August 2025 Newsletter
Just the highlights, please.
I’ve toyed with the idea of a newsletter for quite some time now and, after a relatively eventful past month, decided I’d give it a go. For the first one I figured short and sweet is probably for the best. Let’s avoiding setting a precedent for ten page deep dives on every little thing that happened the previous month. I want to keep it chronological if my memory will allow it, so we’ll start with the longest running project.
Spooky Season Cometh
Almost a year ago, following some serious burnout attempting to assemble an in-person D&D group and a trial run throwing myself into the Final Fantasy TCG, I discovered a wonderfully niche subreddit, r/Solo_Roleplaying. The concept clicked immediately, an outlet for all the ideas and stories ricocheting around my brain. It wasn’t but a month later that I picked up a copy of Yochai Gal’s Cairn, a low-ish fantasy hack of Into the Odd (from the legendary mind of Chris McDowall), and started my first solo roleplaying session. You can read about the disastrous first attempt here and the triumphant rebuttal here. The opportunity for my mind to run wild and a blank slate courtesy of Cairn’s rules-lite system were therapeutic and creatively liberating. In a predictable and all-too-common manner, my attention shifted toward other hobbies and I sort of fell off the solo roleplaying horse, but as the weather cools off and autumn beckons with a crisp psst psst from around the corner, I was ready to hop back on the saddle. At the beginning of August I was rummaging through my bookshelf and found a copy of Liminal Horror, a modern horror hack of Cairn. A few months prior, during The April Foundry I had fleshed out a setting I’d wanted to use for this system, but the finished product leaned far more post-apocalyptic than modern horror. The goal was to create a module to publish and the current idea stewing in my cranium would need to exist inside a modern, relatable framework. Oh no, I guess this means I get to— I mean, have to come up with a new setting, so I got to work. I’ve completed the incident/spark tables and written a couple story hooks, while POIs for the point crawl start to worm their way into the mix. Stay tuned for further updates.
Finally Final Fantasy Five
Playing through this series, for the first time, as an adult has been inexplicably rewarding. I had access to plenty of “old school” games as a child, but this feels like rewinding time, especially taking into consideration my combined playtime between XI, XIV and XVI, like going back to basics. Technological developments and narrative flexibility are great and all, yet something about approaching a game with simple cardinal movement, four options during battle and zero voice acting feels more game-like than some of the more recent titles I’ve completed. I’m not saying anything new here, but I just wanted to express how excited I am to be on the fifth entry in this legendary franchise. It is fucking fantastic so far. You can catch up with the playthrough here.
Tabletop Training
Is recording actual plays for board games going to get in the way of enjoying them in a more casual fashion, with friends or at meetups? Couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you is that I’ve brought more games to the table in the past three weeks than I had in the couple of months prior, Solus: Lost being one of them. I’d had one successful run in Solus: Lost on the day I purchased it, over a year ago, but I realized afterward I had inadvertently cheated the system and that never sat well with me. Back with a complete understanding of the rules, I set off to bring my spaceship and I home from the unknown sector in space in which we’d found ourselves. Part survival, part boss battler, your only goal is acquiring four artifacts and homelinks in order to navigate the uncharted territory. I have a playthrough available here if you’d like to see the game in action. While writing this section of the newsletter, I did a haphazard scroll through Google results for the game and realized the second edition pre-orders ship THIS MONTH! Purchased.
Another game that found its way to the table was Harvest. I remember when this title showed up at my LGS and thinking the box design and character/setting artwork was exceptional, but I, in a moment of unexpected willpower, decided to come back at a later date to purchase it if it was still on my mind. Some time later, and on a trip to buy another TTRPG for the backlog, I rediscovered Harvest and succumbed to my impulsivity. Fortunately, my weakness provided me with one hell of a time because Harvest fucking rules. The gameplay loop of choosing what and where to invest your time is my type of puzzle. I ran through the first solo challenge and got my ass smacked, barely clambering over the worst possible rating on the scoring rubric. Not to worry though, because I’ll be back for more, but this time after I’ve had some coffee and, hopefully, with my partner in tow.
Minnesota State Fair
This was only my second year attending the fair, despite having moved to Minnesota in 2019, and it has quickly become one of my most anticipated summer events. Sure the crowds are record-breaking and the heat is stored by and then radiated from the paved streets, but it’s all so invigorating. Yeah you heard that right, paved streets. The Minnesota State Fair is hosted inside the Twin Cities metro, squarely between Minneapolis and St Paul. The food is insane and completely unnecessary, but I’ll be buying the red velvet funnel cake (the circumference of which dwarfs that of my head) every damn year until the day I die.
Minnesota Renaissance Festival
Thank you to my friend, Daniel, for organizing my inaugural visit to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. This place is magic. Younger me would have thrown a full-on tantrum when it came time to leave at the end of the day. I considered throwing one anyhow. We hucked shurikens at a wooden wall, fired arrows from recurve bows into targets in front of wooden walls and drooled over crystal dragon statues housed within structures comprised of, you guessed it, wooden walls. As far as I know, bricks existed in fantastical and feudal realms, but everything being constructed of weathered planks and painted in earth tones added to the immersion, while the intricate costumes worn by the attendees provided supplementary flourishes. My only regret, not taking the ought-to-be-enforced dress code seriously enough.
On Repeat
Precipice by Indigo de Souza
All That Was Promised by Hath
Bloodless by Samia
S/T by This Will Destroy You
Deceiver by DIIV
Over and Out
It felt freeing to write in this format, like a public journal, no directive or purpose other than to reflect on a month of creative endeavors taking shape, a heap of personal firsts and too much fried food. I think I’ll try to find time to finish another newsletter down the road. Every month feels excessive, so I’ll play it by ear. Thank you for reading whatever amount of this you found palatable and for engaging with my content. Best case scenario, something in these words strikes a cord and you feel connected regardless of whatever distance lies between us. Worst case scenario, you notice the my obsession with commas and the sheer amount of run-on sentences in the text above.
You did it, ✅ September.
I've always wanted to play through all the final fantasys. I started a couple of years ago but life got in the way.... One day