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GEEK THEORY


MICHAEL R. UNDERWOOD — SPECULATIVE FICTIONERO

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WATCH ME PLAY DAGGERHEART LIVE (MAY 31ST 9PM EDT)

Posted on May 30, 2024 by Michael R. Underwood
Reply

Tomorrow night (May 31st) at 9pm Eastern Daylight Time, I will be a guest player
for a Daggerheart one-shot at Folk And Myth (an actual-play channel run by
Bleakseason and Miko).

I first saw Bleakseason’s work while watching all the 2023 New Jersey Web Fest’s
official selections in actual play and have then seen him as a player on Crit
Hit Chronicles. Bleak put out a call for players for this one-shot and I thought
it’d be fun to get to both branch out as an actual play performer and bring the
special dimension of having one of the game’s designers in the cast.

We’ve done our session zero and game prep already and I am excited to see what
the group gets up to tomorrow night.



(Image description – promo graphic for …And Further On, a Daggerheart one-shot
by Bleakseason. The image is a leather-texture gradient from brown-orange to
yellow, with gears in yellow, blue, and orange. Text in white with black borders
reads “Calamity, YaBoiBig, Northwolf911, Miko” and “With Special Guest Michael
Underwood – Daggerheart Design Team!” and gives the time of the stream as May
31st, 9pm EST and the location – twitch.tv/FolkandMyth)

We’ll be playing the latest playtest version of the game (1.4.1) and you’ll get
to see how I play a game I helped design. <3

Watch live at twitch.tv/FolkAndMyth!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a reply


DAGGERHEART PLAYTEST UPDATE

Posted on April 14, 2024 by Michael R. Underwood
Reply

This week Darrington Press released an update to the Daggerheart playtest, along
with a livestream + Q&A with Daggerheart Lead Designer Spenser Starke and
Critical Role’s Matt Mercer.

There’s cool stuff in this update and I am excited to see what people think
about these updates! If you have been testing Daggerheart, please take the time
to leave some feedback at www.Daggerheart.com or through the form at Demiplane.
The game will be better the more we hear back from a broad range of players
putting time in with it at each step! <3

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a reply


[REDACTED] GAME PROJECT REVEALED!

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Michael R. Underwood
1

Today is the beginning of Darrington Press’ Daggerheart open beta playtest!
<link href=”https://www.daggerheart.com/>” replace=””
to=””/>https://www.daggerheart.com/>

And, with the release of these materials, I can now say that I have been
consulting for Darrington Press as a designer on the game! It’s been so hard
keeping this under wraps, especially since it represents a big development in my
game design career.

2022 – self-published The Only Logical Solution is Hijinx (one-page RPG),
working on the Genrenauts RPG
2023 – working on the Genrenauts RPG, short consulting job on Candela Obscura
2024 – multi-month contract as a game designer on Daggerheart




It’s been an amazing experience working with the Daggerheart team, and I’ve had
the chance to apply and refine my game design skills and delighted in how much
my existing writing skills apply over to the world of ttrpgs. 

If you’ve been curious about Daggerheart, or if you like the story-forward kinds
of ttrpgs I talk about and tend to GM, I’d strongly encourage you to take a look
at these playtest documents and give the game a try. You can get started with
this video made by the Critical Role/Darrington Press team and tonight (Tuesday)
there will be a live one-shot of Daggerheart at twitch.tv/criticalrole.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged daggerheart, game design, News, rpgs | 1 Reply


GAME DESIGN ERA

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Michael R. Underwood
Reply
I haven’t posted here in a while, so I wanted to provide a short update for
folks that don’t visit my Patreon, which is updated much more frequently.

Since May of last year, I’ve been much more active in ttrpg game design. I was a
design consultant and provided additional writing for the Darrington Press game
Candela Obscura, a supernatural investigation game using their Illuminated
Worlds system. I did more consulting from October through February, but the NDA
means I can’t talk about it until it’s out in the world. But rest assured that
once I am allowed to talk about it, you won’t be able to get me to stop.

In other news, I stepped down from being a co-host of Speculate in January,
after helping make the show for many years. In my last year co-hosting, our show
Valloward, which I produced and GMed, was an official selection at five web
festivals, including the New Jersey Web Festival, currently the premiere
festival for actual play. You can read more on my departure from Speculate here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/some-news-from-96627620

The Pitman Sculpture, an Apocalypse Keys miniseries, is the last show we
completed while I was still a co-host. You can listen to the complete miniseries
at speculatesf.com now or on your podcast app of choice.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged game design, games, News, ttrpgs | Leave a
reply


NEBULA CONFERENCE 2023 SCHEDULE

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Michael R. Underwood
Reply

I’m heading out tomorrow for my first in-person SFF book convention since
ConFusion in 2020 – a cross-country trip to Anaheim, CA for the 2023 Nebula
Awards Conference. I’m very excited to reconnect with colleagues, talk shop on
panels, learn from colleagues, and to meet people new to the field and/or SFWA.

