I'm a huge fan of the Drinking Quest series of releases. I have a complete collection of the prior releases, and even if they don't get as much use as they should, I always bring a box to every convention, "just in case" ;)
I find it impossible to have enough Drinking Quest. You can snag the newest release in the series, Drinking Quest: Belch of the Wild, for about 25 bucks USC - this includes a physical copy of the new game AND print and play PDFs of the new game and the six prior releases. Heck, you can snag all 7 games in print for about 75 bucks.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
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
For those that don't know, James Shields did the cover for Swords & Wizardry Continual Light, and James did the cover for the (as of now) unreleased revision, titled Continual Light. I own a number of originals of James' original work, and I love his stock art. When I can focus on my small hobby publishing again, James' art will have a prominent place.
Needless to say, I backed the MACE Volume #002 Kickstarter at the ALL THE STOCK ART level, not just to support a creator and artist whose work I truly enjoy and who I personally respect, but because I know it will be top-notch.
You can back MACE Volume #002 for just the zine for as little as 10 bucks, but 75 gives you 45 pieces of stock art and the zine in print plus PDF. I know what I did :)
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
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
A dead simple, OSR homage to The World's First Fantasy Roleplaying Game.
Not every Kickstarter I highlight is one I think will fit my style of gaming, let alone fit the style of my gaming group. Six Hack is just such a game - interesting enough that it deserves an audience, but that audience likely isn't me or my group.
You can back the Six Hack Kickstarter for as little as 2 bucks for the draft of the rules, or for 10 bucks you get the draft, and later, upon completion, the professionally laid out final copy, complete with mini-setting and adventure for 10 bucks.
Six-Hack is a simple set of guidelines for roleplaying in the spirit of The Original Fantasy Roleplaying Game (1974). It pays homage to that classic game, but introduces some modern sensibilities, as well. For example, it includes a unified action resolution system, an Action Point economy, templates for creating mutable monsters, and an abstract commerce system. It further includes some tried and true advice for Referees (referred to as "Game Masters" in many systems). Finally, it also kills some so-called "sacred cows" - for example, there are no longer any ability scores (or ability score modifiers), alignments have been replaced with player-defined moral codes, and Experience Points have been replaced with an encounter economy.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
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 Hydra Cooperative Bundleis one of the few bundles where I own nearly a complete collection and still plan on snagging the collection. 9 titles for 14.95 can't be beaten. Some of the best OSR releases one can find in a single bundle.
Adventurer! This Hydra Cooperative Quick Deal gathers tabletop roleplaying supplements and modules designed by the talented creators in the Hydra Cooperative publishing alliance. Drawn from five early Bundle of Holding offers (2015-2020), these inventive and strikingly packaged titles show graphic inspirations ranging from art nouveau to pulp magazines to Atari game cartridges to Gold Key comics. And the modules themselves are just as flavorful: Face a Zombastodon during the Yambor soldier-bear pilgrimage across the Slumbering Ursine Dunes. Dodge mile-long grubs and Bonegrinders outside the bio-transmogrification Vat Complex of the Eld. Visit the Prismatic Peak of Mount Geegaw in seearch of the Whim-Wham Stone. Run scams and con games with Frantisek the Checkered Mage or Jarek the Nagsman at Marlinko's Ebon Horse Fair. Save the Village of the Gleaming Fins people from Skelephants or the immense pale crocodile called the Bachelor. What Ho, Frog Demons!
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
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
Index Card RPG (ICRPG)is currently sitting on my physical pile of "shit to read", but I think after reading the description of today's Deal of the Day, I'll be reading it when I return from the Poconos ;)
Xeno Dead Zone(both a stand-alone game AND an ICRPG supplement) is today's Deal of the Day. Normally 4.50 in PDF, but until tomorrow morning it is on sale for 1.80.
XENO DEAD ZONE is a one-stop solution to scratch your itch for a night of great gaming in the world of deadly space predators and the badasses who fight them.
This package is power packed with rules and resources for ICRPG players and GM's.
-Play in XDZ mode: a GM-less board game ruleset
-Play in classic ICRPG mode: 9 new classes, Xeno and vehicle stats
-Dynamic Mission Objectives and Ecalations in any mode
-A huge collection of print-and-cut standees
-Tokens for use in your favorite VTT
-32 map building cards and door standees to assemble your game map with flair
Expand your ICRPG multiverse to include the deadliest creatures in the spaceways!
What Happens When Your PCs Crash the Economy by Pumping Too Much Gold Into It?
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
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'm not a huge 5e fan, but I've come across some hacks that made the unwieldy (in my opinion) system bearable. Mythgarther was the prior high watermark to my eyes. From what I've read of BEOWULF: Age of Heroes, we may have a new contender.
“BEOWULF: Age of Heroes is a vast treasure-hoard that shows how you can hone the rules for 5e to make them cut like the edge of a long-seax and sing like a Scop.” – Francesco Nepitello, designer of The One Ring Roleplaying Game
One of the oldest recorded stories in Western Europe, Beowulf is the ultimate tale of hero vs. monster – and now a dramatic, 5e setting.
Discover a fierce background of wild seas and savage monsters, of meadhalls and of heirloom swords that bear legendary names. Gain Followers, take Inspiration from unique Portents, and use our specially crafted tokens to guide your voyage along the Whale Road.
Play the ‘Hero’ class, and choose from six sub-classes based on your ability scores. You can be the mighty Bench-Breaker, the wily Riddle-Reaver, or the sturdy Ox-Blooded. And you can come from a range of setting-specific backgrounds: you might be the Chosen One, or Adrift and seeking answers. You may be an Avenger, or of Noble Blood.
Written and illustrated by a team of industry veterans, led by Jon Hodgson, (The One Ring, D&D, Warhammer Historical) BEOWULF: Age of Heroes features 272 pages of beautifully illustrated mythic setting, and evokes a legendary age of tales, poems and song.
Described by fans as the ‘best hack of 5e ever made’, and by games designer Will Hindmarch as something ‘really magical’, BEOWULF Age of Heroes is uniquely designed for duet play: one Hero and one GM (though it can still be played by a group). This means it’s very easy to get a game going and to keep it going, and it’s especially ideal for play over the internet.
With its feet firmly in the world’s favourite role-playing game, BEOWULF has been very carefully forged to follow the folklore, flow and feel of the original poem.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
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 try not to take too much advantage of my ability to post here, but......if you can't abuse your position slightly to help out your friends.....
...actually this is a bit of a win-win as the MACE Volume #2 Kickstarter is a cool Zine of monsters that James Shields is producing. I'm a big fan of his black & white style and have several pieces of his original art. $15 for a print and digital copy of the Zine is a fair price and it's some great art. Getting new monsters is almost always a good thing, for GMs at least.
I haven't received my physical copy of MACE #1, but it's probably in my stack of mail I have to go through. The digital copy though....I'm pretty impressed. The digital copy I got with my backing was actually three digital copies.....three! I know, I know, you're probably thinking "Duh, even I know how to make a copy of a digital file...."
MACE #1 came to me as three distinct digital copies: a Low Res version, a High Res version, and a printer-friendly High Res version. I really wish more....publishers (?) did this. I was going to try and show the differences here, but the subtleties would be completely lost on a web/screen viewing, which is a shame.
All too often these digital copies are not far removed from the PDF sent to the printers, maybe cut back to not show cut lines and bleeds, but otherwise the same. Having three different versions, all fully bookmarked by the way, shows that James expects people to....I don't know, actually use the product. Being able to easily go to and then print off a single monster is a nice nod to the end-user that is sorely lacking in the average gaming PDF.
Check out James Shields' MACE Volume 2 Kickstarter if you get the chance....
All Dogs Go To Hell
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This is an adventure review, so there will be spoilers.All Dogs Go To Hell
is a Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventure by Semen Tsevelev that
was inc...
d100 Druidic Circle Missions
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*old related stuff*
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2019/07/d100-thieves-guild-missions.html
https://elfmaidsand...
Gamma World 1st Edition Tech Roll Hack
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While I quite like the game within a game of figuring out technology in
Gamma World 1e. It does leave something to be desired when playing
online.
He...
Down in Yon Forest
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By Zzarchov Kowolski Self Published NGR/OSR Level ? Down in Yon Forest is a
seasonal adventure about a small town dealing with the threat of Krampus
and to...
The State of Mythic Bastionland
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I'm still toiling away on the pre-Kickstarter Quickstart version of Mythic
Bastionland, which is taking slightly longer than expected. In short, I
want t...
FR14: The Great Glacier (1992)
-
From the Back of the Book:
"A village is only as livable as its surroundings. We are caretakers not
only of our homes, but of our world."
