Freeplay. Downtime. Missions.When I first saw these terms in Blades in the Dark, I rolled my eyes. John Harper had put words to what we were already doing—but now I'm thinking we’re gonna have to throw a parade every time we shift play modes. Sadly, I’ve seen tables lean into that fanfare… But I’ve come to appreciate the terms—for sure. They give me language to talk about sessions, and as MC, they help me figure out where we are in play, even if I never say it out loud, even when I’m not playing Blades.

This third session of our second season in Mythic Bastionland was all downtime. Two hours flew by. We barely noticed we were streaming. It was the natural release valve after two “mission” sessions: first dueling the Seeker Knights (who then joined our quest), then confronting the Scholar Knights and agreeing to escort one to the Highlord’s palace—by way of a battle with mythic wolves.

Now, out of armor, the roleplaying breathed.

We came back together at the council’s dinner table…specifically to throw our Scholar Knight companion straight under the bus —though wily and silver-tongued they were! Fun, delicious roleplay. Our next “mission” emerged right from these choices. So we’re headed to confront the Elf in the Forest. I couldn’t have told you that before the session. And regardless of what Judd has written down, it feels like we, the players, carved that path ourselves—through downtime. And that’s some great Mojo.

I missed the Appendix N Blogwagon event, but here’s my own list anyway. These are the stories, comics, games, and shows that I return to when I’m thinking about RPGs—touchstones that set the tone for how I play these games. Aspirations, dreams, and wishes.

West Marches (Ars Ludi) Ben Robbins’ classic blog series on running an open-table, exploration-driven campaign. The DNA of all my West Marches experiments and a model for any persistent sandbox game. West Marches 4Evar! There are MANY posts and threads on this topic. Start here.

Glen Cook’s Dread Empire(not Black Company)Messy, political, and sprawling. It’s about what happens when empires rot from within. Fantastic ideas for faction play and shifting alliances, characters, artifacts…LORE. When I want to get out of ‘Vanilla’ fantasy…I think about the Dread Empire.

William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy. The foundation of cyberpunk: console cowboys, BAMA, street samurai. This reminds me it’s not about the missions, gear, or the tech. It is Characters under duress trying to make it to a tomorrow.

Jonathan Hickman runs of House of X/Powers of X, The Manhattan Projects, East of West.Hickman’s sprawling conspiracies and mythic worldbuilding feed directly into how I think about supers and epic-scale campaigns. These are my favorites. And a list of his Greatest Hits.

❌ 1990s X-Titles. Overstuffed, melodramatic, too many crossovers—and perfect inspiration for juggling factions, soap-opera drama, and sprawling worlds. Superhero comics at their finest.

John Crichton. Trauma-bonded family in space, alien weirdness, sudden tonal shifts from comedy to heartbreak. The main characters are not the same from season one to the end. Neither should the PCs be, IMHO. No spoilers on the ending, please. I have not watched it, and I probably won’t. Not willing to say goodbye yet.

Smokin’ AcesA bounty-heist template: everyone converging on one target. I’ve used this structure for one-shots and PvP-tinged scenarios, and when I come up short, anywhere.

❤️ Hav PlentyAn indie rom-com drama. A reminder that slice-of-life and messy relationships matter in games as much as saving the world.

Elden RingExploration as mystery. Worlds that don’t explain themselves but beg to be pieced together. And one Tough Boss don’t stop the show…

Anthem. More than just mecha-hardsuits. Anthem felt like I could run the missions how I wanted to. Explore the landscape as I wanted to. This game reminds me of what that feels like, and I aim to design sessions that are open to player choices and actions.

Ars Magica. Troupe play, wizards, companions, grogs. It’s about legacy and community — and Immortality if you play enough sessions!

Dorohedoro. What a chaotic, grotesque, and funny world. It's high weirdness and WtF?!! It is my target for urban fantasy or weird magic campaigns.

Blame! (Tsutomu Nihei). Endless megastructures, isolation, and small communities surviving in a hostile architecture. The best touchstone I know for dungeon-crawl scale in sci-fi.

Tower Dungeon. The archetypal “climb the impossible tower” setup. Each level is its own world, its own rules. Great ideas. Incredible world-building.

Witch Hunter Robin. IMHO, the best episodic magical supers monster hunting mixed with conspiracy arcs.

What’s in your Appendix N? What media keeps finding its way back into your games?

Thanks for reading, playing, and supporting the strange stuff.