Tabletop Gaming Feeds

I began playing D&D during the heyday of the artists known as the “Four Horsemen” of TSR—Elmore, Easley, Caldwell, and Parkinson—which I discussed in my previous post on the artists who inspired my TTRPG gaming.

However, I switched from BECMI D&D over to AD&D around the winter of 1987, if memory serves. I remember it vividly because during one of those very first sessions, I was running the game as the Dungeon Master while listening to the American Top 40 end-of-year countdown. But I had actually been buying and reading the AD&D 1st Edition books for a few months before we ever rolled dice.

My original AD&D 1e books were the orange-spine printings featuring the iconic covers by Jeff Easley. I got the Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG) first, followed by the Players Handbook (PHB). The only two AD&D books I owned that were not orange-spine editions were the original Monster Manual (MM) and a copy of Deities & Demigods (the rare printing that still included the Cthulhu and Melnibonéan Mythos!), which I scored from a neighbor’s garage sale. You can read the full story about that lucky find right here.

The covers for Deities & Demigods by Erol Otus and the Monster Manual by David A. Trampier served as my true introduction to TSR’s earlier art style. But, despite my books sporting the newer Easley covers on the outside, the interiors still featured the original 1e layout and illustrations. And I must admit… at first, I was turned off by them.

Let me explain before you burn me at the stake!                                                                                                

I came into the hobby through the Mentzer Red Box and the rest of the BECMI sets. While they weren’t anywhere near as cleanly laid out as modern games, they had a very approachable, easy-to-use style. They were specifically designed to welcome you in and teach you the game.

When you dive into the 1e PHB—and especially the DMG—they are not easily approachable books. I know now that their design came directly from the layout style of miniature wargaming rulebooks, but to young me, they just felt like inscrutable, textbook-like mystery tomes.

To add to my confusion, I started reading the books in the opposite order to their publication! Starting with the DMG didn’t make much sense if you hadn’t read the PHB first. I eventually figured it out and switched books, but coming directly from the polished look of BECMI, I was a little disappointed by the interior art.

The cartoonish illustrations next to the Intelligence and Dexterity tables in the PHB were okay, but they didn’t quite match my epic expectations for the game. I’ve also never been a huge fan of the “races” lineup on page 18 by David Sutherland. But then I flipped a few pages and saw his A Paladin in Hell full-page piece… and I was absolutely blown away!

The MM had more illustrations that captured my imagination. But it was truly through the original Deities & Demigods that I learned to appreciate the old-school, foundational art of early TSR deeply. So, let me talk about these luminaries—Jeff Dee, Erol Otus, David C. Sutherland, David A. Trampier, and Jim Roslof—the artists who were there at the birth of the hobby, and how their work inspired me!

Jeff Dee

Of all the artists who originally worked for TSR, Jeff Dee is my absolute favorite. He has a distinct, clean style with clear comic-book influences. He didn’t just work on D&D; he also illustrated Villains & Vigilantes and The Mighty Protectors. I was actually lucky enough to interview him here on the blog back in 2015.

I must admit that of all the original TSR artists, his was the only name I knew by heart for a long time. As my interest in the hobby grew, I learned about the other legends and their trajectories, but Dee’s name always stuck with me. Strangely enough, I had no idea what he actually looked like. So, when I started watching episodes of The Atheist Experience and heard his name, I thought, “Huh, this guy has the same name as the fantasy artist.” Little did I know they were the same person!

His work on the Norse, Egyptian, Melnibonéan, and Non-Human Mythos sections of Deities and Demigods blew me away. That book was my first introduction to Elric of Melniboné, and Dee’s illustration of Gruumsh is still exactly how I imagine the orc god today. Jeff worked on a lot of classic modules that I read but never actually played, and because of his distinctive line work, even as a teenager, I could immediately tell when he had drawn something.

Later on, I discovered his art for Villains & Vigilantes, which completely solidified my love for his work. His aesthetic reinforced for me the connection between comic books and the fantasy genre, which I still think is a perfect fit.

Jeff Dee didn’t draw any of the monsters in the original MM. But he did draw my absolute favorite monster in the Fiend Folio—which also happens to be my favorite non-traditional D&D ancestry, the Aarakocra! Their physiology in the game may have changed over the years (they now have separate arms and wings), but to me, Dee’s illustration is the true Aarakocra.

Erol Otus

Otus is my second favorite artist from this period. Just like Jeff Dee introduced me to Elric, Otus introduced me to Cthulhu via Deities & Demigods. While I wouldn’t discover H.P. Lovecraft’s actual writings or the Call of Cthulhu RPG until a year later, this book was my very first exposure to the Mythos.

Erol Otus’ cover for that book absolutely beckoned me. While Sutherland’s MM cover was great for showing you the creatures inside, Otus’ Deities & Demigods cover illustrated the terrifying, cosmic connection between mortals and deities perfectly and efficiently.

I would only discover and come to appreciate his iconic covers for the Basic and Expert sets much later in the late 90s, when I finally tracked down used copies. Perhaps because I discovered it so much later, his dragon on the Basic set isn’t my definitive mental image of a dragon—Elmore had already imprinted that concept onto me with his Red Box art.

But when I began collecting old Gamma World supplements and adventures, I was thrilled to find his work scattered throughout that line as well.

Erol Otus’ modern work is reminiscent of a psychedelic dream, and I mean that as the highest possible praise. His style is a perfect fit for the weird, gonzo feel of Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC). He even drew one of my favorite interpretations of my favorite D&D Cthulhian monster—the Aboleth—for the cover of DCC Module #25: The Dread Crypt of Srihoz.

David C. Sutherland III

Sutherland wasn’t my favorite artist of the bunch, but his A Paladin in Hell is arguably a masterpiece of early RPG art. When I rolled up my very first character—a Paladin—that illustration was exactly how I imagined him!

His cover for the DMG is an undeniable classic. It’s incredibly evocative, and much like the MM cover, I can deeply appreciate the nostalgia it elicits and how it influenced later generations of gamers, even if it isn’t my personal favorite piece.

What I do love is his monster illustrations inside the Monster Manual. Some of them were quite simple, but they captured my imagination completely. I prefer his smaller, in-text illustrations to his full-page spreads. His Mind Flayer is so basic, yet incredibly charming. I love his Sea Lion and Rust Monster, but his Naga remains my absolute favorite in the book.

Fun fact: While researching this post, I discovered that Sutherland designed my favorite creature from the Monster Manual II—the Wemic—which was first published in Monster Cards Set 3 with art by Jim Roslof!

David A. Trampier (DAT)

I was never really into Trampier’s Wormy comic strip; it just didn’t catch my fancy. I primarily knew his art from the AD&D 1e rulebooks. His illustration of Emirikol the Chaotic riding through the streets in the DMG is my favorite piece in that entire book. The sheer action and excitement of it invited you to imagine the story happening around the frame. I desperately wanted to play in a game that felt like that!

In the Monster Manual, his illustrations for the Rakshasa, Vampire, Pseudodragon, and Intellect Devourer immediately made me want to throw those monsters at my players.

I finally got a second-hand copy of the PHB featuring his original cover around 1993, and of the three original AD&D core books, it is my favorite cover. It is the perfect classic murder-hobo scene; it captures the dark, dangerous feel of an old-school dungeon crawl.

However, my second favorite piece of art by DAT is something I never actually owned: the panoramic art for the original AD&D 1e Dungeon Masters Screen. It is a masterpiece. You might argue it’s technically better than Emirikol, but the DMG art remains near and dear to my heart simply because of how deeply it inspired my games.

Another fun fact I learned while writing this: DAT also created illustrations for one of my favorite sci-fi games, Star Frontiers!

Jim Roslof

When I originally outlined this post, Roslof wasn’t on my list. But as I flipped through my old books for research, I saw his full-page illustration of Thor. I immediately realized just how important that specific piece of art was to sparking my lifelong interest in Norse mythology. It is a powerful, inspiring image and an absolute classic of D&D art.

It’s also worth noting that, as TSR’s Art Director, Roslof was pivotal in hiring the exact artists I wrote about in my previous post in this series (Elmore, Easley, etc.), so the inspiration really does come full circle!

I am still not done talking about the classic TSR artists! Keep an eye out for the next post in this series as we continue the 40-year retrospective.

 For a campaign diving deep into the foundations of the world, "classic" D&D offers everything from gritty survival to high-fantasy politics. If you are looking for the definitive adventures that shaped the concept of "Inner Earth," these modules are the essentials. This blog post picks up from OSR Commentary Adapting C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan To Aethel, the Sunken Core Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 Bringing the 1982 cult classic The Sword and the Sorcerer to the tabletop requires capturing that specific "heavy metal" fantasy aesthetic. In the Sword of Cepheus (2nd Edition) system, Talon is a high-powered protagonist, likely built with more than the standard three terms of experience.Here is the breakdown for Talon and his Mercenary Warband.TalonCareer: Mercenary (4 Terms)Rank: Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

As I’ve wrote in one of my recent posts I am currently rereading all of my Alternity books. Alternity is a roleplaying game I’ve wanted to run since I first bought it but something always got into the way. But there’s a problem. Even though I own quite a few Alternity books, I don’t own all of them and since the game has been out-of-print for many years it gets increasingly hard (and expensive) to track down copies. But what about digital copies online? There are actually quite a few Alternity books available for purchase on DrivethruRPG. Unfortunately they are not easily found since most of them are stuck in the d20 Modern Generic section. Another problem is that the two core rulebooks are not available online aside from the “Limited Preview Edition” of the Players Handbook.

