I remember when DC Comics published Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms, and Dragonlance comics. I bought them as I found them, and they were good, if popcorn, reading.
One of the latest bundles over at Humble Bundle is the Return to the World of Dungeons & Dragons Bundle, which appears to include some of the DC-era titles as well as later releases, including Baldur's Gate.
Damn it! I'm in at 18 bucks for the full collection. Popcorn reading for the win :)
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 cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Ah. Cepheus Engine. We almost lost the open Traveller clone with the whole OGL debacle earlier this year. Thankfully, Cepheus Engine is here to stay and it is well supported.
Adventurer! This all-new Clement Sector 3E Bundle presents the 2021 Third Edition of the space-opera tabletop roleplaying game from Independence Games that uses the Cepheus Engine based on the First Edition of Mongoose Traveller. Set in a distant space sector stranded after a wormhole collapse, Clement Sector has grown and matured through three editions to become one of the largest and best-supported lines based on this popular open license. Fight epic space battles – explore new worlds – become a pirate or bounty hunter – it's all possible in Clement Sector, and this big bundle provides the foundation for many exploits.
For just US$17.95 you get all seven titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $87) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete standalone 673-page Clement Sector Third Edition core rulebook (2021), the character expansion Diverse Roles, the world and star system generation sourcebook Unmerciful Frontier: The CCA Sourcebook, and four starship supplements: Anderson and Felix Guide to Naval Architecture 3E, Wendy's Guide to the Fleets of Hub Subsector, Pleiades-class Light Freighter, and Roosevelt-class Intercept Destroyer.
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $35.62, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with nine more titles worth an additional $123, including Port of Entry; three subsector sourcebooks – Hub, Sequoyah, and The Colonies; and five background sourcebooks: Manhunters: Bounty Hunters, Outlaw, Skull and Crossbones, Tree of Life: Altrants, and Wondrous Menagerie: Uplifts.
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 cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
I've been a huge InkwellDesigns fan since their first Dungeonmorph Dice Set years ago. Currently, Inkwell has a sale on their SideQuest Decks Collection. There are a total of 16 decks, each at 1.99 in PDF. Print decks are available too (and I own most decks in print) and I find the decks extremely useful when you need an adventure "on-demand" on short notice.
I do not know how long the sale will continue for, so don't wait too long.
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 cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
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 cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Swords & Wizardry (White Box plus Supplements) is one of the original three retro-clones, including OSRIC (AD&D 1e) and Labyrinth Lord (B/X) (others may include Castles in Crusades in this discussion but I see C&C as more "proto" retro-clone).
One of the major changes Swords & Wizardry made from its source material was whittling the number of saving throw categories down to a single save number.
I am, personally, a great fan of Swords & Wizardry in all of its flavors - White Box for its streamlined ruleset, Core for its expanded rules while keeping the classes to the core four, and Complete for being, well, essentially "complete".
Matt Finch and his company, Mythmere Games, are kickstarting Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised Rulebook, which is essentially the 5th printing of S&W Complete and the first to not be released under the OGL, but most likely the upcoming ORC license or something similar.
The S&W Complete Kickstarter has already hit $50k in funding in less than 12 hrs. Now that's impressive!
Looks like I'll be adding another printing of Swords & Wizardry Complete to my collection :)
For anyone who's completely unfamiliar with the game, Swords & Wizardry is a tabletop fantasy roleplaying game. All the rules are in this book, and all you'll need in addition are a set of gaming dice (20 sided, 8 sided, etc.), paper, and pencil. Many people also play with miniatures, but they aren't necessary.
Swords & Wizardry is one of the oldest of the Old School Renaissance ("OSR") games, originally written in 2008, with a large following throughout the world. Hundreds of adventures have been written for use with the system by multiple publishers, and these are still compatible with this version of the game.
The game is much more "rules-light" than most fantasy roleplaying games, so it's fast and easy to learn the basics and start playing.
Swords & Wizardry contains a full set of 9 character classes, all the rules you need to play, including all the monsters, spells, and treasure tables.
The game rules of OD&D are similar to the B/X rules, so this game can be viewed as an "advanced" version of the B/X rules in many ways.
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 cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Created by Philip Reed (PDFs available at DriveThruRPG), this collection of D100 encounter hooks was designed for use with most fantasy roleplaying games. Primarily a source of inspiration for the gamemaster, each of the enclosed hooks details just enough of an idea to get the GM's imagination running. Mix, match, and modify every single one of the d100 hooks to suit the specifics of your preferred game system and campaign setting.
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 cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
One of the biggest perks of this Sunday gig that Erik has given me is that I have carte blanche to type whatever I feel like. Probably doesn't help drive numbers here at the Tavern, but I do get to share cool things I come across from friends and internet associates......
....like the Kickstarter for Black Pudding Issue 7 "from" JV West (The Kickstarter is from a publisher, but it's his stuff). While I'm not a fan of all his stuff, I love that he does his own thing and so much of his art, and writing, just screams "cool gonzo OSR". Now I'm just a fan of Zines in general, but the Black Pudding series is chock full of odd/weird character classes, monsters, and art....lots of art.
One Page PC Class
The Kickstarter is specifically for a print copy of #7 along with a gaming journal, but if you just want the Zine as a PDF, they're currently PWYW over at DTRPG. I just picked up issue #7 (I have already backed the Kickstarter).
If you aren't familiar with JV West/Random Order Creations, I'd recommend starting with the Black Pudding Zines, but if you need a cool one-off adventure I was a big fan of Howler. I did a spoiler-free review of that adventure back in.....2014(?!).
