Thank you. What’s Next?
Hello.
I am setting this page here to prevent any spoilers for the new folks who drift in, looking to read the story of this group of friends that was a huge part of my life for 10 years.
If you want to start from the beginning, click right here or click the First button below.
D20Monkey is complete.
10 years of my creative life, written, illustrated, and posted on the internet. From dick jokes to stories of friendship, chosen family, magic, monsters, and everything around the table of a gaming group, I will forever be able to look back at this series and see my growth as an artist and writer.
I can see the in-jokes shared by this amazing community, and all of the little jokes that were just for me. We laughed together, we cried together, and much like a great RPG campaign, I like to think we all shared the story together.
This series is a professional and emotional time capsule that I will cherish forever. Sam and Brett are me. Ask my loved ones, and they will tell you that over the years, my personality traits, loves, humor, fears, depression, and a reckless need to protect the people I love bled through with every piece of dialogue, decision, and awkward facial expression. I love this cast. I will always love this cast. They are a woven tapestry people I have met over many, many years. From little quirks, to visual references, to expressions and personal history. They are threads of so many colors and patterns, and I love them.
To every person who read this series: I read every comment. I see every email. Words cannot express how deeply touched I am by the kindness that landed in my inbox. Your appreciation and personal stories about what this series meant to you is the greatest award I could ever hope to receive. Thank you so much for sharing them with me. Through tears and laughter last week, I read everything… twice. I didn’t plan on ending the day before Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) but feels poetic now, as I spent the past few days thinking about what I have, what I have lost, and what I am thankful for.
In those messages, a lot of folks are asking “What’s next?” and the answer is the Innsmouth Garden Society. The ladies of the society will have their own series at the end of 2020 and the series will take the characters and world built in the pages of d20Monkey and expand it with a completely in-world series. The series will be based in the narrative themes of cosmic horror and social pitfalls in the 1920s. It will be scary and uneasy at time, but rest assured that humor will always be a part of anything I create, and while we will not see the original characters players or any scenes at a gaming table, there is a good chance we may see some visual cameos as the series progresses.
I will be using December to work head on the series, as the art, writing, and presentation present a new kind of challenge that I cannot wait to take on. From researching clothing and architecture, to reading up on history, folk lore, and cosmic horror, the series is a new animal and I am excited.
My store will remain open with some classic designs and a slew of new offerings arriving very, very soon, and you can always see what I am up to through Twitter.
I hope that you will follow me into the next chapter of my career and follow the exploits of the Innsmouth Garden Society. It is going to be a wild ride.
Thank you all so much for everything. Thank you for 10 years, some years, 10 months, 10 weeks, or 10 minutes. I appreciate all of it. It was a good story, and I am happy we shared it.
Brian
I came in during the last couple of years and have thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Please do post a link here to the Innsmouth Garden Society site when you have it live so that those of us who aren’t on Patreon can find it.
I am glad to have been a part of this journey. I started reading your comic very shortly after its debut, and I will miss it. But I’m glad to see it have such a fitting ending, and I am glad that we can move onto something new together.
I look forward to it, and to seeing what you put on Patreon.
Enjoy your month of preparation, but don’t forget to relax when you need it, and to take some time to enjoy what makes the holidays special if you can, even in the midst of this year. And if you’re ever around NJ, let me know- I’d love to buy you some scotch or a steak.
Seeing this crits me RIGHT IN THE FEELS.
I hope IGS will have its own web page, which will be posted here when it starts, right Brian?
It totally will. I’ll make an announcement when its ready.
SWEEEET
I also hope we eventually get a setting/sourcebook treatment, a la the Karthun books, for the IGS. 🙂
Even if the new comic isn’t going to be presented as “a game being played around a table”, I kind of want that.
Seconded, I’d be really interested in an IGS setting primer.
I hope we get a link to the new comic asap. Will you be starting fresh or reposting all of the old arcs first?
Site has to be built first.
Committing to staying with the Patreon for at least 2 years unless my situation drastically changes. Bought a t-shirt last week. It isn’t much but it’s what I can do and still meet other obligations.
