PenAndPaper.Quest

  • San Francisco Stationery Fest 2026

    Last weekend, the last weekend of March, was the inaugural San Francisco Stationery Fest (hereto referred to as “SF SF”). I wasn’t able to attend the full weekend, I was busy Sunday, but in lieu of this I was able to make it to the pre-event festivities on Thursday evening!

    I really enjoy the SF Pen Show, which is traditionally held in August, but has a very definitive focus on being a “Pen” show. Most vendors are pen makers, vintage pen collectors, and shops with pens, papers, inks and related items. While there was definitely some overlap from the pen crowd, there was a clear difference in the general stationery and journaling crowd that showed up to SF SF. It felt odd at first walking in and not seeing Daryl standing at the Musubi booth, being one of the first friendly faces to greet the crowds. Instead, there were so many vendors with a wide variety of stickers, stamps, washi tapes, journals, notebooks, ephemera – the whole kit and caboodle of stationery goodness!

    Sitting on a grey blanket is a collected pile of stationery and ephemera. Notebooks, notecards, laser-cut greeting cards, a couple fountain pens, a blue PLOTTER notebook cover, a bottle of ink, a roll of washi tape, and a bunch of stickers.
    The Stationery Fest haul.

    I was mostly planning to peruse the various vendors, maybe chat with some folks, take some classes and buy a few things. While successful on most of those items, I clearly failed on the “few things” part. I’ll touch on some of these items below, but there’s just too much to mention for me to cover it all!

    Thursday evening was an absolute blast. A much needed reprieve from work, I spent multiple hours chatting with some lovely folks about pens, paper and notecards. Both PLOTTER and Travelers had pre-show pop-up shops, along with various tables where folks were displaying their well loved stationery items (collections of PLOTTER notebooks and gorgeous Travelers notebook spreads), along with spaces to simply sit and chat.

    Two items sit on a grey blanket. A small dice spinner, comprised of a rotating exterior dial and stationary inner ring to imitate the results of random dice rolling. A plastic card case, the lid open, sitting on top are several cards in yellow, red and blue. Each card has small, handwritten text, taking notes on a solo rpg game.
    An extremely portable solo kit; just dice and carsds for notes!

    The lines to get to the shop tables took a while. I was in line for ~45 minutes at the Travelers shop. It was a good time to play a bit of ‘theater of the mind’, and use some of the new-ish notecards I started jotting down some character and game details on. I recently started a game using the Loner system, and generated extra details through the Game Masters Apprentice card decks – a fantastic resource by Larcenous Designs. I ended up chatting with someone in line as well, and showing him some of my solo RPG kit I had with me.

    A small, blue notebook cover, with a bumpy texture sits on a wooden tabletop. The PLOTTER Kurozan Mini5. An elastic band sticks out of the top and rests on the wood table, with a narrow pen holder sticking out of the right side of the cover.
    I never thought I would own a PLOTTER…
    The PLOTTER Mini5 notebook cover sits open on a wooden table. The interior shows a zipper case on the left, and a brown cardstock divider covering some papers behind it on the right.
    The PLOTTER Mini5 notebook cover sits open, revealing two PLOTTER project planners inside. Dark orange, on the left, mid-grey, on the right. These heavy-weight paper organizers encapsulate additional paper inside, to organize projects separately. Some small text print can be seen on the front and back of the planner pages.
    Looking forward to see how I can implement these Project Planners.

    The PLOTTER pop-up is where I collected this beauty. The PLOTTER Mini5 blue Kurozan leather binder. This was a limited supply they were able to bring, normally exclusive to the PLOTTER TOKYO store. I’m going to see where I can work this into my daily carry, as the size of the Mini5 is extremely pocketable. But it’s not just the beautiful cover, I picked up several accessories as well, including the dividers, project planners, 1mm grid paper packs, zipper pouch, elastic closure band, and a pen holder (which I still need to find a pen small enough to fit – I almost picked up a Kaweco Liliput Fire Blue fountain pen, but my senses got the better of me).

    I really enjoy the project managers from PLOTTER. It’s a simple concept, just some folded paper that encapsulates a handful of other papers, but the organizational factor is what I think I really enjoy. It will be perfect to capture notes on different RPG’s and keep them together. Or you know, work projects… but that doesn’t sound as enjoyable. Looking forward to figuring out how exactly I will end up using it.

