The State of Cha'alt

 

VENGER CON is going great.  First day down, two to go.  The hyper-gonzo game at the end of today was just as out-there and fucked up as last year's.  I ran from 4pm to almost 10pm, and the first death didn't come until an hour before we finished (though, it was prophesied to happen in the middle of the adventure).  But once that dam broke, one or two additional PCs died.  Shit was flying so fast, it was insane just trying to keep up with everything.  

The Ghostbusters pulled up to the PCs investigating The Necronomicon inside a gargantuan violet-worm which was full of porn that got caught in a dimensional instability field resulting in witch-sex and demon-tentacle fucking inside the worm's cave-like violet cavity.  Spamming those Cha'alt X-Cards worked their improv magic.

It reminds me of when I was GMing as a teenager.  The PCs would start out as normal mutant-opossum martial artists with machine guns and end with Satan getting blown-up by the Ko-dan armada.  But Cha'alt is that on steroids... it goes to eleven, hoss. 

Anyway, the reason for this blog post is my sharing the Cha'alt opening.  This is the background vibe of what's going on.  Even though some of this didn't affect the actual adventure, it's still a good idea to lay the foundation.  

The State of Things

These are dark times.  It’s been 6 long, difficult years since the O’Bannon Accords which resulted in a cease-fire between the Federation and native governments of Cha’alt.  Factions at home along with a thousand alien cultures have splintered into a pot where nothing melts and no one assimilates… everything is competition; hostilities range from micro-aggressions to genocide to jiha’ad, depending on region, local authority, and socio-economic status.  You could go to sleep in a stable and prosperous settlement of the deep desert and wake up in a warzone. 

In the end, nothing has changed… the Federation wants your resources and will destabilize as much as they can to end export restrictions, non-Federation aliens want many different things – some want to invest, others want to exploit, there’s surging tourism along with smuggling, graverobbing, and running from the law.

As adventurers, you’ve been force-fed multi-culturalism even before the cease-fire.  With a swig of artificial water, an A.I. navigational system ported into your reptilian riding-spider, and the names of 37 different gods (some openly antagonistic to the Old and New Gods of Cha’alt) chanted during daily public prayer, you thread through streets and boroughs of demons, Kha’alestinians, droids, replicants, so many shades of elves you need a color-wheel just to identify them all, humans, humanoids, alien off-worlders, and various other creatures on your way to the next job.

No matter how bad it is out there, the Gods must be paid in blood.  Priests demand ritual sacrifices – the blood of one-hundred-and-eleven humanoids is spilled every month.  The saba’ath continues no matter how much civil unrest.  The poor, infirm, old, diseased, criminals, and non-believers are much more likely to be put to the sword than able-bodied mercenaries.

While this sounds like a sorry state of affairs – because it is – remember, this is all pretend.  So, feel free to go Grand Theft Auto in this dark paradise; balls-out, no remorse, fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.  Remember what Robert E. Howard said about Conan as a protagonist vehicle for throwing off the shackles of civilization.  Back and forth extremes of colonization and decolonization have resulted in disastrous policies such as defund police, abolish immigration enforcement, universal healthcare (fun-fact… once you fill-out the paperwork and pay the 50-talon fee, the online correspondence course to become a fully licensed medical doctor takes a fortnight to complete), there is no border security, and prisons vacated all their convicts. 

Laws still exist, but they only protect those who can afford it.  Adventurers (especially of the 3^rd level variety) are several cuts above the average citizen, as the vast majority are too weak from hunger and thirst to fight back.  Get rich or die trying… or, you know, don’t worry about riches – go after fame, power, retribution, pussy, or whatever your personal goals happen to be. 

Surprise, motherfucker… and welcome to Cha’alt!

VS

"The Ruin of A'agrybah" - CHA'ALT Campaign 4.10

 

Ok, this was another great session, and I hope another enjoyable session report.  4 PCs... Strum the human sorcerer, Bishop Elijah Crane the human cleric, Ug the lizardtaur warrior, and Tinker the hybrid thief / sorcerer pixie fairy.

From last session, the PCs emerged.  Boxed-text incoming...

Purple Resurfacing

"After many hours of the claustrophobic purple darkness that became your world, you finally make it to the surface.  Even before exiting, you saw the fuchsia sky and squinted at the twin suns greeting you, along with the hot breeze.  You can already feel your dry lips cracking and instinctively go for your canteen, which is of course empty as you drank it all during your exploration of the well-caves below the subterranean temple of the purple priests.

The next thing you notice is the yelling and shouting and movement and purple flashes of light and energy on the periphery of your vision.  Taking a look around, you assess the chaos all around…

A much smaller number of Kha’alestinians wearing the purple severed penis symbol of their New God faith are busy stabbing random citizens.  You make out about 15 of them.

Directly opposite is a squad of badass mercenary banana-men and the raspberry fruitie that Crane summoned with his ivory scepter.  The banana-men are armed with low-tech firearms like rifles and machine guns.  There’s maybe 10 of them.  They’re firing on purple priests charging at them with a flame-thrower. 

An unsavory throng of the purple city’s citizens are taking advantage of the situation as several purple women chained to a set of three stone monoliths prepare to be sacrificed.  Left unattended, the purple women (who it’s rumored are bred via the purple slime pits of Kra’adumek) are being raped as the entire city is rioting.

In the distance, though not distant enough for your liking, is an amorphous translucent purple-glass alien demon worm that almost resembles a purple tidal wave of gelatinous ichor between moments when it looks more like a worm and others where it appears singularly demonic.

You can see where Kra’adumek emerged from the underground temple of the priests.  The whole area looks demolished.

Purple priests who have climbed to the top of the golden domed temple are crying out and making the sign of Kra’adumek, but the purple-god-thing is not paying attention to them.  It’s preoccupied with sloshing into hundreds of citizens on the street as it absorbs them into its purple ichor.

Eventually, Kra’adumek amorphously moves towards the temple and with a tentacle absorbs all the priests into itself as you can see their flesh quickly melting away leaving only skeletons behind.  Then, it smashes through the temple, destroying it.  It’s like Godzilla tearing through Tokyo."

With pandemonium all around and so many options, what did the adventurers do?  Crane sent his entourage of the faithful to help the banana-men and purple women, freeing them so they cannot be sacrificed to Kra'adumek, thus stymying his ever-growing power.  

As Tinker began looting nearby vehicles ablaze and storefronts (he rolled well and found several pairs of fancy shoes, a vest made of midnight-elf skin, a ring of keys, and 6-pack of zima ice lemon-lime worm-wine.  Also, a partially singed (from the fire) wig of blonde dreadlocks, and a peace-sign necklace that looked ridiculously huge on the wee pixie-fairy.

