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Out Now in Print! To Hunt a God


Crel

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To Hunt a God  is now available IN PRINT on the Jonstown Compendium!

Issue #24 of Monster of the Month will be the final issue of this series. This issue's going to be monster-sized to give the series a proper send-off—similar to last year's finale, The Quacken—including the longform cult of a monkey god, a description of the mysterious Temple of the Bones in the Old Woods north of Esrolia, and finally the full-length adventure from which the issue takes its name: To Hunt a God. This month, I'm going to post a peek inside each Friday to whet your appetites!

Currently, I plan to initially release To Hunt a God on December 31st. We're hard at work revising and playtesting the manuscript, and I've received wonderful rough drafts of both cover and interior art which I can't wait to share with you in the coming weeks. Upon the wise advice of my editor, December's release will be Part One of the adventure, with Part Two coming in 2022 after additional revision. Part Two will be a free update for everyone who purchases the initial release.

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First, you hear drums. Their hypnotic rhythm is carried through the canopy of the Old Woods by the dancing winds. You and your companions have walked many hours from the forest's edge. The musty smell of ancient loam fills every breath. As you near the temple, you notice every animal seems to travel the same way.

A white mound stretches to the sky, reaching the height of the forest canopy. As you draw near, you see it is built from bones—bone after bone, after bone, a record of centuries of sacrifices to the spirits. The charnal remains from generations of sacrifice are piled nearly to the branches of the canopy. This is it, your destination; the famous Temple of the Bones, where Beast and Man together worship their theriomorphic gods. Some, like Yinkin and Odayla, are familiar, friendly entities—but, according to rumor, powers feral and untamed are worshiped here as well. Celebrants drum in rhythm with bears stamping their paws, as a choir of shadowcats yowl their melody.

And hundreds of monkeys chatter in the trees. Watching your arrival with their large black eyes.

The Temple of the Bones is an important holy site, which serves as a major temple for several animist religions in the region. It sets the stage for Part One of To Hunt a God, the Festival of the Monkey King. Adventurers might venture into the Old Woods seeking a shaman to teach them magic or exorcise a possession, or they might seek the Temple in order to make starlit sacrifices to the spirits of nature. Some entities worshiped here include Hykim & Mikyh, the Horned God, Odayla Bear-father, and Grandmother Earth. It's protected by an old, grumpy Bear-Person shaman, and the ancient wyrm which serves as its wyter, whose body is built of ten thousand bones.

Edited by Crel
In Print!
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It's Friday, which means I've got another preview from MOTM's final issue, To Hunt a God.

This illustration by Armazém Fantastico depicts a monkey spirit, one of the cult spirits of Hrunda, God of Bluepaw Monkeys. A longform description of that animist religion is included in MOTM #24. Suitable for adventurers and non-player characters alike, this Beast and Illusion Rune deity is worshiped by the talking bluepaws which inhabit the Old Woods, and monkey-souled Esrolians. Hrunda's magic lets his human-shaped worshipers transform into monkeys, and lets his monkey-shaped worshipers communicate with their ancestors. He is a Friend of Aldrya, and a Mischievous Thief.

You can learn more when To Hunt a God releases on December 31st.

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One element I'm loving about the production process behind To Hunt a God is getting to justify a real art budget again. Most issues of MOTM are too short for me to commission art—this month's is not. It's been an absolute joy working once again with several artists I admire.

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This illustration depicts Pelnor Lackheart, a merchant-turned-adventurer of House Delargara who seeks to reverse his clan's ill fortunes. Pelnor is one of several non-player characters who answer the Call to Adventure alongside the players in the titular adventure of this finale mega-issue. I can't wait to share it with you all.

"Pelnor Lackheart" is by Laura Galli. You should check out more of her work here.

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I hope everyone's having a good Sacred Time with their families! It's Friday, so I have another preview to share from To Hunt a God.

This week, it's the cover! Illustrated by the delightfully deranged @lordabdul, the cover depicts the great monkey god Hrunda, confronting a band of imperiled adventurers deep within the magical Old Woods north of Esrolia.

My co-conspirators and I are still chugging away, finalizing the text of Part One. It's exciting as always to finally be putting text into layout, discovering how it meshes with the book's artwork. We look to remain on pace for Part One To Hunt a God to be available on December 31st, with Part Two releasing as a free update sometime in 2022. (Sorry, but I'm not willing to commit to a date just yet 😉.) Even as a partial release, Part One's looking to be over thirty pages! So never fear, this month's release is plenty monstrous.

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@Bill the barbarian and I have been burning the late-night oil on layout and revisions for To Hunt a God. Final stretch! 😄 Take a peek at the ToC—I promised that this issue would be 'monstrous' even though it includes just Part One of the adventure, and I think I'll be keeping that oath…

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Total pagecount is looking to be somewhere over 60 pages, I just don't have the final counts locked down quite yet for the ToC. Maybe a bit more than the comfy guess of 30 I had upthread. Which, by the by, would still have been my longest issue.

