note: I was a kickstarter backer for this book

With the Phenomenons books, Crazy Eight has created a super hero anthology that takes place in our world like George R R Martin’s Wild Cards series. The main difference is that Wild Cards reads to me as incredibly grimdark; maybe because it was started in the 1980s? The other big difference is that there’s definitely more of a liberal bent to Phenomenons. That might make you more likely to read it, more likely to avoid it, or you might feel indifferent about that. Interestingly, both anthology series mostly take place in New York City.

I backed the Kobold Press Kickstarter for the Player’s Guide 2 as well as a few add-on items. I created this video to talk about them.

Topics & Links:

• Player’s Guide 2
• Kobold Press Character Journal
• 1985 Games DM Journal Set
• 1985 Games Hero Journal Set
• Beadle and Grimm’s Player’s Journal
• Bag of Luck Tokens - Not on the store as of the time I’m writing this

Busy, busy, busy….lots of days to catch up on!

Story

29 Jan

The four enemies stand before the Overlord, proclaiming his end. He does not waver as he predicts they will fall.

I move into a good position for attack (+2 bonus to attack rolls on the next page)

I set up traps to sabotage the battlefield (+2 to DMG on the next day)

I try to create a diversion, but the heroes are focused on their task. (-1 penalty to defense on next day)

Story

The party locks all the doors and chances a long rest. The group went into the westmost door after Flint picked the lock. Within the room were a bunch of dead bodies that look drained of all life with looks of horror on their faces. They also look like they’ve been frozen for a long time.

The party begins moving bodies to get up the stairs.

Scrabble asks Miralou if there are customs we should follow with the bodies. They don’t have enough scrub to burn the bodies in a funeral pyre but perhaps later they can deal with them. Miralou can say a prayer over them, but that won’t prevent them from being raised.

The Story

Time elapsed so far in campaign at start of this adventure: 15 days

Summary

In the 2 weeks that elapsed since last time Beatrice found out what her new ring does. (It protects her from mind control AND it stores her soul if she dies) She also got some pricing for the items she nicked from the house they were investigating:

I chose to go with Severin Mortis for the rest of the year. It took me a while to get caught up to the date (snow storm) this post will cover many days.

Story

22 Jan

As I step into the ritual chamber, the high mage is there. He shows me that the Soul Crystal is ready and tells me to fetch the Overlord.

23 Jan

Yet another of the Heroes of the Light arrive - this time it’s Vaelor Spellwright, their wizard. He tells me to step aside. I must fight to keep him busy.

Next entry after this one will be the hero I stick with for the rest of the year!! On the most recent Kickstarter update they said that all the stuff we’ve earned up until now carries over.

Story

19 Jan

(Previously Kargoth secured the gate so I get a +2 to all rolls on this day)

On this higher level, there is a chaotic war happening in every corner of the castle. I run to the balcony and see ropes that the enemy has secured to climb up. I try to cut through as many as I can. I cut several lines and revel in the screams as my enemies fall.

Ok, now it’s time to see what Valery and her new companions do after their first fight together. They agreed to join up and they found a quest on the quest board. Will things go according to plan for these newbies?

The Story

Split into 3 audio files this time because I had to take a few breaks to deal with some bread I was baking. The audio is much better. I have to think about what I might do to get it that extra mile over.

2025 was the year I leveled up my TTRPG skills (no pun intended). It started off with my participation in New Game Master Month in February. Kobold Press was a sponsor and had a coupon for the core books so I moved off the free rules and onto the main, published rules. I consumed lots of TTRPG content on YouTube, reddit, and enworld - lots of it focused on being a better GM or a more creative GM. This may have come out already if I published the other end of year blog posts before this one, but TTRPGs ended up eating up a lot of free time and reducing the time I spent on reading, video games, and programming as the year progressed.

Between the two choices for this week’s trial, I went with Grimrot Slinktail, the Ratling Plaguebringer. I liked his story about collecting others’ trash and using it to build himself up.

Story

15 Jan

I am doing my job as a torturer in the dungeons when I hear the sound of battle. The castle is under siege. The dungeon keeper comes in and tells me to leave the torture behind. I must find the Dark Overlord or the High Mage.