Want To Play Stormbringer? Come join the Retrospective.

 I made a thing.

This could be YOU!

Specifically, a Facebook page called the Stormbringer Retrospective where you can sign up to find people around the world who want to run or play the old Chaosium Eternal Champion games.

Here is the blurb I posted on the Stormbringer / Elric FB page:

"Greetings!

Here is the pitch.

Anyone wishing to GM chooses an adventure they've always wanted to run and announces it here. GM's choice of ruleset and timezone.

(Note I wrote Stormbringer Redux, a massive exploration of the 1E old rules with lots of clarifications & houserules on my blog Tomb of Tedankhamen . Feel free to steal from it. The only suggestion I'd make for all games is Hit Points could be CON + SIZ to increase hero survivability and my shield expansion, but as I said, it is all GM choice)

People interested in playing contact the GM. I imagine most games will be online, but we might have a miracle face to face game. DO NOT PLAY AN ADVENTURE YOU KNOW WELL. Try to come to the game with fresh eyes and not spoil the surprises for others.

As for the adventures, GMs are expected to Moorcock up their stories, adding weird or wistful touches, connecting to the Elric stories, etc. See my post A Moorcockean Bestiary on my blog for ideas. No D&D games in Moorcock's worlds. Also, groups should try to use ALL the mechanics - the Elan system, demons & virtues, etc - just squeeze as much juice as you can out of it.

I would like to run the original Stormbringer 1E sample adventure, the terrible Tower of Ykrath Florn. I have warped it out of all recognition with my crazy ideas and Moorcockean touches, so anyone is welcome to join. I am on Vancouver time, and when I get 4+ players I'll post details.

If this project interests you, please get a game together and let's get the dice rolling!

Play reports and videos very welcome!
Blood & souls for Mr Moorcock!"

The link to join is HERE.

Guest Lecture at University

Tomorrow (Thursday November 5th) I will be giving a guest lecture on indigenous representation in Canadian media and my RPG, NUNA.

Should be fun. I was a media studies instructor for 5 years in Japan, funnest job I ever had.

Great solo creator advice

I've been watching Luke Humphris ads for his indie RPGs and I am impressed.

Game look A+

Interesting concept A++

Like Seven Party Pact and Sword World, contains lots of extras (gameboard, stand ups, even an RV), so I figure this is the way of the future.

He is also a font of great advice for solo creators.

His thoughts are HERE

(Or link below)

 https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EdgpnLSUZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The Riddle of Audience Engagement

So, I have always had issues with audience engagement.

I started this blog for me, and proposed NUNA largely for myself, not expecting to win.

During the Kickstarter, I did socials religiously and it was exhausting. A mailing list was touted as THE thing to have, yet mine never gained any traction.

I ran Meta ads for a while, and got a half dozen great responses on the Nuna FB page with lots of great advice.

At the university, I've been given two assistants, one of whom suggests I need to do a social media cross post blitz everday!

Uh, no.

If I do that, who writes the game? Who runs it? Who feeds my son?

This is what I think of social media.

It can suck you dry if you let it.

I like this outdated blog the best. Zak S once called it something like a throwback to the 90's. I'm cool with that.

Discord is exhausting with all the conversations and notifications.

I've long since quit Twitter.

BlueSky is pleasant, and I go there to chill once a month maybe.

FB is a dumpster fire that I keep just to stay in contact with friends and family, and spread updates on my Nuna page, but otherwise it is a huge trap of doomscrolling and triggering content.

I did Japanese lessons on YouTube for a while some years back, and between filming and editing, it was a chore.

I get enough emails as it stands without starting a dedicated mailing list.

So when NUNA is done-done, I'll put it back on Kickstarter for free buzz, and see where it goes. I'll have copies printed by then, so can fulfill expectations and also sell online. Also will have digital and POD versions on DriveThru.

One thing that this art residency is teaching me is that the slow way is the living way.

Still, I miss connecting and interacting with people. If anyone has suggestions on how I could build and interact with community at my own pace, I am all ears. Until then, I'll just keep doing what I am doing, just with more support than I ever had before.

Thanks for listening.

NUNA Devlog Update Oct 29, 2026

Writing an RPG by your lonesome is a momentous endeavour, but I feel now that I am in the end stage, or at least late mid stage. I've been showing up every day and putting in the effort, so things are starting to come into shape.

Right now I am taking the Quickstart, splitting each section into its own Google doc, and expanding the rules so they are complete.

Next I have to take incomplete sections (Gear, Weather, Travel), write and playtest them. The university wants me to do an event in February, should be a blast.

I am also finding useful old posts from this blog, such as on social skills, and adding and adapting them.

I am also going back over Kickstarter posts to expand and clarify the lore.

I'm rereading the BRP gold book, but honestly there isn't much there for a post apocalyptic arctic setting, and a lot of the rule changes I proposed during the Kickstarter will be NUNA specific.

This won't be your normal BRP game.

This artist residency has been a godsend and I am thankful everyday for the opportunity and support.

I'll be taking a break late December, and hoping to finish and print the game by my birthday in February. I'm also starting some roleplaying just to relax and de-stress.

I've been doing art everyday as a habit and my skills are coming back. Here is a pic of sonny.

Nakkumek!

