Hey outlaws,

It's been a spell since my last update, because there's been little to update on. Life under quarantine, for me, is not conductive to writing an RPG text. I write for a living, and getting through my day work takes up a lot of willpower, such that very little is left over for my night moves. When this all started, I hoped it would blow over, but now we seem to be trapped in it forever—so I'm trying to get myself back on the crime writing horse. I'm still working on the final Factions chapter, which I will post when done, and then I plan to finalize the Claims/Business chapter and then move on to other shit.

In the meantime, I made a present for you, to get myself back in the game and make up for these fucked-up months.

EXIT 86, AN (OFFICIAL) COPPERHEAD COUNTY (UNOFFICIAL) FIASCO PLAYSET

Without Fiasco, Copperhead County might not exist. Way back in the halcyon days of the early 2010s, the idea that you could play an RPG inspired by the Coen Brothers was strange and novel. The first Fiasco playset I played wasn’t one of the originals—it was Flyover, one of Jason Morningstar’s Playsets of the Month, about drug dealers, agribusiness, and hijinx in the heartland. That session crystallized the realization that tabletop RPGs could tell the kind of stories I wanted to tell.

Now that a new edition is Fiasco is out, those memories have been on my brain, and I wanted to revisit those days. In my mind, the kind of Fargo-esque provincial crime fiction explored in Flyover is still the apex of Fiasco, but the game’s second edition doesn’t have any playsets like that yet. Well, in the time since 2010, I’ve also written a game of provincial crime fiction, so here is Exit 86. You can download it, for free, on the Copperhead County main page.

Exit 86 is only presented in Roll20 (or other VTT) compatible form, not print and play. I didn't want to bother with putting a PNP together because this was easier, and frankly you shouldn't be sitting in a room playing Fiasco together anyway. So only people who backed Fiasco and have it on Roll20, or people who have some other method of setting up custom digital card decks, can enjoy this. Sorry bout it.

Exit 86 hasn’t been playtested, and maybe it’s bad. I'm still trying to understand the differences between Fiasco 1e and 2e, where big, sprawling playsets have given way to much smaller card decks. Give Exit 86 a read or a try if you want. If you do either, feel free to post up at the Copperhead County message board or bother me on Twitter.

MOVIE CORNER

Last night, I rented the new movie Arkansasand enjoyed it quite a bit. If you like Copperhead County I think you will like it too.

This weekend I also rewatched Fargo, and that movie is still perfect. Give it a watch too, if you haven't in a while.

BOOK CORNER

I've read two books lately which I recommend to Copperhead County fans.

Heaven, My Home came out last year and is Attica Locke's second novel in her Highway 59 series about Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger struggling to reconcile his identity and his job in 2016 America while also investigating the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.  Both this one and the first book, Bluebird, Bluebird, are good shit. I also strongly recommend Locke's novel Black Water Rising, which is still my favorite of hers and is basically like Chinatown but about the sinister history of Houston.

Hillbilly Hustle also came out last year, courtesy of Wesley Browne. I discovered it on accident while googling to find out if Daniel Woodrell is doing anything (sadly, apparently not). But I was intrigued by finding mention of this novel written by the owner of a Kentucky pizza restaurant, about the owner of a Kentucky pizza restaurant who starts using said joint as a front to sell weed. Things spiral from there, spurred forward by his hero being, perhaps, the dumbest goddamn nerd in Kentucky. I liked it a lot.

MUSIC CORNER

Something else keeping me alive these days is that my hero, and certain Copperhead County namesake, Patterson Hood (primary frontman of the patron saints of Copperhead County, the Drive-By Truckers) has started doing a weekly(?) series of livestreamed concerts. His first one was last week and was a total fucking nerd delight, all arcane deep cuts and a couple of nice covers.

His next show is this Wednesday and is an all-request show. I put in a request for my favorite Patterson solo song, I Understand Now, which is about being a dumbass who belatedly realizes the value of love and family. It's been on my mind a lot during this time of being trapped inside, thousands of miles away from most of my loved ones. Attend the show Wednesday to find out if he plays it.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

That's it!