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The Lichseed Trilogy is a connected series of high-stakes 5e adventures steeped in horror, mystery, and cosmic dread.
On this project, I worked with the excellent Yoav Niv at NiStar Entertainment handling both layout and cartography duties! Layout evoking the early 80s with 5E rules! Old and new harmonise!
There are two ways of backing the project: Kickstarter or Backerkit! Choose your weapon!
The Lichseed Trilogy is a three-part adventure series for the fifth edition of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game, compatible with both the 2014 and 2024 rulesets. Book I is already written and published. With your support, we can bring Books II and III of the Lichseed Trilogy to life!
What’s In The Box
A failed act of forbidden magic has awakened the Lichseed, a parasitic power that spreads through soil, flesh, and stone. Its corruption twists beasts into horrors, ruins into traps, and dreams into nightmares. From the first bloom to the last withered root, the fate of entire worlds now hangs in the balance.
Book One – Isle of the Sunken Mage
A wizard’s failed lichdom unleashes the Lichseed—a parasitic bloom that warps land, beast, and mind. Explore cursed ruins. Battle horrors born of the bloom. Unearth grim truths. Already published in 5e and Shadowdark!
Book Two – The Corpse in the Void
Corpse in the Void is a cosmic dark fantasy adventure set upon the drifting body of a dead god, suspended in the endless Void. Inside you’ll find background lore, DM guidance, deadly surface encounters, surreal interior zones, biomechanical horrors, corrupted dwarven survivors, alien technology, forbidden magic, and escalating psychic terror. As the second chapter in the Lichseed Trilogy, it continues the story begun in Isle of the Sunken Mage but can also be adapted as a standalone 5th Edition adventure for groups that want a strange, lethal, high-concept descent into the unknown, compatible with both the 2014 and 2024 rulesets.
Book Three – The Root Beyond Worlds
The Root Beyond Worlds is a brutal infernal break-in adventure set across a drifting floe of cursed ice, a frozen wasteland haunted by the damned, and the black pyramid of Set itself. Inside you’ll find planar hazards, deadly patrols, soul-breaking environmental effects, treacherous infiltration challenges, trapped halls, infernal guardians, Egyptian-inspired dungeon chambers, and a final struggle to shatter the soul-binding ledger at the heart of the pyramid. As the third chapter in the Lichseed Trilogy, this adventure brings the saga into Hell itself, where cunning, stealth, negotiation, and nerve matter more than brute force. It can also be adapted as a standalone 5th Edition adventure for groups that want a lethal, high-stakes descent into an alien infernal stronghold, compatible with both the 2014 and 2024 rulesets.
Monolith has just launched their latest RPG, Mythic Battles: The Roleplaying Game, following on from the great success of their Conan: The Hyborean Age RPG. It’s sitting over on Gamefound.
I had the pleasure of working with Chris ‘Shep’ Shepperson on the cartography for the project (not the battlemaps though), creating some huge poster maps of Pantheon, Nordheim and Midgard. I’m really proud of these maps and can’t wait for you to see them! I hope some future Gamefound updates will reveal the true majesty of these creations. The quickstart PDFs available in the Gamefound link above will show some of the adventure maps also.
Welcome to the Mythic Battles Roleplaying Game.
Based on the acclaimed board games, this tabletop RPG invites you to become a divine Champion fighting for survival in the ruins of broken worlds.
Two Massive Settings and Metaplots. One Lethal Engine.
The Mythicverse plunges you into a brutal, alternative timeline of the great myths, where the gods are desperate and humanity is on the brink of extinction:
Pantheon: Olympus has fallen. The devastating war between the Gods and the Titans has left Greece bleeding. As survivors cower in the ruins, a new supernatural threat emerges: the Putrescence. This mysterious, deadly rot is slowly suffocating the cosmos. Dive into the political intrigues of weakened deities and stop the Titans from corrupting what is left of the world.
Ragnarök: The prophecies lied. The Fimbulwinter is endless and the sun is dying. The Bifrost has been destroyed, isolating Midgard and freezing the war in a bitter stalemate. As the dark Sattmala Coven awakens and the followers of Surt and Fenrir seek to break the Titans’ chains, you stand as the last beacon of hope in a frozen land plunged into shadow.
Powered by a highly tactical, player-facing system where the GM never rolls, you must manage your vital resources and survive the brutal death spiral to forge your legend.
Fully written, beautifully illustrated, and shipping in less than a year.
