Every week, Now You Know recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, previews the Know Direction content of the week to come, and shares the thoughts on the state of the network from the director of operations, Ryan Costello.
I’m sure I’m showing my age and where my finger lands relative to the pulse of what’s popular in TTRPGs by admitting this, but I’m not totally sure who Jamison Stone and Satine Phoenix are. I know they’re D&D influencers who used their clout to get into publishing gaming material, and I’ve seen the condescending, self-important, and cruel ways they’ve treated employees, including freelancers on their gaming books. They’re opportunists taking advantage of people. It’s gross, and I feel for the authors and artists they’re ripping off and abusing.
If there’s one good outcome to this situation, beyond bad actors eating their receipts, it’s the dialog that’s opened up on social media about the importance of freelancers.
The TTRPG industry runs on freelancers. It’s why the freelancer work freeze quickly lead to the groundbreaking United Paizo Workers union, and why most Pathfinder hardcovers credit about a dozen authors. The collective word output, creativity, rules and lore knowledge, and life experiences of a sourcebook’s authors shapes the games we know and love. It’s why the campaign setting continues to evolve to be more conscientious, sociological, and clever. Obviously Paizo staff also deserves that credit, but most of the staff working on Pathfinder and Starfinder now started working on it as freelancers for Paizo an third party publishers.
And this goes beyond the media-savvy freelancers that most people know. Obviously Owen KC Stephens and Vanessa Hoskins deserve all the credit they get, but I probably own more books written on by Isabelle Thorne, or Sasha Laranoa Harving, or Andrew Mullen than most authors on my shelves.
If you have the time, take a minute to look at the credits page on your favourite Pathfinder hardcovers. Give the authors and artists a shout out on social media, see if they have a Patreon or other crowdfunding platform. They might even have a blog on which they release the kind of content you love.
Speaking of content, here’s a recap of the Know Direction Network content from last week:
Recap of June 6th to 10th
What happened last week on knowdirectionpodcast.com and twitch.tv/knowdirection?
Monday, June 6th
Article
Now You Know – An Adventurous Ending
By Ryan Costello
Just because the latest Adventurous adventure was coming to an end didn’t mean the end of Adventurous!
PaizoCon 2022 Seminars
PaizoCon 2022 – 008 – CONCEPTING ALIENS FOR YOUR GAME
PaizoCon 2022 – 009 – SECRETS OF GOLARION
Tuesday, June 7th
Podcast
Young and Adventurous 007 – Case Closed
The end of the end of our play through Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-17: Lost Maid of Anactoria.
Article
Fox’s Cunning — Assessing Assassins
By Dustin Knight
Last installment, Dustin argued that RPGs have room for silliness. This installment, Dustin helps you build the best murderer for hire.
PaizoCon 2022 Seminars
PaizoCon 2022 – 010 – GOLARION ADVENTURES OLD AND NEW
PaizoCon 2022 – 011 – PAIZO ORGANIZED PLAY: WHAT IS NEW IN 22
Wednesday, June 8th
Twitch
Know Direction: Beyond 70 Live – Paizocon ’22 Reveals and Reactions
I, uh… haven’t listened yet. But Into the Dataverse, Alex’s volume of Drift Hackers was announced, so that was probably a big part of the conversation. And congratulations, Alex!
Podcast
Presenting – Nate Wright
Hey, it’s Nate! Personally, I loved the opening of the interview where John and Nate get to know each other despite, y’know, kind of knowing each other already. Internet friendships are fun.
PaizoCon 2022 Seminars
PaizoCon 2022 – 012 – GETTING STARTED WITH VIRTUAL TABLETOPS
PaizoCon 2022 – 013 – GAME MASTER 101
Thursday, June 9th
Podcast
Legend Lore 045 — Halflings
Luis and Loren ask why are Halflings so boooooooring. OK, they don’t. Well, not directly. But of all the core ancestries, Halflings have the least lore and identity in the setting.
Article
Investing In: PRIDE & Community
By Rob Pontious
Rob outlines a lot of good actors, allies, and resources for and within the LGBTQIA+.
PaizoCon 2022 Seminars
PaizoCon 2022 – 014 – INSIDE PAIZO PLAYTESTING
PaizoCon 2022 – 015 – HAPPY ANNIVERSARY STARFINDER
Friday, June 10th
Podcast
Know Direction: Beyond 70 – Paizocon ’22 Reveals and Reactions
OK, since writing about the live episode earlier, I’ve listened to about 10 minutes of this episode. It starts talking about what (little) we know about the next Starfinder hardcover, Interstellar Species, and speculation on the book’s contents.
PaizoCon 2022 Seminars
PaizoCon 2022 – 016 – ADVENTURE PATHS IN THE IMPOSSIBLE LANDS
PaizoCon 2022 – 017 – PATHFINDER QnA
And that’s a wrap on PaizoCon 2022 seminars!
Preview of June 13th to June 17th
Block 1 of our 2-block schedule.
Monday, June 13th
Twitch
Know Direction 278 Live – Lastwall Breakdown
Luis, Dustin, and I breakdown Knights of Lastwall.
Podcast
Intrepid Heroes 088 – Welcome to the Spungeon!
Haven’t listened to this yet either (the PaizoCon seminars backlogged my podcast listening), but I am dying to know what that title’s about.
Article
Now You Know – Shout Out To Freelancers
By Ryan Costello
Have you hugged a freelancer today?
Tuesday, June 14th
Podcast
Game Design Unboxed 39: Cheer Up
Danielle speaks with Chris Rio, the designer of Cheer Up Games’ game Cheer Up, about designing a creative way to make a word game.
Article
Eldritch Excursion
By Nate Wright
Nate Wright’s journal of flavour and mechanics.
Wednesday, June 15th
Podcast
Know Direction 278 – Lastwall Breakdown
Luis and Vanessa recap PaizoCon 2022, recorded at PaizoCon 2022!
Article
Behind The Screens
By Ryan Costello
Veteran Game Master Ryan Costello talks with his fellow GMs on their side of the GM screen.
Thursday, June 16th
Podcast
Digital Divination 59
John and new cohost Jason Keeley talk Starfinder.
Friday, June 17th
Article
Monstrous Physique
By Luis Loza
Luis makes monsters.
Now you know,
Ryan Costello
