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Saturday, April 22, 2017
Frog God Games is Having a DEEP Discount Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day Sale - Get Yours Before the Getting is Done!
Where is S&W Continual Light? - and Assorted S&W Appreciation Day Goodness (an adventure, a character sheet and a printer friendly SWL PDF)
Best laid plans of mice and men and all that. Final edits should be wrapping up on Swords & Wizardry Continual Light and then the new layout. I had hoped it would release today, but I work with perfectionists. That is NOT a complaint, BTW - just a remark. it will be soon though, I promise.
Instead, just after midnight I released the Elementalist Class for Swords & Wizardry Light. Personally, I like the way it came out and look forward to seeing it in play and getting play reports.
We also have some other S&W Appreciation Day Goodness that other would like me to share with you:
Dr. Dennis Sustare wrote a short adventure for SWL in honor of earth day. Preserve the Feedbank can be found in the shared SWL folder.
+Antonio Bravo has put together a S&W Character sheet that is literally an index card.
Carl Heyl has converted the full color SWL PDF to a nice and clean, printer friendly B&W 4 page PDF. You can grab it from Carl or find it in the shared SWL folder.
The Elementalist Class for Swords & Wizardry Light
Art by Brett Neufeld |
Elementalist Class for Swords & Wizardry Light
Elementalists get both spell like abilities and an elemental that can do their bidding.
Level HD Save BhB Adventures needed for Next Level
1 1 15 0 3
2 2 14 0 +4
3 2+1 13 0 +5
4 3 12 +1 +6
5 3+1 11 +1 +7
6 4 10 +2 +8
7 5 9 +2 xx
Elementalists have + 2 to Saves against fire and air bourn poisons. They can use daggers and staves, much like a magic-user.
They get the following abilities at each level:
Level 1: Summon Elemental (described below) Once per Day
Level 2: Gust of Wind - Can summon wind that can disperse papers, fan flames and knock over small (1/2 pound or less) objects Once per Day
Level 3: Breath Water as Air - Once per Day for 1 hr per level
Level 4: Dagger of Fire: Once per Day can summon a Magical Faming Dagger. Only the Elementalist can wield it. It lasts for 1 round per level (throwing the dagger dispels it early). The Dagger is +1 to hit per level of the Elementalist and does 1d6+3 damage.
Level 5: Ball of Mud - Once per Day as the 2nd level Magic-User Web Spell, but this is made of mud.
Level 6: Fly - Once per Day as Magic-User Spell
Level 7: Fireball - Once per Day as Magic-User Spell
Summon Elemental
The greatest gift (and most dangerous, to the Elementalist as well as his adversaries) is the elemental they can summon.
The AC for a 1 HD elemental is 9[10] and improves by 1 point per HD to 3[16] at 7 HD.
Damage is 1d6, improving to 1d6+2 at level 4 and 2d6 at level 7.
The HD of the summoned elemental can be as many as the Elementalist has levels, but less HD then the max may be chosen. Only one elemental can be summoned each day and the death of an elemental causes damage to the Elementalist equal in HP to the HD of the elemental. Example: The destruction of a 4 HD Elemental causes 4 HP of damage to the Elementalist. Elementalists often dismiss injured elementals early to avoid this danger.
Elemental
AC 9 to 3
HD 1 to 7
Damage 1d6 to 2d6
Friday, April 21, 2017
Podcast - Save of Die! #134 - All About Elves
You know how I've mentioned that my podcast listening has suffered in retirement. Well, here's the kicker - Episode #134 of Save or Die! released two weeks ago and I haven't mentioned it until now - and I'm a damn host!
Seriously, I need to work on my time management skills. Heh.
DM James, DM Glen, and TM Erik talk about those pointy-eared tree huggers: Elves! The three old grogs talk about how to add a little spice to your immortal spell-slingers and go beyond the traditional Fighter/Magic-User mix-up that are basic race-as-class elves.
