I’ve always enjoyed building things, whether it’s creating adventures for Merciless Merchants or tackling projects around my property. One of my bigger undertakings has been constructing an outdoor kitchen, complete with a stone fireplace, wood-fired pizza oven, and a rather imposing dragon watching over it all. Special thanks to Jack and Jonbar for helping with the pizza oven and setting it into place.

And what outdoor kitchen would be complete without a dragon?

A Dragon in the Backyard

Over time, I’ve been putting together an outdoor cooking area using stone, wood, and plenty of sweat. After the flagstone patio, the centerpiece is a large stone fireplace, with a wood-fired pizza oven beside it. It’s become a great place to spend an evening, particularly when the weather cools down and there’s a fire roaring–especially when Winter is Coming.

But I didn’t want some ordinary chimney cap from Home Depot. I wanted something a little more rustic, something that fit the rest of my yard, where axe throwing, archery, and chopping wood with swords aren’t exactly unusual activities.

And then it hit me. Why not a dragon’s head that breathes smoke whenever the fireplace is lit?

A dragon’s head, complete with horns, jagged spines, and a mouth full of wicked teeth, seemed like just the thing. Something that looked as though it belonged guarding a treasure hoard deep within the Dragonback Mountains.

Of course, I had absolutely no idea how to make one.

That’s where Tanya Marsh of Where the Metals Meet came in.

I stumbled across her company and approached her with the rather unusual request of building a dragon’s head for a chimney. To my surprise, she was excited about the idea! She began sending rough sketches and sharing updates as the dragon slowly took shape.

The finished piece exceeded my expectations. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out, and I’d highly recommend Tanya to anyone looking for custom metal art or welding work.

Artist: Tanya Marsh — Where the Metals Meet
Contact: tanya@wherethemetalsmeet.com

There’s something particularly satisfying about sitting beside a roaring fire, looking up at a dragon breathing smoke, and contemplating the next dungeon full of terrible things to inflict upon unsuspecting adventurers.

Speaking of terrible things to inflict upon adventurers…

From Fire to Ice: The Coming of Winter

While the dragon keeps things warm around the homestead, we’ve been preparing to unleash considerably colder misery upon the gaming table.

We’re getting ready to release the adventures from The Coming of Winter as four individual PDFs on DriveThruRPG.

Originally published as a larger collection, The Coming of Winter contains adventures and supplemental material for AD&D 2nd Edition and For Gold & Glory and came to life thanks to backers of our 2023 Kickstarter. We’ve decided to make the individual adventures available separately for those who might prefer to pick and choose their wintertime misery.

The four releases are:

• Winter’s Grasp: A frost giant has abducted a young woman, and the adventurers must venture into the frozen wilderness to rescue her.
• Winter’s Blight: Ice trolls, an ancient burial mound, and the mysterious Staff of Tiger Claw await those willing to brave the cold.
• Ice Needles of the Cryoptera: Strange insectoid creatures, a frozen waterfall, and an ancient evil imprisoned beneath the ice.
• Tales of Winter: A collection of winter wilderness encounters, mini-adventures, monsters, spells, and survival material.

We’ll be releasing these individually over the coming weeks.

IMPORTANT: If you’ve already purchased The Coming of Winter, don’t buy these adventures again! You already own the material. As a thank-you to our previous customers and Kickstarter backers, we’re providing complimentary copies of all four individual PDFs through DriveThruRPG.

We’ll be emailing download links to previous purchasers through DriveThruRPG. However, if you’ve opted out of their emails or don’t receive our message, please contact us at themercilessmerchants@gmail.com with your original purchase information, and we’ll make sure you receive your copies.

The complete collection will remain available for those who want everything in one volume.

And the cold isn’t going away anytime soon. We’re also developing Tales of Winter, Part 2, featuring additional new winter adventures and encounters.

But winter isn’t the only danger on the horizon.

Death Maze of the Sorcerer-Kings — Upcoming Kickstarter

I’ve also been busy helping bring Death Maze of the Sorcerer-Kings, an upcoming Kickstarter project, across the finish line.

Written by Ray Weidner, author of Peril in Olden Wood, this is a high-level, old-school city adventure filled with contests, schemers, intrigue, and all manner of crazy situations for the characters to get themselves into.

I’ve been helping Ray with editing and layout, which means plenty of time spent tracking down missing page references, checking details, and making sure everything fits together properly. Not exactly the glamorous side of publishing, but it’s part of turning a manuscript into something ready for the gaming table.

And believe me, there have been a lot of page references.

We’re getting closer to the finish line, and I’ll share more details about the Kickstarter as things develop.

What’s Next for Merciless Merchants?

Beyond these releases, Jonbar and I have been slowly working through a considerable collection of adventures, locations, and ideas we’ve developed over the years. Much of this material centers around Coppercore, a rugged frontier settlement nestled in the Dragonback Mountains, and the surrounding wilderness.

There’s a lot of material to sort through, expand upon, and shape into something suitable for publication. It’s a rather ambitious undertaking, but we’re taking it one piece at a time. Like building an outdoor kitchen, some projects require a little patience, plenty of work, and occasionally a few adjustments along the way.

We’ve got plenty more adventures waiting in the wings. We just need to finish building them.

May the dice be merciless!