Free OSR - Cavern of the Creeping Terror (3rd Level OSR Adventure)

Cavern of the Creeping Terror is an OSR adventure, loosely based on "The Glus from Deltora Quest, the arctic horror of The Thing, and Grendel’s mother’s lair from Beowulf". I can reference two out of three (Deltora Quest is new to me). For PWYW, I've added Cavern of the Creeping Terror to my collection of Ready-To-Go adventures.

Undead frost pirates, mad imprisoned fae, and a pile of loot guarded by a monstrous slug...

A third level OSR adventure featuring a three-tiered, 22 cavern dungeon adaptable for fantasy roleplaying systems with a light horror aesthetic. Includes:

• A system neutral bestiary
• A horde of loot for greedy adventurers
• Possibility for diplomacy, betrayal, and a seaside village on the precipice of destruction

Inspired by Beowulf, The Thing, and Deltora Quest. 

"This adventure delivers that evocative style over and over again...This one has the spirit of D&D..."

- Bryce Lynch, tenfootpole.org. Ranked "The Best"

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Deal of the Day - Tome of Essential Horrors 1 (OSE)

Need more creatures for your OSR campaign? The Tome of Essential Horrors from Frog God Games/Necromancer Games may be just what you need. I've always enjoyed the various Tome of Horrors releases from FGG, and The Tome of Essential Horrors is simply more creature goodness. Until tomorrow morning, The Tome of Essential Horrors is the Deal of the Day, marked down to 7.20 (normally 17.99).

It has been over 20 years since Necromancer Games first unleashed the Tome of Horrors, and our philosophy has not changed... everybody needs more monsters! Necromancer Games has always been known for its monsters, and with the Tome of Essential Horrors, we would like to introduce those unique and mysterious creatures to your Old-School Essentials table.

This beast of a book contains over 100 monsters and brings classic monsters from Frog God Games and Necromancer Games to OSE referees and players. Each entry includes a full OSE stat block, classic black-and-white art, and an interesting encounter that highlights the creature.

The Tome of Essential Horrors contains all you need to gleefully exceed your players' expectations. Can the heroes escape the clutches of the witch tree, the riptide horror, or the cave fisher? Will they survive the pyrolisk’s conflagration gaze? We cannot guarantee a TPK every time, but you’ll have buckets of fun trying!

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Deal of the Day - Metamorphosis BX

I'm always a fan of Gamma World-esque hacks. Metamorphosis BX had escaped my attention before today, but I noticed it as today's Deal of the Day. Until tomorrow morning, Metamorphosis BX is priced at $3, 50% off its regular price.

Metamorphosis BX is a post-apocalyptic MiniBX hack in which you'll roleplay a hybrid survivor in an ever-changing world in which a cataclysm has fragmented time and space. It is light both in mechanics and tone, aiming to be fun above all.

With the release of version 1.0, the game is complete with many character origins (like alien-insect, primal-animal, nano-machine, etc.), mutations (benign and malign), powers (hacking and psychic), artifacts (ancient, alien, and planar), creatures (from Alien Artificial Intelligences to Radioactive Zombies), and a setting, called Atropicalypse (inspired by Brazil), with its regions and factions.

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Mörk Borg Sale @ DTRPG - 30% Off

All the cool kids are playing Mörk Borg. Or at least, that's what they tell me. I have the rules and a number of their third supplements, and it is as much about style as it is about substance. For most folks I know, it seems to be a very polarizing game to be exposed to - they either love it or hate it. I'm one of the few impressed by what it is, but not fawning over it to the point I trip over my own feet. I will say this much, for me to get a fuller appreciation of the rules as I read them, I've found playing a little Ramones (a live album, of course), or the Sex Pistols, and maybe mix the Dead Kennedys into the playlist, puts me more into the mood to appreciate Mörk Borg for what it is - an old school gaming vibe with the soul of classic punk. YMMV - the authors claim a Doom Metal Vibe, but classic punk is a better match for me. Showing my age, I guess - Tenkar ;)

Until May 15th, DTRPG is having a Mörk Borg sale - 30% off pretty much all of the Mörk Borg releases on the site in PDF.

Here's the pitch for Mörk Borg from the core rules sales page:

A doom metal album of a game. A spiked flail to the face. Light on rules, heavy everything else.

MÖRK BORG is a pitch-black apocalyptic fantasy RPG about lost souls and fools seeking redemption, forgiveness or the last remaining riches in a bleak and dying world. Who are you? The tomb-robber with silver glittering between cracked fingernails? The mystic who would bend the world’s heart away from it’s inevitable end? Confront power-draining necromancers, skulking skeletal warriors and backstabbing wickheads. Wander the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead, the catacombs beneath the Bergen Chrypt or the bedevilled Sarkash forest. But leave hope behind - the world’s cruel fate is sealed, and all your vain heroic efforts are destined to end in death and dismay. Or are they?

MÖRK BORG is a complete game in the OSR genre, that can be played as is or be picked apart for use in your own homebrew. The rules are easily made compatible with most of the editions of the world’s largest role-playing game. Within the book you’ll find:

• A brief look at this dying world. From The Two-Headed Basilisks’ gothic cathedral in Galgenbeck and Blood-countess Anthelia’s limestone palace, to the fields of death in Graven-Tosk and the barren wastes of Kergüs.
• The Calendar of Nechrubel, that decides the speed of the world’s demise. 
• 20 occult Powers that let you bend reality, and just as many magical catastrophes for when you disastrously fail. 
• Optional rules which brings more depth to the game. Omens let you turn bad luck into a slightly better one. Classes with unique traits and quirks, and tables that will bring life into your character. 
• 12 creatures to be murdered by.  
• Game master tools such as tables for corpse plundering, occult treasure, adventure sparks, dungeon generating and other devilry. 
• The introductory dungeon crawl scenario Rotblack Sludge, where you investigate a forgotten part of the Shadow King’s enormous ruin palace. Cannibal warlocks, poison peddlers from beyond the void and hungry gutworms await. 

MÖRK BORG is constructed by Pelle Nilsson (Ockult Örtmästare Games) and Johan Nohr (Stockholm Kartell). The game is published by Free League Publishing and is available in Swedish and English - the English text is edited and cursed by Patrick Stuart (Veins of the Earth, Silent Titans).

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Free OSR - Blood & Treasure Complete

One of the second round of D&D clones, Blood & Treasure Complete, falls somewhere between BX and AD&D 1e in complexity and flavor. As a resource for both, and other OSR games, from spells to domain play, Blood & Treasure Complete is priceless. Or rather, Blood and Treasure Complete is Free :)

Blood & Treasure is the fantasy role-playing game for people who want to spend less time arguing over rules and more time playing! Compatible with most old school games but not shy to dip into the new school, it keeps the rules simple and the play quick. Includes easy to learn rules of play, including mass combat and naval combat rules - All the information you need to create fantasy characters from one of seven fantasy races and one of thirteen fantasy classes - Over 600 magic spells - Rules for building strongholds and running a domain - helpful guides to creating dungeons, wilderness, cities and other dimensions for your adventures - over 400 monsters and scads of magic items. Desert the edition wars and play a game with Blood & Treasure!

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Free OSR - Six-Shooters & Wagons (S&W Continual Light Western Hack)

I love the various hacks of Swords & Wizardry Continual Light. This hack is a classic American Western hack. Today's Free OSR pick is Six-Shooters & Wagons.

Six-Shooters & Wagons is a Swords & Wizardry Continual Light hack that lets move away from dungeons and into the saloons and wagon trails of the old west. This pdf is everything you'll need to make a posse and become a legend of the west. In the pdf you'll find.

• Complete light rules for playing in the old west.
• 4 new classes: Gunslinger, Scout, Soldier, and Swindler
• Weapons and equipment
• Critters and folk to send against your players.

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Free OSR - BX Advanced (No Art Version)

BX Advanced is an often overlooked OSR clone. It's an AD&D clone with B/X sensibilities. I happen to like BX Advanced a lot. Note that this is the No-Art version. The full-art version of BX Advanced is 9.95 in PDF.

The BX Advanced Gold Edition rules are based on the 1978 advanced first edition edition of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game with the less complex game systems of the 1981 B/X edition. In other words, this is a modern version of the fantasy roleplaying  game many people played in the 1980s. They started playing with the B/X edition and just added the races, classes, spells, monsters and treasures from the first Advanced edition, instead of using all the more complex rules from the Advanced Edition. All of the first advanced edition fun without all the often complex and fiddly rules.

In BX Advanced, you may play a first edition style assassin, barbarian, bard, cleric,  druid,  fighter,  illusionist, magic-User, monk, paladin, ranger, or thief in an old school game of exploration, treasure-finding, and fast to play combat. While B/X systems are used instead of the more complex first advanced edition rules, many of the limits of B/X have been removed: there are 20+ levels instead of 14; race is separate from class, spells go to 9th level instead of 6th, and there are many more monsters and treasure items than in B/X. Be a hero or a rogue: your decisions determine whether your character will retire rich, rule a kingdom, or die before his time.

This modern version also includes many optional rules: psionics, some of the house rules the author used in the 1970s, and selected ideas from other roleplaying games. While a sample adventure and campaign setting are included, these rules can easily  be used with all of the old adventures designed for B/X or 1e  and the many new adventures published for these games in the last few years – or you can easily create adventures of your own.

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