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!

Kinda crazy lately with everything going on (but then when isn't it? welcome to my world). My boss is going on leave for three weeks so I'll be sitting in the big chair (quite literally). I can't think of any time of year that isn't busy and I don't see it ever slowing down anytime soon. Being a network security manger certainly keeps me occupied. On the project front, nothing seems to be slowing down there either. I am the type of person that seems to work best when I have several things going on at once. It's when I don't have anything going on that I'm actually at my least productive. Strange how that works. Anyawy, I've been busy penciling some art for the Nameless City (the second half of Sorcery on the Sands). Looking through the manuscript again and highlighting scenes/encounters I'd like to draw is going to push me into the 25+ illustration range for this module (and that doesn't include the front and back covers). Lots of work, but the manuscript demands it. I was pretty satisfied with my work on People of the Pit and my goal is to top that project and take things to the next level. If I accomplish that remains to be seens but I'll strive for it anyway. In my spare moments (wha? huh?) I've been reading Knockspell, Fight On!, and various other old school products. I'm pleased to find for the most part such a high level of quality. The Old School fans definitely have put their hearts into their work and the enthusiasm definitely shows! In my book that is a huge plus. I hope to give my impressions (perhaps a review) on some of these great projects here sometime. Ah well, off to get off the computer for this brief interlude and get back to the job role I love best... being a Papa to my fantastic kiddos!

I’ve often wondered why henchmen and hirelings are not stressed more in adventuring. Everything seems to revolve around a party of four to six intrepid adventurers braving the unknown. At the same time, things like wondering monsters and random encounters have seemed to fall by the wayside as well. For me, henchmen and hirelings always were an integral and fun part of the game. I’ll admit that when I was younger, we did tend to treat these folks as cannon fodder and throw them under the bus with abandon (heh, that does bring back some funny memories). However, as we matured in our play style, they enabled us to adventure longer and farther as we had more resources to draw upon and survive random encounters. When playing with my last group, we initially did not utilize any hired hands, but it soon became apparent that it would be prudent to do so unless we wanted to limit the adventure to one encounter and then stop to lick wounds. I’m not quite sure why current designs shy away from this (of course it could all be just a misperception on my part). Especially with the current statistic obsessed incarnation of the game, it seems that this aspect would be much more highly stressed over the four player model (I guess folks view them too much as XP sinks).

I’ve been lurking a bit at ENworld and RPG.net and it seems that folks are getting interested in the Old School Games and the retroclones. The hard core hobbyist and old schoolers has remained fairly consistent, but the wider exposure seems to be growing on these non-old school sites. I don’t know if that can be attributed to a novelty or nostalgia factor, or if really is catching on. Regardless of the cause, I think it is a bit early to say for sure. I think it is vital for the old school movement and hobbyist gamers to go beyond nostalgia and pastiche. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great works out there, but I think nostalgia can only go so far and is ultimately not sustainable. As for me, I’ like to stick to the spirit of the Old School while continuing to evolve it. In particular, I try to portray this through my artwork. I’m a big fan of verisimilitude in my work or at least a believable fantasy feel (if that makes any sense) while playing with and evolving my style. I don’t much care for tattooed and mohawked characters with big spikes and chains. Just not my cuppa. I prefer more traditional fantasy tropes when I work. I think that this can be done without pandering to nostalgia and remain fresh and viable. If anyone has seen Wayne Reynolds work for Osprey Publishing and compared it to his fantasy work, then you know what I’m talking about. Mr. Reynolds is a fantastic artist, no doubt about it. However, the thematic elements that appeal to me the most are his historical pictures rather than his fantasy works. His style and color palette remain the same, but the subject matter and portrayal is strikingly different. One works for me, the other – well, not so much. A matter of taste, but I think it really captures the direction of where I’d like to go.