From the alien mindset of elves to their unique take on magic and magic items, James, Glen, and Erik throw ideas at you about how to make your elder woodland folk something original at the gaming table.Go! Give it a listen. You know you need more of that unmistakeable New York accent. Listen long enough and you'll be able to read The Tavern with my voice in your head. Now THAT'S a scary thought ;)
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Kickstarter - Dark Naga - The City of Talos for 5th Edition
Dark Naga Adventures has had some pretty decent Kickstarter releases in the past and The City of Talos looks like it will maintain the same high quality. My main issue is that its for 9th level characters. Regardless of edition, my campaigns never rise to that level ;)
What do you get for your pledge?
"Detachable color cover with color maps on the interior?" Le sigh ;)
- Saddle-Stitched 32+ page adventure book
- Saddle-Stitched 32+ page gazetteer
- Detached Color cover with color maps on the interior. These maps are far too elaborate and gorgeous to produce in monochrome.
- 12 full-color maps
- 8 pages of black and white art, more when we unlock stretch goals.
Some Ideas for The Tavern's Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day Post - Elementals and Elementalists
Art by Brett Neufeld |
I'm sitting here thinking about what I'm going to add to the Swords & Wizardry Community this weekend, and while I'd like to say "Swords & Wizardry Continual Light" will be ready for download this Saturday, its not back yet from being proofread. Best laid plans and all that shit.
So, what is your bartender ever going to do?
Well, Dennis Sustare suggested ecological themed adventure for Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day intersecting with Earth Day, but I'm going to take that a bit further or at least in another direction.
I'll be introducing minor and lesser elementals to the SWL bestiary as well as a new class, plotted through level 7 - an Elementalist. We'll even include the optional advancement for when a SWCL class hits their cap of level 7. I suspect it will appear later in Torchlight and at that point I'll do a Swords & Wizardry Complete conversion through level 10.
Fear not! Swords & Wizardry Continual Light is nearly here ;)
Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day is also Earth Day - Ecological Themed Adventures Anyone?
Dennis Sustare, he of Bunnies & Burrows fame (and known as Bunny Burroughs on FB) suggested the following yesterday:Now, if you know anything about Dennis, he doesn't just talk - he does. Last night, as I was sleeping, Dennis sent me the two page Swords & Wizardry Light adventure: Preserve the Feedbank. Actually, he labeled it a "Mini-Ecoquest", which it certainly is. Its aimed at 4 to 6 2nd level adventures.
I'll be adding it to the Swords & Wizardry Light shared Dropbox Folder for release on April 22 - this Saturday - Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day as well as Earth Day.
Have an "ecological themed" adventure squirreled away for S&W? Email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing and I'll add it to the folder.
I'll be adding it to the Swords & Wizardry Light shared Dropbox Folder for release on April 22 - this Saturday - Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day as well as Earth Day.
Have an "ecological themed" adventure squirreled away for S&W? Email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing and I'll add it to the folder.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
A Wayward Kickstarter - Call of Cthulhu: The Withering Dark - Playing Cards and Tarot
Lets take a look at Call of Cthulhu: The Withering Dark - Playing Cards and Tarot Kickstarter.
Estimated delivery: April, 2014.
Last update: August, 2016.
Number of Backers: 1626
Monies raised: Over $116k
Pledged by your Tavern Keeper: $72
Received by your Tavern Keeper: Jack Shit
Quality of sample art: Awesome
So, what went wrong?
Shit happened. The updates aren't backer only, so any can read, but they detail enough in the way of personal events that, should you desire to read them, you have the link but I am not going to copy and paste. My summary is this - if you don't know how to manage money, run a business and are at risk for bouts of depression, Kickstarter IS NOT for you. Great ideas with piss poor planning and implementation as well as inability to cope with the associated stress leads to shit shows like this. While I feel for the creator, eight months of radio silence since dropping the "personal baggage bomb" eats away at whatever sympathy I have.
My expectations?
Gareth is more likely to deliver. Hmm, need to check up on him now...