The Ryecroft Kickstarter is into the last few days of the campaign and it’s not too late to pledge. We are already funded and have pulled out all the stops to get this product printed and out to backers as soon as humanly possible.
For our loyal US customers: We don’t produce books in China, so you don’t need to worry about getting stung on high tariffs. At time of writing, there is no tariff impact on fulfilment.
Please feel free to share!
Ryecroft: A Dangerous Cemetery Crawl for OSE and B/X TTRPGs
A dangerous cemetery crawl location for Old School Essentials (OSE) and B/X retroclones. Suitable but challenging for Levels 1 and above. We promise there aren’t a lot of undead!!
Ever since the plague and consequent razing of the abbey over one hundred and eighty years ago, Ryecroft has been left to its fate. An overgrown and unearthly place, most that have heard of it, do their best to avoid it. Some say that the dead roam its memorial strewn grounds, but the knowledgeable believe otherwise…Before her savage death, the old abbess swore that the dead would never rise within its boundaries, and she was mostly right. It is not the dead that trespassers should fear. It is the things below…
Main Book: An A5-sized hardcover, 224 pages, 120 gsm uncoated interior, smythsewn binding, black ribbon, black endpapers, containing 224 interior pages. Containing:
A timeline of events.
The detailed village of Woodchurch Eaton from which your PCs can make forays into the cemetery and recuperate.
Adventure hooks table.
Handling movement around the overgrown cemetery and random wandering monsters.
Desecration and atonement rules for disturbing burials.
Collectable items: Blueglass shards, Bones of the Saint, and Tombs of the Lost Crescent items.
Factions within the cemetery: Woodlings, maggotkin, wormkin, the old abbess, and the golems.
Notes on Gamemastering the cemetery.
34 detailed above ground locations.
133 detailed below ground locations.
27 brand new bestiary creatures.
5 new magic items and 1 new spell.
3 bestial playable race-classes: Grubkin, Protector Lice, and Wormancers.
12 tables for generating memorials.
Collectables Record Booklet: An A5-sized softcover, 8 pages, 120 gsm uncoated interior, stapled binding, matt laminated softcover.
Memorials Record Booklet: An A5-sized softcover, 8 pages, 120 gsm uncoated interior, stapled binding, matt laminated softcover.
Maps: Folded to A5. Printed full colour both sides. 150gsm uncoated paper stock.
Referees Map: Detailing the above and below ground locations for the referee.
Players Map: Detailing the above ground map for the players, as well as the village of Woodchurch Eaton and some cool mood artwork.
Card Deck & GM Screen Inserts: Level 3 Reward Tier backers will also get access to ‘at cost’ coupons for the following print-on-demand items:
120-card Memorial Card Deck (Premium US Poker-sized cards)
11-page Portrait GM Screen Inserts (Premium 8.5 x 11” cards)
We just wanted to let you know that we have a new Kickstarter campaign now running which might interest you.
Please feel free to share!
Ryecroft: A Dangerous Cemetery Crawl for OSE and B/X TTRPGs
A dangerous cemetery crawl location for Old School Essentials (OSE) and B/X retroclones. Suitable but challenging for Levels 1 and above. We promise there aren’t a lot of undead!!
Now LIVE! on Kickstarter.
Ever since the plague and consequent razing of the abbey over one hundred and eighty years ago, Ryecroft has been left to its fate. An overgrown and unearthly place, most that have heard of it, do their best to avoid it. Some say that the dead roam its memorial strewn grounds, but the knowledgeable believe otherwise…Before her savage death, the old abbess swore that the dead would never rise within its boundaries, and she was mostly right. It is not the dead that trespassers should fear. It is the things below…
Main Book: An A5-sized hardcover, 224 pages, 120 gsm uncoated interior, smythsewn binding, black ribbon, black endpapers, containing 224 interior pages. Containing:
A timeline of events.
The detailed village of Woodchurch Eaton from which your PCs can make forays into the cemetery and recuperate.
Adventure hooks table.
Handling movement around the overgrown cemetery and random wandering monsters.
Desecration and atonement rules for disturbing burials.
Collectable items: Blueglass shards, Bones of the Saint, and Tombs of the Lost Crescent items.
Factions within the cemetery: Woodlings, maggotkin, wormkin, the old abbess, and the golems.
Notes on Gamemastering the cemetery.
34 detailed above ground locations.
133 detailed below ground locations.
27 brand new bestiary creatures.
5 new magic items and 1 new spell.
