Tavern Picks for the Christmas in July Sale - Part the Second

Yep, its time for some more Tavern Picks from for the Christmas in July Sale over at RPGNow. Lets see what we shall find, shall we?

(Previous picks are here. The direct link to the Christmas in July Sale is here)

Extrastellar Set One: Space Adventurers - Okumarts Games - Minis. I seem to never have enough and yet I never paint them. Then of course there is the space to store, the weight while traveling if you want to bring a bunch. Or just print them out in full color on some heavier paper. As many times as you want. Perfect for the youngins that keep losing stuff and you don't need to worry about them sucking on those old lead minis of yours ;) - "Extrastellar Set One: Space Adventurers is jam-packed full of retro sci-fi goodness inspired by movies and pop culture of the 1970s and 1980s. Designed for role playing with such games such as Traveller or White Star RPG. Explore the universe in style with this set of dynamic paper miniatures."  2.45  1.84

Scarlet Heroes - Sine Nomine Publishing - Alright, I chose Scarlet Heroes because its an awesome OSR ruleset for smaller groups and I love what Kevin did with it, but the reality is I could have picked just about anything from the Sine Nomine catalogue of releases and it would have been an excellent choice. Seriously, give it all a look. Much of it is free - "Scarlet Heroes can be used both as a stand-alone RPG and as an overlay over your favorite old-school game to make its adventures playable for single PCs or very small groups. It shares the same classic statistics and basic game mechanisms as these old-school favorites, but by changing the interpretation of these numbers it Scarlet Heroes, a GM can pull out a favorite module, grab a convenient friend, and a have a full night's adventure with no tweaking, alteration, or adjustment of the material needed."  14.99  11.24

WWII: Operation WhiteBox - Small Niche Games - You want some gritty rules for WW II and related roleplaying while still using an OSR ruleset that's familiar to you? Look no further than Operation WhiteBox. Pete Spahn did some amazing work with this game and the support of the system with new releases is nothing but stellar. Oh, and it looks like Small Niche Games has included the Print copies at a hefty discount too. - "In WWII: Operation WhiteBox, the player characters (PCs) play the role of WWII special forces operatives. They may be formally trained and part of an officially designated special forces unit such as the SAS or U.S. Army Airborne, or they may simply be guerilla fighters dedicated to making life hard for the German Army. They may also be covert agents working for organizations such as the SOE or OSS. Whatever their affiliation, their job is to complete missions behind enemy lines, paving the way for the next Allied advance."  7.99  5.99

White Box Gothic - Barrel Rider Games - Wait, a second Swords & Wizardry White Box pick? Well, its an excellent ruleset to hack and they just happen to be excellent choices. White Box Gothic from "The Other Spahn" is, quite simply, what I've wanted in an OSR styled set of horror rules for a long time and just never found. I always liked what Ravenloft could have been other than what it was. Now, if someone just added a setting for this it would be golden ;) - "White Box Gothic brings gothic horror to your Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox campaign! Inside this terrible tome you'll find a horde of horrors! Six New Classes: From the deadly Monster Hunter to the damned Dhampir. Thirty New Spells: Speak with the dead, defile the land, and bind spirits to your service! Twenty-Five New Magic Items: Draw undead servants from your Bag of Bones, learn the secrets of the Book of the Damned, and draw hope from the Symbol of Piety! Fifteen New Monsters: The lowly Cultist, the mysterious Breath Stealer, to the powerful Vampire Lord! Optional Rules: Corruption, Dread, and laying Curses!"  4.99  3.74

Victorious the Role Playing Game - Troll Lord Games - Steampunk superheroes. Really, need I say more? It scratches that itch you never knew you had :) - "Gaslight street lamps pour fitful illumination through the fog-shrouded streets of Victorian cities. Menacing figures lurk in darkened alleyways. Desperate men with nothing to lose and the determination to take what they can from others plot. This is an RPG where masked vigilantes pit their fantastic powers against all the evil that settled in the darkened streets of a Victorian past that both was and was not! Victorious, the newest core game powered by Troll Lord Games' celebrated SIEGE engine, allows you to create a wild assortment of heroes, from the wickedly smart to the inhumanly powerful! Victorious can be scaled to meet adventure with investigators of crime, defenders of society against evil monsters, and even mad scientists foiled by masked superheroes." 20.99 15.74

When you use The Tavern's affiliate links (which puts a small percentage of your purchase monies into The Tavern's coffers) you are helping to support The Tavern and the Tavernmaster in all that they do. Thank you - Tenkar AKA Poo Poo Head - Narf!

RPGNow Deal of the Day - The Wreckers of Windward Isle From Roan Studio

Today's RPGNow Deal of the Day is The Wreckers of Windward Isle. So, what actually is The Wreckers of Windward Isle, as the boilerplate doesn't say much:

Sitting at the entrance to the Bay of Spirits is an imposing rocky island that has been a hazard to ships and seafarers since the early years of exploration in the region. The weather, rough seas, pirates and the damnable Wreckers make ocean voyage in the area perilous at best. The land itself can be just as dangerous with adventure and intrigue around every corner. 

Yeah, doesn't really tell squat. Good news is that I ponied up my $1.79 (as it is 40% off of the usual $2.99) so I can tell you what it is. It is an OSR setting with adventure hooks and such. Maybe it is more accurately a micro-setting as it covers all of about 1.75 square miles.

