TTRPG REVIEW: Veins of the Earth, an Underdark that's actually dark...

Veins of the Earth is an imaginative and risk-taking approach to the fantasy underworld that only seems more refreshing with every passing year. A perfect antidote to the anodyne pablum of modern RPG publishing.
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"See... I can get you what you want, I can. I can get you anything, you just have to talk to me, you have to trust me. You can trust me, 'cause I'm your priest, I'm your shrink... I am your main connection to the switchboard of the soul. I'm the magic man... Santa Claus of the subconscious. You say it, you think it, you can have it."
- Lenny Nero, Strange Days

[@RoyBlumenthal]

That art for me is fully in keeping with the idea of a lethal underdark. It evokes the concept of an artist (or string of artists) who "made it out of the under parts". They would have sketchy impressions and memories of the things down there. They wouldn't have time, nor ability, nor light to draw photorealistic or stylistically pleasing portraits of the monsters. The art is part of the worldbuilding.

[@t-shirtedhistorian]

I can't stand the artwork in the book, but the material is really good. A definite buy for a GM who is sick of the vanilla, sanitized dungeon crawling of most systems.

[@stingyjack2526]

It's great to see you get a chance to review this fantastic work. I'd love to see / hear your take on Scrap and Patrick's other works. Deep Carbon Observatory and Fire on the Velvet Horizon.

[@PostmortemVideo]

Should the opportunity present.

[@venusboys3]

I'd definitely jump at a LotFP take on Planescape/Spelljammer/Dark Sun that takes them in that solidly non-WOTC direction... and mix in Made In Abyss somehow as well (love that anime!).

[@VengerSatanis]

Solid overview, hoss! *CHA'ALT*

[@PetesDracolich]

Masterpiece review! This book is str8 FIRE! Patrick Stewart, & Scrap Princess pulling psychological horrific blotches from out his brain! I've been waiting for a reprinting of this since my discovery of Deep Carbon Observatory, which is currently sitting on the shelf. This is definitely the unicorn shit I'd like to use like guano to grow a morphing psychotic clone of my brain that'll sprout a million twisted adventure vines pulling reality deep into the unknown till inside out.

[@OSR_Revival]

My hardcover copy is one of my prized possessions. In my campaign world, the dwarves have basically gone feral and crawled deep into the mountains, Veins-like. I believe my players might still be traumatized.

[@PetesDracolich]

I can't get enough of this review. So many elements I love in one place. It's in my top 10 of all-time. I fkn love Scrap Princess! In a world of traditional artists who draw anatomically correct, sketching structure & framework and going from there, here come's a guy who just cannot be stopped! He puts on his headphones late @ night of some insane beats, lights one up & opens pandora's box which is his mind. Nothing you can expect, nothing you've ever seen or experienced transcends from what is held deep within, channeled out through a pencil. A small select group of artists were & are able to do it the way nobody else has ever done it, their own fkn way, in a way nobody has ever seen. Picasso is one of them, imagine what they thought of his art back then. From Deep Carbon Observatory to 2 Worms 2 Furious, yes, his style is hella premeditated! Thanks Grim Jim for reviewing this! Peace, love & much respect!

[@PostmortemVideo]

I'm not sure if SP is trans or not, I vaguely remember so from G+ days, but I could be wrong.

[@PetesDracolich]

When I first saw SP's work, my mind was fixated, I had to see the face behind the work. Not that it mattered but my imagination was painting a picture that needed validation. I saw an interview with SP, and he reminded me of a friend from high school, graffiti artist who pass around their black books for everyone to fill a page with their own freestyle artwork. Sometimes they go from friends to their friends & when the book comes back to you, you've got some insanely ill artwork, all unique, all original. After seeing SP, I became more of a fan, SP goes against the grain all the way! And I can respect that, as an artist and as a human being. His artwork screams horror, it's like a visual frequency. An alluring mystery..

[@whangbar]

"Chaos magic sigils" . . . very interesting.

[@Smittumi]

Great review. I have the pdf, but not yet had the chance to run it. I'd like to try it with Into The Odd.

[@paulberry5750]

19:29 Becoming a Morlock for Fun & Profit! Great Review!!

[@ruprecht8520]

I enjoyed reading Veins but can't imagine my characters exploring down there for long.

[@zombiehaiku7527]

Love this book.

[@zombiehaiku7527]

Got my copy sat on the shelf. It's so hard to get hold of I have a pdf version for reading.

[@bodypiercingbytom]

I've owned this book for years! FANTASTIC! Good luck getting a numbered copy, though! I'd like to see LotFP re-release this one!

[@SplinterInYourEye]

I got my copy at half price books for $40 about a year ago. How I see it's going for hundreds. I fell very lucky.

[@bilharziaaeetes]

Unfortunately it looks like the printer got the page order wrong, the contents pages are supposed to be a spread, for example, and the page numbers should be on the outside edges of the page.

[@TheOGGMsAdventures]

have this book, love it, hardly ever get to use it

[@solomani5959]

Love the book. Not a fan of the art, but it’s not a deal breaker. Interested in using it for an OSE Advanced version of Descent to the Depths of the Earth. But curious to know if anyone has actually used it for an actual Underdark crawl? And how it went?

[@Goldschlager]

A Mortiis fan. Instant respect.

[@wbbartlett]

I have a similar view on the art. Hated it at first, but the more I look at it, the more I become acclimatised to it and some of the 'scribbles' are actually pretty good.

[@kevoreilly6557]

This is a great book. I look at the art as an artists interpretation as they were running for their lives. The lack of detail in the art adds to the horror. I also use prompt engineering to get the look I want to be honest

[@kevoreilly6557]

Jesus!!!! I just saw the current selling price of this on ebay

[@djanny8951]

Love veins ! I payed an arm for it on ebay lol🎉

[@willinnewhaven3285]

A $20 PDF. THAT you had printed and bound.

[@robnecronomicon1570]

Wow... Great score.

[@midnightgreen8319]

Why, oh why, have they not reprinted this, like 10 times now??

[@docnecrotic]

Really too bad it's out of print by typical means. It's really cool.

[@1simo93521]

Damn it they had a copy of this in travelling man and I didn't buy it for some insane reason.... 😢

[@PostmortemVideo]

Booo