Building a Weird, Wild New District for Prospero's Dream
Follow FLATLINE ON THE BLOCKS now!
Hey folks, I hope you won’t begrudge me a slight deviation from the norm with this Missive. It’s been a whirlwind time for me since my last newsletter so rather than the traditional article and freebie and all that, I’m going to drop the details on my latest Mothership project, Flatline on the Blocks, created with over a dozen other killer TTRPG creators, set on Prospero’s Dream (from A Pound of Flesh) and funding in about 20 days as part of Mothership Month!
Please check out the preview page, and give us a follow there if you are interested. Follower counts make a huge difference in how we are surfaced and seen across the internet by folks and how well the project does as a whole.
After that, you know I’ve got MORE COOL STUFF to catch you up on what I’ve found cool in the TTRPG space since you last heard from me.
Beyond that, I have finished up my freelance schedule and am focusing solely on personal projects going forward as I am able between immigration work, day job work, and life’s many continued trials and tribulations. In the past few weeks, I’ve been picking away at Tactician of Ahm’s next update (which includes the near final rulebook), Stranger Stars - my total conversion Mothership hack set, and Goblin Planet (which will be wild whenever I can get the manuscript finished, I promise).
- Christian
Have you seen our upcoming Mothership Month project, Flatline on the Blocks? Well, you should! I’m writing a Block, doing dev editing, and may be contributing some copy/line editing as well. My block, The Faucet, includes one of the district's only four cargo lifts, strictly controlled by a new Teamster splinter faction - The Order of Free Labourers.
Follow the zine HERE! Every follower helps us spread the word even further!
Xeno-plants crawl through the vents, noodle shop mobsters operate black markets, monobikes burn rubber down dingy streets, rogue slugtech creeps up out of toilets, a dead warship slumbers, scrappers chip away at the infrastructure underfoot, and crowds clamor for the new MindOrb cybermods unknowingly powered by a sinister source. In the Spinal Crux District, every Block has its secrets. Most bad, but some good—if you know where to look.
18 veteran Mothership writers (including me!), artists, and more bring their surgical precision to the Spinal Crux District in Flatline on the Blocks, a 52pg zine detailing 20 new Blocks on Prospero's Dream.
Plus, you can explore the Spinal Crux District organically while keeping your Finger on the Pulse, instigating encounters using a new procedure inspired by Mythic Bastionland's Myth Omens.
MORE COOL STUFF
Pawns of the Mind Masters, my Appx. N Jam adventure for Cairn, was rated #24 out of #226 jam entries! It’s an honor to be so highly rated among one of the strongest jams I’ve ever seen on Itch. It means a lot! Also - because I am a fool - I still haven’t put a price on the adventure over on Itch which means you can still get it for FREE.
The Shrike, written by Leo Hunt and published by Silverarm Press (and edited by ME), won Gold for Best Adventure - Long Form at this year’s ENNIE Awards. I’m really proud of this book and am so thankful Leo and Joel had to me to edit this beast of book. It’s my largest TTRPG editing job to date, and the fact it was so well received feels awesome! I plan to say I’m an ENNIE Award-winning editor now, even though they didn’t put my dang name on the website.
The Panic Table ran a 75-PLAYER version of The Bloodfields at Blackstar Station at GenCon last month. I'm so happy to see it went so well, and I'm excited for what the future of megagames at cons is looking like (especially from The Panic Table folks). I couldn't be too involved with this one (other than my initial zine and giving it my blessing), but I'm dying to be more involved for the next one.
I recently edited Saint Witold’s Bell, a Shadowdark-compatible adventure by Perplexing Ruins. I always enjoy working with PR, and if you ever need some art for your own adventures (or to just look at with your eyes and enjoy), his commercial use Patreon is still awesome.
I recently dug through the archive and found the first time my name was ever published in a tabletop game-related publication. Here it is - in White Dwarf, Issue 258 from July 2001. I was 13 and REALLY into painting Tyranids.
If you’ve followed me long enough, you may remember when I briefly had my print items for sale via PlusOneExp and me alluding to a lot of frustrating behind the scenes stuff. Well, Rascal wrote a big story on some of what went down there that I think it a good cautionary tale for folks of an absolute mess. You’ll see quotes from me, folks behind MORK BORG, and others. I’m happy that some of this came to light, even if it took a while.
Alfred Valley keeps making dope “TTRPGs in 1 Rule” videos for Shut Up & Sit Down. Every time one releases, I take it as a personal challenge to predict the 1 rule that will get called out. This time, I was right!
In non-TTRPG cool stuff, I’ve lost over 50 pounds over the last several months (by getting back to running like I used to before COVID and eating MUCH better than I was). I think that’s neat. Feeling physically better than I have in four or five years!
Thanks for reading! See you in the next one! - Christian