#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 11: Tact

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 11: Tact

It's day eleven of #RPGaDAY2026 and I'm trying to continue my challenge in creating 31 NPCs for the game, Hex Education, which I'm developing at the moment. Today's prompt is TACT, and I've hastily drawn a tarot card to inspire a character.

Zaria Bolaan

Zaria is smart. Very smart. She considers herself incredibly lucky as she's been able to go to the Academy with her best friend in the world, Addison. Together, they vowed to work hard, to be the best they could possibly be. The most recent end of term test on interpretation of ancient runes, Zaria aced it, but after many evenings of studying together, Addison only got a B. Rather than gloat or boast, like many of her classmates would, Zaria simply congratulates him on passing with a great result, and may even lie about what grade she got to make him feel better.

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 10: Secret

 #RPGaDAY2026 - Day 10: Secret

Ah, a weird flashback to when I suggested Pretty Little Liars would make a good tabletop roleplaying game... "Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead..." 

It's day ten of #RPGaDAY2026, and the prompt is SECRET. The best roleplaying games involve uncovering cool and exciting secrets. Secret doors, secret passageways, secret societies – I'm hoping that Hex Education has lots of these. Once again, I've used the prompt to inspire a hastily drawn tarot card (though in this case it's the second attempt, as I hated the first one I drew), and using this card to write up a little about an NPC for the game. 

Ursula West

There's got to be an easier way to get through school, and Ursula is convinced she's found it. After weeks of searching, gaining access to the staff areas of the Academy, she's finally found what she thinks is the secret hiding place of the exam answers. Of course, it's not. It's all a bit of a trap – or rather a test – designed by the Headmaster, to discover the most determined, and somewhat sneaky, students. 

There will be punishment, and Ursula will see the extra work as a punishment, but in actuality these sessions are further training in stealth, surveillance, and scouting. 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 9: Privilege

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 9: Privilege

We're onto day nine of #RPGaDAY2026 and today's prompt is PRIVILEGE, a word that, for some reason, my brain just won't let me spell correctly the first time I type it. Once more, continuing with my creating an NPC for each prompt, based on a hastily drawn tarot card. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have 31 NPCs I can draw at random if I need someone to do something in the game.

Benjamin Frost

Possibly the greatest privilege at the Academy is to be Head Student. You get a badge, one even shinier than the Prefects, and you've a voice with the faculty. In most cases, being Head Student means you try to improve things for your peers, demand more choice at dinners, cleaner bathrooms, less homework, that sort of thing. However, Benjamin (never call him 'Ben') is using his newfound power and authority to throw his weight around, boss the new students around, and threatening them when they refuse to do his assignments for him. 

Oh, he'll get his... 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 8: Resolve

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day Eight: Resolve

Onto day eight of #RPGaDAY2026 and we're over a week in already! Hurrah!! Once again, I'm creating NPCs for Hex Education based on the art from my hastily drawn Tarot cards inspired by the prompt of the day. The prompt for today is Resolve, which can mean an awful lot of things...

Barbara Weiss

The temptation was always there. Hidden, at the back of a dusty shelf in a forgotten section of the library, were some of the most dangerous and darkest spells in creation. They weren't just powerful, but they were corrupting. They would let the darkness invade and take over your very soul. Alex thought this could be a way to advance in class. He was slipping terribly far behind, but when Barbara realised what book he was using, she was shocked and knew something had to be done. It was tempting, the book even called to her to open it, but she was resolute, and cast it into the fires in the common room. As to whether it could even burn is up to you. 

#RPGaDAY2026: Day 7 - Mercy

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day Seven: Mercy

Onto Day Seven of #RPGaDAY2026 and the prompt of the day is the word MERCY. It was tricky to do an image that didn't involve some form of violence, and while doodling I just had Robert Palmer's cover of Marvin Gaye's 'Mercy Mercy Me' stuck in my head, despite not hearing it for many, many years. Weird how songs stay in the mind so long after hearing them. 

Anyway, after realising it could be some form of competitive duelling, then I knew what to draw, and that would lead me to creating the next character for Hex Education. 

Sigrid Berglund

Duelling at the Academy takes many forms. From year three, physical education includes foil and rapier fencing, and those who excel go onto sabre combat and more. When it comes to magical duelling, Sigrid is already top of the inter-house league. She is not violent or ruthless, instead her calm and considerate demeanour can lull her opponents into a false sense of security. Her Fae heritage is more evident, and she may be displaying some form of precognition, allowing her to predict her opponent's next move. 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 6: Reach

 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 6: REACH

Onto day SIX of #RPGaDAY2026, and continuing to create NPCs for Hex Education, based on my sketchy artwork on blank tarot cards. Day Six was a tricky one, and I think I went a bit obvious when it comes to the image for REACH. And before you ask, no I'm not drawing the place in Halo. 

Emerson Griffiths

Why do the shelves have to be so tall? I know the school has been around for over a thousand years, and has accumulated a lot of books, but they seriously don't expect their students to be over twenty feet tall do they? Emerson has decided to get extra points by volunteering to help in the central library of the Academy, and as such has had to quickly master basic physical manipulation in order to place the books on the highest of the towering shelves. Emerson also finds this is a good place to hide from his classmates who are a bit too noisy for his sensibilities. He prefers the quiet and solitude of the books, and the distant echoes of pages turning through the lofty halls. 

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 5: Burden

 

Day 5: Burden

We're onto Day Five of #RPGaDAY2026, and I'm still continuing with my challenge of creating 31 NPCs for Hex Education. Still basing the characters on my freehand illustrations drawn straight onto blank tarot cards. Day Five, and the prompt is BURDEN. 

August Seavers

Everyone seems to think August is incredibly smart and a bit of a swot. He always seems to be in the library, and when he's not he has his face burrowed in a book somewhere. He's even revising and researching while eating in the hall. However, August isn't a swot. His sister graduated a few years before him, top of the class. Heck, she was top of the year. Head Girl, a Prefect, all the awards you could imagine. So, when August started at the Academy, everyone expected him to be just as smart, just as accomplished, and that simply isn't the case. He doesn't want to let his family down, but he finds it all a bit hard. There's a lot of information to take in, and a single wrong hand-gesture can cause terrible harm. 

Instead, August studies. Constantly. The family's reputation is a burden upon him, just like the stack of books he constantly carries around hoping, somehow, the information will actually stick this time.

#RPGaDAY2026: Day 4 - Charm

 #RPGaDAY2026 - Day Four: Charm

Continuing my month of making NPCs for Hex Education, today's prompt is particularly apt as it's Charm. Back when I first started putting down ideas for the game, it was called Charm School, inspired by a particularly awesome song by Fatherson. 

Madeline Rankin

While many of the students prefer to focus their magical energies using a wand or staff, some store energies in pendants or bracelets and use hand gestures to focus them. Madeline is one of these students, utilising complex hand movements to channel the energy and to direct it to manipulate, transform, or affect the target object. She's often regarded with some level of awe and curiosity by her classmates, as she has quickly mastered these gestures, her fingers forming mindblowing shapes with tremendous dexterity. 

Madeline is bound to excel in her year, and will probably go on to a very successful career after graduation. Who knows, maybe she'll end up teaching this form of magic?

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 3: Poise

 

It's Day Three of #RPGaDAY2026, and I'm continuing my challenge to create 31 NPCs for the game I'm developing called Hex Education. Thirty-One illustrations (hastily penned onto blank tarot cards) that reflect the prompt for the day, and then using that illustration to create an NPC to populate the setting.

Poise

Liza Hillman

While she may not come from a particularly wealthy or upper-class background, Liza has an air around her of confidence. She doesn't abuse this confidence, she just remains unflustered and calm even when it's the start of exam season. Liza has a quality to her attitude that can sometimes be infectious, calming those around her and reassuring them when panic could set in.

