I'm guessing we'll be seeing much more Drizzt in the near future. Having Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) do the voiceover is many levels of awesome. I'm psyched for more and I thought I was over and done with Drizzt and the Forgotten Realms fiction a quarter of a century ago.
Possibly the best 4 minutes you'll spend on Youtube.
If this is the quality we can expect from the forthcoming D&D movie or streaming series I'm all in.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Joseph Bloch has a solid library of OSR releases in his catalogue, but probably the most universally useful release of Joe's is the Random Terrain and Encounter Generator.
Although the Random Terrain and Encounter Generator is written for Joe's What If2e Ruleset, Adventures Dark & Deep, it is not only compatible with any OSR ruleset but should work equally as well with Pathfinder or D&D 5e.
A comprehensive system for creating and stocking wilderness and dungeon environments.
Within these pages you’ll find rules for randomly generating terrain in wilderness, including settlements and ruins, as well as random encounter tables you can either use as-is or use as inspiration for your own encounter tables.
Encounter tables are provided for every combination of eight different terrain types, three different climates, and two options for civilization or wilderness are given, as well as tables for prehistoric and water-born encounters. All in all, that's 83 encounter tables for wilderness, dungeon, and the Ethereal and Astral planes. All use the monsters described in the ADVENTURES DARK AND DEEP™ Bestiary, but are quite suitable for any old-school RPG.
In addition, a complete system for generating a random dungeon is presented, as well as ten comprehensive encounter tables for encounters from kobolds to demon princes. Three new monsters are also included to round out both dragon and human encounters.
Plus you will also find a complete system for creating a random urban landscape, with 24 different city district types, special features, and random encounters designed for districts in both day and night.
All are suitable for the game master who wants to run a game using random rules or to use the tables for quick inspiration, or can also be used for solo play without the need for a game master at all.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Pathfinder 2e released in August of 2019. In July of 2020, Paizo had their first Pathfinder 2e Humble Bundle. Now, In May of 2021, they have their second Humble Bundle for Pathfinder 2e less than 2 years after launching the ruleset. It's Crazy Eddie level of insane ;)
One hell of a way to kill off your sale of Pathfinder 2e PDFs, when your customers know new PDFs will be available dirt cheap in a year or so.
The current Pathfinder 2e Humble Bundle adds in a Print copy of the Pathfinder 2e Bestiary for 35 bucks, and that includes ALL of the PDFs that will be shown above and below. Currently, a print copy of the 2e Bestiary is 49.99 at the Paizo store and 37.49 for a "non-mint" copy.
The PDFs of the Six-Part Extinction Curse Adventure Path are 17.99 apiece at the Paizo store.
I am sorely tempted to grab the Pathfinder Second Edition Bestiary Humble Bundle at 25 bucks, not for the rules, but the OGL Bestiary that I can crib from, the adventure path, the map packs, and more.
Somehow it seems like a desperate cash grab by a failing company, but who am I to turn down the wish of a failing company? I'm sure my 25 bucks will return my investment many times over.
About the only thing Paizo hasn't done to raise cash is to release its ample library of Adventure Paths for 5th Edition D&D. One can only hope, as that would make for easy conversion of such to OSR use ;)
A huge tip of the hat to The Taverner that gave me the heads up on this Humble Bundle. :)
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
I'm pleased to announce that joining myself and Bad Mike on the Taking CritLivestream tonight will be none other than Alex Kammer. Most of us know Alex as the main man behind the "runs like clockwork" GameHole Convention held every November (pandemic willing), but he also own a gaming themed pub, writes D&D adventures, is an avid collector of gaming releases and so much more.
Join us tonight at 8 PM Eastern as Mike & I sit down with Alex on Talking Crit.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Zucati Dice & Crayons / Holmage Dice Boxed Set is a release that hadn't come up on my radar, and if it wasn't for a long time Taverner PMing me the link, I'd still be clueless. That being said, I'm not 100% sure of what exactly it is I'm seeing.
Note, the set clocks in at 45 bucks plus shipping.
The cover is a spot-on homage to the original Holmes Basic Set without being a copy:
I can find nothing on this "Dice & Crayons" release aside from the Etsy page. (edit - it's also available on the publisher's website at:
Note, this is not a stand-alone ruleset, but an adventure generator to use the set of Zucati dice with.
Each limited edition boxed set is serialized and is 1/1000.
All serial numbers will be distributed randomly with no choice for number selection.
Boxed set pictured is #1 of 1000.
Your box will be a different number.
The Holmage dice
These iconic dice pay homage to the most beloved set of dice ever created. The original “Holmes” dice were included in a boxed set of gaming materials made in 1977 – 1980.
