Tales from the Cantina

Tales from the Cantina

Tales from the Cantina

Apologies in advance for ALL THE YELLING. IT’S BECAUSE I’M SO DAMN EXCITED!!!

Set the scene: Gen Con, years ago, late at night, invited as a guest (the kind of “you’re my friend, so be cool” guest) to a party, and asked what kind of whiskey I liked. This was before I had gained any kind of taste for the stuff, when it all just tasted like ow-ow-it-burns and why-am-i-killing-myself-like-this to me.

And then the magical Whiskey Wizard John LeBoeuf-Little asked me a few simple questions. I swear it was like that way they figure out where you fit on the Myers-Briggs spectrum. He asked me things that had nothing to do with whiskey (which was great because I knew nothing) and yet somehow divined form the tea leaves of my answers exactly what drinks to give me to try and in what order.

I have no idea what I actually drank that night, but I remember John. His kindness, his patience, and his wizardry. I also own him for the many improvements made to my personal bar!

Flash forward several years when I get an email from John Harper asking if I wanted to play in the Blades in the Dark promo game for the Kickstarter. Hell yes I wanted to play in it! And in that game, the man who would soon become my fellow Bloodletter, was Stras Acimovic.

I knew Stras was the consulting designer for Blades, but I didn’t know what that title really meant. I found out. He was the OMG I AM SO HYPE ABOUT THIS GAME, I’M GOING TO PLAYTSET THE HELL OUT OF IT AND GIVE YOU SO MUCH INSIGHT INTO HOW IT PLAYS AT OTHER TABLES AND HELP MAKE THIS GAME SO MUCH BETTER consulting designer.

Fast forward just a bit more when I realized that Stras and John LL were working a project together.* A Forged in the Dark game before there were Forged in the Dark games. It was part of the Blades stretch goal list but unlike most stretch goals it was being designed AT THE SAME TIME!

They were designing a game using the wonderful Blades in the Dark system, but full of space faring scoundrels, water dwelling xenos, way bending mystics, ancient ur artifacts, and of course, a overpowering galactic hegemony! Or in other words…

ALL MY STAR WARS AND FIREFLY DREAMS COMING TO LIFE ON THE DAMN PAGE!

Since then I’ve seen a lot of Scum and this game has not disappointed! I had the pleasure of playing it with Stras, Andi Carrison, and Jory Bowers on Actual Play (you can find the videos over yonder: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNuXiEYyM4isWCFlCmywChngKTaP5Gcx5) and the adventures of our Stardancer have been a blast!

I’ve also seen behind the scenes and looking over the rules and the text itself, which Stras and I have talked about till the wee hours of the night. The game, the setting, and even the upcoming art, are all just so good.

That is why I’m so happy that Evil Hat is officially going to publish Scum and Villainy! Happy dance!

You can find the product page over yonder: https://www.evilhat.com/home/scum-and-villainy/ And make sure to follow John LeBoeuf-Little and Stras Acimovic closely, as they’ll be releasing more sneak peaks as it get closer to release!

PEW PEW

* Projects, not project. I know.

25 thoughts on “Tales from the Cantina”

  4. I’m just SO VERY GLAD not to have to bite my lip and try to keep from shouting the news to everyone like I have been for the past several months hahaha ^_^ All the <3's.

  15. First, the game is awesome and the cover is AWESOME! (insert as many !s as you like, here). WELL DONE! Mmm.. seems that those yelling is a bit infectious, sorry.

    Second, as a guy from Germany, who’s used to insert English words into its language to sound cool, I’m more than curious about the “Mensch” John LeBoeuf-Little is using here. What’s the intended effect / meaning? Is it Mensch = cool human being (hope for that) or something else…?

  16. Stefan Struck Hi Stefan, basically it’s taken in the yiddish sense, not the german sense. Wikipedia : Mensch (Yiddish: מענטש‎ mentsh, cognate with the German word Mensch meaning a “human being”) means “a person of integrity and honor”.

  22. Lex Permann If you’re looking to get a print copy, you should wait until the Evil Hat edition is out and get the book from them. If you’ve already gotten the early access edition, you will be getting a new version of the PDF, formatted for 6×9 and with all the edited content and art.

  23. Yeah Lex, what John said. 🙂 We got your back at least on the PDF side ^_^ You’ll get the full pdf, art, the whole enchilada (same thing with the KS backers).

    The physical book is a separate thing though.

  25. John Recca version 1.7 was the draft complete, ready for proofing version. We’ve in the process now of editing it, folding in the crowd sourced proofs, and adding art. The final product will have all those corrections in it.

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