#RPGaDAY2025 - Days 1-16

 

We're halfway through August and halfway through #RPGaDAY2025. I've been a bit too busy to post daily, but I've been trying to keep up - especially more tricky with my foolish decision to draw a quick doodle for every day. 

I kinda wanted #RPGaDAY this year to be used any multiple ways – you could use it to design an adventure, using each day's prompt to lead you through a story. Or, you could even use it like Inktober and use them to prompt a piece of art... and I've been trying to draw more recently. Heck, I used to write and draw, and publish comics, and I really haven't drawn much for a while. I did some preliminary art designs for the WILD Tarot cards, but after a few sketches for the Major Arcana, I left Gareth Sleightholme to do the amazing art himself.

I wanted to get back into the habit of drawing, to get better, and improve. I'm really rusty, so it was good to get the pens and pencils out again. So here we go, the first 16 days of #RPGaDAY2025.

Day 1 - Patron

I wanted to do something that tied into the game I had mulling around in the back of my head. I wanted to do a cat person mage, but my art just wasn't what I had in my head, but I tried... It was a specific character I had in mind who was the 'patron' of the player characters, but... ho well...

Day 2 - Prompt

I wonder if anyone noticed that the black books are for the weekends? Day 2's prompt was 'Prompt', and when I'd put it on the list I saw it as a "what prompted you to start the adventure". I was still hung up on weird anthropomorphic people to populate the setting, and I thought of someone who made sure you were on time (or being 'prompt') and it made me think of a hall monitor. Once I had that in my head, I couldn't help but draw a hall monitor lizard... I know, awful pun.

Day 3 - Tavern

Again, I wanted to continue building the setting I had in my head, but I just came up with a crooked and weird pub called "The Tattered Scroll" but again, my art wasn't what I had in mind.

Day 4 - Message

Day 4's prompt is 'Message', and I really struggled to come up with a good idea for this one. And then, it hit me. Or rather, it hit this dude...

Day 5 - Ancient

Again, I couldn't think of anything to do for this one, so I thought of the most ancient thing I could think of. Not the actual Cthulhu himself, but an artefact almost as old. The fabled sculpture of the ancient one. 

Day 6 - Motive

The word 'motive' made me think of those detective shows I like watching, which made me think of the coolest detective gaming we've had for a long while. The Blade Runner RPG we played a while ago was brilliant, and had one of the coolest rug-pulls I've experienced as a player. Great stuff. So, I had to draw something inspired by the Blade Runner game.

Day 7 - Journey

The word 'journey' just made me think of our many games of The One Ring, where there was lots of travelling (usually to Bree and back). Lots of walking, lots of stumbling across orcs and so many 'total party kills' you wouldn't believe. We kept getting our butts kicked!!

Day 8 - Explore

We've done some dungeon delving in our time gaming, so for 'Explore' I had to go with something deeper, exploring into the depths of the earth. Felt a lot like Tomb Raider... Did not like how this one came out.

Day 9 - Inspire

For Day Nine, I wanted to mention two people who are a great inspiration. David Lynch and David Bowie. Neither of them compromised their artistic vision. They just did what they wanted, what drove them to create, and didn't worry about how commercial it was going to be, or whether people understood it. It was what they wanted to do, and it's what I aspire to. I drew when Bowie was in Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, as the legendarily weird Phillip Jeffries. Before he became a talking kettle.

Day 10 - Origin

For Origin, I thought I'd go back to that first RPG game I played. Back in 1983, when Crud (sorry) said we weren't going to spend the Saturday afternoon programming ZX Spectrums to play "lightcycles", and we went to JR's and I experienced Traveller for the first time. 

Day 11 - Flavour

For Flavour, I thought I'd show my preferred 'flavour' of game. I'll play just about anything, but I really love modern urban fantasy horror mysteries. Just my thing I guess. A holdover from my old World of Darkness / Kult / WitchCraft games. 

Day 12 - Path

The word 'Path', for some reason, made me think of being stuck on a path, and how sometimes you just want to do something different. I guess it didn't help that I was watching music videos at the time, and one always really resonates with me. 

