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Neurodiversity and Dragons - the adventure begins!

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  Tl;dr: Kia ora all! I don’t often post much about my personal life, but as a parent of two neurodiverse teens, I reckoned that I’d post some of my experience in gaming here on our journey. My daughter was diagnosed with autism almost a year ago and my son is dyslexic/dysgraphia with ADHD like presentation. Both are incredibly bright and very different from each other (my son has lots of friends and is very bright and gregarious if also very lazy while my daughter is very retreating and shy but incredibly driven and motivated). They both love fantasy and fantasy literature, movies and gaming has been a way for us all to connect. Though often what works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for the other. This brings me to my point, I am working on trying to best accommodate the needs of my neurodiverse daughter and include her in an experience that she very much wants to participate in, but often feels frustrated and overwhelmed by. This is an introduction to our journey so far. ...
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Let the Good times roll - a bit of a ramble and Basalt Keep update

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 So for various reasons, I feel like social media platforms like Facebook, Mewe, Twitter, etc. don't really do it for me when it comes down to really getting into the nuts and bolts of the TTRPG gaming scene. I mean I really miss the OSR Blogosphere circa 2008-2012 or so and the various social media platforms don't scratch the itch for me the same way the blogs scene did a decade ago (holy crap, has it been that long). There was a great community where the blogs all kind of fed off each other. Not just that, the blog posts and content was much more substantive that what is viable over a social media post. I just flat out miss those days. Frankly, I just don't really feel like using social media as a tool to get my ideas out there anymore. Don't get me wrong, Facebook groups are great, and really good for interacting in short bursts. However, I feel like a jerk if I jump into a Facebook group and start with the "hey guys, look! Look at what I've got going on.....
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One Page Dungeon Contest

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I threw my hat in the ring this year for the One Page Dungeon contest and am pretty excited about it. Not for the thrill of winning, but for the sheer act of doing and completing something. That was pretty rewarding. I tend to be very ambitious about projects and they drag on far longer than they should. What can I say, I'm not a project manager, I'm an IT Architect and such is the way of things. But I digress! I did it! I was pretty happy with what I turned in. Mostly because it gave me a good model for what I want to do in my Basalt Keep adventure. More on that soon I promise! Anyway, here's a look at the artwork that forms the background for my one page dungeon submission. Cheers and happy gaming!
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Basalt Keep of Wilven the Yellow Progress Report 1

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Greetings! I've been working on the maps and art for my Sea of O'Sr open world mega dungeon project. I tend to start with the maps and do some art to gel things in my head before I get on with the writing. I dunno why, just the way I'm built. So having said that, I've pretty much got most of the maps drawn and some concept art for myself to start getting to the writing and development tasks. Anyway, here is some a look at some of the art and maps that I do have so far. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Cheers and Happy gaming! Main MAp of the Isle of the Basalt Keep  Cassilda's Tower  The Keep's Crypt Cassilda in Carcosa with the Palid Mask A Mage in the Basalt Keep confronted by one of the inhabitants Wilven delivering a message to trespassers A warrior comes face to face with a Worgrilla in the Keep Uh oh, An animated and angry watch tower Wilven in his laboratory Wilven the Yellow A Yellow Desciple in...
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Delve! Zine 3 A closer look at the Barbarian nomad class

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For the third installment of Delve!, I recreate some of the Oriental Adventures classes for use in Swords and Wizardry Complete. A little context, Delve! Zine issue 3 was originally to be dedicated to summoning/pact magic (that's still in the works), but I decided that for my son Bear's 16th birthday, I would make a change of plans. Bear, much like me when I was his age, has an interest in Japan, manga, anime, etc. He has been playing in our sporadic Swords and Wizardry campaign and I figured that with his interest in Japan, it would be fun to intorduce some character classes that more closely fir with an Asian flavoured setting. So, I got busy and developed four classes for use in a Swords and Wizardry campaign - the Brabarian, the Kensei, the Ninja, and the Samurai. Each has its own destinctive abilities and skills. I didn't recreate and of the magical classes - yet. There just wasn't the time, but I figure that I'll do a magic supplement and a monster supplemen...
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Basalt Keep of Wilven the Yellow Digital Art Experiment

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I have been playing around with some of the digital art tools that I have to see what kind of feasability there was to doing some of my artwork totally digital. Right now, I pretty much do everything traditionally, but then scan it in and alter it as needed. I have an older Wacom Intuos 3 that I haven't gotten much mileage out of, but really wanted to take it for a spin. I also have Clip Studio Paint, Corel Painter 2017, and GIMP, that I kind of dabble with off and on. I am a huge comics fan, and I liked how my sequential art pieces turned out for the Astonshing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea hardback, so I figured I'd like to do some comicbook style stuff in my own style for the Basalt Keep adventure. I really liked the contrast piece that I did in felt marker some time back of Wilven in his lab (below) and figured I'd like to try and do something similar - except completely digitally. I tried out my Wacom tablet in Gimp but was having some issues. The pen was j...
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Delve! Zine Issue 3 is out on DrivethruRPG

Heya gang! The latest issue of Delve! Zine is now up on DrivethruRPG. Go get some:  https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/313220/Delve-Zine-Issue-3
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