Hello dear readers!
In this issue I’ll be recounting my experiences attending the TOplay RPG event and a protest march, both in Turin.
I’ll also share some of my latest work, as well as some updates and links. Let’s go!
TOplay: An Overview!
On Saturday the 13th my wife and I arrived at the eighth edition of TOplay RPG and board game fair roughly an hour or so after they had officially started. We were pleased to see it was already fairly bustling with activity.
Both of us felt slightly giddy and overwhelmed. So we decided to do a few “browsing laps” or the stalls and tents before attempting to check out anything in particular or chat with anyone.
Parco Dora: An Evocative Location
The first positive aspect of the fair was its location, in Parco Dora. I believe this was the first time that the organisers had set up the event there, and I honestly think it was the perfect setting.
The stalls, tents and various tables were arranged under the length of an enormous canopy. The canopy is located in the “Area Vitali”, one of the many sections of Parco Dora that used to be part of Turin’s industrial car-manufacturing landscape, specifically the Vitali steelworks.
Alongside the canopy are several enormous concrete towers, which once formed part of the steelworks plant. These are now overgrown with ivy and covered in street art and graffiti. A section of the canopy – which is now essentially a kind of open air covered gallery – has been turned into a sizeable skate park. The combined effect is suggestive of post-industrial reclamation, with a touch of the dystopian mixed with solarpunk. Being there felt like walking through the remains of an ancient crumbling temple to the gods of industry, or the rib cage of some metal behemoth.
Not only this, but the absence of a fully enclosed setting meant no echo and plenty of room to take a break from the crowd. We even had a quiet sit down under one of the cyclopean concrete columns. I hope the few pictures I took while there do something to convey the feel of this truly evocative space.
Pictured above: two photos of the overgrown and graffitied concrete columns next to the event.
All the Fun of the Fair
Now, on to the event itself.
I could tell almost immediately that this event was a labour of love for the organisers (FortunaDado Association). Everything felt well laid out and each stall had enough space to breathe and grab your attention. There were a huge number of gaming associations and clubs from across Italy. What’s more, as far as we could tell, almost all of the publishers we saw present were based in Italy too. All this really helped convey how vibrant the TTRPG scene is in Italy, unbeknownst to me!
Pictured above: a photo of the fair from early on in the day, with most of the space already quite full.
Once we had completed our browsing laps, we began having a closer look at the stalls that most piqued our interest. Everyone we spoke to was friendly, polite and welcoming. Indeed the general vibe was an enthusiastic but not obnoxious one. We kept going back to three stalls in particular, and purchased a game from each one.
Stalls and Games
The one we stayed the longest at was the one run by Whisperin’ Dice, a small indie TTRPG group from Aosta and surrounding area.
While there we joined a quick session of their latest game, “STERCO” (Italian for poo or feces), a deeply irreverent and silly satirical fantasy game.
The Whisperin’ Dice group were really nice, and the GM very kindly ran the session in both Italian and English simultaneously! We had a lot of fun and after the game I was able to “talk shop” with them and exchange business cards.
The other two stall were for Mondiversi and Gear Games. From the former we purchased Red Borg, an anti-capitalist and anti-fascist revolutionary game compatible with Mork Borg. From the latter, High School Cthulhu, a vibrant blend of cosmic horror and 90s teen drama. A special shout-out to Jacopo Tagliasacchi – the artist for HSC – who let me sit and draw with him and his adorable dog while he signed our copy of the game.
I shared my thoughts on STERCO, Red Borg and High School Cthulhu in this video:
The One Downside
There was only one aspect of the fair that was a tad demoralising.
While browsing the stalls, I was sad to see a fair number of them using so-called “AI-generated” images in their logos, branding and in some cases even their games. One instance was particularly disheartening.
We were checking out a game book at a stall where an artist was sat doing a pencil illustration. Having been drawn to the game book by its cover, we asked them if they were the artist for the book.
They sheepishly responded with a kind of “yes and no”. Then one of the other people at the stall cut in to say that not having access to a graphic designer, they had fed the artist’s work into a “AI” to generate the images used in the book. Rather than get into a heated discussion about the absurdity of a such a practice, I decided to quickly leave the stall and avoid it for the rest of the day. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of the art I saw at TOplay appeared to be human made.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the experience was an almost completely positive one. Not only that, but I think I am likely to go again, but as a participant. Of course, that will all depend on whether I will have the time and resources… but I am hopeful! I would love to have a table doing quick character art commissions and maybe selling physical copies of Stravagante: Gigante. Maybe even in Italian if I can get the translation done in time!
