Winning an ENNIE Award at Gen Con 2023!

We won! Moonlight on Roseville Beach: A Queer Game of Disco and Cosmic Horror, a tabletop role-playing game, won a Judges Award earlier this month at Gen Con! I wrote a spooky adventure, joining a plethora of writers who contributed rules, worldbuilding, and, of course, adventures to the world of Roseville Beach. The Judges Award puts us literally and figuratively on the page with a bunch of other winning tabletop games, including the Bladerunner and Vaesen RPGs and Avatar Legends.

Judges’ Spotlight Winner

Judge Candace McAfee – Moonlight on Roseville Beach: A Queer Game of Disco and Cosmic Horror, R. Rook Studio

Authors: Richard Ruane, Rob Abrazado, Bendi Barrett, Sharang Biswas, Rick Chia, Alison Cybe, Ezakur, Ethan Harvey, Maxwell Lander, Catherine Ramen, Erin Roberts, Ennis Rook Bashe, Noora Rose, R.J. Ryan, Sean F. Smith, Anne Toole, Preston Leslie, Logan Rollins

So what’s the deal with Roseville Beach? Here’s a blurb:

 It’s 1979, and you’re spending the summer working in Roseville Beach, the queerest little town on Rose Island. You might have come here looking for an escape, some fun, a little extra money, or even love, but now people are seeing phantasms, strange animals—and stranger old gods—wander the woods, mysterious monoliths appear randomly, and that strange music is coming from somewhere.

Ready to check out your own copy, solve supernatural mysteries in the LGBTQ+ community, and have a good time? Check out Moonlight on Roseville Beach by R. Rook Studio (itch.io) to order a print or digital copy.

Check here for a list of all of this year’s ENNIE Award winners!

Arrr! Writing for Conan the Pirate

It’s Halloween! Time to dress up as a pirate! Maybe even… Conan the Pirate? I contributed to this Modiphius sourcebook for Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of. It’s a tabletop RPG that allows you to sail down the coast of the Western Sea to discover Shem, Stygia, and Kush and engage in some daring-do. The book can inspire you to write your own adventures using the 2d20 system set in Conan’s world.

Want to know more? Here’s a write-up from Modiphius’s site:

The Hyborian world is home to many dangerous people, and none are more ruthless or dastardly than its pirates, the scourge of the high seas. A menace to civilization itself, these seagoing bandits have their own ways, customs, and traditions, and Conan the Pirate explores pirates and the pirate world.

Detailed within these pages are the countries up and down the coast of the Western Sea — proud Zingara, wealthy Argos, the western reaches of Shem and Stygia — as the setting for pirate-based campaigns.

With this volume, CONAN characters can embark on campaigns of piracy, plunder, and high adventure! So, unsheathe your cutlass and ready yourself for a boarding action, to seize plunder and glory for your captain and fellow buccaneers!

So check out Conan the Pirate for Halloween — or any time you feel like an adventure!

Cool & Collected: Halo comics & D&D adventure get hardcovers

Two projects I contributed to are debuting this month with a new look. First off, Dark Horse is collecting the HALO: LONE WOLF comic book mini-series I wrote into hardcover.

Spartan Linda-058's skills in are called upon for a treacherous solo mission. Issues #1-4 of the series are collected in HALO: LONE WOLF: https://t.co/5FO07pczFX

From creative team @amely, @theinkpages, Kieran McKeown, Dan Jackson, and @cjwardart. @Halo #halo pic.twitter.com/9BPg2DQNLD

— Dark Horse Comics (@DarkHorseComics) June 13, 2019

Click here if you want minor spoilers for individual issues 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Not to be outdone, Lion Forge is collecting its monthly publication of D&D resources and adventures into ROLLED & TOLD: VOLUME 1. I wrote one short adventure for their Halloween issue entitled “Maigret’s Traveling Carnival.” The collection holds many more great adventures where that came from, so players should definitely check it out.

"Rolled & Told is a modern love letter to the print role-playing magazines of days gone by. [… it] should make its way to not only your comic collection but your gaming table as well." Thanks for the review @MajorSpoilers! https://t.co/vYa8x0s5mF

— Lion Forge (@lionforge) June 11, 2019

If you want to gaze upon beautiful art, enjoy an adventure or two, AND own a book you can use as a tray (no judgment), you are in luck. The hardcover collections of ROLLED & TOLD: VOLUME 1 and HALO: LONE WOLF are available now!

Spoooky D&D adventure out now for Halloween!

If you’re looking for some spooky Halloween fun this year, check out the short d20 adventure I co-wrote for Rolled & Told #2. You’ll get a chance to check out the art and another longer adventure that you can play on Halloween. Face up against ghosts at Maigret’s Traveling Carnival or zombies (which are not from me this time, I swear!) in Bones of Contention while you play with some of your nearest and dearest. Who wants to go to a party, when you can join a party, you know what I’m saying?

Rolled & Told 2
We’re celebrating Halloween in Rolled & Told! Writers E.L. Thomas and Anne Toole go grim and give you all the shambling, undead horror you and your group of wild and ready role-players can handle! In our full adventure, a strange malady grips a small farming village; the last thing they need is a horde of undead rising from all around them. Your player characters will get to literally reap what has been sown!

You can pick up Rolled & Told #2 at some local comic book stores, order a copy online, or get a digital copy immediately for play tonight!

Because games are fun, and fun is good for you!

Writing for 7th Sea: Crescent Empire

Swashbuckling sorcery is the name of the game! Well, actually, 7th Sea is the name, and the next sourcebook, the Crescent Empire, features a chapter entitled the “8th Sea,” written by yours truly. Most of the 7th Sea is set in Theah, inspired by Europe, while the Crescent Empire expands the 7th Sea to encompass exciting new territories. Learn about heroes, intrigue, ancient beasts, and more in the largest expansion yet. Enjoy the hard cover (see below) or pick up a pdf of the sourcebook along with the rest of the 7th Sea titles over at DrivethruRPG. See you there! 😉

Unboxing contributor copies of 7th Sea: Crescent Empire

Come play in Steamscapes: Asia

It’s here! If you like your Steampunk RPGs, but are a bit bored with 19th century Europe or North America, then take a peek at Steamscapes: Asia! This new setting explores Asia in the Steamscapes universe, using the Savage Worlds system. North America is still run by the British — but what does that mean for India, China and Burma? And why do I mention Burma, besides their being awesome? I wrote the background setting for Burma and an adventure that just might involve an automaton and an airship.

The book also includes new classes, new martial arts rules, and a bunch of new equipment. For more information on Steamscapes North America and Asia, visit the Steamscapes site!

You can enjoy the digital version of Steamscapes: Asia right now and get the print version in January. Can’t wait to hold it in my hands!