From Substack...

 The following was originally posted to Substack, before I decided to use Blogger...

I wanted to get all of my chickens in a line before launch. That includes getting 4 episodes recorded and ready to go, but only releasing one a week. Should I ever move to a Patreon mode, I will be able to give early access to the next episode.

My game of choice for this first season (ambitious? maybe!) is Shadowdark. Why? Well, why not? Its seems the perfect blend of OSR and with modern mechanics mixed in. It's theme just grips me. Some of the more unique aspects really make this a special RPG. Now the hype is dying down, it seems to have settled into its posti8n in the market with the likes of the Glass Cannon Network using it for their current campaign.

The Western Reaches Kickstarter campaign went gangbusters (like that echo back to 1980's TSR?) and I've just got in under the wire for a late pledge to complete my official Arcane Library Shadowdark collection.

As you'll all know, Shadowdark, like most OSR games can be deadly. I'll be doing little to mitigate this other than the odd tweak here or there. Nothing that no one else has done before, put it that way. I MAY have gone over board on the prep for my 4 characters. Or should I say first 4 because I very much doubt they will all survive this campaign.

But, its my campaign and prep is play right? So I'll be introducing you to Ziraak, my half orc/half elf Knight of St Ydris, Rowan Calsea (yes there's a very small nod somewhere with this surname) the soldier just back from the wars with a bit of a drink problem and certainly some form of PTSD. Jin, my 19 year old white haired witch, fortune teller who loves nothing more than to fleece the nobility of the city with tales of futures to come. And finally, Rosalin.

Ahhh Rosalin. Her stats, rolled down the line were probably the best I have ever rolled on 40 years. So much so I thought my dice had gone wonky, until I rolled up the other 3 PCs.

To counter the great stats, she starts the campaign with nothing. In fact, somewhat less than nothing, including having fallen out with her patron diety, Ord. She is starting with some small penalties that will hinder her progress. Maybe too much. But I have grown fond of her. As I have with all 4 characters. So much so, I'm now dreading losing one of them.

Episode 2 has a ‘cold open’ meant to be a dramatic introduction to one of them. It nearly killed them. And if they had died…that would be it. Because as I promise at the start of episode 1, the dice will tell the story. There will be no fudging of rolls behind a figurative DM screen. I have an overall story arc in mind that I'm calling ‘The Crown Below’, but it doesn't depend on these 4 characters survival. I wnt them to survive and to become the heroes, but I have to be realistic and know that I doubt they'll all get out alive. I can only hope that their own story develops enough to become a of this story.

I'm very much on the shoulders of Giants with the likes of Me Myself and Die, Tale of the Manticore amd Legend of the Bones for this project. Ever since my own real life group spontaneously combusted, I've been left with a void in my life. A small one, but a noticeable one. I'm hoping that this project will in some small way fill that void until such time as balance returns to the universe and I get to throw dice with my best friends once again.

My tools of choice for the solo aspect are Solodark for the oracle and prompts, Mythic Games Master Emulator for the scene building and just about any random table I can get my hands on, most of which are from Drive Thru RPG.

I'll talk more about the how and why I'm doing this. But for now, there's a story to be told, and a lonely figure, in a ragged and dirty purple robe, with nothing on her feet is stumbling through the gates of the great city of Carval…towards her own particular destiny.

More soon…