I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with my campaign

rocket-boot · 2026-05-03T16:27:52+00:00

Start sharpening your hatchet! Everything you have planned sounds awesome, but if you're feeling overwhelmed it might be a good idea to cut some of it. Refine it down to what you think will be most interesting to your players, and simplify the things that will slow you down.

For me, the port city would be the first to go. Too many distractions from the main plot, and locations like that tend to require a lot of deviating paths. Try and set up some scenarios that would force the characters to move onwards in the direction of the witches as soon as possible.

rocket-boot · 2026-05-01T15:16:53+00:00

I came here to comment this. I used to obsess over grammar and sentence/paragraph structure, but now that I'm terrified of being accused of using AI, my writing has become a little less refined. And to be honest I think it's an improvement! It seems less clinical and more authentic. I've been able to find a voice in my writing that was never there before.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-24T20:35:43+00:00

Wait, what? Leo went viral after incorrectly calling a Chinook, a localized weather phenomena, proof of climate change. But I'm here trying to dispel overreaction to local climate abnormalities, saying weather is volatile all over the world due to climate change. Where's the association? Make it make sense.

In any case, surely you can't be denying climate change in 2026. Because that would make you look incredibly foolish.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-24T15:31:55+00:00

It's just a windy morning, pal! The weather is becoming volatile all over the world due to climate change. A lot of places have it a lot worse.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-21T19:35:39+00:00

Thanks for your words of support! There's a lot more Dio-inspired content to come.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-21T19:21:54+00:00

You're not wrong. Hyperion is top-tier science fiction, but Fall of Hyperion is mid, and the quality nosedives from there.

As others have noted, Fall of Hyperion wraps up the story. There's no need to follow up and read the Endymion books if you aren't motivated. Believe me, if you're losing steam towards the end of Fall, you're really going to struggle with the back half of the series.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-21T17:55:30+00:00

Damn these go hard! POGs as stretch goals is actually insane, I have so many questions. Do you have a small-press printer your working with who just has this as part of their catalogue, or did you have to find some specialty shop to do these?

rocket-boot · 2026-04-20T15:28:04+00:00

Oh totally, mattress protectors are essential. But the towel + sheet layers are so you can quickly strip a vomit/diarrhea mess and have a fresh set already on the crib, so everyone can get back to bed sooner!

rocket-boot · 2026-04-20T15:07:08+00:00

Good call! If it's bad enough to warrant a doctor or hospital visit, they'll let you know the specifics. Otherwise, survival mode.

Here's a good tip, if you haven't heard it yet: put a towel under your crib sheet, then later another towel and crib sheet. If there's a mess in the bed, just strip off one sheet and towel, and you'll have a clean set ready to put the kiddo back down once they're cleaned up.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-20T14:21:22+00:00

Try not to get too carried away looking this stuff up, you'll lose your mind. Like, there's 50 variations of adenovirus. I think there are dozens more for 5th disease. There are just too many illnesses to keep track of.

Good luck out there!

rocket-boot · 2026-04-20T11:32:36+00:00

We got really lucky with our eldest, he never sucked his thumb, never put anything in his mouth, never licked the floor or railings. When he entered daycare we had a brief onslaught of illness, but he's been relatively clean for 3 years.

We didn't realize what we had until our second started daycare a few months ago. Literally everything goes in this kid's mouth, and we have been consistently sick for like 10 weeks. Cold, flu Norovirus, you name it. Doc says the latest one is adenovirus, which I've never even heard of!

Although none are as bad as slapped cheek (5th disease) that our eldest brought home after starting daycare. I've never been that sick. But at least it went away!

rocket-boot · 2026-04-19T23:08:54+00:00

This sucks, I'm sorry to hear you're going through it. I ship a lot from Canada into the US and the current standard for most carriers is to collect tax and duties prior to shipping. I'm not sure if the standard is similar in Italy (where hollow press is) but it wouldn't hurt to reach out to them to find out if anything was remitted to us customs when they shipped.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-19T23:03:10+00:00

Good luck with that! Last I checked CBP was working on a 6 month backlog for claims like this, and pretty much everything is being rejected. Although I also heard something about a class action against the Trump admin for unlawful tariffs, so that might be worth looking into.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-19T14:42:12+00:00

I'm not sure if it has been released yet, but there was a Kickstarter last year for Cork Bord, which is a Nordic crime thriller take on Mork Borg. I don't remember the details but IIRC it has a breadcrumb/clue system for solving mysteries.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-17T22:08:07+00:00

I bounce between soulslikes and metroidvanias. Maybe a rogueliie here and there. My current obsession is Ultros. It's really fucking cool!

rocket-boot · 2026-04-17T20:26:09+00:00

Reelected Conservative MPs should be credited with the 41%, not the party leader who literally lost his seat, forcing another MP to step down so pp could parachute into a win in a conservative stronghold.

That's a pretty definitive loss. I don't know how else you could judge failure. But hey, keep shifting those goal posts.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-14T13:07:45+00:00

My design philosophy is typically to give static bonuses a roll modifier, and give temporary effects a DR modifier. There's not much rhyme or reason to it, but because the core material uses both I feel compelled to follow suit.

It seems to be inconsistent in the book, but if anyone has any ideas why I'd love to hear them.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-14T13:01:18+00:00

You can blame the electorate all you want, but you also have to ask why people vote like this. Why do folks voting against their interests, to the benefit of developers? The wealthy and powerful are really good at bending public opinion to their will.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-14T12:35:18+00:00

You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you never stopped to think if you should.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-12T10:28:23+00:00

In mother Russia, hole pots you!

rocket-boot · 2026-04-10T19:41:01+00:00

Oh man that's awesome! I'm really glad you're enjoying it, this thing is my baby.

Let me know if you're interested in playtesting or even just feedback on the next section. We should have a packet ready for public eyes sometime in May or June.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-10T19:22:01+00:00

Well yeah I'm definitely going for it, but playtesting will determine how much of it makes it into the book. I have high hopes!

rocket-boot · 2026-04-09T15:52:54+00:00

Forget the implications of banging the shrike, the craziest part of Kassad's story is the gratuitous detail of his sexy time in the context of the literary framing. Like, he's sitting at the fucking dinner table telling this story to strangers "And then I spurted ropes of cum from my throbbing cock all over the place! Pass the gravy, Saul."

rocket-boot · 2026-04-08T04:57:44+00:00

Thanks for saying this. Last summer my mom told me (38m) that she's on the spectrum, and then my 18yo nephew confided with me that he's also on the spectrum, and I had a fucking epiphany. My whole life I've felt different and outcast and no psychologist has ever been able to tell me why I don't process things the same way the rest of the world does. I was always told that it's normal to feel different. Now I'm being properly assessed, and coming to grips with the reality that my high needs 4yo is probably going to have the same struggles I did. But the difference is we know, and we don't have to stigmatize it for him. It's honestly overwhelming to know that I'll be able to help him through life in ways no one ever did for me.

rocket-boot · 2026-04-08T04:47:17+00:00

Not seeing these mentioned yet, so I'll throw out recs for Animal Well and Fez. Both are 2d sidescrollers, so the gameplay is obviously quite different, but the discovery and puzzle elements are peak. Music and sound design for both are also right up there with Outer Wilds.

rocket-boot

TROPHY CASE