Reminder - Tavern Chat Tonight (and Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day this Saturday)
Yep, today is a Wednesday, so that means tonight is Tavern Chat Night! This Saturday is Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day, so I expect much of the conversation will be about S&W, but that can chance depending on who drops in.
You are dropping in, right?
Where: Here - using the Chatwing box on the right side of this page
When: 9 PM Eastern Time
Why: Because its a blast every week and we've been hosting this for years
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Some Thoughts on Gnomes for Swords & Wizardry Light
It came up recently in a discussion online. You know the type.
"Gnomes!"
Love them or hate them, there seems to be little middle ground, at least amongst those that discuss such things. Those that don't discuss such things literally couldn't care one way or the other ;)
Still, it got me to thinking about Gnomes in Swords & Wizardry Light. They've always seemed like an afterthought, somewhere between Dwarves and Elves in the "traditional fantasy RPG" evolutionary scale.
I like them, but in 1e they could be Illusionists, and Illusionist / Thieves rocked damn it! SWL doesn't have Illusionists, not does it allow multi-classing. Whatever shall we do?
I see them as particularly skilled in disarming (not necessarily finding) traps as well as opening locks. It just seems to be a gnomish thing to do, especially as they are often portrayed as a race that likes to tinker with mechanical (and sometimes Alchemical) arts. I'd go as far as give all gnomish characters, regardless of class, a 1 in 6 chance to disarm traps - which is a 5 in 6 chance of something going "bad". Which I also see as part of gnomish culture. Which bring me to...
An innate yet random magical ability - random in that the one time per day they wish to draw upon the ability, they must roll on a table much like a Wand of Wonder (you DO have an entry for the Crowdsourced Wand of Wonder, don't you? Prizes and everything). Might be good, might be bad, might just be awkward. It should still be entertaining.
Figure limit them to the Fighter and Thief classes, because really, who wants a gnomish cleric holding your health and life in their hands? As for magic-users, I don't see them having the focus.
Ah well, just thoughts at the moment. I'll refine these later ;)
Monday, April 17, 2017
Torchlight - Cover Art Tease - Work in Progress - Craig Brasco
+Craig Brasco sent me the latest "work in progress" of the cover art for Torchlight issue #1. I hope no one get's offended when I say "holy shit!" Alright, I need to write a short adventure to go along with this art. It screams for it. Or maybe I'm hearing the screams of the adventuring party. I'm not quite sure ;)
You can view some of Craig's portfolio here: https://www.artstation.com/artist/orgosan
General Guidelines for The Tavern Community & What to Expect from Yours Truly
As I'm getting inquiries of one sort or another multiple times a day via multiple email addresses and social media platforms, I thought I'd throw out some general guidelines and suggestions on what to ask, how to ask it and expectations you may have of me. In no particular order:
1 - Kickstarter - Please, do give me links and pitches to your RPG Kickstarter, especially if it is "Old School Gaming" in nature. I do tend to have a fondness for these. I may OR may not highlight it with a post. In the end, that is up to me. I make no guarantees and you shouldn't expect one.
1a - Kickstarter - I do not have an issue looking at pre-release Kickstarter pages if you are looking for feedback. I'll try to get to it in a timely fashion, but again, no guarantees.
2 - GoFundMe - as a general rule, you MAY get one post about your fundraiser. Do not ask for more than one. If you run serial GoFundMe's or the like, do not ask me to highlight any past the first. You MAY link them in the 2,000 Coppers community at G+ or the Tenkar's Tavern Facebook community yourself, but The Tavern is not the place for serial shakedowns of the OSR Community.
3 - Reviews - if my virtual review slush pile were physical, it would probably be two feet high. I literally make NO guarantees as to if and when a review will get posted at The Tavern. If someone wants to be a reviewer at The Tavern, let me know. Its an unpaid job and the articles will be using The Tavern's affiliate links, so really, you need to be a glutton for punishment if you want the job ;)
4 - Guest posters - I love them. I embrace them. I don't get many. Topics have to be "non-political" in nature and avoid attacking others. If you have a pitch, send it to me BEFORE sending me your article.
5 - Advice - I get direct inquiries asking for advice more times than you might expect. I am happy to give such, but remember, I am not an expert on ANYTHING. I have built my "Bully Pulpit" and it is nice, but my opinions and advice are not the be all and end all.
6 - "Investigative Reporting" - Note that I put that in quotation marks. There are certain topics / events / personalities / etc that strike me in a certain way and I find myself relying upon my experience gained in the last 12 years "on the job" supervising detectives and investigations. Can't always help myself - hobby and career do intersect at times, Now, just because you have found a topic / event / personality / etc something you might want to get the "investigative touch" does not mean I have any interest in it. By all means, send me your tips, but I investigate what I decide to investigate. As a general rule, I avoid politics and social justice - I'm not blowing you off when I don't follow up, I just don't have a desire to look into such.
7 - OSR Edition Wars - while I obviously have my system of choice, I embrace the whole of the OSR. Evangelize the systems you love but don't demonize the systems you don't. Unless its Pathfinder or 4e ;)
8 - Communications - as Dyson has told me repeatedly, I have too many email addresses. Well, add in G+, Hangouts, Slack, Facebook and Facebook Messenger and you have doubled the manners in which to contact me. If you don't get a response within 24 hours you may want to try a second method of communication. FB Messenger is infamous for not notifying my of initial requests to communicate.
9 - Comments - Just to note, I don't delete the comments of those that disagree with me, argue with me or even, God forbid, call me names. Hell, I hardly moderate the comments to posts at all, with the exception of deleting spammers. If you think I deleted or removed your comment without cause, reach out to me. There's about a 99% chance that you got mistakenly caught by Blogger's Spambot. If that's the case, I'll fix it. If I DID moderate your comment, I'll explain why.
The Tavern's Community is literally the reason I do what I do. Without each and every one of you, The Tavern would not be the success that it is. I post every day. In general, I post two or more times a day. It is time consuming but well worth it.
Thanks again to all of you!
Deal of the Day - Starships & Spacemen 2e
Looking for an OSR powered clone of Star Trek: The Original Series? Look no further - Starships & Spacemen Second Edition is today's Deal of the Day at RPGNow.
Normally $6.45 in PDF, for the next 24 hours Starships & Spacemen will be on sale for $3.87 - 40% off.
Boldly explore the galaxy in search of alien civilizations! You take the role of a Military Officer, Technical Officer, Science Officer, or Enlisted Man in the Galactic Confederation. Travel in a starship under your command, on missions of first contact, rescue, exploration, and more in a galaxy full of hostile aliens. Try to maintain the tenuous truce with the militaristic Zangid, and fight the Videni who may look like your Tauran allies, but do not adhere to a philosophy of peace and logic.
Design alien humanoids with either "original series" or "next generation" sensibilites, or blend the two approaches! There are 100 forehead shapes that may be randomly rolled when a new alien race is encountered.
This book contains:Remember, 5% of all purchases at RPGNow go to fund The Tavern. Tip your bartender ;)
Eight player races
Three main classes, with several subclasses
Rules for spaceships and exploration
many alien creatures
...and more!
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Create Using the OSR Rules 'You Know" and Your Audience Will Find You
Over in The Tavern's Facebook Community, a discussion asking about the size of the Swords & Wizardry Community and whether it was a viable community to create for, slid in the direction of system preference (or more exactly in this case, system dislike)
Here's how I see it - all things being equal (size and activity of the various gaming communities, commitment of the publisher to support the material and the communities' support of the systems in question) write for the OSR system you know the best.
Not that surprising, it it?
Obviously for me that means writing my material for Swords & Wizardry Light and Complete. For +Pete Spahn that would likely be Labyrinth Lord. For +joseph browning it would likely be OSRIC. For +Chris Gonnerman it would be likely be Basic Fantasy RPG. +James Spahn S&W White Box or White Star. The list goes on.
