In prior years, DriveThruRPG has done a Halloween Pumpkin Hunt of sorts, having shoppers scour the DTRPG pages for hidden pumpkins in search of freebies. This year, there are freebies neatly grouped together and an accompanying sale.
Highlights from today's Halloween Freebie Page include Fear Itself 2e (GUMSHOE) and some seasonally appropriate soundtracks. It appears there will be new offerings daily.
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Tomb of the Savage Kings for Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC RPG), a level 2 adventure designed by Stephen Newton.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound: Reap and Sow gives an introductory adventure for players interested in visiting the Mortal Realms in Soulbound. Great for Age of Sigmar fans.
I'm not sure what larger effect the decision of Paizo's staff to unionize will have on the larger TTRPG industry (likely little if any), but the 30+ staffers at Paizo are hoping that Paizo will recognize their union.
Staff say they are “underpaid for their labor, required to live in one of the most expensive cities in the United States, and subjected to untenable crunch conditions on a regular basis”.
Most everyone in the RPG industry is underpaid for their labor, in large part because the profit margins are not as large as many would like them to be.
In any case, 30 some odd members does not make for a powerful bargaining unit. It is, however, likely, that Paizo has the largest staff of non-managerial job titles in the industry.
Interesting times.
My further thoughts are in the video below:
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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
A modern-day horror setting with an OSR feel for 2 bucks? Say it ain't so! ;)
Until tomorrow morning, Dark Streets & Darker Secrets is a mere $2 in PDF (marked down from a regular price of $10).
So, what is Dark Streets & Darker Secrets?
Dark Streets & Darker Secrets is a Street & Sorcery Rules Light Role-Playing Game with an Old School spirit, just like its predecessors: Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells and Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells.
It’s a game about modern adventures in the world we live today, only with a layer of supernatural weirdness and horror. Characters are people who have found out about the mysteries and horrors that exist in the world and have decided to do something about it, be it battle it, join it, or simply explore its possibilities in any way they see fit. They will battle evil cultists, corrupted ghosts, bloodsucking vampires, and frenzied werewolves, or maybe they will be the horrors of others. This edition of the game assumes the reader knows the principles of what role-playing games are and how they are played.
What will you get with this book? Not only you will get a complete game system for urban fantasy, action horror and street and sorcery stories, you will also find tools and generators to create cities, neighborhoods, organizations, factions, NPS, monsters, ancient and sinister artifacts, complete adventures, which can all be of great help to inspire Referees of all modern games!
So grab your leather jacket, a baseball bat and whatever you can get your hands on to put the bad monsters to rest and come explore these dark streets and unveil these darker secrets.
It's essentially Chill with an OSR chassis. :)
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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
I recently posted about The Great Supply Chain Disruption. Surprisingly to me, I've gotten ZERO updates from ANY open Kickstarters I've backed since that announcement talking about fulfillment delays that could be blamed on shipping printed books from China - and I know a few fall into that category.
So, why no updates?
I think for the bulk of them, avoiding the issue until it can't be put off any further is simply a trait of human nature. No one really enjoys negative feedback, so if you can delay it, so much the better.
Take Far West for example. Gareth has no issue with using Twitter on a damn near-daily basis but hasn't updated the Kickstarter page since July 19th, 2019. Well over two years ago.
Why would that be? Well, He did say you can ask him questions about Far West on his Far West Forums, but you can't sign up for them - the sign-up app is broken and there hasn't been a comment there since February of this year.
The thing is, comments on Kickstarter, and Indiegogo to the best of my knowledge, can't be moderated by the project creator. So, if the angry mobs of a late Kickstarter decide to engage with the creator, the creator can not control the ebb and flow of the conversation. The narrative belongs to the mob. Often a righteous mob but a mob nonetheless.
And this is why many creators don't engage on their project page when they go into the realms of the late, late, late project.
Communication is where many Kickstarters fail horribly.
I've been trying to cut back on backing Kickstarters these last few months. It's not just recent supply and delivery issues that made me decide that, but also the large number of RPG Kickstarters that I've received and have yet to read. I doubt I'm unique with this issue :)
I'm partial to the casting runes pictured above. Heck, they can double as 4-sided dice. And it's hand-made. How cool is that?
My name is David Savedge and I am a blacksmith and game designer. I have a studio and blacksmith's shop on my farm, Ravenstead.
Ravenstead is my home and family business, with smithing and metal work becoming a bigger part of what I do to provide. This current project will help better establish the workshop at Ravenstead.
When I'm not working on the farm or smithing, I'm thinking about games and gaming. I love classic tabletop role-playing games. I'm excited to share my new project with you!
I wanted to bring another unique and magical project to the gaming table or altar that involved some serious blacksmithing and pewter work!
