Lane Boy

 

There was a meme going around recently. Well, not so much a meme, but a collection of stills with subtitles from an interview with the legendary Bjork, saying "The minute I need to start pleasing five people, I won't please anyone. But if I only please myself, I might please ten people, you see..."

It's certainly something I've been thinking about recently. I'm trying to get my head around the idea of not having the opportunities that working on big games provide, and just working on my own stuff for a bit. While I'd love to go back to working on something big and cool, and maybe even licensed like I have in the past for Buffy, Star Trek, and especially Doctor Who, I know that it's not likely for a bit unless something amazing comes along and surprises me. I'm open to offers. 

While I await that miracle, I'm just working on my own things with no idea if anyone is going to like them. I'm just doing it because it's something I want to make, rather than making something I know will be a huge success. Who knows, maybe someone else will like it.

In the meantime, it's been quite a busy few weeks.

First up was All Points East - a music festival in the heart of London. Not the sort of thing I'd normally go to, I'm not a big fan of crowds, so being in the middle of 40,000 people (estimated, could have been more) was not my idea of a good time, but still, it was Twenty One Pilots, so we had to go!

My view of the stage for Twenty One Pilots was okay, we weren't in the mass, but I could still see. Debs, being a bit shorter, said she couldn't see much - one of the big disadvantages of a festival space not being tiered. However, the sound was fantastic, especially for an outdoor gig. Really good, and we got to see PVRIS as well, who was brilliant live. I missed Dead Pony due to train cancellations and delays, but one day... 

I may be in the later half of my fifties, but hurrah for new experiences. We did, however, end up walking over ten miles that day, so we were suitably exhausted for the next few days. Maybe too old for festivals...

We'd just recovered when we took the train up to Scotland for the annual Tabletop Scotland convention. We didn't have a table this year, but I was helping out on the IWGB Game workers' Union table for a bit on the Saturday, where we were spreading the word of the Union, and some members had donated games to sell to raise money for the Rockstar legal defence fund, to help those unjustly fired from Rockstar.

It went really well, and Tabletop Scotland itself felt a heck of a lot busier than it had in previous years. It's only going to keep growing and getting better I think. Surprisingly, I didn't buy anything while I was there (though Debs did - a couple of cool books from Monte Cook Games, and a copy of the Cat Earth boardgame). 

The trains up to Scotland were suitably awful, arriving two and a half hours late, but hopefully the ol' 'delay repay' will help out as it really wasn't cheap getting there! 

Anyway, we stayed with Stoo (creator of Aegean) again, and petted his cats, saw some of the the parks of Glasgow, and a very generous friend offered to give us a lift from Glasgow to Edinburgh and the convention, which really helped. Then we returned home to recover before the following weekend...

Which saw us back in London at the O2 to see Evanescence. This time, sat in really cool seats that were so close that when the flames shot up on stage you could feel the heat in your face. The support was K-Flay, who came back on stage to join Evanescence to perform 'Fight Like A Girl' from the Ballerina soundtrack (the spin-off from John Wick), and Poppy, who I've been a bit of a fan of since I discovered her music a couple of years ago. In fact, I used to listen to her track, "I Disagree" rather a lot over the last couple of years for some reason.

Anyway, they were all brilliant, super noisy, though I think the older Evanescence fans (the same age as me) were a bit confused by the awesomeness of Poppy. Personally, I loved it. And then there was the amazing moment when Poppy came out again to join Evanescence for the track "End of You", and then everyone was doubly surprised when Courtney LaPlante from Spiritbox came out to join them. Absolutely stunning, and the crowd went suitably bananas. 

--

But you're not here to read about concerts and stuff, are you? Sure, I may have gone to the cinema for the first time in a couple of years (and I'm sure there will be a long post at the end of the year about the media I've consumed over the course of 2026) – I'd love to get into a long discussion about how the UK doesn't look like it's trapped in the 1940s, no matter what Practical Magic 2 tells us.

What have I been doing? 

Well, going back to Twenty One Pilots, and the name of this post, I've been straying from my lane, boy. I'm still working on that bit of freelancing I mentioned (and can't talk about), but besides that, I've been splitting my time between working on Hex Education and drawing a comic strip...

