I had backed Douglas Cole’s KS a while back (I have backed many of Gaming Ballistic‘s Kickstarters -as the only 3rd party licensee for GURPS DFRPG I am always down for the GURPS projects and some of the OSE ones.) Dark Lord’s Doom was one of 4 solo adventures for OSE (they are available for TFT also) and was recently crowdfunded for DFRPG as Saethor’s Bane (and can still be got as a late pledge).
The adventure, written by David Pulver, is a pretty good one, although there are some layout issues. I had a great conversation with Doug about the game, having accidentally called him over messenger after reporting that I couldn’t find a specific table that turned out to be present but un-indexed.
It functions like a choose your own adventure or fighting fantasy book, where you keep track of plot words, and play out combat with your group of four pre-gens and the generally balanced encounters you face on your way to deal with a powerful foe and his numerous minions. I found that four to three odds (a frequent occurrence) let me dogpile the leaders and rely on morale failures to win frequently. One of the pre-generated members of your team was a bit of a glass cannon, with lousy armor, high Strength and a high damage weapon, one was a sniper, one a standard sword and board guy and the party leader was pretty well rounded. There were numerous occasions to re-up casualties, and I had some crap rolls 3d6 down the line, and lost everyone but some rescued prisoners before the end, when I got shanked by the titular overlord, Saethor. Replay value is high with this one.
I just finished reading through Plastiboo’s Vermis and Vermis 2, which I got at exalted funeral but are both currently out of stock. Both books are set up like play through guides to a low resolution dungeon crawler video game, except the game doesn’t exist. Vermis seems to have several options for player character types, and vermis 2 focuses on one, but looks like you have unlocked other modes of play upon completion. They are both very moody and atmospheric, but occasionally hard to read.
I was interviewed by Diogo Nogueira for his Weird Games and Weirder People podcast; I will make a separate post once he publishes it in a couple of weeks. He has interviewed dozens of luminaries and creators in the RPG field. I talk about things that make me weird, like being bipolar and pagan, and about artistic inspirations.
Currently I am part of the team illustrating Todd Leback of Third Kingdom Games’ kickstarter for his BX Advanced Bestiary Volume 2 which is currently funded but reaching toward stretch goals that might get me more illustration gigs. Here is some of the stuff I have already done:
Additionally, I have finally upgraded my rate schedule for commissions, in keeping with the work I have been doing:
Northport 