Day 13 - Darkness

When it comes to 'Darkness' there's only one possible response to this and that's World of Darkness. When my regular gaming group had mostly gone off to University, and I'd kinda got out of the habit of gaming, the World of Darkness is what got me back into gaming. Vampire the Masquerade became an instant addiction, and I GM'd Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and Wraith in a massive crossover campaign. 

It's how I met Debs, and we even joined the Camarilla. Debs became head of Clan Toreador for the UK, and I was second in command for Clan Tremere for a while. We left and turned away from it all when we started getting hassle out of character by grumpy and power-hungry players. So I drew us in our Camarilla days. Such goth. So long ago. Back in the 'hair days'.

Day 14 - Mystery

Day Fourteen was 'Mystery' and it made me think of a game I'm keen to try called Brindlewood Bay (or one of the games it powers). Brindlewood Bay sounds a lot like the Thursday Murder Club but they're investigating Cthulhu, and it made me think of Murder She Wrote. So I doodled, Jessica Fletcher and some tentacles. It wasn't very good. 

Day 15 - Deceive

There are a lot of times when the Gamemaster deceives the players - one that really sprung to mind was back in the 80s when Pete was GMing a game. He said he was doing a murder mystery game, modern day, and we all played regular people who won tickets on a cruise. Classic Agatha Christie style game. By the end of the first session, the ship had capsized, and we were washed up on the shore of an island... with superpowers. Inspired by the old 'Elementals' comics, we were actually in a superhero game. Surprise!

I struggled to get that on paper, and after a few attempts, I gave up and just drew the classic deceiver of fantasy gaming... the mimic.

Day 16 - Overcome

Day 16, and I tried to think of an instance when we've overcome something massive. And you couldn't get more massive than the Kaiju sized Owlbear we tackled in our D&D game. It was the size of Godzilla. Magic users fired spells while we climbed its legs to attack it. The combat lasted two sessions... 

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That's the first half of #RPGaDAY2025. I hope you're joining in! 

Stay tuned for the second half at the end of the month, and follow along on the Tabletop Industry Network Discord, the Facebook page, and on sites like Bluesky (lots of #RPGaDAY stuff going on there!).

Something Better Change (again)

 

I'm sure I've used that name for a blogpost before. Many, many times before. It's a time of change, at least it is in my mind. I've just deleted my Substack - welcome if my final Substack email brought you here. 

Otherwise, it's been a heck of a year. Topped off by a turbulent week or two of confusion, where I needed to know what I was going to do... so, I turned to the cards. 

You may remember in my previous posts, I'm a big fan of Tarot. I used to do readings for people at art college and university, and I've taken to doing my own readings when I've been a bit directionless. My favourite deck has, for many, many years, been the Vertigo Tarot set based on the various Vertigo comic lines. However, recent events have kinda tainted them for me, so I sought out a new cool Tarot deck, settling on The Unveiled Tarot designed by Jesse Lonergan. Mostly because the artwork is bloomin' gorgeous. Each image has a frame within, almost two scenes in one, that mirror or contrast each other. Really lovely.

Anyway, first time I've used these, so I shuffled and scattered these for a long time, and I hope this kinda makes sense. Let's go...

So first card, Seven of Cups (Reversed) - this is supposed to reflect my current situation, which means 'A goal nearly attained' and 'a project presenting itself'. 

This is crossed by my immediate challenge, which is the Six of Cups - my first instinct is that maybe it didn't shuffle all that well, but it's the right way up so it means that I'm being held back by my sense of nostalgia and sentimentality. The image is an adult, imagining being a child, riding a playground animal. It's really clever and is definitely tied to the card's meaning.

Okay, on to the cross around these. 

The Six of Pentacles, this card is supposed to be my focus at the moment, and it's about charity, kindness, redistribution of wealth, and sharing.

Next up is the Queen of Swords (Reversed). This is in the position to reflect my recent past, and reversed it is all about a manipulative person, negativity, and imbalance in energy, and feeling self critical. Hmmm... 

Next is the Seven of Pentacles, in the position to show possibilities. I'm surprised there was even a card here that wasn't something awful or disastrous, but this one is about patience, perseverance, and long-term goals. I like how that's reflected in the image on the card, with the girl waiting for a plant to grow.

The final card in the cross is about my near future, and I drew the Ten of Cups (Reversed). Which can mean a loss of friendship, disruption in harmony, and a need to search for joy. I can see that being apt.

Okay, going up the side staff of the spread, again I thought I hadn't shuffled them enough. The bottom of the staff is about power, and the querent. The Nine of Cups (Reversed) was what I drew, and it's basically saying I have unrealistic dreams, I'm frustrated, and regretting mistakes. 

The next card up is the environment card, and the Five of Wands (Reversed). This is about what environment I'm in at the moment, and near future, which says I'm looking to end a conflict, and I'm feeling betrayed. Interesting... 

The next card represents hopes, and in this case it's the Knight of Swords. It says that my hopes are unrealistic, that I'm being impulsive, but also determined. That doesn't really help. Should I be determined and pursue what I want, or am I being unrealistic? 

And finally, the outcome card. The one this all leads to... the Knight of Cups (Reversed). It's all about being reckless, having a creative block, needing to have difficult conversations, feeling moody, and resentful for false promises. 

Well, that wasn't very positive was it? Interesting though. Maybe I need to reflect on these a bit.

Anyway, it was nice to look at the cards properly. Not sure if I'll use them next time, after all there's a really nice X-Files deck on Etsy at the moment, but it's a bit pricey. Maybe I should dig out my Twin Peaks deck instead...

Who knows. 

I'd best get back to all those #RPGaDAY posts. I'm hoping to compile them all at the end of the month.

In the meantime, stay safe, and stay multi classy...

D

Announcing #RPGaDAY2025 in August

 

We're just over halfway through an already horrible year, so we really need something right now to distract and to cheer us up a little. To spread a little positivity online, and what better way to do that than take part in this, the twelfth, international #RPGaDAY initiative. 

Like the years before, the idea is to use the prompts to inspire a blog post, video, illustration, podcast, or even just a skeet or social media post, to discuss something in a positive way about tabletop roleplaying games. 

This year's graphic is a bookshelf, with 31 books with single words to inspire and prompt some sort of discussion about tabletop gaming. As you work your way through all 31 through the days of August, you'll notice they vaguely follow an arc - meeting a patron, going on a journey, encounters, puzzles, final confrontation and the reward at the end. But you don't have to follow the hero's journey, you can just use the prompts to inspire a cool post for the day. 

If you look at the prompt and remain uninspired, there's an extra shelf on the bottom of the bookcase that includes some extra random elements that you can use to either add to the prompt. For example, you could get WHO is a LUCKY PATRON that helped you on an ADVENTURE? Or WHEN did your TACTIC make you CONFIDENT, but it didn't work and you learned a valuable LESSON? 

There are lots of options, and it's totally up to you if you use them or not. If you don't like a prompt for a day, you could just use one of the additional random words from the bottom shelf, or just use your own! As long as you take part, stay positive, and have fun! Just remember to tag everything #RPGaDAY2025 so we can find and share it.

--

This year, we're pleased to have the UK Tabletop Industry Network joining on with #RPGaDAY2025, so if you're in the UK or Eire, do check out their Discord and Substack if you're a tabletop creator or hope to be. They're a great network of support and advice for those in the industry, or who are hoping to break into the industry, from the largest companies to freelancers and self-publishers. 

As always, the text version of the prompts are below, and we'll provide the translations into various languages as our lovely volunteers send them in. Thank you to all who regularly provide the translations and spread the word even further. 

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Text Version of the Prompts

Daily Prompts

1) Patron

2) Prompt

3) Tavern

4) Message

5) Ancient

6) Motive

7) Journey

8) Explore

9) Inspire

10) Origin

11) Flavour

12) Path

13) Darkness

14) Mystery

15) Deceive

16) Overcome

17) Renew

18) Sign

19) Destiny

20) Enter

21) Unexpected

22) Ally

23) Recent

24) Reveal

25) Challenge

26) Nemesis

27) Tactic

28) Suspense

29) Connect

30) Experience

31) Reward

Question Prompts (roll D6)

1) Who

2) What

3) Where

4) When 

5) Why

6) How

Mood Prompts (roll D10)

1) Envious

2) Nostalgic

3) Proud

4) Enthusiastic

5) Confident

6) Optimistic

7) Lucky

8) Grateful

9) Contemplative

10) Excited

Subject Prompts (roll D8) 

1) Adventure

2) Character

3) Genre

4) Rule

5) Accessory

6) Art

7) Person

8) Lesson

And here's the graphic without the UK TIN information for those of you outside of the UK/Eire who may prefer just the graphic by itself.

--

Prompts in Spanish, thank you to Roberto Micheri

Traducción al Español

Ya hemos pasado el punto medio de un año que ha sido particularmente difícil, así que realmente necesitamos algo en este momento que nos distraiga y nos anime un poco. ¿Qué mejor manera de compartir un poco de positividad en las redes que participando en esta, la duodécima edición internacional de #RPGaDAY? 

Al igual que en años anteriores, la idea es utilizar las sugerencias provistas para inspirar una la creación de blog, un video, una ilustración, un pódcast o incluso una publicación en redes sociales, que promuevan conversaciones sobre los aspectos positivos de los juegos de rol tradicionales.

El gráfico de este año es una estantería con 31 libros con palabras individuales para inspirar y provocar algún tipo de discusión sobre los juegos de mesa. A medida que vayas recorriendo los 31 días de agosto, notarás que siguen vagamente un arco: conocer a un mecenas, emprender un viaje, encuentros, retos, la confrontación climática y la recompensa al final. Pero no tienes que seguir el viaje del héroe, simplemente puedes usar las indicaciones para inspirar una publicación interesante para el día.

Si miras la indicación y no te sientes inspirado, hay un estante adicional en la parte inferior de la estantería que incluye algunos elementos aleatorios adicionales que puedes usar para complementar la indicación. Por ejemplo, podrías obtener ¿QUIÉN es un MECENAS AFORTUNADO que te ayudó en una AVENTURA? O ¿CUÁNDO tu TÁCTICA te hizo sentirte CONFIADO, pero no funcionó y aprendiste una valiosa LECCIÓN?

Hay muchas opciones, y depende totalmente de ti si las usas o no. Si no te gusta una sugerencia para un día, puedes usar una de las palabras aleatorias adicionales del estante inferior, ¡o simplemente usar la tuya propia! ¡Siempre y cuando participes, te mantengas positivo y te diviertas! Sólo recuerda etiquetar todo con #RPGaDAY2025 para que podamos encontrarlo y compartirlo.

Sugerencias Diarias

1) Mecenas  2) Sugerencia 3) Taberna 4) Mensaje 5) Antiguo 6) Motivo 7) Viaje 8) Explorar 9) Inspirar 10) Origen 11) Sabor 12) Sendero 13) Oscuridad 14) Misterio 15) Engañar 16) Superar 17) Renovar 18) Señal 19) Destino 20) Entrar 21) Inesperado 22) Aliado 23) Reciente 24) Revelar 25) Desafío 26) Némesis 27) Táctica 28) Suspenso 29) Conectar 30) Experiencia 31) Recompensa

Sugerencias de pregunta (tira un D6)

1) ¿Quién? 2) ¿Qué? 3) ¿Dónde? 4) ¿Cuándo? 5) ¿Por qué? 6) ¿Cómo?

Sugerencias de ánimo (tira D10)

1) Envidioso 2) Nostálgico 3) Orgulloso 4) Entusiasta 5) Confiado 6) Optimista 7) Afortunado 8) Agradecido 9) Contemplativo 10) Emocionado

Sugerencias temáticas (tira un D8)

1) Aventura 2) Personaje 3) Género 4) Regla 5) Accesorio 6) Arte 7) Persona 8) Lección

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Brazilian Portuguese translations by Richard "Bat" Brewster and Eric Souza, thank you!!

Estamos na metade de um ano que já está sendo horrível, então precisamos mesmo de algo agora para nos distrair e nos animar um pouco. Para espalhar um pouco de positividade online, e que melhor maneira de fazer isso do que participar desta, a décima segunda, iniciativa internacional #RPGaDAY.

Como nos anos anteriores, a ideia é usar as sugestões para inspirar uma postagem em blog, vídeo, ilustração, podcast ou até mesmo uma postagem nas redes sociais, para discutir algo de forma positiva sobre jogos de RPG de mesa.

