I've Decided on my System for my Next Campaign - and it Kinda Sorta Is/Isn't Swords & Wizardry

Two weeks ago I attended the yearly gathering of my gaming group from the 80s and 90s. We've been gathering yearly for the last 15 years or so, and we've often talked about getting the "band back together", but they'd been looking to play D&D 5e, and that isn't on my list of systems to run ;)

This year, I was asked to run the OSR system of my choice. So I've been trying to think about the system I'd prefer to run, and no surprise, Swords & Wizardry came ut on top. But I wanted it to go a bit differently from the standard fantasy tropes, and Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerors of Hyperborea came to mind. It has some really excellent adventures in the low-level range and I already own them and the rules. 

Then I recalled Crypts & Things, an excellent Swords & Wizardry based swords & sorcery hack, and it all came together. 

Crypts & Things for the rules, Rats in the Walls and Other Perils, and The Anthropophagi of Xambaala from AS&SH for the initial adventures. Three single-session adventures and a longer one, this should accommodate sessions where players can drop in or out, depending on their schedule.

Now I just need to write a short Swords & Wizardry Light adventure for Shire Con in September. I wonder how many of the Crypts & Things classes could convert to SWL? :)

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Deal of the Day - Crypts & Things Remastered

Crypts & Things Remastered is today's RPGNow Deal of the Day. Built off of the Swords & Wizardry ruleset, C&T is an excellent Swords & Sorcery ruleset as well as an excellent resource for your Swords & Wizardry campaign. Normally $14 in PDF, for 24 hours Crypts & Things Remastered is on sale for $8.40

Be a wild Barbarian, a deadly Fighter, a soul-torn Sorcerer or a sword sharp canny Thief, fighting evil tyrants and foul demons in a world rapidly dying and heading towards its final nemesis. 

Crypts and Things (C&T) is a Swords and Sorcery Roleplaying game based upon the Old School Rules of the 70s/80s. It also draws upon the British fantasy games and game-books of that period to bring a distinctly dark and dangerous feel to the game. 

It was originally released back in early 2012 and after a highly successful Kickstarter in 2015 it returns in a Remastered edition, with revised and expanded content and entirely new art by David M. Wright. 

Contents 

• Introduction: An overview of the book.

The Scrolls of Wonder 

• The Player's section of the game, which explains how to create and play the character who will be the player's alter ego in the game.
• Creating a Character: Guidelines for creating the player's fictional alter-ego in the game.
• Character Classes: Nine character archetypes for players to choose from: Four Core (Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Thief) and five exotic (Beast Hybrid, Disciple, Elementalist, Lizard People and Serpent Man).
• Life Events: Quick background events tables which briefly detail the character's origin and what they did before adventuring.
• Spell Lists: Black, Grey and White Magic, plus Elemental Magic.
• How to Play: The game's simple and straightforward rules.
• The Continent of Terror: A brief overview of the game's included setting.
• What the Elder Told Me: Each of the eight human cultures of the setting detailed in ten questions and answers from a young adult to a respected elder about their worldview.

The Book of Doom

• This is the referee's section of the book.
• Secrets of the Continent of Terror: A deeper view of the setting for referee's, with adventure seeds and encounter tables.
• The Greater Others and their Works: Three of the terrifying Greater Others and their followers detailed for use in play.
• Snake Dance: A closer look at the society of the insidious Serpent Men.
• Scourges of the Dying World: Five evil nemesis to thwart and oppose the player characters.
• Ill-Gotten Gains of Dark Desire: Treasure and perilous magic items.
• A Compendium of Fiends: Dark and deadly monsters to populate your adventures with.
• The Halls of Nizar-Thun: An introductory underground adventure.
• The Haunted Lands: An introductory wilderness adventure.
• Port Black Mire: A fearsome city detailed for urban adventures.
• Notes from the Abyss: A compilation of articles and resources to aid the referee.

OSR Christmas - Bonus Gifting - Crypts & Things Remastered - 1 HC Print and 2 PDF Copies Will be Finding Homes with this Post

+Newt Newport / D101 Games is offering an amazing set of gifts for OSR Christmas. Three fine gift receivers, three fine gifts. One person will receive Crypts & Things Remastered in Hard Cover Print shipped anywhere in the world. Two others will receive Crypts & Things Remastered in PDF. Can I get a Huzzah!?!

