Happy Friday, explorer!

Last week we talked about the most useful and powerful tool a TTRPG player can have.

Imagination!

That’s why I’m making a little contest around it.

But I’ll tell you about that later.

Right now, I want to tell you about something different.

What does Irene dream of?

Today I will open my heart a bit.

I’m worried it may come off as a bit cheesy, but first and foremost I want to be honest.

When I created my first DM screen using some cardboard and masking tape because I didn’t have a dime, I had one thought fixed in my mind.

Which one?

I want my table to feel like a fantasy world.

And believe me, some cardboard and masking tape don’t go a long way for a fantasy feeling.

Mi first dice, full of bubbles and holes, either.

However, I kind of managed to do it.

Let me tell you how.

The magic inherent to the table

During that session, when Irene the Wizard was only Irene Cabrejas, some friends had come for a visit. It had been longer than a year since we last met.

This is the people who introduced me to TTRPGs. And it was the first time I was going to be their DM.

I was thrilled, but I was also feeling a lot of pressure.

When we finally sat down to play, I opened my DM screen prototype with a bit of embarassment.

We had been playing in amazing places.

I was worried I wasn’t going to live up to the occassion.

However, there is nothing else like the trust you build when creating stories with your friends.

We looked at each other’s eyes and everything changed.

We were no longer sitting arround a table.

We were getting closer to the keel of an abandoned ship. A ship that was starting to look too familiar for one of them…

But that’s a story for another time!

The important part is that our table felt like a fantasy place.

It was magical.

Magic is only one part of the fantasy

However, something was missing.

And that half-baked DM screen wasn’t the only thing to blame.

We had to stop the session a lot of times.

You know how it goes:

“Can you pass me the manual? I don’t remember the requirements for the spell.”

“What is the exact effect of the ‘prone’ condition?”

“I think I didn’t spend my spell slot during the last turn.”

As a DM, not even a kilometric DM screen would have helped me keeping track of all those things.

Even if it’s natural for these moments to happen during the session, they break the fantasy.

And sometimes, especially when you are absorbed and immersed, the impact of snapping out of it is so strong that it can take a while to reconnect.

That dream I had for myself, I want to extend it to you.

I want your gaming table to feel like a fantasy world. Making pretty and shiny stuff isn’t enough for that. I also have to create useful tools.

Your imagination can get you a reward

Imagining how to sustain the fantasy for a longer time during sessions has led me to create my own DM screens with magnetic attachments and the Zero Edition of my Campaign Journal.

It’s what led me to create stories mith my friends. It’s also what made Irene Cabrejas become Irene the Wizard.

Without that commitment to my imagination, you wouldn’t be reading this newsletter now.

That’s why I want to reward yours.

Which element would help you sustain the fantasy at your gaming table?

Answer this email with your answer before June 27th 23:59.

The most original response will get a physical reward.

A real one we’ll send you in a package.

What’s the reward?

I’ll tell you next week. But I’ll give you a hint.

It’s been mentioned on this very message.

I hope to read your response.

I promise I’ll answer it. Yours and everybody’s who answer to this email.

Bountiful quests and successful rolls!

🦉 Irene Cabrejas the Wizard

🦃 Saúl the Bard

P.D. No pictures today. Put your imagination to work!

P.P.D. It’s not only a physical reward. It’s also a unique reward.