Sean's Picks of the Week (1016-1020) - Monical Valentinelli Week!
This week, I chose another great writer and creator to spotlight, this time the incomparable Monica Valentinelli. Writer, designer, editor, line developer, and advocate for inclusivity and the creation of art across multiple media, Monica is a friend and an inspiration to me. She's also a lot of fun to hang out with, and enhances the entire hobby with all she does.
MAKE ART NOT WAR CHALLENGE
Welcome to Monica Valentinelli Week here at the SPOD! Monica has a very prolific and storied career in both gaming and fiction, and she’s one of my favorite people in the world, to boot. An advocate for inclusivity, the power of art, and just being excellent to each other, Monica brings style and substance in equal measure to everything she does.
This is one of her most recent releases, an extraordinary collection of materials and ideas stemming from her grand Make Art Not War Challenge project. This is highly relevant to gamers (she is one, of course), because anything we do at the table is readily identifiable as art in its own right. Game Masters and aspiring writers and designers will find extra value in this work, trust me.
Why take the Make Art Not War Challenge?
When times are tough, the feeling that artists are not necessary tends to permeate. Art is viewed as frivolous or a luxury since we don’t produce food, clothing, or housing. The exact opposite is true, however, because in charged political climates artists document and represent our humanity and all our struggles be they violent or peaceful for present day and future generations. Often, propaganda posters, victory songs, and other forms of art are specifically commissioned as well. Art is omnipresent, it is always political, and the choices we make affect our audiences and everyone around us.
For some artists, making art is an act of resistance; for others, making art is a way of life and a career. Even if your goal is to avoid politics altogether, remember that people turn to stories, games, and comics to find hope, to be inspired, to reach inside themselves and discover their own courage. Those emotions, even if they provide a temporary reprieve from whatever they’re facing, are powerful motivators to live and fight another day.
This eBook includes:
* Customizable Make Art Not War Challenge Rules
* Essays to help empower artists and deal with blockages
* 31 Creative Prompts to unlock an artist’s creativity
Monica Valentinelli, author and game developer, created this challenge to help encourage artists and writers to tap into their voice and tell their stories. While she is best known for her work related to the Firefly TV by Joss Whedon, she has worked with dozens of publishers including Apex Book Company, Pelgrane Press, Prime Books, Titan Books, Onyx Path Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, and many others.
Remember, one story can change someone’s life. The problem is, we have no idea which story that will be, when it will be told, or in what medium. It’s up to us to find it — by making art!
12 TO MIDNIGHT: BURIED TALES OF PINEBOX
In celebrating Monica Valentinelli Week, we must take a look at the wonderful fiction she’s written for various RPG universes. Pinnacle’s most excellent Pinebox/East Texas University setting – modern-day Texas in a world where things go more than bump in the night – is rich with exceptional storytelling potential. Monica is one of the many great voices in this collection of tales from a place where the Friday Night Lights meet Saturday Night Frights.
People often say that there are no such things as monsters. They are wrong. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other unnamable horrors co-exist with us. Watching us. Using us. Preying upon us.
Welcome to Pinebox, a sleepy little East Texas town with a lot more than its share of trouble. Whether it’s the haunted diner luring weary travelers, the unexplained ‘alligator attacks”, or the crone who just might be hexing neighborhood kids, trouble always seems to be hidden just below the surface. Buried, but not forgotten.
Join Editor Matt M. McElroy and unearth these tales of rural horror from a dozen voices of the macabre:
ECLIPSE PHASE: RIMWARD
We continue our celebration of Monica Valentinelli Week with this gem from the Eclipse Phase line of games. Once again, she adds her extraordinary talents to an all-star cast, this time writing about “the edge of the Solar System” in this exploration of what it means to be human beyond humanity in the far-flung future. As is seen in so much of her work, Monical has a gift for science-fiction.
Rimward brings you to the edge of the solar system, including: The Main Belt, Jovian Republic, Jovian Trojans, Saturn, The Titanian Commonwealth, Uranus and the Ultimates, Neptune, The Kuiper Belt, The Autonomist Alliance, New Morphs and Gear.
Rimward is a 200-page PDF (with layers, a hyperlinked table of contents, a hyperlinked index, and internal hyperlinks) and is Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) licensed.
If you want 150DPI pieces of artwork from the book, and other extras, please check out the Rimward Hack Pack or the Rimward PDF + Hack Pack Bundle!
Also, please be sure to tick the box that allows us to send you notices about updates — that way, when we make corrections, you’ll get notified about it right away!
