Looking for a short, low-level distraction for your group? Maybe something to run at a gaming convention in a 3 to 4-hour time slot.? Look no further thanUnder Tenkar's Tavern, Levels 1-3 from Throwi Games.
I ran Under Tenkar's Tavern this morning at Central NY Con. With character generation for a party of six characters (using Swords & Wizardry Light), we brought the first level of the dungeon to a successful conclusion in about 3 1/2 hours. Objective achieved and fun had by all.
I would expect the full 3 levels to play out in about two sessions in a home campaign, with enough story hooks to keep your group coming back for more.
Priced at PWYW pricing, I'd give Under Tenkar's Tavern4 1/2 beer steins. It's short, sweet, and easy to prep, and the price is right :)
The first time I saw the system that became Fantasy Age was the adaptation of Dragon Age from console RPG to TTRPG, and I was impressed with what I saw and read. A very playable, not too crunchy, classic-feeling fantasy RPG.
I haven't checked out Fantasy Age 2e yet, but I am tempted to after I return from Central NY Con early next week...
Adventurer! This all-new Fantasy AGE 2E Bundle presents the 2023 Second Edition of Fantasy AGE, the tabletop fantasy roleplaying game based on the Adventure Game Engine from Green Ronin Publishing. With the easy-to-learn, flexible Fantasy AGE system you can create a character in minutes, pull off heroic stunts, cast worldshaking spells from 19 mix-and-match arcana, and fine-tune your campaign with optional Peril, Daring, Fortune, and Horror rules. And if you know other AGE system RPGs like The Expanse, Dragon Age, Cthulhu Awakens, Blue Rose, and Modern AGE, you already know how to play Fantasy AGE – all the basic systems are the same.
Techno-Fantasy supplement for Fantasy Age Second EditionFor just US$19.95 you get all seven titles in our Fantasy AGE 2E Collection (retail value $88) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete full-color 290-page Fantasy AGE 2E Core Rulebook, plus the Second Edition Game Master's Toolkit, the VTT Token Pack, and the free Quickstart; Technofantasy; and three 2E adventures: Lair of the Horned Giant, Menace of the Grave Warrens, and Return to the Valley of the Whispering Titans.
The town of Warnell, straddling a trade route that crosses two great forests, seems at first like any other backwater on the borderland of civilization, but menace and mystery lurk beneath the surface: a rash of disappearances from the shanties outside the town walls, a ruthless drug cartel operating with impunity while the town watch are powerless to stop them, and marauding bands of brigands and slavers ravaging the countryside. Rumors point would-be heroes and fortune seekers to the enigmatic sanatorium and casino outside of town that draw strange and wealthy travelers from far-away lands, to the abandoned (and reportedly haunted or cursed) old salt mines, to a remote mist-shrouded logging camp with an unsavory reputation, and deep into the trackless primeval forest where the xenophobic elves have forbidden all trespassers. While these locations likely hold death and destruction for the careless and foolhardy, they may also hold the keys to drawing this afflicted town and its hapless inhabitants away from the brink of calamity.
A First Edition fantasy campaign adventure for 4-20 players with characters of levels 1-6, compatible for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition), OSRIC, or other old-school style fantasy roleplaying game rules and utilizing the concepts and rules additions found within The Heroic Legendarium.
This book, years in preparation and playtesting, presents a complete ready-to-play campaign in a book that covers an 8,000 square mile wilderness map with 30+ detailed locations, a detailed town (plus two detailed villages), five dungeon areas with 16 combined levels and several mini-dungeon lairs, 7 new monsters, 4 new magic items, 140 named & detailed NPCs, extensive rumor and random encounter tables, dozens of potential plots and character interactions, and notes for further expansion. Enough to easily fill at least 20 sessions of play. Includes a revised and expanded version of the previously-published (award-winning) Melonath Falls dungeon together with over 150 pages of never-before-seen new material.
Note to buyers: If you are purchasing the print edition please buy the print+pdf bundle (which costs the same as buying the print edition alone) so that you can print out extra copies of the maps for use during play. Due to the limits of POD formats the maps are bound into the back of the book rather than in a separate booklet so if you only have the book you will have to flip back and forth to the back of the book during play which would be a hassle.
Yep. One PWYW adventure covers three systems - Old School Essentials, ShadowDark, and Cairn.Today's Free OSR Pick:Perilous Path of the Cursed Camelis an adventure for 2nd and 3rd-level characters that stands alone - it isn't written as part of a series, so you'll need to massage it into a campaign if that is how you are using it. To my eyes, it makes for a fine tournament adventure for conventions - now it's got me thinking...
What do you say when a bizarre camel appears and says you’re doomed to have your soul eaten by witches… unless you can steal as many ancient Relics as possible from all over the world in the next few hours?
…hopefully, you say: Let’s go!
Embark on a whirlwind tour of the strangest and deadliest places in the world as you search for a way to escape the Witches of Grome! Players have just 30 minutes to explore each location, negotiate with the locals, and find a Relic or two before they are transported to the next location.
GMs can choose how many locations they wish to play (of the 12 provided) in order to make the session run longer or shorter to meet their needs. Perfect for convention play!
THREE SYSTEMS
This adventure is written with simple keys for monsters and treasure, and provides handy one-page guides so that it can be played in three different systems:
Shadowdark
Old School Essentials
Cairn
Intended for a large party of Level 2 PCs, or a small party of Level 3 PCs
FLEXIBLE LENGTH
Each location is meant to be played for about 30 minutes of real time. There are 12 random locations to explore, plus the 13th final location where the PCs confront the Witches. Thus, the GM can easily choose how many locations they wish to play to precisely fit the time they have alloted for the session.
I've always been intrigued by solo RPG/Story systems, be it Tunnels & Trolls, the old UK gamebooks from Steve Jackson (yes, the other one), or even more recent releases. The Drifter is a solo RPG experience in the setting of the American Western Genre.
The Drifter is a solitaire, story, dice game based in the fictional wild west.
The drifter is reminiscent of games like Barbarian Prince (1980), where every game is a unique story experience every time you play.
You are a gunslinger who has been living a hazy existence. Your brief time in this world has been mostly spent on the outside of the law, killing, stealing, carousing with undesirables, living a dangerous life full of excess and violence. Recently, you feel life might have more to offer. You know this way of life will not last and now are looking to maybe put your wild ways away, buy a ranch and settle into obscurity. You determined you need $300 and are willing to get it by any means you feel necessary.
Will you fall victim to the endless dangers that lurk in the wild west or will you enjoy your remaining days in a serene retirement, tending to your ranch?
Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme. That is a mouthful and a half! I backed the Kickstarter, and the physical product is beautiful. It also reads well. I am not sure how well it plays, but I do enjoy the occasional distraction of the truly silly, and Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme certainly fits the bill :)
If you were curious, the PDF for Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme is currently the Deal of the Day at DTRPG. Normally 40 bucks! (and it isn't even a Goodman Games release) Until tomorrow morning, Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme is on sale for $16 (a 60% discount). If I hadn't already backed this from the Kickstarter, I'd be all over this like white on rice, as I'm a huge Monty Python fan.
Betwixt these firm yet supple ( binary) covers, one shall find everything one needs to experience the joy of Mediaeval study, from character creation and factions to ready-to-run quests and monsters – including the French! One need not be familiar with Monty Python’s work, nor is experience with ‘role-playing games’ required. If you have experience with the latter, you are probably too silly a person to participate and should stop reading immediately.
Features:
An original rules-lite gaming system with spam.
Guidance on designing adventures with spam.
Ready-to-run quests, spam, and guidance on designing one's own adventures.
Character creation, spam, bestiary, spam, and Dramatis Personae sections.
Tables for generating all sorts of things with spam.
Original hand-painted illumination
6.2% more spam.
This is a fully licensed educational programme for serious students of History.
It is by no means a comprehensive manual for running imaginative, Mediaeval-themed role-playing games lovingly ripped off from the works of Monty Python.
Do you like swords & sorcery, but are not sure if a D20-based system is the right fit? You may enjoy the classic Traveler 2d6 system, but want to try it in a manner that isn't tied to sci-fi. Oh, and maybe you want the system to be open, under the Open Game License (OGL).
A sorcerer blasting his enemies with the power of his mind. A muscled barbarian wielding a flaming sword against the local tyrant’s thugs. A gladiator who freed himself from slavery wanders the land, righting wrongs and smashing villains. Big muscles, big swords, eldritch sorcery, powers of the mind, terrible beasts. From Burroughs to Howard to Moorcock to Italian Peplum films to those dreaming of outlandish post-apocalyptic worlds, heroes raise swords against corrupt nobles, inscrutable sorcerers, and alien monstrosities.
