Weird World

For almost a year now I have been slowly working out a concept for an adventure series that would play like a 1930's radio serial, movie serial, magazine serial, or comic book series. The setting has changed constantly throughout that time as I tried to zero in on what story I really wanted to tell. 

I've finally settled on the setting and its name is "Weird World!" Weird World draws inspiration from Appendix N authors like Leiber, Burroughs, and Howard and Comic great Jack Kirby and was originally intended to be written for Swords & Wizardry and DCC. (Although I have since also added Savage Worlds and Dungeon World to the list.)

Here's a peek at my notes on The Weird World setting and the first "monster" I've created and statted for Swords & Wizardry:

For almost 100 years the War of the Beasts has raged; the Axis Empire of the Beast-men invaded the red lands of man and the humans have been fighting for survival ever since. The Axis will not stop until every corner of the world is under their total and complete domination. Their superior advanced weapons technology is rumored to be developed from discoveries found in the ruins of the ancient lost civilizations of the Skrá Y’ar; a race of advanced beings who mysteriously disappeared ten-thousand years ago. The Skrá Y'ar civilization was vast, extending to every corner of the world. Legends of hidden lost cities of the Skrá Y’ar are scattered throughout the world today and these lost cities are the target of every advance the Axis Empire makes as they search for the secrets of the lost world. 

One of the most common creatures in the Axis Empire is the PC-13, or Rat-Men as the Humans of Weird World have named them. PC-13 have been selectively bred and trained as Assault Troopers. 

PC-13 Assault Trooper

Resembling bipedal humanoid rats, PC-13, or Rat-Men are small subterranean humanoids with rodent-like features and shark-like skin with denticles and long whip-like tail with one or two poisonous knife-shaped barbs on the end. The barb is covered with a necrotic mucus that rots flesh almost instantly (Save or take 1d4 continuous damage each round until the mucus is removed completely or a successful save is made.).  They have a -1 penalty when fighting in daylight. Foot soldiers carry standard issue bolt action plasma rifles and bayonets. With a bayonet affixed to the end of the rifle the rifle can be used as a spear, alone the bayonet can be used as a short sword.

(HD 1d4hp; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 weapon (1d6) or poison barb; Move 6; Save 18; AL C; CL/XP A/15; Special: poisonous barb)

The Adventure that Haunts Me

A partially finished map of the Haunted Pyramid

The pyramid rises up from the forest floor and until now this home, temple, or tomb of the long forgotten spider god has been shrouded in the Nightmare Mist of the Beyond.

The original Haunted Keep 

A few weeks ago I re-imagined one of my earliest memories of Dungeons & Dragons, the Haunted Keep from the Moldvay Basic set.

The boxed set of Dungeons & Dragons
that started a life-time of roleplaying for me

Instead of a keep, I recreated the dungeon as a pyramid using 2.5D Print & Paste Tiles. What I didn't realize is that this would become the perfect setting for an adventure that I have been gnawing on for months. As a result of connecting the adventure idea with the pyramid map the adventure sprang to life. I am now well on my way to completing the adventure and each new step sees me redrawing the map with even more details.

Free Mines & Tunnels Modular Tiles

A new set of 18 modular tiles for April—mine tunnels, twisting narrow tunnels, small chambers, pits, and stairs.

Patrons will get bonus tiles throughout the month as well as the complete hi-res set at the end of the month!

You can get them here. Please let me know what you think and how you use them!

Free Map Friday - The Haunted Pyramid

Any Moldvay fans out there? If so you should instantly recognize this one! I decided to put a twist on an old favorite this week. This was created in photoshop using this month's tiles. In tabletop play the 3x3 tiles work great as a fog of war; only revealing as much as the characters can see one tile at a time. Enjoy!

You can get it here.

Free Map Friday - Beneath The Dunes

Hidden beneath the shifting sand there is more than meets the eyes...

This week's map was inspired by +Greg Gillespie's Barrowmaze Complete and uses SketchUp and virtual tiles from the Valley of The Kings terrain set and the Tunnels and Mines Terrain set due out soon.

If you use this map or my terrain tiles in your adventure or game let me know about it; I'm always interested in how my creations are being used.


Get it here.

Battle on Mars

Inspired by +Harley Stroh and his idea for a DCC mega-zine, I set out to create a pulp science-fantasy illustration worthy of a DCC adventure. This was also inspired by my own setting ideas; who doesn't like four-armed Nazi ape-men from mars fighting astronaut barbarians with laser broadswords on a time-shifting island careening out of control through the time stream?

you can keep up with the progress of this illustration here.

Under The Dunes

 Barrow #5 rendered in virtual 2.5D tiles
from the Valley of the Kings Basic tile set.

Maybe it was Genius Loci Games' "Pyramid of the Lost King" Kickstarter, or that I watched the Mummy Returns last week; or maybe it's because I purchased Barrowmaze complete this weekend, but while working on a virtual 2.5D model of barrow #5 I had the idea to create a lost city under the desert sand a la Raiders of the Lost Ark. I wonder what else lies hidden under the shifting sands? Only the dice will say for sure... [cue maniacal laughter, whistling wind and spooky Egyptian soundtrack.]