Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

Thursday, December 31, 2020

Awarding Gifts for Day 6 of OSR Christmas


Alright, it's time to award the gifts for OSR Christmas Day 6.

Receiving the Print Bundle of 7 copies of Swords & Wizardry Continual Light (assuming they live in the US) is:

Franek S - I'll need your snail mail address to ship this out to you.

Receiving PDF copies of SWCL are:

Everyone else that commented. Seriously, I'll need you all to email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing and let me know which comment was yours. It may take me a few days to get the PDFs out, and for my own sanity, they must be claimed by January 7th, 2021. I'm simply very happy to be closing the doors on 2021.

Additionally, we still need snail mail addresses for those that are being gifted from OSR Christmas Day 5:

Bob Portnell & Alister Fa, email me your info, please.

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Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Bundle of Holding - GDW Traveller (the Little Black Books - LBBs)

Traveller was my introduction to sci-fi RPGs. The system was simple enough, my only complaint was the lack of learning new skills as written. Still, as a GM you didn't need to track or award XP, and that was probably a blessing unto itself ;)

My introduction to Traveller was the Starter Set, with the first three books effectively rolled into one. Ah, sweet memories of rolling up Traveller Characters when I had "book room" duties. As you characters could die during character generation, it was a game within a game :)

Bundle of Holding currently has two Traveller Bundles up for grabs. The first one offers the core Traveller books and supplemental materials. 6.95 for the Starter Collection, about 18 bucks for the Bonus Collection.

Traveler Bundle #2 has a collection of adventures and supplements:

The Starter Collection (@7.95) has:

TWO supplements: S03 The Spinward Marches and S04 Citizens of the Imperium

SEVEN adventures: A00 The Imperial Fringe, A01 Kinunir, A02 Research Station Gamma, A03 Twilight's Peak, A04 Leviathan, A07 Broadsword, A08 Prison Planet

EIGHT Double Adventures: D01a Annic Nova, D01b Shadows, D02a Across the Bright Face, D02b Mission on Mithril, D03a The Argon Gambit, D03b Death Station, D04a Marooned, D04b Marooned Alone

The Bonus Collection adds (for about 19 bucks):

THREE more supplements: S06 76 Patrons, S07 Traders and Gunboats, S10 The Solomani Rim

FOUR more adventures: A10 Safari Ship, A11 Murder on Arcturus Station, A12 Secret of the Ancients, A13 Signal GK

SEVEN more Double Adventures: D05a The Chamax Plague, D05b Horde, D06a Divine Intervention, D06b Night of Conquest, D07a A Plague of Perruques, D07b Stranded on Arden, D08 Memory Alpha

FOUR Special Supplements: SS01 Merchant Prince, SS02 Exotic Atmospheres, SS03 Missiles (plus SS03a Missiles Revised), SS04 The Lost Rules

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

OSR Christmas - Day Six - Let There Be - Much Light! (Continual and Torchlight)

It's Day Six of OSR Christmas, and we have some Tavern related goodies to give away today.

First up, USA only (it's because of shipping), is we are giving away Seven copies of Swords & Wizardry Continual Light in Print as a single bundle. This is literally for a gaming group. This will ship via Amazon and is print on demand. Should a non-US address be randomly selected for this gift, they will be gifted seven PDF copies via DTRPG.

Worldwide, we are also gifting five mini bundles (in PDF) of SWCL and the Premiere Issue of Torchlight to five randomly selected recipients.

How do you put yourself in consideration of one of these fine gift bundles? Simply comment below before noon on December 31st, 2020 (Thursday) with "why I love the OSR".

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Monday, December 28, 2020

OSR Christmas - Day 5 - Awarding the Gifts

Now, to award OSR Christmas Day 5 gifts.

Bob Portnell & Alister Fa, please email me at:

tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom with your "snail mail" addresses. (damn cat apparently got on the keyboard and removed the email addy)

I will then forward your addresses to Thad, and he will mail out your patches.

OSR Christmas Day 6 will take place here on the blog. OSR Christmas Day 7 will take place on the Talking Crit Livestream. Subscribe to the Livestream here: YouTube.com/ErikTenkarSubscribe to YouTube.com/ErikTenkar and never miss any of the various Livestreams :)

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

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Sunday, December 27, 2020

Merry Christmas & a Belated "Gift"

 

Merry Christmas & a Belated "Gift"
Friday was Christmas and hopefully you all had a great holiday weekend and got everything (within reason) you desired. I still didn't get a wood-grained OD&D set, but then again I never asked Santa for one either......

