Last week, I quietly put out the first piece in a series I'm calling Lux Adversaria. These are informal essays / zines where I'll be dishing out tips, tricks, and tales from my many years in roleplaying. The debut essay, "Adapting non-roleplaying material for use with fantasy roleplaying scenarios," is already out there, quietly waiting for you to give it a read. It was a low-key launch, giving me the chance to tweak things and get into the groove of this new venture. It’s available at Lightspress.com and DriveThruRPG in PDF format. You can also find it on Amazon, both as a Kindle ebook and in print.

I won't be making any further refinements to the DoubleZero or Fantasy Manifesto systems. You’re welcome. I aim to progress forward, rather than endlessly circling back.

As evidenced in the saga of the logo, I haven’t always made creative choices that align with my values. Sometimes, those decisions were concessions to the "community," under the assumption that no one would buy the book unless certain things were included, even if they compromised the integrity of the work. Consequently, the book falls short of its potential because I lack faith in the broader audience's ability to appreciate its uniqueness.

When I dissect campaign design, you'll find it boils down to two key components: a setting that provides characters with things to do and motivations to do them. That's it. Whether you opt for a sandbox approach or prefer the structured framework of a three-act storyline, the fundamentals remain the same.

Here’s what’s new in the Lightspress shop this week!

• DoubleZero: Analyst

• DoubleZero: Athlete

• DoubleZero: Celebrity

• DoubleZero: Driver

• DoubleZero: Engineer

In my view, the essence of roleplaying mechanics lies in their ability to prevent disagreements among players. Without a solid framework or guidelines, storytelling can quickly devolve into chaos, with players contradicting and challenging each other's actions and outcomes. That's why we rely on tools like dice or playing cards to clearly indicate success, failure, and sometimes the degree of each. This structured approach helps maintain harmony and fairness.

If it were just my feelings at play, I might have let it slide. Oh, and the blog is now called The Light of Day, rather than The Day-To-Day. It’s been right there all along, I have no idea how I missed something so obvious

This is my revised list of design principles for character creation going forward. Some of it has already existed unspoken, and has been inconsistently followed, but I’m here to codify it.

Today I want to discuss my restructured and mildly revised approach to setting and lore. This will impact all roleplaying projects I create going forward, although it's been an unspoken and inconsistently followed design principle for a while.

Let’s keep this short and sweet. As tired as I am of revising the logo, it had to be done. Hopefully, this is the final pass.

Here’s what’s new in the Lightspress shop this week!

• Religious Orders: A Foragers Guild Guide

• Shamanic Circles: A Foragers Guild Guide

• Warrior Temples: A Foragers Guild Guide

• Wilderness Lodges: A Foragers Guild Guide

• Witch Covens: A Foragers Guild Guide

Going forward, when designing a new roleplaying project, I will consider these principles to ensure accessibility and engagement, particularly addressing the hobby’s common barriers to entry. Some of these are practices I already engage in, a few have simply been codified or reworded, but all of them form a minimum standard for a Lightspress release.

This week marks a pivotal moment for Lightspress as I announce a temporary hiatus for the Foragers Guild product line. After tomorrow’s final Faction releases, I’ll be taking a break. In the coming weeks, DoubleZero will follow suit, after the Professions series is complete, allowing me to dedicate my focus to new projects, both large and small.

My friend Daniel, the talented author behind Thru-Hiker, introduced me to the world of journaling games. In case you're unfamiliar, journaling games are a blend of storytelling and personal reflection. They typically involve prompts that inspire you to write journal entries from the perspective of a fictional character or within a specific setting.

My initial books were based on tools I had developed for my own use—tips, tricks, and checklists to aid in creating other content. My goal was simplification, not dumbing down. I possess decades worth of notes, observations, and advice that I haven't shared because a significant portion of the roleplaying community prefers more of the same, delivered in easily digestible formats. Ironically, these same individuals then lament the repetitiveness without recognizing the irony.

The Foragers Guild Guides serve as versatile fantasy toolkits designed to enhance your roleplaying, worldbuilding, and storytelling experiences. Rather than focusing on specific mechanics, our emphasis lies in providing abundant opportunities for creativity and narrative exploration.

Here’s what’s new in the shop this week:

• Knightly Orders: A Foragers Guild Guide - all-new edition!

• Mage Academies: A Foragers Guild Guide - all-new edition!

• Mercenary Bands: A Foragers Guild Guide - all-new edition!

• Merchant Guilds: A Foragers Guild Guide - all-new edition!

• Performing Troupes: A Foragers Guild Guide - all-new edition!

Throughout my writing career, I've often been pressured to dumb down my work. Not simplify; dumb down. There’s a marked difference. Some blame it on the average age of RPG enthusiasts, citing that the typical American reads at a 6th-grade level. It's disheartening to think about how many folks give up on reading altogether after school. Recent articles even suggest that younger generations struggle with spelling and punctuation due to their reliance on texting and social media. And don't even get me started on schools ditching phonetics in favor of sight reading. It's a mess.