Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Wayward Kickstarter - Champions of Zed - Have you Seen this Creator? Last Seen on Kickstarter October 28, 2014

Yep. This was the last update for Champions of Zed. See that email? It's apparently dead now. One person in the comments section reported getting their copy. Everybody else? "Where's mine?"

Now, as Daniel states above he intended to have "them all sent by the holidays" and it doesn't state which holiday or year, I guess the idea is to keep the backers guessing.

Did I mention it's estimated ship date was August of 2012? Hey, at least we know Gareth, Mike and Ken might possibly come through on some level with physical rewards. Alright, maybe not Mike, but her get's points for admitting he fucked up. Daniel? Who the hell knows.

This could be another Myth & Magic fiasco assuming a percentage of copies start arriving to random mailboxes. Actually, another M&M update post should be around the corner.

Friday, August 7, 2015

Let Ken Whitless Teach YOU How to Bilk Honest Folks out of Cold Hard Cash


I think the picture speaks for itself.

Here's the link.

Huge tip of the hat to Eldric IV for this Whitman Gold!


Ken Whitless Greatest Hits - "You Can't Cancel What You Never Reserved" & "For Just $10 You Can Take On $10000 of Debt and Responsibilities" (More Hits Coming Daily - Act Now, Supplies are Limitless!)

The following is written by guest poster +Christopher Stogdill . Some more stuff happened overnight, which I'll highlight at the end - Tenkar

1st off I know everybody is pretty much full of Ken Whitman talk and while I get it, letting the issue die down for the simple sake of preserving one’s sanity is a tradeoff of silence that enables Ken to possibly swindle someone else. Odds are if you’re reading this you have a passing familiarity with the situation and this is at best a popcorn moment. If so, good for you…..

I’m posting this, through Erik, as part of my “not another dime” campaign, as in I want to make sure Ken Whitman doesn’t ever make another dime in this industry. I’m far from alone in this matter, but Ken still has his supporters. I have no clue why outside maybe Ken has a high CHA score.

The Mrs. and I went to GenCon for a day with only one event in mind….the Knights of the Dinner Table: Live Action Series (KoDT:LAS) “premiere”. We had backed at $450 and the big bump in backer level was for front-row seating and an after-party. The weekend before the big event Ken got pissy and decided to cancel the after party.

Right off……I have to call some major BS here. There were to be three after-parties originally, back-to-back in two hour increments. Hell, for some stupid reason you can STILL buy tickets to these events! (http://d20entertainment.com/d20-entertainment-gen-con-after-party/) Major hint here Ken…..just removing the links to a webpage from your other pages doesn’t make that webpage go away!  The BS part about Ken’s narrative of getting mad at Jolly Blackburn and then canceling the party out of spite is that there were to be two other parties, both of which were unrelated to the KoDT:LAS. Either way you cannot cancel an event that is mythical. Ken Whitman never reserved the party location. I met with the sales manager at the hotel and confirmed that Ken had filled out reservation paperwork, but he put down a credit card that was declined. Since he never returned the hotel’s calls or emails to get updated payment, the room was never reserved.

So the parties didn’t have a venue and they didn’t have the promised attendees either. Ken never bothered to invite or make arrangements for the actors to attend GenCon and the after-party despite that being the whole selling point of that Kickstarter backer level…..and his contract with KenzerCo.

Some fans and the guys over at Zombie Orpheus Entertainment (ZOE) worked with Jolly Blackburn and GenCon to secure a room for an after party and bent over backwards scrambling to bring as many of the KoDT:LAS actors to GenCon that they could. Everyone but Christopher Folan (Dave) was able to get there, at no small expense and effort. Ken didn’t have ANYTHING to do with this after-party or the actors, but he still put out a ham-fisted effort to take credit anyway.

Barely 26 hours before the KoDT:LAS premiere Ken sends an email out to a few select folks (I counted six people) informing them of the “new” after-party at small restaurant starting at 11 PM, and hour after the “unofficial” after-party. It really seemed that maybe Ken thought he could hobble something together and consider that part of the Kickstarter fulfilled. Never mind the fact he didn’t have anything promised and paid for by backers. The actors would be at the other party and who the hell wants to start a party at 11pm? Nope, doesn’t meet the fulfillment in any real (and legal) sense.

A group of the backers arrived early to the event and saw there was a considerable line already. We formed our own group and when the GenCon staff asked us if we were there for the event some of us…..ok me, was less than nice to them in making it clear that we were backers, had no tickets, and sure as hell weren’t getting into the main line. I did apologize……and they lined us upon the opposite side of the doors. Since most of us knew each other we pretty much policed ourselves and lined up according to our backer levels. From my prime vantage spot I could listen in on the staff a bit and see that Ken Whitman was holed up in the room instead of coming out as promised in his video earlier in the week. If you haven’t seen that video, don’t watch the original…this copy is much better (http://dontfundkenwhitman.blogspot.com/2015/07/ken-whitman-faces-lie-detector-in-his.html). While Ken never left the room, he did send his girlfriend out. Easy enough to recognize her from the vacation photos.  I think she is the one that ferried a list of the backers to the staff for admittance. I saw the list and it wasn’t organized by backer level (remember two folks paid a HUGE premium for their seats) and was incomplete. Instead of giving us tickets as promised (and stated as having been sent out at least once) this list was the only information GenCon had….and I wasn’t on it, not even as a “+1”. The staff where pretty cool though and they knew that the list was messed up so for the most part they just took out word for it. Jolly and Barb Blackburn showed up and offered to help the staff, but they pretty much just decided it was a mess and assume folks were being honest.

The only issue at that point was that they didn’t have enough chairs in the room because their seating never accounted for the backers! I believe that the ZOE guys came through again and gave the staff a head’s up because they were moving in chairs BEFORE they got the partial backer list.

The showing went off well enough and everyone was pretty damned civil. I agree that Jolly did a bang-up job with the script and the actors rocked, but the two rough-cut episodes were…well, rough. I highly doubt Ken will be in any position to finish them up, much less send out DVDs to backers. I wasn’t pleased, but I’ll freely admit I went into this viewing anticipating more of Ken’s BS, but we did keep it civil, as requested. I think most of us that would have started a riot knew that Barbara Blackburn was in a bit of an anxious state because of all the drama. It was bad enough that earlier in the day some of us decided every time she said the name “Ken” she got a hug…because she needed it. At the end of the showing we had a brief Q&A, but only because Jolly and the ZOE guys pretty much took control and brought up the actors. Even though two of the ZOE troop were in the KoDT:LAS, it seemed obvious to me they were putting focus on the two newer actors (Jenny Simmons and Josh Logsdon playing Sara and Brian). The session was cut short to prep the room for the next event and everyone had about an hour to kill before the after-party.

The after-party was “meh”, but still worth attending. Geekpreacher bought me and the Mrs. each a “soda” for a total of $10. Our drinks consisted of one can of diet coke split between two glasses, with some left over. That was all hotel there. We did get some more Mike Mason and our very own Cahira doing a belly dance (full costume and everything). It was a good time to mill about and chat with folks, just wasn’t what I consider a “party”, but quite surprising when you consider the unusual constraints involved. There was some free swag donated by several game companies that knew about the fiasco and wanted to pitch in, even if just a little bit. Even though he wasn’t there, I think Ken helped cast a pall over what should have been a much brighter moment of revelry.

Now I knew of some of Ken’s breaches of contract with KenzerCo, hard not to with all the talk going on at the KenzerCo booth earlier in the day. Of course Dave Kenzer is about as cool and collected as can be. Not so much “I’m a lawyer and we have his ass over a barrel” cool, but a “Don’t give the guy any power over you” type of cool. I have always admired folks who can take in the big picture and be cool about shit, but that isn’t me. We knew that Ken Whitman was to have a meeting with Jolly and Dave regarding the contract and at the viewing Ken straight-up said he’d be giving KenzerCo the film, but instead he skipped out of the meeting and also did a no-show at the Friday 10 AM viewing. Later Ken posted on Facebook that there had been a threat on his life and that GenCon cancelled “everything except the premieres”.

Again, I have to call BS. Ken cut and pasted an email form GenCon showing that event FLM1569413 had been cancelled, but the Friday viewing was event FLM1569412. As of yesterday it was still listed as an event on the GenCon website. If they had cancelled that event then it would at least have the right number. No, I think that Ken cancelled a later showing for Thursday night quite some time ago and simply recycled the email as an excuse. This would explain why GenCon doesn’t have anything to say about the alleged cancellation for Friday’s viewing and didn’t notify ticket holders of the cancellation.