-Inum
Strange ...
Felltower: Power Casting
-
After a quick discussion Sunday, here is a ruling for *Power Casting*:
*Power Casting*
As written; one level maximum. A caster with this and 6 levels of ca...
#ReaperCon #Dungeon23 Session Reports 3-5
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In case you missed the first part, click here for Sessions 1+2
*Session 3*
***Short session, as I played Blood on the Clocktower (after dark 21+
session...
Miskatonic Monday #220: The Great American Dynasty
-
Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of
books for *Call of Cthulhu* under the Miskatonic University Library
Associati...
Playtest session #3
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Playtest session #3 was held today, very eventful and fun but not too
rewarding. All four of the players from the previous session returned
(including th...
[REVIEW] Alchymystyk Hoosegow
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*Alchymystyk HoosegowAlchymystyk Hoosegow (2023)*
by Alex Zisch
Self-published
Level 7 “with some fatalities”
Hello, and welcome to part SEVEN of **THE...
Non-rule Rules in my Campaigns
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Someone asked on Enworld about informal conventions and customs in people’s
games that go beyond the mechanical rules of the game system, and it
occurred t...
Autumn Is Gam(ing) Season...
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No, not football. Tabletop roleplaying. It was autumn of 1977 when I fell
in love with the Rankin/Bass Hobbit, and autumn of 1979 when I found out we
wer...
Four Books on War
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“ .. Belgium’s leading living poet whose life before 1914 had been a
flaming dedication to socialist and humanitarian ideals that were then
believed to e...
Classic Fantasy Imperative now available!
-
*Classic Fantasy* is the *Mythras* version of classic (1970s and 1980s) “*Dungeons
& Dragons*.” The “Imperative” version is a somewhat stripped-down version...
Into the Megadungeon
-
Just a quickie to let you know that if you're not following Ben Laurence's
new podcast Into the Megadungeon, you are doing yourself a serious
disservice....
Proxy? You Misspelled Patsy! Part 1
-
Mechane, Atomo and Spatia had a delightful little trade union going.
Things improved with time. Spatia's ships improved their drives and began
reaching ...
The Cult of Flesh (and the Three Great Gifts)
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The Third Age
In the Beginning was the Authority, and his house was the Throne. In the
First Age he created the stars, but their songs disappointed him. In...
A Girl Called Samson - book review
-
I am going to deviate slightly from my usual gaming topic today. I have a
'mini book club' with a friend and she likes to read books I typically
would not...
Martel Tankette
-
This is a niche product if ever there was one — the 1925 wooden prototype
of the tiny one-man British *Martel *tankette.
The model is designed at 1:100...
The Fires of Lost Tlarba
-
A dense and dusty city toils under a flickering yellow sky. None may enter,
but everyone does. All may leave, but none do.
Prickly selks stand at the gat...
Arnecon
-
I've got a busy gaming schedule coming up. I'm playing in Virtual Greyhawk
con and running 2 games (Lakofka's Devils Dung and Lost Dungeons of
Tonisborg...
Change is in the air! I'm moving to Substack!
-
TLDR; Moving here: https://chgowiz.substack.com
I've been using Blogger, formerly Blogspot, since 2008, when I was at my
old blog http://oldguyrpg.blogs...
New! Book of Lost Tables
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What’s this, a new book? Yes! The Book of Lost Tables is a revised and
expanded version of the Random Encounter and Terrain Generator. You can
find the det...
Free GM Resource: Dungeon X
-
[image: Free GM Resource: Dungeon X]
I came across this on Facebook and while it is a Free GM Resource, it's
also an ad (of sorts) for a Kickstarter than ...
The Dreams In Gary’s Basement Update
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Pat Kilbane’s documentary of Gary Gygax and Dungeons and Dragons, The
Dreams In Gary’s Basement, was released online to Kickstarter backers
today. This mul...
On the OSR Christmas in July
-
Isn't it disappointing that only digital files are on sale at DTRPG?
So I've dropped the prices of print copies of my books!
Bestial Encounters Caused By...
Warsmith's Words: Preparing for 40K 10th edition
-
Welcome back to the Vault! Since my last post we've had the release of
10th edition, and I've spent a fair amount of time building the shiny new
models ...
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...
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...
Random Encounters: Love Them!
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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...
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 ...
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 ...
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...