Quinn murphy

@gamefiend

#TTRPG game designer. Have written for WotC, Paizo, and many more. Founder of Thoughtcrime Games.

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Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jul 12

Prepping for more Deathkick playtest.

Game table with minis and paper set for a playtest session of fantasy football (rest of the world football, not US) skirmish game.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jul 11

My new design journal cover rules.

A portfolio sized, brown leather journal cover. On the lower right of cover is the word "Create" in gold-foil stamp

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jul 8

My brain said "no sleep for you!" and woke me up to write. "Mythcommunication"

Mythcommunication

It begins
in the way of so many fables
with a fundamental miscommunication
The mentor to the student scolds
"Inquire; you should do more of it"
"OK," says the distracted student, except
he hears "Acquire"
In earnest, he does

The misheard word unfurls in full
in the early autumn of the student's life,
after teaching so many other acquirers
to acquire so many inquirers
"Oh, that's what he meant" The student muses to himself
"Happy accident, that" he says, surveilling his empire
"Inquirers explored and built while acquirers forged ahead to find new things that needed building. Look what we've made together!"

Encouraged, he hastens the pace
More, yes, more of everything, dammit
That too, that especially. What's it called?
Ooooh can't be bothered, just put it in the pile for later

Like all good myths
It goes on like this for awhile until
One day, old and grey
The student dies
Hands full
Heart empty
Head exploding with the wondrous, dizzying pyrotechnics display of pride
that only the truly lost can feel
having taught so many
and helping so few

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jul 2

Tonight I did some layout for the next Playlist Dungeon, "The Sound Cube's Ceaseless Hunger" by my buddy @dewelsh.bsky.social. It's a cool, ska-heavy playlist that I'll be releasing soon!

simple two page spread of the adventure "The SoundCube'es Ceaseless Hunger"

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 25

Poetry has been ambushing me in odd places lately. Mostly, it's been waking me up with verses and phrases and making me write things. Today, I was playing on my steamdeck and it jumped me. "To a Younger Me"

Poem text:

To a Younger Me

I'd say
"No notes"
You're going to break your own heart a few times
And you're going to outsource the breaking a few more
You'll collect a statistically improbable
amount of mistakes
But also
Your son is incredible
And you will find true love
(They wont be part of the same moment but they will connect)

It is as good as life can be.

If i have one suggestion
When given a chance to fly, do not
Consult gravity to see if you should fall

Always beg forgiveness

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 14

The coolest thing to me woth mini painting is that you can paint to a point, declare a mini "done for now", and come back to it anytime and improve it. Here is me taking a pretty quick "speedpaint basecoat" in 2019 and coming back to it in 2026 to make it a real centerpiece.

A mini I painted in 2019, a large three headed dragon with simple contrast paint basecoat and unfinished base.

The same three headed dragon from previous photo, but with deep shadows and better highlighting. It is painted to look like there is a glow of fire from below the mini

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 13

A really long week. Grinding on a tough problem at work, taking some time to paint, go to bed, rinse repeat. On the plus side...got some good minis out of it!

4 minis in armor similar to chaos space marines. The armor is flame orange red and the front figure is holding up a green swirl of magical energy and a staff.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 12

These ghouls I finished up last night also came out pretty damn good!

A trio of mutated ghoul miniatures, painted in a garish pallette of pink green and purple

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 12

Overall, I am liking this sketchy style. Along with non-grimdark palettes (no offense, but go away Xorn) gives the minis a surreal horror vibe that I like a lot.

Skull shaped miniature caves with a horrific winged figure in front of them, all painted in a sketchy manner

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 12

I love how these came out! They are creepy af

A large miniature cave with a large skull carved at top, painted in a sketchy style.

A smaller skull shaped cave, also painted in a sketchy style.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 10

Looong day. Relaxing with....gouache. Out of my goauche-ing mind.

A small table of mini figures and terrains covered in gouache.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 7

Exhibit A: the pack of 20 ghouls i described. Individually, they are underwhelming: two slops of color and a blood effect. In a pack, they transform into... a bloodthirsty pack of ghouls, the effect i wanted. This was a low time investment job that took about 30 minutes for everything...

A close up of a single ghouls mini painted simply witha few colors and blood effect.

A group of twenty of those ghouls minis in a pack, looking more menacing and like a horde.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Jun 7

Came back from a work trip and sat around chilling and painting. I truly enjoy experimenting with laying a sketchy style of highlights/painting over the multi-tone prime (rattlecans only) and gouache filter/wash. I dont know how "good" these are, but they are very interesting, which is my target

A painted miniature of a monstrous creature with feminine form, feathered wings and tentacles coming of its back, wielding a large glaive.

A painted miniature ofa minotaur holding an axe and a shield

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 30

Also: gouache continues to blow my mind. I've done no brushwork besides shopping on gouache, but will do so soon!