The hardcover is a $40 value and the PDFs retail for $13.

Crypts and Things (C&T) is a Swords and Sorcery Roleplaying game based upon the Old School Rules of the 70s/80s. It also draws upon the British fantasy games and game-books of that period to bring a distinctly dark and dangerous feel to the game.
It was originally released back in early 2012 and after a highly successful Kickstarter in 2015 it returns in a Remastered edition, with revised and expanded content and completely new art by David M. Wright. 

Contents
-Introduction : An over view of the book.
-The Scrolls of Wonder
-The Player's section of the game, which explains how to create and play the character who will be the player's alter ego in the game.
-Creating a Character: Guidelines for creating the player's fictional alter-ego in the game.
-Character Classes: Nine character archetypes for players to choose from. Four Core (Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Thief) and five exotic (Beast Hybrid, Disciple, Elementalist, Lizard People and Serpent Man).
-Life Events: Quick background events tables which briefly detail the character's origin and what they did before adventuring.
-Spell Lists: Black, Grey and White Magic, plus Elemental Magic.
-How to Play: The game's simple and straightforward rules.
-The Continent of Terror: A brief overview of the game's included setting.
-What the Elder Told Me: Each of the eight human cultures of the setting detailed in ten questions and answers from a young adult to a respected elder about their worldview. 

The Book of Doom
-This is the referee's section of the book.
-Secrets of the Continent of Terror: A deeper view of the setting for referee's, with -The Greater Others and their Works: Three of the terrifying Greater Others and their followers detailed for use in play.
-Snake Dance: A closer look at the society of the insidious Serpent Men.
-Scourges of the Dying World: Five evil nemeses to thwart and oppose the player characters.
-Ill Gotten Gains of Dark Desire: Treasure and perilous magic items.
-A Compendium of Fiends: Dark and deadly monsters to populate your adventures with.
-The Halls of Nizar-Thun: An introductory underground adventure.
-The Haunted Lands: An introductory wilderness adventure.
-Port Black Mire: A fearsome city detailed for urban adventures.
-Notes from the Abyss: A compilation of articles and resources to aid the referee.

So, who are the receivers of these very generous gifts?

The Hardcover Copy of Crypts & Things, shipping anywhere in the word goes to:
Scott Jenks

The PDF Copies of Crypts & Things go to:
Jargogle Bamboozle and Peter V. Dell'orto

Email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing and Newt and I will work out the details. Its the holiday weekend, so please forgive what I expect to be some lag.

OSR Christmas - Bonus Gifting - Crypts & Things Remastered - 1 HC Print and 2 PDF Copies to be Awarded

+Newt Newport / D101 Games is offering an amazing set of gifts for OSR Christmas. Three fine gift receivers, three fine gifts. One person will receive Crypts & Things Remastered in Hard Cover Print shipped anywhere in the world. Two others will receive Crypts & Things Remastered in PDF. Can I get a Huzzah!?!

The hardcover is a $40 value and the PDFs retail for $13.

Crypts and Things (C&T) is a Swords and Sorcery Roleplaying game based upon the Old School Rules of the 70s/80s. It also draws upon the British fantasy games and game-books of that period to bring a distinctly dark and dangerous feel to the game.
It was originally released back in early 2012 and after a highly successful Kickstarter in 2015 it returns in a Remastered edition, with revised and expanded content and completely new art by David M. Wright. 

Contents
-Introduction : An over view of the book.
-The Scrolls of Wonder
-The Player's section of the game, which explains how to create and play the character who will be the player's alter ego in the game.
-Creating a Character: Guidelines for creating the player's fictional alter-ego in the game.
-Character Classes: Nine character archetypes for players to choose from. Four Core (Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Thief) and five exotic (Beast Hybrid, Disciple, Elementalist, Lizard People and Serpent Man).
-Life Events: Quick background events tables which briefly detail the character's origin and what they did before adventuring.
-Spell Lists: Black, Grey and White Magic, plus Elemental Magic.
-How to Play: The game's simple and straightforward rules.
-The Continent of Terror: A brief overview of the game's included setting.
-What the Elder Told Me: Each of the eight human cultures of the setting detailed in ten questions and answers from a young adult to a respected elder about their worldview. 

