Deal of the Day - GM Companion for ShadowDark

Today's Deal of the Day is the GM Companion for ShadowDark from Chubby Funster Games. The Chubby Funster is Greg Christopher, whom I've known for well over a decade and consider a close friend.

The GM Companion for ShadowDark is on sale for $5 until tomorrow morning (usually 10 bucks in PDF). Note, it's a Platinum Best Seller on DTRPG.

Add a more expansive portfolio of options to ShadowDark Core. 

Upgrade your Overland Hex Crawl Experience:

• d20 Point of Interest table for all 9 terrain types.
• 2d6 intersecting Hazard tables for all 9 terrain types.
• New district types + all new Point of Interest options when creating settlements.
• d20 Shop generation lists featuring all new options for Poor, Standard, and Wealthy Shops.
• d20 tables with new Tavern names, new Menu items, and new Drink types. 
• A new dice game to gamble with in the tavern after an adventure.
• Acts of Devotion: a religious alternative to carousing where you can construct temples and attract adherents to support your deity.
• Combat Training: a warrior's alternative to carousing where you can hold tournaments and possibly gain a noble title.
• Magical Study: a wizard's alternative to carousing where they can study old tomes for magical insight and possibly found a university or library to house their books.

Upgrade your Dungeon Experience:

• Define the dungeon entrance and create multi-level dungeons using the dice-drop system developed in ShadowDark Core.
• d20 Room Type table + d10 tables for each Room Type, adding even more variety of dungeon design.
• 2d6 intersecting Hazard tables for all 4 dungeon types.
• d20 trap tables for Crushing / Gaseous / Sonic traps, Magical traps, and Wounding / Weapon-like traps. 
• Expanded NPC tables, including a new d20 Qualities table and a d20 Professions table.
• Expanded Rival Crawler tables, including a new d20 Party Name table, new d6 Signature Tactics table, and a new d12 Party Secret table. Rival Crawlers can now include monster types like Hobgoblins or Beastmen.
• 45 new monsters (including 6 new elemental types).
• Monster tables for levels 0-9 to randomly determine what monsters are in the dynamically built dungeon you are creating.

Upgrade your Treasure Game:

• d100 Dungeon Dressing
• d100 Treasure 0-3
• d100 Treasure 4-6
• d100 Treasure 7-9
• d100 Treasure 10+
• Boons - d20 Oaths, d20 Secrets, d20 Blessings
• Potions - d20 Features, d20 Benefits, d20 Curses
• Magic Armor - d20 Features, d20 Benefits, d20 Curses
• Magic Weapon - d20 Features, d20 Benefits, d20 Curses
• Magic Utility Item - d100 types, d20 Features, d20 Benefits, d20 Curses
• 86 Known Magic Items (non-random)

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Christmas in July Sale - Kids on Bikes: Second Edition Core Rulebook

There aren't any OSR or Old School RPGs in the deep discount Christmas in July Doorbusters this year, but there certainly IS a title that I find intriguing - Kids on Bikes.

Kids on Bikes is essentially Stranger Things RPG (remember the first season and how big their bikes played a role). 

I'm not saying that the Kids on Bikes: Second Edition Core Rulebook will be fully, or even partially, within my wheelhouse, but with it priced at $2.50 (instead of $9.99), I'll take the plunge, and I suggest many of you do so also.

The Adventures of Kids on Bikes take place in small towns at any point in history before: 

• everyone had a camera phone that could catch video of a ghost
• use GPS to track a homicidal maniac roaming around town
• research an old creaky house in seconds using the internet

Kids on Bikes takes place in a more mysterious time, where anything and everything could happen.

Kids on Bikes is a 138-page, rules-light, fast-paced storytelling game in the spirit of games like Dread, Perseverant, Monsterhearts, and other great indie titles. Kids on Bikes is perfect for game nights in which you want to get a game in RIGHT NOW. 

Using stats like GRIT, CHARM, FIGHT, FLIGHT, BRAINS and BRAWN, you’ll jump into the action. Each skill is represented by a polyhedral die based on your character’s competence. More sides = better chance of success.

That being said, even low stats always have a chance of success, as any max result EXPLODES leading to an additional re-roll contributing to the results. Lower sided dice mean bigger chances of explosions!

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Free OSR - ROGUELAND

I like short and light OSR rulesets. Remember, I'm the guy behind Swords & Wizardry Light & Continual Light. ROGUELAND looks awesome, and even if I don't ever run it, I may steal, er - borrow from it liberally.

ROGUELAND is available for free in PDF. Simply add it to your DTRPG cart and add it to your digital collection.

ROGUELAND is a 36 page rules-light, tabletop role-playing game. It is based on Ben Milton's Knave with modifications that focus on:

• - defining characters by the items they carry rather than specific abilities or class features
• - interpreting and casting free-form magic
• - monster, trap, and treasure generation
• - exploration procedures
• - and more

This game uses player-facing, roll-high, d20 mechanics, and is broadly compatible with other OSR games and source materials.

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Free Old School RPG - The Curse on God's Acre – A Free Dragon Warriors Solo Adventure (Dragon Warriors is also PWYW)

I remember seeing the ads for Dragon Warriors in Dragon Magazine back in the 80s. Damn, but the game looked so damn cool. Now, Dragon Warriors is priced at PWYW - both PDF and Print versions. And The Curse on God's Acre – A Dragon Warriors Solo Adventure clocks in at over 250 pages and is ALSO PWYW! Ah, to be young again!

What do you get with The Curse on God's Acre?

Deep in the fertile countryside of Chaubrette, you find yourself in God's Acre, an isolated valley containing the villages of Pernay, Lancome, and Monques. Here the sturdy locals grow wine and keep sheep — but all is not as it seems. A pernicious evil haunts the lanes and narrow fields of God's Acre.

Revealed at first in scraps of children's songs, in the blank stares of straw dolls, in the animals masks lurking in the shadows, in the tangled entrails of a murdered woman ... a witch cult has the valley in its grasp and is squeezing tighter.

Can you break The Curse on God's Acre?

A Dragon Warriors adventure for any profession, 3rd or 4th Rank. 508 entries.

Dragon Warriors'  40th anniversary won't pass unnoticed as long as Red Ruin Publishing have anything to say about it. They've just released the seventeenth book in their series of DW adventures, and it's one of the best. "The Curse on God's Acre is a memorable solo scenario that deserves a place in every Dragon Warriors player's collection." Dave Morris, Creator of Dragon Warriors

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Deal of the Day - Sandbox Generator (Systen Agnostic)

I own the Sandbox Generator in print, and I love it. I should use it on the YouTube channel so folks can see it in action. Very well done and approachable.

Until tomorrow morning, the Sandbox Generator is on sale for $6 in PDF - usually 12 bucks.

The Sandbox Generator is a simple but powerful tool for DMs. It allows you to easily create a world from scratch when you prepare your next campaign. It will provide you with all the necessary information about your world: from the biomes map, to a lord’s coat of arms and the menu of the local tavern! It is also convenient for solo players and DMs who want to generate their world during the game session.

This book aims to create a pseudo-feudal fantasy world and is meant to be used with your favorite OSR ruleset and bestiary.

New worlds await: they are only a few rolls away…

• This product includes procedures, generators, tables and examples for:
• Hex maps (biomes, features, content, factions, encounters),
• Landmarks (natural, artificial and magical),
• Settlements (names, hamlets, villages, cities, castles, towers and abbeys),
• Monsters lairs,
• Dungeons and megadungeons,
• Coats of arms,
• Criminal organizations,
• Dragons,
• Guilds,
• Houses,
• NPCs,
• Taverns (including menus and signs),
• Wizards,
• Sea adventures.

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Bundle of Holding - Pyramid Collections

I was a fan of the early print version of Pyramid and later subscribed to the digital version for several years. It was more than just a Steve Jackson Games house organ, but was an excellent resource for other RPGs with its systemless articles.

Bundle of Holding has Two Bundles of Pyramid, both priced at $49.95 each.

Adventurer! This Pyramid Bundle 1 is the first of two offers (the second is the new companion offer, Pyramid Bundle 2) featuring Volume 3 (Nov 2008 - Dec 2018) of Pyramid, the Steve Jackson Games magazine for tabletop roleplaying gamers. Each issue of Pyramid magazine focuses on a specific theme, like fantasy world-building or epic magic – the whole range of prehistory, historical and modern exploration, steampunk, cyberpunk, aliens and spaceships – martial arts, action adventures, and gunplay – weird science, urban fantasy, psionics and thaumatology – and it wouldn't be a Steve Jackson Games magazine (fnord) without a roster of conspiracies. Each issue is about 39-40 pages, so the 60 issues in this offer bring you nearly 2,400 pages of varied gaming articles for a bargain price. Most of Pyramid's articles are either generic, suitable for your game system of choice, or designed for GURPS, SJG's Generic Universal Roleplaying System. (New to GURPS? Check our revived June 2022 GURPS 4E Essentials offer in progress.)

Pyramid magazine Volume Three Issue 59 ConspiraciesFor just US$49.95 you get all sixty-two titles in our Pyramid V3 - First Collection (retail value $556) as DRM-free ebooks. The complete list of Pyramid issues in this offer – the first 60 issues of Volume 3 (Nov 2008 - Oct 2013), with links to their sales pages on DriveThruRPG – appears in the book entry below. (On DriveThruRPG, Steve Jackson Games has posted a free 282-page compilation previewing the covers and contents of all 60 Pyramid issues in this offer.) We also include SJG's two collections of star designer Kenneth Hite's acclaimed Pyramid column of history, alt-history, occult conspiracy, fringe pseudoscience, and High Weirdness, Suppressed Transmission (both previously in our November 2020 Worldbuilder's Toolkit 7).

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New Release - Brave the Shadow (ShadowDark Supplement from James Spahn)

Here's the part where I reveal connections. I've known James Spahn for about 15 years. I personally mailed him his first print copy of Swords & Wizardry Complete. I was his Confirmation Sponsor. I consider James a true friend, and I regard him as one of the most skilled creators in the RPG industry. Yadda yadda ;)

Brave the Shadow is James' first - and indeed not his last - venture into the world of ShadowDark. So, what does your $9.99 get you?

This new supplement for Arcane Library's SHADOWDARK Roleplaying Game introduces 18 new Ancestries and 25 new classes to expand your options as a Player and offer an army of new NPC options as a Game Master.

From classic ancestries like Duckfolk and Gnomes, to more esoteric takes like ancient serpent-blooded Thulsan and or fey-marked Changeling, you'll always have some fresh blood to spill when the dungeon goes dark.

New classes include classics like the Assassin and the Archer, to the strange fungi-twisted Mycomancer, the greedy Blackguard, the mad Gallusborn, and the insane Stingbat Wrangler! And who let that Unattended Kid in here?!

It makes me want to run a ShadowDark game :)

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New Release - West Marches Campaign Playstyle Guidebook

While not NEW new (as the West Marches Campaign Playstyle Guidebook was released in PDF in mid-May of this year, and in that time has gone Platinum for sales, the Print on Demand just went live, and both print and PDF are discounted this week.

The West Marches Campaign Playstyle Guidebook is 4.99 in PDF, 12.99 in print, and 15.99 for print plus PDF.

PS - I ordered the print plus PDF and will try to get a review up in the next few weeks.

This handbook is your guide to running and playing in a West Marches-style campaign. 

Inside, you’ll find clear, practical advice on preparing sessions, running the game, and embracing character-driven storytelling.

The West Marches method of play is perfect for modern lifestyle gaming with busy schedules and full calendars. 

Designed to be system-agnostic, this book works with any RPG and helps GMs and players alike focus on exploration, discovery, and meaningful consequence.

Whether you’re just starting out or ready to level up your game, this handbook will walk you through the process step by step.

Note: The POD is now LIVE (4th of July) and will be on SALE this first weekend. Enjoy! 

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New Release - Carcass Crawler: Issue Five

I own the first four issues of Carcass Crawler in print (and PDF), and I've thoroughly enjoyed them. Although written for OSE, the vast majority of the content is usable with the OSR system of your choice.

Carcass Crawler: Issue Five is 7.50 in PDF at DTRPG.

The fifth issue 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, previews of in-development products, short adventures, and more!

In This Issue

• New classes and races: Two new character classes and races. The changeling and the ratling.
• Expanded poisons: Additional descriptive details around the 9 standard poison types, plus 11 new poison types.
• Weapon materials: Rules for weapons of enhanced or weaker materials (e.g. silver, bone, bronze).
• Magic swords: Tables and minor magical quirks to add flavour to the bog-standard sword +1.
• Cantrips: Minor magicks practiced by apprentice arcane spell casters.
• Level 0 characters: Rules for rolling up level 0 "normal human" characters, either for NPC retainers or for use in funnel adventures. Complete with tables of backgrounds and names.
• Lake and river monsters: 8 new monsters that lurk in freshwater rivers and lakes.
• Up Chaos River: A short adventure where PCs must travel up a chaos-infested river to save the local village. Suitable for use as a funnel adventure for a group of level 0 characters.

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Free League Sale on DTRPG

There are several Free League titles on sale at DTRPG right now.

DragonBane* is marked down 40% - to 14.99 in PDF.

Mork Morg is marked down 40% in PDF - to 11.99

ALIEN RPG Core Rulebook is marked down 40% - to 14.99

Forbidden Lands is marked down 40% - to 14.99 in PDF

The Lord of the Rings RPG (5E) - marked down to 14.99 in PDF

Symbaroum* - marked down 40% to 14.99 in PDF (or spend a penny more and get 18 other RPGs like Power Rangers, RuneQuest, Dr Who, and more)

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Bundle of Holding - His Majesty the Worm

I see His Majesty the Worm Bundle as an aspirational purchase. I doubt I'll play it as is, but I hope to find parts that I can use with other OSR rule sets and future campaigns. For those purposes, 14.95 is a bargain.

Adventurer! This His Majesty the Worm Bundle presents His Majesty the Worm, a megadungeon-crawling fantasy roleplaying game from Josh McCrowell at Rise Up Comus. The Underworld blasphemes the earth under the City at the center of the world. You and your guild-mates have personal quests that compel them to step through the gate into those lightless depths. If you fulfill your quests, you can finally retire. Until then – in the cycle of descent, exploration, return, restock, rest – all that protects you is your Bonds of loyalty, rivalry, mentorship, and even love. Play them to the hilt, and you might survive

His Majesty the Worm page 26Eight years in the making, His Majesty the Worm reimagines the traditional dungeon crawl in a highly playable structure that spotlights the necessities of Underworld exploration: food, light, time, and the allies who keep you alive. Use tarot cards to generate the City, Underworld, characters, and monsters, and to run an action-packed Challenge system that ensures all players have interesting choices throughout every round of combat. With this .PDF rulebook you'll see why the Exalted Funeral His Majesty the Worm hardcover sold out in three hours.

Pay just US$14.95 for our Worm Collection (retail value $58) with DRM-free .PDF ebooks of the complete 411-page His Majesty the Worm rulebook, along with the cozy halfling-village game Under Hill, By Water and its travel expansion Walking Holiday.

Free RPG - The Official PLANET OF THE APES RPG Quickstart Rules (WEG D6)

A Quickstart that is 80+ pages long? Based on WEG classic D6 system? An official Planet of the Apes RPG? Holy crap! I'm gonna dive into The Official PLANET OF THE APES RPG Quickstart Rules and see how the WEG D6 System holds up. I'm expecting a perfect fit :)

Return to the world where Apes rule over a dwindling human population.

In a world turned upside down, civilized apes sit at the top of the evolutionary ladder, ruling over a population of primal humans. But this dominion will not go unchallenged. Wayward astronauts arrive to lead an uprising, questioning this madness and the events that led to this topsy-turvy, backward future. Political intrigue, societal conflict, and fantastical, dangerous mysteries abound on this planet ruled by apes!

This Quickstart is just the beginning of your journey across a planet controlled by apes. This download allows you a glimpse of what's in store for you by letting you play pre-generated ape characters. In addition to adventures and rules for playing pre-generated simians, the complete Role-Playing Game of the Planet of the Apes Core Rulebook will allow your players to create their own characters. Just choose an ape and then choose an archetype to play. With the former quota system abolished, any ape can have any career. And gorillas,  orangutans, and chimpanzees are just the beginning. You can also assume the roles of mute tribal humans, two factions of mysterious mutants, and the most dangerous creatures of all— the so-called “astro-nauts”!