The Sword of Cepheus is a role-playing game in the triple “Sword” genres: Sword and Sorcery, Sword and Planet, and Sword and Sandal. In Sword and Sorcery, often amoral protagonists face vile sorcery and horrid beasts as they complete awesome adventures for gold and glory. In Sword and Planet, humans finding themselves on barbaric or decadent alien planets use their superior brawn and valiant hearts to win fame, fortune, and the heart of an alien princeling. In Sword and Sandal, often set in a quasi-Biblical or faux-Roman world, men and women with sharp wits and strong sword arms fight mythological creatures and overthrow tyrants. The common threads of all three genres are the blade-wielding protagonists who use their brawn, as well as brains, to fight foes both supernatural and mundane and undertake hair-raising, violent adventures.
The Sword of Cepheus rules include everything you need to play thrilling sword & sorcery adventures:
Streamlined skill-based 2d6 task resolution!
Customizable character generation with 12 archetypal careers for your character to undergo!
12 non-human species with their own careers!
40 unique character Traits to further personalize your character!
A wide selection of adventuring equipment and weaponry!
Simple yet intriguing rules for adventuring and exploring exciting worlds!
Fast-paced, action-packed combat - whether on foot, from horseback, or on the high seas!
A skill-based, perilous sorcery system, with 28 powerful Arcane spells and 18 reality-shattering Eldritch spells!
Risk disastrous magical mishaps and mutate as vast eldritch power flows through your sorcerous body!
95 terrible monsters for daring heroes to face!
A selection of treasures, including a selection of powerful magical artifacts!
Detailed Encounter Rules to keep adventuring exciting and fresh, for both players and Referees!
Here I am at NTRPG Con, when I should be shopping the vendor tables, and instead I'm searching Kickstarter for OSR releases. Have no fear - I'll be shopping the vendor hall tomorrow. Today, I am looking at an OSR zine Kickstarter - Fantasy RPG Zine Double Feature - Delver 18 and Runes 7.
Now, I am familiar with Delver Zine, having snagged an issue (or three) in the past, and I was pleased with what I had. I've yet to catch a copy of Runes (it's for ShadowDark, so I should snag it), but I expect it will be of the same high quality.
Print plus PDF is 13 bucks (the pair is 24). I expect I'll be backing this Kickstarter when I'm home from NTRPG Con...
The Fantasy RPG Zine Double Feature will offer up two zines for GMs and players, every other month, for a total of 12 issues per year.
Delver magazine (zine-format, 5.5 " wide x 8.5" tall) is for GMs and Players of OSR fantasy RPGs such as Old-School Essentials, Swords & Sorcery, and Basic Fantasy RPG. Runes is an identical zine-format that focuses on the Shadowdark RPG.
Both issues provide OSR content for GMs and players looking for a return to the style and feel of classic dungeon crawling; each zine provides a mix of random tables, new magic items, new spells and much more. Further, each issue provides an article of interest and an adventure complete with room descriptions, maps, NPCs and new creatures and notes for the GM on running the adventure.
I missed yesterday's blog post, what with traveling to Dallas for NTRPG Con and the fiasco that was last night's livestream. Ah well. I'll see if I can keep current going forward.
Today, we are highlighting OSE Treasures 2 at Bundle of Holding. This bundle includes the recently Kickstarted dark fantasy settingThe Shrike (currently $29 on DTRPG). Hey! Buy The Shrike at a discount and get more stuff included in the $84 valued bundle :)
A huge modular sandbox adventure setting in an abandoned fragment of Hell- a colossal blade dedicated to punishing a nameless God. The Shrike, is a heaven-harrowing thorn, a black iron mountain with serrated spires of rock and rust, that pierces the heart of the God, causing divine blood to flow and nourish life within the corroded iron and stone megastructure. The Shrike is written by Leo Hunt (the author of Vaults of Vaarn and mounds of excellent gaming material) for Old School Essentials RPG but works well for your other d20 based fantasy systems of choice.
The Shrike is a world of decay - rusted iron, crumbling stone, saltwater, blood, and fog - surrounded by a roiling ocean, a lifeless archipelago, pewter-hued clouds, seabirds, and pitiless stars. In this infernal Galapagos, players will encounter masked Devils, blood which gives life to things which should not have it, stones which give life to people who do not want it, terrible and stranded monsters, perilous locations, and wonderous treasures from across the planes.
What's Inside?
46 unique pointcrawl locations across the Shores of the Shrike, its fiery Guts, jagged snow capped Exterior, and procedurally generated depth-crawl in the surreal shifting interior of the it's heaven-harrowing Barb.
3 detailed and keyed dungeons including the waterlogged Cove of Iron Coffins, the derelict Gamigin's Starforge, and an endless masquerade ball in The Palace of the Heart, ranging from low to high level.
5 scheming factions of the diabolic Courts and mountains of detailed NPC's
3 new classes. From the shapeshifting Imp, to the Forged and Rampant Partials; made from the God's blood animating detritus and abandoned objects- molded into demon designed bodies or left to grow wild and feral.
