Category: Blog

Long Hair

This is how I look now. A marked difference to what I looked like a year ago, six months ago, and a massive change compared to the last picture of myself that I posted on my blog.

Jumpdown Sketch

A quick sketch for the screen of an NES-inspired platformer game idea. You collect the hammer to smash rocks, a machete for vines, and gems for points. The goal is to get to the bottom of each level. Other hazards are snakes, waterfalls, and tigers.

— 8/3/2021

Oldham Rules v.1

On the Brain Trust discord (a discord community based around the Brain Trust podcast and its creators), there was a conversation that occurred about FKR games (Free Kriegsspiel Revolution), and the amount of freedom to create surrounding games where the rules are not wholly defined at the games outset.

This lead me to be inspired and write my own incredibly basic base set of rules to be used for FKR games but that was also inspired by other games that I like (Barons of Braunstein) and games that I play (Red Markets & Dungeon World).

Anyways, here is the PDF of the two short digest pages of rules. Feel free to use them and modify them for your own games and products.

(PDF: http://thomas-novosel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SomeShortRulesV1.pdf)

Intentional become Purposeful

Hello everyone,

I think I have finally figured out how to describe what I want my art and work to be. I want it to be done, but I also want to strive to something that will make me happy in the process. Anyways here it is…

Lakes

When I look at the lakes I have built, I can see the bottom. When I look at the lakes that others build, they seem infinitely deep. In order to keep myself interested long enough to drown in my own work, I am going to have to purposely put enough work and layers in to keep myself captivated.

This effort is for myself. While others may benefit and enjoy the work that I put in, the work is ultimately serving myself first when it is at the bottom of a lake.

The Art Piece I Adore

I have drawn so many pictures and there is exactly one picture that I can visualize in my mind at all times. That will always be infinitely interesting for me to look at and enjoy in the same way I do looking at other people’s art. It is a picture of a distorted court room scene with many characters in my standard detailed ink pen cross hatchery style. What keeps me interested and amused with it, is because I purposely worked to give a purpose to every character in the scene.

I want to have more pictures and work of mine that I can look at and enjoy in this way. In summary I want my work to be more intentional, and through that more meaningful to myself.

The Whisper Promise

I want to promise myself that I can change and be more in what I do. I am whispering this promise because it is a soft promise, it is an idea that I wish to attain that I am unsure if I can commit to completely at this time.

I want my work…

  • To interest me after it is finished: I want to do things that interest me in the moment, but that I won’t find useless later.
  • To be memorable to myself: What I do should be purposeful in the moment, which is the only way I can really build the memory of the image or my own writing to myself.
  • To not have to be good: It absolutely doesn’t matter if something is good by critical merit, or commercial merits. What is important is that I give into my work what I want out of it. If I want it to be layered, if I want it to be meaningful, then I need to put in the care and attention that it takes for my work to be those things. It may not be good, but it will be satisfying to me, and to those who share my interests.

I understand that what I am describing won’t always happen or be possible. But I want and need for how I currently think of my work to change. I know that when I am focused and purposeful, that all of what comes out of me creatively is infinitely better than what I can come up now.

My courtroom picture tells me that. Runaway Hirelings shows me what is possible too! That game took forever to write, but it still is unfinished from what it could be. I want to come back to that game eventually and finish it, really finish it.

For now, I will press on and focus on my new game ‘A Greeblin’s Journey’.

I hope those who have purchased it will be okay with how long it will take me. And I hope that those who like my work are also willing to wait, and then support me when I am finished with it.

Talk again soon,
– Thomas Novosel

Paper Mini’s Set A

I said that I would do something when I hit 800 followers and Twitter, and so here it is! Here is a free set of printable paper miniatures for wargaming.

Click here for the 13 page PDF.

I made these for use with Lion’s Rampant from Osprey, but as they are generic they could be used with anything probably. These were made for Lion’s Rampant (which is why you’ll notice the weapon combinations for the minis are similar to the choices present in the Lion’s Rampant rulebook).

Because regular miniatures are expensive, not just money but in time (assembly, painting, tools to paint etc), that is why I decided to make my own paper miniatures. Not because their weren’t options present online that I could have downloaded, printed, and used but because I wanted to play with minis that were of my own making/artstyle. So a little more cartoony, but not super cartoony. I just wanted minis that looked like they came out of the old school fantasy rpgs whose art style I like.

That is how I got to making these. I expect that once I have made even more paper minis, I may put them together into a zine with maybe my own house rules to be used with them when printed and assembled. But for that to happen, I would need to create paper terrain, do some more gaming and writing for wargames type stuff.

Until then, the most you will read about paper miniatures on this blog will be my own play reports from using these at my own table for solo gaming.

Horror Photoshop Brushes

Hey, this is just a quick post. But I promised that I would release my brushes I made for drawing monster in photoshop on my blog for free if I got to 700 followers on Twitter.

This has occured!

So here are the brushes (for free).

(Feel free to use this brush pack for commercial purposes, no attribution needed)

If you want to give me money for them, go buy stuff from my games page (I even have more brushes there).

Here are some pics I drew using them:

What will I do at 800? Probably finish my architecture skyship brushes and post them too. Or maybe I’ll make something else that I have made free. idk. Maybe I’ll release the paper minis I have been making on my blog?

Chaos Bandits

One thing that rulers fear is a revolt, the exposure of their corruptions, and the mounting evidence of tyranny. What causes hopes to get high in the final days before the whole thing comes crumbling down? What stalls the collapse of empires? Rulers who take advantage of their power. Who make rituals and preparations to summon Chaos Bandits. They gut gangs, ruffians, and the desperate so that faceless creatures with multidimensional sight can wrestle their way out of the viscera.

Picture of a Chaos Bandit named Glamour.

Chaos Bandits are constructs inhabited by chaos voids. When they walk, bustle and move throughout an area, any who come in contact or near them lose their understanding of chaos. The idea of actions being harmful, that action can change the world or their situation is gone. It cannot be even fathomed. What it leaves behind is a population that is tamed, calmed, and soothed into a state of positivity and eery contentedness.

If a chaos bandit is encountered, any individual will be hard pressed to take arms against them. Their silence but for their wheezing chest breaths, their eyes which cry at daylight and dart in all directions so they can avoid touching any living soul… All of this would strike someone as disturbing, but it doesn’t. The world is too still and calm in their presence to be disturbing.

Using the Chaos Bandit

The Chaos Bandit as an enemy should be treated as a force that cannot be stopped by entangling with them (due to their aura). To unbind the void to the construct, adventurers will need to find out who summoned them and force them to dismiss the Chaos Bandit. Regardless of where the bandits are, they will be transported to the summoners location and the void will be closed with the summoners life energy. This kills the summoner, and the chaos bandits void will devour both its own body and all of the summoners.

If the Summoner is unwilling to dismiss or unable to be discerned who they are, then the only other option the players will have is to destroy the summoning pool of viscera. Doing so will mean that no more bandits can be spawned.

Fighting a Chaos Bandit

Fighting a chaos bandit requires SAN checks, stability checks, or whichever would be equivalent as trying to fight a Chaos Bandit is distressing. It is a first experience of violence, like stabbing cute animals, it is stressful beyond belief. Even the most bloodthirsty person would be trembling and sobbing during the act.

If they are successful, then the same test should be made after each time damage is successfully made against the bandit.

Chaos Bandit (Stats)

  • Number Appearing: Chaos Bandits are summoned in groupings and move as a unit. Roll 1d6+2 to determine the size of each squad.
  • Hit Points / Health: 1d10+10.
  • No armor (treat as unarmored). Their perception and eyesight is supernaturally excellent.
  • Chaos Bandits carry weapons, each is rough and dull and turns to liquid silver when it leaves their palms. It is a weak and small thing formed of metals from the summoning pools of viscera. Use daggers or whichever damage rules would match this description of lethality.

Special Ability: Confrontation or thoughts of chaos, violence, etc cause those nearby a chaos bandit complete happiness and euphoria to the point of soothing them into submission. Fighting without regard to this aura causes SAN checks, Stress checks, or a SAVE to be able to overcome your inner peace and keep your hand steady enough to fight.

On Death: If a Chaos Bandit is reduced to 0 HP their construct shatters and a new one is formed at the pool of viscera where they were originally summoned.

Value: Chaos Bandits hold a lot of value to rulers who are not the summoner. This is because they can reap the rewards without any of the dangers or costs involved in being associated with Chaos Bandits. A caged chaos bandit can be sold to the right buyer for 5d10 x 100 coins.

Loot: Chaos Bandits carry nothing, their clothes are a part of their body and their weapons are useless without their touch. But there is a 10% chance that each unit/group of Chaos Bandits will have on their person a smooth clear stone the size of a pebble weighing 35 lbs. Candle light shined in its presence is enhanced to fill a room with light so bright that it makes it impossible to see. Wherever the constructs are being summoned from, this may be a clue to where.

Conclusion

This description for the Chaos Bandit came from the art that I drew. The art came from me playing around with making new art brushes in photoshop for drawing with as I experiment with mixing art styles and mediums together. Will this be the last? Probably not! This was just a quick post with an idea, so if you use it for your games or your personal monster manual you’ll want to expand on it a bit.

Until next time, have a goodnight.

The Trespasser (Actual Play)

Hello Readers! This blog post is an actual play of my playthrough of ‘The Trespasser’ which is a solo horror game that can be bought here: https://zarwid.itch.io/trespasser

The way this actual play works is that it is a typed version of all of my notes that I wrote while playing the game, and since I was journaling the whole playthrough it should give a fairly clear idea of the story that took place in my playthrough… enjoy! 🙂

The Actual Play

  • My character sheet from playing the game.

Moved 3 blocks, roll for encounter: NIGHTFALL APPROACHES!

(This is not good, and I am scared because I only have a 2 matches to avoid the dark)

The shadows slip and expand chasing away the light. The only light left is a glimmer off something on the ground. Genevieve crouches and runs her hand across the surface. Feeling its form. Her heart was thumping in the dark before, now it is thrashing in her head.

She feels the round hollow bauble, the doll hair. Her fingers tremble at the torn fabric at the neck.

Genevieve gasps, she holds her breath as she presses the memento into the dirt. To bury it back where it was. She has no idea how her dolly got here, but she knows that she must go. She has to keep moving…

Genevieve lights a match, it glows and crackles. She moves on and finds daylight over a mossy mound. Shadows lick her heels… They try to hold her back but cower at the light, rolling in the shadows. Turning, she looks forward.

Moved 3 blocks, roll for encounter (rolls a 5).

A circle of mushrooms in a small clearing, on top of a waterlogged patch of dirt. Genevieve can’t remember when she last ate… But they look so strange… Her stomach rumbles, she takes a bite. (+1 Vitage)

Moved 3 blocks, roll for encounter (2).

SNAP! Metal teeth spring up at her ankles. (Flight: rolled a 9)

Moved 3 blocks, roll a 1.

The trees, they’re too thick. They wrap around each other, limbs like barbs… I have to move around them…

Moved 3 blocks, roll a 4.

Nothing around but quiet. Genevieve finally notices her breath, the quiet of it stilling as she can breathe easier. But only for a moment.

Moved 3 blocks. Rolled a 5.

Another circle of mushrooms. Time for another bite, the first one hasn’t harmed me so what can another? I think I can see the edge… But I don’t know how long I will be still… One more bite. (+1 Vitae)

Move to the Clearing!

I run and run and the woods they… a clearing! I made it! The electric lights take me back to the car and I can make it back home. I won’t forget what happened but the exhaustion slams against my chest as soon as I hit the bed. I sleep and rest easier now.