Deal of the Day - Through Sunken Lands and Other Adventures (Swords & Sorcery OSR)

Through Sunken Lands and Other Adventures is one of those RPGs I'm dying to run, or at the very least, steal liberally from for my own games. Using the character generation system (and low prep game engine) we first saw in Beyond the Wall & Other Adventures, Through Sunken Lands and Other Adventures port much of that over to the Swords & Sorcery genre.

Through Sunken Lands and Other Adventures is normally 9.99 in PDF, but until tomorrow morning, it is on sale for 4 bucks. This should be a bargain that is hard to pass up...

In the common rooms of the great city’s countless inns, in the bathhouses of the merchant quarter, and before the altars of a thousand gods, brave and desperate adventurers meet and make plans. They leave every day and seek their fortunes in the Sunken Lands.

Travel with us through sunken lands...

Lots of times, we want to play a roleplaying game but just don’t have the time for all the prep work involved. No more. Through Sunken Lands is a kit to make a motley crew of ruthless sellswords, gifted sorceresses, and cunning thieves, and send them off in search of gold and glory. Now we have this simple swords and sorcery roleplaying game that gives a group all the tools they need to play an exciting adventure in a single evening, no homework, no fuss.

Anyone with a background in OSR games will already be comfortable with the core rules of Through Sunken Lands.

• Inspired by the works of Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, and Robert E. Howard.

• Character Playbooks and Scenario Packs for play in a single evening with no prep.

• Player driven setting design for fleshing out the great city and the world beyond.

• A sample sword and sorcery setting: the impossible city of Jundarr and the Hundred Seas.

• Nine Character Playbooks, including the Spell Thief and the Eldritch Sorcerer King.

• Three Scenario Packs: the Mysterious Island, the Treasure Hunt, and the Wizard’s Tower.

 

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Kickstarter - Black God's Kiss RPG Box Set (OSE & 5e)

A perilous adventure unearthing the dark arcana behind Sword & Sorcery’s iconic tabletop roleplaying game.

It's rare to find a boxed set offered for an RPG, let alone an RPG setting. The Black God's Kiss is exactly that - a boxed setting (and micro game) for OSE and 5e. Color me intrigued. Also, show me as a backer, as this is the stuff I truly want to see.

59 bucks for the core boxed set, 89 bucks for the deluxe boxed set.

Black God’s Kiss is a perilous setting playable as an RPG module compatible with both 5e and Old School Essentials (OSE)—or as a standalone microgame for two players—with custom rules for Loss of Humanity, and streamlined mechanics for enduring cosmic horror in an eldritch pocket dimension.

Based on the fantasy fiction of C.L. Moore, who stands as one of the great sword & sorcery and weird tale authors of the early 20th century, the box set contains everything you need to delve into the star-lit realm of the Black God—explore forbidden ruins, encounter wretched creatures, and retrieve a weapon of dreadful power ... the Black God’s Kiss!

Undertaking an expedition in this pocket dimension will tax your body, your mind, and threaten the very nature of your soul. To survive, you must carefully make choices—managing your own humanity as a limited resource which diminishes by the hour. To succeed, you must not only confront the Black God, but the darkest recesses of your own shadow self.

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The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

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Kickstarter - Swords & Chaos (Siege Engine Powered S&S RPG)

A roleplaying game of savage swords and secret sorcery. Inspired by the works of Karl E Wagner, Robert E Howard, and Charles Saunders.

I'm a huge fan of Swords & Sorcery settings and RPGs. There's just something exciting about the defaults built into the expectations built into the stories we have in our cultural library. For most, including myself, it brings up thoughts of Conan, Red Sonja, and the like.

The Swords & Chaos Kickstarter presents us with a D20 based S&S RPG. Familiar enough to the vast majority of gamers, with a resolution system that uses the Castles & Crusades Siege Engine. If you like C&C, Swords & Chaos will likely be a great fit (and a possible resource for an ongoing Castles & Crusades Campaign.

As a total aside, this Kickstarter will be using the same US-based printer that Troll Lord Games uses, so there is some basic insulation from the worldwide supply chain issues - books have been hit hard.

