Zines and other things, update 11/15/2015

     So things are moving along here. I am getting together people for a panel regarding rpg zines at next year's Con on the Cob. I have two people committed and a few maybes, though if anyone would like to volunteer I would love that. In addition, any artists out there who would like to show their art would be welcome. There will be at least one new artist showing her work next year. Exciting things are happening and I can't wait! 

     All of my looking at various zines and their creators had me wanting to pick up some new zines to check out. Vacant Ritual Assembly by Red Moon Medicine Show is what I picked up this weekend, issues 1 and 2. Clint Krause runs a Lamentations of the Flame Princess game and these are what he has developed for it. They contain new creatures, adventures, places to inhabit, random tables and more. Issue one has an interview with Chris McDowall (Into the Odd) and issue two has one with Greg Gorgonmilk regarding his Dolmenwood project. Exciting stuff that, although written with Lamentations in mind, can be used with any game. Definitely worth checking out. Go on, have a taste! Issue one is pay what you want, so go for it.

Updates, 11/03/2015

     Still looking for zine folks to attend next year's Con on the Cob. Currently Gennifer Bone wants to give it a shot, and while not involved in zines, she is an up and coming artist for the the OSR (Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Lusus Naturae) We hung out for a bit, just talking and drawing. It was a lot of fun, just rambling and sketching.

     This is a return to my days doing watercolors for a local gallery. I may have to break out my paints. Currently looking for more people to convince they should attend the con. Dreaming big here.

     Also working on NaGa DeMon, figuring out how to do this. Each week, either Wednesday or Thursday, I will have an update for what I am developing for it. Currently getting stats and notes for the gas bags. Also planning what art I should get ready for next year's con. That's all for now, take care!

Next Year's Con on the Cob and Ground Hog Day Gaming Retreat

     Just finished Con on the Cob 2015 and I am already planning for 2016, what is wrong with me? I am hoping to get together some amazing rpg zine goodness, that's what. Already casting my net to try and wrangle zine creators, contributors and artists. So if you have anyone in mind, who would be willing to make the trek to North East Ohio in November 2016, let me know. I will bring along some of my art, including pieces from Crawling Under a Broken Moon, but I don't want to be the only zinester there. I know Tim Shorts (creator of the Manor) resides here, and there are some folks in nearby states. Give me your suggestions and I will see what I can do.

     I also am committed to running a game of Doctor Who at Ground Hog Day Gaming Retreat early next year. Just playing and running games, should be a blast. All for now, later.

Con on the Cob 2015 (I'm back)

     Here we are, fresh off Con on the Cob. This year I assisted Tim Snider at the Goblinoid Games booth, arriving Thursday evening and leaving mid afternoon on Sunday. The new digs are pretty cool, though the layout takes a little getting used to.The wifi connection was a bit iffy, so I decided to wait until after the con to post. Also, I once more neglected to take pictures. except for this one lone picture here.

Good old Brian Thomas 

     I picked up a good selection of OSR type stuff which I will now tease with this picture.

Was able to get my DCC zine collection caught up, just need to get Crawl #11. I'll get back to you guys once I have giving these a closer look.

     In other news, I am hoping to get some zine artists and authors together at next year's Con on the Cob. Apparently the show is getting pushed back to the middle of November next year. That means I have a whole year to try and recruit some new blood for the cause. Hehe. Take care folks!

Oh look, Thanksgiving is coming up!

     Where did the time go? I have been working on my secret NaGa DeMon (National Game Design Month) and time just seems to be move too fast. Today I pause for the 51st anniversary of Doctor Who, happy that I now own a custom Pat Troughton sonic screwdriver. It is a welcome addition to my costume that I hope to improve for next year's Con on the Cob!

Troughton's sonic was basically a penlight.

Being black and white, the color of his sonic isn't clear, so I went with red. Pretty spiffy, eh?

     Pete Spahn at Barrel Rider Games is running a project through Indie Gogo, a class compendium for Labyrinth Lord. Pete Spahn puts out some great OSR content and this is shaping up to be amazing. Five dollars gets you a pdf of the compendium, and ten gets you that and extra pdf's. Check it out here. This upcoming year, I would love to run Dwimmermount at my flgs (Ravenstone), and in addition to the standard pregens, I may have some from the aforementioned compendium. More on that in the time leading up to the new year.

