This is a thought which has needled me long enough, I believe it's worth attempting to phrase coherently, and publicly. A month or two ago, I watched Downfall. This film is about Hitler, and about the end of the Nazi regime as the Soviets invaded Berlin. As usual, before I chose to watch this movie I scrolled … Continue reading Humanizing Hitler
Author: Austin Conrad
Self-styled scholar and author. I read a lot and write occasionally.
Review — A Rough Guide to Glamour
The Jonstown Compendium—Chaosium's community content program for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha—has on offer a variety of fan-produced game supplements, all in digital formats. Until now! A Rough Guide to Glamour, from Nick Brooke, Chris Gidlow, and Mike Hagen, is the first release on the storefront available in hard copy, printed on demand. Consequently, this review will … Continue reading Review — A Rough Guide to Glamour
First Impressions—”The Pegasus Plateau & Other Stories”
Chaosium recently published their third adventure pack for the newest edition of their tabletop roleplaying game RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, titled The Pegasus Plateau & Other Stories. I've just finished reading it. In this post, I'm going to take some time to go chapter by chapter through the new book, and talk a little about each. … Continue reading First Impressions—”The Pegasus Plateau & Other Stories”
Monster of the Month
It's been a while, and just recently I realized I'd neglected to update the blog with the publication of my new series, Monster of the Month. Monster of the Month is a, well, monthly series of new bestiary entries for the tabletop roleplaying game RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. They're all available in the Jonstown Compendium, … Continue reading Monster of the Month
Obligatory New Year Post
Hello, everyone! It's 2020 and that means I'm supposed to write a new blog talking about all my bright and shiny ambitions for the coming year. Or decade. Right? I'm gonna do the generic thing and start first by reviewing what random malarkey I've gotten up to in the last year. 2019 in Review Let's … Continue reading Obligatory New Year Post
The Throat of Winter (and other news)
First things first: as those of you who follow my Facebook page are aware, I recently published The Throat of Winter, an adventure for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. This was published through Chaosium's new community content program, the Jonstown Compendium. Similar to the DM's Guild for Dungeons & Dragons, or the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, the Jonstown … Continue reading The Throat of Winter (and other news)
Overlight Review
"A roleplaying game of kaleidoscopic fantasy." That tagline, combined with the above cover art, intrigued me enough to pick up this 2018 tabletop roleplaying game from Renegade Games. An unusual claim, juxtaposed with thrillingly colorful artwork, offered me enough promise to pick up the core rulebook from my local gaming store. I read the 332-page … Continue reading Overlight Review
Waste Not
Here's a bit of flash fiction I wrote a few months back. I decided not to pursue it further, but do believe it's of a shape to be worth reading. Hope y'all enjoy! Sam drove his spade into the loamy earth. “Y'know 'Arry, it just don't seem right,” he said, wiping sweat and muck from … Continue reading Waste Not
Binge-Streaming and the Mini-Series
With the rise and continued growth of services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon's Prime Video, the way in which many people consume stories has changed. Before these streaming services, film stories were presented for consumption in basically two ways: serially over television, or in a one- to three-hour block, as a movie. There were … Continue reading Binge-Streaming and the Mini-Series
The Story So Far…
Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Six months, give or take, since the last post I wrote. A lot's happened since then. Bought a house and moved. Read a few books. Wrote some stuff. Took a few classes. Looking back, it's hard to quantify and elaborate upon lived experience. Today, I'm gonna ramble about … Continue reading The Story So Far…
Akhelas 