Alright! I’m only running one game at Gary Con - I’ll be spending most of my time at my booth - but I think it’s a good one. A Bronze Age Lost World art heist with ape-men and dinosaurs! Written by @paintingmoreorcs.bsky.social and me!

If I had infinite money, a Doc Savage / The Shadow / The Avenger set of series done in the Batman Animated Series style is on my short list of utterly self-indulgent purchases. Maybe Sandman Mystery Theater, too. But I’d get Ralph Bakshi to do the Spider, & Filmation to update their Tarzan show.

I’ve had some luck referring to them as “armed, masked, government agents.” I think it trips the “government bad” switch in their brains. Adding “…with no warrant or probable cause.” is occasionally helpful if you’re trapped in conversation with certain flavors of libertarian.

Step 3! More or less the final shape of the map - I’ll be using this as the template for inking the drawing that then gets scanned, cleaned up, and printed. This is for a one-page dungeon I’m calling “The Whispering Idol”

The Forge of Ice Deep One and Sunken Treasure are in excellent company here!

Step 2 of planning out & sketching the new dungeon map. I didn’t bother to count the squares ahead of time, so too late I discovered that I need to draw this one in landscape rather than vertical. All part of the process!

ATTN: CONAN THE BARBARIAN FANS!! The Robert E Howard house/museum is in serious need of repair, or it may fall apart. Please donate at rehfoundation.org/save-the-reh... Or share the link and help get the word out.

Here’s the initial sketch for my next dungeon map. I’m a middling artist at best, but I think it’s fun to see the vast difference between the initial sketch & the finished drawing. No AI needed, just pencil, pen, & paper! The satisfaction of a finished piece makes any frustration well worth it!

this, also in minis producers and indie RPG writers. the big companies dont *need* your orders (their shareholders do!) but small indies pay their bills via your purchase

We keep a rolled-up towel in front of the door, but I removed it for the photo. The door seals tight in the summer, but in severe cold like today’s -40ish, the house shifts & there’s just enough air leakage for ice to form inside. Probably gonna have a guy come & adjust it in the spring.

Don’t even need to look at a thermometer - this is how I know it’s colder than -40 outside.

A wonderful offer!

-40ish here in my neighborhood. Icefog so dense that I can see across the street, but not too much farther than that.

Getting miniatures in the mail is one of the best things ever - look at this gorgeously painted Shrouded Master for my Corpse Eaters adventure! Thank you and Merry Midwinter Holiday of your choice to you all (especially @fenrisgames.com !)

@bs.mivox.net , can you use this?

Just submitted the one game I plan to run at Gary Con! Twin Heads of Avarice, by @paintingmoreorcs.bsky.social and me! … I might run some Shadowdark, too.

A UAF researcher recently discovered the woolly mammoth fossils he sent off for radiocarbon dating were actually whale specimens. The mystery just got weirder from there, says science writer Ned Rozell.

1/? Things I would ask the PLUR1BUS hive mind, in no particular order: 1 - Are there any non-humans in there? Chimps, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans… Is the virus able to hop species to our genetically closest relatives? If so, I’m gonna want to know a LOT about their experiences, culture, etc.

So, for those of you who do 3D printing & play mobile games, this giant skull-faced crawling guy shows up in the ads of a bunch of different (scammy) games. What is this thing called? Anyone got an .STL of it? I think it’d be a cool boss monster for the tabletop.

1/ I’ve been watching a lot of Youtube RPG reviews lately. I love seeing the INCREDIBLE new books, but two things regularly baffle me: 1 - Why so much raving about books that let you run things with no prep? In what universe is being unprepared better than being prepared? For that matter,

I never get tired of being able to say stuff like “Today it warmed up to -25F!”. A minor but fun little perk of living in the middle of Alaska.

Supposed to start a new, light, open-ended, West Marches-style home D&D campaign today, but had to cancel due to the snow (no parking + we all had snow cleanup to do at our houses). Seriously bummed, we can’t meet until January. I’ll just have to keep tinkering with it. More bards; more pirates!

Today I’m feelin’ like:

… it snowed another inch *while* I was shoveling. I’m gonna need more hot chocolate.