But I hear you asking “what about the new Alternity”. A couple of years back Rich Baker, one of the original designers of TSR’s Alternity released a new version of the game after a successful Kickstarter. Sasquatch Game Studio, Baker’s new company was actually able to register the Alternity trademark back then since Wizards hadn’t bothered to renew it. Unfortunately not much of Alternity’s original ideas made it into the new game. So while there’s still a game called Alternity out there, it doesn’t have much in common with the original besides being a sci-fi tabletop roleplaying game. But like it predecessor it’s pretty much dead at his point. The last update on the Sasquatch Game Studio website has been in 2018 and no new products for the game has been released since then.

Could Wizards of the Coast actually bring back Alternity properly? That’s highly unlikely. The most we can hope for is that they release all the Alternity products as PDF downloads on DriveThruRPG and hopefully also add a POD option at some point. A limited reprint of the original corebooks as an “anniversary edition” like FFG did it with WEG Star Wars 1st Edition would be brilliant, but unlikely due to the trademark situation. The trademark is still owned by Sasquatch Game Studios and I don’t know what kind of deal Sasquatch has with Wizards which allows the latter to release products using that name.

One option I haven’t written about yet is a retro clone. In a post a few years ago I stated my belief an Alternity clone could cause ire from WotC’s lawyers but that’s probably not the case. As long as someone rewrote the rules without directly copying the texts things should be fine. Mechanics are not copyrightable after all. The bigger question is if there’s an interest in doing so. Sure, there are countless D&D retro clones, but D&D was way more popular than the rather niche scifi TTRPG released shortly before TSR vanished as an entity completely.

Roleplaying games aren’t really dead as long as some people still play them, but in the case of Alternity there’s a true risk of it going extinct. It’s out of print and it was a niche product even when it was new. There are other, more popular options for Sci-Fi fans which are available like for example Traveller in its many incarnations. But if we keep talking about Alternity there’s a chance someone at WotC will commit to bringing all the books back or someone writes a retro clone so that at least its mechanics are available to find new fans.

What are your thoughts on the state of Alternity? Would you like to see it properly resurrected? Do you actually prefer the Sasquatch Game Studio’s version? Please share your comments below!

 In a Sword & Sorcery setting, back alleys shouldn't just be empty paths; they should feel like the digestive system of a decaying city—dark, cramped, and dangerous.Here is a d100 table tailored for the grit and high adventure of Castles & Crusades. This blog entry picks right up from D100 Sword & Sorcery Random Urban Encounters Table for Castles & Crusades rpgThe Back Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 To bring Kutchek and Gore into your Sword of Cepheus (2nd Edition) game, you need to emphasize their sheer physical dominance and their "Dual-Hero" dynamic. In this system, they function as high-Stamina tanks who can dish out massive damage but are vulnerable to social manipulation or complex technology.The Barbarian Brothers (Kutchek & Gore)Trait: High-Octane SiblingsSocial Class: 2 (Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

By Pat_Sagor
Pat_Co Productions
Nimble/OSR
Level 3

In the heart of a volcanic wasteland, the Tower rises amid fire and ash, a slender edifice of stone. Its citizens never leave the Tower, and keep their mysterious traditions out of sight from the outside world. But they have gained immense wealth trading wondrous artifacts extracted from the depths below the Tower… Outside the Tower, Baron Hugues DeMort’s massive army has been laying siege for over a month. Unable to breach its impervious gates, frustrated and desperate, he has devised a plan to infiltrate the Tower, and he just heard of a group of adventurers that are brave, capable, and … expendable. The perfect team to send on a probably suicidal mission!

Greetins Green Level adventurers! Friend baron has a new, fun, and exciting adventure for you! This fifty page adventure describes about twelve scenes inside a gigantic tower/city that is under siege. The party travels through a rigid caste-based society that really be in a 70’s social commentary scifi movie instead. Follow the script, stab the bosses and then … win?

Ok, so, Baron von Evil is laying siege to the massive tower city and sends the party in through some lower cave/tunnels to get to the city gates and blow them up with the bombs he’s devised for you to carry. You get in and find a massively caste-based society. The tower/city has four levels. The lowest, black are the workers, then the level above has the red managers, then the golden enforcers and judges above that, and then the white intelligentsia above that. We’ll let you decide if Black=Worst and White=Best has any meaning here. Anyway, it’s right out of a scifi movie and, in fact, this probably should have been a Gamma World adventure but, then, of course, it wouldn’t sell any copies at all. Ok, so, anyway, you’re in this city on the lowest levels. You gotta get ahold of some levitation bands to Ascend through the central shaft. Along the way you meet rebels, learns about the rape of an 8 year old by a cop, and find out that hte whites are not white, they are all really just one lich in charge of everything. 

The designer kind of knows they’ve written a railroad and has some words on advice on how to make it not a railroad and more interactive. There are some very basic maps of the city regions, but, ultimately, the adventure comes down to the twelve or so scenes/events that make up the plot here. You’re in the tunnels and then watch some cops kill a couple of citizens just minding their own business. You watch an Ascension, where citizens are promoted to the next color up. You meet a rebel and then get arrested by the ol “four more show up every turn” trick. Youre in the middle of the Barons army invading the tower, you boss fight Golden Centurion Marigold 1 (that’s one of the tower peoples names. Like I said, SciFi) who covered up the rape of the little girl. Let’s see, one of the lich’s victims telepathics you, and then you fight the lich. Let’s see … have I bitched about rape yet? Of a child? Why are people putting this shit in their adventures? This is supposed to be fun. You know what’s not fun? Child rape. People just seem to toss that shit around the way they toss around Hitler when arguing. Maybe give it a rest and find something else for the cops to cover up? Maybe Soylent Green is people. That’s fun. Can you  imagine? People love it. They riot over it. And it’s actually people. And, notably, not child rape. (and murder! Don’t forget the murder after the child rape.) 

The adventure gives you a list of NPC’s, a list of scenes, and a list of locations. There’s a decent number of summaries and background information as well, but, really, it is the people, places, and events that drives this.

Well, I say people drive it, but it tends to be more of a “Guest Star of the Week” kind of the thing. You get an NPC in a scene or situation and then you’ll be lucky if they continue to show up. Thus there is a relatively large number of named NPC’s, each with decently long NPC descriptions. Those descriptions are fairly well done but at some point you’ve got to ask yourself why we have so many people. You can’t possibly form a bond with any of them, not in the amount of time they are showing up. There is supposed to be this underlying theme pr regression, rebelling against order, blind adherence to order and the neutral observers to it all that is handicapped (Let’s see the judiciary enforce their decisions when enforcement power belongs to the people they are ruling against.) And then, of course, ultimately the entire system comes from corruption at the very top, the farce of the liches leadership. 

We’ve all seen a lot of liches. Party liches, grim liches. We’ve got a master manipulator here, that shows up a couple of times in public ceremonies impersonating a “white,” Possessing, really. And he has some tells. He raises his hands to his face and says “Actually …” a lot. There’s a fun little gimmick to get the party wondering, This is just slightly farcical and one of the better parts of the adventure.

Looks, it is essentially a railroaded scenebased adventure. The designer tries to help it not be that with some locations and a tad bit of free will, but that’s what it is. There’s nothing wrong with that. It is, I suspect, how the vast majority of people play D&D, some derivations of scene based with a lot of hand-waving. Not my favorite type, but I get it. If you’re gonna have scenes then lean in and write a scene based adventure. If you want your location based adventure to have events then dump those in. This adventure never fully commit to either and is the worse for it. Devo says you need to Sartre this baby up! This needed to be all events/scenes or a location based adventure with “secrets” to discover and a few events thrown in. 

This is Pay What You Want at DriveThru with a suggest price of $1. The preview is eleven pages and gives you a good cross-section of different aspects of the adventure. Good preview. 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/563227/the-tower-for-nimble?1892600

The Weird Wood of southern Parsulan is an ancient forest infused with potent arcane energies. In halls of Magical Academy at Abraxad, surrounded and protected by the wood, it is labelled as Forbidden and students have been disciplined or even expelled for entering it other than by the proscribed paths. Treasure seekers and adventures from other places sometimes travel the forest, however, but many don't return.

What is known from the reports of those that enter it is that the forest is a place of unusual magical power. At the very least, it alters a visitor's perception of time and distance. The wood is also said to be the abode of strange spirits, beings inhabiting both biological and mechanical forms.

Faerie woodlands are hardly a rarity in Parsulan, but somehow, the Weird Wood has become infected or entwinned with technomagical devices in addition to its natural, elemental powers. Some point to its relative proximity to the Field of Fallen Colossi and suggest some stray, animate portion of the giant combatants may have made its way to the forest. Others argue that given the sheer number of constructs and amount armament debris found there, moss covered or half-buried, it must be the remnant of an assault by a substantial force. Perhaps in times past someone marched against Abraxad, and this is the result? If that is true, then Abraxad would surely have record of it in its extensive libraries, but those remain closed to outsiders.

