I got home from work at 6:30, and got my mail. In it I found the zine of Love Letters from the Baker House Band (BHB). By 7:45, I had finished reading every word of it, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.
Background: I am a gen X punker now well into middle age. But in my youth, I was an avid reader of Factsheet Five, and got tons of zines in the mail during the 90’s. I was the prime audience for Kickstarter’s Zine Quest campaigns from back in February. Therefore please know that I am pre-disposed to appreciate the unique aesthetic of the zine. And Love Letters delivers in spades…
From the front cover (not credited) to the back cover it’s exactly what a zine should be imo.The back cover is blank with just a notation that the zine was “Made as part of the Kickstarter ZINE QUEST, February 2019” and my copy number was 5 of 100. I <3 it so much. A group of folks with a shared passion putting their thoughts on paper. Minor typos here and there ADD, not detract, from the overall awesome of the content.
The frontispiece is signed by all the creators in different colored ink - yay! I even got a fan card “I follow the Baker House Band!” as backer #149. I just need to sign it I guess to be fully inaugurated as a true Follower of the BHB.
I have no idea if you can buy this zine anywhere, but you can’t have mine 
Here are the contents:
First up from Roxanne is a drawing of a family that also looks like it’s the most awesome RPG party ever of misfits and oddballs. All joined by love. “And that’s ok”. I love it (especially the sentient pile of laundry). In fact, every piece of this book I love, so I’m going to stop saying that explicitly - just assume it ends every paragraph here. What I’ll do instead is talk about what specifically I love about each section.
Next is Alix J’s description of a motorcycle gang (or is it a book club) of women with crisp print dresses and big badass motorcycles. Besides the actual description of each member is how Alix mechanically hooks it into Apocalypse world. Next time I run AW, this group may very well show up as members of a Chopper’s gang. “Bad manners are to be dealt with swiftly and usually violently.”
Evan J is apparently a video game creator, or studying to be one. They discuss how playing PbtA games, in particular GM Agenda, Principles, and Moves, have informed and improved the way they design and project manage video game creation. I never really considered how much of a team effort video game creation is. But the way Evan tied the various aspects of project management together with the PbtA GM tools - I may look at my own work in a similar manner. Would definitely make it more fun.
A quick abstract of the game Elliot and Tovey are working on - Tales of Timberwind. It feels like a cross between Watership Down, Redwall, Mouse Guard, and Root the board game. All fictional touchstones that I am a big fan of (except maybe Redwall…). The ashcan is available from @lumpley’s Patreon. This almost makes me subscribe to my first Patreon… Not sure, even after looking at the Patreon page (http://lumpley.com/index.php/window/installment/123), if it’s PbtA or another system. Either way, I am very curious, and if it kickstarts, I’ll probably back it.
“Editor” Adin brings us the Care and Keeping of Waifs, Strays, and Castaways. I read it as a short story, with a twist ending. By the way, most of the advice is good life advice anyway. “If you have to ask whose lung you just stepped on, you don’t want to know.” I have definitely found that 
.
Legend of Mandoom’s Leg is a 4 page comic by Micah. Which surprisingly is actually an AW comic book, as halfway through the protagonist brainer triggers Unnatural Lust Transfixion from +hot to +weird and spoiler wins the day. As with all zine material, and in keeping with the rest of the zine, the style is not polished, but sizzles with awesome. I don’t know if Micah is willing to do art (for pay) for RPGs, but they’ve got a great style.
Next section, which I’ll be honest I turned to first (somehow Josh Savoie knew I would) was 6 pages of PBTA Reviews. They cover the “main” PbtA spinoffs - Dungeon World, Masks, Monsterhearts, Uncharted Worlds, and Urban Shadows. Basically, I agree with most everything Josh says, although a couple of the games I haven’t played so it’s more about my uninformed “opinion” of those games. They definitely inspired me to consider playing Masks and Uncharted Worlds. I appreciate the closing paragraph wherein they tie in their PbtA play with their group (BHB), and how it’s a house of awesome.
Tovey’s created a setting for Blades in the Dark called Hvanrost City. I don’t play Blades, nor have I read the rules. So of all the items in this zine, this one was the one I least connected to, mechanically. However, I do love a setting, especially an urban one. The article was chock full of cool ideas - one I can see borrowing is that the city is powered by pipes filled with electric eels. Just the image of that alone inspired me.
Baker House LARP is Meguey Baker’s article about how to be an adult hosting a LARP for teens (20-25 of them) over a 5 day period; ie Summer Camp, Spring Break, or Winter holidays. This is something I really connect with, as I have been a youth group advisor, run a small con, played in a few larps, and in general think RP gaming is an incredible way for teens to learn. I plan to share this specific article with my friend who is a high school history teacher but who has a masters degree in theater. The article is 14 pages long, so takes up a good bit of the zine; but at the same time is dense with knowledge. I couldn’t grok all of it at once, I think I’d have to actually go do this; or perhaps assist someone else.
Last Breath - Josh is back with a nice Last Breath move (looks like it’s specifically for DW, but I guess could fit into most any PBTA game with a similar type of move). What I really appreciate about the move is how it polls the table with 3 questions, and those questions and how they are answered impact the move result (number of “Yes” answers = Number of +1s to the roll). The character will still die, but the likelihood of them going out in a blaze of glory that will change the world is very very high. As it should be.
Annika’s come up with a cool move called Shadow Magic, that looks like it would insert well into many PbtA games. It allows the PC to move using the shadows, and maybe even take something with them. Success is great of course. 7-9 offers the PC a choice, and the failure part is the best “You bring something with you or leave something behind that you did not intend.” A good way for the PCs to learn what terrors live in the shadows…
The final piece in the zine is a poem by Sebastian, called D&D Day. Everything about it hits my teenage self as I wax nostalgic about my summer vacations playing D&D and losing track of time. “Yikes, midnight already!” The joy and camaraderie in the poem is exactly why I’m engaged in this hobby these many years later. Turns out, of my high school and jr high friends, the only ones I’m still friends with are the ones I played RPGs with.
The poem, and the zine, ends with “I love you.”
Wow.
Thanks Meguey Baker for rounding up the BHB and putting out this zine. If this was a one-shot, so be it. I’m glad I backed it at the $15 level. If this is the first of more, I’ll definitely check out future issues.