fragments of a blue ruin
I thought we'd do something a little different today, and talk about my process and making indie RPG stuff, specifically zines (which I'm defining here as self-published work that's shorter than book-length). Although I see myself as a newcomer to self-publishing, I've been doing it for over two years now, and I've learned some things… Continue reading How I Make Zines
The weapon stats given in the core zines aren't very complex. When it comes to mundane weapons, all you're really told is the basic form and a descriptive modifier, which has no set gameplay effect. They have a weight in item slots and a damage value: d6 for a light weapon, d8 for a medium… Continue reading ADVANCED WEAPON RULES
I'm back for another episode in my ongoing duel/duet with the OpenAI. I riff from it, it learns from me, and together we build something that neither of us could achieve alone. Also I prove conclusively that I'm the better writer and more creative. Anyway, bring on the monsters! Blightbeast Biological / SyntheticHD: 10, Armour:… Continue reading MONSTERS IN THE MACHINE 4: HUMAN AFTER ALL
Last time on Monsters in the Machine, our beloved human author struck back against the tyrannical AI, improving upon its work and sculpting new Vaarnish monsters from the raw material created by the robot. Although cowed, the AI was not defeated. Today it returns to the driver's seat, generating fresh new monster stat blocks prompted… Continue reading MONSTERS IN THE MACHINE 3: REVENGE OF THE MACHINE
Earlier this month I conducted an experiment with machine learning. Could OpenAI, when fed prompts taken from the Vaarn Bestiary, create convincing and interesting Vaarnish monsters? The answer seemed to be a cautious 'yes'. The natural language AI did create some interesting new creatures, including psychic lunar beasts, void-swimming sharks, and a really horrible limb-grafting… Continue reading MONSTERS IN THE MACHINE 2: HUMANITY RESTORED
They are the inheritors of one of mankind’s oldest and fondest wishes: that we might join the birds we envy and fly with them in the unbounded vastness of the depths above. In leaving the ground they have lost none of their ancestors’ pride or taste for blood and the creatures are famed for their… Continue reading OF THE WALL’S HARPIES
It's no secret that I'm interested in machine learning, and the Vaarn setting not only features sentient AI, but is partly authored by procedural algorithms. I use Markov text generators to create most of the names I've used in the setting, and the surreal, dreamlike artwork I frequently feature on this blog (including the featured… Continue reading MONSTERS IN THE MACHINE
Hello everyone, hope you're having a good day. Brief update to let you know what's cooking in the Vaarn kitchens at the moment. First up, I just finished work on 54 (!) new pieces of illustration for an as-yet unannounced project. I can say at this point that the project is Vaarn related, it will… Continue reading April News
When compared with the bleak blue sands of the Interior, the Great Wall of Vaarn presents an entirely different challenge to those who seek to traverse it. Where the Interior is arid and dry, the recesses of the Wall abound with moisture: ceilings sweating with rivulets of ikor, moss growing on all surfaces, inverted forests… Continue reading TRAVELLING THE GREAT WALL
A brief post to inform my beloved readers about two podcast episodes that may be of interest. Firstly we have the sophomore episode of the 'Antipode Cast', a monthly show I co-host with my partner Shikara. This episode is likely to be of interest to Vaarn fans as it's dedicated to the zines, and I… Continue reading Two Podcasts
VAULTS OF VAARN 