wizardthieffighter

WTF @Stratometaship 1 - Poll

Hello, voyagers!

Like I warned you a few weeks ago, I'm moving the stratometaship patreon to a per expedition format. What's an expedition? It's a spread-based illustrated RPG sandbox piece. Think illuminating illustration + metal map + tight text + sharp story + screwball stats suitable for your traditional role-playing game system.

PointyHelmet King

On swords and stones and murderhobos.

Lonely Cathedral and Waybaccery

Hit the link: http://www.wizardthieffighter.com/2017/27-lonely-cathedral/

I've decided to start clearing up half-un-finished pieces of my hard-drive, while feeling my way loosely towards a better idea of the kind of serialized works I'll highlight ...

Sky Tower Down - Day 1

it fell out of the brick-red sky ... I planned to make it one page, but I overran it a bit, and now I have 2/3 of a page left to fill. Not sure if art or a map or something else would work best for it. What would you like on the second page? Maybe I'll listen!

Anyhow, since this is patreon, you guys get the pretty, pretty .pdf. Peons in the rest ...

What You're Making Possible

First, a shoutout to the patron who just decided to clock $50 to the Stratometaship. Wow. Your support is encouraging.

Second, I confess, Patreon's UI confounded my efforts to find that patron's details and send a personalized thank you. Dang!

Third, I know I don't post much here - perhaps I should - but I do keep pumping out stuff at AoWTF...

You're Supporting This, You Know

And I thank you for it! ^_^

I'm A Terrible Patronizee!

I know I don't post enough here! Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

To be fair, I do make all of my art available for free and so forth, but I'd like to do a bit more for you guys who are, after all, contributing a fair bit to my monthly art supply consumption!

I'm still trying to figure out the perfect model - perhaps contribution per-page for a...

Major Step - AoWTF Website

WizardThiefFighter started as a bit of fun, then as a good name for a collection of art on G+, then started to expand slowly ... and by now it's at 521 posts and counting. Well. That's too much to keep just hanging out in a couple of social media, so it got its own site!

Here's a taster of what you are supporting, for example.

2016-11-27 17:18:25 +0000 UTC View Post

Quaalude Iron Wicker Druid Man (intermezzo)

... the essence of Mercenary's dreams in the ascending cauldron of creation and ablation.

What Is Beyond the Nephrite Gate?

I totally haven't forgotten you guys ;) (and don't forget, I post most of my regular WTF pictures on G+ for now) ... but the Mercenary has gone through the Nephrite Gate.

What is beyond?

Next picture is totally open, so discuss and agree on what it is. You're lucky you're not more numerous yet, so this is totally doable!

Meanwhile, en...

9. The Floating Gate

A jewel suspended beneath in the ruddy sky, the gate, beckoned, murmured. The Mercenary ran over polished nephrite steps, past boulders the Emperor of the Black and White Thrones would have awarded dukedoms, mercer monopolies and vice-ministries for.

8. The Nephrite Stair

The apparition dissolves in an organic mist. It sinks into the cauldron of oblation. The mists eat away the canyon walls. Crackling streaks, grim-dying roman candles rise from the cauldron. Burps of an awakening creation?

Sound fades away, falls limp. Into the silence the nephrite stair tolls, resounding step by step, coiling into the dim heavens...

7. Dragged into the Light

With heaving and flailing, the apparition was dragged into the broken light of that sunless canyon. The green waters boiled and foamed, offended by the struggle that disturbed it, surged against the old livingstone. With a final spasming, the creature went limp and the mercenary began to drag it up the canyon side, lodging, pulling, prodding and dr...

6a.

How does mercenary escape the tunnel of transmigration?

a. by opening mental soul valves to embrace the horrid apparition, accept its pain, its suffering, and transmute it like the alchemists of gold into something more pure.

b. by throwing the eye of light at it and sprinting deeper into the tunnel, towards the siren song of sweet success....

6. The Tunnel of Transmigration

Up the rainbow canyon, through the rancid green waters of the sparkling stream, mercenary's soul trudged. Temptress does and prancing goat spirits bedevilled mercenary. No night fell in the twilight world, no sun rose. The fumes of the oblate spirit meals burnt mercenary's nose. Subjective centuries passed. The fizzing waters rubbed mercenary smoot...

