Cha'alt Game Jam in January

 

This announcement is in preparation for when the stars are right... January 1st.

I'm organizing one of those game jam things for Cha'alt. 

In case you don't know, Cha'alt is my very own eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic OSR campaign setting that frequently includes humor, grindhouse / exploitation sleaze, and pop-culture references.  It now encompasses three books with a fourth volume of the weird-ass trilogy hopefully coming in 2024.

Not using ichio; only DriveThruRPG and Big Geek Emporium to host releases.  

Between January 1st and February 14th (Valentine's Day), I'm creating a six-week open license window for gamers to create stuff and sell it using my Cha'alt intellectual property, and I'm extending that to include Crimson Dragon Slayer, Alpha Blue, and Encounter Critical (both the original and new edition that'll come out at the end of December).

Everything made within that window will be allowed without a separate license between the two parties, and may continue to be sold or distributed freely by the creator.  Anything made outside of that January 1st 2023 - February 14th 2023 timeframe will require a licensing agreement between the creator and myself.  

Post the following somewhere in the product, "Licensed with permission from Venger As'Nas Satanis, High Priest of Kort'thalis Publishing and Archduke of the OSR, in the year of our Dark Lord 2023, whether you like it or not."

I look forward to seeing what you make of this golden opportunity, hoss.  Share this news, and let your creative juices flow!

If you have questions, or you'd like my advice, suggestions, or feedback on anything, just ask... Venger.Satanis@yahoo.com

Thanks,

VS

p.s. Here's an update blog post now that the Cha'alt Game Jam has officially started! 

Rainbow Bound

 

I have some good news, which may or may not surprise folks out there in RPG land.

Aside from just a few minor changes that need to be made, Rainbow Crystal Utopia passed with flying colors.  I've already sent over the necessary alterations to layout.

I'm pleased with the relatively light editing hand used by OneBookShelf, which means a positive step in the right direction.

Of course, DTRPG has to re-review the title before it's finally approved, "whitelisted", and made public, but it looks like we won't have to wait too long before it's back up on the virtual shelves.  

If you just can't wait, you can still get the PDF from me (details here).  

Thanks,

VS

p.s. Attend this month's VENGER CON, and support me on SubscribeStar!

OBS Publisher Content Guidelines

 

Not sure why they're called "guidelines".  Edicts might be more appropriate...

I put out a little video, basically asking people to watch videos that are much, much better than mine.  Do I think OBS will reverse their position?  It's possible.  Some companies have the vision, flexibility, and strength to pivot... others do not.  

We're in the midst of another pendulum swing.  As I predicted, many things are changing back to normal (or going even further to the right, in order to find balance).  The left didn't see it coming, did they?  How do people not know this?  Oh right, America's stellar education system.  Why study history when we could learn about critical gender basket weaving?

If you've studied revolutions, you'll see what I saw a few years ago.  Radical movements pull the culture in startling new directions very quickly.  But such radicalism soon evaporates and society inevitably goes back to the ways things were.  

In most cases, I think it's a good idea to separate the art from the artist.  And that's what I've been trying to do with DTRPG.  Instead of blaming the staff and their protocols, I was focusing my scathing critiques upon the platform's customers who literally hate me, my work, and everything I stand for.

Well, I sleep well at night knowing I'm doing the Lord's work... whether that's the Judeo-Christian God, Satan, or Cthulhu, that's anyone's guess (all three?).  Case in point with this ostensibly "pro-choice" WAPO article about a young woman in Texas with twins.

Did The Good Syma'arian do that?  Did my little freebie PDF save those babies?  No, but artists, like myself, shape our society and, as they say, politics is downstream of culture.  What we do now has the potential to affect all our lives tomorrow.

