Jason Cordova

And I'll talk about that later when I pick up the thread again.

Thanks for hanging out!

So far, this structure is similar to what you find in the newer editions of The Between and Public Access.

But I think this game goes one level deeper than that. There's something even bigger than the Lords at the heart of it all.

When you have enough Lord Clues, you can attempt to answer the Lord Question. Answering the Lord Question correctly entitles you to do a special Delve where you confront the Lord of that region.

The special Clues (we'll call them Lord Clues for now, but please know I hate that) might be found in the environment because you roll good enough on your investigation roll, or the answer to a Delve Question might also be a Lord Clue if you roll well enough when answering the Question.

Answering the Question means they get to pursue an Opportunity, like destroying the monster in the ruin, finding the treasure in the archive, or taking the secret family history back to the last person left in that family.

They might also find special Clues connected to the Lord for that region.

Maybe the Delve is a series of catacombs, and the Question is related to the secret history of the family buried in them. And so forth.

The characters gather Clues (maybe called something more evocative, like Shards or Fragments), put the them together, and answer the Question.

Maybe the Delve is a crumbling ruin stalked by some kind of monster, and the Question involves discovering the monster's weakness. Or maybe the Delve is a haunted archive, and the Questions are about finding specific treasures within the archive.

The aforementioned Journey locations might also be tied to a specific region, all of which helps improve overall thematic and aesthetic cohesion within that region.

The characters would do a Delve, trying to answer one or more Questions in order to resolve the scenario.

Those regions would each represent the typical CfB campaign structure. There would be 6-8 Delves (the equivalent of a Mystery or Threat) per region. The Lord would be the equivalent of a Mastermind from The Between.

The present-day version of the world, post-cataclysm, is called something like The Lands Remaining (I know this sounds like Elden Ring's The Lands Between—I intend for it to, so don't write in). The Lands Remaining are divided up into different regions, each of which is ruled over by a Lord.

A grizzled old king holding an amulet and leering

On Lands and Lords

This fantasy CfB idea would retain a lot of the campaign structure found in other CfB games (my instinct, always, is to tweak the wheel, not reinvent it).

Due to illness I have 2 last-minute open player spots for a Brindlewood Bay oneshot TONIGHT (starting 7.30PM CEST)

Anyone want to be a granny solving a murder mystery? 👀

A warrior doing battle with a red-eyed wolf creature

Characters

If I was actually working on this, I'd start by answering the question I always ask myself when designing a new game: "Who are these characters and what do they do?"

I think before I can get there, though, I have to establish a few things about the world.

Yellow plaid gift bag.

Blind makeovers

We got little gift bags at the Clueless showing. I don’t know what the No RSVP thing means (yet).

They’re doing blind makeovers down front before the show.

We haven’t played yet

YouTube

I’m going to watch Clueless for the first time tonight.

Selfie in flamingo shirt

Happy Saturday! I’m getting ready to run Beach Blanket Body Bag!

Every chapter, right up to the very end, is the author saying, “LOL, bitch, I’m not done with you yet.”

I just finished Tender is the Flesh. Jesus Christ, what a gut punch of a book!

Sprigs and Kindling An ongoing digital zine of community collected creative works for Carved from Brindlewood TTRPG games

S&K Volume 4 is in layout! Themed around the Public Access TTRPG and other Analog Oddities. Broken into two issues, 4:1 has articles, mysteries, game sneak peeks & more! 4:2 has Lost Transmissions, many of which were from the @gauntletrpg.bsky.social Lost Transmission contest!
sprigsandkindling.com

We are actively seeking pitches for Volume 5! Trick-or-Treat, our October issue is all about TROPHY! If you have an incursion, writing, art, music, poetry, ANYTHING creative that fits a Trophy theme you should DM me!
As always, while this is unpaid you retain all rights to your work!

And not even particularly controversial ones, haha

Si

I’m re-reading Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez. Goodness, I just love this book. It might be my favorite book of all time .

Reading books and taking walks is a great lifestyle to adopt for increasing your creativity and improving your mental health. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

Painting of a man in a boat traveling down a river.

Journeys

I recently re-read The Fellowship of the Ring. I was struck by a few things. First, we spend a lot of time learning about places and landmarks that have no direct bearing on the story; there's a sense of history. Second, these recollections of place are filled with longing and melancholy.

Thread 🧵: Fantasy Carved from Brindlewood & Traveling in Fantasy RPGs

I don’t know what it is, but I have my best game design and marketing insights while everyone else is at Gen Con. I think it’s because I’m always at my best when I feel like I’m the underdog, and not being at Gen Con because I can’t afford it makes me feel like an underdog.

No one eats Crumbl cookies. That shit is horrible for your health and indirectly supports fascistic, tradwife Mormon bullshit.