Eclipse Phase Second Edition Compatibility:
This title that was released for the First Edition of Eclipse Phase. It contains mostly setting material that is compatible with the upcoming Eclipse Phase Second Edition, but some material will need to be converted to use with it: morphs, gear, and other rules provided in their Game Information sections may be outdated, but are easily convertible. Any sample characters will also need to be converted.
Eclipse Phase Second Edition Compatibility:
This adventure was released for the First Edition of Eclipse Phase, and contains stat blocks and other rules notes. It is compatible with Eclipse Phase Second Edition as long as you’re willing to convert those stats!
CONAN: ADVENTURES IN AN AGE UNDREAMED OF
It’s pretty clear when you’re putting together an all-star cast of creators, Monica Valentinelli should be on your Short List. Chris Birch of Modiphius obviously thought so when he was lining up talent for his run at the Conan mythos, and here’s the core launch featuring her excellent contributions. Monica Valentinelli Week continues!
WELCOME TO THE HYBORIAN AGE!
KNOW, O PRINCE, THAT BETWEEN THE YEARS WHEN THE OCEANS DRANK ATLANTIS AND THE GLEAMING CITIES, AND THE YEARS OF THE RISE OF THE SONS OF ARYAS, THERE WAS AN AGE UNDREAMED OF, WHEN SHINING KINGDOMS LAY SPREAD ACROSS THE WORLD LIKE BLUE MANTLES BENEATH THE STARS…
Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of takes you into the world of Conan the Barbarian, where heroes raise blood-spattered swords against dire sorcery, exotic lands beckon to the daring, danger and treasure lurks in forgotten ruins, and where loathsome creatures haunt the spaces beneath the earth… as well as in the throne-rooms of mighty kingdoms!
Seek your fortune in forbidden tombs or upon blood-soaked battlefields. Cast dark and terrible spells of unimaginable power, at the price of your soul. Sail upon untamed seas to lands where no human in living memory has walked. Fight for the fate of civilization — or barbarism — on a savage frontier!
DON'T READ THIS BOOK
We close out Monica Valentinelli Week with another fiction offering from not only her, but a host of some of the greatest writers in our hobby’s firmament. Edited by the irrepressible Chuck Wendig and also featuring tales of sleepless madness from Rich Dansky, Matt Forbeck, Laura Anne Gilman, Will Hindmarch, Mur Lafferty, Robin D. Laws, and Greg Stolze, this is a perfect Pick for the days running up to All Hallow’s Eve.
Down a lonely alleyway, under a starless sky, lies a city that never was, yet is: the Mad City, where nightmares walk the streets, and a good night’s sleep can get you killed.
Here, then, is a book from that place. Within these recovered pages are the tales of the Awake, insomniacs who’ve walked those perilous streets, bringing a bit of the power of dream with them to fight back the night—always at a terrible cost.
For many, it will not end well. For a few, they might just become heroes—or at least find their way back home.
For you, a choice. Turn away. Don’t read this book. And maybe you’ll continue to rest easy. Or open the cover and enter a world unlike any you’ve ever dared to imagine…
Edited by Chuck Wendig and featuring the stories of…
-----
As October wraps the cooler weather around us here in Denver, I am planning one more trip into the Rocky Mountains ere it becomes impossible. That's tomorrow.
Tonight, it's the Storm Wardens against the forces of the Iron Tyrant, who has come for what is his, or at least vengeance for having lost it, in another Prowlers & Paragons: Ultimate Edition session.
Same system, different campaign on Sunday as Ed Doolittle runs another great session of his Epic Age campaign.
As always, I hope you have great gaming and great experiences ahead...
The Adventure Continues!
Note that I use affiliate links in all my posts as a way to generate additional revenue for my efforts; I make my Picks and other article choices, however, based on the desire to share a wide variety of things with you. Thank you for your support.
Sean Patrick Fannon
Writer & Game Designer: Shaintar, Star Wars, Savage Rifts, much more
Please check out my Patreon and get involved directly with my next projects!
This week, I chose another great writer and creator to spotlight, this time the incomparable Monica Valentinelli. Writer, designer, editor, line developer, and advocate for inclusivity and the creation of art across multiple media, Monica is a friend and an inspiration to me. She's also a lot of fun to hang out with, and enhances the entire hobby with all she does.
MAKE ART NOT WAR CHALLENGE
Welcome to Monica Valentinelli Week here at the SPOD! Monica has a very prolific and storied career in both gaming and fiction, and she’s one of my favorite people in the world, to boot. An advocate for inclusivity, the power of art, and just being excellent to each other, Monica brings style and substance in equal measure to everything she does.
