State of the Patreon: October 2017

So, where are we as we finish off September, and where are we going in October?

September was a solid month.  The Patreon is basically flat, having lost some patrons, but also gained them . I keep brushing the next goal, but I haven't quite made it yet.  Nonetheless, interest in the blog remains high, and I've seen view gains for the second month in a row, and we've essentially recovered to pre-Orphan of the Stars views.

This month saw the kick-off of Philosophy, which seems well-received, except for some controversy around the facebook post for Neo-Rationalism (the smugness of Neo-Rationalism provokes a response in some, which is fair enough!).   We also saw the kick-off of Tinker Titan Rebel Spy, which currently has three players for sure, and two more in the works.  I'm both nervous about the game (I can never have too much preparation, but at the same time, I can see the gameplay pretty vividly, so it should make for an interesting game).  The characters look interesting, and I'm impressed by how much depth the players are giving their characters.  This almost certainly arises from the quality of players I have, but it's good that Psi-Wars supports that sort of depth.

Shhh. Go back to sleep.  Daddy's just distracting his
readers with a cute picture of you.

For October, first, I need to slow things down a little, because my parents visited to get their first look at my son (who just hit five months!), and he's also teething, which is an awful experience.  He's running a fever, whimpering, and sometimes has no appetite.  Needless to say it's been emotionally wracking and slowed down my productivity.  I had hoped to have a full month of 4 public posts per week and one patreon post per week, but it looks like I'm just going to miss that mark.  Instead, I'm going to run 12 public posts and 3 patreon posts, and give myself a week's break.  My wife complains that I went from 4 posts a month to 20, which is admittedly a break-neck pace, but I hope you guys don't mind.

For public posts, I'm going to wrap up the Akashic Mysteries, including a look at the esoteric style, unique martial arts associated with the Akashic Order, and the organization of the Order, including a look at the Shadow Council, and then a look at Akashic ancestor veneration, with a look at the important ancestors of each of the four Alliance houses.  Then we'll move on to the Divine Masks, and start with the basics.

For Patron posts, we'll start with a look at an in-depth look at Esoteric Medicine. While I have a focus on Psi-Wars, the ideas in the article can be used for any form of Esoteric Medicine (for example, Dungeon Fantasy, or your wuxia games).  This is available for all $1+ patrons.

Then I'll take a more in depth look at how non-psionic characters can access and benefit from the Paths of Communion.  I offer three new strategies.  This will be available to all $3+ patrons.

Finally, the Divine Masks is grounded in the culture of an alien race, the "Sexy Vampire Dark Elves," as they've been code-named up to now.  They now have a name: the Ranathim, and a preview draft will be released for all $3+ patrons.

Last but not least, the first Tinker Titan Rebel Spy game will be on the 21st.  I'll try to have a transcript and an after action report, though I don't know when I'll be able to get to it.

Thank you, everyone, for your support, and I hope you continue to support the blog!