State of the Tavern - Update - Closed Captioning for the YouTube Channel for the Hearing Impaired and Audio Conversion of the Blog for the Visually Impaired

 

The above was asked in reference to last night's update, and I had been under the impression that YouTube videos required manual Closed Captioning, and I had neither the time nor the money to do so. I was wrong.

YouTube CAN automatically do CC, and it's pretty damn accurate. I do need to turn it on for each video manually, so it will take some time before it's available across the board, but it's begun with some of the more recent videos and livestreams.

This got me thinking. There used to be a plugin that allowed me to convert each blogpost to an audio file with a simple link, but that app went away years ago. After a little research, I found Woord, and for $60 bucks a year I can convert the blog into an audio format.

My current plan is to upload a week of the blog at a time as a podcast episode - not sure if it will be a new podcast feed or simply extra podcast episodes. Most likely a new feed / podcast.

Let me know what you think. I do care :)

Here's a sample of today's blogpost in an audio format: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xbn1c11to4st37/16793195831615688173604d71ed159847.16965527.mp3?dl=0

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State of the Tavern - Which Comes First, The Podcast or the Livestream or YouTube? The Blog!

So, before tonight's Iron Rations LiveStream with JoetheLawyer (and Matt & Mike), Joe tossed out the idea that I should consider ditching the Tavern Chat podcast and move to just doing the Tavern's YouTube Channel. Thankfully, Joe didn't suggest that I ditch the blog ;)

Now, I understand where Joe is coming from. Four of the daily YouTube shares each week are simply reshares of the podcast, and three episodes each week are reshares of the YouTube livestreams. They are, in effect, imperfect mirrors of each other.

What I AM thinking of doing is recording Tavern Chat as a video initially, sharing it to YouTube, and then upload the audio to the podcast side of things. From the podcast side of things, little if anything would change. Same content, same show. On the YouTube side of things though, it would do away with the generic static image that is generated when the podcast gets converted to video. Instead, you would get my lovely image 7 days a week, in addition to my voice.

It would be a small amount of extra work on my end, but it might just be worth it for those that prefer using YouTube.

As an aside, I'd like to thank the recent subscribers that put the channel over 300 subs. We truly appreciate the support.

In any case, that's the current thought. If you have feedback or suggestions I'd be glad to have it.

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Kickstarter - Bestial Ecosystems Created by Monstrous Inhabitation

I feel like all I'm posting about is Kickstarter, but so many awesome ones have released in the last few days that I find myself highlighting another one. I apologize for the impact I'm having on everyone's wallets ;)

Hack & Slash, AKA Courtney, just went live with the Bestial Ecosystems Created by Monstrous Inhabitation Kickstarter. This is a "must back" Kickstarter for me, and I suspect it will be so for others.

What if monsters were unique and exciting? What if monsters no longer existed in solitary, but part of individual, specialized, ecosystems? What if you had the tools to make these ecosystems quickly and easily, over and over again?

What's in it?

Thousands of unique monster ideas and origins

Tools to integrate these into biomes and exploratory play

Dozens of ideas to make monsters mechanically unique

No longer will monsters feel like bags of hit points to you or your players.  Bestial Ecosystems Created by Monstrous Inhabitation includes clear guidelines for how players can come across these monsters and learn about them in a system-neutral way. This book has no statistic blocks, no repeating anything in the possibly dozens of monster books you already own. This gives every monster dozens and dozens of ideas to make it special, along with the tools and guidelines to use them in play.

What's it for?

This allows referees of fantasy tabletop games to enjoyably generate monster history, traits, and ideas. Referees can then take those monsters and integrate them into dynamic fantasy biomes, along with the tools to allow players to explore those biomes. This allows the players the opportunity to learn about these biomes and monster interactions through play!

Creating a new campaign is like raising a house frame all by yourself. This is a tool that makes something often overlooked (fantasy ecosystems) into an exciting and quick process. 