D20Monkey has been dear for years but I only recently did more than lurk. Really excited for IGS and I am certain the development time now will have great payoffs spanning years.
This series has been one of my faves! So sorry to see the end, but so excited to see the next project! Thank you! Thank you for all that joy. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
So excited for IGS. I’ve got a little campaign-fetus floating around in my head that’s vaguely lovecraftian, but not enough plot to tie it all together. Hoping for inspiration while enjoying your story telling ^_^
Godspeed Mr Patterson. If you ever decide to publish d20monkey as a book collection I will be finding that order button faster than a Paladin goes for the Smite on a nat 20 roll.
But for now, as we say in the live entertainment industry, onto the next gig. You bet your ass I’ll be there when the Innsmouth curtain raises up.
Wow. I Cant believe the run is over. I debated putting a comment because I usually hesitate but this story has been one of my personal favorites for years. Especially the mantle bearer sagas, and the comedy and antics of Sam and Brett (my best friend is almost exactly like him.) Thank you Brian for creating such a wonderful universe and making a tale that shows the ups and downs of life, the value of friendship, and showing the struggles of mental illness. I am so glad you are still making content and I’ll be sure to make the IGS in the top of my book Mark’s right above this series.
Well done, master Brian, well done. I’ve read my fair share of webcomics from inception to completion, but very few of them have gone so far as to provoke genuine emotional responses in the blackened tar pit at the bottom of a coal mine that is the place where my soul used to be. Mad respect for that, and I am looking forward to your next project, especially given the way I just described myself and the intended lovecraftian eldritch horror you have planned for us. Good luck and godspeed, you mad maverick.
I just wanted to let you know, that your comic was up there with Order of the stick in keeping my flame for RPGs alive when I couldnt get with friends to play. Good luck on your next endevour, and I hope to be along for the ride.
Wow, this is quite an achievement! Thank you for all your hard work, for all the ideas, the people, the characters, and everything.
Looking forward to the new comic now.
I discovered D20Monkey 2 or 3 months ago and in that time I’ve read every page of the comic you published here during lunch breaks, moments when my baby-daughter had fallen asleep on top of me, you name it. And I loved it, every ounce of this narrative, the artwork, all of it.
And then, when I had finally caught up to the now of the comic I saw your post about the future. And although I was sad I was also glad I had read it all. This is an epos you can be proud of, and I’m looking forward to the Innsmouth Garden Society (and anything else you might create).
Expenses allowing, I’ll see if I can support you on Patreon, but having kids isn’t cheap.
This was such a wild ride! Thank you so much for everything you have given us. Crazy characters, clever tales, and many many ideas for how to throw curveballs at my D&D players. I know a lot is going on during this transition phase but just floating 2 ideas for future use. I would back the shit out of an omnibus 10 year collection on kickstarter or something along those lines. And 2 I hope you one day compile all of your fun DM tools and coupons in one spot. I am so stoked for The IGS. So deliciously creepy and absolutely wickedly drawn. I use a lot of your work for inspiration at the gaming table and am so excited for more material.
Thank you Brian, thank you. I cannot wait to see what you do next.
I am SO excited for Innsmouth Garden Society, and I have been since you first mentioned it. It makes saying goodbye to the current story a little easier.
Thank you for such a wonderful experience! It’s been a great ride, and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
A part of me is sad to see the D20 Monkey has finished. I can’t remember when I started it up but I know I’ve loved reading it all the way through. Heck, even the Karthun arcs have inspired me to pick up the Karthun sourcebook and run a few games in the setting! It’ll be exciting to see and read Innsmouth Garden Society when you are ready to start work on it!
Brian, thank you for a wonderful, heartfelt series that helped get me into this amazing hobby and kept me entertained in some hard times. Here’s to your future!
This comic helped me get through some very rough times and I’m sad to see it go. Sometimes it was simply knowing that someone (your characters or yourself) was going through something similar. You’re and amazing talent and you made these characters real to me. I wish you the absolute best and will continue to support in any way I can.
