#RPG – Postmortem Studios Update Jan-Feb 2019

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Firstly and most importantly we are seeking entrants to the Darkzel Art scholarship

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well? It’s lovely and snowy here for the first (and possibly only) time this year. We don’t get that many snowy winters any more so I’m enjoying it as much as possible.

It’s a new year and that’s usually a time of setting out plans and ideas. So I’m going to do just that.

Firstly and most importantly we are seeking entrants to the Darkzel Art scholarship.

DARKZEL SCHOLARSHIP

We have a $500 fund to give away to a deserving genre artist. That is, anyone in art education (college or university) or hard-up in some way (functionally homeless, transitioning, long-term unemployed or otherwise struggling. If you’re not sure if you qualify, you almost certainly do).

This prize money will be distrubuted (preferably by Paypal) at the end of February. So you have until the 28th of February to submit your argument as to why you should be supported, and a sample of your art.

Some quick guidelines:

• Any submissions need to be 300-600 dpi and 1/4 page (US Letter or A4).
• Black and white or colour is acceptable and will not affect your chances.
• Awards are decided on a combination of talent and necessity.
• You MUST be a genre artist, that is SF, fantasy, horror and so forth.
• You may submit multiple pieces.
• Your art will be re-sold as stock art, giving you exposure (I know…) and the opportunity to work with other RPG companies, as well as helping to fund next year’s prize.
• If you want to help you can donate art in support of the project, donate money for next year’s fundraiser and you can spread the word.
• Entries and additional information grim@postmort.demon.co.uk

POSTMORTEM STUDIOS WEBSTORE

Yes, I’m going to be talking about this a LOT.

I have a brand-shiny-new web store set up at POST-MORT.COM which you should all bookmark and to which I’m going to try and drive more and more sales to get out from under the censorship problems and cost associated with using third parties such as Onebookshelf.

I’m also hoping to provide a home for risque, edgy and other badwrongfun material on my site while taking a relatively small percentage (compared to existing sites). This is not a ‘doors thrown open’ thing, but feel free to approach me if you make horror/risque/edgy or otherwise thematically appropriate material (audio, video and fiction/non-fiction too) and we’ll see what we can work out.

WORK PLANS

Last year was a bit piecemeal, which got a fair bit done – more than I would otherwise have managed – but wasn’t especially satisfying.

I’ve also learned to be a little bit less of a control freak and to let other people play with my babies. The Gor adventures that have resulted – built around skeletal outlines and ideas from me – have sold fairly well, and paid for themselves in terms of the extra cost incurred to make them. That being the case I’m likely to continue in that vein, and perhaps open up other support material projects to others.

I don’t want to write cheques my arse can’t cash, so anything that isn’t ‘done’ or ‘in production’ you can’t guarantee to happen any time soon. That said…

Complete or ‘In-Process’

• Fantasy/Satire Novella: Alice through the Garbage Grinder
• Horror/Death spiral RPG: Actual Fucking Monsters
• Video Education/Advice Course: Grim’s Guide to RPG Publishing
• Videocast: Inappropriate Characters (this will continue to be built this year)
• More adventures for Tales of Gor.
• Metacards: A roleplaying and verisimilitude enhancement system for any RPG.
• Regularly streamed games at Postmortem Video, probably starting with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition.

Almost Certainly Upcoming this Year

• Modern Horror RPG: BLOOD! 3rd Edition.
• Kung-Fu and Sixguns RPG: Setting Sun.
• Grimdark – A set of ‘hardcore’ and nasty rules for 5e D&D.
• As yet unnamed, necropolis ‘megadungeon’ for 5e D&D, this will be crowdfunded.
• Thematic ‘RPG Tools’ sets – dice, dice tray, dice bag etc along particular themes and styles.

OPPORTUNITIES & SERVICES

There are opportunities to work with or for Postmortem Studios on various projects and services or assistance that we can offer.

Opportunities

• We are looking for writers familiar with the D6 system (OpenD6, WEG Star Wars) and the Gorean works of Jon Norman to continue to provide engaging and knowledgable supplementary material.
• We need t-shirt models to help with promotions and sales of our line of apparel and would like to have more cooperation with cosplayers and the broader nerd-sphere fanbase.
• Got a game to promote? Want to discuss topics around RPGs, games, nerd media or want to argue with me about them? Great, get in touch and we’ll do a livestream to talk about these things on Postmortem Video.
• Artist? We can help you sell your stock art to the RPG publishing community.
• Sell edgy/dark/risque or gonzo games or fiction? We’re looking to add you to our storefront.

Services

• Basic editing/readability service.
• Book trailers and video advertisements for your games/books.
• Voiceover work.
• RPG Industry/Game Design/Sales consultancy.
• Freelance writing, copy writing, game design.
• Ebook covers – Many people create very simplistic covers with terrible font choices and don’t make the most of the art they use. Even five minutes of professional oversight can give you a much more attractive and professional looking cover.