[From the Mailbag] MYTHOARD!

I just received the inaugural Mythoard package/bundle in the mail today. Great stuff. Really great stuff. Talk about an early Christmas; my wife suggested I leave it under the tree for a week.

Pshaw.

The first thing I saw coming out of the envelope was a poster of two baby phoenixes, courtesy of Baby Bestiary.

Next out was a book: 10+ Treasures by David Guyll & Melissa Fisher, published by Awful Good Games. Designed for Dungeon World, at first glance, most--if not all--of these items are easily translated to any OSR or 3.x version of that one RPG. Not only does the book come with 30+ detailed treasure items, there's also a section that walks through item creation, and the theory behind it. Excellent stuff.

Then there was a postcard from the incomparable Jim Magnusson. This postcard features the Mushroom King. As one of Jim's Patreons, I already received a copy of this; however, one can never have too many--it just means another framed piece of art for my office. (Let my clients figure THAT out.)

Also included was a pack of Blue Dungeon Tiles by Red Kobold. I didn't have the chance to support these when they came up on Kickstarter, as I was low on funds. I wish I'd made the effort; these look GREAT. They're double-sided, usable with wet-erase, dry-erase, or permanent markers. 4x4 grids of corridors, rooms, and stairways. I'll definitely be saving up to grow my collection of these babies.

Last, but not least, Tim Shorts' Mythoard Exclusive labor of love: Stone Fields of Azoroth. Three separate books outline the environs: The village of Bad Water, the Last Temple of Praxus, and the Prison of Azoroth. Each one comes chock-full of NPCs, flavor, and maps. Everything you've come to expect from Tim, and more. You won't be disappointed. Well, I guess you will...unless you were one of the subscribers to Mythoard.

Then, down in the bottom corner of the envelope were three little beauties. A random d20 and two random d6. Ain't they purty? They wanted to get photographed just as soon as they came out of the wrapping. As you know, I can never have too many dice. These will cap off my 2014 fairly well.

Thanks to Jarrod Shaw as well as Kevin Chenevert and all the other contributors. My day has been made! If you haven't already checked out Mythoard, do it now. Sign up. Well, as long as you don't take MY bundle.

Obligatory Apology Filler Post

My head seems to be spinning around non-stop lately.

I just realized how long it's been since I've actually posted anything here. And, yes, I know that I post one of these apology posts every so often; but heck, we all do, don't we?

Just to let you know what's been going on, at least, as much as I can at this point:

Work: Everyone here at the firm is soundly convinced that we will be unemployed before Christmas. I've been working and struggling to find some other options that will help me keep my kids fed and my wife's gas tank filled.

Finances: See above. There's a grundle of cool gaming stuff that I really want to shell out for--from dice made from rare, exotic woods to limited edition reprints of books I already have. Unfortunately, the "other options" I'm investigating don't really leave a lot of discretionary income. There's still a bit out there, but not much.

Health: I've been undergoing some really weird health issues. I don't think they're anything too serious, but the chronic nature of them is getting me a bit worried. However, thanks to over-regulation of the insurance industry (as well as a few pre-existing conditions), we had to cancel our family health insurance plan a couple years ago. Even with insurance, we weren't the type to run to the doctor for every sniffle and ache; now it's gotta be really serious to go to that waiting room. And frankly, no...I don't want my government to give me health care and no...health care is NOT going to get any easier around here any time soon. But that's a post for a different blog.

Family: I've got a teenager failing classes; she's a Junior in high school and we're not sure what the problem might be. She's smart--insanely so. I'm proud of her, but feel like we're pulling our hair out to try to help her succeed. I've got a Boy Scout now as well as a Cub Scout; merit badges and pinewood derby cars take a lot of time. I have an aged mother who I'm trying to help finalize the purchase of a headstone for my late father; the problems and follow-up come because the purchase was made from a monument company that now, apparently, is suffering huge financial issues itself, which tends to make me worry that we'll never actually SEE the stone. Add to that a Christmas letter or two that has to be drafted, as well as stuff for our Church....

Church: I won't even go into the time that my position with the Church requires.

Gaming: The group hasn't gotten together for over a month, now. The campaign is in the last chapter, but seems to have stagnated. There's been some odd things happen--weird dynamics and all--with the group that we're still trying to smooth over and put behind us. Nothing serious, but it took its toll. Even the PBEM I've been running with a friend has been on hold since August.

There's more that I could share, but I'm fairly certain I've lost most of my readers at this point to the [NEXT BLOG] button up on the top of the page. Suffice it to say that in my spare time I'm still noodling things out. Maps are still being doodled. NPC backgrounds are still being thunk up. And just this week I've realized that there are still a few things left undone from the 2011 OSR September Challenge--a few NPCs that need stats and I'm working on a template to put together a PDF of the entire month's creations. Again: I just need to find the time to put the stuff on paper. I'll be here and there, posting as time and creativity permits. I'm really hoping that life settles down a bit after the New Year.

Of course, I believe that I think--and say--the same thing EVERY December.

Sigh.

Keep your dice dry, my friends.

Holiday Wishes

Just thought I'd take a chance to tell all my friends and readers out there:
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas or replacement-holiday of your choice.

Here's hoping that we all have a better 2012 than our individual and collective 2011. May we all be prosperous and find plenty of time and places to game.

In short, I'm wishing the entire gaming blogosphere a Happy Monty-Haulidays.