RPGNow

Saturday, July 6, 2019

30% Off Frog God, Troll Lord, Kobold Press and More - For Just a Buck!



Earlier this evening, a friend reached out to me about how to get a Frog God Games title, in Print at a discount. Because as you all know, that is the kind of "influence" I have ;) Then it hit me, the current Humble RPG Book Bundle: 5TH Edition Beast of a Bundle includes just that - a 30% discount at Frog God Games AND Kobold Press, Troll Lord Games, Nord Games, Nerdarchy, Fail Squad Games and TPK Games for as little as a buck. Oh, and a bunch of cool PDFs too.

Just over 3 1/2 days left in this sale. Get your coupons before the clock runs out on this one! :)

And yes, that is an affiliate link above. A portion of the monies you spend via that link will go to support The Tavern. I thank you in advance.

Friday, July 5, 2019

Oh My! Crowdfunding Update from LotFP / James Raggi (Ref Book)



James Raggi offers an update on the LotFP Weird Fantasy Ref Book. Presenting without comment. I'll leave commentary on the Tavern Chat Podcast side ;)

Update and Plan Going Forward

'allo all...

Update on this dumpster fire is that after good progress over the winter, everything came to a dead-ass halt as of February 11, which started an avalanche of crud which I'm still getting myself out from. I've had new releases that were delivered to me in April that haven't even been put up on the webstore as of yet, to give an idea.

Catching up on all the stuff that has been left hanging all spring is going to run into Ropecon and Gen Con coming up on consecutive weekends starting the end of this month. (this is "pay the rent" sort of stuff, not "I want to procrastinate on the project I should be working on to do this other project instead.") But then we're into frickin August 2019 and that's completely horrible for the matter at hand here.

So here is the plan forward to get this shit done:

Starting the week after Gen Con, not the week of the 4th because nothing is going to get done that week doing the intercontinental traveling after 2 straight weeks of cons, but the week of the 11th, I am going to do weekly updates all about the Ref book and where I am and tracking progress until my part of this shit is DONE. These probably will be in video form as rambling on verbally will take less time than rambling on in type.

Once that is done, then I will deal with the issue of the "commentary" bits that were to have been written by people now in the naughty corner. These consultations will be done only with the people that actually paid for them. This is going to be the high-stress stuff I think and I'm not dealing with it until after I've shuffled my portion off to the editor.

After that I'll be finishing up the coordination of some third-party writing I contracted out (a starting adventure setting) and after that it's just waiting for layout to get done. I have a full-time layout person on salary so there won't be undue delay there. (I do have over 60 pages of art ready to go for the book, but I'm sure there will need to be some extra fill-in stuff to plug layout holes.)

So see you next month...

-
Jim

Oh My! Crowdfunding Update from Judges Guild (CSIO)



I'm going to drop this without comment. I may comment later on the podcast side. Oh, and a LotFP update later today ;)

July, and Progress on the Book

Posted by Judges Guild
Jul 5, 2019

- Update from Bob Bledsaw II.

I could not simply sit on my hands here (having promised to halt other Guild projects and stop my convention appearances). I want the City State to be better, and so began a rewrite of the original texts. This is changing the City State Book in the following ways:

1. Additional material is being added to enhance and fresh-out the descriptions of people, places and things. Some of this material draws from Bob Bledsaw's original 1970's campaign (unpublished writings), and alternate drafts, the Guild's unpublished works Gem City, Bob's Lonely Mountian, and Book of Rumors.

2. Weapons on NPC's are now described as in-hand, worn, secreted, or near-by. This will help judges determine readiness in combat situations.

3. The Tri-stat system is has been stripped out for the lighter generic version. This is the one thing that has been altered away from Bob Bledsaw's 1999 Universal design. (the last digit imposed an endurance factor to all stats, meaning how many times per day the stat held without degradation). This is a good feature, but for this product, I have bowed to popular opinion here.

