So Far For YUMDM In 2022

In a recent post I listed what I wanted to achieve in 2022, and thought it may be a good idea on what I have done so far this year.

It’s only been just over one month but it has been productive so far. I will update this post each month to see where I am at and what I have managed to get done.

August 2022

• • • Published the September issue of d12 Monthly, my D&D zine – this one is all about weapons.
    • Published the third issue of d12 Sites, which focuses on the Well of Souls
    • Published a blog post listing some free roleplaying game available from DTRPG
    • I have also laid out a plan for the next two years for my zines and YUMDM

Over to you… What did you get up to in August? Tell me in the comments below.

July 2022

• • • Published the August issue of d12 Monthly, my D&D zine – this one is all about a lot of things and called the Menagerie issue.
    • All issues of d12 Monthly are now submitted to DriveThruRPG and should be available to purchase there as PDFs – you can do this to help support me without an on-going commitment. They should be up by the end of the month.
    • Published Issue 2 of d12 Sites – my Patron-exclusive zine which features a new location each month. This one was an old silver mine.
    • Managed a couple of sessions of my open-ended West Marches campaign.
    • Wrote & published a blog post on Monster Templates for D&D
    • I hit 500 email subscribers, which makes me super happy. I also currently have 57 patrons who are supporting my work on the zines each month (thanks heaps!!)

Over to you… What did you get up to in July? Tell me in the comments below.

June 2022

• • • Published the July issue of my D&D zine, d12 Monthly – this one all about Fey (Coming in July)
    • I also managed to get a few past editions of d12 Monthly up on DriveThruRPG, where you can buy individual PDF copies as a way to support my work
    • Published the first of my new zine, d12 Sites, which is only available for Patrons
    • Opened up my West Marches campaign to the world and secured about 4-6 sessions per month for people to play
    • Wrote a blog post including all the resources I use for soloRPGing
    • Recorded the third instalment of the D&3 podcast with Tale of the Manticore creator and Black Dragon’s Games owner – this one all about the core pillars of D&D
    • Started down the road of creating languages for my campaign world
    • Created a cyclopaedia for my D&D campaign world of Aythia
    • I managed to play a game of Massive Darkness, which is a cool dungeon-delving board game

Over to you… What did you get up to in June? Tell me in the comments below.

May 2022

• • • Published the June issue of d12 Monthly – my free D&D zine
    • Kicked off the open table West Marches campaign officially with some great players including Steve from Low Fantasy Gaming, Eric Shied, NOLAbert, and Gregory
    • Published a single blot post giving each edition of Dungeons & Dragons my rating out of 10 and quick thoughts
    • Wrote a little more of my Monster Manual series, as well as receiving more art for it
    • Created a strategy and task plan for YUMDM, which will help me moving forward
    • I also met my monthly goal for patrons over on Patreon, which is on target for having 100 patrons by the end of 2022
    • Completed my new mini-zine, d12 Sites, which will be out for patrons only mid-June

That’s it for me in May. What have you been doing? Tell me in the comments below.

April 2022

• • • Published the May issue of d12 Monthly – the free D&D zine
    • Established YUMDM & d12 Monthly as a side business (as opposed to a hobby)
    • I also announced a new zine just for patrons: d12 Sites, which will give you a location you can drop into your campaigns and have hours of adventures with. It will be available as a free PDF to patrons starting in June
    • Gained another piece of art for the first in a series of Monster Manuals
    • Wrote two blog posts in the same series on Cultural Weapons: the Orc Carver and the Dwarven Fighting Dagger
    • I have been running my West Marches campaign for 4 weeks now and it just keeps getting better. It should be out of beta soon!
    • I haven’t been able to play too much soloRPGs but I did play one session where the PCs were ambushed by a rival NPC party and a quick combat ensued. However, the PCs managed to retreat after realising they were a little out-gunned.
    • And, finally, I have also been super happy with some recent metrics:
      • • • I have reach 48 patrons over on Patreon, which just floors me
          • The average open rate for my email list is just over 60%, which is amazing and way above the industry average of around 36%
          • A lot of my blog posts are ranking very well for certain terms, even coming up as Featured Snippets:

That’s it for last month, but exciting times will be had in May, I am sure.

March 2022

• • • Published the April issue of d12 Monthly – my free D&D zine
    • Purchased the first piece of art for my first monster manual
    • 
    • I wrote a new blog posts: on encounter table design. This is part 1 is a short series on random encounters
    • I also published the second of the podcast I am part of – now called D&3, which features myself, Ian from Black Dragon Games, and Jon from Tale of the Manticore.
    • I added a soloRPG section to this website – hopefully people will find it handy
    • I am about to start my West Marches campaign – this will be a test run for a few session with some close friends to see how it all works. I will be opening it to the public come late April/early May
    • I sent out my secret project for patron – I call them bookmark monsters
    • 
    • Unfortunately, I haven’t had too much time for my solo campaigns, but once the front end work for the West Marches prep has been done, I can focus more on them

February 2022

• • • Published the March issue of my free D&D zine, d12 Monthly.
    • Managed to continue my main D&D soloRPG campaign and progressing the story towards what could be a great climax for this current thread
    • Wrote two blog posts: one of a new layout for monster stat blocks and the other on random encounter tables.
    • I have also written a bit more detail for my West Marches-style campaign, which will be launching this month.
    • The next podcast with Jon, from Tale of the Manticore, and Ian, from Black Dragon Games, has been recorded and will be published soon.

Not bad for a short month. I hope to do even more during March, natural disasters aside. How have you been travelling this year so far?

January 2022

• • • I have published the January issue of my free D&D zine, d12 Monthly. This issue is all about dragons
    • I have started on a West Marches-style campaign which will have players from all over the world
    • I have written three blog posts:
      • • One on monster stat blocks – finding a new way to structure them for better GMing and worldbuilding
        • One on Reaction Rolls and how I use them
        • One of a new D6 Mechanic to use in your D&D campaign which helps you determine outcomes easily and quickly
        • And one on using the 3rd edition of D&D to mix up encounter numbers to your random encounter tables
    • I have played some more soloRPG which continued my main solo D&D campaign
    • I have lined up a date & topic for the next podcast with Jon and Ian
    • I have been working on my Kickstarter, working out an art budget and narrowing down the artists I like, plus working on the book itself (but need to do much more before the April launch)

Looking back at my original post – with what I had planned – a couple of things have been partially ticked off:

1. 1. 1. The first zine has been published and I am working on the next one already
      2. I have the next podcast recording set up
      3. I have been blogging, releasing four blogs (see above)
      4. I have also added a new project: the West Marches campaign

All in all, I am happy with my progress so far this year – how are you going and what have you done/working on?

While Your Here…

Since 2021 I have been publishing a monthly zine, which has a ton of articles for any edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

They are also available on DriveThruRPG and printed copies are available via my Patreon.

I also have a growing Discord, where you can join in on my regular West Marches campaign.

I will also be releasing some more products in the near future, like several monster manuals and a series of soloRPG publications.

Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter any time.