Tenkar's Tavern: 2024

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Deal of the Day - Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG Core Rulebook (5e OGL)

I own a copy of Carbon 2185, and it's an effective use of the D&D 5e OGL. Until tomorrow morning, Carbon 2185 is DTRPG's Deal of the Day and is on sale for 10 bucks.

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 customisable weapons, and computer hacking skills.

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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

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Bundle of Holding - ProFantasy Mega Bundle

Probably one of the Most Popular mapping programs in the tabletop hobby industry, the ProFantasy Mega Bundle is one of the current bundles at Bundle of Holding.

Adventurer! This new ProFantasy Megabundle gives you Windows mapmaking programs from ProFantasy Software Ltd., including Campaign Cartographer 3+, Dungeon Designer 3, City Designer 3, and Fractal Terrains 3, along with tutorials, tokens, symbol sets, and map tools. Get current digital downloads of these programs (hosted on the ProFantasy website), along with tutorials, Style Packs, symbol sets, and map collections.
Authors, game designers, and thousands of gamers have beautifully mapped the worlds of their imagination with Campaign Cartographer 3+. In minutes you can learn all you need to rapidly create beautiful maps for campaigns, games, and real-world applications, for private and commercial use. CC3+ gives you easy access to a huge range of mapping symbols, styles, and types, and fingertip control over every aspect of your map. Whether it's roleplaying games or wargames – fantasy, modern, or SF – from entire worlds to floorplans and furniture – CC3+ can do it. Map your entire campaign world, place troops in the field, or chart your galactic empire. With CC3+ you draw exactly what you want. A friendly community of like-minded designers can give help, ideas, and feedback. Hundreds of user websites display a huge variety of maps. Check out ProFantasy's CC3+ map gallery.
For just US$29.95 you get all five DRM-free software titles in our CC3+ Collection (retail value $140), including the complete Campaign Cartographer 3+ program and three Symbol Sets – 1- Fantasy Overland, 2 - Fantasy Floorplans, and 3 - Modern – along with the invaluable Tome of Ultimate Mapping.
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $60.10, you'll level up and also get all the software in our Designer Collection – six more Windows titles worth an additional $200, including Dungeon Designer 3, City Designer 3, Fractal Terrains 3, Cartographer's Annual 2022, and two Token Treasuries: Monsters 1 and Monsters 2.
(Note: Your software is hosted on the ProFantasy Software site, not on this Bundle of Holding site nor on DriveThruRPG.)
Your purchase includes a unique, one-use discount code good for 20% off a purchase of one or more items at the ProFantasy webstore. The discount code expires Friday, June 7, 2024.
Previous Bundle of Holding offers in 2018 and 2019 presented Campaign Cartographer, Dungeon Designer, City Designer, and the Tome of Ultimate Mapping. The titles in this offer new to the Bundle of Holding – Fractal Terrains 3, the three Symbol Sets, Cartographer's Annual 2022, and the two Token Treasuries – have a combined retail value of $195.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Kickstarter - Adventures Dark and Deep Core Rules 2nd Printing

An enhanced and expanded version of the 1st Advanced edition of the world's most popular tabletop roleplaying game.

Interested in the best "what if" version of AD&D 2e? Look no further, as Joe "Greyhawk Grognard" Bloch has you covered with the Adventures Dark and Deep Core Rules 2nd Printing Kickstarter. (Joe will be a Special Guest on the April 24th Talking Crit Live! @ 8 PM Eastern)

Adventures Dark and Deep™ is an expansion of the first Advanced version of the world's most popular roleplaying game. Originally designed to include all of the classes and other material that the original designer couldn't include in the 1980's, the game is even more expanded to include a skill system, more new classes, and much more.