4. Many NPC's have now complete stats, where before it was only sketched. This created full NPC listings for many new characters.

5. Many NPC's have been given their own combat style and tactics which they will employ if provoked. Their aggressiveness or passiveness with help judges determine how they with interact in various situations.

6. Drawing from Bob Bledsaw's unpublished ideas for monsters and items, some new surprises in the way of creatures, rare weapons, and back-stories have been applied.

7. The original artwork needed cleaned and digitally enhanced. Also, new illustrations are being applied, but sparingly to avoid over-extending page-count (which has jumped significantly with the additional text).

I feel this expansion of the material will enhance your product, because aside from the great map and concept of the City State as a whole, the meat of the product has always been the richness of ideas within. Although a lot of the new material draws from Bob's scattered thoughts jotted down on scraps of paper, I think they have a place here, and have inserted the best of these where I felt they fit best.

I want you all to know that as of yet, no large project has added substantial funds toward the account, but the account is growing from sales royalties coming in from third-parties. As for now, I continue to make this something you will all treasure. My goal remains to get this into your hands as soon as possible.

- Bob Bledsaw II

Thursday, July 4, 2019

DungeonFog - The New Way to Map Online

I must admit that I had not come across the Dungeon Fog mapping tool website/app until I read the list of ENnies nominees earlier tonight.

I put the below together in about 20 minutes without referring to any directions:



Map with and without the grid. I like the way you can do diagonals. I think I need thinner grid lines.

This was all accomplished using the free version of the service. Five bucks a month or 50 bucks a year gives you access to a huge amount of additional art resources. 100 bucks a year and you can use the results in your commercial projects. Guess who will be stepping up the commercial license after the holiday weekend? heh

Maybe sooner if I can get their payment portal to work... le sigh...

There is a D&D 5e Humble Bundle on sale right now. Every Humble Bundle purchase made via The Tavern's Affiliate Link raises monies that help support The Tavern

Please don't forget our Amazon affiliate store :)   Amazon.com/shop/eriktenkar

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Reminder - Tavern Chat Tonight - 9 PM Eastern



Can you believe it? Its Wednesday already, and that means another weekly Tavern Chat tonight at
9 PM on the Tenkar's Tavern Discord Server.

Just use the handy dandy link below:

https://discord.gg/6cGyku

See you tonight :)




Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Kickstarter - The Lost Lands - Grand Duchy of Reme (System Neutral Setting Book)



I truly enjoy the Lost Lands setting from Frog God Games. It covers a large and varied area, literally. The Grand Duch of Reme is my kind of setting book. System Neutral really is my thing when it comes to settings. OSR, 5e, PF, Tunnels & Trolls, The Fantasy Trip, GURPS, Rolemaster - whatever system you enjoy, it fits.
The Grand Duchy of Reme is a system neutral hardcover volume designed to be useful for campaigns independent of system preference. For specific details that affect the characters in the Lost Lands there are System Encounter Books. These companion volumes are softcover (or PDF), that contain reference stats for use with the Region book along with detailed encounter tables for the region. 
Additionally, 3 classic adventures previously unavailable for Pathfinder, Swords & Wizardry, and Fifth Edition are back. These are offered as either softcover add-ons in backerkit or as free stretch goals in PDF (see reward sidebar).
And here is the pitch:
The city of Reme itself is ancient, with world-spanning trade — the eternal citadel of the Loreclans, where the ashes of legendary barbarian kings reside. This land lies near the slow collapse of the nearby Empire of Foere, and the rise of Bard’s Gate to the East. The Rhemish watch these events with cold eyes rather than concern, for they live in vast regions that devour invaders. Their land is eternal; their people can be forced back to the plains, but in the plains they can abide for as long as need be. They are — as a people — the ultimate hunters. The fall of Foere is like the fall of an antelope upon the plains; the rise of Bard’s Gate is little more than the stepping-up of jackals before the body. The Grand Duchy of Reme simply waits and watches — for Reme is the dwelling-place of the world’s wolves.
I personally think 40 bucks (plus shipping) for a hardcover setting book is a hard to pass up price point.  I'm guessing going system neutral and not printing (let alone laying out) three different versions is helping to keep costs down.

