Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Finally, A Use For Astrology

Working hard and playing hard on Demon City, I Am The Weapon, Violence in the Nympharium and The Super Secret LotFP Project.

Shawn Cheng's turning in Demon City pages, so I thought I'd share. I love what he did here...

Some other cool stuff:
There's a Blood Bowl-esque zine-format game coming out.
And the space-horror NeOSR game Mothership is ALWAYS worth what they're asking.

Oh and now that Google+ is going away, most of the action is on the DIY RPG and OSR Discords. Email me for an invite: zakzsmith AT hawtmayle.

The lightweight/newby stuff is on Twitter and reddit /osr
-
-
-

34 comments:

Jez said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shanepatrickward said...

When you say DIY rpg, you mean the forum? Or is there a discord for that?

Zak Sabbath said...

there is a discord

shanepatrickward said...

Right, okay I'm on both of those. (plus the forum). I should spend a bit more time on the DIY rpg discord.

SC78 said...

running on not enough sleep and I read "encode hypnotic message" as massage...whole new meaning to happy ending I guess, lol.

Anonymous said...

The content is great, but this sentence is a mess: "Most of these tables are all entirely optional"

D3:
1) Most of these tables are optional.
2) All of these tables are optional.
3) These tables are entirely optional.

Zak Sabbath said...

yeah that was fixed in the second draft but thanks

ChoiceGenie said...

WORLD NEWS TODAY
EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD
WORLD VIEW

SavageCheerleader said...

No snarky rebuttal for the current drama Zak?

Zak Sabbath said...

@SavageCheerleader

No snark, but definitely a rebuttal: https://officialzsannouncements.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-statement.html

Anonymous said...

Are you still going to be producing a superhero game?

Anonymous said...

@Unknown
I just was waiting for girls waiting for me.

Anonymous said...

So do you still advocate believing accusers without evidence?

Zak Sabbath said...

@anonymous

I've never advocated that--in fact I've been a vocal proponent of the the idea that if there's evidence to get it needs to be presented and that burden of proof is on the accuser.

Anonymous said...

What are your plans for what you will do next?

Zak Sabbath said...

@anonymous 1:

Same as before

@anonymous 2:

Then believe women. Women of color -- Connie and Frankie -- are speaking up against Mandy's harassment campaign: https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/asgued/connie_from_i_hit_it_with_my_axe_re_zak_smith/ talk to them.

Anonymous said...

Nobody cares what your two friends say because of one simple fact: everyone hates you.

Your not getting your career back Zak. It's over.

Zak Sabbath said...

@anonymous

What'll you give me if you're wrong?

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I just read some of your most recent update (couldn't finish it...just don't care that much).

It sounds to me that you (mistakenly) believe that your banishment from the community is about the abuse allegations. It is not.

If it were, then your "friends" would have done the things that you are asking of them. They would ask questions. They would weigh evidence. They would be logical. That is not what your banishment is about.

The allegations were merely an event that galvanized the community. They were a call to order, so to speak. They put everyone in the same room.

This is what you fail to understand- people were sick of your shit. You aren't coming back.

Zak Sabbath said...

@anonymous

Then:

1. They should publicly withdraw any support for the false accusations, since you're admitting they don't believe them

2. They should change their minds, since my "shit" consisted of telling them (apparently not forcefully enough) to stop doing all the stupid things that lead them to buy into false allegations

3. What do I get if you're wrong?

Anonymous said...

I do not disagree with your first two points at all. I am merely telling you that you are barking up the wrong tree.

This is all very important to you. Everyone else outside of those immediately involved (i.e. You, Mandy, your close friends and family, etc.) has moved on.

As for your third point, you get nothing. If I am right, you are in no worse position than you are now. If I am wrong, I am merely wrong.

But think about that last bit for a second. Do you really think that all of the people and companies who have denounced you are going to reverse their positions based on your (and others') statements? That is my entire point. The allegations had nothing to do with your getting kicked out. They were simply the rallying cry. Nothing more.

Zak Sabbath said...

@anonymous

I am barking up _every_ tree. It's not news to me that most of the support for Mandy's harassment campaign is bad faith. You seem to think you're telling me something new and you are not. I still need to provide facts.

"As for your third point, you get nothing."