Adventures Dark and Deep™ is a comprehensive rules system, designed to allow play in a variety of different styles; dungeon crawling, exploration, epic storytelling, and more.
Adventures Dark and Deep™ is my attempt to show what would AD&D would have looked like if Gary Gygax had stayed at TSR. It starts with the AD&D 1E rules, includes all the new character classes he mentioned in Dragon magazine in the 1980's (bards, jesters, mountebanks, etc.), plus other changes and additions he mentioned over the years in online fora.
In recent years, the game has grown beyond that basic concept to include more things, and also includes expansions on things Gygax had pioneered (like the skill system, which is based on the concept he had for a skill system for C&C). This new version brings everything together, reorganizes it, and re-edits everything to make it clearer.
This second printing incorporates numerous errata, expands the material with new classes like the blackguard and skald, and centaurs as a player race, and makes many other improvements to the original three books. In addition, the original three books have been consolidated into two; the Core Rulebook and the Core Bestiary. Everything is being comprehensively re-edited and re-organized to make it much easier to use.
The Core Rulebook has all the rules you need to play the game: ability scores, character races, character classes, secondary skills, creating characters, cost of equipment/services/etc., combat, magic, treasure, the game environment, creating the setting, and game master advice. See the FAQ for the complete table of contents (subject to change).
The Core Bestiary is a complete collection of monsters, including all of the classic monsters, plus many more, for a total of nearly 900 creatures both old and new. See the FAQ for the complete table of contents (subject to change).
The books are written, and are estimated to be over 500 pages each once editing and art is complete (all details are subject to change as the editing and layout process progresses). The money raised will be used to pay for new art and editing. The retail price for the books will be around $65 each.
The project will be fulfilled using DriveThruRPG's digital delivery and print on demand services. When the POD versions are available to order, you will receive links to purchase these versions of the books from DriveThruRPG. You will be expected to pay the cost of printing as well as postage and any taxes or fees.

Monday, April 22, 2024

Humble Bundle - Dune: The Universe Collection (Fiction)

I am not a huge Dune fan, and in truth, I have never read Dune itself. The first movie was certainly enjoyable and well done, but I came into it as someone who had little previous insight into the Dune universe.

That all being said, there are some HUGE Dune fans in my circle of friends, and this bundle of Dune: The Universe Collection is for them :)

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Hasbro Doesn't Seem to be Big on Anniversaries.....

One of my...quirks I guess, is that I like to have the TV on pretty much anytime I'm at home and in my living room, if I can at least pay it half-assed attention. Otherwise it's music for me ...anything but having to listen to the high-pitched tinnitus whine in my head.

Earlier this week I actually tuned in to Tenkar's Tavern on YouTube where Erik, Bad Mike, and Jim Kitchen talked ostensibly about Cynthia Williams resignation. Eventually they talk about D&D's 50th Anniversary celebration, or lack thereof.

That got me thinking......

....did you know that Hasbro just celebrated their 100th anniversary last year? I didn't know until recently. You'd think a big company celebrating 100 years would put some emphasis on a major division celebrating 50 years, but I really wonder how much of a "major division" D&D (I know WotC) really is to Hasbro. A quick visit to the main Hasbro website doesn't even show D&D as one of their brands, much less a mention of the anniversary. They currently have two D&D board games, one being for the recent movie, and a few D&D toys scattered about.

No D&D Here!

The main D&D page has the WotC and Habro logos/links at the bottom, but really no reciprocation. The closest I could find was a press release from February. I honestly expected more.

Now while I'd love to talk about what I think is a pitiful set of anniversary offerings, which maybe isn't pitiful if you're 5E fans, but if you're into playing BX or 1st....or even 2nd edition? Pitiful. Thing is Erik, Bad Mike, and Jim did enough talking on the topic that I don't think I can add too much.

Not too much, but maybe a little. See Hasbro had a down year in 2023.....remember this was their 100th anniversary....and they finished down 15% for the year. WotC, on the other hand was up 10%, but I'm not sure about that breakdown because WotC is lumped in with Hasbro's "Digital Gaming Segment".

"Digital Gaming Segment" kind of spooks me a bit because it just reinforces where I think they're trying to push D&D, but that is conjecture for another day.

What really stood out to me was Hasbro's expectations for WotC in 2024: "Wizards of the Coast Segment revenue down 3% to 5% decline largely driven by second half comp in licensed digital gaming; Operating margin 38% to 40%."

Now I haven't done a lot of corpo reading in years, but IIRC that doesn't mean that WotC is expected to be losing money, just not making as much. Now if maybe they would...I don't know....pull their head out of their ass quickly & forcefully (as in we could all hear a loud, audible POP), they could capture the nostalgia market with this large audience of BX/1st Ed players who mostly have disposable income AND have a decent sense of nostalgia!

