Pricing the PDF Product Properly and Profitably - Answering My Own Questions

So, on Wednesday I asked a lot of questions about PDF pricing, but I never answered any of them myself. I figure I probably should give that a try - so here it goes:

Is there a ratio between PDF and Paper pricing of the same item?  I'd guesstimate a proper PDF price to be about 60-75% for items under $10 in print, and 35%-60% for items about $10 in print.  This is not written in stone.

What price point is too high, no matter the number of the pages (size)?  $31.99 is damn high.  Not sure if it is too high, but it certainly isnt customer friendly.

Is there a page to price ratio that you, as a consumer, use to evaluate PDF value?  10 cents a page for items under 50 pages, with the cents per page dropping as the product gets longer... there is no exact science

Do certain publishers deserve a premium price for their PDFs? If so, why?  I don't really have an answer for this, but some publishers certainly think their PDFs  deserve a premium price.

Is FREE a selling point for you, or something the consumer should avoid? Does a $1 price point imply more value then FREE? Why?  I enjoy free stuff, and the OSR has lot's of amazing stuff priced for free, so I think free works well.

Does top shelf art add value to a PDF the same way it adds value to a paper product?  Art adds to the impulse buy when flipping thru a printed product in a store... PDFs lack that ability, so I'd have to say art is less important for PDFs.

Are lower production values accepted for a PDF product then the same in paper?  Probably.  

Does finding a PDF product is also available as a Print on Demand product add value to the PDF? How about a PDF / POD Bundle?  If something is available in POD, and you get the PDF for free, I'll probably grab the bundle over just getting the PDF alone.

Those are my answers.  I have a blog, therefore, I am an expert.  NOT!

Stay at Home Vacation = Work + Play

I'm on vacation next week, and with the possible exception of the holiday weekend starting tomorrow, it will be an "at home" vacation - which means i have a lot to do around the house.

The non-fun part will include lots of cleaning, disposing, removing and reorganizing (assuming such things were actually organized in the first place).

Fun parts will hopefully include - a Solo a day, whether T&T, Bean!, MS&PE or whatever - an hour or so of gaming a day should rock. Besides, I still need to do the solo system comparison.

Working on my VTT powered Tunnels & Troll campaign - I really need to get this up an running.

Get thru my reviewer's pile of products to review. We will see how this goes.

All that and spend time with my son. He's off too. Which is, of course, the reason I chose this week to be off ;)

Mini Review - B1 Journey to Hell (for OSRIC)

So, as to keep a balance in PDF cost in the items I post about, I present B1 - Journey to Hell from Sacrosanct Games.  For a mere 4 quarters, 20 nickels (none wooden), 1 measly dollar, you get about a dozen and a half pages of adventure for your party that has reached legendary status in OSRIC (or any of the OSR family of RPGs).

As an aside, about 25 years ago I put my party on an adventure thru Hell - fudged stats, levels 16-22, DM PC, vorpal blades (the beheaded Asmodeus)- the best of Monty Hall from back in the day.  I've yet to run a PC of my own, or DM for a party in which any character made it past level 11 in the years since then.  So I'm not someone that can tell you if this new Journey to Hell is balanced or not for levels 18-20.  I certainly can't say how well it works for the Altus Adventum version that is also included in the package.

I can say that I've already found a section that I can steal and modify for use in another game, so I figure most should get their buck's worth, even if not used as written.

From the blurb:


In a desperate bid to bring his queen back to life, King Heltrhop made a foolish pact with the demon, Astaroth. Astaroth has possessed the king, trapping him in hell. Now the party must make a journey into hell itself to rescue the king and save the world from a demon invasion.

B1, Journey to Hell is an adventure for both the OSRIC (or other favorite old school version) and the Altus Adventum 2nd edition role-playing games.  Versions for both systems are included.  It is based off of Dante's Inferno, and takes the heroes into Hell itself in a bid to save the king.  This adventure is designed for characters level 18-20 (OSRIC version) or Legends (Altus version).

While not being directly linked to the A1-A4 series of  $1 adventures from Sacrosanct Games, there are a few references to those modules.  While none of those are required to play the game, having them would put a lot of things into better context if you had.

Pricing the PDF Product Properly and Profit - A Look at the Castle Keeper's Guide

I've seen some "loud" reactions to the pricing of the CKG in PDF on my blog, other blogs, forums... it isn't pretty. Amazingly enough, the feelings toward Troll Lord Games are still highly positive, but there is a bit of a disconnect in the PDF pricing of the Castle Keeper's Guide.

Lets look at how TLG has priced the 4 different releases of the CKG:

Hardcover - $39.99

Softcover - $29.99

Digest Size - $24.99

PDF - $31.99

In my opinion, the PDF version should never be priced more then a print version. TLG is selling the PDF at a 20% discount from the hardcover price, which still makes it roughly a 28% mark up from the digest size. Why buy it in PDF?

A better price would be a 20% discount from the digest size, putting it at $19.99. Of course, I'm just talking outa my ass, but that's what we bloggers do ;)

Castle Keeper's Guide for Castles & Crusades Released on RPGNow

Holy Crap, this thing is huge.  The PDF is 292 pages long.  It will take me a long time to get thru this to even attempt a review.  Most likely I'll have to review it in sections.

It's almost mythical in nature, as the Castle Keeper's Guide has been talked about pretty much since the release of the C&C Player's Handbook back in 2004.

At first glance (and only the first 40 pages or so) it reminds me a bit of Unearthed Arcana for AD&D, but that isn't accurate really.  It's more a feel then reality.  This seems like so much more.  Options.  Options.  Options.

Damn, sensory overload ;)

From the blurb:


The long awaited arrival of the CKG is finally here!
Rule Book, 280+ pages
Alea Iacta Est - The die is cast!

Upon Foundations of Stone
Beneath the walls and towers of adventure, beneath the ground upon which the adventurer treads, lies the foundation. It is that which holds the construct, which drives the challenges, which brings the flavor of a world’s imaginings to light. It is the maelstrom of creation through whose eye the game of heroic chance plays out.

What Lies Within
The Castle Keeper’s Guide includes a host of new material for the role playing enthusiast. From world creation, to dungeon designs, managing non-player characters, character attributes at high levels, spell use and cost, equipment its use and wastage, the tumult of storms, from warfare to combat, monsters, treasure, death and more. The Castle Keeper’s Guide provides the CK and the Player with a host of new tools for their use; tools designed to enhance play, not hinder it; designed to be malleable from gaming table to gaming table.

A sample of what you will find in the CKG:

• Alternative methods of attribute generation
• The featured classes expanded to the 24th level
• Equipment: outfitting for a setting, saving throws, usage, costs
• Expansion on the Magic with components, spell costs, holy symbols, water, and more
• The NPC: how to run them, hire them, loyalty and more
• Monsters and Magic as NPCs
• The Crusade in the future: guns, canon and more
• The World Above: over view of outdoor campaigns
• The World Below: over view of underground campaigns
• The Characters, gaining levels, land and more treasure
• The Siege Engine, breaking it down for your table
• Character death. The end should not be the end

And so very much more . . . .

The CKG is the perfect expansion to everyone’s table.

The Trollish Taproom - The Many Sizes of Tunnels & Trolls 5e

Tunnels & Trolls really hit it's stride with the release of the 5th edition rules.

On the left is a second printing (Jan '80) of the T&T rules.  Later printings (including 5.5e) blow up the cover art to encompass the whole cover.

The smaller book with the orange cover is a second printing (also Jan '80) of the Tunnels & Trolls 5th edition for the UK.  This edition is secured by two staples, the art is a line drawing on orange cardboardy paper (that dog ears nicely.  Other then that, it's pretty much a carbon copy of it's larger sibling the best I can tell.

The yet smaller book on the far right (with the nice flash glare - go me!) is the Corgi printing (1986) of the Tunnels & Trolls rules.  It's printed on mass paperback quality paper (which means poor).  It is however, probably the easiest size for normal reading habits.  Corgi publishing is the company that decided to excise many of the sillier T&T spell names, so if that is keeping you from jumping on the T&T train, you might want to track this down.  You could also pick up the T&T Double Solo's that Corgi put out - most are still available from Flying Buffalo Inc at very reasonable prices.  Each includes a shortened version of the T&T rules, but as the character advancement and spell lists allow for advancement to level 11, you have an additional added value.

I have UK versions of some of the earlier T&T Solos, which I may post to compare to their American siblings at a later time.

Pricing the PDF Product Properly and Profitably (Say it 5 Times Fast)

Anyhow, the topic comes up on the blogosphere fairly frequently... what is the proper pricing of a PDF?

To my mind, there are many questions that need to be answered before the first question can be addressed...

Is there a ratio between PDF and Paper pricing of the same item?

What price point is too high, no matter the number of the pages (size)?

Is there a page to price ratio that you, as a consumer, use to evaluate PDF value?

Do certain publishers deserve a premium price for their PDFs? If so, why?

Is FREE a selling point for you, or something the consumer should avoid? Does a $1 price point imply more value then FREE? Why?

Does top shelf art add value to a PDF the same way it adds value to a paper product?

Are lower production values accepted for a PDF product then the same in paper?

Does finding a PDF product is also available as a Print on Demand product add value to the PDF? How about a PDF / POD Bundle?

Valentine's Twofer

When your 17 year old son wants to double date, there can be only two possible reasons: your wallet or your car. Tonight was both ;)

A romantic dinner for 2 became a diner trip for 4. Still had a good time.

Back to game related posting tomorrow. Tonight it is time to sleep...

How Official is "Official"?

Back in my AD&D days, pretty much anything published by TSR was considered "official", with Dragon Magazine articles often being referred to as "semi-official". Third party supplements, what little there were, were "not official" - they could be used by the DM, but pretty much never by the PCs.

The D20 / OGL explosion blurred many of the lines of what was / was not official for 3e, for good or bad.

With the OSR and the birth of clones / retroclones / simulacrums - there really isn't a definition of official anymore. Each ruleset is by definition a set of house rules, no matter how close they cling to their original brethren.

Actually, the strength of the OSR in my opinion is how fully the community embraces house ruling of the various rulesets. Make it your own.

Which is another reason I think I turned my nose at Tunnels & Trolls the first time I was exposed to it back in High School... it was being house ruled even back then. I wanted structure, and T&T wasn't structured like AD&D. I bought into the EGG line of "official play", but even the father of RPGs didn't follow that rule.

I'm happy to be playing games that embrace house ruling these days.

Mini Review - A Traveler's Tale (A Tunnels & Trolls Solo)

Flying Buffalo Inc is slowly but surely adding to it's available collection of Tunnels & Trolls Solos, which is a damn good thing.  Much of the play that T&T gets its with solo adventures, and a limited well to dip into means limited gameplay in the end.  Besides, adding a new release every month or so keeps people like me actively talking about Tunnels & Trolls, so it's a win / win for everyone.  That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing a good introductory standard (read non-solo, but party and GM) adventure being released in the future.

A Traveler's Tale was originally written by Ken St. Andre for White Dwarf magazine back in the early 80's under a different title, but has been updated for the new 7.5 rules released by Fiery Dragon.

So, what do you get for your $2.99?  About 40 pages worth of solo adventure written for a character within the level range of 1-3.  It's been my experience if an adventure says "for characters with less then 100 combat adds" like this one does, you want to come fairly close to that number without going over.  It certainly helps with survivability.

As for the adventure itself, I only played thru a few paragraphs so far.  Possibly the most disturbing / entertaining piece I've seen so far it the drawing of the erotic dwarven dancing girls - I think I'm scarred for life ;)

From the blurb:

Would you rather fight dire wolves in a blizzard or spend the evening drinking with a one-eyed dwarf in a cozy tavern? That's a no-brainer, right? You might want to reconsider, because you'll actually be safer with the wolves. This is a solitaire adventure intended for 1st to 3rd level characters with fewer than 100 adds, using the Tunnels & Trolls 7.5 rules. 

How Important is Producing Product for a Game Line?

I ask this, because WotC is apparently planning to release less 4e products. At the same time, if you look at the Underdark Gazette blog, OSR products are being released more often then ever before. Heck, even Tunnels & Trolls has been hitting a release or so a month recently (I'll be doing a mini-review on the latest tonight).

Is there a sweet point? Is more always better? Is a line that is suffering cuts (4e) being trimmed to a healthy state, or is this the beginning of the end?

The hobby suffered from the D20 Implosion in the recent past. Can it prevent the same from happening again?

One plus that rarely gets mentioned about PDFs, and even Print on Demand (PoD) publishing, is that neither will fuel another D20 Implosion - there won't be a glut on gamestore shelves. Then again, with a switch to PDF and PoD publishing, there won't be many games at all on gamestore shelves.

Is the future of the RPG industry linked to the internet for good or ill?

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena - Round 2

Anyhow, I told my girl / woman / she who will soon control the discretionary spending - about my experience last week watching the first episode of Spartacus.  She decided she wanted to see what I was talking about.  Not wanting to re-watch the first episode, we started up the second episode (I filled her in on who pissed on who - etc).

Thankfully it wasn't AS graphic as the first episode.  I'm no prude, but throwing the sex scenes in for "historical accuracy" is a load of bull.

