Thursday, August 19, 2021

TLB Podcast #11 - Ava Islam - Errant

Ava Islam is the designer of Errant a med fan rpg she has successfully kickstarted during Zinequest 3 - The system totally rethinks and rebuilds the D&D game engine in a fascinating and innovative way. In this episode, we talk about power, race, game design, bets and wagers, Neapolitan pizza and much more. 

 You can listen to the podcast here:


Soon on Youtube with English Subs - in the meantime, you can hit the subscribe button on the channel and get notified as soon as the episode is live 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcjgiUURodfLWy-cDqpK2Q

Or on the major podcast platforms:
Apple Podcasts
anchor.fm
Spotify
Pocket Casts
radiopublic.com
Google Podcasts
Breaker


You can preorder Errant here https://killjester.com/new-products

Or read Ava's blog here https://permacrandam.blogspot.com/



Thursday, August 12, 2021

GODLY CURSES TABLE

The BROKEN LUCK zine has been funded on Kickstarter in only 6 hours. And to celebrate that with the blog readers I'm sharing some content that appears in the zine. BROKEN LUCK is a Troika! zine supplement all about annoying and vengeful Gods, curses, fallen semi-immortal beings, magical tarot cards. 

A small pantheon of mischievous Gods appears in the zine. An encounter with any of those Gods would result in a curse. Here's a spread of the zine.


And in a more readable format, the table curse

WHICH IMMORTAL DID YOU PISS OFF?

 1  THE FACELESS GOD.  Your dreamless nights are more frightening than your days (no Healing from sleep)
 2  AISSATA THE WISE.  Your brain is messed up. You can’t count, write or read.
 3  THE DEAD KING.  You attract dead-living beings like a magnet.
 4  THE SUN EATER.  You can’t bear the direct light of the sun anymore.
 5  ABRAHAM THE YOUNG.  You’ve lost your sense of direction. You can’t even tell right from left.
 6  LUCY THE TRUESIGHTED.  You can’t recognize faces, all folks look the same to you.

In the zine there's more (un)goldy adventure tables, 5 backgrounds, a magical tarot card system and more. And we are getting closer to the first stretch goal. Stretch Goals mean more awesome art and more game content for the backers.

You can check, and if you'd like back, the project here: here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thelostbay/broken-luck?ref=10e40a


And here is a flip-through of the zine 

Thursday, July 29, 2021

TLB Podcast #10 - Perplexing Ruins - Darkness Moves/Broken Luck

 


Perplexing Ruins is an illustrator and a writer. This episode might be a little different from the previous ones, maybe a little longer, and a little more intimate. Because Perplexing is a friend. He is one of the first members of our little indie RPG scene that I’ve met. 

In this heartfelt episode, we talk about ancient German castles, gouache paintings, witches, the Midwest, bigfoot and so much more.

You can listen to the podcast here:


Or on Youtube with English Subs

https://youtu.be/_iwacp-b_r4

Or on the major podcast platforms:
Apple Podcasts
anchor.fm
Spotify
Pocket Casts
radiopublic.com
Google Podcasts
Breaker

You can get in touch with Perplexing Ruins here https://twitter.com/PerplexingRuins

Games https://perplexingruins.itch.io/

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/perplexingruins/

Check also BROKEN LUCK a Troika! zine filled with Perplexing Ruins art. I've written the zine, it's about demigods, tarot cards, curses, beasts. We are taking it to Kickstarter to bring it to print, here

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thelostbay/broken-luck




Thursday, July 22, 2021

BROKEN LUCK is live and FUNDED on Kickstarter!

You might have read this Spring (2021) a few blog posts I wrote about a work-in-progress zine project for the TroikaFest! Jam. Well, after weeks of tweaking, writing, editing, intense layouting and proofreading the BROKEN LUCK zine is now live on Kickstarter. We have been lucky enough to fund the zine in just 6 hours, we are now trying to hit the Stretch Goals that will give the backers more cool art and game content.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thelostbay/broken-luck

28 full-color pages filled with amazing Perplexing Ruins' art. Perplexing Ruins is an amazing artist with a unique touch. It's one of the first creators of the OSR scene that I've met. Some of the zine's art is commissions to them. Other drawings come from their patreon, as their patrons receive free-to-use original, and lastly. Some other illustrations, like the Child God below, are older pieces that I saw on their Instagram. So the creative process was like some sort of dialog. I had some ideas I needed art for. But some of Perplexing Ruins' art was also the original spark for a lot of the content of the zine.

