Tuesday, February 13, 2024

The Dwarven Option


One of the coolest things I’ve gotten to pull off when I started scribbling was being invited to take part in the ongoing Forgotten Ruin storyline.

I’d been hooked from the first pages and concepts Nick and Jason shared with me and then to be invited to write a filler story was top notch.

“We want dwarves, undead, and a character that ties it all together that has a different voice.”

Okeedokee… I know a few cats like that who might fit the bill that I can use as a template. But what about the dwarves.


When we first see them in Forgotten Ruin, the dwarves are described like an Amish Biker gang, always fiddling around with something, and the Rangers never saw them sleep… because why would they.

So in making the dwarves for Underspire, I tried to whammy up a different depiction than what we’d had from other popular media.

Everyone wants to paint them as drunken Scotts who like to build. But in the story, these are a sapper team let loose to spill destruction on an epic scale against an enemy the Rangers at large don’t have the time to address.


Cue dwarven sappers and they’re ranger escort team.

Heavily Germanic in flavor, we went with a group of dwarves burdened by the loss of their home. We see them return to the Underspire to set things right after being exiled for so long, many of them can’t remember the last time they were back.

But they remember what home is supposed to feel like and why you fight for it.

If you get a chance, check out Underspire: A Forgotten Ruin War Journal from Wargate Books!



Wednesday, January 31, 2024

New Digs... Same as the old Digs

 


The crazy thing about having a website is the constant logging in and changing things, updating, and all the craziness. But the problem for me is that I'm just too busy. 

So when my bank done screwed the pooch on the automatic payment for my site, which I wasn't really using, I thought it was time to update. After dealing with several providers and web site sites... All I wanted was a simple page that pointed to all the other things I use. Social Meteors (shut up! I spelled it wrong accidentally on purpose!), Substack, Youtube, Hate Space, Xitter... And the list goes on. I needed something basic because, no one really goes to the website. 90% of the time they find me through the web store on Drivethru RPG. 

So, rather than spending a bucket load of money on premium hosting I'm not engaging through, I figured I'd just go back to the old reliable googly blog. It can point people where they need to be to interact with me, buy my stuff, or call me names.

In any case, if you read this far... Thanks! And we'll see you between the covers (Book covers that is).


Monday, February 18, 2019

Working the Genre: Shadows on Starlight



Playing specialized military units at the game table, folks usually revert to movies and other forms of media for their sources of inspiration. While there is a bucket load of media out there to support the love people have for what special missions do, there are some better choices than others to keep the cinematic feel at the table. Here are a couple I recommend to folks when they ask:

I liked the book better than the movie but still enjoyed it.

Fun show easily mined for story ideas. Plus... they have a dog!

Although weird depiction of the community, excellent tension and story feeder.

For Shadows on Starlight, a White Star source book about Black Operations, getting the feel at the table presents a different sort of game. Unlike the Star Sword swinging Star Knights and blaster throwing rogues, special operations takes the White Star game in a new direction. The fun of taking a space fantasy and turning it into a spy / special operator game is that it takes the simplicity of the genre and dials up the tension. While the boots on the ground resolve much of what happens with a trigger pull, that one blaster bolt can have political ramifications throughout a galaxy. Being on the dark side of the shadows means that heroes have to decide how far in the black they are willing to go to achieve their ends. 

Want a sneak peak at Shadows on Starlight? Download our free Preview PDF to check out the Agent class. Let us know what you think!


Friday, February 15, 2019

Vehicle and Chase rules: SUPERS! RED

Splitting our gums about VEHICLES! and Chase scenes on the Bamf podcast. Returning Bamf contributor Alice shows off her wonder woman collection as Nick Garber enters the scene to debut his batgirl and his love of Robotech. Walt and Mike do some talking too!

We have a new look!


Hard to believe that the years since we grabbed SUPERS! Revised Edition have gone by so fast. Feels like yesterday that it happened. We've done lots to be proud of and we have more yet to do.

First thing was to update the site. More modern, better looking, and a bit more interactive! Check us out: 

We have lots planned for this year as we make up for last year. So let's dive into it!

PROFESSIONAL PARTNERSHIPS!: Can't start this shindig off without mentioning a few folks. Dominique Sumner is one of the driving forces at HAZARD Studios as well as front man for New Millennium games. The amazing Aldo Regalado has been busy as well, crafting his mega setting for various rpgs, The Superverse! Gerry Saracco has been pushing our little shop in various places such as our FORUM and the new MeWe site. Our friends over at Twin Flame Publishing continue to keep the faith and push the system. Alice and Brandon, long time Supers! Players have constructed a server over on Discord

New Projects Coming: We are hard at work behind the scenes making with scribbles and the arts. We have Fainting Goat Games front man Mike Lafferty kicking it on our next big sourcebook for SUPERS! as well as a ton of other great stuff coming your way. 

Joe Singleton CRUSHING IT!
Our love of the White Star RPG hasn't gone anywhere and our first big sourcebook for the game is set to drop next week. Shadows on Starlight, our supplement for running Dark Operations at the White Star game table is set to play havoc with existing and new characters alike. Grab a copy to brake the rules and dive into the dark:
  • New Character Classes like the Special Agent and the Outlaw.
  • A new bang for chem weaponry in the form of special ammo and weapon characteristics.
  • New Vehicles to take you to mission critical
  • A sample campaign for your White Star game in the form of the special operations corporation known as TRITON!
Don't forget to keep tabs on us for all that's fit to geek on the BAMF Podcast. Every week we cover what's cool and cowled in the RPG community as well as special features such as the Indie Creator's Spotlight, Actual Plays and demos of SUPERS! Revised edition, and much more. Find us on audio, Youtube, and now streaming on Twitch!

Cheers!





Monday, December 08, 2014

Heroic #2 on Kickstarter seeks to put the hero back in superhero

Interview by Walt Robillard


Today we catch up to comic book creator, Andrew Collas, as he talks about the next issue of his comic, Zenith Comics Presents: Heroic #2. Andrew's work on Heroic has been well received and reviewed on sites like Drivethrucomic.com and he has the love of industry peers to help push him forward.

WALT: Welcome, Andrew. Thank you for taking the time to answer questions about Heroic. For people who are not familiar with your work, can you give us the elevator pitch?

ANDREW: Elevator pitch eh?  I left the film industry a few years ago, so I might be rusty.  Here goes.  What is the military industrial complex was in charge of American Super Heroes?  What if there were those with powers who weren’t going to take it anymore?  What if a young woman was caught in the middle of it all, just trying to figure out who she is?

WALT: What attracted you to kickstarter?

ANDREW: Kickstarter is a wonderful tool that allows for those with creative ideas to see if there is an actual audience willing to support the idea and bring it to life.  For a comic writer, film maker, novelist, etc… It allows us to bring ideas to market that the big publishers might pass on.  Never forget some of the biggest stories of the 20th century were passed on by many people “in the know” for being too different.  While I am not saying HEROIC is one of those ideas, you never know.

WALT: People have been impressed with you having very strong female leads in the book, so far. What made Lady America and Number 32 the clear choice to tell the story?

ANDREW: Originally when I set pen to paper the story was about Invictus (the blonde hero on the last page of issue #1).  As I wrote more and more, Lady A was calling to me.  The thing is, she was calling to me in a way I hadn’t considered and then when the concept of Number 32 (who will get a name, I promise) flowered, well the story took hold.  Add in Primus, who we meet in issue #2 and the circle is… complicated?

WALT: We had two very big cliffhangers in issue 1. Can we expect some of those lingering questions to be answered in issue 2?

ANDREW: I promise for every answer I provide a new question will fill the void.  This is a BIG story and has many facets.

WALT: Some of the promo art for issue #2 has been jaw dropping. What can you tell us about the Heroic team and what they bring to the table?

ANDREW: Well the art team is something special in my heart.  Originally, Oliver (Castaneda) was supposed to be the principle penciler for issue #2 and onwards.  We were so happy with the work he did on #1.  Sadly schedule conflicts and timetables got in the way and we were forced to find someone to replace him.  That led us to Jesus (Morales) who is a tremendous talent!  While his style is very different from Oliver’s, it is still dynamic and exciting!  For fans of Oliver’s work, he WILL be doing the cover for issue #2.

The rest of the team is Gary (Beatty) on colours, I think his work speaks for itself.  Gary’s colours are the glue that brings the art together and then we have HdE on letters, which makes the thread that stitches the whole package into one amazing visual!

To put it bluntly, I couldn’t be happier with the team we have assembled.


WALT: With so many creator owned comics using Kickstarter as a way to launch their dream projects, what have you found is the pros and cons of using this model?

ANDREW: Pros and cons eh?  Well the cons are the stress, the uncertainty, the long hours where you watch no pledges come in and as the days tick down you start to have doubts and make back-up plans and generally have a stress kitten.  The pros though are when you see the fan from #1 come back for #2 with a big smile on their faces!  That tells me I’ve done something right and if at least one person enjoyed the book, then I succeeded.

WALT: After #2 goes out the door, what can fans expect next? Will there be a continual push to see the first arc realized or will you start to dream up your next project?

ANDREW: I have SO many ideas, I swear if I could write full time (and pay the bills) I would never run out of concepts, stories, characters or what have you.  That said, from day 1 I have promised that this story will be completed, it needs to be.  It is a BIG story, as I have said before, and this BIG story is just the first step into the larger world.  In issues #2 and #3 we hint/show some of the past of the Zenith Universe, all of which ties into where the future is heading.  I have to tell this story, or it won’t let me sleep.


WALT: Thank you for taking the time to chat. For fans who want to follow or reach out, what are your favorite internet hangouts?

ANDREW: Thank you and thanks for the questions.  As for where I hang my hat on the internet, I am usually found on Facebook really, otherwise Youtube is another constant haunt of mine.  I have recently discovered Reddit and and slowly getting to know the place.  So yeah, that’s about the extent of my internet hanging.




Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Supreme Over-Monkey

Working today on the next HAZARD-centric universe piece for SUPERS!-RED while compiling email addresses for sending out some of the backer rewards.  I need to hire some one for this stuff so I can just sit back and SAY that I have an RPG business.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Aethercon



Hey there folks!

This weekend we will be in and around Aethercon, an online RPG convention.  Last night we sat in with Jeff Dee (Uni Games), Stephen Chenault (Troll Lord Games), and Chris Clark (Eldritch Adventures) for a panel on retro clone gaming and the rise such games in the rpg hobby.  Lots of topics were discussed and I made sure to put in my two cents as far as retro Superhero Gaming was concerned.  Industry partner Andrew Collas was on scene in the chat room to show his support.

Today we have two interviews that we are hosting and one that we are participating in.  Should be a good time as the panel with Jeff Dee and the boys was fun.

We have been asked to help out for next year as well.  Let's see what trouble we can get in for that.

Hope to see everyone there.
Regards,
Walt