Hello Mutant Epoch Blog followers,

So, as this blog is supposed to be more of a game designer's journal, I thought I'd share a bit of the behind the scenes look at the release of a new free creature. This one was designed and written by Danny Seedhouse and was published about an hour ago. Here's the cover and blurb and then scroll down where I'll talk a bit about the process....

WM

A nightmare weapon from the old wars has returned!

From the ancient conflicts that caused the final collapse of human civilization, these bear sized military bio-weapons continue to wreak havoc into the new era. Encountered as wild predators or armored sentinels for high tech enclaves, Spikers are murderous foes and a serious challenge to any excavation team.

Designed and written by Danny Seedhouse, the Spiker is our 9^th free Creature of the Apocalypse. This brute comes in both a wild and armored variant with the wild specimen often exhibiting extra mutations, while the armored version comes equipped with a rich assortment of randomly determined back-mounted relic firepower.

            Crafted to confront mid to high rank characters, these freaky, unpredictable monsters bring some serious firepower to the table, and can dish out the sort of ranged attack abilities that normally only player characters enjoy.

This is a 6 page PDF and includes a full page image of cover art for use as a player handout. 

Get your free copy here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/141758/Spiker-Creatures-of-the-Apocalypse-9

...Okay, so the spiker started off as just the wild version and was called a 'dart runner'. It was first crafted back in 2013 and Mr. Seedhouse wrote it up, adding the more dangerous, but controlled armored version. 

 With the Crossroads Region book, the Handcrafted Dungeon sets and Mutant Bestiary One on the go, the spikers languished on the shelves for long time. 

          Here's the pencil sketch of the wild spiker:

The pencil drawing was scanned at 300dpi and painted in photoshop,  within a scene that included the armored spiker. I made sure to keep the spikers on separate layers so I could easily pull them out of the image to use as stand alone graphics as follows:

       Between the painting and final edits, and layout, it took about 6 days to craft the free PDF. The Pencil art and Danny's text were complete over a year ago. 

        There is something sweet about getting out a gaming supplement in a couple of weeks instead of a couple of years. After the extra six months it took to do all the art for the bestiary, working on small, bite sized projects is a step down as far as stress goes. Still, we released the spiker soon after the Mutant Bestiary One book came out to take advantage of the marketing surrounding that book, and push attention to the 148 page manual of mutant monsters. If you grab the new spiker PDF, you'll see that page 7 is a full ad for the bestiary. We couldn't resit and will report back if we see any sort of spike in sales.

Enjoy

WM

Mutant Bestiary One is here!

What the hell is that?

Mutant Bestiary One is finally here! This much anticipated release is the 7th book for the Mutant Epoch RPG. This collection of freaks will challenge excavators of all ranks, from the blood mole to the earth shaking mobilamortus tree. Included are PC playable races, such as krenth cat-folk, devilkins, dog-boys, anthro-tortoises, bipedal raccoons and pale skinned underfoot.

In this book:
- 173 creatures, from animals like sheep and deer ­- that often exhibit mutations – to predatory plants, bio-weapons, and evolving nightmare freaks.
- Many have their own mutation lists, so making up unique foes is a cinch!
- Encounter tables are divided by terrain and difficulty ratings for low, mid and high rank PCs.
- 167 illustrations
- For SOE members only. The art comes as PDF sheets when you need to declare “This is what you see!”
- Mutant beasts in this collection:
● 16 humanoids
● 68 Animals with off-shoots
● 5 Plants
● 3 Whales
● 11 Insects
● 12 Slugs, snails and mollusks
● 8 Crustaceans
● 7 Cats
● 6 dogs
● 4 Ape variants
● 30 Assorted monsters

Available in both PDF and print or as a ‘Double Barrel‘ Deal whereby if you go direct from us via paypal, you buy the print book and we send you the PDF for free as soon as possible.



PDF 9.99 or print book $22.99

Learn more here: http://www.outlandarts.com/mutantbestiary1.htm

Some art samples from the book

Attack-X 2 in Kamloops this weekend

Do you live in or near Kamloops, British Columbia?

Well, I'll be setting up the Outland Arts booth at a small gaming expo there this weekend during Attack-X .

If you're a local Mutant Epoch fan, want to create a character with me, see some storm troopers from the 501st legion or take part in a wide assortment of tabletop gaming, why not stop by... its free to enter.
 The gaming convention goes from 6pm  (Sept 12th 2014)  tonight until late afternoon on Sunday. The event will take place inside the Campus Activity Center at Thompson Rivers University..
 Here is the link to the expo website http://www.attack-x.com/
Hope to see you there!
Will

Wasteland Treasures 1 just released!

Hello yet again! 

We have another Pay What You Want PDF for you to check out. This one is something I've been working on since the winter, slowly adding bits of loot to three different listings by way of typing on my iPhone, iPad or home computer, compiling, cutting adding and enhancing. Yeah, a lot of work and late nights, yet been really fun. Its's also been one of those chores I had on the back burner while doing the dungeon tiles, something I could work on in 10 minute chunks while waiting for the kids at the bus stop, or having coffee at Starbucks, etc.

Right now as I write this, the Wasteland Treasure tables is the number 1 hottest product at RPGnow.com. Iv'e never been here before and am very exhilarated. The previous by donation product, One Day Digs 1 & 2, got to number 4 on the charts and the author, Brandon, and I were stoked! I think getting to number one is on the back of the 4th place push by the One Day Digs, since many of the people who downloaded the digs were on the list I blasted last night. I hope all this bodes well for the biggie, for the Mutant Bestiary One book coming out in September or October. 

Anyhow, here is the cover followed by the blurb we sent to one mailing list.

Enjoy

Will

No Guts, No Glory!

Your excavators fight hard in the wastelands, ruins and emerging barter villages, why not let ‘em see some reward? Here then, in Wasteland Treasures One, you’ll find plenty to keep them challenged, well paid and keen for the next expedition!

Included are Three d100 Loot tables: a General Ruin Treasure Table, an Old Warzone listing and trophies and curiosities carried by humanoids such as Skullocks, Warmorts, and Moaners.

This is a 19 page Pay What You Want PDF Written and Illustrated by The Mutant Epoch creator, William McAusland

Loot it right here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/133002/Wasteland-Treasures-1

See you in the junk heaps, wastelander!

One Day Digs Double Feature is here!

Thought I better share this here just in case some of you haven't already been bombarded by the One Day Digs release news. By the way, right now this first set is in the number two hottest items on RPGnow.com! Thanks to all our supporters. We sure appreciate it!

 As mentioned on the forum, I want to use this blog as a creative journal, a web log as what blogs were intended to be. Given that, I'd just like to say  that working with Brandon on this experimental project has been a blast. Working on a creative level, as opposed to technical or editorial level, is quite exciting as I get to read the adventures or creature descriptions along as if  were a gamer and it's thrilling not to know what comes next for the poor players. I have  few artist I work with too, and love to see their creations for the Mutant Epoch. I feel like I am part of a team instead of a lonely hermit working in his pajamas in the wilderness... oh wait... some of that is still true.

 So, here is the blurb on this Pay What You Want sets of short adventures. Please comment on what you think of the format and adventures. Is this something you want to see more of? How can we improve them?
Best regards,
Will

Do your characters got what it takes?

Step into a world of post-apocalyptic gonzo adventure and find out! Introducing the One Day Digs Double Feature. Starting off with a bang, our first quest is Blood for Bellridge, followed up after a short intermission by Feast of Freaks!

Designed for introductory games at conventions, game stores, and private home tables, One Day Digs are the brain child of author Brandon Goeringer and illustrated by Will McAusland. They are crafted to showcase a bit of The Mutant Epoch setting and flavor, introduce some creatures and relics, as well as offer an example of how the Outland System game mechanic works. For the most part, these adventures are for 4 to 6 new PCs of first rank.

