A.R. Connolly

Photography, Writing, & Game Development

Snapshots

Around the World

Front Seats & Backroads

Capture the Miles

Spokane, WA

Beauty Found

Experimental

Lab Work

Giving Back

Recently, I visited Art Salvage in Spokane, WA. When I left I had a dozen photo prints & an idea for a new project.Linked below (the paintbrush) is a gallery of free to download & use photographs that I’ve taken over the years. At launch, approx. forty shots are available, but more will come with future updates.These images were collecting dust on a digital shelf & instead of relegating them to deletion or disuse, I decided I wanted to give you all what Art Salvage gave me; a new art endeavor.Again, these are free, you can use them in whatever way you want, & more will be coming. All I ask is you create art & send it into the world.

Notebook

Small Sampling of Writing - Commissions Open

"Ordinary" - Flash Fiction Character Introduction(CW: Discussion of Gore, Death, & Murder)

"Addiction" - Flash Fiction(CW: Manipulation)

Backstories: Tragic & Otherwise - Flash Fiction Collection(Coming Soon)

Development Kit

Eight years ago, I offered to run a homebrew game of Dungeons & Dragons for some curious housemates. Long after we went our separate ways and the campaign ended, the world building continued.Veil Runners is a Sci-Fantasy TTRPG that weaves together the cooperative storytelling present in Pathfinder & Masks with the tactical strategy found in wargaming titles like Battletech and Trench Crusade. Similar to the XCOM series and the Darkest Dungeon games, it is designed to tell an overarching narrative in bite sized pieces. Life often requires players to step away from longer form games, but Veil Runners aims to make that inevitability as easy as possible to interact with.Taking the mantle of “Runners,” players will explore the titular Veil, an enormous debris field comprised of the broken remnants of the Old World, Aea. The long Shattered corpse of the planet is home to magical anomalies, ancient divine secrets, and resources needed to survive this post-apocalyptic existence.

When building Veil Runners I wanted to ask and answer two questions:

1) What does hope mean?
In my mind, hope always exists. Narratively, the game world reflects that optimism while reinforcing the stark struggles of reality. Mechanically, the “Belief, Intent, & Action” system is built around the idea that hope is always present but must be acted on to create change.- Belief = Good exists
- Intent =I intend to do XYZ to reinforce that good exists
- Action: I am doing XYZI don’t want to dive in too deep, but the system carries bonuses and negatives that both players and GMs can use to impact rolls, interactions, etc.

2) How do I ease the challenges of life and busy schedules for players?
In-universe, Runners travel the Veil taking missions for various organizations or individuals. I think of the early Armored Core games, with less grim-dark, industrial vibes. The nature of jumping from mission to mission allows Runners to come and go, sometimes leaving their Veilship entirely. Much like players, Runners have their own existence that might pull them away.Mechanically speaking, the game is built around “phases.” Each phase is constructed to be short but impactful. For instance, the Preparation & Deployment phases let players devise a mission plan. The Specialization system, where players choose their role on the ship (Weapons, Medical, Analyst, etc.), pushes for a quick but mechanically interesting discussion. The Sortie phase, where players leave the ship in their Aegis, or mech-like exosuits, is the same.All this builds together for the current gameplay timeline:
- 1 Session = 2-3 hours
- 1 Mission = 2-3 sessions
- 1 Arc = 2-4 missions
- 1 Campaign = 3-4 arcsThis modularity, shorter game time, and quick character building all work to answer the above question. Of course, these can all change based on players' wants, play styles, etc.

Those are the basics. I have rules, world building, lore, etc. to begin testing, but the game is far from ready. An Alpha Test is on the way, but it's slow going.Life requires money, and a tabletop game, especially in early development, doesn't pay the bills. Until my photography work and delivery job can support me shifting development focus to the game, Veil Runners will remain a passion project.If nothing else, I genuinely hope to have piqued your interest enough to follow the story of this project as it unfolds.

Veil Runners Alpha Test 1
(Coming Soon)

Veil Runners Lore Primer (Under Construction)

Veil Runners Playtest Rules
(Under Construction)

About

At a Glance:

  • Queer, disabled, photographer, writer, and game dev

  • Based out of Spokane, WA

  • I love weird art whether I'm making, sharing, or consuming it

  • If my work touches one person, in even the smallest way, I've done something good for the world

  • Please support your artists so they can keep creating

Nightstand - Currently Reading & Rereading:

  • Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

  • Riposte by Kat_2V

  • Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

  • Neferata by Josh Reynolds

Game Case - Currently Playing & Replaying:

  • Ravenswatch by Passtech Games

  • Fear & Hunger by Miro Haverinen

  • Kenshi by Lo-Fi Games

  • Heroes of Might and Magic III by New World Computing & Loki Entertainment

  • Risk of Rain 2 by Gearbox Software, Hopoo Games, & PlayEverywhere

Contact & Support

@Notes-By-Alyx

A.R.Connolly.Contact@Gmail

Alyx Connolly

A. R. Connolly

A.R. Connolly (Under Construction)