Meanwhile, the violet flame communicated telepathically with Crane, due to the glyph upon the priest's flesh.  It told Crane that a way out was nearby.  In the basement of a curio shop called Zimsa'alabim was an accessible portal to the purple labyrinth.  

They entered the shop after disposing of three purple priests, one of whom scored a critical hit, plunging his dagger into Ug's jugular.  Blood was flowing as the player marked off 11 points of damage.  Ug critted himself, killing one and wounding the other enough to send him on his way.  Tinker took care of the last by ramming him with his flying trident.

Inside the curio shop, they saw the shop owner gathering his most valuable possessions and two handfuls of purple talons before teleporting away.  Three more rioters broke the front window and were about to do more damage with a molotov cocktail as Crane threatened that they'd easily be killed if they didn't leave right now.  They skidaddled.

Before heading down, Tinker (who was flying as per usual) noticed something on a high shelf, towards the back and covered with dust.  It was a jade ring with a 1.5-inch diameter.  This, in fact, turned out to be the cockring of Senor Cha'ang Do'Urden.  Upon concentrating, a holographic projection of the small Asian dark-elf man who conquered half of the subterranean kingdoms decades ago when he was at the height of his powers.  "Looking for a little spare Cha'ang?" is just one of his frequent name-puns. 

Taking the only other door to the basement, the violet flame told Crane to look for a book on one of the dusty bookshelves called Amazing Stories.  The book had a false middle containing a vial of glowing purple sand.  A sprinkle of that would open the portal to the purple labyrinth.

The Purple Labyrinth 

Soon enough, they were wandering around purple corridors and weirdly shaped rooms.  It's a bit like the backrooms, except purple instead of "mono-yellow."  

After nearly a half-hour of getting lost in purple, they found several signposts that gave directions to A'agrybah, Kra'adumek, and Ja'alette.  They were now back on track to finding what they were looking for in Ja'alette - Ta'ala who was the contact and handler of the bastard princess Lissa who was basically under house-arrest for her own protection in that matriarchal city-state due to her life being in constant danger.

The PCs sent all but Shinta'ak and Bento to the portal headed for A'agrybah, so they could go defend or at least check-out what was going on at Vromka'ad's Tower, the new Temple of the Lords of Light.  That means 8 men-at-arms and 8 banana-men went forth to pursue their holy mission.

Just before reaching the portal for Ja'alette, Kaltha'alax (via his infernal-glyph) whispered to the priest that taking a hard-right would lead him to a powerful and dangerous demon that they really should kill for the betterment of Cha'alt.  

In for a talon, in for a gold piece... the PCs headed for the demon.  Crane concentrated on making himself visible as the violet flame glyph made him invisible to infernal beings.  He faced-off against the demon as Tinker crept around his back.  It was a cray-nax demon with three humanoid slaves he was taking back to Hell.

Ug leaned against the purple wall trying not to bleed all over the place, and failing (a purple goblin could be heard asking aloud where all this blood was coming from).  Meanwhile, Strum cast mesmerizing magenta mist to subdue the slaves, just in case they had any ideas of protecting their demon master.

Tinker cast a spell, giving the priest Advantage as Crane scored a crit, and almost killed the demon outright.  The thing about cray-nax demons is they can use nearby magic-user vitality to cast their own spells.  The demon, on his turn, used the HP of one of the sorcerers to cast a purple fireball (I'm going to make it official, so remind me if I forget - all spells cast in the purple labyrinth manifest as purple-hued).  It did a lot of damage, especially since everyone failed their saving throw, except for Strum who rolled a natural 20... no damage taken at all. 

Shockingly, Ug and Tinker both died, in fact... their bodies reduced to purple ash.  Strum held his action to see if Crane would be victorious as he still had Tinker's enhancement spell working for him.  He hit, but damage was minimal.  However, the priest used one of his seven lavender demon-moon dice of destiny to up the damage enough to kill him (bringing Elijah Crane from 8 to 9 XP, enough to reach 5th level), thus taking his soul into the demon-slaying sword and bringing it up to a +8 weapon vs infernal creatures.

Strum knew enough about the purple labyrinth to drizzle zoth upon both their purple ashes, which restored them both (and with full health).  Their new flesh each had a purple labyrinth-glyph, but they had no idea what that would do.

Strum was feeling exhilarated and nauseous from handling the zoth, as he remembered over-indulging not long ago.  I have to hand it to Strum's player, his acting was so good that I asked him if he needed some ibuprofen for his physically strained condition.  In time, he recovered and Ug mentioned the sorcerer was looking a little less chartreuse around the gills.

The party's main sorcerer also knew that wearing the flesh of a cray-nax demon allowed a sorcerer to borrow vitality remotely from nearby magic-users, just as the demon had.  It takes about 3 or 4 days for the demon's flesh to dry out and become useless, so Tinker kept fingers and a penis inside his zima bottles of worm-wine (to keep bits of the demon moist), and wore the demonic back-flesh in order to use the cray-nax's power for a few days.

The now-freed slaves told the adventurers that the demon knew a shortcut to Hell, and it was near the treasure vault.  Realizing the side-quest kept side-questing, but also knowing this might be their only opportunity, they walked toward the portal to Hell.  If you'll remember, the violet flame talked about a lesser artifact located in one of Hell's treasure vaults that allowed its owner to read the minds of demons.

What did they see in that infernal realm?  I pulled two suggestions from the Black Skull of Secrets, revealing there was three gangs consisting of rock people, paper people, and scissors people all on the right.  To the left were rotten fruit-folk who I deemed demon-fruities.  Tinker used his crystals to power a spell that made the scissors and paper people attracted to each other, which basically eliminated both factions and then the rock people finished them off and went away.

For using the crystals, I had Tinker roll on the fuchsia side-effect table and it said fruities would appear and challenge the sorcerer for supremacy of wherever they currently were.  So, the fruities were drawn inside the portal and demanded the pixie-fairy fight them to see who controlled the purple labyrinth.  

It was a fight between the chess club and math league, as everyone missed.  No one could land a blow.  Eventually, Tinker cast another spell, reversing know languages so he could make the demon fruities not understand each other.  Babbling and dejected, the demon fruit-folk began to wander the labyrinth.

I won't go into detail about their brief exploration of Hell, but I got to use one of my rock and lava maps as the PCs made a friend of this demon dog with a rainbow ear, and eventually scored the minor artifact they were seeking - Pa'azuk, which would allow its owner to know the thoughts of infernal beings around him.