40+ new monsters from the eyegouger finch to the auric homunculus.
37 brand new peculiar magic items
1 Nameless God impaled upon the Shrike's heaven-harrowing thorn, writhing and seeking escape.
One year ago, eldritch horrors of cosmic malevolence called the Iconnu attempted to destroy our reality.
They failed, but the attempt left the world in rapidly darkening shadow. Dead souls returned to claim living bodies, creating blood-drinking undead fiends: vampires. Bestial spirits came as well, to create werewolves, and demons formed bodies from worldly matter. Magic crashed back into the world, and mages wield its power for whatever purpose suits them. Humans called the Awakened unknowingly keep the darkness at bay.
These supernatural creatures struggle against each other and clash in the shadows, most attempting to destroy the world, but a few fighting to preserve it. And over it all, the Iconnu still lurk, squeezing the world like an eggshell.
This book includes a complete setting: a new vision of the World of Darkness.
Characters play as vampires, mages, werewolves, demons or Awakened and wield frightening supernatural powers against their own kind.
The world is the one we know, but now much darker: destruction in the central United States, nightmares coming to life and beasts roaming shattered cityscapes.
This game uses a variation of the most popular roleplaying game system in the world.
A little background. I own the first edition of The No-Prep Gamemaster, and I like it. I found that I was already employing many of the techniques described, but it did a good job of helping me identify my strengths and weaknesses as an "improv-style" DM, as I often refer to myself. Was the author's voice a little off-putting? At times, but nothing a few years of honing one's writing skills couldn't fix ;)
From what I saw in the preview, it's worth the current price of 2.99. So, I grabbed a copy of The No-Prep Gamemaster 2eand will put it at the top of my review pile for after the June Convention Season (I have NTRPG Con later this week and Central NY Con the following weekend.) I'm excited to delve into The No-Prep Gamemaster 2e and give you my full thoughts on it, but at 2.99, it qualifies as an impulse buy for any prospective (or seasoned) GM.
Are you a game master who’s short on time, overwhelmed by prep, or tired of burnout? The No-Prep Gamemaster is your solution.
This updated and expanded second edition of Matt Davids’ well-known guide offers a practical, inspiring approach to running unforgettable tabletop RPG sessions, with little to no prep beforehand.
Inside, you’ll discover:
A mindset shift that takes the pressure off GMing
How to improvise encounters and adventures on the fly
Tips for training your brain to generate ideas naturally
The power of random tables and how to use them
Ways to engage players without hours of planning
Practical reflections to help you improve with every session
Whether you’re a brand-new GM or a veteran looking to rekindle your love of the game, this book is packed with tools, insights, and encouragement to help you prep less and play more.
Let go of the guilt. Embrace the chaos. Run better games.
I did a quick check of the titles in this RPG GameMaster Book Series Bundle, and the prices range from $9.99 to $16.99 in PDF format over at DTRPG. One title in the bundle is a preview, and one is a map pack.
Using the links above helps to support The Tavern.
What makes a great Game Master? Experience, knowledge, resources, and excitement! Become a legendary GM with our all-new RPG Game Master Book Bundle. Elevate your skillset with endless insights from robust ebooks like The Game Master's Book of Random Encounters, The Game Master's Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons, and The Game Master's Book of Astonishing Random Tables. Pay what you want and help support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation with your purchase!
Enjoy this all-new way to play on game night and between campaigns in this collection of 400 trivia questions all about your favorite RPGs that’s fun or peruse solo or to quiz your friends between rounds.
Test your knowledge with The Düngeonmeister Book of RPG Trivia. With questions and interesting details about the history of tabletop gaming, your favorite game genres, and the media and video game connections you know and love, this new trivia book is sure to be a hit for seasoned gamers and newbies alike.
Featuring tons of questions to test your nerd cred, including:
CHOOSE ONE: In the popular Netflix series Stranger Things, the RPG-playing kids of the main cast routinely contextualize the monsters they encounter with famous creatures of D&D lore. Which of the following creatures have the not utilized as of season 4 as a name for a monster?
Vecna
Mind Flayer
Aboleth
Demogorgon
Answer: Aboleth
TRUE OR FALSE? Studded leather armor, a favorite of RPG thieves and rogues, is based on a misreading of historical text and never actually existed.
Alright, let me start this by saying Rob is one hell of a great person, and I'm proud to call him a friend. Some people talk about giving back to the gaming community, but Rob walks the walk. Look at Rob's hexcrawl, BlackMarsh. Not only is it free to download, but it is free to use in your own projects. Rob simply "gets it."
