What's new? Lots new!

A quick note about exciting new developments at the Peakrill cottage. First up, things you can buy from me, and where to buy them. My book Learning to Draw Trees is now out, and I've moved my shop to Shopify - purchase all sorts of Good Stuff from me here! Shopify's monthly fee is a fair bit more than I'm making from sales at the moment but... you know how to change that, right? Buy, buy, buy!

As well as books/zines/leaflets whatever, this includes art prints and mugs of the trees I've drawn. More of both will be coming soon, as well as greeting cards and... I dunno, tea-towels? Branded underwear? Comment here with your wants and your needs.

I'm also selling the last few of a very special pack of "tarot" cards, a magical artifact which will be spoken of a thousand years from now.

I've also also, finally, got around to drawing trees again. A beautiful ash tree covered in freaky boles, which I found in Robin Wood, Loxley, Sheffield (Ha, Robin Wood, Loxley! I've only just realised the pun). You want mugs of this? Prints? T-shirt? G-string? Let me know, and the gods will arrange. 

Bole ash tree, Robin Wood 

More exciting publishing projects coming soon. Peakrill Press is branching out! Like my friends over at Polyversity Press, I'm a big fan of "quality books of indeterminate genre", brought together by the passions and personality of the person publishing them (I'm also a big fan of "covers that look like textbooks for subjects that almost certainly don't qualify as real sciences", though that's a little less relevant here). And so, while my main focus will continue to be on gaming related guff, I'll be printing other stuff that I love, not all of it by me.

Next up will be new editions of some inspirational books on walking by my father-in-law, Terry Howard. Terry has been a huge force in the movement to secure the Right to Roam in the UK over the last 50-odd years. A documentary called Ramble On has recently been made about Terry, by Director Charlie Thorne, and it's an absolutely wonderful piece of "slow cinema". It made me cry. I believe that you can catch it next at Sheffield's Festival of the Mind on 22nd September. Here's the trailer:

Finally, for those of you in the USA and nearby territories, I'm glad to say that you can now save on mail costs by my purchasing my Cairn adventure Gespenwald from the Cairn Store - or at least, you'll be able to once Yochai gets back from vacation. Likewise, both Gespenwald and Mostly Harmless Meetings will soon be up for sale on Exalted Funeral. Words cannot express what a confidence boost it is for me having those folks appreciate my stuff so much that they will pay for bundles of it to be shipped to the USA. 

Actually, that wasn't such a short update, was it?

Oh! And there is... just one more thing (and thank you for reading this far!) My wife makes some absolutely amazing stuff out of vintage fabrics, under the moniker "Made by Candlelight". I'm hoping to add that too to my online shop in due time, although meanwhile she has a folksy store but... it's sold out. She's frantically making patchwork hot-water bottle covers in time for Winter, but if anything below catches your eye then drop me a line, custom orders always very welcome! We recently shipped a beautiful wheelchair blanket to Natchitoches, Louisiana - something else which makes me beam with joy. 

Happy almost-autumn, and may your mushroom-hunting always be safe.

The Wonderist character class

Wonderism

What is #Wonderism? It is the opposite to Terrorism. A terrorist spreads fear through society by carrying out unexpected acts of violence and outrage. A wonderist spreads joy through society by carrying out unexpected acts of love and silliness. A wonderist views optimism as a radical act of resistance (particularly in our current scary and depressing times). The wonderist's manifesto is Salena Godden's Pessimism is for Lightweights.

What would a wonderist look like in Dungeons & Dragons and other OSR games? Here is my proposal for a Wonderist character class...

The Wonderist has the same stats, abilities and limitations as a wizard or magic-user, but with the additional restriction that they cannot deliberately causes harm or distress to any living being. 

They have access to all magic-user spells with the exception of those intended to cause distress or harm. In addition, they have access to the five spells listed below. Wonderist spells require verbal, material and somatic components, but the material component can be anything, as chosen by the caster. The object chosen may affect the flavour of the spell cast.

All Wonderist spells can be cast at any level, with the level of the spell determining how many individuals, and of what type, are affected. The number affected increases threefold for each casting level allocated to the spell, with no theoretical limit.

For humans and domestic animals, the number of individuals affected are:

• Level 1: 1 individual
• Level 2: 3 individuals
• Level 3: 9 individuals
• Level 4: 27 individuals
• Level 5: 81 individuals
• ...etc

For wild animals, a casting level one higher is required (so 1 individual at level 2, 3 at level 3, 9 at level 4, etc) and for monsters the level required is two higher (1 at 3rd level...)

Cats are immune to Wonderist spells.

The Wonderist spells available are: 

Joy: affected individuals are overcome with a sense of joy.

Delight: the caster nominates a thing (object, being or concept) and those affected see that thing as though for the first time.

Agape: those affected feel love for all fellow beings. (It's pronounced agg-er-pay, and means the highest form of love)

Humour: those affected can't help but see the funny side of life (please note: their laughter is not hideous).

Oneness: those affected feel a sense of connection with the entire multiverse.

The immediate effects last for 1 hour (this duration can again be increased threefold, multiple times, by spending additional casting levels). The effects linger, however, once its strongest effects expire - somebody who has spent an hour feeling at one with the multiverse is unlikely to emerge from this experience unchanged.

The wonderist is a pacifist - they cannot do harm, or stand by while another causes harm. Of course, in a game where every other character's life seems to revolve around travelling the world, meeting interesting creatures, and killing them, being a wonderist, avoiding all conflict, and actively opposing it, presents something of a challenge. Embrace this challenge! Pessimism is for lightweights.