3 bestial playable race-classes: Grubkin, Protector Lice, and Wormancers.
12 tables for generating memorials.
Collectables Record Booklet: An A5-sized softcover, 8 pages, 120 gsm uncoated interior, stapled binding, matt laminated softcover.
Memorials Record Booklet: An A5-sized softcover, 8 pages, 120 gsm uncoated interior, stapled binding, matt laminated softcover.
Maps: Folded to A5. Printed full colour both sides. 150gsm uncoated paper stock.
Referees Map: Detailing the above and below ground locations for the referee.
Players Map: Detailing the above ground map for the players, as well as the village of Woodchurch Eaton and some cool mood artwork.
Card Deck & GM Screen Inserts: Level 3 Reward Tier backers will also get access to ‘at cost’ coupons for the following print-on-demand items:
120-card Memorial Card Deck (Premium US Poker-sized cards)
11-page Portrait GM Screen Inserts (Premium 8.5 x 11” cards)
On Friday 28th of this month, we finally launch Ryecroft, a dangerous cemetery crawl location for Old School Essentials. It’ll run in most B/X systems easily and nicely in Swords & Wizardry.
A dangerous cemetery crawl location for Old School Essentials (OSE) and B/X retroclones. Suitable for Levels 1 and above.
Ever since the plague and consequent razing of the abbey over one hundred and eighty years ago, Ryecroft has been left to its fate. An overgrown and unearthly place, most that have heard of it, do their best to avoid it. Some say that the dead roam its memorial strewn grounds, but the knowledgeable believe otherwise… Before her savage death, the old abbess swore that the dead would never rise within its boundaries, and she was mostly right. It is not the dead that trespassers should fear. It is the things below…
We avoided most of the undead tropes and for the most part, undead don’t really play a part. Also, there’s no AI involved in the project either.
You can get…
A 224-page smythsewn A5 hardback
Two A5 softcover booklets for tracking collectables, and recording memorials
Two A2 posters (folded to A5), one for players and one for referees.
In addition, there will be an option for grabbing a deck of memorial cards and also some GM screen inserts (to make the Referee’s life a little easier at the table).
There will be three pledge tiers:
(£15) Level 1: Digital files
(£40) Level 2: Physical rewards and digital files
(£50) Level 3: Physical rewards and digital files, as well as the option to get the cards and GM screen inserts
I’ve been working on this project over the years, but life kept getting in front of it. The pandemic, moving house, lots of freelancing, etc. It was close but needed a push over the line and NOW, the Kickstarter prelaunch is finally up.
With an expected lanuch of January 2025, this should finally get MonkeyBlood Design back to doing what it does best…. creating great and memorable products. Bring it on! This is a cemetery like no other!
Click any of the images to take you to the Kickstarter prelaunch page and get notified when it goes live!
I’ve had the pleasure to provide the artwork for 76 unique items for the Encyclopaedia of Incredible Artefacts. Two volumes of incredible magic weapons, armour, items, and trinkets, usable in any 5E setting!
Presented in two volumes, the Encyclopaedia of Incredible Artefacts is designed to be a tome of legendary magical items for use in any 5E fantasy setting. These items are created so as to be befitting of a campaign’s ‘big bad’ or a fitting reward for the most deserving of heroes. Rather than simply providing a table of stats and rules, these books provide a rich and detailed look into the heritage, background, and journey of these items. Each item is presented alongside beautifully crafted fiction telling that item’s journey through time. Though each of these stories take their own twists and turns, each is designed to inspire Dungeon Masters/Game Masters to find ways in which to include these incredible artefacts in their games. Need a valuable treasure for your party to stumble over? Take your pick. Need a cursed blade for the campaign’s big threat to wield? The following pages have you covered. Want something that gives high risk for high reward? Pick something that poses the risk of possession and see how the character handles the presence of a dark entity! Whatever you need, the Encyclopaedia of Incredible Artefacts seeks to inspire!
I just wanted to let you all know that there are two new books added to the webstore. Now, whilst they are on the MonkeyBlood webstore, they are linked to the respective websites of other publishers, who contracted me to create books for them, so here they are:
The Midderlands for 5E (Necromancer Games/Frog God Games)
This project was successfully completed a little while back, but I have been very remiss in not blogging about it. The good folks over at Necromnacer Games/Frog God Games contracted me to work on a 5E version of The Midderlands book. Edwin Nagy handled the 5E conversion on behalf of the Frogs, and I handled the new colour artwork/cartography, and layout.
It’s a beautiful book and I am so pleased with how it came out. You can also get a really swanky cloth/foil Limited edition if you are quick (read the webstore product entry to find link).
Limited Edition Front Cover
Limited Edition Spine
Limited Edition RearCover
Staffortonshire Trading Company Works of John Williams, The (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Back in 2017, James Raggi commisisoned me to create a 128 page ‘map book’. I spent the next 13 months of evenings and weekends (I was working full time doing something completely different) researching and drawing 17th century plans, strutcures, buildings, ships, etc. Things happened in between and final release dates faltered along the way, but now it lives! I completed all artwork, writing and layout for the project and it’s come out lovely.
So, why not check them out and head over to the prospective webstores and pick them up. You won’t be disappointed!!
I’ve been a little lax on the blog posts lately, as I’ve been soooo busy. Mainly with the Bats of Saint Abbans Kickstarter fulfilment, and some work on GATEpunk v0.7. I’ve even commissioned the cover artist as well as some character/race/profession artwork, as well as some playtesting and rules work/updates. It’s going well and hope that the project will be a handy A5 hardback book and some character/reference sheets. Maybe a 100-page count or something like that in the end.
Anyway, I also wanted to do some shout-outs for some projects I’ve got a hand in, or really like the look of (especially with ZineQuest in full swing). So, here we go:
The Midderlands 5E
The PDF of this is now available over on DrivThruRPG via Frog God Games. The physicals will be cominhg soon once backers get their meat 😛
I love how the 5E version looks. I believe it’s my best art, layout and cartography work to date. Even if you have the OSR version, it’s worth picking up for the new map as well as the glorious green juicyness of it all.
Cruel attacks by strange dwarves in the Ilorin wood have disturbed the peace of Withgan village. Many fearful and angry people blame their dwarven neighbors, who profess innocence but proudly prepare to defend themselves. The faithful few of Withgan explore the perilous forest, uncover its mysteries, and restore security and trust to their home. These brave adventurers are up against more than ordinary bandits, but rather an ancient and fearsome people. Fantastical creatures, powerful magic, and fabulous treasures await discovery, as well as gruesome death for the unlucky and unwary.
Andrew Sternick
This is a great DCC adventure by Andrew Sternick, which will be up at Goodman Games soon. I did some interior map artwork. If you can’t wait until then… grab it at DriveThru here:
An EVEN NEWER Tentacle and Sorcery zine for the DCC RPG #ZineQuest (we’re back)
“It’s terrifying to know that everyone you meet, and every city you visit, will or has already fallen to the Bat whether or not you realize it. Sky-Lasher the Everlasting, Trident of the Sun goes to great lengths to make sure the walls fall as it approaches, as it drinks of humanity’s riches. Pay attention, if you see these things.. The Bat is on its way.” — The Infinite Reach of the Bat God.
Sean Richer
ALREADY FUNDED! The awesome Sean is back with another installment of the wonderful Stratosfiend series. I’m thrilled to be handling layout duties.
Karth is a tiny mesa studded moon on the galaxy’s edge. The only way down is an antique space elevator to the lawless boomtown of Larstown; a place surrounded by even greater danger and strangeness in the wastes beyond. Survival or salvation is not guaranteed, partner.
Harvest ossified coral corpses to live forever. Become an involuntary organ donor. Dodge ancient orbital defenses. Explore sand blown ruins. Hunt the fearsome sandsquid. Ride camels through the dunes. Drink whisky until you’ve forgotten your own name.
Karth’s inspirations include Dune, Firefly, Alien, John Carter of Mars, Cowboy Bebop, The Dark Tower, spaghetti westerns, and modern adventures like Hot Springs Island, A Pound of Flesh, Ultraviolet Grasslands, and Slumbering Ursine Dunes.
You’ll find plenty to use for your other sci-fi RPG of choice like Stars Without Number, Traveler, or Starfinder with a touch of back alley stat surgery.
Joel Hines
ALREADY FUNDED! Joel Hines is making a wonderful setting for Mothership. Check it out here. I’ve worked on some maps for this project and cannot wait to see it in the flesh!
A cyberpunk roleplaying game of corporate violence, artificial intelligence and vampirism. Welcome to 2119.
