Hello! Welcome back to my Sunday interviews, where I talk to artists and creators from Puerto Rico whose art or creative expressions are related to TTRPGs, gaming, fantasy, and sci-fi.
I must admit that I had wanted to interview Samuel for a while, even if he didn’t know it. Last September, I bought his fantasy comic at an event at the Cuartel de Ballajá. My son and I loved it; we read it and enjoyed it immensely.
We also bought two copies of his monster book, Saving Point: Monster Book Vol. 1 (one for me and another for my son). As a fan of RPG bestiaries, I found Samuel’s art and designs to be excellent. I want to use his creatures at the table soon. The stats in the book are very easy to drop into D&D 5e or adapt to any OSR system.
I highly recommend his published works, and I am eager to see the next installments in the series. Without further ado, I’ll share the answers that Samuel so kindly provided.
Introduce yourself! Who are you and what do you create?
Greetings, everyone. My name is Samuel Figueroa. I am an illustrator, graphic designer, and writer, originally from Cupey Alto, San Juan. If you go to my Instagram gallery (sadsamuart), you will realize that my passion and favorite subjects are creatures, fantasy, and science fiction. Since I was little, I have been a fan of nature and science, and as my decisions steered me toward creativity and illustration, it was inevitable that I would find joy in creating original worlds and strange creatures to populate them.
How would you describe your art?
Even though I would love to be a painter and create the kind of illustrations that often accompany fantasy stories and Western role-playing games (RPGs), my artistic development took me down the path of comics, manga, anime, and Disney. Comic artists like Joe Madureira, Mike Weringo, and Yukito Kishiro formatted my mind, and although my style is distinctive, a very personal mix, I always seek to connect with those who find those styles appealing.
How did you discover TTRPGs?
In high school, I had a friend with “advanced” knowledge of RPGs. While the only thing I knew was Zelda, he already knew about D&D and a long list of RPGs from that era, like Lunar and Final Fantasy. What he brought to school was what got me hooked on RPGs. From then on, it was the only type of game that interested me for many years, until it became clear that the genre was transforming and expanding with series like Mass Effect and Halo, among others. Very beautiful times.
Today my tastes are “set,” so it’s obvious that games like Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Baldur’s Gate 3 were purchases that took zero brain cells to add to my collection. Beyond what I learned in high school, my fascination with fantasy creatures and stories set in a medieval environment led me to collect books on creatures and mythology, including the D&D Monster Manual, Pathfinder books, Magic: The Gathering, and lore books. Now I am also soaking up the Warhammer 40K universe, to the horror of the characters in my own worlds. They know things will get complicated, having Warhammer as an inspiration.
Do you play actively? What are you playing right now?
As for games like D&D, I would love to say yes, but all the groups I have played with promise a campaign, and then it just ends up being one-shots. I have bought dice and books galore, but I haven’t found a consistent group to play a story from beginning to end. That pushes me toward digital, which is why the games I have played recently are Baldur’s Gate 3, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Fallout 4.
What is the next thing you want to play?
Since I haven’t been able to have a complete D&D and/or Pathfinder experience, I think I would focus on getting that. I suppose D&D or Pathfinder is “vanilla,” considering all the variety out there today in RPGs and homebrews, but well… I want to enjoy the worlds that drove the industry and bounce ideas off players immersed in those worlds. I love seeing memes and videos from influencers who obviously play D&D frequently and offer a glimpse of their highly imaginative adventures.
What projects do you currently have available, and what are you working on right now?
Right now, I am developing the Saving Point series, a fantasy comic whose adventures center on a group of adventurers trying to recover a “lifesaving” sphere stolen from their village. Without it, warriors who die cannot be revived by magic, and in a world where humanity has few tools to compete with monsters and mythical creatures, being able to return to fight another day is essential. But that quest is just the beginning, and the group of adventurers couldn’t be more wet-behind-the-ears, more immature, or more vulnerable to the machinations of evil already in play.
The comics Saving Point #1 and #2 and Vol. 1 of the Monster Book are already available. I am working on the script for the 3rd comic and, simultaneously, developing creatures for the Saving Point Monster Book Vol. 2. I already have enough creatures to fill the book, published as previews in my Instagram gallery (sadsamuart), but I keep designing to include the most interesting ones in the final book. I would love to do a selection of minifigures, perhaps inspired by the classic Bandai “M.U.S.C.L.E. Men / Kikenshi,” but for now I am working on the project by myself; I won’t be able to move it forward until I finish comic #3.
Where can people find your projects?
Right now, what I have left online is available at the Tripleta Studio store. The first two comics were developed and illustrated in partnership with Rangely García, a talented Puerto Rican artist whose comedic sensibilities and art underscored the series’ beginnings. Once I finish comic #3, I will be preparing a selection of products to participate in convention activities again. Previously, the series lived alongside the Tripleta Studio selection, but due to events out of my control, I will now have to move it on my own until it picks up steam. It’s a big challenge, but I don’t see it as impossible.
Any final comments?
These past few years have been challenging for me personally, and economically for the island, and I must admit they have affected my plans for this year. But if no other unexpected blow comes along, I hope to fully invest in the comic and other Saving Point products, perhaps by bringing in a compatible artist to publish faster. My guiding star is the ambition to create a Latino Wizards of the Coast and to bring the imagination and local flavor of fantasy and science fiction to the world. If Japan can do it, so can we. Hopefully, the series’ success paves the way for much more.
Thank you again, Samuel. I am looking forward to seeing your upcoming projects and hope to promote them when they are available.
Thank you all for reading. I will see you next weekend.
Links where you can follow Samuel and see his work:
Art of Bayul on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bayularts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sadsamuart
Saving Point at Tripleta Studio: https://tripletastudio.myshopify.com/collections/saving-point
(A Spanish version of this interview is available on Sunglar’s Musings.)
