A newsletter and podcast focused on Friday Strout's fiction and tabletop roleplaying games. Featuring top industry contributors from both the professional Game Master scene, game designers, writers, artists, and more!
We chat with SuperDillin (she/he/they) about Neverland, his podcast The Atomless, PAX Unplugged, Mythic Grove, her indie RPGs, and more!
If you’d like to support the podcast, you can toss me $5 on my Patreon!
Links:
https://www.superdillin.com/projects/settingguide
https://www.superdillin.com/projects/atomless
https://www.superdillin.com/projects/original-rpgs
Hey y’all. Some of my friends have just launched their Kickstarter All The Witches which seems like a fantastic and fun indie RPG book. Check it out!
Supporting indie designers is important in tabletop. More publishers, writers, and creators means that consumers are served the sort of games they want to play – not just what the big dragon is putting out.
From the Project Lead Emmapanada about the game:
“Our goal as a team is not to create an entire world in All the Witches. Instead, our plan is to feature 3 regions of the world and flesh them each out with rich detail. Groups that play All the Witches can start off in one of these regions and have entire adventures there, they can go and travel to the other regions to explore, or they can collectively imagine what the rest of this world might look like and build things together to make their stories truly theirs.”
The three regions that All the Witches will feature are:
Tane: A dense forest region that once thrived with life and beauty. Long ago, some adventurers slew a great spirit that resided in Tane, and its death sent the entire region into a spiral of corruption and Discordance. Not many live there now because the region is extremely toxic and dangerous, but those that do rely heavily on Witches to keep their towns free of corruption, poison, and dangerous creatures. Groups that start here will often find themselves fighting against the very nature around them in order to survive.
The Golden Islands: A large chain of islands that house two civilizations that couldn’t be more opposite to one another. The United Islands of Sunder are a free people that use magic to sail the seas, explore the unknown, and keep the treasures they find. Darkhammer on the other hand is a society with strict rules that uses magic to strengthen and protect their ships and trading routes. These two come into conflict often, and groups that start here will find themselves fighting people from either civilization in order to survive.
Cyllynys: A verdant gem in the northern seas, Cyllynys is a small nation with a big impact on the world at large. Settled long ago by a diverse array of peoples, its earliest history is shrouded in myth and legend; ancient monuments of mysterious origin dot the landscape. The people of Cyllynys have, since their earliest days, put tremendous value upon knowledge and wisdom, and this led to their development of steam technology. Now, that same technology threatens to take over the traditions and ancient monuments that once meant so much. Groups that start here will face a changing nation, and the tensions that arise because of that change.
All the Witches was first created to give people who loved and were influenced by magical stories a place to come and explore a fully fleshed out magical game system and create their own stories with it so they didn’t have to worry about the creator of those stories being hateful and problematic. The system itself is influenced by the magical systems found in various Roleplaying Video Games and fantasy stories and movies.
A lot of the game mechanics found in All the Witches are unique, but made to be simple and cohesive enough to be understood quickly and explored deeply. The creature of All the Witches is me, Emmapanada (Emma for short). A trans non-binary asexual person who gained the spark to create a system like this from seeing the pain coming from the Queer community at a beloved IP turning against them. I’ve been GMing and playing various TTRPGs for a little over 10 years now, and while I’ve created private rulesets in the past, this is my first foray into designing a system that will be available to anyone to play. As this is my first time creating a system with the intention of bringing it to crowdfunding, I’ve hired a number of industry professionals to help me navigate system creation to ensure that we create something truly special.
Currently, our team is made up of (the following is their Twitter usernames):
@Sailorsctaustin – Worldbuilder for Tane
@That_DeAngelo – Worldbuilder for The Golden Islands
@Lynne_M_Meyer – Worldbuilder for Cyllynys
@theladymea – Video Editor and Consultant
@NalaWu – Art Director
@Br00taldan – Game Designer
@byFrancita – Layout Designer
@IlanaNight13 – Project Manager
@Softasvulvet – Graphic Designer
@Ninawolverina – Concept Artist
@Maruchimaa – Character Artist
@Beekakkeart – Character Artist
This go around we’re talking all about working in the industry. It’s a difficult profession to get into, so why not listen to one of the most experienced there is in TTRPG? Brian has written for Dragon magazine, D&D Insider, Paizo, Green Ronin, Wizards of the Coast, and more!
CONTENT WARNING: We’re talking about sex, kink and roleplaying.
Alex Roberts (she/her) chats with Friday about being a counselor, the connection of kink, trauma and religion. We also chat about Alex’s old podcast Backstory on the One Shot podcast network, Starcrossed and why it’s Jenga for people who wanna fuck and why For The Queen is super cool.
If you’d like to support the podcast, you can become a Patron here!
Links:
https://www.patreon.com/helloalexroberts
https://helloalexroberts.itch.io/andtoallagoodnight
You don’t have to be a professional to use these tricks to help you develop deeper relationships between NPCs and PCs. Even if you don’t plan to pursue a career in voice acting or dedicate hours a week.