These polyhedral dice are perfectly proportioned and updated with easy to read numbers, sharp edges, and modern durable materials.
This new set features the original 5 dice in the same colors, but not the same numbering, updated to modern numbering and also includes the D10 and D% as included dice in other colors. \
All primary colors, all raw.
In modern 100% injection molded acrylic.
Same quality and standards as our first run V1 Perfect Plastic Dice.
Includes original box art, original character sheets and an original map set with adventure generator table.
Named "Holmage" set in honor of the original Holmes dice.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Gabor Lux is one of those names that's floated around the OSR since the early days, and he had articles in Fight On! and Knockspell zines. He always had great stuff to share, and Castle Xyntillan is no exception.
Castle Xyntiillan is Gabor's take on a funhouse megadungeon. While certainly not for everyone and every group, I've enjoyed Joe Bloch's Castle of the Mad Archmage as well as Frog God Game's take on Tegal Manor.
A 136-page adventure module for 1st to 6th level characters, Castle Xyntillan is a a funhouse megadungeon for the Swords&Wizardry game (and broadly compatible with other old-school systems). The module describes the three massive levels of the eponymous haunted castle inhabited by the remnants of a reclusive and eccentric family, from the soaring tower of the Donjon to the inky depths of the Oubliette (and beyond). Hidden rooms, secret passageways and long-forgotten sub-sections complete a collection of the dangerous and macabre from the gothic imagination – providing ample opportunities for exploration, confrontation, and subterfuge.
Castle Xyntillan has been designed to be versatile, open-ended, complex, and accessible. It is above all, a fantastic place – built on surrealism and dream logic, yet a place which makes a certain amount of sense if you look at it sideways. It should be entertaining, fascinating, and always a bit mysterious. Whether you would like a dungeon for one-off expeditions and convention play, or repeated forays and full campaigns, Castle Xyntillan should suit the demands and particulars of your campaign!
This electronic edition includes the following:
The PDF version of the module, with cartography by Rob Conley, and illustrations by Peter Mullen, Denis McCarthy, and Stefan Poag.
GM and player maps of the module, as well as a set of virtual tabletop maps, with helpful setup instructions by cartographer Rob Conley for Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds.
A GM’s Worksheet, used to track time and characters as the company explores the depths of Xyntillan. Adapted from Dungeons and Companies, a Hungarian retro-clone, and designed by Istvan Boldog-Bernad and Andras Szabo, this is a highly useful play aid for dungeon scenarios.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
North Texas RPG Con is just a couple weeks away and since Erik is attending, and likes to do the video/podcast thing with Bad Mike, you might have reached your fill about the event already.
Maybe not.
Don't worry, this isn't a post so much about the convention so my 12 13 readers can read on if not interested in this convention, but I will add my 2cp and simply say that if you are in a position to attend this convention and you aren't....your loss. Small con, big guests....I bet that NTRPG is like what the first handful of GenCons were like....well as close at it could be in this day and age.
Anyway, my point that I'm laboring to get to, evidently, is that I know I'm going to a convention in a couple of weeks, as a player, and I still have a lot of prep to do. Realistically I know all I need to do is pack my tablet, computer, RPG HDD, and my dice box and I'll be good to go.....10' packing tops. Maybe toss in some game books if I'm feeling froggy........even though I have PDFs of everything I need, I keep buying or printing out rulebooks 'because evidently I prefer the physicality of them at the table. Maybe I just like having multiple books "open" and that's harder to do on a tablet?
No, my big prep for the convention is trying to figure out, and then make, some GM "Thank You" gifts. Most of my convention experience is still as a GM and tournament organizer, not as a player. I can most definitely tell you that being a GM at a convention is largely a thankless task. Sure most players will express a simple "thanks" at the table, and a couple might shake your hand.
Now, there is nothing wrong with this, BUT.....there is a lot more to GMing that simply leading a table game for three or four hours. The average GM, well the average GM that cares about having a good game, easily puts in at least three or four hours for every hour at the table, even if they are running a pre-printed adventure. Conventions and game companies are quite a bit hit or miss in showing GMs any love as well.
Yes, many conventions do give free badges to GMs, but they usually make you work for it. That $50 badge, well maybe $85 or so now (depending on the convention) usually want a good 12-16 hours of GMing to qualify. Sixteen hours of table-time for an $50 badge, or twelve hours for an $85 badge makes that work worth $3.12 to $7.08 an hour, $0.78 to $2.36 an hour if you factor in non-table time.
