Kickstarter - Tomb of Zines, a Storage Box for your Fantasy RPG Zines (Phil Reed)

I'm a huge fan of Phil Reed and his various Kickstarters. They are always a great value for your money, ship on time, and are universally useful. It doesn't hurt that I consider Phil a friend, but I'd be saying all of this regardless ;)

This time around, Phil is offering a box to hold your various zines - The Tomb of Zines. But it's not just a box, it's also gaming content. Imagine that...

If you've been collecting fantasy roleplaying game zines, then you've likely hit the same problem that many of us have: how do you store these things? The indie community does an incredible job of creating fun, entertaining game content in all sorts of sizes, shapes, and formats, but it can sometimes be challenging to figure out where and how to store all of these remarkable works of art.

That's where the Tomb of Zines comes into play! This storage box features a 6.25" x 9.25" x 2" space to carry your favorite zines. Better still, the box is more than just a box! Printed on the outside and inside of the box are random tables to assist the gamemaster in preparing quick encounters and packed with possible adventure ideas. The back of the box features a table that directs the GM to one of six different brochures included inside the box.

The six brochures are each 9" x 9" in size, double-sided, and folded down to 3" x 9" so that they fit neatly in the Tomb of Zines. These six brochures are packed in the box at the project launch. All six are written and ready for the editing process! 

• The Wizard's Secrets - 2d12 table. What secret does the wizard reveal before he dies?
• The Wizard's Requests - 2d10 table. What does the wizard ask of the party?
• The Wizard's Demands - 2d20 table. What does the wizard demand of the adventures?
• The Wizard's Summons - 5d6 table. What terrible or frightening thing has the wizard summoned?
• The Wizard's Tales - 1d12 table. What story does the wizard tell the heroes?
• The Wizard's Attacks - 1d20 table. Exactly how does the wizard attack theadventurers?

 

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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 

I Backed 27 Projects During ZineQuest - Holy Sh!t

I backed 27 projects during ZineQuest month over on Kickstarter, and I literally thought I had backed more. Like 27 isn't already a huge number ;)

My initial budget for spending on ZineQuest - a "soft" budget, and more like a suggestion and not a hard limit, was $250. In the end, it wound up just north of $525. Holy shit.

I could easily have backed more, but my spending was already out of control, so I stopped looking for new projects as the month went on, and for that, I am sorry. I'm sure there were some Zines that were notably released later in the month, but my cup had runneth over.

I'm not going to list the ones I backed, because I know there were some I wanted to back and never did. Again, it was a matter of quality or lack of interest, it simply came down to a lack of available funds. Suffice to say, I'll be enjoying the zines I did back for months to come.

If you haven't checked out ZineQuest, there are still some projects that are funding and could use more backing. Here's your ZineQuest link.

A huge "thank you" to all of the Zine creators, past, present, and future. The light you shine keeps this hobby alive and vibrant.

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 podcast on Anchor, YouTube, 

or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. 

An Analysis of Torchlight Sales (Currently #1 in Small Press)

Torchlight is currently the #1 Hottest Seller in Small Press on DTRPG and #2 under 5 bucks (it held #1 very briefly). This is the first time I've released a product with discount coupons and I've found the results to be eye-opening.

In the 36 hours or so that Torchlight has been available for sale, it has sold 108 copies. 78 copies were sold via the discount code shared here and on the Discord Server. 20 copies were sold via the discount code that went out via email to purchasers of prior releases, mostly SWCL (there were over 700 emails sent). 10 copies have been sold at full price, theoretically organic sales for placing high on the DTRPG sales charts.

The numbers in the wishlist and carts are interesting but little more. Clicking a DTRPG coupon code puts the title in your cart automatically.

What is the takeaway? Successful sales on DTRPG require a lot more than placing high on a sales chart. It requires an audience and community looking forward to your release. Without this very community, Torchlight would be withering on the vine right now.

