Playing tabletop games (tabey top, thanks Will) and writing words are the two things that fill my cup the most. There are lots of other elements of my life (such as seeing my children be awesome, slam dunking a lesson, or laughing with my wife) that contribute to the filling of my cup. But in the last six weeks I have depleted my cup more than I would normally like. I have felt hollow, the husk of the person usually am.

I can usually draw up the energy and excitement to work on something. I’ve always got something on the go. But for the last few months the only thing I have written has been posts for this newsletter.

Which is great but it has felt unnatural.

This year I have been hand writing, daily-ish, in a notebook. I’ve probably written more this year than I have in the last three years combined. Yes, some of it is particularly sloppy, there is much more in there that is good. I’ve written much more than I would like to commit to a newsletter whenever a new piece is written.

As a result, I have started to post some of these pieces on two separate blogs. Firstly, on my wesbite: www.stuartwatkinson.com. I write all sorts of things that do not fit into the tabletop realm and want somewhere for them to go. For tabletop gamey stuff I’ve started a new space on the internet for that: https://dungeonbison.bearblog.dev/. Dungeon Bison will slowly get filled with all my gamey thoughts, new and old, as will deposit things from this substack and my old blog there.

y am i tellin you this?

Because I am going to emailing you less. Largshire Bulletin is now a funnel to those blogs, any new projects, and stuff I’ve found on the internets. It’s gonna be a capital B Bulletin, dammit.

Let’s get started.

Dungeon Bison

The principles of Dungeon Bison is the first post on the blog. These are my little guidelines for the games I run. I’ve got quite a few posts up now, I won’t add them all on this newsletter but you can check them out.

1. The World is living. Inhabitants of the world have lives and are living them. They do not exist in a vacuum and are not waiting for someone to interact with them.

2. Blades are sharp. Combat will hurt and can kill. Swords are not toys and to draw them means to draw blood.

3. Dungeons are dangerous. The dark places of the world are strange and cruel. Where the light does not come naturally you will find unnatural things. To enter the depths is to put yourself in harms way.

4. Actions have consequences. Whatever you do, there will be a reaction and something you haven't done. Even taking no action is a choice.

5. Risks are necessary. The safe road leads to nowhere. Taking a step in the direction of danger is the way.

6. Exploration is rewarded. You cannot find what you do not look for and you don't know what you'll find when start looking.

Leave a comment

Sad Teacher Poems

Last year I thought I was breaking up with my career. I had taken leave and was working as a relief teacher. I even started a small business mentoring young people with disability thinking that I would be leaving the professional. This year, however, I am back in the classroom at a new school and turns out I just needed a change of scenery. As a result of living in the regional town, I often have access to writing projects that are funded through government schemes. During my saddest and most confused months I was commissioned to write poetry for an open mic night in one of the town halls. I am very lucky to live in the place where this sort of thing happens. I wrote what came naturally to me, I wrote about teaching. Below is one of those poems, and you can read the rest here

circles On the table
Must have made it this morning
but it was lost in the abyss.
The stain is circular but smeared
from when I put it down.
I was in a rush and it splashed a little
and I remember that now.
Was going to clean it up before I headed in
but, obviously — some matter, pressing — came up.
Like a B that should have been an A, a lost book,
or note with last month's letterhead on it.
Sometimes I wonder how many litres have been poured
down the drain because of notes with old letterheads.
I pick it up and take a sip.

Cold and bitter.

A sensation I've become familiar with.

Share

Tabey top things

This month I have started playing games again! It’s been about 3 months since my group last met and we’ve all missed it. I am running Dragonbane and using The Abbot Trilogy as the basis of the campaign. However, I have set up region as a sandbox and filled it with all sorts of distractions and the party were distracted by the first first thing they stumbled across, DNGN.

DNGN #1

This megadungeon fits the themes of The Abbot Trilogy perfectly. Weird sci-fantasy that connects to intergalatic space travellers. The writing in here is succinct and informative using the OSE dot point style. It gives just enough to set the scene without bogging down with information. You don’t need to know what’s going on because it’s just a big weirdo dungeon. The artwork is point of view single page pieces that you can show to the players to get their head around what they’re looking at.

My players seem to think this is a simple space they can just walk through quickly… the fools.

Shadow Over Gloomshire

I’ve plonked the village of Gloomshire next to Dankwood. I’m unsure of how invested the party will be with this, but I have dropped two hints to it so far, there's some fine ale and there used to be an order of paladins, both taken from hooks table. I like this adventure because it could just be a village the party stumble through, but each location has an EVENT that occurs when they visit. Each one luring further into the mystery that surrounds the town. Well worth a look.

Music

Kaneda’s Theme: This is not new. But I haven’t heard it in a long time. And the caption on the video is worth a read. I’ve listened to this theme song on repeat while writing a few times this week.

Ren - Bitter Sweet. I’ve seen this guy a few times on Instagram. I’ve not given him much time, but this song got me. I’ve no idea who this is or what they’re about. A mixture of classic music and street culture hits the spot.

That’s all from me folks.

I’ll knock out another one of these next month.

Long days and pleasant nights.

Stuart.