The Book of Doom
-This is the referee's section of the book.
-Secrets of the Continent of Terror: A deeper view of the setting for referee's, with -The Greater Others and their Works: Three of the terrifying Greater Others and their followers detailed for use in play.
-Snake Dance: A closer look at the society of the insidious Serpent Men.
-Scourges of the Dying World: Five evil nemeses to thwart and oppose the player characters.
-Ill Gotten Gains of Dark Desire: Treasure and perilous magic items.
-A Compendium of Fiends: Dark and deadly monsters to populate your adventures with.
-The Halls of Nizar-Thun: An introductory underground adventure.
-The Haunted Lands: An introductory wilderness adventure.
-Port Black Mire: A fearsome city detailed for urban adventures.
-Notes from the Abyss: A compilation of articles and resources to aid the referee.

How do you enter for your chance to be gifted? Simply comment on this very post before 8 PM Eastern, December 22nd and you'll be in the pool. Yes, over 48 hours.

Crypts and Things Remastered available in Print (Swords & Sorcery OSR / S&W Variant)

Crypts and Things Remastered is now available in Print. I have the hardcover (I backed the KS) and it is a thing of beauty. I'd review it but free time is short with some support work being done for the impending release of Swords & Wizardry Light (sooner than later, but not soon enough and yet too soon ;)

PDF is $13

Softcover with PDF is $26

Hardcover with PDF is $40

Crypts and Things (C&T) is a Swords and Sorcery Roleplaying game based upon the Old School Rules of the 70s/80s. It also draws upon the British fantasy games and game-books of that period to bring a distinctly dark and dangerous feel to the game.
It was originally released back in early 2012 and after a highly successful Kickstarter in 2015 it returns in a Remastered edition, with revised and expanded content and completely new art by David M. Wright. 

Contents 

Introduction : An overview of the book. 

The Scrolls of Wonder 

The Player's section of the game, which explains how to create and play the character who will be the player's alter ego in the game. 

-Creating a Character: Guidelines for creating the player's fictional alter-ego in the game.
-Character Classes: Nine character archetypes for players to choose from. Four Core (Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Thief) and five exotic (Beast Hybrid, Disciple, Elementalist, Lizard People and Serpent Man).
-Life Events: Quick background events tables which briefly detail the character's origin and what they did before adventuring.
-Spell Lists: Black, Grey and White Magic, plus Elemental Magic.
-How to Play: The game's simple and straightforward rules.
-The Continent of Terror: A brief overview of the game's included setting.
-What the Elder Told Me: Each of the eight human cultures of the setting detailed in ten questions and answers from a young adult to a respected elder about their worldview. 

The Book of Doom 

This is the referee's section of the book. 

-Secrets of the Continent of Terror: A deeper view of the setting for referee's, with adventure seeds and encounter tables.
-The Greater Others and their Works: Three of the terrifying Greater Others and their followers detailed for use in play.
-Snake Dance: A closer look at the society of the insidious Serpent Men.
-Scourges of the Dying World: Five evil nemeses to thwart and oppose the player characters.
-Ill Gotten Gains of Dark Desire: Treasure and perilous magic items.
-A Compendium of Fiends: Dark and deadly monsters to populate your adventures with.
-The Halls of Nizar-Thun: An introductory underground adventure.
-The Haunted Lands: An introductory wilderness adventure.
-Port Black Mire: A fearsome city detailed for urban adventures.
-Notes from the Abyss: A compilation of articles and resources to aid the referee.

New Release - Crypts and Things Remastered (OSR Swords & Sorcery)

I backed the Kickstarter, have the PDF and I'm waiting on the HC to arrive. I'm talking about Crypts and Things Remastered.

I ran a hack of the original Crypts & Things a few years back and it played real well. I'm looking forward to running Crypts and Things Remastered.

Still reading the expanded rules, so a review will have to wait, but what I've read thus far looks good. I may steal some pieces for my upcoming Swords & Wizardry Campaign using DCC RPG Adventures. SWCTDCC. Heh.

The PDF is $13, the SC Print & PDF is $26 and HC Print & PDF is $40

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's RPGNow affiliate links puts 5% of your purchase price into The Tavern's coffers. Don't leave that money on the table for the greedy corps! Tip your barman!  ;)

Crypts and Things (C&T) is a Swords and Sorcery Roleplaying game based upon the Old School Rules of the 70s/80s. It also draws upon the British fantasy games and game-books of that period to bring a distinctly dark and dangerous feel to the game. 

It was originally released back in early 2012 and after a highly successful Kickstarter in 2015 it returns in a Remastered edition, with revised and expanded content and completely new art by David M. Wright. 

Contents 

-Introduction : An over view of the book.-The Scrolls of Wonder
-The Player's section of the game, which explains how to create and play the character who will be the player's alter ego in the game.
-Creating a Character: Guidelines for creating the player's fictional alter-ego in the game.-Character Classes: Nine character archetypes for players to choose from. Four Core (Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Thief) and five exotic (Beast Hybrid, Disciple, Elementalist, Lizard People and Serpent Man).-Life Events: Quick background events tables which briefly detail the character's origin and what they did before adventuring.-Spell Lists: Black, Grey and White Magic, plus Elemental Magic.-How to Play: The game's simple and straightforward rules.-The Continent of Terror: A brief overview of the game's included setting.-What the Elder Told Me: Each of the eight human cultures of the setting detailed in ten questions and answers from a young adult to a respected elder about their worldview. 

The Book of Doom - This is the referee's section of the book.

-Secrets of the Continent of Terror: A deeper view of the setting for referee's, with adventure seeds and encounter tables.-The Greater Others and their Works: Three of the terrifying Greater Others and their followers detailed for use in play.-Snake Dance: A closer look at the society of the insidious Serpent Men.-Scourges of the Dying World: Five evil nemeses to thwart and oppose the player characters.-Ill Gotten Gains of Dark Desire: Treasure and perilous magic items.-A Compendium of Fiends: Dark and deadly monsters to populate your adventures with.-The Halls of Nizar-Thun: An introductory underground adventure.-The Haunted Lands: An introductory wilderness adventure.-Port Black Mire: A fearsome city detailed for urban adventures.-Notes from the Abyss: A compilation of articles and resources to aid the referee.

Kickstarter - Crypts and Things Remastered - (OSR Swords & Sorcery)

If you're like me, you remember supporting Crypts & Things on Indiegogo a few years back. It was a nice Swords & Sorcery reworking of Swords & Wizardry that really seems to excel with smaller groups. I ran a number of sessions for a pair of friends before real life intervened. They still dropped by NTRPGCon last June and are still itching to play again.

I love Crypts & Things but felt something was missing. Never quite could put my finger on it, but Newt seems to have his vision of what the revised Crypts & Things should be, and I like the direction he's going in:

Art. The art in C&T was done by various British Artists. While I stand by everything I put in the book, the overall tone was eclectic and a bit disconnected.  So David M. Wright, whose style exactly matches the tone of the game, is going to do the entire book. Therefore it will have a deliciously dark consistency and tone throughout.

Judging from the sample pieces of art, this is going to rock hard. Excellent choice.

Content. C&T Remastered will see a a full edit of the book and streamlining of the rules. There’s a few rules in C&T that I never use in my home game, because they involve a bit too much bean counting rather than simple Roll and Effect which I prefer. These rules have been recast into something more straightforward. 

Mega Gaming Fun. This is the overall effect of the above changes. Over the years there have been some kind words said about Crypts & Things which have made me painfully aware of some of its shortcomings. With the basic goal I’m seeking to address these issues and make it a much more fun game to play and the art even more evocative. 

Smoother gameplay? Less bean counting? I'm in :)

If you backed the earlier Indiegogo project, Newt has a gift for you if you back the current Kickstarter.