So I'm reading this 4th Quarter and 2023 Year-End report looking for a specific something and then I finally see this gem......WotC is expected to have an operating margin of 38% to 40%?!! Now if it was 30% or maybe even 35% I wouldn't be surprised, but up to 40% seems like a lot, and that's after they take their cut for all the overhead, like Cynthia William's salary....well her replacement anyway. For year end 2023, WotC's margin is 28.4% which makes more sense (at least from my personal experiences).

Overall Hasbro lost more than $10.73 a share in 2023, which is not good but maybe those of you with a better understanding of corporate stocks & bonds can explain why a company loosing money is planning on giving away $97M worth of quarterly dividends.

Clearly it has something to do with D&D and WotC not making enough money....

Interesting reading: Hasbro Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results

Dungeons & Dragons Celebrates 50th Anniversary in 2024 with More than 50 Million Fans

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Humble Bundle - Fallout RPG and 3d Miniatures Bundle

The Fallout Bundle over at Humble Bundle is certainly trying to build off the popularity of Amazon Prime's new Fallout Series (which is pretty damn good, if I must say so myself - just force your way through the first episode - it gets MUCH better).

Now, they bill this bundle as an RPG and miniatures bundle, but I believe that it's more Fallout Tactical Wargame, with an optional Fallout RPG built off such. Still, it looks nice, and I suspect for Fallout fans it will be full of Fallout lore.

Friday, April 19, 2024

Kickstarter - Swords & Wizardry: Expansions, Monsters, and More!

Optional supplemental rules for S&W (and other OSR games), a book of new monsters, an adventure, and much more!

I'm a HUGE fan of Swords & Wizardry. Of all of the early sets of OSR rules, Swords & Wizardry Complete felt like AD&D 1e without the baggage.

Swords & Wizardry: Expansions, Monsters, and More! is the latest Kickstarter from Mythmere Games.

Swords & Wizardry: The Book of Options
The Book of Options gives you 11 new optional character classes, new spells, new magic items, and much more. Now you can play a wily demon-hunter, a bard, a troubadour, an illusionist, and many others. Gnomes and Stygians are now playable ancestries in Swords & Wizardry for the first time in 16 years!
Fiends & Foes - A Monster Compendium
Fiends and Foes offers more than 300 monsters (and doesn't repeat the ones from the Complete Revised Rulebook). Encounter the bizarre plant-animal Ultharians on their plane-shifting flamingoes, the giant, foul-mouthed fey cats known as Bulgrimalkins, along with many old favorites from Monstrosities such as the Artificers of Yothri. All are updated with morale numbers and revisions to the Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised rules.
Domain of Heryngard & Tomb of the Iron God
Plus, there's adventuring, of course! The Domain of Heryngard is a hex-crawl campaign with a section of the Uldra Cthon megadungeon and room to explore. It's also the site of the Tomb of the Iron God, a fan-favorite low-level adventure from 2008.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

So It Is Written, So It Is Done - LaNasa v. Tenkar - Case Dismissed With Prejudice

What can I say other than to thank everyone for their support and kind words over the last year and a half. No more shackles ;)

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Humble Bundle - Pathfinder 1e Kobold & Frog God Bundle

I am very much NOT a Pathfinder fan, regardless of edition. That being said, I own a surprising amount of Pathfinder 1e material, mostly setting-related, as I find I can convert such to the OSR system of my choice with minimal effort. YMMV.

The latest RPG-related bundle on Humble Bundle is a Pathfinder 1e Kobold & Frog God Bundle. 69 books for 25 bucks. Seriously, go big or go home :)

The Lost City of Barakus, Rappan Athuk, and Stoneheart Valley are worth the price of admission on their own.

Monday, April 15, 2024

Bundle of Holding - Ars Magica 5

I really loved the concept of Ars Magica. I have some of the first-edition releases. The whole idea of having a stable of characters to choose from, sometimes you're the mage, sometimes you're the grunt, fits my style of play just fine. It simply never fit with the rest of my gaming group. Ah well.

The Ars Magica 5 Bundle over at Bundle of Holding is for the Fifth Edition of the Ars Magica rules.