     Well, take care and see you all later!

Con on the Cob 2014!!

    

Tim, Ken, and Dave

     Things have been busy around here with conventions, artwork and real life taking my time. Last weekend was Con the Cob 2014, and man was it fun. I ran two scheduled games plus a pick up game, and played in two games. I arrived Thursday just in time to run my first game, Dwimmermount using Labyrinth Lord. Three people showed up including Tim shorts (Gothridge Manor), Ken H. (Rusty Battleaxe), and Dave (Forgotten Runes). The session went well, the group made two forays into the dungeon, their characters needed a break midway through the session. Just before the end, one of them got a bit greedy and died from a trap. Later that evening I got to play in Tim Snider's (Savage Afterworld) Death in the Dust Cryptworld game. The Pacesetter system is amazing, plus Tim runs a fantastic game. Our Pc's were investigating an old mining town being turned into a theme park(?) where terrible vandalism has taken place. A couple friends of mine joined me, as well as Tim Shorts and Ken H. Everyone had a great time, if you have a chance to play in a game run by Mr. Snider then I highly recommend it.

     Now, before I get into Friday, I should talk about two important aspects of the dealer's room. Tim Snider was manning the Goblinoid Games/Pacesetter booth and Roy Snider was in charge of the Goodman Games booth. From Tim I acquired Rotworld and Time Master, and from Roy I worked on completing my DCC fanzine collection, I'll write more about what I got later.

     First thing Friday, I played in Tim's Thundarr the Barbarian game. I got to play the mokk in training,Oosoo the mokk. My die rolls fit in with the neophyte angle, since I couldn't make any decent rolls. Oddly I was the only person to damage Thundarr. Thankfully my luck turned around and I dealt the final blow to the villain. Next I ran Mutant Future for four, this was one of the scheduled games but apparently I talked it enough that they were all my friends. We had a great time as they explored the last tower of Ol' Bus, scavenging for supplies and artifacts.

My friends Jason, Chuck

Mysti and Derrick

     I was really looking forward to Saturday, since that was when I would unveil my Patrick Troughton second Doctor costume.

Wow, look at those pants! The next thing I was looking forward to was three of my friends (Jason, Chuck and Derrick) wanted to play Dwimmermount. I had my notes from the previous game, since my plan was to run subsequent games as if they had occurred in real time (ie. doors that were battered down would be that way, dead monsters would be laying wherever they fell) Ironically the entered a different way and therefore it never came into play. It was lots of fun and ended on a tpk.

     Con on the Cob, once again, was awesome. This year even more so, and I will be back next year, definitely running games again. Hopefully showing some artwork as well.

Running Dwimmermount!

     I will run Dwimmermount at Con on the Cob this year. The pdf, which is the "We are done except for looking for typos." version and that is what I will be using until I get the final version.There will be at least two Dwimmermount slots and there will be overlap. Example being if the second expedition follows the path of the first, they will see evidence of the first group. Now if they are the same folks, then it wont be a surprise but I am looking forward to it and am hoping I get two groups going through.

     Anyone new to this mega dungeon, Dwimmermount is set on the world (planet) of Telluria, and the titular mountain is a prison. One ginormous prison filling a mountain. Rumors abound about this place, but it has been sealed off from the rest of the world for two centuries! Until now. There are folks ready to pay lots of money for what they think/know is in their, also folks who do not want the wrong people poking around in there. Which group will you side with?

     I will be using the regular Labyrinth Lord rulebook, meaning you can use the free pdf at Goblinoid Games website and not have to spend a penny. In Dwimmermount the only races available, besides human, are dwarf and elf. James Maliszewski has weaving a fascinating back story for the history of Telluria and beyond which explains the creation dwarves and elves. Seriously amazing stuff. There are also two new(ish) classes, the cultist and the paladin. You can start off as a cultist or convert from a cleric, and paladin converts from a fighter. There are locations and people in the dungeon that you go to for conversion.