Instead of playing within one character group, you might want a more diverse gaming experience. You can even run adventure parties comprised of apes, mutants, and humans working together! Utilizing the Magnetic Variant of the world-renowned West End Games D6 game system (D6MV), the Core Rulebook also contains rules and statistics for the following: 

• More gear, weapons, and vehicles, including spacecraft.
• Twenty-four character templates to choose from!
• New Character Quirks, Motives, and Remarkable Abilities.
• Heroic Stun Rules.
• Mysterious mutant Psionic Powers.
• Keep track of fear, terror, and tensity with Psychometrics and Mental Trauma rules.
• Statistics for a variety of fearsome Foes, awesome Allies, and mutated Monstrosities.
• Environmental Zone Effects allow you to quickly drop your apes into any hostile environment!
• Random episode hooks and easy episode generator tables help you create your own adventures on a planet where apes evolved from men!
• For the whole experience, go to www.planetoftheapesRPG.com and get your stinkin’ paws on the Core Rulebook for the Role-Playing Game of the Planet of the Apes today!

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Free OSR - ShadowSpark Skeletal Foes (ShadowDark)

I've known Phil Reed for a decade or more, and I've been following his creative works for even longer. Phil's ShadowSpark Skeletal Foes for ShadowDark is a short PDF priced at PWYW pricing, and could work with other OSR games with minimal conversion, IMO.

Without a doubt, skeletons are one of my favorite types of monsters in any fantasy RPG. These animated dead are a wonderful foe for the heroes since they can wait around for decades (sometimes centuries) without any need to eat, drink, sleep, or the other requirements that living creatures possess. After all, no one need question how the skeletons were surviving in the dungeon all these years without access to food. They stand around and wait for the action.

In many RPGs, skeletons are treated as a single monster with one stat block. Combine that with their low power level and skeletons in most fantasy RPGs don’t give me enough variety, so I enjoy working up new types of skeletal foes for most systems.

This work expands on skeletons in the core game, presenting four new options that GMs may use to throw something other than the basic skeleton at the adventurers. 

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Fanatical Bundle - DCC RPG Adventures Bundle - For as Little as Free!

I NEVER call these various bundles that I highlight "Ridiculous"! Then again, I've never covered a bundle from Fanatical before, as they primarily deal with computer games. The value offered in the DCC RPG Adventures Bundle is just that - Ridiculous!

For FREE (not even PWYW), you can snag the DCC RPG Quickstart Rules, the DCC Adventure Starter (goes from levels 0-2), the Character Record Folio, and the DCC Reference Booklet. It's a great, free introduction to the DCC RPG. Tell your friends ;)

For $15, the DCC RPG Adventures Bundle includes 30 PDFs. It includes the above, the Dying Earth setting, several Dying Earth adventures, the Goodman Games Dark Tower reprint (and DCC/5e conversion worth the price of admission on its own), Crypt of the Devil Lich, Tome of Adventure Vol 1 (contains the first 7 adventures published for the DCC RPG), Grimtooth Traps books and more. Phew!

Don't pass on this one. Delivery is through DTRPG.

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Humble Bundle - Roll Big or Go Home RPG Mega-Bundle

I can't believe the number of A-List RPG titles in this Roll Big or Go Home RPG Mega-Bundle. Sure, there is much that some would consider chaff, but 57 titles for 40 bucks (or 38 titles for $25 or 19 for $15) is simply an unheard-of discount.

Here are some titles you might find interesting: (for $15) Power Rangers, Castle Falkenstein, The Dr Who Starter Set, RuneQuest, Symbaroum - and at $25, add in GI Joe, The Witcher, Rifts for Savage Worlds, Homeworld, Kobolds Ate My Baby!, Trinity, Basic Roleplaying, Dr Who Roleplying, Vaessen, - and at $40, add in Avatar Legends, Transformers, Modren Age, Cyberpunk Red, Apoc World, Deadlands with SWADE, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Call of Cthulhu, Night's Black Agents, DragonBane, and much, much more. Phew.

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Gather up your party for the ultimate TTRPG adventure with the Roll Big or Go Home RPG Megabundle. This legendary 50+ title bundle is jam-packed with rulebooks, auxiliary resources, soundtracks, and more for you to enjoy. Help Aang bring elemental balance to the world in Magpie Games’ Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, use your best chrome to smoke Corpos in R. Talsorian Games’ Cyberpunk RED, and roleplay as a robot in disguise in Renegade Game Studios’ Transformers Roleplaying Game. Play the best games from the best publishers within our biggest TTRPG bundle ever! Plus, a portion of your purchase helps support Extra Life.

 

Free OSR - The Metallic Tome (Modren Day OSR Sourcebook)

I had to check. I have a hardcover copy of the Metallic Tome on my bookshelf :)

So, what is The Metallic Tome? It's a modern-day OSR sourcebook harkening to the days of mosh pits and hair metal. And it's priced as Pay What You Want (PWYW) pricing.

Pollution chokes our seas, nuclear war has destroyed our cities, and worst of all, guitars are illegal. Surveillance satellites monitor our every move. Conformity is the law! There is only one thing that can save us: METAL.

Metallic Tome is a sourcebook for old-school role-playing games set in the modern day. It's inspired by heavy metal music. Created by the reprobate who wrote the Teratic Tome.

Features include: 

• New character alignments, including Awful Good, Chaotic Player, and Neutral Vague
• New starting equipment, including department store mannequin, 4 scorpions in a shoebox, and an audio cassette recording of Nuclear Assault's "Survive"
• New Cleric spells like Necrotic Blasphemous Desecration, Interval of the Devil, and Party Hard
• New Magic-User spells like Power Word Mosh and Air Raid Siren
• Strange new foes, including asbestos elementals and nuclear dragons
• Wondrous magic items, such as the Brigandine Loincloth and the Revolver of Lordly Might
• Random tables to pad out the last few pages

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Free OSR - Prison of the Hated Pretender (Low Level Adventure)

Prison of the Hated Pretender is a classic adventure from the OSR's Gus L. Priced at PWYW, it is a Platinum Best Seller at DTRPG with an excellent 4.8-star rating.

A sculpted tower's blank eyes stare down from the lonely in dry hills beyond the last withered turnip fields, the doorway in its eternally screaming mouth beckoning daredevils and foolish fortune hunters.  Haunted, shunned and anathema -- spending a night in The Prison of the Hated Pretender will certainly give you bragging rights in the coast's dusty hamlets, and if the rumors of ancient gold within are true enough to buy passage to a less wretched land.

Prison of the Hated Pretender is an introductory adventure for 4-6 characters levels 0-1. This new 2020 edition updates and streamlines the 2012 adventure (originally published on the Dungeon of Signs blog) and adds suggested guidance and playstyle notes to assist new Game Masters unfamiliar with the principles of classic play. It also includes conversion notes and statlines necessary for playing the adventure in both the classic (Basic) and most recent (Fifth) editions of the game.

A review of the original Prison of the Hated Pretender:

"As an introductory adventure this is great. The setting is a classic one. The monsters are wonderfully different. And there are hooks and mysteries. WONDERFUL hooks and mysteries. [...]  The mind races to find excuses to use this adventure. That’s a good supplement." -- Bryce Lynch, Ten Foot Pole"

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Free OSR - The Count, the Castle, & the Curse (Low-Level OSR Adventure)

I get the most use out of low-level adventures, because it's rare that my campaigns get above 6th or 7th level. The Count, the Castle, & the Curse is for levels 1-3, and it is priced at PWYW, just up my alley.

An invitation from a Count whose name you’ve never heard. From a Castle in a land unknown around these parts. And a Curse which plagues him, pleading for each of your aid—by name—in exchange for an offer too tempting to ignore.  

By next morning a horse-drawn carriage awaited each of you. The dark horses stood silent, their black eyes seeing everything and nothing. The sharp-collared driver shifted on his bench, mumbling to himself. You climbed in anyway.

The carriage lurched forward the moment you clicked the door shut.

The Count, the Castle, & the Curse is a tabletop roleplaying game adventure designed to be run in one single four-to-five hour session intended for player characters of low level (1-3) in which they must escape the Count and his haunted Castle before midnight, using their wits, skills, & perhaps a brooding Curse inside them to escape before their Stress Level climbs too high.