I just finished placing my order for the OSRIC 2.0 hardcover and Malevolent and Benign Bestiary on Lulu. I’m pretty excited about these two works. OSRIC especially is the result of many man hours of volunteers dedicating their time to create this project. I really see this as a love letter to 1e AD&D from a core of dedicated volunteers. That at least is how I view my artistic contributions to this tome. The PDF looks great, but there is nothing quite like having a hard copy. It is quite amazing at over the past three years, how much momentum the Old School and hobbyist gaming movements have gained. There are several web sites dedicated to the movement, not to mention countless blogs. New product keeps coming out. And you know what? most of it is pretty darned good. And it probably should be since this is the work of folks who have been sharpening their craft for 30+ years in basements, garages, kitchen tables, etc. They have waited and hoped for a time that they could create and share their passions, and it would seem that time is upon us. And I only see it getting better.

In the Old School gaming community, there is not a lot of love for the likes of WOTC and even the later days of TSR.  I've read many a grognard's diatribe about how WOTC is killing the hobby or lament about how Zeb Cook and the post Gygax TSR crowd did the best they could to silence the voices of the true gamers and pandered only to the most fadish elements of our hobby.  I've heard accusations of the animifcation of the hobby and how everything is becoming too much like a comic book, anime, or video game.  Yes, teeth gnashing and hair pulling has become to be seen almost as much a part of the Old School gaming movement as the games themselves.  Recently, I was reading some posts about WOTC and their never ending flood of supplements.  It was stated in the thread that the gamer will never have a "complete game" because of the endless amount of rule material being put out.  The implication was that the rules are not complete and you simply must have every new thing to even be close to having a playable gaming system.  Heh, I'd submit that all of that teeth gnashing runscounter to what the hobbyist gamer is really all about.  The point is that you take what you want and leave the rest.  OD&D wasn't "complete" in that sense either and TSR/Gygax continued to refine and expand the line.  Every (and I do mean every) game system I own (which is A LOT) speaks about how the game master is the ultimate arbiter of the rules and it is the game master's world.  Who cares how many books come out that say "official content"?  A true Old Schooler takes what he or she wants, leaves the rest and creates a fun world for their players.  Everything else is irrelevant.  As to anime/comic book/video game influence, well, that is mostly a matter of taste and I personnally don't care much for it.  However, nothing frustrates and hacks me off more than anyone telling me that how I like to play my game is badwrongfun.  Get over it, play your game.  If you think the sky is truely falling, then get involved with whatever particular segment of the hobby you care about and DO SOMETHING to promote it in a constructive way.  Gaming is fun, gaming is a creative outlet, gaming IS A HOBBY.  And you know what, no matter what, the fun is up to you; all you have to do is have fun.     

My wife is doing an incredible job on my new web site.  It actually makes it looks as if I'm a professional artist.  She truly is a wonder and I'm an incredibly lucky man - she is, after all, the more talented of the two of us.  In the coming weeks, it should go live - Daisey has put a lot of work into the project.  Speaking of a lot of work, after the map book incident, I went and bought 5000 sheets of typing paper to give to my son.  Heh, you'd have thought it was Christmas or something by the excitement.  We have a bunch of three ring notebooks and punched a bunch of papers to put in the binders.  Daisey told him he could now work on his own books.  Bear has quickly set about creating his own super heroes along with entire story lines.  He is really following in his father's footsteps and I couldn't be a more proud geek dad.
I've been thinking about working on a Sword and Planet style supplement for Swords and Wizardry.  Right now I'm really digging the pulpy space action stuff.  Now that things are looking up, I'll have to renew the subscription to Planet Stories from Paizo.  Some really good stuff there.  However, as usual, I've got quite a few art commissions lined up and have been busy with that.  I think I'm going to have permanent India ink stains on my fingers! 

When I came home from work last night, I discovered that the graph paper notepad that contained my maps for my Old School project had been cut up and colored on.  My five-year old son had decided to express his own creative urges on a couple of months worth of maps I had been working on.  On the upside, he did share with me his new creations:  Sock Monkey Meat-Eating Monster, Fire Bull with the Scorpion Horns, and God Lizard - the lizard who ate the world.  My son does me proud and I feel that I have mentored him well :).