Whatever their origins, it is these artifacts that draw the scavengers.

The commonly encountered fae of the forest are mostly harmless and appear as small, crude figures or vaguely animal or insect shapes of metal. They seem to mimic biological life in a rough but analogous way to the manner Meks resemble humans. 

The larger, more dangerous entities are harder to describe with certainty. Some appear as beasts with mechanical and biological parts. Others are shifting shapes of churning metal, churning storms of fury and blades.

 The Type 3 Security Cutter (also known as the Type 3 System Security Cutter) is a specialized law enforcement and patrol vessel in the Clement Sector RPG setting by Independence Games. While the Type 2 is a common sight in local system navies, the Type 3 represents an up-scaled, more formidable evolution of the security cutter concept.Here are the detailed specifications and background for Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

It’s May 4th, Star Wars Day! “May 4th be with you” and all that. Today, I wanted to reminisce about Star Wars TTRPG gaming as part of my 40 Years a Gamer retrospective.

Star Wars was immensely influential for me. I watched Star Wars—before it was called A New Hope—in theaters when I was just 4 years old. I had the toys and played with them endlessly. I learned what the Hero’s Journey was before even being introduced to the concept.

Hero’s Journey, Star Wars style! Image taken from IMGUR: https://imgur.com/a/heros-journey-sMfdk

The franchise was instrumental in teaching me about the oppressed fighting the oppressor, a hero breaking the cycle of violence and choosing to forgive, and evil ultimately consuming itself.

Incredibly, for something so influential, I did not immediately think about roleplaying in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

My first idea to use elements from Star Wars came from reading The Dungeoneer Compendium, issues 1-6, which I picked up at the same garage sale where I got my original Monster Manual and Deities & Demigods. Page 28 of the compendium had this entry in a random table: “Have C-3PO and R2-D2 of Star Wars come and join the group. However, have a group of Imperial stormtroopers hot on their tails.”

During an adventure in the summer of 1988, the players were in a magical library. They opened a tome, and R2-D2 and C-3PO came running across the room, hotly pursued by Stormtroopers and Darth Vader himself! One of the players tried to face Vader, who promptly sliced his magical sword in two and left the room to pursue the droids. That was it, a quick gag, sadly leaving a player with a broken magic sword, but not much more than that.

Around that time, I learned about the official Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game from West End Games, and I picked up the core book and the sourcebook. It was either late 1989 or early 1990 when I read it. I had an accident in my 11th-grade chemistry lab, and I vividly remember reading the Star Wars Sourcebook while waiting at the doctor’s office!

I didn’t run Star Wars as a GM back then. I did, however, play a Han Solo clone based on the character Dagg Dibrimi from Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (an animated Star Wars rip-off). I was a little disappointed when, halfway through the adventure, I realized we were playing a campaign based on the Space Quest video games!

I love the Star Wars D6 system. It developed so many ideas that became foundational to the Star Wars Expanded Universe (now Legends), keeping the franchise alive and vibrant between the end of the original trilogy and the launch of Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy. However, I had no luck running a satisfactory game in that universe. I tried launching an ambitious post-Return of the Jedi game in college, but my players complained that it “felt too much like a fantasy game.”

I would have to wait for ANOTHER system to run my definitive Star Wars campaign. When Wizards of the Coast got the license, I purchased their original edition but never played it. I did, however, play their second attempt at the rules: the Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Saga Edition, published in 2007.

I own all the books in that series, and I used them to run an Infinities campaign (i.e., “What if?” or alternate timeline). I won’t go into too much detail here, as I previously posted a long series of articles on the blog about the campaign, Star Wars: The Gathering Storm. You can read the first post in the series here and read the rest of the series if it interests you.

I loved the system, planned on using it for other sci-fi franchises, and really hoped D&D 4th Edition would be just like it! It was not, but that’s a story for another day. In the process, I also acquired WAY too many Star Wars miniatures and ships from WotC.

Looking back, it isn’t a perfect system. It still has a bit too much “d20” in its DNA, which isn’t always a good fit for the genre. Jedi were generally better than other classes, and they quickly became the superhero-like versions that later Star Wars media made them out to be. I really prefer the WEG d6 version, which captured the grounded feel of the Jedi from the original trilogy.

I’ve never played the Star Wars Roleplaying from FFG/Edge Studio. Friends have told me it is great, and I have read very interesting reviews. I must admit to being a little averse to “funky dice” (proprietary dice with strange symbols), which kept me from giving it a try. From what I’ve seen, that is probably my loss. I own the original starter set for the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game, 1st edition, and enjoyed playing it, but I never bought anything beyond that core box.

I hope to play some more Star Wars TTRPGs in the future, probably in the same vein as my The Gathering Storm campaign—an alternate version of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. But what system to use?

I don’t think I’ll use the official TTRPG from Edge Studio. I am curious about Star Borg by JP Coovert; it looks like a very fun adaptation of Star Wars ideas to the Mörk Borg rules.

I also believe White Star: Galaxy Edition could handle Star Wars with little problem, especially if you add the Between Star & Void supplement.

Stars Without Number would also work beautifully, particularly with the Codex of the Black Sun sourcebook.

There is always the Star Wars 5e fan project, but if I were going to use a more modern iteration of the d20 rules, I would likely go back to playing the Saga Edition with some house rules.

Of course, you can always try Star Wars d6 REUP (Revised, Expanded, and Updated), a fan-made update of the WEG rules!

But let’s be sincere: if you know me, or follow me on social media at all, you know exactly where I was getting to with this.

If I were to run a Star Wars game today, I’d probably use Savage Worlds to do it! There is an incredible fan-made Star Wars: Savage Worlds Compendium. I’ve downloaded all their supplements and even printed the book via Lulu. I am completely ready to play Savage Star Wars… I just need to find the time.

Did you play Star Wars D6? What system did you use to play Star Wars? Do you have any recommendations? I’d love to read your feedback in the comments.

Happy Star Wars Day to all. May 4th, and the Force, be with you, always!

Welcome to the third entry in my ongoing series highlighting incredible Boricua creators! Today, I’m thrilled to share my interview with Karla Miranda.

I first became aware of Karla’s work through her posts in the Puerto Rico Role Players and Dungeons & Dragons Puerto Rico Facebook groups, where she regularly shares her stunning character portraits. She was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about her creative process and her time at the gaming table. I am incredibly grateful to her and to all the other local creators who have been participating in this series.

Here is our interview!

Introduce yourself! Who are you and what do you create?

My name is Karla Miranda, and I’m a full-time teacher and occasional artist! I usually just love illustrating my characters, with the occasional piece of fan art.

How would you describe your art or creative endeavor?

My art is catered specifically to me, LOL. I’ll get a sudden hit to create a new character or update an existing one, and my process is always accompanied by a 1+ hour YouTube essay.

How did you discover TTRPGs?

A friend suggested we try an experimental version of just regular verbal roleplay with occasional dice rolls. After that, he invited me to play D&D 5e Princes of the Apocalypse!

Do you actively play TTRPGs right now? What are you playing?

I currently play with my girls and @Wenceslavos, who is our DM! We’re playing Curse of Strahd, and it’s been an incredible two years already!

What do you want to play next? The next thing in the queue to play is Dark Matter, published by Mage Hand Press, with my girls, and Rime of the Frostmaiden (RotF) in our in-real-life game!

What projects are available, and what are you working on next?

Right now, @Wenceslavos and I are brainstorming more beginner-friendly and advanced player One-Shot Adventures with full character art, plus creating the characters for our upcoming RotF adventure!

Where can people find your art?

You can find my work only on Instagram @vilea_ngel_ !

Any closing thoughts? If you’re an artist, be insane with your favorite characters. You’ll learn to draw so quickly if you hyper-fixate, LOL. And if you’re not, it’s never too late to join the light and pick up a pencil to start learning! You gotta be bad at something before you’re good!

Huge thank you to Karla! I’ve actually had the immense pleasure of meeting her in person; she is not only a talented artist but a fantastic GM and a genuinely amicable person.

I got to see her run a game at El Gremio in Cayey for the Puerto Rico Role Players holiday event. You can also spot her as one of the local gamers interviewed by Juego La Mesa for the 50th Anniversary of D&D (which I was actually interviewed for as well!): Watch the Facebook Reel Here

She also provided the art for—and played in! —This excellent one-shot run by Juego La Mesa:

It is a true privilege to know her and to share her art with all of you. Make sure to go and give her a follow!

This post continues the series of brief play reports I have been posting on Discord. This does not cover every single session (sometimes, recon and setup is what happens), but it covers our ongoing games.

Shadowing Pellostratos

 19/01/2026 FOMALHAUT

News from Fomalhaut! After finding a connection between the monorail station and the cellars of Pellostratos the Thaumaturge below the city, the company placed discreet inquiries about the patrician, and his possible connections to the Uttermost Masters. It turned out Pellostratos was a known trader of fine artwork from an unknown source. They finally arrived at a plan to flush him out if he was in the UMs’ service. After midnight, Bocephus used an autoalteration and dreamsending spell, appearing in the thaumaturge’s dreams as one of the masked masters, and speaking: “The chance for you to shine is at hand. We are moving up the timetable, meet us at the usual place in the morning.” The company immediately set out for the monorail station to nab him if he was there, while Murat the Etunian, bearing a tiny communicator device, headed for his house to cover his above-ground tracks if he chose that route. Indeed, he saw the patrician approach in one of the dark streets with an escort of guards, also carrying a small chest. He shadowed Pellostratos through the streets and plazas, joined by an invisible Bocephus. They emerged on the Plaza of Kagmek Khotoummi, where their mark headed towards the Shrine of Deformed Frogs. Following him into the sanctum, they saw Pellostratos sacrifice incense sticks and valuables to the great Tsathoggus, asking him to interpret his strange dream. To the thaumaturge’s bad luck, he rolled quite badly on the divine sacrifice table, and was almost struck down with a punishment, parting with the frog-priests after some tense discussion. It seemed he was not, in fact, the Masters’ agent. Leaving him to return home, they headed for the Temple of the Fallen Idol to see if they could learn something underground. In the city streets, they encountered a procession of guards, courtiers, and a sedan chair: Tyraxus Tharg, Glourm’s wizard-tyrant was heading for some unknown location, and they left him well alone.

Starting from the monorail terminal, they investigated some bare passages made from featureless grey stone. Dark, formless blobs drifted in the air. After throwing some objects forward, it turned out the passage was a gravity anomaly where things were falling sideways. Unfortunately, the tests also agitated the zero-G amoebae, which proved tough opponents, only divided by edged weapons, and able to engulf their opponents. Once they were slain with some difficulty, the gravity wells could be examined – there were no ways further, but one of them had some old bones on its bottom with a decent amount of coinage. The next thing they checked were hallways to the south, which contained a starfish-shaped idol radiating cold, and a triangle-shaped room with a strange, shifting landscape on one of its walls. Bocephus, relying on information from a book plundered from the Doorless Arct, identified it as a dreamscape, and they chose not to investigate it. They headed east, into a cavern filled with hallucinogenic mushrooms and spore-spewing mushroom-men. This time, they came prepared; some monsters were webbed, and the rest killed off. Using her ring of water breathing, Lilith waded into a deep pool of water, eventually finding a connecting cavern and a fungus-encrusted treasure chest, filled with treasures and a different magic ring. Ascending to an upper floor, they continued exploring for a while, discovering a vault with a strange cross-legged statue, as well as an ancient ossuary filled with the innumerable bones of the long-dead. But as dawn was approaching, they chose to withdraw and return to their exclusive quarters at the Spheroid Fish to ponder their next move. According to the divination they had received earlier, there would be two more days before something interesting would be happening at the monorail terminal – and it was time to make preparations!

Deep into the Underworld
26/01/2026 THISIUM 

News from the doomed city of Thisium! A large company of adventurers descended into the Thisian Underworld to seek the secrets of Mornalt Tamburello. Through the graveyard entrance, they descended into the Vercato crypt, then rappelled down to the Grand Mausoleum... before realising this was not the way to Mornalt’s underground domain. They returned to the surface to go through another entrance. Things did not get better from here. They descended from the gardens of Villa Tamburello, going for the nobleman’s underground aviary. Racha Ducka distracted the talking peacock there while the others snuck down a flight of stairs into an underground suite. Mornalt was out, and the company’s thieves ransacked his quarters. They found gold and silver, and the portrait of a raven-haired noblewoman, behind which was garlic, holy water, a holy symbol, a silver cross, and a small leather-bound notebook with several female names in it (many noted multiple times). Mornalt’s marble throne hid a switch which opened a large trapdoor before the seat, revealing a chute. Brighella the thief was lowered down with ropes, and found the slide leading to a cistern they have already visited. They left the suite, and went to check out a stairway on this level they had not yet investigated. It led down to a room identified by an inscription as „THE PATRIARCH’S REST”. The once-decorative chamber had a gaping hole in the middle (below which they saw the magically lit garden of the wizard Prospero), and a large, broken glass display case, the size of a wardrobe, stood on one side. They returned back the stairs, and headed for the Tamburello crypts, which still had two unexplored chambers. In the tomb of Gioconda Tamburello, marked „IT IS ONLY WITH THE HEART THAT ONE CAN SEE RIGHTLY; WHAT IS ESSENTIAL IS INVISIBLE TO THE EYE”, they opened the sarcophagus bearing the likeness of a mysteriously smiling lady to reveal... nothing. There was jingling laughter and the scent of perfumes.

Something large and invisible sprung from inside. Brighella received a mortal wound, and died along with Haldir, the ever-alert scout. This was a difficult fight, but they prevailed over the invisible monster, and poking around for false bottoms, Amedeo the halfling found a set of invisible gemstones. Following an unexplored corridor from the crypt, they found that it connected to a known section. Descending to the Temple of the Bat, they encountered three Northman berserkers, disappointed the place had no treasure. They sent them back to the Tamburello crypts where there might be some left. They proceeded to explore more corridors, where they met Brunello the Dwarf, an explorer who joined the company. Their exploration eventually led them to the Grand Staircase. Choosing to venture beyond a mysterious room with a fire-pit and the statues of three magic-users, they descended a set of stairs to an antique bronze door with the even beat of drums behind it. The chamber beyond was a shrine, its walls badly angled and its dimensions vertigo-inducing. Two worn iron statues stood by the entrance; slender-limbed humanoid things holding tridents, with conch-shell shaped heads. „This is just like the Temple of the Unknown God”, someone spoke. „It was some pretty horrible shit there.” „Let’s go for it anyway.” Brunello approached a trapdoor (which was in a vertical side-wall), and it almost sucked him in with some terrible force. The two statues animated, blocking the exit. Amedeo shot a slingstone at an ugly little obsidian idol on the altar, smashing off an arm and sending a tiny metal tuning fork clattering. One of the statues was lassoed and temporarily entangled, but in the combat, Racha Ducka’s magic mace was sucked inside the other’s body, and these things proved almost impossible to hit.

Paty and Dona Neves, both light foot, targeted their missiles at a spiral on the ceiling, and as they gazed into its patterns, felt themselves pulled in a hundred directions. Paty survived, but Dona Neves was torn into bits. The company’s porters panicked, running towards the altar. Alfredo fell sideways into the bottomless trapdoor, and was gone with a shriek. Piero the porter just screamed and screamed. Amedeo aimed the small tuning fork, producing a grey beam on the iron statue, but with no effect. They chose to run beside it, fleeing up to the Grand Staircase, then the Temple of the Bat. Climbing up to the higher level, they saw a shimmering “force-wall” approach in the corridor, with a floating blade behind it. Brunello advanced, and was almost engulfed by the gelatinous cube like a complete newbie. They fled through the side-passage to the Tamburello crypts, hoping to meet up with the Northmen. These hopes were dashed: the berserkers had disturbed the rest of several shadows, and were absorbed into their ranks. The company just dashed through the moaning shades, deciding to make their exits through the Lower Crypts, one level above. Passing through the burial vaults without issues, they followed a northwards corridor, forgetting about the pit trap in its middle. Amedeo and Racha Ducka fell down a greased slide into a spiked pit, but survived the deathtrap, and were pulled out (after the horrifying „do we even have rope left?” question). Staggering up to the Grand Mausoleum, they exited the Underworld through the Vercato crypt, where they had first entered it. They had spent over 8 hours down there, and were dead exhausted by the time they were out. Piero the porter retired, promising never to adventure again... but in all his life, he would never forget the subterranean shrine’s strange geometries, and the winged beings that stood there and fought with tridents. At this time, the city had 21 days left.

Attack in Ucria

29/01/2026 KASSADIA

News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! (A report on two sessions.) The Lion Pack sailed north from Sormadium to return the body of Lady Gwaelben to the elves. For the night, they camped on the northern end of the island, but as they lit their fire, they soon noticed another nearby. Their new neighbours came over, 30 Northmen itching for a fight with Bull-Slayer Halfdan, King of the Seas as their leader. Jovial Faustulus wagered a great sum of gold against Halfdan’s golden bracers, turning the situation from a potential melee into a duel. The two warriors were well matched, but eventually, Faustulus was the one to land the third strike, and this impressed Halfdan and his men. They parted on good terms, the barbarians even inviting them on a raid against the village of Ucria, which they politely declined. They also revealed that the master of Castel di Lucio was buying slaves from them, and had a particularly beautiful slave girl in his possession. The next day, they sailed north in stormy weather, and returned the body of Lady Gwaelben to her companions. In turn, their leader, Nasril, granted them the healing herbs they were seeking. After resting in the elven tower, they sailed to the town of Sambuci, reached in difficult Autumn weather. What was once a town was now a mere village after a great plague, its houses walled-up or ruined, and its folk sullen and suspicious. They passed through quickly, as their destination was the neat and prosperous villa of the Bonnacorsi family, who had inherited one of the magic seals that would open the accursed tower of Quintus Equitius Elvorix. The current lord, Quirino Bonnacorsi, was a generous host to his visitors, as were his dreamy daughter, Mercede, and his son, the valiant Alvaro, both of marriageable age, but neither betrothed yet. Mercede had one suitor in the form of an impoverished, statue-obsessed noble named Edoardo Memmoli , while Alvaro seemed to be hiding something.

