Not Writing

Random Nonsense

Just wanted to prove that I'm putting those Patreon dollars to good use :P

(it's for a good cause, I'm putting together a bundle to support indie devs and thought I would use the latest Funko related fuck up with itch to provide a narrative hook)

Poster of cover art for The 55

Got some posters of the cover art printed for the Kickstarter for The 55.

Gotta say I really like how these came out. I think I really nailed the art here. It’s hard to see sometimes but I am definitely making progress and getting better.

Blood and Tears Concept Page

Hey vamps,

A friend of mine gifted me a pack of blackletter fonts and ornaments so I decided to riff on an idea for a vampire game I've had on the back burner for a little while now.

I'm a sucker for overwrought front matter and book plates so this was a nice little treat, even though I feel like I didn't quite nail it. Always fun to mess around with a style and new fonts though.

Escape the Kronos Preview Image Version 3 Final FINAL

Hey Survivors,

I hear Backer Kit is doing a cool promo thing next year.

Something about pocket-sized games?

Would be a shame if your favourite indie game designer took that card game they made recently and made it look really really pretty and maybe funded a run of printed cards...

That is... assuming the postal strike here in Canada lets up soon. All power to the workers, obviously. Sounds like management have had at least a year to come to agreeable terms. I'm sure t...

Places to Smoke

Hey folks,

For a little while now I thought it would be cool to do a little zine of poetry and photos about all the places I got to have a cigarette, maybe accompanied by some prose or poetry about why or what it's like. Something artsy that I could do for fun.

Then I saw the Micro Fiction Games Jam and thought well, what the hell. So I made it into a very small game instead.

How small?

Escape the Kronos Released

Hey space cadets,

My play in hand card game Escape the Kronos is out today! A spooky game for a spooky time! It's a simple print and play game that I've been having a lot of fun with. I recommend printing them on card stock, or sleeving them up with something firm like a playing card to aid in shuffling and handling.

2024-10-31 18:12:36 +0000 UTC View Post

Escape the Kronos Finished

Hey Sole Survivors,

I've been messing around with card game design for a while now, and I was just recently introduced to the idea of "play in hand" card games. These are games where you have just a few cards, and you play by simply manipulating the cards in your hands in different ways, turning them, revealing them, etc. according to the rules.

I was quite taken with this idea, hence the alien card game I talked about last post. I'm calling it "Escape the Kronos" and I'll be rele...

Punk Magic

So I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with the Magic: the Gathering for well... most of my adult life. I play commander games every month or so. I played Magic: Arena a lot for a few years, then didn't, then did again, now don't at all after I found other digital card games that respected my time and money (RIP, Legends of Runeterra).

I have a bit of a collection. Nothing amazing, mostly just bulk stuff I accumulated from pre-constructed commander decks, the occasional booste...

Untitled Escape the Alien Card Game

Hey Gamers,

So I decided to celebrate the end of the Fire in the Spires Kickstarter by...

Making a completely different game?

This is one of those "play in hand" solo games? Basically a small deck of 13 cards that you can play by just holding them and moving cards around. I was suddenly inspired and thought that a game about trying to escape a ship while being pursued by an alien would be pretty cool, and I think I was right!

This game is downright addictive. Each game...

10th Kickstarter

Hey folks,

Just wanted to say thank you. Fire in the Spires is my 10th Kickstarter as Not Writing Games and I couldn't have done it without the constant support of my patrons. You literally keep the lights on and keep me going from one project to another.

For years now you've helped keep a writer from not writing.

I'll never be able to say thanks enough.

Anyway, hope you're all keeping well.

-Michael

The Third Hand

Hey Mages,

In the midst of the madness that is running and setting up the Fire in the Spires Kickstarter, I gave myself some time to make a supplement to one of my favourite solo games: Two-Hand Path.

The Third Hand introduces another cult into the post-apocalypse, with several hand and number three based encounters and enemies. It adds quite a lot for just being on one sheet of paper.

Since it's a single page it's PWYW 2024-10-02 22:05:42 +0000 UTC View Post

It Drinks Light: The Origins of the Xenomorph and Loading Ready Run's Heat Death

OR

How the most interesting answers to the questions Ridley Scott keeps asking are not in his movies

Hey Spacers,

Today I have something a little bit different. A bit of nonfiction. I've been ruminating about the xenomorph and aliens lately and wanted to draw some attention to one of my favourite bits of fanfiction and a really solid Alien RPG actual play. I'll be posting this on my tumblr later this week, but as patrons you all get a special sneak peak.

Enjoy!

Fire in the Spires Preview

Hey Rebels,

The preview page for Fire in the Spires just went live this morning. It will be launching on Kickstarter October 1st.

I'm kinda kicking myself for not just calling it A Torch in the Dark 2 now... oh well.

Here are some exclusive previews of the prototype I'm working on. I'm really happy with how it is coming together. Instead of delving into dungeons yo...

Fire in the Spires Preview

Hey Rebels,

Starting to put together some preview spreads for the (rebranded) Fire in the Spires.

Fire in the Towers Cover Image preview

Hey Rebels,

Working on my first sequel.

If you're a fan of A Torch in the Dark, my single player dungeon crawler, you're gonna want to pay attention to this one.

More soon...

EDIT: Friend of mine mentioned that sharing this on 9/11 was odd. Just so you know this was a coincidence and wasn't meant as any sort of endorsement or me being particularly spicy on purpose.

Operative and Pledge Playbook Updates

Hey Scoundrels,

About 4-ish years ago I made some fan playbooks for Blades in the Dark and Scum & Villainy. I just recently updated these with some new layout, fixing some wording on some rules, and just generally making them more presentable.

It's been a while since I've looked at these and I'm still really happy with them. Both games really lean into their tropes with their playbooks and I remember it being hard to find room for something that didn't already exist, and I th...

The 55 Released and Slugblaster GOTY Edition

Hey Cyberpunks,

Sorry for the radio silence this month. I've been heads down on lots of work and life stuff recently, without much to show for you fine folks.

That said however, today I finally released the digital version of THE 55, my cyberpunk arcology supplement for CY_BORG and other rpg systems.

As patrons you all get complimentary copies through itch. Which you can find here.

Recommendations!

Hey folks!

Patreon just added a neat feature where creators can recommend other creators to their fans. So I wanted to highlight some other people on this site whose work I think you would enjoy. I'll probably add more later, but I just wanted to start with a few that have similarities.

I think you can see these if you check the new 'Recommendations' tab on my page, but I'll also link them and explain why I like them below:

2024-07-17 21:21:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Thinking About Stretch Goals

Stretch goals in things like Kickstarters feel a bit weird to me.

'Cause like, if you've done this long enough you already know that your funding goal can't be your actual funding goal. It's whatever money you think you can raise in 24 hours. Because that is what gets you momentum, and makes other people back and share your project. Folks are more likely to give money to a KS that is already funded. Which means other people see it, and so on and so forth.

And stretch goals are lik...

THE 55 now on Kickstarter

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Here's a link where you can all download the work in progress version. Doesn't it look good? I think it looks good.

Also you can check out the Kickstarter here.

Talk soon. Or maybe after the campaign? I dunno I'm too stressed.

2024-07-02 16:16:49 +0000 UTC View Post

Fealty Released & Patreon Poll Results!

Hey folks!

Today is the release day for Fealty, the game of courtly drama I made with Galen Pejeau.

Patrons can find your copy here.

Also, the latest patron poll wrapped up yesterday, and Kassandra King: Devil's Dice won it by a hair! Seriously it was just a single vote that was pulling it ahead of the Big Damn Heroes.

So look forward to seeing more of that sour paranormal detect...

