Three R's for April
I’ve decided to get back to some semblance of regular blogging, and have posts in the pipeline so I can actually follow through on that.
For this one, I’d like to inaugurate a regular monthly series I’m dubbing “The Three R’s”—you know, as in Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmatic.
Reading
I should preface this by pointing out that when I say “reading,” I’m mostly talking about “listening”—discovering audio books about 10 years ago really did me in for the written word outside research and the like. Almost all of my reading for pleasure (which this section is about) is something I listen to rather than read. Is it an ADHD thing?
Like a lot of folk, I’ve been delving into Peter Attia’s book on longevity and health, Outlive. I’m turning 46 in a couple weeks, and particularly after my rather disastrous Winter Phase of 2022-23, I’m coming up against the usual middle-aged reckonings with mortality and a rather earnest desire to make the most of whatever time I have left on this plane. I’m about two-thirds of the way through the book, and finding it mostly useful and informative; there’s something about Attia I don’t quite as an author. He comes across with a bit of that gym-bro/fitness trainer energy I find generally off-putting. But there’s definitely lots of interesting food for thought in there, and I totally agree with his thoughts on “Medicine 2.0” and the like. I’d recommend it for anyone interested in matters of health and wellness, but it’s very much in the realm of “take what you like and leave the rest.”
Otherwise, I did recently attempt a couple novels set in the Battletech universe (both, rather confusingly, titled Battletech; I am not making that up), but like a lot of gaming media tie-in fiction I’ve encountered, I just couldn’t get into them. That’s certainly not for lack of talent on the part of the writers, either. Jennifer Brooke’s BattleTech, in particular, surprised me with its rather violent twist on the “teen academy” genre. I guess I always end up wanting to actually play the game rather than listen to a story set in that game’s setting?
(In a couple weeks I’m sure I’ll be writing more about why I was checking out Battletech novels in the first place.)
‘Riting
Speaking of game media fiction tie-ins, I’ve been working on an outline and pitch for a short story set in one of my favorite fantasy settings. If anything comes of it, I’ll be sure to talk more about it here.
Otherwise, it’s all Pendragon, all the time! At the moment, I’m beavering away on the revised edition of The Great Pendragon Campaign, the first volume specifically. This covers the Boy King and Conquest Periods, beginning with young Arthur pulling the sword from the stone and ending with the appearance of a certain Knight of the Lake. Folks familiar with the old GPC will find lots of fun new material in these revised volumes, in addition to incorporating all of Greg’s changes and revisions developed through his research and play testing.
In fact, I’m putting the finishing touches on a brand-new scenario I’ll be running at Chaosium Con in a couple weeks which is slated to go into the year 518 to give younger knights not fated to die at Badon something else to do. Look out for avenging angels!
‘Rithmatic
This is the section where I talk about game systems I’m currently grooving on and/or running. Right now, that’s the old DC Heroes system from Mayfair Games. I ran a short campaign based on the Batman RPG about a year ago, and we’re returning to that universe this very weekend, as a matter of fact.
I’m a firm believer that, in order to be an effective game designer and writer, you have to play lots of RPGs from across the history of the hobby. The era of “master chart” RPG design that enjoyed a brief vogue in the mid- to late-80s is fascinating to me (anyone remember Gamma World 3rd edition?), and the so-called Mayfair Exponential Game System is, in my opinion, the gold standard of that particular evolutionary path. Funnily enough, I’ve not heard a lot of positive opinions expressed about the system nowadays, but me and my group have had nothing but good times with it so far. Maybe it’s because we’re doing more street-level games? Might be an idea to take it for a spin with Superman and Green Lantern and Co., see how the old girl holds up. But for our purposes, it seems to work just fine.
(Also, for this run, I’m going to see if I can incorporate the Parameters mechanic from Underground and give the group a mechanical way to track their impact on the quality of life in Gotham City.)
If you’d like to check out our original run, including our head canon regarding the locations of Metropolis and Gotham, and Superman’s Canadian citizenship, you can find everything here.
The new season will eventually air on the Esoteric Order of Roleplayers feed as well, after visits to the realms of the supernatural courtesy of Monsterhearts and the World of Darkness, because we’re goth like that.
Oh, and speaking of the EOR, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the new funding tiers I’ve recently opened on the EOR Patreon, including a chance to game with yours truly—possibly including play-testing on some secret projects!
Until next month, then…