REVIEW: Tales From the Lone-Lands

This review contains spoilers. Following in the footsteps of last year's Ruins of the Lost Realm, this year Swedish publisher Free League has released another adventure compendium for The One Ring 2E (TOR). Drawing deeply from Tolkien's works, TOR is a game which I've fallen in love for its evocative mechanics, varied story opportunities, and … Continue reading REVIEW: Tales From the Lone-Lands

REVIEW—Akborítha

For this week's book I've got a lovely small-press treasure by Tolkien scholar Richard W. Rohlin: Akborítha, to which is appended The Songs of the Seven Cities. I stumbled across this work courtesy of the God Learners podcast interviewing JM DeFoggi and Evan Franke, because JM mentioned a forthcoming roleplaying game which intrigued me, Amboria: … Continue reading REVIEW—Akborítha

REVIEW: Ruins of the Lost Realm

The thick red leatherbound second edition of The One Ring (TOR) roleplaying game enchanted me the moment I opened the Kickstarter reward. Reminiscent of the "Red Book of Westmarch" described in Tolkien's prologue to The Fellowship of the Ring, that volume's illustration, graphic design, and rules design together presented a game which said to me, … Continue reading REVIEW: Ruins of the Lost Realm

Weekly Update – 6/27/18

Hello, internet! Before I dig into what I've been up to this week, I'd like to give a quick shoutout to Summer Games Done Quick. I've mentioned GDQ on here before, but to rehash: they're a charity which does two videogame marathons each year to fundraise for a selected charity. This marathon's donating to Doctors … Continue reading Weekly Update – 6/27/18

Weekly Update – 4/11/18

Hello, Internet! This week's been a bit of a mixed bag, I think. I've done a ton of reading, but I haven't spent the time I'd like on my writing. Reading My plan last week was to be reading from Ursula LeGuin's Planet of Exile and Walter Burket's Greek Religion. I've done a lot of reading this … Continue reading Weekly Update – 4/11/18

Weekly Update – 3/21/18

Hello, Internet! It has been a week. That is accurate. Reading This past week, I finished re-reading Tolkien's The Hobbit, and I've begun the next book in my anthology of Ursula LeGuin's science fiction, Planet of Exile. I'm not sure I have any new and thrilling insights about The Hobbit this week. The only thing which particularly stuck … Continue reading Weekly Update – 3/21/18

Weekly Update – 2/28/18

Hello, Internet! I'm gonna go ahead and rate this past week as an O.K. I got things done, but didn't get a lot of things done. At the same time progress is progress, and while I'm not satisfied, I'm not upset with the last week's work either. Reading This past week I've been re-reading The Hobbit. In … Continue reading Weekly Update – 2/28/18

Weekly Update – 7/5/17

Hello, Internet! I'm gonna try something of a different format this week. Use headings and things, see if I can organize this as opposed to my usual word-vomit. Writing Week's gone alright, I feel. I spent a few hours typing up "How the Thrun Earned His Wings" and sent a couple copies off to interested … Continue reading Weekly Update – 7/5/17