Blood For Bellridge immerses the characters in the rescue of an old friend, and the survival of an emerging town site. Feast of Freaks tests the characters in the swamps as they investigate the disappearance of boat load of medical supplies and her crew. Both adventures are only a few pages long, with creature stats and a full color cover and map included with each. 

The price for these fast paced missions fits your budget perfectly, too! You can pay whatever you want, including nothing at all. But if you like what you see, please feel free to throw a buck or two in the tip jar, and leave a review someplace. Brandon and I sure would appreciate it! 

Here is the direct link: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/132273/One-Day-Digs-1-and-2-Double-Feature

Its play time with Quasi!

Hi Wastelanders,

So, you've probably been hammered by the release announcement of the Quasi, as we've posted it everywhere for the last few hours. Still, I thought I'd stop by the blog here and share this free freak:

Try to avoid getting your character mangled by this hunch backed humanoid. It means no harm. It just has to squeeze its beloved pet so tight!

The Quasi, written by James Butler, is so named after the literary character of Quasimodo. The difference here is that this powerful, childishly curious and moody freak has none of the nobility, empathy or wisdom of the hunchback of Notre-Dame. It instead spends its life making traps, harvesting foodstuffs, and obsessing over a pet or object. Woe to any excavator who becomes the focus of its all-consuming attention, as the Quasi is likely to manhandle, toy with and eventually shatter the person, abandoning the broken pet in some filthy hole or ancient room before turning its attention to whatever takes its fancy next.

This, our 8th Free Creature of the Apocalypse, come sin a 5 page PDF with a list of Quasi mutations as well as sampling of random pets and items the humanoid currently obsesses over. Also included is a full page, text free image of cover art for use as a player handout.  

Here is the link  to get a closer look: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/131974/Quasi-Creatures-of-the-Apocalypse-8

Stay tuned here, however, as I am converting my blog from an updating venue to more of a creative journal, a place to share the behind the scenes process of making The Mutant Epoch..... past, present and future.
Regards,
Will

Handcrafted Dungeons:: A slight departure from the Epoch

Hi All,

Yes, it's been awhile.
After the mighty Crossroads Region book was released last December, I was exhausted and needed to spend at least part of my work days on something  else, something I could do away form the computer, and standing up. Something that didn't involve me hunched over the inking table for countless hours, drawing tiny maps and settlement illustrations with .05 micron pens.

Alas, Handcrafted Dungeons finally came into being.

 I have been playing a home brewed fantasy Miniatures game with my kids for many years, inadvertently play-testing it. One of the things we play on are dungeon floor plans using a 1 inch grid, creating sheets and tiles that join together to construct maze-like catacombs and cave complexes below the earth.

 We plan to eventually publish these minis rules, but a lot more play-testing and fine tuning is needed first. In the meantime, we need tiles, especially while out camping this summer. I figured, why not spend the evenings sculpting and painting a few basic dungeon sets and release them? How long could it take? What could go wrong?

 Six months later, we finally released Handcrafted Dungeons sets 1 and 2 and they are selling well. They are, however, hugely involved and took three times as long to pull off than I imagined during the dark winter months. Each set contains a full color PDF, an inkjet friendlier set and a grayscale set, as well as a huge zipped file full of 300dpi jpegs for those using VTT or what the cool kids are calling Virtual Tabletop.

 I am going to attach some images at the bottom of this post for your viewing pleasure, but I hope you'll check the sample PDFs out and let fellow gamers know of their availability. We are working on the print on demand sets through Drivethrucards, so you can soon get the 8x8" cards... the thing my kids and I are really looking forward to for our own games.

 Oh, there is one  more tile set in the works called 'Caverns' thus far. It is going to be a project I pick at as a leisure time task, since I find hand sculpting these tiles such a meditative, relaxing chore, one that gets me up and away from the tight computer or pencil rendering work I have before me as part of Mutant Bestiary One's completion and release.