Monstrous alien figure with angel wings from the frontsiside. Center is red, edges are yellow and blue. Deep Grey shadows from the partially removed gouache.

A minotaur with deep brown highlights and light blue anbiege undertones wielding a shield and an axe.

Rear view of the minotaur. Mostly light blue with dark brown shading in recesses from partially removed gouache

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 30

I did the unit of sharkmen, bloodied them up to get them really, uh "sharky"? Anyways, I really love how they came out.

Three bloodied sharkmen minis in a display case from a center view

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 29

My first experiments using acrylics and gouache, with a sketch highlighting style. I love gouache!!!! The richness of oil washes without the FUMES. I think i like the finish of gouache better than oil for most things as well.

A painted shark miniature in a display case.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 18

This Outsider is probably going into a small follow-up for It Wants Souls, but I still kinda like it (still need to to some cleanup): The Magus uses its magic to first fulfill what you most wish then turn it into ashes and horrifying nightmares.

The Magus, an Outsider for It Wants Souls. In the foreground is a read creature in a cloak with black energy pouring from its head. Text in fron of it says "The Magus: Wishes to Ashes". Behind it is a background that is half magenta flames and half red and blue splatter paint and grit.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 18

..your hunting grounds -- no, your "photo book" -- is full of all the people that believed the past they've already consumed is worth more than the life they've yet to live. They step into an old photo, get trapped in a time loop, and then you can farm on their fear, fresh every time.

Two page spread of The Nostalgic, an Outsider from It Wants Souls. a ghost floating through walls on the left, mulitcolored stripes streak across the bottom of the page. On the left page is text:

"Everything was better before, right? If you could just go back, further back, to when times were good. Weren't they the best? I wish we'd never left that time, and that place.
Oh, look here, this picture. It was all joy back then when we took this, remember? Not like now. That's why we're going to stay here, remembering. Refuse to go forward. It's your right, to live in the past. It's your destiny.
If you imagine hard enough, it's almost like you could put yourself back there, in that picture. Why don't you try. Memories are like friends. Good friends that never leave you. And now that you are in the picture, you can stay with them forever.
Don't worry about the present or the future. You won't forget, but will be forgotten. It's better this way, see?
Here, with all these memories. Such good friends, they are."

"It's surprising that mortals listen to such drivel. But your hunting grounds -- no, your "photo book" -- is full of all the people that believed the past they've already consumed is worth more than the life they've yet to live. They step into an old photo, get trapped in a time loop, and then you can farm on their fear, fresh every time.
So, in a way, the mortals are right, though accidentally. The past is wonderful.
And tasty."

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 17

One of the great things about giving It Wants Souls a full treatment is getting to add more lore. Nothing too huge, but I thought it was worth asking the question: "Where do Outsiders come from?" The answer? The Fracture, a realm for those unable to complete living or dying.

two page spread on It Wants Souls. On the left is a silhouette of a man falling under yellow abstract eyeball with a blue white miasma in the background. On the right is a header in scratchy text that says "Outsiders", with thefollowing text:

Those unable to complete the journey of living or dying exist in a realm known as the Fracture. Not constrained by the laws of life or death, they are Outsiders, creatures of strange abilities and cruel, brutal appetites.
Some find rare opportunities to enter our world where the barrier is weak, while others are powerful enough to force themselves into it. When here, Outsiders immediately attempt to satisfy their desires by claiming souls, but their incomplete nature makes satiation impossible.
These creatures consume endlessly unless driven back to the Fracture.
What follows are a few such Outsiders. Use them in your games with any family or setting, but take care:
Outsiders are not easily dismissed.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 16

Last Outsider in the main It Wants Souls book is The Stranger. This Stranger has never been welcomed, so it serves the inhospitality it's received tenfold. It brings its Red Welcome to people in a new home. It knocks and bashes on the doors, rattles the windows, DEMANDING entry.

The Stranger, A figure silhouetted black . A red hand is tipping its hat. Behind it on the erd cracked background is a silhouette of a monster with one horn jutting from its head. On the left is a red hand, with one finger dripping blood on top of the White text which says "The Stranger: Red Welcome"

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 15

The Nostalgic wants you to remember better days. Wasn't it better back then? It tries to get you to eschew the present and future to fully embrace the past. Eventually, it gets you to enter one of its old photos...

Picture of the Nostalgic. A ghost floating through a wall. mulitcolored lines stripe the bottom and upper right corner.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 15

One more It Wants Souls post for today. two more Outsiders! First, the Slumber is a sleep spell from when magic used to work. It broke free in the magical Wildfire event, and made its way into the modern day. It wants to turn you into a forever sleeper so it can live in your dreams.

Picture of the Slumber, A ghostly figure floating in the middle of a muted blue page with large black brush strokes in the background.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 15

Ran a game designer's virtual co-working space today! It was fun and it let me mock up a rough version of the first pre-gen Outsider for It Wants Blood: The Angel. The Angel was once a powerful Outsider who was undone by its own arrogance and a clever priest....