The next day, they raised the matter of the seal, and after some thought, Quirino suggested a compromise. He would grant them the item, but only after they proved themselves capable by winning another. To this, they agreed. The next seal they aimed for was in the village of Ucria, owned by Paolo Viglione. After more sailing in bad weather, they landed in the decrepit farming and fishing village, inhabited by a poor and unfriendly lot. The walls were crumbling and the houses were in bad repair, except for Villa Viglione, which now served as Ucria’s Monopoly, owned by the pink-robed magic-user Pirnox. Pirnox and his guards were just restoring things after the recent Northman raid, who had made off with considerable riches. It turned out Paolo had disappeared a while back, and the new owner had purchased sole trading rights in Ucria, and settled here. He didn’t know of any seal, but allowed his guests to search the upper floor to see if it was somewhere. As they spoke, though, Publius Varro noticed he was glancing at a spot on the wall, and while Pirnox was distracted upstairs, quickly found a secret niche, which held... not the seal, but a package of refined purple poppy, the drug that had been spreading in the cities of the Empire! He nabbed the pack, and they took farewells from Pirnox, finding shelter for the night in an abandoned cottage. Cornering a lurking urchin, they interrogated him about the village. He praised master Pirnox’s generosity to children, and also revealed many in the village were now spitting red from the drug, brought by shepherds from the mountains. Master Paolo had also gone up to the high valley when he was last seen. Considering what this all meant, they settled down to sleep, but awoke in the night to the smell of smoke. The roof was on fire, and they were surrounded by a strangely fanatical torch-and-pitchfork-mob of villagers with murder in their eyes, even with children among them!

They fought their way out from the burning building through screaming farmers and fishermen, coming into the fire of crossbowmen behind more distant houses. Petros the light footman went down to a bolt, while Lucia the light footwoman and Manius the bowman were cut down by the lightning bolt of Master Pirnox. But the tide of battle turned, and the owner of the Monopoly galloped away on a horse with a retinue of men, and his thugs fled into the wilderness also. Many villagers had been massacred (although children were only slept), and the rest didn’t dare come out of their hovels. They had full command of Ucria. The Monopoly was as before, but two large chests had been quickly emptied and all horses taken. They barricaded themselves for the night, resting off the attack. The following day, most of the villagers had vanished, fleeing with their meagre belongings, leaving only a few idiots and infirm people. The Lion Pack followed the horse tracks into the mountain valley. Passing by strange old ruins that were the bare walls of an above-ground labyrinth, they left the cultivated lands for wild pastures. Finally, the trail led them to a well-concealed canyon leading further up among the peaks. They spotted lookouts on a high precipice, and two of the group climbed the rocks to ambush and kill them (Publius used his spark-throwing dagger to good effect here). From this vantage point, they could see beyond the canyon. A small valley lay there with trees, and a field of red poppies covering all its upper reaches. Sheep grazed lower down, tended to by shepherds much like the men they had just killed. Around a stone house and the nearby stables were Pirnox’s thugs, going about their business. They waited for evening. Near sundown, Master Pirnox made an appearance outside the house, giving commands to five thugs, who descended the valley – and they would soon find the bodies who had fallen off of the cliffs! They needed to act.

The Hidden Valley
Five men came up the path to check on the guards on the cliffs, while Publius slipped down in the dusk to eavesdrop on those near the cottage. His companions took a stand along the well-defensible mountain path, while Publius tried to remove a large slate shingle to get a drop on Pirnox. Unfortunately, the alert magic-user noticed, and blasted him with magic missiles. Publius feigned death, but as men were running out and joining the fray on the path, he sprang up and inundated Pirnox with flaming oil, badly burning him (and destroying his pink cloak of protection +2). Ucria’s master ran for a horse, and tried to flee with his life. With a web spell and an earth elemental conjured into Arden Oakbark’s staff, the attackers on the mountain path were killed, and once the fleeing magic-user went down to an arrow shaft from Aristeo Guarini, the awesome display of power made the rest of the men run. Looting the house, they found bags of coins (no doubt taken in haste from Ucria’s Monopoly), a well-equipped alchemist’s laboratory to process purple poppies, and a good quantity of the raw stuff ready for manufacturing. The next day, there was heavy raining, and they spent it at rest... or rather, Martus the Opiate continued Master Pirnox’s job on his own, preparing purple poppy paste to the muffled tunes of Push it to the Limit. Sidius searched the valley thoroughly, and under a stone pile, found old, carelessly buried human bones: the rotting scraps of expensive clothing, and the magic seal they were seeking! Thus was the resting place of Paolo Viglione discovered. Another day later, they descended back to Ucria, whose inhabitants huddled in fear of them in their cottages. They learned that the escaping thugs had tried to flee across the stormy sea, but went down with their vessel. Seeing this as a sign this was no day to embark, they slept another day at the Monopoly, and the following day, they set sail for the city of Sormadium.

(Note the strategic use of Judges Guild’s Island / Village Book as templates to build from.)

Underground Passages
01/02/2026 FOMALHAUT

News from Fomalhaut! On the night before the day determined by augury, the company descended deep into the Temple of the Fallen Idol. They brought abundant supplies, as well as robes and bearded masks to take on the guise of the Uttermost Masters. With the city’s elite agents, they set up watch near the monorail terminal, and waited. Almost a day passed, but at last, the door on the hall’s northern side opened, and down came Pellostratos the Thaumaturge with an escort of guards bearing heavy crates. The masked adventurers stepped forward and greeted him in the name of the Uttermost Masters, asking him what he was doing in their domain. Pellostratos was scared out of his wits of the forms he had seen in his dream, and glimpsed in Glourm on previous occasions. It was determined that he had brought trade goods – food, fancy clothing, alcohol and narcotics – which he would periodically trade with the people who came by the monorail system. With another word, he was dismissed, to flee where he came. Now they waited, and slightly later, the monorail arrived through the great metal gates, bearing no men but goods – fancy ceramic pots, rich furniture, glassware, and other objets d’art. They quickly boarded, bid farewell to the agents, and waited for the journey to come. The metal tube travelled hours through unknown underground layers, and finally, through another gateway, arrived in a massive, empty, and ark hall. An inscription on the wall read: „TERMINEXUS, S. T. PHI”. They were not alone. A group of men in nondescript working clothes were in waiting, and as they saw the masked figures emerge, they made a run for one of the side passages. They were alone again. They followed the northern passages, reaching a gravel-filled room whose walls were lined by great stone faces, and an inscription reading: „THE OVERSEERS DECREE CONTINUED VIGILANCE.” The gravel was unstable in the middle, and Murat the Etunian was almost swallowed as in quicksand.

They continued, reaching a vast, unlit hall of unknown height. Massive towers of dark metal stood by the walls with balconies and apertures. Examining the silent structures, they were ambushed by a barrage of precisely aimed crossbow bolts. The four cloaked figures who attempted the assassination moved forward in a herky-jerky way, responding to no words – men, but men acting in an oddly mechanical way. Three were killed and one was tackled, but he did not speak. He was slain, and at the moment of death, showed a moment of panic and confusion before expiring. They continued exploring the hall, its towers and machinery all dusty and abandoned. They were soon beset by 12 shaggy, hunched humanoids clad in dirty rags and equipped with primitive weaponry, whom they slew. Further on, they discovered a hall filled with shallow pits containing rotting remains intermixed with human bones. Portcullises fell to seal all exits, a weird alarm sounded, and several howling noises came from the NW. With great effort, Ion raised the portcullis they came from, and they fled back through the passages to their starting point. Now they chose to follow the men who had escaped from them. An angled shaft led up to a sunlit outdoors courtyard. On one side were the roofs of a large building complex, and on the other, sheer cliffs rising to the infinity of a dull white sky, with the occasional dark hexagonal spot. A group of shabbily dressed men were relaxing by the walls. The encounter was tense, and they ended up getting chased out through a large gate into a massive city of antique, once-elegant buildings, now crumbling with their balconies, cupolas, and statuary. 

The City of Diomira

The plazas and larger streets were populated by crowds clad in colourful clothing, and they noticed several faceless, togaed statues standing on plinths, as well as dark, polished metal disks mounted on building facades. They followed a street, encountering a procession escorting naked, laughing and weeping people. Avoiding them, they happened on a deserted little square by the cliffs, where a dirty alleyway hid a great stone face. Finding no way to make sense of it, they continued exploring, passing by a large, dusty plaza, where two ragged hoboes were hurling metal balls at each other among curses and invectives among the ruins of a larger building, watched by crowds making bets. Even further, they met a hysterical woman experiencing a nervous breakdown among the crowds. Ion stepped forward to calm her down. She introduced herself as Berenice, seeming distraught for reasons she could not explain. “It is mirror overexposure”, Ion suggested, pointing at one of the black disks on a nearby facade, mystifying her. He took her home, an apartment in one of the nearby building complexes. She treated Ion to some jerg (a pink, springy, sweet-and-sour lump serving as the common food here), and there could have been more if he had no other things to do. They headed towards the city’s western public park, where they had encountered the renegade philosopher Theognis on their previous visit, but his tower-villa was burned out. As they headed up a stairway to the grassy hills, they were accosted by 20 colourfully dressed, weak-chinned men, who started following and harassing them. The encounter soon devolved into mutual hostility, the louts accusing the visitors of offending their personal truth. When Polybios retorted in a dismissive manner, they became livid with rage. A large crowd surged forward to observe the events. They withdrew into the hills under a barrage of stones, which did little damage against armour. Among the trees, they made their stand, and the crazed flower children died under their weapons. The screaming survivors fled with the crowds back to the city, the rest remaining on the ground drenched in their own blood. Dusk was approaching, the light above unmoving but dimmed. Night was coming to the vast, crowd-filled city far beneath the surface of the earth.