The Swords & Chaos PDF is 20 bucks and the print version is 50.

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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar    

Swords & Wizardry Continual Light Goes Gold - Priced as PWYW Through End of April

DriveThruRPG has changed its Metal Ranking slightly to make it consistent across all storefronts. Lo and behold, I just checked and Swords & Wizardry Continual Light has gone GOLD! Woot!

To celebrate (and to give some additional reading material to those in the community that don't yet have a copy as we all "shelter at home") I've changed the pricing to Pay What You Want. Grab a copy for free. Seriously. Only tip if you want to. PWYW pricing will be in effect through the end of April.

edit - If you want a print copy, its 7 bucks on Amazon (ships Prime)  https://amzn.to/2ULDjls

Yes, that's an affiliate link. Affiliate links keep The Tavern's doors open, the beers cold and fresh and the lights on.

Kickstarter - Tales From the Magician's Skull (Swords & Sorcery Fiction)

Have I mentioned I have a real problem reading novels these days? Seriously, I used to read 6 books a month before chemo. Now I'm lucky if i read 2 a year. No problem with short stories though and that's why Tales From the Magician's Skull Kickstarter has a HUGE appeal to me.

Swords & Sorcery short stories? Brought to you by Goodman Games? Holy shit, I'm in! heh

Tales From the Magician's Skull is a printed fantasy magazine dedicated to presenting all-new sword-and-sorcery fiction by the finest modern crafters in the genre. These stories are the real thing, crammed with sword-swinging action, dark sorceries, dread, and ferocious monsters -- and they hurtle forward at a headlong pace. 

Issue #1 is complete and ready for printing. It is brimming with 72 pages and contains 7 stories, each featuring a full page black-and-white illustration. When appropriate to the tale, maps to terrifying tombs and sinister lairs are included as well. Each story has been written, edited, illustrated, and laid out in classic pulp magazine format. A bonus section translates elements from each story - creatures, magic items, and more - into Dungeon Crawl Classics game terms. 

Issue #1 features fiction by James Enge, John C. Hocking, Howard Andrew Jones, Aeryn Rudel, Bill Ward, C. L. Werner, and Chris Willrich. The magazine is edited by Howard Andrew Jones and published by Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games, with layout by Lester B. Portly. 

Each story is lovingly illustrated by industry stalwarts, and issue #1 features art by Jennell Jaquays, Doug Kovacs, Willam McAusland, Brad McDevitt, Ian Miller, Russ Nicholson, and Stefan Poag.

In for two issues, print plus PDF.

Deal of the Day - Barbarians of Lemuria: Mythic Edition (solid Swords & Sorcery RPG)

I own the original, non mystical, edition of Barbarians of Lemuria. Its one of those games I've always wanted to run but never have. Time is never on the gamer's side, it seems. 

With the Barbarians of Lemuria: Mythic Edition being today's Deal of the Day at RPGNow, I may just snag the new edition and run this at tome point. More probably, I'll borrow and steal from it liberally for whatever OSR campaign I'm running.

The PDF is normally $15.16, now on sale for $6.14

The Second Age of Man is a savage time of sorcery and bloodshed, where strong men and beautiful women battle with warlords, priests, magicians and gladiators to carve a bloody path to the Throne of Lemuria... 

Barbarians of Lemuria is a heroic role-playing game set firmly in the sword-and-sorcery genre. Lemuria is a post-apocalyptic world thousands of years in the future and unrecognisable to anyone from today. The continent has returned to an almost prehistoric state – a land of steaming jungles, vast untamed wildernesses, horror-filled swamplands, and sunbaked deserts. Massive man-eating beasts roam the unexplored regions of Lemuria and beyond, from island-sized sea serpents capable of sinking wargalleys, to the huge jungle-dwelling dinosaurs that can swallow a man whole.  

Print on Demand versions of Barabarians of Lemuria: Mythic Edition are now available. 

Included with the pdf purchase are:
- the main pdf in full colour
- the main pdf, print-friendly version
- a high resolution pdf map of Lemuria
- cover with artwork
- plain cover.

Remember, a portion of all RPGNow purchases made using The Tavern's affiliate links goes to support The Tavern. Tip your bartender! ;)

Kickstarter - Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2E (OSR Swords & Sorcery)

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is back in a new 2nd Edition, and it looks to be glorious. +Jeff Talanian has gone all out with the art this round and I must say, I am extremely impressed. Jeff has a good eye for art but damn...

Del Teigeler did the art at The Tavern's Facebook Community

The Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2E Kickstarter has a goal of $15k. It went live less than 12 hours ago. It just passed $25k. Yep, that's the reputation that Jeff has. 4 stretch goals down and none of them should effect fulfillment.

What is AS&SH? 

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is the creation of Jeffrey P. Talanian (Castle Zagyg, Charnel Crypt of the Sightless Serpent, Mystery at Port Greely). It is a role-playing game inspired by the fiction of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith, with rules descended from the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.  

The heroes of an AS&SH game delve dungeons filled with horrifying monsters, lethal traps, and bewildering puzzles; they explore savage wilderness frontiers and hostile borderlands; they probe ancient ruins and investigate cursed tombs; they match steel against sorcery and sorcery against steel; and they plunder for gold, gems, and magical treasure.

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.

Just a Wee Bit More Fiction - "The Door" (Swords & Sorcery)

Following up on "The Contract" and leading up to "Who Knows What", "The Door" is the next part of my submission to the Librium Mysterium. Heads up to +Tim Shorts , +Ken Harrison and the rest ;)

The dwarf ran his hands along the surface of the tower door. It was made of stone, but his fingers could feel light etchings along the surface.

“Val” the dwarf paused to spit before proceeding, “as you suspected, this door was made by the hands of my kin. If we open it in the wrong manner I suspect it will lead to death.”

The sorcerer acknowledged the dwarf’s observations by summoning their recently hired “apprentice treasure finder”.

“Meg, have you estimated the height of the tower yet? ‘Cause even if you haven’t, we need your skills here” as Val gestured at the dwarven made door.

The young man scurried down off of his nearby perch, where he had been scanning the tower for additional ways of egress. He failed to find any.

“Why do they call this the Tower of the Purple Sorcerer? It’s not purple, it’s grey.” Ever the observant was Meg.

“It isn’t the color of the tower, but the title of the one that built it. Powerful sorcerers rarely use their birth names and colors often have other meanings. In this case, the sorcerer in question was insinuating that he was of high noble birth, perhaps royalty or the bastard son of such. After nearly 400 years, I assume he is dead. Hopefully his treasure remains. Which is why you are here. Tenkar says the door is of dwarven make, possibly trapped. Time to earn your share lad.” Val gestured towards the door in question.

“Aye lad, I suspect it is trapped. We’ll look for prying eyes as you do your work.” Both the dwarf and the sorcerer made their way to the nearby outcropping that Meg had previously used.

The young man focused himself on the stone door. Running his hands along it’s surface, he felt the nearly invisible etchings Tenkar had found before him. This was no simple lock to pick - there was no visible lock. Instead, he ran his hands along the stone surface surrounding the door.

There!

One. Two. Three barely perceptible raised stone buttons, invisible to the eye but found by well trained hands.

One of these will open the door, Meg thought to himself. The others are probably trapped. Which one? Dwarven door - dwarves are short - the bottom button.

As Meg pressed the bottom stone button a soft “click” was heard from above before the stone door swung down and outward on a pivot approximately 1 foot off of the ground. Meg threw himself to the side, the heel of his right boot ripped off by the falling stone slab.

“Lad, didn’t they teach you to open dwarven doors from the side?” Tenkar asked of the now dirt covered and one boot heel short Meg. “Keep getting lucky like that and you may actually earn that share” the dwarf said with a grin.

“Val” Tenkar let loose a globule of spittle inches from the still prone Meg, “can you shed some light for us before we go in. Place is as dark as a tomb. Which is a good sign, I might add.”

What's Going on With Tenkar's Landing?

Talk about getting sidetracked, I haven't touched Tenkar's Landing for ages it seems (actually, nearly 6 weeks)

Consider this placed on a back burner for now, at least as far as anything beyond what I need for my irregular Sunday Morning Crypts & Things / S&W game.

Why, you may ask?

I've been dragged into the far depths of the Razor Coast. I'm only about 10% into the main book (plus having read the Freebooter's Guide) and I'm already thinking of ways to kick off a party of newbs into the campaign instead of moving established characters there at levels 3 or 4.

So yeah, the shark bit me.

Actually, I think the Bard Class I'm working on would do very well in the Razor Coast setting. Information can be more valuable than gold, especially in Port Shaw.

I'm still working on Tenkar's Landing as a swords & sorcery type setting, but as I said above - just what I need for the game, at least for now.

An Interesting Swords & Sorcery Kickstarter - Atlantis: The Second Age RPG

Atlantis: The Second Age RPG is based on the classic Atlantean Trilogy by Bard Games. I remember these fondly, although I don't recall ever running it. The setting was nice, and that is what've being reused in this version.

It's not like I NEED another RPG, let along another game system. I'm very happy with the OSR, and Crypts & Things is doing me fine for Swords & Sorcery.

I expect I'll be hopping in on this one anyhow - It looks pretty cool :)

and it's already hit it's funding goal, and it's not promising any stretch goals, which is probably wise.

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...

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.

Thoughts on a Swords & Sorcery Sandbox

Yesterday I asked for some ideas / thoughts / feedback on designing a sandbox. The feedback was / is (as it's still coming in) excellent on both the blog side and G+. Lots and lots of stuff to think about, especially with the size of the default hex - I must say there is something to be said about the 10 mile hex broken down by 2 mile hexes within. 6 mile hexes have a good argument too.

As I look at my sandbox, I've pretty much decided that I want it to be Swords & Sorcery in flavor. Why? Mostly because my newest campaign is going to be using the Crypts & Things ruleset (which in turn is based of Swords & Wizardry). Since S&S is the flavor for the new campaign, I may as well mix the exercise of working on a new sandbox into the mix.

S&S leads to, in my opinion, a less default urban setting and more of a "each urban center, large or small, has it's own feel to it" which is cool to play with when designing. It also means you no longer have the usual fantasy races to play with and fill their default roles, which become a whole 'nother change.

Actually, starting small and working outward is a good thing. Maybe the world does have a limited numer of demihumans, but this area is remote enough that they are known as mere legends amongst the populace. It allows be to throw "generic fantasy" into the mix at a later point, with all of the issue / problems / intrigue that follows it.

Alright, time to read some of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Graphic Novel to get myself in the right frame of mind ;)

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.

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...

Mini Review - Beasts & Bararians Golden Edition (Savage Worlds)

Beasts & Barbarians is a Swords & Sorcery sourcebook / setting for Savage Worlds.  It's kinda cool to be reading it so soon after Crypts & Things, as it gives a different POV (as well as ruleset) for the Swords & Sorcery genre.

So, what do we get in Beasts & Barbarians which we aren't getting elsewhere?  Well, for one thing we don't get into any of the rules / numbers until around page 60.  Yep, those first pages, almost a third of the book, is all setting information.  Pretty snazzy, and it does a great job of drawing you in before hitting you with actual game info.  Strangely, Cosmic Patrol does something similar, but it didn't work for me in that case.

Next up is the Characters section.  It doesn't only deal with character generation but also new and changed skills and edges.  Surprisingly, it also covers some asian tropes, such as fighting monks and the like.  I truthfully didn't expect to find them here, but I'm glad they are, as they seem to fit well.

Arcane backgrounds are modified in this setting.  I don't have a full grasp of them in the standard Savage Worlds rules, so I'm going to need to spend some time on these before I can fully comment.  It should be noted that the party is limited to one member with the arcane background.

Gear is gear.  When it comes up, you look it up.

Around page 110 we get to the GM section of the book.  It does a great job of showing the GM how to set the tone.  It's a gritty, evil world full of larger than life nasties.  Sounds like fun.

Chapter 7 is the Adventurer Generator.  It uses a deck of cards help determine potential plots for your story lines / adventures.  It looks to be a handy tool.  I may just print out this one section for handy use whenever I'm in need of something to prod me when I need a quick adventure regardless of system.

Next up is the obligatory monster section.  Nice nice selection of demons and devil, along with a recognizable selection of less supernatural (yet still lethal) adversaries.  When you include the templates for NPCs, this is a pretty complete (and long) section.

Vengeance of the Branded Devils is the introductory adventure included with Beasts & Barbarians.  It has a pretty strong introduction and it reads well.  As for lethality - one will only know for sure when it is run ;)

Beast & Barbarians is a very complete setting / sourcebook for Savage Worlds.  The artwork, from the flu color cover to the black and white drawings inside are excellent.  My one complaint is that for a PDF of 210 pages in length, there are no bookmarks, which makes navigation more difficult than it should be.

From the blurb:

Beasts and Barbarians Golden Edition is a bigger and more savage version of the B&B; Player`s Guide. Packed with a lot of Game Master stuff, it has 208 pages full of Savage Goodness. New things we have put into it: 51 non player characters, 10 new monsters, new rules, adventure generator and an adventure! 

And of course, with a new art from Tomek Tworek! We have also included the errata and a few new informations!

IMPORTANT NOTICE - we have a special discount for people who bought the former version of the Beasts and Barbarians. If you didn`t get it from rpgnow.com, feel free to contact me at pkorys(at)gmail.com

 Welcome to the dangerous Dread Sea Dominions, a place where mighty barbarians do combat with hideous monsters, dark warlocks whisper terrible sorceries in forgotten temples and noble amazons duel in the sun scorched arenas of Faberterra, capital of a decadent empire!

In this book, you will find:

• Thirty new Edges.

• Three arcane backgrounds, Lotusmastery, Sorcery, and the Path of Enlightenment

• Dozens of new weapons, armors, and mounts

• A simple but elegant system to develop your character between adventures and to manage the enormous riches you’ll find!

• Rules for Heroic Incapacitation

• Henchemen and Right Hands to support your villains

• Twenty dreadful monsters

• Fifty-one Non Player Characters

• An adventure generator explicitly tailored for Sword and Sorcery to create a great plot in no tim

• A fully fledged adventure in the Dominions  

And much, much more!

  Gird your loins, get your broadsword ready and prepare to face the threats of Beasts and Barbarians, the new sword and sorcery open setting from GRAmel.

A Look at Jaws of the Six Serpents (PDQ System)

This isn't going to be a true review, some I'm not titling it as such (but will tag it as one, 'cause it's close enough).  I just got my softcover copy of Jaws of the Six Serpents - Silver Branch Games was offering a discount to those that had purchased the PDF copy of the game, and that certainly included me.

The PDQ System (which I first came across in Questers of the Middle Realms) one of those, dare I say it, Indie Game Systems.  PDQ - Prose Descriptive Qualities.  In this case it's almost like a structure red freeform type system - you define your characters standout traits and qualities (good and bad) using the included rules and distributing points and "Wallah!" you have a character.  It's pretty open and flexible.  Which means I'm sure it can be gamed by Munchkins, but then again, so can most systems out there.  All you need are a handful of D6, so it should be an easy enough system to grass if you can get past your D&D roots.  That shit always holds me back ;)

Anyhow, I really like the Swords & Sorcery feel of Jaws of the Six Serpents.  It does a great job in a relatively small amount of space (the entire book is about 130 pages).  I suspect it runs pretty quickly and painlessly with a GM that is conversant with the rules, which would make it a decent choice to run via a Virtual Table Top or Google+ Hangouts, as I've noticed, at least with VTTs, the games tend to run slower.  With voice or without, the pace slows from a face to face game.  With a system that runs fairly fast in the first place, that might be less of an issue.

You can check out the Core PDQ Rules for free here.