Don't get me wrong as I cannot complain since I was able to cheaply fly "home" for the holiday. Time spent with family & friends is a damned fine gift if you ask me.

Since it is Christmas however, I think I should give you fine readers a gift, but what can I give? Well, I'm not in a position to give much of anything but I can at least point you to a great website that you should find useful for years of gaming goodness. The only gift I can freely bestow in this medium is tge gift of knowledge....

Donjon RPG Tools is an awesome collection of tools (mostly random generators) that will undoubtedly make some aspect of your game easier. If you weren't already aware of Donjon.......well, it's a gift. If you were aware, but haven't used it lately.....you need to see what's been added.

I hope you get to use these tools soon at your table and may 2021 be a better year for slinging dice with family & friends.

Saturday, December 26, 2020

OSR Christmas Day 5 - OSR Patch Collection - Three Patches to Rule Them All, and in Gaming Bind Them

Yep, it's that time again. Today we have two sets of Thad's amazing OSR patches to gift to The Tavern's community. You've seen them at conventions, you've seen photos online, but here is your chance to have your own set.

So, how can you get gifted on Day 5 of OSR Christmas? Simply comment below with the magic item your favorite character would want to find under their holiday tree. Two random commenters will be chosen to be gifted. This is a physical product AND ships worldwide due to Thad's generosity and holiday spirit. 

Comments must be in by Monday, December 28th, @ 12 noon.

Subscribe to YouTube.com/ErikTenkar and never miss any of the various Livestreams :)

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Friday, December 25, 2020

OSR Christmas - Awarding Day 3 Gifts - Day 4 is Tonight's Iron Rations LiveStream @ 10 PM Eastern


OSR Christmas continues on Christmas Day :)

From OSR Christmas Day 3, the following need to email me at tenkarsDOTtavernATgmail.com for their Gift Certificates:

Tim Baker

grayhawkbard

You both have $25 DTRPG Gift Certificates coming your way.

Tonight on the Iron Rations LiveStream with JoetheLawyer, we are giving away two $25 DTRPG Gift Certificates to two commenters on the LiveStream. You do need to be present to be gifted.

Subscribe to YouTube.com/ErikTenkar and never miss any of the various Livestreams :)

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Thursday, December 24, 2020

OSR Christmas, Day 3 - Shop with a DTRPG Gift Certificate

What, OSR Christmas Day 3 ALREADY? Where were days 1 and 2? Days 1 & 2 were held on the Talking Crit Livestream the last 2 Wednesday Nights. So, here is Day 3 :)

Today we have two $25 DTRPG Gift Certificates up for gifting. All you need to do is comment on this blog post with a holiday greeting or wishes for your fellow gamers before Noon Eastern Time, December 25th, 2020 (tomorrow). Sometime tomorrow afternoon I'll randomly determine two commentators to be gifted with some holiday gaming cheer :)

Also, tomorrow evening (time to be determined) JoetheLawyer and I will be kicking off the Iron Rations Livestream, a twice a month Livestream of gaming goodness. We will be giving away another two $25 DTRPG Gift Certificates to commentators on tomorrow night's Livestream.

Subscribe to YouTube.com/ErikTenkar and never miss any of the various Livestreams :)

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Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Talking Crit Tonight @ 8 PM Eastern - Bad Mike & Tenkar are Joined by Mike & Liz Stewart - OSR Christmas Day 2 too ;)

Tonight on the Talking Crit Livestream, Bad Mike and your's truly, are being joined by Mike & Liz Stewart. Yes, THAT Mike & Liz. Save or Die Podcast, Save for Half, the Three Castles Award-winning Victorious RPG, and more.

What are we going to talk about? Bad Mike & I refer to Talking Crit as a hex-crawl podcast, unscripted and entertaining our audience as well as ourselves. We thrive on the comments of our live viewers, so why not join us?

https://youtu.be/mT1V55NGVeg

Oh, and at least 2 $50 DTRPG Gift Certificates will be randomly gifted to our live commentors on YouTube. Yay! OSR Christmas!

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

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Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Frog God Games PDF 75% off Sale - Nearly Everything (Includes newer releases such as the Lost Lands Setting)

Ah, tis the season, the season for deep discounts and gifting. OSR Christmas kicked off on the Youtube.com/ErikTenkar stream last Wednesday, will continue there again tomorrow with more DTRPG Gift Certificates to be gifted (then gifts here on the blog side for the 24th and the 25th). So, what would you spend your DTRPG monies on?

