[3 new Swords episodes, 1 new Stars episode]
I will be tabling at Wellycon June 20-22 - see you there!
The Quest Sprout Hoodie was successfully funded! Yay! Thank you to everyone who grabbed one, it was a bit precarious even on the final day.
My Patreon earnings dropped by 24%! Wop wop! I guess my Revive Choplet offer wasn't that funny after all, so I've remov...
2025-06-01 01:46:12 +0000 UTC View Post
[4 new Swords episodes]
Well, it's certainly been a colourful week! Switchhog stonks are way up!
The community have cycled through the 5 stages of grief for Choplet multiple times in the last 3 days with a lot of people landing on bargaining and offering to up their Patreon pledge for his safe return.
That obviously works out great for me, as I've recently laid out my commitmen...
2025-05-25 00:55:47 +0000 UTC View PostA work-in-progress dub with narration kindly provided by @cupisacat.com on BlueSky
If anyone would be interested in helping mix the audio and add (legal) sound effects, I'd be happy to add you to the closing credits.
2025-05-22 06:29:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Recently, someone told me that it's hard to find webcomics to read! So here are the Patreon pages of every guest artist involved in Swords: Cut the Deck - please check them out!
A couple of 4k wallpapers that will help you to remember the Gods, the Demons and the Realms of the Sword Universe.
2025-05-22 02:03:50 +0000 UTC View Post
[2 new Swords episodes]
Thank you for all the birthday wishes this week!
And thank you to Praedyth for buying me a game on Steam! :O
---
I recently became an Uncle - now I'm going to be... an Uncle again! My other brother is starting a family too.
---
The Quest Sprout drawing contest didn't get a ton of entries, and we have lots of prizes (including a Momma Sprout plushie!!) so I'm going to extend it by a few days
---
[RANT]
I'm going ...
2025-05-18 02:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostListen, I'm a messy guy. It's very hard to curate a dozen social media accounts, three different webcomic platforms and Patreon, when they are all always changing their rules, reach and rewards.
But you shouldn't miss out or have a mid experience just because of my internal chaos, so I have a simple choice I would like you to weigh in on:
Do you want:
[My Patreon Collections...
2025-05-17 02:45:28 +0000 UTC View PostWhich member of Choplet's New Tribe is your favourite?
2025-05-15 08:34:28 +0000 UTC View PostHere are some things I am committed to doing in the short term, by myself, no matter what; on top of continuing Swords and Stars:
Swords in Chronological Order
The first year of Swords is now in Chronological Order on the Website and Webt...
Hello,
I'm just letting you know that I'm going to start working on a sort of reskin of my old project Merciless Dungeon, which never saw the light of day, into an actual Swords-branded product.
I'm going to try to use the Move system from Cut the Deck in a new way, where your team of three have access to Attack, Block and Buff and then one Special Move each. Even when you have a team of four, only three will pop out to do things per bout and you decid...
[4 new Swords episodes]
It's my birthday this Friday, just in case you like me or something, b-baka...
~~~
Don't forget that you have a little under a week to enter the Quest Sprout Drawing Contest - there are some Makeship plushies up for grabs as spot prizes, so make sure to give it a go!
I need to chase up with Wellycon tomorrow to find out if I actually have a table next...
Hi gang,
I normally save this for the Annual Survey in September, but:
1) What do you want more of?
2) What do you want less of?
3) What Next Big Project would you love to see?
Let's keep it as simple as that. Thanks!
2025-05-08 00:16:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear kiwis,
I wanna clear out 8 of these bundles, please buy two!
https://ko-fi.com/s/e073d79292
Tariffs are making things unpredictable, so some of these things are below cost for my cool kiwi pals.
If you are based in Wellington NZ, I can put these behind the counter at Caffeinated Dragon with some bonus goodies to make up for the shipping price.
Dear everyone else,<...
2025-05-07 00:42:12 +0000 UTC View Post
[2 new Swords episodes]
Swords reached episode CM!
Sadly, we didn't win at the Pav Awards. Being a finalist is still a great effort though!
Congratulations to Storm Raiders for their well-earned trophy!
I'll use this as motivation to get back to working hard and making cool things worthy of praise.
I've been working on some Fake Game Art for my 2025-05-04 01:00:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi team,
This art shop recently closed its doors and is now sitting empty.
Last time I checked, to buy the space outright and own it forever, I would need $180,000 USD which is... 6+ years of my Patreon? So not very viable, when Patreon is also covering my food and rent right now and it's unlikely to stay empty for that long.
And so, simply put, I want your most practical gameplan for how I acquire this space! What should I focus on? Where can I get paid gigs to boost my...
2025-05-03 00:14:39 +0000 UTC View Post
The Birthday Blade has reached beyond the confines of time and space to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Quest Sprout joining the series! and Swords 900th Episode!
To celebrate this doubly epic occasion, here's everything that is happening:
Quest Sprout's Vth Birthday Contest!
Draw a picture of Quest Sprout with the hashtag #BirthdayQwest on social media to enter for a chance to win a Hero Edition of Swords: Cu...
[2 new Swords episodes]
I'm a finalist in the New Zealand Games Festival Pav Awards! See you at the event on Friday!
I'm working on my Portfolio this week. Feedback is very welcome!
Watch me draw Fakemon with TheImmortalThinkTank and C...
I tried to buy coffee today and had to use cash(!) so it is time to get off my butt and turn some stock back into money.
Buy a Quest Sprout comic book this week and I'll throw in some extra stickers and a signed postcard
Buy Swords: Cut the Deck - New Zealand and Australian orders will ship same day; Other W...
Vol XXXVI
[4 new Swords episodes]
Yesterday I was demoing Swords: Cut the Deck at Wellington Armageddon! Thanks to everyone who stopped by! Sorry I beat you a couple of times, John!
I know there's a lot of talk about tariffs destroying the board game industry right now - I can assure you we have all our stock and we did eat some unexpected costs a few months ago, but that won't affect getting you the things you order...
2025-04-21 01:18:39 +0000 UTC View Post
These are not behind a paywall. I do not own the rights to these characters. You are free to use these assets any way you want. If you put them all in a book and sell them to a Tattoo Parlour, at least tell me how much they paid you.
Thanks! Enjoy!
2025-04-14 01:29:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Vol XXXV
[3 new Swords episodes]
I'm a day late with this newsletter, but I was doing comics so I demand you forgive me.
What's going on:
Getting back to Quest Sprout's story became a barrier to getting pages done, so I'm just focusing on one-offs for a bit to get back into the workflow. It deserves my full attention. There will be another new episode later today!
I recorded two podcasts this week, one with ColmsComic and the Pen-Pals; and t...
2025-04-13 23:36:37 +0000 UTC View Post
If you head to swords.game, you can now download:
The Core Rulebook
The Sickle vs. Silvertongue 2-player Tutorial Adventure
The Sickle vs. Silvertongue Print & Play set
The Digital Move tool set
Which is a good way to familiarize yourself with the core game! Horde Buff tokens as Silvertongue to fire off musical notes of death; or melt your opponent's defence using Sickle and her iconic Acid Sword!
If someone was theoretically interested in homebrewing Cut the Deck rules for the Patreon Swor'nament cast, they would probably want these images to work with.
2025-04-07 03:06:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Vol XXXIV
[A few episodes of my new series BOWS - and a beautiful Kargob cake made by Usoka!]
I've just finished recording a podcast with TheImmortalThinkTank, ColmsComic and HolleringElk - look forward to it!
I'll be doing a different podcast appearance on Thursday!
With a few small exceptions, I've completed all the shipping to New Zealand and Australian customers for Swords: Cut the Deck.
I've listed a single ...
2025-04-06 00:27:27 +0000 UTC View Post
I hope the people who have received their copies of Swords: Cut the Deck already are having fun with it!
Please enjoy this Patreon-exclusive Adventure Module - RIDE THE DECK!
Ride the Deck introduces the concept of Jousting - grab your sword and grab a horse (and a d6) and prepare for a strange new way to play, where you'll have to decide if you want to save your big attacks for later in the round or play them first.
Let the joust begin!
2025-04-01 23:57:09 +0000 UTC View PostHi gang,
My share of shipping CUT THE DECK stock to NZ/AU customers is 95% done, so I am free once again and it's time I got a real job!
Please let me know if you see anything I might be good at. I have 7 years of experience as a Senior Quality Assurance Tester, and I, y'know, did all the art for Swords and Stars and Clusterduck and stuff. But I'm very open to new adventures and I like to learn new things.
I'm happy to work in Wellington NZ or remotely from Wellington NZ.<...
2025-04-01 08:15:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Vol XXXIII
Shipping Cut the Deck to New Zealand and Australian customers is 60% complete! Please reply to the email I sent out in the last few days so I can lock down your order!!
There are 3 spare God Editions of the game left for NZ/AU customers
The bank froze my credit card because I've been spending so much on shipping... All sorted now! It's fine!!
Worldwide shipping has also begun!
The game has had its first 2025-03-30 00:31:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Vol XXXII
EXTRA! EXTRA! Swords Season 8 will begin April 1st!
I need a little bit of time to get on top of other stuff.
New Zealand orders of Cut the Deck are all sent! Australian orders are next!
If you are in New Zealand and you order Cut the Deck, you will probably have your copy within 48 hours!
The American stock arrived too! The game ...
2025-03-23 02:23:29 +0000 UTC View Post
[Photos of Cut the Deck and a new Stars episode]
Cut The Deck has arrived in Welington NZ and I am busy uniting people in New Zealand and Australia with their copies!
If you are in Wellington NZ, you can pick up a Hero Edition of the game from me whenever you like. I've started distributing early copies while I figure out some logistics for everyone else. I can put it behind the counter at Caffeinated Dragon or BeaDnD for you ...
2025-03-15 22:33:15 +0000 UTC View Post