Another great Deal of the Day, this time from our very own Rob Conley / Bat in the Attic. I've known Rob for over 15 years, and the quality of his work consistently amazes me.
Starting in 2009, I wrote a series of 24 posts on the Bat in the Attic Blog covering the different aspects of creating a hexcrawl formatted setting. Now that the blog posts are completed, I have combined and rewritten these posts into a single book. In addition to advice about creating your setting, the posts flesh out the Isle of Pyade into a small setting that you can drop into your own campaign.
What is a Hexcrawl formatted setting?
This type of setting starts with a hex grid placed over the map, with each hex numbered. The hex locations of the various locales, such as lairs, are noted and arranged into an index. This format provides a convenient way to reference detailed local information within the setting.
You can look at the map, see the hex number of the location, and then look it up quickly in the book. It works in reverse as well. You can read about a location in the book, with its hex location noted in the text, and then look up where it is on the map quickly. This format allows easy access to dozens of detailed locations scattered across the setting map.
Hexcrawls and Sandbox Campaigns
Sandbox campaigns are distinguished by the fact that the players drive the campaign forward by their choices. In a sandbox campaign, the players may decide to head west instead of east in pursuit of their goals. The ease of looking up locations makes the hexcrawl formatted setting a valuable tool for the referee trying to keep ahead of their players while running a sandbox campaign.
How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox will teach you how to make a hexcrawl formatted setting and explain which details are essential to include to handle the different types of sandbox campaigns.
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:
Renegade Realms: Blackthorn Loch hits a couple of sweet spots for me. It's system-neutral (yet certainly old-school in nature), it's a sandbox/hex crawl (always great for the GM's that like to improvise).
Now, Bart sent me a review copy of the PDF for the first in the series, and although I am not ready to do a review of it (yet), I'd have felt very comfortable having spent 3.25 for the PDF in question: Renegade Realms: Raven's Reach. It provides what I need as a GM, but my style is that of an improv GM, riffing off my players and trying to keep one step in front of them. Your mileage may vary.
Did I mention I REALLY like the maps? And the hexes aren't numbered - for me, that is a plus :)
I'll be following the Renegade Realms line of releases.
Renegade Realms are hand-drawn hex map tiles illustrating wild and lawless fantasy realms, rich with the promise of gold and glory, danger and death! Each map tile represents an area approximately 600 square miles (1600 sq. Km) in size and contains no fewer than six adventure sites fleshed out with area details and NPCs to provide GMs with the inspiration and flexibility to easily build their own unique adventuring realm and facilitate hexcrawl adventures in any system or setting.
Each individual Realm has been designed to connect seamlessly with any of its sister products, allowing GMs to create endless campaign worlds with minimal effort. In addition, Adventure Sites can be built or expanded using the Dungeon Domains line.
It will be a sandbox when I get my next campaign up and running. When I got my first campaign after returning to the DM role, it was. a sandbox using Rob Conley's amazing Blackmarsh.
This 380+ page book combines three volumes into one: A Guide to Thieves' Guilds, Filling in the Blanks, and Into the Wild, all geared towards aiding Referees and characters in venturing out into the wilderness and high-level domain activities.
A Guide to Thieves' Guilds provides guidance on forming and running guilds, both for the PC interested in establishing a guild and for the Referee wanting to add guilds to their campaign.
Filling in the Blanks provides numerous tables and charts that help Referees flesh out hexes for use in hexcrawl and sandbox campaigns.
Into the Wild includes guidance for running hexcrawl campaigns, a random weather generator, rules for establishing and running domains, an abstracted mass combat system, rules for mercantile trading, guidelines for creating BX-style character classes, and some alternate classes for BX games that add a little bit of flair to the originals.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Starting in 2009, I wrote a series of 24 posts on the Bat in the Attic Blog covering the different aspects of creating a hexcrawl formatted setting. Now that the blog posts are completed, I combined and rewrote these posts into a single book. In addition to advice about creating your setting, the post fleshs out the Isle of Pyade into a small setting that you can drop into your own campaign.
What is a Hexcrawl-formatted setting?
This type of setting starts with a hex grid placed over the map with each hex numbered. The hex locations of the various locales, such as lairs, are noted and arranged into an index. This format provides a convenient way to reference detailed local information within the setting.
