RPG Session 2026-05-03

Lost Mine of Phandelver (D&D 5e) #7

Epilogue — Phandalin restored

Wrap-up session. Characters get titles. Next campaign discussion.

RPG Session 2026-04-26

Lost Mine of Phandelver (D&D 5e) #6

Nezznar's hideout

Final confrontation with the Black Spider. Cleric went down, stabilized just in time.

Podcast 2026-04-21 listening

99% Invisible

Roman Mars

9/10

Still the gold standard for design storytelling.

Board Game 2026-04-21

Wingspan: European Expansion

Wingspan

8/10

Adds end-of-round powers — tighter tactical layer on top of the base.

RPG System 2026-04-21

Lost Mine of Phandelver (Module)

D&D 5e

8/10

Still the best starter adventure — teaches you the system while being a real story.

RPG System 2026-04-21

Player's Handbook

D&D 5e

9/10

Clean, complete, the on-ramp to the modern hobby.

RPG System 2026-04-21

Call of Cthulhu 7e

Chaosium

The stress mechanic is genius. Sanity bleeds into every roll.

RPG System 2026-04-21

D&D 5e

Wizards of the Coast

The workhorse of modern TTRPGs. Solid, flexible, overexposed.

Board Game 2026-04-21

Brass: Birmingham

Roxley Games · 2018

9/10

One of the best heavy games I've played. The canal-to-rail era pivot forces you to rethink your entire map mid-game — loans, pawns, routes, everything. Beer mechanic feels fiddly a…

BG Session 2026-04-19

Brass: Birmingham #23

Rematch — still the best

Still the best.

RPG Session 2026-04-19

Lost Mine of Phandelver (D&D 5e) #5

The Forge of Spells

Encountered the Spectator. Bard charmed him into leaving. Treasure haul.

Movie 2026-04-18

Predator: Badlands

Dan Trachtenberg · 2025

7/10

Follows the familiar sci-fi trope where the creature (Yautja, in this case) isn't the true threat — corporate/military greed is. The twist has become so ubiquitous that it's almost…

Movie 2026-04-15

Nosferatu

Robert Eggers · 2024

8/10

BG Session 2026-04-12

Brass: Birmingham #22

Tight three-player finale

Tight three-player finale.

RPG Session 2026-04-12

Lost Mine of Phandelver (D&D 5e) #4

Wave Echo Cave — upper halls

Finally found the Wave Echo Cave entrance. Sorted the corridor fights first.

Season 2026-04-10

Severance

Season 2

8/10

A step further into the labyrinth. Not every thread pays off, but the tension holds. Watched the whole run — didn't bother logging episodes.

A

Article 2026-04-10

The AI Summer

Benedict Evans · 2025

7/10

Useful synthesis of where LLMs actually deliver vs hype.

BG Session 2026-04-09

Brass: Birmingham #21

Beer brewery clicks mid-game

Second play. Closer game. Beer brewery strategy really clicks in the canal era.

Podcast Episode 2026-04-05

99% Invisible #2

The Barney Design

8/10

BG Session 2026-04-05

Brass: Birmingham #20

Late-night canal-rail pivot

Late night game. Got interesting at the canal-rail transition.

RPG Session 2026-03-29

Lost Mine of Phandelver (D&D 5e) #3

Cragmaw Castle

Breached the castle, rescued Gundren. Paladin nearly died in the throne room.

Board Game 2026-03-28

Wingspan

Stonemaier Games · 2019

Low-stakes, endlessly replayable. The bird trivia is a surprise gift.

BG Session 2026-03-28

Wingspan #2

First with European expansion

First play with the European expansion. End-of-round powers change the calculus — you're building toward those activations, not just eggs. Tighter than base-only but more moving pa…

Podcast Episode 2026-03-22

99% Invisible #1

The Real Book

9/10

Jazz standards bootleg becomes a cultural artifact.

BG Session 2026-03-22

Brass: Birmingham #19

Started badly, recovered on iron

Started badly, recovered on iron.

RPG Session 2026-03-15

Lost Mine of Phandelver (D&D 5e) #2

Cragmaw Hideout

Cleared the hideout. Rescued Gundren's map. Nothing-cleric nearly died twice.

BG Session 2026-03-15

Brass: Birmingham #18

Quick three-player

Quick three-player.

