Gosh, it’s been a minute hasn’t it. Thank you to everyone for being patient. The last year has been tough here at Indecisionist HQ (my apartment). Things seem to be on an upswing now and I am happy to be continuing in content creation for you.

Since my last message offerings from the brand have changed a little.

I am thrilled to be offering a new adventure membership program for people interested in modules and DMing tools. For $10 a month I am providing members with new TTRPG adventure modules every month. They get to have input into the genre and system of the module. They will also get a copy of the notes I use going into the session as an insight into the prep I usually do and how it compares with the finished product. For only $5 a month members can still get the PDFs, they just won't get my pre-session notes or have input on the module. If this seems like your jam, check out https://ko-fi.com/anselburch for more information and to sign up.

TTRPG Pickup Con is still going strong and providing new opportunities for nerds to play games together. It’s been so rewarding to see this community grow and change over the past few years. This month There are 24 games being hosted this month with participants spanning more than half the globe. Sign ups are open right now with plenty of seats still available. Reserve your space today at www.ttrpgpickupcon.com

Time 2 Party is going strong into its third year and we are about to have a frenzy of recording sessions before our host, Ben Silverio moves back out west. Fans who have been with us since the beginning will be thrilled to know that our other original host, Erin Cline will be joining us on the mics for a surprise movie in April. Time 2 Party is available on all major podcasting platforms.

Starlight Radio Dreams production has come to a close. With great regret we let it go off to the big podcatcher in the sky. To anyone listening or yet to listen, I hope you love the heartfelt, passion-fueled, and deeply silly material that we produced.

The Dungeon Barkeep project has also been put on hiatus for the time being. I may release a couple cocktails here and there in the near future but otherwise it’s on an indefinite hold. The purpose of that project was to help build my skills in live streaming. I think I have learned all that I can with the tools available. Perhaps, when I am able to invest in more studio gear, I will re-start that project to help me make the next step in my video production journey.

Friends and adventurers, I am thrilled to announce that I am starting a membership feature for fans of Indecisionist Productions’ TTRPG content. This will be your way to choose your own adventure, quite literally.

I am offering a unique opportunity to be a big part of the adventures I create and the recipient of GM-ready adventure modules every month. So, if you like the adventures I run and want more or just like me and want to support the work I’m doing, this is the best way to help me make TTRPGs a more sustainable part of my content plan.

Members will be a part of the adventure creation process from the beginning, choosing the system and genre along with new prompts for each adventure. Once the new adventure has been run as a part of TTRPG Pickup Con, I’ll send each member a copy of the notes I made for myself before the event. Then, those notes, along with my notes from the playtest, will be turned into a beautiful, easy-to-read PDF module.

That’s a new adventure every month, based on your input.

This membership is offered through my Ko-Fi page for a monthly contribution of at least $10. Membership perks include:

Monthly polls to decide the genre and system of the following month’s adventure.

My own notes from before the playtest.

A PDF of the adventure, edited and ready to run with adventure hooks, stat blocks, and NPC characterization notes.

ko-fi.com/anselburch

Why Now? I am at an inflection point, personally. I have been searching for a new job in the corporate world since the beginning of the pandemic. While I have continued to secure freelance and contract work, I am still looking for something permanent. On top of that, I now have 12 months to find a new place to live with all of the expenses that come with that.

So, as a move towards making TTRPG Content creation more of a career, I am launching this membership feature on Ko-Fi to help me devote more resources to the endeavor.

Brass tacks: I need to make more money, and TTRPG adventures are a product I am passionate about producing. Sometimes necessity is the destiny pushing you to do what you should have done a long time ago. I think that’s what’s happening here and now.

Why Ko-Fi? This platform allows me to receive all of your contributions directly (though I do opt to contribute 5% to the maintenance of the system voluntarily) without sending a chunk off into the void for processing fees and the like.

Buckle In!

Pickup Con XXIII is set for June 17-19.Sign-ups open on Saturday, June 4, at noon CT.

I Interrupt your Kenobi and Stanger Things binges to let you know that Pickup Con XXIII is coming together. We’ve got MASKs, D&D and Hoax already signed up for slots with more to come over the next couple of weeks.

Game runners are planning their offerings now. So, let’s get some ideas percolating in the #game-and-panel-wishlist channel of the Discord server. Do you want to see another game of Good Strong Hands or some more Avatar goodness? This is your chance to build some excitement.

