Castle Grief

What’s your favorite goblin origin myth?

I love it

@castlegrief.bsky.social I don’t claim to be a good illustrator but I finally drew my first Kal-Arath character!

Sounds like a dream. Forever DM here too - I never get to play!

Garwen Pendraeg, contested ruler of Lordes.

Said to be the last living blood of the great king Artor Grail-breaker.

From his seat in shattered Camlynn, he seeks to re-establish the Southron Kingdom and bring a new golden age from the darkness.

Thank you Jason! (Complimentary)

Thanks!

I appreciate that. Me too! Analog only forever.

No, just got really burned out for a while, plus working way too much

Much appreciated

Cheers!!

B/X and ODND are my faves anyways. Thanks for checking it out and posting this I’ll give it a read!

What’s your idea of the perfect OSR campaign?

(Map by me. Watercolor and ink on paper)

In the Kal-Arath Rimrocks, mighty teradun are trained from the egg to bear riders who work as elite mercenaries, messengers + scouts.

Others seek to rule the sky, challenging all to battle with lance and blade, the loser falling hundreds of feet to their death.

A tiny part of the region of Aelwine, in my Tarvannion campaign setting.

You can check out Aelwine for free on my itch, and I’ll be adding this map as part of the downloads this week in a print friendly b/w format.

Thanks so much!!

The Knight Penitent.

Having served the Sacella in life, the Knight Penitent is one who, haunted by some terrible thing they have done, volunteers to become a Reliquary, and continue their service in undeath.

Many earn remission of sin and are sainted for this dedication.

Sunday painting. Watercolor and India ink.

Thanks!

Where will you venture first in the shadow of Castle Grief?

Working on a bespoke box set for a good friend - 100% hand drawn and lettered.

Rules
Book 1 - Bestiary and Encounters
Book 2 - Areas and NPCs
Book 3- Campaign Journal and Notebook (basic world building and lore, the rest blank)

Area hexmap
A few starter dungeons

The Steppes of Kal-Arath Gelu Morsus · Kal-Arath Original Soundtrack · Song · 2025

@gelu-morsus.bsky.social does scoring for all kinds of stuff, including my upcoming adventure "Black Antlers". He recently scored the official soundscape for Kal-Arath , @castlegrief.bsky.social's barbaric OSR game! Check it out on Spotify open.spotify.com/track/5R2QuL...

Painting for the new zine - these originals will mostly all get sent out to backers who claimed the art from the interior.

Hope they wind up on some cool walls!

Rubber from the craft store. Thanks! Not as hard as I thought it would be give it a shot

They’re lots of fun!

My ideal starting hexmap size.

I make most of mine with some custom stamps I carved for the job.

Base settlement, some dungeons and other points of interest, a few factions and you’re set for adventure.

A picture of four printed zines with black on orange covers. Kal-Arath, Killchain, Tarvannion, and Black March.

Printed some of @castlegrief.bsky.social's OSR zines this weekend

Still working on the optional Ardor and Agony system of vice and virtue which provide in game mechanics.

Will be running this for some weeks before tearing it apart and reassembling as a little print zine for others who might be after something similar.

My own handwritten DEATH + THE GRAVE adds a basic low power leveling system, robust encounter tables, setting lore and heraldry, Church and Folk magic, d66 Feats obtainable only in-game by meeting, defeating, exploring and engaging with the world, and more.