I’m participating in three panels, two on Sat and one on Sunday. All times PDT.
Virtual-only memberships are available, and the Control Your Book Promotion
panel will be streamed. More info at https://events.sfwa.org/

Saturday, May 13th

1:30 pm – Power and Politics in Worldbuilding
2:30 pm – I’ll be signing at autographing table A for almost a half-our before…
3:00 pm – Unionize Publishing

Sunday, May 14th

1:30 pm Control Your Book Promotion

Promotional card for Power and Politics in Worldbuilding panel. Purple
background with a divine figure and a stylized image of space. Promotional card
for Unionize Publishing panel. Purple background with a divine figure and a
stylized image of space. Promotional card for Control Your Book Promotion Panel.
Purple background with a divine figure and a stylized image of space.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a reply


SPECULATE MARATHON + FUNDRAISER NOV 12TH

Posted on November 4, 2022 by Michael R. Underwood
Reply
Speculate Marathon Schedule graphic

Hi folks! I haven’t been very active on this feed, mostly because I’ve just now
started returning to in-person cons and I’ve been hard at work on writing
without as much news to announce.

But now I have news!

If you’re a long-time viewer or fan, you know that I co-host an actual play show
called Speculate with my friends Gregory A. Wilson and Brandon O’Brien. We’ve
played games from D&D to Blades in the Dark, Girl by Moonlight, and more. We’ve
been making actual play shows for several years, we love making these shows, and
want to make more!

Which brings me to the news. We’re going to be streaming an all-day event on
Saturday, November 12th, starting at 3pm EST at Twitch.tv/Arvaneleron

We’ll be bringing you several segments of gaming fun, with the hope that you’ll
get excited about what we do and help us to be able to do even more. We’re very
proud of the work we do, but it’s resource-intensive, not just in time, but in
costs – games, tech, paying for audio editing (worth every penny), and more.
Right now, our primary pain point is resources.

Our goal is to be able to release episodes more regularly, going weekly for at
least a couple of months, with some other options if we reach higher levels,
things like a website refresh, some new tech for regular cast members, and new
shows/programming.

Here’s a rundown of our schedule! All times EST

3pm – Greg is running a D&D one-shot from Critical Crafting with Skiffy & Fanty
show cast members Shaun Duke, Paul Weimer, and Trish Matson!

6:30 pm – Brandon, Greg, and Iwill dive into the world of Destiny 2, a game
renowned for good shooting and interesting but largely underused lore. We’re
excited to talk about the world and storytelling techniques Destiny is now
utilizing to put the story more directly into the gameplay.

9pm – The Strange Friends Crew (as seen in The Case of the Cindered Seal and
Fractal Spire) will be playing a one-shot of Blades in the Dark as we’ve done
for Worldbuilders and other special events, but this time, with a major twist!
We’ll be playing in Faerun’s famed city of Waterdeep in an adventure GMed by
Iori Kusano!

Throughout the fundraiser, we’ll have special incentives for large donations,
highlights/greatest hits reels from our shows to run during the breaks, and
more!

So please mark your calendars and get excited about an entire day of
storytelling awesomeness as we work to take Speculate to the next level!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged events, gaming, schedule, speculate, streaming,
ttrpgs | Leave a reply


HEXOMANCY RETURNS!

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Michael R. Underwood
Reply

Hexomancy, the third and final book in the series, is back out today in a new
edition (lightly revised) with a new cover. 

Cover for Hexomancy by Michael R. Underwood.
Text reads “Hugo Award Finalist Michael R. Underwood – Hexomancy – Ree Reyes
Book Three” A slim Latina holding magic-powered dice and a sword stands in front
of a middle-aged white man with a salt-and-pepper beard wearing a brown trench
coat and holding a science fiction-looking ray gun.

Ree Reyes has been fighting to protect her town for a couple years now, using
her Geekomancy to draw on her love of superheroes, movies, comics, and more.

When Ree’s long-time nemesis Lucretia is finally brought to trial and found
guilty for the deadly attack on Grognard’s, the Geekomancer community breathes a
collective sigh of relief. But Ree and her crew soon discover that Lucretia has
three very angry, very dangerous sisters who won’t rest until Eastwood—a fellow
Geekomancer—is killed.