This is also a great time to let your favorite DM know (provided they don’t already run games with us) that you want to play their games at the con. There’s room for so many more folks in the event and this month would be the perfect one to see a bunch of new names in the Discord.

How was last month for you? I’d love your feedback on whether you could play or not. Were the game selections good? Did the timing work for you? How can we get your friends involved? This feedback survey is anonymous and should only take a couple of minutes. Please, let me know how we can improve. I am thrilled to have some upgrades in the works. Your feedback helps us understand where those upgrades can have the most impact.

Feedback Form

What’s Next?

Game Runner Sign Ups are open for this event already.

Sign Up Day will be Saturday, 6/4. I will open the signup forms at noon central time. So, mark your calendars and keep an eye on the Discord.

Follow @indecisionist on Twitter for live updates as games get added to the schedule.

As always, please reach out through the site’s contact form (which can be anonymous), via email (Ansel@Indecisionist.com) or on Discord (TheCaptain#7281) if there is anything I can help with or if you have ideas to share.

Buckle In!

Pickup Con XXI is set for April 22-24.Sign-ups open on Saturday, 4/9, at noon CT.

Friends, I’m so thrilled to tell you that Pickup Con XXI is already beginning to take form, and I don’t mind telling you that we have some fantastic games in the pipeline for you, including a couple of chances to enjoy the new Avatar RPG.

Game runners are planning their offerings now. So, this is a great time to get some ideas percolating in the #game-and-panel-wishlist channel of the Discord server. Do you want to see another game of Good Strong Hands or a specific FATE flavor? This is your chance to see if other folks would join you!

How was last month for you? I’d love your feedback on whether you could play or not. Were the game selections good? Did the timing work for you? How can we get your friends involved? This feedback survey is anonymous and should only take a couple of minutes. Please, let me know how we can improve. I am thrilled to have some upgrades in the works. Your feedback helps us understand where those upgrades can have the most impact.

Feedback Form

What’s Next?

Game Runner Sign Ups are open for this event already.

Sign Up Day will be Saturday, 4/9. I will open the signup forms at noon central time. So, mark your calendars and keep an eye on the Discord.

Follow @indecisionist on Twitter for live updates as games get added to the schedule.

While I Have Your Attention

Our friends at RPG Alliance Calgary are running a flash con to raise money for the people affected by the violence in Ukraine. A week before the event kicks off, they've already raised CAD 350 + USD 270!

Check out their schedule (https://warhorn.net/events/role-players-for-ukraine/schedule/agenda), where you can find all the game sessions. Links there will take you to a game's session page.

They’re looking for players, and they have some excellent sessions to choose from, including Dungeon Crawl Classics, The Expanse, Star Trek Adventures, Conan, D&D 5e, Call of Cthulhu, and Mythras (an introductory session run by the publisher/designer).

So, get yourself signed up and please share the event and link with those in your social networking circles and your regular gaming groups. Their fundraising links are live and can be used anytime now until April 3. That link for sharing is again: https://warhorn.net/events/role-players-for-ukraine/schedule/agenda

They will be accepting donations during games, on streams, and the hat is open if you just want to throw in for the cause. Their event page has a "How to Donate" section with links.

You can find RPG Alliance Calgary on Twitter @trdotcomics and @rpg_alliance, and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rpgalliancecalgary

As always, please reach out through the site’s contact form (which can be anonymous), via email (Ansel@Indecisionist.com) or on Discord (TheCaptain#7281) if there is anything I can help with or if you have ideas to share.

An Appeal:

Hey friends, this is a huge month for us and I think this community has it in us to grow the event here in the eleventh hour. Check out the enormous number of games with spots still open. I want to encourage each of you to share the event with someone who you think will be interested in one of our games.

Some of these games won’t be able to run unless more folks sign up. So, the time to get out the word is now.

What’s Still Available to Play?

I’m glad you’ve asked. These links will take you straight to the registration page for a specific game. There’s a lot of choice available still. So, please take this as a call to action to tell your friend who might have missed our other posts.

