Probably the two most important sentences...

 ...from the AD&D 1e DMG. I bet that every one of us knows at least one person who clearly forgot (or never knew of) them!

Click to enlarge!

I don't like classic abilities

Okay, I must admit that the title is abit clickbaity. I do not dislike the classic six D&D stats. They are only tools. And - in my opinion - some of them may be replaced and others repurposed to make (my) games more interesting and make all their mechanical aspects easier to resolve.

Constitution (CON) - this stat devours and incorporates the Strength and becomes the general description of one's physical strength and toughness.

Dexterity (DEX) - nothing to see here, move along. Or rather, in some games, DEX was used to determine the ranged attacks, while STR was used to hit an opponent in melee. I find it, well, stupid. So, in my games (non-OSR games, as within the Old School I always stuck to 0e) DEX always was used for melee (and dodge, and of course som other non-combat actions). This brings us to the next stat.

Perception (PER) - I always thought that lack of ability that clearly described one's senses was the biggest flaw of D&D (and WFRP as well, but that's another story). Thus, behold the Perception! Easy to use in ranged combat, easy to use for well, spotting things, hearing things and, uhh, tasting things? Okay, that may be a little too far.

Willpower (WLP) - you may view the Willpower just as the classical Wisdom. I just changed the name to make it more fitting its purpose.

And... that's all! Or maybe not, as I like stats. And I like stat-based games and resolution systems. That's why the second edition of Terminal Space will be based on Knave. To make it even faster and easier to use. So, here are some additional ideas for the statistics:

Tech Level - I used it in both Terminal Space and Bandits and Battlecruisers. Randomly determining one's technological prowess always led to some hilarious results. Also, it fitted the genre really well.

Charisma - extremely useful in most games and/or settings. So, you may ask, why I omitted it? Because in some settings. worlds and circumstances, it becomes quite obsolete. For example, robots aren't very sociable, so in settings devoid of humans (and elves, dwarves and so on) CHA isn't very helpful. That's why I got rid of it in Pain.

Faith - can be used to describe the character's closeness to a god (or gods). Perilous Ages had some other minor mechanical benefits relatable to Faith's level but in more magical settings I would use it to affect one's ability to cast clerical spells.

Sync - very open idea, created for use in Pain to outline one's attunement to the mystical powers of the City. Here (page 3) I've added some additional ideas how to use this stat in your games. Fueled by Pain is percentile ruleset but hey, it doesn't really matter in the matter of the character abilities.

Oh, and the last thing - you may ask - WHERE THE FUCK IS INTELLIGENCE? Well, nowhere. I dumped it. INT is absolutely and utterly pointless, maybe except the situations when you roll it really low, which forces you to roleplay an idiot. But aside of that, it doesn't have many good uses (at least in my opinion). Extracting some information from the GM isn't one of them. If you're stupid and your character isn't, it won't end up well. And I ran games for some, let's say, not very bright individuals (and - to be perfectly honest with you - I like both them and the memories of our games) so it's way easier to remove the PCs intelligence score, thus balancing it with the one of the player.

Sheesh, I think this post is quite gibberish. I sat down and wrote it on the fly, without any previous notes and similar stuff. So, if something is totally unreadable or unclear - let me know!

Blog visual overhaul and some other news

 

As you can see, I've modified the looks of the blog. The last renovation took place in 2014 and I got quite bored by the mustard colors and wacky logo - so now it looks like a vomit, with even more wackiest logo!

In addition, I phased out of social media. Even MeWe gave me nothing good. I still do have an account but I do not plan to log in anytime soon. Too many toxic fucks there.

Soo, the Ashen Void has been released. And as I totally suck at promoting my shit, the sales are at all-time low! Which isn't good but I will still write new stuff. Because I love to.

What's next? I have no fucking clue. Maybe something based on the Knave (because why not?), maybe Terminal Space-related. Or maybe something entirely new. Or maybe Pain. Who knows - I don't!

