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José Camacho — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 20:08:04 +0000

I didn’t realize that a year had passed since my last post. Time flies.

I have been pretty busy in a year’s time. I joined a power lifting gym and learned to push my limits l. I attended three RPG conventions (Mace, Mace West and Gary Con). I ran multiple 5e campaigns for my friends.

Most importantly, I rediscovered my love for writing. I submitted two items for publication. One has been edited and is pending layout I believe. It is an article regarding Weird Frontiers, an RPG system that is an offshoot of Dungeon Crawl Classics.

The other piece of writing is with an editor as of a week ago. I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say about it but I’ll say it’s a pulpy short story.

I’m working on three more short stories that I hope will find homes by the end of the year.

Next week, I’ll be going to Gen Con. It’ll be my second time since 2019 but my first running games. My playing schedule is very light but I’m looking forward to it. Usually, I come back home inspired from seeing so many creative people in one place.

Anyways, I’m going to make an effort to post here more often. Cheers!

Kitten and Funnels

José Camacho — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 12:55:16 +0000

Mac wants to learn to play funnels. He survived his own in real life. We found him in our driveway after he was dropped by a hawk. He had open wounds on his neck and face. We’ve taken him to the vet and he’s very playful and energetic. You wouldn’t know he survived such an ordeal!

MÖRK BORG DM Screen

José Camacho — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 21:28:34 +0000

Summer 2021 Projects

José Camacho — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 23:45:34 +0000

Since things are opening up, DMing in person will happen soon. So I am making a DM screen for Mork Borg, about 50% done. It’s great that the rules fit in a 5×7 card. I’ll use the rest of the real estate for session notes. I am planning on running a mini campaign in the fall. Photos incoming.

Also, I’m making Professor Dungeon Master’s Ultimate Dungeon Terrain. I will be making a few small accent pieces to compliment the mushroom kingdom classics one-shot I’ll be running in July.

This fall, I am hoping to run a few mini campaigns. First, I will be tackling Doug Kovacs’ Inferno Road and combining it with the House Of The Hollow using Mork Borg. I think it should take 3-5 sessions.

Second, I have an idea to run something similar to Murder on the Orient Express using Weird Frontiers. I think it would be a change of pace from dungeon delving. This is probably a just one-shot.

Lastly, I want to run Mothership (I love space-faring stories), Dungeon Crawl Classics (I’m always ready to run this system) and Call of Cthullu (I recently bought Masks of Nyarlathotep). More on these as I flesh them out.

The Final Showdown at Inferno Road

José Camacho — Mon, 31 May 2021 22:45:51 +0000

Here’s a screenshot I grabed during Doug Kovacs’ Inferno Road at virtual Gary Con earlier this year. That wild session has made me rethink how I want to approach running games going forward. Get Inferno Road here.

Campaign Pitches for Fall 2021

José Camacho — Thu, 20 May 2021 00:30:58 +0000

After over a year, I have decided the next session will be the last one for my D&D 5e campaign set in Eberron. It has been the longest campaign that I have been involved in. I am looking forward to recharging this summer and coming back to DMing shorter campaigns; maybe 4 sessions each. Here are some ideas that I am considering:

EBERRON: TOMB OF ANNIHILATION
Themes: Pulp, Exploration and Dinosaurs
Inspiration: Indiana Jones, The Mummy (1999), Jurassic Park

THEROS: THE ILLIAD OF NOTHING
Themes: Absurdly Epic Tales of Heroism, Devotion
Inspiration: Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules, 300

BIRTHRIGHT: INTO THE BORDERLANDS
Themes: Good and Evil, Fate and Free-Will
Inspiration: King Arthur, Lord of the Rings, A Knight’s Tale

ROAD TO AVERNUS
Themes: Hyper-Violence, Road Rage, Post-Apocalyptic
Inspiration: Heart of Darkness, Doug Kovac’s Inferno Road, MÖRK BORG

EGYPT 1865 or THE CHAINED COFFIN/WEIRD FRONTIERS
Themes: Cowboys, Cthullu, Alternate History
Inspiration: Lawrence of Arabia, Magnificent Seven, Stargate

METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA
Themes: Science Fantasy, Deadly, Hexcrawl
Inspiration: Alien (1979), Caveman (1981), Hard to Be a God

Hopefully I end up running them all at some point.

TTRPG Zines I received in the past two weeks

José Camacho — Fri, 14 May 2021 00:38:20 +0000

First, there’s On the Shoulders of Colossus. A D&D supplement to address massive creatures. I have had a long running fascination with The Shadow of the Colossus PC game.

Next, it’s Tomb of Immolation, a 5e/OSR module from ZineQuest 3. A small but dense dungeon.

Shoutout to Philip Reed for his amazing output of Mork Borg RPG game supplements. Check them out!

Recared’s Unclean Pamphlet is a collection of powers that can be used as spell scrolls or abilities for players/NPCs.

Unwanted Fragments is a brochure-style zine that seems to be a mix of ideas for someone looking to run Mork Borg.

The Unclean Leporello of the Foul Wizard Baum/The Sacred Teachings of Titus the Unliving Magus is a very unique accordion-style double-zine that lists unclean powers on one side and sacred powers on the other side.

Corpsewake Cover is another ZineQuest 3 item. As you may have guessed, it is a pirate-themed Mork Borg adventure.

Teind of Alfheim caught my eye while wandering itch.io for TTRPG supplements.

I better start running some Mork Borg soon to make up for this investment. I backed around 50 campaigns during ZineQuest 3 and I will definitely share more as they arrive.

My comics pull list reviews

José Camacho — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 00:36:38 +0000

I received my first box of comics from my local comic book store. Here are my thoughts on what I’ve read this week.

Swamp Thing Issues #1-2 (C-) The writing was fine. I like that it’s not a retelling of Alan Moore’s classic and it seems to try to build on the New 52 philosophy.

The art was either inked too heavily or they needed to employ a lighter color palette. I’ll keep reading for now since it’s a limited 10 issue series.

Witchblood Issue #1 (C+) Quirky in terms of art and writing. It features very dynamic art with its characters zipping around. Maybe to the point where it led to pacing issues. The writing did a lot. It mixed character introductions and world-building pretty well. I’ll keep reading.

Scout’s Honor Issue #4 (B+) Really solid writing. It kept invested so that I was able to overlook the “80s workout montage” sequence. Maybe that’s harsh. I’m enjoying the way this post-apocalyptic maintains its identity in terms of art. It doesn’t look like Mad Max or Fallout.

Alien Issues #1-2 (D) I’m sorry but I’m not a fan of the art. The aliens and spaceships are good but the humans look off. They almost look like the Team America World Police puppets. The story is average. The world-building feels rushed and the characters all have the same voice. I don’t think Marvel is too focused on this IP. I might drop this one.

I will get my next box in a month.

My Nerd Wall Part 1

José Camacho — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 18:31:41 +0000

I recently received a few things for my nerd wall. I am moving soon and my new place will have a game room/office. I want to put up art and posters to decorate it. First, I already have a framed map of Khorvaire that I got with the 5e Eberron book. In March, I bought a black-light poster from Dungeon Crawl Classics.

I also received this 45 record I saw on eBay. I do not have a sentimental attachment to it but I do really like the cartoony art. Plus it’s from TSR! By the way, if you’re curious, the audio is available on YouTube.

Ultimately, I want to get a proper gaming table in the room. This is the one that I am currently considering. I met the owner during Gary Con and I would love to support a local business.

Lastly, I bought art from Brad McDevitt and David Paul Seymour. I am hoping to find a few more pieces to add to the wall. Here is one from Rebecca Guay that is on my wishlist.

I will post photos of the completed wall in a few months.

Review of Virtual Gary Con XIII

José Camacho — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 11:29:36 +0000

Gary Con was pretty awesome. It has taken me this long to mentally recover. I had a lot of fun but I learned my limit. Ten games is a bit too much in four days.

Playing 1e was really interesting; I am really thinking of buying the POD books just to study it more. Xcrawl was so fun; it’ll definitely be one of my go-to games at conventions. I will definitely try out Mörk Borg again. D&D 5e Adventurer’s League is still a bit too much of a MMORPG for me. Shadowdark was cool. The session was only an hour and I think RPG players are not used to that level of urgency.

Lastly, playing Inferno Road with Doug Kovacs was insane. It was part DCC funnel, part comedy show with a lot of drinking.

Right after the convention, I ended up running a Weird Frontiers twice. I will be running it at Reaver Con at the end of April.