GM, Player or Both?

I've asked this question in the past, but with the influx of new readers, it's something that can easily be asked again:

Do you feel more comfortable as a GM, a player or can you easily embrace both roles?

I see myself primarily as a DM / GM, but I've been having a blast when the opportunity to play as a player comes my way. There was a time where I had difficulty feeling comfortable as a player, but I find these days I can embrace it and enjoy.

So, where do you fall?

Moving into the Slow Lane for the Rest of the Week

Between the past weekend's stress, the current multitasking at work, puppy prep and safety check for the weekend pick up and getting some prep in for the recording of episodes 1 and 2 of the podcast early next week (yeah, it kinda just worked out like that) among other projects I need to work on, all of which means that the 2 to 4 posts a day are probably going to slow down to 1 to 2.

No, I haven't had a chance to check the OSR Superstar final entries yet and get them moving on to the judges - hoping for tomorrow, but in truth it may not happen until Thursday.

But hey, the puppy prep is worth it at least ;)

Danke, the Puppy will soon meet her feline step-sister, Ashley

New PWYW - The Doom-Cave of the Crystal-Headed Children (Free RPG Day 2014)

+James Raggi has released the LotFP 2104 Free RPG Day adventure, The Doom-Cave of the Crystal-Headed Children, in PDF as PWYW.

So, if you missed it in print, you can now grab it in PDF. If in doubt, grab it now and toss James a few silvers later if you like it.

Xmas in July Sale at RPGNow - 25% Off Selected Items

Christmas in July Sale

See that banner above? Yep, look up. That one.

RPGNow / OneBookShelf is running a Christmas in July Sale with a crapton of PDFs (and possibly Print on Demand - I need to look closer) on sale for a limited time. How much is a crapton? A lot.

I'l try and highlight some OSR choices over the next few days - assuming I survive the next two at work. Covering my unit, another unit and assigned to two days of training - I really need some clones.

Oh, and for those wondering - Urgent Care cut the ring off my wife's swollen finger earlier this evening and put her on 10 days of antibiotics. I think we're clear for now.

Near Miss - Dodged a Real Life Tragedy, and Life Goes On

Mt DCC game ended shortly after 2 am last night. After some chips and a beer I was ready for bed. Shortly after 3 am, my cell phone rang.

Now, we all know middle of the night phone calls never bring good news. They are the bearers of ill tidings, and this was no different. My pop called to tell me my mom slipped and fell getting out of bed. She split her lip open and was slurring her words. He called EMS and my sister joined my mom on the way to the hospital (she and my niece are visiting my folks in the Poconos.)

Long story short, possible concussion from the fall, but no stroke (as was feared) and all other test s came back normal. She does have high blood pressure, but never knew as she is one of those stubborn folk that avoids docs like the plague.

She was released shortly before 10 AM after the tests came back negative. Can you guess I had very little sleep last night?

It's been a rough year from October of last year right through... well, now. Thankfully, the man upstairs kept this one with an overall positive - now mom knows she has high blood pressure and will need to see a doc regularly to take care of it.

Oh, and after work tomorrow it's off to Urgent Care to get a ring removed from my wife's swollen finger...

Alright, time to pass out ;)

Wherein We Come to the End of a Funnel and it Becomes All About Class

We wrapped up +Craig Brasco 's DCC RPG funnel last night, and the whole experience was a blast. I fully expected Graygor not to survive (total adds + 7 and 7HP) but survive he did - barely. He did have to cast his one shot use of Spider Climb.

My Cooper used a flaming barrel as an effective distraction in the final encounter - I knew there was a reason he was carrying it around ;)

In the end, for 3 players and 12 initial 0-level PCs we had 4 survivors - 3 were mine. That was literally, pure luck. +Keith J Davies , who lost his last PC in the final encounter, inherited the Cooper.

So, now it becomes, what class does Graygor take? The other survivors are leaning towards cleric and wizard. Do I become a thief with a Luck of 16 and no Agility modifier. Take a fighter? Use one of the classes from Crawl #6 perhaps? Both the bard and the paladin look like fun. Heck, so does the ranger, but I got a kick ass two-handed sword as a reward at the end of the adventure, and it wouldn't fit the ranger as written all that well. Whatever class I chose, he gets + 4 to HP each level, so even a d6 becomes 5-10 HP per level ;)

I have two week to decide...

New PWYW Release - Brave the Labyrinth #4 (LL Zine)

Brave the Labyrinth Issue #4 has been released into the wilds, and as always, it is prices to move - that's because it is priced under the Pay What You Want method. Grab it for free, and if you like what you see, toss a few silvers in the direction of Small Niche Games.

Here's the ToC:

-Two (2) new Dwarven races (Clockwork and Stone)

-Chaos magic to beef up your humanoid shamans

-The Demonologist class for Labyrinth Lord

-Two island maps (Player's and Labyrinth Lord's)

-New ideas for terrifying fantasy zombies

-Health insurance for adventurers

-One (1) adventure for 1st-3rd level characters (The Ruined Tower of Hilsosk the Mad)

-One (1) article on weapon mastery

-Six (6) new faerie magic items

-Beetlemirth!

-One (1) Review of Red Tide: Campaign Sourcebook and Setting Toolkit

So, what are you waiting for? Grab a copy - NOW!    ;)

Games From the Basement - Tunnels & Trolls 2e, 4e and UK 1e

A question about Tunnels & Trolls editions came up recently and in the midst of it all, I forgot about the "Black Spiral Cover UK Edition".

Now, here's how the breakdown goes best as I can tell.

1e was very limited - less than 100 copies.

2e was also very limited. My copy of 2e is +Ken St. Andre personal play copy.

I don't own a copy of 3e, but the cover is the same as 2e (even if the ink seems to be a different color in the pics I've seen).

4e is 2e with the supplemental rules incorporated.

UK 1e is the spiral cover, with contents of 2e plus the supplement, but it is laid out differently than 4e.

UK Orange Box and UK Corgi are the 5e rules of T&T.

Personally, I love the UK Corgi edition for the convenience factor - it's just a damn good size to carry around.

All because I stumbled across some of my older T&T stuff as I condense boxes and fill up gaming shelves for some late spring cleaning...

A Good and Ugly Kickstarter - The Storyteller's Thesaurus

The Storyteller's Thesaurus is both "good" and "ugly". First, I'll cover the ugly. Chenault & Gray is the parent company of Troll Lord Games, the publisher of Castles & Crusades. If C&C has gotten a knock over the years, it's due to typos and other mistakes in the printed copies.

Now, The Storyteller's Thesaurus isn't even released yet, so why am I mentioning typos? Simply because they couldn't spell their own company's name correctly on the Kickstarter page. Not the most auspicious sign.

At least the graphic for the book itself is correct, right?

There an apostrophe missing in the title above.

Enough of the bad, lets look at the good. This has the potential to be an excellent resource:

This is a reference book with over 100,000 interrelated words! It is specifically designed for writers, teachers, game designers, students and anyone who enjoys the creative output of fantasy, science fiction or horror tales! 

Words have their own entries, there is no need to hunt through pages of alphabetical listings! Words that are crucial in fantasy, history, and horror. No other thesaurus is like this: the Storyteller's Thesaurus names weapons, armor, magical items, mystical creatures, symbols, treasures, and descriptive terms essential for any genre. There are usage notes and writing tips to clarify and expand. The authors draw from decades of work to target areas of concern for beginning writers as well as experienced authors. 

The Storyteller's Thesaurus actualizes character design. The Storyteller's Thesaurus helps you contrive enduring settings and unleash the full power of any scene, great or small.Let this book inspire new characters and develop original settings and locales. You’ll be amazed at how quickly new ideas form as you browse. The Storyteller’s Thesaurus just might be the cure for writer’s block, dull prose, and stale ideas ~ pick up this book and let your world expand!

Over 500 pages.

Authors are James Ward and Anne K. Brown

I may kick in for the digital copy at 10 bucks. At least that way, if it suffers some annoying typos, there is always the hope that the file can get updated