Black Pudding Thoughts

The covers to all 8 existing issues of Black Pudding.

Black Pudding issue 1 was published November 28, 2016. In a little under a year, it will celebrate its 10th anniversary. And that blows my mind.

The reception of this zine in the indie RPG and OSR gaming world was very warm. It received a lot of positive reviews and excited replies of "nice work!". That sort of positive feedback made me feel very good about what I was doing. And it still does. I am not an artist who makes a living at art. I create things because I need to and because it keeps me from losing my mind. It's a compulsion to go on a journey and the feedback is part of the journey.

So, thanks for all the kind words over the years. I love hearing your stories of getting copies in the mail and I love seeing the pics of them. I love hearing about the classes and monsters in the books being using in gaming tables in places I've never been and probably will never see. It's uplifting in a way I can't express with words.

From the moment I compiled the first 4 issues of Black Pudding into a single volume, I knew there would a volume 2. But beyond that... I had no plans. Literally no plans. No plan to stop, no plan to continue.

But I love creating this zine. It allowed me to explore ideas and explore this weird world I had in my head all these many years, stretching back as far as the first time I ever played a roleplaying game.

I'm not entirely sure where things go from here. I have ideas. I've been quietly working on a standalone Black Pudding (or Doomslakers) RPG, which is loosely underpinned by the mechanics and game system of my other game GOZR. This is a departure from B/X D&D rules, but I feel strongly that it is a necessary change.

And wouldn't it be kind of cool to have a such a game finished for the 10th anniversary? Just an idea.

I'm also thinking about Black Pudding comics.

But these are topics for a later time. Thanks again!