Kevin Kulp

The shark sits, shivering, in the workhouse. There is no chum in sight and the shark is skinny. “Some day,” it thinks, “my good will be better than this!”

GRUEL JAWS

What were the best couple of things you did/games you played this year?

This week I’m a crappy-shark-movie-expert guest on my favorite shark movie podcast talking about CRUEL JAWS, the 1995 Italian sharksploitation flick marketed as Jaws 5. It is delightful and terrible all at the same time!

www.spreaker.com/episode/epis...

Not-especially unhinged TTRPG/Tolkien opinions, alternating between them. Or hitting both at once, as appropriate.

The best item they have is a 3000-year old camel statue that attracts camels. From anywhere in a mile or so. They love you and want to be near you. They’ll fight to find you. So. Many. Camels.

Say nothing and it’s a one-man tent that collapses at 1am and attracts scorpions; effusive signs of appreciation (as measured in Sway and Charm spends) gets you up to a 20-person Pavillon with a feast, cool temperatures, perfect beds, camouflage, and no scattered sand inside.

But man is it needy.

In my Swords of the Serpentine Arabian game I have the heroes something called the Grudging Tent. It’s a genie-made tent that gets better the more you actively and aggressively are kind to it.

I finally, finally got a chance to play Swords of the Serpentine by @multiplexer.bsky.social and @kevinkulp.bsky.social thanks to @yarnquester.bsky.social. It was as glorious and exciting as I hoped it would be.

So far they’ve been back-and-forth to an alternate prime, and spent a bunch of time in faerie. Having a blast.

It won’t be a surprise that I’m a huge Planescape fan, although this game has a very different feel. Here’s the setting I’m using:

pelgranepress.com/2021/01/12/a...

And here are a few house rules for a high fantasy version of the game!

pelgranepress.com/2025/06/28/s...

Ran Swords of the Serpentine tonight, my high fantasy plane-hopping campaign. The players managed to escape my inescapable death trap - jerks! - AND make friends with the blight spirit monstrosity trying to devour them. They’re good at this.

As a result, *none of the heroes were real humans* and none of them realized it until they met the real superheroes.

Glorious.

Five scribbled notes, all reading “yes”.

Golden age SPECTACULARS! superhero game tonight.

Not that my players are “yes and” improv types, but at the start I told them “there may be an opportunity tonight for you to be kidnapped and replaced by an exact robotic duplicate of yourself! If so, do you want to have been replaced?”

The result?

Two dogs on a dirt trail, lit at golden hour by low golden sunlight.

Dogs demanded to go on a walk at the most photogenic golden hour.

Scientific method in action!

Clarifying question: can you unhinge your jaw to swallow an egg whole?

It comes with a chunky jumper, a drinking problem, and a bad relationship with your wife that drives your detective into being a workaholic!

I’m sorry not to be there this year. I hope it’s great!

Trying to find Artist Submissions links for MCDM and Darrington Press, but coming up empty. Anyone got a lead for me?

I do, and hi Owen! None of them have nearly as good a title as Great Wight Shark. They’re all pretty terrible and unremarkable except for the delightful GHOST SHARK. Zombie Shark (aka Shark Island) is okay; Sharkenstein is unwatchable.

Movie poster of a very large shark eating a small diver. Since the movie featured normal size sharks, I can only assume this is forced perspective!

Today’s crappy shark movie was GREAT WHITE WATERS (Tubi). Florida sharks get some sweet drug smuggler cocaine & chomp the smugglers who want it back! We ranked it #59/177; awkward writing, decent acting, competent women, a fun bad guy, and some very hungry drug-addled CGI sharks. Solid middle tier.

A black ink woodcut on cream colored paper depicting a sea monster on a stylized wave background. Much like one you'd see on an antique map. A small human stands on a cliff before the fanged mouth of the monster, and a sigil floats in the upper left corner. The sea monster has been colored in oranges, with deep pink points on the fins. It sprays water from two spouts on its head.