BG Session 2026-03-12

Brass: Birmingham #17

First play — learning canal rules

First play. Took 3 hours, Andreas won with coal. Learned the rail bridge rules the hard way.

BG Session 2026-03-08

Brass: Birmingham #16

Rematch — Lucas won

Rematch. Lucas won by a breadth.

RPG Session 2026-03-01

Lost Mine of Phandelver (D&D 5e) #1

The Goblin Ambush

Ambushed on the road to Phandalin. My wizard finally got to use Burning Hands.

BG Session 2026-03-01

Brass: Birmingham #15

Teaching game for Lucas

Teaching game for Lucas. He caught on fast.

BG Session 2026-02-22

Brass: Birmingham #14

Five-player again — too many

Five-player again. Still too many but everyone wanted in.

Season 2026-02-21

Severance

Season 1

9/10

Macrodata refinement opens up into full corporate horror. The innies-vs-outies setup does a lot of work in nine tight episodes. Severance-the-procedure as horror device is pitch-pe…

BG Session 2026-02-15

Brass: Birmingham #13

Best-scoring game I've had

Best-scoring game I've had. Rail era executed perfectly.

RPG Session 2026-02-14

Valentine's dungeon crawl #4

D&D 5e

Silly premise, serious play. A love letter from a dead wizard.

RPG System 2026-02-10

Masks: A New Generation

Magpie Games

Teen-superhero PbtA. Emotional weight is real.

BG Session 2026-02-08

Wingspan #1

First play, three-player raptors

First play with the base game. Three-player, Emma running raptors, cleaned up on predators. Endgame came fast — nobody expected the fourth round to close so hard.

BG Session 2026-02-01

Brass: Birmingham #12

Super tight three-player — lost by 2

Super tight three-player. Lost by 2.

RPG Session 2026-01-30

Delta Green one-shot at Mike's #3

D&D 5e

Two-hour horror one-shot using D&D rules. MOS-3 protocol gone sideways. Everyone died except Mike's agent.

RPG System 2026-01-20

Alien: The Roleplaying Game

Free League Publishing

The stress mechanic is doing so much work. Cinematic mode is killer for one-shots.

BG Session 2026-01-18

Brass: Birmingham #11

Loan spiral early

Loan spiral early. Never recovered.

Board Game 2026-01-15

Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition

Fantasy Flight Games · 2017

at Mike's

Eight hours at Mike's place. Political knife-fighting in space. Extraordinary.

Album 2026-01-12

Kid A

Radiohead · 2000

10/10

Still feels like it arrived from the future.

BG Session 2026-01-04

Brass: Birmingham #10

New year pottery rush

New year, new strategy. Pottery rush from the start.

BG Session 2025-12-21

Brass: Birmingham #9

Holiday game — contested Birmingham

Holiday game. Contested Birmingham for three rounds.

RPG Session 2025-12-20

Winter-themed one-shot #2

D&D 5e

Snow-themed adventure. Thunder of the frost giants. Cleric almost froze to death.

BG Session 2025-12-07

Brass: Birmingham #8

Three-player — market sales win

Three-player again. Fast game, won on market sales.

BG Session 2025-11-23

Brass: Birmingham #7

Overbuilt canals, came in last

Came in last. Overbuilt canals.

RPG Session 2025-11-15

Haunted manor one-shot at Mike's #1

D&D 5e

Classic D&D haunted house. Party of pregens, cursed artifact, locked rooms. Fun night.

BG Session 2025-11-09

Brass: Birmingham #6

Beer strategy clicks

Back to four. Beer strategy worked for the first time.

BG Session 2025-10-26

Brass: Birmingham #5

Five-player slog

Five-player — too many people. Waited forever between turns.

BG Session 2025-10-12

Brass: Birmingham #4

Tight three-player, rail era flip

Tight three-player. Rail era flipped everything.

BG Session 2025-09-28

Brass: Birmingham #3

Cotton engine, buried on coal prices

Second play. Built a cotton engine, got buried on coal prices.

BG Session 2025-09-14

Brass: Birmingham #2

Teaching game with Emma and Joris

Learning game with Emma and Joris. Canal era is slow to grok.

BG Session 2025-08-31

Brass: Birmingham #1

First play, new group

First play with new group. Classic iron-and-coal opening.