I’m going to try to do this quick and get to the point rather than get wrapped up in personal crap.

For those who just read my weekly Features as they come up, things are mostly normal. This week’s article is going to be delayed a day or two, but you’ll get a new Feature.

For those of you who support me, you’ve noticed I’ve been kind of quiet for a few days and that things have been a bit bipolar. On the one hand, I’ve been tossing out lots of little messages about bits and pieces of projects and mechanics I’m working on. On the other hand, Early Access content hasn’t been arriving as scheduled, Live Chats got quiet, Bonus Content has been anemic, and Project Slapdash has been jerking forward and then getting held up.

I’ll get to the whys and wherefores in a minute for those who care. But first, work and content update.

I have a trip coming next week. I will be spending the time with friends and some close friends. Before then, I will catch up on Early Access and audio content. So, you can expect the now typical end-of-month flurry of posts to read and/or listen to if you’re a supporter. I’ll be focusing on shorter content for right now. A two-part end to the Stupid Narration Tricks series, a response to some comments about maps relating to my Let’s Build a Pretty Good Dungeon, and then something else.

I am working on bigger things. As I’ve hinted, I have a major examination with some new rules for searching and perception, something that will likely turn into a whole long exploration of downtime in town as actual gameplay, a whole thing on building custom signature items that level up with the character, and a whole new set of rules for building custom monsters and encounters in both versions of D&D 5E. I have several pieces of bonus content in the works and a plan to make old bonus content that’s been offline available to my supporters. There’s also the Slapdash combat engine shakedown starting sometime next month which is consuming a huge amount of prep and planning time.

But all I can do for the next week and a bit before I go silent for a week is to make sure I get caught up on weekly Features. I’m sorry about that.

The one thing I will put on the calendar right now is my Mostly Monthly Live Chat. I’ll be hosting that on Wednesday, August 5 at 8:00 PM ET on Discord and then post the recording on Patreon thereafter for all supporters.

Now for the personal side. The whys and wherefores. I’m including this partly for transparency and integrity and partly because people have been reaching out to me. People are worried. Thank you for worrying about me. I can’t say you shouldn’t worry; all I can say is that I am safe. I remain too stubborn-stupid to quit. Feel free to skip this part. It’s not a happy update.

Unfortunately, the setbacks I hit last month — a combination of technical issues, physical health issues, pet health issues, mental health issues, and financial issues — rocked things a lot harder than I wanted to admit and their fallout continues. I was very optimistic that, after July 4, I’d just get right back on the horse and gallop ahead. I’m an idiot. Same as always. As I kept struggling to fix everything all at once, I got quiet because I didn’t want to admit that I was failing. Not failing. Just still struggling. More than I wanted to. It’s bad here. It’s dark. Really dark. If you know, you know.

I don’t want to take this trip. My cousins convinced me months ago to commit to attending GenCon with them and several other friends are going to be there. Even splitting expenses and being frugal, it’s going to be expensive. I don’t want to go away when I’m so behind on so many things. I don’t want to leave Biscuit alone in the care of a neighbor while she’s still not fully recovered. But this trip is probably the right and healthy thing to do. I haven’t traveled in two years, haven’t taken a real vacation, and I haven’t seen any of my friends and family. I’ve been very isolated. Intellectually, I think this trip may be very restorative. That it may reinvigorate me a bit and restore some of my lost passion. Emotionally, I am not in a place where I can feel hope.

All I can do is keep trudging along.

Thank you all for your readership. Thank you for supporting my work. Thank you for worrying about me. I’m sorry I’m still falling so short of what I am capable of and what you deserve.