Thankfully, this episode was more story, less gory.  We may continue with the series.  As my girl said: "hey!  they put a penis in this episode - cool!  Finally some equality."  Me, I'm enjoying it for the combat scenes mostly.

At least it wasn't as painful to watch as the first episode of Conan which we had watched just prior to Spartacus.  The pain!  heh

Mini Review - Ironwood Gorge - (for OSR Clones)

Ironwood Gorge is a low level adventure for use with the various OSR clones / simulacrum / etc.  It's the second in a series of adventures (The Sanctuary Ruin is the first part in the series) but very easily works on it's own.

What you are given is about 3 (and a piece more) pages of maps.  Mostly caves, it should prove fun to fun as a DM (and be a biatch to map as a player) to run.  The adventure itself should play out over 2-3 sessions in my estimation (perhaps more depending on play style), and should be good for a level or two worth of expo for the players by the time they complete it.  There is no map of the outdoor area: this adventure is made to be dropped into a world, not define one for you.

You get four new monsters, three new magic items and four new spells in the appendix.  There are pregen characters included if the party needs quick replacements (the dwarf and halfling have "race as class", but that means "fighter" for those not in the know).

A nice addition to the stable of OSR adventures.

From the blurb:


"Orcs have returned to the once quiet border province of Blackmarch.  The Bleak Tower and its meager garrison are all that stand against the tide.  Their only hope lies in a ratag band of adventurers willing to venture into the perilous maw of Ironwood Gorge..."


Ironwood Gorge is a fantasy role-playing adventure for 4-8 characters of levels 2-5, designed for older editions of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game and its clones such as Labyrinth Lord and OSRIC.  The material is also easily adaptable to any other class and level based fantasy role-playing game.  Ironwood Gorge serves as part two in the Blackmarch sequence of adventures, but is built to function just as well as a one-off adventure, a drop-in-a-hex location for sandbox games, or as a kick start to a new campaign.

The module includes keyed maps detailing both the Bleak Tower: a living, breathing refuge for adventurers; and Ironwood Gorge: a cave complex with over 100 keyed areas of traps, monsters and mayhem. The module is illustrated throughout with original artwork and includes appendices detailing new monsters, magic items, and spells.  Whether you are looking for an out-sized adventure to usher the hardiest characters to the intermediate levels, or a fully-realized location to plunder for maps and ideas, Ironwood Gorge is a treasure from the old-school of gaming...

Time For Me to Avoid Ebay For a While...

Yep, I need to step away from online acquisitions of my gaming material for a bit. Not for anything stupid or horrid. Not because I over extended myself (but damn, I can see the possibility). I need to step away because I've found most of what I was looking for.

I actually found (and I'm awaiting delivery) of a copy of Tunnels & Trolls 3e (otherwise known as British 1e, tho i see 2 copies of a 3e that look just like my 2e... My head hurts) Not a reprint. An actual copy. With the exception of T&T 1e (100 hand assembled copies, so I'm not holding my breath on this one) I will have copies from 2e thru 7.5e. Saweet!

There are still some T&T items I'll be looking for, such as Sorcerer's Apprentice issues to fill the holes of my collection, but I find myself bidding on things for the thrill, and not so much for the need. Then again, a second print of Chivalry and Sorcery is pretty cool - but it doesn't address my desire for a fairly complete Tunnels & Trolls collection.

Well, maybe I won't go totally cold turkey, but I will be much more focused in what I am looking for. Besides, I need to complete renovations so I can display my goodies in my future Man Cave ;)

Mini Review - Fields of Battle (For Castles & Crusades)

I'm actually fairly surprised and impressed with the latest (at least in PDF format) release from Troll Lord Games for their Castles & Crusades RPG.  Fields of Battle is a package of mass combat rules, full color counters and outdoor battle mats.

My last attempt to try and do mass combat with any of the D&D/ AD&D type games was Battlesystem.  Not fun.  At first glance (which is all I've had tie for so far) Field of Battle looks much less painful.  Actually, it looks like it should work pretty well.

Perhaps my favorite thing in the whole package is the idea of using it with other OGL based RPGs:

Fields of Battle™ and Other Game Systems

While Fields of Battle™ is as a mass combat system designed for use with Castles & Crusades (C&C), the system is highly adaptable to your favorite fantasy role-playing game, especially those games (old or new) using a 20-sided die(d20) for game resolution. Converting for use with d20-basedgames, in fact, is easiest overall, as these games have similar game concepts to those presented within C&C and Fields of Battle™: armor class (AC), hit points (hp), hit dice (HD), attack bonuses (AB), movement rate, morale, and saving throws. Additionally, many of the monsters and player races will be familiar to d20 gamers. Still, Game Masters (calledCastle Keepers in C&C) unfamiliar with d20-based games can easily master these game concepts, making Fields of Battle™ a viable mass combat system for those games, as well—with a little translation work on the Game Master’s part.

Yep, with a little work, this could fit in your Labyrinth Lord or Swords & Wizardry DM's toolbox, which is always great to add to.

The rules include sample scenarios, which are good to read to get a feeling of how to balance a battle, but if I were to use these rules it would be as part of a campaign, not as a stand alone product (it can be used as either).  You do not need to buy the C&C rules to use Fields of Battle - the Quickstart rules should be enough to cover any terms you may not be familiar with.

It's a good, complete product that addresses a niche rarely covered in most RPG rules - mass combat.  Whether you need such rules for your game is up to you, and depends on the story you are telling as a GM.

Paper or PDF?

RPGs are an area where PDF publishing thrives. It lowers the barriers to publishing and can (in theory) result in lower consumer prices. Still, many folks prefer paper. Lets see how they stack up to each other.

Cost - PDF versions are generally the cheaper alternative, which is always a selling point.

Portability - Depends on what you read your PDFs on. An iPad, tablet or ebook reader can store hundreds of PDFs and are extremely portable. So can your desktop, but that isn't very portable.

Marking Up - While there are programs and applications that allow one to mark up PDFs, it's easier and quicker to mark up / make notes on a paper copy.

Bathroom Reading - Paper. It just doesn't seem right having my iPad in there. Besides, reading in the tub is definitely a paper situation. Less to risk with accidental immersion.

Ease of Flipping Thru - Unless the PDF is well bookmarked, it's way easier to flip thru a paper copy then a PDF copy.

Less Tangibles - You can throw a book across the room in disgust with generally less damage then you can an iPad or laptop. PDFs are much easier to make backup copies of. Some people just prefer the feeling of a book. PDFs take up much less storage space. PDFs can be corrected by the publisher, paper books may get an errata sheet.

I'm sure there's more to add to the list...

Mini review - Knowledge Illuminates (For Swords & Wizardry)

Knowledge Illuminates is the first in a series of One Shot Adventures from Tim Shorts (of the blog Gothridge Manor).  Written for Swords & Wizardry, but usable with any of the Old School rulesets, we are presented with a semi-sandbox that serves as a very nice campaign starter.

I call it a semi-sandbox, as the area map includes only the area local to the main encounter location, and there are no population centers on that map.  So the GM will need to set the players upon the road to adventure.  Thankfully, Tim has provided the GM with an assortment of interesting hooks to get the players involved in the story.  It's a damn interesting story too.

Nice maps, great hooks, well written adventure.  It's damn close to a home run.  There's always a "but": but there's a handful of typos that spellchecking on the computer won't find, but are noticeable upon reading.  As this is a PDF release, correcting it shouldn't be too big a deal, and it doesn't detract from an otherwise excellent adventure.

Actually, it is almost "rules lite" in nature, as it requires role play and thinking as much as, if not more, then roll play.  Converting this to Tunnels & Trolls should be easy as pie ;)

From the blurb:

Grab your dice and hire some henchmen, you're going to need them.  Knowledge Illuminates is a campaign starter adventure full of possibilities.  Explore a dark fantasy world in search of an unending treasure.  But within this adventure lurks a horror that will haunt the players for years.  So buckle up that helmet, sharpen that sword, and bring an extra pair of iron spikes, this adventure is for the big boys.  

Knowledge Illuminates is the first in the One-Shot Adventure Series. 

VTTs Did a Job on Me... Now I Am a Real Sickie

(with apologies to the Ramones)

I'm aiming to get my Tunnels & Trolls game up and running next month via a Virtual Table Top. I've been heavily leaning towards Fantasy Grounds 2 even though it lacks a T&T specific character sheet. It's the VTT I know the best, at least from the player's side of the screen.

It is Windows only (although I have gotten it to run on my Mac Mini via Crossover),which may or may not be an issue for players.

Maptools is also an option, but I really don't know it well enough to be confident in running a game with it. It is PC / Mac friendly tho, which is allays a plus.

iTabletop has improved in leaps and bound recently, but again, I don't know it well. I'm going to have to spend some time tooling around with it to see if it will come close to what I need it to do (map masking / whiteboard / etc).

Time to check stuff out this weekend.

Spotlight - Sacrosanct Games $1 Old School Adventures

Sacrosanct Games has four adventures in it's $ 1adventure series written for OSRIC (and their own house system Altus Adventum).  As always, they are pretty easy to convert on the fly to any of the OSR Clones / Simulacrums / Etc.

They are as follows:


Lair of the Goblin King is the first in a series of adventures that takes the characters from the beginings of their career to eventual heroes.  It is also the first in the unique series of products that includes both an OSRIC compatible version and a version for the Altus Adventum 2nd edition game.

This Adventure is designed for 4-6 1st level characters who find themselves broke and stranded in the city of Piarth.  Just about out of food and ready to give up on an adventuring career, they hear word of a reward for anyone who can find out what is attacking caravans to the border towns.

You have stumbled upon an ancient map to a lost island. The script is like none you've ever seen, but hand written on the map is the word, "gold".

Lost Treasure of Actzimotal is an Adventure Module designed for 5-8 characters of level 3-5 or of Adventurer experience title level, depending on system used.  What make this product unique is that there are two versions included in this PDF.  One version is for OSRIC, AD&D, LL, etc, and the other version is designed for Altus Adventum 2nd edition.  Essentially you get two versions for the price of one!  So use your favorite system and enjoy the adventure.

Barely able to enjoy the spoils from your last adventure, you are soon called upon by the mysterious Inquisitors to investigate rumors of an ogre lord rallying a humaiond army on the western border of the kingdom. Promises of sacks of gold are followed by veiled threats; it seems you have little choice...

A3, Hunt for the Ogre Lord is the third in the A series of adventures, taking the characters on an epic adventure to save the kingdom from the horde forces that threaten.  This adventure is designed for 5-6 characters of level 4-6 or of Veteran status, depending on which system you are using.

The Adventure Finale! 

A4, Rise of the Bloodwolf is the final module in the A series of $1 adventures.  Treachery is revealed, and the party has the opportunity for revenge.  And oh, how sweet it will be.

So bring back that old school atmosphere and prepare to "kill them and take their stuff!"




I guess in New School talk, this would be a 4 part Adventure Path for $4 bucks.  Not bad at all.  Of course, I'm walking the Tunnels & Trolls addiction at this point, so my conversion will require just a bit more effort then the rest of the OSR movement.  That oaky... even if I just steal pieces its a decent investment.

The Trollish Taproom - Sprinkling Some AD&D in My T&T

I was thinking about the use of Talents in T&T 7.5e and a thought occurred to me: some abilities of AD&D classes could be replicated by the use of Talents in T&T.

The Ranger's Tracking skill is an obvious one. The Ranger's damage bonus vs. certain humanoids could be an SR vs INT for a combat bonus (need to think on that).

The Paladin's Healing could be turned into a talent (maybe 1d3 pts healed per use - limited uses per day).

This is pretty much thinking out loud so far. More later.

The Winner of the WTF Were They Thinking Contest is...

Wow!

This was right down to the wire.  The Book of Erotic Fantasy pulled it off in the end! ;)

So, mikemonaco needs to email me at tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom to get his prize package listed here in the initial contest thread.

Jim's entry of Skulls and Scapfaggot Green had the lead until neatly the end.  So, guess what?  email me for your prize package.  I have 2 to give away, may as well ;)

Ze Bulette's entry of Starsilver Trek didn't win, but Ze should also email me.  Bean! the D2 RPG or InvaderZ is in his future... your pick lad.

Congrats to all!

WTF Were They Thinking Poll Closes in About 4 Hours

The poll at the top of this page is closing in a few hours. Vote and vote often ;)

I'll be awarding the prizes tonight.

The Trollish Taproom - You Might Have Skill, But I Got Talent

Tunnels & Trolls 5.5e introduces skills as an optional system.  It's originally from a Sorcerer's Apprentice Issue #15 (which included the mention a yet to be published sci-fi rpg called WEB, but I digress).  In turn, the skill system itself has it's roots in Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes and apparently Monsters! Monsters!)

The list in 5.5e is fairly small, as it was initially meant to show what one could do with skill in T&T, and the GM and players were to flesh it out.  Skill level is added to the appropriate stat for saving rolls that relate to his / her skill.

Skills earn expo and increase by level independent of the character's level.  So you need to track a skill's expo and level.  Successful level with the same chart as the character's level, so it requires 20 uses of a skill to level it up.  I don't think PCs will be leveling many skills during most gameplay.  As most skills will remain at Level 1, they will be giving a boost to relevant SRs of 1... not worth the bookkeeping involved if you ask me.