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Kickstarter - Dwarrowdeep - Greg Gillespie (OSR & 5e)

Barrowmaze is probably the gold standard of megadungeons. It broke new grounds when it was published and established Greg Gillespie as one of the OSR's premier adventure creators, as he followed Barrowmaze with Barrowmaze II (which were then joined in Barrowmaze Complete) Highfell, & The Forbidden Caverns of the Archaia. 

Today, Greg launched the Kickstarter for Barrowmaze: Dwarrowdeep (OSR and 5E). It funded in an hour and has already surpassed 275 backers. I should know, I'm one of them ;)

Tonight at 8 PM Eastern, Greg will be the guest of Bad Mike & I on the Talking Crit Livestream. Join us and pepper Greg with questions. Or watch later and simply listen to the answers to the questions of others. Oh, and events in the hobby we all love. We ALWAYS touch upon such news ;)

This Kickstarter campaign is designed to support the creation of a new megadungeon adventure for the Old School Renaissance and the Fifth Edition of the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game. Dwarrowdeep represents the fourth in a massive six-part megadungeon adventure series never before undertaken in the history of fantasy role-playing games.

The OSR Labyrinth Lord edition can be played with any TSR rule-set from the 70s/80s/90s, or inspired by them, such as Original Edition, B/X, First or Second Edition, OSRIC, Old School Essentials, or Swords and Wizardry without conversion. The adventure is designed to support low-to-high level play within a medieval fantasy campaign lasting months and years.

I estimate the final draft to be between 260-290 pages and approximately 500-600 encounter areas. If you are familiar with Barrowmaze Complete, that project was 259 pages in a two-column format (cover to cover). The Forbidden Caverns of Archaia my follow-up project, was 293 pages. Like my other megadungeons, Dwarrowdeep will provide PDF poster maps in both black and Old School blue.

Dwarrowdeep begins with a gazetteer that outlines the region in which the adventure takes place. This includes a cultural history of the dwarves as well as detailing the town of Hamelet - the base of operations for the campaign. The dungeon proper will be levelled in a traditional style, albeit with twists and surprises. You can expect new spells and magic items, special monsters, pregenerated characters, new races, and rival adventuring parties. Dwarrowdeep merges my own unique vision (one that has never been realized in a dwarven-themed adventure) with inspiration drawn from J.R.R. Tolkien and classic adventures like Shrine of the Kuo-Toa and The Night Below.

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Kickstarter - SCIENTIFIC BARBARIAN No.3 (post-apocalyptic)

I'm pretty fond of the Mutant Crawl Classics RPG. To hamfist a quote inspired by Spinal Tap: "This Gamma World Clone goes to Eleven!" Note, no drummers were killed creating this RPG ;)

So, what is SCIENTIFIC BARBARIAN No.3? According to the Kickstarter page, "Bigger and better than a fanzine, not quite as fancy as a magazine, SCIENTIFIC BARBARIAN No.3 is a megazine. It’s 6” x 9” in size, with 64+ pages of professional gaming content created and produced by industry veterans. Our megazines are also perfect-bound with a spine, so they stand up nicely on a shelf as you collect them! This is an exciting new format we here at Mudpuppy Games are proud to pioneer, and we can’t wait to see how many others adopt what we think is a pretty handy format for jamming a publication straight into your game bag or your backpack."

So, a zine that goes to Eleven! Cool :)

Does that mean that SCIENTIFIC BARBARIAN No.3 is specifically written for the MCC RPG? No, but it will certainly fit very well with MCC, Gamma World, Mutant Future, and the like. Heck, even fits with your OSR fantasy rules if you want to push your campaign in different directions.

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Kickstarter - Folio #27 - Lair of the Serpents (1E & 5E - Get the PDF for a buck!)

I've been following Scott Taylor and his Folio series of adventures since the first one he published. Amazing art, quality writing, and adventures that are ripe for using, by piece or whole cloth for your own campaign.

