Good Monday, Gamer!
āI like a good beer buzz, early in the morningā ā S. Crow
This weekās post is a full orbit: playing Cairn, getting in more Mekton/Titanfall with Max, prepping Wild Talents, sketching UVG + Burning Wheel, and carving out the first Hard Zone for Apocalypse World: Burned Over out in the Kuiper Belt. Plenty of game gravity pulling me in different directions ā the good kind.
Iāve been thinking about something Keith Senkowski wrote about third spaces ā those places that arenāt home and arenāt work, but anchor us anyway. His piece (linked below) hits funky for me. Iāve been searching for new third spaces. I have none, and I feel it. Work and home are the same anymore. I donāt hate that, but I need something else; I miss it. The old spots are all brand new, if you know what I mean. Lately Iāve been spending more time out at the golf range and yoga matsā¦kinda 1.5 spacesā¦ š¤·š¾āāļø
So hereās what Iāve been orbiting this weekā¦
Playing
Cairn
Juddās catch-as-catch-can campaign. Weāre off to explore the new estate Raven just traded an ancient sword for. Cairn is a tight, OSR DIY fantasy RPG. Iām about that life!
Mekton in a Titanfall Setting
R. Talsorianās Mekton is classic 1980s mecha ā crunchy, modular, unapologetically extra. Weāre running it under a Titanfall skin: Pilots, Titans, factions battling in the Frontierājust me and Max, who turns 18 this month. Iām trying to get in every game I can with this young man, who is indifferent about learning to drive.
Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall (Very Soon!)
Absolutely AMPED to play this. Itās been at the top of my āneed to play right nowā list.
Prepping
Wild Talents: Lifted
A 4ā6 session series in Irama, the Brazilian megacity inside my Lifted universe.Working on pregens š
Ultraviolet Grasslands + Burning Wheel
UVG gives me myth; BW gives me consequence. Together: a long, strange, moral road. I think this works š¤·š¾āāļø Iām hoping to get it going by the end of the month.
Apocalypse World: Burned Over (in the Kuiper Belt)
This one will run on Twitch, so the prep is more than just the game. Iāve got two new hard zones weāll play in here is the first:
The Grave Belt
Once the Kuiper Beltās safe harbor, the Anadyomene Pulse turned this ring of private elite frigates, 49er rigs, and national flagships into a drifting cemetery.
Now the Grave Belt is a swath of failed colonies, sealed habitats, and derelict ships where chain-of-command still clings on long after hope has vented out the airlockāscarcity rules.
The Concord LineA linked chain of surviving vessels enforcing āorderā with rationed power and stubborn authority. The last believers in civilization-as-it-was.
Haven 5A sealed generational ship for the ultra-rich. No signals in or out since the Pulse. Rumors say the nobles live on in simulation.
Kibo StationThe trade crossroads ā flickering lights, ration markets, air-for-credit exchanges. A hundred factions lying to each other every hour.
Echo HotelAn autonomous AI warship continues to follow its final directive: preserve the asset. It recognizes no ceasefire and no new masters.
OrpheusA national flagship full of failed cryopods and half-dreaming survivors. Sometimes, it's a hymn that drifts across open channels.
The YardScrapyard heart of the Belt ā wrecks chained together for cutting, smelting, and fighting over whatever still burns.
The Rock GardenMining asteroids hollowed out into failing habitats. Beautiful crystal caverns. Dangerous as hell. Home to air-thieves and debt-slaves.
The ReliquaryA museum ship transformed into a shrine to lost humanity. Holograms still loop the old world. Pilgrims come seeking meaning or relics. Some say the exhibits whisper back.
š§ ICYMI
Dandadan ā a wild manga born to be an RPG. Iād play it!! Google it
Apocalypse World: Burned Over Kickstarter ā Iām a fan. You know what to do.
Save vs Total Party Kill on Over/Under ā Missed this massive PBP event, but Iāll be strip-mining it for ideas.
Keith Senkowski is Staring into the Distance ā His bit on third spaces, oof, I miss āem.
Sarah Doomās Magic Makers ā Sarahās doing the homework for our new podcast. (There was homework??)
The Indie RPGās List of Lists ā Endless rabbit holes.
Githyanki Diaspora covers Into the UVG ā Fueling my UVG + BW obsession.
As always, thanks for reading, sharing, and building strange worlds with me.