R&R: Ready and Willing

Here's a new Rabbits & Rangers drawing for the upcoming project. This was based on a sketch that  had been sitting around for at least 3 years, maybe more. I had actually started inking it over a year ago and finally sat down and knocked it out this morning. Turned out pretty cool, I think.

I don't like predicting what I'll do in the future because I'm constantly changing my mind and in the end what I do is what I end up doing. Hell, that's what Black Pudding is... just the stuff I do, not the stuff I planned to do. There's a difference. If I did all the stuff I planned to do I'd be the most prolific creator in history.

This drawing made me think about flying rules, which I cover fairly well in the current book. I am going to re-write that section to make it simpler, less fiddly. But the point is simple. A bird character can't fly and carry their normal amount of equipment. The bird in this drawing cannot fly without doffing their cloak, at least. I say in the book that you can hold one small item and still fly. So the staff would be out too. But I'm considering some ways in which a flying caster could still fly with a staff, as part of the fabric of the setting. Like a spell or special skill they learn. I'm not sure yet.

Werepig in a World of Piggies

In Rabbits & Rangers I have a short section on lycanthropy. It's a weird idea, isn't it? A world of talking animals... what do the lycanthropes turn into? I suggested in the book that a PC infected should randomly roll what type of animal they transform into. In that way, you could be a duck bitten by a wereskunk and then you transform into an evil, bloodthirsty werepig.

I still like that idea. But in the new game I'm going to leave some of it up to the Ringmaster's discretion. I'm trying to keep my rules and text more open to rulings-not-rules. While I am very proud of the R&R book based on Labyrinth Lord, I still find even that to be a little too fiddly for funny animal fantasy as I want to experience it.

Anyway, yes, I'm currently working on the new game. Still no real idea about when it will be ready. I'll share more as I get more into it.

Also... should I make this game in color or keep the interior art black and white? My instinct is black and white, as that's my wheelhouse. But I suppose I should at least consider doing this in color. Right now I have to be honest: I'm 75% leaning black and white for the interior.

Black Pudding in Print - SHLORP!

For those who don't know, you can buy print copies of Black Pudding from Squarehex. Right now issues 1-3 are available and soon issue 4 will join the ranks. And these are super nice print books, people. I can't say enough good things about the quality. I'm tickled black by it.

Black Pudding #4

Black Pudding #4 is alive! Get yours today.

This issue features a 15 page OSR style play book. These are more-or-less the rules I have adopted for my own game. They harken back to older versions of the game, such as B/X, riffing on Labyrinth Lord, The Black Hack, and Swords & Wizardry... but with some "modernisms" such as ascending armor class.

Oh, and new classes to boot. And tons of meatshield NPCs. Boom.

Alien Life

Added some quick OSR stats to this alien fella. I figure they're naked. They reach out and touch you for 1d6 points of weird shock damage and you have to save or be paralyzed long enough for them to telekenesis your ass back to the ship.

Blog? Oh Yeah, I Have a Blog!

I post 90% of my stuff on G+ and I always forget that the Doomslakers blog exists. This, boys and girls, is why I am not a "professional blogger". Actually, come to think of it, I'm now questioning why I have a blog at all. I suppose it's a centralized storehouse for my crap. But so is G+, really. I dunno. I like blogging though, so I'll keep it going.

I was just listening to random YouTube videos and doodling. Here are some doodles from today and very recently.

Lizards vs. Wizards: a Very Silly Game

I made a new game. It's about talking lizards vs. weirdo wizards in a post-apoc world. It's 32 pages, cartoony, and not very serious. Enjoy.

 

D&D in Two Distinct Flavors!

I made up these fake ads for giggles. I guess this represents exaggerations of two distinct styles of playing D&D. One is the "fantasy Vietnam" approach, where death is frequent and randomness is king. The other is the "kid gauntlets" approach where death is not on the table and players dictate what they want.

Of course the truth for most gamers is between these extremes. I tend to run my D&D games leaning toward the Dragons & Dragons approach, but not entirely ruthless at all. I tend to dislike the Dungeons & Dungeons approach because it seems to rob the game of its teeth, which is a big reason I love playing. I want my PC to actually die if the dice fall that way. Otherwise I'll go play a story game where I can get the creative effect I want in what is probably a far better way.

But that's just me. Either way, I hope these are at least chuckleworthy.

Dwarfs of Lightning Spires

Here's a sheet for the dwarfs of the Lightning Spires, the eastern dwarfs of my OSR campaign setting Yria.

Following up on this post.

Gary Con X GM Shirt

I was asked again to draw the Gary Con GM shirt, which I happily did. Here is my art for the upcoming Gary Con X. I think this shirt only goes to GMs that run x number of hours of games. But you can go to the website for more information about that. Or find 'em on Facebook. It ain't hard.