Designed to be used with most d20-focused rule systems in mind such as Shadowdark RPG. This adventure features several alternative rules to better suit the gothic horror themes presented within.

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Free OSR - Temple of the Beggar King (OSE 9th-Level Adventure)

High-level adventures for old-school D&D are rare to find these days. Or any day. Let alone priced at PWYW. Temple of the Beggar-King fills that niche for OSE.

Temple of the Beggar-King is a level 9 Adventure for Advanced Old School Essentials. It requires Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy to play.

One-thousand years ago the royal guard of Leon III, the King of Kings, set out into the desert to find and destroy the stronghold of the mad prophet of the eastern wastes, the Beggar-King. Into the desert the royal guard, the hand of Leon, marched. It is not known what they encountered, just that they, and the Temple of the Beggar-King, have been lost to time ever since.

Temple of the Beggar-King is an exploration of the strange, often involving a dark interpretation of Buddhist themes and ideas. This adventure involves both elements of horror and violence, as well as high weirdness. It’s aim is to both horrify the players and leave them curious, to draw them deeper and deeper into it’s ensnaring mystery. Some Referee discretion is required as to whether or not this adventure would be appropriate at your table.

It will likely take several sessions to complete and involves the exploration of the ruined temple of an ancient cult. After ascending the Beggar-King has become entombed within it and has become something far stranger and deadly then his dark enlightenment would suggest.

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Kickstarter - Port Mirror (ShadowDark/DCC RPG)

Port Mirror is a 0-Level gauntlet/funnel adventure for Shadowdark and the DCC RPG.

I've known Matt De Micco for several years, thanks to NTRPG Con, and I'm a fan of the work he does in our hobby. Port Mirror is his latest Kickstarter, and it is a funnel for ShadowDark and the DCC RPG. I'm a $15 backer.

Port Mirror is the first installment of the Wythmail setting for Dungeon Crawl Classics and Shadowdark. Judges and Game Masters can easily run the adventure in either game system, as stats are provided for both. Play in the setting of Wythmail, or add the town and adventure to your own existing campaign. The adventure features:

• A 31 page adventure with 17 pieces of original art and maps.
• Several new monsters like the fiendish cockroach, river reaver, and the Haeyer turtle. 
• NPCs that you can add to your existing campaigns like Jake, a mastiff war dog, you can befriend and add as a companion.
• An introduction to Wythmail and its 21-god pantheon with added material for Haeyer (the god of the sea, discipline, and hardwork) and Vorkalth (the god of disease).

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Free RPG - Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine - Quickstart

It was Free RPG Day this past Saturday. I no longer pay as close attention to it as I used to, but some of the releases DO make it into PDF format.

Chaosium has released the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine - Quickstart for Free RPG Day 2025. This quickstart includes three adventures in different genres to highlight the system's flexibility, and is well worth the price of "free." 

Powering some of the most influential and celebrated roleplaying games of all time, Basic Roleplaying is presented here in an easy-to-use, intuitive, and accessible quickstart. The system is at the heart of Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Pendragon, and many other popular games. This quickstart gives you an easy entry point into the Basic Roleplaying world. 

The Universal Game Engine

Basic Roleplaying is an ideal beginner’s game, but also appeals to those who wish for clear, concise rules that are easy to explain in play. Characters are based on what they can do: defined by skills and abilities rather than abstract roles or classes, and they advance by using their skills successfully in play. 

Inside you’ll find: 

Core rules for adventuring, conflict, and combat.

Rules for creating characters from a variety of settings. 

Three complete adventures spanning three settings: swashbuckling France, a hostile alien planet, and a ruined temple devoted to an evil god.

This standalone product is an excellent introduction to Basic Roleplaying-powered games, and introduces the fundamentals of the system in an easy-to-use format. With this quickstart, worlds of wonder and imagination await!

Free RPG Day

Chaosium’s offering for Free RPG Day 2025, the BRP Quickstart is a quick and easy entry point to Chaosium’s robust line of products, from Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Pendragon, Age of Vikings, and more! Inside these pages are the core of the BRP system and three sample adventures with ready-to-play.

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tenkars-tavern.games/DTRPG