Edited by Crel
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  • Crel changed the title to Out Now! To Hunt a God — Monster of the Month #24
43 minutes ago, Crel said:

Your support is deeply appreciated.

It is indeed, and thanks for all the support thus far folks!

68 pages, you’re a monster Crel, a monster, I say! But it is shiny!

Edited by Bill the barbarian
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... remember, with a TARDIS, one is never late for breakfast!

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22 hours ago, Bill the barbarian said:

68 pages, you’re a monster Crel, a monster, I say! But it is shiny!

It's a monster of a "small monthly supplement," for sure. Thanks for trucking it out with me! I'm really, really proud of this release. I hope it helps folks do lots of Glorantha gaming in the new year.

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To Hunt a God has been out for a few days now. That means there's some folks able to drop a rating or review, who haven't done so. Shame! Wicked little Glorantha fans who don't share their thoughts get haunted by Sesmanché the Traitor, y'know. (That's Hrunda's spirit of reprisal.)

But seriously, feedback's super helpful, if you can spare a few minutes. I try my best to look at what people like, and what they don't, when planning how to spend my writer time. I want to make content you'll love! 🐒

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
On 1/14/2022 at 12:42 AM, brionl said:

Are you going to make a bundle for the '21 MotM like you did for '20? I only bought a couple of them last year, but I can't resist a bundle. 🙂

Sorry it took so long to get back to you! I didn't notice your comment until today. 😅

I think I will do a bundle again, with a similar small discount, but I'm currently thinking to set that up after completing Part Two of To Hunt a God. It feels weird to me to have an all-issues bundle on the store, while technically the last issue remains incomplete.

SPEAKING OF—

I'm delighted to share that To Hunt a God has earned its first Bestseller Medal on DriveThruRPG!

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If you'd like to learn a bit about what went into creating this supplement, I shared some behind-the-scenes info over on my blog last month. Includes terrible sketches by yours truly, alongside the loverly finished interior pieces.

Part Two has been coming along a bit slowly, but I'm enjoying how it meanders. Usually, I have something resembling a manuscript before I play through material; this time around I wasn't entirely sure how to handle my ideas, so I've been developing the adventure the opposite direction. Using the playtest to drive my writing. It's an exciting process. I've mostly taken this month off from writing, apart from creating notes and ideas to riff on in my sessions of To Hunt a God with Mason—friend and occasional Akhelas co-conspirator. I'm looking forward to taking my session notes, turning them into an outline, and writing out the draft of Part Two.

I'd like to have this done by the end of March, but at the moment I'm not looking to push myself with a firm deadline. I think I'll have a solid manuscript by then, but that production (proofreading, art, layout) will require more time.

Some cool stuff which has happened in our playtest:

  • Encountering "deep/feral" Aldryami which don't speak human tongues—I really enjoyed trying to improvise body language for creatures so far outside normal human experience. Shifting bark patterns, floral scents, rustling leaves.
  • Trading private secrets & ambitions with a forest spirit, the Wise Beast.
  • An epic duel between Finstaval—one of the NPCs in Part One—and our redsmith adventurer, in which they heroformed the battle between Storm and Fire, struggling to earn the Earth (win the charms of our Ernaldan adventurer). I honestly don't know if I'll be able to work some of what made that fight cool into the adventure, but I think I can justify it as a sidebar 😉.
  • Gate-crashing an Aldryami funeral, and winding up in the Underworld. Well, sort-of… Hm… I'm not gonna reveal that one just yet!

I'm honestly a bit scared to see how this adventure works itself onto the page. I hope you all will like it. It's remained, roughly, within the scope I've imagined since my initial outlines, but remains some of the most ambitious work I've attempted yet. There's a real danger of accidental self-sabotage, but I think I'm still in clear waters, and have a good heading to navigate.

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  • 5 months later...

Hey all, I've finally got some news to share about my next publication on the Jonstown Compendium, Part Two of To Hunt a God. You can learn more over on my site, but I'll give the short version here.

Basically, my work's been delayed due to a mix of personal stressor, encouraging writer's block. But I've FINALLY finished the manuscript, and we're now entering editing and production. I'm hoping to release a quick-and-dirty layout of one chapter soon (about a third of Part Two).

To everyone who has already picked up To Hunt a God, thank you, so much. I appreciate your patience. If you haven't snagged it yet, this year's Christmas in July is probably the cheapest you'll ever see this book. The price is going up once I start publishing Part Two material.

(Reminder, Part Two is entirely free to anyone who buys now.)

Finally, enjoy this piece of art by Yulia Zhuchkova! But if you're curious what it depicts, you'll have to click the blog link. 😉

Wise Beast

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  • Crel changed the title to Part 2 Update! To Hunt a God — Monster of the Month #24
  • 3 weeks later...

Well this has taken me much too long (and in all odds, will continue requiring more time than I'm happy with), but I've uploaded the first text from Part Two of To Hunt a God. This is a "beta" release, still awaiting final edits, then graphic design + artwork.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/382256/To-Hunt-a-God?affiliate_id=546342

The update is 15 pages, and includes 13 short encounters. It is, as promised, free to everyone who has already purchased To Hunt a God. You should find the additional PDF in your DriveThruRPG library.

While written for this adventure, several of these encounters are also, hopefully, worth stealing for use elsewhere during your campaigns. 😉 Material ranges from stern Aldryami to wily tricksters, moral choices to monster mayhem. Hopefully, a little something for everyone in the Glorantha community.  ❤️

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  • 3 months later...

To Hunt a God, Part Two is in beta release!

The update is about 30 pages. If you already bought this publication, this file should be available in your DriveThruRPG library.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/382256/To-Hunt-a-God?affiliate_id=546342

I'm still working with the editor on refining, then proofreading, the text. Art production is ongoing, but likely will not be completed until I'm further along in the final book's graphic design, so I know what additional pieces are most needed.

Thank you all for your patience. This unbearably slow process hasn't been how I wanted to release this work, but it has been the reality of the past year for me. I'm looking forward to seeing the last puzzle pieces fit together into the completed book.

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  • 2 months later...

Quick update because I don't get here as often as elsewhere on social media—

I think I'm done with the primary editing on To Hunt a God, Part 2. Finally managed to stuff my ego in a sock and process the adventure's edits, and now I've got I think all of the text in InDesign. (The editor did a good job, my inner writer was just whining until I got out the butcher knife.)

It's 42 pages of raw text, not including sidebars, tables, and most importantly, ART! I have a good chunk of the art already, but I'm expecting to commission one or two more pieces, depending on how the graphic design goes.

Mm, and then also the NPC statblocks chapter, forgot I'll need to get the new NPCs into the file too...

I won't be committing to a completion date until I've got the file done, and ready to proofread. But I think most of the work ahead of me is mechanical, not creative/emotional.

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  • 1 month later...

Another update on this one, and one I'm quite happy to share!

All content for "To Hunt a God Part 2" is complete!! The final count is 139 pages. I'm waiting on one art piece. In the meantime, I'll be proofreading + tweaking graphic design. Probably two passes over the whole book. Once getting page references, design tweaks, and similar corrections/additions up to date, and then a second pass for error trapping.

The last content I'd been muddling away at was some NPCs I'd forgotten to write out in the process of making this damn thing. Because if you've seen any of my Rune Master MOTM issues, you know I like my side characters. 😄

I'm pretty happy with the book, but I make no promises that y'all will get anything anywhere near this elaborate again from me for a while. (Though I do feel that in saying that, I'm tempting my own hubris...)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting this out there soon—and then some NEW-new stuff won't be far down the line! Expect to see some purty art teasers over the next few weeks.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We are closing in on Part Two's release!

Anticipated release date is April 14th. This is NOT a promise, because I'm currently on vacation. Remaining work is me processing proofing notes from my wonderful editors.

This clip is from the art piece I've been waiting on, "Into the Underworld" by Laura Galli. I'm astounded at her work, and looking forward to sharing it with y'all on Friday.

Part One is available here. As promised, Part Two is a free update to all prior purchasers. I will be uploading the expanded PDF - about 70 new pages - as an additional file to the original product on DriveThruRPG.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The full release of To Hunt a God is now available on the Jonstown Compendium! This 139-page publication includes:

  • The longform cult of Hrunda, God of Bluepaw Monkeys, including rules for creating new adventurers, new Rune spells, and path to shamanhood.
  • The macabre Temple of the Bones at which humans and animals worship Gods of Nature.
  • A 50+ page adventure which sees the adventurers heroquest into the Old Woods—a forest near Dragon Pass inhabited by elves and talking animals—to perform an act of divine euthanasia.
  • Extra encounters, magic items, and more!

If you're a prior purchaser, the new PDF should be available in your DriveThruRPG library. Thank you, everyone, for supporting me and other creators on the Jonstown Compendium. It means the world. May you enjoy many adventures for many years!

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  • Crel changed the title to Complete Release Now Available! To Hunt a God

Just dropping in to say that this is one of the absolute best products now available for the Jonstown Compendium (and there is obviously some stiff competition). The production quality and use of art set a new bar for community content, and there is just loads of gameable material in here. I've only had a quick skim through but I think much of the content will be adaptable for other purposes as well.

Top notch.

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--

The Voralans presents Glorantha's magical mushroom humanoids, the black elves. "Absolutely phenomenal" - Austin C. "Seriously weird-ass shit" - John D. "A great piece of work" - Leon K. The Electrum best-selling The Children of Hykim documents Glorantha's shape-changing totemic animal people, the Hsunchen. "Magisterial ... highly recommended" - Nick Brooke. "Lovingly detailed and scholarly, and fun to read" - John H. "Absolutely wonderful!" - Morgan C.

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