Welcome to the liminal space between Christmas and New Year! The perfect time to look back at the year that was, and take stock of where the world is heading. Actually, that sounds really depressing. Let’s just talk about games instead.

What’s Been Released

My big release of the last few months is Alteregomania, my anti-superhero setting for GUMSHOE 1-2-1. Here are my designer’s notes discussing what a fun project this was to work on! Hopefully I’ll get to do more 1-2-1 settings in the future.

I also contributed to a couple of Warhammer releases that came out in the last month. I wrote the Ships of the Fleet lore chapter for the Wrath & Glory Starter Set, which provides a bit more detail about the voidship armada which is key to that game’s setting. And I wrote Legitimate Business Enterprises for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Archives of the Empire 3, which provides rules and ideas for running a business during periods of downtime between adventures. Both of these were gigs I submitted way back in summer 2021, so it’s a lovely treat to see them out in the wild!

Where I’ve Been

For this year’s Dragonmeet, I did something I’ve never done before: work a booth in the trader’s hall. I was sharing a table with a bunch of folks from the London Tabletop Industry Network group, presenting a diverse array of RPGs and RPG-related materials. I was selling ashcans of LadyBeaste, Crying Wolf, and Golden Eggs. It went… ok? I don’t really have much to compare it to! I sold a bunch of games, which was lovely; but I printed way more than I needed, so I’ve not quite broken even yet. Guess I’ll be taking the rest to sell at the UK Games Expo!

(Incidentally, if you know me and want physical copies of my games, hit me up. I’m not setting up an online store or anything, but trading face-to-face shouldn’t be a problem.)

Because I was sharing the stall with other people, I also got plenty of time to explore the con, meet up with peers, attend a seminar, etc. No time to play games this year though! The sacrifices we make on the altar of professionalism…

What I’m Reading

A tricky thing about turning a hobby into a job is the danger of never switching off from work. So I made a determined effort not to read or write or play any RPGs whilst off on my Christmas holidays. I held to this – mostly – which gave me time to (nearly) finish Dracula Daily, and (actually) finish Inside Black Mirror. So now I’m desperate to play The Dracula Dossier and a Black Mirror game, obviously.

What I’m Looking Forward To

2023 looks like it could be a really exciting year for me. Some of the projects I’m in discussions to do would be absolute career highlights, if I can actually manage to make them happen. Less cryptically, I have a big catalogue of Warhammer gigs that haven’t come out yet (Imperium Maledictum, anyone?), not to mention the long-awaited release of One More Quest. I guess I remain the luckiest person I know, because 2022 was a really great year for me, and 2023 looks like it will be even better!