Welcome to Weird Tales of the Old Skull
Quick introduction, special offer, a few reminders, and some weirdly wonderful stuff!
Hello, wonderful weirdos!
First of all, thank you for subscribing to my substack! This will be a place for me to share news, articles, offers, and curiosites regarding my work as a creator in the tabletop RPG space (TTRPG).
BTW, if you didn’t subscribe to his substack, you might be receiving this because you subscribed to one of my previous newsletters (which will be substituted by this one).
What is this?
If you just stumbled onto this post and doe’t know what this is all about, check out the about section.
TLDR version: My name is Diogo Nogueira, I am a game designer and artist from Brazil, and I also make a podcast where I talk about that and myself. This will be a vehicle to share my work, and the weird and wonderful things I find worthwhile with you!
This is my first post so I will try to be brief (warning: I failed), and give you just the latest news, while also gifting you something sweet to give you a taste of what’s to come!
Get Fire & Fangs Now!
Fire & Fangs is my weird stone and sorcery setting supplement created for Old-School Essentials. It provides all the supplementary rules for you to play and run games in a mythical prehistoric fantasy world with dinosaurs, primal spirits, sorcery, aliens, and elder gods! The book also comes with a hexcrawl scenario and an introductory adventure to kickstart your campaign!
And you can get it now before everyone else for half as much as it will cost later! This offer will stand until March, 12th, when the supplement is officially released publicly.
Kosmosaurs is out in print!
Have you ever wanted to be a space dinosaur ranger protecting the galaxy from evil threats such as the Robotic Empire, the Space Pirates and, worst of them all, Slime Bankers? Well, now you can!
Kosmosaurs is my action driven narrative game of space dinosaur rangers inspired by Saturday morning cartoons. It uses a minimalist game system inspired by John Harper’s Forged in the Dark and Laser and Feelings systems. It’s perfect for beginners and experts interested in flexible rules that get out of the way when the whacky action fun of space begins!
The book is also heavily illustrated by the incredible Łukasz Kowalczuk, an incredible artist from Poland, allied with the outstanding graphic design of Guilherme Gontijo.
It’s a beautiful book, with a streamlined system, and a very fun setting! Check it out!
Weird Games & Weirder People
I also recently started a podcast called Weird Games & Weirder People where I do long format interviews with creators from the tabletop RPG space about their work, their life, and all sorts of weird things like supernatural experiences, mental health, spirituality, and anything that might get and insight at who they are. I believe, by doing that, we can enjoy their work even more.
With almost 40 episodes already, the show has hosted creators from many different fields, both beginners and experts, and some of the guests include Kelsey Dionne, Chris McDowell, Yochai Gal, Michael Curtis, Adam Vass, Donn Stroud, Johan Nohr, Matt Finch, and so many more amazing people.
You can find Weird Games & Weirder People wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Wonderfully weird things you should check out
I thought I would also share some of the cool weird stuff I am digging recently. If you have something to recommend, comment below! :)
Bo Burnham - Inside
I can honestly say this comedy special has influenced the way I do game design and art in general. I got to know Bo Burhnham’s work through this musical / stand up special he wrote, produced, filmed, performed and did everything else you can imagine, during the pandemic. In a way, it’s a portrait of that time and it connected with me in many levels. Not only it is super funny, it is quite clever, has a lot of relevant social commentary, it’s really well made, the music is amazingly good, and… it’s so freaking funny. Have you heard the “Welcome to the Internet?” hit song? It’s from this special. Check it out. You won’t regret it.
The Spine of Night
This is an incredible weird fantasy adult animation released last year! Calm down! Not THAT kind of adult animation! It does features nudity, violence, drug use and such, but so does almost everything nowadays. Anyway, this is a fantastic sword and sorcery epic through the ages using a very unique animation technique in which the artist draw and create over footage. Spectacular! BTW, there’s an TTRPG made by the authors as well! Check out The Dark Glinting with Metal!
Ancient Apocalypse
This is a “docuseries” of a journalist investigating what he believes to be the remains and signs of an ancient past civilization that existed during the ice age, that had advanced technology and knowledge. It’s all probably nonsense, but it’s a type of nonsense that can really inspire your game! There’s some really curious things that even though might not really prove the existence of an ancient advanced civilization, are pretty interesting in a weirdly wonderful way.
A Collection of Improving Exercises
This is a solo game that is a fictional drawing exercise book from the 1920s with a weird narrative that is somehow developed through play, as you immerse yourself as an artist perusing this peculiar second volume of a lost set. It’s really an art book / game piece. I am itching to draw on mine but I confess I also kinda want to preserve its genius intent. Check out the other games on their page. Each one is very unique and creative. By the creators of Thousand Year Old Vampire.
The Tar Pits of Death for Primal Quest
And as a thank for everyone that got this far, here is a one-page hexcrawl adventure region for Primal Quest I drew by hand on my notebook! It has a sinister cult, a tar monster, a giant T-Rex skeleton that might get animated! Good primal fun!
That’s it my friends! I hope you enjoyed this! See you next time! Keep it weird, everybody! :)
Just used the link to download F&F! I am not even a big fan of OSE, but this looked unmissable :)
I read most of Fire and Fangs, and it is awesome! Can't wait for more!