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Saturday, December 14, 2013

Third Day of OSR Christmas - Flash Bonus - That's a Goblin!?



Yep, we have a quickie here, but the good news is there are FIVE PDF copies available, therefore FIVE winners. Open to all!

This post will close to comments tonight whenever my game session wraps up, so probably around 1230 or 1 am Eastern

5 copies of That's a Goblin!? are being gifted by +Mark Chance of Spes Magna Games.

You have about 8 hrs to get your comments in, so get cracking!

On the Third Day of OSR Christmas - Have Some Egg NOD


+John Stater has been incredibly generous with his gifting, and this particular gift is open to all to try for.

John is giving a bundle of NOD issues 1-21 to one lucky patron of this here fine tavern.

Add a comment and you may be the lucky recipient. This post will be open until about noon on Sunday (tomorrow)

Friday, December 13, 2013

On the Second Day of the OSR Christmas, My Barkeep Gave to Me...



Yep, Day Two is here, and Day Two of the OSR Christmas is in PDF and is open to all!

The Chronicles of Amherth

Blood Moon Rising

The Inn of Lost Heroes

Pyramid of the Dragon

The Stealer of Children

The Shrine of St. Aleena

Ghoul Keep and the Ghoul Lands

A very nice collection of Small Niche Games products in a tidy package to one fine commenter on this post. Again, open to all.

Post will be open for comments until 8pm or so tomorrow night.

(there may be a bonus OSR Christmas post over the weekend with a short window if I can pull it off - busy busy)

Day One Gift recipient is here

The Recipient of the 1st Gift of "12 Days OSR Christmas" is...


The winner of the OSR Three Pack from Day One of the 12 Days of OSR Christmas is...

DungeonMastahWieg

Congrats!

Send me you snail mail info at tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom and I'll pass it on to he that started this whole thing in the first place ;)

Today's gifts will be posted shortly.

(I found a use for the LotFP Ref Book Dice set with the D1000 and lots of rerolls :)

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Mini Review - Monster Slayers: The Heros of Hesiod (Free WotC RPG Aimed at 6+)


Monster Slayers is loosely based on D&D - probably 4e, but it's hard to tell. It's simple and gets the player's right in the game, but I do have some issues:

1 - It's got a board, which is pretty limiting to kids imagination I would suspect. It also is heavily reliant on positioning on that board for PC power to be effective. Again, limiting imagination, which is usually the strong point in young kids.

2 - It uses 1d20 or 3d6, depending on the dice one has available, to determine hits, but the spread isn't equal. Here's an example from the rules:
An attack power is made up of the name (such as Massive
Axe), what you roll to try to hit a monster (such as 1d20), the
number you add to the result of that roll (+ 5), and what happens
if you succeed in your roll (such as “Deals 1 point of axe
damage”). If you don’t have access to twenty-sided dice, there
is an alternative using conventional dice (such as 3d6+2). 
To use a Massive Axe attack power, the player rolls one
twenty-sided die and adds 5 to the result. For example, Raen
rolls a 10 and adds 5 to get 15. The player announces the
result, and the Dungeon Master compares it to the monster’s
armor class. If it equals or beats the monster’s armor class,
then the attack succeeds. For example, Raen’s 15 is the same
as the bullette’s armor class of 15, so Raen succeeds in hitting
the bullette.
So follow me on this one: 15 or better hits, which is a roll of 10+5 on the d20 (55% of the time he hits) or 3d6+2 roll which needs 13 with the +2 (about 16% chance).

No, the numbers dont work if you switch dice around.

Not the game I'd use to introduce my niece to gaming, but it is free, so it has that going for it. Maybe others will get some mileage out of this that I won't.

From the blurb:

Are you a parent who wants to share the fun of Dungeons & Dragons with your kids, but you’re worried that the rules are too complicated or a standard adventure would tax their attention spans? Are you a teacher or librarian who would like to introduce your students to the game, but you’re reluctant to take on the regular time commitment of a full-blown campaign?

There are a great many reasons to share D&D with kids. Besides being just the kind of imaginative play that kids naturally engage in, Dungeons & Dragons develops an array of essential educational skills, including:

Math skills
Reading skills
Writing skills
Cooperation and leadership
Problem-solving
Creative thinking
We’ve heard from many of you out there that you’ve been wanting to unlock these benefits for your kids, but you feel that they’re not ready for the basic game or you just don’t have the time to run your own campaign. So we put together this variation, based on the new novel for young readers, Monster Slayers by Lukas Ritter. Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod captures the flavor, fun, and educational benefits of Dungeons & Dragons in a fast-paced, easy-to-learn experience for kids ages six years old and up.

Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod requires no previous knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons, and all you need to play is included in this adventure, aside from a few dice and pencils (and some friends to play it with). Play time can be as little as fifteen minutes or as long as an hour, depending on how many monsters you run.

Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod isn’t just for kids. It’s also a fun diversion for experienced players who need their D&D fix but don’t have the time for a full-length game. Or share it with your non-gamer family and friends who claim to be intimidated by the rules of the game. It won’t be long before they’re hooked on the game you love!

Day 1 of the "12 Days of OSR Christmas" Giveaway - An OSR Threesome


Note: Due to the expense of mailing packages outside the US, some days of the OSR Christmas Giveaway will be limited to US mailing addresses only. This is one of those days. I apologize to the international tavern patrons and will make it up to you in the coming days. PDF gifts will be international and will require an OBS (occasionally LULU) account to claim in most cases. We do have print gifts that will be shipping internationally in later days.

We are kicking off the 12 Days of OSR Christmas with a very OSR package for a single tavern patron - print copies of the following donated by +tony a. thompson

1. S&W Whitebox (softcover)
2. Heroes & Other Worlds Adventure Game
3. Whitehack

Now, how do you enter to possibly find yourself gifted these fine gifts?

Add a comment to this post. 

Really, it's that simple. I'll stop taking comments at 5pm tomorrow night NYC time and randomly pick a winner and Tony will get the gifts out to you.

The same will go one for 11 more days. Some days the gifts will be in print. Some days PDF. Some days will have multiple gift receivers, some days will have 1.

The winner(s) will be announced within 48 hours after the post closes for comments, but most likely will be announce within hours of the comments closing, usually in an OSR Christmas posting.

I can't find you, you'll have to find me after the gift(s) is(are) announced. Unawarded gifts will roll over to Three Kings Day or something...

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Death in RPGs is Not an End But a New Beginning With Cheese Dip



Last weekend in +Joe D 's Blood Island game, my character Rath came to an end. He fought the good fight, but the life expectancy of a level 1 adventurer in ANY OSR game isn't all that high, and LotFP Weird Fantasy is probably more lethal than most.

So, what does one do when their character takes the big dirt nap?

Roll up a new one!

Seriously, I understand the loss of a character, even one that has only seen a few sessions use, can be annoying, even sad. I however, embrace it.

Besides, I rolled a new character with decent combat related ability scores, a 5 in INT and WIS, made him a berserker with a fondness for cheese dip and named him "Gru". Hell, he's practically written himself ;)

Beta Beta! "Shroud of the Avatar" and "Wasteland 2" Release to Kickstarter Backers in Beta - So Long as You Are A Windows User


Got emails for both Shroud of the Avatar and Wasteland 2 touting the release of both in beta format to backers of their respective Kickstarters.

Both games are being developed for Windows, OSX and Linux.

Both games are releasing their initial Betas in Windows only.

I could install them on the Win7 side of my Mac, but I supported them to play in native OSX, so I guess I'll wait.

Waiting is the name of the Kickstarter game...


Kickstarter - The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence (an OSR module)


Where does one start? +Venger Satanis is the one running this Kickstarter, and his first adventure, Liberation of the Demon Slayer was a Hot Item at the RPGNow site after it's release. I never reviewed LotDS even though I have the PDF, mostly because the number of house rules at the beginning of the product would have been better suited as either their own system or a separate product IMHO. Or heck, put them at the end. At the beginning, they seem much less optional. FYI, I also dislike Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The mix of house rules with adventure made the expectation that you would run said adventure with the optional rules presented pretty much a default.

So yeah, I really should go back to it and JUST read the adventure part this time and pretend the optional rules don't exist. Layout was nice, art was slamming and I suspect the dungeon was a good one.

What about the current Kickstarter, The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence? It appears to be an enclosed sandbox / small wilderness setting spanning three islands:
Rather than another dungeon crawl, this is a wilderness crawl.  Specifically, adventurers will explore three islands in close proximity that have been visited by a wyrm-riding empire, extra-dimensional invaders, space aliens, Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and more. They'll find black pylons enabling time/space travel, an evil temple, a shattered dome city, and most importantly, The Thing That Rots From The Sky!
I'd say that looks to be pretty damn awesome, all wrapped up in 23 32 pages and $20 for the print version. Which seems on the low middle-ish for page count. Unless the stretch goals are hit, which have the potential to gradually increase the page count to over 100 pages, which would make this a bargain.

Am I in? I'll let you know next payday, which is a week from Friday. Just leased a new car today and my discretionary spending is gonna take a hit. Otherwise, I'd be in for $20 today. Just keep and houserules in a separate product ;)

edit: maps by +Dyson Logos . It's now a "must buy"

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

We have our 12 Days of OSR Christmas Graphic :)

Big thanks to New Big Dragon!


Remember, it kicks off in 2 days.

All you need to do is comment on the posts that have a prize or prizes you'd like a chance to win.

Print, PDF and unique gifts will be randomly awarded over the 12 days of the new OSR Holiday. (note - some physical gifts are only shipping within the US - this will be noted when such posts go up on the blog)

Guess it's time for me to sign up at Stamps.com ;)

Reminder - Two More Days Until "12 Days of OSR Christmas" :)

Wish we had a snazzy graphic for it, but that's ok - we've got some awesome giveaways starting December 12th ;)

Signed,

Santa's Grumpy Dwarf

Monday, December 9, 2013

What Was the First "Gazebo" Sighting?



So, I've been reading Knights of the Dinner Table - Bundle of Trouble Volume 1 (surprisingly readable on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3) and the first strip is "Lair of the Gazebo".

I doubt that this was the first time a "Gazebo" was mistaken for a viable monstrous adversary in the lore of "old school gaming".

Can anyone think of an earlier reference than KotDT Issue #1 circa summer of '94?

Evil Hat Releases 100+ Page Preview of Designers & Dragons - TSR (for Free)

Tip of the hat to ENWorld for this piece.

Evil Hat has released the first 25% of the first book of the upcoming four book series - Designers and Dragons. Yep, that little (huge) book that came out a few years ago is going to be re-released in a four volume series.

The TSR section is about 100 pages (and free) and the preview also includes the full index - Volume I is going to be over 360 pages.

I seem to have a lot of reading to do...

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Kickstarter to bring Knights of the Dinner Table to a Live Action Web-isodes Series

Shout out to +Jim Wampler for sharing this on G+ :)


Strange how things meet. Here I am asking if I should start reviewing the various Knights of the Dinner Table Bundles of Trouble from a gaming perspective and suddenly the Kickstarter to bring Knights of the Dinner Table to a Live Action Web-isodes Series goes live. Weird.

I will say, the actors pretty much look the part.

I suspect after I read that first Bundle of Trouble I'll be kicking in to this one. Looks like fun :)


Any Interest in Reviews of Knight's of the Dinner Table Bundles of Trouble Collections?


I'm thinking of reading through the KotDT Bundles of Trouble I own - probably the first dozen or so - more if it's a popular type of post.

The thing is, do I read them just for the sake of reading them, or do I read them with the intention of reading them? I was a pretty loyal KotDT subscriber until about three years ago - which happens to coincide with my blogging activities getting "hot and heavy".

If I did review them, it would be with an eye of "what can be borrowed and brought to the gaming table". As these are the bundles and not the original issues, it's just the comic and not the articles I'd be reading.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Project Suspended From Spanish Crowdfunding Site! Surprised?



The saga continues. Bards will sing songs about the long but fruitless fight.

The HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Project has been taken down by the Spanish crowdfunding site named Verkami.

How could this have happened if they had the rights / owned the trademark / believed elephants could fly?

Because they (as in GameZone) see just one thing - dollar signs at this point. Let the games continue.

Dead link to the project is here: http://www.verkami.com/projects/7464-heroquest-25th-anniversary

edit: thanks to ThisOldCoder for the heads up

edit edit: grabbed the following screenshot from BoardGameGeek


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