The Demonic Theatre

03/02/2026 THISIUM

News from the doomed city of Thisium! A large group of adventurers, supplemented by the entourage of the Fomalhaut-born warrior Duran Duran, descended into the Thisian Underworld in pursuit of the Doom Below the City, thought to be found in fiery depths. Much rope and an empty barrel were taken along. Descending through the passages, the company fought off giant bats in the great cavern, where the new fighting-man proved his mettle. Onwards, beyond the Temple of the Bat, they filled the barrel with water from a pump, and carried it down the Grand Staircase. At the bottom was the Arena of the Overmen, a small fighting ring surrounded by marble statues of heroic proportions. Giacomo stepped forth to rise to the challenge, and went for the grand prize, the elixir of the very gods! He had to fight two overmen in arena combat, and prevailed, winning a draught that raised his STR and CHA to 18, sharing in the gods’ immortal glory! Continuing, they were ambushed by 6 berserkers, who slew Diaba the archer. Five were slept and the last was captured. They forced him into the arena, which he took in stride, defeating an overman and earning a hammer +1! Silver-tongued Giacomo, now perfectly charismatic, convinced him to join in their adventures, which the warrior accepted. They proceeded to the fiery well close by, peering down into great depths of volcanic fire. „You guys didn’t mention the lava”, said Giacomo. A barrel of water suddenly didn’t seem all that useful. Nevertheless, Aufidia Corvina bravely had herself lowered with ropes as far as she could descend (earning the berserker’s respect), and using two charges of her wand to detect secret doors, to no avail. They now chose another route: the stairs the berserkers were hiding in. The worn steps descended into a natural cavern. In its eastern end stood a wooden stage, with 31 motionless humans dipped in hardened wax standing before a painted theatrical backdrop.

Aufidia raised her holy symbol to turn undead (just in case), and indeed, four figures broke their wax shells, escaping in moans. A deep, bellowing voice came from behind the scenery: „COME CLOSER, AND ENJOY THE PLAY! ... IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO SEE JUST THE ART, HERE AM I, THE ARTIST!” Aufidia threw her fireball, destroying the 31 damned souls, and blasting the stage into smithereens. From behind came a terrible towering figure with bat wings, a great horned head and a massive body, brandishing a massive lightning-shaped sword and a fiery whip! The fighting-men charged. In terrible combat, the Berserker fought heroically with his magic hammer, and was killed with a swordstrike. Elkheart the dog ran between the demon’s legs with a rope to entangle it, and was executed with a swipe of the weapon. But the company fought just as well, wearing down the demon into a single Hit Point. It roared, „HERE COMES THE DEUS EX MACHINA!”, dragging Dorvo (Fighting-Man 5) into its flames, killing him. But Giacomo struck with his magic dagger, stabbing the horror, which disappeared with a final roar! There were great iron chests behind the stage, containing 11,000 gp, a shield +2 , potions, scrolls, gems, and a treasure map. With great difficulty, the treasure was distributed, though the survivors could barely move. They carried some of the load only to the Grand Staircase, where they hid it in the secret grotto below a (much larger) hoard of copper pieces. From here, they went up, and through known routes, returned to the room beneath the Pickled Carp – using their remaining rose of resurrection to return Dorvo to life. At this time, the city had 20 days left...

Meeting Old Friends08/02/2026 FOMALHAUT

News from Fomalhaut! Having killed or driven off the mob of crazed citizens who had attacked them, the adventurers sought shelter in the vast city as night was falling. They used to have a friend in this parkland area from their previous visit almost a year previously, but Theognis the individualist hermit was gone, and his ruined tower-villa was a burned-out ruin. They headed north through the streets, now quiet and desolate. An ambush came from dark doorways; eight shaggy brutes equipped with clubs and nets, the devolved men of the underground tunnel system. They fought and killed the assailants, and finally found shelter in a long-deserted apartment. The next dawn rose, and they went out among the crowds to seek out other people they had known. Words had spread of the massacre in the woods, and of poetry readings and new art projects. It was being whispered that the killings must have been the work of the Anti-Prophet, the city’s implacable enemy, still doing his nefarious work somewhere in hiding. They passed through the bustling Grand Plaza, filled with throngs of all ages, and passed by the hill where the mysterious, sealed Spiralling Temple. They headed NE, to one of the smaller plazas where lived Forbas the Philosopher. Finding his house among so many again was a challenge, but Gelastikos Antagoras, his rival who had lived in filth in a hollow stone sphere as a personal statement, could show the way to his hated enemy’s house. Heading that way, a local man approached them, and offered a trade for the „exotic” helmet worn by Meurios Andromakhos – a jewel worth a staggering 15,000! Meurios had inherited his armaments through several generations of aristocratic succession, but he was a shrewd trader as well, and after talking up his headgear, accepted the offer. They now went for Forbas’s house, but he no longer lived there, and the new tenants, a young family, did not know where he went. The trail was cold.

Heading back south and weighing their options, they were rushed by a demented, screaming old man, but Bocephus was alert, and quickly charmed him. The man, Eteokles, did not understand his momentary confusion – he saw someone in the characters he immediately forgot – but now they had a friendly guide. He took them for a lunch at the Through of Sustenance, where the city’s two types of food, gump (sloppy, sweet and savoury, faint hint of vomit) and jerg (springy, pink, elastic) were available for free, and where the wayfarers, those citizens who had given up all effort, spent their days in stupor. Of the city’s recent attractions, Eteokles was particularly impressed by the „talking frogs” of the nearby Theatre of Rapt Gazes, an art project of sorts. Having no better idea, they visited the place, home to artistic experimentation, poetry recitals, and various side-shows off the main area. Behind a curtain embroidered with an enormous frog-head, they met the young Theoron and his four companions, who showed them the frogs, stone statuettes standing on plinths, and instructed Bocephus in rubbing them with euphoric unguent. The carved images spoke indeed, and to Theoron’s massive surprise, ordered him to admit the company to the chambers’ inner sanctum. They stepped beyond another curtain, and stood before... a great, enthroned frog-thing between braziers of incense-smoke, peering down at them with three bulging, malevolent eyes. The fat frog-demon bellowed in surprise, recognising the killers of his fellows in the palace of Philetor Grentor, in the world of ULTRAREALITY! Bocephus quickly saved the day by proposing that they had no reason to fight in this city, as they had a common enemy in the city’s secretive masters – and besides, that affair back in the past was self-defence. This calmed things. The great Tsathoggus was only getting established here, in the initial phases of taking over the city, and was in need of all allies he could get.

The demon and his newfound cultists had already caught one of the strange assassins who had also ambushed the company in the subterranean halls. Through magic and drugged interrogation, they had learned that the „Overseers” had an underground tower, which could only be accessed through a special glyph, which was in turn hidden in a mirror – not the common dark metal disks found all around the city with their cryptic messages, but a special one in an unknown location. Bocephus thanked the great frog profusely, but modestly declined an offer of cooperation promising spells and magical devices in exchange for a small agreement, reasoning that his revenge on the Uttermost Masters came first, and only once this was sated could he entertain such an offer. With this, they parted, being let out by the awestruck Theoron and his men. Before the theatre, they ran into someone else: Milto, a young man loitering around with some of his peers. They queried him about the city’s black market of outside goods, which Milto seemed to know decently well. He also recalled that a craftsman in a nearby workshop had something similar to Kelombrotos’s magic mace in his store. Their curiosity piqued, they investigated the deserted alleyway and the dusty little store. Milto came up behind them with 20 strong lads, demanding their fancy clothes. Bocephus slept nine, Kleombrotos and the others slew most of the rest, while one ran. They dragged the bodies into the workshop, and interrogated the wannabe bandit leader for what he knew, taking his accumulated plunder for their own. They let the survivors run, and headed towards the Plaza of the Gloomy Wells, where illicit goods were traded – and where the ubiquitous dark mirrors were missing from their metal frame...