    Friday was an early start, and the first day of the actual show. I was a bit late, arriving only ~10 minutes before the show opened for all access pass holders, and as normal the line was out the doors and starting to wind around the building. Unlike last years SF Pen Show, however, I did not schedule any classes at the start of the show! This meant I actually got a chance to wander around the show floor for a while. My first stop was PLOTTER, to pickup a couple of those accessories they didn’t have at their pop-up shop on Thursday evening.

    On top of a bag labelled "Pixel" sits a small, red, fuzzy bag. A multi-coloured pin is attached, and spilling from its opened pouch is a red cardboard square with googly-eyes and a big smile, a pack of small stickers, and a square mint tin.
    Pixel, the new Rickshaw companion!
    A pair of white 4x6 notecards, covered in light-grey printed alternating dots and crosses sit atop a wooden table.
    These Rickshaw notecards are pretty heavyweight, and come in a variety of styles too!

    My second stop was by Richsaw Bagworks; Mark is a great guy, and always fun to chat with. While they had a small selection of their normal pen cozies, the main focus was on a new release – the Pixel Pouch. It is a small pouch that perfectly fits a Simply Mints tin inside, comes with a pin, stickers and a googly-eyed card. They were also selling some of Marks new notecards, which were of particular interest to me! I have been experimenting with a variety of notecards to find some good ones, and I am always keen on adding a new item to the mix. I also got to chat for a short bit with Cheryl Ball, who ran the bookbinding classes at last years Pen Show, and was running some again at SF SF. I highly recommend them if you’re able to!

    A variety of stationery items - pouch, notebooks, tape, glue, stickers, etc - sit on a table in a classroom style setting. A teacher stands in front, addressing all the people sitting at the tables, ready to learn about Creative Journaling.
    Tom did a great job running this creative journaling class, and I had a blast!
    A page of an open journal, where a variety of Halloween themed pictures have been cut from a magazine and glued inside. A vampire-like pumpkin, bread stick snakes, a cookie coffin, and brownie ghosts. A variety of words have been cut out to form a small prompt, "You are a top-secret...". The options below it are Witch, Vampire, Monster, Snake, Pumpkin, Ghost, and Gnome.
    Had a blast doing some creative journaling with Tom Forsythe!

    I took 2 classes on Friday, the first was a fantastic Creative Journaling class with Tom Forsythe of Sugar Turtle Studios. I haven’t been great at journaling. I have a 5 year journal that I’m on my 3rd year of, and there are some pretty big gaps last year where it just fell out of habit for me to write in. Previously, I have also done some “BuJo” journaling, creating my own fancy spreads and trackers, but it was a big time commitment to create those and it quickly became something that I failed to continue with. Toms class emphasized just doing it. No format or forethought really necessary. Just start journaling!

    In one exercise he had everyone pick up a random magazine from the stacks he supplied, to start cutting out images to form a theme. I was handed a Halloween magazine, and after a few minutes of looking I just started cutting out things that caught my eye, and formed the start of what could be an interesting short story / RPG generator – “You are a top-secret…”. With possibilities like ghost, witch, and pumpkin, it sounds like the start of a comedic spy thriller set in Halloween themed world. I’m hoping to spend a bit more time with that later, and see what kind of fun stories I can create from it.

    We also had a 5 minute “just write” time. Where we had to put pen on paper for a full five minutes. Doesn’t matter what you were writing, you just had to write. It sounds daunting at first, “wait, we have to write non-stop for 5 minutes, no pausing to think!?” But after starting, it actually went by very quickly. It was a great class, and I wish I could have gone to the other 3 classes that Tom was hosting as well. Perhaps next time!

    A notebook sits open, a variety of pens have been tested on its pages.
    Great time tesing Frixion pens, as well as the pens shared around the table I was at.

    My second class on Friday was the Inky Decisions class, with Lisa Vaness. It was the first time she was running this one, and I have to say that overall it was great. There were a couple stumbles getting through it, but she presented a lot of interesting information on the different types of inks available – fountain pen, rollerball, ballpoint, and gel primarily. There was a short bit of history, and if anyone had questions they were free to ask. Pilot had also sent some small collection of pens that everyone got to play with. Most were from their Frixion lineup, but for me that was OK. This was only the second time I had ever used a Frixion product, and I didn’t even know they had erasable highlighters!

