Category: meta

Stuff about me and or the blog

  • That d20 in my pocket

    That d20 in my pocket

    There’s been a d20 in my pocket for quite some time.

    I don’t remember why it started or how.

    The meaning then is probably not the meaning now.

    Maybe by putting a die in my pocket I feel I control chance.

    Maybe it was to remind me that once I hid my nerd and now I don’t. Maybe it was because I want physical reminders of my passions.

    Over time the d20 became part of a routine. One of my many d20s is in my pocket. There are times I pair the die with the day’s planned events — blue and green for Sounders, black for Defiance, gold for weddings, etc.

    There’s also a shield in my pocket. I know why I have the Hope Shield. I have the Shield because it is dangerous to go alone – Take This. The support of Wyrmwood and other gaming accessory companies for Take This is needed. Take This severed ties with Wyrmwood in late February. I support that decision.

    I still carry the Shield in my pocket and will find other ways to support Take This in the future. Everyone needs to know that they are supported.

    My Hope Shield is there to remind myself that there is support when it is needed. Sometimes I’m the one that needs the support and sometimes I am the supporter. We don’t go alone, so I take this shield with me as a physical reminder that life isn’t a solo project.

    This penchant for charms and pocket things almost certainly rose because of my time in the Army and the tradition of challenge coins. Unfortunately my two most important challenge coins are gone (5th Special Forces Group, 1998 DLI Language Olympics). But the tradition and the need for symbols didn’t disappear just because I gave away and lost those coins.

    So now I have a d20 and a shield with me, because I still need symbols of community.

  • When your escape is also darkness

    When your escape is also darkness

    I think my creative nature, both writing and D&D, started during my parents divorce. I turned towards stories of hope, or rising from darkness and fellowship. These were the things I enjoyed in fiction and helped me during those times. In my youth I was at my most creative during high-stress periods — then, high school, the Army, my mother-in-law’s cancer diagnosis and eventual death.

    My creative energy was often an escape from reality.

    I think that’s typical of artists, if I can call myself that. For me writing about Sounders soccer and D&D and the things that I enjoy have been that escape for various points of my multi-classed life. Currently I help market a news-as-security service. I see a lot of bad news. For the past year that’s meant that I have been writing more, crawling out of the darkness that was so deep during the various phases of pandemic jobless and deep despair.

    The last year was a good balance for my creativity — not too dark, but enough that I needed to write still.

    A funny thing happened over the past few weeks though. The hobbies that I use for an escape were also covered in shadow. The whole thing around the OGL with D&D ended my motivation around Dungeon 23. For the Sounders there is a sponsor that has so many of my friends and fellowship angry.

    Sourness eroded my interest in putting words to blank screens. These unnecessary community damaging decisions harmed my ability to escape.

    I didn’t want to rage, because my writing isn’t about rage (any more, now that I’m middle aged).

    I wanted to not think about the decisions that didn’t bring me joy. Instead of creating 365 nuggets of lore and place in my fantasy world, instead of sharing the joys of Renton being the Sounders second home, instead of being hyped for player signings, a new book, a movie I just stared at the blank pages.

    They weren’t a way to escape darker feelings.

    Friday some of that changed. Wizards of the Coast repealed many of their most controversial decisions, now releasing a thing called the 5.1 System Reference Document in the Creative Commons as CC-BY 4.0.

    I cried tears of joy.

    A darkness turned brighter. An emotional night had a beacon of light.

    Then I called the Tacoma Stars versus Empire Strykers MASL game for Sirius XM FC. It was a thrilling game with a supernatural performance by the Strykers goalkeeper. Seeing the coaches before the match, Toth after the match, the players meeting fans on the floor after it — all of that reminded me why I love creating around soccer.

    Writing is a funny thing for me. It’s what I do professionally and semi-professionally. It demands parts of my soul and parts of my mind be clicked together like a puzzle. Much of my process is a puzzle without a guide to what the result is going to be. I work through iterations in my head, but what if those iterations are blocked by a negative ooze?

    I pause.

    Writing doesn’t happen. It slows. I do the labor, but without the passion. I read my passion. My best works are those where my soul is exposed with fellowship and joy rushing out.

    And because emotions are what they are, reactive to outside influences, having brightness in my hobbies is vital for my creativity. The full moon of storytelling seems to be back. Now, I wonder what the next story is.

  • My 2022 writing in review

    My 2022 writing in review

    Contained in this post are the 22 stories at Full Moon Storytelling that I’m the most proud of, plus a few works I did for Sounder at Heart. Part year-in-review, part commitment to the future, my 2022 review serves as a personal reminder of my writing and a handy way to find stories when I’m pitching freelance work.

    The biggest news for Dave Clark in 2022 was his new job, new career even. I now do B2B marketing for risk intelligence service Factal. And yes, I started a D&D group with my coworkers. It’s set in the World of the Everflow, of course.

    My most personal story was an essay about that d20 in my pocket. It’s taken me a long time to understand some things about my time in the Army, this essay helped me take major steps. I also re-released Storytime as Moons Rise, a short fiction about a retired soldier.

    Advice for playing Dungeons & Dragons

    D&D continues to explode in popularity, and next year it will become even more popular as the movie D&D: Honor Among Thieves releases on March 31. More people will come up to current players and ask to play. Don’t make them learn dozens of house rules.

    I turned a mistake into a great series of encounters. Instead of balancing the use of their most powerful abilities my characters were able to go into a big fight with all their resources. You should try this once in a while. When you invert the standard encounter structure the PCs get to be the most of themselves against the biggest of the bads.

    Don’t get rid of personality in the next version of D&D, even if the rules try to ask you to do that. Traits, Bonds, Ideals and Flaws don’t need to be a sentence or two. Pick a few words that inspire how your character acts. Then reward those who act in that way.

    Simple homebrew

    Everybody loves dogs, what they don’t love is only having a mastiff as an option for their D&D doggo. That’s probably why “Nine types of dogs to add to Dungeons & Dragons” is quite popular.

    My main campaign in 2022 is about an urban uprising. My players developed allies on the streets; they control a district guard — but running a small skirmish would be difficult, because what would the players do? The breakthrough was to give the players militia actions that represented small conflicts between their allies and the enemies.

    Want to get ahead of One D&D’s “everyone has feats at first level” change? It’s easy to give every character a feat now without a huge power boost.

    In Strixhaven it would make sense for the house mascots to be able to be familiars. One of my players needed an Inkling. Here that is an Inkling as a Warlock familiar.

    Add glasses to D&D. History had them and so should your magical world.

    Bladesingers and Eldritch Knights should have more spells that appear in their weapon strikes.

    Rogues need finesse bludgeoning weapons. The lore of good rogues practically requires it.

    Backgrounds

    The most popular 5th edition D&D background I released this year was the Clerk. It turns out they were supposed to be here today.

    My time as a former professional coffee taster pops into Full Moon Storytelling in different ways. In 2022 that showed up as the Tea Master, an artisan of teas, tisanes and other leafy brews.

    David Brin’s The Postman is one of the best pieces of science fiction ever. That take on the importance of connection between remote communities inspired the Messenger. There’s similar inspiration to those who use technology to talk across distances, the Far Talkers.

    The Barber was released over the holiday break and is already one of the most popular backgrounds I’ve released. The most popular of all time is the Tinker.

    I’ve released ~20 backgrounds overall with dozens more to come.

    Reviews

    I fell in love with Renton a few years ago. Now the Seattle Sounders have fallen in love with it too. They’re moving to Longacres, helping the City of Dragons rise.

    Boundary Bay released a D&D inspired beer. You should track it down, it’s good.

    Next year there’s going to be more reviews. I still drink beers and coffees like I did when I was a pro. I also travel throughout Washington regularly. Why not share what I enjoy?

    Sounders

    My return to Sounder at Heart has been a joy. I’ve been to a couple of practices, helped break a huge story, but my biggest joy was interviewing a new fan. Talking to G Willow Wilson about her new love of soccer was an extraordinary reminder of the pleasure of community and the art of sports.

    https://open.spotify.com/episode/2d6djgRIXN2OzNvpG0IkKa?si=SK1D1OSRRG2WplABXx5QdA

    When American soccer lost Grant Wahl I discovered that his tiny words of encouragement to me were part of his constant support of the American soccer blogosphere/creator economy.

    No longer part of the marketing team or broadcast team for Tacoma Defiance I was able to watch the young men grow into something greater than they’d ever been before.

    The Sounders would only take one trophy in 2022, the biggest one ever captured by an MLS team. I was hyped. You will hear us in our immortality.

    My MLS season preview was very wrong.

    Seattle sports got it wrong. The biggest story of 2021 was Quinn winning the Olympics. Their victory was a vital advancement in human rights and the recognition that humanity is varied.

  • D&D Gifts of Many Parts: A Holiday Shopping Guide

    D&D Gifts of Many Parts: A Holiday Shopping Guide

    There are a lot of great deals available on line. Which is fine if you must save money. But, I strongly recommend supporting your local games shop. My favorites are Destiny City Comics, Wizards Keep Games, Shane’s Cards, Tacoma Games, Mox Boarding House, Krampus Kave, Book and Game, and Digital Heroes.

    Supporting a local shop introduces you to great people, encourages them to host games and helps your city continue a culture of discovery and creation.

    Here’s some general overview of gifts before we head into my particular callouts as great purchases to amplify fun.

    Every suggested item is something I’ve purchased myself or from a company I have purchased from .

    Starting Up

    Stormwreck Isle (review at Strange Assembly) – The current Starter Set launched at Target, but is now available everywhere. It’s cleaner, simpler than the initial Starter Set (Lost Mines of Phandelver). If you have someone in your life who hasn’t played before but should this 10-20 dollar purchase is perfect.

    Stranger Things (review at Polygon) – Millions of people had their love of Dungeons & Dragons reawakened by Will in the Netflix series Stanger Things. There’s a box set available written as if the group wrote it. It can be hard to find, with eBay prices over $60.

    Player’s Handbook – Amazon has it so cheap you may as well give it to a friend who hasn’t said they’re interested in D&D.

    Adventures

    Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen (review at Polygon) – Send your party to war in the world of Krynn. The adventure’s main opponent is a death knight that rides death dragons and lives in a flying citadel. As war rages around you, you will have to deal with the chaos of war to attempt to save a kingdom as dragon armies ready to conquer the world.

    Journeys through Radiant Citadel (review roundup at ENWorld) – What I love about Radiant Citadel is that it doesn’t tell stories that I am familiar with — these are new tales by mostly new talent, all BIPOC. The art is vibrant and fantastical; the stories well written.

    Subscriptions

    DnD Beyond – The entry level (hero) subscription is perfect for people who create characters for fun. I have nearly 100 characters created because creating characters helps teach me about myself and the world.

    Warlock – Kobold Press is a third-party publisher that puts out unrivaled content mostly focused on swords & sorcery mixed with high fantasy. Their Warlock magazine-style subscription has the feelings of pre-2e D&D with rules perfect for modern play. I have several of their books, Tome of Beasts is an excellent collection of monsters.

    Arcadia – From MCDM, the creators of Kingdoms and Warfare and several other supplements, Arcadia is a full-color, fantastical to D&D-superheroes type of content. Many of their authors have freelanced for official D&D.

    T-shirts – I may just be including this because my body changed a bit during the years of stress related to the global pandemic. I need new shirts and frequently wear graphic T-s underneath flannel. Head to Heroes & Villains if you just want to give someone a one-off that’s stunning.

    Maps

    I cannot map. So I support these creators.

    Deven Rue creates amazing frame-able maps that equally belong on office walls and gaming table.s

    Dyson Logos focuses on dungeons. Most of their maps are available for free because of the strong Patreon support. Add to that support if you plan on using the art. Like Deven, Dyson has appeared in official products.

    For outdoor battle maps I love 2-minute Tabletop. They also create assets for a creator to blend and make their own maps.

    Watabou is where I head when I need a map fast and trust a procedural generator.

    Lifestyle

    Psuedodragon – I may get this one for myself. Who doesn’t want a smol draggo hanging out with you in the office? It’s about the size of a large textbook.

    Eldrador Creatures – These minis that aren’t official; they are perfect for fantasy play. You will need to stat them up. That’s one of the joys of playing D&D.

    My favorite fancy dice are from Artisan Dice. Their woods and stones are unique. For cases and Hope Shields I go to Wyrmwood. There are two places I suggest for people with personal 3D printers — Hero Forge for characters and mz4250 for creatures.

    As big of a coffee nerd as I am a D&D nerd, I’ve found one roaster that combines their passion for both to put out the highest quality — Found Familiar. Regular Gnoll is what I get when I want something with cream.

    Friday Afternoon Tea creates dozens of geek-inspired blends. Bard’s Blend is my most frequent purchase.

    What if you’re shopping for me?

    If you’re me you’ll enjoy everything listed above, as well as things on my wishlist.

  • My Best of 2021

    My Best of 2021

    In 2021 I rejoined the community that taught me how to write, that taught me how to believe, and that taught me how to be a better person every day. I started writing about soccer again, mostly about Tacoma Defiance, but also about the Seattle Sounders and OL Reign. Putting the polish back into my words gave me hope in a year when I needed it more than ever.

    The past year was also the year that established my voice around D&D. More people read Full Moon Storytelling in 2021 than they did in every other year of its existence, combined. To throw yourself into a new endeavor is hard. To do it during a reboot and a pandemic has been a struggle. The journey has been worth it because the people who enjoy my writings about Dungeons & Dragons are the type of people who always have more stories to tell and who know — deep and fundamentally — that a diverse group is a strong group.

    These are my favorite writings of 2021, only originals, no updates. Just the best of what was new this past year.

    Seattle Sounders

    Throughout the pandemic the Sounders continued to open new mini-pitches. These small, all-weather soccer fields help ensure that all youth have access to play. Brad Evans and the RAVE Foundation opened pitches in Renton, Tacoma, and Yakima in 2021.

    Covering matches gives me the platform to do more than just write about soccer — it gives me the opportunity to write about feelings. After the Sounders “lost” to Real Salt Lake I embraced the Wheel of Time.

    Tacoma Defiance

    More for myself than anyone else, I reviewed the Day that Sports Stopped. This gave me an opportunity to reconnect with Justin Dhillon and to think about just how much life changed from March 10, 2020 to the present day.

    Centerback Taylor Mueller retired from soccer at the end of the 2021 USL Championship season. Mueller ends as one of the legends of the league, playing more than 20,000 minutes in career where he showed that there’s more to American soccer than MLS.

    OL Reign

    While Cheney Stadium is no longer home for OL Reign, it was where they ruled. Powered by their success in Tacoma, Reign are moving back to Seattle.

    Dungeons & Dragons

    The Black Dice Society burst on the scene, sharing a horror setting sharing new ways to do communal storytelling via livestreams. They do a wonderful job at creating the disquiet of the Domains of Dread and the use of cutscenes to Strahd and others makes them a must watch.

    As my skills in art aren’t good. But, I get past that through NPC art and various map makers.

    Backgrounds, of course, have been very popular the two most well received were the Tinker and the Farmer. Friends are playing the Caravanserai and the Lamplighter (which also works as a Streetsweeper). Within the edition Backgrounds offer a mechanical space that embraces a character’s state of being beyond just being a killer and sometime explorer. Your D&D character should have hobbies.

    Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

    For some reason, people rather enjoy the relaunch of my campaign, particularly the way that the Allies and Adversaries are presented.

    ShantyTok was fun for a bit. This story reminded that if you’re trying to ride the wave of a meme do so immediately, or do it because you love the themes of the meme and don’t care about going viral. Me? I love pirates and tall ships.

    Flavor

    When Will Bruin made a beer, who better to write about t than the former professional coffee taster and beer salesman? The Georgetown Brewing-Will Bruin collab was an easy drinking IPA.

    Podcast and Livestreams

    As part of YachtCon, I was the Dungeon Master for a D&D livestream that raised a few hundred dollars for the Red Box program at the Seattle Children’s Hospital Autism Center. That adventure was themed around the South Sound with numerous references to Tacoma, Defiance, and Reign.

    You can also find me as a regular on the Sounder at Heart podcast.

    https://open.spotify.com/show/4r5Q8VMrdFZOCgC0tPKe2l?si=ed469274dae3456f