#RPG #Art Darkzel Art Scholarship 2016-17 Open for Donations

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Darkzel (Zachary) was an artist who worked for me over a number of years, providing art for Hentacle, Cthentacle, Blood! and a number of other projects as well as working with me on a comic project and discussing work on other, potential multimedia projects in the future.

Zel provided me with art and in return I got to see a young, talented and very promising artist grow in confidence, flexibility and skill. I got to help pay his way through his education and I got to become his friend in the process, as well as paying for some wonderful art along the way.

Zel was tragically killed while working as an English teacher in Korea, cutting short a life and a very promising career.

I’ve always enjoyed being able to help young artists by offering them work, and after what happened with Zel I decided that the best thing to do in order to honour his memory and our friendship was to set up a scholarship fund for other promising young artists.

Young fantasy, comic, anime and science fiction artists face an uphill struggle. The artistic establishment is often not equipped to understand and encourage them and art is often seen as a wasted education by parents and others. Art supplies are expensive and support can also be hard to find.

My intention is to help provide for these students, or other artists in need of help, and to create a self-perpetuating scholarship fund that builds over time.

Each year I invite donations to the fund. These donations go on top of the existing money raised over the past year from ongoing sales of Zel’s art, and of sales of donated art to support the fundraising effort as well as art from those who win the scholarship each year. Over time this will create a collection of art by talented young artists and kind donors, providing them with exposure and money, and contributing to the fund for artists in the following years.

You can help by donating money here, donating art, and by spreading the word to budding young artists in school, college or university, or artists who are in need for other reasons – unemployment, disability, mental health etc.

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#RPG Kagai! – Guro, Gore, Girls – RELEASED

Get it HERE in PDF form.

Kagai! is set after a supernatural apocalypse has swept the world. The players are part of the surviving members of humanity who are trying to fight back but, while all the men and boys are sent off the war the young women are left hiding in the Shimizu Arcology with the politicians, the war-wounded and others with an excuse not to fight.

They’re not content not to fight though, and may young women form vigilante gangs to hunt  the monsters in their midst.

Kagai! uses an innovative dicepool system that encourages real group tactics and cooperation to take down powerful enemies and encourages descriptive gore and intra-party drama.

Inspired by Japanese schlock-horror such as Tokyo Gore Police and Lust of the Dead, Kagai! should provide a great deal of fun for those who enjoy gross-out stupidity and high octane violence.

The Last Zelart

Today I put up the last piece of art from Zel, which was a bit of an emotional experience. Now there’s not going to be any more.

Zel worked with me on a lot of things. Hentacle, Final Straw, Origins of the Specious/Sex, Dice & Gamer Chicks, stock art, even a game I made as a personal present for my friends.  He helped me make a comic – something I always wanted to do.

We’re going to use the residual income from his stock art to make a sort of ‘micro scholarship’. I’m still working out all the details. It’ll be used to help out, even if its just in some minor way, an art student somewhere in the world, once per year. Probably helping those more into the illustration, comic, anime, etc style who can sometimes suffer from academic indifference and disrespect.

The Big Bad Cthentacle Art Book – RELEASED!

ADULT PRODUCT!

I’M NOT MESSING WITH YOU, I MEAN IT

Every gloriously horrible illustration from the entire Cthentacle game line present and correct for ogling and examining without any of that irritating game information getting in the way.

Roll 1d20 for San Loss.

Buy it HERE

Or in full colour hardcopy HERE

Tentacoo Wape taken off Kickstarter?!? IMPOSSIBRU!

Nothing says ‘Fuck you’ like money!

So, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that a bunch of concern trolls have managed to get a previously approved and rather innocent ‘Tentacle Rape’ card game Kickstarter pulled.

This is censorious bullshit and I intend to talk a lot more on this subject. There’s a critical mass of puritan bullshit and self-hating flagellation going on and I’ve had enough of it.