#selfpromo time! Two of my Cthulhu Eternal titles, THE BITTER JUNGLE and THUNDER GOD’S CURSE are now available as print on demand in Ace Doubles format! Run one adventure, flip the book over, run the other! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5... #cthulhu #ttrpg #cthulhurpg

Ugh. Some days the only thing worse than making art is NOT making art. Doomscrolling is a less-than-ideal compromise.

With the new episode of PLUR1BUS, I’ve got a theory: The hive mind is a weapon of soft, gentle extermination. It’s a genetic Saberhagen berserker probe, designed to leave planets & ecosystems intact, with relict Eloi as caretakers as long as they last. It explains the Fermi Paradox, too!

Working with Bill on this was an absolute delight - I’m incredibly proud of how this turned out.

And the winner of the Deep One Herald mini of the month competition! Painted brilliantly by @sheroqueer.com ! Thanks so much to @andycruns.bsky.social for choosing one of my minis for the event!

I love them all so much, I can’t really pick a favorite, but I’ll give this one a share because of the antique-looking color choices and the arctic explorer. Check out @andycruns.bsky.social ‘s account for the rest of the entries!

Jason’s Dreamland is a brilliant and beautiful labor of love - AND of deep research into all things even tangentially related to the subject. Check it out!

Lookout (2025) Not a good movie, probably C- overall, but I kinda liked it. Quiet forest vibes, then “woman alone in the woods being stalked”, slivers of cosmic horror, then a tone shift to slasher-ish action approaching horror comedy. No real arcs or explanations, but I was entertained enough.

Let's talk about favorite subterranean monsters and troglodytes: one of my favorites is the Torog from the world of Azor created by @forgeofice.bsky.social I inked this one recently. I also love the morlocks from The Time Machine. what are some of yours? #troglodytes #inks #monsterart #morlocks

THREEEEE DAAAAAAAYS LEFT!

By Crom, I wish you all a day of feasting and comfort.

@birdninjaart.bsky.social brought me the coolest stocker ever.

If you see this, post a monster~ an ink for the world of Azor @forgeofice.bsky.social

I’m looking for a new (or several new) app game to play on my iPhone. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Here’s what I’m looking for:

Artistic and humorous designs, order early to get them delivered in time for Christmas! www.teepublic.com/user/talysman #christmas #christmaspresents #teepublic

This is a WONDERFUL short adventure - hopefully the first of many from John & his team!

The original is for sale! Someone needs to buy it!

I had so much fun drawing this Gundam Leo suit, that I decided to add some ink detail and loose acrylic background. I think it might make a fun small painting in the future. #gundam #mecha #art

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." -FDR, 1937

That first panel is NOT a commentary on our current political and socio economical status here in the US. This was published in 1986. I repeat, this is NOT a comment on a contemporary situation… (Psst! It’s a totally valid statement of the current times)

Reading @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social ‘s excellent Bronze Age fantasy Kaiju story, “Gargantuan”. I’d LOVE to see more stories set in this fascinating world!

It’s here! “The Old Bull and Bush” a nine-page zine detailing the Inn where the events of British author Talia Beckett’s “Guardians of the Eternal Flame” novels begin. Every DM can use an Inn! Full map, menu, rumors & adventure hooks! $10, shipping included. forgeofice.com/product/the-...

I’m totally gonna use this.

If you are in or near Kenosha, WI, check out Studio Moonfall - it’s an INCREDIBLE shop filled floor to ceiling with unique art, books by indie authors, & a wall of RPG’s, including a bunch that I worked on! Flavor Text Adventures, Fire-Pearls of Aya-Ghan, Förk Borg, the Awful Amber Doom, & more!

Et VOILÀ! A quick, easy, & effective way to get a building front onto your tabletop. It’s about 20 minutes of work total, with more than half of that in cutting it out with the hobby knife, & a 30 minute break to let the glue dry. Many RPG books have a TON of art that you can do this with!

Working on a little tabletop prop - I printed the Inn art from my “Old Bull & Bush” zine out at full letter page size, then spent about 3 mins with a sharpie tracing over edges to emphasize them. Even tiny drawings can look great when enlarged if you take some time to poke at them.