Magus! We've cast Creo Corpus to resurrect (for a sixth time!) our August 2014 Ars Magica 5E Bundle featuring the Fifth Edition of the Atlas Games tabletop fantasy roleplaying game of medieval myth and magic, Ars Magica. This bargain-priced offer, with .PDF ebooks of the core rulebook and key supplements and scenarios, gives you everything you need to start your own saga of wizardly Covenants in Mythic Europe.
This revival helps promote the forthcoming Atlas Games crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit for Ars Magica Fifth Edition Definitive. All the books in this offer are compatible with the upcoming release. And there's more ArM5 magic ahead!
[Note: This is the fifth version (2004) of the venerable Ars Magica rules first published in 1987. It's not related to Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition.]
For just US$14.95 you get all five titles in this revived offer's Starter Collection (retail value $55) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Ars Magica Fifth Edition core rulebook plus the supplements Covenants, Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, and Apprentices.
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $25.91, you'll level up and also get this revival's entire Bonus Collection with five more supplements and scenarios worth an additional $70, including two more Houses of Hermes sourcebooks – Mystery Cults and Societates – plus the introductory saga The Broken Covenant of Calebais, the Normandy Tribunal location book The Lion and the Lily, and the scenario collection Tales of Mythic Europe.

Sunday, April 14, 2024

NTRPG 2024 (a bit of a PSA)

This week we've passed into the NTRPG-60 day mark, which is significant for planning purposes. Now I'm not running anything this year, but if I wanted to....I'm too late. The deadline for submitting events was yesterday. The con has had a record number of submissions at 368 games, which for a con capped at 500 attendees, IIRC they have 503 currently sold, which I'm thinking includes some vendors, special guests, and staff, so a bump over the cap is to be expected.

The 60 day mark is significant because if you're flying down your best ticket prices are before that mark, and you can expect price bumps at 30 days, 14 days, and a sharp upturn to the day before. It's also important for generalized planning purposes.

From an organizer (not con staff, more like you're running an event) perspective now is the time you're checking to make sure that your adventures are written, hopefully you have staff lined up, etc. Things that aren't where they need to be can still be addressed, and hopefully fixed.

I'm running an event that isn't on the schedule, as it's invite only (and I don't do the invites) and I've got my "adventure" prepped, actually had that part ready for over a year now. I've got some freebies for attendees that are halfway done. The initial prep work is done, I just figured out what I think is a better way to do something, more like a better way to make something....nicer, so I'm taking the opportunity to do so, otherwise I'd be 110% done already.

One of the things I love about small conventions is that there is a lot less separation between the attendees and the organizers. I didn't come by the information about 368 games and 503 attendees by any sort of real legwork....I just made sure to follow the NTRPG Facebook page.

Early event registration (as in table seats for events) has already came and went, but the con only releases half of the seats at that time and between that and the new events....there's a lot of seats still available....

...and they will become available tomorrow, April 15th at 1800 (6pm CDT).

So if you got yourself tickets to NTRPG 2024, you have time to get event tickets tomorrow and hopefully get your travel squared away.

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Deal of the Day - Troika! The Science Fantasy RPG

I've owned Troika! for a number of years. It's a sweet little RPG that sadly does NOT fit well with my current gaming group (always know what games/genres your group is comfortable with).

Troika! The Science Fantasy RPG is today's Deal of the Day. Normally 4.99 in PDF, but until tomorrow morning it is on sale for 2 bucks!

Troika! is a complete yet wildly open role-playing game. Players can expect to fly through mystic space, get lost in infinite cities of the gods, and meet strange & wonderful people all the while using a robust and familiar game system.
With just one book and a couple of six-sided dice you'll be able to provide years of adventure for you and your friends. Once you're ready for more there is an abundance of material printed by the Melsonian Arts Council and Troika!s huge number of third party publishers and fans.
Inside the book you will find:
A fully automated character creation system that generates exciting starting points for players to build upon
Weighty lists of spells and enemies to encounter
A baked-in plane-hopping setting which draws you into the world and allows you space to build upon its sturdy foundations
Lavishly illustrated by Jeremy Duncan, Dirk Detweiler Leicthy, Sam Mameli, and ENnie award winning Andrew Walter

Friday, April 12, 2024

Venger Con III - July 19-21, 2024

If I weren't limiting myself to one "fly to" convention in a year, so if it were just a tad closer, I'd be going to Venger Con this July. If it's within driving distance for you (which is subjective), Venger Con may be on your bucket list.

VENGER CON III: Revenge of the OSR is happening this July in Madison, WI. This is a small and exclusive (100 attendees max) con held in a very nice and new hotel focused on old-school, OSR, and traditional RPGs, organized by game designer, adventure author, and GM Venger Satanis. No more shouting to be heard in noisy, distracting rooms packed-full of gamer-sardines:

https://tabletop.events/conventions/venger-con-iii

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Humble Bundle - Battletech Fiction Collection

For those who are into Battletech fiction, the 2024 Battletech Fiction Collection on Humble Bundle is a goldmine of reading material. You get 70 books in .mobi and .epub formats for 18 bucks. If you missed the 2023 Battletech Fiction Collection Bundle, you can snag that for another 12 bucks (so, 30 bucks gets you an ADDITIONAL 60 books, so 130 books!)

Dive deep into one of the most revered, long-running and influential universes in geekdom with this massive collection of BattleTech fiction! In Kell Hounds Ascendant, you’ll learn the origins of Morgan and Patrick Kell, two of the most fearsome MechWarriors in the Inner Sphere, straight from their creator Michael A. Stackpole. A Rock and a Hard Place follows the Gray Death Legion, another legendary merc company, on an adventure packed with BattleMech action and no shortage of political intrigue. Pay what you want for these and more—dozens of volumes and fiction plus issues of the Shrapnel, the official BattleTech magazine

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Bundle of Holding - 13th Age MEGA

From the Bundle of Holding website, a 13th Age Bundle:

Adventurer! This revived December 2022 13th Age Megabundle once again presents .PDF ebooks of the freewheeling tabletop fantasy roleplaying game 13th Age from Pelgrane Press. 13th Age combines the best parts of traditional d20 RPGs with story-focused rules that let you run the kind of game you want. 13A gives you unique characters who, through their icon relationships, are immediately embedded in the setting in important ways – customizable monsters – and escalation dice for exciting, fast-moving battles.
Especially suited for new 13A players, this bargain-priced Megabundle revival once again gives you everything you need to run your own 13th Age campaign in the Dragon Empire. And all the scenarios and source material are 100% compatible with the new 13A Second Edition coming to Kickstarter this summer!
For just US$19.95 you get all nine titles in this revived offer's Starter Collection (retail value $158) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete 13th Age Core Book (plus the Free RPG Day adventure Make Your Own Luck), the 13 True Ways rules expansion, the Bestiary and Bestiary 2, The Book of Loot and Loot Harder, The Book of Ages, the introductory adventure Crown of Axis, and the Game Master's Screen and Resource Book.
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $40.08, you'll level up and also get this revival's entire Bonus Collection with ten more titles worth an additional $172, including the supplements The Book of Demons and Book of the Underworld; the adventures Shards of the Broken Sky, Elven Towers, Eyes of the Stone Thief (plus the conversion for D&D 5E), and Shadows of Eldolan; three sets of iconic Battle Scenes (with their accompanying Map Folios) – High Magic & Low Cunning, The Crown Commands, and Fire & Faith; and the 171-page adventure Diamonds and Shadows, a collection of seven modules from the 13th Age Organized Play program available exclusively in this offer and nowhere else.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Bundle of Holding - Discworld (GURPS)

I'm a HUGE Discworld fan and own the first edition of the Discworld Roleplaying Game (powered by GURPS). It is a great resource for fans of the fiction and quite a nice introduction to the GURPS ruleset.

Adventurer! This new Discworld Bundle presents the 2016 Discworld Roleplaying Game Second Edition standalone tabletop RPG Powered by GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying System from Steve Jackson Games, and based on the Discworld comedic fantasy novels of Sir Terry Pratchett. Visit the magic-infused flat world resting on the backs of four elephants, venture to the far end of the probability curve, and THRILL to the distinctive sights, sounds, and smells (especially smells) of Ankh-Morpork, most dubious city in the multiverse! SAIL the Circle Sea in pursuit of glory, pirate gold, or a suntan! INTERVENE in the cultural interactions of trolls and dwarves (watch out for flying axes)! AVOID the attentions of Death, Fate, the Lady, Granny Weatherwax, and the Patrician! WONDER why you bought a second meat pie from Mr Dibbler!
For just US$14.95 you get all three titles in our Disc Collection (retail value $59) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete 411-page Discworld Roleplaying Game (2016) along with two GURPS Fourth Edition supplements that enhance the setting: GURPS 4E Fantasy-Tech 1: The Edge of Reality and (from our June 2022 GURPS 4E Essentials offer) GURPS 4E Low-Tech.

Monday, April 8, 2024

Deal of the Day - We Deal in Lead (Weird West)

I'm a huge fan of Spaghetti Westerns, as well as more recent classics like The Unforgiven, 3:10 to Yuma, and similar movies. It's purely American folklore and fantasy. I'm also a fan of post-apocalyptic settings and rulesets. Mix the two together and it seems like you got your chocolate in my peanut butter! ;)

We Deal in Lead is today's Deal of the Day at DTRPG. Normally 12.67 in PDF, but until tomorrow morning it is on sale for 6.33.

Edit - For what it's worth, I just bought and downloaded We Deal in Lead at the sale price and it looks very interesting.

We Deal in Lead is a weird west wanders TTRPG by Colin Le Sueur for 1 or more players. Streamlined rules, fast character creation, and gameplay built on exploration and player choice. Based on Cairn by Yochai Gal.
Features:
Set in a strange post-apocalyptic world eerily close to ours, where the borders of time and space wear thin
You are Gunslingers, mythic champions holding off the forces of chaos with lead and grit
Combat and exploration gameplay designed for 1 or more players, including solo or group play
Streamlined d20 roll-under rules based on Cairn, Into the Odd, and Knave
Hard-hitting gunslinger combat with new gun mechanics
Compatible with other Cairn adventures and settings; journey with your gunslingers into other genres and times
Recruit heroes from other worlds to join your quest, even those fallen to death; death is just another door, after all
Keep the bonds of fellowship strong within your Gunslinger Order and your aim will remain true
Wilderness survival and exploration through a world that has moved on — the known and unknown lands are dangerously unpredictable
Friend and train beast companions to act as your eyes, ears, or fangs, including hawks, wolves, and bumblers

Sunday, April 7, 2024

We Lost Dave Arneson 15 Years Ago...Today

Today is the 15th Anniversary of Dave Arneson's passing, a little more than a year after we lost Gary. Now I never had the opportunity to meet that latter, but I did briefly meet Dave at GenCon 2008*. I'm not quite sure what kind of sense of humor the man had in life, but I had an idea what it was in death. He was being wheeled around in a wheelchair and it was obvious he knew that his end drew near. I know that sounds a little macabre and I'd apologize, but that's exactly how it sat with me.

Anyway, he was going around visiting the booths and handing out these little baggies. I was at the KenzerCo booth as I was still a volunteer then, and Jolly Blackburn took the offering and didn't really look at it. Not surprising really for him, which isn't a negative commentary. He gets handed cool stuff all the time and he's more into the interaction that the "thing". Jolly hands it to me saying something like, "You want it?"

Sure.....I take a look and it's two Grey Gamescience D20's. Fuck yeah I'll take them....I am a Gamescience dice snob after all!

Upon closer inspection there is a small piece of paper. A note with a signature. The note read, "Rubbed in the hair of a live game designer." I do not think that was a snub against Gary, but a commentary on his own situation.

I've never rolled those d20's, and I likely never will.

The Empty Chair

Eulogy for a Gamer, by Jolly Blackburn

There is an empty chair,

at the table this day.

A hallowed place where,

a friend once played.

The roll of his dice,

my ears long to hear.

Or perhaps it would suffice,

if he should suddenly appear.

With character sheet in hand,

and a bag of Cheeze-doodles to share.

All his friends would stand,

as he sat in the empty chair.

I hear his voice a-callin’,

and it ties my heart in a knot.

For he cries, “Though a comrade has fallen,

You must play for those who cannot.”

We conquered worlds on the run,

he and I in the name of fun.

And as others may come and go,

I make both both friend and foe.

But what I long for most,

is our past now long a ghost.

Dave Arneson

October 1, 1947 – April 7, 2009

*It could have been Origins. I remember the meet, not the event.

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

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