AMAZING NEWS: 2/7/16

In addition, Brent Dedeaux was back with a great new edition of Tales from the Rocket House: “Classes Are in Session! (Back to Old-School D&D for a Moment).” In this column, Brent undertakes the distinguished task of making up new old school D&D classes.

New Reviews

RPGnet added several new reviews last week:

Sam W’s review of “Traveller Core Rulebook (Mongoose, 2nd Edition)” (SF RPG)
Nick the Lemming’s review of “Harnworld Master Module 3rd edition” (Fantasy RPG supplement)
Nick the Lemming’s review of “Harndex 3rd edition” (Fantasy RPG supplement)
Wes Johnson’s review of “Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes” (Computer game)
Edward Kabara’s review of “Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn” (Board/tactical game)
Edward Kabara’s review of “Pixel Tactics Deluxe” (Board/tactical game)
Antonios S’s review of “The Pursuit of Happiness” (Board/tactical game)
Antonios S’s review of “Legendary Metal Coins (Pirate)” (Accessory)
Antonios S’s review of “Legendary Metal Coins (Elven)” (Accessory)
Antonios S’s review of “Legendary Metal Coins (Arabic)” (Accessory)

Threads You Might Have Missed

This week’s first thread is a perennial favorite of discussion in the RPG world: “Games whose rules didn’t fit their ‘fluff’.” Of course, it’s a favorite for a reason: identifying games where this dissonance is a problem and figuring out solutions for it can lead to a much better experience at the table.

That said, talking about the other side of that coin is also valuable: “Games whose rules DID fit their ‘fluff.'”

Not much heavy-duty content in this next thread, but it’s a fun way to spend a couple of minutes: “Weird Out of Context Quotes from Games.” My contribution: “I would still be king if you hadn’t stolen that monkey’s hat!”

Another long-time but always useful favorite can be found in “Ways the Villain isn’t actually dead.” This is a constant problem for GMs (particularly in more simulationist systems) who want recurring bad guys. In post #4, RPGnetter “respite” came up with what is probably the best suggestion I’ve heard in a while: “Give the players an overwhelming need to have the villain alive again, and sit back while they figure out how.”

Sign Off

Have a good week, everyone.

Iustum
Newsletter Editor

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Ariele’s Newsletter: Some Exciting News and A Cat Meme
Okay, I won’t make you wait.
The exciting news is this: The Clock Winked is free on Amazon! Today through Wednesday, you can download a copy for your library (ALL your libraries) at no cost. The exciting news doesn’t stop there, though. The free book promotion started Friday, and since then, The Clock Winked has been downloaded over 1000 times, resulting in some serious achievement points on Amazon.

What is the reason for this sudden spurt of freeness? Well, The Clock Winked has a new cover design, so I decided to celebrate with a free book promotion. I had no idea it would take off so thoroughly, but I’m thrilled that it did.

For those of you who have already downloaded (or previously purchased) a copy, I can’t thank you enough.

Over the next two months, I will be releasing the new covers of both The Lonely Whelk and The Wounded World. You can read more about it in this blog post. I may do some more promotions, so stay tuned.

And now, for the cat meme:

Cat News
There’s not much new on the cat front these days, except for the fact that it’s winter. This means Wilfred is out of his mind crazy, running up and down the walls, climbing the curtains, catching mice, and freaking out over generally nothing. Goblin got a new rug, which she loves, and it’s been so warm out that Rowan has even been outside a few times.

Rutherford News
Everyone keeps asking when the next Rutherford book is coming out. Short answer: I’m working on it! The next book is called Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep Makes Pancakes, and I am extremely excited about it. However, due to a surge in contract work in addition to taking over the financial reponsibilities of my HOA, I have been hard pressed to find time to work on it. It’s coming, though, I promise!

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