Resonance
Pitch
Tone
We’re going to work on some techniques provided by Nicole Gress & ProZD! Resonance is important for you to make a noticeable differences between genders (if you want to.)
Have a great time running games. Do what you think is fun and practice with physicality. Thanks for checking the newsletter. If you’d like to support me you can do so on Patreon!
Check out the TTRPG Safety Toolkit! (http://bit.ly/ttrpgsafetytoolkit) Or on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/ttrpgsafetykit)
Or the original article by Lu Quade! (https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/blog/stars-and-wishes).
Often players do not feel as though they are able to contribute in a meaningful way once you have established that you are a professional. I advise you present a way you will receive feedback that isn’t simply “good game”. To wrap up a session I leave the door open for feedback with Stars & Wishes.
“Thanks as always for supporting me. This was a fun game. Let me know if you have any feedback in the form of Stars & Wishes. You can DM it to me or post it in the table channel.” -Friday after almost every game.
I include this snippet in my Session 0 for the player to read or for me to announce. This is going to keep your ship sailing in the right direction for as long as possible. If you are not receiving feedback to course correct you might be heading toward a preventable disaster. The rift between you and player expectations only grows larger with time.
This also helps you open up dialogue for what is working and what is not. I make certain to ask for feedback if I do not feel confident in the players’ reactions to something I have prepared.
If I am not confident about something I ask for feedback!
Thanks for reading. If you’d like to support me then you can do so on Patreon. Join nearly 30 other pro GMs who want to work with a small community to improve their business practices to support themselves full-time.
Starting out as a pro GM can be pretty daunting. That’s why you will want to leverage camaraderie with your peers if possible. Few folks know what it’s like to deal with the freelancing grind in your field! Here are my recommendations:
This is going to teach you a lot but also develop a positive relationship with a peer. Not only are you able to have a peer that you can bounce ideas off of for your advertisements or community, but you’re able to learn from what they’re doing. My recommendation is that you do this at least once a week with someone whom your brand aligns with and you personally get along with.
2-3 hours a week playing in another game helps you learn good seat filler behavior and what you’d expect of folks for your games.
You can share and collaborate on ideas with your pro GM peer.
You’ll get a first-hand experience with issues at the table which you can (ideally) help resolve.
You’re going to improve as a GM through inspiration.
Putting together an advertisement can leave you with a lot of unanswered questions. If you’ve built rapport with someone and likewise are providing them with value to their business – you have access to someone who would help you out with their opinion. Not all advice is created equal, but when you’re starting out a different set of eyes for unfiltered opinions can be invaluable.
It can be lonely “at the top” or in this case: when you run a business. You would be ill-advised to complain about players to other players. That’s an incredibly toxic scenario and highly unprofessional. Instead, I recommend that you confide in your pro GM peers that you trust if you need to get something off your chest. Make certain to ask for permission to have that sort of conversation – but if it’s cool, then it’s a great stress relief. They can also provide you with candid advise if you find yourself in a decision making jam.
I have a modest group of 20’ish Patrons who chat about pro GM business in the vein as described above. It’s a moderated space and it can be a great think tank to help run your business.
Join here – $5 a month to support me and help your biz!
It can be difficult to break the ice! Here’s some neutral questions to get conversations going with someone new to your community.
What is your experience with this TTRPG?
What are you looking for in a game?
Roleplay?
Combat?
Mystery?
Puzzles?
What is your favorite thing about this TTRPG?
If you’ve played a campaign before – what did you like about it?
Is your schedule regular for this time?
How has your week been?
How did you get your start playing TTRPGs?
What do you do for work?
Where are you from?
Once you’ve asked a question, you need to focus on listening to them. Your next question or follow-on comment will stem from any of the questions you might ask. If they answer “I have played Storm King’s Thunder”, then guess what: You talk about Storm King’s Thunder, even if only briefly.
You can pivot to another topic as it feels natural. That’s just how you get the ball rolling. Good luck!
If you’d like to support me then you can do so on my Patreon. Check it out here! (https://www.patreon.com/isfriday)
Jasper William Cartwright is a professional theater actor, host, producer, director, voice over artist, dancer and much more. We chat about the business, building a platform, and his personal experiences.
Links:
https://www.jasperwcartwright.com/
https://twitter.com/JW_Cartwright
https://twitter.com/3blackhalflings
Check out this episode of me playing TSL with 3BH!
It’s simple. Let’s follow the steps:
Welcome them on the platform!
Give them the link.
Add them to the category once they join.
Point them to next steps.
Let them know you’re available for questions.
Make sure you have your character creation process written out:
Safety & Consent checklist
VTT setup
PC creation rules
This streamlines your process and saves you time/money.
If you find this newsletter useful: Support me on Patreon!
