{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "RSSFeed", "description": "", "home_page_url": "https://johngarland.org", "feed_url": "https://johngarland.org/feed.json", "user_comment": "", "icon": "https://johngarland.org/media/website/MythOs-logo2.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "items": [ { "id": "https://johngarland.org/crowdragon/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/crowdragon/", "title": "CrowDragon", "summary": "I've been painting again. Have a look, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, especially the eye. I'd roughly sketched a dragon and was really unhappy with how it…", "content_html": "

I've been painting again.  Have a look, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, especially the eye. 
I'd roughly sketched a dragon and was really unhappy with how it looked. It was a formulaic and it looked a little tame.  Instead of throwing it out I decided to cross it with a crow, and a friend christened it Crogon! 

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Initial Draft
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Next Draft
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This was created with Affinity photo2 ( I know there's a newer version but I paid for this and I don't any AI crap and I won't feed the slop machine either) 

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I have an intuous tablet, i tend to sketch in black on the top layer then introduce digital paint one a separate layer underneath. I believe I used Gouache and Oil brushes here which give it a nice texture.

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end 

", "image": "https://johngarland.org/media/posts/71/Crogon2.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "Art" ], "date_published": "2026-05-29T16:00:12+01:00", "date_modified": "2026-05-29T16:15:48+01:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/gallery2/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/gallery2/", "title": "Gallery #2", "summary": "This is my second gallery. Images and a couple of old photos, something shakespearean, something steampunk-like :) Gallery One", "content_html": "

This is my second gallery. Images and a couple of old photos, something shakespearean, something steampunk-like :) 

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\"Steampunk\n
Steampunk Author
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Gallery One

", "image": "https://johngarland.org/media/posts/70/gallery2.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "Art" ], "date_published": "2026-04-14T18:41:03+01:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-15T13:46:08+01:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/an-new-indy-way/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/an-new-indy-way/", "title": "A new (Indy ) way", "summary": "Words: 504 Time to read: 3.53 minutes So, I'm playing around with how I organise my thoughts and ideas. I'm a writer and a games master so I come up…", "content_html": "

Words: 504

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Time to read: 3.53 minutes 

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So, I'm playing around with how I organise my thoughts and ideas. I'm a writer and a games master so I come up with a lot of ideas and, as a librarian a great many web links and brilliant books pass in front of these blue eyes of mine. 

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I'm going to try and share some of the coolest ones with Tags so you know what categories they fall into  - so like #Learning  #Games  #Creativity  #PKM (for Personal Knowledge Management. I used to use Notion free tier until they threw the AI card in and then I was out (yes, you can turn it off but you have to log a call with their 'help' desk, which is a) crazy and b) not terribly helpful... ) So now I use Obsidian 1 , [Links below - so's not to break your flow]  it's synched to my iCloud account so any thoughts I have on my phone pop up on my laptop instantly. Obsidian stores my thoughts, weblinks, story and roleplaying game ideas (does your brain sometimes explode with all the ideas in there?).

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When my story notes get enough momentum, they'll get written up in Scrivener 2 (the writing tool which I absolutely adore) from there they can be sent to publishers or put out on Amazon (Word Beasts 3 cough cough). 

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I'm getting more serious with my writing again and my creativity so I thought that I would share. IndieWeb 4  has helped me with this. It's a way of taking ownership of your own ideas and content and then sharing them in a more personal manner. I've grown tired of the algorithm of Socials and even when I use Insta or Bluesky I find the politics and the bitchiness tires me out. I'd like to give a Hat Tip to the fabulous James over at James's Coffee Blog5 . He has the soul of a poet and you should definitely visit his blog. 

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I've had this website for a while now, but I tended to post to Socials first, I'm going to try putting my content here first then start sharing to socials (maybe) later. The idea is called Publish (on your) Own Site Share Elsewhere POSSE 6  and it means that you own your own content. You can follow people's blogs by using an RSS Reader (I use Inoreader7  ) find a website you like and follow it in you reader (my website in the links below 😎).

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I'm tempted to do a newsletter, if you'd be interested in getting short stories, articles or reviews as an email let me know. 

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That's it. That's me done, thanks for your attention Gentle Reader. This is your friendly fantasy writer/gamer/librarian/crazy person signing off.

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End.

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Links - DooblyDoo 

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  1. Obsidian - Knowledge management 
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  2. Scrivener - My fave writing tool 🪚 
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  3. Word Beasts : Tales of Myth & Wonder - My collection of short stories. 📗
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  4. IndieWeb - 'a people-focused alternative to the “corporate web”'
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  5. James's Coffee Blog 
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  6. POSSE - Indyweb's definition
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  7. Inoreader - the feed reeder I use
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Header Illustration: John Garland 2026

", "image": "https://johngarland.org/media/posts/68/publiiheaderorks.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Writing", "PKM", "Learning", "Games", "Blog" ], "date_published": "2026-04-12T17:49:09+01:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-14T06:40:12+01:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/happy-halloween-2/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/happy-halloween-2/", "title": "Happy Halloween", "summary": "Here's my story for the Halloween season, if you enjoy it please let me know. Trick or Treat by John Garland - PDF Trick or Treat by John Garland -…", "content_html": "

Here's my story for the Halloween season, if you enjoy it please let me know. 

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Trick or Treat by John Garland - PDF

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Trick or Treat by John Garland - eBook (ePub)

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", "image": "https://johngarland.org/media/posts/67/Wolf.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Blog" ], "date_published": "2025-10-31T13:58:14+00:00", "date_modified": "2025-10-31T14:27:43+00:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/wamphyr-manor/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/wamphyr-manor/", "title": "Wamphyr's and GM Emulators", "summary": "I had an idea for A Vampire story or game today, so for fun I consulted Tana Pigeon’s Mythic GM Emulator. It's a great tool I've used before, but I…", "content_html": "

I had an idea for A Vampire story or game today, so for fun I consulted Tana Pigeon’s  Mythic GM Emulator. It's a great tool I've used before, but I thought I'd try it for for fiction. This is what I came up with in less than 20 minutes!