You can look at the map, see the hex number the location is in, and then look it up quickly in the book. It works in reverse as well. You can read about a location in the book, with its hex location noted in the text. Then, look up where it is on the map quickly. This format allows easy access to dozens of detailed locations scattered across the setting map, if not hundreds.
Hexcrawls and Sandbox Campaigns
Sandbox campaigns are distinguished by the fact the players drive the campaign forward by their choices. In a sandbox campaign, the players may decide to head west instead of east in pursuit of their goals. The ease of looking locations up makes the hexcrawl-formatted setting a valuable tool for the referee trying to keep ahead of their players while running a sandbox campaign.
How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox will teach you how to make a hexcrawl-formatted setting and explain what details are essential to include to handle the different types of sandbox campaigns.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
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:
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.
This book is black and white, is in A5 format and contains more than 80 hand drawn (vectorized) illustrations. The PDF version is bookmarked.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
A hex grid is placed over a map of the setting with each hex numbered. The hex location of the various locales such as lairs, are noted and arranged into an index. This format provides a convenient way to reference detailed local information within the setting.
You can look at the map, see the hex number the location is in, and then look it up quickly in the book. It works in reverse as well. You can read about a location in the book, which will have its hex location noted in the text. Then look up where it is on the map quickly.
This allows for easy access to dozens if not hundreds of detailed locations scattered across the setting map.
Hexcrawls and Sandbox Campaigns
Sandbox campaigns are distinguished by the fact the players drive the campaign forward by their choices. While there are many types of sandbox campaigns, one common type is where the group arrives at a location on the map and begins exploring the region.
Regardless of the type of sandbox that is being run, the possibility exists that the players will decide that they need to head west instead of east in pursuit of their goals. The ease of looking locations up makes the hexcrawl-formatted setting a useful tool for the referee trying to keep ahead of their players while running a sandbox campaign.
How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox will teach you how to make a hexcrawl-formatted setting and explain what details are important to include to handle the different types of sandbox campaigns.
Rewards
This project is offering three rewards:
How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox (Digest PDF/Book, 150+ pages)
The Isle of Pyade Setting (Digest PDF/Book, 50+ pages)
Blackmarsh Revised Layout (Digest Book, 39 pages)
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
It isn't often that I look at a Deal of the Day and decide to go all in - Hardcover Print PLUS PDF, and therefore pay full price, and not the discounted price for just the PDF.
Well, today's Deal of the Day - Sandbox Generator is one of those rarities. Normally 12 bucks in PDF, but until tomorrow morning the Sandbox Generator is available in PDF for 7.20. The normal price for softcover plus PDF is 18 bucks, and hardcover plus PDF is 24 bucks, plus shipping in both cases.
Very much looking forward to taking the Sandbox Generator for a spin...
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:
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.
This book is black and white, is in A5 format and contains more than 80 hand drawn (vectorized) illustrations. The PDF version is bookmarked.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Time to get the disclaimer out of the way. I've been following James Mishler since his early days as a licensee of Judges Guild Wilderlands setting. Although that project overwhelmed James (and understandably so) it showed that James truly has a handle on the sandbox/hex crawl style of setting. James and Rob Conley (Bat in the Attic James) are cut from similar cloth.
Isle of Eldisor Hexcrawl Campaign Cyclopedia & Gazetteer is one of James' more recent releases, and James was kind enough to send me a comp copy of the PDF. I did not request it, and James did not offer it to me. It simply arrived in my email earlier today. I'll follow this post up with a review at some point in the next few weeks.
At first glance, this is an impressive campaign. It claims to support years of gameplay, and that certainly looks to be the case.
The one thing that sticks out prominently to me is that there are FOUR versions of the setting map - "One map with all the names, location symbols, and mountain passes with hex numbers (identical to the PWYW map available separately), and one such map without hex numbers. One map without all the names, location symbols, and mountain passes with hex numbers, and one such map without hex numbers."
I really love this touch. I can hand out a map to my players without giving away all of the secrets this way ;)
The Isle of Eldisor Hexcrawl Campaign Cyclopedia & Gazetteer is a 76-page campaign guide describing the Southlands of the Isle of Eldisor.