If you want my anti-abortion themed Cha'alt scenario, The Good Syma'arian, just send me your DTRPG email address.  If you want my "alternative pride" Cha'alt adventure, Rainbow Crystal Utopia, you have to paypal me $3 also with your DTRPG address (please, use friends and family so I avoid the 50-cent fee)... Venger.Satanis@yahoo.com

And, of course, there's been a lot of criticism directed my way.  My character, reputation, and ability to conduct business have all been affected by what's transpired.  This guy in particular reminds me of Cypher from The Matrix.  I guess that would make me Morpheus.  Now, all we have to do is find... the one.

Rumors of competition abound.  I've heard from several people behind the scenes that something new is on the horizon.  And that should be very interesting, and lucrative for those positioned well.  

Speaking of opportunities, I've just been approved over at SubscribeStar.  Here is my profile.  I intend to create one short PDF, run a virtual session, and offer a third bit of Vengerized content each month.  It's only $5 a month if you want to join, and help fund my degeneracy; in addition to making it harder to cancel me.

VENGER CON is only a few weeks away!  Tickets are still available, so if you want to play with the greatest living Game Master in Cha'alt, the most dangerous campaign setting, don't delay.

Enjoy,

VS

p.s. After making this blog post, I realized there's another great video by The Basic Expert that should be seen by all.

New Adventure Coming Soon!

 

First off, I'm back home!

It was another Satanis family vacation and boy is my left arm tired...

What else?  About 6 weeks before VENGER CON happens!!!  Can't wait for the greatest old-school, OSR, and traditional RPG convention in the midwest.  Haven't gotten your ticket yet?  Giddyup, hoss!  Also, please tell your friends.  Anyone who loves the bygone days of yore in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Minnesota should attend.

As I stated in the last blog post, my anti-abortion scenario, The Good Syma'arian, was officially "blacklisted" from the virtual shelves of DriveThruRPG.  But you can still get it through me, click on that link for details.  Thanks to everyone who downloaded it, read it, played it, reviewed it, etc.

I've got a new Cha'alt adventure in the works (this could be a one or two-shot, we'll see) to "celebrate" the prideful month of June.  So, if you have any suggestions, feel free to submit them with a comment below.  No promises if any will be included, but I'll try... especially if they're funny and gameable.  

I'm still waiting on a delivery date for the Cha'alt: Chartreuse Shadows hardcovers.  Prince of Nothing has started his multi-part review over at his Age of Dusk blog.  He's just finished the appetizer course.

The way he feels about Artpunk is kind of how I'm starting to feel about "Jaquaying the dungeon".  Yeah, it can be really cool, on occasion, but sometimes I just want the dungeon to serve as a place for exploration, combat, and social interaction.  It doesn't have to be a whole thing unto itself.  But that's a topic for another blog post... 

Anything else?  New Encounter Critical stuff is getting pushed back.  Will try to get something on paper before VENGER CON.

Alright, talk to you soon!  Thanks for your continued support, hoss.  ;)

VS

The Verdict

 

I read DriveThruRPG's email yesterday and the upshot is that The Good Syma'arian one-shot Cha'alt adventure won't be allowed back onto their virtual shelves without several changes. 

Specifically, the child endangerment portions.  While I fully understand, after all, it's written in their rules, taking that stuff out dilutes the message.  Yes, it's wrong to harm, let alone murder, babies and kids.  That's one of the reasons I wrote the scenario!

I have no doubt that publicly available material on DTRPG of the same kind (without the overt "anti-abortion" and "anti-woke" sentiments exist.  If The Good Syma'arian is banned, shouldn't those other products be reported and removed, as well?  Time will tell... 

Real world harm will always be greater and therefore a bigger threat than anything happening in a fantasy roleplaying game.  Fancy euphemisms like "reproductive justice" and "women's healthcare" don't really describe smashing a fetus' skull while still in the womb so the brain can be vacuumed into a hospital sink.

Just because you'd rather not think of the sordid deals doesn't mean it's not real.  It is real.  It happens everyday, and disproportionally to black and hispanic babies.  If you really think that black lives matter, instead of perpetuating lies that racist cops are gunning unarmed non-white folks down in the street everyday, maybe think twice before celebrating the "pro-choice" movement?

