 2 this year. The Dream Shrine is a short adventure that I picked up because it looked cool. I read it and, yeah, it’s incredibly cool, one of the best RPG adventures I’ve read in awhile.

I ran three games; I signed up to run four, but there was a communication issue that caused Gen Con not to schedule it. Ah well!

I ran two Million-Colored Sun adventures: “The Tower of Transcendent Terror” and “Arise, Shoggula!” I have decent notes on The ToTT and could turn it into a published adventure but, between you and me, my previous two MCS adventures didn’t sell that well, so at present it doesn’t seem like a productive use of my time. I also ran Laser Ponies.

I’ve been running Laser Ponies at Gen Con since . . . let me see if I can figure this out . . . at least 2013. I missed 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, but still, this was my 12th annual Gen Con Laser Ponies game. This year, they went to The Moon! Another grand adventure!

SUMMER RPG CAMPAIGNS
I ran six RPG campaigns over the summer: three Dungeon Crawl Classics, two Old School Essentials, and one Dolmenwood. Okay, I only ran one session each of the Dolmenwood and one of the DCCs, but some of them were much more frequent. Four of those six campaigns are set in the same fantasy world. I drew a new map of the two main continents, check it out:

Drawing a map of your little make-believe world is a great way to temporarily escape from the stresses of modern life. If you haven’t tried it, I recommend it.

RICKY IMES LIVES
My comic book Fuzzball & Scuzzball: The Saga of Ricky Imes is still available to order!

ART IS ON SALE NOW
Speaking of Ricky Imes, you can pick up an original drawing of Ricky, drawn for Swann Castle, for cheap! There are also several other drawings on sale there, in my Etsy shop. Remember all proceeds from art sales go to help Palestinian children, and if you don’t want to buy the art, you can just donate directly.

BOOKS I'VE READ SINCE LAST TIME
Touching Spirit Bear, Ben Mikaelsen
Batman & Robin: Year One, Mark Waid and Chris Samnee

PODCASTS I’VE LISTENED TO SINCE LAST TIME
Blank Check
Behind the Bastards
If Books Could Kill
5-4
Maintenance Phase
The Time of Monsters
Starter Trek

TV SHOWS I’VE WATCHED SINCE LAST TIME
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 season 7
Mobile Suit Gundam
My Adventures With Superman season 3
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4
Batman: Caped Crusader season 2
Star Trek: The Animated Series season 1, episode 5
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 6
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1, episode 5

Jackson and I finished Mobile Suit Gundam! I actually got a bit emotional at the end. Blu and I finished Deep Space 9, and we both got very emotional. What a magical journey it’s been, these last eight months, as we’ve watched all 176 episodes. I can now definitively say that DS9 is my favorite Star Trek show, and has cracked the list of my All-Time Top Five TV Shows. I’d like to retire to Bajor someday.

THANKS FOR TRYING THIS NEWSLETTER!
I appreciate you. Did you know that you can subscribe and it get it sent to you each month, ABSOLUTELY FREE? What a bargain!

MOVIES I’VE WATCHED SINCE LAST TIME
The End of Oak Street

Okay, that thing I said at the beginning, about how I have to plan lessons? That was literally true, so I gotta run, see you next month.

Your Pal,
Leighton