added Monthly Campaign Events WIP

issue06/arden-vul

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 .H1
 Zwischenstand: Arden Vul
+.2C
 .PP
 Ich leite Arden Vul seit 2023. 16 Spielabende waren es 2023, 38
 Spielabende waren es 2024 und 19 Spielabend waren es 2025 bis heute.

issue06/contact

@@ -99,5 +99,7 @@ will send you the URL and credentials to join.
 So there you have it. There are many options to scratch that 
 gaming itch online, without relying on big money services. 
 We hope to see you join soon!
-.AU 
-lkh
+.Au lkh
+.KF
+.PSPIC img/KF-AD.eps
+.KE

issue06/events

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+.\" vim: filetype=groff
 .H1
 Yearly Campaign Events
 .2C
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ Flood
 Earthquake
 .IP 10. 
 Kaiju
-
+.H2
 Other Subtable
 .IP 1. 
 Visitation
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ population by 5%.
 .IP Flood: 
 major flooding hits region, population reduced by 1-10%, 40% of 
 famine at harvest season, 20% of plague
-.IP Good Omen: 
+.IP "Good Omen:" 
 an omen generally seen as a good one appears, a new star in 
 the sky, a dead tree lives again, etc. The harvest is bountiful. 
 Population in the area grows by 5% over the next year.
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ political alliance. This is cause for public celebrations and feasting
 if a disaster was ongoing it is either completely undone (1/6) 
 or significantly reduced in results. If completetly undone treat results 
 like Visitation
-.IP Political intrigue:
+.IP "Political intrigue:"
 (5-6/6) causes tumult for 1d6 months, or 
 assassionation (5-6/6), see entry for Death. There is a 20% chance an 
 intrigue will develop into a rebellion per month which adds to the time 
@@ -165,7 +166,7 @@ with established cults/religions. Establishment of the new faith takes
 .IP Plague: 
 a deadly disease scours the land for 2d6 months. Population of 
 region decreases by 5% each month of plague. Prices of goods quadruple.
-.IP Strange Phenomenon: 
+.IP "Strange Phenomenon:"
 Something very notable but otherwise categorizable 
 happens
 .IP Undead: 
@@ -188,3 +189,227 @@ chance). If affected causes famine in 1/3rd of cases. The war lasts 1d8
 months. A war that lasts more than 4 months will not end this year, but 
 will flame up again during the next spring.
 .Au kyonshi
+
+.H1
+Monthly Campaign Events
+.2C
+.PP
+Note: There are three tracks of monthly events here that depend on the 
+yearly event. If this event is still going on (e.g. a War) use the 
+respective table for it (either social or disaster). If nothing 
+currently fits use Other table.
+
+.H2
+Social
+.IP 1. 
+Accident 
+.IP 2.-3. 
+Bandit Activity 
+.IP 4. 
+Birth 
+.IP 5. 
+Death
+.IP 6. 
+Avenger
+.IP 7. 
+Inferno
+.IP 8. 
+Haunting
+.IP 9. 
+Monster
+.IP 10. 
+Incursion, Major
+.IP 11. 
+Incursion, Minor
+.IP 12. 
+Excessive Taxes
+.IP 13. 
+Injustice
+.IP 14. 
+Major Battle
+.IP 15. 
+Military Activities
+.IP 16. 
+Uprising
+.IP 17.-20. 
+No Event
+
+.H2
+Disaster
+.IP 1. 
+Accident
+.IP 2.-3. 
+Bad Harvest
+.IP 4.-5.   
+Bad Weather
+.IP 6.-7. 
+Bandit Activity
+.IP 8. 
+Birth
+.IP 9. 
+Death
+.IP 10. 
+Earthquake, Minor
+.IP 11. 
+Excessive Taxes 
+.IP 12. 
+Fire
+.IP 13. 
+Flooding
+.IP 14. 
+Haunting
+.IP 15. 
+Monster
+.IP 16. 
+Injustice
+.IP 17. 
+Landslide
+.IP 18. 
+Maneater
+.IP 19. 
+Plague
+.IP 93  
+Uprising
+.IP 20. 
+No Event
+
+.H2
+Other
+.IP 1. 
+Accident
+.IP 2. 
+Bad Harvest
+.IP 3. 
+Bad Weather
+.IP 4. 
+Bandit Activity
+.IP 5.-6.
+Birth
+.IP 7. 
+Death
+.IP 8. 
+VIP
+.IP 9. 
+Fire
+.IP 10. 
+Haunting
+.IP 11. 
+Injustice
+.IP 12. 
+Maneater
+.IP 13. 
+Marriage
+.IP 14.-15. 
+Criminal
+.IP 16. 
+Avenger
+.IP 17.-20. 
+No Event
+.H2
+Explanations
+.IP Accident: 
+a terrible accident occurs causing severe disruption of daily 
+life, if not death. This is big enough people will talk about it for months.
+.IP Avenger: 
+a stranger comes to town, looking for revenge. If the PCs have 
+wronged someone before they will look for them. If not the stranger 
+might enlist their help to find the offending party.
+.IP "Bad Harvest:" 
+for various reasons yields are simply not as big as they 
+normally are. 1/20 there's gonna be a Famine, food prices increase by at 
+least 50%.
+.IP "Bad Weather:" 
+the weather is notably worse than usual for this time of 
+year.  Movement is reduced by half. During Summer treat also as Bad Harvest.
+.IP "Bandit Activity:" 
+a notable force of bandits or raiders (2d10x10) has 
