BBG Digest - The Awards

Moving Update and 2024 Goals

It’s been a while since my last proper update! The past 5 months have been a whirlwind, but life has finally calmed.

This BBG Digest talks about the following:

• Part-Time Update

• Outliers Won an Award!

• BalletCollective Show

• TTRPG Videos

• Current Projects

• Goals for 2024

Let’s dig in…

Part-Time Update

I’ve officially been working on TTRPGs part-time for 5 months now. It feels more like 2 or 3!

The transition has been exciting, though more difficult than expected. Those 5 months have been filled with travel: a trip to visit family in Wisconsin, a two-week vacation, two housesitting jobs, and a week in NYC for the BalletCollective show (more on that below). During that time I also 1) experienced headaches for a month that I finally figured out was due to needing glasses (which has been resolved, thankfully!) and 2) finished a second move into a more permanent home where I’ll be staying at least a year (I love the place!).

While most of the chaos has been good chaos, I’ve found it hard to focus on creative work. However, now that I’m finally settled into the new place, I can feel that energy returning. I have my own home office (!!) and there’s a library just down the street that I can walk to every day (!!!!). I’m looking forward to staying in one place for the next couple of months and turning my full attention to my creative work.

Outliers Won an Award!

I’m delighted to say that Outliers, my Wretched & Alone hack written with Far Horizons CoOp about a research assistant in a strange lab, is a winner of The Awards 2023!

The Awards is a relatively new program that highlights indie TTRPGs. This year, 333 games were judged by a panel of 11 judges to determine 20 winners. I’m honored that Outliers was chosen!

You can currently pick up Outliers in the Ind of the Year 2023 bundle, which contains a ton of indie TTRPGs that were published this year by a bunch of different designers.

We’re also planning to release a physical version of Outliers in 2024, so be on the lookout!

Here’s a short video I recorded about Outliers and The Awards:

BalletCollective Show

Last month, I traveled up to NYC to watch The Moment is Imminent, the show by BalletCollective partially inspired by my TTRPG, The World We Left Behind.

It was an incredible week! I was able to attend all 3 shows, as well as BalletCollective’s first gala. My family joined me for opening night and a bunch of friends (including my old musical theater coach) came for the closing performance. I was able to meet up with friends & collaborators who I’d never had the chance to see in person.

The entire experience was incredible, truly difficult to put into words. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and I’m so grateful to BalletCollective for inviting me into their world. I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the future!

If you’d like to read more about the show, check out Linda Codega’s article in Gizmodo.

TTRPG Videos

I’ve only filmed a handful of videos over the past few months, but I’m finally on track to be making them regularly again (very exciting!).

Here’s a few that came out recently - there’s more on the YouTube and TikTok channels.

This Discord Has Ghosts In It:

Recipe on Kmiydish Paper:

Lisergia:

Current Projects

I just turned in the rough draft for my ECO MOFOS adventure, which is about traveling a scrap-sand wasteland to reach an ancient library guarded by a giant antlion. This was a fun challenge as it’s the first hexcrawl I’ve written!

I’m also editing Bones on the Ground and Rusted to the Core, two adventures by Chris Airiau as part of Outer Rim Uprising. Editing brings me a lot of joy and Chris’s writing has been a delight to read. I’ll also be editing the ORU Campaign Handbook soon - I’ve seen some of the rough draft and if you like Mothership you’ll be super excited for what’s inside.

If you’re interested in commissioning me for writing or editing work on your TTRPG, please reach out! Q1 of 2024 is getting pretty full, but the rest of the year is still open. I’d love to hear about your projects!

Goals for 2024

As one is want to do at the end of the year, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to achieve in 2024, specifically in regards to my TTRPG work. Here are some big ones!

1. Run a crowdfunding campaign for Death of the Author - It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned that project, huh? I want to return to it at the start of Q1 2024 and run a campaign by the end of Q2. I think that’s achievable!

2. Publish the updated version of The World We Left Behind - I’ve been refining the rules of TWWLB over the past couple of months to prepare it for a physical release. There’s still a lot more work to do, including putting a full team together. My goal is to release this (or at least have it available for pre-order) by the end of October 2024, in time for the 1-year anniversary of the BalletCollective show.

3. Read through my TTRPG collection - My own-to-read ratio for my collection of TTRPGs is…well…abysmal. I want to take some time this year to read as many of them as I can. I’d also like to record some short videos on my favorites! Ideally I’ll read 100% of the collection, but my smaller goal is to hit at least 75% of the ones I haven’t read.

I’d love to hear more about your goals for 2024! What are you working on? Which projects do you want to finish?

Thanks for reading! My next update will be in 2024 - see you then!

~ Sam Leigh