Tenkar's Tavern: 2023-09-24

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Kickstarter - Fehu Games OSR Short Halloween Quest for Swords and Wizardry

I'm always looking for short adventures. Lloyd is one of the better writer/artist combinations in the OSR. I always enjoy his work, and the price is right with Lloyd's Fehu Games OSR Short Halloween Quest for Swords and Wizardry project - 4 bucks for the PDF, 17 bucks for print, and 20 bucks for both. Full disclosure, I know Lloyd personally, and greatly respect him as a creative.

Justicar Kavendish sentenced the Wrenmarsh brothers to death via oubliettes. Little did he know the Wrenmarshes are masters of the assassins’ guild and much worse, so, fearing reprisal, he must escape the city to the family hunting cabin.
Can the heroes keep the Justicar safe? What is the hunting cabin? There may be much more to this simple request than a "walk in the park".
Game systems:
These adventures are written using the newest Swords & Wizardry game system from Mythmere Games. It is fully 1E / BX / OSE / OSR compatible with minimal adjustments. A digital copy of the game can be found free online, as well as the latest print editions for a very reasonable price.

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

Friday, September 29, 2023

State of The Tavern - Fall is for Changes - Good Ones, We Hope ;)

It's been a while since your bartender has done a State of the Tavern update. As there are some things "in the works", I figured today is as good a time as any to make the announcements.

1 - I've been approached about participating in a licensed product's development based on a well-loved IP of yore. Too early to discuss details, but I am truly psyched. I'll need to find time in my busy retired guy day to accommodate this one ;)

2 - The Tavern's Substack - https://tenkarstavern.substack.com/ hasn't been updated in 3 months. Why? Because weekly was just too frequent for most of the channels we were highlighting, and it wasn't meant to simply highlight Your Bartender's Youtube Channel. So, it's going to be monthly. Secondly, we are going to add paid-for gaming content. I figure a short dungeon adventure (sort of like the one-page dungeon or a bit longer) would pay up to 25 bucks in DTRPG store credit, and a magic item write-up could be 5 bucks, a trap could be 5 bucks, etc. System neutral, so we won't need to worry about licenses. Authors retain all rights, The Tavern's Substack simply asks to publish it on Substack on a single post/issue. This would come from affiliate monies earned, and I like to give those back to the community when I can. Figure the budget will be around 50 bucks an issue, with a frequency of once a month, starting with November 2023.

3 - www.youtube.com/@TenkarsTavern - is doing well, but I want to reward our paying members. I'm thinking of doing a bonus episode or two each week, brainstorming gaming content, and releasing that for members a week before releasing it into the wild for everyone. I'm open to further ideas on this topic :)

That's all for now. Time to research how feasible it is to return to NYC tomorrow after today's flooding...

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Humble Bundle - Iconic SciFi AudioBooks

I'm a huge fan of Audiobooks. Whereas my mind is no longer wired to read 2 to 3 novels in a week (I'm lucky if I can hit that in a year these days) audiobook I can devour like candy.

The Iconic SciFi AudioBooks Bundle at Humble Bundle includes Larry Niven's Ringworld, a series that I always wanted to read but never did, and likely never would if it weren't for this bundle. The rest of the selection looks pretty good too. Huzzah!

In Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s bestselling Hell Divers series, you’ll explore the deadly skies of a blighted, war-ravaged Earth as humanity scavenges to survive. Close your eyes and tune into a selection of iconic sci-fi and fantasy series with this audiobook bundle from Blackstone Publishing! Discover the mysteries of an ancient cosmic artifact of mind-boggling scale in Larry Niven’s Hugo and Nebula award-winning Ringworld series. In the Runelords series by David Farland, you’re thrust into a fantasy world where great power can be transferred between beings—often at great cost. Immerse yourself in these beloved series and more—a total of 20 audiobooks—and help First Book’s mission to provide quality education for kids in need.

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Bundle of Holding - Flying Circus

No, not Monte Python's Flying Circus, but Flying Circus, the aviation-fantasy tabletop roleplaying game. So, what the heck is aviation-fantasy tabletop roleplaying?

Fly high with this new Flying Circus Bundle featuring Flying Circus, the Apocalypse Engine aviation-fantasy RPG from Newstand Press. In Flying Circus you're a fantasy adventurer, but instead of a sword and spells, you have an overworked biplane with rusty machine-guns – and you might still have to fight a dragon. Above the sprawling industrial-fantasy land of Himmelgard, daring pilots – heroes, knights errant, and scoundrels for hire – protect small rural communities beset by monsters, bandits, and tyrants. Flying Circus optimizes the Apocalypse Engine system to support highly detailed aircraft construction rules and an authentic (and authentically dangerous) flight experience that will charm fans of anime classics like Porco Rosso and Laputa.
For just US$12.95 you get all four titles in our Circus Collection (retail value $75) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Flying Circus Core Rulebook, previously presented in our November 2020 Indie Cornucopia 8 (plus the free Aircraft Catalogue Core) along with the expansions Horrors of the Heights, Flights of Fancy, and First Flights.

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Deal of the Day - The Book of Collected Rumors from Philip Reed Games

Mention the name Phil Reed, and you immediately think of system-neutral resources for the harried DM. Phil literally gives you, the DM, the resources you need to zig when your players zag and to improvise with the best of them. The Collected Book of Rumors is such a tool, or rather, a collection of such tools.

Normally 15 bucks in PDF, until tomorrow morning, The Collected Book of Rumors is on sale for 6 bucks.

A collection of over 200 rumors for use with any fantasy roleplaying game. The Book of Collected Rumors was constructed from the content of seventeen different PDFs from the A Dozen . . . series. This duplicates material from the below PDFs:
A Dozen Disconcerting Rumors
A Dozen Dreadful Rumors
A Dozen Sinister Rumors
A Dozen Dire Rumors
A Dozen Troubling Rumors
A Dozen Distressing Rumors
A Dozen Frightening Rumors
A Dozen Terrifying Rumors
A Dozen Whispered Rumors
A Dozen Auspicious Rumors
A Dozen Loathsome Rumors
A Dozen Ominous Rumors
A Dozen Troublesome Rumors
A Dozen Vexing Rumors
A Dozen Rumors of Other Places
A Dozen Rumors of Lost Treasures
A Dozen Malefic Rumors

Monday, September 25, 2023

DTRPG Cyberpunk Sale - Up to 80% Off!

It's been an interesting month with the different DTRPG Sales, as they've been rotating a new sale on a weekly basis. This week is a Cyberpunk Sale, so, let's find the deep price plunges.

Cyberpunk Red marked down to 7.50 from 30.00 - Cyberpunk RED is the latest edition of the classic tabletop roleplaying game of the Dark Future and encompasses everything you need to explore the post-War world of the Time of the Red, including:

A dense, deep-dive into the history and geography of Night City and the greater Cyberpunk world, and plenty of the lore about the Time of the Red.
Ten unique Roles for you to play: charismatic Rockerboys, lethal Solos, quick-hacking Netrunners, inventive Techs, lifesaving (and taking) Medtechs, hard-hitting Medias, duty-bound Lawmen, scheming Execs, clever Fixers, and range-riding Nomads.
A huge collection of useful tools, powerful weapons, protective armor, and gleaming cyberware to help you rule the Street.
Three Screamsheet adventures to show you what Cyberpunk is all about.
Pregenerated opponents perfect for populating the Combat Zones and Corporate compounds, plus encounters that use them to bring the City to life.

Altered Carbon: The Role Playing Game - Core Rules - 4.99 from 24.99 - In the

official Altered Carbon role playing game based on the hit Netflix series, wear any body you can afford, transmit your mind across the cosmos in an instant, and, if you’ve got the credits and political cachet, re-sleeve time and again for centuries, accumulating enough wealth and power over the millennia to become the societal equivalent of an immortal god. Welcome to Bay City.

Included inside the Core Rulebook, you’ll find:

Rules to play Archetypes ranging from Socialites to Soldiers.
Explore the expansive metropolis Bay City in both its criminal Underground, and vaunted Aerium world of the immortal meths.
A highly customizable Trait and tech system.
Storytelling-focused rules, that help create dramatic tension inside of combat and intrigue outside combat.
The means in which to transfer your characters digital consciousness into a new sleeve should they come to a tragic end.
Opponents ranging from unhinged augmented thugs to cunning and manipulative political adversaries.

Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG Core Rulebook - 4.90 from 24.48 - Play as a Cyberpunk, a rebel refusing to live life by the rules of the oppressive megacorporations that rule San Francisco in this high action tabletop roleplaying game by Robert Marriner-Dodds. Carbon 2185 gives you the chance to play in the cyberpunk worlds you've seen in movies, television shows, and video games. The Core Rulebook is the only thing you need to run and play hundreds of hours of games in the world of Carbon 2185. Carbon 2185 is a brand new tabletop roleplaying game built using the D&D 5e open game license, with all the magic, magical items, and fantasy elements removed, and replaced with cybernetic augmentations, upgradable and customizable weapons, and computer hacking skills.

Sunday, September 24, 2023

Believe it or Not, NTRPG 2024 Prep Has Begun

So I know that North Texas RPG Con is like 27 weeks away, but this weekend is the time to begin preparing for next year.

So the last 3, maybe 4 if you count the unintentional 1st time, conventions I've hosted a tasting event. Last year's event was...well it was interesting. By most accounts everyone had fun, except maybe me. The themed...libations....I had brought, at no small expense or effort, were simply atrocious. I mean they were bad. Everyone had fun in the shared misery and in making fun of the drinks.

It was a fair cop....the drinks were pretty bad.

Thing is that I brought an extra...a bonus...drink that was supposed to taste bad, at least relatively bad, but it ended up being the group's favorite.

A couple weeks ago I delivered a walnut liqueur to my Step-Father as souvenir from the same distillery that I got a few of the bad drinks from. I don't know why I'm actively trying to avoid saying "Whisky". That stuff.....that stuff was pretty much the best alcohol I've ever tasted. Seriously....as bad as all that whisky was, this walnut liqueur was on the opposite side of the taste spectrum. I'm going to try and see if I can get some more imported since I'm not going back to Germany anytime soon.

I've already go the Whisky procured for 2024. It's actually what I had originally planned for this year before I had an opportunity to try and get some Germany Whiskies (yes, it's a thing and if you're paying attention you already know it wasn't good....I think they need another couple hundred years to work on it) and when I had a friend visiting special for the con. 2024 will be themed like 2023 was and I plan on having coasters for the participants again, as well as a special bonus drink....but this time it'll be an actual drink, and just not a taste of an alcohol.

It's a custom drink I've made before, but the infused Whisky I use takes a month or two to...well infuse...and the main ingredient/mixer will take some time as well. Today was the first stage of work on those drinks. I am not willing to have a repeat of last year, so I'm starting now so I can re-do everything in time if needed.

In addition to working on next year's stuff I finally managed to bag and box my various Zines I mentioned, I don't know....months ago. I got the bags easily enough and managed to figure out that a certain size magazine board cut in half fit the bags perfectly. I just had to spend some time to fix my paper slicer....ends up it was easier than anticipated.

The zines do fit amazingly well in those cheap Harbor Freight ammo boxes I got for about $2.50 each. I just put them all into two for right now, but I'll get off my butt eventually and actually sort/file them into a few boxes.

Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

RPGNow