     I hope to run this at my local flgs as well, so if there are any folks out there who want to play then let me know. I still have some more reading to do, but I could be ready to roll with it soon! Leave a comment if you're feeling froggy, folks! Take care everyone!

Con on the Cob 2014: site update

     In case you are out of the loop or have not signed up yet, registration is different this year than in the past year or two. Andy and his merry band of mavens are handling registrations this year, including game sign ups. Therefore gaming will be free once again, and you wont need to sign into a separate site to sign up. Personally I am in favor of this change, since I always forgot my sign in info for MSBT (?) since I only used it for Con on the Cob. I will be putting a couple games into the system soon, and I encourage anyone thinking about it to go ahead and sign up to run some games. That is all, carry on.

Con on the Cob: running games

     Con season is moving along with North Texas RPG Con next weekend and then Origins. I have to look ahead to October and Con on the Cob, since I will be running at least a couple games there. Goblinoid Games will have a booth there, so I feel I should run Labyrinth Lord and/or Mutant Future. I have adventures written up for both systems, so that should not be an issue. I am also tempted to run something in DCC rpg.

     Currently the games list for the con is practically nonexistent, so please head over and sign up. If you have not been there, but want to give it a try, do it. It is like ten pounds of fun in a five pound bag. Er, or something like that. If you have been then what are you waiting for, you know how fun it is. So there you go, see you all later!

Wednesday, May 21st

     Just some meandering here, today. The news of WotC's release plans and stuff for 5E has lit the interwebs these past few days. I am in the camp of "I'll wait and see." since I am playing Labyrinth Lord/Mutant Future and DCC. Their adventures sound cool, at least the Dead in Thay stuff. At the very least I will be paying attention to their adventure releases.

     I keep forgetting to mention, being a part of the order of the 30, when I run a game I will let everyone know that once per person they can substitute a d30 for any one die roll. this will begin with my DCC game this next Monday. Also, I should be submitting games to run at Con on the Cob soon. Really looking forward to all the cons this year, but especially CotC!

     That is all for now, take care folks!

Coming up on an anniversary

      May 29th 2010 I put my first post out here, and here I am, approaching this blog's fourth birthday. Over 200 posts and nearing the 10,000 page view mark has me thinking about all the different things I have posted here these past few years. Interviews, maps and such have moved through here, with a few ideas left hanging.

     One of these days I want to pull all of my Tinker posts together, give it a polish and see what you all think. I will be doing more maps in the future, March was a blast for me. I also hope to post more OSR stuff here with different creatures, items and stuff. This is where I admit my April Artifice was a bit of a bust.

     I will be at Origins, Gen Con, and Con on the Cob this year and I hope to be at Gary Con next year. A lot of things to look forward to. I am currently trying to get a DCC game off the ground, with a game on Memorial Day. I just have to settle on where to have it, in case my flgs is closed that day. In closing I will leave you folks with this question, what would you like to see here? Take care and I will be back!

Con on the Cob 2014

     Here we are, looking down the barrel another year of conventions. It was recently announced that Goblinoid Games will have a presence at Con on the Cob this year, which compels me to register and maybe run a game or two. I know Tim Snider will be there, which means a Saturday morning game of Thundarr the barbarian should be in store for us mortals, and hopefully some Cryptworld! I will most likely run Labyrinth Lord, nothing complicated but I want Goblinoid to feel inclined to come back. October 16-19 is when it is and registration is open, so get over there and sign up. Don't worry, it'll be fun!

    

Holidays are not made for blogging

     Christmas and New Years are rapidly approaching and here we are, pressed for time. This means, as you may have noticed, I am not worried about keeping up with the daily schedule from November. There will at least be one or two posts a week, especially if something comes up. I have more schematics waiting to be written up for the tinker, hopefully enough to make the class more interesting. I still have to finish telling you all about the rest of my time at Con on the Cob this year. Of course we have the Time of the Doctor Christmas special coming up! I am in the process of get the Shaintar adventure ready for January 18th, and there is plenty of room if anyone out there wants to sign up. Another game I am planning for next year is the Labyrinth Lord game where the players explore Vol' Choloris' lair. I am excited about what I have planned for next year and I hope you are as well!

