Ostensible Cat

 So for various reasons, I feel like social media platforms like Facebook, Mewe, Twitter, etc. don't really do it for me when it comes down to really getting into the nuts and bolts of the TTRPG gaming scene. I mean I really miss the OSR Blogosphere circa 2008-2012 or so and the various social media platforms don't scratch the itch for me the same way the blogs scene did a decade ago (holy crap, has it been that long). There was a great community where the blogs all kind of fed off each other. Not just that, the blog posts and content was much more substantive that what is viable over a social media post. I just flat out miss those days. Frankly, I just don't really feel like using social media as a tool to get my ideas out there anymore. Don't get me wrong, Facebook groups are great, and really good for interacting in short bursts. However, I feel like a jerk if I jump into a Facebook group and start with the "hey guys, look! Look at what I've got going on.....

I have been playing around with some of the digital art tools that I have to see what kind of feasability there was to doing some of my artwork totally digital. Right now, I pretty much do everything traditionally, but then scan it in and alter it as needed. I have an older Wacom Intuos 3 that I haven't gotten much mileage out of, but really wanted to take it for a spin. I also have Clip Studio Paint, Corel Painter 2017, and GIMP, that I kind of dabble with off and on. I am a huge comics fan, and I liked how my sequential art pieces turned out for the Astonshing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea hardback, so I figured I'd like to do some comicbook style stuff in my own style for the Basalt Keep adventure. I really liked the contrast piece that I did in felt marker some time back of Wilven in his lab (below) and figured I'd like to try and do something similar - except completely digitally. I tried out my Wacom tablet in Gimp but was having some issues. The pen was j...

Some of you may remember many years ago, an initiative in the OSR Blogosphere to encourage folks to create a shared world sandbox adventure setting known as the Sea of O'Sr. Here's one of the main blog posts about it from the Lands of Ara blog:  http://carterscartopia.blogspot.com/p/sea-of-osr-adventure-path.html For years, I've had this tucked away in my head and have really, really wanted to get back to this idea of creating a shared world sandbox for folks to adventure and create in. Being a huge Michael Moorcock fan and Elric Sailor on the Seas of Fate being my absolute favourite in the saga, the whole idea of a pandimensional etheral sea with many strange locations has absolutely fascinated me. I still think the idea behind the Sea of O'Sr is a great vehicle for it. Not sold on the name but I don't hate it either. Still a working title. Anyway, I'd like to do more than just small islands like in the original concept. I'd like to encourage anyone who...

Many, many moons ago, there was a shared worlds concept going around the OSR Blogosphere called the Sea of O'Sr. The idea was that bloggers would create their own islands to populate this shared worlds sea. I really loved the idea and wished it had taken off a bit more (check out the Lands of Ara blog post about it from way back when:  http://carterscartopia.blogspot.com/p/sea-of-osr-adventure-path.html ). It was a fun idea and I've often thought about it. In fact, Isle of Maedsid, which is now being worked into a full Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea adventure to be published by Jeff Talanian and Northwind Adventures, actually started off as a Sea of O'Sr concept. Today, in between virtual Gary Con seminars, I dug into some of my old maps and art doodles and came across a map that was originally designed for the Seas of O'Sr project and was going to find a home as a sublevel of the Maedsid adventure, but ultimately just fell by the wayside. Anyway, w...

I never had the chance to play in an Arduin campaign. I've heard quite a few things (good and bad) about it over the years. I think I'm going to try and make a point of finding out a bit more about is at GENCON. For whatever reason, I've been stuck on this wacked out 70's vibe listening to stuff like Hawkind and other space rock stuff and 70's US punk like the Dead Boys and Richard Hell and watching Flash Gordon and other campy 70's sci-fi and fantasy. I'm not sure how much of that is currently informing my decisions I'm making about my Maedsid adventure, but I suspect reading Lovecraft and Moorcock and listening to crazy ass 70's rock is going to have some effect. I really wanting to look over the Arduin Grimoires while I'm gone and see what I think. Ah, who the hell knows. But anyways, I'm working on another map for Maedsid for one of the dimensional sublevels. I'm having fun. Floating arboral islands with open aired temple...