I'm actually less interested in that than the locations and personalities within the setting, as they are generally the easiest to port to your own campaign, and stuff looks highly portable. Well laid out with pleasing art, this is well worth your 3 bucks, let alone a buck seventy nine. If I have a complaint, and its a fairly common one, the NPCs have too much magic. But that's my perspective and it may not be yours.

OSR non denominational, it should fit the ruleset of your choice with relative ease.

Normally $2.99, The Wreckers of Windward Isle is on sale until tomorrow morning for $1.79.

Remember, The Tavern gets paid a small amount from every purchase that uses affiliate links like the ones above. Please remember to tip your barman.

PWYW - ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG (WFRP Clone-ish)

Some background on my end. I ran Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (hereafter referred to as WFRP 1e) pretty much from release until the campaign ended when the party's aspiring mage fumbled a fireball as he wore a bandolier of flasks of oil. It was certainly a way to end a campaign on a fiery note.

When WFRP 2e was releases by Green Ronin, I grabbed much of that line. When FFG releases WFRP 3e, I picked up the boxed rules and realized the latest edition of WFRP was not for me. Cubicle 7 is releasing a 4th edition, which will harken back to 1st and 2nd edition.

So, where does that put Zweihander? Its pretty much a house ruled WFRP 1e with many of the serial numbers scratched off. It has the right feel even if much of the WFRP tropes aren't accessible due to trademarks and the like.

Oh, and its big. 631 pages big. The PWYW version is sans art and called "early access" but really, its the full game. The full art, finalized version is available for 20 bucks in PDF.

Do you have fond memories of WFRP? Never played it and want a glimpse of what it was before the horrors of 3rd edition? Here's you chance at no risk.

ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG is a bloodier, grimmer and grittier version of classic tabletop role-playing games you may already familiar with. The community calls this style of gaming the “pathetic aesthetic”, but we simply call it grim & perilous gaming. 

WHAT IS ZWEIHÄNDER? 

ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG is an OSR Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay loveletter/retroclone/heartbreaker released under Creative Commons License Share-Alike. It is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game, one where adventurers will: 

Live in a gritty, ‘realistic’ fantasy world
Make morally grey decisions & enact vicious reprisals
Uncover insidious plots & political intrigue
Desperately fight in clandestine & open field combat
Defend themselves from injuries, madness & mutations
Take part in heart-pumping chase scenes
Venture into the wilderness & survive its perils
Encounter sanity-blasting creatures & their minions 

Using the classical D100 system, you will create grim characters, write perilous adventures and build low fantasy & dark fantasy campaigns. These rules are perfectly suitable to run Renaissance and medieval-styled adventures, too. You can also use this book to craft homebrew stories set in the works of Andrzej Sapkowski, George R.R. Martin, Glen Cook, Scott Lynch and other ‘grimdark’-inspired worlds. 

This all-in-one game includes most of what you need to play: a character creation guide, game mastery rules and a bestiary brimming with creatures both fair & foul. All that’s left to gather are a few friends, pencils and a handful of dice.

A percentage of sales made through The Tavern's RPGNow affiliate links are returned to The Tavern. We appreciate your support. We'll keep the doors open late...

Kickstarter - Dungeons of Doom 3 - Dragon Slayers - Star Hat Miniatures

Darcy Perry does some really fine sculpts. In his last Kickstarter, Darcy did a sculpt of Tenkar the Dwarf, and holy shit, was it on target. He sent me a painted version of Tenkar and I keep it dearly - there is magic there.

Anyhow, Darcy has a new Kickstarter with new sculpts and they look damn fine.

So, here's my suggestion. Back Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom III and ask if you can add Tenkar as an add on. The mini really is awesome. I'm so glad I said yes when asked ;)

Oh, yes, I'll be backing the latest Kickstarter from Darcy. Simply put, the man does amazing work and even if I haven't gotten around to painting minis after a year in retirement, you never know ;)

Youtube - Tim Kask on TSR - From GaryCon 2016

This video popped up in my NTRPG Con Facebok feed yesterday and it shocked me that I hadn't seen it before. Tim Kask talks about the early days of TSR and more.

Its 2 hours long and I haven't finished it yet.

Still, here's to you Tim! Cheers!

PWYW - Orb of Undying Light (Swords & Wizardry Light)

Last night Orb of Undying Light popped up on my RPGNow.com Hottest Items widget on the left side of the page here at The Tavern. Its cycled off now, but I captured it when it was up.

Orb of Undying Light is Ian McGarty's second one-sheet adventure for Swords & Wizardry Light. One sheet, two pages, pay what you want. Really, what can go wrong>

BTW, printed out it fits right into the snazzy SWL rules folder...

Remember boys & girls, purchases made via The Tavern's RPGNow affiliate links return a portion of the monies paid to The Tavern. Keep a man in beer. Good beer. Mmmmmm.

Bundle of Holding - Rifts (Believe it or Not)

I did a double take when I noticed Rifts was one of the offers at Bundle of Holding. I don't see Kevin as one offering discounts that often. Then I saw the discount and I was less impressed.

$17.95 for the Starter Collection? It should be half that in my opinion. The idea is to bring people in with a nice discount and 18 bucks for the core rules a sourcebook and a fairly worthless GM kit doesn't quite do it in my eyes.

The Bonus Collection comes in at a hair under $27. While its a better value than just opting for the Starter Collection, I don't see it as all that great a value.

How the hell is "Sourcebook One" and "Ultimate Edition" trademarks? At least they aren't claiming a trademark for "Game Master Kit." Yet.

Ah well, Kevin is true to his usual self: