Mystamyr Gazette and Rumourmonger #1

Yes, I know that fantasy campaign worlds are generally pre-printing press and that this seems like a dumb name for a newsletter based on my fantasy game setting. But then, that just shows you don’t know enough about the history of Dungeons & Dragons to spot what I did there.

Welcome to the inaugural (and possibly the last) issue of the Mystamyr Gazette and Rumourmonger!

Here’s the headlines:

• Violence In Orrlaine! The Ten Thousand Go Militant!
• What No Blogging?! Explaining The Silence
• Getting Your S@&# Together: Discovering The AngryGM!
• New Contract Signed: Moonspike Tower Is Coming!

Violence In Orrlaine! The Ten Thousand Go Militant!

Events in the village of Orrlaine have taken a turn towards violence. Sounds of battle echoed across the village in the early hours of the morning and continue to be heard as three armed adventurers – two of them clearly displaying the symbols of the Temple of the Ten Thousand on their armour and shields – broke in the Temple. Reports are coming in of at least four fatalities and rumours abound that the young priestess of Galendaar Tamnaeuth has been murdered.

Following the arrival of the adventurers to the village, ostensibly to deliver a letter to Reeve Grover, these visitors have been spending a lot of time up at the Temple and poking around town. The owner of the Golden Grain Inn, Bertram Beswill, says that he had to enlist the help of several locals to oust these troublemakers from his establishment just three nights ago. Since then, the visitors have been linked with sightings near the old abandoned inn and with the untimely disappearance of Vilma Merridie, an elderly widow.

Despite the recent disappearance of several locals, not least of which was the village storekeeper’s daughter Cirilli Finla, Reeve Grover has always insisted that there was no funny business going on. With the arrival of outlanders wreaking terror and taking the law into their own hands, people are wondering what the authorities will do next.

What No Blogging?! Explaining The Silence

It has been a trying and testing time for me lately, a combination of increasing pressures at work (you know I’m a secondary school teacher, right?) and various distractions at home. On top of that, I’ve been through a pretty tough time in terms of my confidence as a gamer.

Last week’s silence is easy to explain: we’ve been away visiting family and I’ve not had much chance to sit down and write. Prior to that, however, I’ve been doing two things which have significantly helped to get me back into the saddle of being Games Master: firstly, I’ve been re-visiting the history of the hobby through the pages of Jon Peterson’s fascinating, “Playing At The World”; secondly, I’ve been spending time watching videos by Johnn Four and reading posts specifically about improving my adventure writing skills. In turn, this has led to me revisiting the WHOLE shebang of Games Mastering, from the ground up… on which more in a second.

Friday night was games night. We played the next part of “Against the Cult of the Reptile God” and I put a load of new stuff into action. It felt positive and the players seemed to make good progress in their adventure. At long last, it has given me something to write about.

Getting Your S@&# Together: Discovering The AngryGM!

I’ve been on Twitter for, like, ages. One of the first roleplaying personas I came across some years ago was The Angry GM… and, for some completely s@&# reason, I didn’t read any of his stuff. That changed on Tuesday afternoon when, while watching a video from Johnn Four’s Adventure Building Workshop which casually directed me to one of Angry’s articles, I decided to look him up. If you’re a Games Master, you need to look him up to.

I’ve been reading articles from the section entitled, “How to Run a F$&%ing Game“. No doubt (as Angry claims) some folk will f$&%ing hate his ideas… but I’ve found that he challenges me to think about and reconsider everything I thought I understood about roleplaying games. It’s not like EVERYTHING f$&%ing thing is gold, but a s@&#load of his words are awesome enough to recommend.

I’m deep into reading the stuff on “How to Write a F$&%ing Adventure” and showing no sign of letting up. Yes, he’s wordy as f$&% but he’s also sharing s@&# that makes sense. If you’re a GM, check it out.

New Contract Signed: Moonspike Tower Is Coming!

Anyone who enjoyed “The Terror of Ettinmarsh” (and why wouldn’t you?) will be delighted to hear that I’ve just signed a contract to produce the supporting adventure, “Moonspike Tower” for The Design Mechanism’s Classic Fantasy range.

The adventure details the mysterious tower that stands across Lake Mirrormere from Anminster. It’s a place of foreboding and rumours abound that the local trouble with Goblins is connected to that ancient site of evil. Of course, the module is also easily dropped into any campaign where you have room for a creepy evil-filled tower.

As ever, I’m deeply honoured to be invited to add to the Greymoor setting and further share my own province of Mystamyr with the wider hobby community.

Game on!