The moral and spiritual decay in this country, perhaps all over the world, can be seen daily on the news and in our social media feeds.  It's sickening and disheartening.  I don't think the answer is to throw up our hands while we lurch towards a materialist, atheist, globalist Utopia that will only result in (economic) slavery for the bottom 99%.

So, I told OneBookShelf that I will be keeping The Good Syma'arian private.  If you want it, the PDF is free (just like before).  Email me with your DriveThruRPG associated email address, which I prefer, (make sure you opt-in to my customer emails where I frequently send out sale codes).  Reach me at Venger.Satanis@yahoo.com

Or, here's a link to the adventure on Google Drive if you'd really rather not go through DTRPG.  Your choice!

Enjoy,

VS

p.s. Tickets still available for this July's VENGER CON in Madison, WI.  This won't be like any other gaming convention you've been to in the last 20 or 30 years.  Just old-school, OSR, and traditional RPGs.  Together, we won't just have an awesome time... we'll lay the foundation for a new golden age! 

The Good Syma'arian Suspended

 

Venger's banned again?!?

As many of you already know, my recently released one-shot Cha'alt adventure, The Good Syma'arian, was just temporarily suspended last night for "potentially offensive content".  

I'm a target for the radical-left, the woke, and SJWs throughout the RPG hobby because of my outspoken, moderately conservative political leanings.  To me, and many others, they are the offensive ones.  They spit on our liberty while cry-bullying their way to positions of influence, always trying to secure more of what they crave most... power and control.

I don't want any retaliation or jumping up and down on DriveThruRPG while they review my scenario.  After all, they have their own protocols they need to follow.  

I am confident that The Good Syma'arian will be reinstated by next weekend.  Sure, we have to take a seat while the pro-abortion bundle of PDFs gets to sail by.  But that's the culture we live in, and it may take years before justice (not social justice, but actual justice) returns.

A lot of people have asked me to verify what DriveThruRPG said, so I took a picture.  You can read it for yourselves.  It's all there in black and white.  

When there's news, I'll post about it here on the blog and over on my YouTube channel - please subscribe!

Thanks,

VS

p.s. In the meantime, why not buy some gorgeous hardcover Cha'alt books, and/or snag a ticket for this July's VENGER CON in Madison, WI. 

THOT Police on DriveThru

Ok, let's take a little break from the drama to celebrate Valentine's Day the old fashioned way - with a sleazy sci-fi scenario!

Yep, I just uploaded THOT Police to DriveThruRPG. It's the second part of a trilogy that began with THOT Audit.

Let me know what you think, and please enjoy...

VS

p.s. There's a Cha'alt easter egg for all you spacers that backed my KS.  ;)

Zak S. Fallout

This blog post's job is to shed light on everything either suspect or outright wrong that's happening in the shadow of the Zak S. #MeToo scandal, in no particular order...

1. DriveThruRPG has deplatformed, unpersoned, and demonetized forthcoming books where Zak S. has contributed.  Here's the link.

While I don't think that's a terrible decision (some consumers are asking for even more activism on OneBookShelf's part), it's a slippery slope.  If such over-correcting nonsense like rpg.net banning support for President Trump and his policies wasn't a thing, I wouldn't be as worried about who's going to be unpersoned next.

While I don't think OBS will risk a full-scale meltdown by getting rid of Alexander Macris, James Raggi, RPG Pundit, or Grim Jim Desborough, (or me, tentacles crossed), the line is certainly getting closer.

False accusations do happen.  All it takes is an edgy persona + offending the outrage brigade + someone accusing you of bad stuff in your personal life = vaporization from the RPG industry.

2. The lynch mob never stays in its lane!  Revolutions have a nasty habit of throwing innocents onto the guillotine, as well as, the guilty.  I've already seen where RPG Pundit and myself have been mentioned on twitter.  Like, we've finally gotten rid of Zak S... who else can we execute in the chaos without too much backlash?