    Lisa had arranged the tables and chairs so that everyone sat in small groups, to share the test pens. This was also a great opportunity for everyone to share their own pens and chat with neighbors. I had brought a 0.28mm Uni Style Fit, and was able to share that around so everyone could see just how small gel pen tips could be. Someone else had shared some of their favorite fountain pens and inks with me as well. It was really nice, and this would make a perfect Saturday, “get off the show floor” type of class, to give you a short reprieve from the crowds.

    Sitting in an outdoor courtyard, surrounded on 3 sides by buildings, a disembodied hand holds up a small paper pad, with artistic scrawlings at an urban sketching class. In the background a large group of people sit, similarly focused on their own practice.
    Urban Sketching was a blast!
    More than a dozen small paper pads sit on the cement, each displaying the artists attempt at urban sketching. Most focus on practicing an outdoor propane heater, some add artistic embelishments in the background, one is a detailed sketch of one face of a hotel building, with wooden eaves.
    Such a great variety in urban sketching!

    Saturday I did schedule a class first thing, because I knew I would have already gone through (most of) the show floor on Friday. So my day started with Eileen Goldenberg’s Urban Sketching class and it was great! Eileen has been doing urban sketching for a long time, and was very encouraging to get people started as well. You don’t have to be an outstanding artist – in fact, I don’t think I’m very artistic at all, but I am pretty happy with what I produced from this class.

    Seeing everyone just sitting and focused on drawing/painting was a great mood booster. If I can, I am going to try to integrate something like this into my solo play; quick sketches to enhance the visual aspect of gameplay. It’s always hard to take something you see in your mind, and turn it into some form of art, but as they say “practice makes perfect”.

    A white postcard with rounded corners sits on a wooden table. The postcard is watercolour paper and has several pink and purple flowers on the left, with leaves in a few shades of green. A large bumble bee has been painted in floating near the flowers. On the right, the text "Bee Yourself!" has been painted as well.
    Just bee yourself.

    Saturday was an extra artsy day for me, as my last class at SF SF was the Abstract Floral Art and Lettering class with Carola. I’ve taken Carola’s classes before, and they’re exactly what someone needs if they’re looking for some artistic inspiration and chill vibes. It was awesome to learn that Tombow had actually sponsored it by sending out some full 6-pack dual-brush kits for everyone as well!

    She led the class through watercolour painting with brush markers, accented with a fineliner, and finished off with any sort of positive affirmation, quote, or message. All done on a watercolour postcard, so you could even stamp and mail it! Even if you can’t make it to one of her classes, she also streams over on Twitch.TV – a great stream to leave on and listen to while you’re working.

    Bao by Andrea, great artist
    My Documented Life, stickers and stamps.
    Sara Burgess Studios creates some lovely cards!
    Retro Steno, cards and stickers.
    Amarillo Stationery had some interesting items.
    Kaweco DIY Sport presses
    A pair of laser-cut greeting cards sit on top of a wooden table. On the left, the outline of a pine tree is cut from the card, with a green paper insert behind it making the cutout stand out. On the right, a set of poppy flowers with small stems are cut out, with a deep orange sheet behind. Both cards are still in their cellophane wrappers.
    Beautiful cards from Sara Burgess Studio!
    A trio of sticker packs sit on a wooden table. One has a variety of aquarium and aquatic creature stickers. Another has various stationery items, such as pens, markers, and journals. The last one is a series of gentlemanly dogs, with various bits of clothing, drinks and pipes. Each dog sticker has a different statement around it, such as "My thoughts are so profound".
    Some of the few stickers I came home with, out of a huge selection.
    A small, grey, cartoonish cat stands with its front legs in the air to make a pen stand. Instead of a pen, the cat is holding up a roll of washi tape, themed with various fantasy swords.
    I couldn’t resist either of these things.
    A grainy image of a Kaweco DIY Sport fountain pen, taken in a dark room. The fountain pen glows in the dark, emitting a bright green glow. The etched name "Kaweco DIY Sport" visible in the pen cap.
    The Kaweco DIY Sport is a fun pen, but not truly DIY.