Ug acquired a "fire stick" which is basically a wand of fireballs with 4 charges.  Crane took possession of Pa'azuk as he could internally hear the celebration of all three demonic-based entities reunited; Pa'azuk creating the third and final infernal-glyph upon the priest's flesh.

Oh yeah, and Strum's player rolled 3d6 for some of his lightning wand damage and all three were 1s.  That means a portal opens and a man holding a fish slapped Strum in the face.  At least he got a point of Divine Favor out of it.  

Brothel of Mistress Steel Kiss

It didn't take them long to head back to the portal, fight a big demon who was guarding the purple labyrinth entrance, and making their way, finally, to Ja'alette.  They appeared back in the man-whore brothel which they had visited earlier in the campaign.  

A bit of roleplaying later (Tinker donned the partially burned blonde dreadlock wig and pretended to be a woman in order to just get around and communicate with the denizens of Ja'alette), leading them to the gladiatorial vulva arena, past the uterine parthenon and cervical bank of Ja'alette, eventually to big momma's house of corrections where they located Ta'ala who told them the princess was hiding inside a magical pink gem that Ta'ala herself had given her after finding out that Ta'ala was about to be arrested for saying that non-slave men had their uses and letting a man titty-fuck her, which goes against their religious law.

That's where we ended it.  The PCs need to find out who has possession of that pink gemstone so they can release Lissa and get her to the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice so she can perform a ritual that will restore her birthright and hopefully save A'agrybah from being taken over by demons.

I received a large miniature banana-man with some kind of firearm (and banana clip which several people noticed both at the table and online), and that became the visual focal point for the badass merc banana-men blowing purple ja'abronis away back in Kra'adumek gone wild.

This was the 10th session, which means we're close to the halfway mark.  The PCs are a mix of 4th and 5th level.  The breakdown of experience points based on various personal benchmarks of the PCs as the campaign progresses is going well.  

Next game should be Saturday, June 27th.  We're getting nearer to VENGER CON V: The Will To Power!!!  

While I'm excited to celebrate the occasion with a weekend of awesome gaming, I've made the decision that this will be the last convention.  Attendance just isn't increasing.  I assumed, as most conventions do, that it would keep going up and up, but it's dwindling.  

That's ok.  One more thing off my plate will allow me to keep focusing on the other aspects of the hobby I love and continue to pursue.  Anyway, I vlogged about it here.

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

GaryCon 2026 Convention Report

 

I made it back yesterday afternoon.  TL;DR is I had a great time... but if you want details, keep reading, hoss!

Staying on-property forced my tentacle into staying 4 nights (anything less wouldn't allow me to book a room there), so I came up Wednesday afternoon.  I ran 6 games, which seems like a lot... probably because it is, but I wish I had booked 7.  Also, I wish I had written in the event submission notes that I'd like my games to be held at the Timber Ridge because that's where I was staying.

Two of my games were tabled at the waterpark.  I mean inside the waterpark.  They literally turned the water off and got the kids out so a dozen or more tables could be set up on the edges of the pools and waterslide areas.  That was weird, but it worked out because I just told my players to come up to my room where I arranged the couch, coffee table, and chairs to run the game in the peace and quiet of my hotel room.  Worked great!

The rest of my games were in Loramore B, and they were all loud and distracting.  

I had a lot of players from previous years, which was awesome, because the games I run (especially, Cha'alt) are unique in play-style, atmosphere, genre, and attitude or approach... I prioritize narrative over numbers, for instance.  I heard from other familiar faces that they tried to get into one or more of my games but were all booked-up, though two games in particular were short-handed.  The first because a couple women bailed without us knowing the reason.  I can understand not signing-up for a Venger Satanis game, but when you already have the tickets, why flake?  The second was because a player had, in my own words based on what I'd heard, taken too much of something, went crazy, and never came back to the Air BnB they rented with friends.

For the first time, I brought boxes of Cha'alt books for a booth to generously stock and sell for me... but they didn't sell a one.  I have a feeling that if that's the direction I want to go in at a place like GaryCon, I'd need to get my own booth and do the selling myself.  I saw very few system-neutral books of adventures, guides, and GM advice, so who knows... maybe I'll look into that. 

Spent some quality time with my friend and VENGER CON alum Bill Allan and his friends, which was cool.  We talked about games, future projects, and conventions over dinner and chilling in the lounge listening to Black Sabbath.

I'll just list the highlights because to go through each session would absolutely fucking break me.  I'm already playing catch-up and don't have the time.  But will elaborate on key points as I go, and if you have a specific question, please ask.

Very few people carried cash around.  Out of 10 people asked, only 2 or 3 of them had a $20 bill on their person.  I thought that was strange, but with technology I guess we're moving to a cashless society.  Kicking myself in the tentacle for not remembering that my paypal "name" is Kort'thalis Publishing, and not based on either of my names, which I use to log-in.  

I had 8 pre-generated characters and every adventuring party included Becka'ala, the pineapple-folk sorceress.  I almost didn't include her in the lineup because she was such a ridiculous gonzo PC, but when in Cha'alt...

One of the most badasss moments was when the PCs commandeered a starship, blasted a massive Lovecraftian entity that had been released from The Necronomicon, may their slumber be short and resplendent with psychedelic dreams, and the party's warrior jumped out with his newly acquired ultra-telluric, vorpal sword, got a crit (possibly via fuchsia burn), and decapitated it... and then (as per the sword's magical ability), the giant Lovecraftian creature head sprouted alien spider legs and served the sword-wielder as a mouth while keeping that eldritch book in its mouth until they reached Wa'avenjour.  That deserved Divine Favor, but I was probably too wrapped-up in the moment to process game mechanics.

At one point, while traveling on the back of a reptilian riding-spider, I had Ta'al (the former slave NPC) ask the adventurers what got them into this kind of life.  It's one of those quiet, introspective moments coming from social interaction that is probably rare in gaming - especially at conventions, I don't play enough to know for sure.  Everyone had something to say, those who took their character's provided backstory synopsis and made it their own, synthesizing how the PC was presented with how players decide to roleplay them, were able to improvise something deep that felt like PSYCHOCOSM to me.

I got a tremendous compliment from a player who had been in one of my games years ago at either GaryCon or Game Hole, vaguely remembered that it was "crazy, wild Lovecraft gonzo" but didn't remember Cha'alt or myself, and rediscovered it when he signed-up for one of my sessions.  His name is Jay, and he said "Yours is the strangest game I've ever played."  Which simply gives credence to my claim that "the Cha'alt experience" is rather unique in the anals (yeah, I know) of our gaming culture. 