Lair of the Frog
-
By Chaoclypse Self Published Generic/Cairn Level ? The Lair contains dark,
eldritch secrets and way, way, too many frogs. Survive its horrors, and you
may ...
Solitaire: The Gloom Dragon
-
You are a brave adventurer, a Swordsman. After a long apprenticeship with
Swordmaster Krago and now armed with your magical sword Rilgist and a
shield, yo...
The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga (1995)
-
From the Back of the Book:
Beware of Baba Yaga and her infamous hut!
Baba Yaga is an ancient crone who is said to have power over day and night
itself....
Random Thoughts & Links for 6/9/2023
-
- Holy grud! It's a CityBlock minis case for Judge Dredd!
- Doug's Kickstarter funded! Hurrah! How was it hard to fund magic items
books? There aren't as ...
FDG Goblin King Kitbash
-
Fat Dragon Games recently had a Kickstarter for a whole heapin' helpin' of
new STLs, among which is a tribe of diminutive goblinish critters.
Their kin...
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...
Don't suggest it
-
Too often I here people say they are
Starting a campaign as a player
Or
Creating a campaign as a DM.
This wording puts a lot of pressure on people. E...
White Box FMAG Treasure Generator!!
-
I have said for a long time that the treasure tables in white box were
absolutely horrible and unusable unless you had at least a college minor in
mathemat...
Mythic Crunch
-
*UPDATE: There have been some extra changes to MB since I first published
this, so don't be alarmed if some of the specifics don't match the most
recent ...
Weiner Jokes and Rule One...
-
The very first adventure I personally ran was B2 The Keep on the
Borderlands back in December 1980. I'd just gotten Holmes Basic and was
eager to test my h...
The Best Spells - YOU DECIDE
-
So, let's imagine you were a 1st level Magic-User going on a first foray
into a dungeon. Which spell would you choose to memorise assuming you had
access...
AD&D weapon SPEED and ARMOR PIERCING made EASY!
-
Continued from last post.
The "weapon versus armor" table (page 37) is probably one of the least used
in the PHB, as we've seen. However, it contains some...
Dungeon 23 - Wk 25 - Over 500 rooms!
-
Thanks to a steady pace and a recount, I've reached the 500 point, and then
some! I'm at a total of 548 rooms, across 8 levels and 4 sublevels.
So what ...
[REVIEW] The Carcass of Hope (2023)
-
*The Carcass of HopeThe Carcass of Hope (2023)*
by Zherbus
Self-published
Levels 3–4
Hello, and welcome to part TWO of **THE RECONQUISTA**, wherein ent...
Sorcery & Super Science! Bundle of Holding
-
Heya folks, we've got a quick-deal Bundle of Holding going on right now
that includes *ALL* (yes, you heard right) *ALL* of our Sorcery & Super
Science! ...
How to Keep Megadungeons Fresh
-
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...
OSR: Class: Speed Demon
-
Some people think devils turn up in cool cars. They are complete wrong.
Cool cars create devils.
It doesn't start immediately with the invention of the...
Heroic Legendarium is Electrum!
-
Today, almost exactly two years to the day after its release, *The Heroic
Legendarium* has officially become an Electrum bestseller at DriveThruRPG,
whic...
Cobra Trooper Week Part III - Hat Trick!
-
Finally rounding out the Cobra fireteam that I displayed about a week and a
half ago, here's a tough guy from north of the border...
Hat TrickCobra Troope...
Warsmith's Words: Mayhem! Trophies!
-
Welcome back to the Vault. I had a fantastic day at the Mayhem tournament.
Gaming wise I placed 13th out of 30 having games against Votann, Iron Hands
a...
My First Experience Using ChatGPT
-
I used ChatGPT for the first time for preparation for today’s game. St.
Mark Turnip Festival The players lost a beloved NPC, Mark, whose luck ran
out. So t...
Vecna Rebooted and Greyhawk
-
Having spent most of my life working as an archaeologist and now as a
public historian, I suppose it is not surprising that I would be drawn to
puzzles ...
Free GM Resource: Rae'chel Does Some... Stuff
-
[image: Free GM Resource: Rae'chel Does Some... Stuff]
I recently discovered a cool YouTube video making small terrain squares
that were really, really ...
On the Creative Crocodile Conundrum
-
Are modern gamers objectively less creative than old-school gamers?
Here over at Monsters and Manuals, Noisms discusses some of the
agency-sucking, mind-re...
THE UNDERCLOCK: Fixing the Random Encounter
-
For a long time, I had the same random encounter table rules as everyone
else:
*Every 3 rooms (or 30 minutes of exploration time), roll a d6. If a 1
co...
Best Supporting Actors for Old School Essentials
-
Douglas Cole, over at Gaming Ballistics, is in the last 24 hours of his
latest Kickstarter campaign, "Best Supporting Actor". In the spirit of
AD&D's Rog...
Solar Sagas! SoSa (not SS please)
-
Omer Golan-Joel gave me the fantastic opportunity to write for him and his
marketing skills and connections to advertise my books. My first major book
i...
Random Encounters: Love Them!
-
Picture swiped for my own purposes from Random Encounter. I want this
sticker!
It's been a while since my last entry. More health issues. More computer...
The Terrible Salt
-
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 ...
Magical Magic That Feels Magical
-
*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 ...
Flux Space
-
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 ...
The Blade Itself
-
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...
Genteel Magistrate at FenCon XVIII
-
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, ...
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 ...
People of the World, Spice up Your Life
-
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!
-
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...