Dustchapel · Downs · Town · Crier

Whew, it has been a long time since my last update. Work has been really brutal lately but it is finally starting to get back to manageable levels. It has left me feeling quite drained and unable to feel motivated to really pursue any of my outside interests. I haven't even been following my usual message boards or lurking about my blogs of interest. Needless to say I haven't done much on the art front lately either. So "Sorcery on the Sands" has languished on the back burner. However, on a positive note, I was pleasantly surprised to see that "The Conqueror Worm" is nearing its release date from Expeditious Retreat Press. Once again I am paired up with Alphonso Warden and this looks like it just might be one of the best yet. And the addition of Pete Mullen as the cover artist really gets me excited. Pete is one of my favorites (if not my favorite) of the OSR. I really admire his work and wish that I had half of his talent. Perhaps if I keep practicing I may get to a level of work that is commensurate with what my expectations of my finished results will be. Ah, but I digress, artists are rarely happy with their own work.

James Raggi’s “Death Frost Doom” adventure sold out at Noble Night Games. I’m not sure how many copies they had on hand, but it is a very encouraging sign for the OSR. Luckily, I ordered a copy from Noble Night Games yesterday and it shipped last night, so it looks Like I’ve come in under the wire. I am quite pleased with Mr. Raggi’s “Green Devil Face” offerings and am looking forward to this latest offering. He has definitely been keeping up the Old School hobbyist ethic that I find so appealing. I’d suggest you go check out his blog at: http://lotfp.blogspot.com/2009/07/death-frost-doom-sold-out-at-noble.html. You can order all of his offerings through that site. Also, check out Grognardia’s review of “Death Frost Doom” here: http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/07/review-death-frost-doom.html.

It looks like BHP is going to continue supporting Labyrinth Lord. This is great news as I’ve been pleased with their products. I think People of the Pit turned out great (even though it is designed as an OSRIC product – it is for the most part extremely compatible). I know that BHP had built up a following for their Old School products and a lot of folks were saddened by the news. I think the diversity of small publishers supporting the OSR is a good thing. These folks are by-and-large true fans of the games they support and it show in how well crafted the majority of these products are. Especially when you stop and consider that for the most part, this is fan created material, not professional designers/writers/artist who do this for a living (no knock intended).

I just received my hard copy of OSRIC 2.0 in the mail today. I have to say that it turned out much better than I could have dreamed. For a group of hobbyists to come together and create a work if this magnitude is absolutely incredible. As one of the contributing artists, I’ll admit that I’m a bit biased; however I’ll say that OSRIC 2.0 will probably stand as one of the greatest single projects I have had the fortune to be involved with. And I don’t mean that as a slight in anyway to the other fantastic projects I’ve had the privilege of working on; they have all been great. However, OSRIC was my first real contribution to the OSR. I learned a lot. I think it helped me mature as an artist. OSRIC opened other opportunities for me. I got to collaborate with hobbyists from around the world that were dedicated to putting out the best product possible. It is all the more incredible that this global collaborative work was done on our spare time and for no money. It is the ultimate love letter to Old School Gaming. Thanks gang, it was a great experience and the end result is truly beautiful.

Whew, back from an action packed trip to Croatia. It was a fun, if not very restful long weekend. Needless to say, I didn’t get much done on the gaming front. It’s all good though. I recently read the news about Brave Halfling Publishing dropping its support for the retroclones. I think this is sad news as they did a great job on their products and garnered a decent following in their short time in the OSR scene. And I’m not just saying that because I worked on the two OSRIC products they produced. I do want to say that I completely understand and respect John Adam’s decision to focus on Castles and Crusades and the Eldritch RPG system. The Old School Gaming movement is populated, supported, and created, distributed, etc by hobbyists. These folks (and I most certainly include myself in this) have families, day jobs, chores, honey do lists, the mundane minutia of everyday life, etc. Working on gaming material is a fun diversion for us (and often a much needed release valve!). Unfortunately, it can get overwhelming and we can overreach quite easily. Being a paid hobbyist is (from my perspective) a much different level than being a professional writer/artist/designer. I certainly have many more projects in my head than I’ll ever be able to get out in the world. John has repeatedly stated that BHP was started as a fun little enterprise. Getting bogged down in the business end is something that I can understand and I completely sympathize with wanting to scale back the operation to get the priorities back in order (why having fun of course). So to BHP; have fun with what you are doing John and gang; I wish you all of the best of luck in your endeavors!