This is one of her most recent releases, an extraordinary collection of materials and ideas stemming from her grand Make Art Not War Challenge project. This is highly relevant to gamers (she is one, of course), because anything we do at the table is readily identifiable as art in its own right. Game Masters and aspiring writers and designers will find extra value in this work, trust me.
Why take the Make Art Not War Challenge?
When times are tough, the feeling that artists are not necessary tends to permeate. Art is viewed as frivolous or a luxury since we don’t produce food, clothing, or housing. The exact opposite is true, however, because in charged political climates artists document and represent our humanity and all our struggles be they violent or peaceful for present day and future generations. Often, propaganda posters, victory songs, and other forms of art are specifically commissioned as well. Art is omnipresent, it is always political, and the choices we make affect our audiences and everyone around us.
For some artists, making art is an act of resistance; for others, making art is a way of life and a career. Even if your goal is to avoid politics altogether, remember that people turn to stories, games, and comics to find hope, to be inspired, to reach inside themselves and discover their own courage. Those emotions, even if they provide a temporary reprieve from whatever they’re facing, are powerful motivators to live and fight another day.
This eBook includes:
* Customizable Make Art Not War Challenge Rules
* Essays to help empower artists and deal with blockages
* 31 Creative Prompts to unlock an artist’s creativity
Monica Valentinelli, author and game developer, created this challenge to help encourage artists and writers to tap into their voice and tell their stories. While she is best known for her work related to the Firefly TV by Joss Whedon, she has worked with dozens of publishers including Apex Book Company, Pelgrane Press, Prime Books, Titan Books, Onyx Path Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, and many others.
Remember, one story can change someone’s life. The problem is, we have no idea which story that will be, when it will be told, or in what medium. It’s up to us to find it — by making art!
12 TO MIDNIGHT: BURIED TALES OF PINEBOX
In celebrating Monica Valentinelli Week, we must take a look at the wonderful fiction she’s written for various RPG universes. Pinnacle’s most excellent Pinebox/East Texas University setting – modern-day Texas in a world where things go more than bump in the night – is rich with exceptional storytelling potential. Monica is one of the many great voices in this collection of tales from a place where the Friday Night Lights meet Saturday Night Frights.
People often say that there are no such things as monsters. They are wrong. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other unnamable horrors co-exist with us. Watching us. Using us. Preying upon us.
Welcome to Pinebox, a sleepy little East Texas town with a lot more than its share of trouble. Whether it’s the haunted diner luring weary travelers, the unexplained ‘alligator attacks”, or the crone who just might be hexing neighborhood kids, trouble always seems to be hidden just below the surface. Buried, but not forgotten.
Join Editor Matt M. McElroy and unearth these tales of rural horror from a dozen voices of the macabre:
- Jason L Blair
- Preston P. DuBose
- Trey Gorden
- Derek Gunn
- Jess Hartley
- Shane Lacy Hensley
- Charles Rice
- Monica Valentinelli
- David Wellington
- Ed Wetterman
- J.D. Wiker
- Filamena Young
ECLIPSE PHASE: RIMWARD
We continue our celebration of Monica Valentinelli Week with this gem from the Eclipse Phase line of games. Once again, she adds her extraordinary talents to an all-star cast, this time writing about “the edge of the Solar System” in this exploration of what it means to be human beyond humanity in the far-flung future. As is seen in so much of her work, Monical has a gift for science-fiction.
Rimward brings you to the edge of the solar system, including: The Main Belt, Jovian Republic, Jovian Trojans, Saturn, The Titanian Commonwealth, Uranus and the Ultimates, Neptune, The Kuiper Belt, The Autonomist Alliance, New Morphs and Gear.
Rimward is a 200-page PDF (with layers, a hyperlinked table of contents, a hyperlinked index, and internal hyperlinks) and is Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) licensed.
If you want 150DPI pieces of artwork from the book, and other extras, please check out the Rimward Hack Pack or the Rimward PDF + Hack Pack Bundle!
Also, please be sure to tick the box that allows us to send you notices about updates — that way, when we make corrections, you’ll get notified about it right away!
Eclipse Phase Second Edition Compatibility:
This title that was released for the First Edition of Eclipse Phase. It contains mostly setting material that is compatible with the upcoming Eclipse Phase Second Edition, but some material will need to be converted to use with it: morphs, gear, and other rules provided in their Game Information sections may be outdated, but are easily convertible. Any sample characters will also need to be converted.
Eclipse Phase Second Edition Compatibility:
This adventure was released for the First Edition of Eclipse Phase, and contains stat blocks and other rules notes. It is compatible with Eclipse Phase Second Edition as long as you’re willing to convert those stats!
