Backerkit - Bringing Much More Isometric Map-Making Content to MapForge

BattleGrounds Games, the maker of MapForge, has been in the VTT business for over a decade and has been producing mapping software for about half that time. Heruca not only does good work, but he's also a solid supporter of the gaming community.

The current crowdfunding project is precisely what it says on the tin: Bringing Much More Isometric Map-Making Content to MapForge via Backerkit.

This campaign is to fund the creation of 13 new isometric content Add-Ons for MapForge, whose aim will be to allow the creation of Modern Day and Post-Apocalyptic maps. This new content will supplement all the great isometric content that is already available for MapForge.

If you're not already a MapForge user, no problem, since during this campaign you can pledge for a discounted MapForge license as an Add-On to your pledge. So even if you have zero interest in isometric mapping (or perhaps in the Modern Day and Post-Apocalyptic game genres), you can join the growing MapForge user base and go make some nifty top-down or hex-tile maps.

If you're not already familiar with MapForge, here's a quick recap:

• MapForge is easy-to-use software for Windows and Mac OS that makes high-quality maps for printing or for use in virtual tabletop software (e.g., Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, Foundry VTT, Arkenforge, etc.).
• It can be used for free (no license required for low resolution output).
• There are a staggering 60 free content Add-Ons available for MapForge, to start you off with over 9000 mapping assets covering a variety of game genres and mapping styles.
• You can download and try the software out for yourself, to evaluate it and see for yourself if the program is what you want/expect it to be.

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Black Friday Doorbusters at DTRPG

I always enjoy the deep Discount Doorbusters at DTRPG on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and today's Black Friday picks aren't bad, either. Actually, they are pretty good :)

Let's start with Gods of the Forbidden North for OSE Advanced. This 480-page campaign is the first of three volumes, and it is a 4.99 deal that will give you months of adventures for levels 1 to 5. It can be run as a sandbox or episodic adventure path. It has 4.9 stars and 38 reviews. This is one I had missed, and I'm grabbing it now!

Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, Core Rulebook. I returned to active gaming via the Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy ruleset in 2008 or so. Warhammer 40k holds a special place in my gaming heart. 7.49

I already own the Witcher Pen & Paper RPG. I haven't run it, but I thoroughly enjoyed the lore aspect. 7.49

The Walking Dead Universe RPG. Honestly, I gave up on The Walking Dead sometime around Season 4. But for 4.99, I could be tempted.

I've only heard good things about Rivers of London, really good things. At 5.99, I'll gladly take the plunge.

Exalted: Essence. I'm not a fan of the Storyteller System. Admittedly, this is a streamlined version of Exalted 3e. Maybe I'd like it. Doubtful. 5.99

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Humble Bundle - Free League RPG Megabundle

I have only one of the RPGs offered in the Humble Bundle Free League Megabundle—DragonBane. I backed the Kickstarter for that, and the boxed set is pretty, and the game reads well. 

For 18 bucks, you get the core rules of DragonBane, Mutant Year Zero, Tales From the Loop, Symbaroum, Forbidden Lands, Twilight 2000 4e, and Coriolis. Including sourcebooks and adventures for the games above, you get 29 books. That is simply an outstanding deal!

Treat yourself for the Holidays :)

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Holiday Shopping Picks for the Gamer in Your Life (or yourself ;)

At about the one-hour mark of Wednesday Night's Pre-Black Friday Livestream, we covered several gift ideas for the fantasy role player in your life.

They are linked below:

D&D Water Bottles Plus - https://amzn.to/3B15kyJ

Kennon9 T-Shirts - https://www.teepublic.com/user/kennon9

ShadowDark  - https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/shadowdark

D&D Vinyl Minis - https://amzn.to/4g88WxW

D&D Random Minis - https://amzn.to/4i8JIBa

LEGO Minifigures Dungeons & Dragons 6 Pack - https://amzn.to/3B3xyZO

Dragonlance Chronicles - https://amzn.to/3Vg2Z9Z

D&D Classic Module Dice Sets - https://beadleandgrimms.com/products/d-d-classic-module-dice-set?variant=51694878032235

Dungeon! Fantasy Board Game - https://amzn.to/4i6F1YB

The Mad Scientists' Club - https://amzn.to/416GfNy

Trivial Pursuit: Dungeons & Dragons Ultimate Edition - https://amzn.to/3CGNMbx

Northwest Dungeons & Dragons Beach Towel 2-Pack - https://amzn.to/3Vej8wB

The Secret of Terror Castle - https://amzn.to/3Vep3ln

Dungeons and Dragons Dice Tower - https://www.gamestop.com/collectibles/replicas/products/dungeons-and-dragons-dice-tower/11109922.html

 

Note - some of the above are affiliate links

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 Rumble or YouTube - Tenkar

Free OSR - Mutant Future: Revised Edition (no-art version)

You've got to give it to Goblinoid Games. They did a great job with their initial releases, offering Free, No-Art versions of their PDFs.

Mutant Future is often seen as an OSR hidden gem. It is effectively a retro-clone of Gamaa World without going into the weird dice mechanics of Mutant Crawl Classics. Mutant Future should be in every OSR gamer's PDF library, and at the price of free, there's no reason not to.

The sinister and sadistic bleating of spidergoats echoes in the night, a complementary chorus to the rustling of an unfortunate victim caught in their webs. In deep, dank caves to the north, corrupted humans take communion with an unspeakably evil abomination they worship as a god. Shrill cries from the fields can only mean the vomit flies are back, molesting your livestock.

In short, just another day in the Mutant Future!

Mutant Future is a post-apocalyptic science fantasy RPG, in the same flavor of similar genre games from the late 70s and early 80s. The game is almost entirely open game content, and a free trademark license allows anyone to publish materials compatible with Mutant Future.

From the back cover:

Enter a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland filled with mutants, ruins, and radiation! You can take the role of an android, mutant human, mutant animal, pure human, and even a mutant plant! Seek wealth and ancient technological artifacts. Enter vast underground complexes and avoid killer robots!

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Bundle of Holding - Engine GM Guides

I have been a fan of the various Engine GM Guides for years and have bought all these titles individually. At less than $10 for six titles, this is a must-have for any DM's reference collection.

Gamemaster! We've resurrected our November 2022 Engine GM Guides Bundle featuring ebooks from Engine Publishing that help improve your skill in running tabletop roleplaying games. Written by the experienced GMs at the widely read gamemastering blog Gnome Stew and by many of the field's leading RPG designers, Engine's system-neutral guides show how to prepare and run a game session, conjure interesting characters and storylines, manage an ongoing campaign, and (ahem) improvise when your players gleefully destroy your game sessions, characters, storylines, and campaign.

This revived November 2022 offer once again gives you the complete six-book Engine collection for less than the retail price of one guide. For just US$9.95 you get all six titles in this revived offer's Engine Collection (retail value $78) as DRM-free ebooks:

• Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Gamemasters
• Focal Point: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions
• Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game
• Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Session Prep
• Odyssey: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Campaign Management
• Unframed: The Art of Improvisation for Game Masters

 

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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 Rumble or YouTube - Tenkar

Deal of the Day - Carcass Crawler: Issue Two (OSE)

Zines. Zines & dice. These are two of my favorite things. My collection always has room for more dice, and zines can fit on any shelf, physical or digital. Zines generally have far more "bang for the buck" than other gaming purchases, and they often fit into the "impulse buy" category. I really like zines :)

Today's Deal of the Day is Carrion Crawler: Issue Two for OSE. Typically, it is 7.50 in PDF, but until tomorrow morning, Carrion Crawler: Issue Two is on sale for 3.75

Issue 2 of Carcass Crawler — the official Old-School Essentials zine! Each issue is packed with new material for your games, including new character classes and races, new spells and magic items, new monsters, optional and expanded rules, referee advice, news, previews of in-development products, short adventures, and more!

In This Issue

• New classes and races: Two new elf variants. The phase elf and the wood elf.
• Item-based encumbrance system: A simple system for tracking characters' loads and movement rates, based on the number of items carried. (No more need to add up coins and weights.)
• Town services: Guidelines and prices for inns, jewellers, money changers, and traders, including a simple optional rule for haggling.
• Hiring retainers: Tables and extra guidelines for locating and hiring retainers.
• Quick equipment: A set of tables for expediting character creation by randomly selecting starting gear.
• Energy weapons: Complete rules for introducing high-tech energy blades and guns into your game, either as alien relics found in long lost treasure hoards or to accompany the sci-fi inspired classes in Carcass Crawler issue 1 (the hephaestan and kineticist).
• Snake cult monsters: 8 brand new monsters: creepy undead, guardian constructs, and devious serpents.
• The Tomb of Aum-Pharath: A mini-adventure in the trap-filled ruins of a snake cult temple.
• Adjudicating traps: Advice and optional guidelines for making traps a fun and engaging part of the 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 Rumble or YouTube - Tenkar