    Overall, there were a lot of talented folks at SF SF. The Saturday crowds were pretty insane, which is one of those “good but bad” things. They had local and visiting artists as vendors, and there was an absolute plethora of stickers, stamps and washi tape. Here is a quick rundown of some of the other items I ended up with:

    • I picked up aquarium and stationery themed stickers, as well as a super cute, tiny cat stamp, from My Documented Life.
    • Some lovely laser-cut cards from SaraBurgessStudio, inspired by nature and the outdoors.
    • From Oblation Papers & Press, I picked up a sword-themed washi, a set of great looking dog stamps printed by the Portland Stamp Co, and the SF SF Show Ink (for fountain pens) that I didn’t even know was a thing till I saw it!
    • Vaness Pen Shop brought some Pilot Kakuno’s and I bought a pair, because I want to give one to my son (and if you have two kids, you’ll understand why you can’t just buy one).
    • Ahnitol had adorable cat and crab themed pen stands, and a pretty crazy line to get to them too! It took me more than 20 minutes waiting for the crowd to have a chance at the table on Saturday.
    • Maido had a booth where I participated in the Kaweco “DIY” event (gimmicky, but interesting to see the implementation of the presses to ensure almost anyone could complete it) and picked up a Platinum Prefounte as I’ve never tried one before (and they had it in blue).

    It was very uplifting being around stationery people (-ERY, not -ARY). These couple days let me be quite a bit more creative than my normal schedule allows, and slow down from the normal pace of life for a little while. Looking forward to seeing if hosting two separate events in the year (Stationery Fest and Pen Show) will have any reduction in crowds one way or the other.

    P.S.: Shoutout to the folks running SF SF, who also run the SF Pen Show – no easy feat! On the web, the interactive map with linked tables was extremely handy to identify specific vendors or map out your route (for anyone who does so). Also, the easy-to-read schedule for classes and seminars was awesome to not only find all the registration links in one place, but also to ensure you don’t book classes that overlap.

    Don’t forget to say hi to Ace and Odin if you’re ever at the SF shows!

  • Creative Rut

    I have been absent updates for longer than intended. I knew going into this that it wouldn’t be an easy task for me, due to a very busy schedule and “real world” priorities. That said, I do want to try and find more time to post here. What complicates that further? Being in a creative rut.

    The end of year / beginning of the year is always a higher stress time for me. With work projects that suddenly have looming “EOY” deadlines, the onset of the dreaded performance review season (which at my work, takes about a month and makes most other things come to a crawl with how involved it is), the it’ll-be-here-before-you-know-it tax season, and the minutiae of day to day life. There’s always a lot going on, and for someone like me, who’s day-to-day workload involves exactly zero creativity, it always pushes me into a creative rut. Fun projects and hobbies get put on the back-burner, and some inevitably sputter out due to other priorities or the fact that I can’t seem to get back into them for months. It has been no different this year, except for even more job-related stress due to uncertainties around employment changes at my office.

    It’s a real shame, too! For several years, February has been a highlight month for TTRPG’s, with (and I admit, there’s too many of these to really keep track now) ZineMo, Zine Month, Zine Quest, Zinetopia, and more. It’s essentially a massive crowdfunding period for all sorts of TTRPG tools, titles and supplements. On one hand, great opportunity for folks who have worked hard to get their dreams out there, and communities to help them turn those ideas into physical and/or digital products. On the other hand, great opportunity for big corporations to capitalize on all that hard work (if you didn’t know, every crowdfunding platform takes a cut of your earnings, on top of payment processor fees, cost of ads you run, and any other platforms you may leverage).

    I haven’t been nearly as active in crowdfunding this year as I have in years past – which, honestly, is a great thing for my wallet, but I have backed a few things which I’ll briefly touch on below. Note, some of these are either already finished crowdfunding or are nearing the end of their campaigns. I am in no way affiliated with any of these projects, these are simply things I decided to spend my own money on. Also, crowdfunding is not a guarantee – it’s a community believing in something, or wanting to see an idea brought into reality – remember this going into it, and be sure whatever you put into a campaign is something you’re ready to write off as soon as you click the button.

    Space Aces: Wreck Runners

    The original Space Aces was a rules lite, Sci-Fi RPG that fit on a business card and used a d20+d6 mechanic. It’s super simple, but has all that you need to run some quick space missions, including simple stats and a mission generator that gets you going with the main objective, location, opposition and a snag to add twists to your game. I really like the Stakes as well, which ask you simple questions about what you’re rolling for – and if there’s nothing risky, uncertain or dangerous, why roll at all? This version of the game is PWYW (Pay What You Want), and even comes with a bunch of additional modules that add more options to a great little game.

    Space Aces: TNG is a revised and expanded version of Space Aces that combines all the modules into a single zine, and has a ton of tables, oracles, generators, and lots of great art. Check out the creators Itch.IO page for even more Space Aces content!

    Space Aces: Wreck Runners is the latest crowdfunding campaign in the series, with a premise of live-streamed exploration of derelict ships in space (i.e.: Wreck Running). There are geomorph tiles to quickly build a starship, with rules to explore it while being live-streamed, to gain loot and glory, and some new mechanics that I’m interested in learning more about once it releases. It promises some wacky, chaotic adventures that I might even be able to convince my kids to play, with the added physical component to build a ship.

    These were all made by Stephen D. of T-Rex games.

    Space Aces: Wreck Runners

    GLIDE: Part Two

    GLIDE, from Sasquatch Games (who also made Zones, a fun STALKER inspired RPG), is another Sci-Fi game, inspired by Frank Herbert’s Dune. It focuses on exploration of a desert planet, where you play a nomad who hopes to help restore the planet back to its original resplendence. I’m a big fan of the simple, effective art pieces throughout the zine, that add to the atmosphere the game sets up. There are a lot of additional expansions for the original game on the Sasquatch Games Itch.IO page as well, such as Relic Hunting and Bounty Hunting.

    GLIDE: Part Two is an expansion of the world of Eridoor (where the original game is set), but doesn’t require the original game to play. It promises to add more tools to build emergent stories, a hex travel system, and deeper character generation. It’s a d10+d6 system, and while I’ve skimmed through the preview of the new rules (which seem pretty complete in all honesty!), I haven’t read through them entirely nor have I sat down to actually play. Overall, it looks like it will turn out to be a fantastic product, with even more great artwork!

    GLIDE: Part Two

    SPACECAT Sci-Fi Adventure RPG

    This looked like an interesting game + comic combo when I stumbled across it. It reminded me of Mausritter (another anthropomorphic animal game that has a vast amount of content out there) and No Mans Sky (the video game) when I first saw it. After reading the 2 sentence blurb at the top of the campaign, I figured I would have to back it.

    A scifi adventure game inspired by Cairn, Into the Odd, and Mausritter. Discover bizarre worlds, fantastical alien creatures, ancient spacecraft, space pirates, and the depths of the unknown.

    The premise is nothing new, you’re a spacefaring animal (OK, maybe that part isn’t too common) who is in major debt and you generate your stories/quests to determine how you’ll pay that debt off (or will you?). It’s a 3-stat system (Strength, Dexterity, Hope), and I’m interested in seeing what sort of tools it incorporates to keep the world expanding and your adventure continuing.

    Depending on the tier you back, it also includes a comic, which looks like it’s based on a long-running webcomic from the creator. I have only looked at the first page posted on Substack, as I want to see the full comic when I receive it post-campaign, but I already enjoy the art style and I’m a sucker for space stories, so I don’t think I’ll be disappointed.

    SPACECAT

    There are a lot of great looking projects out there, and most, if not all, of the ones that have been funding this month will be available at least digitally (which is great considering the shipping costs of some of the projects, and ongoing concerns around tariffs and imports/exports). A lot of creators have Itch.IO pages, or their own web shops, for you to go explore as well!

    Hopefully everyone else is have more creative inspiration than I have been, and if you haven’t checked out any new games lately, go see what else is out there for your next Pen and Paper Quest!

    P.S.: If you ever back a crowdfunded campaign that doesn’t fulfill, remember there are real people behind those projects. It’s frustrating, sure, but be kind. Those people are probably also disappointed and going through their own challenges. I’ve backed my fair share of projects, and I can count on two hands the number of campaigns that never fulfilled, and on one hand the number that ended up being actual scams. It’s a small number in the grand scheme of things and not worth the wasted energy.

  • Old Mechanical Pencils

    I recently went through a box of old stationery related items that have been accumulating for a long time. It was time to do it, since I’ve been trying to get things more organized (and downsized) post-move. I knew the general variety of things I would find – stacks of post-it notes, random bits and bobs such as clips, push-pins, and spare erasers, and a whole bunch of pens and pencils (some markers too!).

    Amongst this vein of stationery goodness, I found three boxes of staples that I’ve had since the 5th or 6th grade, a small box of paper clips that I’ve had a similar amount of time, and some old mechanical pencils!

    A lineup of six mechanical pencils, from Pentel, Pilot and Paper Mate.

    Most of these probably joined my collection between the 8th – 10th grade timeframe (except that Paper Mate, it was probably an early college acquisition), and most have seen quite a bit of use! Some of them were definitely purchased by parents, others seem like they’ve just always been there.

    Those that had eraser caps are long gone, victims of a time when backpacks had one large compartment and it held everything one might need at school. These are also all 0.5mm pencils, because 0.3mm was effectively unheard of where I grew up, and 0.7mm was too wide for my liking.

    Some of these pencils took me through my first days of D&D campaigning with friends, where no one really knew what they were doing but we were all having a great time!

    Amazed I still have this, and that more of the writing hasn’t worn off. It’s been sitting in what was definitely my Spanish-class-turned-RPG-paper-storage folder.

    Pentel PD345 Quicker Clicker

    A closeup photo of the clear barrel of the Pentel Quicker Clicker mechanical pencil.

    These used to (maybe they still do), come in packs of 3. This is the only one I still have, and I don’t have any spare erasers either. I remember that being one of the biggest drawbacks to me, was that the erasers would run down quick, and then you would have to carry one of those pink bricks that somehow always ended up with wooden pencils stabbed into them.

    One of the benefits of this mechanical pencil, though, was the volume of lead it could carry. I don’t ever recall running out of lead, and I would never remember adding any more. It just seemed to have an infinite supply. Even as I found it, it held no less than 10 sticks of (presumably HB) lead ready to go.

    Pentel PD255 Side FX

    A closeup photo of the grey and clear Pentel Side FX PD255 mechanical pencil.

    I recall using the Pentel Side FX pretty heavily in high school. It’s body is a lot wider than most standard wooden pencils and even the more commonly available mechanical pencils at the time. I think the more geometric barrel shape is what really drew me to it, along with the easy-to-press lead extension button on the side. Being able to extend the lead with minimal change to my grip was nice.

    This was the pencil I would usually carry with me at lunch, up to the same table my friends would always claim, and we would ramble on for 45 minutes playing 3e or just some random game that someone made up. It was definitely a nostalgic find.

    Pentel PG305

    A closeup photo of the solid black barrel of the Pentel PG305 mechanical pencil.

    The PG305 is actually one I don’t think I used that much. It was too narrow for my tastes back then, and I wasn’t a fan of the eraser refill. Where did it come from and how did it get into this collection then? We’ll never know.

    Pilot H-305 The Shaker

    A closeup photo of the solid black barrel of the Pilot The Shaker H-305 mechanical pencil.

    “The Shaker” sounds like a class option out of Pine Shallows or Kids On Bikes 2e. This mechanical pencil definitely shook things up back in the day, too. You can aggressively swing your hand around in class and not get in trouble? Well, probably only once…

    I haven’t tried any of the newer versions of The Shaker, but what I like about this one is the heft of the weight inside the lead extension mechanism. It adds some extra weight to the pencil overall, and for some reason I’ve always liked having a heavier writing instrument in hand. I am concerned that should it break, it’s something that will never be repairable, and that heavy weight shifting around inside all the time seems like a recipe for heartbreak.

    Pentel QE515 Twist-Erase

    A closeup photo of the solid blue barrel of the Pentel Twist-Erase QE515 mechanical pencil.

    This was another mechanical pencil I recall using quite a bit. After losing all the eraser caps of my other pencils, then dealing with things like erasers getting pulled out of them or prematurely wearing down due to constant friction against books and whatever else was in my bag. Having a mechanism to hide my eraser until it was needed, and it wouldn’t simply fall off of the back (looking at you eraser caps), was a welcome change.

