Science Fantasy

What's up, guys?  It's been awhile, hasn't it?  Did you miss me?  Is this blog post going to be nothing but questions?  Hmmm?

Basically, all I want to do is shout my appreciation for an internet essay written in February of this year.  It's about science fantasy and it's pretty awesome.  About the only 80's science fantasy stuff they didn't reference was The Ice Pirates and Starchaser: The Legend of Orin.

But that's ok because this article gives the former its day in space court.

Yeah, both of those are worth reading.

VS

p.s. Regarding my upcoming sci-fi parody Alpha Blue, the art is done and the writing should be finished tonight.  Next stop - layout city (it's like suffragette city and space city combined... except with less suffragettes, less space, and more layout).

Purple PDF is live!

Yes, the PDF of The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence is up on DriveThruRPG (and RPGNow probably).  It may take a few hours before a title search will pull it up, so use the aforementioned link.  Or click on the image over on the right-hand side of this blog.  If you're interested in the dead-tree version, that should be available next week sometime.

This book has a little bit of everything - useful tables, optional rules, a monk character class, history, a short piece of fiction, tons of encounters, new magic items and spells, etc.  As with Liberation of the Demon Slayer (again, see right), your Purple campaign is about 85% finished for you.  The remaining 15% is for the GM to flesh out, adding his own signature elements according to personal taste.

As system neutral/agnostic as possible, it clocks in at 108 pages, lots of illustrations from a variety of amazing artists.  Ed Wedig did a great job of laying everything out.  Plus, there were many people who provided worthwhile feedback, including playtesters!  All in all, I think Purple turned out well.

For those curious, the hexes can be whatever you want... one mile, three miles, five miles, etc.  Just depends on how large you'd like the purple islands to be in your campaign world.

Also, if you'd like the giant 50mb sized color map, it's available here.  You won't be able to see it as a preview or simply click on it; however, you can download the file via dropbox and then save it onto your computer.

Sure, this means that you can pretty much have Alyssa Faden's gorgeous full-color map of the islands for frizzle (free).  Consider it a gift, a thank you, or maybe a teaser to whet your gonzo sci-fantasy appetite.  Enjoy!

If you have any questions, concerns, or problems, please let me know.


VS

The Cover Purple

There's not much to say, except here's the new cover of The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence.  Faustie did a great job, as usual.  He might do a few more little tweaks between now and then, but basically this is it.  Notice the subtle homage to Taarna from Heavy Metal.


VS


p.s.  I'm still excepting pre-orders!  Send me an email.

The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence

The time has come...

Kickstarter + Kort'thalis Publishing = The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence

Sounds like a fairly straightforward equation, right?  Well, I'm sure there will be bumps along the road.  Thanks in advance to those who take this journey with me.  If you have questions, please post them here.

Take a look at the cover art I already purchased from Faustie (he did the LotDS cover, too)  I also plan on using Dyson for the dungeon cartography, Paul Allen for a lot of the interior illustrations, Ed Wedig for the layout, and lots of sword-and-sorcery pulp stories for inspiration.

This sophomore effort should be even weirder, if not better than Liberation of the Demon Slayer, and hopefully you're already enjoying the free, old school character class, The Baleful Sorcerer of Tsathag'kha.  Ok, wish me luck!

*  *  *

What is this "Purple-Haunted Putrescence" of which you speak?

Here's a taste...

The Purple-Haunted Putrescence is a nebulous mass of tentacles, gaping orifices, and decay about 2 miles in breadth by 3 miles in width. It's a sentient being of dribbling, putrid, gelatinous, filth drifting between 30 - 50 feet above the islands like a malignant cloud of purple ooze; sometimes seeking victims to devour, other times attempting to communicate with inhabitants, or simply observing the life it may one day consume. Worshipers call it The Thing That Rots From They Sky.

Even inattentive adventurers will notice the purple-stained hands of cultists who worship The Thing That Rots From The Sky as god. The purple stain comes from squirming protoplasmic matter infrequently excreted from the putrescence itself. Cultists eagerly scoop up the translucent semi-fluid, its juice-secreting substance staining their bare hands. Cultists drop the excrement in the Pit of Yuzklatan in hopes of spawning a new Thing That Rots From The Sky in the next aeon.

A few choose to imbibe it. Most die; however, some become carriers of putrescent visions... prophets of the purple! All subservient to the Arch-Acolyte, of course. 

Arch-Acolyte Yiksha Saleece is the cult's spiritual leader. He's as old as he is cunning, having received revelations from the Thing generations ago when Yiksha was only a boy. Those prophecies were set down upon several scrolls by a long-forgotten scribe. Since those early years, Yiksha Saleece is recognized as messiah of the Purple-Haunted Putrescence. 

The prophecy of Yuzklatan, recorded upon purple juice-writ parchment and concealed within Yiksha's tent, speak of a time when The Thing That Rots From The Sky grows old and feeble, requiring an heir of its own ilk. When a purple spawn shall be created from small bits of the god itself, gathered at a time when it is healthy. In return for assisting the Thing's renewal, worshipers will eventually become part of this new, younger deity. The original, pre-translated word for this process of self-deification is "Yuzklatan". 


Various belief systems regarding the Purple-Haunted Putrescence 

1. Aeons ago, the Purple-Haunted Putrescence was flushed out of a space craft, drifted through a radioactive nebula, and landed in some kind of primordial ooze. 

2. It developed from a biological weapon, used on another planet to subdue a citizenry on the brink of revolution. 

3. The Purple-Haunted Putrescence is indeed divine, though a lesser god compared with Yazag-Thoth. 

4. This rotting monstrosity was conjured from the abyss by three sorcerers; they were promptly immolated as it shuddered and dripped from a gateway bathed in violet flame.

LotDS on Amazon!

Liberation of the Demon Slayer is now available on Amazon.com!  Sweet.  That's pretty much all this blog post is about.  Just wanted to announce the Amazon release.  :)

I hope some of you are getting ready to read, play, run, blog about, or even review my old school, Lovecraftian, science-fantasy adventure and campaign guide because I would love to know your experiences... Just the thought of warriors, sorcerers, clerics, Elves, and thieves crawling through the dungeons I created (and Dyson Logos rendered) is a tantalizing thrill.

LotDS was spawned (according to the hellish and depraved sacraments of the K'tulu priesthood) so that like-minded gamers could have an incredibly dark and wild ride, reminiscent of the classic modules we all remember.  Yes, it's meant for D&Desque RPGs of zero - 3rd level PCs, but I think LotDS is adaptable to a wide variety of systems and levels.


By His loathsome tentacles,

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