Spreads for The 55

Hey Cyberpunks,

Another special treat for you. Here are... all the work in progress spreads for THE 55, at least the ones I'm posting to the Kickstarter page next week.

Did you know I'm launching a Kickstarter next week? And it's for an arcology supplement for cyberpunk RPGs?

You should click this link and follow along. Seriously it's not been getting much attention and I'm k...

Welcome to Stack # 95563

Hey Cyberpunks,

Spent most of the day doing an in-universe welcome page for THE 55. This will come right after the plain introduction telling you what the zine is about and how to use it, and just before the meat of the supplement starts.

Had a lot of fun using some glitch and screen textures I grabbed from the Affinity store a while ago specifically for stuff like this. Gives a nice contrast I think, between when this habitation was constructed and it was the latest and greatest...

THE 55 Coming to Kickstarter

Hey folks,

The preview page for THE 55, my supplement for the CY_BORG rpg is now live. The campaign will begin in early July and will include digital downloads, a full colour printed zine, and more goodies like notebook pages and a poster of cover art (which you can see a work in progress version above).

Check it out and give it a follow if you'd like!

Also be sure to vote in the ...

Patron Poll 2024 Edition

Hey Patrons!

Told you we'd be talking again real soon! :D

For the rest of the month I'll be running a poll for you all to decide on one of the games I'll work on this year! Whichever option gets the most votes, I'll commit some of my time to that game, and you'll all get digital copies as per usual, as well as early access to first drafts, previews of layout, etc.

Now lets talk a bit about these choices:

BIG DAMN HEROES: A heroic action fan...

DIE-ATONIC and KILLSTREAMS Beta Released!

EDIT: Looks like there was an issue with folks claiming the games on itch. I accidentally set the currency wrong, but it should be fixed now! Sorry!

Hey folks!

Today is going to be a busy day. I've hit release on both Die-Atonic and the beta version of KILLSTREAMS. You've had access to these for a bit, but I'll post the itch links for patrons below, and update the welcome page so new patrons will get easy access too.

Die-Atonic: 2024-06-11 19:18:18 +0000 UTC View Post

KILLSTREAMS Prototype

Hey Cyberpunks,

Attached to this post you will find the rules and printable cards for KILLSTREAMS: a single player cyberpunk card game. Play cards of the same type to beat a variety of encounters, gain subscribers, gifts, and sponsorships, and navigate boons and banes from your chat as you try to live to see tomorrow.

The rules are pretty bare bones but should explain everything you need to play. The cards are also full of temporary art, but get the point across. You'll want to pr...

KILLSTREAMS Preview

Hey Subscribers,

Here's an exclusive preview of the rules for that cyberpunk card game I've been talking about. Thinking I'll call it KILLSTREAMS, a solo game about infiltrating corporate properties and living as long as possible to wrack up subscribers and live another day.

I've been having a lot of fun playing this game and I'm excited to get it out there. Once I'm done cleaning up the card design, I'll put the cards and rules out there for you folks, as well as on my itch stor...

KILLOTINE card game preview

Hey again cool cyberpunks,

In my last patron-exclusive update I talked about a card game I was working on.

Well, here's a preview of some of the cards! It's a single player cyberpunk sort of deal. You're a streamer trying to get as many subscribers (SUBS) as possible. Events are meant to be high risk high reward opportunities to get you more SUBS, and sponsorships make you lose SUBS but give you lasting bonuses. There's also gifts from your SUBS that you must use (for good or ill...

Die-Atonic Synthwave

Hey Cool Cyberpunks,

Working on the 2nd edition of Die-Atonic today, the synthwave version. Comes with a bunch of good cyberpunk vibes and details, and a whole other set of recommended music tracks to play with.

Really happy with how the cover is coming together, so I thought I'd share it all with you.

Should be releasing Die-Atonic in the next few weeks. Trying to wrap my head around what the third edition will be. In my mind it was like the John Wick, modern version but wh...