A friend of mine who always tries to play in at least one of my games made me a really cool violet-hued set of dice which I rolled several times throughout the con.  Thanks again, David - awesome dice!

The "Black Skull Suggestions" happened.  I mentioned that house-rule, along with Cha'alt X-Cards [FREE PDF here!!!] during all the Cha'alt games.  I wish I had done a similar thing with my Alpha Blue session, ask the players to write down a familiar scifi or X-rated trope, character, concept, or what-have-you.  It forced me to improv in spots where I wouldn't have necessarily gone for it.  Without that concept, we wouldn't have "The salacious cat-warrior gave me herpes" or something about Bruce Campbell's chin, tentacles, and being an Elvis impersonator. 

I finally did the Lovecraftian investigative horror genre justice (last year wasn't bad, but that session was, again, in a noisy crowded room).  Not only did it last the full 3-hours (the allotted time-slot), but it was solid, unexpected, and all the players loved it.  It helps when their expectations are low, a couple of them (maybe more) had recently come away from lackluster games of that ilk, so by comparison, mine seemed graded on a curve.  ;)

I came up with the horror blurb for my adventure six months in advance, like all my games, and my mindset 3 weeks prior to the con is invariably worlds away (quite literally, sometimes).  But I did my best to take what I had outlined months before and use it for inspiration on whatever I come up with in the actual adventure writing process.  

Not every time I GM Cha'alt, but maybe every other session, something happens that becomes established lore in how I run it.  Before GaryCon, I didn't have strip club customers taking their pants down before the lap dance commences, thus being able to enjoy it more... known as a "full-release lap dance."  

Similarly, giving a reptilian riding spider a zoth enema boosts their speed three-fold.  A player asked if there was a demon bounty, probably since I mentioned the brief history of talons.  And that makes so much sense (in certain places) I can't believe it never crossed my mind.  Various sorcerers, priests, and prophets through the ages removing and attaching their foreskin to The Necronomicon in order to become part of it... visceral attunement.  Such a cool idea, and that came from a player who was just winging it; though, I wouldn't be surprised if he had in-game experience of dealing with stuff like trying to use dangerous artifacts of the Lovecraftian variety.

And when it came to Alpha Blue, I came up with klitorian crystals aka sex crystals for female humanoids.  Extremely rare and valuable crystals that made female fantasies more immersive, virtually coming to life while they're being railed.  It was a player who asked how it works, do you grind it up and snort it?  To which I replied "Uh... yeah, you can grind it up into powder and then sprinkle it over the clitoris.  

What else?  I had a player who took the degenerate gambler aspect of his character's personality and made that the focus of his adventure while the "A-plot" felt more like a side-quest.  While that can be tricky for a GM to manage, I think that kind of commitment really enhances a session.  

I remember a theoretical discussion on whether drinking the water of a man who transformed into liquid could be drunk and then pissed-out later... and cleansed of impurities.  The almost immediate gonzo card stimulation (within the first 10 minutes of the game, highly unusual, but also welcome) forced me to come up with an idea - the soap opera characters briefly mentioned in a throw away detail about the cantina they started out in - became real patrons in the cantina that the PCs could interact with, and ended up asking them to come along.  This helped both fill-out the roster (that was a session with only two players), and also gave us some awesome social interaction throughout the adventure.

And of course the jokes!  So many hilarious things said at the table, I only managed to jot a few of them down as things were being said... "If your sleaze factor-5 lasts longer than 5 hours, consult a doctor."  Lol, that still cracks me up.  "Did the stripper dream of The Necronomicon?"  Due to the green-skinned privatives sacrificing the most beautiful of their women, "Eugenics based on ugliness becoming the desired trait in girls."  A sorcerer communicating with a slime entity by jiggling his belly (like a bowlful of jelly) cracked-up the entire table - hey, he rolled a 19.  If I do come up with future Alpha Blue scenarios, "Strange New Holes" has to be a title.

The Cha'alt scenario was very exposition-heavy at the beginning, so let's talk about that.  For a convention game, I think that's fine... maybe not ideal.  You want (mostly, because of player expectations, based on the format) a lot of structure for the session.  Those guardrails get narrower and narrower until it almost kind of feels like a railroad, but there still has to be some free range possibility with plenty of off-ramps.  You also need players to feel like they have plenty of narrative choices at the beginning, middle, and end.  I tried to provide that as each of the four times I ran that exact adventure with the same list of pre-gens, and the middle sections were wildly different.

I also think, for a setting as... unexpected as Cha'alt, introductory exposition gives players a sense of place and a window into what the world is like.  However, next time, I want to go in the opposite direction and just have the PCs wake-up in a strange cave, unsure exactly how they got there or what's going on.  That will also require some sophisticated maneuvering of the adventure writing variety, but I'm always up for the challenge.

Speaking of adventure writing, I spoke with my friend and fellow GM Bill Allan, Merchant of Mela'anj over at VENGER CON, about opening-up a limited license later this year for those who want to write Cha'alt content.  I'll have a formal announcement about that this summer... just wanted to tease the idea ahead of time.

Before I forget, the only time anyone the entire weekend said anything complimentary (or anything at all) about my hand-made maps (I only brought 3, but they were some of my very best ones) was this random guy who said "Cool looking map" while I was standing there holding all my stuff, waiting for a shuttle or trolley that would take me back to my hotel room.  But that happens in my home game, too.  It doesn't bother me so much as it just seems weird that more people don't comment on the one visual element that's presented at the table.  Also, I showed players images on my phone of various NPCs (mostly strippers, prostitutes, and nubile potential sacrifices) and creatures.

As for the dealer's room, it was... fine.  I bought a handful of old Dragon magazines that were reasonably priced from Noble Knight Games.  That's about it.  I've exited my dice acquiring phase, and will wait until a set of seven really knocks my tentacled socks off before purchasing.  And I really don't need any more RPGs at this point in my life.  If I want to explore vintage games from the 80s and 90s (and I do), trying them out at a convention like GaryCon or VENGER CON (attend the con happening this July in Madison, WI right now! Link below) is the way to go.

Thanks for reading, here's a video about GaryCon that I made while there.  As it goes, there's actually no part 2... Lol.  But this blog post definitely serves as a exhaustive follow-up.

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want a great new TTRPG community where you can hang out with other gamers, get ideas, advice, and training in order to improve?  Look no further than the fastest-growing group on X - it's the Kult of Kort'thalis.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

Calling All Gamers For VENGER CON III

 

It's that time, hoss.  

