So, there was no blog post last Saturday...No reason, I just forgot to write one. I was clearly too busy celebrating having published a new product on DMsGuild! Utility Tattoos is a series of 18 magical tattoos, using the rules presented in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, but focused on cantrips and tools, and minor magical … Continue reading Belated promotion of a new product
And a Happy New Year!
Not much to report - I haven't had a lot of writing time over the festive period, between spending time with family and having a toddler catch covid! In the meantime, I've done a bit more writing on the Hall of the Red Earl, and played around with a new Raspberry Pi (so I might … Continue reading And a Happy New Year!
Merry Critmas!
It's Saturday, so there's a new post on my blog, but it's also a day I shall be spending away from tech with family. Unfortunately, we've hit a small snag with a probable covid infection, so it will be a smaller gathering than we'd originally planned, but my toddler has picked up the holiday excitement … Continue reading Merry Critmas!
Magical mundane items
I started thinking of a new idea for all kinds of magic items.Take the list of Adventuring Gear from the equipment section of the Player's Handbook, and then just come up with magical versions of each item (disregarding ammunition, holy symbols, and druid and spell focuses). I'm surprised there aren't more of these already available … Continue reading Magical mundane items
A series of rejected sequel titles
One year on, and my biggest moneymaker is still A Town Called Mud: The Haunted Mine. It has yet to reach a bestseller medal though.I've thought long and hard in the intervening year about how to write a sequel, or a prequel, or just another western-inspired adventure, but I've not managed to come up with … Continue reading A series of rejected sequel titles
And they say creativity doesn’t pay
I have now been published on DMsGuild (and DrivethruRPG) for a full year.My total earnings for that time are... Drum roll please... $180.13.(And I've actually made almost two more dollars the very next day from collaborations too, but let's ignore that.) I'm pretty terrible for advertising what I've written and don't often go back to … Continue reading And they say creativity doesn’t pay
Slowvember
So, currently, I won't be releasing a new adventure in November. I'm currently hoping to get everything together for The Hall of the Red Earl to have it ready in December. Between my birthday, seeing my parents for the first time in almost two years, and having a lot of late toddler bedtimes, building time … Continue reading Slowvember
Skip week
I'm seeing my parents this weekend for the first time since February 2020. So I'm busy cleaning out the room I write in to make it a functional guestroom and not the place we store stuff.(By the time you read this, it will be too late and they'll be staying in the room. Hopefully it … Continue reading Skip week
Ideas for D&D using cryptids
OK, let's get the definition of cryptid out of the way first for those that don't know it:"an animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the yeti." So I recently saw call for writing/design collaboration around non-Eurocentric lines, and with an effort to focus on the writer/designer's own cultural mythology.I'm a … Continue reading Ideas for D&D using cryptids
RPG Adventure Writer’s Workshop Fall 2021
Last year, for the month of November, I took part in the RPG Adventure Writer's Workshop, hosted by what is now Storytelling Collective. It was a lot of fun, and I learnt a lot from it - and it's given me the chance to write some more things for other people to read. But I … Continue reading RPG Adventure Writer’s Workshop Fall 2021
Barok’s Miscellany of Dragonblood
Last week, I talked about old editions of D&D I'd been mining for ideas for my new product.On Wednesday, I published Barok's Miscellany of Dragonblood for $5 on DMsGuild. Let's take a look at what I ended up writing.The contents of the Miscellany are for both players and dungeon masters, with character options and monsters … Continue reading Barok’s Miscellany of Dragonblood
Revisiting old editions to mine for ideas
I've spent a little while recently going over some old books I have to mine them for publishable content, specifically (because October brings all sorts of dragon-y delights with Fizban's Treasury of Dragons) I've been looking at a lot of old dragon-based books: the dragon sections of old Monster Manuals, old Draconomicons, and the 3rd … Continue reading Revisiting old editions to mine for ideas
Longsaddle Gazetteer – a review
A recent release on the DMsGuild, the Longsaddle Gazetteer is a creation of Matthew Whitby, an accomplished guild writer and the host of the Dungeon Master's Guild House podcast / YouTube series (it's the same thing, but maybe you want to watch or just listen). By asking nicely, I was lucky enough to get a … Continue reading Longsaddle Gazetteer – a review
Creating a Feywild Domain
If you've missed it, Wizards of the Coast released an add-on for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight that allows you to create your own Domain of Delight following their guidelines. There are a lot of random tables, but overall it helped with some creative prompts for me. I pitched to a collection of domains that's … Continue reading Creating a Feywild Domain
Secret project review – Practical Guide to Being a Great GM
A few weeks ago I mentioned I was doing something hush hush. I can now reveal I was one of the readers going through a new book about GMing before it reached Kickstarter - which it now has. So, here's a sort of review of a project you haven't seen yet, a bit of an … Continue reading Secret project review – Practical Guide to Being a Great GM
More fey character options
A few afters after last week's post went live, I finally managed to publish my warlock patrons supplement Puckish Patrons (I updated the post when it went live, but here's the link again). And then, over the next few days, I published two more books. So here's the synopsis of the other two! The Grimalkin … Continue reading More fey character options
Fey character options
I've spent the last few days writing up some ideas I had for warlock patrons and a variant Tabaxi that are found in the Feywild. The Tabaxi variant, which I've called the Grimalkin (as many have before me), are a fey being with similar features to their normal Material Plane cousins, but with features also … Continue reading Fey character options
Adding to Fizban’s dragon lore
In October, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons will be published, giving more insights into official dragondom as Wizards of the Coasts wants it to be done. In preparation, I've started writing a short book of my own about those with dragon blood that were present in previous editions of D&D but haven't made an appearance yet. … Continue reading Adding to Fizban’s dragon lore
Adventurous Locale – The City of Sunsets
I'm trying to get a few new ideas written out and somewhere visible for people to give me feedback. This is the first one. Somewhere close to one of the Upper Planes of existence sits a strange and unnamed demiplane - a world sandwiched between two impenetrable stone disks. Around its edges slowly pass falling … Continue reading Adventurous Locale – The City of Sunsets
Tying ideas to upcoming products
Generally, the things I write for money stick with what I want to write at the time, and not with upcoming D&D products. The exception so far was Candlekeep Colleagues, which released the same week as Candlekeep Mysteries. (You could also make an argument that my latest product, Gathering: The Realms, fits in, since it … Continue reading Tying ideas to upcoming products
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