The Bridge of Fire
10/02/2026 THISIUM

News from the doomed city of Thisium! A large company descended to the deeper levels of the Thisian Underworld to seek the source of its doom. In the Arena of the Overmen, Dorvo fought for and won a pair of boots of speed. They went one level deeper, and ventured beyond the Theatre of the Demon. One passage they found led to upwards stairs opening into a great cavern filled with the ancient bones of men and atavistic beasts. Choosing to retreat and pick the other route, they discovered an ancient downwards staircase, its steps worn and unnaturally steep. The spiral stairs went not just down but somehow sideways. Minor chambers were adjoined to the stairwell, with niches holding broken pottery. From the corners of these chambers emerged 8 figures in dusty shrouds, attacking by surprise. Ezzard the porter and Filippo the bowman had their necks wrung by the attackers, while Big Borso Caladri the heavy foot and Duran Duran the Paviser were strangled and dragged back beyond the corners. In this terrible fight, the company nevertheless prevailed, slaying two creatures and driving off the rest. These were not undead, and their lean night-dark bodies had no faces. They continued down, finding a deep and incredibly ancient passage. Following it to the east, they discovered an intersection, but the side-passages were not horizontal; rather, vertical in relation to their position. As Dorvo jumped to the other side with rope, three more shrouded beings came, but one was killed and two were driven off. They threw the body upwards, and watched it fall in that direction. With Dorvo’s aid, they crossed the pit. The way led to a small grotto with unnaturally sharp shadows, whose dimensions shifted as they moved. Its inhabitant, a giant ammonite with a splendid rainbow shell, proved peaceful, and they left it well alone. Luin the Lugubrious searched the room, finding a secret door. Opening it, red light and great heat streamed in through the doorway.

They entered into a massive natural cavern, standing on a ledge above tremendous depths. The fires of the Underworld burned far below; steam and smoke rose in blistering heat. Above them, a great basalt bridge spanned the cavern. They climbed a set of rough stairs on the cliffside above the fiery abyss, and preparing for what they knew would come, crossed the bridge. A terrible apparition of red and black appeared to block their way: a raven-haired woman in the garments of nobility – Lucia Tamburello, stoned by the people of the city as a witch! Giacomo quickly stepped forward, presenting a token he had received from his love, Hestia Tamburello. The spirit halted when seeing the item from her niece, but spoke terrible words: just as the mobs of the city had killed her who had done them no harm, thus would she bring doom upon Thisium, as it has been promised to her by the gods. Giacomo tried to appeal to her better nature, but this was not enough to move Lucia. However, with some questioning, they learned that only the Sword of Roses could defeat her (this weapon was just recently recovered), and also that while it was the city’s people who had killed her, it was the poisoned words of her brother, Mornalt Tamburello who had guided their hand. Giacomo offered to bring him to her if this was enough to save Hestia, and received a tentative „Perhaps” as the apparition disappeared. They left the volcanic cavern, finding a set of fiery shafts through which they could escape from the lower levels with rope and a levitate spell. They emerged through the mouth of a covered pit at the bottom of a wide and very old stairway, with the head of a malevolent jester leering down on them from the arch – the Stairway of Fools! Exploring the nearby tunnels, they fought and killed a rust monster. Giacomo tried to peel its carapace with his magic dagger, which he promptly lost to rusting (as the SVoZ version does that).

They returned to the stairway. They knew from previous adventures something was hidden in this area, so Aufidia Corvina used her wand of secret door detection, discovering a smaller and larger one. The smaller hid a lever, which lowered the second into the stairway like a ramp. They climbed, finding themselves at the entrance of a dusty archive. Opposite the entrance, the brass bas-relief of an owl looked at them with glowing ruby eyes. Suspecting a trap, Dorvo tested the area before the head with a thrown sack, which was sliced apart neatly by industrial-strength laser beams. With some trickery involving a mirror mounted on a spear, they bounced the rays right back at the owl, cutting the metal in half, allowing the eyes to be retrieved. The archives held a wealth of administrative documents going back several centuries, from tax rolls to sewer maintenance orders. They also found a few incredibly valuable books, a cache of magic scrolls, and a small wooden door. It was opened from a distance by a knockspell, triggering a sharp guillotine trap without harm. Beyond the door, there was only a cabinet with a bundle of old documents sealed with several seals of Thisium from different eras. Someone made a connection going back one year of campaign time – these were the lost documents the mad bureaucrat Jacindo had stolen from the city’s archives! Deciding not to tamper with the seals for now, they took their treasures and headed back to the surface. As they returned to the deserted downstairs room of the Pickled Carp, they heard of grave news: Gordisio Pamfile, one of Thisium’s three most powerful nobles, had just been assassinated in his palace. At this time, the city had 19 days left...

Winter Adventuring

14/02/2026 KASSADIA – WINTER ADVENTURING 2026

News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! (And the Winter Adventuring 2026 mini-con) A group of five adventurers and ten followers descended into the Blue Mausoleum in pursuit of treasure, following two treasure maps. They approached the entrance, where they found wide stairs flanked by six statues of hooded skeletons, one holding out a bony hand. They placed 19 coins in the palm, which deactivated some statues but not all, unleashing a barrage of magic missiles. The steps lead to a grandiose entrance hall with several exits, and a deep shaft in the middle. Gideon the halfling Fighter-Thief descended by rope to a lower level, landing on a pile of broken statuary. Looking around down here, he spotted a massive stone statue of a proud-looking man wearing a crown of gold and gemstones, which he quickly decided was going to be trouble, so he returned where he came. They proceeded westwards, fighting floating eyes in a catacomb section, discovering stairs up to a higher level, and a chasm spanned by a bridging stair leading up to an ominous throne. In the side of the chasm was a brass door marked „ARRHODES”. They used the enchanted roots of Thog to grow vines and roots on the wall, providing footholds to open up the door. An entrance corridor led to a hexagonal room of blazing fires, and a great red-hot metal face staring at them. A dispel magic was thrown in, destroying the face and the flames – an illusion! Investigating a small chamber, a ledge led to a side-chamber containing the tomb of Arrhodes, depicted on frescoes as a sage in a garden, being dismembered by a steel praying mantis. The sarcophagus contained treasures, including a ring of fire resistance. Satisfied, they headed up the stairs. The passages led to a shorter flight of stairs flanked by six statues of zombies bearing brass khopesh, and a narrow double door on the top.

Although they quickly noticed there was dried blood on the steps, Gideon nevertheless messed with the door, and narrowly escaped getting killed by sword blades striking from the wall. More carefully, he picked the lock, revealing a small tomb, where a toga-clad, pale patrician stood among shelves of treasure. Appius Avidius Albertonibus, a censor of the old Empire, almost charmed Gideon with his gaze, and managed to drain him before he fled down the stairs, struck by the statues’ swords as the vampire commanded them to be gone. Rather foolishly, they went for him again with the reasoning that „There is too much loot there to be worth missing out.” Incredibly luckily, Tobias the Cleric managed to control Appius Avidius, and the fight was turned into a parlay. He gave them a third of his treasures when requested, including a gladius +1 and a very expensive aquilifer (A.K.A. eagle-on-a-stick), and they parted amicably. The western passages led to a looted crypt with frescoes depicting augurs. A woman’s pleading came from a sarcophagus weighted down with heavy stones, but her tale that she was trapped therein by bandits for ransom was suspect, and the noble family name she gave was not known to them, so they steered clear. A nearby crypt was dedicated to „the Elevated Ones”, where three juju zombies ordered them to leave. An insult drew them out, and in a fight, they were killed, but so was Arboren of the Cliffs, light footman. From this crypt, stairs went up to a room with a magic triangle and a portal swirling with glowing mist. Hog the Hobbit meditated in the diagram, gaining +1 WIS. The portal contained a malevolent mist creature with many gnawing mouths, which spilled out when disturbed. They fled, but Settimia the Seeress, a porter, was killed. Tobias reanimated the dead zombies to retrieve the corpse, but they never returned from the mist either.

Onwards they went, through decrepit old crypts housing the servants of one „Alvus Tessero”. The way ended in a crypt inhabited by giant Venus flytraps, where multiple characters were almost killed. A stone disk in the floor was marked with the name of Alvus Tessero himself. Lifting it out revealed a burial pit with 14 zombies, who killed Vernatorix the spearman when he stepped into the first rank; and a wight, who was destroyed more easily, yielding magical weapons and much in treasure. With these, they returned to the exit, but again failed to pay the hooded skeletons enough, and right before the exit, Vellio the charcoal burner was killed by a magic missile. They returned to Pellagris richer to rest, resupply, and hire new followers. Here, incredible luck struck (literal 00 roll), resulting in Sir Vialor the Wild, a 12th-level Fighter generously kitted out with magical bling joining their adventure. Buffed up by his presence, they headed back. Investigating a passage from the entrance hall, they found a lapidary, and a stone statue calling himself the Stone Prophet. In exchange for a magic longbow, it told them where they might find the fabled Horn of Quintus on a different section of the upper level. Following the instructions, they got lost nevertheless, but found themselves in a multi-level burial vault spanned by bridges at multiple heights. Using his boots of levitation, Sir Vialor ascended to the upper level, got attacked by a swarm of mini-gargoyles, killed off the little buggers, and lowered a rope. After plundering a sarcophagus, they started exploring up here. They found the tomb of „Ansaldo Contrino, the Hunter”, whose sarcophagus rested among a collection of odd taxidermied monsters. Two of these were animated: a scitalis (a crystal-skinned snake) could hypnotise its victims, while a bonnacon (a shaggy bull) turned and covered its victims with burning excrement. The monsters were beaten and a pricy bow retrieved.