I have not commented, but I’ve been here for the last 6 years at least, if not longer. Brian…. the development of this comic, of it’s characters, the different game archs… your updates are some of the ones I most eagerly awaited. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for creating this, thank you for taking us along for the ride, thanks for the many moments of joy. I look forward to the next story!
Sad day, but in good way. Glad to one webcomic I love go out the way it intended, rather than just drift off into the void, or drop in quality that it is no longer worth reading. Thanks again, and looking forward to your future work!
Already reread in 3 times . . .4tth time will be this weekend 🙂
Innsmouth Garden Society is up next? Niiiice… will be interesting to see where this goes and how you pick it up!
Hey Brain,
I wanted to thank you for this story. I poked my head in at the seven year mark, bared my heart a little to the entire internet.
And I’m still alive, I’m still here. This comic has been a touchstone for me.
Again, you brought me back to the table. Because of you, I’ve gotten to tell stories about a brawler with a heart as vast as the ocean, a wizard who is trying so hard to be better than what was done to her, a paladin who will fight god for giving one of her party a panic attack, and more. I’m dming as well (even when it feels like that one Gromit gif of laying down the tracks in front of a speeding train).
And, I’ve met the love of my life at the table.
So thank you Brian, for telling this story, and for I could find a place for myself.
I’m here, I’m alive, and I know my way out of that pit now. It’s hard sometimes, but… I know my own whispering fucker of Doubt won’t take me. Not this time, or any of the times after that.
So, thank you, and I’ll be here to follow IGS the whole way.
*For showing me I could find a place for myself.
Thanks ADHD mental skim
I can’t remember when or how I first came upon this comic, but I’ve been checking it nearly every weekday since. I’m going to miss the group, not gonna lie. My only question is this: will Innsmouth be hosted here, or elsewhere?
May the archive of this comic continue to delight people long into the future. One of the best experiences is discovering a great new online comic, and then discovering an enormous archive. It’s like finding out a new favorite book author has been writing books for years.
The only thing I could wish from this series was seeing Emma and Sam together one last time, mostly to see Sam holding his cat..but I’m looking forward to this new series very, very much…Thanks for all the years of great Comics Brian 🙂
*stares at the word “Fin.” for several very long second…*
Ok, I’m gonna go back to the start and read it all again! See you in a few days! 😀
I just finished my re-read! I did it in 3 days! Enjoy yourself 🙂
I plan to reread this saga over and over again. It’s the same treatment I gave to series like The Dresden Files and the Peter David run on The Hulk. It’s the right thing to do.
Brian, thanks again.
Just gotta add a ‘me too’ – thanks for many years of a great comic!!!
Found this comic close to its start, think it was through zombie roomie, fell in love with it from the beginning, sad to see it’s over, happy to have been able to make this trip with everyone, will constantly reread this cuz it will always be amazing, can’t wait for your next project, and thank you for this wonderful gift you have worked these ten years on.
Hello!
On a rainy weekend where not much is on, or while playing video games late in the evening with my partner waiting for them to take their turn, or on a sick day where I’m confined to bed I often go to sites like Questionable Content and click there random button a few times, find a fun familiar place in the story and will read it for several hours at a time. It’s less effort than starting the story again, less effort than scrolling through the archives for a semi-random comic.
I’m unsure if this is easy to do, I’m unsure if it helps with money, and I’m unsure if enough other people do this, but if a random button is added D20 Monkey will get read semi-regularly over the next few years. Otherwise it’d be less when I want to experience an epic again.
Thanks, Brian, that was truly wonderful.
(I know I’m a couple days late here – the last week and a half has been hectic)
This was hands-down one of the best and most inspiring stories I’ve seen in years, and I’m so proud/happy that you made it this far. Rock on, Brian. Looking forwards to IGS when it drops.
i have read this comic on and off over the years but always enjoyed reading it and catching up on missed pages i has been quite the adventure watching the characters grow over time the art get better. it has made me laugh cry and set me on the edge of my seat many a time i thank you for sharing it with us all and look forward to the Innsmouth Garden Society
I keep coming to check out of instinct and every time I get the reminder that the ride is over. I enjoyed this comic a lot and I do hope your next project is as or more succesful than this wonderous story.
