Why You Should Read The Mabinogion

This absolute banger of Welsh folklore is the second on my summer reading list:

If you are a fantasy gamer, here is why you should find yourself a copy.

1. Lots of Fantasy Game Items Are In Here

I've only read the first 3 tales, and already I've seen a Bag of Holding and a Black Cauldron (which supposedly inspired Disney's cult foray into dark fantasy of that name). There was also a giant iron house used to trap and kill a giant, a disappearing castle with a golden bowl that freezes anyone who touches it, as well as a horde of magical crop-eating mice and a shining white boar. I can't say I understand all of it, as there is a millennium between myself and the writers of these tales, but they are all compelling even to modern readers.

2. Lots of Fantasy Writers Were Inspired By It

Just reading The Mabinogion you can tell that it has provided inspiration to great fantasy authors. Especially important to me, Michael Moorcock based his Corum chronicles on Welsh mythology, and the scene of Corum being frozen by Arioch's heart was an echo of the Mabinogion's golden bowl that froze any who touched it. Ditto Elric's promise to return to Cymoril after a year, which is echoed in the many promises made between the lovers Pwyll and Rhiannon to reunite after 1 year when certain conditions are met. I am sure I'll find many other instances as I continue reading.

3. It Models Great Roleplaying and GMing

I find a lot of modern roleplaying gets bogged down in a slavish attention to either replicate the 'real world' or flatter the egos of players and GMs. Characters in The Mabinogion inhabit their worlds completely, and follow its internal, mythic logic.

In terms of roleplaying what is on your character sheet, the second tale, Branwyn the Daughter of Lyrr, models this excellently. When Branwyn's gigantic brother sails his fleet to Ireland to check up on his sister after hearing of her mistreatment, the simple (low INT) fisherfolk tell the Irish king "a wood we have seen upon the sea, in a place where we never yet saw a single tree... We saw, Lord, a vast mountain beside the wood, which moved, and there was a lofty ride atop the mountain, and a lake on each side of the ridge." The Irish king & his retainers are dumbfounded, and upon asking the wise Branwyn to decipher, she explains that the 'wood' are the masts of her brother's ships, and the mountain none other than her sibling, with the lakes being his gigantic eyes.

Just imagine how compelling would it be if GMs tailored all descriptions through the INT of those giving them?

Additionally, the magic items are not simple fire and forget technology with no downsides of many games. The Black Cauldron revives any dead on the same day, but they come back without the ability to speak. The Bag of Holding can only be used for a specific purpose, and let's just say that unless your are filling yours with mounds of meat and unwanted suitors, you not using it in a Mabinogion way.

Get A Copy For Your Appendix N

The original Appendix N referenced the fantasy literature that sprang from older works such as the Arthurian Chronicles and The Mabinogion. Why not take a step back to their folklore inspirations, and infuse your games with the ancient aura of Welsh mythology?

July 15th NUNA Quickstart & Free Preview

Hello friends,

Below is the announcement of the NUNA Quickstart launch I've posted on my gaming profiles.

TLDR Free preview (players characters) and 65 page Quickstart drop the 15th.

Please spread the word and watch here for updates.

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Atelihai (Hello)!

I'm Tedankhamen, I'm a Labrador NunatuKavut Inuit and I won the 2024 Chaosium RPG Design contest for my Inuit RPG, NUNA. I've always disliked the depiction of the Arctic as 'savage wasteland' in games and fiction so NUNA presents the Inuit as masters of a living north who have awe inspiring Cultural ablities. I am also saddened by infighting by Canada's Inuit groups, so this game is a love letter to Labrador and a wish for peace between the NunatuKavut and Nunatsiavut, the two groups of Inuit created by colonial policies of Canada.

The 65 page Quickstart rules will be available at DriveThru RPG on July 15th, so please spread the word and pick up a copy. There is also a free preview of the Player Characters, which include an Inuit Hunter and a Shaman Whisperer. The Quickstart has combat rules and the scenario The Silver Machine. I intend to publish the full Corebook, which includes Cultural abilities and rules for supporting Communities, by year end.

I have run playtests at Rain City Games here in Vancouver, and am talks to do a promotional event and distribute physical copies there.

Also, on my roleplaying blog I've been writing a review of Coyote & Crow that has gotten thousands of reads, so check it out (https://tomboftedankhamen.blogspot.com/) if you want to see what is great about decolonial gaming in general and Coyote & Crow specifically.

Nekumek!

NUNA Player Characters Free Preview

 Just submitted it to DriveThru.

Look for it and the PWYW Quickstart in 3 days!!

Now time for an ice cream with sonny.

PS Looking good.

NUNA Update - The return of whimsy, the start of the hardest part, and Elric's Secret Part four

The text of NUNA is filled with art, and once I finalize the cover, it will be ready to go. Some of the interior pictures are quite whimsical and I think whimsical art is kind of dwindling these days. Most modern RPG art is professional and pompous and overly self-important, so glad to give a bit of that old-school vibe back.

It has also been nice getting my drawing skills back. I can see things improve the more I draw. But I need to get into coloring and broader techniques at some point.

Now that the text is ready to go, the hard part begins.

I'm talking networking, promotion, beating the drum.

But I am excited for the challenge!

If anyone is interested, here is another installment in my Elric's Secret pastiche series.

Art & Life Advice

OK, Nuna text is finished. Just need to add a half dozen sketches at important points, redesign the covers, and it is off to the printer. I'll also have to get the gameshop launch party planned, as well as online sales set up.

But feels great to have come this far.

My whole life I have been called a Dreamer, but that is how I have made so many of my dreams come true.

I wanted to live in Japan. Spent 22 years there.

I wanted to be a professor. I got tenure in Japan, but quit to care for sonny.

I wanted to be a martial artist. I got blackbelt in karate, then won 2nd place in my city in Japan.

I wanted to learn Japanese. I taught myself to the JLPT level 1, the highest you can get.

I wanted to get my son out of Japan. Now we enjoy life in Vancouver.

I wanted to be a game designer. Now here I am.

In my life, people have mostly been supportive of my dreams. But there are always negative voices, and our inner voice often sides with them against our own dreams.

So I say to you, Dream big!

Don't listen to the naysayers.

Keep at it with incremental action.

And whatever dream you have, you can make it reality.

Nekmek!

First Character Complete

 

This was a detailed process of addition and modification. But I like how it turned out.

Time for a walk and a snack.

Skills might seem meager to modern players, but are made up for by Cultural abilities and impresses the need for cooperation and community instead of maxed out individuals.

NUNA Character sheet Sneak Peek

BRP character sheets have always staggered under the burden of all the information they have to hold. So with NUNA, I tried to simplify in three ways.

First, a sheet that helps with character generation so you don't have to look through the rulebook so much.

Next, a sheet that just asks you for the essentials.

Last, a sheet that is function over form. I would like to produce a creative or artistic sheet at some point, but bigger fish to fry at the moment.

ENJOY!