Reflecting on 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025

The 2024 calendar year has been a different one for me. My players surprised me by wanting to play Star Wars, and then choosing the old D6 System. We were working through a series of scenarios that I wrote for use with Age of Rebellion, and I was converting them as we went. That campaign ended rather abruptly, however, due to a death in the family, heart surgery for one of the players, and other concerns. We went through the summer without playing, and then started the fall without a definite plan.  

I finished a few Treasure Hunter Adventures products during the year, and added another small line. Since I'd finished the Apotheosis Campaign last year, I didn't have as much to be doing. I did still release four items. Two were free PDFs that included material for which I had not found another home--Curses and The Ship in the Ice. There was also Artifacts & Enigmas of the American Revolution, which brought together some ideas on which I'd been working for a while, and tied in with the 250th anniversary of that event. 

The PDF OSS Report on the Invisible College connected to the scenarios that I wrote and ran for Con of the North. It delved into an organization that is becoming important in te campaign setting, and it's fun to see how all of this develops. 

There is also Captain Quin's Logbook: Frontier Ports of Call, which seemed like a useful supplement to me, but which has to this sold only one copy. I guess I missed the mark on that one. 

My little series People, Plots and Places of the Wild West has done a bit better, with five entries: "Riverboat," "Poker Tournament," "The Writer," "Lou's Landing & The Rendezvous" and "The Lost Cache of Killer O'Bannon." I have some more of these in the works. 

This blog turns fifteen this year! It has shifted its focus throughout the years, and at the time of this posting has 677 posts, 405,432 views and 70 followers. 

I am excited for Pathfinder Freeport (1E) after the New Year. Now that my group is back in order--and rejoined by an old player who needed some time to take care of family business. This brings us back up to five players; we'll be starting "The Ironjack Legacy," and see where it goes from there!

-Nate

Update to Appendix N for Treasure Hunter Adventures

Belatedly I realize that it's been a while since I updated my Appendix N for Treasure Hunter Adventures. This post is the first part of an effort to remedy that situation, starting with the books that were important to my two most recent projects, "Artifacts & Enigmas of the American Revolution" and "The Lost Ship."

Here's the link to earlier entries. 

Appendix N for Treasure Hunter Adventures

-Nate

Title: The Queen's Conjurer: The Science and Magic of Dr. John Dee, Advisor to Queen Elizabeth I

Author: Benjamin Woolley

Publisher and Date: Holt Paperbacks, 2002

Overview:

I've long been intrigued by the many influential figures in the orbit of Queen Elizabeth I, including William Shakespeare, Francis Drake, and others. This book delves into the story of Dr. John Dee, a mathematician and cartographer—and, some would say, diviner and magician. It covers his rise to power, a long and questionable partnership with Edward Kelley, and then his fall from grace, all of which provides fodder for adventure ideas.

Title: The Society for Useful Knowledge: How Benjamin Franklin and Friends Brought the Enlightenment to America

Author: Jonathan Lyons

Publisher and Date: Bloomsbury Press, 2014

Overview:

Here's an example of digging into more specific topics related to the Revolutionary War. I was intrigued by figures such as Benjamin Franklin and David Rittenhouse, and this book digs more deeply into their stories—not just the roles they played in the war, but their scientific endeavors. This was the basis, of course, for the Children of Liberty.

Title: Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution

Author: Benson Bobrick

Publisher and Date: Penguin Books, 1998

Overview:

This is an excellent overview of the American Revolutionary War, covering the causes that led to it, all of the major battles and other developments, and even a little bit of the aftermath. It presents the story in a succinct and engaging way, and one can easily dig more deeply into specific topics.