Dungeon Crawl like it's 1983!

Last night, whilst coming up with more random table fodder, Glynn Seal of +MonkeyBlood Design sent me some snapshots, or "oblique angle visuals" as he called them, to help promote The S'rulyan Vault.

Pretty damn cool, if I say so myself.  The blue and white old school look of this deluxe dungeon is classic.  Glynn is adding some of his personal touches like cracked tiles and a variety of little symbols for statues, altars, curtains, pools, stalagmites, fungi, tentacles, etc.  Plus, some of Glynn's custom icons for god-knows-what!  It's going to be a lot of fun to look at, let alone explore with your adventuring party.

Originally, the lighter parchment with black ink and darker parchment with black ink were going to be separate files.  I liked them both and asked Glynn if it was possible to do the lighter parchment for interior areas like rooms and corridors with the darker parchment hue for all exterior spaces.  Lo and behold, it's possible!

Also, the 5 - 7 (at minimum) page PDF will have a full color cover and interior black and white illustration by Kort'thalis Publishing's house artist Bojan Sucevic.  You can see a work-in-progress image of the cover on the right.

The PDF file will be updated periodically via DriveThruRPG when I come up with additional GM material for running a dungeon of this magnitude.  Who knows how extensive the final document will eventually become?

For those who haven't read the mega-dungeon's history, here it is.

Once The S'rulyan Vault kickstarter has reached its first stretch goal of $1,000, the parchment version of the mega-dungeon will be unlocked and available to all backers on June 1st.

That's it.  Have a great week!  Don't be shy about commenting, sharing, blogging, re-posting, and mentioning The S'rulyan Vault on social media.  That's how we'll get to 1K and beyond.  ;)

VS

The S'rulyan Vault

Here is my latest Kickstarter campaign.

I want to create a huge, old school "blue" map like all those late 70's and early 80's modules I ran or played as a kid.  Big enough to dominate my gaming table, where all the players (and myself) can quickly and easily understand where the party is and what's going on.

It'll also include a slew of random tables for spontaneously appointing and populating your new mega-dungeon.  Basically, that's it.

Check out the stretch goals for bonus stuff I'd love to add.  Also, be sure to spread the word around.  The more funding this project gets, the bigger and better The S'rulyan Vault is for everyone!

Thanks,

VS

p.s.  The picture on the right is a sketch by Glynn Seal of +MonkeyBlood Design.

Wizards Mutants Lazer Pistols

WMLP is a zine and blog worth checking out.  It melds old school, sci-fantasy, gonzo, and silly/weird/juvenile drawings.  I contributed a little something in a previous issue, and now my work is included in this, the 6th issue.

A few months ago, when I had Encounter Critical on the brain, I came up with an amusing table for what PCs were doing before adventuring.  Well, WMLP paired that with another EC table by Ronaldo Macnamara for on-the-fly creation of places full of people doing stuff.

However, the best part is Alexey's own ever-expanding dungeon.  Each issue goes further down into the mega-dungeon.  I've run a few levels myself... definitely worth it.

So, if you're looking for some home-brewed, out-of-the-box OSR stuff, check out WMLP.

VS

Nudity in gaming books - what's too risque?

This is intended to be a dark module.  Indeed, there are going to be some mature themes sprinkled throughout Liberation of the Demon Slayer.

As an artist, I can judge for myself what the module should include or try and stay away from.  I'm a believer in artistic expression, freedom, and all that jazz. However, the artist should keep his audience in mind.

I'm not just creating this fantasy RPG adventure for my benefit.  I expect it to be used and enjoyed by those who like old school, Lovecraftian, science fantasy, gonzo mega-dungeons.  That's why I wanted to open up the floor, to get opinions on what's tastefully adult-oriented... and what's beyond the pale.

LotDS won't include anything hardcore or triple x; you won't see people actually having sex, erect (or even flacid) penises, spread-open vaginas, etc.  Nothing like that.  However, there will be boobs and butts!  As for pubic hair... that's up to you guys.

The image here on the right is, in my humble view, kind of on the border.  Personally, I like it.  The artist goes by iguana on Deviant Art.  He drew it.  I can go back and ask him to put tiny black thongs on those slave girls.  Should I?

I encourage you to voice your opinion.  What do you think - is this too risque?  Am I in danger of offending lots of OSR individuals?  Or does this herald a new retro-age of sword & sorcery exploitation pulp?  Thanks for your feedback!

VS

Liberation of the Demon Slayer - update #1

Hey guys, what's up?  I'm writing this the night before my vacation, so it's going to be short and sweet.

For those who don't know, I wrote an old school fantasy adventure.  It's weird, gonzo, Lovecraftian, and kind of a Mega-Dungeon.  Since embarking on this journey about 5 months ago, I've learned a lot about gaming, DMing, writing, the OSR scene, and myself.

Whether it's heralded as something cool or complete bullshit, I need to put Liberation of the Demon Slayer out there.  Hopefully people like it.  Thought about doing the kickstarter thing to fund it, but luckily a lot of experienced people gave me enough advice for me to make up my own mind.  I opted out of that.  Instead, I'm funding it myself.  I'm sure that, too, will have its share of trials.

The image above and to the right is a rough work-in-progress of the front cover by faustie.  Besides that, I'm going through the thing, trying to improve the layout, adding little touches, taking out the unnecessary stuff, and editing along the way.

I won't be blogging or doing much in the way of gaming while on vacation, so check back in a week or so for update #2.

VS