That's not only not cool, but a dangerous path to tread.  If you're going to blame Zak S. (and I believe you should), don't go looking for adjacent scapegoats or bogeymen to also take down just because you're outrage-bloodlust hasn't been sated.

3. A lot of people are catching a whole lot of unnecessary flack for simply wanting more information, for wanting proof besides the word of several women.  And even then, some people believe Zak S. shouldn't be crucified before he's even had a chance to defend himself.

And some people, let's be honest, just don't want to get involved.  Maybe they feel it's none of their business.  Perhaps they're sickened by the sordid details or mob mentality or have some lingering respect for the accused.

In the end, it doesn't matter.  If a person doesn't feel like piling on, that's ok.  They don't have to.  They shouldn't be forced to feel the same way about something as you feel about it or that guy over there.

4. While I mixed my own ideological beliefs with the Zak S. scandal (right over here), I'm not the only one.  ConTessa put out a statement which contained the following, "ConTessa was founded on the principal [sic] that gaming space could be better spaces by letting women, people of color and LBGTQ+ take leadership positions, so that those spaces could be moved into less toxic directions than the default ones lead by straight, white men." Emphasis mine.

Even if her heart is in the right place, that just comes across as disgusting.  If you want to make gaming more inclusive and diverse, don't put down another's race, gender, and sexual orientation.  Straight, white men are not more or less inherently toxic than any other demographic.  Support of fresh faces doesn't necessitate the vilification of traditional ones.

No one is gate-keeping minorities from picking up an RPG, finding players, and running all the sessions they want.  Keep your identity politics the fuck away from gaming!

Those are my 4 points, maybe I'll come up others later, but these are the main ones currently sticking in my craw.  Thank you for reading.

VS

p.s. Well, that's unfortunate...

Lowbrow & Inappropriate

I'll be posting about my awesome Gary Con IX experience later today (or tonight), but this just happened, so it takes precedence.

Yesterday, I was sent an email from One Book Shelf.  OBS includes DriveThruRPG, RPGNow, DMs Guild, etc.

Just before leaving for the Lake Geneva RPG convention, I released a new title via PDF on DriveThruRPG/RPGNow.  It's called Play your Character like a Fucking Boss, which is sort of a companion piece to How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss, except its advice is for those on the other side of the screen.

Cutting to the chase, OBS has received complaints about the title.  The majority of Kort'thalis Publishing's titles are behind the "adults only" wall because I click the box for mature content.  That's what I did for the GMing book.  However, I did not designate the Player book "adult" because there's nothing besides course language that might be offensive or inappropriate for children.

Below is the email I received from OBS...


Hello XXXXXXX,

Over the weekend we received two complaints about your title "Play Your Character Like a Fucking Boss". The first complaint said that they felt the use of profanity in the title cheapened the presentation and made it seem "low brow". The second complaint was that the title was inappropriate for children and that children might be browsing the site.

I would like to make it 100% clear that we at OBS/Drivethru/RPGNow do not consider your title to be inappropriate for our site. In general, people don't get into role-playing or browsing our site till about 12 and so we consider anything PG-13 to be appropriate for our general audience and that does not have to be filtered out for people. I have already responded to the people complaining that we felt your product is appropriate under our current standards.

That being said, I also told them I would pass along their complaints to you the publisher. If I was in your position I would not want to be ignorant that complaints of this nature exist if they do exist. If you have any questions about his please let me know.

Thank you,

-- 

Chris Tang

RPG Publisher Services

While I take those complaints seriously and it is not my intention to offend anyone, I do not plan on clicking the adult content box for Play your Character like a Fucking Boss because that would have a negative impact on visibility.  Adult products, in my experience, are the second class citizens of OBS.  Obviously, less visibility means less sales.

Regarding the "low brow" complaint, I think I'm going to take that as a compliment.  As a "low brow" fan, that's the kind of aesthetic I'm going for.  Understandably, it limits my audience, but then going against the grain with a provocative title expands my audience.  Maybe it's a wash, but I need to stay true to myself.