Full disclosure: I am Frog God Games' "Convention Coordinator". That means I get to go to conventions, set up the booth, sell shit and run games. I am not involved in this project and I am a $40 backer.

There is a D&D 5e Humble Bundle on sale right now. Every Humble Bundle purchase made via The Tavern's Affiliate Link raises monies that help support The Tavern

Please don't forget our Amazon affiliate store :)   Amazon.com/shop/eriktenkar





Frog Chat Tonight - 9 PM Eastern - Bill Webb, Matt Finch & More!

It's a very special Frog Chat tonight on the Tenkar's Tavern Discord Server. Bill Webb and Matt Finch will be the main quests. Chuck Wright should arrive a bit after things kick off and there may even be a Zach Glazar sighting. Ask the questions of all things Frog related and tell them "Tenkar sent me!" ;)

Details are below. Here's an active link you can use to join in:

https://discord.gg/6cGyku


Monday, July 1, 2019

The Demonic Dungeon of the Bone Dreamer - We Have the Skull!

Art by Henriette Boldt - used with permission
I like this skull by Henriette Boldt in their stock art Skull Collection

Skull? Check!

Horns? Check!

Demonic? Check!

Controls the dreams of the local townsfolk? ..........

I think we have our Bone Dreamer!

I love it when a plan starts to come together ;)


Yep, that's an affiliate link above. Affiliate links keep the lights on and the beers cold at The Tavern.

There is a D&D 5e Humble Bundle on sale right now. Every Humble Bundle purchase made via The Tavern's Affiliate Link raises monies that help support The Tavern

Please don't forget our Amazon affiliate store :)   Amazon.com/shop/eriktenkar

Sunday, June 30, 2019

What Constitutes "Small Press" on DTRPG?


Until OBS killed the RPGNow webstore / portal, I rarely paid attention to the DTRPG side of things. There was no need to, as RPGNow did a much better job of reflecting products I would be interested on their home page.

Now I'm paying more attention to DTRPG and it has my head spinning a bit.

Case in point. Cubicle 7 is on the Hottest Small Press released with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fourth Edition Buildings of the Reikland currently at #3 and Wrath & Glory: Core Rules at #7, and then we have Savage Worlds Adventure Edition from Pinnacle at #4.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fourth Edition Buildings of the Reikland is #43 on the Bestselling Titles but is beat by other Cubicle 7 books on that list, with Rough Nights and Hard Days and the WFRP book at #13 & #15 respectively.  I always thought Cubicle 7 and Pinnacle were many steps beyond "Small Press".


Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. The Second Edition, Version 2.01 from R. Talsorian Games Inc. is #6 on the Bestselling Titles list but appears nowhere on the Hottest Small Press list. Is R.Tlasorian Games NOT "Small Press"?

I'd be very interested in knowing under what conditions a company is categorized as "small press" by OBS.

I'll probably dig into this a bit further. For know, just interesting observations.

edit - Cubicle 7 has 7 titles in the BestSelling Titles Top 100, coming in at 13, 15, 30, 43, 67 and 78 - yet somehow is "Small press"

Yep, that's an affiliate link above. Affiliate links keep the lights on and the beers cold at The Tavern.

There is a D&D 5e Humble Bundle on sale right now. Every Humble Bundle purchase made via The Tavern's Affiliate Link raises monies that help support The Tavern
Please don't forget our Amazon affiliate store :)   Amazon.com/shop/eriktenkar

Tenkar's Tavern is supported by various affiliate programs, including Amazon, RPGNow,
and Humble Bundle as well as Patreon. Your patronage is appreciated and helps keep the
lights on and the taps flowing. Your Humble Bartender, Tenkar

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