Now it's time to expand the frontier once more with The Northern Marches, and to reveal more of the world that Blackmarsh belongs to: the Majestic Fantasy Realms.
Each regions of the Northern Marches brims with ancient ruins, forgotten magic, and factions fighting to shape the future. The Ring Islands, the Forsaken Desert, the forest of Les Gigantov, the Great Glacier, the Black Marshes, the underwater realms of the Grey Sea, all await adventurers willing to brave their dangers and plunge into their mysteries.
Together, the Northern Marches span over 100,000 square miles, divided across four 12" by 18" maps overlaid with a numbered hex grid for easy reference. Its factions, characters, histories, ruins, lairs, and cultures form a rich tapestry, creating a living world that players can visit as their characters while seeking adventure.
And yes, Rob is releasing the new setting material to the gaming community under the CC-BY 4.0 license, to be built upon as needed.
This Kickstarter funds the art and editing for the following.
A 200 page Guidebook - A detailed reference to the Northern Marches in the hexcrawl format. It covers the region’s history, religions, cultures, and locales, along with a brief overview of the larger world of the Majestic Fantasy Realms.
Travel Rules and Encounter System - Included in the guidebook is an expanded version of the travel rules originally presented in How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox. It adds greater detail to overland journeys, caravan travel, sea voyages, and adventuring in the underwater realms of the Northern Marches.
Five 12" by 18" Referee Maps - Four maps depict the major regions of the Northern Marches: the Great Glacier, the Wild North, Blackmarsh, and Northport. Each includes settlements, terrain, islands, ruins, and lairs. The fifth map combines the corner areas where the four regions meet.
Five 12" by 18" Players Maps - These maps show the geography of the Northern Marches, but only include settlements and locations commonly known to the public, perfect for use at the table without revealing hidden details.
Two 12" by 18" Overview Maps - The two maps combine the four individual maps into a smaller overview of the entire Northern Marches. One for the players and one for the Referee.
Setting Reference Document - Text and markdown documents with the text and maps of the guidebook will be released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC-BY 4.0) for use in your own projects and worlds.
I'm backing at 60 myself, and I backed one minute after it went live, and I'm only backer #8 ;P
I've said this before, and it bears repeating - I'm a sucker for settings. I rarely use any as written, but for inspiration, I find myself constantly adding to my collection.
Gods of the Forbidden North: Volume 2 details the underworld, which is an often overlooked setting. I may need to snag a copy for this reason alone. At over 500 pages, there is a huge amount of gaming material within, earning an excellent 4.7 stars with 17 ratings.
Gods of the Forbidden North is a massive, three-volume mega-adventure series written for the Old-School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy tabletop role-playing game by Necrotic Gnome. It details a campaign setting, a wilderness hex-crawl, a sprawling underworld connecting to multiple entrances on the surface, and most importantly, an enormous megadungeon.
Volume 1: The first book covers the arctic frontier's settlements, cultures, religions, and its vast wilderness regions. It includes 1 urban starter quest and 5 low-level dungeons.
Volume 2: The second book details the underworld below the continent's surface, plutonian settlements, 4 mid-level dungeons, 1 urban investigation adventure, and 1 high-level dungeon.
Volume 3: The third book explores the last undescribed hex on the wilderness map (hex 10.02) that contains the legendary Castle Thar-Gannon megadungeon, its upper and lower halls, 3 mysterious towers, and 3 vast dungeon levels. It also includes the Cyclopean City of Chaos, with 23 unique tower dungeons, plus the secret entrance into the Tesseract of Time.
The 532-page second volume is designed for a heroic party of 6-8 adventurers to begin at 5th level and reach a minimum of 9th level by the book's conclusion, although most parties will hit 10-12th level if all underworld encounters are exhausted. Though the mega-adventure was originally designed as a sandbox campaign, it also supports episodic adventure path playstyles, as well.
This second volume begins with the heroes returning to Kangkul after dealing a fatal blow to Ashuraga in the Tower Vartoriak. In “Diggers of Dul’ghuun,” the adventurers rest in a popular tavern called The Beating before heading off on their next adventure, but while therein, a small group of ravenous undead emerge from the tavern’s cellar and attack the patrons. After the party destroys them, they discover a tunnel into the caverns below the establishment. The heroes reach the massive stone doors of an ancient dwarvish citadel called Mimnohgrod and must explore its depths to determine how this attack occurred.
In “Children of the Green Light,” the heroes venture back to Valkengard to sell the treasures they’ve obtained in Vartoriak and Mimnohgrod. Lady Thora visits the adventurers. She has a new lead on her missing son, Itarus, who vanished after being kidnapped by the Graven Wolves in months past. Thora hires the heroes to find her only surviving family member. This urban investigation takes the party across multiple city districts and eventually into the Valkengard sewers where they uncover a heinous plot by a noblewoman (and secret Magoth cultist) named Lady Moranna. If the adventurers act quickly, they might rescue Itarus from the sinister woman’s clutches and eradicate the cult’s underground operations.
As the party wraps up their previous quest, they learn vital information concerning a long-standing nemesis: the infamous crime boss, Yagha-Shahn. In fact, the heroes discover an arcane means to enter the Nol’ocuul Syndicate’s headquarters. Seeking to settle old scores, the adventurers activate the Shadow Door and step inside the Tower of All-Seeing Eyes where they face extreme peril. If the party emerges victorious, they have permanently crippled the syndicate’s operations in Titherion, slain Yagha-Shahn, and taken his fabulous wealth (gold and jewels beyond measure)!
Obtaining Fire-Eye’s notes on a secret smuggling lane into the underground, the adventurers may decide to finally journey into the legendary “Malgorgia the Endless Underworld.” This staggeringly huge subterranean network of caverns, tunnels, and waterways crisscrosses the full breadth of the Forbidden North below its frigid surface. Within its shadowy depths, the heroes might find the secret entrance into the “Green Dome of Foranadoth,” the “Black City of Morgathaur,” the perilous “Malum Hateus,” and the “Brass Temple of the Magoth.” The stalwart companions also get the chance to recover both halves of the Tabot of Law, fight against two more members of the Tarngrak, as well as eradicate their ruthless foes within the Cult of the Magoth. The party might even discover secret pathways into the lower dungeons of Castle Thar-Gannon.
I am a HUGE fan of Kevin Crawford's works. When I look at the titles in this collection, I own all of them - in Print AND PDF. It is simply great stuff, and the quality speaks for itself.
Sine Nomine Coorebooks is currently available as a bundle onBundle of Holding. The Starter Collection @ 12.95includes Stars Without Number Revised Deluxe (Sci Fi), Other Dust (Post Apoc), Spears of the Dawn (African Fantasy), and Cities Without Number: Free (Cyberpunk and freely available outside this bundle)
For about 26 bucks total, you get to add in Worlds Without Number Deluxe Edition (Fantasy), Wolves of God: Adventures in Dark Ages England, the one-on-one FRPG toolkit Scarlet Heroes (Fantasy), and the horror RPG Silent Legions.
Adventurer! We've resurrected our November 2023 Sine Nomine Corebooks Bundle featuring the complete Deluxe Editions of Worlds Without Number and Stars Without Number, along with Wolves of God, Silent Legions, and other standalone tabletop roleplaying game rulebooks by acclaimed designer Kevin Crawford of Sine Nomine Publishing.
From many past offers (mostly 2013-2017) we've assembled seven complete standalone rulebooks with a huge array of system-independent sandbox gaming tools. Easily generate kingdoms and AIs, planets and pantheons, cults and factions, monsters and mechs, dungeons and starships, and tons more. These tools make creation easier for even the most experienced GM – and they make a great gift for a roleplayer new to Sine Nomine games. (To give a Bundle of Holding as a gift, log out of your current browser session, then purchase the offer using the recipient's email address.)
For just US$12.95 you get all three titles in this revived offer's Starter Collection (retail value $50) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Stars Without Number: Revised Edition Deluxe, the post-apocalypse SWN spinoff Other Dust (plus the free supplements Grandfather's Rain, Cult of the Still Lady, and Cult of the Wraith), and the African fantasy Spears of the Dawn. As a convenience, we also include the free version of Kevin's cyberpunk game Cities Without Number.
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $25.41, you'll level up and also get this revival's entire Bonus Collection with four more titles worth an additional $75, including the complete Worlds Without Number Deluxe Edition, Wolves of God: Adventures in Dark Ages England, the one-on-one FRPG toolkit Scarlet Heroes, and the horror RPG Silent Legions.
The whole "A Magical Society" series of releases from Expeditious Retreat Press is a goldmine for GMs of all sorts. I have a complete collection, some of them in print, and all in PDF. They are essential reading for planning and running a campaign that lives and breathes.
