I like to write.  You may have noticed by now that I am a little verbose at times.  But I recently got asked about the blogs that I like to read and I suddenly realised that I have been doing some of my favourite influencers a disservice by not mentioning them here so let us take a look at things that I read.

I am a bits and pieces reader at best and I will always read a blog that is shared in my social arena that comes out with a great title.  Mind you, if the title does not match the content, I do take the blog to task.  I try not to play the game of providing a catchy title if I do not follow through in the content and I feel as bloggers that we should all follow that principle.

In No Particular order…

Because I have favourite blogs but I could not choose amongst them if I had to rank them because they all give me something in return for my reading…

Hack & Slash – my OSR and D&D resource

I came across the Hack & Slash blog when the players handbook for the new edition of D&D was released.  I was a little disappointed at the small number of backgrounds that was on offer and went searching for some fan made stuff.  I found Hack & Slash and have not looked back.  The funny thing is that I was reading some back catalogue by Courtney Campbell (the writer) and I was thinking that this guy is a quality resource and then I found his name in the inspirational reading of Dungeon Crawl Classics!  He is a great OSR resource and offers up some quality material to read.  I really like his point of view, so much so that I even support him on Patreon.  The money is well worth the content.

Dyvers Campaign – what is he going to write next?

Charles Akins runs the Dyvers blog that I tend to read because he comes up with some of the most “out of left field” posts I have ever come across that make me laugh a lot!  That said he also does a great “Best Reads of..” highlighting good blogs and also a Great Blog Role Call which is awesome to read as well.  Unfortunately for me he has not seemed to spot RPG Knights since its inception last year as it was not in his Great Blog Role Call although my old blog The Pathfinder Chronicles was there.  I have to admit that I first started reading it because he mentioned a few posts in his blog and that tickled my ego.  But I keep reading because he has a great way with words and a unique way of looking at things so check it out.

MSJX – my mapping resource

Matt Jackson is a person that I have been following for a long time and I support his mapping efforts via Patreon.  MSJX is his blog where much of his mapping ends up on although he has made a recent announcement that he puts most of it on Patreon (which you can still get to for free) and the transfer to the blog will be much slower.  Regardless of this, Matt Jackson’s blog still rates pretty highly for me.  I go there if I want a map to design to.

Icarus Rants – my injection of intelligence and personality

A recent addition to my blog reads comes from Icarus Rants which is a blog about everything and anything.  The writer is Icarus Anne Riley and I think she and I were born on the same page.  She espouses a lot out loud about what I only think about now.  Once I would have been as vocal but I am now bitter and twisted!  She is across so much interesting stuff that it is hard to pin her to a topic but to quote her blog;

My Secret Agenda is to get people to use their damn brains.

And I think that is a thing that deserves a round of applause.  People are so used to being spoon fed these days, and we need more blogs like this one.

The Iron Tavern – all things RPG

Jeffrey Tadlock runs the Iron Tavern and I wrote there for a year or so every Monday.  It could be a vanity thing but I just like the Iron Tavern.  Jeffrey and I are very alike in our gaming likes and dislikes and so there is a lot on his site that I like.  I may even pop up there from time to time in the future.  Who knows?  Anyway, with my new found love of Dungeon Crawl Classics there is a lot there to keep me busy!  Jeffrey also creates some of his own products under Iron Tavern Press and is a big supporter of Indie game developers, so stop by and give him a read.

Contessa – the convention blog

Contessa is a blog that is linked to the online convention of the same name.  The funny thing about this is that I have never been involved in the convention and I can not really recall how I even came to the blog but I did and I am glad for it.  There is a lot of actual play podcast and other material here and some great commentary on games in general.  I am not certain if I am the target audience even but I really like this blog and the pieces that come out of there are fantastic so make sure you check it out.

Fantastic Maps – for maps and goodness

Jonathan at Fantastic Maps is a major resource and inspiration for me.  I was put on to him by a publisher that I had been talking to as a guy who is glad to give an aspiring mapper a hand up.  I asked him a question and that got upgraded to a tutorial on his blog on how to draw swamps.  He really is an amazingly talented guy so make sure that you take a look at the blog and show him some support.

Others

There are loads of other blogs that I like to go to and read but the ones that drag me back just to browse are above.  I was at the Troll Den a couple of days ago and they have a great range I want to look at, as well as Reece Carters blog where he talks about his games and various other materials irregularly.  There is a world of great blogs out there and these are but a few.  Take a look at them and thanks for reading me!  Keep rolling.