Mystic Bull November Indie RPG Newsletter

This month's newsletter includes this article as well as What's News in Gaming? and Gaming Inspiration.

Mind Spiders Attack! Art by JEShields (used with permission)

November is busy. Busy gaming, busy writing, busy dealing. I got some really good news on a big project I’m working on for next year (keeping it under my hat for the moment), but it’s taking my writing in a different direction, somewhat, and expanding our network of independent creators. So, welcome to our new indie RPG newsletter.

• Witch-Lords of Skull Mountain 2: Malkova Wilds. The Kickstarter is completed, but we’re still in pre-orders through December 1^st. If you missed out, jump on this one. It’s shaping up to be a great collaboration with some awesome artists, and I feel like the content will take your game in a darker direction.

• Angels, Daemons, and Beings Between 3. Shinobi27 (aka David Fisher) is finishing up delivery on the newest patron book for DCC RPG. David and I co-wrote this during the pandemic and he’s done a great job of producing the book. Go check out the KS page for further announcements on where you can pick this up.

• Witch-Lords of Skull Mountain #1. It’s still available directly from the site in the Kickstarter edition with the detachable cover and full-color map. Available in Shadowdark (PDF only; Physical version is sold out!), OSE, and DCC RPG game systems.

Improvisation Training

I’ve talked a lot about emergent gaming, which I define as the GM owns the world, the players own the story. The players, through their characters, want something, and the world is there to help or hinder them based on their actions, attitudes, and a little bit of random chance.

Being Batman is 100% Improvisational

I had some interesting experiences this month with pure improvisational gaming through Batman: the Final Rogue and a Trophy Gold game. I can’t say that I’m a convert to pure story gaming; I really believe the world in a game should be an entity distinct from the players and their characters. But, from that emergent gamemastering perspective, games that lean into (or are wholly made of) the story game genre really bring up your improvisational chops.

In the Batman game (discussed in the FlagCon report), we came up with 10 Batman villains (existing or completely made up). One of the players invented Condiment Man on the spot, which is simultaneously now a core DC villain in my headcanon and was perfect for the style of game we were playing (where also Kite Man showed up). The interactions between Condiment Man, Catwoman, Two-face, and other villains was absolute gold. And of course, as we faded to black, Condiment Man produced a small container of acidic mustard which ate through his handcuffs allowing him to escape.

So, I’m not saying I’m ready to cosplay Condiment Man and work on my acting chops, but my first well-refereed story game experience gave me ideas for making my worlds more emergent and adding more improvisational aspects to my sessions.