Hex Education

It's ticking along now, but slower than I'd hoped. I got a little distracted at the potential of another project which I'm super-keen to do, but just in case nothing comes of that I'd best focus on something I have total control over. The 'Student's Guide' book is getting there. The system is mostly sorted, just need to fine-tune and test the magic system. Character creation is mostly done too, I'm just hung up on house names. Yes, it has houses, like a certain piece of media I won't mention, but then so did the schools I went to. Just how competitive can you get by naming the houses at school Athenians, Corinthians, Spartans, and Trojans? I mean, they were always at flippin' war with each other.

I wanted the house names to be reflective of the tone and inspirations, so I've been raiding my wife's vast library of witchcraft and folklore books, looking at everything from animals associated with elements and cardinal points of the compass, the seasons and times of day, traditionally linked tarot cards, to the names of all of these in Old English, Welsh, Latin, and more. 

However, sometimes, the simplest solution eludes you, and it's the best one to go for. Of course, the most recent idea I settled on is too close to a fantasy book series so I'm going to have to rethink my options again.

I don't think I'll have anything to show off at UK Games Expo like I hoped, but you never know. WILD took ten years to see print, I just hope I can get this done sooner.

Comics

I have been wanting to draw something for a while. A very long while in fact, since back when I was in full-time employ (especially as it was a creative outlet my contract would actually allow). I've been tinkering with something light, slightly comedic, slightly autobiographic, heavily fictionalised. I've done the first page, then I inked it with the lovely new (cheap) fountain pen I bought (it's just a Lamy, but it's nice with its variable lines). However, it started bleeding (even though I tested another book of the same make) and when I rubbed out the pencil the crappy paper came away and the ink started coming off...

So, I had to get the ol' light-box out and I have redone the first page. 

Just need to keep going with both of these projects and not lose momentum. Though it's tough when the ol' imposter syndrome is barking like a black dog at the door. And, no... I'm not going to share the art on here - not yet. Maybe next summer, when there's more of it. It'll probably just be a few zine-sized things, with a vision for collections in the future. 

And that's it. That's everything so far. 

This month is more of the same. Comics, writing, games, gigs (more?), and watching too many movies and TV series. 

I tried to record a Youtube video about what I've been working on, but I hated how I looked, the sound quality, and I just rambled something awful so I gave up and deleted it. Maybe I'll try again in the near future, but the next couple of weeks are looking busy so it'll be after that... 

Until then, if you want to make sure you don't miss any of these updates or posts do head over to my FREE Patreon on sign up - you'll get these straight into your inbox, and, did I mention it's free? 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day Thirty-Two!!! Let's wrap this up

 

It's the first of September, so #RPGaDAY2026 is officially over. Thank you to everyone who took part this year, there have been some amazing entries, from those who took every prompt, and every element from the additional prompts, and used them to create whole settings for their games, to those who threw the prompts away completely but fully embraced the true meaning of #RPGaDAY and got people talking in a positive way about the hobby. 

It's been amazing. While it was quite evident this year that the big corporations were doing their best to make our content and hard work harder to find, communities on Discord and the (currently) unmonetised BlueSky proved that these discussions were still going strong and producing some of the coolest creations and discussions around tabletop gaming. 

Once again, I'd like to thank those who provided the translations this year (Roberto Micheri, Richard 'Bat' Brewster, Eric Souza, Miguel Therriault, Bartimeaus, and edu-rpg.de) and, of course, to Anthony 'Runeslinger' Boyd, for creating the prompts this year and hosting our intro and outro videos. 

------

On a more serious note, August is always hard for me, but this year was particularly tough. As the weeks progress, I've been finding it more and more difficult to know just what the heck I'm doing. We had a meeting of like-minded game designers recently, and did those little introductions... I used to be able to say, 'Hi, I'm David F Chapman, I'm a producer at Cubicle 7 Games and probably best known as the designer of the Doctor Who RPG'. 

Now, I can't. I kinda fumbled it all, as I realised I'm not a producer. Hell, I'm not even employed. I know Tyler Durden said 'You are not your job', but it just felt odd to say... 'I'm... er... making some stuff for myself'. 

So what am I doing? 

I'm a way into the player's book for Hex Education, but need to really ponder some rules decisions before I get any further. 

I've a freelance gig that I'm working on, but can't talk about. 

And I live in hope for something else. 

Maybe Tabletop Scotland this year will be as inspiring to me as it was a couple of years ago... 

Maybe I should dig the video camera out again. Maybe I should draw that comic. 

I just need to stay multi-classy. 

And so should you.

