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

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