It’s been kind of a day. Pain and fatigue were kinda kicking my butt today. Things could be better.

I was originally going to drop a review of Fabula Ultima tonight. I’m really excited to jump into this game with both feet and do some exploration. It may end up being a solo game for me. More on that in days to come.

Rant of the Day number one: What’s with all the GM-less games out there?

I noticed when I picked up Henshin Sentai RPG a while back and again recently when I was reviewing Scum & Villains for Galactic 2E that there seems to be a trend toward GM-less games. I noticed the trend again reading through Fabula Ultima. As a lifelong GM and fan of the hobby, I have to wonder what the deal is. I mean, I’m not the biggest fan of authority, but a GM for a TTRPG shouldn’t be that much of a problem, right?

Games with GM-less options are okay, I guess. Not my jam, obviously, because I am a GM at heart. I’m one of those special kinds of masochist that loves spending hours coalescing ideas into plot points, hooks, quests, NPCs, and so on. It’s fun. I actually like creating worlds.

I know people have a thing about being “railroaded” or games with a heavier amount of structured gameplay. Everyone wants to feel as if their choices matter. I get that. It’s cool. But that’s no excuse to push the GM down into the player-only seat. I think someone ultimately needs to pick up the mantle in every game to play the parts of NPCs, monsters, etc in an unbiased way. Rotating GMs is a good way to go to prevent burnout.

Second Rant of the Day is more of a personal quandary.

So, there’s this D&D social media influencer on YouTube, Instagram, Threads, Twitter, etc who just grates on my last good nerve. I want to blast this person at the top of my lungs so bad it makes the veins in my forehead bulge. 208,000 fans just on Instagram. Another 550,000+ YouTube subscribers. Is this really a fight I want to pick?

Trust me, I saw what happened to the last guys that made a run at this person. It did not end well for them on YouTube or social media. It’s about the only reason I’m biting my tongue. I’m trying to build a following, not argue with every troll and fanboy on the Internet.

I have a really low tolerance for pretentious crap. I am trying to the best of my ability not to lose my ever lovin’ mind on this person right now. Kinda like how it drives me nuts listening to guys like Eminem write songs about how rough it is being rich and famous. I’m just thinking, “yeah, it must be rough. Ha ha.”

But yeah, “Tee hee, it’s so hard being a popular D&D YouTuber.” Yeah. Let me tell ya. Give me those problems. I’ll take em all the way to the bank. It must be rough banking nearly a million a year plus free merch, trips, appearances… To make matters worse, the decline of Twitter is forcing this person onto Threads more. It’s getting harder to bite my tongue.

Show some bloody gratitude for cryin out loud! I love every last one of you beautiful people who read my blog. Please keep that up. I promise no matter how big I get, y’all will always mean the world to me. I’m overjoyed to have one fan or one million.

I’m still building my blog and YouTube is still on the back burner for another month and a half-ish until the kids are all back in school. Ever try making a YouTube video with 5 other people and three cats running around the house? But to listen to someone with that many dedicated followers make a video cryin’ about how hard it is being famous? C’mon now.

Last Rant of the Day: Adequacy.

It’s been the best of days and the worst of days. I’m thrilled to pieces that I have a creation that’s getting some notice and possibly another project that might get noticed. Hey, I’ll take what I can get. I will take whatever work I can find in the TTRPG industry for now. I just need people to understand I can do what I say I can do.

Then I ran into a very busy, very well known TTRPG blog today and almost cried. I’m thrilled just to be here every day doing something I enjoy and talking about a subject I love. But this huge TTPRG blog just made me feel so tiny and insignificant. I’ve still got a long climb ahead of me before I can say I’ve hit the big time. I’m gonna keep trying, though.

I’ve been reading a LOT of adventures, monsters, and magic items. I truly wonder if I belong here.

Thank you for being here. I appreciate you. The journey is not possible without you all.