The Hook
Ironic that the Fountain of Youth should be in Florida, so close to the old. There is a hidden grove, filled with things that cannot die. Plants from every era, part-devoured deer, somehow still clinging to life, unkillable dinosaurs – and worse. Do you want to live forever?
Suggested System
Blood! Hollow Earth Expedition.
Art by Jesse Pruitt
The Hook
Vampires aren’t as glamorous as you hoped. Rather than blood, it’s a matter of gulping down raw human meat. Freshly turned you’re inducted into ‘the family’ who run a crematorium where the bodies never reach the fire. Some relatives are getting suspicious and you need a plan ‘B’.
Suggested Systems
Blood, Nightlife, World of Darkness.
Art by Tony Skeor
The Hook
When the sun sets it’s time to clean The Tube. Not only do you have to clean fast food wrappers from the third rail, but there’s the giant roaches, armed tube mice, vampires, Victorian cannibals, ghost trains and ‘The Gap’. All this for minimum wage and the pick of lost property.
Suggested Systems
Blood!, All Flesh Must be Eaten, Chill, The Laundry Files
Art by Haruki Design
The Hook
A tsunami strikes without warning, battering the shore and hurling ships deep inland. As it draws back, bodies and debris are sucked out into the bring depths but something else is left behind. Dozens of strange, deformed creatures and eggs, which slowly stir to violent life.
Suggested Systems
Blood! The Laundry Files.
Art by Beat Reichenbach
Too many to mention. I have a bibliography somewhere, but I don’t really keep it that up to date. There’s everything I’ve published myself, and then there’s the various other games that I have worked on material for. I’ve had stuff published for Call of Cthulhu, D&D 3rd Edition, D&D 4th Edition (official, not just OGL, but that too) and various other odds and sods over the years.
Tell you what, I’ll take this opportunity to talk about three of my favourite of my own games that I’ve written and since that counts as shilling, I won’t paywall the rest of this article.
Blood!
Blood was a fairly obscure British horror game, very much slapped into the genre of Splatterpunk, the likes of Sean Hutson, the grimier end of Clive Barker, Graham Masterton and so forth. Film wise it very much lurks in B-movie slasher territory, though its gritty nature makes it perfect for survival horror. We played Blood to death throughout the nineties, a grislier counterpart to our high-falutin’ World of Darkness games. It especially led to some really gripping zombie horror games in the Romero tradition. We were the hipsters of zombie horror gaming, we liked it before it was cool. Blood also turned out to be perfect for short, one-shot convention games where nobody had ambitions to survive a full scenario. On the off chance I contacted the original writer and artist and they gave me permission to take the game on for a cut. Since then I’ve continued to publish a second edition of Blood and fully intend to make a more streamlined game for a third edition. There’s just something magical about the way the game plays and the attitude it engenders in Games Masters and players that makes me love it.
Agents of SWING
I love all those old 1960s and 70s adventure shows. The Champions, Gerry Anderson’s various shows, The Saint, The Avengers and so on. The straight-faced campness, the 60s style, all of it blends together nicely so that you could easily imagine many of these shows sharing the same world (many of them were produced by the same companies). This was a good fit for FATE which could allow all sorts of weirdness to exist side by side while still being able to compete with each other. I wove ‘mockbuster’ equivalents to all these wonderful characters into a single organisation (SWING), a private spy agency not dissimilar to – but written before – Kingsman. Turns out pregenerating all those characters was a great idea as it allowed people to jump right into the game and have a great deal of fun. We had a memorable convention game where almost every player was playing Roger Moore, just as different characters (Bond, The Saint, The Persuaders). A lot of fun.