Talent is found Tunnels & Trolls 7.xe, and is what skills morphed into.  Players start with one talent at 1st level, and gain one with each additional level.  Basically, the player defines the talent, and the talent adds 1d6 to the relevant stats SRs when the talent is called into play.

Personally, I don't like the randomness of the talent bonus.  I would probably set it at a set bonus of 4.  Additional levels in the same talent could be chosen, with diminishing returns (3 additional pts for the 2nd level chose, 2 pts for the 3rd level and 1 pt for the 4th and later levels).  New talents always start with a bonus of 4 pts.

The skills in 5.5e still make a good source for ideas for talents in 7xe.

Buyback of the Week - The Artifact RPG

There is a rich resource of free RPGs to be found in the wilds on the internet.  I'll try and identify one a week or so.  Preferably ones that haven't had much exposure.

The Artifact RPG is the sci-fi pick this week.  The Free RPG Blog did a very nice write up of it, much better then I can (and at over 200 pages I don't think I can read this thru for a while).  Suffice to say, and the price of free it's hard y pass up.

From the blurb:

The Artifact is an epic science fiction RPG. The full game is available for free as a download or for sale as a printed book. Get a feel for the story in the introduction page or download the book to get started! Check out the review of The Artifact from The Free RPG Blog

The Year is 2085 and long range teleportation technology has made faster than light travel possible, In an attempt to find habitable planets earth’s governments send out probes into deep space.

They found something. . .

Welcome to the Artifact, a world foreign to our own Earth in many ways. A world that was manufactured for some as yet unknown purpose. Here you will encounter hostile aliens like the Kelrath and the Chezbah, and those that will seek your aid, like the Scimrahn. Races that appear human but are different from us in many ways. Then there are those that hide in the shadows, like the giant Tanroc Fredar, and the thing called Loc, revered as a god by some, despised as a demon by others.

A small group of explorers from Earth are the first to venture into this vast world. Some looking for a better life, some for the adventure, and some looking to strike it rich in the amazing resources that are available.

Anyone Building a "Frankendragon"?

As I start putting together the rules I want to use in my upcoming Tunnels & Trolls campaign, I find I'm not using as many house rules as I expected. Instead, I'm grabbing rules from different editions of T&T. I'm starting with the 5.5e rules as a base, then adding from 6e, 7.5e and adjusting to taste. I've been referring to this as my Frankentroll Ruleset.

Anyone doing this with D&D? What are you building off of, and what are you adding? Are you going so far as to grab from outside one of the D&D iterations? What is your Frankendragon?

Free Issue of Kobold Quarterly Issue #11 (PDF)

I got this offer in an email from Open Design / Kobold Quarterly.  KQ is not an OSR style magazine, but it feels an awful lot like the Dragon Magazine of old.  I find a lot of the 3.5 / Pathfinder stuff good for mining ideas.  Offer is good thru February 9, 2011.

Is it possible that you have friends who still don't know how much fun Kobold Quarterly is, and what a valuable resource it can be for their games? Well, tell them that from now through February 9, they can go to the KQ Store and download a FREE pdf copy of issue #11 by entering the coupon code KQ11Gift at checkout after putting KQ 11 in their cart. If you've been with us for a while, you'll definitely remember #11 --  it had the creepy Ecology of the Vampire, John Wick's amazing take on dwarves, DM Advice from a bunch of game industry all-stars, the Wish spell in 4th Edition, the Spell-less Ranger Pathfinder core class, 4E Paragon Paths for Minotaur, Kobold, Hobgoblin and Bugbear PCs,  and more. Your friends will love it, and love you for telling them. And if you're a newcomer to Kobold, you can add KQ 11 to your own collection.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (Not Quite What I Expected)

I thought, perchance, I would be watching something other then soft porn.  It did have some nice fight scenes, sex, drugs, booze, full frontal nudity... sigh.


Kinda caught me off guard with my son in the next room.


Not what I expected.  Not saying it was bad, just not sure what it was supposed to be.


Ah well, killed time before the Super Bowl ;)

Trollish Fodder - The Bully Toad

My first entry in the Trollish Fodder tag, adding new monsters for use in Tunnels & Trolls.

Bully Toad

MR: 35 (usually found in groups of 1-3 or 3-18)

Special Damage: 3/ Hold That Pose (1st Level)

Special Abilities: DR=2 (leather skin)

Bully Toads are large, bipedal toads known to inhabit dungeons, forests and the occasional magical wasteland.  Usually found alone or with 1 to 2 others (1D3) underground or in tribes of 3-18 above ground, they have been known to spit a vile, phlegmy liquid at their prey (see Special Damage) that is used to distract, at which point it moves in for the killing blow.

The average Bully Toad stands approximately 4' tall when upright, although when charging or fleeing they use all 4 appendages to move.  They have their own language of grunts and gribbits that has yet to be learned by any other species.

Bully Toads tend to be more aggressive in dungeons then outdoors due to the lack of adequate foraging opportunities down below.

The artist for this piece is Rene Walk, used with permission.

The Trollish Taproom - Latest Auction Win - Sword For Hire (1st Edition)

It is very interesting to watch the increase in quality in the presentation of the Tunnels & Trolls solo as they were released.

Below is Deathtrap Equalizer - Solo #2 (1st Printing) released in January, 1977.  It should be noted that the module is stapled and single sided throughout.

And here is Sword For Hire - Solo #11(1st Printing) released in May, 1979.  Binding change and double sided pages.

Less then 2 1/2 years between the two and a huge difference in presentation.  Will have to check some dates on my collection and see if I can get a fuller timeline of changes in printing / presetnation of the T&T solos line.

Quick Peek - Skyward Steel: Naval Campaigns for Stars Without Number

No review here for Skyward Steel.  Heck, I've barely had a chance to look at the free peek on the rpgnow site.  Still, Sine Nomine puts out good stuff and I expect the same from this.

From the blurb:

Worlds Burn Beneath Your Guns.

The captain standing on the bridge, wreathed in smoke and the cries of the dying. The chief engineer, struggling to force that last precious burst of power from the fusion plant. The Marine sergeant holding fast in the hatchway, death to the alien boarders. The cold-eyed admiral, choosing the slain by the turn of a word and her orders to her bait.

Join the Thousand Lights of the Stellar Navy in this supplement to the FREE Stars Without Number roleplaying game. Take on the roles of the men and women of the Fleet, the sky-bourne protectors of the homeworld and its shield against the outer night. Whether a grizzled rating, dauntless officer, or elite Deep Black espionage operative, Skyward Steel offers both GMs and players the tools to embrace both the duties and the terrible freedom of these guardians among the stars.

Skyward Steel includes a host of useful tools and information for both GMs and players:

• The history and roles of stellar navies in the Stars Without Number universe, including details on planetary invasions and military space stations.

• Details on the ranks, pay, and organization of stellar navies.

• Guidelines on running sandbox naval campaigns, and how to give the players freedom without compromising the military theme of the campaign.

• Rules for recreating the climactic naval battles beloved of military sci-fi, with every PC involved in the desperate struggle to overcome the overwhelming foe.

• Sixty adventure seeds, two for every world tag in the Stars Without Number core book.

• Details on the workings of the Deep Black interstellar operations teams and their perilous covert ops missions.

• New Background Packages for naval characters, and a selection of Training Packages available to every class.

• New ship hulls, weapons, fittings, and personal equipment for naval and covert ops characters.

• Details on building planetary navies for a world and determining naval budgets and operations costs.

The Trollish Taproom - Dungeons on the Quick

Sometimes you don't have a dungeon ready for your party of delvers.

Sometimes you don't have the ideas or the energy to design your dungeon of delver death.

What to do?  Where to go?  Go to The Tunnels & Trolls Random Dungeon Generator.

Using the 5e Rules?  No problem.  7e?  They got you covered.  Heck, wanna go old school and 4e?  No worries, it's all there.

It's a really nice way to quickly generate a usable dungeon, complete with multiple levels and connecting staircases.  It might not have a workable dungeon ecosystem, but do your delvers really care?

Heck, there is even a version available for Labyrinth Lord.  Go figure ;)

Mini Review - InvaderZ (Pocket Edition)

Let me preface this with stating I LOVED the first edition of the Paranoia RPG. I GM'ed it many a time, dragging my group through note passing slugfests, numerous clone deaths, general mayhem and lots of laughs. Even more then that, I enjoyed reading the material. Most of it was just damn fun to read.

InvaderZ reminds me of Paranoia in many ways, and not just the use of clones. It most certainly is made to be played for laughs, sorta a "beer & pretzels" RPG. Reading it has been a blast, and I expect running it would be too, but I have some quibbles.

I'm not going to complain that the PDF wasn't spruced up with hyper-texting or such, as it's only $1.99 for 118 pages. It would, however, been nice to have a table of contents. It's a pain to flip thru a PDF, especially when you don't know where you are trying to flip to. The character generation rules are tucked somewhere in the middle, and it took me a bit to find the task resolution bits and pieces. I like to jump around as a reader, even my first read thru, and this was made difficult without a table ot contents or an index.

All that aside, if it plays have as well as it read, this would be a blast to run at a convention or a Game Day (one off) type of real life setting. Fast paced and funny. Just isn't so fast to navigate the PDF.

Mini Review - Classes of the Far East (for Labyrinth Lord)

This isn't the first time the Far East has been slipped into the D&D / AD&D systems.  Oriental Adventures for AD&D did an admirable job of it.  Now we have a nice conversion for Labyrinth Lord which appears to take it's own path.

Classes of the Far East from Sacrosanct Games four classes and one racial class, so that really makes five classes.

Interestingly enough, three of those classes get the ability to cast clerical spells.  The Monk (who gets to cast clerical spells) is much simplified from previous versions I've seem.  None of the 5 attacks per 4 rounds BS.

The Ninja is a thief with some classic move ninja powers thrown in (and no trap finding / removing ability), Mahoutsukai are a cleric / magic-user multi-class sorta class, Yokai are anthropomorphic cat people (with cleric spells) and Samurai.

Not a bad collection of classes if you want to add some eastern flavor to your campaign, although I do have to wonder why 3 outa 5 get access to cleric spells.  Not saying I have a problem with that, just curious.

From the blurb:

Love the Labyrinth Lord, B/X, BECMI, or similar game system but always had the itch to play your favorite ninja class and couldn't find one anywhere?  Well, itch no further.  Sacrosanct Games is proud to present you will full color illustrated write-ups for Labyrinth Lord compatible samurai, ninja, mahoutsukai, monk, and demi-human yokai classes. 

So dive right in, and create characters born to be legends!

What is the Ideal Party Size?

I know this question is as much about circumstances as it is gameplay, but what is the ideal player party size?

When I was in college, it was the more the merrier, but gameplay bogged down when I went above 5 or 6 players. I used to run AD&D 2e sessions on Friday mornings back in those days, and I could have up to 10 players to juggle. As a DM I felt I was giving less then my best performance.

My old gaming group ranged from 3-6 players for the most part... although there were times that got huge too.

Or does it depend upon game system? D&D thru 3.5e has 4 core classes, and with multi-classing, more then one role could be fulfilled per PC. So, you didn't need 4 PCs, but it did help for balance.

Tunnels & Trolls has 3 core classes: Warrior, Rogue and Wizard. Rogue isn't a D&D Rogue, but more of a D&D Fighter / Magic-User with possibly some thief thrown in. I'm not sure what the ideal party size would be for a T&T game, but I suspect one of each core would fill the rolls nicely.

What is your ideal player party size when you GM a game?

Tech Tip Time - Blogging From Your iPad

Short and sweet. I've tried many different apps to find the perfect one for blogging with from my iPad. There isn't one apparently.

That being said, Glogr is actually pretty decent. I haven't tried to use it to insert pictures, but for hyperlinking and basic blogging it does the job well.

It also allows for labels or tagging of the blog post, which other blogging apps that I tried didn't (or didn't do it well).

All in all, a decent app for blogging from your iPad.

Last Nite - A Retrospective of Things That You Bump in the Nite

So, last nite I hit the mother of all potholes while approaching the Triboro Bridge (it will never be the JFK in my mind, but anyhow).  Blew out my front passenger side tire.  It took me and the Bridge Tow Truck Operator over 20 minutes to figure out how to get the spare out of my trunk - it was screwed in damn tight!

After we put on the donut, and all was right in the world, I went to pay my $6.50 cash for the privilege of driving from one part of the city to another, when the spare went flat.  Same worker inflated my spare and escorted me off the bridge (god bless him),

$200 bucks later (as I apparently also "bubbled" the driver side front tire - so 2 tires had to be replaced) my car is now back in working order - wheel alignment seems okay so far too... knock on wood.

What does this have to do with gaming?  It's Simple.  The use of unexpected but needed expenses keep your campaign's players looking to earn more cash, or removes the extra cash from their pockets.  I've had unexpected but necessary expenses at the same time this year and last - both coincided with my "holiday" check (we dont automatically get off holidays on my job - but we get paid for them in bulk twice a year).  At least this time the DM above didn't take the whole check from me this year ;)

Poll: Pick Your Favorite WTF Were They Thinking?

The contest is closed to new entires.  The poll to pick the winner is now active.  Click here to view actual covers of the entires.

