Review - Under Tenkar's Tavern, Levels 1-3 (PWYW OSR Adventurr)

 

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 than Under 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 Tavern 4 1/2 beer steins. It's short, sweet, and easy to prep, and the price is right :)

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Bundle of Holding - Fantasy Age 2e

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.

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Deal of the Day - Brink of Calamity (OSRIC)

Today's Deal of the Day is Brink of Calamity, a 180-page campaign and setting for OSRIC, AD&D, and OSR. It's a (potentially) year-long hexcrawl, covering levels 1 to 6. Typically, 14.99 in PDF, until tomorrow morning, Brink of Calamity is marked down to $6.

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. 

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Free OSR - Perilous Path of the Cursed Camel (OSE, SD, Cairn)

Yep. One PWYW adventure covers three systems - Old School Essentials, ShadowDark, and Cairn. Today's Free OSR Pick: Perilous Path of the Cursed Camel is 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.

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Deal of the Day - The Drifter (Solo American Western)

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 on sale for $3.69 in PDF (usually $5.99), a 40% discount until tomorrow morning. I'll give this a purchase - I'm intrigued by the system, and it's a Mithril Ranked Seller with 4.8 out of 5 Stars (for 37 ratings).

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? 

Find out, as The Drifter.

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Deal of the Day - Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme

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.

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NTRPG Con 2025 - Acquisitions Part 1

NTRPG Con 2025 is coming to a close, and it's time to start taking some inventory. Some highlights (in no particular order) include: