I first came across Cyberpunk 2020 shortly after it came out in the late 80s. Although I didn't read much science fiction at the time, I had seen the covers of various cyberpunk novels at B. Dalton's, and the concept intrigued me. I don't believe I ever had a chance to run Cyberpunk 2020, but that was more due to the plethora of games my gaming group already owned that lack of interest.
The current Cyberpunk RED and Classic Mega Bundle over at the Humble Bundle Storeshould scratch all of your Cyberpunk needs. With the core books for Cyberpunk RED, Cyberpunk 2020, as well as the Cyberpunk Red Jump Kit and a total of 20 more supplements for both systems (price at 18 bucks), the cyberpunk in all of us should be satiated ;)
Calling all solos, netrunners, and rockerboys—it’s time to bring the edgy allure and explosive excitement of the legendary Cyberpunk pen and paper RPG to your table! This bundle is bursting at the seams with all the rulebooks, sourcebooks, and more that you’ll need to play both Cyberpunk RED —the latest edition of the seminal RPG—as well as Cyberpunk 2020, the classic that started it all. You’ll get over 20 books and game aids for both editions, including the Interface RED Volume 3 sourcebook, packed with new weapons, gear, rules, and more, and available for the first time anywhere as part of this bundle! Pay what you want for all the tools you need to take Night City by storm, and help support Children's Miracle Network Hospitals with your purchase.
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
72 more encounter cards for use with almost any fantasy RPG! May be used alone or combined with Set 1. Written by Philip Reed.
I'm a huge fan, and a friend, of Phil Reed. I've been following Phil for decades, back when he had an email list with gaming ideas. These days, he's the master of the small and quick RPG Kickstarter. Phil's current Kickstarter, Deck of Old-School Encounters Set Two, OSR Fantasy RPG Cards is only live for a short time, and as I type this has less than 3 days left in its funding period.
The Deck of Old-School Encounters Set Two includes 72 more random encounter cards, each one illustrated. This deck – for use by gamemasters and solo players – gives you a quick way to generate the next random encounter in your game.
Fully compatible with the first set (or use this second set of cards on their own)! You can select the first deck in the $8, $12, and $30 rewards. Or, if you wish, buy it today at DriveThruRPG!
These systemless cards work with any classic fantasy RPG. They are also a good fit for modern campaigns looking to add a touch of old-school flavor.
Each card also features the baseline reaction of the encountered character or creature. The reactions are divided into three categories.
Friendly. The encountered character(s) are open to assisting the party of adventurers . . . so long as the heroes are also friendly.
Indifferent. The encountered character(s) or creature(s) are likely to ignore the party if the adventurers don't do something stupid. Events during gameplay may turn some indifferent situations into hostile (or maybe even friendly) reactions . . . depending on the players' actions.
Hostile. The encountered character(s) or creature(s) are prone to violence and very likely to attack the party. Of course, the heroes may be able to sway the opposition, possibly turning an armed conflict into a tense – yet peaceful – meeting of two groups. (Who are we kidding? The adventurers are more likely to engage in fisticuffs than they are in conversation.)
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 enjoy what I call "drop-in dungeons" that you can plop down in a hex crawl with minimal fuss. Your part cleared out their current adventure early, and you still have 90 minutes left in the game session? Something like Downsized Dungeons is a perfect fit. The fact that it is PWYW means you can pay for it if you like when you actually use it.
Issue 1 - The Crypt of the Barbarian King
This classic five-room dungeons holds all the trappings of a good crawl. There are monsters. There are ghosts. And of course, there's a ton of treasure at the end.
About Downsized Dungeons
Fully statted for Old-School Essentials, these mini dungeons are the perfect thing to grab and go when you're low on preptime. They are intended to be played in a single session either as a one shot, or dropped into your current campaign.
Each issue contains an all new dungeon with original art and hand-drawn maps for that old school feeling.
Pick up a copy and see how it fits into your game!
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 a sucker for new monsters in my OSR games. I like to create them, and I love it when I find new monsters that others have created. I've been a fan of Jeremy Hart's artwork for a while now, and the Fiend Folio Vol.1 Kickstarter looks very appealing. I'm a backer :)
For this zine I'll be aiming for the center of the OSR. Stat-blocks are modeled after various great games such as Cha'alt, Swords & Wizardry, Lion & Dragon, etc. Basically just a single Saving Throw and only Ascending Armor Class. All the usual funky dice are necessary.
Each monster gets two pages. One has stats and the facing page is an artsy size comparison piece you can flash to your players. These have been generated over on my Patreon as cards. I've also been uploading them to DriveThruRPG as time allows. I try to create at least 8 different color/texture variations per creature. Of course, only one version of each can make it into the zine.
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
We are beyond pleased and honored to announce that the powers that be have released multiple works of the late Gary Gygax to Troll Lord Games for mass-market publication. These include the complete Gygaxian Fantasy World series, Castle Zagyg: Yggsburg, Castle Zagyg: East Mark, Castle Zagyg: The Manse, Castle Zagyg: Mouths of Madness, Castle Zagyg: The Dungeons (including all 17 handcrafted levels and any sublevels), and all related Castle Zagyg adventures such as the Teeth of Barkash Nour, The Halls of Many Panes, The Hermit, and the Kings of England Kings of France boardgame. See below for details.
THE FATHER OF A HOBBY & INDUSTRY
Though Gary Gygax was not alone in creating role playing games, others like Dave Arneson certainly played a part, it is to Gary’s drive, creativity, expertise, and sheer love of gaming that launched it from a basement hobby for a passionate few, into an industry that spans multiple media platforms.
What You Need to Know Right Now
Currently we are set to launch the Gygaxian Fantasy World Kickstarter campaign this March. Be sure to sign up and be there for any early bird specials!
The Kickstarter campaign for Gary Gygax’s The Hermit ended in December of 2023, support for which broke six digits! Fear not if you missed the Kickstarter, for you can pre-order The Hermit on our website and receive yours when it becomes available this spring.
Furthermore, we still have copies of the classic printing of Gary Gygax’s Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh. This classic reprint relaunched the Gygax Estates properties, and a host of folks came out to order it, support TLG and the Estate, and help launch this whole endeavor. A hearty thanks to all those people, but if you missed it, you can buy yours now in our store. It ships immediately!
TROLL LORD GAMES
Troll Lord Games served as Gary’s primary publisher from 2000-2008. After he crossed over much of Gary’s material vanished from the gaming table. Now we hope to launch a new era of publishing, bringing back the many rich worlds of Gary Gygax.
Gygaxian Fantasy World Series
The Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds (be sure to SIGN UP NOW for notifications) is an Encyclopedic series envisioned by the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, Gary Gygax. He conceived the series as an open-ended collection of role-playing gaming aids for the Game Master and the Player, the specific focus of which was World Building. Written, co-written, or edited by Gygax himself, its intent was to cover all the bases of our gaming world.
The first of these books, The Canting Crew, was published in 2001. Six more volumes followed, and more were planned prior to his passing in 2008.
Now, for the first time since they were pulled from the market in 2008, this collection of Gygaxian knowledge returns to the gaming world. Through this Kickstarter we hope to bring back all seven volumes and possibly more. Join us in recreating part of our gaming heritage and flood your own table with mountains of gaming content.
For a complete list of the Castle Zagyg material see below.
WHY CASTLES & CRUSADES
In 2003 Gary opened a discussion with Steve Chenault about Castle Zagyg. He did not want it to appear under the Dungeons & Dragons name or game system. When the Troll Lords proposed that we make Castles & Crusades compatible with his vision for a game for Castle Zagyg he heartly agreed. Both he and Steve wanted C&C to be near to AD&D, so it worked well. Gary was given the right of approval of the rules, and did so with few corrections, so that when Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh and Upper were finally published, they launched with the Castles & Crusades SIEGE Engine system. We will pick up with his wishes where we left off in 2008.
Castle Zagyg
We are going to revisit Gary Gygax’s Castle Zagyg like never before, but much like we intended in years past. This project is massive!
Mike Stewart, known for his Victorious RPG and many adventures like Shadows of the Halfling Hall, has come on board as the head writer. But he won’t be alone, Luke Gygax joins him as does James M. Ward, Jason Vey, Jeremy Farkas and Davis Chenault. Peter Bradley and Bill Edmunds on cartography.
This project will include several major areas:
Castle Zagyg The City of Yggsburg
Castle Zagyg Yggsburg Environs (24 neighborhoods of the city)
The East Mark Setting
Castle Zagyg: The Manse & Mouths of Madness
Castle Zagyg: The Dungeons, 17 levels
We’ve not yet settled on an organizational format but have settled on hardcover books with pockets in the back to hold the many maps that will come with this set.
MISSION STATEMENT
We are going to try to stay as true to Gary Gygax’s vision of his work as we possibly can. Steve and Davis Chenault and Peter Bradley all worked closely with Gary for almost 8 years and have a pretty good handle on what he wanted. On top of this, we will be consulting with family members such as Ernie and Luke Gygax, and long time friends like James M. Ward and Jeffrery Talanian to make these works as close to Gary’s vision as we can. New art! New maps! Layout and all, but Gary through and through.
Hall of Many Panes and Other Games
There is so much more to work on. Gary’s creative output was unmatched and even in the wanning years it continued to grow.
We were very happy to have launched The Hermit kickstarter (preorder here), and move toward bring that fabled adventure to your table.
But there is more. The Hall of Many Panes is on the deck. This massive planar adventure, written by Gary and originally published in 2005, is a monument to the bizarre and genius that was Gary’s gift to us all. We’ll bring this on up to date and republish in full color!
One of the projects near and dear to his heart was the Kings of England, Kings of France board game. We are going to dust off the old maps and playing pieces and bring this one back to the fold.
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
As this is the "last Sunday of January" in 2024, that means realistically today(ish) is the 50th Anniversary of D&D.
50 Effing years.....holy crap. I think I started playing in the winter of '78, but I could be off a year either way. I should be celebrating like any faithful dork by playing this weekend and I had full intentions of attending NTRPG's gaming day/weekend at the hotel, but I'm not fully recovered from the flu from last week and traveling to the event, I'm certain, would've been "terminally stupid".
Anyway, 50 years is a lot of time, but that number is really misleading. The real number is the hours spent around the table, days playing between school sessions, weeks at conventions, and (if you were lucky) years in campaigns. Those numbers, well they're the real numbers we celebrate.
If you haven't been able to in a while, please pick up some appropriate dice and roll one out in commemoration.
Screams on Screen
-
They say that if you want to make it big in Hollywood, you are going to
have to sell your soul. Not necessarily the devil, but to some studio
executive fo...
B11: King's Festival (1989)
-
From the publisher:
Someone has "borrowed" a cleric, and without him, the fabled King's
Festival cannot go on. Unfortunately, it looks like the orcs have...
Advent-ure Dice: Day 13
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* Day 13*
[image: Advent-ure Dice Day 13]
[image: Advent-ure Dice Day 13]
A green d4. I don't have a complete set yet of all one color, but I am
gettin...
d12 Goblinoid Clans For Chagrinspire
-
Goblins are faerie race often a sort of working class for other more
haughty elves and faeries. Many born on earth have...
Dreams of Murderous Spheres - Echoing Stars
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1. A Gas Giant transformed to flowing pearlescent computronium -
simulating quintillions of lives in millions of worlds. Once the digital
heaven of a lo...
Who Gets the Magic Item You Found? - Addenda
-
*This is related to Who Gets the Magic Item You Found?*
*Who is actually going to use it?*
Another option for handing out magic items is simply, who will a...
The Moss Mother’s Maze
-
By Chris BissetteSelf PublishedA Dungeon GameLevels 1-3 Beneath a desolate
moor lies an enigmatic maze, its twisted corridors teeming with treacherous
trap...
Geeky SKAturday: Moon Hop (Derrick Morgan)
-
In preparing my magnum opus, I'm trying to nail down a simple yet flavorful
way to handle spellcasting. My approach for now (in addition to looking at
how...
Kord of Bhaal The Bandits of Joraqua
-
Kord is captured by the fiendish bandits of Joraqua who plan to exchange
him for a powerful ancient sorcerous relic, with this relic they will be
able to ...
Rappan: The Blue Lord
-
Session 260 was played on 8/4/24
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)
Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Morgana, wizard (Rob)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (N...
October Horror Challenge - Splinter (2008)
-
"Body Horror" is the prompt for Day 10. I decided to rewatch a flick I
think is pretty underrated. PlotA young couple are carjacked and find
themselves tra...
The Tome of Worldbuilding from Mythmere Games
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I thought I’d mention that Mythmere Games is running another kickstarter.
This one is for a volume entitled *The Tome of Worldbuilding*. The title
pretty...
Worse Places to Be
-
Last week I did this for the positive Landmarks, so let’s look at the
negatives. Now, Ruins aren’t strictly negative, but they aren’t as outright
benefic...
Schupo Sonderwagen 1921
-
I have finally managed to finish my 15mm (1:100) Weimar Republic Schupo
Sonderwagen of 1921. At least one of these armoured cars was still
trundling a...
[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
-
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
...
Old School Enabled (While Disabled)...
-
Yours truly is disabled. Not by birth, but by war. I had to rebuild my self
image from the ground up after decades of able-bodied existence, which
wasn't...
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...
Lancer: 1:35 Swallowtail Scratchbuild
-
Back in the day, I suggested that the best mech system is a mechanics-heavy
RPG system, but scaled up.* D&D 4E *seemed like a good candidate. Mech
system...
They're Eating the Apostrophes
-
Patrick Stuart has a new Kickstarter in the offing - and he has managed to
reveal himself as having the testicular fortitude of a leviathan in the
proces...
Warsmith's Words: Iron Warriors Predator
-
Welcome back to the Vault! It's been a long time since I last posted; I
have to confess I've lost the passion for blogging, but I can't quite bring
myse...
Lessons from Elden Ring, Part II
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This is a continuation from this post.
Anyway, here are some more things you can do to make your tabletop game
more like Elden Ring.
DO Give Players The ...
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 “...
My complete map of Oerik
-
So many people have asked me for this over the years, I figured it was time
to acquiesce, because my redone maps are taking much longer than I had
hoped. I...
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...
The Mystery of the First Blackmoor Map
-
In this POST from a few years ago, I was concerned with the issue of scale
and distance in Blackmoor in the course of which I attempted to determine
the...
Got my Summer Art Acquisitions Framed
-
[image: Got my Summer Art Acquisitions Framed]
This weekend was a bit of a catch-up/housekeeping period as I have gotten
around to purchasing more frame p...
Far Away Land 2nd Edition Kickstarter is Amazing
-
Fay Away Land RPG Ed. 2 is now Kickstarting! It funded quick and has 22
days remaining as of this post. It is a unique setting and RPG that reeks
of fun....
Grimdark vs. Eucatastrophe
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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
-
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
-
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!
-
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...