A Magical Society: Silk Road is a 160 page supplement detailing great overland trade routes. Borrowing extensively from the caravans of Central Asia,
A Magical Society: Silk Roadcovers a variety of topics: what factors engender great overland trade routes, what elements accompany the existence of silk roads, and how do caravans function on the road (with consideration to terrain). Due to general unfamiliarity with Central Asia, an entire chapter is dedicated to the historic Silk Road with maps detailing the major trade destinations. And last but not least, there is a trade system with over 1,000 trade goods, giving ultimate tools for economic simulation.
I first found Deadlands before it spawned the Savage Worlds system. Back then, DeadLands stood on its own. Nowadays, you'll need a copy of the Savage Worlds ruleset. Truth to tell, that shouldn't be an issue for most, as it seems everyone I know, even those who never play Savage Worlds, have copies of the Savage Worlds ruleset from one edition or another.
Gather your posse for an awesome TTRPG party with Deadlands: Reloaded. Roleplay as a squinty-eyed gunfighter or card-chucking hexslinger in this alternate-history, fantasy-based retelling of the American West before the end of the 19th century. Our Deadlands: Reloaded Megabundle offers countless hours of action-packed adventures, expansions, and more—like Deadlands Reloaded: The Flood and Deadlands Reloaded: Stone and a Hard Place. Pay what you want and help support the American Cancer Society with your purchase.
A Murderous Miscellany
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There have been times when it was very hard to find any support for *SLA
Industries* and times when it was hard to support *SLA Industries*. The
roleplayi...
The Peasants are Revolting
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by Peter GraySelf PublishedOSRICLevel ... 3? There is something rotten
going on in the backwater Barony of Near-Marsh and the region’s noble, The
Countess ...
DMing Styles: Beethoven to the Beatles
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Speaking in very broad brushstrokes (where would the fun be otherwise?),
there have been two different ways to approach making music in the time
since it...
Welcome Campers, Time To Die!
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Intro and OverviewCamp Blood is the second part of Bloat Games bloody
grindhouse trilogy. Like the first, Bloody Appalachia, it's a stand alone
game but fu...
“The Map of Five-Times-Five
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*The paper was flayed skin. Around its borders were these words; “A map
of Signs, like those which show the way to Grace or Down to Damnation,
through go...
Community Greyhawk: Shadows Over Diamond Lake
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Today we have Shadows Over Diamond Lake by Vitor Morelli. This is a 79 page
pdf, but that might be a deceptive because the margins are immense and the
text...
Seerbones
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Bastiards of the electric epoch are known for their badly designed dice
games, but what about the knights, vassals, and vagabonds of the mythic
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Th...
Air Gate game notes
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Some reveals and notes.
I said I'd reveal this after - Cumulon's castle layout and traps are from
Dungeon Magazine #9, The Plight of Cirria. It was written...
The Old School Renaissance
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Debates about what the OSR is have been going on since at least the late
2000s. Lately I seen more rounds of discussion on this topic on various
forums ...
Asset Thursdays: Acrocolypse
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Here we have Acrocolypse, and uplifted anarchist crocodile. This asset was
the asset of a player in the playtest games, and I did my bestest to make
th...
Excavating My First Fantasy...
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I've been a fantasy buff going way back; but my introduction to the genre
came by way of a non-fantastical source: dinosaurs and prehistory. Not
surprising...
What to do on a Gaming Break
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It's summer again. Well it's supposed to be but with temperatures lingering
around 40 it doesn't feel like it. Most summers I take time off. A couple
mon...
I come from the land of the ice and snow
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So I got a wild hair and created 81 pages of demographically accurate
random birthplace charts covering every hamlet, village, town, city,
castle, and...
Easy Tracks in Blender
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There's an add-on for Blender called BagaPie, which adds a whole lot of
functionality in various arenas (scattering etc.). The one that is most
useful ...
A long overdue hobby update!
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Welcome back to the Vault everyone! 2025 is going by in a blur; I last
posted in February, almost started a post in March and now it's the end of
May. W...
Black Blade Publishing and the OSR Community
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...or, Why Does Black Blade Publishing Still Exist?
Earlier this year, Jon Hershberger and I met to conduct some *Black Blade
Publishing* 2025 planning, an...
Dark Tower (1979)
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From the back cover:
*An Ancient Evil* has overtaken a once holy shrine. Thus, a sleepy mountain
hamlet becomes a focal point for mysterious disappear...
Progress With My Card Game
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On February 9, 2018 I was struck with inspiration for a card game idea that
I brought to Gary Con 10 and play tested away most of the rough edges. I
had th...
Pulp: Adventure Location: Trindade & Martim Vaz
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History is fractally interesting. Start examine any event, or following any
citation, and interesting facts emerge. But some places, for whatever
reason,...
