Hi Reader,

Welcome! Please, come in. Let me take your coat. Can you believe it snowed today? None of it stuck, but still.

I've got a saucepan full of hot chocolate in the kitchen. Mugs are in the cupboard.

So. Some wild things happened since we last met:

• I went to Big Bad Con in San Francisco, where I spent time with some of my favorite people, ran Defy the Gods, and met folks who will help me finish the book. I also went to U-Con in Ann Arbor, and I made the hard decision not to go to PAX Unplugged next month. (Curse you, day job!)
• I went on a YouTube show called Wet Ink Wednesday to talk about the Aerial Adventures expansion that I wrote for Garbage & Glory. It was so much fun to translate Raccoon Sky Pirates' chaos into a more structured system!
• I went on a Twitch stream called Happy Jacks to talk with some super nice people about Raccoon Sky Pirates and Defy the Gods.
• I was selected as a Horizons Fellow by GAMA, the Game Manufacturers Association. The Fellowship is an eight-month accelerator program to lift up marginalized publishers and retailers, including trans people like me. I get some financial assistance, a great cohort, advice, and—my favorite part—a mentor! An experienced publisher and dear dear friend from conventions past. I can't tell you how lovely it feels to hear people in this industry rooting for me. On their web page, you can learn more about all the amazing Fellows.
• Last, I got stunning character art from Thalie Shelen, who is designing the playbook portraits for Defy the Gods. Here's her latest line art:

Aren't they amazing? Can you believe you get to play these characters?? I'll share the colors as soon as I get them!

What else happened?

Hm...

That's about it. Boring fall.

Just kidding!

The U.S. had a presidential election. For me, it was catastrophic. I'm still reeling. It feels like the '80s all over again.

It also makes tabletop RPGs feel worthless. 80 million people just showed enormous cynicism about politics. The coming years will only foster even more cynicism—about government, about truth.

Right now, though, I'm so grateful for tabletop RPGs. Here, we make real community. We look each other in the eyes. Our made-up stories—whether sweet, horrific, violent, or flirty—nurture real ideals. A cynical age needs ideals. Living, strong, load-bearing ideals will sustain us—and each other.

Please find your friends and tell some stories together.

Cheers,
Chris

P.S. I'm setting up the Kickstarter for Defy the Gods! Currently slated for (gulp) March. I'm working with more artists, Rue Dickey for copy editing, Sean D'Souza for Sumerian world-building, and Cris Viana for graphic design. This game is looking sweet. Next time, I'll send you the launch page for the Kickstarter!