The next upcoming LotFP releases will be delivered from the printer THIS WEEK!
Leading up to the big new releases... here are the FIVE new Weird Crushers that will start shipping out with the new stuff!
More information about these things here:
The next upcoming LotFP releases will be delivered from the printer THIS WEEK!
Leading up to the big new releases... here are the FIVE new Weird Crushers that will start shipping out with the new stuff!
More information about these things here:
Here is a video introducing the 10 new releases, 6 reprints, and one third-party book that we have for you!
We'll have them on sale at Ropecon (July 28-30), Gen Con (booth 2930, August 3-6), and from the EU webstore (we ship worldwide) on August 11!
Hello all!
First, if PDFs are your thing, we have a "Everything is $1.25 each" sale going on over at our DriveThru RPG storefront for another day or so.
But for the print stuff, we're running a separate sale through Friday!
It's Monday morning and time for the big LotFP sale on PRINT ITEMS!
The coupon code is TAKE30 (all caps!) and it is valid in both the EU and US webstores!
In the US webstore, it gives a 30% discount on everything in the store.
In the EU webstore, it gives a 30% discount on everything except the items printed this year*, and the Deck of Weird Things. (we're limiting the EU webstore to 100 coupon uses because I have to pack this all up myself by hand and it takes time and I have shit to do and I want these all out the door before my US trip!)
We can only ship to US addresses from the US webstore.
We ship worldwide from the EU webstore.
There are some different items available in each of the webstores.
Still ongoing is our "order eight or more items, get a free copies of the Death Frost Doom throwback edition hardcover, and the Orgasm Weird Crusher" offer for EU webstore orders.
Sale ends when I wake up Saturday morning.
EU webstore: https://www.lotfp.com/store/
US webstore: https://us.lotfp.com/store/
* items not eligible for the discount: Bee-Ware!, Beware the Mindfuck, The Jovian Visitor, Magic Eater, the Adventure Anthology Slipcase, Better Than Any Man Hardcover, No Salvation For Witches, Qelong, Rules & Magic Variant Cover 1, Rules & Magic Variant Cover 2, Deck of Weird Things. Still, buy them anyway, because they're good!
Enjoy!
It's time to update the Lamentations of the Flame Princess artist files. We publish dark fantasy, horror (cosmic, splatter, all sorts of weirdness), and historical fantasy tabletop RPG books.
If you're an artist, send an email to lotfp@lotfp.com with a link to your portfolio.
We are ready to commission a number of pieces immediately.
If you're right for one of the current projects, we will be in touch. If not, your info will be kept on file for possible future projects.
... from the (hopefully preliminary) draft of the OGL 1.1 that's been posted:
"We know this may come off strong, but this is important: If You attempt to use the OGL as a basis to release blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, trans-phobic, bigoted or otherwise discriminatory content, or do anything We think triggers these provisions, Your content is no longer licensed. To be clear, We want to, and will always, support creators who are using the OGL to help them explore sensitive subjects in a positive manner, but We will not tolerate materials We consider to be in any way counter to the spirit of D&D. Additionally, You waive any right to sue over Our decision on these issues. We’re aware that, if We somehow stretch Our decision of what is or is not objectionable under these clauses too far, We will receive community pushback and bad PR, and We’re more than open to being convinced that We made a wrong decision. But nobody gets to use the threat of a lawsuit as part of an attempt to convince Us."
... the boilerplate disclaimer that Wizards of the Coast has put on all of the old TSR D&D stuff over at DriveThru (including the 1e Players Handbook, Mentzer Basic, and Moldvay Basic rules...):
"We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end."
Anyone else seeing a problem here?
Consider the efforts that have been made to make sure people see everything from Lord of the Rings to Avatar 2 as racist (nevermind earlier works foundational to D&D), and considering the pressures brought recently brought against Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design and Mythic Polynesia.
I've seen work criticized as racist because somebody was writing characters of a different ethnicity. I've seen work criticized as racist because certain ethnicities weren't present at all.
This clause can be defined as strictly or as loosely, as desired, at any time. Who's going to decide? Not you, that's the important thing. And the recourse you have? None.
Even aside from that, the "We will not tolerate materials We consider to be in any way counter to the spirit of D&D." bit... that's all they need, someone at Wizards to think something is 'counter to the spirit of D&D' as they at that moment perceive it, and you're done.
This is the Hays Code, the Comics Code, and the 1990s TSR product code all wrapped together, because they don't even have to say what exactly it is you're not allowed to do.
And from Wizards' own February 2009 FAQ (which may or may not carry any weight legally), upon which a good number of people and companies over the past 23 years based their adoption of the Open Game License, and in some cases their entire livelihoods:
And I believe they're going to anyway.
LotFP will be at Gen Con August 4-7, Booth 3032! THIS WEEK!
Our Deals for the Show:
* Purchases of $100 or more get a free copy of two debuting titles, Curse of the Daughterbrides and Just a Stupid Dungeon, while supplies last. (300 copies each)
* Every 4 books purchased at once (not counting free items!) gets a 5th book free. (The cheapest is the free one.)
* Buy 8 items (not counting free items!), you also get a free copy of the Death Frost Doom throwback edition, plus your choice of an Orgasm (less than 100 left) or the Octo-Planetary Blade of Somnambulistic Beneficence (less than ten left!) while supplies last!
* A free copy of either The Printer's Devils or The Expiration of Barrington Peake with every purchase, while supplies last.
* Buy the Deck of Weird Things, get a free book of your choice (of equal or lesser value).
Our guy who has in the past provided the card payment capabilities isn't going to be there this year, so we can only take cash (please bring lots of $5s and $10s!) or Paypal (done through your phone, have the url www.paypal.me/lotfp ready to go on your phone's web browser... unfortunately we have to charge a +7% fee for Paypal payments)
The mysterious Alucard Finch, author of Big Puppet, will be at the booth 1-3pm Thursday, 4-6pm Friday, 12.30-2.30pm Saturday, and Sunday 1-3pm! He's got a personalized, annotated copy of Big Puppet, and will be giving it away to some lucky/poor bastard!
Also Debuting at Gen Con:
Curious Conundrum of the Conflagrated Condottiero $15 (new Kelvin Green adventure!)
Obsidian Anti-Pharos $15 (new Alex Mayo adventure!)
Other Titles:
6x6x6: The Mayhemic Misssile Method $35
Adventure Anthology: Blood $60
Adventure Anthology: Death $30
Adventure Anthology: Fire $25
Asterion $10
Big Puppet $35
Book of Antitheses $50
Carcosa $30
Cursed Chateau $25
Death Frost Doom $20
Deck of Weird Things $100
Earth Incubation Crisis $30
England Upturn'd $15
Fermentvm Nigrvm Dei Sepvlti $35
Forgive Us $15
Frostbitten & Mutilated $25
Green Messiah $25
Idea from Space $10
In a Deadly Fashion $25
Midvinter $25
No Rest for the Wicked $15
Obscene Serpent Religion 2 $10
Punchline $20
Random Esoteric Creature Generator $20
Rules & Magic $25
She Bleeds $10
Staffortonshire Trading Company Works $35
Strict Time Records Must Be Kept $30
Terror in the Streets $30
Terror in the Streets Boxed Set $120
Towers Two $25
Wight Power $25
World of the Lost $30
So a couple days ago, two things happened. First, I posted this thing to LotFP social media where a fan talks about being introduced to the game in a session where he encounters Penelope Foxlowe:
... yeah.
(I did have the idea of taking out a Facebook ad, naming all the authors credited in that game as specifically recommending LotFP, but rather than making it personal I just did this post.)
To me, if you're advertising your game as "emulates tragic horror movies like Oculus, The Strangers, The Babadook, Inside and the Netflix version of The Haunting of Hill House. If a piece of fiction can make you cry and scream, then it’s a great model for the sort of stories that you can tell with Quietus," and then talking at length about safety tools, it seems that you're deliberately watering down the experience you're advertising the game to provide. Why would you want that?
I mean, you're going to do things your way at your table – AND YOU SHOULD – but to me as the head cat herder around here, everything is always possible as default and it's your job to edit things for your table, not my job to edit things based on what I think you think is suitable at your table. As publisher, I trust that if somebody buys a product promising them hell, they actually want hell.
I want you to have the most intense experience possible, and stories of groups noping right out of adventures like Death Frost Doom and Death Love Doom, freaking people out so much they refuse to have their make-believe people go into make-believe places to face make-believe dangers...
This isn't an "SJW snowflake" issue (I work with people who describe themselves as Trump supporters, Marxists, and everything in between, I don't care what people believe beyond the project in question, weirdness and horror aren't limited to any particular political persuasion, and any political system or ideology that limits artistic and creative expression is invalid and should be shot into the fucking sun), this is a "Are you trying to deliver a horrifying experience or not?" issue.
Here are some images from movies released 1985-6*. A very specific period in time when I was 10-11 years old, seeing this sort of thing WITH MY PARENTS. (ok, Reanimator I didn't see until later but it fits right in time- and themewise and the image is too good not to include)
(Facebook auto-deleted the Return of the Living Dead shot when I posted this there. oh no, a woman's body is visible, so they censor that, and leave the other pictures which are so so so much worse. The inevitable result of do-gooder censorship, demonstrated right there.)
To me, this sort of thing represents awkwardness, embarrassment, everything going completely off the rails and having no idea what is even happening. That memory of my father slumping in his seat facepalming while Linnea Quigley danced naked in the graveyard, in the movie he brought his 10 and 6 year old sons to see, I want that feeling stamping on all human faces forever, that's what the world should be like. I didn't see much of my father growing up, and this is actually my most vivid and treasured memory of him. Both the gift he gave in letting me see that wonderful movie when both it and I were new and fresh, his reaction to it, and oh yeah me scaring the shit out of my brother for months afterward by bringing it up because he was terrified by it. yup, LotFP is DADDY ISSUES.
(I don't even remember awkwardness with my mother seeing Leatherface miming chainsaw fucking that woman, but around this time she decided to show me Flesh for Frankenstein – which I definitely remember feeling awkward watching – so I don't think she gave the first shit about things like that. Yet she wouldn't let me watch The Day After. yup, LotFP is the result of being raised to enjoy entertainment as such and avoid propaganda. :P :P :P :P)
Other people will receive this imagery differently, and it's way way out on the no-no list as a standard in this industry.
There's always going to be an unbridgeable divide between those who want (at least the potential of) their minds blown apart by batshit insanity in their entertainment, and those who want some assurance of limits.
I want you to wonder if that ache in your belly is actually the first detectable sign of the tumor that will kill you, not because it's distressing, but because sooner or later you'll be right and that's just life, so why not have some fun with it. Name your tumor Belial because Frank Henenlotter rules.
You don't like that?
ok.
To me all that disagreement isn't worth any more than preferring baseball instead of football.
Now this attitude does relate to the new books.
Kelvin's Strict Time Records Must Be Kept, it's clean as a whistle without any of this nasty stuff, but to me that Doctor character is so cringe over the top camp insanity that it falls right into this same category, despite/especially because it's in a game line with a reputation for edgelord negadungeons.
Alex's Earth Incubation Crisis seemed to be more sane (the cross-genre mecha stuff to me falls under more straightforward gaming activity) until he started the art. That one piece he asked me if it was OK to do, and me, the person who greenlit Wight Power, what was I going to do, say no? So now we have in print and distributed worldwide an illustration of 14 year old girls fiddling with a corpse.
"14 year olds can't consent. Corpses can't consent. So if a 14 year old fiddles with a corpse... who is the victim?"
LotFP asks the tough questions society is afraid to face.
(The answer is of course YOU the READER.)
The real world is filled with so many limits and considerations and responsibilities and concerns and many of them are even valid, necessary, and good.
Let us at the very least be "free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in joy" in our imaginations.
To sum up, if you use safety tools, that's your business, it's certainly not going to be ours. The official LotFP line is that negative emotions in the proper context are exhilarating, and whatever emotions you feel during a game of LotFP, positive or negative, we hope you feel them to the fullest possible extent.
So if you want some game-level authority to hold your hand and make sure your intense gaming never gets too intense, by all means go check out the producers of not-too-intense gaming. Make them millionaires. Tell them I sent you.
But if you want something that offers a sharp, nasty experience and then will actually stab you right in your fucking heart, then Lamentations of the Flame Princess is your dagger, baby. Welcome home.