Since GenCon Ken has been emailing multiple folks in the industry trying to sell the fulfillment of the Pencil Dice Kickstarter for $10. In the email he admits to squandering the money and he had already admitted in an interview that he spent Pencil Dice money on KoDT:LAS, but what he have recently learned is that was actually Ken paying back an independent investor to the KoDT:LAS that he needed because he squandered that money.

So it appears that Ken is broke and trying to get out from his obligations…period. Ken has admitted, or had exposed, that he has spent Kickstarter money basically on anything but the projects he collected the money for in the first place. At this point people need to get the FCC and their Attorney Generals involved in this. When they do they need to make sure they are complaining about Ken Whitman himself and not d20 entertainment. Why?

Because d20 entertainment DOES NOT EXIST. It is a figment of Ken Whitman’s imagination and d20 Entertainment does not exist as a legal entity in any of the 50 states. I know because I’ve checked with the Secretary of State of all 50 states. If you go ahead and check Kentucky, the state that Ken lives in and presumably the one d20 entertainment should reside in, you will find an entry. By all means, check it out for yourself. I won’t tell you what is special about that entry, but you can figure it out for yourself.

So in the last week I’ve uncovered evidence about Ken lying about his webstore, his after-parties, his GenCon cancellation, and even his company. That is four pretty big things…..but still some people believe his BS - Christopher

Alright, have you seen this letter?


Ken was asked in the Kickstarter comments section if it was real (the phone number is) - he didn't answer that. As an aside, you can't reassign responsibilities in Kickstarter - see Dwimmermount

BTW, that car Ken was driving around to the filming set and elsewhere? According to Ken, that was a 2 week test drive that cost him nothing. Yeah... right.


Go to the KotDT: LAS comments section - but first, grab a beer and some popcorn. More drama, more laughs, more lies - simply more of everything!

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Free - Night of the Mad Kobold - (S&W, PF and Savage Worlds)


Night of the Mad Kobold is a free offering from Cut to the Chase Games. CttC is apparently offering this adventure for free in 3 different flavors to bring some attention to their soon to be released Kickstarter.

The price is right. I love free adventures because I always find something to steal even if I don't use the adventure as is.
The town of Cresthill enjoys a favorable location along the winding Graywand River. Trade is good, and the prominent gnomes of House Kelver run most of the businesses to the prosperity of the people. Now, however, a dangerous lunatic—a kobold from the nearby Talon Hills—has decided the gnomes of House Kelver need to be a taught a fiery lesson, and only a band of heroes can stop his plot. 
WK0 Night of the Mad Kobold is a short adventure designed for a group of six 1st-level characters for the Swords & Wizardry RPG, but compatible with most OSR games (Labyrinth Lord, OSRIC, etc.). It is set in a generic fantasy setting, easily transportable to most fantasy campaigns. It stands alone but can also serve as an introduction to the WRATH OF THE KOBOLDS module trilogy from Cut to the Chase Games. 
A Fantasy Renaissance Adventure Module brought to you by your friends at Cut to the Chase Games! 
SPECIAL PRICE! FREE until the end of the Fantasy Renaissance Adventure Module Kickstarter* (launching in early August 2015). Get it while it's free!

Wayward Kickstarter - The Life & Times of Ken Whitless, Living "Day by Day" on a Cruise - The Horrors! - Knights of the Dinner Table: Live Action Series

Wow.

Simply wow.

Move over Gareth. There is no room in the inn Wandering Wizard. Even Brave Little Halflings are overshadowed by the man, the myth, the Mr. Whitman himself - otherwise known as simply "Ken".

I'm only going to share one of the damning Facebook conversation images here. Go to the Knights of the Dinner Table: Live Action Series comments section for others.



Yes, Whitless is a piece of shit...

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Tavern Chat Tonight 830 Eastern

Almost forgot that tonight is a Tavern Chat night.

I'll try to drop in for a bit via my phone's app. I may have to move the night temporarily with my new work hours.