Jordvann was once a land dedicated to Law and Good, until the rise of Eldisor, the Devil’s-Son, who together with his hordes of giants, dragons, trolls, ogres, orcs, and goblins conquered the land, reduced the people to slavery, and brought down Fimbul Winter, which caused empires to fall world-wide. Eldisor ruled for 400 years, until he was slain or brought low during a rebellion of his captains, the Old Evils. Fimbul Winter ended, and civilization rose again elsewhere, while the survivors on the Isle of Eldisor sought to stay alive between the warring Old Evils.
Now, descendants (or claimed descendants) of exiled Jordvanner have settled the southern verge of the southern portion of the island, building colonies and rebuilding civilization among the monstrous and savage peoples of the isle. Little is known of the Isle of Eldisor, and what little is known is merely myth, legend, and rumor. The adventurers can partake of the return to the Isle of Eldisor in many ways – find and recover the lost treasures of the ancient civilization; discover, ally, and trade with the savage descendants of the Jordvanner; battle the remaining hordes of evil giants, dragons, trolls, ogres, orcs, and goblins; or seek to re-establish the lost realm of Jordvann and protect the native peoples from the inroads of the colonial factors.
The setting is presented as a Hexcrawl sandbox, and includes the following details:
History of the Isle of Eldisor.
Details on the Colonial Powers.
Geographical information, including specific regional encounter options.
The Jordvanner (including the four descendant peoples – the wild Cavemen, the sorcerous Gray Folk, the monstrous Morlocks, and the savage Tribesmen, as well as their cousins, the barbaric Kruski berserkers and vikings).
13 Gods, Demi-Gods, and Demons of the Isle of Eldisor and the Continent.
36 Myths, Legends, and Rumors.
Complete Campaign Notes on making the Isle of Eldisor experience more immersive and unique.
Details on the Weather on the Isle of Eldisor, still recovering from Fimbul Winter.
A complete Hexcrawl Exploration Procedure to determine encounters and the discovery of minor ruins and settlements.
A gazetteer detailing 156 major settlements, strongholds, ruins, and lairs.
New monsters, including the Mammoth, Northern Titan, Giant Troll, and Multi-Headed Troll.
An Appendix N detailing literature inspirational to the campaign.
There are four separate maps included in PNG format:
One map with all the names, location symbols, and mountian passes with hex numbers (identical to the PWYW map available separately), and one such map without hex numbers.
One map without all the names, location symbols, and mountain passes with hex numbers, and one such map without hex numbers.
The map is 52 hexes east-west by 34 hexes north-south; each hex is 6 miles across, providing more than 50,000 square miles of adventure!
The map is also provided in the book, divided into eight sections for easy reading.
The Isle of Eldisor Hexcrawl Campaign can provide a Judge and their players with years of adventure!
Designed for use with Labyrinth Lord, easily adaptable to any Old-School RPG or even Fifth Edition!
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The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,
or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.
As I've stated elsewhere, reviews will be returning to The Tavern in 2022, and they will be paid for with your support. When you use one of The Tavern's affiliate links, you literally pay for review material.
Today's Deal of the Day is The High Moors for Old School Essentials, or really, any old school RPG systems based on AD&D 1e or earlier. Normally 10 bucks in PDF (no print version available) until tomorrow morning, you can grab The High Moors for a mere 5.20.
I've snagged my copy, and a review should be forthcoming in the next few days - or weeks. Hard to predict ;)
From the blurb:
The High Moors beckon...
Little is known of the Ieldra - a race of cruel and depraved elves that once ruled the northern tableland called The High Moors - and no one has seen an elf in living memory. Their civilisation is dead, destroyed by an incursion from the Far Realm brought about by their hubris.
The ruins of the High Moors have lain undisturbed for centuries. With news from a successful expedition, people have finally considered the treasures waiting to be discovered in the forgotten north.
A number of expeditions have now been dispatched to bring back magic and riches. Unfortunately, danger, horror and madness awaits most of them.
The High Moors is a freeform sandbox weirdcrawl campaign. It is presented for Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy, but easily converted to any OSR edition of your choice.
The High Moors features:
a huge wilderness sandbox ideal for a WEST MARCHES style campaign
over 60 adventure locations, including three mapped and keyed dungeons
60 battlemaps for Virtual Table Top play!
sufficient content to take a party of five adventurers from 1st to 8th level
fully detailed and mapped town of Hob’s Lake for your party to use as a local base
full colour hex maps of the three wilderness zones
twenty new unique magic items
nearly forty new unique monsters
nine new playable races including bearfolk, owlfolk and uplifted apes!