So I'm at just a little over 8100 words. Five dimensions, eight new monsters. And I'm not even half through. I'm having fun and I hope when I do finally get done that others enjoy it. So far the gist is that a sect of druids, in their quest to get closer to their divinity and separate themselves from the world, inadvertantly weakened the fabric surrounding their most holy site and caused some beasties from other planes to get through. I'm going for a somewhat odd mixture here that I hope ultimately pulls together well. Think Celtic flavored druidic myth/legend meets Lovecraft meets Moorcock in a sort of crazy Keep on the Borderlands Caves of Chaos type setting that allows for further extrapolation by enterprising DMs. Yeah, well, we'll see. More to follow but back to work ;).

So, Maedsid has definitely grown beyond what I had originally envisioned. So far there is the island proper with adventure sites as well a two level funerary mound (with four other-dimensional sub levels). It's coming out to have something on the order of 100 keyed locations as well as every creature being being unique to this adventure. So far I've detailed most of the first two levels of the funerary mound and am getting ready to start in on the other-dimensional sub levels. I'm thinking that it will be an adventure for 6-8 characters level 6-8. We'll see. Oh yeah, I still intend to release it for free (at least some version of it). I might do a version with art and the like and put it up on Lulu or something for sale at some point.

Wow, it's been a while since I last did the weekly creature feature! This time, I've got a new critter that will be making an appearance in my Sea of O'Sr Adventure the Isles of Maedsid. Maedsid will have a both very earthly Celtic/Dark Ages/IronAge/Bronze Age component to it and a more unearthly feel to it. The Isles of Maedsid were ages ago untethered from the fabric of the material plane. Over time, this has caused some dimensional degredation and the Isles have experienced ecroachment of entities from beyond the material plane. The Lethenex is one such creature. I plan on using many non-standard creatures in Isle of Maedsid. In fact, I'm going to try and use only monsters of my own devising so that the adventure has its own consistency and feel. Some of the critters that I expect to be making an appearance are the Alitae , the Arepyiai , the Six Mouthed Goo Monster , the Black Dog , and the Dead Man's Chest amongst others. As with all of my weekly crea...

I tell you, writing an adventure sure is more challenging for me than illustrating one or doing maps but I'm greatly enjoying the challenge. I've not decided upon a target level range for this adventure but tend to think this is less important than developing an interesting adventure. I've mentioned that I intend this to be part of a series or "adventure path" of linked adventure. I'm thinking of more of a loose collection of possibly interrelated sites and events than a structured narative. I've got some great images in my head for some cover art I want to do. I've been really wanting to do some paining so I'm thinking of doing the covers as acrylic paintings. We'll see how it works out. Well, short update now time to get back to keying the burial mound!

Right now, it seems the vogue for Old School type adventures is the Hex Crawl or similar, non-linear adventure type. I totally am down with that, but I was wondering, is there room for an “adventure path” series of linked adventures? I know there are a few such as the Sea of O’SR project , and the continuation of the 1e AD&D Giants series by R.C. Pinnell. I’m working on Isle of Maedsid, which I see as actually belonging to TWO “Adventure Paths”. The first being the Sea of O’SR and the second, being part of a series that I’ve been mulling over for about the past six years or so that I call the Shadow of the Umbra Palace Saga. Maedsid, and much of the other adventures such as Warrens of Polstrus Lev, Sinister Sightings at Dustchappel Downs, and Basalt Keep of Wilven the Yellow are designed to be able to be used as standalone adventures or as part of a wider (perhaps a bit non-linear) story arc. I’m really interested in exploring higher, non-euclidean geometries/dimensions, tran...

OK, Here's an updated version of my funerary isle (Maedsid) for the Sea of O'sr. I've got to key it up and work up the map for the funerary mound. Oh yeah, this is open gaming content so feel free to use it. I envision this having a definite druidic/celtic feel when it is complete.

So, I actually managed to come up with a submission that I'm fairly pleased with for the Sea of O'sr old school adventure path. Here's a link to my Litenport Isle: Litenport. This is really my first time doing something other than an illustration for mass consumption so I think of it as a precursor to my other larger projects like Basalt Keep of Wilven the Yellow. I managed to be fairly productive despite being rather sick with the flu. I cranked out a few illustrations today that I'm pretty happy with. I'll do a post at some point detailing my creative process so you can see the steps I go through from inception to finished product. Let me know what you think of Litenport Isle.