OSRIC the Third
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The wise sages at Mythmere Games are hard at work on the third version of
*OSRIC* (“Old School Reference and Index Compilation”). You can support
this proj...
Playing at the World 2E V2 Arrives
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With the release of its second volume, the second edition of *Playing at
the World *is finally complete. The two books combined total well over
1,000 ...
Blogs on Tape season 6 has begun!
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Hi everybody! Its been a minute. How are you? Everything is awful all the
time? Horrors never cease? You’re being driven mad by the weight of the
unfathoma...
The Hungering Dark
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Go into the earth, and reality will walk alongside you.
Walk further, and you will eventually be walking alone.
The world is plastic down there. Tar Lat...
Articulations
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Creating house rules, custom rules specific to a local group or campaign,
has been common throughout the history of D&D. What makes an effective
house rule...
Writing playlists for all occasions
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Hello again! Going off the idea of inspiration elaborated on by the prior
post, I also have music playing while I write my various games and fiction
pieces...
The Tarot of Pips
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Somewhere in your dice collection is a die like this one, the humblest of
dice. Although you don't know it, this small white die carries with it a
secr...
Pirates and Necromancers, a Play Report
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Over the Thanksgiving weekend we did a lot of gaming ranging from
“off-table” domain level stuff to some solo adventures to spell and magic
item rese...
It's been a bit
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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...
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace
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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!
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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...
This is an Important Game Mechanic
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*"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
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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 ...
Steve Jackson Interview
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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...
ToAD Monster of the Week: Crocoman
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Now that I'm back doing the blog thing I thought I would use Tome of
Adventure Design to create monsters for The Black Hack.
Using the monster tables in th...
Strange, Dangerous, and Inhuman: The Fey and Fairie
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When I was a boy I loved fairy tales. Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in
Boots, Rumpelstiltskin - I devoured all of it. My fascination that there
was a strang...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
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*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...
Fiction in Airhde
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On a whim this weekend, I picked up some fiction off the TLG store. *A
Houseless God & Other Tales* and *The Mirrored Soul & Other Tales*, both by
the T...
Ravensburg Reboot: Streamlined City Map
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I mentioned in my last post how I was tweaking and reworking parts of my
Ravensburg setting. Today I streamlined the city map. The old map had lots
of redu...
And Now the News Draft Download on Patreon
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It's self-styled Throwback Thursday and *having just released the 34-page
draft booklet of Hill Cantons news to my Patreon backers* I am going to
indulge m...
The Withered Crag available now
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I just enabled the sale of the PDF version of The Withered Crag at
DriveThruRPG a few minutes ago, and the custom print version will be
available startin...
Annihilation Rising Goes live
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The latest in Fail Squad Games’ Quick Kick projects has gone live and needs
your support!! This project is only running 11 days and ends on 5/28/2019!
...
James's Celebration of Life
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We could not have asked for a prettier day for James's service. It was a
bit chilly and windy but gorgeous. A heartfelt thank you to all that joined
us tod...
Trap Tuesday: A step back
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I will get back to Tomb of Horrors soon. I found a topic that was
interesting enough to take a break. While interacting in a 5E group on
Facebook I talked ...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
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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
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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...
Please, I don't do paid advertisements - don't ask.
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A little note since people have asked me about this. My video channel's
*not* an advertising platform, so I'm not available for hire if you want to
promote...
New website!
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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!
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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...
Total Sales for WB:FMAG
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Hi Folks,
It's been a long time since I provided an update for the sales of White
Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game.
*LULU*
Print: 396
PDF: 433
*OBS*...
How can We Destroy this Campaign World?
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d12
1. You must trick a bard into strumming the *Chords of Fate* on the *Lute
of Annihilation*
2. Legends tell of thermonuclear weapons beneath megadunge...
Mord Mar - Session 5
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We had another successful delve into the dungeon yesterday. The delvers:
Moira, the Magic-User
Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?)
Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf ...
Bundle of Fantasy Age
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Bundle of Holding: Dragon Age/Fantasy Age: Available until March 12. PA
Presents: Fantasy AGE Freeport live play Green Ronin in 2018 The Fantasy
Age RPG ma...
New Free PDF Module: The Hyqueous Vaults
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A new dungeon module—written in celebration of OSRIC's 10th Birthday—by
Rebecca Dettmann, Allan T. Grohe, Jr., Jimm Johnson, Matthew Riedel, Alex
Zisch, a...
Swords & Wizardry Light: Session # 6
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Two months after our last session (thanks to things like 8th grade finals,
a 4 year-old's birthday and party, Father's Day, etc.), we finally had our
next ...