True confession - I was the first backer of this project on Kickstarter ;)

 

Forgot to Mention What the Top Vote Getter of the OSR Superstar Competition Gets

As the judges are digging through all of the entries, I thought I should mention the extra bundle that lands in the hands of the number one vote getter of the first round:

Crypts & Things + its two adventures (Blood of the Dragon + Tomb of the Necromancers) as a PDF bundle with thanks to +Newt Newport and d101 games.

I've been sending out copies of Dagger at a snails pace via email but should get through a large number tonight.

The beat goes on ;)

Gathering at Grimmsgate - Two Go In, How Many Will Survive?

This morning I kicked off my Crypts & Things / Swords & Wizardry / Swords & Sorcery Campaign. Well, more of a reboot of the Swords & Wizardry campaign that lasted one session before I realized I needed lots of tweaks to make a viable 2 person party from unadulterated S&W.

One player kept his scores and morphed from a Ranger into a Thief. The other rerolled and changed from a Cleric into a Magician.

A few tweaks were made to the C&T rules:

- added cleave (ACKS version) to all the classes. All classes but Magicians improve with it as they level

- did away with the spells per day for the magician, as casting burns HP and that's already something the player need to think of strategically

- as suggested either here of on G+, a witty rejoinder to heal 1d4 HP was added in the players' bag of tricks

So, how did the session go?

The players got to roleplay in the village of Grimsgate for a bit and really seemed to enjoy it. There was just enough for them to do to track down rumors and not so much that they lost focus. They met a old farmer that was able to give them fairly accurate directions to the hill where the Elder Temple's ruins were.

The trip to the Elder Temple through the wilderness was uneventful, more due to the fact that I only had a two player party than anything else. Besides, a party of two in light armor makes much less noise than a party of six with plate mail and chain mail thrown in ;)

As for the tunnels and rooms under the Elder Temple? The party has encountered all types of near men, former men and even a demon or two. Definitely a Swords & Sorcery type of adventure for them so far. Flavor text like this is perfect:

Jylagura the Demon-Speaker has a shoulder bag made of cured human skin, which contains a number of disgusting items used in his demonic rituals, and also contains a gem carved in the shape of a demon’s head.

They have at least one more session in the Elder Temple ruins, maybe one and a half. Lots of fun so far. It is playing very well. There can be no greater compliment ;)

Tonight Rappan Athuk, Tomorrow Morning Grimmsgate!

Clicking Above Will Take You to the Swords & Wizardry SRD Site :)

Tonight the Saturday Evening AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign returns after taking a week off for the Easter weekend. More buttkicking in Rappan Athuk, as the party has finally arrived to RA proper. Should be loads of fun.

Tomorrow morning my "Lapsed Gamers Campaign" will move from it's one session of Swords & Wizardry "Mostly Complete" version of the rules to the Crypts & Things / Swords & Sorcery flavor of the Swords & Wizardry rules.

I did this not just because S&S style gaming is loads of fun but because with a small group at the moment - 2, maybe 3 players if we are lucky - I needed a varient of the S&W rules that gives smallish parties a bit more survivability.

This of course, inspired me to work on my S&S flavored S&W setting - which got a bit derailed when the Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day took off like a 12 dice lighting bolt.

Which leads me to Grimmsgate. It's got a small village, a wilderness map and a dungeon. Enough to occupy my players for a good 2 to 3 sessions. Which should get me past the S&W Appreciation Day and a bit more focused on the sandbox setting.

I read through it quickly when it arrived with my S&W Complete Kickstarter package, but tonight I'll read it cover to cover to ensure I'm ready for my players every move ;)

Cleaving in Crypts & Things (and Swords & Wizardry Too)

One if the neat little rules I enjoyed in ACKS was the ability of the classes to "cleave". Down your opponent, and you get a free attack on a nearby one. If you were one of the "fighter" classes, you could cleave a number of times up to your level in a single round assuming you are able to continually down opponents. Pretty neat.

In practice it works much like the Fighter getting 1 attack per level for creatures under 1HD, but a miss ends the chain and it scales a bit with level.

There is no such rule in Crypts & Things or Swords & Wizardry, but it's an easy one to add and fits the Swords & Sorcery genre in my opinion.

