This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Michael R. Underwood, author of Menagerie of Mayhem: Volume 1.

About Menagerie of Mayhem: Volume 1: Menagerie of Mayhem: Volume 1 introduces 35 new adversaries for the Daggerheart fantasy tabletop roleplaying game, including multi-phase foes like the Blood Mage and adversary groups such as the ferocious Umbral Hunting Pack and the nihilistic Congregation of the End.

This is part one of a multi-part series of short adversary books. If this volume does well enough, there will be more, with the intent to have them all eventually collected in one larger book with a print edition.

About Michael R. Underwood: Michael R. Underwood is an author, podcaster, and publishing professional. His series include the Ree Reyes Geekomancy books, the Stabby Award finalist Genrenauts series, and Born to the Blade. He’s been a bookseller, sales representative, and the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books.

His writing has been a finalist for the r/Fantasy Stabby Award for Best Serialized Fiction and he was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fancast with the Skiffy & Fanty Show. He was a finalist for Best Game Master (Video Actual Play) at the New Jersey WebFest for Valloward.

He was an additional designer for Darrington Press’ Daggerheart core rulebook, lead designer of the Marauders of Windfall adventure, additional designer on the Quickstart Adventure, and co-writer of the Daggerheart Homebrew Kit. He was also a game design consultant and additional writer for Candela Obscura and self-published his sci-fi comedy rpg The Only Logical Solution is Hijinx.

Mike lives in Baltimore with his wife and an ever-growing library. He also loves geeking out with games and making pizzas from scratch.

This week’s picks:

• Mike: Pistolheart Vol 1 by Carlos Cisco
• Tracy: Skull (Game)
• Patrick: Young Sherlock (Prime)

Links:

• Michael R. Underwood on BluSky
• Tracy Townsend on BluSky
• Patrick Hester on Instagram
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2026 Patrick Hester

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