Inside the zine you will find mythical backgrounds, magical tarot cards, spell tables, adventure sparks, NPCs, and everything you need to spice up your Troika! game with (un)godly adventures. You can use it in combination with any preexisting sphere or as an independent setting.
















The project started during the TroikaFest! Jam 2021 as some kind of auto-assignment. I felt the good vibe of the Jam, and took it as an opportunity to design quickly (LOL) a simple one-sheet zine. Unexpectedly it ended up growing into something longer and more complex.

The Fest and the Jam were incredible. I was quite new to Troika! at the time, and it has been amazing to see so much awesome content being put out in such a short time. Shout-out to the folks who made the TroikaFest! Tony Vasinda, Jared Sinclair, Jarrett Crader, all the volunteer GMs and Dan Sell. It was an amazing feast, and lots of great projects came out of it, you can check them here: TroikaFest! Jam 2021 

BROKEN LUCK is my first zine, and it has been made possible thanks to the help and support of many talented and generous folks of this community, like Perplexing Ruins (who also did the art of the zine), Leo Hunt, Ian Yusem, Daniel Locke, Cleo Madeleine (who did proofreading), Spookyrusty (whose music is the Soundtrack of the zine!!!). I'm so super grateful for all that love.

So, now I am running a little Kickstarter to bring the zine to print, you can check and back the project here:


Or you can even talk about it on your social media and help me bring this project into reality


Here are a few sample double-page spreads from the test print
























Previous blog post on BROKEN LUCK

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

TLB Podcast #9 - Sam Leigh - Anamnesis

Anamnesis is a journaling RPG for one player designed by Sam Leigh. In the game, you wake up with no memory whatsoever of who and where you are, and through a series of beautifully designed questions, and with the help of a deck of tarot cards you recover bit by bit your memory.

In this episode, we talk about the Rider Waite Colman tarot deck, memory loss, solo gaming, walking downtown on a sunny day, and much more.

You can listen to the podcast here:


Or on the major podcast platforms:
Apple Podcasts
anchor.fm
Spotify
Pocket Casts
radiopublic.com
Google Podcasts
Breaker

On youtube with English Subs

https://youtu.be/wwxJjRRck5M

You can download Anamnesis on Sam's itch.io page https://samleigh.itch.io/anamnesis

Get in touch with Sam on Twitter https://twitter.com/GoblinMixtape

The 9 of Swords, designed by Pamela Colman-Smith

Thursday, June 24, 2021

TLB Podcast #8 - Batts - My body is a cage


John Battle, aka Batts is the designer of the RPG My body is a cage. In the game, there are two worlds, the one you live in during the daytime, very much like the one we live in ourselves, and the one you dream of. When you dream, you go exploring dungeons, you fight monsters, you collect treasures, you try to make a better life for yourself.

In this episode, we talk about the inescapable duality of life, D6 dice pools, mecha games, movies, screenwriting, game design, and much more.


You can listen to the podcast here:



Or on youtube with English Subtitles.

https://youtu.be/9G2Cf8eQjNQ

Or on the major podcast platforms:



Batts is running a Kickstarter campaign for My body is a cage Extended Edition, a hardcover book, that features tons of brilliant collaborators and artists. The project graphic design and game design are awesome, the Kickstarter is in its last week, be sure to check it here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/s-o-c/my-body-is-a-cage 


Check Batts youtube channel and video essays on games and RPGs


And get in touch with Batts on twitter











Wednesday, June 16, 2021

TLB Podcast #7 Ian Yusem - The Drain/Picket line tango/Moonbase blues

 



Ian Yusem is the designer of the Mothership rpg adventures Moonbase blues, Picket Line Tango, The Drain. Ian has also a great blog called Uncanny Spheres in which he writes with a lot of honesty about his experience as an indie rpg designer. There, he posts detailed postmortems of his games where he addresses the financial reality of being an indie TTRPG designer and he writes a lot about community. What does that mean to belong to a community of creators ? How does one even find their own community ?

In this episode we talk about finding solace through RPGs, Dissident Whispers a charity collective RPG book in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, making a living out of TTRPG design, Kickstarter, a utopic future for the indie RPG scene and much more.

You can listen to the podcast here:



Or on youtube with English Subtitles.
https://youtu.be/xW6VR1Xiqfc

Or on the major podcast platforms:



Get in touch with Ian here https://twitter.com/IanYusem

Download his games here https://ian-yusem.itch.io/

And read is awesome blog Uncanny Sphereshere https://uncannyspheres.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

TLB Podcast #6 Anna Blackwell - Delve/Rise/Umbra
























Anna Blackwell is the designer of the solo RPG Delve, or rather the solo RPG series Delve, Rise and Umbra. 

Delve is a map-drawing game in which you run an underground dwarven hold. As you dig underground you encounter magic, treasures, evil forces. The game is played with dice and a standard card deck. It involves exploration, resource management, and drawing, and it's built to create a strong emergent narrative experience.

In this episode, we talk about the fear of the dark, caving, drawing, solo RPGs, emergent narrative and game design.

You can listen to the podcast here:


Or on youtube with English Subtitles. The subtitled episode will be ready by the end of the week. You can subscribe to the channel to get notified as soon as the episode is ready https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcjgiUURodfLWy-cDqpK2Q

Or on the major podcast platforms:


And soon here:
Castbox
Overcast

For more info on caves, night, to read an Anna Blackwell Delve story, to watch a secret film for cool links get THE ZINE OF ZINES - ISSUE 1 it's free for you to download on itch


You can find Anna's games here:


or here:



Tuesday, May 25, 2021

THE ZINE OF ZINES - ISSUE 1 - ANNA BLACKWELL

THE ZINE OF ZINES is a one-sheet zine companion to The Lost Bay Podcast episodes. Each issue expands on the themes of the corresponding episode, with, texts, thoughts and cool links.

TLB Podcast #5 with guest Anna Blackwell, designer of the solo TTRPG Delve, caver, and more, will be live on Wednesday, June 2.

Until then you can get THE ZINE OF ZINES - ISSUE 1 for free on itchio down here (or consider buying it, to support the podcast). Four A5 pages about caves and night, with a lot of cool links and threads about Malls, and the Hollow Earth, and Dwarf Fortress, and non TTRPG zines + a SECRET FILM + an Anna Blackwell story, adventure sparks, and various TLB info.

And you can also subscribe to the podcast channel and get notified as soon as the episode is live (and listen to the awesome previous episodes) here: 





THE STORY OF BURNT RICHES

by Anna Blackwell
(a map, and a chronicle of a Delve game)
-------------------------------------------------

Our goal was simple; find a Void Crystal and give it to the Under-King for untold riches. No easy task but one that would guide our hold as we struck the earth on this new site. The remains of an extinct volcano known as Lava’s Death.


The ground on the surface was fertile and supported a thriving human village near the volcano’s caldera but we were more interested in its roots. We set up the essentials first, a forge for traps, a barracks for our new recruits that hadn’t the discipline to stand guard all day.

At first the hold was forgiving, soft stone gave way to jewels. We built a mushroom farm to better support ourselves as our initial supplies dwindled. We dug deeper and came to a tragic realisation. The volcano wasn’t as extinct as the Geographer’s Guild had claimed. A dozen miners wiped out by a volcanic river and our route blocked. We tried instead to go round and encountered poisonous gas.

With hope wearing thin, we vowed we’d make one more attempt at digging deep and by Oleyrn’s beard did it pay off. A magma shaft led straight into the bowels of the earth, we’d be able to construct an elevator and lower our brave miners down in record time. And the old saying “don’t give up at the first broken pick” proved true again and again as we discovered an underground forest and crystal cavern right atop one another. We would have the wood we needed in a manner of months while the crystals proved to be the incentive needed for clerics, mages, and our greater plans.