It also means The Tavern has a responsibility to share and highlight new OSR releases as they come out. Sadly, I don't have the time to constantly scour the interwebs looking for new releases and many will pass me by. You can, however, email me, whether you are a publisher or just a fan. I can't guarantee I'll get to them all, but I will certainly give it the yeoman's try.

I can be emailed at:
tenkarsDOTtavernATgmail.com 

A Little Help (for Information) From the Tavern...

After a brief "conversation" with Erik I have permission to help enlist the Tavern to help me with a pet project of mine. For the record, I don't intend to make a dime off of this and the whopping $10/year domain name registration is my only out-of-pocket cost.

A couple years ago I had an idea to start a blog that was dedicated to a relatively narrow focus: OSR Zines. No reviews, no affiliate links, nothing but news of new issues and letting folks know what zines are out there.

The thing is......I'm not really sure what is out there. Current, discontinued, new issues.....I only know about what I stumble across and for older & discontinued issues mostly. This is where I could use the Tavern's help.

I'd appreciate finding out about new/current fanzines, especially new issues. There is a contact form at OSRZine.com and I could easily be emailed through my gmail (FrugalGM). Links, pointers, pictures of issues, etc are all helpful. I did populate the site with some Zines....two years ago, so you can see examples of the info I've been looking to put up on the site.

Any assistance would be most appreciated. I plan on doing updates on the weekends.

Kickstarter - RPG Zine Challenge: The Compleat Beastman (OSR / 5e))

So, RPG Zine Challenge: The Compleat Beastman is part of Zine Quest Month on Kickstarter. Let's see what we get with this one.

Every issue has at least one full character class, compatible with the various OSR rules systems, Multiple generic NPCs, one or more named NPCs with adventure hooks, history, culture, and societal notes to make these species come to life in your games. 

Each issue is a small, black and white zine that also contains pin up art pieces of different varieties of the highlighted species. Here's something awesome that you don't get with other zines- every backer gets FREE ART with a commercial license to use in your own products! 

Additionally, I'm releasing them with 100% open content. Use this stuff in your own books. ALL OF IT! 

The material is setting- and even genre- neutral. Each of the beastmen societies gets presented as a a living culture, with notes not only on traditional fantasy themes, but also notes on how they colonize and fight in space. Yes, fantasy and sci-fi gonzo goodness.

Size? Small

Page count? Unknown

How about pledge levels?

The basic $10 pledge includes a PDF of every issue that we produce from this campaign, as well as stock art. The @25 level gets you the discount print code for each issue, as well as discounted minis.

If it only produces a single issue of unknown page count, that becomes fairly expensive for a small PDF. "Print code" I am guessing means POD through DTRPG at cost. That's a significant chunk of change for potentially a single issue in print (plus POD cost and shipping). Yes, you get access to the art as future stock art, but that is only an incentive if you plan to do some self-publishing yourself.

I'm giving this a soft pass. Further details on page count and printed size of the zine might change that. Hitting stretch goals will also make this more attractive, but it has to hit critical mass before that starts to open up.

Kickstarter - Hexagram #1, an Old-School RPG Zine for The Fantasy Trip (Zine Quest)

I'm enjoying Kickstarter's Zine Quest month. More zines!

This time we are looking at Hexagram #1, an Old-School RPG Zine for The Fantasy Trip. Sure, I'm still waiting on my The Fantasy Trip boxed set, but now it will have a zine companion ;)

Welcome to Hexagram, an old-school RPG zine for The Fantasy Trip that, we hope, won't be a one-and-done project. Starting out as a 16 page (8.5-inch by 5.5-inch) B&W publication, your support has made the zine a reality and, with luck, will push the page count higher and higher as we attract more backers. 

(Later note: Up to 24 pages now, and still more than a week to grow.) 

