9❦ Secretly a Raccoon

“I’m sorry, that particular Shadow object is not allowed h — 

“No, when I said the thing about the light from all of the Suns, I absolutely did NOT mean —

“It’s an entirely different thing! If Void is what has gathered them, all the colors cease to have meaning. Out and apart with you! Can’t you read!?

NO KALEIDOSCOPES OR PINEAPPLES, clear as an Indigo day.”


Join me this evening for a multi-beverage chat with Brie Sheldon, who is on the cusp of making the world a better place by (among many other things) successfully Kickstarting his new game, Turn, a “slice-of-life supernatural roleplaying game with quiet drama about shapeshifters in small, rural towns.” I know: until this moment you neither knew such a thing existed, nor that you needed it. But now you do, and must.

If you hang around til the end of the show, you’ll also discover a new segment, “The Streets of Satyrine” — in which I’ll regale you with stories about the personal games I am running. Tonight we’ll kick off with a little in-world fiction from The Truth Bleeds at Twilight.

HONORED GUESTS

Brie “Beau” Sheldon (@BrieCS)
Brie is a game designer, thinker, and writer. All kinds of good info over at BrieCS.com, or read his blog Thoughty.

SHOW NOTES

Turn is in its final 2-day stretch on Kickstarter. The game (and 3 stretch goals!) have been funded — as I write this, the campaign is currently just $318 away from a fourth, which will invite Gerrit Reininghaus to create the rural community of Halver, in West Germany, as an add-on for the game.

Spoiler alert: Brie says on the show that if we can reach the final posted $20K before tomorrow night, he’ll add a personal, additional stretch goal to sweeten the deal.

$15 bucks gets you a PDF of the game, flavored also with essays, poetry, and lovely artwork. Well worth it.

Other contributors to the project include visual designer John W. Sheldon, developmental editor and consultant Tracy Barnett, illustrator Rhis Harris, poet A.J. Odasso, and essayist Alicia Foster-Scales.


The Truth Bleeds at Twilight has finished Season 1 — you can find all 8 (no, 9) episodes in the archives at Monte Cook Games’ Twitch Channel.

Also, my co-GM for the project Ian Smith has recently obtained Twitch affiliate status as IanGameSmith and has big plans for future streaming. Go follow them for updates!

SPONSORS

Gamers Giving logo: heart, inscribed on a d20, with angelic wings

This episode was sponsored by Gamers Giving (@gamersgivingco), a Denver-based 501(c)3 charity by gamers, for gamers. Gamers Giving organizes events and fundraisers which benefit members of the gaming community who have experienced tragedy.

AUDIO DESIGN

Casey Ross (@caseyrawz)
https://www.rawzstudios.com

Sound Effects ©2018 BBC


Monte Cook Games (@montecookgames)
http://MonteCookGames.com

Invisible Sun
http://InvisibleSunRPG.com

Invisible Sun is the intellectual property of Monte Cook Games, with whom Zeros.Bar and the Secret Cellar have no affiliation.

8❦ Keep Your Pen to yourself

“Hello again, Sebbin? You work with the Thah sometimes, don’t you?

“You haven’t heard any… news, have you? Nothing pertinent to my business? I mean. Public houses, and, err, private ones, are an important part of the Satyrine economy, no? And they bring joy and warmth to the populace?

“Just — pass along a good word for me, will you?”


Tonight is a celebration of Invisible Sun. Monte Cook joins the show; we’ll hear a bit about how the Black Cube has been affecting those still trapped in Shadow — and also learn more about “Return to the Actuality,” the currently-active Kickstarter to reprint Invisible Sun.

You’ll also get to hear from several members of the community about the effect it’s had on their own lives.

HONORED GUESTS

Monte Cook

SHOW NOTES

Monte Cook and Shanna Germain are the co-owners of Monte Cook Games. (Also, delightful humans.)

Return to the Actuality”, MCG’s Kickstarter to reprint Invisible Sun, has already funded — but more backers means more stretch goals, which will improve the product. If you’ve been hedging about purchasing this incredible game, please take a look at InvisibleSunRPG.com or the original Kickstarter campaign, and give it a second look.

You may just be… astounded.

Monte also spoke about The Directed Campaign, a sort of… subscription service to receive incredible advice, props, and community support to make your Invisible Sun game as celebratory as possible. Listen to Episode 4 of this podcast for a spoiler-free “virtual unboxing” of the Directed Campaign as well as some of my own thoughts about the experience.


I am so grateful to the “Regulars” who called in to tell us about their experience with Invisible Sun:

Ross Kingston (@hawklord2112)
Rourke Bywater (@rourkebywater)
Eamon Mulholland (Voidlight)
Ken Davidson (@kdavidson925)
Dave Hanlon (@tex_red)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ian Smith (@IanGameSmith), my dear friend and Co-GM on our Invisible Sun Twitch show The Truth Bleeds at Twilight, will be running an introductory Invisible Sun one-shot for Extra Life, which this year benefits the Children’s Miracle Network.

Monte Cook Games will be matching donations for this and its other streams — find more details here — and your donations during and prior to the stream can also affect the outcome of the story!

The game will be this Saturday, November 3, from 2–6pm Pacific atheld on Ian’s Twitch channel. I’ll be playing as a PC, along with Rourke Bywater, Alexei Othenin-Girard, Richard Kreutz-Landry, and MCG’s own Darcy Ross! Hope to see you there.

I am honored to be co-GMing the Invisible Sun Actual Play “The Truth Bleeds at Twilight”, in cooperation with Ian Smith and Monte Cook Games. We’ll be streaming our final episode on Friday, November 16 at 7pm Pacific on the MonteCookGames Twitch channel — rumor has it there will be a very special guest in attendance! You can also follow The Crepuscule Notion on Twitter or read and contribute at the Notion website.

SPONSORS

Gamers Giving logo: heart, inscribed on a d20, with angelic wings

This episode was sponsored by Gamers Giving (@gamersgivingco), a Denver-based 501(c)3 charity by gamers, for gamers. Gamers Giving organizes events and fundraisers which benefit members of the gaming community who have experienced tragedy.

Episode 8 was also brought to you by Play to Find Out, a Dungeon World podcast hosted by Eamon Mulholland and Arthur Berman. The podcast is just one part of a larger Dungeon World community, featuring high community interactivity on their discord, fan contests, live-streamed episodes, “audio zine” content, design discussions, and awesome links to all over the PbtA + OSR community and beyond!

AUDIO DESIGN

Casey Ross (@caseyrawz)
https://www.rawzstudios.com

Sound Effects ©2018 BBC


Monte Cook Games (@montecookgames)
http://MonteCookGames.com

Invisible Sun
http://InvisibleSunRPG.com

Invisible Sun is the intellectual property of Monte Cook Games, with whom Zeros.Bar and the Secret Cellar have no affiliation.