Halfling's Hoard

GRANDAUNT NGENG WILL NOT MARRY

Ngeng ap Ten was no grandaunt then—her breasts stood high, her arms were masts, her hair flowed like the night breeze freely.

And like all young chieftesses she was quick to folly. She would not flee from a fight. She looked at the Zum King, saw his soft belly, his pale lips. She judged that she could not lose. She would have been right.

She kissed her spear and said: “I accept your challenge, o king. Should I win you will never seek me again, and live in peace always.”

He pointed his sword and said: “I accept your terms, o queen. Should I win you will give me your hand, and rule with me in splendor now and ever.”

Ngeng ap Ten laughed aloud and answered: “Never!”

She was no grandaunt then—her eyes glared fire, her fists were mallets, and her hair swirled like a storm approaching.

Spear haft sang, spear point shrieked. But though the Zum King was slow, unskilled, she found she could not fight him. Her thrusts were forced away. Her slashes she threw aside. She found she would not spill his blood.

She dropped her spear and said: “Calumny! Treachery. My own right hand betrays me!”

He sheathed his sword and said: “I am a son of the gods of heaven. No mortal arm may hurt a star.”

The Zum King offered her his open palm and said: “Come!”

Ngeng ap Ten was no grandaunt then—her heart beat steady, her brow an unbowed arch, her hair hung still like a veil never to be parted.

With her left hand she seized his sword. With his sword she severed her right arm at the elbow. This she offered to him, in accordance to his terms. He asked for her hand, if he won. It was her hand that she gave him.

Thus the Zum King, who thought to trick Ngeng ap Ten, was tricked in turn, and went home to his city with a wife he could not marry.

So it has been to this day: that the kings of Zum rule palace and markets with an arm now bone as their scepter. Thus Ngeng ap Ten, who thought to best her enemies with might, learned guile instead, and paid a limb for wisdom.

So it has been to this day: that she is our Grandaunt Ngeng, living ever free and alone in the heart of the wood.

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This is a self-congratulatory post.

The above fable is part of an adventure I have just I have finished writing, for the Cairn 2E Boxed Set. The adventure itself is titled: A Tide Returning.

It is now in layout, and will receive proper art and cartography by proper artists. (These sketches are my own personal studies.)

Of late I have been doing poorly, mental- and emotional-health-wise---so it is a wonder I finished anything at all. I am glad I finished A Tide Returning. I am pretty proud of it.

A little shy, because it retreads the same general themes as a lot of my past work---the mangrove setting; colonial-capitalist violence done to a people and landscape.

Am rationalising the above worry thusly:

I have now written a trilogy of TTRPG adventures, set at the beginning (Lorn Song Of The Bachelor), middle (A Tide Returning), and end (Spy In The House Of Eth) of a settler-colonial project. Taken together, they make the point that:

Colonial projects are long-term, violent throughout, and an evil not simply halted by the defeat any single Big Bad.

But also that:

Resistance is as long, and as tenacious, and righteous action is its own victory.

Thank you Yochai for letting me write this thing.

If tabletop roleplaying games were a hydra, blogs would definitely be one of its heads.

Probably the smartest, zaniest one? The one with the unexpected ideas; the silliest quips; the most devious schemes; the most profound observations.

The OSR / post-OSR style of play arose on blogs. I was inspired to make roleplaying games because of a blog post (this one, by Patrick Stuart, specifically).

Beyond the actual playing of games with friends, blogs are the most important part of TTRPGs, to me.

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Last year, Prismatic Wasteland hosted the inaugural Bloggies.

64 excellent posts from across the TTRPG blogosphere were considered. A celebration of our community, our psychic brain-trust---the many heads of this, our TTRPG beast.

All the nominees are worth perusing. Winners list here.

My post, "D&D's Obsession With Taxonomy", won Best Blog Post of 2022. (Thank you, everybody who voted!)

Because I won, it falls to me to host this year's Bloggies.

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Nominations are now open for the BLOGGIES 2023!

Is there a blogpost about TTRPGs from the past year (December 2022 to December 2023) that you think deserves attention and recognition?

Tell me about it! Drop a link to it, tell me why you like it, tell me which category it falls under:

Theory---broad criticism, observation, and analysis about TTRPGs (its cultures, its aesthetics and texts, its politics, etc);

Gameable---cool stuff (monsters, subsystems, bits of design, etc) you could grab and add to your own games;

Advice---ideas, tricks, and procedures for making your games better / easier / more fun, basically adding to the play-culture;

Review---specific criticism of specific books / games / systems / adventures / products.

Drop your nominations in the comments below, or in this Xwitter thread, or wherever else you can get in touch with me on the Internet. Do this before the end of 31 December 2023.

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How BLOGGIES 2023 Will Work

Here's how I am thinking of running things:

25 Dec 2023 - 31 Dec 2023: Nominations open!

1 Jan 2024: Nominees shortlist announced!

First week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Theory Post!

Second week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Gameable Post!

Third week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Advice Post!

Fourth week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Review Post!

First week Feb 2024: Final round of voting for Best Blog Post Of 2023!

"Imperfection is a feature, not a bug, of blogging," as Warren said about the Bloggies, last year. I am but a single person. I will be copying much of his methodology.

I will be whittling down the nominations I receive to a shortlist of 64 posts (16 per category bracket), via personal judgment. No blog will be represented more than once per category---except for reviews (3 posts per blog).

Public voting for each category will happen in four rounds (16 / 8 / 4 / finals). Winners in each category will face off in a four-way vote for Best Blog Post.

Voting will most likely happen on Twitter, same as last year. (I am loathe to do this, but Twitter is still the social-media network most TTRPG people are on, sadly. But am also considering Google Forms. Thoughts?)

Month-long voting gives us the space to celebrate / argue over all the work our community has turned out this year---and gives me time to create prizes. (Am thinking of making linocut prints, inspired by the winning posts.)

Finals being announced in February just before the Lunar New Year justifies the header art above---as the Year of the Rabbit gives way to the Year of the Dragon.

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Mucking around with a starship sheet partly inspired by Starfield. But also inspired by every piece of space opera fiction I've ever seen.

Mucking around with a starship sheet partly inspired by Starfield. But also inspired by every piece of space opera fiction I've ever seen.

because they can't help but commission AI art, which is now apparently being reworked because - rightly - everyone is very pissed about it.

so I made this, I have a feeling we'll get a lot of use out of it: