I've been spending some time refining the combat in the system I'm working on, and as I've already taken my licks on this topic so I may as well lay it bare! For context, Body is one of the 3 core attributes. It governs physical attacks and defense, among other things. Oh, and *all* PCs get 4 HP.

First round of commissions has come in for the next Stargazer Keep zine, so I think it's time for a cover reveal! Artwork provided by the incredible Tristan Tolhurst. www.instagram.com/tristandraws...

Kiddo was fascinated by the game table yesterday, so I let him roll some dice and run through some rooms with me. He defeated a metal skeleton and me the Machine God, who he asked if he wanted to play outside with him. He also scribbled arcane runes across his character sheet. Like a real gamer!

Frustratingly, I found a few misprints in the final books. For anyone who might be wondering, the missing entry in this table is: 12. “When the sun sleeps, the chambers awaken.” Etched in the stone wall.

A word of wisdom: don't mess with a roosting family of manticores when 2/3rds of your party started with 1 hp! But death means character advancement in Stargazer Keep, so the party returned with replacements and renewed strength to have their revenge.

This afternoon I ran a game for the first time in well over a year. It was actually the first time I've had the chance to run Stargazer Keep since the manuscript was finalized in 2024! We had 2 character deaths, and the players were eagerly rolling up replacements as the last survivor ran to safety.

And then there's the statue depicting Artemis herself from the Temple at Ephesus. The Alien Astronaut crowd has an absolute heyday with this one. This... This is a creature! Or maybe... A suit? 4/

There's so much cool stuff to draw from for the design of this section, but I'm especially fixated on a Biblical passage referencing Artemis as the protector of "the image that fell from heaven." And wouldn't you know, some folks believe that "image" is an artifact held in the Liverpool Museum! 3/

And believe me friends, when I say EVERY location. We even keyed hallways and staircases. Some of them contain secrets, loot, and encounters! You'll see me say "this section has 30 rooms!" but the map only shows Y1-Y17. Well, when you add S1-S11, it starts to look a lot bigger. (s is for stairs) 4/

Huge shoutout to Tristan Tolhurst, who did a lot of work on the last release, including the cover art for Raiders of the Machine God. Tristan has been an incredible collaborator. Check out his work and hit him up if you need anything commissioned! www.instagram.com/tristandraws...

If this is something you'd have been interested in, sound off! Maybe we'll do a special edition box for the next campaign.

Packing up a few extra-special Stargazer Keep starter kits. These are basically thank-you packages only for the most devout Dio fans we know, but now that I have them in-hand, I wish we had made a special edition backer tier!

Any of y'all metroidvania fans sleeping on Ultros should really check it out. It's a really unique take on the genre, and not just visually. It's got combat and platforming and puzzle solving, but also gardening? And really soft rogue-lite elements? And it's psychedelic as all hell.

How about a sneak peak of the rooms we've got in store for the next section of Stargazer Keep? Which room are you most interested in exploring? If you ask nicely, I might tell you about it.

Who likes worldbuilding? I just had a blast blitzing through the backstory and faction lore for the next section of Stargazer Keep. It's always fun to puzzle over what needs to be vague and obfuscated, leaving room for GMs and players to fill in the blanks.

How big is my Christmas turkey this year? Oh, about 8 litres.

"Yellow snow" advisory, you say?

This is a dungeon, right? It's definitely a dungeon.

Here's a picture my 4yo drew yesterday. Is it weird to say it makes me feel something?

Who likes drugs? Who likes finding random drugs in a Wizard's tower and taking them so you can peer into oblivion?? Well then you better get your ass over to the Stargazer Keep Kickstarter campaign before the campaign ends. There are plenty of psychotropics to go around! ​

Stargazer Keep Class Reveal Part 7: The Haunted Dreamer! This is a character who's having a rough time. They're quite literally haunted, deprived of sleep, and more than a little unstable. Instead of seeking therapy, they find themselves in a megalithic tower in the middle of the desert.​

Stargazer Keep Class Reveal Part 6: The Wicked Legion! This is one of my favourites! The concept here is these characters are possessed. Like, a lot. They can generally maintain control of themselves, but on occasion the demons come out with blood and fury.​

Stargazer Keep Class Reveal Part 5: The Cursed Singer! Magic is very powerful and widely accessible in Stargazer Keep, and we wanted to make a class that really hones in on that. Enter the Cursed Singer, who is given enhanced magic abilities, but at a cost.​

Stargazer Keep Class Reveal Part 4: The Holy Outlaw! Essentially a mercenary, a sword for hire, but specifically under employment by the church. It’s a twist on traditional paladin-style classes, one that may lack moral superiority.

Stargazer Keep Class Reveal Part 3: The Chained Vicar! Literally a priest who was locked away for criminal behaviour, broken shackles still attached. Though they may be disgraced or even discommunicated from their faith, they still cling to their holy sacraments.

Ok, I'm gonna do one more, this time with the text of all three zines. The top 3 words are KEEP at 132, DAMAGE at 131, and STARGAZER at 125.

And here's our Orange book, the Raiders of the Machine God! This is the actual meat of the adventure, so we have some fun words like... oops, more damage!

Next is Red, the Stargazer's Guidebook. Damage is still high on the list, but this time its been overtaken by some of the more obvious choices, like voyager and stargazer!

I thought it might be fun to generate some word clouds using the text from each of the 3 zines we're publishing in our first Stargazer Keep Kickstarter campaign. Starting with our Black zine, the Voyager's Handbook. Be prepared to take some damage, I guess!