In other news, look for several new Free Creatures of the Apocalypse including the Quasi by Clockpunk and the Spikers by Danny Seedhouse. Also, Our own Brandon Goeringer has been working hard on a double feature set of One Day Digs. He is waiting patiently for me to get the art, maps and layout done on these 'Pay What You Want' PDF short intro adventures. Stay tuned for a great summer of Mutant Epoch Mania!

Best regards from the hinterlands of British Columbia
 Will

Links to things discussed in this post:
Handcrafted Dungeons webpage
 Handcrafted Dungeons sample PDF for set 1 here and set 2 over here
Mutant Bestiary One's future homepage ( bookmark it now folks!)
FREE Creatures of the Apocalypse found at RPGnow.com:
 Sicklefoot
Red Harvester
Spikeback
Bog-Billy
Junk Mobster
Scraplurker
Back Hatcher

The Back Hatcher is here!
 Special thanks to Brandon Goeringer for creating this new mutant monster for The Mutant Epoch RPG.
 Here is the cover followed by the text.

What’s that squishy popping sound?

Walking anywhere in the wastelands of The Mutant Epoch is always risky, but swamps pose a whole new level of peril. That squishy patch of ground your character just walked onto wasn't as safe a step as it looked, and with a squeal, a popping noise and the flash of piranha-like teeth, you’re PC just encountered a brood of clingers freshly jettisoned from a Back Hatcher!

            Created by Brandon Goeringer, this new Creature of the Apocalypse is number seven in the lineup of free monsters for The Mutant Epoch post-apocalyptic RPG. Get this 6 page PDF which includes stats for both the adult and clinger variants of this terrible new creature. The document includes a random mutation listing and robust, multi use d100 loot table for items left behind by previous victims of the dreaded Back Hatcher. Also included is a full page player handout view of the image from the cover, but without the cover text so you, the GM, can hold it up and say “This is what you’re mutant just stepped on!”

Although crafted for The Mutant Epoch role-playing game, using the Outland System Game Mechanic, a GM can easily modify the stats for the Back Hatcher and use the beast with another post-apocalyptic game system.

Want more? Sign up for our highly entertaining, media rich‘Outland Arts Insider’ newsletter for notifications, or, stay tuned to this site for more great RPG PDFs.

Here is the link: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/130272/Back-Hatcher-Creatures-of-the-Apocalypse-7

Best regards,

 Will McAusland

Hello all. 

If you haven't already been bombarded with the release news of this new creature, then let me just say that minutes ago we uploaded our 6th FREE Creatures of the Apocalypse: The Scraplurker.

This nasty humanoid comes in three sizes and includes a d100 loot table, player handout version of the cover art, and was written by Brandon Goeringer.

Get the free 8 page PDF now at RPGnow.com here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/127604/Scraplurker-Creatures-of-the-Apocalypse-6

Here is the full text from the mainpage over at RPGnow.com:

Watch your step, wastelander… that pile of loot ahead might just be a trap!

Designed and written by Brandon Goeringer, this is the 6^th free mutant freak in the Creatures of the Apocalypse line and the first to be offered in three nasty sizes: Juvenile, Adult and Brute!

The Scraplurker is a dweller of the ruins, old war zones and rubble strewn bogs. Although humanoid, these pack hunters view mankind as nothing more than the next meal. Their favorite trick is to wait in ambush, face down, exposing their junk and relic strewn backs to entice excavators and scavs in close enough to make a quick kill. Of course, what ruin looter can resist the often rare and valuable treasure items just laying in plain sight?

            This 8 page PDF offers the Scraplurker in three sizes, a mutation list, full page player handout version of the cover art, as well as a d100 Loot table showcasing items that one might find stuck to the back of these gruesome ambush predators.

Although crafted for The Mutant Epoch role-playing game, using the Outland System Game Mechanic, a GM can easily modify the stats for the three size variants shown into another post-apocalyptic game system.

Want more? Join our mailing list for notifications, or, stay tuned to this site for more great RPG PDFs.

Bog-Billy: Creatures of the Apocalypse 5

Bog-Billy: Creatures of the Apocalypse 5: Bog-Billy: Creatures of the Apocalypse 5