Tales of Gor
Licensing games is fraught with difficulty and this goes double when they’re derived from controversial material. John Norman’s ‘Gorean Chronicles’ are notorious, more so than they perhaps deserve. Where in other pulp-style novels the sexual side is much more implicit (the nudity on Barsoom, the rape and plunder in Conan) in Gor it’s much more explicit, without necessarily going into ‘blow-by-blow’ detail. Gor is a planetary romance style series of books, but with sex and BDSM written right into it. Because of this many have considered it cheap and tawdry or even pornographic – though I don’t 
think we can call it that with a straight face today. In fact the world-building is extremely good and – through fantasy – it challenges ideas about gender relations, humans in a ‘state of nature’ and many other things. It’s more than just slave girls and chains. I’ve loved it ever since I was gifted the first twenty or so novels and long wanted to create a game around it. Tracking down who to talk to was tough, bracing myself for the inevitable backlash was tough, and bracing myself for the Gorean purist’s complaints was also tough, as was working through a period of particularly bleak depression. At the end of it though I produced a game that I am very proud of, illustrated by renowned fetish artist Michael Manning and which hasn’t elicited quite the backlash I was expecting. I’m very proud of it.
The Hook
The revolution succeeded! The workers are liberated! As student activists you fought well and have been rewarded with a farm but the peasants fled. There are things in the snow that you don’t have the folklore to ward off and Commisars are due next harvest. They expect a crop.
Suggested Systems
Art by Andrey Tkachenko
It’s hard to pick just one and it’s also hard to decide upon what criteria I should judge which is my favourite. Some systems are a joy, some a chore. Some backgrounds, likewise. It can be fun to create something new and it can be fun to work on something with a lot of reach. It can be great to turn a property from its form as a book, film or comic into a game. Each game has its own microcosm of different factors and can be a favourite in a different way.
I’ve worked on Dungeons and Dragons and that’s quite a feather in your cap (at least when you’ve worked directly for Wizards) but the various incarnations of D&D, even 5th Edition, just really aren’t my cup of tea and while I enjoy Dark Sun and Planescape, the more vanilla fantasy settings and ideals typical of D&D are frustratingly hackneyed and cliche (not that that’s bad, it’s just hard and not that enjoyable to write for).
Breathing new life into BLOOD! was fun, an old, relatively obscure horror game that we always loved, but it wasn’t really ‘mine’.
Agents of SWING was a passion project, and I enjoy writing for FATE (though less so the current edition). Working together all the threads of the action/adventure series of the 60s and 70s was a fun challenge.
Working on SLA Industries was great and I and Dave Allsop had good synergy and mutual understanding in the work I did for SLA. Unfortunately that joy has been lessened by falling out with one of the other people involved and the semi-butchering of the main book I did for them. A similar thing – editorial interference I didn’t like – happened in work I did for Call of Cthulhu.
Creating the semi-official Neverwhere RPG, adding to the lore and ideas, creating an innovative system and then giving the whole shebang away for free (terms of the agreement) was a huge amount of fun and that game – in its third edition – may be my most favourite, if least profitable, thing I’ve ever done.
But then, there’s still the tentacle porn…
The image to the left presents a beautiful, pagan statue – perhaps reminiscent of those found in India. A fine illustration to flesh out any dungeon or cultural passage in a world guide.
This is stock art by industry veteran and workhorse, Brad McDevitt, available from our stock art collections for you to use in your personal or professional projects. You can find our stock art HERE.
We’ve got hundreds of pieces by him at affordable prices for your handouts or your own gaming projects.
If YOU are an artist who wants to sell your work via an established storefront, we can also help you out. Contact me privately if you’re interested. Keep an eye on this blog and my Youtube channel for information on the ZelArt Scholarship this year. We’re doing something a little different as I need a bit of a break, but want to keep things going.
Please support me via my PATREON – you get discounts for as little as $1 a month, as well as access to me for advice, suggestions, video topics and more.
This month’s discount is on 100 Dark Places, so if you like running horror games based around spooky locations, now is a good time to donate!
As a loyal follower of this blog, and because its horror season, you can also get a discount on Art of Gor, presenting large scale images of Michael Manning’s art for the Tales of Gor roleplaying game.
The art pieces by artist Michael Manning that were created for Tales of Gor and World of Gor.
Accomplished and talented fetish Artist, Michael Manning, brings the Counter-Earth to life in these illustrations for the RPG and world guide to John Norman’s Gor. Here you can see the illustrations in their full-size glory and appreciate their detail and style.
Another shitty month.
I am still sick, but slowly getting better. Having some issues with my depression medication, but nothing severe enough to risk changing for a different one. I have started going to see people from MIND and Together, which are mental health charities, to try and get me back on track properly. I have also, after ten years of on-off illness, finally applied for some financial support from the government. This felt extremely shameful, but hopefully that will wear off and the additional help will remove some of the pressure I’m under.
On top of all that, perhaps extending it, I was in a car crash, have had a radiator leak at home and had to put the car in for a service immediately following the crash. Never mind the cost, the stress when you’re already ill is intolerable!
Since the cancellation of IndieCon, we’ve been holding our own mini-con for our friends called ‘Awesomecon’. Since I have to put some game material together for that anyway, you may see some small releases later in the month for Blood! and/or Starfinder. I’ll also be running my fan-hack for Numenera, to play a Destiny RPG session.
Otherwise on the reasonably near horizon, once I’m well enough, I hope to finish the next Gor adventure (The Golden Cave – working title) and to break ground, finally, on my survival/post-apoc game series, The Green.
I am also considering starting a ‘choose your own adventure’ on my Youtube channel once a week as, of all the things I do, I’m finding making videos the easiest.
The DarkZel Scholarship will be starting this month, but in a different way as I am not well enough to stand the stress of running a full crowdfunder.
Links to my profiles on Fiverr & People Per Hour (these will be expanded as I add services):
DIRECT SERVICES:
Currently, my remaining 2017 plate is clear and free for freelancing and consultancy. I’m pretty reliable, despite my health issues, and can offer reasonably fast turnaround. I can, perhaps uniquely, provide detail and grounding to scenarios – even dungeons – to humanise them and give them a bit of depth. Give me a try, see what I can do for your games.
I am a 17+ year veteran of the tabletop game publishing world with lots of experience in freelancing and self-publishing.
I’ve worked for Wizards of the Coast, Steve Jackson Games, Nightfall, Cubicle Seven Entertainment and more. I have also written fiction and worked on social media computer games, packing a lot of meaning into short pieces of text.
As a self-publisher, I have overseen every step of the publication process from concept through to publication including writing, editing, layout and modification. I also produce Youtube material and have begun producing audiobooks. If you need some narration for a video project or an audiobook reading, I can help.
Here are some of the services I can offer, and the minimum prices offered – though anything is negotiable up or down depending on the client. I will work pseudonymously if that is a concern for you.
The Turian Gambit: Long ago something precious was hidden amongst the wagon people to keep it safe. Now it seems something else – a key to the Game of Worlds – may be hidden amongst the savage and vicious people of the Plains of Turia. This booklet contains an adventure, heavy on tribalism, diplomacy, and ingratiation, as well as additional rules for chases and pursuits – as well as the games of the Wagon People.
Inside Gamergate: This book exists to record, for posterity, the events of Gamergate from the perspective of someone within Gamergate. There is a real danger that, what with the media bias against Gamergate, that the other side – the right side – will not get recorded. In the future, anyone looking back is likely to encounter an entirely one-sided version of events from people who have been acting very shadily.
The Game of Worlds (Gor): The Game of Worlds A ‘side quest’ from the line of Tales of Gor adventures, The Game of Worlds is an excellent way to bring Earth-based characters to Gor and set them off on their adventures as an introduction. It starts on Earth and takes them to Gor, in the wake of being caught up in the intrigues on their own world, from there they can return – or stay – to live a life of adventure on a more colourful planet. This booklet also contains non-canonical speculation, rules and ideas for Earth-based campaigns and characters, as well as the interplanetary cold war as it plays out on that world.