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
Like most of us, and I know this is an assumption, I'm not just a single type of "gamer". This week a couple of new console games came out, most notably Far Cry 6 and Back 4 Blood. Now I know there are a few "I don't give a damn" eyerolls at the very mention of computer/console games, but years ago my console and RPG gaming circles overlapped, and one of the big overlaps was Left 4 Dead/Left 4 Dead 2.
Now I've been hearing that Far Cry 6 is just more of the same, for good or bad and Back 4 Blood, which I purchased, is technically is an all new game. I say technically because the creative team behind the game worked together on the Left 4 Dead games and damn, does it feel like a difficult, updated version of those games. Since it is a different game/series, the zombies are not necessarily zombies, more like a zombie-like plague or some such called the "Ridden".....I think it's a parasite. The special Ridden have new names and I keep wanting to call them by the closest L4D equivalent.
Anyway I know this is a long intro, but basically I got this new game and really wanted to link back up with the old console gaming group and once again kick some zombie Ridden ass.
So I did reach out to one guy I'm still a Facebook friend with to see if the rest of the guys still game.....I kind of dropped out when the Call of Duty games when "futuristic" and I refer current to past-era CoD games. I think I'm the only one who got the pre-order.
Now I'm not sure the game is worth the $100 or so for the "Ultimate" edition, but if you want to play an updated L4D......my gamertag is "Face275"
TL;DR I need "friends" to play Back 4 Blood with online.
Now I have a different console gaming/friends group for a different game......the Borderlands series. I'm a huge fan of all the games but one of my favorites was a DLC for Borderlands 2 called "Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep"
Now if you haven't played this game or the DLC, the whole thing is essentially a game-within-a-game. Tiny Tina was a ancillary character in Borderlands 2 that is a little "explosives happy" and a lot deranged. In the DLC she is running a table-top game of "Bunkers and Badasses" that is an over-the-top homage to D&D. It's a great fusion of two disparate games, with plenty of puns and adult-ish humor tossed in.
My problem is that my circle of friends that play Borderlands are on the newest game and its DLCs, and you can really only play Assault on Dragon Keep so many times (odds are 3x per character).......
....unless you manage to pick up a copy of Bunkers & Badasses. Yep, the folks at Nerdvana Games is flexing the mashup the other way. I purchased a pre-order and while, like pretty much everything these days, production is running behind, allegedly the game has been produced and is on it's way to the fulfillment center for a mid-October arrival.
With any luck I will again get a couple of my gaming circle to align!
Phony Stark
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Elon Musk is a tool for so many reasons (not just because of this). He's
the modern day Thomas Edison and I mean that in all the worst ways. I saw
this sta...
The Witch for ShadowDark - Esme Valethorne
-
My new *The Witch - Book of Shadows* for ShadowDark features a couple of
new iconic characters/NPCs: Larina Nix, Amaranth Lilis, and Esme
Valethorne. The...
Cult of the Sky Titans
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By Into the Weird Blue YonderSelf PublishedKnaveLevel 1 A blight creeps
across the land. Trees blacken and die. People disappear in the night, only
to retu...
The Rules Made Me Do It
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There are essays about this, so I'm not about to add my own to the mix.
Instead, just a couple of thoughts that always come to mind when I think of
this ...
Dorastor: Land of Doom (1993)
-
From the web:
A 128-page campaign supplement, including a 16-page reference and handout
insert, plus a full-color map. Any organism is possible in this f...
Crowdsourced Dungeon: Blue Sky Temple
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I joined Bluesky last month and decided to pretend that it's actually G+
and the year is 2015.
This means that I'll be trying to have conversations, bu...
Twelve Module Ideas
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Apropos of nothing, here are 12 ideas for modules with one-sentence
descriptors. If you like this post, write your own variant.
1. The Tophet of the Gia...
Games, Grinches, and Good Ideas...
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As we enter the holiday season, yours truly can't help but remember what
was doubtless the most important (and consequential) Christmas gift to ever
grac...
More d20 damage
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I have spent several posts considering making a single roll for attack and
damage, and even more posts considering Critical Hits.
But what if we combine bo...
TCT - Maybe going back?
-
Sometimes I just hate our hobby. Many of us are creative types and we
generate so much amazing things that my attention I end up getting lost and
halting a...
Soft-Heads - VotE Development
-
The friendly Neurovore familiar to so many is only one expression of a much
more complex life-form which, over the course of its existence, takes on
many...
More VTT questions for Felltower
-
I've had a little more time, so I've been spending it on learning my VTT of
choice more in order to enhance Felltower. I found a good source of tokens,
so ...
November ‘24 In Review
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Fuck. Just…. Fuck. We're all going to be dealing with the negative
consequences of this election for years, if not decades. My wish is that
everyone who ...
City of Scorn
-
City of Scorn is one of the centerpieces in my current Shadowdark Campaign.
