Kickstarter - The False Temple: An OSR mini-mega dungeon (Levels 4-7)

I'm a sucker for large dungeon adventures, which is what The False Temple looks to be. Priced at 8 bucks in PDF and 10 bucks for an at-cost POD (so about 4 more bucks plus shipping), I'm in :)

The False Temple is a small megadungeon consisting of 4 levels with well over 100 rooms (finished product should have around 150 rooms), a starting town and surrounding area, and a dark background to intrigue both you and your players. 

A party of levels 4-7 should be able to take on the dungeon, and this module could be run with a lower level party, allowing them to pick up leads and smaller missions in town and get to the appropriate level before attacking the dungeon.

This module is based on our small free project "Dakar's Dungeon", found on the Azorynian Post Blog at https://azorynianpost.substack.com/. What started as a simple overzealous response to a prompt, is now being turned into a full-fledged, ready-to-run adventure module.

What Additions to Expect

• A nearby town fleshed out with NPCs who have personalities and needs that could lead to further adventure
• A surrounding area with points of interest
• Expanded Dungeon levels and maps - more rooms on each level!
• More fleshed-out factions and descriptions of their leaders
• Professional formatting
• Art!

 

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The DragonSlayer RPG Has a Dungeon Design Contest

Greg Gillespie, best known perhaps for the megadungeon Barrowmaze, is running a dungeon design contest in the DragonSlayer Facebook group. Details below:

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New Release - Castle Xyntillan (Funhouse Dungeon)

I'm borrowing the following from Rob Conley's Bat in the Attic Blog:

This begins with a story, back in the 2000's a bunch of folks were organized by Necromancer Games to flesh out Judges Guild's Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The project took a lot of work but finally saw the light of day. 

One of the author involved was Gabor Lux (also known as Melan). 

So as a follow up to the Wilderlands one of the project Necromancer Games was planning on was Tegel Manor and Gabor Lux was tapped as the author. We all knew him from his blog and other writings and was excited about seeing his take on the venerable adventure from Judges Guild. 

But alas it was not to be.

Instead, we now have Gabor Lux's take on what might have been, a haunted castle reimagined. With maps by none other than Rob Conley himself.

“The immense, rambling complex of Castle Xyntillan has stood in its mountain valley for many years. Built over several generations, it has now been deserted by its former owners, and left to time and the elements. However, that is not the end of the story, for Xyntillan’s fabulous treasures and Machiavellian deathtraps continue to fascinate the fortune-seekers of a dozen lands – and never mind the ghost stories!” 

A 132-page hardcover describing the three massive levels of the eponymous funhouse megadungeon, Castle Xyntillan has been designed for the Swords&Wizardry game, and is suitable for 1st to 6th level characters. Built on surrealism and dream logic, Castle Xyntillan has been designed to be versatile, open-ended, complex, and accessible - and always a bit mysterious. From the soaring tower of the Donjon to the inky depths of the Oubliette (and beyond), this module should provide ample opportunities for exploration, confrontation, and subterfuge. Whether you would like a dungeon for one-off expeditions and convention play, or repeated forays and full campaigns, this book should suit the demands of your campaign! 

With cover art by Peter Mullen, and interior illustrations by Denis McCarthy, Stefan Poag, Peter Mullen (again) and The Dead Victorians, Castle Xyntillan ships with four map sheets featuring GM’s and player’s cartography of the labyrinthine complex (the work of Robert S. Conley). Further free downloads are available at beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com. 

Please note that your print order also makes you eligible for a free copy of the PDF edition, published a few months after the print version. PDFs will be delivered via DriveThruRPG to your regular e-mail address, unless you request otherwise.

You can grab a copy for 40 bucks plus shipping here

Untold Adventures Crowd Sourced Sourcebook in Development

Hey Taverners, it's James Spahn. You know me. The White Star/White Box guy. The dude with a strange obsession with Halflings and Squirrels. The dude who's been running around the OSR for the past half-decade or so trying to write a few fun games.

Well, I recently released Untold Adventures: Minimalist Fantasy Roleplaying. I'm ridiculously proud of my little game and hope you'll grab a copy over on RPGNow when you get a chance. It won't cost you anything. Heck, the PDF is Pay-What-You-Want and will always remain so.

To that end, I've also created a Google Plus Community for Untold Adventures. Give it a join as I talk with other fans of the game and post little tweaks and options for the system. Heck, there's already a post about modifying ENnie winner Glynn Seal's Midderlands Expanded for use with Untold Adventures - because Midderlands is awesome.

In addition, I wanted to give a shout to anyone who was interested. I thought it would be fun to do a supplement for Untold Adventures as a community. A compilation of short dungeon-crawl adventures using the freely available commercial-use maps by Dyson Logos. The book would tentatively be titled Undiscovered Dungeons and the PDF would be released for free on OBS, with the a softcover print version made available at-cost via Lulu. Basically, each contributor would select a small map and write do a dungeon write-up no longer than 3000 words. Just enough for a night or two of adventure.

I'm not looking to make a dime off Undiscovered Dungeons, just to get together with my fellow OSR fans and make a fun companion to Untold Adventures. If this is something you'd be interested in, leave a comment on this thread over on the UA G+ Community.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

James M. Spahn
Barrel Rider Games

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I've Been Playing Dungeon with Pinky - The Six Year Old Gets It!

I picked up the new version of the Dungeon! boardgame to play with my niece. She's six and ever eager to play Dungeons & Dragons with Uncle, so I figured Dungeon! would be a great introduction.

Simply put - it is. Its also a great learning tool.

She enjoys the game play and accumulating treasure. She High Fives when she kills an especially tough monster. More importantly, uncle told her once she can read the names and titles of all the level 1 to 3 cards (monsters and treasure) we'll move on to D&D. More accurately, we'll move on to Swords & Wizardry Light.

Guess what? She's sounding out the cards and making guesses when needed. She's adding dice rolled real quickly and even remembers to add in the plus 1 when she finds a magic sword. When she lost a combat, rolled a 12 to see what damage she took and lost all treasure and had to go back to the beginning? She ran off but came back real quickly - ready to kick the monster's butt and get back her treasures - she's learning more than words and numbers - she's learning to get knocked down and come back up swinging.

Come to think of it, she made a point of NOT adding the plus 1 from her magic sword when she dropped all of her loot. Which was kinda awesome :)

Dungeon! has become a learning tool hidden behind a fun game and she doesn't even know it.

Best purchase I've made with the lass in mind, bar none. Besides, its fun to play as an adult too ;)

Dungeon! is available for $17.16 at Amazon.

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Dragon, Dungeon, Adventurer and Other Magazines Archived and more (AnnArchive)

So, earlier today I was looking for a cover picture of Dragon Magazine #68 for my post on weather in RPGs. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled on an archive of Dragon Magazine, Dungeon Magazine, Adventurer (mid 80's RPG mag from the other side of the pond) and a whole lot more.

I give to you:

AnnArchive

Scroll down and I see Amber Diceless

WotC Shows Some AD&D Love in the Next (Online) Issue of Dungeon

Much thanks to Jeff C. for giving me the heads up on this, or I never would have caught it.

Lowdown in Highport is for AD&D. I may have to re-up just for this issue. Didn't WotC publish an AD&D adventure in another recent issue of Dungeon? If I do put my $9.99 down for a month, I plan to grab all of the useful stuff I can...