$A sample spread of The Angel, an Outsider for It Wants Souls. A muted lavendar background with a halftone cherubic angle on the right. Behind it is a distorted monster. On the left is a torn white strip with text on it: "Your True Name once curdled the blood of any Fractured who heard it. Your fervor and talent for claiming souls inspired delicious jealousy, fear, and loathing amongst your Kin. And then that damnable priest interfered on behalf of those mewling wretches. One moment of arrogance and you were unmade, doomed to dissolve back into the fracture for eternity. But no! It would have been bad enough for you to return to the fracture in shame, but the priest Thought it would be humorous to trap you in a cherub statue, weakening you. surrounded and weakened by her wards in her office, you could do nothing but watch. You suffered! You raged! But then, you laughed. Mortals think of their Punishment in terms of their short, pitiful lives. Most of their workings are undone after their deaths. The Priest died and her inheritors did not have her level of faith. They believed you an eccentricity she collected, a harmless bit of memorabilia. They took you out of the room and its wards. You were sold to some wretches, who placed you over the fireplace. They never suspected they would burn in it one day. it took you some time to claim a soul in this wretched form, but claim it you did. Then came the next soul. and the next. Over the next few decades, you sat on that fireplace and gathered souls and strength. The next soul you Claim will give you the strength to escape and utilize your full power. these wretches will rue the day they sought to make a joke of you! When the Door to the House next opens, you will claim a soul and all of your lost glory."$

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 13

Not promising anything, but I was bored waiting for some processes today and made a prospective cover toying around with the aesthetic of Sleep Chamber I had in mind.

a mockup of Sleep chamber cover. A corner of a white room in the background.
A distressed violet-orange text in the corener say slepp chamber and in the lower opposite corner is sleep chamber upside down.
In the mid ground is gradient flowing set of lines.

Faintly on wall is written "The Dream is Real"

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 13

Little morning layout before hitting the code mines. Almost done with the main rules layout! I gotta tell you, this muted lavendar/purple palette makes me queasy, which is why I picked it. I know it's typical in horror to use red, but I want something to invoke the strange and alien.

A two page spread from It Wants Soul. In muted lavendar text across both pages is the word confrontation. There is vivid violet splatter in the background. On the left page is text in three muted lavendar text boxes describing the rules for handling the final confrontation scene.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 10

Almost done laying out and adding bits to It Wants Souls... I like how it's coming out!

2 page spread of It Wants Souls. A muted lavendar background. The headers are in scratchy text. There is a monster emerging from the bottom of the spread, with text flowing around it.

Spread from It Wants Souls. White background, with a large scraggly duotoned black/lavendar text that says "Prologue"

spread for It Wants Souls . a lavendar background with someone screaming, with large rugged text superimposed over it in white , saying, "IT Wants Souls". On the side are credits and typical frontmatter stuff.

A 2 page spread. The left ios lavendar and right is black, with a jagged line between them. On the right is a set of diabolical teeth smiling and drooling iin the shadows over a fetus. On the left is the the text:
"You Share Your Home with A Sinister Force.
At first, it seemed like bad luck. Things went missing, accidents happened.
But it’s become clear that the escalation of misfortune wasn’t accidental…it was intentional.
Those intentions…were malicious.
But not until tonight did you understand what the force terrorizing your family wanted. As your cupboards fly open on their own, as blood drips from your child’s eyes, as your spouse speaks a tongue they were never taught, and as you struggle to remember long-forgotten prayers…only now do you realize what this creature from outside our realm of existence wants…"

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 8

Another fun one I made messing around last night. I went for an impressionist, sort of surreal grimdark. Started with a teal base/bright yellow zenithal highlight with rattle cans, then used a highly mixed four color palette.

Miniature with sickly yellow wide trimmed hat and cape, holding a sword and hand crossbow

Picture of the mini from the back, highlighting the cape.

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 8

Really love how these turned out, especially the shells.

Fantasy miniatures. They are women with lower bodies that are giant crustaceans with large claws and mottled blue and pink shells.

A back view of the giant lobster lady minis, showing more of the patterns on the shell

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· May 7

On lunch break today I got to playtest a prototype of Deathkick (Blood Bowl meets 3v3 street soccer) with @dewelsh.bsky.social ! It was awesome and showed me it is halfway there. Pretty fun even in its protoform!

A gaming table with a playspace ringed by miniature terrain, with some minis in it

A picture of the character sheets and prototype rules for Deathkick!

Quinn murphy@gamefiend· Apr 15

One more while I am here: The sequel to "It Wants Souls", and part of the "Its Brutal Desires" trilogy... It Wants Blood, "goreless slasher horror". I've been playtesting and noodling on this one for a few years. It cooks! I am getting closer to release on this as well.