I've never spent the time to draw each sector. Each of those black squares
i...
Warsmith's Words: Magic Trev the Sorcerer
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Greetings fellow Warsmiths! A very quick update to share a picture of the
latest addition to the Iron Warriors. This is Magic Trev the Chaos Sorcerer.
I...
Fokker D-II and D-III
-
The Fokker D-II was a fairly mediocre and uninspired successor to the E-III
monoplane responsible for the “Fokker Scourge” of 1915-’16. The D-III
impr...
Keeping busy with the Trolls!
-
Hello all, My apologies for the inactivity on this blog over the past bit.
Life is Lifin’ as the “kids” say. 😉 As some of you know I’ve been tapped
by Tro...
Open Ended Games 2024 Q&A
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I’m currently running two campaigns using the *Against the Darkmaster*
("VsD") fantasy role-playing game, one set in my homebrew setting of Ukrasia,
the ...
OSR: Magical Industrial Gunboats
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Here's some useful information for river-based adventures using *Magical
Industrial Revolution*. Skip to Part 3 or click this PDF link if you just
want t...
Quick Convention Report: LongCon 2024
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[image: Quick Convention Report: LongCon 2024]
Last weekend I was able to attend LongCon in Longview, TX. I had a work
trip to the Nashville area that en...
Welcome new Greyhawk Fans!
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With the publication of the new Dungeon Master’s Guide, there are doubtless
going to be a lot of new D&D players interested in my favorite setting, the
Wor...
[BLOG] Year Eight: New Foundations
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The Hall of Mirrors stretches beyond the Two Infinities...This blog started
on 5 August 2016, making this part of the year a good time to take stock
and...
Psychotronic Gaming: The Basics
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Not too long ago I celebrated the 45th anniversary of me starting an AD&D
1e campaign. I started the campaign before I was a teenager and it is still
...
Knave Jammin’
-
Ben Milton, Mr. Questing Beast, is holding an adventure jam for the release
of the much-celebrated second edition of his game, Knave. Short form,
October...
D&D Player’s Handbook 2024
-
Being an incomplete, visual review of the 2024 Player’s Handbook. I got a
copy of this almost entirely on the strength of the new cover art: (This is
the “...
Concerning the Future of Traveller
-
I have been a fan of Traveller for a long time and have bought various
books over the years from just about every Traveller licensee, as well as
from Ma...
Grimdark vs. Eucatastrophe
-
Noisms has some interesting ideas in this post about his desire for some
depth to his grimdark, and turns to Gene Wolfe and Tolkien for relief.
Now, it ...
Musings on Sleep in OD&D – Is it Over-Powered?
-
Link to discussion
Let’s look at the sleep spell in Men & Magic:
>Sleep: A Sleep spell affects from 2–16 1st-level types (hit dice of up to
1 + 1), from...
It's been a bit
-
Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! I've had a lot going on and
haven't had much time to blog lately. Heres a recap of gaming events and
other st...
Session #12 & Adventure Sites Compilation
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Firstly, I wanted to let everybody know that Adventure Sites I by Coldlight
Press is now available as a free download on DriveThruRPG. It includes my
own...
Improvised Awful Lights Missions
-
Asking about The Awful Lights, a commenter asks:
*I'd love to hear about how this is run - with the Handler determining
mission location and objectives ...
Jim Ward's Adventure in Gygax's Wonderland
-
Last weekend at GaryCon, many of us raised a glass to the memory of Jim
Ward, who passed away just days before the convention. Ward was very
helpful to m...
The Economy Engine, v0.2
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I made a thing. For D&D 3rd edition, so it might not be that interesting to
a lot of people. But I made it and I think it’s cool. The 3rd edition
Dungeon M...
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace
-
A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient
aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or
more w...
Last move - to self-hosting!
-
As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to
self-hosting.
I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at)
Blog: ht...
Time Rolls On
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Today is December 31, 2023, in the mid-afternoon. In less than ten hours it
will be 2024. 2023 2023 was a good year. But all years are good years. Both
goo...
-
Heya folks, the 21st Salt Mine book, Import Export, has hit the digital
shelves! In the 21st book we follow Aaron Haddock-codename Stigma-as he
tries to ...
Moving On...
-
So, my D&D 5e experiment has blown up the lab in a puff of green smoke
leaving my face blackened like Wile E. Coyote after a failed roadrunner
Acme trap...
How to Keep Megadungeons Fresh
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People often consider megadungeons boring. Not because the play style is
boring, but because they are in the same locale for a majority of the
campaign. If...
This is an Important Game Mechanic
-
*"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
-
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 ...
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
*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
-
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
-
*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
-
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
-
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!
-
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
-
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
-
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
doi...
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
-
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
-
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
-
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...