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support
The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,
or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.
I am finding more 5e adventures piquing my interest than Pathfinder ever did. I guess that just reinforces my thoughts that there is an amount of synergy between the OSR and 5e.
Case in point: Carcosa for5th Edition from Dark Naga Games. While written for 5th edition it has some old school sensibilities: "A non-linear adventure in the classic Sandbox style where the party (Level 11-12) fights to escape the lair of an Old One--Hastur." Yeah, I can see myself running that for Swords & Wizardry. The Premise
Immediately following the events of Confronting Hastur, the characters wake up in Carcosa and are greeted by a broken man who tells them they only have a day to escape the plane before becoming permanent residents. The way home appears to require them to confront a demon lady and the three demon brothers who constantly vie for her attention and their domains within Carcosa. A land teeming with minor demons, humans, and three powerful Abrar, dreadful demon lords. Pressed for time, the party members find themselves pawns in the petty games of the brothers as they claw their way to worship before the lovely Grushka, the Abrar who runs Carcosa while Hastur slumbers. Their search for a way home reveals rumors of a way to trap Hastur in a longer, deeper slumber, giving their world peace from his attempts to invade for hundreds of millennia to come. Will they work to go home, or will they chance eternal damnation to save their world?
$10 for a digital copy with all digital stretch goals
Come September I'll be kicking off a Swords & Wizardry Light / Continual Light campaign at Legendary Realms in Plainview, NY. First and third Thursday of the month, 6 PM till 930 or so. If you live in the area, consider joining us.
Over the next few days I'll be reviewing some of the accessories I plan to use - (DM screen, Hexers, folding game board, dungeon tiles and such).
What I need now are suggestions for tables for the DM screen - I want to run a very loose campaign with a few hooks and let the players decide on the direction.
What four tables - any products that are OSR or System Neutral - commercial, free, on blogs - would you suggest? I have four panels on the DM's side of the screen (normal orientation), so that's why I'm asking for four tables.
Lets get some feedback, as you'll be helping more than just me with your answers...
So, the idea is that this map will be a 2 page spread in the middle of a 4 page release. It will be released without a grid (but with a distance indicator) with a gridded version of the map available for download. It looks much cleaner without the grid in my humble opinion and if someone wants to use a grid it's easy enough to print.
I tweaked some stuff with the latest revisions to make the labels easier to read. As the overwhelming response was to go "Print" or "Script" (and I agree, it is much easier to read) I did so.
There are three unnamed hamlets and one unnamed tower on the map. I don't expect to name them or describe them at this point. Yep, leaving more stuff in the hands of the GMs. Heh.
There is a ruined city on the coast, a ruined tower over at Far Point, a haunted battlefield, a mad hermit, a wizard's tower, a diseased forest, two indicated dungeon locations in the mountains, five noted population centers, a keep, ruins of an ancient city beyond the mountains and a huge city to the north. And probably about 2 pages to describe it all. The aim will be "hooks" over "details".
I'm figuring the first adventure will take place in the Town of New Velgare. Centrally located and a good starting location for the PCs.
Alright, I need to get back to the Tavern Cards. Many more to fill out and mail out.
You know +Martin Ralya . He's the main man at Gnome Stewand Engine Publishing.Gnome Stew is a great system neutral blog and Engine Publishing has put out some amazing books to help any GM hone his skill and have an easier time behind the GM screen.
I bet you didn't know Martin is a sandboxer at heart loves the funkie dice. You know, the dice you might use in the DCC RPG or with the D30 releases from New Big Dragon Games. Actually, Martin's Hexmancer Procedural Hex Generation System should be in every OSR DM's book of tricks.
Want to peek at it?
That's the first of 2 pages. Yep, it fits on 2 sides of a single sheet of paper.
It figures. I'm off from work for a week and a half and the first time I get a chance to read my PDF preview of Nord Games' forthcoming Ultimate NPCs: Skulduggery was late on Christmas Eve. I guess it's only fitting that I mention it on late on Christmas Day.
I've made no secret that my current work hours have beat the crap out of my ability to game, let alone DM. Starting your work week at 930 PM Saturday night can do that to you. I'm itching to get back to getting back at the (virtual) gaming table and I think I've worked out a schedule to make it happen every other week starting the new year.
