Testing The Deck Of Many Drinks!
Playing Daggerheart and meeting Bunmi Emenanjo (tho not at the same time, alas)
Hello, friends! The 101st season of Learned League has recently started and I’m genuinely startled to not be acquitting myself poorly in this first week or so. At the time of writing, I’m in second place in my division’s B Rundle, which is not at all bad! For the most part, I’ve been able to correctly answer four or five of each day’s questions, tho there have definitely been days where I tanked with just two or, worse, one like I did on opening day. It’s a brilliant online trivia league that I strongly encourage you to check out if you have the time.
Speaking of checking out (positive), I finally got to publish my review of The Deck Of Many Drinks in conjunction with its release this week! I really loved exploring the sturdy fifty card deck with accompanying guidebook (the Magic The Gathering homages had me cackling!) but the ultimate test was incorporating it into the Ghosts Of Saltmarsh campaign I’m running. The deck was flawless, seamlessly setting up a terrific party scene that not only entertained my players but also gave their characters several cool aftereffects. You can check out my full review at the link, tho here are some photos, too:
Why yes, one of those photos is not like the others! I had the great privilege of attending a very local one-day gaming con this past weekend and playing two new-to-me systems. The first was Blades In The Dark, which I’d never gotten a chance to try before. Our GM posited a very cool heist involving minor gods in the present day going after the wealth of Belief hoarded by Mercury, god of roads, messages and the Internet, and therefore the greatest deity of the current era. I had a good time, but I also don’t think that this is the best system for me. Flashbacks are fun in small measures, but having an entire game built out of them is just too much retconning for my preferred form of storytelling, while gaming or otherwise.
So I was really thrilled to get into the evening session of Daggerheart, the fantasy adventure game put out by the people behind the Dungeons & Dragons actual play juggernaut Critical Role. We randomly grabbed character sheets to play the introductory adventure which — in our GM’s ultra-capable hands — was the perfect way for us to learn the system. I played the affable Garrick Reed, who thought he was Damon-Affleck besties with our uptight party leader Marlowe, not realizing that she’d been in love with him forever, oops. The system took the best bits of D&D and Fate, and likely some other games I’m less familiar with. I especially loved the Hope and Fear dice, tho was less enthused about the card mechanic, likely because of lingering trauma over the amount I’ve spent on collectible cards games in the past, lol.
Unsurprisingly, I did not have the most time to read this past week, but I did have the pleasure of meeting Bunmi Emenanjo, the author of I’ll See You In Ijebu, one of my favorite books of 2024. She was doing a storytime at my favorite bookstore, People’s Book, and my middle child came with me to watch. Ofc, I’d somehow managed to get the time wrong so we only caught the tail end, which was likely for the best since Joseph was far more interested in browsing the shelves than in sitting down to listen. I got the chance to chat with Ms Emenanjo afterwards, and she mentioned having read my review, which left me super flustered. We spend our whole lives wanting to be seen, then feel incredibly exposed when we are! She was absolutely lovely tho, and signed a copy of the book for Joseph and posed for photos, one of which is below:
The physical version of I’ll See You In Ijebu is even more glorious than the digital I originally read it in. Oversized and on sturdy paper, the colors pop in a way they don’t on-screen. I highly recommend getting a physical copy of this beautiful, moving book.
Of the new titles I read this week, I really loved Jamie Lynn Hendricks’ A Lovely Lie. Traveling back and forth through time and with multiple narrators, this mystery thriller uncovers what really happened on the night of the Senior Picnic of 1999, as a young woman with vengeance on her mind returns to her mother’s hometown seeking answers. The characters start out SO prickly. But as the story unfolds, readers learn the reasons behind all their less-than-likeable choices, with a brilliant narrative arc for my two favorite characters. I genuinely love when characters rise above their worse natures to do good things. Not all the people in this book do, obviously, but it warmed my heart when my favorites did.
Alright, I need to dive back into work and into making more headway with the Camp Elementa BackerKit. It’s been so frustrating to have all the books and all my backer information but to not be able to integrate them both via this one step. Wish me luck getting it done, and see you in six!
Currently Playing (Music): Vivaldi’s Concerto #7; Mozart’s String Quartet #1; Corelli’s Christmas Concerto; my Declan Rice playlist; Miranda Lambert’s Wildcard; Donna Missal’s This Time.
Currently Playing (Games): The Light In The Mist puzzletale, Enigmas by David Kwong & Co, The Wild Beyond The Witchlight, Metazooa by Trainwreck Labs, Learned League trivia, NYT Connections.
Currently Reading/Writing (Games): Camp Elementa by me! Ghosts Of Saltmarsh.
Currently Reading or Just Read (Books): Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner; A Lovely Lie by Jamie Lynn Hendricks; The Paris Affair by Maureen Marshall; Three Fudges And A Baby by Nancy Coco; I’ll See You In Ijebu by Bunmi Emenanjo & Diana Ejaita.