A black ink woodcut on cream colored paper. Depicted is monstrous giant in a red circle on a hilltop. It appears to be dancing, and is holding a giant key in one hand while gesturing to a doorway in the clouds with the other. It is surrounded by black standing stones, black birds in the sky, and two tiny human figures near two bonfires. The monster's face and hands are human, but the chest is scaled, torso covered in tentacles, and legs are furry with elephant-like feet.

A black ink woodcut printed on cream colored paper. A simple black frame surrounds the scene of three ghouls gathering on a grave. A cutaway depicts the shrouded corpse beneath. THe ghouls are varying degrees of humanoid and monstrous. Written above them are the words Cave Necrophagoi in sepulchris, which can be translated as beware of corpse-eaters in cemetaries.

A square black ink woodcut print on lighter cream colored paper. The scene is in a Renaissance-ish style. A large monster in the center is tutoring two human figures, one who looks like a witch, the other like author Wilum Pugmire. The monster has five legs, and beneath a star shaped form on its heads are eyes and mouths on stalks. It is working with a pipette, and a flask with a creature in it, as well as a fumigation tool. The space is like an achemist's laboratory, and a strange creature is breaking into the room from a deformed area of the floor. The roman numerals XX IV are written under it. Through the window above, something massive is pouring upwards out of a well into the sky.

I am Liv Rainey-Smith, woodcut printmaker. My art is all hand-carved in wood before inking and printing. My work is typically black and paper white, and my color work is primarily watercolor applied after printing the woodcuts. Not seeking new projects, though I am interested in shows #PortfolioDay

Share the last 4 TTPRGs you played and expose your gaming habits.

Swords of the Serpentine
Spectaculars!
5e D&D 2014
Mothership

One of those we all died hideously in. Guess which!)

recently I've started every writing project by opening a new document, writing in the header "WRITE IT BAD" and then writing it bad

I like to capitalize terms that might otherwise be confused. So I’d capitalize the ability Sorcery and not capitalize the word when I’m talking about how sorcery permeates the world, etc. The goal is clarity.

We are excited to be attending our first Develop:Brighton tomorrow! If you're interested in learning about #TTRPG publishing, or are curious about our range of award-winning games, connect with our Managing Director @catthm.bsky.social 🔜 Develop in Brighton to set up a meeting.

$32,000: New adventure seed. Sebastian Yūe (they/them) is an award-winning writer, editor, and game designer. They’ve worked on Pathfinder, the Cosmere RPG, Daggerheart, Apocalypse Keys, and more. Find them everywhere @sebastianyue.

We're almost to @sebastianyue.bsky.social's stretch goal! A new adventure seed, where a dead god calls you to their tomb, offers you your heart's desire, and gives you a devastating choice. What is it? I can't wait to reach this stretch goal and play to find out!

It’s on the list!

We saw Fear Below yesterday, which was delightful. 1950s period piece set in Australia. Good plot, good writing, good acting, good SFX! #7/176.

A Reddit screenshot that reads: Napoleonic Marshals Lannes and Murat risking their lives and bullshitting their way to capture a bridge held the Austrian army has always sounded to me like a movie plot. They were under orders to capture the bridge, the Austrians had order to blow it up if they couldn't hold it. Seeing the explosives already in place, Lannes and Murat told their men to adopt a slow parade walk. They themselves rode up alone to the bemused Austrians army, joking and smoking. They thanked them for holding up the bridge but now that the armistice was signed they would be taking over. Lannes sat on the barrel of explosives and reminded the officers that their own Emperor would be really displeased if they blew essential infrastructure for nothing. And they might even restart the war. They were so convincing that the officer in charge sent someone to HQ to confirm that an armistice had been signed. An sergeant saw right through the ruse and wanted to blow the bridge. "Do you allow your men to talk to their officers like that in the Austrian army?" asked Murat and the sergeant was told to shut up. Meanwhile, the French army was slowly crossing the bridge, still in parade formation. There was of course, no armistice signed, and the French captured the bridge as soon as they crossed it.

This is great. From a Reddit thread entitled “What's a real historical event that would 100% be rejected as 'too unrealistic' if it were in a movie?”

Well, I definitely wouldn’t have expected TWO!

Yeah, an old Chromebook my mom didn’t care for disappeared years ago. I had *absolutely* no idea it was there.