Crawl! no.13: Deathmatch! Available Now!

Monday, March 25, 2024

Crawl! Deathmatch! (Intro) by Loot the Body : (and other updates)

Crawl! no.13: Deathmatch! has an official soundtrack!

Loot the Body has created a track for the latest issue of Crawl! Eyeball emoji!

I asked for, "...a 10-minute ambient loop that starts with heavy doom industrial metal riffs, then bleeds into tense, creepy, and chilling ambient droning?" (Yes, just like the Quake Intro by Nine Inch Nails.) 

A few days later, I got this:


How to use: In the deathmatch realm this track is exactly 10-minutes long, actual local time may vary due to time dilation and space fluctuations. Use this track when on a run, or as a timer --- get hyped the first two minutes, and then focus and zone for the final eight. When used during a DEATHMATCH! put the track on loop, and when the metal riffs begin again, bump everyone's Mindless State UP ONE towards Hate! and let the carnage commence.

In other news:

I've been working on the Deathmatch! cards again. I have a 72-card deck designed. It contains a full load of weapon cards (enough for 6 PCs), various cards to represent minor power-ups and each of the major artifacts (pentagram, biosuit, etc.). In addition, the deck includes random traps and hazards (as described in no.13). This effectively makes a deck of random traps, hazards, and magic items to stock any dungeon map. I go into more details over here. They're very cool (i think). Here's a teaser of the new, updated, design: 


I have a lot of other news and updates, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Be seeing you,

dak


Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Backwards Friday Creator Day 2023! Save -100% This FRIDAY

Friday Nov 24th 2023

I'm broke, need to pay bills, and to be straight up honest...

I'm not the biggest fan of Black Friday. I personally can't take advantage of the "fun" sales. In fact I usually boycott Black Friday, and support a little counter event called Buy Nothing Day. Here's a fun video. It has little to do with Buy Nothing Day, but still a good song. 

So this year, over at Itch*, I'm gonna do the opposite and hold a reverse sale. Let's mark up all the prices by 100%! Save negative 100% and pay double instead! 

One day only. FRIDAY NOV 24th, 2023! 

https://straycouches.itch.io/

It's also Creators Day at Itch, so Itch doesn't take a cut of any sales. Which is really cool of them. 

Especially on Black Friday. 

Crazy. 

Support small press, developers, and other creators. 

Hugs and Kicks,

Rev. Dak

ps. I also set up a GOAL of $2023. Do you think you can help do it? I also realize I need to pay for car registration, insurance, an oil change, and smog by the end of the month. Ugh.

*I really like Itch. The RPG community over there is pretty cool, and the site works well, and if you don't have my zines over there, this is your chance to change that and support a weirdo like me. 

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Print Copies Available at Gateway 2023

If you're in the LA area, Beyonce is in town until Monday. Oh, and so is LA's oldest gaming convention series, Strategicon. This one is Gateway 2023. Goodman Games is there, and they like to showcase the fan based and community created books from 3rd-Party Publishers, like myself. 

https://www.strategicon.net/

You can visit Brad (Crawl! editor) who is also the Goodman Games convention rep for the area. While you're there, you can pick up Crawl! no.13. Free stickers and bookmarks!



Thursday, August 31, 2023

On The Way! and What's Next!

A Portal

OLD SUBSCRIBERS

Print copies have shipped to all faithful subscribers that have replied to either my email, seen this post, or otherwise contacted me directly. PDF codes have also been sent to the same people. If you didn't contact me, assume your zines were not sent. My subscriber list is seven years old, and I don't trust to blindly ship to those addresses that haven't been confirmed or otherwise verified. If you're not sure, just send me an email [rev.dak_AT_straycouches_DOT_com] or hit me up on a social platform [reverenddak or reverend_dak]. 

ITCH_DOT_IO

You may have noticed that I have opened shop over at itch.io. I like the gaming community they're creating there, and I like the way the store operates. If you're interested in "transferring" your PDF collection over to there, let me know. Itch is great because you can interact with your fans and comrades really well. Their dev_log feature is really good. You should check it out. I have a few dev logs already posted for Crawl! no.13: https://straycouches.itch.io/crawl-no13-deathmatch

NEXT UP

Strategicon/GATEWAY 2023. I plan to be at Gateway this weekend, but it'll depend on how I feel. I got a bug, and it's possibly COVID, but so far I'm testing negative. We'll see. I want to run some DCC After Dark style sessions, either off the book or as a demo at the Goodman Games booth. 