I would actually treat every class in Crypts & Things, with the exception of the Magician, as if they were a Fighting class for the purpose of the cleave rule (much like all classes can backstab in C&T). Therefore, Barbarians, Fighters and Thieves would get to attempt to cleave up to one time per level per round while the Magician would be limited to a maximum of a single cleave per round.

Hopefully we get to kick the Crypts & Things campaign into motion this weekend...

Meandering Through "Monstrosities" - Bringing Life to Tenkar's Landing

This is a "non-gaming" weekend at the Tenkar household - I figured folks in my gaming group would either be guests for the weekend or receiving guest for the weekend, and I was right. So, in addition to getting ready for the guests we are receiving tomorrow for the Easter Holy Day I'm also working on some gaming thoughts.

Like - "What's going to inhabit the world that Tenkar's Landing exists in? What kind of monsters, natural and unnatural creatures, humans and nearly humans are my players going to find?"

For a Swords & Sorcery flavored Swords & Wizardry / Crypts & Things campaign, I think the idea comes down to one that is found in the DCC RPG as well LotFP's Weird Fantasy - the best monster is a unique one.

Not that ALL the monsters need to be unique, but enough of them need to to actually make all monsters special. So, there might be a whole tribe of cannibal veggipygmies, but only one Queen Rosatunda, Immortal Progenitor of the Veggipymies of the Ruins of Azagath. Kill her and the tribe will die out. Let her live and at some point in time, the Veggipygmies may over run whole island.

So, i want to go through both Monstrosities and Tome of Horrors Complete, find monsters that will fill the range from common (skeletons, giant rats w/ 2k coppers, wolves) through unique (as above) and the world in between.

There are no demihumans or humanoids by default, although most humanoids could be brought in reskinned as primitive humans or magically warped ones - but they would be localized - none of this "a goblin behind every tress and an orc in every cave" bullshit ;)

As a side note, the OGL'ing of Dwimmermount leaves room for a Swords & Sorcery style conversion of the megadungeon...

Like Sand in a Sandbox, These Are the Adventures You Seek

So, at 6 miles a hex (center to center) each hex is about 31 miles square. I'm going to pretend the number is 30 miles square, as it's easier to work with and remember ;)

Which puts the island at a total of approximately (as coastline shortens some hexes) 900 square miles at 30 hexes more or less. That's a decent amount of adventure potential.

Not all hexes are going to have locations assigned to them - few will over all. Every hex should have something that has the potential for an encounter, even if it's only a plug in at a certain spot of the general encounter chart for the island. Heck, some hexes might have more than one thing going on - 30 square miles covers a lot of ground.

Now, these encounters can be anything from the old coot that lives alone on his farm and miraculously stays alive in dangerous lands to a group of bandits that ply their trade on the traders trails to the primitives that inhabit the Ruins of Azagath.

Hmmm, so if the encounter table was rolled on 2d6, a roll of say "7" would have the DM (me in this case) refer to the hex description for the results. "7" is just an example, I'm kinda thinking as I  type.

The lower half of the island still needs to be fleshed out and labeled but I'll get there. The game won't kick off officially until the first Sunday of April, giving me a good  two weeks to get this ship shaped ;)

Zooming In on Tonight's Map Work - Tenkar's Landing and the Surrounding Areas

This would be, for all intents and purposes, the initial "sandbox" for the players in my Crypts & Things Campaign.

I'm still trying to put everything together, and locations and and names are subject to change.

So, for the brief outline:

Tenkar's Landing will be the starting point. A large merchant town that does much trade by sea. Nominally under control of the current occupant sitting on the throne at Thocar's Castle. So long as Tenkar's Landing pays it's taxes, the merchant are left to run the town as they will.

Ruins of Azagath - this might become a "mini sandbox", as I see this as a remains of a mad sorcerer's tower. The explosion was large enough to partially destroy the mountain in hex 1213 and laid ruin to hexes 1214 and 1314. There are rumors of treasure and possibly magic still left in the ruins. The creatures that roam hexes 1214 and 1314 are believed to be cursed.

Tomb of the Damned - place holder for a newbie adventure - either the one in the C&T book or the Halls of Nizar-Thun or one of my own creation (or a DCC RPG adventure conversion).