+moved into the area and established a base. At least 50% chance of 
+attack for any caravan. If government is effective a punitive expedition 
+will be sent (causing /rpg/wargame scenarios determined by DM). If 
+ineffective (e.g. currently affected by social chaos) will raid local 
+villages, treat as Bad Harvest. Bandits stay in area until defeated.
+.IP Birth: 
+if married PC learns of expected child. Otherwise either child of 
+local notable (1-19/20), or miraculous birth (20/20) in peasant family
+.IP Criminal: 
+An notorius  criminal is rumored to be in the area. There 
+might be a reward, although the presence of the criminal might be 
+nothing but a rumor.
+.IP Death: 
+a notable person of the region has died for one reason or 
+another. A successor/heir is in place after 1d8 weeks. If government 
+authority is weak there's a 25% chance of neighboring lords trying to 
+usurp this position.
+.IP Earthquake: 
+minor earthquake strikes area in 5 mile radius, damaging 
+buildings. Building materials double price for 1d6 months. 20% chance of 
+inferno, 30% chance of Fire.
+.IP "Excessive Taxes:" 
+taxes levied are impossible to meet. 1-3/10 Uprising 
+occurs, 1-5/10 impoverished populace turns to Banditry.
+.IP Fire: 
+large fire affects settlement, destroying 1d4*10% of a city, twice 
+that of a town, or a complete village. Building material costs double 
+for 1d4 months.
+.IP Flooding: 
+less severe than a Flood, mostly limited in scope, this still 
+can cause severe damage, deaths, and destruction. Can make areas unpassable.
+.IP Haunting: 
+a specific place in the region is rumored to be haunted. This 
+might or might not be true.
+.IP Monster: 
+a being of great power moves into the area or becomes apparent, 
+and starts terrorizing the populace. Lair is hidden but generally known 
+to populace. If not dealt with populace starts arranging itself with it, 
+bringing sacrifices. If left unchecked might cause more to appear.
+.IP "Incursion, Major:"
+a force has moved into the area intending to establish 
+a home here, e.g. soldiers. refugees, monsters, or other transients
+.IP "Incursion, Minor:" 
+a smaller force has entered the area for their own 
+reasons, e.g. a raiding party or a group of spies.
+.IP Injustice: 
+Outright and open corruption in a settlement in the region. 
+Innocent people are being oppressed, imprisoned, and murdered by people 
+out to enrich themselves at the cost of others. There is a 1/20 chance a 
+character is wrongfully accused of a crime. 1-10/20 if the chracter has 
+enemies.
+.IP Landslide: 
+A major road in the region is blocked by a landslide or 
+avalanche. Clearing it takes at least half a month, if workers are 
+mobilized at all. Otherwise road remains blocked.
+.IP "Major Battle:"
+important battle is fought in the region. This event can 
+only take place during a time of social upheaval, so the GM will have to 
+decide who is fighting and why. Battle can be resolved with appropriate 
+wargaming rules. Prior and after battle all encounters are with troops 
+moving/fleeing/scouring through area. After the battle losers are forced 
+to retreat.
+.IP Maneater: 
+a creature with a taste for human flesh has moved into the 
+area, striking twice a week and dragging off victims into the 
+woods.Locals are paralyzed by fear (no work outside is being done). 
+Maneater remains active until dealt with (captured, killed, or driven off).
+.IP Marriage: 
+a PC's proposal is accepted or they receive a proposal. 
+Otherwise VIP in region marries and PCs are invited. In any case 
+feasting and celebration is in order.
+.IP "Military Activity:" 
+The area is gearing up for war in one way or another. 
+Armies are openly recruiting soldiers, troops are moving, goods are 
+levied for the war effort (maybe by force). There is a 1-5/20 chance PCs 
+are accosted by a recruiting gang. There is a 1/10 chance any character 
+is accused of espionage.
+.IP Plague: 
+see entry in yearly events.
+.IP Uprising: 
+The peasants are revolting to protest against injustice, 
+excessive taxes, or other appropriate reason. The Uprising lasts 1d4 
+months, and has a 20% chance per month to become a proper rebellion. It 
+has a 1-7/10 chance of bandit activity after it's end as surviving 
+rebels turn to a life of crime.
+.IP VIP: 
+An important person has arrived on a visit to the place. This 
+person might be in disguise to investigate a matter (33%). Otherwise the 
+PCs might be invited to official banquets.
+.Au kyonshi

