Hi Reader, What began as a silent shaking in the earth has grown to thunderous, resounding hoofbeats. The armies of Doom approach. Time to draw steel. That isâthe Defy the Gods Kickstarter ends on Thursday! If you haven't read my emails for the last year, or I just didn't tell you, Defy the Gods is a queer sword & sorcery tabletop role-playing game set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamiaâa game full of daring adventure, messy romance, and cursed power. It's a game where a single sword stroke or...
23 days ago â˘Â 1 min read
Hi Reader, It's good to see you. Please, have a seat. Have some iced tea. On the table is a little succulent called, I shit you not, goblin fingers. Other name, for real: Gollum jade. It's the most tabletop role-playing game plant I've ever met. The Defy the Gods Kickstarter ends on Thursday. It's been a roller coaster. In these last four days, I need to tell as many people as possible about it. Expect a few more emails from me this week. If you don't want to get them, you can opt out here....
24 days ago â˘Â 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. Sit down. We've got some cold fizzy water and some pizza from this place up the road. On the table and chairs there's an oiled bronze sword, a boiled leather shield, a skeleton key mottled in verdigris ... let me get all that out of the way. There. As you can tell by all the detritusâWe're just a week and a half away from the end of the Defy the Gods Kickstarter! So far, we've unlocked an embroidered patch, a spot-gloss upgrade for the standard edition, a...
about 1 month ago â˘Â 1 min read
Hi Reader, Whew! Please come in, out of that gale. Here at the table, there's a tranquil bunch of violets and some herbal tea. Those winds are Origins Game Fair blowing through Columbus like a hurricane. AlsoârelatedâDefy the Gods blowing past its second stretch goal. This week has bowled me over. I sold out of all my raccoon dice and enamel pins. I sold over fifty Quick Starts for Defy the Gods. Several people also backed the Kickstarter right there at the booth. Since I don't have a...
about 1 month ago â˘Â 1 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in, make yourself at home. On the table, next to some humble, xeroxed character sheets, is a tiny ceramic pot holding a lush orchid. I've been thinking about the densely packed experience lately. Like movies. Even though they're today's prestige storytelling format, even a great movie is just two hours (okay, two and a half) of light and sound. But in that time, it takes you on a rollercoaster. When it drops you off at the end, you feel richerânot twenty...
about 1 month ago â˘Â 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. Make yourself comfortable. On the table, we have peonies and sheet cake. I'm celebrating (re)launching the Defy the Gods Kickstarter! Sorry I already ate half the cake. I lost control at 2 a.m. after I uploaded the last assets to the Kickstarter campaign. (If you're sick of hearing about Defy the Godsâor you're just mad about the cakeâclick here. I haven't tried it before, but my email service should take you off the list.) To make it up to you about the...
about 2 months ago â˘Â 1 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. I've put some pink daylilies in a vase for Pride month. Dayliliesâpretty, but impossible to kill. We're all saying "Happy Pride!" with extra daylily-determination this year. It's a happy Pride, but with grit. Before it was a party, Pride was a protest. sorcerer discovering the occult properties of the rainbow And 5,000 years before that, in a land you build at the table, it was a battlecry against the gods! If you can't tell, I'm pumped to be re-launching...
about 2 months ago â˘Â 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome to my regular newsletter! It's a cheery place where we can talk about games and good vibes. I land in your inbox somewhere between once a week and once a month. Please, come in. Sit down. I've put a bunch of garden stars-of-Bethlehem in a bowl of cold water. There's a bowl of dice next to them. Don't put your hand in the wrong one! Tuesday, June 10th is my target date to relaunch Defy the Gods on Kickstarter. That gives us two weeks. With that ramping up, I'm getting into...
2 months ago â˘Â 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! It's good to see you again. Please, sit down. All the irises are in bloom, so I've put a few in a cut-glass vase. Spring is in its full glory. It's on a beautiful day like today that I had to cancel the original Defy the Gods Kickstarter. So close you can taste it It just wasn't going to hit its goal. Not the way I'd set it up. Valiant backers (like you) kept pledging, even as it became clear it wasn't going to clear the tree-line. I admit it, I got cocky. My raccoon...
2 months ago â˘Â 1 min read