I wish we could’ve seen the d20 “monkey†logo one last time, but I can’t believe how funny it was to see scraggs make a return. Looking forward to Innsmouth.
I’ve been putting off reading these last few pages. It’s gong to be hard, not having a new d20 Monkey comic to wander over to. Thank you, Brian. I will miss it, but this a damn great comic and I’m very, very glad you got to end it the way you wanted to. Looking forward to the new one.
Testaru. Best known
Is there any chance of a eventual mini arc for the original d20 cast at some point down the road?
Will the new comic be at d20 monkey.com or will there be a new website?
Thanks for the memories.
Thank you for the journey.
I ended up re-reading the entire comic from start to finish, not long after you posted this. I read pages I’d forgotten (my memory is kind of shit), I’d read pages I remembered and laughed my ass off, or stared at in amazement, or cried either tears of happiness, or sadness.
I felt the feelings that made the characters and the comic as a whole an absolutely brilliant tale, and on the last day of this turdburger of a year, I want and will that the new year is kinder to all of us.
Happy new year, Brian.
I found d20 through another webcomic (beats me which one) a couple years ago, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not an RPG player, so some of the humor went over my head, but I hope you understand that your writing and art have been more than enough to go beyond that community. I do other gaming with a loose group (well, not right now, but you know what I mean), so I understand the love and enthusiasm, and sometimes wish I could commit to an RPG campaign, in large part because of your work.
As others have noted, the webcomic landscape is littered with corpses of stories that were simply abandoned (nearly always with some note about slowing down but definitely not stopping – often enough to be sort of a cliché now) with no resolution for the characters and stories readers have come to care about. So, while I am sad for this end, I really appreciate that it does have an ending – thank you so much for that.
I look forward to your future work!
Is there anywhere else you’re planning on selling T-shirts or other items, by the way? I’d like to buy some, but I’ve had very bad experiences with TeePublic and their printing.
Anyone else obsessively checking the site every couple of days to see if the new comic has started yet lol?
Where will we be able to read about the ladies of Innsmouth??
The new site is under construction right now. I will post here when it goes live.
You don’t happen to have an ETA, do you? We promis not to hold it against you. Right guys?
Hi Brian, LOVED this story, found it a few weeks ago and “binged” read them! I smiled, laughed, cried (I’m not crying, you’re crying! No, it’s just the onions, oh F it, yeah I teared up on some of these). Anyway, can’t wait for the new IGS site. Any updates?
My first comment on here just wanna say I started reading the comic somewhere around 2011 I know cause it was my last year of college. I was and still am a dnd dungeon master and it was the dnd aspect that attracted me to the strip at first. It soon became part of my daily routine to check this site for a new post. You’ve given me quite a few ideas for my games over the years and while the dnd gaming aspect kinda fell in the background over time I grew attached to the characters and their story so I’m quite sad to see it end but It’s a good ending I’m satisfied. I will of course still be checking this site regularly for updates (I still check it everyday it’s so ingrained into my routine I cant seem to stop lol). Just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoyed the comic so far looking forward to whatever comes next.
Is anyone heard of an update? I can’t find Innsmouth garden society anywhere.
still checking here every now and then if innsmouth garden is released
Just finished my latest rereading and was hoping it’d be live by then.
Dude.
i am here, chomping at the bit, waiting for IGS to come along, when GAIL FRIGGIN SIMONE reminds us that the Karthun Hardback and .pdf was on sale…
Im like ‘wait…what? last i heard it was only available to the KS backers….’ so yeah. click the link to Evil Hat and sure enough….
so yeah….THAT book got gobbled up and ordered, and the .pdf copy downloaded (now i have to wait three days for it to ship…at least….)
STILL…dude!! congrats! nice to know its out there! will the Beastiary be available soon? and how much longer are we looking for the return of the IGS?
crap..im babbling..im so damn excited right now….
Still….KARTHUN…in MY HANDS SOON….and this like not even two weeks after getting my latest 5th ed Fix (books, Arveiaturace, Arkan the Cruel and cohorts, two of the spell effects kits, all three of the dungeon tile kits…I…I…I feel FAINT….!!)
Thanks for spreading the word, apparently I cannot get physical books here in Canukistan, but the PDF is just fine. If you are monitoring things here Brian, is there going to be a Gm’s guide?
It’s been quite some time. However, I think it’s time I moved this link to the “Check every 2 months” folder. I miss the story, but I have grieved it’s loss. Now it’s time to look to new horizons.
I run a play by post campaign & I’ve deemed this comic to be the earth counterpart of the forgotten realms setting.
Hi Brian. Hoping you are well. Any updates on IGS?
Is the IGS starting soon, I think the fan base is getting itchy!
Jumped in to see how my fav. rpg comic goes ( couldnt check in sooner cause life and covid bs), and have to say im a bit sad, never than less i hope you are doing fine Brian. Especially since its your comics that are partial at fault that i actively joined the ttrpg scene, and i wouldnt have it any other way. Your webcomic has brought me joy, laughter and a few chuckles and for that i can only sincerely thank you.
Any updates to IGS?
So… it’s the end of July.. would it be possible to get an update on IGS?
bueller?….bueller?….
I must admit to being concerned we may never hear of the IGS. More than eight MONTHS ago we were told it was coming “soon” either by or just after New Year’s. I understand “busy” I understand “procrastination” this isn’t either as I see it. This seems more like abandonment it me, anything else would at least rate a comment on the subject.
I am saddened by the loss.
From what I’ve seen on Twitter, Brian is trying really hard to launch a Real Life career, something that pays the bills (go check out the “Paid in Exposure” T-shirt on his product page). I’m sure he’d much rather be able to afford drawing only his own stuff. So would we all, in our own fields.
I miss the online stuff too, but I didn’t pay a cent for it, and can’t afford Patreons, so I understand where the priorities are, and should be. The online comics are a gift to people like me, and I don’t forget it.
I’m hoping he gets a Kickstarter going some day for collected book versions of D20Monkey (art already drawn!)
I understand bills need paying and I hope Brian can work things out to allow more leisure time for projects like IGS. It just saddens me that RL is getting in the way of my fantasies. I hope things are working for Brian, I just want to be able to share in his fantasy life as well. I enjoy his creativity and find it inspiring, I also miss it.
My disappointment is irrelevant…what matters is Brian is well and knows he is supported.
Hope you know we are fans because of the quality and truth of your work…and no shade goes your way for the delay…but I hope you feel ok communicating with us.
Hope the day job is treating you well!
I start to wonder if Brian is alive anymore
His twitter updates pretty regularly, so, fairly sure he is.
My problem is I made the comment on July 30th in hopes that a conversation could be started.
It worked BUT despite words of encouragement and support Brian it seems didn’t even read them.
Otherwise it would have brokered a response at least on some level. IGS doesn’t have a pulse for him.
Take your time Brian – Loads of fans will still be around when you and the ladies are ready.
Will they though? Here’s the thing. He comes back with a splashy intro page. Yay! But do any of us trust him to update it regularly?
It sucks for everyone involved. I want to see the content, and I’m happy to throw dollars on Patreon (which I’ve done in the past). But Brian is incapable of staying on a timeline, and misses posts frequently, which disincentivizes my spending money on Patreon (it’s why I don’t).
I get that having a steady stream of income means IGS or whatever can happen regularly, but he has to prove he can do it first. And so far, all the evidence is against him being able to come out and stick to a regular content schedule.
Well. D20Mon has been dead for nearly a year and IGS seems to be stillborn…so, what else are people reading? I love the weekly roll personally. https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-weekly-roll/list?title_no=358889&page=1
Thank you for all of the kind messages that have come in since the end of the series. They have put many smiles on my face.
I just want to put this here for everyone checking in: It has been a long time since the finale of d20Monkey. In a perfect world, I would already be clicking along with steady IGS content, but it has come slowly. As some folks have said here and in private messages/emails, there were gaps in the 10-year run and I told myself that would not happen with IGS. So, I have been working on building a large buffer so that when I go live, it will be there when you expect it to be.
Some folks will understand this and others will not, but that is state of things and when IGS is ready, you will all be among the first to know.