The Redacted Files Podcast

There’s many interesting items to be found on Kickstarter, but these are the coolest ones this week.

Heroes of Red Hook
Unfortunately, a lot of Lovecraft’s writing was racist and based on a fear of the foreign. Fortunately, there’s books like Heroes of Red Hook that delve back into the worlds Lovecraft built and fill it with stories from viewpoints that Lovecraft avoided. Whether it be LGBTQA, women, or other races (or some combination there of!) if you want to read stories that have that same creeping horror with a whole lot less bigotry, this is an anthology worth checking out.

“Heroes of Red Hook is a collection of cosmic horror tales taking place during the Jazz Era with a very important focus. The protagonists of this anthology are members of the various under represented demographic in Lovecraftian fiction. Our heroes and heroines are the outsiders who are most often blamed (wrongly so) for the actions of various alien horrors of the mythos. Our stories put the spotlight on ethnic and religious minorities, immigrants, independent free thinking women, those with special needs, and members of the LGBT community. This collection features people struggling to overcome not only the horrors beyond mankind’s understanding, but an oppressive society seeking to deny them basic human rights.

The vast majority of the fans of Cosmic Horror Fiction struggle to reconcile their love for the genre with inherent racism of the original works of its creator, H.P. Lovecraft. Many of us are disturbed that bigots and hateful groups treat Lovecraftian fiction a manifesto to support their racism. They point to stories like The Horror at Red Hook and say, “See there, that is what’s wrong with the world.” They point to places like Brooklyn, and all they see is taint, corruption, and shadows.

We here at Golden Goblin Press reject their message and their ignorance, as we stand up and try to guide our genre towards a more inclusive future. We see the mixing of races, cultures, genders, and orientations not as a negative, but as mankind’s greatest strength. These are not shadows to be fearful of but our brightest light guiding us to a more enlightened tomorrow. Together we can change the legacy of Lovecraft, from one of blame, fear, and bigotry, into something more representative of our greater humanity. We know that one little book won’t solve the problem in our genre, but maybe it can be a nudge in the direction it needs to move coming into the 21st century.

That might be a lot to ask from one book, but those familiar with cosmic horror know all too well the power one little book can sometimes wield.”
Continue reading What’s Cool on Kickstarter

There’s many interesting items to be found on Kickstarter, but these are the coolest ones this week.

Whelps to Wyrms
This game looks like a lot of fun, you start out as a baby dragon, and as you grow and you start building up your horde of gold. Unfortunately, the townsfolk don’t like you eating them, and you also have to survive a Slayer trying to kill you. The art is really nice, and it sounds like a fun, pretty quick game, lasting 10 rounds.

“Whelps to Wyrms is a limited action tile exploration game designed by Ricky Perez. Each player will play as a recently hatched Dragon whelp and spend the game trying to acquire the largest treasure hoard (gold). Along the way the players will be able to gain experience and grow in size (level up) by eating livestock and even people!

Be warned though – the people of this world will not sit idly by while you consume their livelihood. Every turn at least one mighty Slayer will be hired by the people of the world to stop you from completing your mission.”
Continue reading What’s Cool on Kickstarter

There’s many interesting items to be found on Kickstarter, but these are the coolest ones this week.

Godsfall Worldbook
Godsfall is an amazing 5e podcast with so much world building done by the GM Aram in an unique setting. You can use this setting for your own game now, with divinities and all the maps and world information you need to bring it to life. I love how the divinities contribute to the game Aram runs, and think it would be a great way to make your game a little more exciting.

“Godsfall is a broken land. A land in which the Old Gods slaughtered one another in a great war that ravaged the world and stripped divine and arcane casters alike of their magic. It is a world where the five kingdoms that remain bicker over resources, taking up arms to defend shipping lanes and tariffs instead of a common defense. It is ninety-eight years after the destruction of most of the known world and all her Gods, but a God can never truly die. Their power is seeping back into the realm of mortals to anoint new Deities – and you are one of the chosen.

The expanded Godsfall Worldbook will contain full rules for all thirty-six Divinities from levels 1-20, rich descriptions and original art of lands and major cities across the Five Kingdoms, original portraits of dozens of NPCs from the Godsfall podcast, a Godsfall character sheet with space for player Divinities, drawings and descriptions of original creatures that stalk the Godsfall world, and detailed world and city maps.”
Continue reading What’s Cool on Kickstarter