78¢ and hour and a couple handshakes, sign my ass up! Seriously though it isn't about money, but really the resources of time and energy. Twelve to Sixteen hours of time at a convention is a HUGE resource suck.
Don't even get me started about volunteering at a higher level than just a table GM as that involved me paying for the privilege of working.....again not to mention the time and energy suck.
No, in my experience (and I'm not just talking about my personal experience) GMs don't get enough love period. I really doubt that anything I can post will change that, but I will add a tiny bit of self-promotion in that I did make a couple of free "Thank You" cards that are available on DriveThuRPG.
What I can do, have done (although I totally dropped the ball last year), and will do, is make some small GM thank you gifts, along with the thank you card. A couple years ago I did some small boxes (that could double as a dice tray) and some coasters. Both were just purchased from the hobby store and tweaked. I like the idea of something small and useful.
This year I'm thinking of some handmade wooden/leather dice trays and/or die rolling tower. Now I'm not much of a wood worker, but I'm learning, so the die rolling tower will probably be a bit much for me to pull off. Actually I could easily make some dice towers, but I mean dice towers in the style I want to make them, not what I can manage.
I've got a couple of weeks to get these GM Thank You's squared away, but I'll have to get started this week for certain, unless someone here at the Tavern has a better idea....and no, drinks at/after the game don't count because I'm already down for that (I tend to bring drinks to the game already).
Classes within the megadungeon (OSE Classic)
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Adventuring Party by SOLIDToM
Having a well mixed group of classes is essential for survival within a
megadungeon. Each of these classes must fill a role...
Felltower, Grapples, and Blink Other
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One more post on *Blink* and grapples.
What about *Blink Other*?
I have no problem with *Blink Other* getting someone out of a grapple. The
spell is quite...
Gary Con 15
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March 23-26, 2023 Gary Con 15 took place in Lake Geneva, WI. I didn’t take
as many pictures this year. What I Ran I signed up to run 4 games of 4
hours eac...
Monstrous Compendium of Minecraft Creatures
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I didn't expect this one, but to be honest, I don't hate it. Earlier today
WotC and Mojang Studios announced that D&D will be crossing over with
Minecraft....
Blue Period - WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY??!!??
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I watched this anime and I had a little spastic meltdown, which I will now
inflict on you.
I will start by describing it
So it starts with this prota...
Review: Blue Flame, Tiny Stars
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[image: Blue Flame, Tiny Stars by Stephen Wendell]
I was on Mastodon a while back (and I really do need to do more over there)
and I struck up a conversat...
The Terrible Salt
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For a generation, the tides at Vincha stopped completely. What was once an
enormous tidal flat was lost under bitter waters. Now they have returned,
and ...
Miskatonic Monday #186: Swamp Song
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Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of
books for *Call of Cthulhu* under the Miskatonic University Library
Associati...
Peril Below the Pile
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By Louis Kahn Starry Knight Press OSR Levels 4-6 The Pile is a lone hill
which overlooks the forest village of Naofahill, which lies on the far
eastern bor...
New Release - Swords & Wizardry Treasure Generator
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*tl;dr:* Stephen Faure and I are releasing a fork of the original Swords &
Wizardry Treasure Generator created by Brian Ramsay (foont.net).
Our version ...
Campaigns I’d like to run one day
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Old-School Essentials Sword & Sorcery West Marches campaign set in Kaendor,
exploring the ancient ruins of the northern forests which have only
recently be...
Magical Magic That Feels Magical
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*14. Heart Of The Beast: Cast this spell on a slain monster’s heart (or
reasonably equivalent organ or portion), then consume it. At any time, you
may ...
Warsmith's Words: March to Victory
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Welcome back to the Vault! I can't believe it's over a month since my last
post; time is flying by these days. Whilst the blog has been quiet, my
hobby ...
How to Handle Parley as an OSR DM
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One of the most unforgiveable things that mainstream D&D has ever done was
to make Diplomacy a skill.
Weapon skills and knowledge skills, sure. We can't...
Anthem, G.I. Joe Trooper
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Time for me to start putting some actual stats to figures I plan on playing
with. I'll get to make up some characters in the process. Win win
win...win...
Reviews Again, the never ending battle vs new stuff
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Finally finished this
*Advanced Adventures Compendium Four 💓💓💓💓*Not quite as good as some
previous ones but still very good. Was on LuLu and I've...
More Thoughts on 5e and D&D
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Real life has again stepped into the path of our gaming sessions which have
stalled - but I'm kind of ok with that.
You see, as an old-school DM running ...
Universal Creature Profile
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It was fun playing around with another type of Universal Profile last week,
so let's keep it rolling. Can we make this work for creatures?
*UNIVERSAL CR...
Dragon Magazine's Banner Year...
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1982; it was a banner year for AD&D, and a banner year for yours truly,
both thanks to Dragon Magazine. Not only did its awesome Out on a Limb
feature co...
Sci-Fi: Unexpected Desirable Outcome
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Paul Pepera
Unexpected Desirable Outcome
They’d let him name his ship. He picked “Hope”, after the virtue and after
his sister. Translating Hope into Gal...
pledge allegiance
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*Booty and the Beasts* is a 1979 monster and treasure book from Fantasy Art
Enterptises. Art by Erol Otus, text by Otus, Mathias Genser, and Paul
Reiche ...
Arnesonian Time Keeping
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The original Blackmoor game as Dave Arneson ran it between 1971 and 1975
may be described as a living world campaign. - that is, the world moves
through ...
Dark world
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While I'm still working on my greyhawk saltmarsh campaign, I did have an
idea the other night for a different campaign.
I recently got the fifth edition ...
Monster Manual (AD&D 1e) (1977) - Third Printing
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From the front cover:
"An illustrated compendium of monsters: Aerial Servant to Zombie"
From the back cover:"*OVER 350 MONSTERS*
This book provides a com...
Flux Space
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I’ve been inspired by my time working with Gus on Tombrobbers of the
Crystal Frontier, and want to play at making something similar: a big intro
adventure ...
Free GM Resource: Syrinscape 2nd Look
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[image: Free GM Resource: Syrinscape 2nd Look]
I covered Syrinscape back in .....2013(?!). It's been just shy of a decade
and when I got an email from the...
[Review] Lost Dungeons of Tonsiborg
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Received this thing in the mail a couple days ago, purchased as part of the recent
Kickstarter. It was originally only offered as a deluxe hardcover
"col...
On the Final 48 hours
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Sinless has just been amazing guys.
If you haven't checked it out, you should back now. Campaign ends Friday.
It's around 700 people, which is enough fo...
Harnworld in Hardback Kickstarter
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I have been a fan of Harn, both the setting and the Harnmaster rules, for a
long time. Ever since I encountered the original Harn setting folio at Games...
Beneath the Temple of Elemental Evil now in Spanish
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Hello! A while ago, Manuel Martinez offered to translate one of my ToEE
expansion modules, T5 Beneath the Temple of Elemental Evil, into Spanish. I
am plea...
Gargax's Glorious Gewgaws & Pryce's Price
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Good Day to You All!
There is no better way to start off a New Year than with -- not just one
but TWO -- brand-new, never-before-published creative, exc...
The Blade Itself
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I just finished listening to the audiobook of The Blade Itself, volume one
in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy. This was my first exposure to
his wo...
Seven Sins of RPG Writing
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The Seven Deadly Sins of RPG Writing
All these sins are relative. For example, you might find a system is your
jam that I found unusable due to complexit...
Genteel Magistrate at FenCon XVIII
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Victorious author Mike Stewart will be a guest at FenCon XVIII this weekend
at the Sheraton DFW Airport hotel, 4440 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving,
TX, ...
Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle Review
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I thought it odd when I saw big name YouTubers talking about the new
starter set WotC published, but I hadn't heard anything about it. I don't
keep up...
This is an Important Game Mechanic
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*"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good
regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does
some s$&...
Clean Your Room
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Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun
playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it
was ...
People of the World, Spice up Your Life
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I have seen the *Dune*. It’s good, but, like all “content” now, too long.
The forms of many designs are quite nice (love the costumes of the imperial
de...
My RPG Zine Trilogy is on Kickstarter!
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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...
Maximum HP 004, one week to go
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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...
Steve Jackson Interview
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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...
Undermountain Map Origins
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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...
WB:FMAG Total Print Sales
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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...
The Minotaur for Old-School Essentials
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*Minotaur*
*Requirements:* Minimum STR 9, Minimum CON 9
*Prime Requisite:* STR and CON
*Hit Dice:* 1d10
*Maximum Level:* 8
*Armor:* Leather, including shield...
WIZARDS OF POHJOLA
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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...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
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*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...
D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets
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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...
James A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Video
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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...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
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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...
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2
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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...
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.
Iain Lovecraft, 3D Sculptor
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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
doin...
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...
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...
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 ...
A Small, Quiet Plea
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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....
Don’t Sleep It’s Broken
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Expanding/editing my comments from What Makes Something Broken G+ thread:
“Broken”, for me, is anything that makes normal character choices, tactics,
or ro...
Swords & Wizardry Light-Themed Birthday Party
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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...