How about Frog God Games 75% Off of Nearly Every PDF Sale over at DTRPG? Swords & Wizardry, Dungeons & Dragons 5e, and even Pathfinder 1e.

World of the Lost Lands - $55 down to 13.75

The new Christmas adventure, Orcus on 34th Level, from $9 down to 2.25

The old Christmas adventure, How Orcus Stole Christmas, from $4.79 to 1.20

The new Bunnies & Burrows RPG? $11.24 to 2.25

Hex Crawl Chronicles for .75 each

Rogues in Remballo for 15 cents

Tome of Horrors Complete (4.50) and Monstrosities (3.75) - 9.25 for the pair. Damn!

I went through all of the Swords &Wizardry releases (one link to rule them all ;) and except for the bundles and the rare print POD, they are all 75% off. Heck, about half are priced under 2 bucks.

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Monday, December 21, 2020

So, Where is that LotFP Referee Book? (Funded October 2013)

This past summer, James Raggi made a personal appeal to the OSR community to bail him out of debt to the Finnish government. Loans were coming due and if James didn't pay them, LotFP would likely cease publication.

Well, the community certainly saved James's bacon (60k euros that were coming due in loans, plus another 30k not as immediate), and James made enough in sales to pay off his debt. But the Referee Book, which hasn't seen an update since February on the Indiegogo page, and will be two years late in January, and funded in October of 2013, is still not scheduled for release:

Just want to thank everyone for a big year here at LotFP. We came really close to total disaster, but you all made sure we live on to fight another day.

But now it's time to advance again. Looks like the next releases won't be to the printer until March or so (five months later than I'd hoped... sigh) and then the release cycle after that... seriously... the Ref book. So I need to conserve resources for all that, but there is much to do between now and then.

I know James feels that backers of the Referee Book are due an update unless he has something concrete, but with the current situation, I think an update would be a kindness that the backers deserve.

Yep, "the media" is requesting an official update ;)

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Sunday, December 20, 2020

Looks Like I Might Start GMing Again (Finally!)

 

Looks Like I Might Start GMing Again (Finally!)
[Special Note: I'm generally not a huge fan of repeating myself, but I'm not 100% sure of just how much overlap this post will have with some earlier ones, but as the situation is eerily similar to one from a year or two ago I've mentioned at least in part.....it at least feels like I'm rehashing old ground. If so, indulge me as a Christmas offering....]

On a personal note, this week has totally sucked big green donkey #%$! I'll spare you all the details, but one of my challenges this week is the fact my home (I rent a small house) busted a water pipe and my crawlspace became a swimming pool. I've been without water for a week now, which isn't a huge deal, BUT I had some time-sensitive cooking Christmas gifts to work on. I'm making some hot sauce that has to be bottled at a certain point and it's literally unsafe to be working with the fermented peppers without the ability to clean up. Luckily I was able to reach out to a Brother (someone from my old Air Force career field) and go over to his place to borrow his kitchen.

A couple hours into this process his youngest daughter comes home and we all hang out in the kitchen while I'm doing my thing. The conversation comes around to the daughter's participation in an Anime convention and cosplay and I mention that some of the conventions I've been to have had cosplay events, either on the schedule or the spontaneous cosplay participants that are just there.

"Wait.....you 'do' Dungeons & Dragons?"

It ends up my Brother's 8th grader really wants to play D&D, but is kind of lost. Last Christmas he bought her a D&D Boxed Starter set, and some other stuff, but these thing haven't even been opened up, which makes sense since she wants to play, not GM. He's on-board to play as well, but again....lost.

"What do we do?"

First off.....you know I have to be all "I got you". Hearing this plea hits me right in the obligation. Yes, I feel completely obligated to introduce this family to RPGs. I'm sure we'll probably be playing the current edition of D&D, but I've already laid the groundwork for starting off with playing a session of several different iterations before letting her choose which one we go forward with. I thought maybe starting off with Dungeonteller, but she's older/smarter/mature enough that I'm thinking a session of Old School Essentials for more of a BX flavor, HackMaster (current edition), and then the D&D Box set she already has. I highly suspect she'll really like the HackMaster character creation, but prefer OSE and a more "theater of the mind" playstyle.....but I'm speculating. My thought was to expose the both of them (father & daughter) to the range of crunch and let them decide what they like the best before moving forward. 