Ree agrees to serve as Eastwood’s bodyguard, despite their rocky relationship.
Along the way, she’ll have to face a gauntlet of foes, hexes, curses. Plus the
growing ache in her heart for a certain dimensionally-displaced gadgeteer.

You can get Hexomancy at – Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo
Paperback editions will follow soon!

This means that the entire Ree Reyes series (Geekomancy, Celebromancy, Attack
the Geek, and Hexomancy) are all now available again. These books launched my
career and they’ll always have a special place in my heart. It’s been great to
give them a fresh coat of paint and send them back into the world, and I hope
you’ll enjoy them – either for the first time, revisit them some years later,
maybe in a new format. I’m excited to return to conventions when it’s safe and
see people with paperback copies walking around. I’m especially excited to sign
your copies and hear about your own geeky stories.



ALSO

Valloward, the Court of Blades series I’m GMing for Speculate, kicks off this
Friday with our first actual play session in Court of Blades proper. This is a
great time to jump in with the series if you’re interested to see how I GM or
watch a group of professional fantasy authors create a setting together through
play in this game of power politics, gunpowder diplomacy, and romantic
skullduggery.

Friday Sep 23rd at 8pm ET / 5pm PT at twitch.tv/arvaneleron – if you can’t watch
live, the video will archive at youtube.com/arvaneleron.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged book birthday, gming, new book, ree reyes,
ree-issues, speculate | Leave a reply


I’M A GAME DESIGNER NOW

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Michael R. Underwood
Reply

My first ttrpg design, The Only Logical Solution Is Hijinx, is now available on
Itch.io!



Here’s the description:

> You are Tolvan, members of a people committed to logic above all else in order
> to constrain and channel your deep passions towards unity and innovation.
> 
> You are visiting or serve aboard the IGS Adventure! – a galaxy-traveling ship
> with an expert crew, dedicated to the missions of exploration and diplomacy.
> 
> Unfortunately, something deeply silly has happened and logic dictates that the
> best way forward is the embrace hijinx until you are able to resolve the
> predicament.
> 
> A game for 2-6 players inspired by the deeply silly science fiction adventures
> of deeply serious people.

I’ve been playing TTRPGs for about 30 years now, but only in the last couple of
years have I gotten genuinely involved in game design with the Genrenauts TTRPG.
But since that has become a large project, it’s not surprising that this game,
created in one go over a weekend, would hit the finish line first. I’m still
actively working on the Genrenauts game and playtesting more this weekend.

Today is also an Itch.io creator day, where Itch waives their fees. So it’s a
great day to pick up this game (which is PWYW) and/or any of my other
self-published books available on Itch (Genrenauts Season One, Genrenauts: The
Wasteland War, Geekomancy, or Celebromancy).

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged book birthday, book release, game design, rpgs,
ttrpg | Leave a reply


CELEBROMANCY RETURNS!

Posted on July 5, 2022 by Michael R. Underwood
Reply

Today Celebromancy, the second of the Ree Reyes books returns in a new edition!

The new edition is available in ebook and paperback forms from major
booksellers. Geekomancy is already available and finding new readers and joining
paperback collections.
You can request Celebromancy from your local library or special order from a
friendly local bookstore! The rest of the Ree Reyes series will be returning
throughout the summer/fall. Attack the Geek arrives in August, then Hexomancy in
September!

Handy bookstore links:

Itch.io: michaelrunderwood.itch.io/celebromancy
Amazon ebook:
https://www.amazon.com/Celebromancy-Michael-R-Underwood-ebook/dp/B0B5SDCJQB/
Amazon paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/099806064X
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6443025628
B&N paperback:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/celebromancy-michael-r-underwood/1114192916?ean=9780998060644
B&N
ebook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/celebromancy-michael-r-underwood/1114192916
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/celebromancy-1

Fame has a magic all its own in the no-gossip-barred follow-up to Geekomancy!

Ree Reyes gets her big screenwriting break, only to discover just how broken
Hollywood actually is.

Things are looking up for urban fantasista Ree Reyes. She’s using her love of
pop culture to fight monsters and protect her hometown as a Geekomancer, and now
a real-live production company is shooting her television pilot script.

But nothing is easy in show business. When an invisible figure attacks the
leading lady of the show, former child-star-turned-current-hot-mess Jane Konrad,
Ree begins a school-of-hard-knocks education in the power of Celebromancy.

Attempting to help Jane Geekomancy-style with Jedi mind tricks and X-Men
infiltration techniques, Ree learns more about movie magic than she ever
intended. She also learns that real life has the craziest plots: not only must
she lift a Hollywood-strength curse, but she needs to save her pilot, negotiate
a bizarre love rhombus, and fight monsters straight out of the silver screen.
All this without anyone getting killed or, worse, banished to the D-List.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged celebromancy, geekomancy, ree reyes, ree-issues
| Leave a reply


GEEKOMANCY IS BACK!

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Michael R. Underwood
2

Today marks the return of my debut novel Geekomancy to the bookstore shelves in
a new edition, with gorgeous new art.



The new edition is available in ebook and paperback forms from major
booksellers.
You can also request it from your local library or special order from a friendly
local
bookstore! The completed Ree Reyes series will be returning this summer/fall.
Celebromancy returns in July, Attack the Geek in August, and then Hexomancy in
September!

Handy bookstore links:


Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/geekomancy/9780998060637
Amazon: https://t.co/VqAjXPhXEa
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1620987421
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/geekomancy-michael-r-underwood/1110049211?st=AFF&SID
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/geekomancy-1

Ree Reyes’s life was easier when all she had to worry about was scraping
together tips from her gig as a barista and comicshop minion to pursue her
ambitions as a screenwriter.

When a scruffy-looking guy storms into the shop looking for a comic like his
life depends on it, Ree writes it off as just another day in the land of the
geeks. Until a gigantic “BOOM!” echoes from the alley a minute later, and Ree
follows the rabbit hole down into her town’s magical flip-side. Here, astral
cowboy hackers fight trolls, rubber-suited werewolves, and elegant Gothic Lolita
witches while wielding nostalgia-powered props.

Ree joins Eastwood (aka Scruffy Guy), investigating a mysterious string of teen
suicides as she tries to recover from her own
drag-your-heart-through-jagged-glass breakup. But as she digs deeper, Ree
discovers Eastwood may not be the knight-in-cardboard armor she thought. Will
Ree be able to stop the suicides, save Eastwood from himself, and somehow keep
her job?

If you’re not already familiar with Geekomancy, here’s what people have said
about it over the years:

“Geekomancy is a glorious blender of genres, like a sweet candy shell filled
with pop culture and high heroism. Absolutely stellar.”

 * Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the October Daye and
   Wayward Children series

“Magic in geekery, mysticism in celebrities, the Ree Reyes series by Mike
Underwood is a celebration of everything that makes being a geek cool. Can’t
wait to read what he has in store next.”

 * Stephen Blackmoore, author of Dead Things

“If Buffy hooked up with Doctor Who while on board the Serenity, this book would
be their lovechild. In other words, Geekomancy is full of epic win.”

 * Marie Lu, author of the Legend trilogy

“If you took wish-fulfillment, ground it into a powder, and shot twice the
recommended dosage into your eye socket, the result would look a lot like
Geekomancy. I want to live in this world, where all the books and shows and
movies and games I love are a source of power, not only in psychological terms,
— which they already are — but practical, villain-pounding ones.”

 * Marie Brennan, award winning author of A Natural History of Dragons

“Modern, sleek, and whip-smart, Geekomancy is a wonderful blend of geek and pop
culture — you’ll find yourself grinning knowingly at least every other page. And
Ree is the perfect protagonist to navigate Geekomancy’s world — geek enough to
hold her own, yet human enough for me to be deeply invested in her struggles. I
can’t wait to read the next one!”

 * Cassie Alexander, author of Nightshifted

“Underwood’s Geek Fu is strong-and he’s not afraid to use it. Geekomancy is fun,
fresh and full of geek culture references that will have you LOLing to the very
last page. This book is one hundred percent pure awesomesauce and totally FTW.”

 * Mari Mancusi, award winning author of The Blood Coven Vampire series

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged book birthday, geekomancy, News, ree reyes | 2
Replies


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FEATURED BOOKS


GEEKOMANCY



Geekomancy - A style of magic where your love of pop culture becomes the source
for amazing abilities - from bringing props to life to borrowing amazing skills
from your favorite movies. Geek on!

More info →
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Bookshop.org










CELEBROMANCY



Ree Reyes finally has her big break as a screenwriter. Little problem - the
Leading Lady has been cursed by a rival Celebromancer - celebrities who use
their fame to distort reality itself. Ree puts on her Urban Fantasy Heroine Hat
and enlists the help of Man-out-of-Time Drake Winters to put the curse to rest
and save Ree's fledgling career.

More info →
Buy This Book Online






GENRENAUTS: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE COLLECTION



When a story breaks, the multiverse is thrown into chaos. It's up to the
Genrenauts to put the narrative back on track...at any cost.

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