Following the passages, they finally found a secret door leading to the Alarus family crypt (the road to the Quintus Extension was regrettably buried under a lot of rubble). A metal sarcophagus was suspended high up from multiple chains. Sir Vialor levitated up, and got attacked by invisible swords, which were killed, but at the cost of Tullius the porter. Finding secret switches, the sarcophagus was lowered to the tomb floor. Opening it released a deadly gas trap, to which Luciano the kid succumbed, but a magical spark-throwing dagger studded with several sapphires, and other valuables were theirs. More exploration commenced on the adventure’s close, and Tobias gained permanent command of a gang of ghouls. They used them to loot a dangerous-looking room veiled in magical gloom, with dead adventurers lying on the floor. Alas, they also decided to burn a sinister-looking tapestry over the sarcophagi, releasing 4 wraiths. They shut the door at once, but the spirits came by surprise through the door, surrounded Sir Vialor, and for all his 12 levels, drained him of his life and turned him into a wraith before being dispatched. Tobias commanded their erstwhile companion to depart, which the sad shade did, and with their treasures, they headed for the exit, and the town of Pellagris...

I must also report that we went for a humble Chinese restaurant nearby, which had way better duck than anticipated, and I got a fortune cookie befitting a Gamemaster: “Your appearance infers leadership ability.” Indeed so, fortune cookie, indeed so.

 The revised edition of AX-3 Capital of the Borderlands serves as a foundational "home base" module designed for use with the Barrows & Borderlands system and other classic RPG rulesets. It expands significantly on the original version, providing a more living, breathing urban environment for players to explore between dungeon crawls.Overview of the CapitalThe Capital is a bastion of Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

Outlaw Space Station Encounters (d100)The following table is designed for the gritty, "used-future" atmosphere of the Hostile RPG. These encounters range from atmospheric flavor to life-threatening complications common in the lawless fringes of the Reached.d100Encounter01-05Hydroponics Leak: A burst pipe floods the corridor with nutrient-rich, foul-smelling sludge. It's slippery and obscures Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

This post serves two purposes. 1) To demonstrate how my broken mind works and doesn't work. 2) To talk about a little passion project eating my broken brain. Read this post only if you want to be subjected to me meandering and ranting about mostly nothing important.

Formats. Sizes to print your book. They vex me. Always have.

See, I come from the 80s-90s small press scene. In 1987 I partnered with pals to make our first comic zine Fast Lane and we did it on my friend's dad's work Xerox machine on a Saturday when nobody was there. We understood that 8.5x11 was the standard paper size, so we made our book fit 8.5x11.

It was easy. I even drew the pages of my comics on 8.5x11 typing paper, so when we made copies it was as easy as laying the original in the machine and pushing the print button. We fiddled around until we got the front and backs correct, ran off 50 copies of each, then laid them all out on the floor to collate. Then we put a couple of staples in them and BAM. Comic book magic.

Next issue we decided to go with that sexy "digest" look. All that means is we did it half the size as before and arranged the pages side by side to fit on a sheet of paper. Same process, just a little bit fiddlier. Since 4 pages were connected by a single sheet of paper, you had to be careful to get the order correct. But we did it and it was fun.

On into the 90s I generally worked alone. I made my first mini-comics, as I understood the term. If our first book was full size and our second was half size, then these minis were quarter size. You can make an 8 page mini on a single sheet of paper. There are tons and tons of tutorials about this online.

4.25 x 5 inch book

This is the fiddliest of the standard versions of the zine sizes because each sheet of paper is 8 pages of your book, so the arrangement is crucial. You can't just go 1-2-3-4, you gotta make sure 1 flips over to be 2 and so forth. Easy to get fucking confused unless you're a right genius at spacial thinking, which I am not.

Anyway... there's also the classic comic book format. In the USA, currently, that means 6.625 x 10.25 inches. If weird numbers bother you like they do me, you can just call it 7x11 or 6.5x10 and be done with it. The slight difference won't mean shit.

The reason this format matters to me is because it's what comic books look like. And I want to make comic books. I have made proper comic books... and I want to keep making them. So I fixate on this. I worry that any comic I draw that doesn't fit that format can't fit into a comic book at some nebulous point in the future.

For example, I did some comics for The Merry Mushmen and Tuesday Knight Games and none of those are US format. If I reprint them on my own at some point, they won't look quite right on a floppy page.

It's a trivial thing to be bothered by. After all, Europe and Japan have entirely different comic book formats and I'm not worried about them am I? But hey, it's my nostalgia we're talking about here.

Anyway... I'm thinking of this RPG series in mini format. My idea was to do this series of books at 4.25x5.5 and roughly 16 or 24 pages each (minis have to be in increments of 8 pages*). I can do this, but it's a pain in the ass to format so someone can print it from a PDF. I'm not aware of a good way to do it so that you can read the PDF like a proper book and also print it like a mini. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying I don't know that secret sauce and it sounds like a lot of work, man.

Which leads me to the good ole workhorse of small press publishing: the digest. A sheet of paper folded in half. PDF brochure printing handles this automatically like a champ. It's a super common format, a nice pocket size, and is easy to set up. So I should probably go that route. It just makes the most sense.

But those sexy little minis... they call to me. That fiddly work you put into them can be fun. It's a bit novel to have a RPG book series that's tiny. (See how I talk myself into spirals?)

Yeah, so... that's where my brain is today. Oh, what's the game? It's just a simple micro game system for funsies. Something I can fit in 16 mini pages. Then crank out some adventures and shit for it. Just a silly idea I have. I have a lot of them.

*Well they don't HAVE to be. You can make a 4 page flat repeated twice on sheet so that you're at 4 page increments... but it means you gotta make 2 copies of the book each time. You can't just print 1 copy.

One of the things I'm doing is a visual re-design of the various other creatures in the world of the ants. For many creatures, I only have some sketches or a handful of drawings in my comics. As a for instance, bees only ever made an appearance in the form of General Groth, and his design was pretty weak from the get-go. I always just kept it because that was how I'd established him. I've now come up with a re-design for bees that I think makes them a little more visually interesting, and reflects where I am now as an illustrator vs. where I was thirty years ago (and might still in some way feel beholden to)... this design is both kind of cute and a little menacing at the same time, which fits the vibe of the whole thing quite well. 

These are two drawings I did this morning that might give you an idea - a Bee Soldier and Dr. Weevil. For Dr. Weevil, I think that he is a mad chemical engineer who works for the Wasp Empire, and is developing all sorts of nerve toxins or biological weapons that could be used against the ants. This opens the game up for various effects that would be more than simply dealing or resisting damage. 

I would think that any mission involving Dr. Weevil would require that he be brought back alive - I like him too much as a squirrely little nuissance to have him killed off entirely.
 

 Bringing the 1960s Hanna-Barbera icon into a 2d6-based supers system  requires capturing his blend of cosmic authority and "silver age" gadgetry.In the 1960s, Space Ghost wasn't the talk-show host we know today; he was a stoic intergalactic peacekeeper with a power set defined by his Power Bands.Space Ghost (1960s Version)Core Stats (Typical 2d6 Scale)Might: +1 (Fit, but relies on techNeedleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

I've done a little bit of housekeeping here on ye old blog, and I've also shifted (as you can see) to an Army Ants theme for a bit, since that is where my head is right now. Of course I've got the core rules available as a PWYW download or (if you love killing trees as much as I do), it's also available in print. 

Furthermire, I've started a series of posts following an actual play experience. You can see how the game works and following along with my silliness. 

I've also got an Army Ants Companion going. This should be a full release at some point, but for now I'm keeping everything new that I create in a separate document that you can access and use as you see fit.

Semper Formica!

This post first appeared in 2017, but I think a trotted out back in 2020 as well. The occasion of the double repeat is discovering a post on RPGnet forums about a cool Hellenistic setting by Kenneth Hite I remembered from Supressed Transmission coming to Kickstarter, only to be disappointed to see the post was from 2018 and the projected abandoned...

Historically accurate Aristotle? A social media thread about bad history in historical costume drama caused me to recall an idea I had years ago upon a re-read of Aaron Allston's wonderful Mythic Greece: Age of Heroes. At the time, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys was still in syndication, and while not particularly good, it did suggest the using of Greek Myth and geographic as a backdrop for a fantasy setting that might not otherwise have a lot of the trappings of Greek myth. For the most part, Hercules stuck to the big names, but there's no reason you couldn't get as detailed as Allston's book, but give it a wholly un-Mythic Greece feel.

The changes can be big. Reign: The Conqueror (based on the novel Arekusandā Senki by Hiroshi Aramata) re-imagines the life of Alexander the Great as a sort of science fantasy thing with giant Persian war machines and Pythagorean ninjas. Or, they can be subtle, like Black Sails weaving historical pirates with a sort of prequel to Treasure Island. (The difference I see between this last one and a standard historical setting which would generally tend to insert fictional characters, i.e. the PCs, into history, is the "high concept" of the literary/historical mashup.)

A lesson on Greek myth every week? So I say go ahead and run a Kirby-esque space opera based on the book of Exodus. Recontextualize the War of Roses to have it take place in something like Warring States Japan. Or take the history presented in the Book of Mormon and turn it into a hexcrawl as Jeff Reints did.

Let history be your guide, not your boss.

 Integrating the monumental 1980 supplement Gods, Demigods, and Heroes (Supplement IV) with Barrows & Borderlands (a modern "Old School Essentials" style hack) creates a high-powered, mythic campaign atmosphere.This post picks right up from Using Original Dungeons & Dragons rpg with The Barrows & Borderlands Rpg While Original D&D (OD&D) provides the raw stats Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0