These opportunities to grow fresh blood into this hobby don't come along everyday. I know one of my early posts here at the Tavern lamented my frustrations with attempting to game in rural Iowa. Man....if I had been able to start proper at that age I might have managed to get good at this thing by now!

Since this Brother is local, and I have a lot of free time coming up, this is going to happen.....well at least my end is a given. I haven't GM'd in a couple years now, and never for one this young. If any of you have some useful advice, by all means....send it my way! Actually, post it in the comments below so anyone else in a similar situation can take advantage of the advice as well.


Saturday, December 19, 2020

News - Lets Get Physical - Gen Con Plans Return to "Meat-Space" in 2021 / PAX East Likely Returns in 2021 Too (Covid Willing)


It appears that Gen Con and PAX are working on the assumption that the current "State of the Pandemic" will be under control by the summer of 2021. That being said, they are still hedging their bets and leaving the door open to closing their doors if Covid fails to cooperate with their hopeful plans. 

It takes a lot of time - and money - to put together a convention, and the larger the convention, the more lead time one needs, and these are huge conventions.

My fear is if certain conventions are cancelled two years in a row, there may be a lack of funds to bring them back later, although that may be more of an issue for the relatively smaller conventions.

From the Gen Con website:

Holiday 2020 Message and Looking Ahead to 2021

As we approach the winter holidays and the end of the (let’s say less-than-ideal) year, we’re looking ahead to the future and know you have some of the same questions that we do about our plans for 2021.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain, and that our lives are even more interconnected than ever before. We don’t take for granted the magic of gathering en masse with all of you in Indianapolis each summer, and we can’t wait to do it again. Will that happen this August? In all honesty, we don’t know yet, but we really hope so.

Our goal for the new year is to hold Gen Con 2021 as planned, in person in Indianapolis from August 5-8. We’re working towards that objective with health and safety as our top priority. A variety of factors need to come together for a physical convention to be feasible, and we’re carefully monitoring local and national safety and travel guidelines, health data, resource availability, and the advice of our finest sages, scientists, and sorcerers.

Considering this uncertainty, we’re postponing badge registration and event submission until we have a better idea of what the year will hold. We’ll announce new dates as soon we can, and you should expect more updates from us in the next couple of months. To keep up on the latest news, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.

We appreciate your continued support, and we miss you, our Gen Con family all across the world. Please take care of each other and have a safe and happy holiday season!

Happy Holidays,

Your Friends at Gen Con

 And from the PAX East website:

DECEMBER 4TH, 2020

PAX 2021 Dates

Hello PAX Universe,

We’d like to take this opportunity to announce our prospective show dates for the 2021 calendar, and before we do, we want to be completely clear about why we’re announcing them now, and how the global COVID-19 situation impacts our plans in the coming year.

We’re announcing our dates now to help partners plan for the upcoming year on how they might attend as well as provide a chance to start conversations about how to bring attendees, panelists, exhibitors, and our broader community together with these events that are 7 months away. Safety is always our highest priority, and we want to put these shows on for you and in a way that still feels like a PAX, but these things require runway. Our rationale: with things being this complicated, why not tell everyone all at once?

Let’s just say the quiet part out loud: if COVID-19 remains a major barrier to safely gathering at one of our shows, we won’t do it or we will take it virtual. As much as we miss, even crave, the togetherness and magic of a PAX, we will not put attendees, exhibitors, or our guests at risk for the sake of an event if things aren’t on the up and up.

Now, on to the good news! If things progress positively then there’s a good chance that we would be able to put on live events in the summer and later half of the year.

In that optimistic scenario our new event calendar for 2021 will be:

PAX East will take place June 3 - 6, 2021

PAX West will take place September 3 - 6, 2021

PAX Aus will have more info coming soon

PAX Unplugged will take place December 10 - 12, 2021

Unfortunately, because of what would have been the prospective timeline in early next year we won’t be able to put together a PAX South in 2021, but we look forward to bringing it back for you in 2022. We are also working with our team in Australia and the Australian government and will have more updates on PAX Aus’s 2021 show date in the next few weeks.

Expect badges, panel announcements, exhibitor updates, and the like to arrive in the new year, generally closer to the respective shows - and you can always follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more regular updates.