[Remember, you can subscribe to my updates on Patreon. It's free]

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 31: Edge

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 31: Edge

We've made it, the final day of #RPGaDAY2026 and we teeter on the edge of the world... The last of the NPCs I've written up for Hex Education based on a hastily drawn tarot card image.

Kim Coleman

Sometimes you just need to get away from everything and everyone. To go to the edge of school, to the clifftops, and look out on the land to the west. The land where, legend states, evil is stirring. Kim's not sure if there really is anything out there. The pupils aren't allowed to venture off of school property, and only have the history lessons to tell them of the horrors and creatures that threatens the school and the mundane realm beyond. 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 30: Pride

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 30: Pride

One thing I really wanted to do with Hex Education was to provide fans of a certain magic school a way to play cool and exciting mysteries and adventures in a slightly familiar setting, without supporting the creator whose actions over the last few years have turned many away. However, since then it has escalated and changed to become a game of portal fantasy, with a healthy dose of Arthurian mythology and journeys to a Narnia or Fillory-like land to face evil while studying at a magical school. 

At its heart, however, is acceptance. Everyone is welcome. Everyone. As long as you're not evil. Though that often is only apparent when one does evil. 

Dainius

One of the first centaurs to graduate from the Academy, Dainius is testament to the school's stance on accepting and adapting to everyone who wishes to attend, as long as they show some form of magical potential, and are willing to put the work in to develop such ability. Though adapting the graduation gown has proved to be a little tricky...

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 29: Labour

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 29: Labour

It has taken a lot of work to create 400+ prompts, and to host #RPGaDAY every year, and I have to say thanks to Runeslinger for his valuable help in hosting, creating prompts, and without his input the whole initiative would have ended after its third year... 

Kevin Cimino

Punishment for misbehaving at the Academy is usually some form of detention, though the herbology professor particularly likes to add some additional form of torture for those suffering detention from his class – the wonders of cleaning the classroom and greenhouses... without the use of magic. That's right, get the mops and cloths out, buckets of water and cleaning fluids, and be prepared to get messy. You'll be cleaning your own uniform afterwards, too, as Kevin found out. All he did was pass a note to Sophie, but he was caught out. 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 28: Devotion

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 28: Devotion

It takes a lot of dedication and devotion to get through to this stage of #RPGaDAY2026. Heck, even more devotion if you've been doing this since it began... If you've done every day of #RPGaDAY since it began, this is your 400th entry to the challenge. I feel tired just thinking about that!

Mitchell Parkinson

Mitch is the captain of the Towers team for his house. He's worked hard to get there, training every day, even when it's not scheduled practice. If there's a spare hour in the evening, he's practicing. Or preparing. Polishing his shield to give it the best chance at deflecting the energy-ball and to provide the best accuracy to aim it back at his opponents. He'll win, through hard work and dedication. 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 27: Hunger

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 27: Hunger

It's day twenty-seven, we're nearly at the end. Are you hungry for more, or just eager to finish!? The strange thing about writing a magical academy, no one should be going hungry in it – meals are provided, but then my lovely wife pointed out that the Academy allows everyone to attend. There is no discrimination or exclusion, as long as you're not evil! Which led to the following NPC for Hex Education. 

Cezar Dragomir

Cezar is one of the first vampires to attend the Academy. The faculty has been very accommodating, and the classrooms have been protected against UV light, and the route between classes have been planned to only use corridors and secret passageways. The only thing they haven't quite adjusted to is his feeding requirements. Luckily, he only needs to feed upon a small amount of blood every night, carefully donated by volunteers, but he still ends up sitting at the vast tables in the dining hall at mealtimes. It can be awkward, and he still feels hungry, watching all of those mortals eat their normal food...

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 26: Regret

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 26: Regret

Well, I hope you don't regret taking on the challenge of #RPGaDAY2026. Today's a difficult one if you want to keep things positive, as we always ask for when it comes to #RPGaDAY, but there could be that game you regret not getting, or anything you could imagine. I have plenty of regrets, but very few of them are RPG related... though there is one... no... 

Once again, let's focus on NPCs from my game in progress, Hex Education.

Piotr Santaniello

Always a bit of a troublemaker, Piotr was always rebelling. Bunking off of classes to hide in the greenhouses to race snails. Mocking the teachers behind their backs. Playing pranks on the other students. He was notorious for it. However, his biggest regret was throwing that jinxed ball of parchment. He thought it was a great laugh, aiming for that freshman. Instead, it went straight for the head of house. That'll be the rest of term in detention...

