Monday Musings #84 🤬

Prepping the Bye Week

Jan 27, 2025

“In any given Dungeon you're gonna live or you're gonna die. The point is - can you die well?” —Tony D'Amato, Killa DM.

It was mostly a prep week around here, but not without its highlights. During one of my birthday outings this weekend, I taught some non-gaming friends a lovely old card game called Lunch Money. It’s scrappy, chaotic fun with a lot of trash talk—perfect for killing time...and making new gamers! Looks like we’ll be diving into some “D&D” soon… LMAO! For those who celebrate… CHIEFS!!! 17-2!

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Off Week Black Sword Hack Prep

The Sunday BSH group had a bye week this time, and Monday's group had theirs last week. Both groups are back on track now, and I’ve been using that downtime to review and bolster my game notes. When sessions get canceled for reasons outside of my control, I like to take that extra time to revisit what’s happening at the table and sharpen the prep where needed. You know, I reject the idea of RPGs being about “story.” They’re games, first and foremost. However, as sessions unfold, a narrative is undoubtedly developed through play. And when I look back at the sessions so far, there “seems” to be a story or plot taking shape organically. It’s still unfolding as the dice fall, and at this point in the campaign, there are threads worth gardening as a GM.

For the Sunday BSH crew, it’s clear the players are laser-focused on finding Gideon and collecting the bounty on him. This happy accident of an event has become a major plot driver. So now, I’m weaving in as many character backgrounds and entanglements as I can to strengthen those connections. For example:

The tribe involved in this situation? Obviously tied to Bethany’s Northland Raiders.
The rival bounty hunters? They are definitely members of Anton’s former mercenary company.

Also, I started up the campaign’s first Rune weapon: A Naginata of Devouring Dust!!

For the Monday BSH group, I’m thinking about the transition into their second adventure. BSH uses “stories” or completed adventures as the unit of experience for leveling up, so I want this next step to feel meaningful while staying player-driven. The key will be tying the loose ends from the first adventure into the foundation of what’s coming next. I really like Aris, the Dream Fence, which was another happy accident of an NPC. So I'll create stronger roots for him, obviously by tying him to the Dream Thief.

Worlds Without Friction

I cracked open Worlds Without Number this week, intending to use it to flesh out the cities in my BSH campaigns. I’ve had good experiences with An Echo Resounding and Stars Without Number in the past for world-building, particularly for my West Marches games. But... WWN was a different story. For whatever reason, this time around, it felt like the book was fighting me. Too much friction. Maybe it’s me. I’m a year older and a little crankier, and I want what I want without having to wrestle for it. Right now, WWN feels like it has too much going on, and I’m not vibing with its structure as much as I did with its predecessors.

I’m not giving up just yet. I’m now toying with the idea of making an “I’m Too Old For This Shit” guide to WWN—something to streamline getting the most out of it quickly without the load I’m experiencing. Thankfully, Martin Ralya’s posts were recommended to me, and they’ve been incredibly helpful. Maybe it is me, after all!

Villains & Vigilantes: Nostalgia Incoming

I also dusted off my boxed set of Villains & Vigilantes this week. This is going to be another archeological dig as I figure out whether the game is as good as my nostalgia insists. I’m 80% sure we didn’t play it as written when we were kids. The whole “stat yourself as a character” thing? Yeah, we definitely ignored that. We just wanted to make cool superheroes and punch stuff. I hope to record some podcast sessions as I dive into this relic. We’ll see if it holds up.