Alright, not bad for a night's work ;)

Played With Hexographer This Evening and Here's The Results

Not bad for screwing around with a program and not reading how to make it work ;)

I like the way it came out. I'm thinking the island in the lower center would be where the party would start out. It limits their ability to go all screwy on me before they level up a bit.

I need to add a crapload of locations, populations, sites of interest and the like but it's a damn good start for less than 2 hrs work.

I may also change around some of the terrain, but that's neither here nor there at the moment - I need something to work from and I'm surprised at how quickly it came together.

Definitely for the Crypts & Things Campaign, so any empires are in decline. I see it more city-states and less nations, but who knows as it get's fleshed out.

I'm going to give Hexographer "Two Thumbs Up!", because if it can make my mapping look decent, it's got to be an amazing program ;)

I'm leaning towards 6 miles per hex, which makes the initial island roughly 15-20 miles wide and 65 miles long. Decent sized area to adventure in I think. A "sandbox with walls" for the early levels.

More Inspirational Reading for the Swords & Sorcery (C&T) Campaign - Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser Graphic Novel

Snagged on Amazon, it's the Dark Horse Graphic Novel of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Need I say more? I'm really looking forward to running some Crypts & Things, but the first session may not happen until early April.

Inspirational Reading for My Upcoming Crypts & Things Campaign - Sword of Sorcery Issue #1

Once I committed to running Crypts & Things for my lapsed gamers group, I decided I needed some inspirational reading.

Lo and behold I found the 1973 comic book series Sword of Sorcery, starring Fritz Lieber's very own Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser on eBay. The series only lasted 5 issues, and I grabbed issues 1 thru 3 (and 4 was thrown in as a bonus, so just one more to grab).

Denny O'Neil wrote the adaptation and Howard Chaykin did the pencils.

Not bad at all. I vaguely remember reading the original it was based on, but it's been at least 20 years. Yeah, I guess I need to reread the originals at some point.

Questions (and Answers) as to Why I'm Going to Run Crypts & Things With My "Lapsed Gamers Group"

One of the players in my "Old Gaming Group" and very good friend of mine, sent me an email earlier tonight asking me why i chose Crypts & Things for the "Getting the Band Back Together" Sunday Morning Campaign.

The questions he asked were spot on, so I figured I'd share the questions (and answers)

Tony is asking the questions, and I'm the one providing the answers ;)

I have a soft spot for the 'dark' low magic fantasy worlds since during junior high / high school and college I was always reading novels such as Elric and F. Leiber stories as most of us were back then.

I know you talked about this on your blog a bit and again I think Crypts and Things is a great choice but I am curious why you didn't pick some of the other systems that I have read about on your blog.

Q - OSRIC - Was the main reason it too expensive for Chris and Barry to get into?  Is it a bit too complicated for a new player?   You gave me a copy of rules which I am thankful for but I never read it so I don't know much about the system but I planning on reading soon. 

A - OSRIC is AD&D 1e without Unearthed Arcana and the subsystems that no one really used. It's what i run on Saturday Nights - It's also a beast of a book to read (about 400 pages) - PDF is free, oversized pocket paperback is about 10 bucks ( think) plus shipping, but 400 pages is a lot of reading to expect for lapsed / returning / new gamers - smaller typset too.

Q - Pathfinder - Not old school like Bry wanted?  I don't own this but if I am correct it is based off of D&D 3.5 right?  So definitely not the D&D we grew up with but still D&D 3.5 is a cool system.  agreed?

A - It's a good system but very "crunchy" (heavy rules wise), much more crunchy than i enjoy these days. I would have loved it during my college years. The Beginner Box for Pathfinder is as crunchy as I'd ever go, but I feel more relaxed with the OSR games.

Q - Bry mentioned D&D 4.0.  I know you won't run that game and I don't like it either. Assume we both don't like it since it it too much like an MMO. I never played but with all of those rules a single combat must take forever (very much not like an MMO ironically).  I do own the books and I do like the fact that two players of the same class would be different because you select powers but it was way too 'crunchy' as I have heard you say in your blog. Is that the main reason you don't like 4? 

A - Combat as you have surmised is a horror. The crunch factor is huge, but the way the powers are set up, possibly not as bad as Pathfinder. But you need to use battlemaps and minis (some may say otherwise, but as written and designed, you do), and that's not how I roll. That, and "Healing Surges" still make no sense to me ;) If you want to listen to a podcast of actual 4e gameplay, try Drunks & Dragons - it's entertaining

Q - Adventurer Conqueror King - I don't own this one. why not this system?  Too difficult for a new player? Not enough like D&D for Bry?

A - ACKS is a fine system. I ran it over the spring / summer of last year. We used some classes from the beta version of the Companion, which were slightly broken (too powerful). I'd run it again, but as many of the classes / races seem setting specific, I'm waiting on the setting to flesh things out.

Q - Dungeon Crawl Classics?  - again I don't own.  curious why it didn't make the cut?

A - I love DCC. I had a blast running some session in the summer and fall. The book is HUGE! (nearly 500 pages) and  would have scared folks away. All that being said, I plan on converting some DCC RPG releases to C&T down the line. I think they'll fit really well.

Q - Savage worlds ? - I don't' own this either.  Not enough like D&D?

A - Definitely not like D&D. I don't fully "grok" the system. That being said, I'm dying to run some Soloman Kane ;)

Q - LofP - you gave me the rules and magic book. I have looked it over.  looks cool but a bit over the top horror which is not really the way we played back in the day so I can see why you didn't pick that.  right?

A - LotFP WF was tempting and the rules are available for free in PDF. That being said, I'd have had to have houseruled the shit out of it to get me where I want it, and that kinda defeats the purpose. Also, I think folks would have complained with the "only fighters ever increase in combat ability" part among others.

Q - Dark Dungeons - you gave me this book - I have not read it yet but again wondering why you didn't pick this?  looks cool.

A - No particular reason except it hasn't been on my radar recently. Well, and it suffers from being huge in page count, which is fine for active gamers, not great for lapsed gamers.

Q - Finally - Tunnels and Trolls. I have an 1986 paper back called.  'tunnels and trolls' the complete fantasy game rule book.  I think you gave this to me.  I know you like the system.  why not this one?  not D&D?

A - I love me some T&T. I really do. I want to run the game and I'm looking forward to the new edition releasing this spring. Not D&D, which is what folks wanted. T&T 5e is NOT the clearest set of RPG rules ever written. Not what i wanted to use to entice folks back to the Dark Side after 16 years of not gaming ;)

Looking For Some Swords & Sorcery Appropriate Adventures

I've approached my group of lapsed gamers about using the Crypts & Things ruleset for their return to gaming, and I've gotten a positive response to the idea.

Swords & Sorcery it is :)

I have two adventures for C&T, one from the rulebook and Blood of the Dragon, a low level C&T adventure. I also think many of the DCC RPG adventures should convert pretty well to C&T.

I am looking for other ideas, so have at it - can you think of any Swords & Sorcery themed adventures that would be suitable for use with C&T? Actually, they would probably also work well with AS&SH, so you might be helping +Dennis Higgins too ;)

Rule set doesn't matter too much, but OGL based would make for an easier conversion...

Thoughts on Mixing DCC RPG Adventures with Crypts & Things

My Don Quixote like quest to houserule Swords & Wizardry into something suitable for my "lapsed gamer group" has taken me to the idea of using Crypts & Things pretty much as is. It's S&W with many of the house rules i was looking to use baked into the system and it seems geared to smaller party play.

Having run a few DCC RPG game sessions, I'm pretty secure in stating that the DCC Adventures have a very strong Swords & Sorcery feel and would fit well in a C&T powered campaign with some tweaking of adversary numbers and of the "sure death" situations that seem to crop up in the DCC RPG.  I have little need for PC attrition beyond the usual OSR amount... heh

My players seem receptive to at least giving C&T a try, and mechanically it should be little different than the previous (and first and thus far only) game session.

Cleric / M-U rolled into one, everyone can attempt most "skills", a lowered reliance on magical healing,  doing away with most mundane magic, no demihumans - that and more should make this an interesting experiment, if nothing else...