Lots to talk.about :)

Pocket Weapons - Web-Slinger (White Star)

Art by Jeshields - Used with permission
The Web-Slinger is used by occupying military forces and some planetary police forces to control rioters and large crowds. Each Web-Slinger has a cartridge that holds 3 shots of a specially formulated compressed liquid polyurethane that spreads out in flexible but immensely strong strands from it's targeted location. For all intents and purposes, the Web-Slinger is is essentially a Three Charge Wand of Web in Swords & Wizardry rules (if such existed.) The Web Spell is included here for ease of reference (note, range is increased to 120 ft :

Web
Spell Level: M2
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: 8 hours
Fibrous, sticky webs fill an area up to 10 × 10 × 20 feet. It is extremely difficult to get through the mass of strands—it takes one turn if a torch and sword (or a flaming sword) are used, and creatures larger than a horse can break through in 2 turns. Humans take longer to break through—perhaps 3 to 4 turns or longer at the Referee’s discretion. 

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

What were the Big Gen Con Releases this Year?

To be honest, I don't seem to recall any major RPG releases being mentioned leading up to Gen Con 2015 and I don't see anything being talked about post Gen Con.

Well, thats not true. Post Gen Con talk has focused on the embarrassing stunt Cam Banks and friends pulled at the ENnies and then there is the whole Ken Whitman fiasco with his assorted video releases that weren't released (and death threats!)

Was anything of note actually released at Gen Con this year?

Free - The Sandbox #2 - Sine Nomine Publishing



+Kevin Crawford is what ever Kickstarter creator should seek to be - the ultimate professional who delivers his Kickstarters early and at an amazing value. Part of that value is that he consistently gives back to the community with free releases like The Sandbox #2.

What do you get with The Sandbox #2?
Behold the second issue of The Sandbox, a free irregular journal from Kevin Crawford and Sine Nomine Publishing. Sine Nomine fans have noticed the regular flow of freebie material I've produced, such as the Mandate Archive series for Stars Without Number, Black Streams for the Red Tide setting, and other free releases for other systems and particulars. The Sandbox is an umbrella for these free resources, packed with the short articles, quick-roll tables, and GM helps that others have found so useful. 
In this 21-page issue of The Sandbox, you'll find... 
Lifepath Characters for Stars Without Number, a new method of character creation for my free sci-fi game Stars Without Number. Use guided rolls and the Life Event generator to brew up a hero for interstellar adventure. The PCs created with this system are essentially compatible with the results you get from the standard method, so you can freely mix the two together in your campaigns. (this can easily be modified for use with any OSR based sci-fi RPG, or used as inspiration to create your own Life Path. simply filled with inspiration - ET)
The Blademaster, a new character class for Scarlet Heroes and similar old-school-inspired games. Learn the secret arts of the ancient schools of war and wield their ineffable powers in battle. It comes with guidelines and tips for creating your own blademaster schools personalized for your own campaigns. 
Quick Temples and Shrines is a one-roll generator for quickly generating a temple or fane for your freshly-brewed planet or time-lost city. Discover the problems that raddle the priests and the friends and foes that might complicate a PC's pilgrimage. 
Quick Religious Revolts will help a GM discover the details behind a recent uprising of some oppressed faith or the savage revolt of a sect of zealous fanatics. If your PCs are unlucky, they might just be able to get front-row seats to the festivities.
You can't get a better price than free. Even if you don't use Sine Nomine products (and if you don't own them, why? Stars Without Number is free too) there is a ton of inspiration here that can take you down your own paths.

Monday, August 3, 2015

New Dungeons & Dragons Movie set in the Forgotten Realms - Drizzt & Elminister Anyone?



It's official. There's a new Dungeons & Dragons movie and the works, and it might actually NOT SUCK.
Warner Bros. Pictures, Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures and Sweetpea Entertainment are moving forward on a feature film franchise based on Dungeons & Dragons, the world’s most popular role playing game. Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, Courtney Solomon and Allan Zeman of Sweetpea Entertainment, and Roy Lee (“The LEGO Movie,” “How to Train Your Dragon”) are attached as producers. 
Highlighting the priority being given to the project, Warner Bros. Pictures already has a script, written by David Leslie Johnson (“The Conjuring 2,” “Wrath of the Titans”).
“We are so excited about bringing the world of Dungeons & Dragons to life on the big screen,” said Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, Warner Bros. Pictures. “This is far and away the most well-known brand in fantasy, which is the genre that drives the most passionate film followings. D&D has endless creative possibilities, giving our filmmakers immense opportunities to delight and thrill both fans and moviegoers new to the property.” 
“This is such an enormous opportunity to bring the rich fantasy setting of the Forgotten Realms to life and, together with the creative powerhouse of Warner Bros., use movies to tell the stories that have enchanted passionate D&D fans for decades,” said Stephen Davis, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer of Hasbro, Inc. “D&D is the role-playing game that started it all and now we have the opportunity to ignite a franchise for its legions of avid fans in a way never done before.”
Comicbook.com has the rest of the press release.

