What. A. Month.
Crescent B/X is now digitally available and mailingly shipping to patrons through the usual swarm of bat-like beings otherwise known as the postal service.
With this drop I pushed the limits of what could be accomplished with such a limited format. Coming at six pages, B/X’s extra-light ruleset gives you just the right amount of direction to get you started, while the supporting material comes through Whychwood Fair—Michael Pelletier’s excellent take on an adventure format—, and the play-ready character sheets, which also double as bookmarks.
In case you missed it…
I tabled at CONTACTO + had the 1st game launch party!
These two events came together into a sort of a fun-and-also-hellish-72-hours. Each was rewarding for its own reasons: The launch party was an experiment where I tried to invite people from the up-and-coming Discord community to come play the newest Hedgemaze Mail. Over the course of the week I got to meet some folks that way. Not only did it go well, it also made my heart rather fuzzy. A lot of this work is solitary and isolating, so actually getting to know people from the other side who both like my work, support it, and are great very fun smart humans was humbling. It’s something I’ll definitely be doing again.
I envision the maze as growing into something that not only covers my work, but can blossom into a welcoming space to talk and play story-forward games. If you’d like to join (you have to be nice !) feel free to do so at https://discord.gg/pxVpM9vj3d.
On the other hand, over at Lisbon’s SFF convention it remained a challenge to overcome the barrier of a lot of people having no idea what games are (a painful counterbalance to my teary-eyed meetup with my core audience) but it still felt valuable to meet people at the edges of this medium. Plus, I actually made some friends and potential playmates! The jury’s still out on whether it’s worth it. I may do it again.
Weird Little Guy Contest
From now until May 15th, submissions are open for the Weird Little Guy contest: An open call where you're invited to create a Crescent B/X character in the spirit of the ones that come with the game. To participate, go to my website, download the blank character sheet, and send it my way via instagram DMs or the submission channel over at the discord. The weirdest little guy will have their likeness illustrated into a portrait by me! And if there are enough submissions, we may compile them into a wee zine and put it up on itch as a free supplement.
And on a final, personal note
Golly do I need to finish Exiles and CM2E. Like for the love of god I actually need to finish these games. So far in 2023 I’ve been exercising kindness towards myself, my circumstances, and my capacity: Turns out juggling contract work with casually trying to build a full-time business while also navigating my “guess I’m actually an adult now” crisis isn’t the best environment to write, illustrate, manufacture, and distribute two thousand books worldwide.
Yet, I need to finish the damn books! People are getting mad at me on the internet! It could also help with money! I’m not sharing this to make excuses. Rather, this is a wake up call to myself. An ember to rekindle just the right amount of delusion that tricks me into once more tackling a seemingly insurmountable task. Many new projects begin to lurk near the surface of my subconscious, while my personal circumstances impatiently shift their weight from one feet to the other, eager to spring forth into new directions. Yet, amidst the chaos of all this energy, I ought to find the calm to untie this knot once and for all, strand by strand.
If you sail similar waters at the present time, I hope you also manage to find that temperance within yourself.