Montford Tales

@montfordtales

Award winning TTRPG designer and illustrator | Rori (she/her) | Asher's Ridge is shipping soon!

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Montford Tales@montfordtales· 28d

He's a good boy. Here he is doing parcel guard duty this afternoon.

A cat sleeping on the grass next to a wheeled camping trolley.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· 28d

Hi #portfolioday! I'm Rori, an artist who designs and illustrates tabletop roleplaying games. I work in a wide range of traditional media and hugely enjoy every second of it. Here's a sample of work I've yet to update my portfolio with, and a link to see more :) www.montfordtales.com/portfolio/

A large oil painting of a flock of mallards flying away from a lake monster.

An oil painting of a devil-horned, red-eyed, woman turning away from a mirror. The reflection in the mirror batters on the interior glass, screaming to be let out.

A watercolour and pen topographical map of an imaginary area in the Lake District.

A playing card for the game Asher's Ridge, featuring a man standing at a lookout point, viewing the mist across the valley.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· 28d

I also nearly had a very easily spooked Assistant Fulfilment Supervisor, as I left a door open 😅 (There are both roe and muntjac deer in the woods here - this one's a roe.)

I passed my stealth check and snuck out far enough to take this photo of the same row deer without the door in the way.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· 28d

Monty has decided he's now Fulfilment Supervisor. 🫡

A long haired calico cat occupies a packing table. Yellow tissue paper on a roll is visible in the background.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jul 9

A friend visited this afternoon to paint with me. We sat outside and painted sunflowers using the Zorn palette (4 colours: cad red, yellow ochre, white, black) So here's my contribution to our afternoon!

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 19

This morning's art class was life painting with a male model. The pose is 100% NSFW, so here's a crop of the top! I used a 4 colour palette in oils (burnt sienna, cadmium red, pthalo green lake, titanium white) on a 24x30cm linen canvas panel. I am so, so happy with this.

The top half of a 24x30cm oil painting of a nude white male reclining on a chaise.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 17

Step 3 of ??? Another week, another smidge of progress. I've drawn my sketch up on a 70x55cm piece of watercolour board, and put down a first layer of splodgy wet watercolour to start hinting at foliage. It's a start! (But this will still take a while.)

A pencil drawing of the central flamingo figure, its head held high in the air.

A pencil drawing of a flamingo with its head tucked into its feathers. It's giving some side eye to the central flamingo.

Pencil drawing of all three flamingos on a large piece of watercolour board.

As before, but with layers of wet-on-wet watercolour in tones of dark blue, purple, and green. It's vaguely suggestive of foliage, but is obviously still work in progress.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 16

Life drawing 1-3 min poses, a 40 min pose, and a 30 min pose. All charcoal, my most hated of mediums.

A handful of short poses drawn from a male life model in a variety of ways. These were all warm ups. I started at the top left, then worked my way down to the bottom right. (A1 size)

A 40 minute life drawing from a male model under strong lighting. (A1 size)

A 30 min life drawing from a male model leaning against a fabric covered stool. His legs got out of proportion, but 🤷‍♀️ I'll do better next time. Again, pose was lit with strong lighting. (A1 size)

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 16

Some cat tax as I attempt to post Asher's Ridge to backers while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. (Something I've been lacking of late!)

My cat, who is very fluffy and mostly white, relaxing in a pile of dry leaves.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 12

This was painted from life, so here's the pic I took in case I want to try more later, then just before our tea break, and finally before I took the plunge with some letters.

A photograph of a bottle of malt vinegar making a mess of pale blue paper

The vinegar was drying up fast, so I started with the spill first.

The painting before I took a deep breath and attempted some lettering

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 12

I made it back to Friday art class 🙌 (I've missed several with Asher's Ridge and UKGE prep) So here's my bottle of vinegar and its spills :) I ran out of time to finish up the writing on the label (but I tried!£ WIPs in next post 👇

An oil study of a bottle of Sarson's malt vinegar lying on its side. The cap is slightly open and vinegar has spilled out onto pale blue paper.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 10

Step 2 of ??? I know I want three flamingos and water and thick jungle, so this weeks class was spent drafting thumbnails and drawing up a larger composition. It needs more height, so I'll fudge that when I draw this again onto the final board. (It's getting there, kinda)

Flamingo compositions sketched loosely in a sketchbook

A test drawing of three flamingos with a bit of colour to work out contrasts etc

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 9

Good work, folks 🙌 Thank you to everyone who encouraged my kid at UKGE. Here's a sneak peek at what he's preparing for next time ❤️ (He did all of this last night instead of going to sleep 🤣)

