Posted August 12, 2016 at 1:49 pm
I'll be going live at 2:00 PM PST today. Untitled-1 I'll be drawing and at various points throughout the stream, giving away some Goblins tshirts. So come and hang out with other awesome folks. This is a great place to ask me questions and share your opinions about the comic. Or you can just lurk silently and see if you win a tshirt. XD The streaming schedule is now... Mondays - (starting time not yet established) Wednesdays - (starting time not yet established) Fridays - 2:00 PM PST Thanks for being awesome! -Tarol
Posted August 9, 2016 at 1:02 am
Live Boop I haven't made the official announcement yet, but there will now be a regular schedule for my live drawing. The streaming days will be... Monday/Wednesday/Friday (I'll work out the best times for each stream asap) Tonight's stream is starting crazy late and this won't be the norm. Tonight I'm (finally) finishing the newest Goblins page. However, the visuals of this page are not very spoilery. It's the dialogue that'd be spoilery, and you won't see that on the stream. Warning: I have gotten a comically small amount of sleep in the last few days, and I know from experience, that I can seem a little... intoxicated if I'm sleep deprived enough. I've made a fool of myself before (more than usual even :P ) so to avoid this tonight, I'll be fairly toned down. I'm happy to answer questions, etc while I'm drawing. -Tarol
Posted July 8, 2016 at 6:15 pm
Two or three years ago, I ran a Kickstarter with a small gaming company called Evertide Games. Our goal was to raise $30,000 to create a Goblins card game called Goblins: Alternate Realities. We raised over $180,000 which the head of the company stole and disappeared with. Since then, I've been working two jobs. Drawing the comic and creating the card game. It's been rough and it feels surreal to say this, but I'm seriously almost done the card game. So I've been spending the last couple weeks burning through the last of the work on the game. I know this sucks for those of you wanting the comic to update, but just imagine... in (hopefully) another couple weeks, I'll be working ONE job for the first time in years! The comic can update faster! I can do crazy things like leave the house for non-essential reasons! So I've hired NaniRoxy (who happens to have his own webcomic called SwitchOut) to write and draw two guest pages for me. While these pages aren't canon, they're gorgeous and awesome. The second guest page should be appearing on or around July 14th. After that, I'll be back to work on the comic with the work on the card game (again, hopefully) behind me. As far as the release date for the game, that's still unknown. I've been in talks with people and I'm optimistically hoping to be able to provide a copy of the game to the backers who were promised one all those moons ago. I'm also hoping that the game will be available to purchase for everyone else. I've gotten my hands on the Kickstarter backer list (which was tough, since that legally belonged to Evertide as the KS was in their name) and if/when the time comes, I'll start the task of going through the thousands of names to make sure that the information is up to date and accurate. If you've moved, don't sweat it. We'll find each other. We'll make this happen and get you your game. For now, the focus is on finishing the artwork (which I'm proud to say, is hundreds of cards covered in original art), playtesting and design of the game. Later on, will come the 'hunt down every backer I owe a copy of the game to' phase. I want to stress that nothing is guaranteed at this point, but it's looking good. It's looking like this might actually happen. What amazes me so much, is the overwhelming support I've gotten from the Goblinites. When I held my breath and made the announcement that the money was stolen, I honestly thought that might be the end of my career. I expected a lot of hate and anger but instead, I got love and support. This is the reason why I've been working on this game like I have. The years of effort I've been putting into it is a direct reflection of your support, trust and patience. And now that I'm almost done this phase of the process, I'm genuinely proud of what this game has become. It's creativity and fun over profit and product. It's something I'm honestly excited about handing over to you. Thank you. -Tarol NaniRoxy's Twitter Tarol's Twitter
Posted June 21, 2016 at 1:34 am
Hey people in the Brooklyn area!
A friend of mine just recently opened up his restaurant, Propellerhead! Of course, not being in Brooklyn, I haven't eaten there yet. So I've written up a review of the food, based on how I'm sure my eventual visit will actually go.

Tarol's Review Of The Restaurant Propellerhead

Recently, I got a chance to visit Propellerhead in Brooklyn. I was particularly hungry when I walked into the restaurant, because I'd just finished doing some 'extreme rocket gliding'. It's a sport I invented by strapping several large rockets onto a hand glider.

Most people can't do it.

I can do it.

I'm really good at it.

Anyways, once inside, I ran into Stephen Hawking who thanked me for helping him with some physics problems that he was having trouble with.

It wasn't long before I was sitting at my table and ordering the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, but just as I was about to start eating, I got a phone call. When I looked to see who it was, I rolled my eyes in exasperation. It was Scarlett Johansson. Again. I keep telling her that I'm a married man and we can never be lovers, but the poor girl just can't help calling everyday and declaring her love for me.

I was about halfway through my lunch, when the restaurant was suddenly attacked by ninjas made of lasers and dragons. Everyone was terrified, but thankfully I'm an Epic Belt in Blur-Karate. It's like regular karate but faster.

Most people can't do it.

It can do it.

I'm really good at it.

Once I had beaten up the ninjas, I sat back down and finished my sandwich.

This has been Tarol's restaurant review.

(PS - Oh, and the sandwich was good.)


So if you're in the area and want to check it out, the address is...

752 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11218

Here's the Propellerhead website, but as the business is brand new, it's still under construction at the time of writing this.

Here's their Twitter, where you can take a look at the menu. Over at Instagram, they're propellerhead_bk

Thanks. -Tarol

Posted April 17, 2016 at 6:33 am
I'm going to be off the internet grid for a bit. However, I have my brand new, portable drawing tablet and I'll be drawing while I'm gone, so hopefully I'll have postable stuffs once I return. Also, I'm going to have to turn off my Twitch bot while I'm gone. So DumbJarvis won't be running the chat mini-games until I get back. Apologies to my Twitch regulars. See you at the end of April! -Tarol
Posted April 2, 2016 at 1:05 am
As most of you know, I have a real problem with time. Being swamped with way more work than I can handle is just second nature to me after all these years. So taking on new creative projects is next to impossible, no matter how much I'd love to do it. However, over the past month, I've been tinkering with a concept for a YouTube series. Well at long last I think I've succeeded in designing a series that I can add to at a fast pace, without taking on any notable amount of extra work. How is this possible? Drantings Drawing and ranting. Whether I'm live streaming my drawing or just listening to music and drawing alone, I've started recording the process. Then I just pop into Movie Maker, speed up my recording and then narrate a rant, story, etc. over the visuals. And poof, I have my simple, little YouTube series. I've got two drantings up so far and it won't be long before I add more. So if you don't hate the sound of my voice and would like to watch time lapsed drawing of Goblins panels, feel free to check it out. If there's any notable amount of interest in these, I'll keep 'em up. Feel free to let me know what you like or don't like about them and I'll pay close attention to your comments. Thank you. -Tarol
Posted March 31, 2016 at 5:08 pm
Live boop Working on a time lapse video that will have been recorded in front of a live studio audience. Hello, live studio audience. Chess
Posted March 4, 2016 at 5:39 pm
I just posted a new picture under the VOTE button (top/left corner of the site). It shows a cool fact about an iconic moment from the comic. Some of you might already know about this, but for those who didn't know this... There ya have it. :) (More visual neat stuff being posted under that vote button all throughout March, so check it out often.) Thank you! -Tarol
Posted March 3, 2016 at 10:27 pm

Thuntonian magic permeates pretty much the entire realm. Although this magic is in abundance, great care and skill is needed to access it before it can be converted to energy and burned up to power spells or magic items.

IME Colour

As each person converts magic into energy, they unintentionally taint it with their own soul, which is itself, a form of energy. Since souls are different and unique, each person contaminates the energy they're creating in a different and unique way.

To better understand this, imagine magic as water and the energy used to power a spell, as coffee. The spellcaster is like the paper filter and the coffee grounds represent that caster's soul. Obviously, the water can't become coffee, without first passing through the coffee grounds, which need to be held in place by the filter. Now imagine that everyone's coffee grounds are a different colour. This results in each pot of coffee matching the colour of the grounds. But no matter what the coffee looks like, it's basically the same strength and taste for everyone. It's just a different colour.

This is basically how IME works. As the burning magic energy glows, that glow is a different colour for everyone. Of course, sometimes someone's IME colour may appear to match someone else's, but in ways that most mortals can't detect, they're always different.

How IME Is Affected By Levels

Ever wonder why a high level character has high bonuses in just about everything? Bonuses to hit, to do damage and even to display willpower. Sure, a lot of this is due to that character simply having more training and experience in the field, but characters can go up levels by doing things that have nothing to do with combat. Exploring the landscape, accomplishing tasks and "good roleplaying" all grant experience points and thereby higher levels. How can this affect stats and bonuses? Then there's the hit points. High level characters just have more hit points and as a result, can shrug off damage that would have killed them a few levels ago. Well again, this all comes down to the soul.

Continuing with the coffee comparison, as a character goes up levels, their soul becomes more powerful. This is like adding more and more coffee grounds to their filter. This results in a stronger, more powerful coffee. The added coffee grounds intensify the coffee's colour as well, but not in the way you might think.

Just as a dream produces imagery that deeply reflects that character's inner mind, IME can create imagery reflecting that character's soul. As a character goes up levels, their IME begins to show imagery specific to that character. At first, this imagery is faint and discreet, but eventually it can grow to something visually spectacular.

Let's use a hypothetical wizard as a typical example of how IME might progress. We'll name him Rudy. When Rudy was a kid, he fell into an ancient, mass grave of a long lost tribe and was momentarily buried in dusty, old skulls. As a traumatizing event, this left a mark on his soul which helped shape who he grew up to be.

Rudy - Level 1 As a level 1 wizard, Rudy's spells glow a deep green.

Rudy - Level 3 Rudy's magic begins to faintly take shape. Small, glowing, green orbs float around his hands each time he casts a spell.

Rudy - Level 5 The orbs of green light have begun to loosely take the shape of skulls.

Rudy - Level 8 Rudy's magic has become intense, life sized, deep green skulls of light that dance around his body, menacingly.

Rudy - Level 10 Large, terrifying green skulls orbit Rudy and glare at whatever he is focusing his magic on.

Rudy - Level 15 Rudy's magic now creates massive, deep green skulls with brightly glowing eyes that shriek at the wizard's target while he casts his spell. The shrieking is a ghostly, warped version of the screams he made as a boy in that open grave.

Rudy - Level 20 The intensity of Rudy's IME has grown to legendary proportions and is whispered about by townsfolk in taverns and around campfires. It is said that if he casts a spell in anger, the very ground he stands on becomes forever scorched with the haunting imagery of horrifying, dark green skulls. And if you put your ear to the scorched ground and listen very carefully, you can faintly hear the panicked screams of a little boy. No one except the dark wizard, Rudy the Green will ever know what it means.

Applying IME To Your RPG Character

Here's how I've used IMEs in my games of D&D...

The player decides the colour of their character's IME as well as what it would look like at higher levels. The DM keeps a record of this and dictates what the IME appears as at what level. The player can't decide at what rate the IME evolves. Although the player can choose the look and colour of their character's IME, the character has no say in the matter, anymore than they can choose the shape of their own nose.

Rudy is a loose guide to the rate of Thuntonian IME growth. It might be vastly different in your game.

Final Notes

Everyone has an IME, no matter what class they are. A fighter may not cast spells, but her IME still appears whenever she uses a glowing, magic sword or a magic ring that shoots fireballs.

Anyone can choose to suppress their IME down to a barely visual, dim glow but it takes conscious, mental effort to do this. Rudy doesn't want shrieking skulls to float around him every time he magically lights a candle in his study. But during battle, he's unlikely to devote any of his attention toward keeping his IME down.

In rare cases, IMEs can present more than sights and sounds (in fact, not all IMEs ever emit a sound, beyond a muffled "BAWUMF" or something). Some IMEs create smells, slight changes in temperature to the surrounding area or even mildly affecting the emotions of those who are nearby. Drastic events can change a character's IME, but this is very rare.

(PS - I'm hiding sneak peeks and other cool stuff under the vote button in the top/left corner of the site. You can vote for Goblins every day to help support the comic and see the good stuff, if you like. Thanks!)

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