I started out by watching The Quick and the Dead, followed that with the original True Grit and wrapped it all with A Fist Full of Dollars. Very different movies but all had a similar theme of redemption.
Then again, westerns are American mythology, so I can understand the similarity in themes between westerns and RPG adventures: revenge, justice, gaining some gold, etc.
This could make for an interesting series of posts, if I ever get to all the other posts I want to get to ;)
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Pricing the PDF Product Properly and Profitably - Answering My Own Questions
So, on Wednesday I asked a lot of questions about PDF pricing, but I never answered any of them myself. I figure I probably should give that a try - so here it goes:
Is there a ratio between PDF and Paper pricing of the same item? I'd guesstimate a proper PDF price to be about 60-75% for items under $10 in print, and 35%-60% for items about $10 in print. This is not written in stone.
What price point is too high, no matter the number of the pages (size)? $31.99 is damn high. Not sure if it is too high, but it certainly isnt customer friendly.
Is there a page to price ratio that you, as a consumer, use to evaluate PDF value? 10 cents a page for items under 50 pages, with the cents per page dropping as the product gets longer... there is no exact science
Do certain publishers deserve a premium price for their PDFs? If so, why? I don't really have an answer for this, but some publishers certainly think their PDFs deserve a premium price.
Is FREE a selling point for you, or something the consumer should avoid? Does a $1 price point imply more value then FREE? Why? I enjoy free stuff, and the OSR has lot's of amazing stuff priced for free, so I think free works well.
Does top shelf art add value to a PDF the same way it adds value to a paper product? Art adds to the impulse buy when flipping thru a printed product in a store... PDFs lack that ability, so I'd have to say art is less important for PDFs.
Are lower production values accepted for a PDF product then the same in paper? Probably.
Does finding a PDF product is also available as a Print on Demand product add value to the PDF? How about a PDF / POD Bundle? If something is available in POD, and you get the PDF for free, I'll probably grab the bundle over just getting the PDF alone.
Those are my answers. I have a blog, therefore, I am an expert. NOT!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Stay at Home Vacation = Work + Play
I'm on vacation next week, and with the possible exception of the holiday weekend starting tomorrow, it will be an "at home" vacation - which means i have a lot to do around the house.
The non-fun part will include lots of cleaning, disposing, removing and reorganizing (assuming such things were actually organized in the first place).
Fun parts will hopefully include - a Solo a day, whether T&T, Bean!, MS&PE or whatever - an hour or so of gaming a day should rock. Besides, I still need to do the solo system comparison.
Working on my VTT powered Tunnels & Troll campaign - I really need to get this up an running.
Get thru my reviewer's pile of products to review. We will see how this goes.
All that and spend time with my son. He's off too. Which is, of course, the reason I chose this week to be off ;)
The non-fun part will include lots of cleaning, disposing, removing and reorganizing (assuming such things were actually organized in the first place).
Fun parts will hopefully include - a Solo a day, whether T&T, Bean!, MS&PE or whatever - an hour or so of gaming a day should rock. Besides, I still need to do the solo system comparison.
Working on my VTT powered Tunnels & Troll campaign - I really need to get this up an running.
Get thru my reviewer's pile of products to review. We will see how this goes.
All that and spend time with my son. He's off too. Which is, of course, the reason I chose this week to be off ;)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Mini Review - B1 Journey to Hell (for OSRIC)
So, as to keep a balance in PDF cost in the items I post about, I present B1 - Journey to Hell from Sacrosanct Games. For a mere 4 quarters, 20 nickels (none wooden), 1 measly dollar, you get about a dozen and a half pages of adventure for your party that has reached legendary status in OSRIC (or any of the OSR family of RPGs).
As an aside, about 25 years ago I put my party on an adventure thru Hell - fudged stats, levels 16-22, DM PC, vorpal blades (the beheaded Asmodeus)- the best of Monty Hall from back in the day. I've yet to run a PC of my own, or DM for a party in which any character made it past level 11 in the years since then. So I'm not someone that can tell you if this new Journey to Hell is balanced or not for levels 18-20. I certainly can't say how well it works for the Altus Adventum version that is also included in the package.
I can say that I've already found a section that I can steal and modify for use in another game, so I figure most should get their buck's worth, even if not used as written.
From the blurb:
In a desperate bid to bring his queen back to life, King Heltrhop made a foolish pact with the demon, Astaroth. Astaroth has possessed the king, trapping him in hell. Now the party must make a journey into hell itself to rescue the king and save the world from a demon invasion.
B1, Journey to Hell is an adventure for both the OSRIC (or other favorite old school version) and the Altus Adventum 2nd edition role-playing games. Versions for both systems are included. It is based off of Dante's Inferno, and takes the heroes into Hell itself in a bid to save the king. This adventure is designed for characters level 18-20 (OSRIC version) or Legends (Altus version).
While not being directly linked to the A1-A4 series of $1 adventures from Sacrosanct Games, there are a few references to those modules. While none of those are required to play the game, having them would put a lot of things into better context if you had.
As an aside, about 25 years ago I put my party on an adventure thru Hell - fudged stats, levels 16-22, DM PC, vorpal blades (the beheaded Asmodeus)- the best of Monty Hall from back in the day. I've yet to run a PC of my own, or DM for a party in which any character made it past level 11 in the years since then. So I'm not someone that can tell you if this new Journey to Hell is balanced or not for levels 18-20. I certainly can't say how well it works for the Altus Adventum version that is also included in the package.
I can say that I've already found a section that I can steal and modify for use in another game, so I figure most should get their buck's worth, even if not used as written.
From the blurb:
In a desperate bid to bring his queen back to life, King Heltrhop made a foolish pact with the demon, Astaroth. Astaroth has possessed the king, trapping him in hell. Now the party must make a journey into hell itself to rescue the king and save the world from a demon invasion.
B1, Journey to Hell is an adventure for both the OSRIC (or other favorite old school version) and the Altus Adventum 2nd edition role-playing games. Versions for both systems are included. It is based off of Dante's Inferno, and takes the heroes into Hell itself in a bid to save the king. This adventure is designed for characters level 18-20 (OSRIC version) or Legends (Altus version).
While not being directly linked to the A1-A4 series of $1 adventures from Sacrosanct Games, there are a few references to those modules. While none of those are required to play the game, having them would put a lot of things into better context if you had.
Pricing the PDF Product Properly and Profit - A Look at the Castle Keeper's Guide
I've seen some "loud" reactions to the pricing of the CKG in PDF on my blog, other blogs, forums... it isn't pretty. Amazingly enough, the feelings toward Troll Lord Games are still highly positive, but there is a bit of a disconnect in the PDF pricing of the Castle Keeper's Guide.
Lets look at how TLG has priced the 4 different releases of the CKG:
Hardcover - $39.99
Softcover - $29.99
Digest Size - $24.99
PDF - $31.99
In my opinion, the PDF version should never be priced more then a print version. TLG is selling the PDF at a 20% discount from the hardcover price, which still makes it roughly a 28% mark up from the digest size. Why buy it in PDF?
A better price would be a 20% discount from the digest size, putting it at $19.99. Of course, I'm just talking outa my ass, but that's what we bloggers do ;)
Lets look at how TLG has priced the 4 different releases of the CKG:
Hardcover - $39.99
Softcover - $29.99
Digest Size - $24.99
PDF - $31.99
In my opinion, the PDF version should never be priced more then a print version. TLG is selling the PDF at a 20% discount from the hardcover price, which still makes it roughly a 28% mark up from the digest size. Why buy it in PDF?
A better price would be a 20% discount from the digest size, putting it at $19.99. Of course, I'm just talking outa my ass, but that's what we bloggers do ;)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Castle Keeper's Guide for Castles & Crusades Released on RPGNow
Holy Crap, this thing is huge. The PDF is 292 pages long. It will take me a long time to get thru this to even attempt a review. Most likely I'll have to review it in sections.
It's almost mythical in nature, as the Castle Keeper's Guide has been talked about pretty much since the release of the C&C Player's Handbook back in 2004.
At first glance (and only the first 40 pages or so) it reminds me a bit of Unearthed Arcana for AD&D, but that isn't accurate really. It's more a feel then reality. This seems like so much more. Options. Options. Options.
Damn, sensory overload ;)
From the blurb:
The long awaited arrival of the CKG is finally here!
Rule Book, 280+ pages
Alea Iacta Est - The die is cast!
Upon Foundations of Stone
Beneath the walls and towers of adventure, beneath the ground upon which the adventurer treads, lies the foundation. It is that which holds the construct, which drives the challenges, which brings the flavor of a world’s imaginings to light. It is the maelstrom of creation through whose eye the game of heroic chance plays out.
What Lies Within
The Castle Keeper’s Guide includes a host of new material for the role playing enthusiast. From world creation, to dungeon designs, managing non-player characters, character attributes at high levels, spell use and cost, equipment its use and wastage, the tumult of storms, from warfare to combat, monsters, treasure, death and more. The Castle Keeper’s Guide provides the CK and the Player with a host of new tools for their use; tools designed to enhance play, not hinder it; designed to be malleable from gaming table to gaming table.
A sample of what you will find in the CKG:
The CKG is the perfect expansion to everyone’s table.
It's almost mythical in nature, as the Castle Keeper's Guide has been talked about pretty much since the release of the C&C Player's Handbook back in 2004.
