Casting Shadows

This is the 12th day of #RPGaDay2026. Our weekly filter is Associates, and the daily filter is ‘Woe.’ The prompt for today is ‘Loss.’ We are doubling down on the sadness it seems, but on the bright side, this woe is the fun woe, because it is RPG woe not real woe. This feels like the ideal time to add a reminder that RPGaDAY is all about celebrating our hobby and putting a lot of positive messages about roleplaying games out into social media to shift the tone of conversation for the month of August and hopefully beyond. Amazing things happen during the event. This year, I have already seen bursts of creativity completing and releasing game supplements, ongoing reviews of lesser-known but very cool games, tremendous art, and of course the main course of great stories by and about gamers doing fantastic things.

Let’s get into today’s response. On Monday we ended up with an introspective and suspicious character not as interested in getting to know others as others are to get to know them. Yesterday, we found ourselves with a person very much about the lives and troubles of others, to the point of neglecting their own. What will this mean to us today, particularly with our Prompt of Loss and the filters of Associates and Woe?

I might choose to wander through the deck and work with two cards which connect with whatever is stirring in my subconscious about what might be a good fit for the two existing characters and the prompt, but to start that process off I will still make two random draws of cards. If they don’t speak to me, I will spread the deck on the desk and go where my eyes take me.

My first card pull hit me between the eyes with The Hanged Man. Check out the WILD website and its deck app to see what it looks like. As I looked at it, I was certain there would be no need to search the deck. Whatever I draw at random will be able to work with all myriad ideas this Persona card brings with it. I was right. The card drawn for the Shadow was Four of Control. Nice.

In the simplest terms, this means the basic personality we are working with is a person whose life is in suspension. They are not making progress. This does not mean that they are not capable or skilled. It doesn’t mean that they are helpless or hiding. What it does mean that each day of their lives is work which takes them nowhere. Coupled with this is a desire to hold onto everything and enforce a structure. This, on top of their frozen progress, holds them back. What might be a passion for protocol, for rules, for safety procedure, drills, and efficiency seminars also manages to slow or block any work which might threaten to end the cycle of suspension.

Interesting, but who is this person?

This person has all the signs of someone marked by tragedy who will not let go of what was and has learned to fear what will be. They have the sense to know that they must move on, but the gravity of loss is stronger. They aren’t turning away from the future and healing, they are not strong enough to swim against the tide of hoarded memory.

This person is glib and expressive. They are well-acquainted with rules, procedure, the budget, HR guidelines, and the spec sheets of each piece of equipment. They do not say things cannot be done, they set up workshops to determine what upgrades, retooling, confirmations, and backorders are necessary – and rework the schedule to reflect production delays. They aren’t unaware of flirting in the office and invitations to department activities, they see and appreciate them. They even show up. However, it’s friends all the way down.

Now, with the internship at ClarIT, and the chance to walk in dreams, will something shift?

Can something shift?

If it does, doesn’t that mean a long and painful fall?

What if the loss nailing you to the Tree of Woe is the only thing between you and a plunge into oblivion?

Tomorrow is Thursday, August 13th and our prompt is Strain. The weekly filter is of course Associates while our daily filter will change to ‘Far to Go.’

Please remember to share cool #RPGaDAY2026 posts you come across, as well as tagging your own posts with the hashtag. If you are posting in a private Discord, forum, or other type of group, it would be great if you could mention that you are doing so and hashtag that~

Anyway, until tomorrow!