RPG Breakfast Club - Discord - 9 AM Eastern

Tomorrow morning at 9 AM Eastern is the inaugural RPG Breakfast Club Chat on the Tenkar's Tavern Discord Server.

Looking for an invite? Look no further: https://discord.gg/tdVSQeG

Join your hosts Carl, Doug, Rob, Todd, and Golan as they talk all things OSR and RPG related. Bring your own coffee or tea ;)

I'm setting my alarm for 845 in the morning and my Keurig will be brewing me some tea. I'd love to share but I doubt any will be close enough to partake, so you'll need to brew your own.

Voice Chat will be in the RPG Breakfast Club. No need for a mic if you don't want to talk, but you'll probably want a headset to listen. You'll also want to log into the rpg-breakfast-club text chat channel for auxiliary conversation and any graphical uploads.

If this is well received we'll try to make it a regular feature, so please, drop in and say hello. Your hosts don't bite (but Doug does swing a mean Viking Axe)

Deal of the Day - Player's Handbook Like A Fucking Boss (Kort'thalis Publishing)

Venger is many things. Prolific and quality releases certainly are on that list of things. I seem to have fallen behind on some of his releases, as I hadn't even realized that Player's Handbook Like A Fucking Boss was a thing. Well, it is. It seems to be a good thing.

This is a grab-bag of fantasy goodies for use with O5R roleplaying games.  That means everything from Basic D&D, AD&D, all the various retro-clones, systems similar but not identical (like Crimson Dragon Slayer), and 5th edition. 

Primarily, Player's Handbook like a Fucking Boss is meant for players (duh, just look at the title).  Contained within these occasionally dark, humorous, gonzo, Lovecraftian, high, and low fantasy pages are useful character suggestions, awesome bonuses, radical deeds, sneaky skills, random tables, XP sweeteners, life-lines, and get out of jail free cards that will hopefully bring balance to the force (but will most likely just spread untold chaos and evil throughout the galaxy). 

If dying seems too easy (as it should be), these tools could save your miserable, gutter and dungeon strewn life!  If you love bards, get this.  If you hate bards with an unnatural purplish passion, then you really need to get this!

Alright, I had to look at what Venger offered for Bards. Yes, they are a weakness of mine and something I think AD&D 2e handled pretty well.

Ah, low fantasy bards. Basically, thieves that can con, use their instruments as weapons and other low fantasy stuff. It needs some fleshing out, but there is some gold in his thoughts. I may just run with this.

Anyway, there are lots of valuable ideas within these pages. Don't try to use it all. Just find the pieces that work for you and run with it.

Did I mention that art is very good to amazing in quality? Venger never fails on the art side of things. Ever.

Normally 5 bucks in PDF, Player's Handbook Like A Fucking Boss is currently 2.25 until tomorrow, 11 AM Eastern.

Yep, that's an affiliate link above. Affiliate links keep the lights on and the beers cold at The Tavern. I thank you in advance :)

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Week Long Wrap Up - Saturday, October 20th. 2018

We are trying something a little different. Instead of daily links to the Tavern Chat Podcast, we are going to go with a weekly wrap up post. So, we'll count back from this morning's release through Wednesday's release (because Tuesday and earlier were still getting daily posts)

E157 - The Complete, Untold Story Behind the Origins of Swords & Wizardry Light

Man, the amount of tinfoil hats in our corner of the hobby is simply amazing at times. No, Swords & Wizardry Light was not written to usurp legitimacy and authority from Swords & Wizardry Complete. How could it? They are both published by the same company and SWL is presented as an intro to SWC. No, Swords & Wizardry Light was not written to "dumb down" the OSR and lead to its destruction from within. It was written to lower the barriers of entry to the OSR. Gather around children and your bartender will tell you the true story of the Origins of the Swords & Wizardry Light Ruleset...

