Eric Zawadzki

Alternative Systems

The final full chapter of Deep Dive is coming along, and I'm now ready to ask all of you if there are conspiracy mechanics you wish existed but don't. Well, are there? Tell me about it. I might not be able to fulfill every request, but I'll try to include as many reader suggestions as will fit into the word count I'v...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Derrick Chautkin

This week I'm sharing a total asshole of a Devoted who serves Human Logistics, a Standing 7 conspiracy.

The usual caveat applies: This is a first draft, so there will be changes.

Derrick Chautkin

Quote: “If you’d stayed where you belonged this wouldn’t be happening to you.”

<...

Spooky Season's End

Halloween was a success, although we didn't have a huge number of trick or treaters. Our trouble is that there's a stretch of road a block away where absolutely everyone takes the holiday very seriously - like, spider skeleton and 12-foot skeleton seriously - and although the kids talked Beth into buying an animatronic spider...

That's Deep

Work continues on the mechanics and optional rules chapter of Deep Dive. Progress there is slow but steady. I hope to finish that at some point in November. Then comes chapter fiction, which shouldn't be too time-consuming.

Second drafts of conspiracies are just starting to trickle in from writers, as well. I'm...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Hideki Shimizu

This week I'm sharing the Devoted of the Chinkon Collective, a Standing 5 conspiracy.

The usual caveat applies: This is a first draft. There will be changes.

Hideki Shimizu

Quote: “My name is Hideki Shimizu, and these people are under my protection. Stand down or face my sword.”

...

The Next Generation

I'm hanging out with the kids this weekend while Beth is at Ohio Valley Filk Fest. Aside from a couple of brief activities, it should be a pretty chill weekend. "Should" is always the operative word here. Sometimes the kids are just as content as I am to spend time on our devices doing various things - whether that's video ga...

Nuts and Bolts and Jagged Edges

I'm finished with the various introductions and am now working on the mechanics clarifications and optional rules chapter. I certainly have a fair number of items on my to-do list for this, but I also want to make sure I'm addressing things that make running conspiracies hard or confusing. I posted the following on the Devian...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Aisha Carver

This week's sample character is the spurned and forgotten genius behind the technology that makes the Dark Matter Fellowship (a Standing 2 conspiracy) possible.

As always, this is a first draft. There will be changes.

Aisha Carver

Quote: “I can make you something to do that, yeah. You’...

Getting Physical

I had my regular check-up last week and an additional blood draw, and the consensus was that there's no cause for alarm, but I really need to get back in the habit of exercising regularly again. So, I've been experimenting with fitting an hour or so of walking around the neighborhood into my schedule somehow.

Generally,...

Introductions All Around

I've finished the main introduction of Deep Dive, as well as the handshake introductions for the local and regional chapters. I'm currently making progress on the global chapter introduction. I expect to get that one and the otherworldly introduction done either before or in the early part of the weekend. After that ...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Marcus Laqueus

This week I'm finally sharing the Devoted for the Symposium, a Standing 10 conspiracy using the bootstrap paradox to bring itself into existence as early in human history as possible. I had perhaps a bit too much fun with this one. My goal was to make someone who is absolutely terrifying in combat without being a walking TPK,...

Teen Overnight

A few weeks back, I took Arya to the family overnight, which was focused on younger kids and so absolutely needed an abundance of grown-ups there. Tonight is the 8th grader overnight, which permits drop-off-and-drive but also still requires some supervision. Beth took one look at the available volunteer shifts and pr...

Introductions

I've been working on the first draft of the introduction to Deep Dive. Something I've learned along the way is that it's essentially impossible to write the introduction to a supplement (especially a large one) until the first draft is complete. Even with a detailed outline, things change, move around, or just figure...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Abigail Petrescu

This week's Devoted is part of Abyssal Pioneers, a Standing 6 conspiracy with its headquarters at one of the deepest points of the ocean.

As with the others I've shared, this is a first draft, so there will be changes as I revise.

Abigail Petrescu

Quote: “You can’t fully appreciate the...

If You're Gonna Have X, You're Gonna Have X Problems

It's been a challenging week. Recently, Arya became enamored with the idea of having an aquarium. She saved up money for her agreed-upon share of the start-up costs and off to the aquarium store she and Beth went. After consulting with the local fish experts, she and Beth bought a little 5-gallon aquarium and began the slow p...

