LORD OF CHAOS

by Alexandr Elichev

Design-a-Character commission for @wilvarin-chan of their Gloomhaven character!

Today's rats are Rat Swarm from Gloomhaven!

Painted literally the best mini I’ve ever painted today, extremely proud of how much I’ve grown

(Gloomhaven character spoilers for the sun icon below the cut)

Look at her! Look at this whole ass lesbian! I love her so much!

I’ve never been able to paint details so finely before, check this out:

I’m extremely pleased with how she turned out 😊

It's been a while since I've made an original post, so let me talk about what I'm working on right this moment.

The biggest thing I have on my plate is the Gloomhaven TTRPG. I'm working with Isaac Cephalofair to create the best translation of the board game system to a ttrpg system we can, while at the same time writing up an outline. We already have a lot of the systems work done, so really it's getting into high gear to hire authors and get the rest of the book moving. I'm excited about this one.

Next up is At the Gates which is my own personal game using Onyx Path's internal Storypath Ultra system. This is a high fantasy game deeply inspired by jrpgs like Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, the Mana series, etc. Unlike Fabula Ultima (another great game you should check out!) this game isn't completely focused on the combat, but I will say a lot of the way you build and level a character for combat is inspired by that. Also 4e DnD, because that game really knew what it was on about as far as combat strategy goes.

I've got a project I'm under strict NDA to not talk about. That makes it very hard to hype it here, but I'm certain folks who are fans of Onyx Path's brand will be excited for. I can't wait for folks to see what we've been finding regarding this project.

Finally, Exalted. As the Inhouse developer for Exalted, I get to set the pace for new books, and boy howdy are we about to move at lightning speed. We're gonna get some stretch goals out to you faster than you can blink.

Gloomhaven is a campaign-based combat board game where four players work through longform scenarios.

Latest chapter of 'Into the Techiverse!' is up!

Like a vodka-Redbull, or watching the season 2 finale of 'The Bad Batch' followed by the finale of 'The Mandalorian', a downer quickly mixed and/or chased with an upper is going to make one feel discombobulated. But it's needed.

This latest chapter of 'Into the Techiverse' promises to be delightful and fandom blind, and Lord help me I needed to write that after the last, brutal chapter of Far Past the Ring. It's a clutch of Techs finally hanging out and doing what Tech would do if he met a bunch of Techs.

That was a weird sentence to type out.

The fourth wall's broken in this, FWIW.

The universes in which the Techs come from is from @techs-stitches @wrenkenstein @moosethren . Although she's part of the project, @ilikemymendarkandfictional 's Tech is, unfortunately, gone, which is a massive plot point.

coming out as a board game geek

So we're playing gloomhaven, me and my partners, and I'm genuinely considering just playing the goddamn music note character again. First time I did that I was bored out of my mind, but I think I'm good to run it back, the Sun character kinda... Just... Guh. It's fine but something's off a little bit?? Idk. Would love thoughts on that. Super loved putting Curse on the Spellweaver 's Fire Orbs, so it might just be a case of funny curse character again

HARBINGER OF SHADOW 

by Alexandr Elichev

Daily drawing practice day 624 (12/14/23)

Gloomhaven Brute

HOW ON EARTH WHAT DID THEY DO TO HIM

Various OC illustrations I did using primarily a single pixel brush, MS paint style :) going back to my roots!

1: A non-canonical drawing of Ibis in front of portraits of Khei and her wife (+her pet cow)! [Image ID: An illustration of a tall woman dressed as a nun standing in front of two portraits -- one of a long-haired knight, and one of a maiden and her cow. A flaming anatomical heart floats above.]

2: Sao and the ghost bride from this drawing! [Image ID: A drawing of a woman in a tuxedo standing next to a ghostly bride.]

3: A friend’s OC! [Image ID: A illustration of a smiling person with orange hair resting in a giant box of sewing equipment and tools.]

4: My Gloomhaven Plagueherald :) I love her. [Image ID: an illustration of a humanoid creature with an exposed ribcage, many tiny eyes, and jester-like attire. It holds a smiling mask in one floppy limb. Insect mandibles and limbs poke through gaps in its exterior.]

I'm going to wax poetic about the past 5 years.

A Pirate's Pact came out shortly after I was laid off from JWP because the company was going under. I had left my job in biological sciences to work full time as a RPG designer just 2 years earlier. While I had Weston as a safety net, it was the first time in my adult life that I was truly unemployed with no clear path to a future.

I continued to work freelance with Onyx Path, and honestly bless Richard Thomas for taking such good care of me over the years. I refocused my efforts towards making myself available to freelance all over, but OPP really just picked up the ball and gave me work to keep me afloat.

Over the past 5 years, so much has happened. I asked my brother for a job assisting him with his company so that I could make a little bit of monthly money. I did that until the pandemic, and then he needed to let everyone go because his work halted. The pandemic was rough. Weston switched jobs, which was hell on both of us while he was interviewing. Once things started moving again, Marcel asked me to come back and help the company with their new growth work. I did that for about a year, but got burned out really fast. I wanted to keep doing RPG stuff and it was eating into my time. So I asked Rich if I could do some part time work for OPP to earn a monthly stipend. That started in July of 2022.

I quickly transitioned to being the inhouse developer for Exalted, part of the Onyx Pathcast, and part of the Monday Meeting crew. My part time help turned into a full time job. All the while, I maintained connections with Mark Diaz Truman, who has been a dear friend through these past 5 years. He gave me the opportunity to develop some work for Root The Roleplaying game while the Magpie crew focused all their efforts onto the huge project of getting Avatar Legends out the door. I wrote a couple of adventures for that, which was honestly a dream come true.

When he came to me with an opportunity to help Cephalofair with the Gloomhaven RPG, I was slightly skeptical, but it has honestly been the best. Everyone in the company is so thoughtful and kind. The vibes are great. The atmosphere is electric. I'm thrilled to be helping usher this game into the world.

All in all, 5 years is a long time, but honestly not that long. My career dipped and dove, and now I'm back on top. I have two great jobs that I love. I have coworkers that I love. I have a loving and supportive partner. My mental health is the best it's been in an extremely long time.

I'm really looking forward to 2024 and all the extremely cool projects that I have coming out next year. My own game, At the Gates, the Gloomhaven RPG, and another project I can't yet talk about are all coming to a head in the new year, and I'm so ready for it.