You'll want to see the Dice Tray. Trust me.
It's March!
Short one this time. Let's get to it.
On The Docket
The No-Tell Motel Crowdfundr is live! We're now 51% funded with just a couple weeks to go.
If you're curious how the gameplay works, this video explains the basics: who the guests are and how their dramas develop in a card spread not dissimilar from Solitaire.
(I should note that Tatiana rates the above video "low" on the hand porn scale. Sorry about that.)
What's on offer? The PDF and physical zines of course, as well as a Dirtbag Solo PDF Bundle that includes Lighthouse at the End of the World and VOID 1680 AM, and an educator/retailer 5-pack.
But really? It's about the Dice Trays.
If you're interested, consider contributing - and spreading the word.
OK, marketing over. At least that part of it is.
I used to write comics back in the day, and had a small line of merch going to help pay for the costs of going to conventions, page rates, printing costs, you name it. I have a little bit of that merch left, including the above sticker designed by Marie Enger.
I will not be making more of these, so if you want one, grab one. And remember that fine subscribers like you get 20% off at the shop on everything, forever, with promo code NEWSLETTER.
Nosferatu stickers are currently reprinting, btw. There will be more Soon™.
Speak into the Void...
Did you know about the "Voices in the Void" expansion for VOID 1680 AM? I released it last summer for free. Basically: lots of people take VOID to be a horror game, or at least adjacent to one, so I created alternate Caller Sheets to make the strangers who call in a little bit... well, stranger. Whether the source of that strangeness is supernatural or all too human is up to you.
The contents of the expansion haven't changed, but recently cover artist Jordan Witt just worked up a new, distressed cover that I just fucking adore. You can pick it up here, down under "Download demo."
On My Mind
I could write this up, or I could just send you to the episode of Ledger: A Writing Podcast where I talk about writing collaboratively, different modes of solo games, the allure of "grass is greener" thinking in writing careers, and why we don't need 50,000 Stephen Kings. Available where all finer podcasts are found.
(If it's not live yet, it will be shortly.)
For Your Consideration
Here's some stuff I'm into right now.
Sexy Beast had its season finale this week. This is, yes, a prequel show to the cult crime movie from 24 years ago. It is astonishingly good, and mean, in that uniquely '90s British-Crime-Movie way. There are like half a dozen great characters in it, and looming over all of them may be Stephen Moyer as Teddy Bass, who's more a terrifying vampire here than he was when he played an actual vampire. He also directed some key episodes!
I very much liked The Monster's Implied Adventure on the Gem Room Games blog, which goes into different ways to use a monster and write them so they're "coiled like a spring and ready to launch."
Dice Exploder is my favorite podcast going right now. The episode on Pity Points in Kagematsu with Alex Roberts (For the Queen) is an S-Tier banger, delving into mechanics that quote-unquote "don't do anything," the difference between love and pity, and how a game can teach you to flirt. It is now a new life goal to make something as simple and as fraught as Kagematsu sounds.
This Ethel Cain album is something else. It's like "what if Chelsea Wolfe was just a bit folk and made a horrifying concept album," which is the kind of logline that gets me banging down your door to get at your stuff. The album has lore, but I'm gonna wait until I absorb it some more before I dive in. I have a process, OK?
That's it.
See you next time.