Ashen Void - the map

 

The game is out now - grab yourself a copy!

Ashen Void is out now!

 

It's done - Ashen Void is now available both in PDF and print (DTRPG PDF should be available within the next few days). The game is 88 pages-long and presented in full color. HERE you can find more detailed info about its contents!

Grab a PDF from Lulu

Grab a print from Lulu

Grab a copy from DriveThruRPG

Ashen Void - What Was Lost

 

It will be finished tomorrow. I think I will release it within the next few days...

Meanwhile - WHAT WAS LOST - and became embedded with the powers of the Wastes. This is only a half of one of the many random tables from the book.

1. Wooden horse with antlers made of yellowed bones. Has the power to repel all quadrupedal herbivores.
   
2. Porcelain spoon with its surface cracked from immense heat. Can turn small amounts of dense liquid into silver dust.
3. Tarnished bronze sword without a handle. If thrown into the air, its position after falling on the ground will show the way home.
   
4. Figurine made of glowing metal, depicting a beautiful woman. Its radiance can illuminate the Darkness, but dims during the night.
5. Pendant made of a small ammonite shell. Grants the ability to breathe water, but only when it’s crystal-clear.
6. Wooden plank with four nails made of blackened silver. The plank itself is quite useless, but a single nail is enough to banish a spirit haunting a grave.
   

Ashen Void - Stygian Polypore (example monster)

 

This is an example monster from my upcoming system-neutral campaign setting, called the Ashen Void. As you can see, it's all random tables. I love random tables. And you should love them too.

 

Shape and Size

1. Lumbering monolith, as big as a building. Its surface is cracked and wrinkled
2. Oval sphere, six feet in diameter, moving slowly on several fragile legs
3. Thin and worm-like, several dozen feet in length, ended with a bright red cap
4. Giant, gray sponge, covered with crater-like openings glowing with blue light
5. Approximately human-sized, shaped like a grub, its surface covered with green spikes
6. Three feet tall, lignified pyramid with a white surface covered with pulsating veins
7. Seven feet tall, almost perfect cube with all surfaces dotted with large holes
8. Vaguely resembling a humanoid with a black exterior and extremely twisted limbs that cannot hold the weight of the body

Spores

1. Extremely hallucinogenic
2. Time-stopping globules, exploding with Stasis Field if touched
3. Addictive and pleasure-inducing; the Polypore is always followed by the ones dependent on it
4. Exploding with Darkness, which can sometimes spew horrors of its own
5. Razor-sharp and very brittle bolts with serrated edges
6. Pink mist of very fine particles, inducing dizziness and allergic reactions

Magical Growths

1. Able to heal all wounds caused by acid
2. If consumed, allows one to see invisible things but also makes one unable to see anything else
3. Will summon a dazed Angel if thrown into fire
4. Will slowly crystallize into a fist-sized emerald. The crystallization process takes approximately 90 days
5. Charged with static electricity. Cutting them open with metal tools is ill-advised
6. The extremely stinky brown liquid inside them can turn an ordinary rock into a Floatstone

Emblems

1. The Sickle of Regrowth
2. “It’s hard to believe that they were once humans - powerful Fungal Wizards, consumed by the primal forces they couldn’t control.”
3. “Be very careful with fire. The Polypores can explode if touched by flames.”
4. Death Cap Helmet
5. “The Fungi of the Caustic Maze can levitate somehow. Beware of the ones with long limbs, as they can use them to grab you. And they will never let go.”
6. Bell of Fungicide

Ashen Void - what's inside?

 

 

Here you can find the full list of everything that will be included in the book. The page above is a screenshot from InDesign, depicting one of the monsters. As I said in the previous post, no stat blocks whatsoever - it's completely system-neutral.

THE WORDS - list of 50 rumors; treat them as the main description of the setting.

ORIGINS - short descriptions of the 14 different places/nations/social groups from which PCs can originate.