July, especially for those of us surrounded by ice and snow, seems like a long ways away... but really it's only 6 months from now.

I really want VENGER CON III: Revenge of the OSR to be even better than the first two conventions.  Knowing what you want to run and what you want to play will help enormously.  So, speak up and give me your proposed schedules, wish-lists, and tentative desires.

You can email me at: Venger.Satanis@yahoo.com

I'll be running a combination of Cha'alt, Alpha Blue, and whatever weird old-school, OSR, or traditional RPG attendees want me to run.  In fact, let me know what bizarre, odd-ball RPG one-shot you'd like me to run during VENGER CON III and y'all will eventually get a chance to vote for the top nominees.  Whatever you want (but if it's not rules-light, I'll probably hack it or handwave it)!

And if you haven't already, grab your weekend badge right over here.

Big spaces, limited attendance, laidback & easy going structure, new hotel, nice rooms, not having to shout to be heard or lose your voice talking over the noise, meet fellow gamers and actually get to know them over the weekend, hang-out and game with me (will start out at least one morning of the convention with an Ask-Me-Anything Q&A) and other awesome folks, along with this year's guest of honor Scott from the Diversity & Dragons YouTube channel.

Last but not least, VENGER CON's demon mascot Zeemoa'ar!  He'll be there at the convention as I open each day of awesomeness by sounding the gong.  The whole weekend will be unbelievably epic, and I can't wait to share those experiences with you guys this July (when Wisconsin gets warm again).

Thanks,

VS

VENGER CON Aftermath (convention report, part 3)

 

Ok, here's part one, part two, and my latest video.  All in an effort to get you up to speed on VENGER CON II: Electric Boogaloo.  

Alrighty, the meat of this blog post will be my 2nd Cha'alt game and a little about the final session of VENGER CON... Alpha Blue.

We started with 4 players - Imur a droid warrior (an old assassination-droid with the serial numbers filed off), Gabriel a human cleric (and worshiper of the King in Yellow), Frank Beezlebub a demon sorcerer with made an ill-fated pact with a demon and was sentenced to Cha'alt as a punishment, the droid thief ST-K1 who goes by "The Saint" and keeps killing folks wielding scimitars without the proper license and registration... and halfway through, we picked-up a 5th player who played Black Destro, a human warrior.

This is the session that ventured deep down into Cremza'amirikza'am.  It's why I brought the magenta lamp - the lamp that never got used because I plum forgot about it!  Oh well, next year.  On the plus side, I did remember to bring my travel drum.  It was only for one encounter (could have used it more, I suppose), but it lent a certain amount of je ne sais quoi to the session.

I know I've said this elsewhere, but if I'm running a session primarily set in a certain location, I usually don't begin there.  I start the PCs in another place and let them arrive at the place they'll be exploring after 15% - 25% of mucking about in a tavern or wandering the desert or on a starship.  In this case, the PCs were locked behind laser bars on a starship headed for Cha'alt.  Cha'alt was listed as a Federation penal planet, and the PCs were prisoners.  In several hours, they'd be starting their new life on Cha'alt.

Of course, ST-K1 was familiar with the planet... as was an NPC I cooked up named Za'av - green skin, former gladiator with a badass weapon that would be too difficult to describe with mere words (it was named Ka'arl).

The PCs became acquainted (also an important step in my games), got to Cha'alt, but no one was around - all the crew had vanished.  They re-acquired their stuff, took as much info as they could from the ship's computer, and walked out into the desert.  Getting a bird's eye view, the demon sorcerer noticed a stone temple that had seen better days.  They walked to it.

Inside was a ball of yellow light that could speak directly into their minds, and a stone spiral stairway leading down to Cremza'amirikza'am.  In my best Thundarr villain voice, I instructed them that Iva'ak-Na'az, the great and powerful, wished them to travel down into the under-realm and bring back the Lokna'ar!

Gabriel believed this was a direct message from the King in Yellow and gladly obeyed.  The rest either felt like there was something to be gained, or that it was at least a starting point in their adventuring career.

I used the Vanessa and her banana-men servants as the opening - once they got past the black robed Kort'thalis worshipers flaying the back flesh from a humanoid corpse with none other than a crystal-rimmed jaccard - a thief's tool of inestimable value that was slumming it in the hands of depraved cultists.

From that moment on, ST-K1 used the crystal-rimmed jaccard as a "whip-missile" like from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, the weapon employed by the blue guy.  Why the fuck not?

Wanting to help Vanessa and find the Lokna'ar, the PCs ventured forth, exploring the first level of Cremza'amirikza'am.  They encountered more cultists, androids, replicants, and a tentacled clown-worm before discovering a secret cave leading to a subway tunnel with active subway!  The PCs decided to get on board and see where it took them.  After climbing aboard, they realized it was a 2-day journey to someplace they didn't know.

After a random encounter of a unicorn murdering an NPC passenger, the subway car was attacked by a warlord wearing black serpentine armor and his minions.  They jumped on top of the subway car and laser-sworded a circle in the ceiling to jump down.  Several were shot with blasters and assorted weapons by the PCs before getting into melee range.  It was a good battle.

Hours later, the subway slowed down in front of The Black Pyramid of Cha'alt and the PCs decided that's where the mettle of real adventurers are probably tested, jumped out, and headed for their fate.

We had a lot of fun, and many jokes were made... my favorite memorable line was the following, "This timeline is from a damaged prophecy."

I did get a chance to use the moon dice, and realized that it didn't provide the punch that I wanted.  The way I approached the mechanics, it emphasized something slightly different than what I was after.  I was reminded that in game design, you should make your design fulfill a variety of purposes.  However, at the end of the day, decide which has the highest need and go about fulfilling that first and foremost.  

With the moon dice, I wanted it to serve many masters, but in the end, I mostly wanted a way for the PCs to attempt epic, legendary actions that would normally be out of their reach.

Since the convention, I redesigned the moon dice, mechanically speaking, in order to meet that highest design goal.  Thanks to my speedy layout guy, I already have an updated PDF for Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 Revised.

So, the last session was Alpha Blue.  As I stated in my latest (as of this writing) video, character creation just sort of fell into place.  I saw it from a different angle, and that objective perspective made it clear how to proceed.

Here's what I did... 

• Everyone roll either on the scoundrel or respectable career table (just one time per PC).
• Then choose if you want to be an alien, robot, mutant, or human (other)... which means rolling on the d4 table allowing you to have psionic powers, zedi abilities, etc.
• Finish all your rolling on the other tables as seems reasonable (outfit, gun, backstory, name, etc.)
• If you rolled on the respectable career table, your combat dice pool is a 2d6.  If you're a scoundrel, roll 3d6.

