I can hardly believe it’s almost the end of the year already.
I swear this was another case of I blinked and school started. I blinked again and it was Halloween, then Thanksgiving, now it’s nearly Christmas. I’m a little stunned things seem to be going by so fast. I guess it’s cool, but I had things I wanted to accomplish and I’m running out of 2025 to do it in. I guess next year’s going to be pretty busy.
Kitten Update.
Thunder and Noche, aka Meep and Moop, aka Rumble and Hum, are doing quite well. They have collars because it was getting extremely difficult to tell them apart. They get lots of snuggles every time we see them. Mostly they’re still living in Logan’s room so they don’t get in too much trouble, and we can find them easily. I never thought I would say it, but I’m actually starting to miss the 2 AM bottle feedings.
The plague has struck home.
First my wife caught a nasty case of Influenza A, and she was only on speaking terms with Oxygen. Then then next day one of boys was diagnosed with Strep Throat. No idea how that happened. Yesterday our next oldest also tested positive for Influenza A. The rest of us have established a base camp in the living room and quarantined all the infected people to their own parts of the house. We just want everyone healthy for Christmas.
TTRPG awesomeness all around.
When my body isn’t rebelling and I’m not face down in my pillow, I am actually getting some writing done. Although my computer seems to have again developed that weird tick where it randomly shuts down mid-sentence at times. Dear Santa…
Twilight Sword wrapped up its BackerKit campaign with a resounding success. It’s the largest crowdfunding campaign 2 Little Mice has had in their history as a game company. On top of all of the other Stretch Goals, we managed to unlock an Open Game License for the CAT System which Twilight Sword runs on. I’m anxious to start working on some 8 Bit style TTJRPG adventures for fun and profit. I’m already falling in love with Radia (The official TS world) and giving thought to creating my own campaign world as I do with any TTRPG release.
Speaking of 2 Little Mice games, I’m literally chomping at the bit for Outgunned Superheroes. I’ve been begging for a review copy of the Beta, but so far no luck. The Director’s Cut system is the same one Outgunned and Outgunned Adventure use. There’s an Outgunned Adventure review in the works about three deep along with a YouTube video. The entire Director’s Cut series of games are something I’ve been seeking for decades now. Quick, fast, rules lite, one-shot or short series campaigns wrapped up in a portable D6 system. (Ironically D6 System from Gallant Knight games is still coming.) But I’ve been writing down plot ideas for this style of game for years now.
That was all the fun sorta personal stuff. Now the rest of the story…
I swear if I hear one more person crying how “Dungeons & Dragons is dying,” “DungeonTube is dying,” DMsGuild is all AI slop now,” or “There’s too many indie TTRPGs,” I’m gonna laugh, cry, scream, and vomit simultaneously.
WtAF is wrong with some of y’all?!? Seriously! You gotta be shittin me! EAST SIDE!!!
I’m ready to declare war with a bunch of DungeonTubers, no holds barred, falls count anywhere, at least one of you is getting a steel cage, SOMEBODY RING THE BELL! Brother, I’ve finally had all I can stand. I can’t stand no more! Grr!
You know what, Mean Gene? This last month has seen the absolute limit of ways not to do TTRPG YouTube. Brother, some of you are just gonna have to learn we got ways of doing things around here, then there’s these here shenanigans.
D&D is just fine. Maybe D&D 5E.2024 isn’t selling as well as Wizards of the Coast says. I don’t know. We don’t technically have access to all the information. But is it dying? Hello. I lived through the 4E years and the Satanic Panic of the 80s. D&D is just fine.
And as for DungeonTube? Just because one or two of the “big” names in D&D YouTube goes public crying about their numbers or their lack of merch sales doesn’t mean the whole niche is falling apart. Also, just because your favorite huge corporate sponsor isn’t on top at the moment doesn’t mean it’s all falling apart.
“Number Go Down” is a pedantic and reductive thing to put on a thumbnail, Bob. Stop that! I clicked out of that one about the time he mentioned, “today’s sponsor,” but given he’s the good professor’s bestie, I figured that video was coming anyway. Sorry if I just don’t care. YouTube’s not all about your profits, Bob!
There are more than a dozen TTRPG content creators on YouTube. Stop acting like the same people always got the market cornered on D&D videos. It’s not the algorithm’s fault. No one is trying to bury you. Look at any number of YouTube channels that talk about how-to-YouTube. It’s real simple. Somebody share this link to VidIQ to anyone who thinks it’s too complicated.
Then we come to the cryin, bitchin, and moaning about how DMsGuild is supposedly falling apart. It’s going to be just fine. I think a bunch of you would be happier if I turned out to be right and WotC just bought out the DMsGuild and rolled it into D&D Beyond, which isn’t a far cry from what’s already happening. But there’s a little catch nobody’s talking about.
See, all the while creators are crying about AI this and AI that, all the big money deal creators that WotC is already chummy with are popping up on D&D Beyond. They have been for quite a while actually. Tinfoil Hat Warning! Remember how a cadre of content creators signed their contracts with WotC during the Great D&D Open Gaming License Debacle of 2023? What if WotC offered those particular Third Party content producers exclusive access to D&D Beyond as compensation for their loyalty. I also suspect this is part of what happened to Daggerheart, but because of the NDAs, we’ll never know for sure.
But the shills and the WotC suck-ups, the ones who had nothing to worry about to begin with, are all crying about the “AI slop” while doing their darndest to shout down legitimate creators who use AI tools to help them out. Not all of us have already worked for WotC. Not all of us have a $3.2 Million under our belts. Oh, and not all of us suck up to WotC every chance we get, like Teos, Sly Mike, or any number YouTube D&D influencers.
With a little luck Wily Knight will get some of you guys in good with WotC after the big gate slams shut. The thing most people forget about is that WotC controls any/all releases on DMsGuild. They get to cherry pick what can or can’t go on there, which btw, you sign away any claim to just by the ToS of the Guild.
For all the people who thought AI wasn’t going to be a thing: Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks (insert penis joke) said that they fully plan on using AI to data mine old modules and adventures in order to create new ones. Personally, I see no reason they won’t do the same to DMsGuild creations since technically they hold all the rights to those adventures and supplements as well. The worst part is you can’t protest it legally. You signed that right away when you published to DMsGuild. Hasbro can pump out its own special blend of AI slop, possibly including the art just to save money, and there’s not a darn thing anyone can do about it. Sorry.
So, Trekkie, you and your buddy Shorts can come on down to the steel cage. Bring your best d20 with you. My AI friend and I will throw down and leave your character sheets ablaze in the center of the ring while we walk over you to leave the cage first. The saddest part is WotC will laugh all the way to the bank while they’re making their cut off all that AI money on DMsGuild, too. Read it and weep.
I’m not one to pick on the ladies of YouTube. I have lots of admiration for you. Dawn, I disagree adamantly with any notion of “too many TTRPGs.” There’s no such thing. I was there when indie games started to flood the market back in the 1980s and people are still putting them out there. If Paizo or whoever your sponsor is can’t handle it, that’s on them. That was the worst video topic you’ve ever had on your channel. Please never do that again. Thank you.
Lastly, I’m calling you out, Glicker. You and Roll for Cash Cow got burned by Diamond twice. Get over it. I still don’t care. You’re not the first publisher to get burned by a distributor and you won’t be the last unfortunately. I’m not going to buy more of your overpriced Battle Zoo books to make up for it. Try some real advertising. You only had a Kickstarter going what? Every month in 2025? Something tells me you’re not hurting for funds. GET. OVER. IT. There’s two things you can do about it, pal: Nothing and Like it.
Yes, that segment was raw and unfiltered.
Every day, I make a conscious effort to stay positive. I try to speak toward what I want to see in the world instead of reacting to what I don’t. I’m not perfect at it. I slip, I fall, I screw it up more often than I’d like. When that happens, I dust myself off and keep moving.
That said, I do eventually hit my limit.
I’m not young, and my tolerance for nonsense is both well-earned and thoroughly stress-tested. My spiritual side still guides how I interact with people, but I’m also human. Some things still set me off. That’s just the truth of it.
So yeah, 2026 is going to look a little different.
My filter is getting thinner, not because I want more conflict, but because I want less of it. I’m done hosting bad faith arguments, drive-by snark, or performative outrage on my own platforms. If a comment crosses that line, it’s getting deleted. If a pattern emerges, blocking happens. In some spaces, comments may just get turned off entirely.
If you’re on social media looking to troll, argue, or blow off steam at someone else’s expense, I’m not your guy. Go start your own blog. Launch a YouTube channel. Build something of your own.
I’m here to create, to share, and to keep this space as thoughtful and welcoming as I reasonably can. Thanks to everyone who shows up in good faith. I genuinely appreciate you.
Jeff's Game Box 