[From the Mailbag] Happy Monday Goodies!

I decided today that I need to sweep the leaves accumulated at the door of the Stronghold and clear some dust from my head. It's been a LONG time, relatively.

Changing careers at mid-life is difficult; it's even worse when dealing with depression and some medical issues as well. Walking away from 20 years of legal education/experience and deciding to go back to school and get a teaching certificate has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life.

Let's see: what else to catch up on? The 5E campaign was interesting, to say the least...except it died, badly. A DM trying to run two groups of 5 each. Other than my 35+ years, and the DM's experience (He's 20-something years old), NO ONE had ever played before. It devolved from every day, to every other day, to maybe once a week... Needless to say no one's made a peep since the first of June. So...I'm pretty sure it's dead.

Now to plug some new game stuff:

First of all: a shipment of goodies from the Manor. +Tim Shorts   can always be relied on to make a day better and to produce amazing stuff. Today's envelope of joy is no different.

• The Ghoul Nest: a laminated card with a great side adventure and a unique monster. I think I'll have to drop this into my family game. My kids don't face enough undead in their gaming.
• NPC Card: Blake, a 4th-level mage. A great resource, complete with stats and backstory.
• Death Coins: a Micro-Adventure. Comes complete with a great map, great magic items, and a compelling story. I can't wait to drop this one on my group; it's just enough—at face value—for a good night's worth of adventuring, but could be used as the basis for a much longer adventure or the kick-off for a campaign.

I would highly recommend signing up for Tim's Patreon campaign so that you can get this great stuff for yourselves: www.patreon.com/Gothridge. Go there. Now.

Wait...don't leave yet. Also in the mail was the fulfillment of a Kickstarter that I've greatly anticipated: Planet Mercenary Based on the webcomic "Schlock Mercenary" by Howard Tayler and set in that universe, it came with some great add-ons and looks ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. The ruleset was written by Alan Bahr and Howard Tayler.... I'll be honest...father-type stuff has kept me from cracking it open yet, so I can't give you a review yet. Knowing Alan's gaming cred with +Gallant Knight, and knowing his experience (most recently: "Tiny Frontiers" and "Tiny Frontiers: Mecha and Monsters"), I'm sure it's going to be terrific. It's already gotten some great reviews, including one from Steve Jackson.

And now, it's time for dinner, then settle down in the 100º-plus-temperatures to plan some characters' imminent demise.