We’re seriously behind on the blog. (This is not news.)
Both Jakub and I have been working lately on about a dozen of projects, all of them cool, exciting, and board game- and roleplaying game-related, but about half of them is still covered in NDAs, and most of the other half is still on my pile of ‘need to write a portfolio entry about that’.
Between the writing, designing, and pushing pixels around for other people, we’ve been hard at work on Project Aphelion, Incitatus novel (Jakub is just finishing the second chapter of the second draft, and the plot very much thickens), our Shadowrun campaign, and a new zine for a fantasy RPG audience.
Portfolio
Here’s a couple new things in the design portfolio, all of them full of great art and some bragging about the game designers, writers, and publishers we get to work with.
The Art of Miremarsh
Artbook for the incredibly weird (in the good sense!) Miremarsh board game. Jakub has been channeling his inner goblin to breathe life into the characters and locations of the Swamp, and Anna was making use of all the cool art and laying out the artbook.
Adventure Tactics
This tactical board game by Letiman Games features three short stories written by Jakub, and a lot of Anna’s graphic design, from the rulebook to Kickstarter pics.
Ultraviolet Grasslands
One of the coolest products now almost on the market, UVG by Luka Rejec and Exalted Funeral now features Anna-influenced postcards and a big-ass map to help you not get lost. I admit the portfolio entry reads like it’s under influence of something, but the real influence are just: sleep deprivation and two kids talking all the time over my head.
In other news
Project Aphelion
Jakub’s upcoming hard sci-fi TTRPG is now in editing. At least the rules part – and it shapes up to be a nice experience for both the players and the GM because it’s purposefully designed to bring joy to both sides at the same time. Forget about buying a book that’s only partially useful; every part of this book is written to be useful for everybody. We firmly believe that the hard line between the GM and the players is a fake one.
Incitatus novel
Between other projects, Jakub is hard at work on his space horror (well, there’s more to it than just horror, but let’s count that as a shorthand), Incitatus. The first chapter of the second draft is now finished and in betareading, and the second chapter is slowly coming to a close, after weaving and plotting all of the intrigue between Pluto, Callisto, and the Oort Cloud. It’s gonna be great.
The cover art is also finished and absolutely gorgeous but you have to wait for it a bit :).
Shadows of Denver
One of these days I’ll have enough time to sit down and do the write-ups for your Shadowrun campaign. But alas, I guess you’ll have to see the episodes on YouTube and join our Discord server to learn what’s going on.
Meanwhile, one of our players, Raye, made an animated recap of the first episode, and I’m 100% on board with Tomorrow being a cyan stickperson. And kind of a meanie.
I mean, I used to imagine her kinda like this:
But now we’re all just that:
Adventuring Monthly!
I was on the fence about an idea for months, and then Jakub told me ‘make it a zine’, so now I’m making a zine.
Adventuring Monthly is shaping up to be a 16-page magazine for adventurers. I mean a 100% in-character, system-agnostic monthly magazine that can be used as an in-game prop or a player handout (there will be a printer-friendly version available!).
Inside:
- Survival tips and tricks (from finding shelter, food, and water, to camping tips, to environmental dangers, to probable encounters).
- Combat tactics for different types of enemies and weapons.
- Rumours, legends, and hearsay on interesting places, people, items, and magics – plot hooks aplenty.
- List of fake books on the main topic of the issue – perfect for GMs and standard bookish wizards.
- Freelance adventurer advice: how to find jobs, how to negotiate payments and contracts, how to fill for tax returns, etc.
- A pile of art. I mean it. I love book and art history, and this zine is absolutely self-indulgent in that regard.
And it’s definitely not 100% serious.
Useful entertainment, I suppose.