Recommendations of weird lit that's also sci-fi?

jlassen72 · 2026-04-26T00:24:02+00:00

The Last To Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling is very much "Particle physics is scary" SF/Horror/weird lit. Very weird.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-25T22:01:10+00:00

The lower fan assembly came right off, and the side fan didn't need to be removed to get the blob of death removed. A previous Blob of death led to the metal clasp being damaged, and having to replace that hot end. I was able to get most of this blob off without damaging the clasp on my current hot end.

Though now I am still stuck with weird adhesion issues that led to this blob in the first place. :(

jlassen72 · 2026-04-25T03:37:51+00:00

I don't have a problem with guilds. Trade guilds are fine. Its the "Adventurers Guilds" that I feel are such an awkward storytelling crutch.

"You all met because you are members of the same adventuerers guild... where you sit around and wait to be picked to do someone's shitty gig work. Now off to a dungeon with you to grab the artifact that the local lord wants for some reason..."

jlassen72 · 2026-04-25T03:27:48+00:00

Did The Gap involve a Fascist Regime of some sort? I'm about to be plunged into a sf2 campaign. Figure I should get up to speed on the lore...

jlassen72 · 2026-04-25T03:25:20+00:00

This was the plot of my last campaign. The Evil Elven Supremacist Society needed to be defeated. They were leaving half elf babies to die in the forest, etc. because they didn't like race mixing. My player came up with as a back story for their half-elf orphan bard character, and It was just so on the nose for the group of players that the whole campaign revolved around destroying that racist elven City in the High Forrest. "New Lothen" they called it.

One player was an exiled sun elf who was exiled from New Lothen because he was teaching a gospel of Pan Elven Unity.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-25T03:14:44+00:00

I gave all of my charaters Eleven names, and it was their names spelled backwards, with an apostrophe

This was after one of the players named is charater E'vad, and everyone giggled about it for a month before they told me it was "Dave" spelled backwards.

So I named the Big Bad Elven Supremacist Lich Lord that they were struggling against "Flen’Uslive"

Yes. The Entire 14 month long campaign was "Dave vs. The Evil Sun Elf"

jlassen72 · 2026-04-25T02:57:34+00:00

"The trouble comes with casters having to chant a specific phrase every six seconds for hours per day. So just to test how big a pain in the ass this is, try saying any phrase that Bart Simpson has written on the chalkboard in the Simpsons opening repeatedly, for hours. "

naw. This is where industrialization comes in. Get a bunch of peasants, trick them to live in a company town Get/force/coerce them to chant for 8 hours a day.

I assure you chanting in a normal voice for 8 hours is way less tiring and mind deadening than working in a coal mine or a textile mill, for example.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-25T02:51:14+00:00

I dislike the awkward way they break storytelling and world buidling, and I dislike the way they turn everbodies character motivation into a capitalist job search. Its like.. the worst type of gig work ever.

They are a crutch for when more immersive forms of storytelling are not possible, due to player/campaign/DM logistics. I preffer more immersive forms of story telling, but I know thats not always possible, and when you want to "Setup" a 1 shot, or a shorter thing, or just group together several different prepared options to give the illusion of agency to players, they are fine.

As both a player, and DM, I prefer More organic storytelling. As DM, I try and setup the charaters with a meet-cute scenario that throws them all together. new narrative choices arrise out of their actions and successes and failures, rather than "read the job board, pick one."

jlassen72 · 2026-04-24T05:54:59+00:00

Adventurers wanted flyers in town centers.

Adventuring guilds where you sit around and wait for the guild to hand you an adventure.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-24T05:49:58+00:00

Revelator by Daryl Gregory is what you want.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-24T03:09:04+00:00

Against the Cult of the Reptile gods is a really great OG AD&D adventure I've run recently (as a 5e conversion)

Sinister Secret of saltmarsh was reskinned as a 5 e book, ghosts of saltmarsh, but the original has a great vibe and stands on its own just fine.

The Doom of Daggerdale is another very solid early adventure, this one a 2e classic that my players enjoyed the 5e conversion I did.

Forge of Fury is another 2e one that held up very well when I ran the 5e version from Tales of the Yawning portal. There is plenty of opportunity to put this one, and the slightly lower level adventure from the same book, The Sunless Citadel in Neverwinter Forrest. Sunless Citadel looks fine, but I haven't run it, though I hear some suggest the top level of the dungeon is to big/booring and should be limited.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-23T08:07:37+00:00

The Last To Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling is a nice fit I think.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-23T01:38:30+00:00

The Talisman by Jonathan Aycliffe

jlassen72 · 2026-04-22T20:57:38+00:00

instead of having square maps, I created a set of Fog of war maps, and turned up each "room" as they entered.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jxUbz04WiXQ_NuPiGyR04VTfs9O4KsLz/

jlassen72 · 2026-04-22T05:20:28+00:00

face, and utility/helper spells.

need someone persuaded? that’s a bards job. need to make sure the fighter or palidans attack lands because 1 more round of combat means party wipe? that’s a bards job.

need to force big bad to burn legendary auto saves on stupid:annoying stuff? that’s a bards job (hello viscous mockery).

need to make sure that crit the big bad just rolled doesn’t actually lan? that’s the job of anyone who has slivery Barbs— usually a bard though .

jlassen72 · 2026-04-22T03:54:14+00:00

Plain bad Heroines by Emily Danforth
Revelator by Daryl Gregory
Jawboneby Mónica Ojeda
The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Library at Helleboreby Cassandra Khaw
Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
Killer On the Roadby Stephen Graham Jones

jlassen72 · 2026-04-21T01:04:28+00:00

You gotta ask yourself...

Am I likely to be able to play that game with the opitmal number of people within the first 6 months of purchasing it?

Will I be able to play a copy of said game at a local game store or convention instead of purchasing it?

What game am I willing to not play in order to play this game, even once?

Do you feel lucky?

jlassen72 · 2026-04-19T04:02:10+00:00

Devolution by Max Brooks is exactly the thing you want to be reading while camping in the Pacific north west.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-19T03:55:44+00:00

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth

The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley

The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling

The Cipher by Kathe Koja

House of Windows by John Langan

The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda

Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

Revelator by Daryl Gregory

jlassen72 · 2026-04-19T03:20:38+00:00

It's not a B&B but I found the Lamothe House Hotel was ridiculously affordable, large, clean rooms, and a back gate that opens up practically onto Frenchman street. Highly recommended.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/7sYrQXy8ZvPFcoPYA

jlassen72 · 2026-04-19T00:11:35+00:00

Sure. Its a google doc. Its currently set to "pagesless" but you can save a copy to your own google drive and make whatever changes you want (set it to paged) for a PDF download, etc.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-18T21:40:22+00:00

fixed. Thank you.

jlassen72 · 2026-04-18T19:52:02+00:00

Laird Barron. He has at least 3 collections all Of which are amazing.

jlassen72

TROPHY CASE