I'm interested in reading your opinion.  Feel free to comment with anything you have to say on the matter.


Venger As'Nas Satanis
High Priest of Kort'thalis Publishing


p.s.  My latest Kickstarter Trinity of Awesome Returns has about two days left to back it.

p.p.s.  I put X's over the letters of my name because he didn't use my pseudonym.  Everything else was copy/pasted without editing.

Alpha Blue temporarily suspended

I won't go into a rant, lecture, or tirade on censorship, artistic freedom, etc.  Just wanted everyone to know that Alpha Blue got a temporary suspension from DriveThruRPG.

You can read the copy/pasted email below...


A customer has reported your title as potentially containing offensive content. We have had a quick look at the title and decided to temporarily suspend the title (i.e., turn it Private, not Public) on DriveThruRPG.com pending a thorough staff review of its content. We aim to review all titles within two business weeks.

Most titles we review are found not to contain offensive content and are reinstated for sale in short order. If that is the case here, the title will then be whitelisted so other customers can not report it again. For new release titles suspended during their initial release period, we will reset the title’s release on our marketplace so that it is once again treated as a new release.

If our review determines there is content in the product that we may not want for sale on DriveThruRPG.com, then we will be in touch with you again to discuss the matter in more detail.

We appreciate your patience while we conduct the review. Please do not turn the product back to Public until we’ve concluded our review. You will hear from us again as soon as our review is completed.

Regards,

DriveThruRPG.com 

________

FYI, softcover copies of Alpha Blue are available on Amazon.com and CreateSpace (where I get a slightly higher percentage of the profit).

Xmas in July

DriveThruRPG is having their big Xmas in July sale, my books (both PDF and softcovers) included!

Check them out here.  Or just click on the sidebar pictures.

Hope you enjoy,

VS

p.s.  Have a question about something I've written, what it's like, if it's compatible with "x", exactly how much ass does it kick?  Ask in a comment below.

Crimson Dragon Slayer PDF

Yay!  I finally did it.  Here is the PDF for Crimson Dragon Slayer - my humble Old School Renaissance roleplaying game.  The print version should be available on DriveThru and Amazon in early June.

Since there's already a hundred or so retro-clones and retro-compatible RPGs similar, based on, or taking off from the original Dungeons & Dragons, I really didn't think there was anywhere to go.  After all, I had included a few game mechanic tweaks in Liberation of the Demon Slayer and The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence.  Were there enough new ideas in my head to publish yet another OSR RPG?

It started with a face-palm breakthrough in my VSd6 idea.  Instead of multiple 6's being a critical success, just a lone 6 would suffice, with everything scaling from there.  It seems tiny, obvious, and the furthest thing from a revolutionary idea, but when I eventually tripped over it, the revised concept gave me that initial spark of hope that I might be able to contribute something worthwhile.

Re-watching bad/cheesy 80's fantasy films like The Dungeon Master, Deathstalker, and Tron fueled the narrative.  After all, thousands of RPGs hand you a bunch of rules and drop you in a vague setting conforming to the genre or, conversely, slathered in meta-plot.  I just wanted an interesting framework and then back off to let the Dragon Master and players take it from there.

Lastly, I wanted to showcase my sense of humor.  Why not make it kind of funny... an occasionally silly self-parody of what we consider old school fantasy roleplaying?

Glynn from +MonkeyBlood Design and a bunch of my OSR friends and acquaintances did the rest.  They provided ideas, encouragement, and the support needed to float this project until completion.  I literally couldn't have done it without them, so big thanks to all those righteous dudes!

VS

p.s.  Fantastic interior illustration by +Joshua Burnett.

At last, LotDS on DriveThruRPG & RPGNow

Links:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/119240/Liberation-of-the-Demon-Slayer

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/119240/Liberation-of-the-Demon-Slayer


Thanks for your patience, guys!

DriveThruRPG & RPGNow were the last to get print versions of my old school fantasy module.  Finally, I can start focusing on actual gaming posts instead of LotDS announcements.


VS