Art of Gor: The Art of Gor contains the pieces by artist Michael Manning that were created for Tales of Gor and World of Gor. Accomplished and talented fetish Artist, Michael Manning, brings the Counter-Earth to life in these illustrations for the RPG and world guide to John Norman’s Gor. Here you can see the illustrations in their full-size glory and appreciate their detail and style.
The Silver Cult (Gor): The Silver Cult thrusts the characters into a conspiracy that threatens to overturn the natural order of Gor and the city of Tharna. Will they side with the revolutionaries who seek to usurp the power of that city, or help crush the rebellion? This supplement also contains rules for slave-breaking and torture, and for encouraging better roleplay through mechanics.
Print products are available at Lulu.com and The Game Crafter.
I’m always open to contact, discussion, ideas and more. If you have questions, queries, suggestions or feedback – good or bad – please do get in touch.
Due to continuing issues with Youtube censorship and demonetisation, I now also have a channel on Vidme, please subscribe to me there. At 100 subs I can monetise my channel there as well, and it is less paranoid and sensitive as a host. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t subscribe on Youtube, rather, sub to both – to be on the safe side.
I have a number of old books and stock available for sale. £5 for small format books, £10 for large format books + shipping (UK only).
100 Conspiracies
Abney Park’s Airship Pirates
Adventurer’s Vault 4e
Agents of SWING: Agent Casefile
Ant Assault (Cardgame)
Black Rock Bandits (4e adventure & Map)
Bloodlust RPG (French)
CTD: Isle of the Mighty
Cthentacle (Hardcopy)
d20 Mecha
Dark Conspiracy: Darktek
Dark Conspiracy: New Orleans
Darktown RPG
Desecration (Pathfinder adventure & map)
DK System (French)
DM’s Guide 2 (4e)
Dog Town RPG
Exalted: Return to the Tomb of Five Corners
Legend of the Five Rings LRP Rules
Mantel D’Acier (French)
MET: Antagonists
MET: Book of the Damned
MET: Dark Epics
MET: Journal No 4
MET: Laws of the East
MET: Laws of the Hunt
MET: Laws of the Hunt Player’s Guide
MET: Laws of the Wild Changing Breeds 1
MET: Laws of the Wild Second Edition
MET: Oblivion (Obilvion)
MET: The Long Night
MET: The Masquerade Second Edition
MET: The Shining Host
Monster Manual 2 4e
MTA: Akashic Brotherhood
MTA: Akashic Brotherhood 1st Edition
MTA: Blood Treachery
MTA: Book of Shadows
MTA: Cult of Ecstacy
MTA: Dreamspeakers
MTA: Initiates of the Art
MTA: Masters of the Art
MTA: NWO
MTA: Progenitors
MTA: Sons of Ether
MTA: The Book of Chantries
MTA: The Loom of Fate
MTA: Verbena
MTA: Void Engineers
Ninjas & Superspies RPG
Palladium The Mechanoids (Rifts Sourcebook 2)
Player’s Handbook 2 4e
The Sting (Pathfinder adventure & map)
Traveller New Era: Fire Fusion & Steel
V:TM 2nd Edition
Victoriana 1st Edition
VTM: Blood Bond
VTM: Blood Magic, Secrets of Thaumaturgy
VTM: Children of the Inquisition
VTM: Children of the Night
VTM: Clanbook Malkavian
VTM: Clanbook Tremere
VTM: Elysium
VTM: Ghouls, Fatal Addiction
VTM: Guide to the Sabbat*
VTM: Midnight Siege
VTM: Storyteller’s Handbook to the Sabbat
VTM: Storyteller’s Handbook
VTM: Storyteller’s Screen 2nd Edition
VTM: The Anarch Cookbook
VTM: The Hunters Hunted
VTM: The Player’s Guide to the Sabbat
VTM: The Succubus Club
VTM: Time of Thin Blood
WOD: Blood-Dimmed Tide
WOD: Combat
WOD: Outcasts
WTA: Anansi
WTA: Axis Mundi – The Book of Spirits
WTA: Corax
WTA: Mokole
WTO: The Risen
WTO: The Sea of Shadows
Comics
2000AD
315-351
353-383 (two 383’s)
385-734 (two 393’s)
736-989
991-1199
Megazine
Volume 3
1-11
13-15
19-23
25
27-38
72
Buy it HERE
We live in ‘interesting times’, as they say. There’s a confluence of all kinds of factors along lines of race, gender and politics that haven’t been as important or as visible as they are now since the 1980s. Racism – in all directions – rears its ugly head in part because of increasing poverty, in part because people seem to want things to be bad so that they have something meaningful to fight. Relativism and postmodern thinking appears to hold sway in much academic discourse, even redefining the very meanings of terms like ‘racism’ and ‘sexism’ to excuse the hypocrisy of many who prosecute those agendas.