My prep time is pretty much non existent these days, so I'm looking to run something very sandboxie in style. I'll be putting together my list of resources for such and will talk about them on a later post, but part of that sandbox toolbox that I'll be putting together is going to include Ultimate NPCs: Skulduggery.
My Swords & Wizardry version of the preview may be only 22 pages long but I like what I see. NPCs presented at various levels in their careers with their history, personality traits, ideals, bonds, flaws and some basic roleplaying hints I have enough to bring an NPCs to life for my players with minimal effort on my end.
Oh, and a sample quote for the various characters. My favorite sample thus far?
“ That sword you carry. Fascinating inlay on the hilt. Were you looking to sell, perchance?”
I know EXACTLY how to roleplay this character from this quote alone.
I'm hoping to see more of a preview before this project goes live. Mostly because I don't want to wait too long before adding this to my toolbox ;)
As I said, it's just a preview, and although I'm not under any sort of NDA, what I'm looking at may change before it get's finalized. Still, I like what I've seen so far. I like it a lot.
If there is interest in it, I'll peek at the Pathfinder and 5e versions. Let me know.
Tables. It seems like everyone is publishing tables these days. 101 Names for the Tavern Keeper's Wife is probably on sale somewhere. I like tables but they need to be useful. GM's Miscellany: Wilderness Dressing (System Neutral Edition) is extremely useful, especially if you like to run sandboxes as a DM.
See the sample above? The full table is 100 entries. How many tables are there? Here's the Table of Contents:
That's a sandboxing DMs treasure trove of content. Hell, the Folks section alone is giving me about a half dozen hooks I'd like to use and that's from just a quick read.
There's lots of stuff to love here if you are on the improvising side of the gaming table.
Much of this has appeared previously in individual releases. GM's Miscellany: Wilderness Dressing (System Neutral Edition)is a compilation of those releases and some new content, but if you have the prior releases the added value might not be enough to justify the complied purchase.
You know about +Kevin Crawford 's Red Tide I hope. It does for fantasy OSR sandbox play what Stars Without Number did for sci-fi OSR sandbox play. It's one of the resources that sits on my desk, waiting to be used at a moment's notice.
It's on sale for this weekend at $4.79 in PDF.
In this book a Labyrinth Lord will find all that is required to run a sandbox game of adventure in the Sunset Isles. In addition to the races, classes, and sorcery of this savage land, a referee will find special tools and resources for creating shadowed courts of quarreling nobility, cities rife with struggle, wild border settlements that cry out for the help of heroes, and dark places in the earth known only to the dead and the damned. These tools will aid not only campaigns in the Sunset Isles, but also those games set in other lands of savage mystery and bloodstained blades.
Expanding on the tag system found in the free Stars Without Number sci-fi role-playing game, Red Tide includes more than fifty new tags for fantasy cities and borderland settlements, along with more than 25 pages of GM resources including culture-specific name and place lists, unkeyed blank maps for quick sandbox use, four pages of room dressing and treasure possibilities, and a new "diagram dungeon" method of quick dungeon generation with a worked example.
And if you are looking for something that would work directly with Stars Without Number - Suns of Gold is a merchant sourcebook for Stars Without Number. Suns of Gold is also 40% off for the weekend, coming in at $5.99 in PDF.
+Kevin Crawford is what ever Kickstarter creator should seek to be - the ultimate professional who delivers his Kickstarters early and at an amazing value. Part of that value is that he consistently gives back to the community with free releases like The Sandbox #2.
Behold the second issue of The Sandbox, a free irregular journal from Kevin Crawford and Sine Nomine Publishing. Sine Nomine fans have noticed the regular flow of freebie material I've produced, such as the Mandate Archive series for Stars Without Number, Black Streams for the Red Tide setting, and other free releases for other systems and particulars. The Sandbox is an umbrella for these free resources, packed with the short articles, quick-roll tables, and GM helps that others have found so useful.
In this 21-page issue of The Sandbox, you'll find...
Lifepath Characters for Stars Without Number, a new method of character creation for my free sci-fi game Stars Without Number. Use guided rolls and the Life Event generator to brew up a hero for interstellar adventure. The PCs created with this system are essentially compatible with the results you get from the standard method, so you can freely mix the two together in your campaigns. (this can easily be modified for use with any OSR based sci-fi RPG, or used as inspiration to create your own Life Path. simply filled with inspiration - ET)
The Blademaster, a new character class for Scarlet Heroes and similar old-school-inspired games. Learn the secret arts of the ancient schools of war and wield their ineffable powers in battle. It comes with guidelines and tips for creating your own blademaster schools personalized for your own campaigns.
