Well, after WSKH's excellent name suggestion the idea has been living in my head rent free. I am putting together a small bonus for everyone. I'll be slipping in a recipe card for Kobold Ketchup into the pages of every zine I ship out. You can get an early preview below. I have a family favorite recipe for RL enjoyment that just might make it to the back of the card as well.

Thank you all again for your support!

  Cheers!!!
Cole

Appearance: A bright yolk-yellow suspension shot through with thin, jagged streaks of sharp crimson. The red veins never fully blend, instead shifting lazily when the vial is tilted and gathering thicker near the top when left undisturbed. In low light, the streaks deepen toward a dark, clotted red; in bright light, they snap back to a bold, tomato-bright scarlet.

Smell: A sharp, nose-prickling tang strikes first, hot and vinegary, with an eye-watering bite that climbs straight into the sinuses. A cloying sweetness follows close behind, finishing with a faint metallic edge. The heat lingers long after, peppery and bright, with the barest whisper of sulfur.

Taste: Acrid and sharply sour, with a curdling, fermented burn that coats the tongue and tightens the jaw. At first it scalds like spoiled vinegar cut with crushed pepper seeds, followed by a sticky, overripe sweetness that clings to the molars. A faint coppery tang seeps in at the back of the throat, mingling with a sulfurous aftertaste that rises again in hot, unpleasant waves. The saliva thickens; the stomach churns before the vial is even drained.

Effects:

When sipped: A cautious taste sends a violent shudder through the nerves. For 1 round, the taster is dazed as their senses flare; colors oversaturate, sounds sharpen, and a fleeting, intrusive thought not their own flickers behind the eyes before fading like steam.

When consumed directly: The imbiber is wracked with severe intestinal agony. They are rendered unable to act for 1d3 hours, doubled over and retching. A successful DC 13 Fortitude save allows the character to act, but at -2d on all rolls for the duration of the pain.

When applied to flesh: If drizzled over the remains of a freshly slain creature prior to its consumption, the next creature to eat that flesh gains 1d3 memories from the devoured.

A memory grants: A fragment of their knowledge (such as a secret or a spell known by the deceased); an echo of their expertise (training in a skill or occupation of the consumed); or anything else the Judge finds appropriate. 

I am the guy who never shuts up. Who uses 10 words when 2 will do. So I'll keep this short.

Next steps will be the survey. It is wildly more complex then I anticipated, even for a simple project like this. My goal is to have it out next weekend.

You all are more token happy then I thought so I'll have to order more of those. I love tokens, so I'm glad for the excuse.

I'm off to enjoy the rest of my birthday, this was one hell of a present.

I am happy report that things are going well. There is now some buffer past the funding threshold, which is fantastic. I was not expecting how popular luck tokens would be...noting that for next time. Speaking of next time.

If the Kobold class is the class I have always wanted to play, part of the next project I am working on will include a class my lovely wife (and editor) has been on me to create since I first pitched the idea to her. So, on this day, the twelfth of February, in the year of our Lord two-thousand and twenty-six, as my wife celebrates her annual trip around the sun, I tease the following...

While the Damsel is written (and entering playtest soon) I am about wrap up the initial draft of a fairy tale style funnel which will feature rescuing a Damsel. I hope to release both together in the near future.

To me, a Damsel is more then a helpless princess in a dungeon. They are a character that excels at driving that drive plot through driving the other characters. They may seem helpless, or even actually be helpless, but that doesn't have to mean a lack of agency. I quoted some of my favorite damsels (as I see them) that have embody this in pop culture. I think I am better at defining this particular archetype this way, then through my own words.

I asked this question on reddit that most said they did. This was suprising to me. I do, but I am not normal. I framed my position it in the 6 cultures of play that has re-emerged thanks to forced internet drama. To be its that often systems have focuses and that can mean it might work in multiple systems but not as well.

My wife and I really gravitate towards narrative play (trad, if you will) while my son (who grew up on minecraft) chases after survival play and incremental challenges (more osr). To this end, until he's old enough that I feel comfortable putting Stennard in front of him we split out sessions between Shadowdark and DCC. So the other day I got an idea I couldn't drop and this popped out. I haven't play tested it yet (it will need it), but I thought I'd drop it here for those interested. Feedback welcome.

The urchin is the name of the Sword & Sorcery variant of the Kobold.