Towards the end of the 21st century, the third world war, which became known as the Resource War, pushed mankind to the brink of destruction and brought ruin to the Earth’s atmosphere. Small pockets of humanity survived this horrific conflict, eventually forming the eleven metropolises. Initially, these incredible urban constructs were able to grow and prosper through advancements in atmospheric processing and technological innovation, but now cut off from each other, the eleven metropolises must each face their own difficulties and hardships. The Gaia Complex focuses on the largest of these locations; New Europe, a single sprawling city that covers much of what we currently know as mainland Europe. New Europe is a world of street violence, corporate espionage, vampiric uprisings and an overzealous A.I., known as Gaia, which functions as the city’s governor and the protector of its citizens.
This is a game of conspiracy and brutality, where players take on the roles of Mercs; former police officers, hackers and street-savvy dealers who are hired to fight back against the system and ultimately unravel the secrets of The Gaia Complex.
Chris Shepperson
ALREADY FUNDED! Chris has made what looks like a stunning product here, the art is sumptuous. Check it out here. I’ve worked on some maps for this project too. Cannot wait!
Nagara is old, the city is dying, and you are the only one who can ward off the Doom.
City of Flesh is a tarot-based roleplay game where you play one of the Midwives, a person imbued with primordial energy, tasked with staving off the end of the world as you know it. Together with your fellow players and GM, you create the city of Nagara and its unique locations using a tarot deck. Each session your characters inch ever closer to a Doom they’re working tirelessly to prevent, but must inevitably face as the chronicle ends.
The game has the dark horror feeling of a dungeon crawl, while focusing on mechanics that drive in-game drama and push personal stories. You’ll get embroiled in the various wars raging between guilds in the city and try to secure a bit of personal peace, before all your efforts crumble around you. You’ll strive to survive in a city that is literally trying to eat you, and siphon off its power to keep the ones you love safe.
City of Flesh takes inspiration from grimdark fantasy combining it with a feminine aesthetic to create an immersive gore-splattered roleplay experience where you delve into the dreams of a sleeping colossus and tear through fleshy reality to make your own fate.
Steffie & Liz
Im not involved in this project, but have worked with Liz on a couple of projects in the past and Angry Hamster Publishing is on my ‘must buy’ list.
Lady Ingrade cared for her land and the people who tended to it. But there was always darkness about her. She would provide comfort to a grieving mother one moment and then in the next, demand a farmer be given lashes for having too many rocks on his field.
As she grew older her perceptions of the world darkened to paranoia. Lady Ingrade obsessed about the adventurers that rode across the countryside unhindered. Grave robbers, all of them. That’s when the crypt construction began.
Lady Ingrade feared a filthy group of adventurers would violate her in death. She compulsively built crypts to lure in tomb raiders and dispatch them with deadly traps and creatures.
Upon her death, the wealth she accumulated was not found. Presumed to be dispersed throughout her many crypts or hidden within her true, final resting place. No one is sure what’s within the crypts. Those that enter, do not return.
Tim Shorts
I’m not involved in this project, but I love Tim 😛
We have unlocked 2 Stretch Goals already for the Special Edition Print pledge, with the 3rd being very close and sure to be unlocked in the closing days. We might even get all 5, which will make this a bargain! Please don’t miss this opportunity to grab it all at a snip.
This is what all the unlocked goals will look like for the Special Edition Print pledge reward (posters and bookmarks are shown with reverse sides also)!
What Is It?
The Bats of Saint Abbans is an old-school adventure written by Richard Marpole and intended for The Midderlands setting suitable for Levels 1 to 3. The adventure is written for Swords & Wizardry and therefore can be used in all retro-clones and old school role-playing games with little or no work. The book may contain occasional swear words and mature themes.
The once-respected Abbey-Cathedral of Saint Abbans has stood at the top of Wellholy Hill for centuries.
Revenue is scarce and the abbey is falling into disrepair. To make matters worse, church bats have now infested the upper reaches of the building. They are causing a dangerous nuisance and further damaging the precarious structure.
Abbess Jessamine is looking for brave souls without fear of heights to ascend the cavernous cathedral and bring the problem under control.
Maybe, just maybe, that’s you?
The adventure contains:
Details about the town of Saint Abbans, some of its useful NPCs, the Abbess and the monks that reside at the abbey-cathedral.
A random generator for creating additional abbey monks.
Adventure Flow and NPC Relationship charts.
Details of the abbey locations.
4x Handouts, 15x pages worth of maps.
Appendices of Ecclesiastical Time and all the encounters that could happen during those times.
New class, spells, and items. 8 New creatures, including a Church Bat Generator.
NPC and Creature quick reference tables, NPC Gallery.