    Paper Mate Clear Point

    A closeup photo of the clear barrel of the Paper Mate Clear Point mechanical pencil.

    While I don’t believe this one is as old as the others, I’m pretty sure I picked it up because it had similar mechanical functions. Side-click lead extension? Check. Twistable eraser I can retract and not break or crush? Yep. Comfortable grip? Debatable, but yeah, it’s not bad.

    This one definitely hasn’t had as many miles put on it as the others in this list, and a good deal of that is from the fact that most of my college days moved towards video games rather than TTRPG’s.

    Six mechanical pencils are arranged in a semicircle, with their nosecones pointing downward.

    So yep, there’s a long post about a handful of pencils I found in a box. They now live in a small pencil box, in a drawer, on my newly organized table space, where I hope to start getting more time to play some solo RPG’s. Hopefully that means some of these make it into the rotation as well.

    If you don’t have a favorite pencil, hopefully this can inspire you to find something you really enjoy writing with for your next Pen and Paper Quest!

  • Korg – Simple, Solo, Dungeon Crawling

    If you recall from my last post, one of the items in my EDC RPG kit is a credit-card sized game called “Korg”. This is a quick, easy, dungeon crawling game in a portable format that allows you to play a quick RPG on the go. Originally Kickstarted by Caleb Engelke (also known as Dungeon Havoc) back in December of 2022, the campaign raised over $17,000 dollars (!) for the first iteration of Korg.

    The primary goal of the game is to collect a set amount of “GP” (gold pieces), by defeating monsters in a dungeon. Once you reach that goal, you get to retire! The gameplay loop is also simple, making it easy to pickup and play wherever you are. You just roll a d6 (6-sided die), the number corresponds to what you encounter in the dungeon, then roll over that foes target number. If you win you get GP, if you lose you take damage. Lose all your health, and you have to start over. There are additional cards with a Shop, which lets you buy your choice of several items to help heal you, reduce damage you take, and more.

    The simplicity of the game also lends to its ability to be expanded on. If you wanted to create an in depth character with a complete backstory, and place the dungeon in a world you start building, you can do that! Maybe you want to add a few new rules, while keeping the same core loop, that’s also possible!

    Korg did well enough that Caleb eventually created a new crowdfunding campaign to fund Korg Slayer, new expansion cards to add additional locations and foes to fight, in the world of Korg. These include the Putrid Bog, Dragon’s Lair, and Tyrant’s Keep – and of course, new shop items to help you along the way as well.

    Since then, there have been other additions to the Korg lineup as well, with CY//Korg, Scars of Silvos, and Classic Korg v.1 (a remastering of this original Korg, with some new locations and quests). I still enjoy my copy of the original Korg and Slayer expansions, because none of the new ones have been printed in a durable format like these ones (though that didn’t stop me from backing all the other campaigns…).

    My main draw to this game, when I first saw it, was the format. A durable, portable game that could be played whenever I had downtime, and would last longer than something I print out myself. I pair it with a small dice spinner (effectively a ball bearing with a bunch of number rings to indicate different die types – d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20), which is usually with me all the time anyway, and it makes it pretty easy to pull out and play a few quick rounds.

    This is also a game that I can take out and play with my kids. It’s actually a great introduction to RPG’s, but it’s also a great reinforcement for my sons math classes, where he’s learning addition and subtraction. He also has to learn about making choices – when to spend that hard earned GP on a potion to heal (or risk death on the next dungeon roll), or even some upgrades like armor, to absorb some of the damage he might take. We can also come up with stories about the encounters we roll, change the monsters (a Skeleton might become a Goblin or a Wolf), and try to figure out why we’re trying to collect all that gold in the first place!

    So if you need a simple game to take with you on the go, or want to find something that you can teach to younger children, take a look at the Korg games for your next Pen & Paper Quest!

    P.S.: I am unaffiliated with any of the platforms or folks mentioned in this post, I’m just sharing them so that others can find out more about them.

    While I don’t think you can get this copy of the original Korg any longer, Korg Classic v.1 is the same content (and more!), just printed as standard playing cards (definitely sleeve them!). You can find them on the Dungeon Havoc Ko-Fi page.