Into Second Drafts

With the exception of a couple of conspiracies that are still pending first drafts for quite understandable reasons, Deep Dive is now in second drafts. Writers will spend the next several weeks revising their drafts based on redlines. While they're doing that, I'll be writing the first drafts of the non-conspiracy pa...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Erika Collins

Today's sample character comes from Next-Gen Law Enforcement, a Standing 3 conspiracy. Although most of the characters in Deep Dive are Devoted, Erika is a Renegade.

The usual caveat applies: This is a first draft, so there will be changes.

Erika Collins

Quote: “Not all cops are...

99 Nights in the Forest and Sardines

There are many things in Arya's life where only Mom will do. Given the choice between "do you want Mom to take you to the pool or Dad?", for example, she will always choose Mom. But one the strength of that one epic game of sardines last year, the family overnight is one of those things where she actively favors me. So, that'...

Building Characters

My redlining tasks this week have been mostly concerned with comparing sample characters to make sure there isn't too much conceptual overlap. I did something similar with conspiracies a couple of weeks ago - making sure we don't have three different conspiracies with Curiosity as an Anchor (it's funny, because at one point t...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Albin Henryka

This week I'm spoiling the signature Devoted of Gustaw's Retinue, a Standing 1 conspiracy that has sprung up around a celebrity-businessman.

I think I've mostly sorted out which conspiracy sections I've spoiled and which are still waiting in the shadows. However, as there is at least one case where I actively attempted ...

Sick

I seem to have picked up the kids' back-to-school cold, so instead of getting up and being unproductive (but feeling bad about it), I'm taking NyQuil and going back to bed (in hopes of minimizing this cold's duration).

A Brief Pause for Breath

I've now finished two redlining passes and am taking a brief pause before beginning another. I find that it's important to have a little bit of space between editorial passes - roughly two weeks is generally enough. When we're talking first vs. second pass, there doesn't need to be much of a gap, since the time it takes me to...

Sneak Peek Take Two: Kanata Yamasaki

I apparently need to take a moment soon to make a list of which conspiracies/Devoted I have and haven't shared, yet, because the one I posted today was one I shared back in May. Sorry about that. So, have the Devoted from the Extraordinary Leagues Federation. I don't think this one was shared before (currently at wor...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Dr. Alton Page

This week's Devoted comes from Corvalis Chemicals, a Standing 3 conspiracy. I swear, not every conspiracy agent is a charlatan of one stripe or another! But there are a pretty decent number of them in the Web of Pain.

The usual caveat applies: This is a first draft, so there will be changes.

Doctor Alton Page 2025-09-16 11:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post

The Number of the Kaiju

We ultimately settled on giving Kaiju No. 8 a try as our (relatively) serious anime. It held our attention so well that we ended up watching its entire first season.

It had some echoes of Jujutsu Kaisen - a hero who swallows a thing that gives him powers that are going to get him in a world of trouble if he uses them to...

Second Pass in Progress

I'm working through my second redline pass on Deep Dive and am currently a little more than halfway through global conspiracies. Not a whole lot more to report than that, for now. Each reread gives me a clearer picture of what this supplement needs. Some stuff will get discarded, while other parts will be added or ex...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Martin Vlahović

Today I'm sharing the sample character for the Magorum Collegia, a demon summoner who mostly uses his considerable occult skill to run long cons.

Martin Vlahović

Quote: “My daughters and I are visiting your charming town for the first time. Do you know where we can find a clean, inexpensive h...

What We Do in the Shadows

The final episode of What We Do in the Shadows was marvelous, although we're so glad we failed utterly to check the runtime before we started it, because instead of the usual 20-minute episode, it went on...considerably longer than that. This was great because every time you thought the episode was ending, it wasn't;...

Second Time Around

I finished my first redline pass of Deep Dive over the weekend. On Monday, I spent about 10 hours revising the template I've been using for these since late 2024. This was less a "change everything" move and more a matter of taking the patterns that have emerged in the writing of 40 conspiracies and codifying them. T...

Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Virgil Medina

Today I'm sharing the sample Devoted for Tavayana, a Standing 1 conspiracy.

The usual caveat applies: This is a first draft, so there will be changes.

Virgil Medina

Quote: “We all dream, but with Tavayana’s guidance you can learn how to dream deeper and to unlock your full spiritual po...