December Come on Chilly Winds...
Hello all and welcome to the first official posting here on Substack. In some ways November was slow, but busy in others!
On the Channel
On the Youtube channel we released a number of new Videos in recent weeks that may peak your interest. Links to the videos are in the buttons below.
First we have have a dive into the letter-writing solo game Ghostbox by Marx Shepherd. Basing solo games around a variations of solitaire has always been a fascinating concept to me, so it was interesting to check this one out!
Next, we had the first in an experiment where I create companion episodes to a Korean Historical Drama (sageuk). I decided to start with the first episode of Poong - The Joseon Psychiatrist [조선 정신과 의사 유세풍]. I felt this would be a good start because it is a short series (12 episodes) that addresses a number of topics most historical dramas overlook up to this point. Some of the topics are even still rather taboo in Korea today like discussions of mental health.
I will confess that this first one ended up mainly turning into a history lesson about early Qing-Joseon relations and the abortive Northern Expedition, but I do intend on addressing more society-focused topics in companions episodes like mourning, disease, and widows in Joseon.
No month would be complete without an addition to the SRD series and this time we discuss the new Hopes and Dreams SRD from FariRPG. This system seems to be great for Hopepunk games of any setting with some modifications.
The most recent video was a TTRPG Talk Short review of Sherwood - A Game of Outlaws and Arcana. This may not be the only time I talk about the game, as I am considering using it an a good example of life-path character creation for game design, though I am not sure if this will take the form of a video or blog post.
New on Itch
Even though I have far too many irons in the fire, I have released a new game with collaboration this time!
Geldcist - Knightly in a Strange Land is a TTRPG partly inspired by the likes of Pendragon and built on the Initiated d100 system. Despite the connections to knights, chivalry, and the Arthurian mythos, I also wanted to flip the concept of knighthood around and explore an alternative development of a Knight-like concept in a fantastical Anglo-Saxon-based setting.
The game is functional, but is more likely considered an early-access at the moment. A lot more examples, layout, and setting materials will be added in the near future, at which time it will likely be a feature of some videos just like a lot of my other creations.
As I mentioned, this game is a collaboration. One of my children, Taeyang, has been helping out with world-building and concept art that will help create a lot of the magical realism feeling for the setting. Included are some of my favorite creations to date like the bee-folk that we envisioned together. I look forward to seeing what we come up with as this project moves forward!
Plans
You may notice I did not mention the Blog/website because I have been neglecting it recently. I did not read much that caught my attention enough (good or ill) to write a book review for and most of my TTRPG attentions have been going into the channel and writing Gildcest. I plan on changing that soon with a return to the works of Aliette de Bodard, so please keep an eye on the Hessan’s County blog next week.
I have also not posted anything further on the Creative Corner book project. I have some raw footage for another episode or two, but I have been putting off getting it together for the sake of other projects. Some experimentation has been happening in the background though.
In the game front, I plan on continuing the development of Geldcist, That said, I do hope to also go back and do some more work on Project Hypaethrus. I have not been advertising any of my games as much as I should and hope to fix that with these two and the Tales of a City supplement. I still have plans for games based on the Xd6 SRD and Tali systems and a solar system generator, but they will not be ready for full development anytime soon.
Of course, life always seems to throw new interesting things in the ways of plans and this one is actually a real net positive for my family. It would appear that I am likely going to changing jobs in the near future! I have not gotten the final offer, but things look very promising (*knock on wood*). It will mean moving the family at the end of the US school year to the Greater DC area. This is something my spouse will be thrilled with, but I have no idea what kind of impact all this change will have on my creative pursuits.
I guess only time will tell…