NaBloPoMo comes to a close

     So here we are, last day of November, and the last day of my involvement in National Blog Post Month. It has been fun making sure I post something on a semi regular schedule. November was full of stuff happening that I enjoyed writing about, especially with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who happening. Just over half of my posts were Who related, sometimes because of recovered episodes but mostly the bits of stuff leading up to the big day on the 23rd. I interviewed Andrew Raymond about his contribution to the local Who community and the amazing event that he helped coordinate at the local Grandview theater. When I attended the showing there, I almost felt like a reporter, though with a sucky camera. It was great and I look forward to attending more of these events and recommend the same to anyone able to, do it.

     I decided to give a shot at making a D&D character class, the Tinker, driven by cogs and gears. They use devices and mechanisms designed for defense and offense, and trap detection/removal and lock picking. I love D&D and various related OSR games, a special love for Labyrinth Lord. In addition, I got to go to Con on the Cob and play in a game of Cryptworld run by Tim Snider (co-author of Cryptworld) I loved reporting on that game as well as other events at the con. A wonderful interview with Jason Braun, and me wanting to go to Gary Con 2014 rounds out my posts for the month. I hope you all have liked what I have to say and I will continue this type of post, though not everyday, at least during the holidays here. Take care, and enjoy!

Jolly Jason Braun!

At this past Con on the Cob, I got to hang out with Jason Braun. I had seen him at previous CotC's but had not recognized him, mostly because I have only in the past year or two gotten into the whole OSR thing. The following is from an online chat we had last week. Jason has experience in fine art in addition to gaming related works.(check his Tumblr page out) Enjoy!
 
First question, what first got you into creating art?

I've always made art. There are drawings in my baby book from when I was two years old. Drawing was always my favorite hobby, and when I got into RPG's, it was always what drew me in. I was president of the art club for a few years in high school and won various mid-level awards in scholastic art competitions. When I was a junior, I spent one semester as an art mentor for a special ed student in a nearby elementary. He had trouble socializing with other kids, so we'd get together once a week to draw cartoons and rap about school. That was a great experience.

Groovy! So what got you involved in RPG's

My friend, Steven Streubel, introduced me to it in 1985 when I was 11. I asked him, "Won't that make me worship the devil?" and he just laughed at me. He sat me down with the Mentzer red box and had me go through the solo adventure. From there, I was hooked. We played as often as possible after that, squandering every penny of our allowances on books and dice. We played an amalgam of D&D and AD&D because we simply didn't know any better.
In hindsight, I'd had some AD&D action figures prior to that (both the articulated and bendy/PVC type), but just played with them in the sandbox as you do. I wasn't yet aware of their connection to the RPG. Or even what an RPG was, for that matter.

Sweet, those were the days. What was your first art job?
 

In gaming, it was a series of interiors for a giant 250-page core book called "Of Gods and Men". That had to be 1995 or so. Some guys I knew around the FLGS put it together, which was an admirable feat back before Lulu, open source layout programs and kickstarter. It must have cost a pretty penny to produce.
A couple of years later, I came across a copy of it at a Half Price Books store. On one hand, it was a bummer that someone had discarded it; but on the other, it was the first time I'd seen one of my books in a store. I wish I'd had a pen - I'd have signed it and stuck it back on the shelves.

Outside of gaming, I believe I got a few bucks to illustrate a program book for a local community center. That was in high school. 1990 or so. Cheezmo cartoons of people enjoying various activities at the center.

What is your favorite medium to work in?
 

I paint with acrylics because I just don't have the attention span for oils. If I'm doing interior illustrations, it's India ink with small liner brushes, and a bit of hatching thrown in with a technical pen.
I have worked in Photoshop and Corel Painter with my Wacom tablet, and have found they can produce some amazing results. But it's not as fun as traditional media - and since I never do it, digital winds up taking longer than just slinging ink on paper.

Tell me about an embarrassing moment involving your art?
 
I was having a drink with my sister in the bar of a restaurant for which I had painted a large commission. When the bartender found out who I was, he asked me if "the rumors about the painting are true". Meaning, that I had painted in an Easter egg to symbolize one of the owners' propensity for displaying her 'whale tail'. I had to quickly assure him that it was just  hilarious but untrue workplace scuttlebutt.