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 25: Familiarity

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 25: Familiarity

I must admit, I really struggled with this one. It was really tricky to come up with something art-wise for the prompt Familiarity, and then suddenly it dawned on me. If I dropped a couple of letters, it's the perfect word for a witchy-academy setting! 

Jessica Patterson

Jess was incredibly happy to hear that she could bring her beloved pet with her to the Academy. Mr Fuzzles, however, wasn't so sure. Part of the curriculum for those bringing pets include additional training in bonding with an animal so that it becomes a loyal and helpful familiar that can understand instruction, and also help out with some tasks. As the familiar advances, it can develop speech, and assist in hex-casting. 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 24: Distance

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 24: Distance

Day Twenty-Four of #RPGaDAY2026 and it's all about DISTANCE. How far have you gone in your game? How far have you travelled to get to a game or convention? Once again, I've used the prompt to draw another tarot card to inspire an NPC for the game I'm working on, Hex Education. 

Christian Schroeder

One thing Christian has not yet come to grips with is the concept of there being two Academies. One in the mundane world, a boarding school for students to learn everything they could need for the future - maths, languages, science, history... and a second Academy, through a mysterious portal, in the Otherworld, where magic is taught. It seems like another world, but it feels like ours. Do you travel a long distance to this other realm, or is it right on our doorstep, but 'shifted' slightly out of our reality. 

Christian finds this fascinating, and is focusing his studies on finding out more about other worlds beyond our own, and how they are connected.

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 23: Fortune

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 23: Fortune

If there's one thing you won't make when making RPGs (unless you're lucky enough to get a crazy-huge license like Dungeon Crawler Carl or Cosmere) is a fortune. But that doesn't mean we can't dream! However, Fortune can relate to other things too - and is particularly apt for a magic academy.

Carmen Mora

Carmie has always been plagued with visions – premonitions of imminent dangers and threats. Thankfully, the Academy has been teaching them how to control these visions, and to channel the predictive and precognitive energies into clearer and easier to define methods, such as cards and crystals. Their uncanny predictions have made Carmen incredibly popular in the run-up to exam season, as they are besieged by students asking for advice as to what questions will be on the papers.

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 22: Grit

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 22: Grit

Sometimes, like doing a month-long challenge like #RPGaDAY2026, you just have to grit your teeth and plough on through until it's finished. You can do it. You're almost in the home stretch. 

Isla Trevino

It's not just magic that is taught at the Academy. While the traditional mundane subjects are also taught, especially as many magical practices involve knowledge of languages, science, and mathematics, the 'physical fitness' part of the curriculum also involves basic levels of combat. From self-defence, martial arts, to fencing, if a student shows promise in these areas they are encouraged and the classes expand to other areas such as cavalry, broad swords, archery, and more. 

Isla excelled in fencing, mastering the foil and rapier levels of tutoring. Her swordmaster immediately recommended that she progress onto full swordsmanship, though the swords are a lot heavier and require a lot more resolve and grit to swing.

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 21: Charity

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 21: Charity

On day twenty-one, we're all asking for a little charity. I must admit, I always try to be charitable, also since becoming freelance and having just about zero income at the moment, that is certainly difficult. But being charitable doesn't necessarily mean financially. It can also be simply being supportive, and offering help when you can. 

Bradford Young

Brad noticed that Paula was falling behind in her classes. He didn't know what the cause was, but he was getting worried that she was going to drop out of the Academy altogether. If her grades fell too severely, she'd be sent home, back to mundane life, with all knowledge of the Academy, and of magic, erased from her memory. Since then, Brad has become a good friend, helping with some additional tutoring at the weekends that have really improved her understanding of the complex machinations of magic. As a result, she's no longer constantly worried, and is finally eating again - even if sometimes she has extra from Brad's plate. 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 20: Promise

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 20: Promise

Day Twenty of #RPGaDAY2026 is all about your friends and making a promise. Usually this is a promise to support them and not to do anything that could cause them any harm. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone was like that? 

Draven Vaughn

Draven and his best friend, Harland, have made a promise. If one of the gets onto the Towers squad, and not the other, they'll quit. They're a team, and the coach will have to take them both or neither of them at all. They work best when they work together, and once the coach realises that, the team will easily come out on top of the table.