Notice the Forgotten Realms is the setting?  Can Drizzt and Elminster be far behind?

Kickstarter - Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter (1e)



I've been so distracted by negative events with certain Kickstarter projects (Ken Whitman can take numerous bows and curtain calls for this) that I've managed to miss some recent well respected Kickstarter releases.

So, here's the first post rectifying that :)

Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter is a huge megadungeon and setting. What exactly is it tho? Is it old? New? Does it harken back to the days of the hobby's beginning?
THE HOBBY SHOP DUNGEON is an adventure game setting originally created by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. in 1978 while working as a clerk for the fondly-remembered Dungeon Hobby Shop of Lake Geneva, WI. Inspired by the many games and campaigns he played with his father and many friends, and aided by incomplete maps initially drawn by Terry Kuntz, Ernest came up with a large sprawling dungeon complex that could be used to run games at the store. Since then, more than a thousand players have explored its depths, as remembered by Ernest, including TSR alumni, family members, customers and gamer friends, up to 22 players per sitting! It has been played in a variety of venues including Margaret Weis’s and Don Perrin’s Game Guild, in California’s Dungeons & Dragons Entertainment division, as a special event for game conventions and many more besides. 
This is the entire dungeon and setting around it that GP Adventures wants to bring to publication via its Hobby Shop Dungeon game line, starting now with the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter.
It does have history, which is exciting. What's even more exciting to me is that +Benoist PoirĂ© has been drawing the maps. I love Benoist's style of mapping.


The project is already funded ($29k with a goal of $20k) and has nearly a month left to run. I expect a ton of stretch goals will be hit. Thus far, some have been add ons and some have added to the base reward goal.

The most recently achieved stretch goal is the add on Sci Fi Conversion, to be written by none other than +James Spahn of White Star fame:
We just zoomed past our $27,500 stretch goal, and that means James Spahn will help us flesh out the optional Science-fiction/Science-fantasy customization document we have now added to our list of Add-ons to this Kickstarter project.  
If you would like a copy, add $5 to your pledge, and you will get a digital (PDF) document detailing how to use the Marmoreal Tomb and its Expansions in a sci-fi campaign, along with a sample adaptation described using the White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying game.  
Next up are Pathfinder and 5e conversion documents.

I'm in. Probably at some ungodly amount. Need Wilderness and Underworld expansions. Player's Guides would be cool too. Damn it!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Pocket Creatures - Ginat Leaf Bug (Swords & Wizardry / White Star)

Photo by Erik Tenkar - Side Note - This critter hitched a ride from Hawley PA to somewhere on Route 15 in NJ,  holding on at speeds that exceeded 60 MPH at points
The Giant Leaf Bug comes in at a sizable 2'-3' across when it's wings are fully expended. They are hard to find in temperate zones and the like, with their natural camouflage resulting in a 1 in 12 chance of spotting the Giant Leaf Bug when coming within 10' of it.

Giant Leaf Bugs are hunted for their sticky secretions, that can hold up to 2,000 pounds with just a drop. The average giant leaf bug, when harvested by a skilled hunter, can produced 2 to 12 drops of secretions, valued at 100 GP / Credits per drop. An unskilled hunter will be able to harvest 1d6-3 drops of secretion.

Giant Leaf Bugs are solitary creatures that would rather hide or flee than fight. If they win initiative in a round, they will take of in flight, allowing creatures directly engaged with the Giant Leaf Bug a final attack at -2 to attempt to take them down.

Giant Leaf Bug

ARMOR CLASS   2 [17]
HIT DICE   3+2
TOTAL HIT BONUS   + 3
ATTACKS   1 x 1d6 
SAVING THROW 15
SPECIAL - SEE ABOVE
MOVEMENT - 9 Ground - 18 Flight
HDE/XP - 240

OGL