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 2: Stature

Day Two of #RPGaDAY2026, and I'm continuing to create NPCs for Hex Education. Today's word is STATURE, which is a tricky one, but here goes with another freehand tarot card.

STATURE

Archibald Cross

Just never call him Archie. Archibald has a higher than normal amount of Fae in his heritage, and while he was raised in the mortal world, he was always thinner, taller, and more striking than his peers. Unfortunately, he was quick to realise this, and considers himself far better than those around him, treating even his tutors and elders as if they exist purely to serve him or to advance him in some way.

Of course, that does leave him with very few friends, except for those who think that they can benefit from his inevitable success.

#RPGaDAY2026 - Day 1: Discipline

 

It's Day One of #RPGaDAY2026, and as the theme for this year's #RPGaDAY initiative is all about characters, I thought I'd really challenge myself and create an NPC for each day of the month, based upon the prompt word. These NPCs are all going to be characters in the background of a game I'm working on at the moment called Hex Education – a magic school game I like to imagine as Grange Hill meets Narnia with a healthy dose of Excalibur in there as well. Hopefully, by the end of the month, I'll have 31 NPCs to populate some of the classes at the Academy.

Not only that, but the game uses a Tarot card system similar to my previous game, WILD: Wake Initiated Lucid Dreaming. It's been adapted, simplified a bit, and that led me to think about making these NPCs as Tarot cards! Not ones to be used in the game's Hex Deck, but just as extras to keep me drawing. Get some more practice in, so to speak.

The only problem is, using a fineliner on a blank Tarot card is tricky. The gloss on the cards means that the amount of pencils I can do before I crack open the pens is minimal, so the art is going to be rough. Sorry.

So, let's get started with day one... 

DISCIPLINE - 

Casper Hardacre

Casper has a bit of a temper problem. And rightly so, he always seems to be butt of everyone's jokes. It's not his fault at all – after an unfortunate mistake during his first week he just seemed to spend a lot of his time in between classes enduring name calling and 'accidental' bumps in the corridors that sent his books and work flying. 

In reality, Casper is a genuinely nice student, who has endured so much constant teasing that he's finding it hard to resist lashing out and turning everyone who has caused him so much pain into the earthworms they deserve to be. But he won't. He closes his eyes. Counts in his head. Takes a deep breath, and gets on with the day. He's smart too, and they'll soon stop mocking him at the end of the year when he aces those exams. 

He knows violence is not the answer. That just lands you in detention or worse. No, he'll show them all on an academic level that he's not someone to be messed with. 

Looking Behind the Screen

Last weekend I went to a really cool 'Unconference' in London, hosted by Patchwork Fez Games, where a load of far more talented and cool creators got together and discussed various topics, from what printers to use, game distribution, why game companies don't progress from 'at the weekends' to full-time... and an interesting one about Patreon. 

I've had a Patreon for a while, and you can find it here:

https://www.patreon.com/cw/Autocratik

Part of the discussion was about making money through Patreon and I must admit, it's not something I really thought about. I mean, I set up paid levels on my Patreon, but I've not actually put anything on there that was exclusive to the paid levels, never mind exclusive to Patreon itself - everything that's been on there has been on this blog as well. After all, the number of people who are actually subscribed to my Patreon is in single figures. 

What do you think? Would you like me to reveal some 'behind the scenes' creation processes for my next project? If so, should I just put them on the blog and the free level, or should I try putting them behind that dreaded paywall?

As for what I'm working on at the moment? I've an idea for a second book for WILD, but I'm also working on something I like to think of as Grange Hill meets Narnia... The Magicians meets Excalibur... 

Called Hex Education.

It'll be smaller... possibly... probably... at least, until the ol' scope-creep sets in! 

Anyway, more later. Probably after #RPGaDAY2026... more on that in a few days.

Stay Multi-classy,

D