Those Good Old Days

John Scalzi blogged about blogging a few months ago, how we should take back our internet and be able to say and see things without an algorithm deciding for us, or only giving us droplets of what we want in the midst of a tsunami of advertisements. The fact that it was a blog post and not a tweet or post somewhere means that months later, I could come across it myself. That alone makes me feel like it’s worth blogging here a little more often.

Copperhead County Art

I’ve been arting for Jason Eley’s Forged in the Dark magnum opus Copperhead County. Finally upgraded to a pen tablet that is also a screen (the XP-Pen 15.6 Pro). My Wacom Intuos is literally old enough to drive and while it’s still got a slight advantage in responsiveness, the accuracy I get from just being able to draw 1:1 more than makes up for the need to be slightly more intentional with my movements.

Skirmish Game Round-Up

I continue to dabble with player-facing tactical skirmish minigames in service to my White Line Nightmare heartbreaker project. I’ve got a test campaign in roll20 that I keep resetting every time I have a new rules tweak – those poor tokens surely think they’re in some sort of Edge of Tomorrow situation by now. Nothing happens in a vacuum, and I’m not coy about my influences. Some of the following were read for research, and some got played. I actually have a Five Parsecs From Home campaign going with my kids!

• The aforementioned Five Parsecs From Home brings back good memories of playing Necromunda and leaving your fate up to random tables after a clash.
• The terrain and minis I like to accrue, however, fit more in line with Five Klicks From the Zone, a STALKER-inspired take on 5PH.
• GRIMLITE by Electric Bastionland’s Chris McDowall doesn’t measure movement, and that’s enough to make the list.
• Five Parsecs -> Modiphius -> 2d20 Infinity RPG -> Infinity the skirmish game. I came to it in a really roundabout way but I love how the orders and reactions work.
• Rogue Planet, a skirmish game with PbtA roots. What!?
• INCOUNTRY and KILLWAGER/SKULLCORE, both by Enemy Spotted Studios, offer ridiculously detailed modern and near-future minis (think Modern Warfare up through Titanfall).

Go Play

• My Thursday group started a Scum & Villainy campaign! This time we’re using the factions and setting from the book instead of trying to shoehorn the game into Star Wars. Protip: if you are going to shove S&V into Star Wars, make sure you have enough factions to go round. “Empire, Rebellion, and Scum” aren’t enough.
• My other Thursday group is back in Blades in the Dark after a long hiatus, playing three-boat monty with the Circle of Flame, the Hive, and Lord Scurlock.
• My Tuesday group is doing Kingmaker in Pathfinder 2e on Roll20. I’m playing a half-orc monk with a barbarian dedication and bad Schwartzenegger accent. Noone has told me to stop yet.
• Face-to-face Genlab Alpha, because we all got Stockholm Syndrome from Mutant Year Zero and thought real dice would be kinder than Roll20’s RNG. We were wrong.

That’s all I’ve got for you right now. Hydrate, stay healthy, and remember to go touch some grass.