I have been doing this for twelve years now. Writing against RPG-a-Day. Against. Again and again. Every day, every August, since 2015. Most often on my own, sometimes collaboratively with others here on d6ideas or across different (German) blogs.
2015: ArtifactaDay
2016: Loot-a-Day
2017: Rival-a-Day
2018: Ad-Blog
2019: RPG+Ally+a+Day
2020: Not One Step Back
2021: Veteran-a-Day
2022: The Thousand Titles of the Cat Emperor
2023: Sommerverdichtung (German only)
2024: CampaignConceptaDay
2025: A-Piece-of-History-Every-Day / Calculating World(s)history
And now? The German next door neighbours at Kritischer Fehlschlag have issued the rallying cry “Crime Scene” (German).
But here? After twelve years of doing this dirty work? There is but one possible answer:
The Dirty Dozen.
Interpreted via the lense of the so called Dirty Dozen of persistent organic pollutants such as DDT and dioxins (although an earlier thought was the likewise so called Dirty Dozen of biological weapons and this might still colour some of the entries).
One-hundred-and-fourty-four poisons and pollutants (in the widest, freest sense). Twelve each for twelve systems. Thirty-one days. Twelve years. Against RPG-a-Day. Again.
The second half of the Sunlands are poisons from within, what humans do to destroy themselves and their environment.
- Light – of the things gnawing on the Sunlands, the night leaves the greatest impressions on humanity, and so they seek to counter it with their own polluting poison(s), light pollution, everything always brightly lit, throwing nature out of balance
- Fire – and where does most of this light come from if not fire, and dust and ash settle upon all
- Salt – they salt the earth, because they envy one another, and if they cannot have the land, no other shall have it, because they fear Others, and if it is the land itself that conspires against them, then death to the land itself
- Hate – the tradition of the Sunlands holds high the magical powers inherent in the noble and titanic emotions of their great houses, love, honour, duty, but how much easier are other feelings, how much more wide spread and spreading still and poisoning the houses, the people, the land, with hate instead of love
- Anger – with anger instead of honour
- Boredom – with boredom instead of duty, and with what else besides