Funnel Photo Finish

This snippet of story, all 800 words of it, exists solely because of the following image, used with the permission of its creator, Robert Cornelius. He does fantastic Photoshop work. Don't believe me? Check out his portfolio and blog. Look for more photo-inspired pieces like this in future posts.

This image screamed "DCC Funnel" to me, so I went with it. Enjoy!

Fight or Flight by Robert Cornelius. Used with permission.

Sixteen volunteers descend those cold and ancient steps in the keep's basement. Ninety minutes later only the Woodcutter still lives, desperate to find a way back up those steps to relative safety.

So I Wrote a Kickstarter Bonus...

If you haven't looked at the Deck of Legends Kickstarter, please do so now. It's being created by an artist I featured in a previous Art Spotlight article and fellow member of the Gamer Assembly Kaitlynn Peavler (aka @thedandmom).

You've got about 2 weeks left to pledge and get a kickass tarot-sized deck or two. It's only $15 for one deck, but there are still opportunities to design jokers. As of this writing, we're spitting distance from releasing all the art under a Creative Commons license. So become a backer and tell your friends, as we're still a ways off from opening the poker deck option. If 300 people pledge there will be a 5th suit (Cosmic) added to all decks at no extra cost.

Here's a look at the different deck options.

I wrote up a list of effects, one for each card in a manner strikingly similar to a certain Minor Artifact, and called it the Deck of Many Legends. It's available for backers to download for free; check out Update #16 for the download link. I'll make sure it's available to non-Kickstarter folks at some point after the deck comes out. You can use it with a regular deck of cards while waiting for your Deck of Legends, but the art and the effects have started feeding off of each other in a very cool symbiosis.

Here's a sample of some of the art.
More cards are finished every week.

I wanted to keep the effects vague so the Deck of Many Legends could be used in a variety of systems. It obviously has D&D roots, as it mentions bonuses to ability scores, but the effects are open to a wide variety of interpretations.

The Star suit will add science fiction flavored effects and art.

Some of the effects could seriously change or even kill a campaign, but hopefully the built-in vagueness will prevent any cataclysmic effects. I encourage you to talk through any potentially game-damaging effects with everyone at the table so your campaign survives.

The Coven will answer
one vexing question.

Like the Deck of Legends itself, the Deck of Many Legends is meant to inspire creativity. I welcome feedback, as it'll help improve the list when I go back and edit it before general release. If you use it in your game, please let me know how it goes.

I invite you to go pledge if you haven't already.

Thanks for reading!

Jeremy Kostiew, Mighty Nightgaunt

Welcome to another installment of Art Spotlight, which features a few pieces by a different visual artist each week here at Wombat's Gaming Den of Iniquity. I hope to increase the visibility of artists who create cool images. If you want to be featured, give a shout on Twitter or on Google+ or via email (jim AT twwombat DOT com).

I've been remiss in not featuring Jeremy Kostiew, so I'm correcting that oversight. A few weeks before PAX East, I noticed he offered to make a logo in a comment on Google Plus. I checked out his profile, and he mentioned battling the forces of awful RPG logo design with less awful RPG logo design. I figured I'd ask if he'd be interested in designing a logo for me.

An initial design and two rounds of edits later, he produced this:

Who could possibly resist a Wombat behind a GM screen?

Needless to say, I ordered and received my RPG Editor business cards featuring this logo in plenty of time for PAX East thanks to Jeremy's quick turnaround. I still need to add the wombat head to the header in here, hopefully in May after some of the craziness dies down a bit.

I noticed that earlier this week he had updated his portfolio page, so it seems like the perfect time to shine the Art Spotlight in Jeremy's direction. He's done a variety of logo designs, including this one:

My favorite logo as found on Jeremy's portfolio page.

I'm interested in seeing more of the character sketches he's done. I like his brief collection of game doodles, including the more organic styling on his sketch work like this:

Werewolf, showcasing more of a sketchbook style.

He cranked out this map in five minutes. It entertained the hell out of me, so I just had to include it:

Jeremy's latest Friday 5-minute map entry.
I want to explore Mount Chocopocalypse.
Originally seen in this Google Plus post.

If you're interested in seeing more of what he's done, take a look at his portfolio page at Mighty Nightgaunt. Jeremy is incredibly easy to work with. He takes feedback in stride and turns around edits quickly. If you need logo work done, do yourself a favor and look him up. You can contact him through his profile on Google Plus. Drop him a line and tell him Wombat sent you.

Brian Patterson, the d20 Monkey

Welcome to another installment of Art Spotlight, which features a few pieces by a different visual artist each week here at Wombat's Gaming Den of Iniquity. I hope to increase the visibility of artists who create cool images. If you want to be featured, give a shout on Twitter or on Google+ or via email (jim AT twwombat DOT com).

If you're looking for funny and irreverent gaming humor, look no further than d20 Monkey. It's a webcomic created by Brian Patterson, who's also a complete hoot to follow on Twitter, just not necessarily at work. I decided to spotlight Brian this week because of this tweet on Tuesday, where he almost punted his day job. I'm sure very few people would complain if he quit the 9-to-5 and starting working full-time to create more things like this:

Irreverent gaming humor. Also a plethora of dick jokes.

Brian also produces awesome and timely gaming T-shirts available at the d20 Monkey store, like this one when Monte Cook started working as a member of the D&D Next design team.

Many people checked both boxes.

He also provides art for the monthly Caption contest over at Obsidian Portal. Here's April's contest image.

Caption this comic, win a prize! Click for more details.

He also does sketches and commissions, like this one he dashed off for Draw Vecna Day on March 16th.

Poor Vecna. Schoolgirls still make fun of him.

You can see his art used as various Twitter avatars (like @deadorcs and his own @d20monkey) and in the banner at the top of every page at Character Generation. He's currently working to provide character commissions as backer rewards for the Prismatic Art Collection Kickstarter - check out the sample he made over at Sarah Darkmagic.

Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. Keep a close eye on d20monkey.com for his ongoing exploits, including the Innsmouth Garden Society arc which just concluded with a bang. He also appeared this week as a guest artist at the webcomics Hijinks Ensue and Legacy Control. Also be sure to check out the d20 Monkey Online Store and pick up a shirt or a hoodie.

I can't wait to see what Brian does next.

James Stowe, Absurd Cartoonist

Welcome to another installment of Art Spotlight, which features a few pieces by a different visual artist each week here at Wombat's Gaming Den of Iniquity. I hope to increase the visibility of artists who create cool images. If you want to be featured, give a shout on Twitter or on Google+ or via email (jim AT twwombat DOT com).

Like so many of the gamer folk on Twitter, the first I knew of James Stowe was when he blew the lid off of my stream on Septermber 3, 2011 with his post entitled DND for 8 Year Olds. He showcased a collection of character sheets with stripped-down D&D 4e rules designed to get his 8 year old son and his friends into role playing. The first image I remember seeing was this one:

Just how cool is the Belly Flop power,
and why doesn't my Barbarian have it?

That post had 6 male characters. He followed up soon after with 6 female characters, like this one:

Seriously, I want my Necromancer to summon a Zombie Kitty!

Then he opened up commissions for character sheets in this style, and posted at least a few, including Lord Greymane Douchebro, created by Brian Patterson in the d20 Monkey webcomic.

Undead. Fitting name. 'Nuff said.

Then in December he made the Advent Calendar of Evil, featuring 25 monsters for the characters to fight. Here's the final desktop wallpaper of all 25 monsters.

"Evil, party of 25? Your table is ready!"

Currently he's got a new webcomic and forthcoming game system at Sidekick Quests. He's formalizing the system behind the character and monster sheets, and it'll be playable by you and your family as soon as it's together. Yes, I'm ignoring his other works (which also rock), because the characters and monsters of Sidekick Quests just look so awesome. Can't wait for more of the writeup!

You can follow his ongoing exploits in his Art By Stowe blog. He's got a Facebook page called James Stowe's Art, and by all means follow him on Twitter at @jamesstowe.

Environments and Characters By Emily Vitori

Welcome to another installment of Art Spotlight, which features a few pieces by a different visual artist each week here at Wombat's Gaming Den of Iniquity. I hope to increase the visibility of artists who create cool images. If you want to be featured, give a shout on Twitter or on Google+ or via email (jim AT twwombat Dotcom).

When I posted my last installment of Art Spotlight, I asked if any other artists out there would like to be featured. Emily stepped forward in a comment on Google Plus, and now she has a feature page. It's really that easy.

First off, I love her photography work. With some editing wizardry and effects, she takes an image and enhances it to capture the essence of a scene, like this...

Nosferatu by Emily Vitori

Or this...

Rush by Emily Vitori

But her photography work seems like a relatively new development compared to her drawing of fantasy characters...

Katya Volkov by Emily Vitori

...with a particular focus on Cat People.

Cheetah Cleric of Trithereon by Emily Vitori

Check out the rest of her deviantART gallery under her nickname Syreene to see what else she's created. She's also quite active on Google Plus, so reach out and give her a shout.

Character Portraits and Ponies by @thedandmom

Kait (@thedandmom on Twitter) hangs out most days in the Gamer Assembly chat. She focuses on characters and ponies in her art, and sometimes both.

Really cool character study - great details.
Desade Ref Sheet by kaitsurinn

Characters and Ponies, as promised.
Behold the Ponies by kaitsurinn

I love the look of this map.
Western Idün by kaitsurinn

Kait also created the Gamer Assembly logo.
Look for T-Shirts at PAX East. W00t!

Check out her deviantART page and her webcomic entitled Experiment 073. She's illustrating a card game about pirates, about which I have limited information. She's available for illustration gigs and reasonably priced.

Skulkey's Fractal Art

A friend of mine makes kickass fractal art. How kickass?

Burst by Skulkey
This one is my favorite.

Europa by Skulkey

That kickass.

Please take a look at the rest of his gallery. I'm sure he'd appreciate you picking up a print or two if you're so inclined.

John Constantine Sketch by Symatt

So @symatt asked for DC Comics characters to sketch via Twitter on Friday. And I suggested John Constantine. And mere moments later, I'm eyeballing a sketch of John Constantine. Win!

"Silk Cut. Ta. Here's your tip."

And here's a scanned version, courtesy of @symatt.

For more sketches check out his blog, especially the CounterSketching section.