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  1. I rolled: ‘Ambiguous event’ and got ‘Abandon Trials’ &  ‘Care’ & ‘Weapon’
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  2. I rolled  again and got ‘Negligence’  & ‘Plot’.  
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With Mythic GME  you then interpret your results, in a way that makes sense to the story. This was my reading of those rolls:

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I worked on Negligent Plot first. Aspiring Demonologist Walter Deen plots to summon Astoreth and needs a bone from a murderer’s tomb as a key ingredient. Walter doesn’t  realise the tomb belongs to a vampire so powerful they couldn’t destroy her. Instead they locked her in a tomb of chalcedony and adamant and disguised it as a murderer’s tomb. Dean’s negligent research releases the vampire,  though she’ll be missing a femur when she resurfaces, as that’s what Walter stole!

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In Mythic GM Emulator ‘Ambiguous event'  means a side scene that doesn’t immediately appear to be of use, but might become relevant later.  I rolled Abandon Trials   - So:  In 1854 Vampire Hunter  Lemuel  Smith,  abandons his trials for a new type of weapon that can slay Nosferatu. The Vampire Baroness he was hunting was contained so he abandoned his weapon researches.

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That meant my next roll Care of Weapon becomes a present day cut away-scene! We see a dusty old rifle case being lifted out of an attic,  it's taken to an auction house. We see the antiquary’s eyebrows shoot in suprise but we never see the rifle. What is in the case? Cut to the case being packaged up and a label: ‘Singapore Auction House’ pasted onto it.  The mystery weapon that could slay the Baroness is being shipped to Singapore!

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Image by Hans from Pixabay

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Wow that's a really cool plot outline for a game or a story!  Wamphyr Manor, here we come.... 

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John  ✍

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", "image": "https://johngarland.org/media/posts/66/Wamphyr.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Blog" ], "date_published": "2025-08-20T16:45:13+01:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-14T18:26:11+01:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/use-an-rss-reader/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/use-an-rss-reader/", "title": "Use an RSS reader", "summary": "Want to view the web the old way, where you control what you read? Use an RSS reader! I use Inoreader but there are lots of other cool ones. This…", "content_html": "

Want to view the web the old way, where you control what you read? 

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Use an RSS reader! I use Inoreader but there are lots of other cool ones. This website's feed is at https://johngarland.org/feed.json So tell me yours and we can see each other's updates without all the ad cruft and enshittification of platforms! 

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See you on the other side!

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", "image": "https://johngarland.org/media/posts/65/RSS.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Blog" ], "date_published": "2025-03-25T18:26:28+00:00", "date_modified": "2025-08-20T20:44:50+01:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/crafters-worth-following/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/crafters-worth-following/", "title": "Crafting for Games ", "summary": "In this age of analogue craft on digital, I thought I'd share some of my favourite crafters. Most are roleplaying rather than wargaming centred but the skills are often interchangeable.", "content_html": "

In this age of analogue craft on digital, I thought I'd share some of my favourite crafters. Most are roleplaying rather than wargaming centred but the skills are often interchangeable. Hope you find someone new to inspire you!

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 Some oldies but goodies: 

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#WatchandCraft

", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Games", "Blog" ], "date_published": "2024-05-05T21:52:16+01:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-14T18:18:58+01:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/ai-bubble/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/ai-bubble/", "title": "AI Bubble", "summary": "Cory Doctorow is probably the smartest tech observer on the planet. His take on the AI bubble, which he wrote for Locus, is well worth your time. It feels like…", "content_html": "

Cory Doctorow is probably the smartest tech observer on the planet. His take on the AI bubble, which he wrote for Locus, is well worth your time. It feels like a glimpse behind the curtain in Oz. AI is being bandied around as a term, much like Blockchain, or the Information Superhighway. Doctorow's analysis seems pretty spot on to me. 

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What Kind of Bubble is AI?

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\"Cory
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", "image": "https://johngarland.org/media/posts/61/background.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Blog" ], "date_published": "2023-12-20T16:11:36+00:00", "date_modified": "2025-08-20T20:45:07+01:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/ghosts-and-palisades/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/ghosts-and-palisades/", "title": "Ghosts & Palisades", "summary": "A glorious mash-up of traditional fantasy RPG and the ghost stories of M R James. The game below was originally run in ICE's HAARP roleplaying game, but I'm converting it…", "content_html": "

A glorious mash-up of traditional fantasy RPG and the ghost stories of M R James. The game below was originally run in ICE's HAARP roleplaying game, but I'm converting it to ICRPG so it should be easier to run and if you play D&D 5E a cinch to convert over. 

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Below you'll find: 

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It's Free but if you wanted to buy me a coffee or share it online  I'd be very grateful. you can also subscribe to my monthly newsletter and I promise not to spam you. 

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Peace Out ✌️ 

", "image": "https://johngarland.org/media/posts/59/Ghosts-and-Palisades-style-guidesmall2.jpg", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Games" ], "date_published": "2023-08-11T21:43:10+01:00", "date_modified": "2023-08-11T21:55:16+01:00" }, { "id": "https://johngarland.org/beware-the-million-men-2/", "url": "https://johngarland.org/beware-the-million-men-2/", "title": "Beware the Million Men", "author": { "name": "John Garland" }, "tags": [ "Novels" ], "date_published": "2023-08-10T22:20:52+01:00", "date_modified": "2023-08-10T22:21:01+01:00" } ] }