#108: A Very Retro-Futuristic New Year

Hello dear readers!

Welcome to the new year! There’s already been a substantial amount of terrible, infuriating and downright weird news – and we’re barely over a week into it. I hope this short newsletter will provide a pleasant distraction. We’ve got some game design updates, some new art asset packs and a bundle of cool links to share. Let’s get started!

New Game Design In Progress!

Tinkering with Tags

In the last issue/s I mentioned that I’ve tentatively stepped back into TTRPG design, developing a new system.
Feeling the need to step away from my Passkey, I wanted to try something different that borrowed elements from various systems that I find particularly interesting.

I scribbled away in notebooks for a good chunk of December and last week I tidied up my thoughts somewhat.
What I have now is basically a very simplified tag-based system, inspired by both Legend in The Mist (by Son of Oak) and the Discworld: Adventures in Ankh Morpork TTRPG (by Modiphius). It uses a d10 instead of d6, after I fell in love with the humble pentagonal trapezohedron playing Call of Cthulhu for almost two years now.

My objective was to make something even more narrative-focused and with even more scope for customisation, without having to write up reems and reems of options. The basic mechanics are as follows:
The player comes up with some descriptive tags for their character. Then, when attempting an action where the outcome is not a guaranteed success, they can apply one or more of their tags if they are applicable to the situation. Any applicable tag gives them a +1 to their 1d10 resolution roll.
If one or more of their tags would put them at a disadvantage, even if not applied (kind of like a passive effect), they can keep any tag bonuses but must roll twice and take the lower result.

Changing up Consequences

Something I am taking on from Passkey but significantly modifying is the “complication” roll table.
In all my games so far, certain action outcomes come with a complication, that you would roll for on a 1d66 table. Basically you’d resolve your attempted action with either a success or a failure, then see what complication would arise, if any.

This is very narrative based and I still like the idea in principle. However, in practice, I have almost always found myself dissatisfied with the rolled complication as it rarely fits the situation in play. Failing a social interaction doesn’t feel like it would organically cause my character’s treasured weapon to break, for example.

So for this system, I have two much smaller roll tables, labelled “something good” and “something bad”. As you can see in the above photo, certain action resolution rolls result in a success/failure + something good/bad. It’s my way of adapting the improv adage of “yes and”/”yes but” and “no and”/”no but”.
Because the options on both “something good” and “something bad” tables are open ended, I think will help both GM and players ensure the consequences of an action fit the situation.

Pictured above: a photo of a page from my game design notebook, featuring tag-based character creation.

I have a very broad strokes adventure written up for a play-test, which I hope to schedule soon with some interested friends. In the past I have kind of rushed ahead into publication when it comes to game design, so this time I want to really put the system to the test and have fun with it.

The 2025 Art Asset Mega Pack!

On the very first day of this new year – I wasted no time – I published the 2025 Art Asset Mega Pack. The pack contains 200 of the monthly art assets I made for my Patreon, over the course of 2025. It’s got adventurers, space aliens, monsters, cryptids, mice, eldritch abominations, weapons, tools, relics, woodland animals, and more!

Pictured above: assorted art assets from the mega pack. You can find the pack HERE.

New Year, New Monthly Art Assets: Retro-Futuristic Sci-Fi!

Here at Penflower Ink headquarters we’re looking towards finally playing some Mothership – the popular horror/science-fiction themed TTRPG. As a result, I was inspired to make this first set of monthly assets for 2026 suitable for just such a game.
First, I put together a set of modular spaceship parts for building cargo transports, interstellar haulers and other vehicles for your desperate space trucker characters.

Pictured above: three Mothership inspired spaceships made using the modular art assets from the pack. You can find the asset pack HERE, available for $5 and higher tier patrons.

Next, I made a small set of similarly themed item art assets. The pack of 8 assets includes communication devices, tools and weapons.

Pictured above: a composite image featuring the 8 retro sci-fi art assets. You can find the asset pack HERE, available for all paid tier patrons.

Commissions Incoming!

I’ve been very fortunate to be contacted by a few people interested in illustrations for their upcoming TTRPG projects. One such person was Peter Eijk, who needed some art for his next Pine Shallows project. Below is a sneaky peek at the first of two pieces I’ll be doing for him.

Pictured above: a half-page illustration featuring some meddling kid investigators discovering a fishman at the local aquarium! Jinkies!

Media Spotlight!

• “The Time Given To Us” – a stellar animated short, based on one of the most meaningful interactions between Frodo and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Excellent artistry by Jacob Matthess.
• Jesthehuman is hosting a new fund-raising jam over on itchio: No ICE in Minnesota. You can find out more info on the jam page HERE.
• Check out this Ghibli-inspired Mausritter TTRPG setting, “Rust Wings” by Watt.
• A powerful speech by Palestinian journalist Saga Hamdan, on how both media and governments in the West have been turning a blind eye to the ongoing genocide.
• I recently found and greatly enjoyed this video essay by Yhara Zayd on one of my favourite films, Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow, 1995).
• Louie Zong made a horror cartoon! Watch at your peril… it’s pretty spooky!
• Last but not least… some Positive Leftist News from December!

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