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E157---The-Complete--Untold-Story-Behind-the-Origins-of-Swords--Wizardry-Light-e2eh8v

e156 - The Pinky Interview - My Seven-Year-Old Niece Talks Dungeons, Dragons and Imagination

Shannon has been asking Uncle to interview her on the podcast pretty much since i kicked off the podcast. Today was another day of Uncle duties, as Shannon has an ear infection to go along with her chest cold. We decided to do the "interview" today. She had so much fun, she wants to do it monthly ;)

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/e156---The-Pinky-Interview---My-Seven-Year-Old-Niece-Talks-Dungeons--Dragons-and-Imagination-e2ecp5

E155 - Confessions of an RPG Hoarder

My niece has gotten me to go hot-n-heavy when it comes to cleaning out the living room. In doing such, I've unearthed a large amount of partially forgotten RPG material I've acquired as well as identified a significant amount of duplicates. Do you have RPG hoarding tendencies? How do you cope with such if you do?

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E155---Confessions-of-an-RPG-Hoarder-e2e5og

E154 - Wherein I Talk a bit about Swords & Wizardry

Still fighting a cold. Currently serving out my Uncle Duties. Thanks to Colin, I talk about Swords & Wizardry ;)

 https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E154---Wherein-I-Talk-a-bit-about-Swords--Wizardry-e2dvhb

Kickstarter - Island of Blight, A Multi-System Fantasy RPG Adventure (Throwi Games)

For those following along at home, your bartender is still under the weather. Additionally, my niece has progressed to an ear infection. As misery loves company, I'll be engaging in uncle duties later this morning. If I am slow to respond to emails and messages, I hope you'll understand why.

Now, on to this morning's post :)

Today we are highlighting the Island of Blight, A Multi-System Fantasy RPG Adventure Kickstarter from Throwi Games / Thom Wilson. Thom was the organizer of ShireCon last month and is a skilled and prolific creator of RPG material.

So, what is the Island of Blight?

The Red Priests of the Snake God suffered a crushing blow to their plans when they failed to take the small town of Thuil. Reeling from their defeat, they have returned to the deep jungles of Nolgur-Wul to regroup. The human villages outside the jungles know that it is only a matter of time before the Red Priests and their minions return. Now is the time to take the fight to them, deep within the jungles! The characters are urged to delve into the depths of Nolgur-Wul to track the Red Priests back to their clandestine temple where it is said a serpent queen, maiden of the Snake God himself, leads the growing cult. On the trail of the fleeing Red Priests, the adventurers find that a mysterious blight has recently begun to destroy the western jungles, villages, and all life within. What starts as a quick investigation becomes an unusual and deadly puzzle. More importantly, is this blight the Snake God's doing or something completely separate?

A moderately challenging adventure for three to five players, Island of Blight can be played using OSRIC, 5E, and SRS.  Written by Thom Wilson of ThrowiGames, edited by Michael J. Gross, III.

Now, why do I back Thom's projects BEFORE even reading the pitch?

The writing, cartography, and illustrations are already complete! I like to complete as much as possible *before* I start a Kickstarter project, so you get your rewards after payments process and the books are printed. No waiting. No excuses. 

The book is 100% written and has already been play-tested.

Pretty much what is left is editing and layout. THIS is awesome! All that and Thom has a tried and test track record.

I'm in for 35 bucks - Isle of Blight and In Defense of Thuil - both in print (the first signed). I'm fairly sure I already have Defense of Thuil, but if I do, one copy will probably sneak into one of the OSR Christmas boxes.

Overseas? Short on cash? Six bucks gets you both books in PDF. THAT is a fucking steal!

Awarding the Squarehex Sampler Pack Giveaway to...

Yep, it that time. Let's see, 19 entries, so that is a simple d20 roll that rerolls 20's. and the rolls is:

5

V.A. - congrats!

V.A. - email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing and I'll get this out to you early next week.

Thanks to all that commented. I'll see if I unearth any other surprises while cleaning ;)

Indiegogo - In Vino Gigantus: A Fantasy RPG Adventure (Frog God Games / James Spahn)

I apologize for the past few days. I've been fighting one hell of a chest cold (and serving uncle duties for my similarly suffering niece) and I've been lagging behind. Today I am trying to play catch up, but as I'm still under the weather I make no guarantees. 

In Vino Gigantus is the latest Indiegogo release from Frog God Games. It is written by James Spahn. Let me get this out of the way, so there are no questions later - I work closely with The Frogs (I am listed on their site as "Convention Manager") and James is a close, dear friend that is actually better defined as family. I am open about my predispositions and prejudices.

All that being said, The Frogs produce consistently great releases. If there is a complaint, it's regarding the high prices of their hardcover releases. Thus, their Indiegogo line of shorter, softcover releases. In Vino Gigantus is their second release in the series.

An introductory adventure by award winning author and designer James M. Spahn for Fifth Edition, Swords & Wizardry and the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game System. 

This is your chance own the premium* softcover of In Vino Gigantus the newest adventure from Frog God Games! Available for Fifth Edition, Swords & Wizardry and the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game System, this will be the first, and likely only, printing of In Vino Gigantus. This softcover is as nice as can possibly make it using a specialty print shop that is proven to deliver a variety of specialty glossy booklets for major luxury name-brand clients (and, well less well-known luxury brands like Frog God Games.) In Vino Gigantus will be delivered to you on the best high-gloss paper showing off the most exciting and vivid color art afforded us by the supporters of this Project. 

*expected to be between 20-24 pages with high-gloss 100 lb interior paper with card stock cover. All Softcover options include the matching PDF file and other unlocked digital extras (Player Map, New Creature Tokens, etc) which may not be in the softcover or available to PDF customers in the future.

Funding goal was $1500. It has already surpassed $2,400 with 14 days to go.

6 bucks for the PDF. Print plus PDF is 16 bucks plus shipping.

Edit - here's the pitch:

Stormridge Sanctum was once home to the the an ancient and noble line of storm giants. It floated miles beyond the sight of mortal men, witnessing the birth and death of countless civilizations. But as time wore on and decadence laid hold to the Tempestas clan, both Stormridge Sanctum and its magnificent liege lords surrendered to the decay of time and decadence. 

The Premise 

Now a single storm giant noble remains, the haughty dilettante sorcerer-prince Clovis Tempestas II. He concerns himself only with base pleasures and none more so than his beloved stock of family wine. But his beloved wine cellar has become flooded with a foul murk and strange creatures slither between bottles of his finest family vintage. He cannot be bothered to wade into such filth himself and he has no servants remaining in his household, so he has used what little magic his grape-addled mind can recall and summoned new servants: A troupe of unsuspecting adventures who will serve -- and if necessary, die -- to save his beloved wine. 

This introductory adventure can be instantly inserted into any campaign without preamble, as it opens with the player characters being the unwitting targets of a Summon Monster spell! Once summoned into the very hands of a mad and drunken giant, the player characters will find themselves exploring a realm designed for creatures ten times their size as they fight all manner of strange creature, traverse larger than life obstacles and objects, encounter other adventurers who have fallen into the clutches of the mad prince Tempestas, and even risk plummeting to their death as the very foundation of the cloud castle of Stormridge Sanctum is crumbling beneath their boots! 

Can the player characters placate the whims of a giant drunk on power and lost grace? Will they survive encounters with the strange animated objects that have become twisted by decades of neglected magic beneath a crumbling castle? And just what the hell is that echoing boom coming from the eastern part of the wine cellar?! 

You’ve been granted the hospitality of the storm giant prince Clovis Tempestas II, and he’s always up for a little more...

Reminder - Tavern Chat Tonight - 9 PM Eastern - Your Host has a Severe Cold - Enjoy the Drug Induced Crazy ;)

I spent the day doing "uncle duties" for my sick niece - she has a bad chest cold. I have a head and chest cold, so we made a good matched set ;)

We've added a second nite of hosted chats on Tuesday nights with the Frogs as well as a hosted roundtable this Sunday morning at 9 am Eastern. Before you know it we'll have a Chat Network.

In any case, tonight I'll be high on NyQuil, so enjoy :)

Here's the link for everyone:   https://discord.gg/tdVSQeG

Join us for the voice chat at 9 PM tonight. You don't even need a mic, just listen and pretend its a live, uncensored podcast ;)

Kickstarter - D.O.U.S. - Dice of Unusual Size - D21, D36, Pulse & Alphabet

Dice. Why the hell can't I have enough dice? Dice Kickstarters are like flames to a moth for me. My kryptonite ;)

D.O.U.S. - Dice of Unusual Size - D21, D36, Pulse & Alphabet is more flames. Bright, bright flames :)

edit - this link was missing for a bit - my brain has been partial misplaced with my severe head cold and associated meds for the past few days - I ask forgiveness - this will not be my only fuck-up, trust me ;)

Glow in the dark or black. My God, but I do love glow in the dark dice.

Ooooo... and letter dice.

Nyquil is kicking in. I've already designed a quick game for the letter dice and I'm sure it works perfectly, which means it probably doesn't work at all. But I need!

A d36 that doubles as 2d6?

Damn it!

Buy some dice. I am right now, and I'm under the influence ;P

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E153 - I Guess D&D eSports IS a Thing! DnD Sports is Coming to a Twitch Near You

Well, when you are right, you are right. It looks like DnD Sports is coming in November.

Way back in Episode 70, I talked about how Hasbro's CEO mentioned D&D eSports, and everyone said that the CEO didn't know what he was talking about and I was being foolish for even mentioning it. Well, take a peek - dndsports.tv/news/what-is-dndsports/

Link to Episode 153:  https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E153---I-Guess-DD-eSports-IS-a-Thing--DnD-Sports-is-Coming-to-a-Twitch-Near-You-e2do14

Link to Episode 70:  https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-70---5e-e-Sports--Say-What-e1sfbt

Link to July's Article:  https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/23/hasbro-ceo-dungeons--dragons-is-having-its-best-year-ever.html

Link to DnD Sports: https://dndsports.tv/news/what-is-dndsports/

DnD Sports article:

OCTOBER 1, 2018 BY WILL JONES

What is DnDSports?
Imagine if two parties fighting for opposite sides found themselves in the same dungeon. It’s kill or be killed. What will they do to survive?

DnDSports is the first online D&D Tournament in a cooperative Party vs Party setting from EncounterRoleplay & DnDBeyond with a grand prize of $5,000. Over the course of 4 weeks, 16 players will compete in teams of 4 in single elimination games. Each game is a best of 3 arena battle and played via Roll20.

How is it Played?

The full rules for DnDSports will be released shortly after our next round of Playtesting. We don’t claim to have created perfect balance, nor is that our aim, as every competitive game has an element of strategy. We’re also implementing MOBA-esque mechanics such as a Pick/Ban phase to help expand the strategy. We’ve been working closely with over a dozen talented DMs to create 15 pre-generated characters from which the players will choose, and adapt the pre-existing Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition rules.

We know that this will be an incredibly fun new way to play D&D, because as long as you’re having fun, you’re doing it right!

When is it?

Day 1: November 10th at 12pm PST

Heat 1: Team Beholder vs. Team Mindflayer

Day 2: November 17th at 12pm PST

Heat 2: Team Kobold vs. Team Tarrasque

Day 3: November 24th at 12pm PST

All Stars Charity game for 826LA foundation

Day 4: December 1st at 12pm PST

Grand Finals

Where can I watch it?

Watch live on Twitch here.

The VODs will be uploaded to Youtube here.

Who is involved?

The EncounterRoleplay & DnDBeyond crews have teamed up to bring this production to life!

As for who’s competing? Keep an eye on the DnDSports Twitter & here on the blog to learn more about the teams as they are revealed!

But D&D Shouldn’t be an eSport?!

It’s not an eSport. We created something that would make competitive gamers feel safe and comfortable trying out D&D5e for the first time. It’s a new way to display the versatility of combat in D&D5e in a unique setting. We encourage you to respect the way different people play D&D because we know that this will be a fun event and there is no wrong to play D&D, as long as you are having fun!

Free Map Mondays - Mapping Like Its 1980 :)

I spent parts of this evening cleaning and putting stuff aside for OSR Christmas - yes, the pile is fairly large.

I came across my bagged copy of Cyborg Commando (and now recall why I never tried to play it) as well as an early dungeon map that I drew and populated around 1979 / 80 or so.

Looks like I was using those random tables from the Dungeon Master's Guide...

God knows why anyone would WANT to use this map, but I'm releasing the map ONLY under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ / Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0). Enjoy :)

(no idea if the back is OGL-able, so not released)

Free Map Mondays - Squarehex Sampler Pack Giveaway - US Only

For those following along at home, your bartender has been under the weather the past few days. Not sure I'll be able to finish putting together a decent map for today.

But have no fear, even if nothing comes to fruition tonight I do have something to give away.

Digging out some boxes that have sat in a corner of the living room, I found a few spares of the SquareHex Sampler Pack. You can grab it directly through the SquareHex blog for:

I'm giving away a complete set, in the original packing, to one random commenter on this very post. US Only - sorry, but the shipping outside the states will kill me ;)

Your comment must tell our readers why you like drawing maps. Comment before 7 PM Eastern on Thursday, October 18th, 2018.

Remember, OSR Christmas is sneaking up and OSR Santa will need to start organizing soon ;)

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E152 - The Times, They are a Changin' - but I still have a cold ;)

I still can't believe I was in bed for 12 hours. Shit, I'm going to be late for my Monday pub lunch! Damn cold!

Yep, I'm still a miserable fuck, having woken up 1130 in the morning - damn cold. The Tavern has been around for nearly 10 years. I expect it will be around for many more 10s of years. If you look at the history of the Tenkar's Tavern blog, you'll see it has always been in a process of change. 

Pexx over on the Discord side of all things Tavern is indexing those nearly 10 years of blog posts, and just a few months in he's already seeing changes. Growths. Missteps. All part of the process. All that which will bring us where we are, not just yesterday, but today and tomorrow too. 

Yes, change sucks. Yes, change is great.

Link to Episode 152 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E152---The-Times--They-are-a-Changin---but-I-still-have-a-cold-e2dfr1

New In Print - Gamma World First Edition (POD)

Wow. I'm surprised how excited I am to see that Gamma World First Edition has gone Print on Demand. Gamma World was the first gaming product I bought with my own money. I bought it at The Complete Strategist in Manhattan. It was also one of my few times I rode the subway, and certainly the first time I rode without my parents. So, I put my token in the turnstile and pushed the turnstile, yet failed to walk through the turnstile. Yep, I had to yop the turnstile I had already paid for.

In any case, I still remember trying to wrap my head around hit points being rolled based directly on Constitution instead of character level. I mean, it looked just like AD&D, but then it so obviously wasn't. Then there were those flow charts! Perfect for understanding physics in high school ;)

I still have my original boxed set of Gamma World 1e, but the box has taken a beating over the years.

The PDF is 9.99, Print is 19.99 and Print plus PDF is 21.99

Can you survive in a world gone mad? A world where civilization as we know it has been destroyed in a cataclysmic holocaust? What is left in this world? Find out and encounter such bizarre things as mutated plants and animals more terrible than you can imagine, radiation wastelands that stretch as far as the eye can see, and fearless machines gone uncontrollably beserk . . . 

This is the setting for a GAMMA WORLD™ campaign, with players taking on the persona of an individual character somewhere in this forbidding locale. In a quest for survival and in search of a better future, the players adventure across the land, enduring hardships and encountering dangerous obstacles and mysterious foes - never knowing quite what to expect. The result is a game which can go in many directions, but which will be challenging and fascinating no matter what the outcome. 

The GAMMA WORLD™ Set includes all the basics needed to set up your own "world": game booklet (packed with terrible mutants, as well as guidelines for creating additional ones of your own), a large campaign map (designed to be easily modified by individual gamemasters), and a full set of polyhedra dice. The only other things necessary are a good imagination and a spirit of adventure! The GAMMA WORLD™ rules are also suitable for use with the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONSTM rules. 

The GAMMA WORLD challenge awaits you - are you ready? 

This digital edition includes the PDF version of the book, and a ZIP file containing printable JPGs of the campaign map. 

Note on the print edition: The maps and other elements have been added as bonus pages in the print book. If you plan on using the map at your table it is recommended that you purchase the "Multiple File Formats + Softcover Color Book" combo and print the digital version.

There are affiliate links above. Keep the lights on and the beers cold by shopping with The Tavern's affiliate links.

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E151 - Thoughts and Ideas on The Tavern 3.0

I really appreciate all of the feedback. I'm thinking I may start a second site, that I can experiment with without holding back the main site. Time to explore options...

I posted on Saturday Night on the blog side about some enhancements I'm looking to do on the blogside of things to help the community get more involved. Feedback was great, especially in regards to the future platform(s) I should explore.

Did I mention I'm sick and miserable?

Link to Episode 151 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E151---Thoughts-and-Ideas-on-The-Tavern-3-0-e2dcdr