Hello dear readers!
‘Tis the (hopefully) very merry month of May!
Over the course of the second half of April I’ve mostly been busy developing the Alboverse.
Since my last post, I have been focusing on a new setting, which has really sparked my inspiration. I was also very fortunate to be able to start running a game of Albo in this setting last week.
In this issue, I’ll be sharing a summary of that first session, as well a bit of concept art for the setting.
I’ll also be writing a little about my visit to an animal sanctuary for yesterday’s May Day.
Re-imagining the Alboverse: Every Dream a World!
Not long after I published my last issue, I started re-thinking how I want the Alboverse to work.
I began writing down only the most surreal and wacky concepts that came to mind in a notebook. As I did so, I realised that it was starting to feel a bit like keeping a dream journal.
That’s when I decided how these various worlds are connected. The Alboverse is a universe of worlds, planets, pocket dimensions, all of which summoned into being by the dreams of a slumbering god.
Pictured above: my newly decorated Alboverse notebook, now baring an illustration of the sleeping Toddler-God (drawn and coloured using sharpie and posca pens).
My wife – as she so often does – suggested an addition that I think works perfectly. The sleeping god in question is very young: a toddler by cosmic entity standards. That allows for the dreams to be extra whimsical, featuring juxtaposed elements that suggest the passing fancies and obsessions of a young child. Unicorns and robots! Castles in space! Princesses and zombies! You get the idea.
I currently have 6 of these “dreamt-up world” settings in my notebook. The first of them is the one I’ve been focusing on so far.
First Alboverse Setting: Bugworld!
On Sunday the 26th, I ran a play-test session of Albo using the first of my re-imagined Alboverse settings.
The working title is “A Fruit-Moon for Bugworld”.
As the name suggests, Bugworld is a world intirely inhabited by bugs. The Buglins (for that is their name) are by no means meant to be 1-to-1 equivalents of Earth insects and arthropods. Technically speaking this is an alien planet, so Buglins can look any way the players wants – the weirder the better!
Pictured above: some Buglin character concept art.
The latest development on Bugworld, which is also the catalyst for adventures in this setting, is the appearance of the “Fruit-Moon”. A giant cross between a berry and a stone fruit recently entered Bugworld’s orbit, causing great confusion and excitement amongst the Buglins. Factions and alliances form, scientific discoveries are made, and space exploration becomes possible.
First Play-test Session
The first session saw my wife and one of our friends create two delightful Buglin characters. One of them a mild-mannered pillbug-like botanist, the other an aloof janitor inspired by dung beetles. The two were recruited by a brilliant professor who first discovered the Fruit-Moon, and Bugworld’s most famour adventurer.
They took part in a series of tests and trials, before being deemed fit to join Bugworld’s first interplanetary exploration mission: a journey to the Fruit-Moon!
The next session is scheduled for next Sunday the 3rd of May (tomorrow!), and I am really looking forwards to it!
Not only does this setting feel really fresh and fun, I’m also increasingly proud of how simple and versatile Albo is as a system.
Speaking of which, I finally got round to making a short promotional video for Albo last week.
In it I show off the print version of the game book, and even colour in some of the illustrations. Check it out below, if you haven’t already.
A Marvelous May Day: Visiting a Farm Animal Sanctuary!
Yesterday was May Day, celebrated in Italy as ‘la festa dei lavoratori’ (workers’ holiday).
Most years I have celebrated by going to Turin and participating in the huge march that goes through the city. The march usually includes unions, students, healthcare workers, and more. It is always a day for celebrating leftist activism and protest against fascism and authoritarianism.
This year, however, I went somewhere else. My parents, my wife and I visited a non-profit farm animal sanctuary called Vivi Gli Animali (Live the Animals).
As long-time readers may remember, I am a total liberationist. This is sometimes referred to as anarcho-veganism (which I suppose fits, as I am both vegan and lean pretty strongly towards anarchism). In a nutshell, like the volunteers working at Vivi Gli Animali, I believe the fights for human and non-human animal liberation are intertwined, like so many other battles.
Pictured above: a Total Liberation illustration I did about four years ago. You can get it for free on my itchio, and use it for both commercial and non-commercial projects, with attribution.
We all had a wonderful time at the sanctuary. The weather was sunny, the surrounding landscape lush and green. After being treated to a delicious vegan barbecue, we went on a tour of the sanctuary, where a volunteer introduced us to their numerous animal charges and told us about their day-to-day routine taking care of them.
As well as learning a great deal, I also purchased two new pins to adorn my now very sun-bleached cap, and got to give some scritches to a goat! Photos below:
The Penflower Post gets a New Look!
Very briefly before I close this issue with the usual collection of links, I wanted to share this.
If you’re reading this as an email, please consider also checking out the Penflower Post’s newly revamped landing page on my website. I’ve moved things around and made some additions that hopefully make it both easier to navigate and feel more like a classic blog from the golden era of the internet.
Media Spotlight!
- Another excellent Cartoon Cartoon animated short, by Tracey LaGuerre: “I Love You, Jocelyn”.
- Artist Pen Wolf shares their art process and discusses battling the fear of sharing their art.
- JP Coovert unveils his brand new original TTRPG, Keeper’s Call!
- Artist and YouTuber Aiko Graven shares a tour of their gorgeous sketchbook.
- Weird Place talks about how they got started making TTRPGs.
- Here, have some Positive Leftist News from April!
- Last but not least, the latest album by the Longest Johns, “Ends of the Earth”.
That’s all for this issue!
As always, thank you so much for reading.
One last reminder that if you feel like supporting my work, you can buy something from my website or itchio, join my Patreon as a paying member, or commission me.
If none of the above are doable for you, please consider spreading the word about my work to your friends!
New subscribers to the Penflower Post get a special discount code to use in the shop, as a thank you.
Until next time,
– Penflower