Quick Temples and Shrines is a one-roll generator for quickly generating a temple or fane for your freshly-brewed planet or time-lost city. Discover the problems that raddle the priests and the friends and foes that might complicate a PC's pilgrimage.
Quick Religious Revolts will help a GM discover the details behind a recent uprising of some oppressed faith or the savage revolt of a sect of zealous fanatics. If your PCs are unlucky, they might just be able to get front-row seats to the festivities.
You can't get a better price than free. Even if you don't use Sine Nomine products (and if you don't own them, why? Stars Without Number is free too) there is a ton of inspiration here that can take you down your own paths.
Welcome to The Sandbox, a free irregular journal from Kevin Crawford and Sine Nomine Publishing. Sine Nomine fans have noticed the regular flow of freebie material I've produced, such as the Mandate Archive series for Stars Without Number, Black Streams for the Red Tide setting, and other free releases for other systems and particulars. The Sandbox is meant to be an umbrella for these free resources, packed with the short articles, quick-roll tables, and GM helps that others have found so useful.
In this thirteen-page issue of The Sandbox, you'll find...
The Last Prince, a new class for Scarlet Heroes. The final scion of a doomed people? Use this class to bear the grim scars of your past and avenge the memory of your vanished kind.
Kickstarter Production Guidelines, where I lay out the exact production sequence I use for Sine Nomine Kickstarters, providing step-by-step instructions on how to manage the workflow and execution of a successful RPG Kickstarter. Learn how to manage project scope, plan layout, handle art completion with art control sheets, and sidestep Fulfillment Hell with at-cost codes and shipping specifics. Find the gritty details of execution here that are all too often neglected by creators.
A Quick Backwater Starport is a one-roll generator for swiftly brewing up a backwater world's main starport. Roll one of each die and find out just what the problems are to be found in this scraggly outpost of starfaring civilization.
What's That Abandoned Structure? will help a GM quickly determine the details of an abandoned building. Whether a long-lost relic consumed by an unfriendly wilderness or a gutted husk in a forgotten alien city, this quick-rol
l table gives the GM the answers they need to provide playable content at the table. So go ahead and grab this inaugural issue of The Sandbox. Keep an eye peeled for additional issues as the year progresses, each one packed with short material to help other indie publishers, support other Sine Nomine games, or just help you make good sandbox fun for your own favorite system.
The price is so right :)
Heck, worth the read for the Kickstarter info alone.
I think I've mentioned before that I've been way behind on basic things like "reading email" and "reading Google + messages." I just realized today that earlier this month Frog God released the PDF to the backers of the Sword of Air Kickstarter. Yeah, I'm not even catching up with the emails that are giving me stuff.
So, earlier today I grabbed the Sword of Air PDF an accompanying map (small snippet above - 50 mile hexes) and quickly found the Stoneheart Valley. The Stoneheart Valley is a nice trilogy of low level adventures (one of which, The Tomb of Abysthor, is a manageable sized mega-dungeon.) This gives me a nice place to kick off a Sword of Air Campaign before the party starts exploring in full sandbox mode.
I was surprised that The Lost City of Barakus wasn't to be found on the map, but I figure Freegate can stand in for Endhome and the Lost City finds a new home.
Yep, apparently there isn't enough adventure in the 428 pages of the Sword of Air Campaign Book that I need to add nearly another 300 pages ;)
Actually, what I'd like to do is run two groups in the campaign setting, both working towards the same ultimate goal but from different areas initially. Logistically it's impossible for me to pull off right now, but perhaps in 2016. If I can steal enough time to prep this, maybe come the spring of this year, when I get back behind the virtual DM screen, I can kick off the initial group.
Come to think of it, with the amount of stuff going on in the setting, I may need those months just to get all of the rumor tables prepped.
Did I mention what I've read so far of The Sword of Air looks damn fine? I need to take notes tho...
Session 0.5
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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve made any real posts. Tonight will be the
second session of my new D&D 2024 campaign. This is the first ongoing game
I’ve b...
Witchcraft Wednesday: Daggerheart Witches
-
A while back, when I was talking about my witch Elowen Hale, I said that
the Daggerheart playtest witch played a big role in who she is and what her
cha...