THIS CURSE IS YOUR BIRTHRIGHT -  if one or more of your starting stats is exactly 13, you are cursed.

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS - 6 random tables, containing info about traits of the cities and some random encounters.

THE RUINS - 4 random tables about... the ruins. Tomb Cities, ancient capital of the empire and something more.

PEOPLE OF THE WASTES - Tribes of the West, Hermits of the Mud Flats.

HIRELINGS AND MERCENARIES - self-explanatory. Two tables.

NIGHTMARES INCARNATED: 42 random tables about the monsters.

• Effigy of Loss
• Giant
• Jewel Thief
• Necrosphinx
• Nihil Warlock
• Orb of Dead Dreams
• Shadow People
• Stygian Polypore
• Swamp Stalker
• Toad

THE TRIALS - more info soon!

WHAT WAS LOST - twelve mundane items, lost and saturated with the powers of the Wastes.

THE ANGELS - info about the menace of the world.

MAGIC OF BONES AND ANTLERS - self-explanatory (or not!).

Random FOSSILS

Random IMPERIAL POISONS

CORPSE PLUNDERING

ADVENTURE HOOKS

 

Introducing Ashen Void - a system-neutral campaign setting

 

I wrote a setting. I needed a break from Pain and Sci-Fi (and Sci-Fantasy) in general. So I sat down and wrote a game. Systemless and comprised almost entirely of random tables. The proofreading and editing is already done, all artwork is done (with use of an AI). Now I'm fighting with InDesign to make a proper PDF (better than my previous releases, made in... Word).

• The world is arid and stagnant. The main region of the setting, simply known as the Wastes, is in fact an ancient seabed...
• ...or not - as there's nothing that should be considered a fact. Everything is just a table (or a list) of possibilities.
• Speaking of tables - there are seventy eight random tables in the book. And hardly anything else in terms of text. You can form your own version of the world by picking different results or rolling the dice. Or - what's most likely to happen - you can cannibalize some ideas to include them in your own ongoing campaign.
• The game will be released under Creative Commons license. And the package will contain a text document, to make aforementioned cannibalizing even easier.
• Ten monsters, without any stats or concrete form. Just strange ideas. 4 random tables per monster. And they are really weird.
  
• The Trials will await the heroes. They must prove themselves to be worthy or be slaughtered by the ancient, timeless monsters: the Roach, the Goat, the Scorpion and the Guardian Angel.
• I think, according to the current progress with the design, that the book will have about 80-100 pages. Full color. And will be available both in print and PDF, both on Lulu and DTRPG.

 More info soon.

PAIN update - and something new as well

 

Well, I'll keep it simple - I took a break. I was unable to make quality artwork in time that was satisfactory for me. All artwork I made for the Character Classes turned out to bee too low-res to be OK in print. And I need to make over 80 drawings for the game. And I felt pressure, so I snapped.

It was a purely self-exerted pressure, as I haven't promised any deadlines, release dates etc. So - it was just fucking stupid. I felt pressure, so I become feeling uncomfortable. And I've lost fun I had while working on Pain. And - to be honest - it was all about fun. The process of designing and illustrating this game was a source of great joy, until something in my mindset has changed.

So - let me repeat myself once again - I snapped. I felt like shit, like I let myself down.

Did I mention it was stupid? Yes, I did. And I realized that just mere moments later. So I've decided that it have to wait and that I need some rest. To regain the ability to have fun while working on the project.

My way of taking a rest is, well... I immediately started to work on something different. A setting that was slowly taking shape in my head for quite some time. And man, when I started writing it down, it begun taking shape really quickly. And still is.

So far I have over 8k words written (it means about 1k words per day - not great, not terrible). And it's not 8k words of notes - it's 8k words of an actual game. It's Towers of Krshal pace. And it's fun. Hard and difficult work but fun nonetheless.

Maybe I will post something more about the setting tomorrow.

