Kickstarter is running a feature for February specifically targeting RPG zines called Zine Quest. This has served to motivate me with opportunity and a deadline to get the gears rolling on a project I’ve been writing for quite some time.

I had been starting work on Void Crypt as mentioned in my first post and while the research I did for setting up formatting, printer options, etc. for that project will directly translate to this new one – it means that Void Crypt gets kicked to the end of the queue.

Speaking of queue, mine has started getting longer lately as projects new and old are demanding my attention. Though I have a lot going on, they are all exciting things I can’t wait to get out of my brain on onto paper:

1. Getting this Zine Quest project up and running is the first priority: See below for the teaser reveal.
2. “Megarise” for Death is the New Pink: I love DitNP and I wrote this Judge Dredd/the Raid/Tank Girl inspired adventure some time ago. Last year I ran it through a few playtests with friends, at the bar with Drinks & Dragons, and at PAX Unplugged.  Mike Evans ,writer of DitNP and publisher behind DIY RPG Productions, had offered to put it out. However, I shelved working on it in anticipation of the 2nd edition coming out under Mike’s new DIY Rules. As you can see by its appearance on this list, it has since been taken back off the shelf. I’m keeping it framed within the 1st edition rules as the 2nd edition is a ways off. Plus, what I wrote is very much matched to the style that Into the Odd (the system that DitNP is based off of) provides. [As an aside, if you haven’t checked out either of these games I highly recommend that you do.]
3. An adventure for Barbarians of the Ruined Earth: Mike is also heading to Kickstarter land in the coming days with a new DIY RPG title called Barbarians of the Ruined Earth. I was hooked on the idea when the pitch started with Thundarr, and pulled in deeper from seeing how it’s coming together with excellent artwork and layout that is very evocative of that Saturday morning fantasy cartoon weirdness. Mike recently asked me to write an adventure as an add-on for the campaign and I gladly accepted. Keep an eye out for the Kickstarter campaign to start soon!
4. Void Crypt: I have a lot of ideas/feelings on this project. It will be a complete RPG contained in a zine format that uses what I think is a unique take on the original Ghostbusters RPG rules (which have an interesting history). Currently, Void Crypt is a lot of mashed together ideas and furious scribblings exploring Simulation Theory in an RPG that I’m excited to bring into this world. Unfortunately, it’s now on the back burner to other projects. When I get back to it I plan on doing all the writing, artwork, and layout myself.

These are just my RPG related projects related to publishing. I also Coordinate/GM a D&D 5e game here in Philadelphia with Drinks & Dragons as well as run a weekly home campaign of Mutant Year Zero. I’m also working on layout for my band’s LP that just got sent out for mastering after the final recording mixes were finished by John Dyer Baizley. Plus, as with most of us, the mundane job devours most hours of my days. But again, this is all work I’m excited to be doing.

Sooo… with that, I’ll reveal a teaser for my zine being produced for Zine Quest:

Ghostlike Crime, an RPG zine bringing magical realism, the paranormal, and cryptid terrors to a modern day dystopia using Dungeon Crawl Classics rules.

Terrible things creep in the shadows and cryptid terrors stalk humanity. The Cabals of the Corporatocracy have hoarded the magic of the world for themselves to inflate their power and secure control over the dull-eyed placated masses. Magic cannot be trusted and its manipulation has repercussions. Where the wealthy and powerful are kept protected from these consequences, the rest of the population is exposed to the dangerous things crossing over into our world. There are those that will fight these incursions, adventurers who will face the unknown, revolutionaries that will challenge the powers that be – join them now!

The adventurers are monster hunters and defenders of humanity from paranormal threats. They are not a part of any government program, but an autonomous and clandestine group that also works to keep power out of the hands of oppressors. They are the nail that sticks up. This parallel reality is a dystopia where magic exists, but open practitioners are unheard of. Wealth hoards magic and these usurpers who cannot wield it enslave those who do.

*art on the cover by Carly Onofrio, she will also be one of the artists for the zine itself.