The Dread Machine
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Summer Progress Update
🕑 Added 2024-08-12 15:50:19 +0000 UTCHey friends! Despite my kids being home and our kitchen being under construction, this summer has been extremely productive. Here's what I have going on right now:
1.) After two weeks of waiting, Plane is finally being processed at Ingram. Hopefully, I'll be able to order our first proofs this week, so the print-and-play PDF can be released by September. It ended up becoming a huge book. At 160 pages, it's massive by solo TTRPG standards. The add-ons came in two weeks ago, and I love them.
2.) The Welcome Wagon, a series of small RPGs based around the concept of moving to a new town, are going into formatting this month—at least, the games that are done being drafted are. Nate (Nathaniel Lee) and I have both finished ours. Kanishk (Kanishk Tantia) and Tim (Timothy Burkhardt) are both dragging ass, because they have "real life" stuff to do or whatever, lol.
3.) My kids are finally going back to school soon. I'm counting down the days. I think I'll be suspending the Patreon and focusing on Kickstarter each summer. I can't keep up with their activities, plus work, plus managing whatever project our group is doing, lol. Next year, expect this page to be suspended from June through August.
4.) I somehow became an embroidery artist this year. I'm currently working on a collection of museum-quality pieces reflecting the Millennial experience. My first is this Tetris-style design. I'll be sharing updates on those projects here too, because I have no good reason not to, and I've been really surprised by the number of Kickstarter backers who have actually enjoyed learning about all of these things I considered too boring or fringe to share.
5.) I'm working on the second edition of my first book. And I'm praying I don't die before it's finished, because the first edition, written by 20-something-year-old-me, is so full of cringe and I hate it. I don't want to rewrite it, but I refuse to let it be part of my legacy, lol.
6.) I may not be getting a real job after all. Next month, I'm flying to San Diego to deliver a speech at the company's employee retreat. I have no idea what to expect. I have no idea where I stand as a candidate or even if I'm being considered anymore.
After months of applying for jobs, tracking those applications in a spreadsheet, and realizing that the job market is a complete fabrication, I'm done trying. If this position doesn't work out, I'm giving up on being a normal adult and resigning myself to a life of self-employment.
How is the job market a complete fabrication? Let me tell you of my super fun experiences over the last—checks calendar—eight months of job hunting.
I tend to apply for positions with large pro-beauty companies (L'Oréal, Aveda, Paul Mitchell, etc.). Most require creating profiles and importing your data into their talent portal. Because I'm applying for mid- and senior-level positions, this is time-consuming and obnoxious. I hate it.
After two months of this, I thought, "Maybe I'm shooting too high" and decided to lower my standards and started applying to entry-level positions, just to see if I had a better chance of getting an interview. Still nothing.
Then, I started noticing patterns on my spreadsheet. Job ads disappear from LinkedIn, yet there are no posts announcing new hires. Soon after it's taken down, the same ad for the same position from the same company reappears.
I couldn't believe it. How is it possible that, out of 3,000+ applicants, these companies couldn't find one suitable candidate?
I suspected something weird was going on, and then all the articles came out about "ghost jobs." Companies are posting openings they don't intend to fill. They're either using the post to gather data (my inbox is being hammered by promotional emails from these fucks), or they're posting to give overburdened employees the impression that they're trying to hire help.
So, I've had enough of that. I'd rather be broke than play that particular game. I'd rather spend my time working on actual games.
The Welcome Wagon
Speaking of actual games...
The Welcome Wagon currently contains The Night It Went Down by Nathaniel Lee and Home Sweet Home by me. I haven't decided whether we'll bring this project to Kickstarter yet. I'm inclined to do so, because the Plane campaign went so well, and honestly, when you work (mostly) alone, it's so nice to have a community to share stuff with each week. The text is done, so I'll be working on the layout and sharing that work here each Tuesday. This time around, I'll be doing the art for my game (Home Sweet Home) myself...because I'm broke and can't afford an actual artist, lol.
The Night It Went Down is a solo-journaling RPG about a legendary brawl in a small-town bar, a night that everyone in town remembers. No one is entirely clear on how it started or what everyone was fighting about; in many ways, it was a different fight for every participant.
Objects got broken. People got hurt. Relationships were forged and shattered in an instant. It was a white-hot, anything-goes, epic, disastrous adrenaline shot of a night.
You were there.
This was your fight.
Home Sweet Home is a solo RPG where players must embroider (or draw) the floor plan of their new home by interpreting a set of story prompts about the home's prior occupants.
You have purchased a new home! Congrats! To commemorate the occasion, you're breaking out your craft supplies to create a simple art piece, something traditional with a modern twist—an embroidered map of the house's floor plan, embellished with colorful accents.
This project will take time, which is just perfect. It will give you a chance to get to know your new home, to feel what it's like to walk its halls and sleep under its roof. You'll be spending the week unpacking your moving boxes and cleaning out the attic and the basement, both of which contain fascinating items the prior owners left behind.
Maybe, if you’re feeling brave, you'll peel back the old wallpaper and see what's underneath.
Other Stuff
I'd like to start geeking out more about the obscure indie treasures I find. While I was working myself to death on Plane, some of the Kickstarter projects I backed came in, and I've been too busy to play them!
Here are the projects I've backed this summer and their current statuses:
ARRIVED: Carved by the Garden by Cassi Mothwin
ARRIVED: Eat the Reich by Rowan, Rook, and Decard
ARRIVED: Outliers by Samatha Leigh
ARRIVED: Godspark by M. Allen Hall
ON THE WAY: Two-Hand Path by Mikey Hamm
IN PRODUCTION: The Magus & The Oracle by Oscar Biffi
IN PRODUCTION: Don't Play This Game by Charlie Menzies
IN PRODUCTION: Community Radio by Thoughtcrime Games
IN PRODUCTION: Dreadfarer by NeonRot
IN PRODUCTION: Astroprisma by Crescent Chimera
IN PRODUCTION: The Darkness at the Brink of Ohio by Game And A Curry
As if those weren't enough, I also purchased the Solo But Not Alone bundle again this year, adding over 100 single-player RPGs to my already bloated library.
I don't really have anyone to share this nerdy stuff with, so I fully plan to dump all my fangirling here. Other people are making some really cool things that aren't getting nearly as much recognition as they should be.
Thanks so much for being here!