Have fun ;)

Delving Deeper =/ Original Edition Characters, But Both = Labyrinth Lord

Apparently Brave Halfing's Delving Deeper is going to be directly compatible with the Labyrinth Lord rules (much like their edition of the S&W White Box rules were with Swords & Wizardry).  Which is a very interesting development.

And finally, with the blessing of Dan Proctor, Delving Deeper RPG will be extremely compatible with Labyrinth Lord. Apart from obviously emulating the rules of the same games-of-origin, we are intentionally using Labyrinth Lord mechanics and terminology so that Delving Deeper will be part of the Labyrinth Lord extended family. This means that modules and supplements produced for Delving Deeper will be easily compatible with Labyrinth Lord and vice versa. (From Brave Halfing Publishing's Site)

My question is this: What is up now with LL's Original Edition Characters supplement?  Obviously Delving Deeper is going for a different approach then OEC, but does Delving Deeper really make Labyrinth Lord the Rosetta Clone?  Dan Proctor says so, but if that's the case, what was Labyrinth Lord with OEC and the AEC?  Wasn't that the clone that covered the major editions?

Look, I'm ready to put my cash down for DD, as I know Brave Halfling does top notch stuff, but I thought the break from S&W was to allow then to take their own direction.  This seems like they are hooking their train car to the LL engine... not a bad thing, but not what I expected either.

Still, like I said earlier... a very interesting development.

The Trollish Taproom - Delving on the Cheap

You can get pretty far with Tunnels & Trolls without spending a cent. Between the free abridged T&T rules and the free solo (both linked to the left) one can get a lot of gaming in. There comes a time when you want to go further, but popping down cash for the full rules, let alone on of the boxed sets, might not fit your wallet. What to do?

Head over to the Flying Buffalo site and check out the Corgi Editions of some of the classic Tunnels & Trolls solos. There are 5 Corgi books for sale at Flying Buffalo, 4 of which are double solos (the 5th is City of Terrors, a very large solo). Each book is $5.95, which is a bargain for 2 solo adventures. But wait, there's more!

Each Corgi Edition includes and abridged edition of the Tunnels & Trolls 5e rules, but they are more complete then the downloadable version you were previously using. These rules go to 11! (Think Spinal Tap). Experience Tables and the Wizard Spell List both go to level 11. With a little work, a GM could run a campaign (or at least the start of one) with one of these books.

Give them a look. They are definitely worth the price.

I Had a Dream...

Well, maybe not a dream, but those thoughts that go thru your head as your lying in bed waiting for sweet sleep to steal you away. It was a really good idea for a blog post. One of those golden ones that drive discussion and the exchange of ideas.

No idea what it was. The thought is gone, but enough of it remains to let me know my loss is huge. Ah well, maybe next time I'll write the thought down. Probably not tho'... sleep is very seeet.

Who Cast The Friggin' Ice Storm Spell?

More Beans! First Edition Errata

I know they refer to it as errata, but it's more optional rules.  They're good, and probably should have been in the initial release, but they aren't make or brake.  They are free, so for all of you that bought (or won a copy here) Bean!, grab your free update to the rules.

The Blurb:

The BEAN! The D2 Role-Playing Game First Edition rules introduced a rules lite super easy fantasy gaming mechanic with a fun alternative to dice, yep, you guessed it: beans! While these rules could have stood on their own, Fabled Worlds Games is offering this free errata to introduce a few alternate rules that open up the game so that it works with any genre while still keeping the speed and simplicity of the game. This errata includes the addition of Health Points, Skills, and ideas to create your own Character Archetypes. Now you can go anywhere -with BEAN!

Coming in at Number 100 is...

R.W. Chandler.  He puts the Tavern's count at 100 followers.  Thanks lad (or lass), the next round is on me ;)

Knocking on the Centurion's Door

I can't believe the Tavern has 99 followers.  I'm overwhelmed by the whole idea that folks out there find the crap I spew worthwhile on occasions ;)

In any case, thanks to everyone that reads this blog and will read it in the future.  It's constantly evolving, which may at some point mean it isn't what you signed up for initially, but I hope it remains interesting for everyone none the less.

Tomorrow will be the last day for entries to the WTF Where They Thinking!?! Contest.  Thursday I'll put a poll up so all can vote on their favorite.  Just 3 entries so far, and if we hit 5 or more, I'll award prize packages to the top two voted entries (1 prize package in the mix now).   Come on, you know you have something to add ;)

The Trollish Taproom - Levels in Tunnels & Trolls

Levels in Tunnels & Trolls don't have the same meaning in Tunnels & Trolls as they do in Dungeons & Dragons. In all of D&D's various incarnations, level gain means an increase in Hit Points, additional spells memorized for the spell casters, possibly a new level of spells to cast, possible increases in THACO and Saving Throws, turning undead increases for clerics, increase in thief abilities and the rest of the cornucopia of abilities that D&D characters posses.

In Tunnels & Trolls, gaining a level has much fewer benefits for most characters. In 5.5e and earlier, gaining a level results in a stat increase (in 7.x, stats are increased with AP earned, and stats decide character level). For Rogues and Wizards, it gives access to higher level spells. For Wizards, it can decrease the cost of casting lower level spells. Oh, and 7.x also gives Warriors a +1 bump per level to their Combat Adds.

I personally don't like deriving character level from stat number. I do, however, like the idea of spending 10x current stat to increase the stat by one.

So, I figure I'll use the stat increase method from 7.5e (7e is 100x stat... way too harsh), while keeping the total AP earned to determine character level.

Not a bad compromise IMHO.

Someone Rolled a "00" on the Weather Table

This week NYC is waiting to see how much of an Ice Storm this latest bout of winter weather brings. Which still doesn't compare to the beating Northern Australia is in for with rain and winds.

I'm beginning to think those weather table from the old Dragon Magazine were more accurate they I even gave them credit for. I'll need to dig it out and "DM Roll" us some milder weather ;)

At least I now know the difference between "sleet" and "freezing rain".

Mini Review - Parsely #1 - Action Castle

Ever thought of taking Zork and making it into an RPG?  With all the UP, DOWN, USE LAMP commands?  Someone did.  From the video it actually looks kinda like a lot of fun with the right group (I think my old group with a few beers in them would eat this up, personally).

I do think you need the right person in the GM / Computer Parser role.  If you lived the old text adventures, you'll make this really entertaining for your group.  I think it kinda helps if you are in on the joke.

Here's a video you can check out some actual play with.  It's less then 3 minutes, so its fairly short.

And here's the blurb:


> LOOK ACTION CASTLE
Parsely #1: Action Castle is the first in a new line of games called “Parsely Games.” Now you can “GO EAST” and “LIGHT LAMP” with the best of them. Canst thou master Action Castle before death claims thee? Parsely games are inspired by Ye Olde Text Parsers from days of yore, but substituting a live human for the computer parser. Parsely games are small, portable and fun for (almost) all occasions.