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 4

It does! I took one outside and it looks even better :D

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 4

Fresh from the box 🙌 Everything has arrived safe and sound, and everything is just gorgeous. Here's a little flick through of the Collector's Edition (only 100 were, and ever will be, made)

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 3

Step 1 of ??? Look at what strange creatures flamingos are and try and draw some. 🦩

Pencil (and some pen and coloured pencil) studies of flamingos.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 1

You can now get the vibe of "Twin Peaks, but in the Lake District" purely in PDF from both itch.io and DTRPG :) Community copies are available on itch for those who need them. Itch: montfordtales.itch.io/ashers-ridge DTRPG: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

A copy of Asher's Ridge on a background of playing cards and an area map. Text reads "A roleplaying game of paranormal drama television for 1-4 players."

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 1

It's also the source of all the little character soundbites I use at the start of every section. Is it good writing? 🤷‍♀️ But was it *fun* writing? Heck yeah :D

The about this game spread from Asher's Ridge with a pull quote from Anna that says "Dr Cowley? I found another one."

The place in my play through script that quote came from. Anna has entered the veterinary clinic with an injured bird of prey she found.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· Jun 1

I ran out of things to do on my list, and I remembered all the times during UKGE where I told people the examples of play in all my games comes from my solo playthroughs and I don't know if I've ever said that here. So, here's a comparison of Asher's Ridge and my Scrivener play doc :)

A spread from Asher's Ridge detailing how to narrate a scene in the game next to an example of play. The example uses the thread BITE and is a conversation between a group of friends at the Asher Memorial.

A screenshot of a hastily, stream-of-thought, written script in Scrivener. On the left is a sequence of files, one for each act of the game and its beats (later renamed to scenes in the game book). On the right is the script text, with a conversation between Ellie, Anna, and eventually Luke.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 30

For the *first time ever* werewolves have beaten vampires at #UKGE in my unofficial popularity contest of books 🐺

A softcover copy of The Almanac of Sanguije Paths at UKGE.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 29

Today has been an incredible Friday, especially for my son. A huge thank you to everyone who has come by 3A-412 and encouraged his creativity and bolstered his confidence. 🫶 He has four zines left (I've been told to set one aside) and he is *over the moon*. You're all wonderful!

The final five remaining zines made by my 6 y/o son.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 28

I'm all set up at #UKGE! Find me at 3A-412, near the big red bus and the entrance to Hall 3A :)

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 27

Two fun facts for #UKGE: 1. This Friday I'm setting Asher's Ridge live on itch.io and DTRPG (hotel internet willing!) 2. It's also my 6 y/o son's zine-making debut. He's made his own zine to give away on my stand, and he would be *delighted* if anyone stopped by and asked for one at 3A-412 ❤️

SmokeyEmu's Minecraft Build Book 1 - a handmade zine of Minecraft builds by my 6 y/o son.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 26

It's so pretty :D

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 26

Look what's here for #UKGE!!!!!!! I am so, so, so happy!

A physical copy of Asher's Ridge, fresh from the box on my driveway.

An open copy of Asher's Ridge, held in one hand.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 25

In 84 hours you'll find me at #UKGE at stand 3A-412 (on the corner of Ares Avenue and Cliff Street). Look out for this sign and you'll know you're in the right place. :)

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 19

I've been folding the A1 maps this afternoon and I think they're looking quite smart (if I do say so myself) :)

A folded map with an orange title page that reads: Asher's Ridge Setting Map & Location Guide.

The rear of the folded map, showing part of the legend.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 15

Death doesn't mean you can't write back. Pick up Dead Letter Society and join an exclusive network of vampire correspondance. A tarot-driven TTRPG for 1-2 vampir-I mean-players. Available at shop.montfordtales.com/product/dead... or come say hi at the UK Games Expo! 🦇

A softcover edition of Dead Letter Society on a mottled blood red background. A feather pen, wax seals, and dried flowers surround it. Gothic-styled text reads: Death doesn't mean you can't write back.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 13

Backerkit smoke tests have gone out, I've opened up the backer kit pre-order store (ashers-ridge.backerkit.com/hosted_preor..., open until May 25th), and backers get access to a shiny new updated PDF today. My anxiety levels rise as fulfilment and general release approaches.

A book on a wooden table, on top of a map and playing cards. Text reads: A roleplaying game of paranormal drama television for 1-4 players.

Montford Tales@montfordtales· May 11

The survey for Asher's Ridge is being reviewed by BackerKit 🤞 In the meantime, here's my cat reviewing one of the test map prints. He says its very comfy thankyouverymuch!