Deathmatch Cards. If you visit the dev log, you'll see I mention these "deathmatch cards". I plan to make a whole set that coincides with the Deathmatch dungeon in Crawl 13, CRAWL DM1. If you missed it, check it out: https://straycouches.itch.io/crawl-no13-deathmatch/devlog/579998/more-cards. My prototype deck is very cool. It consists of 63 cards, and will make running my deathmatches easier. My plan is to finalize the Print & Play version of the deck, and then get a set printed out professionally. Maybe, hopefully, have the set available, possibly throw them up on DriveThruCards.

Crawl! no.14! The actual title hasn't been settled yet, but it may be Domains and Downtime!, or just Downtime!, or even Dominion! I'm leaning towards Dominion! because it sound bigger and badder. I'm sure you can tell what it's about. It's my take on how to handle downtime and a domain, this includes followers, hirelings, and mercenaries, and the problems and responsibilities that follow high-level characters. It'll feature two new mechanics. One of them will be built on the gambling game Rat Snake called the Downtime Gambit. The other will be a Domain Die, which will be based again on a loaded encounter die, i.e., the Hazard die. I'll be posting more on this soon. 

That's it for the near future. I laid out other future plans on this post, go check it out: 

https://crawlfanzine.blogspot.com/2023/01/crawl-to-future.html

Crawl! no.13 is Now Available!

PREPARE TO FIGHT!

The really, really, long awaited return of Crawl! 

Crawl! no.13: Deathmatch!

An adventure and toolkit for running a DEATHMATCH!—A deadly game that will test the mind and bodies of unwilling (or willing?) adventurers trapped in some mad power's twisted realm. 

Includes: 
  • Running a DEATHMATCH — rules, tips, and how-to.
  • Introduction to a POINTCRAWL — modular and quick-reference style maps.
  • and the DANGER DIE — a loaded encounter die to determine room states and other conditions.
  • CRAWL DM1: Beyond the Doomed Gates — a pointcrawl adventure location where it will all go down. The dungeon features: Portals! Traps! Hazards! Powerful Weapons! Runes of Power! and more!
  • Plus! a bunch of random tables to help stock deathmatch dungeons of your own design.
VTT friendly maps, icons, and printable artifact cards also included.

Written by Rev Dak J Ultimak

Art and Icons by Mario T

Edited by Brad Littman

The new issue is now available to purchase from the following sites:

PDF at Itch.io:
PRINT+PDF at Gumroad:

Friday, August 25, 2023

Sale on Itch and Deathmatch Cards!

It's Creator's Day at Itch.io, and to celebrate I put all the original zines on sale, and if you buy the bundle you'll save even more. Go check it out:

https://itch.io/s/101450/august-2023-creator-day-and-sale only a few hours left!

One of the things that you're going to get when Crawl! no.13 is released are printable and VTT friendly assets, which include all the maps and icons. You'll be able to play online with the official maps, and they're player facing, so there won't be spoilers. Also then the icons can be placed separately. You can also print out the maps if you desire. The icons are also available so you can make your own custom maps with icons representing all the nifty deathmatch toys. 

But that's not all! Brad had the idea of making tokens or cards for the items. Which makes sense with the fickle nature of artifacts in the deathmatch. They'll be handy to give out, or take away if you roll a 3 on the Danger die. They look good.

Crawl! Deathmatch cards.
Artifact Cards

After making those Artifact cards, I got obsessed and made cards for almost every random thing, including hazards and traps. The idea is that I can randomly stock a room or deathmatch arena on the fly. There is a "d666" table in the zine that can do this for you, but the cards are so cool. I have a 63 card deck designed with a nice ratio of traps, hazards, weapons, and power-ups. I tried to get to 54 or 55, but it wasn't quite right. I could separate the "artifacts" and that'd get me to 51 or 52 but the deck ratio is wrong. Which might mean I have to bump the deck up to 72 cards. Not sure what those extra 9 cards are gonna be. Of course I have ideas, but it's looking like a whole expansion set. 

Deathmatch cards
Deathmatch Cards and Notes

I hope to have a print-play version available soon. It'll have a bonus item, but I have to get a few icons made. Right now I'm looking at The Game Crafter and DriveThruCards to get them printed. If you have other suggestions, let me know. But I really want to get a nice set of cards made, even if they're just for me. I'm stoked about them.

That's all the news I have for now, I hoping for a general release of Crawl! no.13: Deathmatch! next week.