Still, I find the best way to say ‘Fuck you’ to censorship is to vote positively, rather than negatively, with your wallet.

Soda Pop have worked out another way to fund their product drive on their own site and as for myself, I’ve doubled what I had pledged before.

I suggest you do the same.

For my part, solidarity Soda Pop, you’re going through an (oddly) more vociferous version of the beasting I got over Hentacle and Cthentacle.

If you want to show that there are more open-minded, libertine, anti-censorship people out there who can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, you can pledge HERE

In fact, you know what? I’m going to pledge more money to them based on Hentacle and Cthentacle sales for the rest of the month too. Think of it as monetarily flipping the bird with BOTH hands.

Tentacles? I’m Getting Deja Vu

So… THIS popped up on my stream today.

I was, shall we say, nonplussed.

I was also nonplussed, but not surprised, to see the RAAAAAGE going on HERE and HERE about it.

From what I can see this game is really, tame as anything. There’s no graphic depictions here, it’s pretty much suggestive and there’s certainly no ‘Carrots’ cards amongst this lot, and yet RAGE.

Personally? Well, I suppose I’m a little upset that someone else is taking my idea commercial. Over it’s lifespan the rights to Hentacle have been negotiated with three separate companies, all of whom chickened out at one hurdle or another. Now, not only have Soda Pop made tens of thousands of dollars from a crowdsourcing, but they’re going to make a shitpile more money from a much tamer execution of a game idea that’s so damn close to mine it’s painful.

Do I begrudge ’em? No. Not really. I’m just annoyed at seeing another success story go past with ideas stemming from or similar to mine. It’s happened before (Munchkin) and I’m sure it’ll happen again. I’m just one unlucky motherfucker apparently.

I’ve backed ’em and best of luck to ’em.

They’re still idea-stealing bastards though.

Give a washed up old game designer a break and BUY Hentacle or Cthentacle while you’re at it, eh?

Cloak of Steel for Legends of Anglerre

I’m hoping to have some positive news about a new edition of Cloak of Steel at some point soon. I’m still waiting on some contractual/licensing negotiations with another company. A potentially very interesting development that really only needs a final contract signing before we can go ahead.

In the meantime, here’s some kitbashing for using the mecha portions of Cloak of Steel in Legends of Anglerre.

Cloaks
Cloaks are Scale 3 (Medium)  devices. Magical suits of armour that a character can don and then use to launch into battle more even-handed against giants, dragons and other Cloaks. Cloaks have access to Gigantic Creature Stunts but also take Monstrous Weaknesses when they do, typically Huge Target.

Cloaks have a base of 7 physical stress and 7 system stress. They have a base of three Aspects and two Stunts that are built into them. As armoured suits Cloaks have an Armour Bonus of -2 and the negative aspects Heavy and Slow. They can take a total of six consequences, being big, heavy, tough devices. They’re considered to have Endurance and Redundancy skills at 3 each and the Might skill at +1.

Squires
Squires are at the upper end of Scale 2 and are bulky suits of personal armour rather than the ‘vehicles’ that Cloaks represent. Squires have a base of 7 physical stress and 6 system stress. They have a base of 2 Aspects and one Stunt that is built into them. As armoured suits Squires have an armour bonus of -2 and the negative aspects Loud and Heavy. They can take a total of six consequences. They’re considered to have Endurance at +3, Redundancy at +1 and Might at +1.

Cloaks and Squires alike pick up and use weapons, rather than being equipped with them in the normal manner of vehicles.

Airships
Airships are Scale 3, 4 or 5.

• Scale 3 – Physical/System Stress 5, Skill Points 7, Aspects 3, Stunts 1
• Scale 4 – Physical/System Stress 5, Skill Points 10, Aspects 4, Stunts 2
• Scale 5 – Physical/System Stress 5, Skill Points 16, Aspects 5, Stunts 2

Airships use their skill points to describe their weapons, special abilities and so forth in the same way as normal constructs.