Tis the Season to be spooky and I have somehow managed to do absolutely nothing spooky or even creepy! It's a darn shame and a crime against monsters is what it is but sadly there's little time to rectify it.
This month has been a busy one as the Apawthecaria Kickstarter has been taking most of my attention and getting The Dig sorted out as taken the ...
2021-10-12 15:10:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi everyone!
Turns out Apawthecaria isn't the only sneaky project I've been working on behind-the-scenes. I've also been putting together a 'scratch and journal' game called The Dig.
But Anna, what in the world is a scratch and journal game? Well I'm glad you asked, see, I've been looking at a lot of alternative printing options for projects and one of the things I stumbled upon were scratch posters. Essentially big scratch cards, these posters have a layer of PVC foil that ...
2021-09-27 12:55:05 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, I have a few ideas rattling around for next month's DELVE expansion and wanted to open it up to a vote because deciding things is hard :)
I'll keep this open till next Friday and we'll see what wins :)
2021-09-24 14:02:47 +0000 UTC View Post
The one thing I've had an issue with in Apothecaria is coming up with things to do during downtime. The rest of the game has a good clear structure that the sudden freedom often leaves me (and other folk) a little lost. In my playthroughs, I've used the downtime to fix up an old bicycle I found by the loch (which inspired the Projects in Tinker's Troubles), visit the Demon in Hero's Hollow, or explore High Rannoc but I feel it could use something more guided.
I loved the idea of being a...
2021-09-23 13:00:32 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, sorry for the long silence after the Cyberspace update, I've been working on a collaborative project that we're gearing up to announce on Wednesday and have just been so wrapped up in that.
This month's expansion is for Apothecaria (I can't believe it's already been 3 months since Tinker's Troubles) and its going to be a bit different as it'll be focusing more on downtime activities as you work in the Familiar Shelter!
My aim for this expansion is to give you s...
2021-09-12 11:54:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Commander.
I have troubling news.
It appears that our enemies have discovered that our digital defences are… inadequate.
If they are allowed to enter our cyberscape unchallenged, they will be able to:
• Shut Down our Security Systems
• Take Over our Robotic Units
• Open our Barricades
• Lock our Units in their Rooms
• And w...
2021-08-27 13:59:23 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm taking today to get some ideas I've had for various Apothecaria related expansions down on paper and thanks to a tangent, I've ended up making the cover for Dragon's Lair but I'm stuck.
I can't decide which of these covers I like most.
For voting purposes I'm calling them
A) Spiky Dragon
B) Smooth Dragon
C) Dragon Circle
Let me know which one you like best and hopefully break this indecision.
2021-08-22 10:35:57 +0000 UTC View PostFor this month's expansion we're going to introduce some new mechanics to UMBRA that dive a bit more into the Hackers and digital threats. So, to try something a little different to my usual process, I thought I'd log what I'm doing as I go and show you the design process behind these expansions.
First up, how did I come to the decision for Cyberspace?
As Afterman pointed out in the UMBRA...
2021-08-09 15:39:19 +0000 UTC View PostFor passing the £100 a month mark, I wanna give you lot another little reward to say thanks but I'm not sure what.
So vote on the poll below or leave a comment and lets see what wins.
2021-08-04 19:15:53 +0000 UTC View PostOkay, so a lot has happened since I last posted.
Last month I started working as an associate designer for Auroch Digital which was pretty awesome. However, it turns out I really can't do the 9 to 5 and have returned to my career as a freelancer.
I also had an awful dose of Covid last month and got free and clear of that like a week before the UK Games Expo. Thankfully the NHS people said I was fine to go as my symptoms had cleared up so I got to make a killing at the expo and mee...
2021-08-04 19:08:10 +0000 UTC View PostThis months expansion introduces a host of new Demonic Minions, special Demon centric rooms (including the terrifying Dollhouse), and a new game changing Minion called the Monarch which provides a host of incredible benefits for any Keeper Evil enough to summon one.
I'm still floored with Covid so this will have to be a short post so I'll leave you with my favourite joke in the expansion:
CLOWN CHAMBER – 80♥ – EVIL + 5
The garrish colours, strobe ligh...
Hey everyone,
sorry for the silence this month, I've been handling Kickstarter Fulfillment, starting a new job at Auroch Digital, and getting my butt kicked by Covid.
Good news, here and there I've managed to put some time into this month's RISE expansion which is all about Demons. Imps, Clowns, Succubi & Incubi, and of course, Lawyers.
You can sue Adventurers which just felt like the perfect mechanic.
I'll make sur...
2021-07-21 19:26:22 +0000 UTC View PostYou may or may not know that Chris Bissette (The Wretched), Matt Sanders (Sealed Library), and Jack Harrisson (Artefact) and I have a little collective where we share ideas, work on projects together, and basically just help each other with the day-to-day of making RPGs.
One of our ongoing projects is a monthly feature in Tabletop Gaming Magazine where we each contribute content centred around a common theme. This month was the first and as TTG isn't available everywhere, I thought it w...
2021-07-15 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostA quick and easy way to access all the parts of your Patreon Reward.
I'll update this post whenever a new game comes out so check back here each month to see what's been added :)
2021-07-14 12:31:37 +0000 UTC View PostThe first monthly expansion just in time for the end of June!
Taking inspiration once more from Dwarf Fortress this expansion introduces Necromancers. Powerful magical units that can reach through the veil of death and pull lost dwarves back to serve your Hold.
This expansion introduces a whole new Discoveries table which can be found by drawing the 2♠ or the King of ♠ and I'm excited by this concept of sub-tables as it means the simple Exploration phase can open up i...
2021-06-30 17:47:44 +0000 UTC View PostThank you all so much! We've just hit our first Patron goal of £50 a month which means I'll be making monthly content for my existing games. These will likely be small expansions similiar to Tinker's Troubles.
My idea is to go through on a sort of month by month basis so that each game gets equal attention. So the first one up will be DELVE, then RISE, then UMBRA, and finally Apothecaria.
And as I release more games, they'll get slotted into the list wherever they fit.
I'll...
2021-06-21 18:31:04 +0000 UTC View PostHere's that little something I promised to all you awesome folks :) A small 12 page expansion for Apothecaria that takes place in an ancient magitech workshop full of strange robots, chatty artisans, and strange reagents.
This single locale expansion introduces:
20 New Ailments
2 New [TAGS]
14 New Reagents
A New Locale
and a new Projects mechanic which allows you to make weird and wonderful inventions!
This will eventually be available for the p...
2021-06-16 17:27:49 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone, sorry for not posting too much over the past month. As many of you probably know, I've just launched Apothecaria (which Hero backers have access to) and that's been taking up all of my time and mental energy.
However, I do want to reward you all for supporting me so I'll be putting together a little something next week while I patiently wait for the physical copies of Apothecaria and its various bits to arrive.
I'm thinking a little Patreon exclusive expansion of some...
2021-06-10 17:43:36 +0000 UTC View PostIf you're a Hero level Patron, you can go and grab Apothecaria on itch.io for free :)
2021-06-08 13:18:50 +0000 UTC View PostGood News! Apothecaria will be launching digitally in just a few days and the physical copies are on track to get printed and shipped this month!
And to thank you for being so kind and supporting me here on Patreon, I'm giving you early access to the PDF.
I'm so proud of how Apothecaria has turned out and I know it might sound egotistical but it has genuinely been my favourite solo RPG.
To get the most out of it, I would recommend picking up a nice journal and taking y...
2021-06-04 11:51:32 +0000 UTC View Post
A couple of years ago I played my first Jenga tower RPG and its like it opened this whole world of opportunity. I ended up writing about "games that use toys" for Tabletop Gaming Magazine and spent the 2019 Global Game Jam coming up with Rebuild and Quick Draw (as well as a team boardgame that sort of went nowhere).
Since then I've sorta had these ideas just lamenting in the cloud, waiting for more ideas to put in. So while the Toybox Trove waits its turn, I thought you might enjo...
2021-05-14 12:09:29 +0000 UTC View PostAs part of the Apothecaria Kickstarter stretch goals, I asked the rest of the Rainy Day Games Collective to put together an A6 postcard of ailments and reagents and while they still need some editing and layout is still a work in progress, I thought you lot might like to see the sort of weird ideas they've come up with.
As the reagents and ailments in Apothecaria are trying to capture the feeling of leafing through dusty tomes, these postcards are presented as entries the old witch has ...
2021-05-10 12:31:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe Locale Booklet Poll is now closed and I have been so psyched all weekend to see what the results would be. Ideas for ailments, reagents, and discoveries have been rattling around my head all weekend and I'm so excited to say that with 5 votes to 4, Shimmersnow Valley wins!
I'm leaning heavily into the fairy tale feeling of Apothecaria and introducing ailments like:
Frozen Heart
The affilicted has lost their ability to love and is becoming cold and cruel...
Once Apothecaria launches and you all get to sink your teeth into it, I intend to expand it through small booklets that introduce new Ailments, Reagents, and Locales and while I have loads of ideas raring to go I thought I'd give you lot the chance to vote on what comes first.
2021-04-20 13:21:39 +0000 UTC View PostIt probably comes as no surprise that I, like most other game designers, have a tonne of unfinished games and game ideas kicking around in my Google Drive. So, inspired by Chris Bissette's Detritus collection on itch, I thought it could be fun to take a look at my clutter and talk about them.
Think of it like an episode of Hoarders and excuse me if I get nostalgic while I write this.
The Games
First of all, here's what my Physical Games GDrive looks like. 2021-04-01 10:47:26 +0000 UTC View Post
I really enjoyed getting to write up my generated Dark Sea Monstrosity in the last post so here's some more of the weird things that can be made (of which there are apparently 2197 possible card combinations).
Hundrog the Gnashing Mother (Frenzy, Shell, Worm)
As long as the Great Hall of Goldtongue, this ancient beast crawls through the hold like a worm. Through its presence alone, Garrosh whips fish into a feeding frenzy. Any dwarf unfortunate enough to be ca...
2021-03-18 10:28:43 +0000 UTC View Post
With Feast & Famine out and introducing Food mechanics into the DELVE series, The Dark Sea finally has all the groundwork in place so lets have a look at what to expect.
Down below the lowest cave there flows an ocean of liquid night. A place so low that even the gods don’t know what creatures call it home. A place so deep and forgotten that, had it not been for the greed of dwarves,...
2021-03-12 13:28:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe first DELVE expansion is out now!
Feast and Famine introduces the Hunger mechanics from UMBRA as well as new farming buildings, special units, new artefacts, and Cave Goats - strange monstrosities that dwarves, for some reason keep as pets.
Feast and Famine is a free expansion so its not the prettiest but hopefully we can all look past that at the content lurking inside.
2021-03-09 17:07:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe next expansion I'm working on is a rather sizeable expansion for DELVE which introduces a new layer: The Dark Sea.
A great cavernous ocean filled with creatures not meant to be seen, the Dark Sea is a place of nightmares and death for all but the most prepared of dwarves. With new Liquid physics that simulates actual flooding, underwater construction, ocean exploration, and of course, new monstrosities, the Dark Sea awaits with open maw those brave enough to delve its depth... 2021-03-04 15:06:22 +0000 UTC View Post
alt-text: A page excerpt from Apothecaria detailing one of the locales, Glimmerwood Grove. The excerpt details events like "you wander too near a bear's den and are chased through the woods" and "you trip while fording a river and fall right into the arms of a blushing naiad"
Glimmerwood Grove is one of the five starting locales in Apothecaria. This enchanted forest is full of fairies,...
2021-03-04 10:20:12 +0000 UTC View Post