Whatever form PAX East, West, and Unplugged take in 2021, please know that we are dedicated to bringing you all the community, content, and competition we’ve become known for, while continuing to create space for new, up-and-coming, and marginalized voices in gaming. “Welcome Home” isn’t just a slogan to us; we make our home every year in Boston, Seattle, Melbourne, San Antonio, and Philly - and it’s our job to make sure that we make that home safe.


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Friday, December 18, 2020

Deep D&D Discounts on Amazon - Art & Arcana for 23.37 (and more )

There are some deep discounts on Dungeons & Dragons related releases over at Amazon.

Art & Arcana, the book of D&D history via the art of D&D, is reduced to a 23.37 after coupon for the hardcover. (list price 50 bucks).

Heroes' Feast: The Official D&D Cookbook, is reduced to 14.99 from 35 bucks. This is a new release from October 2020.

As of the time I am typing this, both books arrive before Christmas if you have Amazon Prime.

This is a special promotion, and both books are also linked to here: https://amzn.to/3amYyUg. You must go to the Art & Arcana page to get the coupon for the additional discount.

The following are free in Kindle format if you have Kindle unlimited.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

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Thursday, December 17, 2020

Project North Moor - An Attempt to Save the Home JRR Tolkien wrote The Hobbit on the LotR In

I still remember my first exposure to The Lord of the Rings. My friend Kenny, the same one that introduced me to AD&D, read The Fellowship of the Ring for school, and then afterwards lent me his copy.

I was hooked.

Project North Moor is an attempt to save, restore and preserve JRR Tolkien's home, his home during the years he wrote The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Watch the video. It is certainly worth your time.

https://www.projectnorthmoor.org/

Heck, The Tavern is in for $25. It's a bargain for the enjoyment Tolkien's work has given me over the years.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

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Wednesday, December 16, 2020

OSR Christmas 2020 Kicks Off Tonight @ 8 PM Eastern on the Talking Crit Livestream w/ Bad Mike and Tenkar - Special Guest JoetheLawyer

Tonight at 8 PM Eastern we are kicking off OSR Christmas 2020 on the Talking Crit Livestream, with special guest JoetheLawyer.

-00YWe will be giving away 2 $100 DTRPG gift certificates randomly to two commenters on the YouTube Livestream. If we get to 200 subscribers to the channel before we go live tonight, I'll throw in an additional $50 DTRPG gift certificate on top of the 2 $100 gift certificates as a third gift. As I type this, we are at 191 subscribers.

Can't watch live? Don't fret! There will be many more opportunities to be gifted during the 12 Days of OSR Christmas here at the blog as well as for listeners of the podcast, and probably another night or two on the Livestream.

 The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

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Don't forget to subscribe to The Tavern's weekly Newsletter! We currently have 162 subscribers.               When we hit 200 subscribers, I'll award 2 random subscribers a $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate.   

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

D&D Movie News - Chris Pine (Capt Kirk in the new Star Trek Movies) Will Star

While I'm not a huge fan of the new Star Trek movies (they aren't horrible, they just aren't Star Trek), I thought that Pine was a decent pick for Kirk.

Choosing Chris Pine to star in the new D&D movie at least shows that the powers that believe in the project. It gives me hope.

You can read the full article here:

Is Chris Pine more of a lawful paladin or a neutral rogue? Deadline reports that the Wonder Woman and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement actor has closed a deal to star in the Dungeons & Dragons movie, which means we’ll finally have an answer to this very important question.

 The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on AnchorYouTube
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Don't forget to subscribe to The Tavern's weekly Newsletter! We currently have 162 subscribers.            When we hit 200 subscribers, I'll award 2 random subscribers a $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate.   


Monday, December 14, 2020

Kickstarter - Knock! (OSR Zine)

 


I love me a good OSR zine. When the zine is the size of many zines in page count, I'm intrigued. Then I read the list of those involved and the I found myself backing before I had the chance to think otherwise. Such is Knock!

We made KNOCK! the messy, stuffed to the gills bric-à-brac we wanted. The book that earns its place on the easy-to-reach part of your gaming shelves. Now, we need you to make the inaugural, proof of concept issue of KNOCK! Magazine a thing that exists in the physical realm. You know, the world of air, earth, dice, and unhealthy snacks.

This first issue is 212 pages (A5 format, slightly bigger than digest size: 5.9’ x 8.25’) in beautiful full colour, printed on quality paper (coated 130 gr, with a cover on coated 300 gr). 