CONAN: ADVENTURES IN AN AGE UNDREAMED OF
It’s pretty clear when you’re putting together an all-star cast of creators, Monica Valentinelli should be on your Short List. Chris Birch of Modiphius obviously thought so when he was lining up talent for his run at the Conan mythos, and here’s the core launch featuring her excellent contributions. Monica Valentinelli Week continues!
WELCOME TO THE HYBORIAN AGE!
KNOW, O PRINCE, THAT BETWEEN THE YEARS WHEN THE OCEANS DRANK ATLANTIS AND THE GLEAMING CITIES, AND THE YEARS OF THE RISE OF THE SONS OF ARYAS, THERE WAS AN AGE UNDREAMED OF, WHEN SHINING KINGDOMS LAY SPREAD ACROSS THE WORLD LIKE BLUE MANTLES BENEATH THE STARS…
Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of takes you into the world of Conan the Barbarian, where heroes raise blood-spattered swords against dire sorcery, exotic lands beckon to the daring, danger and treasure lurks in forgotten ruins, and where loathsome creatures haunt the spaces beneath the earth… as well as in the throne-rooms of mighty kingdoms!
Seek your fortune in forbidden tombs or upon blood-soaked battlefields. Cast dark and terrible spells of unimaginable power, at the price of your soul. Sail upon untamed seas to lands where no human in living memory has walked. Fight for the fate of civilization — or barbarism — on a savage frontier!
- Create your own legend in this decadent and violent world.
- Complete 2d20 game system, including combat, skills, talents, sorcery, and equipment suitable for adventuring in the age before history.
- An extensive gazetteer covering the whole of Conan’s world: featuring fair Aquilonia, gloomy Cimmeria, magic-haunted Stygia, all the way to the far-off steaming jungles of Khitai.
- Extensive guidelines for running scenarios and campaigns in the Hyborian Age, allowing gamemasters to create suitably Howardian adventures.
- Fearsome foes, ranging from bandits to sorcerers, apes to giant serpents, Children of Set to frost giants, forest devils, and characters of renown such as Conan or his most deadly foe, Thoth-Amon.
- Art a team of iconic Conan artists, including Tim Truman, Simon Bisley, Esteban Sanjulian, Maroto, Mark Schultz, Tomás Giorello, and more.
- Developed in close consultation with award-winning Conan scholars, this is the most authentic depiction of Conan and his world ever published for games.
DON'T READ THIS BOOK
We close out Monica Valentinelli Week with another fiction offering from not only her, but a host of some of the greatest writers in our hobby’s firmament. Edited by the irrepressible Chuck Wendig and also featuring tales of sleepless madness from Rich Dansky, Matt Forbeck, Laura Anne Gilman, Will Hindmarch, Mur Lafferty, Robin D. Laws, and Greg Stolze, this is a perfect Pick for the days running up to All Hallow’s Eve.
Down a lonely alleyway, under a starless sky, lies a city that never was, yet is: the Mad City, where nightmares walk the streets, and a good night’s sleep can get you killed.
Here, then, is a book from that place. Within these recovered pages are the tales of the Awake, insomniacs who’ve walked those perilous streets, bringing a bit of the power of dream with them to fight back the night—always at a terrible cost.
For many, it will not end well. For a few, they might just become heroes—or at least find their way back home.
For you, a choice. Turn away. Don’t read this book. And maybe you’ll continue to rest easy. Or open the cover and enter a world unlike any you’ve ever dared to imagine…
Edited by Chuck Wendig and featuring the stories of…
- Stephen Blackmoore
- Harry Connolly
- Rich Dansky
- Matt Forbeck
- Laura Anne Gilman
- Will Hindmarch
- Mur Lafferty
- Robin D. Laws
- Ryan Macklin
- C. E. Murphy
- Josh Roby
- Greg Stolze
- Monica Valentinelli
-----
As October wraps the cooler weather around us here in Denver, I am planning one more trip into the Rocky Mountains ere it becomes impossible. That's tomorrow.
Tonight, it's the Storm Wardens against the forces of the Iron Tyrant, who has come for what is his, or at least vengeance for having lost it, in another Prowlers & Paragons: Ultimate Edition session.
Same system, different campaign on Sunday as Ed Doolittle runs another great session of his Epic Age campaign.
As always, I hope you have great gaming and great experiences ahead...
The Adventure Continues!
Note that I use affiliate links in all my posts as a way to generate additional revenue for my efforts; I make my Picks and other article choices, however, based on the desire to share a wide variety of things with you. Thank you for your support.
Sean Patrick Fannon
Writer & Game Designer: Shaintar, Star Wars, Savage Rifts, much more
Please check out my Patreon and get involved directly with my next projects!
