The final episode of Monsterhearts: Return to Mercy Falls is here!
The final episode of Monsterhearts: Return to Mercy Falls is here!
This series was a real pleasure to play, and I love that we have the Pocket-Sized Play platform available to share it with you. There will be more of the Mercy Falls saga coming to the feed soon, including Mercy Falls ’83 and Memories of Mercy Falls (it’s practically a VC Andrews series at this point).
Thanks to Fraser Simons for putting this series together, as well to the excellent players: Yoshi Creelman Kevin Lovecraft Phillip Wessels and Lowell Francis
I need help tracking down the author of a magic item going into Codex – Blood 2.
I need help tracking down the author of a magic item going into Codex – Blood 2. They submitted it to me at some point, but it has managed to go into the draft without their name on it, and now I can’t figure out who it came from.
The item is a tongue-shaped dagger called Nurtikwendlr.
I am very pleased to announce Lauren McManamon will be joining the Codex team as a line/copy editor!
Lauren is an editor in her professional capacity and has been an active player and game runner on Gauntlet Hangouts for some time. Her first RPG publication, HGMO: Sherlock, came out in Codex – Lies, and she has a few more pieces scheduled for future release.
David LaFreniere will be taking a more active role on the content side of Codex with me, including developmental editing on new pieces. Our hope is we will be able to dedicate even more time to Codex contributors and the various games and articles that hit the zine’s pages.
Oli Jeffery is still in charge of layout.
I’m very excited about the future of Codex! Our already fantastic zine is going to get even better!
Tom McGrenery and I are pleased to present the newest episode of Fear of a Black Dragon!
Tom McGrenery and I are pleased to present the newest episode of Fear of a Black Dragon! Our focus for this one is an adventure called “Into the Fire,” which was featured in the very first issue of Dungeon Magazine back in 1986.
This is a very important episode because Tom and I begin talking about how to convert old school modules to World of Dungeons, our system of choice on FoaBD. As such, the episode is a bit longer than normal and the timecodes are much more detailed. I think you’re going to find there is a lot of really valuable information here (and we also just have a lot of fun talking about the peccadillos of this particular module).
Hi everyone! We have some space in tonight’s playtest of Catherine Ramen’s game Red Carnations on a Black Grave. I was supposed to play in tonight’s session, but I’m having to fly out tonight to make a funeral tomorrow afternoon.
Red Carnations is a story game in the vein of Montsegur: 1244 and Witch: The Road to Lindisfarne. For more details and to RSVP, just follow the link.
Sometimes I wake up, scan my social media stuff, and think (particularly of FB and Twitter): “This is all so utterly…
Sometimes I wake up, scan my social media stuff, and think (particularly of FB and Twitter): “This is all so utterly meaningless.”
You all have heard me say this a million times: I desire substance in my online interactions.
And that’s one thing that drives my relationship with the Gauntlet: authenticity in the face of an online culture that is not only devoid of real connection, but actively celebrates the vapid and mewling.
The Gauntlet Slack group is on my mind a lot lately.
The Gauntlet Slack group is on my mind a lot lately. It began as a way for those of us on the “work” side of the Gauntlet to organize things for Hangouts and podcasts, but it has become something quite different and interesting over the last year or so. It’s more than just a discussion space (though it is also that), it’s a space where a lot of creative collaboration and personal support is happening, and I really love it.
I think I’ll just take it by channel…
announcements is where we announce things related to the Gauntlet and welcome new Slack members.
art club is where the artistically talented among us share and get feedback on the things they’re working on.
convention talk is for talking about meatspace conventions.
community discussion is for Gauntlet-specific discussion.
design feedback is one of the most active and interesting channels. People who are working on game texts post their drafts for feedback, and there is just a lot of discussion about game design. Importantly, it’s feedback and discussion informed by our community values, which means it is helpful, friendly, and does not devolve into a shit show, unlike most public forums. They also organize a regular Office Hours Discord audio chat in this channel.
feel club is another very active channel, and one of the most distinctly “Gauntlet.” Basically, folks just talk about whatever is weighing heavily on their hearts. Everyone on that channel is super-supportive. I’m not personally very active in that channel, but I watch it, and I’m always impressed by the basic goodness and supportiveness of our community.
gauntlet daddy is where we write dumb sex jokes for Codex’s Gauntlet Daddy feature.
gauntlet videos is a working public channel where Rob and YG collect Gauntlet Hangouts videos.
giving me life is another busy channel. It’s kind of the opposite of feel club in that it is all about expressing joy and thankfulness for the good things going on in your life. It is a Slack version of that segment of The Gauntlet Podcast.
gm support group is one of the newer channels, but I’m really loving what I see so far. We take GMing really seriously in the Gauntlet, and this is a space for folks to get support and feedback for the games they are running.
keeper names is where all those cool Keepers of the Gauntlet titles are generated.
kickstarters is for discussing and promoting KS projects.
need players is a terrific channel. If you have space open up in a Gauntlet Hangouts game, or if you want to organize an ad hoc game, this is the place you go. It’s almost like a tiny Games on Demand, and a terrific benefit of being on our Slack.
nintendo switch is where the Switch-hitters among us talk about Nintendo shit.
other pods is where we discuss other podcasts.
politics is a VERY active channel. Probably not too difficult to figure out why.
queer space is for queer Gauntleteers to hang out and chat.
random is another active channel. If what you want to discuss doesn’t fit anywhere else, drop it here.
rpg chat is the most active channel by far. This is where we discuss roleplaying games. Here are some discussions from just the last few days: the fanboy/bro culture surrounding Burning Wheel and Blades in the Dark; comparing Cypher, Cortex+ and other “tradindal” systems; the future way RPG texts will be presented, such as incorporating Youtube; how Dogs in the Vineyard would be better with In a Wicked Age’s die mechanic; What is “PbtA?”; and much, much more. Most importantly: because we’re the Gauntlet, we are able to have these conversations in a respectful, productive manner.
And the above are just the most active/popular channels. There are actually many more where smaller, more specific conversations take place, in addition to numerous private channels where we work on podcasts, Codex, Gauntlet Con, etc.
At this point, the Slack channel basically is the Gauntlet. I love G+ and I dabble on Twitter, but the Slack is where the tremendous creative energy of our community resides. It has become a very elemental part of my day; it’s where I collaborate on RPG stuff, it’s where I vent, it’s where I get the positive energy I need to do awesome things in this hobby. And I really can’t emphasize the following enough: it is just so friendly. The Gauntlet already has a reputation in the hobby as being exceedingly kind and friendly, and the Slack is a perfect expression of that. It’s good people who love games coming together to celebrate the hobby and each other.
Anyway, the Slack is on my mind. Dreams for everyone who participates there: your positivity, supportiveness, and energy are giving me life every single day.
Gauntleteer Gerrit Reininghaus has written a fascinating blog post analyzing the characters and games he played in…
Gauntleteer Gerrit Reininghaus has written a fascinating blog post analyzing the characters and games he played in 2017. If you have some time today, I recommend reading it.
Happy Sunday! Here is a link to the penultimate episode of Monsterhearts: Return to Mercy Falls! If you haven’t yet checked out the Mercy Falls saga, I highly recommend it. It’s weird, scary, and queer as fuck.
Cc: Fraser Simons Kevin Lovecraft Lowell Francis Yoshi Creelman Phillip Wessels
