2026 is going to be a busy busy year, both in terms of my writing, and stuff coming out that I’ve written, although the two aren’t as closely correlated as one might assume. The big novel release, for example, is The Dungeon Book (as told by Cornelius the Skull, available for pre-order now). It’s coming out in August 2026, but I finished writing it in May 2025. The Paragon Blade was written back in 2019. Another thing was written back in late 2024 and still hasn’t been announced officially (although to be fair, I wrote it months ahead of schedule). The writing of books, and the publishing of books, and the buying of books, and the reading of books - none of these things happen on anything like a linear schedule.

Still, could be worse. Dave Allsop wrote much of the Ocean Game back in the early 2000s…

Pelgrane, by the by, have put up a public version of their release schedule here, now that Robin’s putting Canadian manners on the whole thing.

Just announced by Rowan Rook & Decard - I’m doing a supplement for the DIE Rpg. It’s going to be half dungeon, half psychodrama, half history of the hobby, and yes we’ve done the math on the halves.

This idea’s been knocking around for a long time - I had ‘what if Planetary but classic rpg campaigns’ on my list of possible projects years ago, and I’m overjoyed that it’s found expression through Kieron’s DIE. The announcement is here:

Gar’s dungeon is six levels deep. Every floor is an era of gaming: Paragons will burrow down through the roughly hewn caverns of 1970s classics from the dawn of D&D, through the new factions and foes of the 1980s, the edgy darkness of the 1990s and on into the schisms and resurrections of the twenty-first century. We’re not saying that’s all that happened in the last 25 years, we’re just keeping some things quiet until closer to the crowdfunding. 

But you can’t just isekai a bunch of adventurers into RPG history and call it DIE. The framing matters. This whole excursion is the fault of your group’s particular Master – or possibly Masters – who has spent their life immersed in this strange, niche world and want to show it to you. They want you to understand. They want you to do it right.

They are the sage. The vessel for the old powers. The gatekeeper. 

And they’re not letting you out until you really get it.

There will be temporary escapes from the dungeon – although Die always pulls you back. Time to discover what you missed while you were fighting for your life against the Forge god’s minions, and to reflect on what you might face next. If you’ve played DIE before, that’s the biggest addition to what you’re used to: you’ll get to step in and out of your Personas’ real lives, whether the characters are frantically clinging to them or desperate to escape back into Die.

Every time you step between Die and the real world, you’ll get to know your character better, with questions and development exercises to reflect on what the next level of the dungeon will mean to them. Who was your character’s first character? Which game did they have such a bad time with they can’t even speak its name? Who did they lose in the Edition Wars?

Just like they do in regular DIE, the answers will shape what characters encounter. This isn’t just history – it’s their history. It’s roleplaying as a whole, seen through the lens of the people who play it. We think that’s more interesting than why someone decided to make a Dallas RPG – though we might answer that along the way.

We’re doing an announcement chat type thing on the RRD discord on Friday at 7pm GMT, and the actual thing will be crowdfunded in April. Come join us! I may wear a Christmas hat.

Let’s go around the to-do list.

Announced Projects:

TERRAFORMING MARS: Lots of work getting done, but it’s a mountain of a project. An Olympus Mons, so to speak.

THE DREADFUL HARE: 3/4s done. One scenario left to write. This, together with The Merryshire Detective Club, will be going to crowdfunding around the middle of 2026.

DIE: METADUNGEON: Announced above. Formerly codenamed LIBEL DUNGEON. Outlining and research phase, by which I mean I just bought a bunch more D&D history books.

Unannounced Projects:

BREAKING GED: The current novel. Rather far behind where it should be, but that’s mainly because I wrote and abandoned several false starts (I may go back to them in years to come - never delete anything.) This is going to be my take on wizard school.

PSYCHIC ICEBERG PILGRIM: About half done. Maybe more than half.

FISH STEW: Currently researching and outlining.

WEIRD HOLE: Outlined, waiting for a writing window

PALE KING: Off in the distance as a maybe, but this one won’t get off the ground until this time next year at the earliest.

It’s a lot. It’s likely too much. We shall see.

Dragonmeet was fun but brief - for logistical reasons I flew back first thing on Sunday morning, so was in London for about 36 hours, and at least half of those were definitely standing around on cold train stations in the wilds of the Excel Conference Megaplex. The convention felt a little like a party in a warehouse. Just realised that I foolishly forgot to steal a copy of Robin’s new Page Turners rpg, although I did nab a hardcopy of Mythic Bastionland.

Next convention: Warpcon. I’ve pitched them on a Terraforming Mars scenario and also promised to run a bunch of quick games for kids.

Currently reading: Designers and Dragons, the Atlas of Mars (really lovely), and a bunch of Ramsey Campbell shorts.

Currently watching: Plur1bus

Happy Christmas or whichever seasonal greeting is most appropriate, including bah humbug if that’s your preference. My deepest thanks, as always, for signing up to receive this nonsense and for buying my books.
Gar