O gráfico deste ano é uma estante com 31 livros com palavras únicas para inspirar e estimular algum tipo de discussão sobre jogos de mesa. À medida que você avança pelos 31 livros ao longo dos dias de agosto, você perceberá que eles seguem vagamente um arco narrativo — conhecer um patrono, partir em uma jornada, encontros, quebra-cabeças, confronto final e a recompensa no final. Mas você não precisa seguir a jornada do herói, pode simplesmente usar as sugestões para inspirar uma postagem legal para o dia.
Se você olhar para a sugestão e não se sentir inspirado, há uma prateleira extra na parte inferior da estante que inclui alguns elementos aleatórios extras que você pode usar para adicionar à sugestão. Por exemplo, você poderia obter QUEM é o PATROCINADOR SORTEIRO que o ajudou em uma AVENTURA? Ou QUANDO sua TÁTICA o deixou CONFIANTE, mas não funcionou e você aprendeu uma LIÇÃO valiosa?

Há muitas opções, e você decide se quer usá-las ou não. Se você não gostar de uma sugestão do dia, pode usar uma das palavras aleatórias adicionais da prateleira inferior ou simplesmente usar a sua própria! O importante é participar, manter uma atitude positiva e se divertir! Lembre-se de marcar tudo com #RPGaDAY2025 para que possamos encontrar e compartilhar.

Versão em texto das instruções

Sugestões diárias

1) Patrono

2) Sugestão

3) Taberna

4) Mensagem

5) Antigo

6) Motivo

7) Jornada

8) Explorar

9) Inspirar

10) Origem

11) Sabor

12) Caminho

13) Escuridão

14) Mistério

15) Enganar

16) Superar

17) Renovar

18) Sinal

19) Destino

20) Entrar

21) Inesperado

22) Aliado

23) Recente

24) Revelar

25) Desafio

26) Nêmesis

27) Tática

28) Suspense

29) Conectar

30) Experiência

31) Recompensa

Sugestões de perguntas (role um D6)

1) Quem

2) O quê

3) Onde

4) Quando

5) Por que

6) Como

Sugestões de humor (role um D10)

1) Invejoso

2) Nostálgico

3) Orgulhoso

4) Entusiasmado

5) Confiante

6) Otimista

7) Sortudo

8) Grato

9) Contemplativo

10) Animado

Sugestões de assunto (role D8)

1) Aventura

2) Personagem

3) Gênero

4) Regra

5) Acessório

6) Arte

7) Pessoa

8) Lição

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German Translations thanks to Andrea Rick (Plotbunny Games) - thank you!!!

Jedes Jahr hofft #RPGaDAY, Menschen auf positive Weise ins Gespräch über Pen & Paper-Rollenspiele  zu bringen. An jedem Tag im August kannst du das Stichwort nutzen, um dich zu einem Blogpost, Vlog, Social Media Post, Abenteuer-Aufhänger oder Kunstwerk inspirieren zu lassen. Teile deinen Beitrag unter dem Hashtag #RPGaDAY2025, um alles Großartige an unserem Hobby zu feiern.

Wenn das Stichwort dich nicht inspiriert, nimm ein paar Würfel und füge ein paar Zusatzelemente vom unteren Regal hinzu!

*Tägliche Stichworte:*

1. Patron
2. Prompt
3. Taverne
4. Nachricht / Botschaft
5. Uralt
6. Motiv
7. Reise
8. Erkunden
9. Inspirieren
10. Ursprung
11. Geschmack (oder Variante)
12. Pfad / Weg
13. Dunkelheit
14. Rätsel
15. Täuschen
16. Überwinden
17. Erneuern
18. Zeichen
19. Schicksal
20. Hereingehen
21. Unerwartet
22. Verbündete*r
23. Neu(er)
24. Enthüllen
25. Herausforderung
26. Nemesis
27. Taktik
28. Spannung
29. Verbinden
30. Erfahrung
31. Belohnen

*Frage-Stichworte (würfle W6):*

1. Wer
2. Was
3. Wo
4. Wann
5. Warum
6. Wie

*Stimmungs-Stichworte (würfle W10):*

1. Neidisch
2. Nostalgisch
3. Stolz
4. Begeistert
5. Zuversichtlich (oder selbstbewusst)
6. Optimistisch
7. Glückbringend
8. Dankbar
9. Nachdenklich
10. Aufgeregt

*Themen-Stichworte (würfle W8):*

1. Abenteuer
2. Charakter
3. Genre
4. Regel
5. Zubehör
6. Kunst
7. Person
8. Lektion

Recovering after UK Games Expo

It has taken a week for me to get around to writing something about the hectic (and warm) experience that was UK Games Expo 2025. Was it good? Yeah, I think so... 

Just a fraction of the convention. It was huge.

Getting there was pretty easy, thanks to the way the NEC in Birmingham is connected to the train station (which is brilliant), and the lovely people at the NEC even had places to look after our luggage while we walked around that first day before we checked into the hotel. 

The only problem was, it was WARM. So darn warm. The queues just for the water refill stations were epic. The food and drink places were overwhelmed. Even the Londis in the NEC were struggling to refill the fridges fast enough. But, we arrived, had a very brief look around before deciding it was too warm, and went off for a tea and some fresh air. Then it was back in to meet up with Eleanor from the UK Tabletop Industry Network and the legend that is Joe LeFavi from Genuine Entertainment. Great to catch up with you both!!

The hotel (the Holiday Inn at the Airport) was really nice, and even had a free shuttle bus that connected with the NEC/station. Excellent! Good air conditioning, huge breakfast, and we were back for day two...

Debs' first encounter of Saturday was with some Ghostbusters and someone from Star Fleet.

Day Two was slightly better as the air conditioning in the halls seemed to be better. We met up with Stoo Goff (publisher and creator of Aegean, and publisher of WILD... you may have heard about him on this blog before) and then it was back to wandering the halls. Debs had a great chat on Friday with the lovely folk at Monte Cook Games and really loved the weird hand thing that was in the original Invisible Sun Black Cube, and talked to them about maybe having a demo of the game while we were there. However, the halls were so big, and all blurred into one, we struggled to find their stand again (until Sunday). How is that even possible? Their stand was pretty big! 

The Hand from Invisible Sun

    Anyway, we wandered the halls some more, remembered to stop for cups of tea more often this time, and remembered to keep taking it easy. We caught up with Gareth Sleightholme, the artist who did the amazing tarot deck art for WILD, as well as some of the most striking and arresting art for the upcoming second edition of The Laundry Roleplaying Game, based on Charles Stross' The Laundry Files.

Was a long and exhausting day, topped off with a trip to the bar at the Hilton for the obligatory 'industry mixer' hosted by the lovely folk over at Rowan, Rook and Decard. It was busy, and the queue for the bar was huge, but lots of people were having a blast and chatting, and I got to catch up properly with Gareth and Stoo, and I think Debs enjoyed it all too. 

Sunday was (thankfully) a little cooler again, and we went in with a battle plan. However, we were all tired, and worn out by the whole experience, and by the time it got to around 1pm we'd had enough and started the long (very long) train journeys home. Debs bought some cool vegetation from Gamers Grass, and discovered a couple of cool games that she's going to keep an eye out for when they hit Kickstarter. But thankfully, we made it home and passed out... just in time for me to go back to work the following day. 

What was the final verdict of the convention? 

That's a really tricky question. When we went to Tabletop Scotland last year, it was a lot quieter as you'd expect, but we saw some really cool games and I sat there inspired. My mind was filled with ideas, I flicked through Mothership and was a bit stunned by all of the information. I just couldn't wait to get back home and start doing something. To create. Draw, write. Anything. 

Whereas UK Games Expo was massive. Huge. So busy, I hardly saw anyone I'd promised I'd try to catch up with - either I just didn't see them, or they were just too busy and I didn't want to interrupt. There was so much to see, so many cool games, so many books, I kinda just left the convention thinking 'why am I bothering?' There are so many RPGs out there, no one's going to notice anything I do. And the social mixer on Saturday night was filled with so many new and talented creators that I didn't recognise, I just felt that I'd had my time making RPGs and maybe I should just 'diminish, and go into the West...' 

But I won't. I'm going to keep at it. But it has left me a little unmotivated. Completely the opposite of what I wanted to get out of the convention. 

Still. It was great to catch up with Stoo and I haven't had a chance to really chat to Gareth in years.

Me and Gareth, and a big dice.

Will we do it again? Definitely. But maybe not all three days. I don't think my bank account can take it!

Roll on Tabletop Scotland!! 

UK Games Expo on the horizon

 

At the end of the week it'll be the UK's largest gaming convention, UK Games Expo.

I've been a few times in the past, and have always been completely overwhelmed by the size of the convention, but this is the first time I've gone for longer than a single afternoon. Usually that's enough for me, it can be exhausting and so much happening, but this time I'm going to brave it a bit longer – mostly due to having the support and backup of my lovely wife this time. 

What do I hope to get out of the convention? 

Not sure. I know lots of people going and that's the real reason for it – meeting up with loads of cool gamers and developers. There are a few people going I haven't seen for many years, and some I've never met in person (only over the internet) and it's going to be great to catch up and chat. 

I also want to check out those cool minis at Crooked Dice – surely they have to have made a Mulder and Scully set by now? 

And, Darrington Press... I'm not much of a fantasy gamer, but Daggerheart is looking more and more tempting...  

I've printed out maps of the halls, marked on stalls I definitely need to visit. There are so many people I need to say hello to! It should be good!! Exhausting, but good!

If you're going and see me wandering the halls, looking as bewildered as I always do at these things, say 'hi!'.

[I may try to record a video or something while I'm there. I was going to do another "what's in the box?" video today but the footage was awful. I'll need to try again...]

My Taste In Music Is Your Face

This is going to be something a little different for me. This blog is usually where I get all nostalgic or talk about tabletop roleplaying games, or movies, or my obsession with The X-Files, or something like that. I don't often venture into the realms of music, despite it being quite a major part of my life.

Bear with me though, there are some strange narrative elements coming up that you may not be aware of, so stick with it. You may like it! If not, things will return to gaming next post, I promise.

Photo of the stage on the Clancy tour, showing the city of Dema. 

Over the last couple of years my wife has become completely and utterly obsessed with the band Twenty One Pilots. The wonders of Kerrang! TV (oh, how I miss that) showed the video for Holding On To You, and it seems to have latched itself into her subconscious, because when the video for Stressed Out hit circulation, we recognised the band and (intrigued) started watching the videos and checking out the rest of their music. 

The Music Is The Story, the Story is the Music

Who knew it was going to be such a rabbit hole! Listening to the songs, certain phrases would occur over and over, mentioning Bishops, Dema, Banditos, and something called Vialism. With a bit of research, Debs opened a whole can of worms and told me to look into it too... It seems that for the last ten years (to the day actually, as the album that really started this narrative, Blurryface, is ten years old today as I type this) they have been telling an epic story. 

Dema is a city on the continent known as Trench. Within the city are nine Bishops who control each of the nine districts, leading a religion known as Vialism. There is a resistance group, cute alien things called Neds, and major characters Clancy (Tyler Joseph in the band) and the Torchbearer (Josh Dun in the band). 

As you watch the music videos, some of them are 'Lore' videos, telling the story of Clancy's escape from Dema, being dragged back by Nico (one of the Bishops), being forced to perform as propaganda, escaping again, gaining the psychic ability to reanimate the dead like the Bishops, and returning to Dema to take down the Bishops. It's all pretty epic.

Letters from the Bishops, and a map of Trench and Dema

However, it's not just the music videos and some of the lyrics that build this Lore and the story. Some of the merchandise includes clues and codes, the latest album ("Clancy") had a digital version with a booklet full of clues and puzzles. 

As you can imagine, we were intrigued and fascinated. Delving even deeper and listening closely to the lyrics, you can tell that not only is this clever and detailed world building, but it also has a deeper meaning about mental health, and personal struggles. Probably why it resonates with so many fans.

The Few, The Proud, And The Emotional

I'd foolishly bought tickets for the concert over a year ago, initially thinking it was for last May until I tried to book the time off from work... d'oh. And then, they announced they were bringing their touring exhibition with them. Props and artefacts from their history – stage costumes, props from music videos, original notes of the lyrics. All broken down by album or tour. Debs' eyes lit up at the opportunity, so we had to go to that as well...

Debs posing in front of the "Blurryface 10th Anniversary" posters that lined the approach

We arrived good and early at the O2 in London, what was once 'the Millennium Dome'. We'd only been here once before when the Game of Thrones exhibition was here, and strangely enough the Fan Premier Exhibition (FPE) was in the same upper bar area of the arena. 

There was a big queue (which surprised me) for the exhibition, but the staff were all brilliant and explained everything to us. We got our "Ned's" bags of goodies and wristbands, and went in...

Tyler's handwritten lyrics for one of my favourite tracks
"At the Risk of Feeling Dumb"

The queues working their way around the exhibition. Bishop robes (red) in the next bit!

Bishop robes for eight of the nine Bishops (the robes of the ninth were on the floor...)

Debs and Me on the "Stressed Out" trikes. 

More cabinets of clippings, drumheads, outfits, and more

There was a heck of a lot to see, and there are another 150+ photos on my phone of the exhibition alone! At the end of the exhibition, there was an area with a bar, and loads of cushions on the floor so you could sit and chill. There was also a stamping station, where you could stamp designs onto the yellow bandana that came in your "Ned's" bag of stuff. There was also a place to add yellow and red tape to your outfit, add a message to the band on a flag, and (of course) the continuing lore...

We went on the second to last night of the tour, so set up in the last area was a Bandito tent with another letter fragment. There have been letter fragments at each concert venue, with morse codes and clues to build upon the story. 

The Bandito tent with the letter fragment pinned to the front

The following night, the tent was gone, with another clue. The flags were burned, or covered in black... 

See what I mean about the cool lore stuff?

We hung around for a bit, Debs decorated her bandana, and I chatted to a few of the older fans who were there – I honestly thought I was going to be the oldest person in the whole building, but it just goes to prove that their music seems to appeal to all ages. 

Eventually we headed out, and got a well needed cuppa before starting to queue to get into the gig itself.

Welcome Back To Trench

The gig itself was amazing. The venue was smaller than I thought it was going to be (I honestly thought it was going to be so large you wouldn't see anything) and we were lucky enough to be front row of the seated section to one side, right next to one of the "B-Stages".

Josh Dun, right up close!! 

There were a couple of really clever bits that stood out among the rest of the awesome. There was a moment where Tyler (wearing a balaclava) looks close into the camera that's on the stage so that the screens at the side affirm that it's him. He jumps into a trapdoor behind the middle riser on the stage, then appears in the crowd at the top of one of the balconies. You think, "ah, it's a body double" and then he takes the balaclava off, and it's him! I know there was some clever switcheroo deception going on, but it was awesome. 

The other really dramatic bit was when Josh appears in the crowd at the back of the auditorium, carrying the flaming torch - he is the Torchbearer. He walks through the crowd to the podium where Tyler is, and hands him his Clancy jacket. They head to the stage, and the stage looks like the city of Dema (see the pic at the top of this blog). It's so flippin' epic. 

(Of course, in a change to the plot, the final night - the one after we were there – Tyler doesn't take the jacket... and the crowd goes nuts). 

And then the city starts burning! 

Told you it was flippin' epic!!

Tyler, right up close!!

In the end, the concert finished with the traditional last song - "Trees". They set up small plinths in the middle of the crowd so they could both drum the final moments, while red confetti exploded from the roof onto the audience. (Of course, this night, the drums were chained down as it was the gig after the one in Manchester where a "fan" walked out of the venue with one of the drums. It made it into the music press, and the fans rallied to track the drum down. I don't know the details, but the tour team posted a video of them getting the drum back...)

And then, we headed home. 

In Time I Will Leave The City

That kinda wraps it up. Except... the tour ended and the social media continued. Cryptic letters were spelling something out, and a closing eye graphic and dimming the opacity of their website. There are theories that the whole of the concert is told as a recap, a flashback, in the moment Clancy closes his eyes while Blurryface grabs him by the throat (see the Paladin Strait video below). That rallying of "why you fight" just before you take action... 

It all built up to today's announcement that there's a new album coming in September which may finish the storyline. Debs is already overexcited at the prospect of new songs so soon after the tour. 

Overall, it was awesome. And I worry that all of that showmanship, storylines, and mystery has spoiled it for everyone else I wanted to see live. We'll see... next month it's Nine Inch Nails!