The PCs were Dreego the human medic (who owes a bounty hunter named Ma'altag - hey, I was still in a Cha'alt mood, and was toying with directing the PCs to that desert planet), Razwand a cyborg con-man, Azroy a human psionicist, Feyd Akhbar a human interior designer and rich nobleman, and Satara the Lovecraftian alien assassin who was more female than male.

The shared background of the penis-headed alien who groomed two of the PCs on the same ship made for a good starting place.

They were all aboard Feyd Akhbar's ship on their way to Alpha Blue when they came upon a seemingly dead vessel but still full of lifeforms.  Force-docking onto the S.S. Love Ship, they boarded it.  All the passengers were comfortably sleeping.  Azroy reached out in his mind to discover that most were having erotic dreams featuring a small green alien with a bulbous head.

The small green alien, eventually located in the cargo hold, was using his own psionic powers to control the sleepers' dreams and collect some blue juice filling a cannister sitting next to the alien.  

After finding out the details and realizing this was a potential gold mine with no one to stop them, they shot the alien, stole the blue juice (along with various valuables belonging to the passengers), and went back to their ship.  Now, they had something to sell on Alpha Blue.

After arrival, they went to a Mos Eisley cantina style bar where deals usually went down. There was some space hanky-panky in the champaign room to start things off.

It was then that I decided, as the GM (or Bold Dungeon Space Master) that I decided to fly too close to the sun.  There was a guy tailing the PCs and he had a boss.  The PCs found someone who had a boss that might want to buy the blue juice.  And there was the bounty hunter who wanted the money owed to him - plus interest.  And who knows, maybe another guy, as well?!?

I got lost in all the guys with bosses, deals being made, names, appointments, and just everything.  Luckily, the PCs had taken notes and got me sorted out.

There was some high-level grifting, wheeling and dealing, and a white-knuckle shoot-out back at the cantina.  The scenario only lasted about 3 hours, but it was the tail-end of the convention, and we came to a satisfying conclusion.  Time to pack it all up, say goodbyes, and drive home.

It was a great time, while still leaving room for improvement.  If you want to mark your calendars, the official dates agreed upon by my wife and several of the attendees I talked to over the weekend are Friday, July 19th - Sunday, July 21st.

Unfortunately, those dates don't work for the hotel (which is weird, because even during our convention the day-of there were room vacancies), so I'm going to shop around for another venue.  I'll keep you posted.

That's it!  Thanks for going on this journey with me, even if it's just reading the post-con report blog posts.  I appreciate your support.

VS

p.s. I did sell a number of books, including the magnificent and gorgeous Cha'alt hardcovers that are still on sale!  Ordering details here!

VENGER CON Aftermath [convention report, part 2]

 

Ok, before jumping into my own sessions, I want to acknowledge the official VENGER CON mascot... Zeema'ar the game-thirsty demon.  He was crouching in the main convention room, casting his infernal gaze upon proceedings, watching over us, and protecting the structural integrity of whatever dark reality we were attempting to convey.

One of the ways I was able to talk myself into purchasing something as extravagant and ultra-utilitarian as a 22" inch gong is that I kept telling myself how awesome it would be to bang the gong at VENGER CON.  And bang the gong I did, every morning.  And the reverberations were also heard a few more times throughout the convention by eager GMs who needed a little extra ancient Tibetan gravitas during their game.

After the first hour of meet and greet, there was only myself and six players, perfect for a rip roaring session of Cha'alt.  We retired to my private room and started with character creation.  Using Crimson Dragon Slayer D20, it only took about 10 minutes to manifest an entire 3rd level party of adventurers...

The droid-thief STK1, human warrior Vaca'al-Mar, human priest Ether, human warrior Zippy G, crystalline sorcerer Lowbar, and demon cleric Narva'al.

Like when Luke Skywalker decided to put his targeting computer away, trust the force, and "we'll do it live!", I decided to run this session like one of my 90-minute, Roll20 one-shots.  I started with a basic premise, the PCs wandering the desert, and winged-it as they discovered a cave entrance that soon led to numerous encounters with strange humanoids and creatures.  Of course, I had all my Cha'alt books and plenty of ideas, but the structure was loose and free-flowing.

We broke for lunch after a couple hours, I ordered pizza and mountain dew for everybody (from Pappa Johns about a 5 or 6 minute drive from the hotel), and we continued on for a total of nearly six hours. I'll bullet-point the highlights of that session (events and quotable lines) since there's so much gaming content to get through...

But first, I got to test out the moon dice mechanic.  It worked pretty much how I wanted, though most players were hesitant to use it, given that the bonus was relatively small (potentially) with a 1 in 6 chance of a demon moon-god claiming a shard of one's soul.  

After three playtests, I have a better idea of how I want to implement the moon dice and showcase a memorable epic and mighty deed - will be updating Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 next week to reflect the change.

• The PCs interrupted an infernal ritual to summon a god-like demon worm.  They killed several demons, stopping the ceremony, and looted their supplies.
• They realized there were factions they could exploit, and exploit them they did... the wa'agasi and yuza'ak, specifically.  
• A powerful artifact was at the center of the humanoids' conflict.  The PCs eventually acquired a super-magical glaive (like in the movie Krull) that went to the demon cleric, as he was the only one brave and foolish enough to dive into a pool of zoth, become mutated, insane, and corrupted to wield A'azkulek!
• A trio of demons were guarding a cave of memory crystals, and the PCs were able to see a bit of Cha'alt's history just by touching them.  Unexpectedly, the crystalline sorcerer decided to absorb one of the crystals - I allowed him to gain and extra (and permanent) point of HP.  A gold-skinned demon wielded a magical two-handed sword, that went to Zippy G after he'd been dispatched. 
• That sword was later used to slice into reality itself, creating an In the Mouth of Madness "flappy hole" leading into the unquiet void of unutterable blackness.  The PCs peered in and saw a tentacled monstrosity that beckoned.  Narva'al made some kind of connection with it and later tried to free that Lovecraftian godling.
• Then, the party freed a beautiful woman sleeping within a glass sarcophagus.  Specifically, Zippy G smashed the glass, freeing Destiny and was rewarded by the tasting of her nubile flesh... "Get out the zoth-based lube."
• Demons wielding scimitars, a weapon that STK1 or "The Saint" despised became a running joke throughout the convention (the droid thief, played by Judd, appeared prominently in both of my Cha'alt scenarios).  We discovered that brunch is the scimitar of meals, making willing participants not worth the air they breathed.  
• ""She has an only-Cha'alt account."
• "You can take a bird out of the saw clan..."
• "Venger, you need to come up with a circle of protection from 'stupid gonzo'... just for RPG Pundit's sake."
• While Narva'al was playing mid-wife with the tentacled entity from beyond, the others were busy investigating a golden pylon in a nearby cave.  With no way in, their investigation stopped short.  However, the cave next door contained an orgy of humanoids using a pyramidal "pylon key" as a sexual aid.  Lowbar noticed a massive purple crystal sitting upon a pillow of the same hue in the orgy cave.  He immediately tried to absorb it into himself.  While he gained one or more extra HP, the crystalline sorcerer also suddenly disappeared, finding himself wandering the purple maze... as sorcerers occasionally do in my Cha'alt games.
• The remaining PCs went into the pylon as STK1 began touching crystals on the central matrix table.  They took a little trip just outside The Black Pyramid of Cha'alt.  Meanwhile, Narva'al had released the Lovecraftian godling who was busy melting reality and acquiring worshipers.  Lowbar came upon something in the purple maze and decided to cast wish in order to bring himself back to the real world of Cha'alt, I allowed him to choose between two universes - one containing the demon priest's new god who was devouring reality itself, and the other was a similar timeline but without that tear in the fabric of time and space.  He chose the latter.
• Seemed like a suitable place to end the nearly six-hour session, so I did.  