5c. The Nameless Mercenary

ascending bodily into the rust clouds like the shamans of lore, the nameless mercenary experienced odd and unusual things ... which of them is real?

a. the tunnel of transmigration

b. the stones of substance

c. the weight of ways

d. the mother of mercenaries

e. the casket of corpses

Intermission 1b - Hapanga

While the hero-unit reconstitutes itself, enjoy the glory that is Hapanga, goblin farmer level 7 (maître de paillis).

Intermission

Proof that Goblins are Evil

5b. The Fifth Choice

Enchanted by the rust clouds and the shaman's mushroom wine, the nameless mercenary's soul has ascended and left his body to fall into dust. Do you want to ...

a) follow the tale of the nameless mercenary

b) follow the tale of his colleagues who didn't fall for the rust clouds

c) take an intermission for Hapanga the Farmer Goblin ...

5. Flown into the Sky

"Nobody heard anything?"

"Nothing."

"Great. Another damn fool smoking rust mushrooms. Was there a shaman involved?"

"Could've been ... hard to tell, you know how they blend into the saguaro."

"Yeah, everybody knows."

"So an outlander."

"With those striped pants? For sure."

"Right, notch another one down to take...

4b. The Fourth Choice

The witching hour winds down, the shades of the dead fade from the walls, the rust clouds abate with sweet music, leaching towards the stars. The shaman beckons you towards the rust clouds

Do you:

a) follow the shaman

b) fall asleep

c) deal with the annoying clod poking you in th eback

4. The Mushroom Shaman's Poetry Duel

By the light of the swirling rust clouds the orangelanders and yellowlanders whiled the night away in duels of poetry, wit, citrus and local halfin' mushroom smokes. ‘T was half-past twelve, and nor one nor t’ other group had slept a wink!

The caravans long gone, the rustgaters painted tales of cities in the sky with diamonds and dragons...

3b. The Third Choice

In the light of the hissing octarine lamps, the cactus wine flowed bittersweet like the blood of the memory demon. Game pieces clicked on the back tables, castanets to the iambic duels of the orangelanders.

a. Join the iambic duel. What could go wrong? (Charisma checks may be required)

b. Badger people about the inquisition, like an outland...

3. The Cactus Bar

Ignoring the creeping death of the solar deity, the salty orangelanders point out the local cactus bar, hollowed out from the plinth of some mockworthy false king from one of the forbidden eras.

One orangelander pulls out an electric lute, the other drags a folding table from the storage steps on it and begins a iambic poetry duel with a lanky el...

2b. The Second Choice

Garulio's tithe-master pays you and the other scruffy merchants for protecting the Holy Metropolitan Trade Delegation from the bandits and vagabonds of the Yellow Veldt.

"That's done. Now we get out of here before the rust wights wake up. You're signing on for the return trip to Metropolis, aren't you?"

a. sign on for the return trip with t...

2. Dealing With Dusty Masks

Their dust-covered ceramic masks, polished, faceless, smooth as jade, gave away nothing as the porters loaded the barrels of redland wine and chests of saffron snuff, sacks of dried dream orange pips and rolls of blueland watersilk.

Garulio the Merchant Inquisitor said they were satisfied, but nobody heard them speak.

The gently glimmering ...

1b. The First Choice

Do you:

a.look at the heretical plastic-skin map the dirty wrapped nomad dropped 'accidentally',

b. finish up your dealings with the dusty masked nomads and get away before nightfall,

c. sit and look at the hypnotic rust clouds with some of the dainty hooded nomads.

1. The Gates of Rust

The edge of the Lands and the Luminous Wall. The last of the diesel golem trains stop here, confounded by the dust of the long ways.

"Further, much further!" capers the picturesque hermit of the Stylist Order.

What (TF) is Patreon for WTF?

This WTF page sputtered into existence about a month ago and since then I've wracked my brain  what it's _raison d'être_ should be. About twice. For maybe fifteen minutes each time.

See, patreon is a tip jar. I make WTF because I like to make it. Patrons get to chip in because they like what I make. The art stays free and out there. I find ...

July 2016 patron supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!