As for the actual truth - I cannot comment further, Senator.
 
So then, what is your proudest art moment?

I was thrilled to have my art appear alongside Jim Holloway's in Cairn of the Skeleton King, even if it was just one tiny piece in the bestiary portion. Subsequently, I worked closely with Jim on the follow-up, Tower of Blood. Holloway was one of my favorite RPG artists growing up, so I had to try not to get all fanboi on him. The first time we spoke on the phone, he asked for "Jaybird" and introduced himself as "Your nemesis, Jim Holloway."

That sounds so cool! Are you able to get any gaming in these days?

Thanks. It was very, very cool. I haven't done any face-to-face gaming in a few years, though I was recently part of a bi-weekly Castles & Crusades game which utilized Skype and Maptool to unite a group from all over North America. It's the next best thing to being there. Unfortunately, 2013 has been super busy for me, the highlight of which was a move from Texas to Wisconsin, so I had to put gaming on the back burner for a while. I figure I'll seek out a game once the cabin fever sets in.

Are you a fan of cats? I noticed in some of the paintings on your site, if they are not the subject then sometimes a cat is hanging out in the background.

I love cats. My fuzzy little soul mate, Sir Winston, loves to sit and watch me paint, so he often winds up in them - both as a subject and usually as a stray hair or two embedded in the paint. Ha. Any time you see an orange cat, that's him. I did a series of souvenir posters for a wine and music festival in Texas. Winston was in it the first year and everyone loved it. So each subsequent year, I'd include a different cat with whom I was acquainted. A hermit has to entertain himself somehow.

What is the best way for someone to contact you for commissions, or just to whisper sweet nothings in your ear?

I don't take too many commissions these days, though I am working on a secret project at the moment. Sweet nothings, drunken ramblings and thinly veiled threats, however, may be sent to jason@jasonbraun.com

Any projects you are working on?

I'm doing a couple of interiors for a fun module for a publisher with whom I've worked in the past. I can't say much more than that. Otherwise, I'm elbows deep in a bunch of personal work, trying to make some paintings available for Convocation in Detroit in February.

Sounds fantastic! One last question, how did you find out/get involved in Con on the Cob?

I met Andy Hopp at GenCon 2002, and was drawn into his charisma. He started CotC a few years later and I knew it would be something worth checking out. I missed the first couple of years, but have been there steadily for the last six. It's one of the most fun Cons around!   

Thanks for taking some time out to answer my questions. Take care! 

Thanks, man. It was a pleasure. 
          

  

 

  

Con on the Cob: Friday Night

     Friday night and I was able to get a ticket for Tim Snider's Cryptworld game. Thankfully I there were three other players, so Tim went over the basics of the system for those of us who were unfamiliar with it. Basically a percentile based system, you want to role under the target number for general checks. For specific ones you take the difference between what you rolled and the target number and consult an action table.

The game was called Condition Critical, and is this; Dr. Howard Eastman has called a press conference at his remote research facility to announce a medical breakthrough that will “eradicate human illness and suffering forever.” But what if the cure proves to be worse than the disease? We were a newspaper reporter, his photographer partner, a magazine journalist, and a medical researcher (me). We ended up at a creepy building that had been converted into a small country hospital and it went downhill from there. Tim set the scene beautifully, so to speak, I felt like I was in a seventies b-movie. Since it was set in modern day, we all had cell phones, as much good as that did us. We all had a great time and Tim had a copy of Cryptworld that Dan Proctor had sent with Tim to give away, since one guy already had it and the other two did not have a gaming group with which to play, I got it!

Once again, I can't remember any names, except Tim Snider (far left) and myself

     So, after the game I hung out with Tim and helped him in his quest to find Brian Thomas. Brian had some original Cryptworld art That Tim wanted to check out. That is a whole other story, after that the night kind of went downhill. My family was running a little late and when they were almost to the con, a deer jumped out in front of them. thankfully no one was hurt (besides the deer) and the van was drivable. It really was a awful end to a pretty great day. Remember, comments are welcome and they help decide what I do or do not write about. Take care everyone!

Con on the Cob 2013: My Thursday

     Running a bit late with this, but here you go. As I have stated before, cons are more fun if you get involved. Now, I had two seminars on Saturday that I was a part of, but I had not signed up for any games. I looked through the schedule and found a Realms of Cthulhu game that was available. So I got my ticket and when the appointed hour arrived, so did I. It was in the Rogue Cthulhu room and they had replaced the regular bulbs with black light. I would later discover that when you play in one of their games, you receive points that you can spend at their table. All kinds of things were there, from a little Cthulhu statue to

role-playing books. Enough of that, let's start playing!

     Unfortunately I was the only one to sign up. So the gm (Heather) went in search of at least one more person to play. The issue may have been that the title was Auschwitz, the description was that you played either prisoners trying to escape or Russian soldiers trying to liberate the camp. The premise was that the Germans had left seven days prior, taking most of the prisoners with them. I was playing Sandor, a fourteen year old boy who is among the group left to scavenge what little there was. Also, ever since the Germans had left, people have been disappearing. That is when the second player showed up!

     She decided to play a Russian soldier, ready to liberate us poor unfortunates. The prisoners and soldiers met at the gate which, like the rest of the fence, is electrified. The soldiers went to shut the electricity off, and that is when everything went crazy. Partway through fights with two headed wolves and Nazi occult stuff, we picked up a third player, who played another prisoner. So much fun, though it was a bit tense since we were dealing with an actual historical place/event that was horrible. The gm did her homework, the pregens were based on people who were at the camp, she had a map of the camp layout, as well as pictures of prisoners.

     All in all, a good first day of the con. Unfortunately I cannot remember the other players names, but here is a picture of them. Take care, and I will be back later.

The gm had a tentacled cat mascot, sorry I don't recall the names of the other two.

New Who Found and Con on the Cob 2013!!

     I am sure most of you have heard/been following the rumors/stories about a large cache of BBC television episodes (that includes Doctor Who) and finally the BBC is ready to announce what they have this Friday. This feels like a dream come true and I am very excited to hear what they have. For far too long we have had a hole in the show's history that we have tried to fill with novelizations, reconstructions, and audios. Soon we will be able to judge for ourselves whether these stories are indeed amazing works or if indeed, the memory cheats. Which brings me to the Con on the Cob aspect of this post, that this Friday is the final day to preregister for the con. Saturday, October 19th at 3PM. I will be part of a Doctor Who roundtable discussing this amazing show and it's history. I am looking forward to seeing the impact that this discovery will have on the audience members. Will there be people complaining about the repeated use of the "base under siege" plot device in Troughton's first couple seasons or people wondering why the Great Intelligence is a creepy voice who controls these furry, robotic "yeti". I look forward to this Friday's announcement and the Saturday at the con with much anticipation!

     Also, if you are at Con on the Cob and you are a gamer, please come to my seminar(?) that Saturday at 5PM where I will go over the history of the Doctor Who rpg's and their current version. There will be links to online resources that will be helpful no matter what system you use.

Con on the Cob schedule correction

     I jumped the gun apparently when I said my Doctor Who rpg seminar was on Friday. It is now Saturday at 5PM. I am getting my notes together and hopefully will be able to access a projector to really take it that extra step. Hope to see some of you there!

Con on the Cob 2013 Doctor Who

     So this year's CotC (October 17th through the 20th) should be extra fun (or at least extra interesting) since I will be doing a seminar about Doctor Who rpg's and I will be on a panel (?) about the show in general. For the first one, I am pilfering my Who rpg collection for images, which makes me happy that I get to use these books for more than just personal reference material. I am eager to get with the others to see what they had in mind for the general Who panel. The rpg seminar is scheduled for Friday at 6 PM. and the general Who panel is Saturday at 3 PM.

     In other Who/CotC related news, there are a few games of Doctor Who: adventures in time and space that will be run at the con. One is a Warehouse 13 adventure using the DW:AiTS rules, then "Let's do the Time war again!" is an UNIT adventure that is being run twice. Finally we have "Blast from the past" where you can play one of a group of eclectic/odd individuals checking out some strange activity in San Francisco. At this time each game has slots available.

     Give the con a look, and hopefully I will see some of you there. Take care guys!