Dogpatch Press

In November 2014, I shared news about the very active Furry author Tempe O’kun.  Public Radio interviewed him about his writing – and they treated Furry writing as just a genre, not a “weird news” item.  Even the romance kind!  That was refreshing, and I thought he did a great job representing it.  So do other furries, it seems, because he’s been honored as an award winning Furry Writers’ Guild member and a convention guest of honor.

Tempe got in touch to share exclusive news about upcoming projects.  His novel Windfall sounds like a unique genre-mixing delight, with cute furry romance and paranormal horror.  There’s also art from the Nordguard card game below.  They’re coming out at Anthrocon 2015.  If you can’t wait to see them in person on July 9-13, here’s a taste.  I asked Tempe to round out his news with personal chat about how his year has been – and if he had stories about making projects happen.  I asked: “Are you excited for Anthrocon, and what else do you plan to do there?”

Tempe responds:

My year has been great thus far! I was guest of honor at Camp Feral 2014, and I have been invited to GoH another con in the spring.

ThinkTank Games and I started work on what would become Nordguard: Tribes of the White Land expansion before the game’s core set even came out. Originally, we’d planned it as a series of smaller expansions (about the size of Magic booster packs), but eventually took the most interesting elements from each set and combined them into a 36-card pack. It shuffles directly into the main set and, just like the original, it’s a boxed set—no buying multiple packs to get the cards you want, like in a CCG. The highlights include two canon characters (Iyoto and Manny) who were mentioned in the first book, but haven’t been seen yet. It also has Team Fortress 2-style side-grades for every character. BlackTeagan also developed an entire new tribe—the Nituuyik, arctic lynxes—for the expansion, who will later appear in the books. So this is the first time the card game will have a direct influence on the graphic novels!

We’re also reprinting the core set. We’ve gotten some great feedback over the last two years and we’re pretty confident about the streamlining we’ve done for the second edition.

I’ve also completed my most ambitious novel yet: Windfall. It’s a M/F romantic comedy about Kylie, an otter, who falls in love with her best friend Max, a husky. When he comes to stay with her for the summer, she’s also got to keep him from finding out that the supernatural TV show they were on together is actually real—and that Lovecraftian horrors stalk them around every corner of her sleepy New England town. Slate not only provided a whomping 22 illustrations for the book, but he was also involved in every stage of development. I like involving my illustrators in my work because we give each other really great ideas. And Slate’s a good friend of mine, so we’ve been meaning to do a project together for ages!

I also wrote a erotic poem about zero-gravity dogs for Sofawolf Press’s Heat #12. That comic/short story/poem anthology will be available at Anthrocon at the Sofawolf booth for $15.

I’m super excited about Anthrocon this year! In addition to releasing these four products, I’ll be running panels on card game design and writing. And, of course, I’ll be hanging out at the Sofawolf and FurPlanet tables to sign books and games!

Nordguard: Tribes of the White Land

Developed directly with Blotch, Nordguard: Tribes of the White Land is an all-new fully-canon expansion for Nordguard: The Card Game. The entire original ThinkTank Games development team came back to work on this set. Includes exclusive new Blotch and Chromamancer art, as well as art from the upcoming Nordguard: Under Dark Skies. This 36-card set will be for sale at Sofawolf Press’s table at Anthrocon and later on their site for $12.

“With Nordguard: Tribes, we throw players into a new side of the Nordguard setting. Caught between savage strays and strange settlers, the wolf, lynx, and caribou tribes have a thousand-year head start on both. Friend or foe, they’re the unequaled masters of that lethal environment. We brought in an archaeologist specializing in the real-life equivalents of these cultures—advising our artists on everything from the carvings on their Items to the structures on the Locations. If you’re looking to spice up your Nordguard game, don’t miss this expansion.”  
– Tempe O’Kun, Lead Designer

“If you like the gameplay of the original, Tribes of the White Lands takes all the fun things about the it and expands upon them. New mechanics to help spice things up, and new interactions between cards to make each playthrough different and interesting.”
– Nic Wald, Mechanics Lead

Nordguard: The Card Game – Second Edition

We’re also releasing Nordguard: The Card Game – Second Edition at AC2015. It includes remastered art, clarified rules, and greater challenges for large teams. This co-op survival card game lets up to 7 players battle the arctic wastes as main characters from the award-winning graphic novel. This 142-card core game includes dice and instruction and will be available at the Sofawolf booth for $25.

“With a couple years of player feedback, we’ve gone back and tightened up some rules. We also brought out the art a bit more in the layout, so Blotch and Chromamancer’s work really shines.”
– Tempe O’Kun, Lead Designer
 
“New and improved! 120% more fun in every box!” 
– Jeremia Heupel, ThinkTank Games CEO

Windfall by Tempe O’Kun – (You can now pre order the book at Furplanet.)

Tempe O’Kun, author of the award-winning furry fantasy-western Sixes Wild, returns! His new novel centers around Kylie and Max, an otter and a husky, who are best friends grappling with falling in love with each other…and with the fact that the supernatural cable TV show they starred in was actually real. Featuring 22 illustrations from acclaimed furry artist Slate, this new M/F furry romance is a mystery you’ll find irresistible. Available at the FurPlanet booth for $15 at Anthrocon and online afterward.

“Windfall is a sweet love story between a cute otter and a hunky husky. It’s also about alien horrors beyond the imagination. Want to read a book that would blow Lovecraft’s mind? This is your chance.”
– Tempe O’Kun, Author

More art from the Nordguard card game.