The truth is, any DM worth their salt is going to convert adventures from one OSR system to the ruleset of their choice, with little difficulty and often on the fly, just was many of us used Basic and Expert adventures in AD&D back in the day and I do with DCC RPG Adventures to Swords & Wizardry today.
Some will say writing for the "hot" system of the day can help sales and I'm sure it did with White Star and third party publishers. I'm just not so sure that system loyalty is a driving point among the majority of the OSR community.
The question then becomes, is there an OSR system that is a sort of Rosetta Stone between the various clones. I'd suggest Swords & Wizardry Core for this, but it's more about the ascending / descending AC and perhaps single save than in being "Swords & Wizardry". Adventures written for S&W don't need an AC adjustment to be used with the other clones or original systems, but in truth, you could write an adventure for ANY clone and include ascending and descending AC in the stats and be 100% compatible with every OSR system.
There is a reason that the OSR graphic is popular to place on OSR products - its the OSR damn it!
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My RPG Zine Trilogy is on Kickstarter! - I can't believe I didn't post about it here! The Dead are Coming, Screams Amongst the Stars and Running Out of Time are on *Kickstarter right now!* Thes...3 years ago
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Maximum HP 004, one week to go - Just one week to go for Maximum HP issue #004, the undead. We are pushing through stretch goals and wracking up contributions for the best issue yet. We...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...3 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...3 years ago
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Undermountain Map Origins - As documented on the Ruins of Undermountain sales page, "TSR didn't actually use Ed Greenwood's original maps," at least not in their entirety. This post d...3 years ago
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WB:FMAG Total Print Sales - Hello Folks, The last time I did a quick sales report was in September 2018. I pulled reports from Amazon, Lulu and DrivethruRPG from October to current fo...4 years ago
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The Minotaur for Old-School Essentials - *Minotaur* *Requirements:* Minimum STR 9, Minimum CON 9 *Prime Requisite:* STR and CON *Hit Dice:* 1d10 *Maximum Level:* 8 *Armor:* Leather, including shield...4 years ago
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WIZARDS OF POHJOLA - Init +0 Melee Atk • sword or dagger +1 (1d5 or 1d3) Ranged Atk • hot iron sparks +3 (1d4+2 to two targets within 20' but not closer than 5') AC 14 HD 12d...4 years ago
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The Withered Crag custom print version for sale again - Just re-enabled the direct sales button for the custom print (classic style detached cover) version of F4 The Withered Crag, and also for F3 Many Gates of...4 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...4 years ago
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D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets - In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants and...4 years ago
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James A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Video - A beloved father, devoted friend, and D&D Dungeon Master extraordinaire. We miss you! To view video, click here Memorial Video Note - The original video...5 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...5 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...5 years ago
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SHORT BREAK. - I'm going to take a break for a week or so and will start up again in the New Year. Thanks for reading and we'll start with Level 6 when I get back.5 years ago
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Iain Lovecraft, 3D Sculptor - Nope, it's got nothing to do with Cthulhu. I just did a video conversation with Iain Lovecraft, who designs 3D miniatures and terrain. If you're not doi...5 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...5 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...5 years ago
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Mord Mar - Session 6 - We weren't able to play Mord Mar last week, due to a family funeral. This week we played on Monday for the first time, due to kids returning to school and ...5 years ago
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A Small, Quiet Plea - There has been a great deal of discussing political agendas, social grievances, and personal attacks within the little corner of gaming that is my hobby....5 years ago
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Don’t Sleep It’s Broken - Expanding/editing my comments from What Makes Something Broken G+ thread: “Broken”, for me, is anything that makes normal character choices, tactics, or ro...6 years ago
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Swords & Wizardry Light-Themed Birthday Party - Last month, my wife and I helped our oldest to celebrate his birthday in style. Ever since 2013, we have hosted a themed birthday party for our now-15-ye...6 years ago