Then since you're not signing up for accountability, your voice doesn't matter.


" Do you really think that all of the people and companies who have denounced you are going to reverse their positions based on your (and others') statements? "

Then they don't have accountability either, and their voices don't matter either.

Anonymous said...

Zak, what have you learned from all of what has transpired? What can you take from it to be a better person?

Zak Sabbath said...

@Anonymous

I should have been 1000 times more aggressive in my activism against bad-faith actors on the internet, since there were enough of them to carry this signal.

I will become a better person by being even more aggressive in criticizing and deplatforming harassers in the RPG community.

Anonymous said...

Oops. Not really an admirer of your work here. Don't pay attention to these scavengers.
"I have never loved Zak and I am taking advantage of the shitstorm to spit "anonymously of course" in his face."
What an exquisite example of courage !

Well, it is done. It seems that you have been banned from everywhere (forums, conventions, and so on...). And I find the ruling ridiculous because it does not change anything. Every time the mods will encounter an "abrasive" comment, they will just ask themselves "Is it Zak?"
Dude, you are a Fucking Ghost in the Machine !

Whatever it takes, old friends turned their backs on you. And nothing you can do or say will change their minds. They don't care if you are an abuser or not. It is just an excuse. Damnatio Memoriae !
They hate you ! You may wonder why - and do better next time - but they will never admit they are wrong.

So... Not a big deal ! You only have to move on.

But ostracisation coming from publishers seems more problematic.
I don't think they will back down. Maybe Raggi will...
You crossed the line and you are no longer bankable. Your person is still under suspicion, tainted with infamy, and it is more harmful to associate with a guilty person than to no longer publish an innocent one.
I think you will have to consider print-on-demand or self-publishing for further book.

Believe me, there are still people IRL who think your books and art are admirable.

Zak Sabbath said...

@anonymous

What will you give me if you’re wrong?

Anonymous said...

"Then believe women. Women of color"

Okay, so I'll believe Satine Phoneix who said: "I 100% believe Mandy, Vivka and the others who have come forward."

Zak Sabbath said...

@Anonymous

Satine has to say that because of her job at WOTC. The mob immediately harassed her when the claims were made until she disavowed me--if she'd said anything else her job would've been at risk.

She also says she saw absolutely no abuse or evidence of abuse.

So what you said makes no sense.

Anonymous said...

Zak is Zak, If you payed any attention to him over the years you know two things. Like anyone else he has his demons and he lets those demons get the better of him from time to time.

He also has more Imagination and creativity than just about anyone else.

I have always found his social ideals and activities difficult to accept and there are times when I have had to just walk away from certain topics.

All this is rather irrelevant however.

Zak is unquestionably talented and you can throw him out of any organization or club you like but he will still make 95% of everything else that comes out look like the drivel it is.

As upsetting as Zak himself finds it. Most gamers do not care about the personal dogma or history of a creator of talent. They just want to use and enjoy suck art works.

Zak would find my views on many many subjects totally without merit and any social debate would lead to anger but I don't need to get along with Zak.

I just need him to make great role playing game products for my players and I to enjoy.

Fire him, bann him and kick him out. Convict him of horrible crimes in the court of your mind or club.

It won't effect the fact that his past and Future work will put yours to shame.

All this from someone who has told his friends more than once to buy Zak's products, just don't read his non-rpg material.

the funny thing is I don't know who this post is going to piss off more. Zak or his attackers lol.

Anonymous said...

I really hope there’s still somewhere I can get Demon City after this

Zak Sabbath said...

@anon w/question

Mike Evans at DIY RPG is handling printing and distribution, as always, if you're not sure how to get a copy, contact him

Cavegirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Zak Sabbath said...

Cavegirl's erased comment said this:

"
Cavegirl has left a new comment on your post "Finally, A Use For Astrology":

to explain:
Many people hated zak for various reasons already.
The mandy allegations - which these people believe - was the final straw for them.
"

This is a bit like saying

Many people hated Italians already, so the Sacco and Vanzetti accusations--which these people believed--were the last straw

Nobody who hated me ever gave a good reason--Generally they hated me because I said things like "Don't post accusations you can't defend" or "You guys are gullible morons". And this incident proves I was 100% right to do these things, should've done them more, and so should everyone else.