While the wood matured and dried, our scouting miners dug into the walls of the shaft, hoping to find more riches but instead we found darkness. 

A temple to a crowned spider god, nameless to those who cannot read their web like script. A cleric from the empire was called for in the hopes she would be able to determine if such a blasphemous idol was a threat. Thankfully it seems as if the temple was somewhat benign, merely temporarily infecting our builders with strange ideas. The library constructed so that our newly hired mage could research the temple had spider shaped chairs, the books were kept on a rope web, and we even found Tavia, our architect, trying to make silk wrapped training dummies to hang from the ceiling.

Our other scouting miners seemed to be having more luck on the other side of the shaft as they discovered what could only be described as a wishing well. A deep well surrounded by glittering lights and fairy doors. We can’t blame them for chucking a good few coins in with hopes of love or riches. However, the well was not as it seemed, or it was and someone made a very stupid wish. As the last coin hit the water deep below, it started to overflow like a blocked toilet. Foul swamp water, biting insects, and a great warty toad emerged from the well. The brackish water flowed out and into the depths of the shaft creating a constant foul waterfall upon which the occasional black toad could be seen falling. 

We have decided to leave it be for the time being.

Our mage has studied the writings on the statue and translated a spell found etched on one of the pillars so now we have cats. Lots of cats emerging from what they lovingly refer to as a “pawrtal”. 

Digging deeper we faced our first fight. A mad dwarf known as Fasi The Hermit, a sculptor who has kept himself alive by replacing his failing form with exquisitely carved marble. His marble skin was tough and while our mage and cleric fought well, holding him long enough for the cats to escape, the hermit made it past. Where his marble flesh was broken, organs made of jewels and stone could be seen underneath. Our soldiers met him in the forge but his skin turned aside every other strike and soon he had made it to the entrance where only our honoured guard remained. They fought to the last till only Raevis the Stout remained. 

He has taken Fasi’s face as a trophy, affixing the marble mask to his helmet.

Near defenceless, we retrofitted the mad hermit’s giant statue into a trap for any creature that tries to rise from his lair. We could not have expected what we found.

An ancient rage tahr, a cave goat that the hermit must have been nurturing for centuries. The giant creature was strong enough to break stone apart, it could throw its spikes through iron doors. The giant stone hand of our trap statue was little more than a pat on the head to a creature so powerful.

Raevis alone guarded the entrance as the rest of us fled. The sound of the great beast tearing its way through our hold will forever haunt me. As I chronicle this I remember hearing the rage tahr come to a halt on the other side of the great gates as Tavia instructed us to destroy the keystone and collapse the entryway. It recognised Fasi’s face and for a while Raevis cleverly held the beast at bay.

May all the gods have mercy on us for trapping him inside.

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

TLB Podcast #5 Vi Huntsman - Collabs without permission

 




















Vi Huntsman runs a Crazy youtube channel called Collabs without permission. They do great video reviews of TTRPG zines. In March they shared a review of the game Mothership filmed at Bonneville Salt Flats. It’s a super brilliant review of the game, and it looks amazing, like a short Sci-Fi film.

Vi has been collecting zines for years. We did the interview via a conferencing app. And as we were recording, I could see behind Vi shelves literally filled with zines.

In this episode, we talk about Vi’s collection of Zines, a romanesque encounter with Malaysian designer Zedeck Siew, a Dada clown army, Kickstarter, Mixam, risograph printing, and a possible future of RPG zines.

You can listen to the episode here:


On Youtube, with English Subtitles


Or on the major podcast platforms:


And soon here:
Castbox
Overcast

For more info on Riso, Sci-Fi Zines, cool Zines and more check the ZINE OF ZINES on itch. It's free for you to download, well it's Pay What You Want, if you enjoy the podcast, consider buying it!


Vi's amazing Youtube channel is here, be sure to check it:



The Lost Bay Podcast season 2 big update

Here's an update on Season 2 of The Lost Bay Podcast. Four episodes have already been released, and many more are on the way. Paolo Grec...