It has everything you’d want from an old school slash adventure gaming publication: articles about the history of Dungeons & Dragons, reflections about genre and gameplay, some clever rules, a bunch of maps, tons of random tables and lists, 7 new classes, 7 new monsters, and 3 complete adventures. If you’re reading this, some of the names below will ring a bell, or five: Emmy Allen, Benjamin Baugh, Joe Brogzin, Caleb Burks, Brooks Dailey, Nicolas Dessaux, Paolo Greco,  James Holloway, Anthony Huso, Arnold K, Ethan Lefevre, Gabor Lux, Bryce Lynch, Fiona Maeve Geist, Chris McDowall, Ben Milton, Gavin Norman, Patrick Ollson, Graphite Prime, Stuart Robertson, Jack Shear, Jason Sholtis, Skullfungus, Sean Stone, Chris Tamm, Daniel Sell, and Vagabundork.

And you’ll recognise some of the artists too: Ivan Caceres, Didier Guiserix, Matthew Houston, Christophe Johnston, Li-An, Dyson Logos, Evlyn M, Tim Molloy, Luka Rejec, Michael Sheppard, Jason Sholtis, Dan Spencer, and Niklas Wistedt. We’ve used their art as inspiration for some fancy, bold page design.


About $31 for print and PDF (plus shipping ). 19bucks for just the PDF.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on AnchorYouTube
or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Tavern's weekly Newsletter! We currently have 162 subscribers. When we hit 200 subscribers, I'll award 2 random subscribers a $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate.   


Sunday, December 13, 2020

Gift-Giving Around the Gaming Table

 

Gift-Giving Around the Gaming Table
Now that Chrismahanukwanzika is just a couple weeks away....and yes, I actually use this term, more ironically than anything (I like to offend everyone equally this time of year).....you might be wondering what to get for your gaming group this time of year.

I can try to make suggestions, but I don't know your group and your fellow players, so a) take these suggestions with a grain of salt and b) maybe take more go heart suggestions of not what to get.

1st off, the best thing I can recommend is something picked out special for your players. I know, this is a huge "Duh" things, but let me step it back a bit and specify that this special pick is NOT directly gaming related. This is an important distinction because grabbing some gaming gear can actually backfire a bit. If you've got a dice junkie in your group it makes sense to buy them some dice, right? Yeah....no. You buy some Chessex dice and then find out they prefer Gamescience dice. You get the Gamescience dice and no, they only want to use translucent purple ones. What about a cool mini of their PC? Yeah.....thanks, but no thanks...."that's not how I envision my PC" or "Great, another mini I need to paint." What I suggest as far as gaming-gear is more generic-type stuff. If you know they like to use a certain kind of pencil (I like to use .9mm metal engineer pencils, for example) or a certain type of notebook, that's the kind of thing that can make a good gift.

That's maybe a bit on the easy side. Stepping up your gift-giving a bit might be making or having made some custom gaming gear, like a dice-rolling-zone (DRZ) or a storage box. If you have access to quality leather/wood, and the appropriate tools/skills, go nuts. One year I was able to go to my local hobby store and purchase some inexpensive wooden boxes. Some sanding, staining, and sealing....then lining with stiff cut leather and I had some nice little storage boxes that could double as a DRZ. It wasn't a Christmas gift, but I was able to get a nice wooden storage box for a Scotch bottle (thanks to working in a Liquor Store) and make one of these for Mrs. Tenkar. I've seen great (and easy) dice bags made of leather and/or felt, custom coasters, and even some custom dice towers. Now if you don't have the resources, motivation, or inspiration to do this work yourself there is always the option of farming it out. Etsy is a good choice and I've seen one enterprising GM hire the services of a mini-painter to have PC minis (of the player's choice) painted up as a gift. If you want something customized though.....for the likes of Etsy it might be too late.

A 3rd idea, is one of those things I'm normally not a fan of giving in general: gift cards. Not just any gift cards, although if you've got a Starbucks snob in your group that could be an easy choice. No, I suggest you try to get a gift card/certificate to your Favorite Local Game Store (FLGS). This way you get to support a valuable resource for the gaming community and your recipient can get something they actually want/need....maybe a bit more on that later.

If, like me, you don't have a local group, but an online group.....getting a FLGS gift card/certificate might require some extra legwork, or you can get a virtual one from the likes of DriveThruRPG. You could also give a gift certificate to the likes of HeroForge (let them make their own mini).