The Master of Puppets
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By Gordy HiggensSelf PublishedOSELevels 4-6 The ‘Toymaker’ has gone missing
– and nobility across the realm are scrambling to get their hands on his
highly...
Miskatonic Monday #447: The Black Tide
-
Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha
and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s
masterpiece of...
The Common Store of Monsters
-
I am slowly grinding my way through the re-writes for Veins of the Earth.
As part of the re-write I have re-organised the ‘Pariahs of the Earth’
monsters ...
[BLOG] News on the March! Episode XVI.
-
This post continues the series of brief play reports I have been posting on
Discord. This does not cover every single session (sometimes, recon and
setup...
Card Game Update
-
I received a set of rules clarifications from a Kickstarter Backer. Here’s
an update about where things stand with the card game going live on
DriveThruCar...
Konkord - Peace Operations
-
*[A former Konkord Star Major, name since redacted, in response to an
audience question at the Windfall Orbital State of the Dragon Conference.
Recording...
Felltower Updates
-
I did a little blog maintenance today.
I updated the DF Campaign page with links to to last 5 sessions, and also a
link to the heavier crossbow rules we us...
Doors for Dungeons
-
These 3d printed doors are some that I found on some site some time in the
past, and I don't recall when or where or who the designer was. I printed
th...
The Living World Sandbox Campaign
-
So for a couple of years, I've been slowly putting together an explanation
of how I run tabletop roleplaying campaigns, and I finally got a good intro
an...
Young Washington and 1753
-
I saw Young Washington last weekend and absolutely loved it. If you know
me, you know the Revolutionary War era is my favorite time period. I have
always f...
Galloway vs. Gaming Gonzo...
-
Devotees of D&D in the early 1980s were lucky to encounter Bruce Galloway's
master treatise: The Highest Level of All Fantasy Wargaming. The title was
a ...
Minimalist Magic Item table
-
I've spent a lot of time trying to finish this table. Probably too much
time, honestly. It’s one of those things that works exactly as I wanted
once it’s...
The Old School (Hyperborean) Renaissance
-
Are these poorly-masked adventure hooks? Yes, yes they are.
For the last century a peculiar fever has gripped the learned societies of
Marlinko, Kezmaro...
Micro-Adventure - #114 RATS!
-
Dungeon tropes are a thing to embrace, not to dismiss. It's simple to
handwave the storm the orc infested tower to save the princess, evil wizard
in a t...
Moldvay Basic D&D now Available in Print
-
Just a quick note that (finally) Moldvay Basic D&D is available in POD from
DTRPG – previously, only the Cook/Marsh …
Continue reading →
Abstraction in My Liege,
-
I think the aspect of *My Liege,* that could potentially put off the most
people is its lack of accounting granularity. It does not track Court
wealth in...
Consolidated AD&D Weapon Characteristics List
-
Having spent the last few days down a research rabbit hole, I ended up
compiling a chart of AD&D weapon characteristics, adding some "missing"
entries an...
Referee Sabotage
-
It is an old saw that players are bad at executing their plans. Imagine
this common scene: the party have some big job that requires planning;
perhaps robb...
The March 1636 Lantern is Published
-
Okay, The March Lantern is available. Those fast on the draw may have
noticed that I mistakenly published it as free access for 56 minutes. I
was just so ...
On a Happy New Year
-
We are about to experience the most social upheaval since industrialization.
What will that look like in sixty years?
Sinless is starting it's third yea...
Mutants and Wizards
-
Heya folks, long time no see.
I've just started working on something new called Mutants and Wizards. It's
going to be an OSE/OSR post-apocalyptic game t...
Rob Kuntz at Lucca Comics & Games 2025
-
If you are planning a trip to Europe (like right now) and wish to catch up
with me in person, make sure to book a detour via *Lucca Comics & Games*,
...
How do you do piracy… in SPACE!?
-
Interstellar space travel in Iridium Moons was always going to be a form of
hyperspace jump like in Star Wars or Traveller. Simply because it’s the one
for...
A long overdue hobby update!
-
Welcome back to the Vault everyone! 2025 is going by in a blur; I last
posted in February, almost started a post in March and now it's the end of
May. W...
