The Black Hack 10th Anniversary Game Jam

I'm hosting a game jam to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Black Hack.

I've mentioned it before on this blog but I adore The Black Hack. It is the retroclone that introduced me to retroclones and the wide world of the OSR. And it is the game that convinced me that maybe I could make some elf game stuff of my own. Despite all the games that have come sense I still find myself drawn back to it - and clearly all the folks over on discord agree that it's a game still worth talking about. 

The Jam isn't judged and there are no prizes. I just want to see people make some stuff for a system that I love. Also I have never done this before and have no idea what I'm doing. Maybe it goes poorly? Maybe no one submits anything? Still feels worth giving it a shot 

Form a team, make some funky art, rewrite the armor rules again. Throw something into the mix and let it join The Black Hack canon.

That's it. That's the pitch. Come make something with me in August.

I'll do a post-mortem post on this once it's all over but keep your eyes on the #jam channel in The Black Hack discord and the discussion page on itch for in-process updates. Oh and peep the #TBH10th hashtag on your favorite social media platforms.

Monsters from the Movies #1: Red Sonja (2025)

My wife: You'll watch any sword and sorcery movie, won't you?

Me: It is my curse.

Since the baby refused to sleep last night, I was burdened with the knowledge that the new Red Sonja movie is on Tubi. Folks, it's not great...but it's not completely awful either. Its biggest sin is that Matilda Lutz doesn't seem to have chemistry with anyone besides the horse playing Sonja's beloved horse. Luke Pasqualino and Robert Sheehan do most of the heavy lifting in this movie. Sheehan especially. He turns what could be a pretty one note villain into one that's pretty memorable.

Where this movie does kind of cook is the random background monsters. There are two characters who are Mandrill people and it goes completely unremarked upon. Where did they come from? Doesn't matter! We gonna get this practical makeup off.

There is also a Cyclops who shows up mid movie. It doesn't do anything memorable besides being one of the coolest fictional Cyclops I've ever seen. It's got the body of a Gorilla along the horns and legs of a goat. That sounds stupid but it absolutely fucking slaps.

I knew I had to stat up these monsters so here they are for your roleplaying pleasure. Torment your PCs! Have them make a new friend! You'll figure out what to do with these guys.

 

Randomness is a Conversation

I struggled deciding how to participate in this Blogwagon. I'm not particularly enamored with random tables - I'd rather roll on them before a session to pre-plan encounters than during. I absolutely hate the concept of the "gonzo" RPG, it just reminds me too much of teaching grade schoolers. And I will fudge a dice roll if it pushes the evening in a better direction. 

But as I was listening to a old episode of Between Two Cairns (the one where they review B10), Yochai dropped a gem which perfectly summed up my feelings on Randomness:

"I play roleplaying games to be surprised by my players." ~ Yochai Gal

I don't sit at the table to be entertained by tables or dice. I play roleplaying games with other humans - my friends - because I know they will do things that will surprise me and make me laugh. Or gross me out. Or completely flabbergast me.

For me, true randomness is the result of my conversations with my players and their interactions with each other in the world I've laid out. The dice and tables only matter as much as they help facilitate that conversation. 

Don't get it twisted. I'm not saying we should get rid of dice and tables. I personally need them to make sure I don't fall into tried and true patterns. I how my players will respond if a hatchet wielding Goblin leaps out of the bushes. I don't know what they'll do if they find that same Goblin crying at the roadside or arguing with his Bugbear boyfriend. 

And I have been told that Goblin CW romance drama is a trope I constantly fall back on. Sometimes we need random tables to save us from ourselves.

Sometimes couples fight and it's truly best to not get involved. No good group of D&D players will refuse to get involved.

But we need to strike that balance between letting our random encounter tables be prompts to inspire our players - and loaded guns aimed at them. Nobody puts a Dragon on one of those because they're just really hoping the party gets a friendly reaction roll. 

Okay, that's all I've got. Let me leave you with a table that will hopefully get the juice moving at your table.

d6 Random Enounters to surprise your players

1. Goblin & Bugbear having a lover's spat. 

2. d20 Fighting Men milling about the roadside. Half of their company is experiencing severe intestinal distress.

3. Cyclops attempts to collect a toll.

4. Roc feasting on an adventuring party.

5. The party crosses paths with a Necromancer and his undead thrall (d8 Zombies.) One of the zombies is a familiar NPC.

6. A bizarre, disc shaped object appears in the sky just ahead.