Project update - Feb.25

As often happens, I’ve been neglectful—my last project update was back in November! I can barely remember what I’ve done since then, which just proves that I need to be more disciplined in keeping track of things. Age is working against me, and the gaps in time are getting bigger and darker.

Anyway, over the past few months, I’ve released the VI·VIII·X comic titled The Secrets of La Roque. It’s a very old story, but it fits perfectly with the goals I set for the VI·VIII·X KUP RPG project. I made it available as PWYW on DriveThruRPG, so anyone interested can grab it for free… or leave a small tip! On that note, I want to thank all the generous folks (I think some of you are from here!) who chipped in! Your support will greatly help the project (because self-publishing isn’t cheap…).

On the development side, I’ve revised the VI·VIII·X Core Rules—this is the first step toward making the system even lighter and easier for GMs to handle. The initial revision was straightforward, as I just cut the unnecessary parts… but my challenge is that I naturally lean toward crunchy rules and struggle with ultra-light systems. I’m planning to write a post about this to discuss different RPG design philosophies and how they fit into the market. Regarding the rule revision, I aim to further refine it, with the ultimate goal of halving the number of pages in the core rules. This is part of the VI·VIII·X Hackssential sub-project, but I don’t have a clear release date yet because I’m still figuring out exactly what I want from this revision!

I also wrote a Christmas-themed adventure (finished it in November, but no time to publish—luckily, Christmas comes every year!). It’s called Slumberdusk Eve’s Rave (I even found the perfect cover, see below), and I had the chance to playtest it. I was surprised because I estimated it would take three or four game sessions… but it’s still ongoing! My beloved players, who are also great friends, are engaging deeply with the story, and they’re only about halfway through… and it isn’t a mega-dungeon! If anyone wants to try the adventure, you’re more than welcome! The text is, as always, easy to adapt to OSR games or even D&D (any edition!). Just comment below or message me privately, and I’ll be happy to send you the playtest module.

This brings me to another topic for all my readers: since there aren’t many active VI·VIII·X KUP RPG players, and I’d love for more people to try my adventures, I was thinking—maybe an OSR expert could help convert them for compatibility with more widely played systems. If anyone is interested in taking on this task, feel free to message me here or in chat!

On the adventure front, I’ve completed my draft for the Death by Dungeon community project launched by

Thog's Table

. I hope it meets expectations—let’s see what Thog thinks—if he doesn’t reply, it means my draft knocked him out… Additionally, I’ve started writing two new adventures: one is about 50% done, while the other is still in the early stages. The first one has a solid plot, but I need time to finish it—its title is Promenade Macabre. I plan to release them in the summer, but as always, I’m in no rush since I have plenty to wrap up. I also have a third adventure in mind, based on

Ian Dunmore

’s fantastic short story The Ghost’s Theatre (huge kudos to Ian for letting me turn it into an adventure!).

Finally, I’m (slowly) publishing posts about the VI·VIII·X setting in the Where to Play a KUP Game series. The biggest challenge is organizing all the fragmented notes and presenting the world-building in a logical, coherent way. Alongside the setting material, I’ve also revisited the Cosmogony, a manual that isn’t directly useful for players but is essential for understanding the deeper purpose of my work. I don’t have a set release date for either of these because I’m still drowning in content. But I encourage everyone to follow the Where to Play a KUP Game posts!

Despite having so much on my plate, I’d like to wrap up by mentioning two sub-projects I’ve been thinking about. These ideas came from reading the many insightful posts shared here—so thank you all for the inspiration! I hope to bring these projects to life (in the distant future), but for now… they remain top secret!