Happy Monday, you butchers, bakers, and cheesemakers (did we really leave "candlestick maker" off Table 1-3?)!

Welcome to the final week of The Book of Funnels Backerkit campaign. We're almost out of the dungeon and about to level up, so if you're still back at the entrance, it's time to get a move on! Backers get exclusive content such as the bonus adventures, the cool bumper stickers, and--thanks to this weekend's comments--it seems like a collection of short essays on the art of funnel design is on tap. Look for more info on that in a future update.

The weekend also brought us nearly to our next stretch goal and I have high hopes we'll hit that one by Friday. Speaking of Friday, did you all catch the first of the YouTube videos where I speak with some of the funnel writers? If not, here it is now:

Now, something of great importance to every aspiring adventurer: Do I bring my cow with me into the funnel or not? I mean, what could go wrong?!

Animal and funnels go together like chocolate and peanut butter or pineapple and pizza. You're almost guaranteed to have a least one domestic animal accompanying the party into a funnel adventure. I can't count how many times I've heard someone tell me about how the farmer's chicken turned out to be the VIP of the adventure. I'm sure you all have some funny animal-related funnel stories to share too, so why not leave them in the comments section so we can all start the week with a laugh?

Our final design diary comes from DCC stalwart, Julian Bernick, who contributed three funnels to the book. Here he is with his thoughts on two of those. The third must remain a secret for now, but if you know Julian's work, you won't be disappointed.

Of Star-Chons and Lemurians

 

When I was approached to write some adventures for the Book of Funnels, I was excited to brush up on my funnel chops and create some new grinders! So I thought of inspirations. Back when first assigned adventures for DCC RPG, the Dark Master would summon me to his smoke-wreathed scrying chamber and refer me to an Appendix N author. “Read this and give me something like that!” he bellowed as his minions groveled, the tower trembled on its foundations, and an iced tea appeared on the table beside him.

And I did! These days, the Dark One is so busy with world conquest that I don’t always hear from him directly, but I still consider what Appendix N author I’d like to draw inspiration from when I cook up new modules. And perhaps my favorite, and definitely the least emulated in DCC, is Philip Jose Farmer.

I love Farmer because he’s all-out, unapologetically bizarre, as anyone knows from his World of Tiers books. I wanted to bring some of that “deep weird” into my adventures! So in my first funnel, "Challenge of the Star-Chons," the hapless zeros PCs wake up with no explanation in an open-roofed maze afloat in the starry void. It is perhaps the strangest adventure I’ve ever done, and that includes Mutant Crawl Classics as well (PCs of which would fit this adventure just fine.)

Now when I got a second adventure going in my hot little hands, I felt the yearning to do something a little more classic. The Kull stories of Robert E. Howard were a favorite, with lost lands, serpent-men, decadent nobles--the golden age sword-and-sorcery tropes. So for my next assignment, "The Blood Crown of Lost Lemuria," the PCs are the heirs to a time-lost kingdom, and if they can survive the hidden outpost they discover, they may claim some of its power for themselves. And, let’s face it, just as I thrive on killing PCs (why deny it at this point?), the nominal Blood Queen is actually powered up by the deaths of the poor zeros who are on their way to meet her! 

Now that you know the way my brain works, feel free to send me some lovely collectible Appendix N volumes. I’ll take good care of them and they’ll provide lots of adventure fuel. And maybe far off in the distance, all the way from the icicle-strewn forests of the frozen North, you’ll be able to hear that dead-stamp ka-chunking away in future playtests!