It’s been a bit of a wild couple of weeks since my last update. I’ve been heads-down on some larger projects, so I haven’t been posting as often. Even so, I’m still surprised and genuinely grateful to see folks stopping by without a new post being pushed by “The Algorithm”.
So thank you to the repeat readers, and thank you to those of you who are new here. I truly appreciate it.
With that said, on to the updates.
Strange Beginnings: Session Two
The live play recap is up. We had a great time, and this time the transcription bot actually cooperated, which let me preserve more of the players’ dialogue and make the notes feel fuller and more complete.
December One-Shot
The live play recap for the December one-shot is also up, with the title finally revealed: The Fowl Hydra. This one was especially fun to run and play, a much-needed, light-hearted break from the more serious, high-stakes games we usually find ourselves in. It was particularly satisfying informing the players at the conclusion that they just played a five hour pun.
2026 Update
I’m planning to share what I have in the works for 2026 closer to New Year’s. There are some ambitious projects on the horizon, both in fiction and in my TTRPG work, and I’m looking forward to laying out what’s coming next.
Big News #1
I’ve just published my first official piece of work, The Fowl Hydra. I took the one-shot I’ve been developing for a while and turned it into a full publication for DriveThruRPG. I’m equal parts excited and ridiculously nervous, but I put a lot of work into it, and I hope folks enjoy it as much as my table did.
Quick note: The Fowl Hydra is currently in DriveThruRPG’s approval process, so it isn’t available for purchase just yet. I’ll post an update as soon as it goes live. In the meantime, the free downloadable assets are already available at The Fowl Hydra Downloadable Assets.
Big News #2
This one is a bit surreal.
Someone working in the publishing industry was kind enough to reach out and offer me some advice. They shared that my work shows a lot of promise and could potentially be picked up by a publication, which was both unexpected and genuinely encouraging.
There is a catch, though.
Most of those publications want first publication rights. That means any short stories I post here aren’t eligible for submission. I was already planning to slow the pace of short story releases and focus more on larger projects, but this does mean I’ll be pivoting a bit to find the right balance between sharing work freely and giving myself a real shot at traditional publication.
So what does that mean in practice?
You’ll likely see more behind-the-scenes posts, live play recaps, and other TTRPG content, along with the occasional short story that I’m not planning to submit elsewhere, except possibly as part of a themed anthology down the line.
Between all of that and a very full schedule, I probably won’t have a new short story out this month. That said, I’ve got ideas brewing and a few things already in motion, and I’m still excited about what I’ll be able to share here. As always, I’m really grateful you’re along for the ride.
If you are new here and would like to explore more of what I have written or what I am working on, you can find most everything here.
If you find something you enjoy, please consider sharing it with others. That is what stories are for.
Mason Beck Fiction 
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