What's inside Hexagram? Great stuff, including: 

• "Snackromancer," by Guy McLimore. An encounter for use with The Fantasy Trip.
• "Overloading a Treasure Chest," by Philip Reed. What goes into packing an 8+ pound roleplaying game boxed set?
• "Rumors and Truths," by Steven Marsh.
• "Twenty Terrible Traps," by Steve Jackson. Don't throw away your d20. We have much evil love for it.
• A preview of our next BIG TFT campaign, with samples!
• Plus more articles to be determined!

3 bucks for the PDF. 6 bucks plus shipping for the print copy.

As for add-ons, I'm grabbing these:

Kickstarter - Delayed Blast Gamemaster #1 (Zine Quest)

For those that don't already know, Kickstarter has declared February to be Zine Quest month, with the hopes of seeing lots of RPG zines coming out. Expect me to cover a number of RPG zines offered on Kickstarter in the month of February.

Our first entry is from Steve Jackson Game's own Phil Reed:

If Kickstarter is going to launch a fun event like Zine Quest, then I'm gonna do all that I can to participate and create something that fits the feel of old-school RPG zines and gives me a chance to stretch my brain muscles. 

At project launch, Delayed Blast Gamemaster is a 24-page 36-page, saddle-stitched, 5.5-inch by 8.5-inch B&W printed zine. Inside this small booklet I've packed eight dungeon oddities, a dozen adventure hooks, and four different dungeon doors. And all of that content is completed and ready for print; in fact, I've already ordered (and received!) a test print and it looks great! 

Let's peek at the stretch goals:

4 pages of spellbooks - unlocked

4 pages of shields - unlocked

4 pages of potions - unlocked

4 pages of monsters - unlocks at $2,000 (currently at $1,857)

10 bucks get you the zine in print and PDF, shipping included. That's the level I'm backing at and I suggest you do too.

Delayed Blast Gamemaster - its what's for dinner ;)

New Release - Back to BasiX - Issue #2 (zine)

If you haven't been following Thom Wilson / Throwi Games you've been missing out on a series of solid OSR releases. Easily one of the best bangs for your OSR buck is Back to BasiX, a fanzine dedicated to B/X and similar OSR clones.

I grabbed issue #1 of Back to BasiX in print at NTRPG Con in June and it was excellent. I expect more from issue #2 (which should be on its way to me via the US Post Office as I preordered). The PDF release of Back to BasiX is $1.50 an issue. There are two issues available.

This fanzine celebrates, highlights and supports one of the original roleplaying game systems of the 1980's, the Basic and Expert editions of Dungeons & Dragons.  Each issue will provide or highlight content within the Holmes, Moldvay, Cook and Mentzer edited rules from TSR's Gary Gygax.  

Issue contains:  Product Spotlight, Spell Review, New Magic Items, New Monster, Short Encounter, Full page comic "Dungeon Delvers" (artist, Travis Hanson), and an interview with Frank Mentzer.

All purchases made via The Tavern's affiliate links help to support The Tavern.

On Zines and Readership and Monies, Oh My!

I love me a good gaming zine. Really, I do.

Whether its The Manor, Black Pudding, The Excellent Traveling Volume, Crawl, the Undercroft, Under a Broken Moon, The Wizard's Scroll or any other one that I am quite sure I've missed going off the top of my head, they are all special to me.

Why?

Because they are labors of love and they speak with the voice of the one that publishes it. They are, in some ways, intimate and personal.

You won't make a lot of money publishing a zine (or most anything else in the RPG industry) but you have the reward of loyal and vocal readership. There is nothing quite so loud as someone advocating for a zine they love.

Also, zines tend to be published irregularly. Yep, I can buy all of the above and more and not dent my wallet.

What we need is more zines. Truly. There was a time when blogs were all the rage and The Tavern is certainly a good source of gaming news with its finger on the pulse of old school gaming, but it generally can't be read on the train, the bus, while sitting in the doctor's office or taking a bath. Zines, especially those in print, are special and should be cherished.

When Torchlight releases, I want it to be but one of many RPG periodicals from self publishers that the community supports.

I Want more Zines in my Time!  ;)