issue06/forward

@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 .\" vim: filetype=groff
 .H1
-Who are we?
+Who is we?
 .ad b
 .sp -.5cm
 .2C
-.PP
-<hier kommt das Editorial>
-.Au lkh
+.KF
 .ad l
 .sp .4cm
 .LP
@@ -19,7 +17,7 @@ Who are we?
 .ce 20
 Grenzland 7
 .ft BMI
-Traveller
+2d6 Games
 .ft BMR
 .ps 10
 .vs 13
@@ -51,4 +49,96 @@ für Heft 8!
 .fi
 .vs 11
 .ad b
+.KE
+.PP
+After I finished refereeing 
+.I Grenzland 
+(the OD&D Campaign) this April, I needed to step back and take a break from
+gaming, and to a considerable part also from engaging in social media for a
+couple of weeks \[em] which turned into a couple of months. I checked Discord
+and other places we use (see 
+.I
+Get in Contact
+.R
+in this issue), but didn't write much. Maybe this allowed me to get a bit of a
+birds eye view but maybe it was just being distanced and out of the loop for
+some time. It made me wonder: what even is this community? And before we
+consider this: is it a community at all? Or is it just some loose cluster of
+nerds meeting in some unlikely online spaces on a pretty random schedule \[em]
+with not much true mutual commitment? Also, I noticed a certain disconnection:
+there are many users on 
+.I Grenzland 
+(the Discord instance) who don't seem to interact much with "the community" at
+all. Some use IRC to be kind of semi connected to the Discord via some software
+tricks, but on IRC there are also channels not bridged to Discord, and some
+chatting takes place on other IRC servers. Then, there's a trickle of parallel
+talking on netnews and there's those of us who use Mastodon or some other kind
+of social networking service based on ActivityPub. These users of the Fediverse
+again share a common virtual space with others who don't have anything to do
+with 
+.I Grenzland , 
+be it this here fanzine, the Discord instance or the fact of having played a
+role in the Campaign. This "Community" may well appear quite fragmented ...
+it's bewildering if you think about it.
+.KF
 .PSPIC img/alrik.eps
+.KE
+.PP
+Then again, when I recently raised the issue of which language to use in this
+zine (english
+.I or
+german, or both as before, or whether we should have alternating issues in
+english and german), I received a comment that basically said: "Grenzland (the
+zine) reflects the community. Since the community is multilingual, the zine
+should be multilingual too". In fact Grenzland has been multilingual since
+issue 2. But wow \[em] "the community" ... so apparently there is an external
+perception of 
+.I us
+being a community. I'm hardly any closer to be able to describe who we really
+are, but I like that.
+.KF
+.PSPIC img/VennDiagram.eps
+.I
+The Grenzland Community as a Venn diagram
+.KE
+.PP
+From a historical point of view I'd try and describe us like this: 
+Grenzland are two overlapping groups, one group of gamers playing in an 
+.I "in person"
+OD&D campaign from 2016 to 2025, based in Hamburg, Germany, and another 
+group of gamers who play
+.I online
+in the
+.I "Montags in Zürich"
+series of games. The overlap consists mostly of using the same Discord
+instance, but there 
+.I is
+a tiny overlap of the groups too. Occasionally some Hamburg players have
+participated in "Montags" games, and on a few occasions "Montags" players have
+participated in games of the Grenzland game that were run online. I'm imagining
+this as a sort of skewed Venn diagram. I'm unsure how large the overlap between
+"Mondays Games" and "Grenzland Discord" should be. It may be close to 100% but
+ ... well, I'm not sure.
+.PP
+Maybe it's easier to think about what I'd like the Grenzland community to be.
+Ready for some wishful thining? Here goes: I'd love to see the Grenzland community as
+a bunch of people who read and contribute to this very zine (big smiling emoji!).
+And maybe we're not that far from it, as I see "the usual suspects" sending in
+entries. Just come to think of it: independent from Discord or any other kind
+of digital medium. No configuration files to wrestle with, no enshittification,
+just some thoughtful very slow conversation going back and forth ... And deciding 
+which chat service, virtual tabletop or other system to use, can be decided 
+independently from any ostensible online community.
+.PP
+Now we still need to get two organizational things out of the way: (1) in past
+issues I used this editorial to give an overview about what this issue has to
+offer. I might return to this habbit, but this editorial clearly is too long 
+already. Instead I'll offer German language summaries for any English articles
+and English summaries for any German language articles. Right at the top of each 
+article. This might raise interest in Grenzland ever so slightly for those who are
+uncomfortable with either one of those languages. And I'll promise to give
+English
+.I and
+German
+summaries, should anyone ever offer an article written in french!
+.Au lkh

issue06/img/VennDiagram.svg

@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
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+       style="font-weight:300;font-size:13.3333px;line-height:1;font-family:'URW Bookman';-inkscape-font-specification:'URW Bookman Light';text-align:start;text-decoration-color:#000000;letter-spacing:0px;word-spacing:0px;writing-mode:lr-tb;direction:ltr;text-anchor:start;fill:#000000;stroke:none;stroke-width:0.755906;stroke-linecap:round;stroke-linejoin:round;stroke-dasharray:none;stroke-opacity:1"
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+         sodipodi:role="line"
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+         x="25.463371"
+         y="183.86145"
+         id="tspan2">Discord</tspan></text>
+    <text
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+       style="font-weight:300;font-size:13.3333px;line-height:1;font-family:'URW Bookman';-inkscape-font-specification:'URW Bookman Light';text-align:start;text-decoration-color:#000000;letter-spacing:0px;word-spacing:0px;writing-mode:lr-tb;direction:ltr;text-anchor:start;fill:#000000;stroke:none;stroke-width:0.755906;stroke-linecap:round;stroke-linejoin:round;stroke-dasharray:none;stroke-opacity:1"
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+       id="text1-8"><tspan
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+         x="150.31836"
+         y="171.88516">Grenzland</tspan><tspan
+         sodipodi:role="line"
+         x="150.31836"
+         y="185.21846"
+         id="tspan2-9">Campaign</tspan><tspan
+         sodipodi:role="line"
+         x="150.31836"
+         y="198.55176"
+         id="tspan7">(Hamburg)</tspan></text>
+    <text
+       xml:space="preserve"
+       style="font-weight:300;font-size:13.3333px;line-height:1;font-family:'URW Bookman';-inkscape-font-specification:'URW Bookman Light';text-align:start;text-decoration-color:#000000;letter-spacing:0px;word-spacing:0px;writing-mode:lr-tb;direction:ltr;text-anchor:start;fill:#000000;stroke:none;stroke-width:0.755906;stroke-linecap:round;stroke-linejoin:round;stroke-dasharray:none;stroke-opacity:1"
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+       id="text3"><tspan
+         sodipodi:role="line"
+         id="tspan3"
+         x="16.31706"
+         y="17.642246">Which part is &quot;the Community&quot;?</tspan></text>
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+         id="tspan5">in Zürich</tspan><tspan
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+         id="tspan6">(online)</tspan></text>
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issue06/information

@@ -1,7 +1,174 @@
 .\" vim: filetype=groff
 .H1
-Information in Campaign Games
+Information and 
+Reconnaissance 
+in Domain Games
+.2C
 .PP
+From September 2024 to April 2025 I ran a diplomacy style game to
+spice up the last season of our
+.I "Grenzland OD&D Campaign" .
+We had twelve faction players, playing various human factions, 
+two elven clans, one halfling clan, one dwarven clan, two orcish
+tribes, snake people, reptile men and a faction from outer space. 
+There were a couple of dragons, too. 
+At the same time we had the regular player characters
+moving around the campaign map and doing their usual dungeon
+exploring and hex crawling games. All told the diplomacy game
+went on for 18 weekly turns.
+.PP
+For me as the referee this game was one of the most intense
+gaming experiences I've had so far. It took me about eight hours
+of paper work per week: book keeping, tracing movements on maps,
+estimating encounter likelihood and so forth, and then sending 
+back the results to each player. Depending on the situation we
+then scheduled actual gaming sessions to resolve any possibly
+unfriendly encounters, clocking in at another two to four hours
+per session. One week needed three resolving sessions, but the
+average was probably a bit less than one per week.
+.KF
 .PSPIC img/samo.eps
-.Au
-lkh
+.ce 5
+.ll -1
+.in +1
+.I
+Samo the Magician as imagined by one of the players.
+.R
+.ce 0
+.sp
+.KE
+.PP
+For the first couple of weeks I also tried to diligently weave in
+random encounters as they occured, but I had to skip those more
+then once due to time constraints. Most random encounters were
+resolved in play by post fashion.
+.PP
+Intense and very time consuming as it was, this game was also
+.I "so interesting" ,
+sometimes baffeling and eye opening. And fear not my fellow
+gamers, I attribute the fact, that I am still kind of recovering
+from running this game to the entirely unconnected coincidence of
+some very challenging changes in my day job, which happend to
+occur as our game came to it's closing weeks.
+.H2
+It was raining all the time!
+.PP
+One of the most pertinent critiques I received about the game was
+lack of information. Players repeatedly complained that they did
+not know enough about other factions and their whereabouts. In
+fact until the very last moves
+.I "no faction"
+was even aware of every other faction in the game.
+.PP
+At the same time I noticed this lack of information early on, as
+I could watch the "gaming board" with a birds eye view and see
+how sometimes troops moved past each other, a single hex of six
+miles apart without taking notice or even knowing about
+each others existance. Naturally the bad visibiltiy due to the
+continous rain did not help in this respect, but I was decided
+early on that information gathering should be an 
+.I "in game issue" .
+Maybe I should have communicated this more clearly.
+.PP
+Speaking of the continous rain, here's the thing that puzzled me
+the most: literally in every single weekly update I stated that
+it's continously raining over a larger part of the campaign map.
+However only very late in the game, a small group of adventurers
+decided to 
+.I 
+finally ask the question, gather 
+.B information
+and investigate the cause.
+.R
+It took them three delves into a hitherto somewhat neglected
+dungeon, but what they found had the potential for a huge
+strategic benefit. Even when after 16 weeks of play I finally
+annouced "It has stopped raining", hardly any questions were
+asked about it.
+.PP
+Apparently most players just took the continously bad weather for
+granted, and if there were any earlier conjectures about the
+rain, those were wrong and never investigated in any serious
+manner.
+.H2
+Expanding the Map
+.PP
+One player decided to take to the sea and explore, moving away
+from the centre of the campaign map. While initially this was 
+due to fear of annihilation by the chaotic forces, I'm afraid it was 
+also due to some degree of boredom, as at that time the game was 
+beginning to loose some momentum. At any rate, it led
+to me expanding the campaign map, since I tried hard to not curb
+this free movement in any way. Obviously no information about
+other factions could be gained by moving away from them, but the player
+managed to come back with some extra ships and reenforcements
+which were useful later on, when his faction returned to the
+final battle ground of the campaign.
+.H2
+Faulty Intelligence
+.PP
+Another player started gathering intelligence rather
+systematically from the get go, monitoring the river and
+coastlines of his orcish lands. He also started diplomatic
+relations with a neighboring dwarwen clan, along which
+information could be traded. However, paranoia from
+stories about terrible undead (those stories were true), mixed
+with a false rumor about an impeding invasion of human war ships
+into the orcish lands, led to the wrong conclusions.  When a couple
+of pirate ships were spotted on the horizon, the Orcs decided to
+flee up river and leave their meticulously trapped and fortified 
+village behind, thus also moving away from the central area of
+the campaign, avoiding contact to other factions and thus making
+their information gathering much more difficult (the pirate ships
+were a random encounter. They were not headed for the orcs).
+.PP
+On another occasion two large factions managed to move around
+each other in full circle without noticing, only to find their
+previously established locales deserted.
+.PP
+Of course in the end, a bunch of stalwart player characters had
+put together enough information to infiltrate the lair of their
+nemesis, the Evil High Cleric
+.I "Evangus Tardus"
+in a commando style action. This bereft the undead forces from
+their command and brought about the final important turn of the 
+game. It is true, this was probably the only way to defeat the
+evil forces. Out in the field the lawful and neutral factions
+just did not have a chance against an army of Spectres.
+I want to point out that this decisive incursion of the 
+.I "good guys"
+would likely have failed, had the Evil High Cleric invested more 
+into information gathering. Maybe he was too convinced of his
+superiority.
+.H2
+What were we lacking?
+.PP
+Looking back I feel I should have included some important hints
+into the player information sheet I sent out to every one:
+.BU
+Information gathering is crucial! Trying to learn what the other
+faction knows should be one of the most important intentions of
+interacting with other players in game, in fact of playing your
+factions roles!
+.BU
+Information can be traded \[em] for gold, other assets and alliances.
+.BU
+The gaming world is large and there may be more factions than you
+think!
+.BU
+Remember that intelligence can be faulty, remember that you and
+others can plant misinformation.
+.BU
+How about a faction of rumor mongers? Maybe even a news outlet?
+.BU
+How about a faction running some kind of postal service?
+.PP
+While I now would advise to establish those latter
+factions with setting up the game, every player should be aware
+that they may well establish a postal service and an information
+brokering service themselves. Maybe even competing mail services
+and conflicing news outlets. It's all part of the game! 
+.PP
+So are you looking forward to your next faction game? Ready to play a 
+postal game about mail services? Ha! I sure am!
+.Au lkh

issue06/monday

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 .\" vim: filetype=groff
+.1C
 .H1
 The Monday Games
 .H2
@@ -30,3 +31,6 @@ En Garde! (@kyonshi) prospective pbm game
 Gamma World, Mutant Future (@alex, @phf)
 .BU
 Rangers & Rabbits (@alex)
+.H2
+#next-games
+

issue06/toc

@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 .TL "Vol. 4, No. 6" "Domain Games II" "September 2025"
-.CI "Who are we?" "1" "Editorial"
-.CI "Information in Campaign Games" "xx" "This is crucial!"
-.CI "Event Tables" "xx" "Campaign Driving Input"
-.CI "Zwischenstand Arden-Vul" "xx" "Bericht aus einer hochstufigen Kampagne"
-.CI "Recently on Discord" "xx" "What's going on on the webs?"
-.CI "Contact" "xx" "Online places we use"
-.CI "Monday" "xx" "What's up with the monday games?"
-.CI "Outlook" "xx"
-.CI "Imprint" "xx"
+.CI "Who is we?" "1" "Editorial"
+.CI "Information and Reconnaissance in Domain Games" "4" "Reflecting on the Grenzland Campaign"
+.CI "Yearly Campaign Events" "7" "Campaign Driving Input"
+.CI "Monthly Campaign Events" "11" "More Campaign Driving Input"
+.CI "Zwischenstand Arden-Vul" "14" "Bericht aus einer hochstufigen Kampagne"
+.CI "Recently on Discord" "17" "What's going on on the webs?"
+.CI "Get in Contact" "17" "Online places we use"
+.CI "The Monday Games" "20" "What's up with the monday games?"
+.CI "Save the Date!" "20" "Conventions, Events etc."
+.CI "Outlook" "21"
+.CI "Imprint" "21"
 .TF