If you haven't checked out The Folio yet, Scott's latest Kickstarter is a great opportunity to do so, as you can get the PDF of Folio #27, Lair of the Serpents Gaming Adventure! for just a buck. Even better, you can grab all 30 of The Folio releases in PDF for 30 bucks. Many campaigns worth of gaming material for D&D 1e and 5e for less than the cost of the 5e Player's Handbook.

Want to watch Scott talk about The Folio and more? I had a FireSide Chat with Scott a few weeks back: 

Join the adventure as Art of the Genre continues to add content to its first new mega-dungeon in over three years!  This second part of a six-phase mega-campaign is based around 1st-3rd level characters in a completely revolutionary setting.  I've specially designed the dungeon to breathe new life into those adventuring levels while allowing the DM the ability to create incredible story arcs with old favorite monsters like lizardmen, giant serpents, huge toads, and even early fantasy RPG video game monsters inspired by classic crawls like Wizardry and Bard's Tale!

The Virgin Mine setting revolves around an adventuring company moving into the ruins of the wild jungle around the Imperial Capital city of Nextyaria. Here, they will match wits against other treasure-seeking adventuring companies as well as the intelligent dungeon that hosts relic treasures with nearly unlimited power.

Folio #27 will introduce characters to the next section of the massive Virgin Mine Dungeon, the Lair of the Serpents!.  Unlike normal dungeons, this one carries various mysteries and wrinkles that 'bend' the rules of character advancement, and strategy will need to be employed as the party learns the ropes within the Virgin Mine Dungeon setting.  Dungeon details include 2D standard hex maps as well as fully 3D renderings of The Lair of the Serpents section of The Virgin Mine.  A gazetteer section will give background on the new rules and the exterior camps and companies.  Several new monsters lurk within as well as new magical treasure.  It also features a fully removable and stand-alone cover in perfect OSR tradition!

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Doing Something "Nice" for my Players.....and the Unintended Consequences

 

This is my second attempt at a post because my earlier almost-finished post.......I thought it was a bit much as it had some adult content about the time one of my player's PCs was kidnapped to be sacrificed to an evil deity....the method of sacrifice was the "adult" part.

I was inspired to tell that story initially because I found the printed out (huge, like most of the table big) map I had mounted and laminated. This encounter had a couple of possible outcomes, from the straight-up gruesome (for that one PC) to a TPK, or even just a complete bloodbath. It ended up going the bloodbath route, but that happens when you have three women (players and PCs) facing off against a deviant murderous cult that happened to also abduct the orphan the party had taken a liking to........

If given the opportunity I like to have really nice maps to play on, but coming up with nice maps....even if you're just finding and using other people's maps, takes a lot of resources (mostly time). I usually just end up with some props and a good set of Staedtler markers and Chessex Battlemat. If I'm running a bunch of tables, like when I'm head GM, I'll maybe splurge on some clear acetate you can buy at the fabric store. I can easily draw out one map and then make copies and hand out the maps for GMs to plop down quickly on an empty battlemat. Works for me!

If I expect a big battle, especially a challenging (i.e. potential PC death or TPK) encounter I'll more likely go all out. If I'm fortunate enough to find someone else's map (like something from Dyson Logos) I'll take and get it printed up, preferably at the UPS Store or FedEx Kinkos, but I'm not above printing it at home and piecing it together. Mount that map on some foam core and cover it with lamination......good to go, though if I'm really lucky and have the time, I'm not above creating a 3d model using Hirst Arts bricks or insulation foam.

Of course, as a GM, creating terrain pieces for table-top play is not just fun, but a means of me continuing or pre-planning the fun outside of the normal game-time. Generally speaking if I think the players might get their PCs killed, more than just the normal dangers of a game session, I like to treat them to some thing "extra". Of course if you do this enough then you can establish a pattern....

...and as a GM I love establishing patterns. Nothing like being able to mess with your players at the table using Out Of Character (OOC) knowledge. If they get used to potentially ugly battles being preceded by the GM whipping out a custom laminated map....then I can mess with their heads, and expectations, by whipping out a nice map for a mundane encounter. I once had the party spend a good 20', table-top time, checking the room five times for a secret or hidden door because there HAD to be something beyond the walls if I had bothered to slap down a full-color & laminated map.....

Good times.

Makes me wonder what "special things" other GMs do for their players that are outside of the norms. Also, how do other GMs mess with their players (aside from making them do surprise random rolls for no reason....) the former, by all means comment here, but if you have some juicy (but not too mean) ways to mess with players, hit me up outside of the Tavern....too many eyes in here!

GM's Day Sale - Swords & Wizardry Picks

While I'm fairly disappointed with this year's DTRPG GM's Day Sale, as the bundles pretty much suck, and the majority of the titles on sale are only discounted 10%, there are a number of pics that are 40% off for the sale. The picks below are all 40% off.

Here's the link to the Swords & Wizardry picks. My highlighted picks are far from exhaustive.

Tome of Adventure Design - I can't say enough in praise of ToAD. I own multiple physical copies - The Tome of Adventure Design is organized as a series of "books," each one providing resources at every step of the way. The vast majority of the content of each book is made up of random generation tables that we created over a quarter of a century (sigh) for our own use. It should be said upfront that these are tables for deep design - in other words, most of them are too long, and contain too many unusual or contradictory entries, for use on the spot at the gaming table. There are already many excellent books of tables for use on the fly; the tables in these books are different. They work best as a tool for preparation beforehand, providing relatively vast creative resources for browsing and gathering, rather than quick-use tables designed to provide broad, fast brushstrokes. Our shorter tables tend to deliver cryptic results designed to shock the reader's creativity into filling in the gaps, whereas the longer tables are unusably vast for easy random generation, being designed to shock the reader's creativity into operation by presenting a sea of possibilities. 21.99 13.19

Dark Places & Demogorgons - Survive This!! - Core Rule Book - Stranger Things for the OSR - In Dark Places & Demogorgons, you play as high school students during the early 1980s. The town you live in has had a rash of disappearances and strange happenings. The adults seem lost as to what to do, the police are as clueless as ever and aren’t helping and Reverend Phillips is on another witch-hunt. It’s up to you and your friends to figure out what’s going on and stop it from happening again! 9.99 5.99

Operation Unfathomable - I'm dying to run this one day - OPERATION UNFATHOMABLE is a 108-page, internally-consistent, gonzo funhouse module for Swords & Wizardry that runs like a subterranean wilderness trek instead of a “down the 10-foot hall and kick in a door” affair. There are random elements aplenty to keep GMs guessing as well as players. No balanced encounters to be found here, but the clever setup allows low-level characters to drop into the dungeon “deep end” and still have a chance of making it out alive—if they’re smart and wary. 12.00 7.20

White Star: Galaxy Edition - Space opera for the OSR -Ace Pilots, dead-eyed Gunslingers, and irrepressible Star Squirrels blast off across the stars to save the galaxy from the horrors of the Void! Hellfire Mecha march across the battlefield, leaving carnage in their wake! From the galactic center of Omega Consor to the Manrash System on the edge of the universe, the galaxy needs heroes! Endless galactic adventure awaits you in White Star: Galaxy Edition! Integrated and updated to include material from White Star and the White Star Companion, White Star: Galaxy Edition integrates new rules, new options, and expands the original game. Now more than just a toolbox, White Star: Galaxy Edition offers you a universe full of thrilling adventure! 9.99 5.99

Crypts and Things Remastered - Newt did a great job with this Swords & Sorcery hack of the S&W rules - Be a wild Barbarian, a deadly Fighter, a soul-torn Sorcerer or a sword sharp canny Thief, fighting evil tyrants and foul demons in a world rapidly dying and heading towards its final nemesis. Crypts and Things (C&T) is a Swords and Sorcery Roleplaying game based upon the Old School Rules of the 70s/80s. It also draws upon the British fantasy games and game-books of that period to bring a distinctly dark and dangerous feel to the game. It was originally released back in early 2012 and after a highly successful Kickstarter in 2015 it returns in a Remastered edition, with revised and expanded content and entirely new art by David M. Wright. 14.42 8.65

Gathox Vertical Slum - I like the cover and the premise. Snagged! -Welcome to Gathox Vertical Slum, a far-out, gonzo science fantasy campaign setting for Swords & Wizardry White Box Edition and other classic tabletop role-playing games. Aliens, mutants, spellslingers, and hardened criminals struggle for dominance in a lawless city built upon the back of a wandering, world-hopping godling. Inside this tome, you’ll find:* A fully mapped and fleshed out Vertical Slum, stuffed to the gills with greedy factions, hook-laden NPCs, and seedy locations.* A new gangland system for running domain-level games at level 1.* 43 fully illustrated strange and inimical monsters to spring on unsuspecting players.* New classes, skills, ability checks, hirelings, and gear for players to work their will across the mean streets of the Great Spire.* A vertical dungeon introductory adventure to test the skills and resourcefulness of new and seasoned players alike. 9.99 5.99

Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing - There is much within that I want to put into my next S&W campaign - Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing in an OSR rule set with its roots in the Original version of the world's favorite RPG, but instead of exploring musty dungeons, characters in Eldritch Tales investigate Mythos horrors in the 1920s! The setting and background are based on the cosmic horror tales of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other members of his writing circle. Within the pages of Eldritch Tales you will find four character classes representing many classic pulp archetypes, occupations, rules for insanity, spells, monsters, esoteric tomes, artifacts, a starting scenario, and setting material, as well as advice on using Eldritch Tales with other White Box games. This game is compatible with Swords & Wizardry White Box and other OSR games. 6.99 4.19

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Gangbusters B/X Edition is on Sale for 99 Cents in PDF - Grab it Now!

Earlier tonight, Glen Halstrom and I had Mark Hunt as our guest on the Dungeons, Dragons, & Discourse LiveStream. (podcast version is here)Among the many games Mark has written and published, perhaps one stands out the most.

Gangbusters B/X.

As I type this, Gangbusters B/X is on sale for 99 cents. Grab it NOW! ;)

Gangbusters B/X the Roleplaying Game is set during the Roaring Twenties and Dirty Thirties. It has all the usual trappings of the period: Prohibition, mob bosses, Tommy gun-toting thugs, speakeasies, big hats, big cars, big personalities, swanky gin joints, illicit booze and crooked people out to make a quick dime, and more, but what the game is about is rather simple. It is at its core just a good old fashion game of Cops and Robbers. This is because it is set during a time when America produced some of its most notorious and legendary figures.  John Dillinger, ‘Scarface’ Al Capone, ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd, ‘Baby Face’ Nelson, ‘Ma’ Barker, Bonnie & Clyde, Eliot Ness and the ‘Untouchables’, J. Edgar Hoover, Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and a host of others.   Whether you join the in the crusade to stamp out lawlessness or join in on the crime spree that is gripping America is up to you.

Based on the Original Gangbusters from the ’80s created by Rick Krebs this edition is adapted to use the B/X game engine.  But instead of exploring musty dungeons, characters in Gangbusters investigate crime, run speakeasies, rob banks, expose corruption, capture murders or try to get away with it all.

Now you can relive the adventures and exploits of these daring men and women with GANGBUSTERS™ 1920s role-playing adventure game.

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Kickstarter - The One Ring Second Edition Raises OVER 2 Million USC!

Time to take a step back and simply look in awe upon The One Ring Second Edition Kickstarter, which raised $2,007,067.12 USC.

Yes. Over 2 million bucks.

16,596 backers.

I suspect we'll be hearing a lot from the Free League in the near future.

A huge congrats to all of those involved in the project, but a special shout out to our very own James Spahn, who was signed to write The One Ring Second Edition Starter Set.

Damn you all!

I may stray from strict OSR yet! ;)

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GMs Day Sale @ DTRPG - A Whole Lotta "Ehhh"

I'm surprised to find myself saying that the GMs Day Sale for 2021 is severely lackluster.

Although some titles ARE 40% off (including Swords & Wizardry Continual Light - a Gold Bestseller), the top dozen or so linked on the sale page are a mere 10% off. Barely noticeable.

Of the six GMs Day Sale bundles, fully half are bundles of "Penny Dreadful One Shots for the Electrum bestselling Through the Breach RPG." How much are the core rules for Through the Breach? Normally 40 bucks, the PDF is on sale for a mere $24. You need the core book to use these bundles of one-shots. 

Things that make one go "hmmm!"

Notice that Swords & Wizardry Continual Light is a GOLD Bestseller, a higher ranking than the RPG that has three of the six bundles for the GM Sale. Something seems off, as Electrum and even Gold aren't really that special in the grand scheme of DTRPG sales numbers.

Over the next few days, I'll try and locate some 40% of gems in this "ehhh" sale.

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Kickstarter - Dungeon Master's Little Black Book (Square Hex)

A pocket-sized booklet of random tables for Dungeon Masters. Plus a blank version of the book that they can record new ideas in.

I've been a huge fan of Peter Reagan for years. I still use his mapping kits that I backed for years ago, and this looks awesome. I've snagged multiple copies of the Dungeon Master's Little Black Book, 48 to be exact, so if this ships on time, I should have some to give out at NTRPG Con in June of this year. Yep, got badges and plane tickets for Rach and me, and Texas announced earlier today that it's opening up 100% and it's revoking its mask mandate in a week.

The aim of this project is to fund print runs of two versions of The Dungeon Master's Little Black Book. The first version will be crammed full of random tables, ideas and maps that can be used by a DM during a game without any preparation. The second version will be a blank version of the Little Black Book that a DM can add their own content to.

Both booklets will be A6-sized (148mm x 105mm) and be 16 pages plus 4 page card covers. The content of the prefilled booklet will be printed 150gsm silk art paper. the content of the blank version will be printed on uncoated 120gsm paper so it will be easy to write on with any pen or pencil. The covers will be sturdy 300 or 350gsm silk art card.

Version 1 with content provisionally includes:

• D12 WHAT'S ON THE END OF THE STICK? table
• D6/D8 COINS ON A CORPSE table
• D6/D8 COINS IN A COFFER table
• D12 THE KOBOLDS ARE SELLING table
• D8 POTIONS SIDE EFFECTS table
• 2D8 THE DOOR OPENS BUT table
• D10 THE DOOR'S STUCK BECAUSE IT'S table
• D12 THE MAGIC MOUTH SAYS table
• D8 WHAT'S IN THE PIT? table
• D30 HIRELINGS & HENCHFOLK table
• DUNGEON GEOMORPHS TOOLKIT
• WHEEL OF FORTUNE

Version 2 without content provisionally includes:

• D8 Blank table x2
• D10 Blank table x2
• D12 Blank table x2
• 3D6 or D16 Blank table x2
• D8+D6 Blank matrix x1
• D30 Blank table x1
• Dot grid mapping pages x5
• Wheel of Fortune (back cover)

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Zak Smith Sues Gen Con / Peter Adkison for Defamation, Interference with Business Expectancy, Violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, and More

Let me say straight off the bat, my personal opinion of Zak Smith, based on my interactions with him online over the years, is that he is a wannabe bully. He is also extremely talented as an adventure writer and when he is on target he has few that can match him. I still think he's a POS.

All that being said, I suspect that Gen Con / Peter Adkison will be paying out on this lawsuit. As was pointed out to me, the filing was likely timed as the statute of limitations to file such a suit is 2 years from the date of the incident, and it's likely there were attempts to negotiate a settlement prior. Now, it's all public and NOT the kind of publicity Gen Con needs less than six months prior to - hopefully - going back to an in-person convention this year.

I personally think the major allegation is Interference with a Business Expectancy, as my understanding is that the bar that needs to be met to prove such is relatively lower in the State of Washington than other jursidictions.

I shared this news on the podcast last night, for those that aren't excited about reading a 13-page lawsuit:

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Zak-Smith-is-Suing-GenCon-for-Defamation-and-More-er8e7c

https://youtu.be/k-3HX1-wrlQ

Still Trying to Get That Intro Game Going

 

I'm not sure I've mentioned that I'm currently unemployed....long dumb story, but in the end I'm just killing time waiting for my old job to re-hire me under a new employer. The end result is I have way too much time on my hands.

I don't do that great with a lot of time on my hands. I'm one of those people that are more productive when I'm already busy doing other stuff. If I have a week with nothing to do (or should I note, a week where I don't have anything I *have* to do) then nothing will get done. Oh I have a work project bleeding into my time at home? I'll probably work out some time to hit the gym and maybe even start some writing. While I'm at it, let's start panting those minis.....

.....ok, that's a stretch. We all have minis that aren't getting painted! Kind of a gaming maxim.....

One of my only true goals during this expected two-month "staycation" in between employers was to get some dice rolling for one of my buddy's daughters who "wanted to learn to game". I've written about that here before so I'll not delve into the fine details.

I'm thinking I should have dropped off physical copies of my game books for her to read and some dice. Now I did drop off PDFs of rulebooks and have since acquired dice. Thanks to Erik's post I found out about that Dollar Tree RPG dice set and I scooped up enough for a full group. I put a couple sets into an OG Dice Bag (Crown Royal bag), along with some cheap d6's.....I like to have dedicated d6's for character creation, but I'm odd that way.

I'm thinking I'll make a second pass at this and drop off my physical books (lending!) and the dice, along with some PC sheets. If they want to throw down while I'm there we'll make PCs and I can easily run an intro adventure off the top of my head...'cause I wrote one for HackMaster which will work for other systems. If you follow that link.....it is PWYW, but please put in $0.

I have been working on some modular terrain as well. I figure if I use some terrain instead of "theater of the mind" or a basic battlemap it might go over better.

Of course, I know I can only do so much and in the end, it doesn't matter. If she wants to game, it'll happen, and if not......well then I have some more dice and terrain. Win/Win for me either way!

Special Note:

I wrote all this stuff yesterday (Saturday) and went over today for brinner and no dice (pun intended). Will have to circle back around later in the week and see if there is still any interest.

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.

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Indiegogo - The Dark Den of Dagon (Pathfinder 1e / Lost Lands)

It isn't often that I cover Pathfinder releases, but The Dark Den of Dagon over at Indiegogo is special. As far as I can tell, and please, correct me if I'm wrong, it is the first third-party release under Frog God Games' open license for their Lost Lands setting. I'm kinda excited, as I had advocated for such a license for the Lost Lands a few years back.

This adventure is designed for a group of 4-6 characters of levels 5-7 playing the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. While functional as a standalone module, this adventure is designed to be the first adventure in a series exploring the workings and reasons of a deity of the Lost Lands referred to as the Nameless One and her most faithful servant, “the Walking Stick Man” as they try to recover ancient words of power and stir forces lost and forgotten.

This adventure starts in the settlement of Chesmire, though can be moved around with little difficulty and placed in any campaign world with only minor changes, namely the addition or use of an ancient lost or near lost pantheon. The reason for the placement in this area is easy access to the adventure “Sorcerer’s Citadel” from Quests of Doom, which should be played following the events of the second adventure in this series as a return to the feelings of normalcy while still maintaining references to the ancient pantheon on which these adventures are focused via the statue of Mocham.

The PDF of The Dark Den of Dagon is only 5 bucks. The Print plus PDF is 15. For 5 bucks, I can convert this to Swords & Wizardry on the fly ;)

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