In general, as I might have alluded to earlier, I would avoid gifts of special "stuff" that people tend to get picky/choosy about. The best I can do is suggest you think if you'd like a gift that was a little bit off from your preferred thing. I mentioned my specific pencil preference, but would I get worked up if I didn't get a 0.9 Pentel GraphicGear 500? No, but if I got a mini of my PC that I was expected to use at the table....probably. OK, I'm overblowing things by stating "worked up". This might be just me, but I'd avoid gifting food items/snacks as well, unless the recipient is known for liking something specific. If they're big Pocky fans and you can get some unusual flavors not normally available.....go for it. A generic plate of brownies like everyone else is getting....between holidays and COVID I don't need more food to shove in my face.

In the end though, this time of year is...or at least should be...more about the people in our lives and less about the stuff. A gift given is far less important than the shared experiences and time spent together at the table. People tend to undervalue what I truly think is the most valuable resource we have....the one thing we can never get back: the gift of time.

I hope you get more opportunities to share the gift of time around the gaming table not just this season, but for all of next year. Hopefully 2021 will be a much better year for gaming.


Saturday, December 12, 2020

Gamers, Avoid Being Fleeced for Your Health

As many of you know, Rach and I do installments of Gamer's Health on the Tavern Chat Podcast on Friday Nights. It's an honest view of the health challenges Rach and I face and how we are attempting to change our habits to improve our health - physical, mental, and emotional.

We make no bones about the fact that our experiences may not reflect yours, and hope to be as much an inspiration for positive change as we are examples of such change. Everyone's path to improved health is individual to that person,

You also probably know I'm fairly well known for exposing "Wayward Kickstarters" and fraudsters within our corner of the hobby.

I'm suspecting we are seeing an intersection of these two aspects of my passions.

How much is your health worth? When someone offers to help you with a program to a healthier life that's geared around your hobby, it probably seems too good to be true. Of course, it really isn't geared towards the RPG hobby, but the video gaming hobby, and there is much overlap between the two hobbies, and the health challenges experienced by a large segment of these communities are well known.

Remember when Kickstarters promised the world and often had nothing to show? Well, I've found that to be true in the gamers' health niche.

A program that promised amazing results (and I was likely targeted due to the weekly Gamer's Health Podcast episodes) was introduced to me by someone that friended me on Facebook. I have a fairly high profile in our corner of the hobby and accept most friend requests that aren't obviously porn spam. 

The sales pitch started as a soft pitch, and initially, I thought I was going to be given some generic advice. But once the "marketer" thought I was hooked, the presentation began and the script was obvious, and the "you can't put a price on improved health" told me that the price was likely high.

$3,200 bucks high. For a program that had very little to show for itself upfront, and was reluctant to actually link their website.

Key take away? You can use the Nintendo Switch to turn exercise into a game. So, for 300 bucks and the cost of a game or two, I can replicate much of the program for 10% of the cost.

Sure, you need to motivate yourself. My motivation would be saving 90% and improving my health. I don't need to pay others to motivate me.

As gamers, there is a segment of society at large that thinks we are easy marks with disposable income waiting to be fleeced. I prefer to save that money for gaming ;)



Friday, December 11, 2020

OSR Christmas is Right Around the Corner

'Tis the season for OSR Christmas. Seriously, it has been a shitty year, what with Covid shutting down the world and my own unrelated health issues. What better way to end such a year than with some OSR Christmas.

I'm still locking down some publishers/gifters (with some solid regulars already signed up), but I can tell you what I'm putting into the gift pool this year - at least $500 in DTRPG Gift Certificates, ranging from $25 to $100 each.

Now, not every day will be hosted here at TenkarsTavern.com. Some will be hosted on the podcast side of things, on the Tavern Chat Podcast. At least one will be hosted on the Talking Crit Livestream next Wednesday at 8 PM Eastern. That will kick things off, and yes, OSR Christmas will run from December 15th, 2020 thru Three Kings Day, January 6th, 2021. There will be 12 days of gift-giving in that time frame.

If you are a publisher or potential gift giver and you wish to participate in the good cheer of giveaways, email me at tenkarsDOTtavernAT that gmail thing with OSR Christmas in the subject.

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Don't forget to subscribe to The Tavern's weekly Newsletter! We currently have 160 subscribers. When we hit 200 subscribers, I'll award 2 random subscribers a $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate.