Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Bundle of Holding - Stygian Fox Cthulhu


Call of Cthulhu is perhaps my favorite game that I haven't run in over 25 years. I own many adventures for the system for the sheer joy of reading them. The Stygian Fox Cthulhu Bundle is a collection of CoC adventures that are new to my eyes. I'll be enjoying this.
Investigator! This all-new Stygian Fox Cthulhu Bundle presents tabletop roleplaying scenarios and sourcebooks of realistic horror from Stygian Fox Publishing. Though written for the Call of Cthulhu RPG rules, these fiercely imaginative (and uncomfortable) investigations range beyond the Mythos and across many times and locales. Caution: Not for children. 
For just US$7.95 you get all four titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $42) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including The Book of Contemporary Magical Places, the modern-day CoC scenario I Want to Play, the beautiful Cartomancy 23: Lovecraft Country Map Pack collection, and an unusual play aid: Afterlives, a deck of print-and-cut cards that describe your Investigator's ultimate post-scenario fate. 
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $19.75, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with five more scenarios and sourcebooks worth an additional $60, including Nakuko (set in 1990s Japan); The Dark Forest (modern-day Michigan); Thorston, the Shunned Town on the Dee and Nightmare on the Necropolis Express (both Cthulhu by Gaslight Victorian-era); and Autophagia (1920s New York).

Friday, January 24, 2020

Kickstarter - Outdoor Encounter Cards 3 - For use with many tabletop RPGs (Phil Reed)


Holy shit! I nearly missed this the Outdoor Encounter Cards 3 Kickstarter by Phil Reed. ALL (and I do mean ALL) of Phil's Kickstarters have been must-haves and on time (if not early). I expect more of the same with Phil's latest project.
Outdoor Encounters are poker-sized, 330 gsm game cards that the GM may use to randomly generate an outdoor event in any fantasy roleplaying game. The cards are generic in nature and not designed for any one game system. Experienced GMs will have no problems incorporating the encounters into the game of their choice. 
YOU DO NOT NEED THE FIRST OR SECOND SETS TO USE THESE NEW CARDS!

These cards may be either used randomly -- ask the players to draw a card when the party is traveling across the countryside -- or, instead, the GM may select a card when looking to throw a quick encounter at the players. 
Outdoor Encounter cards are not intended for novice gamemasters. The encounters described on these cards do not include monster or character statistics, game mechanics, or detailed instructions for using each card. Outdoor Encounter cards are, in a sense, adventure seeds with a slight twist. These cards are only useful once you've applied some effort to the suggested encounters.
14 bucks for the deck in print plus PDF, 4 bucks for PDF only.


Thursday, January 23, 2020

Deal of the Day - GM's Miscellany: Village Backdrops I (5e)


The GM's Miscellany series of releases from Raging Swan Press are simply priceless. Ignore the system indicated - even their 5e books work just as well with the OSR and other rulesets as do their system-neutral titles.

Today's Deal of the Day is GM's Miscellany: Village Backdrops I (5e). Normally 12 bucks, its on sale until tomorrow morning for 4.80.
Village Backdrops are short, richly detailed supplements that each present a single village ready to insert into almost any home campaign. Perfect for use as a waystop on the road to adventure, as an adventure site themselves or as a PC’s home, Village Backdrop present the details so the busy GM can focus on crafting exciting, compelling adventures. 
This GM’s Miscellany collects together twelve Village Backdrops, along with bonus, never seen before material, together in one place. 
GM’s Miscellany: Village Backdrops is the work of many talented designers and features the following villages: 
  • Creighton Broadhurst: Ashford, Coldwater, Kingsfell, Lanthorn, Longbridge, Thornhill, Wellswood
  • Jeff Gomez: Bleakflat, Suurin
  • Richard Green: Black Wyvern
  • Marc Radle: White Moon Cove
  • Mike Welham: Shroudhaven
This product is a Dual Format PDF. The downloadable ZIP file contains two versions, one optimised for printing and use on a normal computer and one optimised for use on a mobile device such as an iPad.
Yes, that is an affiliate link above. Keep your bartender in fresh beer and hot lunches by using The Tavern's affiliate links :) 

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Australian Brushfire Relief Charity Bundles at DriveThruRPG


DriveThruRPG has a variety of charity bundles to support the Australian Brushfire Relief. Personally, I find the Fantasy Core & Settings and the Fantasy Supplements bundles very tempting, but I also find I already own much that is included ;)

You can find the Australian Brushfire Relief Charity Bundles at this link. If nothing else, browse the bundles to see if anything tempts you. The cause is a good one.


Bundle prices range from 9.99 to 29.99

Yep, that is an affiliate link above. Affiliate links keep The Tavern afloat (it being a "backwater" Tavern and all ;)

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Kickstarter - Return to Dark Tower

An epic fantasy game pitting 1-4 heroes against an intelligent, malevolent tower.
Like many, I have fond memories of the original Dark Tower. I never owned the game, but I had friends that had it and it was played quite often in the early and mid-80s. In our imagination, we were all Conan, exploring a continent, defeating foes and stealing treasure, and it was grand. Alas, I never owned the game myself and except for an online version, I haven't played it in well over 30 years.

Well, it's back - kinda sorta. Now it integrates your smartphone to the gameplay. Here's the video:


I must say, I am sorely tempted to back the Return to Dark Tower Kickstarter, although it certainly ain't cheap. 125 for the basic game, 235 for all the bells and whistles. Its already surpassed 2,675,000 in backing. yes, that's over 2.5 million.

What are your memories of the original?

Monday, January 20, 2020

Frog God Games is Looking for Your Thoughts on What You Would Like in the Upcoming Swords & Wizardry Boxed Set



Frog God Games has asked me to ask you what you would like to see in the upcoming Swords & Wizardry Boxed Set. Yes, your thoughts and opinions matter.

The S&W Boxed Set will be digest sized and consist of multiple booklets, with extra room built into the box for additional booklets and such.

Besides the rules, which will mostly be a re-editing of the current Swords & Wizardry Complete ruleset, what else would you like in your box?

As for me, I'd like the following (in no particular order):

- A digest-sized GM screen. For me, this is huge. Regular GM screens are too tall and block my view of the players at my table
- Adventures. Preferably at least one intro adventure and some examples of adventures for other level ranges
- A print of the cover art. Hey, one can always hope ;)
- Rules for making magic items, potions, and scrolls

What do you want to find in the new Swords & Wizardry Boxed Set? Tell us below.


Sunday, January 19, 2020

Deal of the Day - Castles & Crusades Players Handbook 7th Printing



Castles & Crusades was my return to gaming. I found the C&C Players Handbook first printing on the old Buy.com website and I was immediately hooked. I wound up buying copies for the others in my old face to face gaming group, and giving gaming gifts out each year when we meet in the spring has become a tradition.

My, how the Trolls and Castles & Crusades RPG have come far over the years since. Today's Deal of the Day is none other than the Castles & Crusades Players Handbook 7th Printing. Normally 20 bucks in PDF it is on sale through tomorrow morning for 10 bucks - 50% off.
We’ve moved to the 7th printing of the Castles & Crusades Players Handbook. A pillar of the table top RPG industry, Castles & Crusades embodies the spirit of the old-school gamer with the easy to use modern mechanics. The Players Handbook has all you need to get started in a wild ride of adventure! 
It’s easy to learn attribute-based rules system allows players to choose among 13 archetypal character classes and 7 races to create their characters. Spells, equipment, fast-paced combat rules, and all essential information needed to play a game of Castles & Crusades is in this book.
Yep, that's an affiliate link above. Affiliate links keep the taps flowing and the heat on at The Tavern during those cold winter months.