Oh, and the artwork above - it was made with help of an AI. I like it alot. And the new thing will have all artwork made or enhanced by a heartless machine.

If all of this sounds gibberish - I'm sorry. I'm not very good at writing essay-ish things about myself, in foreign language, haha!

Fueled by Pain ver. 1.0

It overwhelmed me once again. I found out that I am unable to create quality artwork under pressure. And I found it the hard way, even though all pressure I felt was 100% self-exerted.

I will come back to this game - I put way too much heart into Pain to give up. But I need another break.

Meanwhile, I present you the full game mechanics of Pain RPG. It's a very simple, percentile ruleset, based on my Perilous Ages game. You should be able to post comments in the document, so feel free to ask questions and post your ideas and concerns.

FUELED BY PAIN ver 1.0

PAIN RPG - more substantial info about the game!

 

Inspired Artisan. Or maybe a Banana Warlock?

Few days ago I realized that every information I've already posted about the game is just some cryptic, in-game mumbo jumbo and that people don't really know any concrete information about the overall premise. It's time to change it!

GENRE

I'd say Science Fantasy. Even though technology is ever-present, not many inhabitants of the City understand how things work. In fact, they don't even understand the nature of their bodies. Also, there's magic. So yes, Science Fantasy is the best term to describe the game's genre.

SETTING

Only one City (named... Pain) remained after the cataclysm that destroyed the world one thousand years ago. And - of course - there is a vast Underworld below it. From the huge scrapyard of Rust, through the accursed Bone Forest and mysterious Sorrow, down to the ultimate corruption of the Machine - device which was used by the Hollow Ones to 'save the world' - which, of course, didn't go well.

RULESET

Percentile but very streamlined, kept in the OSR vibe. I grew up on WFRP 1e (as most of Polish gamers of my generation), so I'm very fond of % rules. They are extremely easy to tweak and hard to break. But, if someone decides to ditch the mechanics, I'll provide some (very general) guidelines how to adjust monster stats to the old-school D&D or modern retroclones.

THE FORM

Almost all descriptions of the setting will be presented in form of in-game quotes. And these quotes are sometimes contradictory. This way every GM can build his/her own vision of the game world.

And there will be maps. Probably lots of maps. Slightly artpunky maps. But I want to make them somewhat readable (and usable).

And there will be random tables. I love random tables. There will be over a hundred of them. Because I enjoy making them.

THE ARTWORK

I'm not a professional artist (although I sell my artwork from time to time) and I have no training in art. But I want to make almost all artwork for the game myself. The results may vary. But I enjoy the process and the results are acceptable (at least IMO). You can see the example above. It's not my best one but I'm not ashamed of it, haha!

I most likely forgot about something really important. Feel free to ask questions!

Some news about my recent RPGish activities

 

 

Guys and gals - I have some news to share with you. Both great and small. Well, mostly small...

• First - the biggest news! I finally finished writing Pain RPG. It took me a long time - and a long, seven-month break. But after it I managed to finish everything I had left to do in eight days! You can read more detailed report HERE.
  
• I've decided to shut down my Patreon page. I am waaaay too inconsistent with the pace of my work to charge people money for just waiting. Well, it was worth a shot but I'm sorry for inconvenience.
• As you are probably well aware, I don't know shit about promoting my games. But I keep trying. So, After eight years of dropping the initial account, I created a Twitter account for the Pain. You can find the link below (yeah, that big-ass, ugly text at the bottom.
• What are my plans for MMXXII? Well, playtesting! And drawing. I must make about 90 new drawings for the game (I even posted a detailed list on my MeWe page yesterday). And lots of maps. And after testing the shit out of the game and creating about 75% of all artwork, I will MAYBE launch the Kickstarter campaign. Yeah, I know what I've written in this post. But well, I must overcome my fears, self-doubt and other shit, And I have some amazing help down here, at my side! So - wish me luck!

FOLLOW THE PAIN RPG ON TWATTER

oops...