Regional Protest March for Palestine: An Encouraging Turn Out!
Exactly one week after going to TOplay, I boarded a train back to Turin for another event.
I met up with my dad near Piazza Statuto, where an already impressive column of activists and protesters had gathered. This was for the regional demonstration in support of Palestine and opposing the Piemonte region’s recent decision to not cut ties with Israel.
This was my first protest march since December of last year, and it was great to see an even greater number of people participating.
While at times being in the crowd was a bit overwhelming, the overall feel and energy was great. There was never a moment where either my dad or I felt unsafe. Police were present, but they kept their distance and there were no instances of violence.
Something I especially appreciated listening to the speeches broadcast from the truck at the head of the march, was less wishy-washy “appeals for peace” and more highlighting of intersectional struggle.
The fight for Palestine is connected to the fights for Congo and Sudan. These fights connect to the fight against colonialism, and the fight against colonialism is connected to the fights against capitalism and fascism. The fights against transphobia, homophobia, racism, ableism, islamophobia, antisemitism, speciesism… all these fights connect as well.
Suffice to say it was a deeply moving and encouraging experience, and I am grateful I was able to be a part of it.
Below are some photos and a short video I took during the event.
New RPG Resource: The Pocket Pantheon!
Now on to the creative news!
Last week I suddenly started missing making printable booklet zines. I decided to try making an art-based one, with a black and white illustration on each page.
Inspiration – or perhaps the hand of some old deity – moved me to draw some more eldritch gods. I started visualising the booklet as some kind of forgotten religious pamphlet, for a pantheon of strange forgotten gods.
By the time I had drawn the sixth deity, I felt that this would make quite a handy inspirational prompt for any number of table-top role-playing games. Thus, I added a little roll table at the back and lo, the Pocket Pantheon was complete!
I published it as a reward for all paid members over on the Penflower Ink Patreon.
If people like it, perhaps one day I will make a volume two!
Pictured above: some photos of the Pocket Pantheon booklet, both assembled and not.
Stravagante Gigante: Work Continues on New Adventure!
Another project I have been making some progress on is the next adventure for Stravagante: Gigante.
Compared to the previous two, this one is intended to be much bigger.
The working title is The Quest for Turtle Keep. The concept for the adventure was inspired by one of my favourite illustrations that I drew for the game book. A legendary giant turtle with a castle built on top of its shell has reappeared after centuries. Now several factions across the land are competing to claim the fortress for themselves.
Over the past two weeks I made some preliminary notes, focusing on the factions and NPCs.
You can watch me draw some of these NPCs – and talk more about my ideas for this adventure – in the video below.
Because of its greater size, my ideal objective is to have this adventure available as a bound physical book, most likely saddle-stitch. I’d love for Quest for Turtle Keep to become a useful first short campaign for people running games of Stravagante: Gigante, like the Lost Mines of Phandelver were for D&D 5th edition.
Once I settle on the next few design approaches, I’ll be sharing more of my progress with it in future issues, as well as in videos like the one above (when possible).
Media Spotlight!
Golly that was a particularly long issue wasn’t it? Let’s close it with the usual curated list of cool links to share: this time it’s all videos!
- I love Felix Cosgrave’s animations. He recently shared a compilation of his “paper loops”, that he’s been making for over a year. Check them out and be mesmerised here.
- I really appreciated and enjoyed this latest video by Andrewism on how we are manipulated by the media and media platforms we consume.
- Another massively long but wonderfully witty video essay by Shaun on the book “the War on Science”. Like too I was also an insufferable teenager who worshiped Richard Dawkins, so there we sections of this video that were both informative and embarrassing.
- JP Coovert is making his own perfect-for-him TTRPG!
- I discovered this one purely by accident: Cloud Solo Diaries made a fascinating solo journaling version of Stravagante, combining it with Apothecaria and Undertale.
- Do you like whimsy? Do you like magic? Do you like sewing and crafting! Then you will probably also like Wizards Keep – I know I do!
- A really interesting interview with comic book legend Grant Morrison, sharing their thoughts on Superman, the new film and hope in the 21st century. Cracking stuff!
That’s all for this month!
As always, thank you so much for reading.
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Until next time,
– Penflower