Giant’s Rest: The Palace of Light

Darkest Dungeon Crawl Classics

Monster of the Week: AGENCY '88

Raptor Peak: Bunting Day

Elder Gods and Younger Dogs

The Capes Caper

The Village of Death

Bears at Brunch

DCC Salty Funnel

Gangsters and Old Gods: A Weird One-Shot, led by John Keefe

The Expanse: Crew the Rocinante, led by Vicki L

Dungeon Escape - A Lankhmar Meet, led by Yorkus Rex

The Jeweler That Dealt in Stardust - A DCC Lankhmar Heist, led by Yorkus Rex.

I would like to take a moment here to acknowledge that I am running a game this weekend which takes place in a fictional Chernobyl, best by eldritch monsters. The home of the real Chernobyl is experiencing a very real invasion.

You don't need me to tell you about the war that has dominated our news coverage over the past few weeks. What you do need to know is that my intention is for this game to pay respectful homage to the spirit of Ukraine through a sweet story of courage.

I am also personally donating to assist Polish relief efforts through an Eastern European crowdfunding site which comes well recommended and has been adding regular updates on how they are spending the money they've raised.

If you would like to join me in this, the link is below. https://zrzutka.pl/en/razemdlaukrainy

Housekeeping

If you miss the deadline to register through the site (12 hours before the session begins, please head to the discord and use the #LFG tag to reach out to any game runners who are looking for players. You can also reach out to me directly (TheCaptain#7281) to see if there are any open spaces.

If you are signed up for a game and have not received an email from your Game Runner, please let me know (TheCaptain#7281) to connect you.

Check out the schedule or the spectator’s guide for more information on what’s going on when. Room assignments are also displayed on the schedule page.

Support the Con?

If you’d like to help keep the con going or help me add more features for future iterations of the event, you can do that directly through ko-fi.

Support

Have you checked out our first piece of TTRPG Pickup Con art, designed by the incredible DredgenGreed? It’s available now from Redbubble on stickers, apparel and housewares and buying it supports the event. What a deal!

Merch

Staying up to date is easy. Join my general mailing list, follow me on Twitter @indecisionist and get in on the good stuff.

Whew, sometimes I look forward to the month to come and wonder how I will manage it all. Luckily* I’ve added a little time to my daytime schedule while I job hunt. So, I’m making sure everything is edited ahead and preloaded to release on time. The best part about that is that I get to enjoy all of the content for the month. So, please believe that I’m speaking with a fresh perspective when I tell you that this month’s material is especially fun.

Dates and Deets

Dungeon Barkeep

Friday 3/4 @ 1 PM CT- Cocktail A Thon on Twitch. Join me on Friday for three hours of cocktail making fun. I'm back on my BS and in my bar but trying out some new software. Will I survive? Will I recommend the new software? Join me live at www.twitch.tv/DungeonBarkeep to find out.

TTRPG Pickup Con

Saturday 3/5 @ noon CT- Sign up to play TTRPG Pickup Con XX games.

Friday 3/18- Sunday 3-21- TTRPG Pickup Con is played! We've already got a dozen different game sessions ready for you to play in, stretching across 7+ gaming systems with more on the way.

February was tumultuous, seeing another great TTRPG Pickup Con with only two games unable to run. While I always want every game to run, I’ll take a small percentage of losses while we’re still in this growing period. I’m putting more effort into promoting the event this month to make another growth spurt in attendance and registration. By June, I’m hoping to have twice as many games, all full of players. Hold me to that, o’ internet. It means new game runners from new communities and parts of the world will need to be brought in. I hope to make this event better reflect the community it serves as we grow.

Time 2 Party

Mondays in March: Make sure your podcatcher is primed for Time 2 Party to guide you like a wiggly transparent bubble through a fresh look at Donnie Darko. Ben Silverio and Helena Handbasket love this movie, and they are here to help you give it new meaning along with some watch-along rules and edutainment into the bargain.

Monday, 3/7- The Watch-along Game

Monday, 3/14- The Review

Monday, 3/21- Edutainment

Monday, 3/28- Bonus Episode

Starlight Radio Dreams

Thursdays in March: Starlight Radio Dreams has more shorts, serials and a complete, hour-long special coming your way! Make sure to leave a little whisky in your podcatcher as bait for the elusive host, Burlington Showtime and the rest of our zany characters.

Thursday, 3/3- “The Reveal'‘ by Cassandra Rose

Thursday, 3/10- “Samuel Spruce and the Frosty Wood” by Jared McDaris

Thursday, 3/17- “Me, My Elf and I” by Jared McDaris

Thursday, 3/24- S5E12 “The Nothing to Do With Holidays Special”

Thursday, 3/31- S6E1 ft. “Samuel Spruce in the Warehouse Always Wins” by Jared McDaris

March of the Pandas: Another Pandaversary Special. Starlight Radio Dreams isn’t just Podcast episodes. Like most things, it’s best when it’s fresh. This month we’re marking another year of wiping down groceries and releasing content exclusively online with the second episode of season 6. It’s chock full of new serials, shorts and music. We’ve moved to a bi-monthly release schedule to give ourselves a bit more time to be kind to ourselves and give you a chance to see an even better, longer show. Get your tickets now to get access, starting with the live stream at 8 PM CT on 3/25.

*” Luckily” is hardly the right word. I am job hunting this month. So, please do keep me in mind for any departmental management, copywriting, or podcast editing jobs that may cross your awareness.

Thank you!

January’s event went so well and it’s all thanks to you. Thank you to everyone who played, shared the event and supported the amazing game runners who offered games. Extra special thanks to the folks who supported the event financially on Ko-fi! So many thanks to go around!

If you want to make sure that your voice is heard, changes are made or that things stay just the way you like ‘em, please fill out the feedback form linked below. It really does help a great deal to have your input.

What’s Next?

Questions? I had a feeling. I’m available via the contact form, email, and Discord.

Pickup Con XIX is set for February 18-21.

There are already ten sessions posted in five different systems and they look amazing!

Sign Up Day will be Saturday, 2/5. I will open the signup forms at noon central time. So, mark your calendars and keep an eye on the Discord. Game Runner Sign Ups are open for this event already. You can also follow @indecisionist on Twitter for live updates as games get added to the schedule.

As always, please reach out through the site’s contact form (which can be anonymous), via email (Ansel@Indecisionist.com) or on Discord (TheCaptain#7281) if there is anything I can help with or if you have ideas to share.

Some background:

-My weekly game has been goin since 2009 on Wednesdays and has had between 5 and 9 members in a single campaign. Many Dungeon Masters (DMs) will tell you this is too many. For me, it is just right. -Our group rotates DM duties every (roughly) four months. This means three times a year, everyone picks up a different character and changes their play style a bit.

As the person running the story of a pen and paper RPG, you can tell your players are going to fall into one of a couple categories. These can vary by encounter, session and campaign as the players behind these characters become more or less invested in the story, suited to the challenge or distracted by whatever is on their phone at the time. Two main types of character are the bread and butter of any encounter or scenario: 

-Characters who want to be at the head of the action making decisions and engaging with your NPCs and the world as directly as possible. 

-Characters who are trying to work for the team. They are supporters and will be there to buff, solve riddles and write things down. 

There is a third kind of character. This person will almost always deliver the same results from encounter to encounter. This special, magical creature is the wild card. Put this player in a magic item shop and there WILL be an incident. Put them near a lever, it’s going to get flipped. Glue down all the fragile things in a room and they will find the only part not glued down and mess with it. These characters are going to make things fun every time and while your carefully laid plans will fall apart, you will be better off for it. 

This brings me to my specific example. A few weeks ago, a major civic official gave my players a bank vault to hide some dangerous artefacts in. To cover their bases, they put a false chest in that vault then opened their own separate bank account and put the actual valuables in there instead. This would have been a fine plan by itself. The Wild Card offered a great idea of adding a supremely dangerous trap to enhance the plan. 

The suggestion was to put the valuables inside of a portable hole (a flat carpet-like item linked to an interdimensional space) which was then put inside a bag of holding (a large drawstring pouch with an interdimensional space inside). It is well known that putting the one into the other will break reality. By doing this in the safety of an anti-magic field, they did not have any such issue at the time but they left the items inside that anti-magic field just waiting for some unknowing robber to come for their stuff. 

While our characters gallivanted around the city disintegrating things, fighting necromancers and shopping, this little beauty was just sitting there in a vault. Now, perhaps you have already concluded that a box full of stuff the bad guys of the story want which also contains a reality destroying bomb is going to be stolen. Perhaps you have also concluded that as a DM I would be mad not to allow this to have the worst possible effect. You would be correct on both counts. 

After fighting to keep these dangerous artefacts out of the hands of the fiends (literally) who seek to use them to bring about a terrible plot, our heroes sat in a tea shop interviewing a sage while their reality bomb was detonated on the far side of the city. The effects tore the city apart turning blocks of houses, shops and civic buildings into floating islands of reality in a sea of red swirling chaos. 

We could have had a standard season ending cliffhanger where the bad guys get a magic thing and the heroes stop them at a cost before standing at a precipice of decision where we fade to black. That was my plan four months ago. Instead, this happened. No one got what they wanted. The game’s world is irrevocably changed and the heroes are going to have to make some big sacrifices when we come back if they’re going to still be able to call themselves heroes. As a DM, this is a best case scenario. These are real stakes and real consequences of the characters actions. This is why you always want a wild card in your game. 

You are epic pirate captains in a loose confederation. Your mission is to explore the archipelago, deal with supernatural complications, and defend your gold against other pirates. The Admiral, Rakefelon Bones McBones, Slayer of the Hidden Sea has been cursed by the gods of the sea to walk only on soil, leaving you to fend for yourselves while he climbs the tallest mountain he can reach to meet with the sky gods for help.

This leaves you remaining captains in charge of the fleet’s home port of Deepwash Anchorage for the time being. You must work together with your crews behind you to deal with whatever threats appear. Fail and Rakefelon Bones McBones will have you nailed to the deck for sure.

Announcing the launch of Sails & Legends: a piratical hack of John Harper’s popular one page RPG, Lasers & Feelings. The game is available right now on Itch.io as a free, (though you can donate if you feel so moved) downloadable, 3 page PDF rulesheet.

Check it out: https://the-indecisionist.itch.io/sails-and-legends

There is no disguising the love I have for pirate history and the fantastical stories that are inspired by it. I also love RPGs in a demonstrable and time consuming way. So, it was probably only a matter of time before a pirate RPG was born out of these twin fascinations. This game is inspired by movies like Yellowbeard, Pirates: Band of Misfits and the Pirates of the Carribean franchise. I was also inspired by books like “The Pyrates” by George MacDonald Fraser and Gideon Defoe’s “The Pirates” series.

What unites all of these (aside from the obvious) is the inherent comedy found in the over the top personalities and completely bonkers situations they get themselves into. I hope that game runners and players will be inspired to create zany piratical adventures of their own using this simple and free-form system.

Sails & Legends can be played in 2-4 hours with some precision from the Game Master. It can be easily tailored to add or pull back on that play length. Character creation takes about 20 minutes, most of which is spent giggling.

Check out the game, let me know what you think and if this is the sort of thing you’d like to see more of. Then, pass it along and let your friends get excited too. Maybe I’ll do more one page games in the future. I’m working on publishable materials for Raptor’s Peak as a setting and collection of adventures which will end up as a Kickstarter project. Follow me here and on social media for more updates as well as all the other projects I’m releasing constantly.

Happy Pride to all of the LGBTQIA+ members of our communities in gaming, the podverse and all of the other amazing places where voices contribute to the world’s human choir. The work is nowhere near to being done but maintaining the fight is no mean feat. Fighting for LGBTQIA+ voices from the personal scale to the world scale happens every day. For that, there is much to be proud of.

May everyone be able to enjoy a dignity of self. May we remain conscious of each other’s dignity. May we come together for a more tolerant, empathetic world this month and every day to follow.

My Commitment to You.

I love you as you are.

So far, there have not been any incidents of discrimination reported to me from TTRPG Pickup Con. In the event that an incident occurs in any of our events, I promise to every single participant that if you report it to me; I will protect you and ensure that the behavior is not repeated. Discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated and is grounds for removal and banning.

I come to this from a position of special privilege as a cis/het/white man and I recognize that this means I have blind spots. So, this is my promise to the community. I will fight for you and I welcome being called out whenever I miss the mark. This event and the other projects I produce are here for your voices, viewpoints and experiences.

The least I can do is use the safety I have to serve as a support in whatever way I can. The onus is on me to make that clear and to do all I can to make these spaces inviting. I work every month to continue developing practices, agreements and community culture to reinforce that safety and transparency.

You are invited to provide feedback, suggestions and concerns via direct message in Discord (TheCaptain#7281), an email to ansel@indecisionist.com or a note on the website’s contact form which may be left anonymously.