NUNA Devblog - Cultural Abilities

Here is an old version of the Cultural Abilities list.

Basically, these are non-magical abilities that reflect the skills you get living your life in a cultural role.

(The exception is Shaman Whisperer, which is connected to the supernatural trying to get back into our world).

I find most Feats or Abilities or what have you are rendered meaningless by combat optimization. In NUNA, there are three categories of abilities - Combat, Survival, and Caregiving. This reflects the fact that in the Arctic, combat is not the end all and be all, but that surviving in the environment and caring for other people is equally, if not more, important.

Enjoy thinking about these!

NORTH INUIT

COMBAT

Arctic Predator (Hunter)

Shaman Voice (Shaman)

Blade Expert (Healer)

SURVIVAL

Weather Sense (All)

Tundra Eyes (Hunter)

Immobility (Hunter)

Mystic Sense (Shaman only)

Whispers of the Dead (Shaman only)

Food Healing (Healer)

CAREGIVING

Ice Shelter (Hunter)

Food Provider (Hunter)

Healing Herbs (Healer)

Slow Thawing (Healer)

Dream Cure (Shaman Whisperer)

SOUTH INUIT

COMBAT

Rifleman (Trapper)

Weapon Modification (Tinkerer)

Unique Armament (Knowledge Keeper)

SURVIVAL

Traplines (Trapper)

Forest Eyes (Trapper)

Animal Ways (Knowledge Keeper)

Plant Ways (Knowledge Keeper)

Small Engine Repair (Tinkerer)

CAREGIVING

Slow Thawing (Trapper)

Healing Herbs (Knowledge Keeper)

Guiding Story (Knowledge Keeper) 

Small Engine Repair ( Tinkerer)

RIGGER

COMBAT

(All) Heirloom Weapon

(All) Improvised Arms

(Roughneck) Gun Slinger

(Whaler) Monster Slayer

(Engineer) Heavy Gunner

SURVIVAL

(Roughneck) Soak Pain

(Whaler) Ice Blood

(Engineer) Jury Rig

CAREGIVING

(Roughneck) Bodyguard

(Whaler) Warming Kiss

(Engineer) Med Tech

Viking

COMBAT

(All) Heirloom Weapon

(Berserker) Weapon Breaker

(Berserker) Human Weapon

(Valkyrie) Gun Fu

(Skald) Battle Hymn

(Smith) Hammer Wielder

SURVIVAL

(Berserker) Pain Soak.

(Valkyrie) Armor Flash

(Skald) Song of Full Bellies

(Smith) Fire Skin

CAREGIVING

(Berserker) Bone Setting

(Valkyrie) Warrior Death Dirge

(Skald) Song of Pain Ease

(Smith) Cauterize

NEW SCIENTISTS

COMBAT

Science Weapon

Pressure Points

SURVIVAL

Stasis

Pain Mitigation

Call of the Void

CAREGIVING

Healing Tech

Food Replication

Sword World & What Is An RPG?

 So this ad for the English edition of Sword World has been slamming my Facebook:

What is best in business?
To crush Backerkit,
 to see other FRPGs driven before you,
 and to hear the lamentations of gamer wallets.

Just like the Seven Part Pact, this really stretches the definition of what an RPG is. The ad picture has books, a book case, cards, special dice with trays, art prints, and plushies. It seems to be 50/50 playable game and art collection.

To be fair, if anyone can do it with the right attention to detail, it is Japanese creators.

But the whole 'kitchen sink' approach to crowdfunded RPGs has got me thinking - what exactly IS an RPG?

Let's do a little flashback.

RPGs At The Start of the Hobby

All you got were a book and some dice. This is the bare minimum of what you need.

Then came minis, useful but not necessary. This was followed by gameboards and dice towers. As these extensions proliferated, gameplay became more like a boardgame, with smaller battlefields and a higher financial buy in. Roll20 has brought all this online, saving your shelfspace but not your pocket book.

The big difference for me is, back in the day, we bought a game to PLAY it, not just COLLECT it. More and more games are collector's items, and the Seven Part Pact makes you wonder is it even playable? Could you figure it out, and could you get 6 people together for enough time to give it a fair shake?

I dunno.

I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, but my platonic RPG ideal is gamebook + dice, pencil, paper, Pringles and let's roll.

What Is Sword World Like?

I had Sword World 1.0 and 2.0 in Japanese. It reads like a math text. You roll 2D6 plus mods (from classes that act like skills if I recall), then refer to a Results Table so long you had to unfold it.

I had 2.0. They doubled the artwork (including cute rabbit characters), but still very mathey.

Aside from the charts, it is no worse than say Barbarians of Lemuria.

Is It Worth It?

If you have money and shelf space, why not? I'll be giving it a pass, might just pick up 2.0 again next time I visit Japan. Second hand shops are lined with them.

Is it playable?

Japanese people I knew played it for years and liked it better than D&D, which has always trailed behind Call of Cthulhu in Japan. Is this pride in a homegrown RPG, or is it really better? From the art and what I recall of the rulebooks I read, it is closer to Final Fantasy with mechs and artificers, so seems to have popular appeal.

But honestly I dunno.

The FRPG space is totally flooded with competing and indistinguishable games, and has been since the OSR started. Maybe this is the shake up it needs.