Horror is often a good place to explore ‘what ifs’ and to challenge dominant paradigms.
What if, for example, there were such a thing as an inferior culture? What if there were such a thing as a primitive culture? What if there was a savagery that wasn’t noble? What if there were people that didn’t give a damn about ‘white saviours’ with social justice degrees. Who did set up their own parallel societies and laws.
What if every idiotic, paranoid fantasy the xenophobic right ever had about immigrants were embodied in one terrifying instance.
This adventure for Blood! is a sort of urban ‘Green Inferno’ or ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ meets ‘The Raid’. Don’t let on to your players however…
This adventure gives you a ‘playground’ for an adventure and a cast of characters. How you play with it is, however, your own decision. A recommended path is also provided to describe how an adventure might be run, but in the end it’s up to you.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. A horror scenario. It contains material of questionable morals and horrible nastiness. Don’t assume writing this is an endorsement of any such views. Like all good horror it’s about playing on and subverting people’s fears and expectations.
Rough as Toast
‘Rough as Toast’ is my imprint for ‘cheap and nasty’ products. Things that are a bit more experimental, silly or “hit and miss” where a lot of money can’t be spent or risked on a bit of an ‘out there’ idea. If you see that marker, you know you’re getting something a little ‘wacky’ or uncertain, but you will probably get some fun out of it.
Schlocktoberfest
The Pulps were churned out at a massive rate of knots. Strange and silly ideas thrown at the wall to see what stuck. Occasionally some of those ideas turned out to have legs – legs that are still carrying them nearly a hundred years later. My intent with Schlocktoberfest (previously just a sale some years back) is to just throw a bunch of monsters, ideas and other bits and pieces at the ‘wall’ and see what sticks. Maybe something will.
I hate to have to do this but I am really, really fucking ill. My depression/exhaustion has had me floored for over two weeks now and I don’t have the energy left to really struggle through it.
The timing is massively inconvenient as we’re now into the thirty-day push to hit stretch goals for Machinations of the Space Princes and we’re into my ‘convention season’ with IndieCon and Dragonmeet coming up.
I have outlines of demo adventures for ImagiNation, Irrepressible!, PROJECT and Blood! intended to be run at Indiecon but I don’t think that between the depression and imminent drug changes I’ll be able to actually get the adventures written up. I’ve spent most of last week and all of this week staring blankly at an open Word document.
Hopefully I’ll be fit and well for the conventions themselves, but that also remains to be seen 😦
If anyone can help me out by taking my notes and turning them into written-up adventures for these games I will be eternally grateful. I’ll provide PDFs as necessary and if the adventures are subsequently polished up and published I’ll compensate you monetarily.
Please let me know if you can help out.
Email: grim AT postmort DOT demon DOT co DOT uk
I feel awful having to do this, ‘giving in’ to being sick, but it’s becoming clear I’m not going to be able to manage otherwise.
If you think you can help out with the MotSP drive in some way let me know too. I could probably manage email interviews, Q&A and that sort of thing.
Postmortem Studios 