Playing at the World 2E V2 Arrives
-
With the release of its second volume, the second edition of *Playing at
the World *is finally complete. The two books combined total well over
1,000 ...
Writing playlists for all occasions
-
Hello again! Going off the idea of inspiration elaborated on by the prior
post, I also have music playing while I write my various games and fiction
pieces...
The Tarot of Pips
-
Somewhere in your dice collection is a die like this one, the humblest of
dice. Although you don't know it, this small white die carries with it a
secr...
Pirates and Necromancers, a Play Report
-
Over the Thanksgiving weekend we did a lot of gaming ranging from
“off-table” domain level stuff to some solo adventures to spell and magic
item rese...
It's been a bit
-
Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! I've had a lot going on and
haven't had much time to blog lately. Heres a recap of gaming events and
other st...
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace
-
A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient
aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or
more w...
Last move - to self-hosting!
-
As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to
self-hosting.
I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at)
Blog: ht...
Clean Your Room
-
Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun
playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it
was ...
The Worm Ouroboros
-
The Worm Ouroboros is a proto-fantasy (the in the genre sense) novel by E.
R. Eddison, originally published in 1922. It is an amalgam of mythological
tradi...
Steve Jackson Interview
-
James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his
Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and
upcomi...
ToAD Monster of the Week: Crocoman
-
Now that I'm back doing the blog thing I thought I would use Tome of
Adventure Design to create monsters for The Black Hack.
Using the monster tables in th...
Strange, Dangerous, and Inhuman: The Fey and Fairie
-
When I was a boy I loved fairy tales. Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in
Boots, Rumpelstiltskin - I devoured all of it. My fascination that there
was a strang...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
-
*As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded
Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in
Warren...
Fiction in Airhde
-
On a whim this weekend, I picked up some fiction off the TLG store. *A
Houseless God & Other Tales* and *The Mirrored Soul & Other Tales*, both by
the T...
Ravensburg Reboot: Streamlined City Map
-
I mentioned in my last post how I was tweaking and reworking parts of my
Ravensburg setting. Today I streamlined the city map. The old map had lots
of redu...
The Withered Crag available now
-
I just enabled the sale of the PDF version of The Withered Crag at
DriveThruRPG a few minutes ago, and the custom print version will be
available startin...
Annihilation Rising Goes live
-
The latest in Fail Squad Games’ Quick Kick projects has gone live and needs
your support!! This project is only running 11 days and ends on 5/28/2019!
...
James's Celebration of Life
-
We could not have asked for a prettier day for James's service. It was a
bit chilly and windy but gorgeous. A heartfelt thank you to all that joined
us tod...
Trap Tuesday: A step back
-
I will get back to Tomb of Horrors soon. I found a topic that was
interesting enough to take a break. While interacting in a 5E group on
Facebook I talked ...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
-
The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even
rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player
was...
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2
-
This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release,
along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a
Saint 8000...
Please, I don't do paid advertisements - don't ask.
-
A little note since people have asked me about this. My video channel's
*not* an advertising platform, so I'm not available for hire if you want to
promote...
New website!
-
Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated
form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that
site wil...
Please Update Your Link!
-
If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is
out of date.
Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is
h...
Total Sales for WB:FMAG
-
Hi Folks,
It's been a long time since I provided an update for the sales of White
Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game.
*LULU*
Print: 396
PDF: 433
*OBS*...
How can We Destroy this Campaign World?
-
d12
1. You must trick a bard into strumming the *Chords of Fate* on the *Lute
of Annihilation*
2. Legends tell of thermonuclear weapons beneath megadunge...
Mord Mar - Session 5
-
We had another successful delve into the dungeon yesterday. The delvers:
Moira, the Magic-User
Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?)
Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf ...
Bundle of Fantasy Age
-
Bundle of Holding: Dragon Age/Fantasy Age: Available until March 12. PA
Presents: Fantasy AGE Freeport live play Green Ronin in 2018 The Fantasy
Age RPG ma...
New Free PDF Module: The Hyqueous Vaults
-
A new dungeon module—written in celebration of OSRIC's 10th Birthday—by
Rebecca Dettmann, Allan T. Grohe, Jr., Jimm Johnson, Matthew Riedel, Alex
Zisch, a...
Swords & Wizardry Light: Session # 6
-
Two months after our last session (thanks to things like 8th grade finals,
a 4 year-old's birthday and party, Father's Day, etc.), we finally had our
next ...