At first glance (and only the first 40 pages or so) it reminds me a bit of Unearthed Arcana for AD&D, but that isn't accurate really. It's more a feel then reality. This seems like so much more. Options. Options. Options.
Damn, sensory overload ;)
From the blurb:
The long awaited arrival of the CKG is finally here!
Rule Book, 280+ pages
Alea Iacta Est - The die is cast!
Upon Foundations of Stone
Beneath the walls and towers of adventure, beneath the ground upon which the adventurer treads, lies the foundation. It is that which holds the construct, which drives the challenges, which brings the flavor of a world’s imaginings to light. It is the maelstrom of creation through whose eye the game of heroic chance plays out.
What Lies Within
The Castle Keeper’s Guide includes a host of new material for the role playing enthusiast. From world creation, to dungeon designs, managing non-player characters, character attributes at high levels, spell use and cost, equipment its use and wastage, the tumult of storms, from warfare to combat, monsters, treasure, death and more. The Castle Keeper’s Guide provides the CK and the Player with a host of new tools for their use; tools designed to enhance play, not hinder it; designed to be malleable from gaming table to gaming table.
A sample of what you will find in the CKG:
- Alternative methods of attribute generation
- The featured classes expanded to the 24th level
- Equipment: outfitting for a setting, saving throws, usage, costs
- Expansion on the Magic with components, spell costs, holy symbols, water, and more
- The NPC: how to run them, hire them, loyalty and more
- Monsters and Magic as NPCs
- The Crusade in the future: guns, canon and more
- The World Above: over view of outdoor campaigns
- The World Below: over view of underground campaigns
- The Characters, gaining levels, land and more treasure
- The Siege Engine, breaking it down for your table
- Character death. The end should not be the end
The CKG is the perfect expansion to everyone’s table.
The Trollish Taproom - The Many Sizes of Tunnels & Trolls 5e
Tunnels & Trolls really hit it's stride with the release of the 5th edition rules.
On the left is a second printing (Jan '80) of the T&T rules. Later printings (including 5.5e) blow up the cover art to encompass the whole cover.
The smaller book with the orange cover is a second printing (also Jan '80) of the Tunnels & Trolls 5th edition for the UK. This edition is secured by two staples, the art is a line drawing on orange cardboardy paper (that dog ears nicely. Other then that, it's pretty much a carbon copy of it's larger sibling the best I can tell.
The yet smaller book on the far right (with the nice flash glare - go me!) is the Corgi printing (1986) of the Tunnels & Trolls rules. It's printed on mass paperback quality paper (which means poor). It is however, probably the easiest size for normal reading habits. Corgi publishing is the company that decided to excise many of the sillier T&T spell names, so if that is keeping you from jumping on the T&T train, you might want to track this down. You could also pick up the T&T Double Solo's that Corgi put out - most are still available from Flying Buffalo Inc at very reasonable prices. Each includes a shortened version of the T&T rules, but as the character advancement and spell lists allow for advancement to level 11, you have an additional added value.
I have UK versions of some of the earlier T&T Solos, which I may post to compare to their American siblings at a later time.
On the left is a second printing (Jan '80) of the T&T rules. Later printings (including 5.5e) blow up the cover art to encompass the whole cover.
The smaller book with the orange cover is a second printing (also Jan '80) of the Tunnels & Trolls 5th edition for the UK. This edition is secured by two staples, the art is a line drawing on orange cardboardy paper (that dog ears nicely. Other then that, it's pretty much a carbon copy of it's larger sibling the best I can tell.
The yet smaller book on the far right (with the nice flash glare - go me!) is the Corgi printing (1986) of the Tunnels & Trolls rules. It's printed on mass paperback quality paper (which means poor). It is however, probably the easiest size for normal reading habits. Corgi publishing is the company that decided to excise many of the sillier T&T spell names, so if that is keeping you from jumping on the T&T train, you might want to track this down. You could also pick up the T&T Double Solo's that Corgi put out - most are still available from Flying Buffalo Inc at very reasonable prices. Each includes a shortened version of the T&T rules, but as the character advancement and spell lists allow for advancement to level 11, you have an additional added value.
I have UK versions of some of the earlier T&T Solos, which I may post to compare to their American siblings at a later time.
Pricing the PDF Product Properly and Profitably (Say it 5 Times Fast)
Anyhow, the topic comes up on the blogosphere fairly frequently... what is the proper pricing of a PDF?
To my mind, there are many questions that need to be answered before the first question can be addressed...
Is there a ratio between PDF and Paper pricing of the same item?
What price point is too high, no matter the number of the pages (size)?
Is there a page to price ratio that you, as a consumer, use to evaluate PDF value?
Do certain publishers deserve a premium price for their PDFs? If so, why?
Is FREE a selling point for you, or something the consumer should avoid? Does a $1 price point imply more value then FREE? Why?
Does top shelf art add value to a PDF the same way it adds value to a paper product?
Are lower production values accepted for a PDF product then the same in paper?
Does finding a PDF product is also available as a Print on Demand product add value to the PDF? How about a PDF / POD Bundle?
To my mind, there are many questions that need to be answered before the first question can be addressed...
Is there a ratio between PDF and Paper pricing of the same item?
What price point is too high, no matter the number of the pages (size)?
Is there a page to price ratio that you, as a consumer, use to evaluate PDF value?
Do certain publishers deserve a premium price for their PDFs? If so, why?
Is FREE a selling point for you, or something the consumer should avoid? Does a $1 price point imply more value then FREE? Why?
Does top shelf art add value to a PDF the same way it adds value to a paper product?
Are lower production values accepted for a PDF product then the same in paper?
Does finding a PDF product is also available as a Print on Demand product add value to the PDF? How about a PDF / POD Bundle?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Valentine's Twofer
When your 17 year old son wants to double date, there can be only two possible reasons: your wallet or your car. Tonight was both ;)
A romantic dinner for 2 became a diner trip for 4. Still had a good time.
Back to game related posting tomorrow. Tonight it is time to sleep...
A romantic dinner for 2 became a diner trip for 4. Still had a good time.
Back to game related posting tomorrow. Tonight it is time to sleep...
How Official is "Official"?
Back in my AD&D days, pretty much anything published by TSR was considered "official", with Dragon Magazine articles often being referred to as "semi-official". Third party supplements, what little there were, were "not official" - they could be used by the DM, but pretty much never by the PCs.
The D20 / OGL explosion blurred many of the lines of what was / was not official for 3e, for good or bad.
With the OSR and the birth of clones / retroclones / simulacrums - there really isn't a definition of official anymore. Each ruleset is by definition a set of house rules, no matter how close they cling to their original brethren.
Actually, the strength of the OSR in my opinion is how fully the community embraces house ruling of the various rulesets. Make it your own.
Which is another reason I think I turned my nose at Tunnels & Trolls the first time I was exposed to it back in High School... it was being house ruled even back then. I wanted structure, and T&T wasn't structured like AD&D. I bought into the EGG line of "official play", but even the father of RPGs didn't follow that rule.
I'm happy to be playing games that embrace house ruling these days.
The D20 / OGL explosion blurred many of the lines of what was / was not official for 3e, for good or bad.
With the OSR and the birth of clones / retroclones / simulacrums - there really isn't a definition of official anymore. Each ruleset is by definition a set of house rules, no matter how close they cling to their original brethren.
Actually, the strength of the OSR in my opinion is how fully the community embraces house ruling of the various rulesets. Make it your own.
Which is another reason I think I turned my nose at Tunnels & Trolls the first time I was exposed to it back in High School... it was being house ruled even back then. I wanted structure, and T&T wasn't structured like AD&D. I bought into the EGG line of "official play", but even the father of RPGs didn't follow that rule.
I'm happy to be playing games that embrace house ruling these days.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Mini Review - A Traveler's Tale (A Tunnels & Trolls Solo)
Flying Buffalo Inc is slowly but surely adding to it's available collection of Tunnels & Trolls Solos, which is a damn good thing. Much of the play that T&T gets its with solo adventures, and a limited well to dip into means limited gameplay in the end. Besides, adding a new release every month or so keeps people like me actively talking about Tunnels & Trolls, so it's a win / win for everyone. That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing a good introductory standard (read non-solo, but party and GM) adventure being released in the future.
A Traveler's Tale was originally written by Ken St. Andre for White Dwarf magazine back in the early 80's under a different title, but has been updated for the new 7.5 rules released by Fiery Dragon.
So, what do you get for your $2.99? About 40 pages worth of solo adventure written for a character within the level range of 1-3. It's been my experience if an adventure says "for characters with less then 100 combat adds" like this one does, you want to come fairly close to that number without going over. It certainly helps with survivability.
As for the adventure itself, I only played thru a few paragraphs so far. Possibly the most disturbing / entertaining piece I've seen so far it the drawing of the erotic dwarven dancing girls - I think I'm scarred for life ;)
From the blurb:
A Traveler's Tale was originally written by Ken St. Andre for White Dwarf magazine back in the early 80's under a different title, but has been updated for the new 7.5 rules released by Fiery Dragon.
So, what do you get for your $2.99? About 40 pages worth of solo adventure written for a character within the level range of 1-3. It's been my experience if an adventure says "for characters with less then 100 combat adds" like this one does, you want to come fairly close to that number without going over. It certainly helps with survivability.
As for the adventure itself, I only played thru a few paragraphs so far. Possibly the most disturbing / entertaining piece I've seen so far it the drawing of the erotic dwarven dancing girls - I think I'm scarred for life ;)
From the blurb:
Would you rather fight dire wolves in a blizzard or spend the evening drinking with a one-eyed dwarf in a cozy tavern? That's a no-brainer, right? You might want to reconsider, because you'll actually be safer with the wolves. This is a solitaire adventure intended for 1st to 3rd level characters with fewer than 100 adds, using the Tunnels & Trolls 7.5 rules.
How Important is Producing Product for a Game Line?
I ask this, because WotC is apparently planning to release less 4e products. At the same time, if you look at the Underdark Gazette blog, OSR products are being released more often then ever before. Heck, even Tunnels & Trolls has been hitting a release or so a month recently (I'll be doing a mini-review on the latest tonight).
Is there a sweet point? Is more always better? Is a line that is suffering cuts (4e) being trimmed to a healthy state, or is this the beginning of the end?
The hobby suffered from the D20 Implosion in the recent past. Can it prevent the same from happening again?
One plus that rarely gets mentioned about PDFs, and even Print on Demand (PoD) publishing, is that neither will fuel another D20 Implosion - there won't be a glut on gamestore shelves. Then again, with a switch to PDF and PoD publishing, there won't be many games at all on gamestore shelves.
Is the future of the RPG industry linked to the internet for good or ill?
Is there a sweet point? Is more always better? Is a line that is suffering cuts (4e) being trimmed to a healthy state, or is this the beginning of the end?
The hobby suffered from the D20 Implosion in the recent past. Can it prevent the same from happening again?
One plus that rarely gets mentioned about PDFs, and even Print on Demand (PoD) publishing, is that neither will fuel another D20 Implosion - there won't be a glut on gamestore shelves. Then again, with a switch to PDF and PoD publishing, there won't be many games at all on gamestore shelves.
Is the future of the RPG industry linked to the internet for good or ill?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena - Round 2
Anyhow, I told my girl / woman / she who will soon control the discretionary spending - about my experience last week watching the first episode of Spartacus. She decided she wanted to see what I was talking about. Not wanting to re-watch the first episode, we started up the second episode (I filled her in on who pissed on who - etc).
Thankfully it wasn't AS graphic as the first episode. I'm no prude, but throwing the sex scenes in for "historical accuracy" is a load of bull.
Thankfully, this episode was more story, less gory. We may continue with the series. As my girl said: "hey! they put a penis in this episode - cool! Finally some equality." Me, I'm enjoying it for the combat scenes mostly.
At least it wasn't as painful to watch as the first episode of Conan which we had watched just prior to Spartacus. The pain! heh
Thankfully it wasn't AS graphic as the first episode. I'm no prude, but throwing the sex scenes in for "historical accuracy" is a load of bull.
Thankfully, this episode was more story, less gory. We may continue with the series. As my girl said: "hey! they put a penis in this episode - cool! Finally some equality." Me, I'm enjoying it for the combat scenes mostly.
At least it wasn't as painful to watch as the first episode of Conan which we had watched just prior to Spartacus. The pain! heh
Mini Review - Ironwood Gorge - (for OSR Clones)
Ironwood Gorge is a low level adventure for use with the various OSR clones / simulacrum / etc. It's the second in a series of adventures (The Sanctuary Ruin is the first part in the series) but very easily works on it's own.
What you are given is about 3 (and a piece more) pages of maps. Mostly caves, it should prove fun to fun as a DM (and be a biatch to map as a player) to run. The adventure itself should play out over 2-3 sessions in my estimation (perhaps more depending on play style), and should be good for a level or two worth of expo for the players by the time they complete it. There is no map of the outdoor area: this adventure is made to be dropped into a world, not define one for you.
You get four new monsters, three new magic items and four new spells in the appendix. There are pregen characters included if the party needs quick replacements (the dwarf and halfling have "race as class", but that means "fighter" for those not in the know).
A nice addition to the stable of OSR adventures.
From the blurb:
"Orcs have returned to the once quiet border province of Blackmarch. The Bleak Tower and its meager garrison are all that stand against the tide. Their only hope lies in a ratag band of adventurers willing to venture into the perilous maw of Ironwood Gorge..."
Ironwood Gorge is a fantasy role-playing adventure for 4-8 characters of levels 2-5, designed for older editions of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game and its clones such as Labyrinth Lord and OSRIC. The material is also easily adaptable to any other class and level based fantasy role-playing game. Ironwood Gorge serves as part two in the Blackmarch sequence of adventures, but is built to function just as well as a one-off adventure, a drop-in-a-hex location for sandbox games, or as a kick start to a new campaign.
The module includes keyed maps detailing both the Bleak Tower: a living, breathing refuge for adventurers; and Ironwood Gorge: a cave complex with over 100 keyed areas of traps, monsters and mayhem. The module is illustrated throughout with original artwork and includes appendices detailing new monsters, magic items, and spells. Whether you are looking for an out-sized adventure to usher the hardiest characters to the intermediate levels, or a fully-realized location to plunder for maps and ideas, Ironwood Gorge is a treasure from the old-school of gaming...
What you are given is about 3 (and a piece more) pages of maps. Mostly caves, it should prove fun to fun as a DM (and be a biatch to map as a player) to run. The adventure itself should play out over 2-3 sessions in my estimation (perhaps more depending on play style), and should be good for a level or two worth of expo for the players by the time they complete it. There is no map of the outdoor area: this adventure is made to be dropped into a world, not define one for you.
You get four new monsters, three new magic items and four new spells in the appendix. There are pregen characters included if the party needs quick replacements (the dwarf and halfling have "race as class", but that means "fighter" for those not in the know).
A nice addition to the stable of OSR adventures.
From the blurb:
"Orcs have returned to the once quiet border province of Blackmarch. The Bleak Tower and its meager garrison are all that stand against the tide. Their only hope lies in a ratag band of adventurers willing to venture into the perilous maw of Ironwood Gorge..."
Ironwood Gorge is a fantasy role-playing adventure for 4-8 characters of levels 2-5, designed for older editions of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game and its clones such as Labyrinth Lord and OSRIC. The material is also easily adaptable to any other class and level based fantasy role-playing game. Ironwood Gorge serves as part two in the Blackmarch sequence of adventures, but is built to function just as well as a one-off adventure, a drop-in-a-hex location for sandbox games, or as a kick start to a new campaign.
The module includes keyed maps detailing both the Bleak Tower: a living, breathing refuge for adventurers; and Ironwood Gorge: a cave complex with over 100 keyed areas of traps, monsters and mayhem. The module is illustrated throughout with original artwork and includes appendices detailing new monsters, magic items, and spells. Whether you are looking for an out-sized adventure to usher the hardiest characters to the intermediate levels, or a fully-realized location to plunder for maps and ideas, Ironwood Gorge is a treasure from the old-school of gaming...
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A Brief History on the Development and Design of the Planar Cosmology in AD&D - I was reading a good discussion a couple of months ago (in February 2025) about the nomenclature for the power levels of different types of demons over on ...2 days ago
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These Cards Are Demonic: A quick little game of diabolical summoning - My recent obsession with the new *Pokémon TCG Pocket *app has me thinking about trading card games a lot, and obviously the Pokémon game in particular. So...3 days ago
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[Fanzine Focus XXXVII] The Travellers’ Digest #4 - On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial public...3 days ago
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Blogs on Tape season 6 has begun! - Hi everybody! Its been a minute. How are you? Everything is awful all the time? Horrors never cease? You’re being driven mad by the weight of the unfathoma...3 days ago
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Felltower - Loot, Exploration, and Combat, in that order? - What is Felltower about? "Felltower is all about safety." - Ulf Well, that, and loot, exploration, and combat, in that order. The XP system rewards loot h...4 days ago
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Some insight into FitD Action Roll difficulty - With Blades in the Dark and the other Forged in the Dark games being so much more straightforward and conventional looking than Apocalypse World, I often f...4 days ago
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The Most Vile Spider-Man Villain Ever... - Based on the title of this post you might be expecting Green Goblin, Carnage, or even the Jackal. None of them compare to the despicable acts of the focus...5 days ago
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More Beautiful Development Sketches for The Great North - Tom Kilian continues to excel himself with the artwork for *The Great North*, now heading towards completion. As an Easter present, here is a work-in-pro...1 week ago
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Tariffs, CanCon, and You - In 1972 the CBC asked listeners to complete the saying "As Canadian as...", to match "As American as apple pie." The winner was "As Canadian as possible ...1 week ago
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Should you PAY your GM? - Let's start with the conclusion: GM-for-pay is okay. In other words: there is nothing wrong with paying someone to run a game for you, or charging people f...1 week ago
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Noodle Bar & Industrial Scatter Terrain - This past weekend I got a couple of solid hours to paint when I wasn’t dead tired, and decided to spend it on the 3D printed Flatline City Noodle Bar tha...2 weeks ago
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A Surprising Look at Murderhobos... - So I asked a question on Facebook this week. What did people do with the humanoid women and children in the Caves of Chaos, among similar adventures, persu...3 weeks ago
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36 units sold on day one - Not big Kickstarter-type numbers or anything but still pretty personally gratifying to me, because 1) it'a more copies than the first book sold on its fi...3 weeks ago
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Praise for Songs of the Dying Earth - Among my favourite works of fantasy fiction are the *Dying Earth* stories and the *Lyonesse *trilogy by Jack Vance. I’ve read the *Lyonesse *trilogy three ...3 weeks ago
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Best OSR Cartographers - A video about some my favorite cartographers in the game. This is not an exhaustive list, but the ones I go to the most and ones that have influenced my st...3 weeks ago
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Gary Con XVII - I attended Gary Con this year. Last year, I was supposed to go, but something came up and I had to cancel. This year, I ran a scenario I created called The...4 weeks ago
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[BLOG] News on the March! Episode VI. - This post continues the series of brief play reports I have been posting on Discord. This does not cover every single session (sometimes, recon and setup...4 weeks ago
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On the Success of the VOTE - You voted for it, and it's here! All the prices on the books I sell on DTRPG will be rising in price, 40-50% so I can maintain the same margin as now! ...5 weeks ago
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Lexicon of Klarkash-Ton, Hierophant of Atlantis: Lupanar - This time, we follow the good High Priest to the far future, to the final continent of Earth, Zothique, for a a tale of ennui and love: Morthylla. Witho...1 month ago
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Fight On! number 16 is out. - The new issue of *Fight On!* has been out for a bit. You can get copies via drivethru or lulu. I haven't finished reading my copy, but I'd like to reco...1 month ago
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Wandering through the Majestic Fantasy Realms - It's time for another Bat in the Attic update! I am halfway through the first draft of my upcoming project, Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, the Northe...1 month ago
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The Hungering Dark - Go into the earth, and reality will walk alongside you. Walk further, and you will eventually be walking alone. The world is plastic down there. Tar Lat...1 month ago
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Hobby Bingo 2025: January Progress - Welcome back to the Vault! I've painted a few bits and pieces in January and made a dent into my Hobby Bingo card! First up is a Chaplain in Terminator ...2 months ago
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NTRPG Gaming Weekend - [image: NTRPG Gaming Weekend] This weekend was a "game day" for North Texas RPG Con, held at the same hotel the con is held at. I haven't slung dice since...2 months ago
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The Stats of a Dave Arneson Player Character. - If you want to find the details for one of the characters that Gary Gygax made and played as a PC, perhaps to use as an NPC in your own game, it isn't t...2 months ago
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Into the Wild Blue Yonder: A Journey Through Blackmoor's Dark Realm - *We have been thinking about you.* *We know what you want from Rob Kuntz.* You want more than another brand-new RPG module. It has to be a *First Edition ...3 months ago
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Articulations - Creating house rules, custom rules specific to a local group or campaign, has been common throughout the history of D&D. What makes an effective house rule...3 months ago
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A Fiftieth Anniversary Year - The 50th anniversary year of *Dungeons & Dragons *is drawing to a close. A number of projects I'd been planning for this year finally came out, and I ...3 months ago
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A Quick Look at The Wizard’s Scroll II - October of this year saw the release of The Wizard’s Scroll II, the second issue of a White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game (FMAG) zine whose first ...3 months ago
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Writing playlists for all occasions - Hello again! Going off the idea of inspiration elaborated on by the prior post, I also have music playing while I write my various games and fiction pieces...4 months ago
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The Tarot of Pips - Somewhere in your dice collection is a die like this one, the humblest of dice. Although you don't know it, this small white die carries with it a secr...4 months ago
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Pirates and Necromancers, a Play Report - Over the Thanksgiving weekend we did a lot of gaming ranging from “off-table” domain level stuff to some solo adventures to spell and magic item rese...4 months ago
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Welcome new Greyhawk Fans! - With the publication of the new Dungeon Master’s Guide, there are doubtless going to be a lot of new D&D players interested in my favorite setting, the Wor...6 months ago
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It's been a bit - Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! I've had a lot going on and haven't had much time to blog lately. Heres a recap of gaming events and other st...11 months ago
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*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace - A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or more w...1 year ago
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Last move - to self-hosting! - As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to self-hosting. I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at) Blog: ht...1 year ago
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Osamu Tezuka (1928 - 1989) - [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970]Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970 [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover Illustration 1970]Shonen Maga...2 years ago
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This is an Important Game Mechanic - *"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does some s$&...2 years ago
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Clean Your Room - Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it was ...3 years ago
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Steve Jackson Interview - James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and upcomi...4 years ago
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The Hero’s Journey 2nd Edition, Campbellian roleplaying at its best! - (this review done using the reviewers own purchased copy) I have been a James Michael Spahn fan since he wrote his Swords & Wizardry Companion. His writing...4 years ago
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ToAD Monster of the Week: Crocoman - Now that I'm back doing the blog thing I thought I would use Tome of Adventure Design to create monsters for The Black Hack. Using the monster tables in th...5 years ago
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More Arden Vul Art - Another great piece from Del, this one's the Forum of Set: a place that the PCs may spend quite a bit of time within.5 years ago
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OCHRE SAND - Init +0 Ranged Atk • fire burst +3 (1d14+1, 20') AC 17 HD 3d6 MV 60 Act 1d24 SP 'breath' weapon, sideslip, perfect silence, morphing Fort +5 Ref +8 Will...5 years ago
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Strange, Dangerous, and Inhuman: The Fey and Fairie - When I was a boy I loved fairy tales. Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in Boots, Rumpelstiltskin - I devoured all of it. My fascination that there was a strang...5 years ago
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New Map of the Elf Empire and Southern Isles - I’ve been having fun developing a new map-drawing style that I think is finally reaching a certain level of maturity. And yeah, it owes a lot to Matthew Ad...5 years ago
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The Faithful - An Optional Archetype for Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells Revised Edition - Work on the revised edition of Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells is moving along. This will be a hefty tome, with a LOT of tools and new options to customiz...5 years ago
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Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule - *As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in Warren...5 years ago
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Fiction in Airhde - On a whim this weekend, I picked up some fiction off the TLG store. *A Houseless God & Other Tales* and *The Mirrored Soul & Other Tales*, both by the T...5 years ago
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Ravensburg Reboot: Streamlined City Map - I mentioned in my last post how I was tweaking and reworking parts of my Ravensburg setting. Today I streamlined the city map. The old map had lots of redu...5 years ago
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And Now the News Draft Download on Patreon - It's self-styled Throwback Thursday and *having just released the 34-page draft booklet of Hill Cantons news to my Patreon backers* I am going to indulge m...5 years ago
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The Withered Crag available now - I just enabled the sale of the PDF version of The Withered Crag at DriveThruRPG a few minutes ago, and the custom print version will be available startin...5 years ago
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Annihilation Rising Goes live - The latest in Fail Squad Games’ Quick Kick projects has gone live and needs your support!! This project is only running 11 days and ends on 5/28/2019! ...5 years ago
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James's Celebration of Life - We could not have asked for a prettier day for James's service. It was a bit chilly and windy but gorgeous. A heartfelt thank you to all that joined us tod...6 years ago
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Trap Tuesday: A step back - I will get back to Tomb of Horrors soon. I found a topic that was interesting enough to take a break. While interacting in a 5E group on Facebook I talked ...6 years ago
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Let's Talk About Pacing! - The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player was...6 years ago
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Profane and Profound Prep Part 2 - This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release, along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a Saint 8000...6 years ago
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MIDDLE DUNGEONS LEVEL FIVE 158 STAIRS. - 158 STAIRS. These stairs descend thirty feet to Area 79 on Level 6.6 years ago
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Please, I don't do paid advertisements - don't ask. - A little note since people have asked me about this. My video channel's *not* an advertising platform, so I'm not available for hire if you want to promote...6 years ago
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New website! - Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that site wil...6 years ago
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Please Update Your Link! - If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is out of date. Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is h...6 years ago
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Total Sales for WB:FMAG - Hi Folks, It's been a long time since I provided an update for the sales of White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game. *LULU* Print: 396 PDF: 433 *OBS*...6 years ago
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How can We Destroy this Campaign World? - d12 1. You must trick a bard into strumming the *Chords of Fate* on the *Lute of Annihilation* 2. Legends tell of thermonuclear weapons beneath megadunge...6 years ago
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Mord Mar - Session 5 - We had another successful delve into the dungeon yesterday. The delvers: Moira, the Magic-User Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?) Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf ...6 years ago
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Yodeling For Yokels or The Further Misa(d&)dventures - This is the one of those posts that points out the lack of current posts. Over the last week or three, there has been postponed Labyrinth Lord (twice, one...7 years ago
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Bundle of Fantasy Age - Bundle of Holding: Dragon Age/Fantasy Age: Available until March 12. PA Presents: Fantasy AGE Freeport live play Green Ronin in 2018 The Fantasy Age RPG ma...7 years ago
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New Free PDF Module: The Hyqueous Vaults - A new dungeon module—written in celebration of OSRIC's 10th Birthday—by Rebecca Dettmann, Allan T. Grohe, Jr., Jimm Johnson, Matthew Riedel, Alex Zisch, a...7 years ago
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Session XCIII: One Pissed Off Dragon! - Our ongoing Swords and Wizardry sandbox campaign... *Current Player Characters:* *Thenus* (Ranger) *Wang Du* (Monk) *Wolfheir* (Viking) *Arg* (Half-orc) ...7 years ago
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Swords & Wizardry Light: Session # 6 - Two months after our last session (thanks to things like 8th grade finals, a 4 year-old's birthday and party, Father's Day, etc.), we finally had our next ...7 years ago