By then, another half-dozen attendees showed up and other games were run.  I know that throughout the convention (other than the games I played in) there was a Lamentations of the Flame Princess session, a Dungeon Crawl Classics session, Conan, and ShadowDark.

I wanted to hang-out, schmooze, and drink with my fellow gamers each night, but I'm old and each day I was pretty wore out, leaving by 11:00pm to go home and sleep.  At least I felt refreshed each morning when I arrived at 9am to open the gates (literally and figuratively) to get things going.

This session report is already pretty long, so I'll try to get part 3 up tomorrow.  Aside from Pappa John's, I (and many other attendees) ate at the nearby Popeye's chicken and biscuit fast-food establishment, Red Lobster, and had a rather mediocre sub from Potbelly's.  I wanted to each at Chili's, as well, but didn't want to take the extra time and risk being late for Griff's Tonnisborg game on the day when it would have been possible.

Two of the three Cha'alt zines were freely available for folks who snapped up the complimentary copies... The Skeevatier and Zoth-Laced Worm Trails.  Grab them because both have awesome Cha'altian goodness (and a little something contributed by yours truly)!

The third and final Cha'alt zine will soon be ready for prime-time...

Yes, there will be a 3rd VENGER CON next July, but I want to get something in writing from the hotel before providing an exact date.

Ok, if you have any questions, comments, or feedback between now and part 3 (most likely tomorrow), let me know below, hoss!

VS

p.s. Here is part one of my convention report.  BTW, I'm still locked into Twitter appeal Hell for giving good advice to climate activists who think it's a good idea to protest in the middle of the road.  Please, continue to nag anyone behind the scenes over at Twitter to finalize my appeal favorably so I can get back to promoting shit, trolling idiots, and letting people know what movies I'm watching at night.  Thanks!

VENGER CON Aftermath [convention report, part 1]

 

We fucking made it, hoss!

Leading up to VENGER CON II: Electric Boogaloo, I was worried about this, wondering about that, hoping certain things would happen, fearing others wouldn't, and generally feeling anxious about how it would all go.

All things considered, the convention went extremely well.  I lucked-out.  Just under attendance numbers of last year (25 versus about 22), but it happened, fun was had, and new gaming plateaus were reached!

Let's dive in!  Before I forget, video one, video two, and video three.

Of the two major complains heard (yeah, let's get the bad stuff out of the way first), the first was no name tags.  Yeah, I dropped the ball on that.  Next year for sure!  Second, was the free flowing, chaotic structure where various games were penciled in, but nothing was set down in pen, let alone stone.

Obviously, that's going to annoy or disturb some people.  Normal conventions have specific, set times for definite things, and we (the folks attending) move around and make decisions based on information provided.  For good or ill, VENGER CON seems to reflect my own spontaneous, seat of the pants, stream of consciousness vibe - which means we show up, talk to people, get a sense of what's going on and where people are at, and then make decisions based on the available data, circumstances, our own inclinations, etc.

As the convention grows, it might have to outgrow that mindset.  It works for me, but I'm definitely in the minority, and a larger con would only increase that chaos exponentially.  

If I had to choose one personal failing during the convention it was not using the magenta light that I specifically brought for my Cha'alt session that took place in Cremza'amirikza'am.  I have other, smaller regrets, too, like adding way too many NPCs that wanted to meet or get their boss/supplier in a single visit to the cantina.  But overall, I'm happy with my games and GMing.

Alright, now let's get to the good stuff - the games!

I played in 3 games.  I'll talk about those right away.  The first was my buddy Colin's Cha'alt adventure where he mixed the Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 system with Into the Odd.  As a proponent of the OSR, one of the things I love about it is ease of use.  We all know the basics of how traditional RPGs go.  You roll to hit, you roll damage, each PC does something and is individually autonomous.  Trying alternative systems that switch-up the fundamentals is jarring and there's always a learning curve.  Sometimes the juice is worth the squeeze, sometimes it ain't.

This was the same Cha'alt adventure Colin playtested for the Crystals of Chaos campaign group a couple months ago, albeit slightly updated.  My main focus both in the original playtest and my second go-around was the same - enjoy the world, see what it feels like to be in that place, adventuring, roleplay my character alongside the other PCs and NPCs I meet along the way, help build the environment around me, engage the process with passion and creativity.

The adventure itself was good (I have notes, but this is not the time and place), and we all had fun.  Colin was probably the most tired and out of it that I've ever seen, but even with all that going on, he did a great job GMing it.  And I didn't know this until after he (and others) helped me pack up the convention stuff, but that was his first ever convention game GMing.  Poppin' that cherry like VENGER CON do!

So, that was Friday.  Saturday morning, I played in a dark ages Call of Cthulhu session ran by another dude named Colin (but completely different person).  We were Vikings investigating strange goings-on in Greenland.  It was good, and due to my recent update [video here] on what's next for Venger Satanis and Kort'thalis Publishing, it was much needed.  

Back in the late 80s and early 90s, Call of Cthulhu was probably my favorite RPG, just as H.P. Lovecraft is my favorite writer.  His Cthulhu Mythos (along with the help of his friends) has influenced the vast majority of my creative work.

That, too, was a good scenario.  One of the reasons why I choose to GM over playing is that I like things done my way - that, and I love the extra challenge, the greater obligation and responsibility that comes with GMing.  The scenario we played reminded me of several CoC adventures that I've both ran and played.  There are certain things I enjoy and other things that go against my stylistic grain.  

For that alone, I'm grateful for the experience and looking forward to getting in there and trying to make something (I'd probably start with a short scenario) that fits my particular vision.  It could be awesome or crash and burn... that not knowing is another reason why I do what I do.

The third session was really special because Griff Morgan, the guest of honor for this year's VENGER CON, ran The Lost Dungeons of Tonnisborg.  Super old-school vibe (in fact, we played OD&D), as if we had traveled back in time to game with Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.  We drew our own map based on the DM's description, fought in marching order (but without miniatures), did d6 damage no matter the class or weapon, wandered upon a room full of giant snakes that was way beyond our level and nearly killed the party, feeling around the walls for secret passages, etc.  

There was about 9 players and Griff lent his veteran chops to the proceedings, taking us back to something that might have inspired The Temple of Elemental Evil.  Very much, from an objective standpoint, the opposite of how many of us (especially including myself) game today.  So, it was another lesson, a history lesson this time, of how far and wide this hobby is.  

The artform or vocation, if you prefer, is so massive that saying you enjoy roleplaying games is like saying you enjoy art or science.  It's fine for a casual comment directed towards the uninitiated, but that statement alone tells you virtually nothing about the kinds of games and style, approach, and aesthetic of those games.  My personal preference for sandbox, fiction-first, rules-light, theater-of-the-mind, rule of cool, roleplay heavy gaming is night and day to so many other ways of doing RPGs.  I don't know, it's fascinating to me.

The fourth and final session I played was run by Judd.  Judd and I talk on social media frequently (MeWe, YouTube, etc.).  He's backed a number of my Kickstarters.  And he's played in a couple of my Roll20 Cha'alt one-shots.  He's also one Hell of a live player.  I enjoyed his witty banter and characterizations online, but in-person I was even more impressed.  I got a lot of time to observe Judd's play because he attended all three of my sessions - Cha'alt, Cha'alt, and Alpha Blue.  Super nice guy, too.

So, what did he run?  Wretched New Flesh!  It's a cross between Naked Lunch, Videodrome, Dreamscape, and some kind of FBI/CIA procedural taking place in a cyberpunk city owned by Cobra-La.  Yeah, it was fucking weird.  While I felt out of my element (I'd totally watch that movie, but it's a genre of gaming that I have precious few experiences with), it was enjoyable to see how it all worked.  The cast of characters and detective work and logistics and agency politics and bio-mechanical gear... it was all so much.  

I really liked my character, but admittedly I didn't do too much - which is kind of what I wanted - because I'm giving one Hell of a performance each time I'm GMing and wanted everyone else to have their moment to shine.  So, I felt a bit overwhelmed in a good way.  Very cool system and world by The Red Room.  If you like Over The Edge type stuff, I highly recommend Wretched New Flesh - and that cover art by Jae Tanaka can't be beat!

Alright, that's enough for now.  Not sure when part 2 will get blogged... hopefully tomorrow!

Yeah, great time - can't wait to tell you about the games I ran.  Thanks for reading, and feel free to ask questions, hoss.

VS

p.s. Yeah, Cha'alt hardcovers still for sale - get 'em here! 

p.p.s. Apparently, this is somewhere on reddit and might be the most downvoted comment on there (and may be eligible for a prize of some sort)...

"Venger Satanis is a game designing genius on par with (if not exceeding) Gary Gygax." ~ Matthew Urquhart

Pre-Convention News & Updates

I wanted to show off the map progress.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been experimenting with a new tentacle-drawn mapping style.

And this is what it looks like after my layout guy is done with it.  There will be more like this soon (with possible tweaks).  After VENGER CON, I'll be preparing the way for book 4 of the Cha'alt trilogy (due out next July).

Speaking of VENGER CON II: Electric Boogaloo, it's less than a month away.  Weekend badges are still available.  Everyone who loves old-school, OSR, and traditional RPGs is welcome, but this is not a woke convention.  

As the con gets closer, I'll be posting some content for gamers to use (both those attending and those who wish they could attend, but aren't able to).

There are Cha'alt zines happening.  I believe all three of them are about to launch between now and VENGER CON.  I'll post about those (with links) as the convention approaches.  However, this one right here is currently being crowdfunded via Kickstarter - please, support him!

I'm also still working on the webcomics (Cha'alt, Alpha Blue, and Purple Islands).

Remember, I'm still giving away that free Cha'alt adventure, The Violet-Haunted Crypt.

This Sunday at 7pm central (8pm eastern) we'll be debuting the next phase of our monthly RPG YouTube podcast Inappropriate Characters with our new co-host Diversity & Dragons!  It'll be a 90-minute stream.  So, mark your digital calendars or whatever.

Ok, if there's anything you want to talk about or see from me in the next 3 weeks, comment down below!

VS

The Tentacle-Drawn Mapping Style of Venger Satanis

 

What's up, hoss?

So many things to talk about!  But the major announcement is that, at long last, I've finally created my own mapping style.  One that I'm more than happy with and shall be employing from now on.

It took dozens of maps, a good couple years, lots of paper and ink, and most of my remaining sanity, a sacrifice of time, energy, and money (I already have a few previously drawn maps turned into adventuring locations, might have to scrap most of them).

Back in the day, everyone copied the crosshatching thing that one super-progressive guy started.  Well, I didn't want to follow in his footsteps (for a variety of reasons).  

For anyone who wants to see it up close and personal, as well as, getting a full-on tutorial by yours truly, I'll be demonstrating the VS technique at next month's VENGER CON.

What else has been going on?  Well, I just discovered that I have autism... that's all kinds of weird and fucked-up!

I put out a brand-new Cha'alt adventure called Loathsome Secrets In Amethyst.  That's the last release until not only VENGER CON, but all 12 issues of the Cha'alt webcomic, Under Fuchsia Ska'ai, that should be out in September.

However, I will have something to share on my blog just a few days before the convention - a fun random table (or two) that folks who can't make it to VENGER CON can use at home, so they feel like part of the sorcery.

And then sometime in November I'll kickstart Book 4 of the Cha'alt trilogy, another gorgeous, limited edition, signed and numbered hardcover tome that will be in my slimy tentacles by VENGER CON III in July of 2024.

That volume will contain all the previous Cha'alt content that's come out since Chartreuse Shadows + a bunch of new stuff, never before seen by human eyes!

Thanks,

VS