• Play them anywhere! On trips, in long lines, camping, at game cons…
• Play them with anyone! Young or old, expert or total n00b
• Play with a few friends or 100 random strangers at the same time

> ASK ABOUT ACTION CASTLE
“…the best game that I have played all year” – Chris O’Neil, co-author ofKobolds At My Baby
“…clever, silly, well-rehearsed, & a true homage to Zork.” – Steve Jackson, game industry legend
“…the awesomest awesome.” - Scott Rubin, co-host of Geek Knights podcast
“Very rarely do new game concepts come along which impress me, but this one stands out as being something truly revolutionary. And yet, like many of the most brilliant ideas, it’s so fiendishly simply that you say “why hasn’t anybody thought of this before?” – Andrew Looney, designer of Fluxx
“Check out a NSFW video of the demo … We missed the first part of the presentation, but here’s the prompt which kicked things off: ‘You are in a cottage. There is a fishing pole here. Exits are out.’ Hilarity ensues.” - Griffin McElroy, Joystiq

> EXAMINE SPECS
Action Castle v1.2 comes with the Parsely rules on one side and the Action Castle map and game guide on the other

The Trollish Taproom - I Got's One of Dem Ideas!

I've actually thought of a win - win - win scenario, kinda like a hat trick.  I have access to some damn sweet clipart.  I'm hankering to create some beasties for Tunnels & Trolls for my upcoming campaign.  Y'all get some new T&T critters.  The artists get some visibility and credit for their artwork.

I win.

My future players will win.

Hopefully this blog's readers will find some useful and win.

The artists win.

Kinda hard for me to bugger this up, unless my stuff stinks worse then a porta-potty at the county fair in the middle of August.  Even then it may be fun just to watch the train wreck ;)

I suspect the game I will eventually be running will be fairly grounded in 5.5e T&T (although heavily house ruled), but I like the monster write ups and special spite attacks from 7.5e, so I suspect I'll be using that as a template.

Contest Bumpiness!

I've been busy as a beaver at work today, but I want to remind folks of the contest that's being run here at the Tavern. It's the WTF Were They Thinking!?! Contest. Add your finds and you can win some decent swag.

This Ain't Yo Momma's Bullywug!

It's amazing, really.  I get reviewer comps constantly, and I NEVER bother to look at the clip art that you can use in private and commercial projects.  Why would I?  The only project I currently have is this blog.

That being said, there is some amazing stuff being produced for really affordable prices.  What I am affectionately referring to as a Bullywug to the left (damn D&D cartoon) is but one of 4 pieces available in the Forgotten Foes Clip Art 2 Collection - that's 4 pieces of artwork for 3 bucks.

I'll be finding use for these pieces, even if it is just to liven up a blog post or two.  They should be seen and appreciated.  This does of course mean I'll be starting to use these on the blog where appropriate or even not ;)

The artist for this piece and the rest of this collection is Rene Walk.

Mini Review - Tombs and Terrors

Yes, I know I had a post about there being too many damn retroclones last week (or simulacrum games - I hope that is the right word) and yet here I am with yet another.

Tombs and Terrors, otherwise known as TT (not T&T - that's for Tunnels & Trolls) refers to itself as Old School Fantasy Roleplaying.  I'm going to hazard a guess and declare it to be AD&D simulacrum, very compatible with any of the games that currently restate any of the earlier D&D editions.

It also seems to borrow an idea from Castles & Crusades, but as opposed to just having primes, we are presented with primary, secondary and tertiary stats.  I like the way they are presented here, and if I ran a game of C&C, I'd borrow this from TT to retrofit the SIEGE Engine.

As I've stated before, I don't think we NEED any more retroclonisimulacrumie games, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't play them.  I don't need ice cream to live, but i certainly like it ;)

Besides, they present a spell casting bard.  I like bards.  To the point that I am as annoying as hell when I play them.  So be it.

Digging Out

As today is Sunday, which means tomorrow is Monday, I need to finish digging my car out of last Wednesday's Snowstorm if I am to have any hope of driving to work tomorrow.  Might I add that I'm beginning to thoroughly hate the white stuff (actually, in NYC, it quickly becomes yellow stuff and grey stuff, but when it falls it is actually white stuff).

I also need to do some Spring Cleaning.  I am accumulating junk, which means my son feels the need to accumulate junk and garbage.  You know, you always need to be a step ahead of the Old Man when you are 17.

I need to dig thru two RPG piles.  The physical pile of Tunnels & Trolls that I've been accumulating needs to be organized and found some proper shelf space to r eside in.  Then the Virtual Pile of RPG PDF that I need to review has to be attacked.  If I did 3 or 4 reviews a week,without adding anything new to the pile, I might get thru it in a month or two.  Sigh.

Mini Review - Battlelords of the 23rd Century

I mentioned in a previous post that Battlelords of the 23rd Century was a game I played in but never ran.  My memories of the game are full of exciting gunplay... big guns, big gunplay... and edge of the seat gaming.

My original copy of the rules was a 1st or 2nd edition, packed away in a place that it's impossible for me to get to at this point, so a PDF copy of the 6th edition of the rules is a great way to play catch-up.

I don't recall the huge selection of races that is present in 6e, but I do recall I played an Orion Rogue, and we had a Ram Python in the party.  Everyone seems to have a role in the party, and no race seemed like a poor choice (unlike RIFTS and it's many SDC classed in an MDC world).

It's a pleasure to be flipping thru the latest edition.  I just need to find my old character sheet and see how it matches up.  Heck, I'll need to break out my original dead tree copy, just to see the changes.

I wonder if I can get Dave to GM another session 15+ years later?

Contest: Post Your WTF Were They Thinking!?!

The Glory Hole Dwarven Mine post got me thinking that there must be other misnamed, mispresented or otherwise damn awkward to look at now, products that have been released over the 35+ years that this hobby of ours has been in existence.

So, add your picks to the comment section of this post (and tell us why its a winner).  In a few days, I'll put those picks into a survey at the top of this page, and you, the readers, will decide the winner.  If we get enough entires (edit - if we hit at least 5 entries, I'll add a second prize package) we'll add a prize package or two.

The winner (or winners) will get the following package curtesy of RPGNow / OneBookShelf:

One Night StandThe Warren of the Death Spider (Pathfinder) [Otherworld Creations]

Script Crypt Volume 2: Four Damned Scripts [Crucifiction Games]

Volunder (Mega Dungeon; D&D/OGL) [Stainless Steel Dragon]

QUEST CARDS Game Set 3 [Fuller Flippers]

Incorporated Volume 1 [Brutal Games]

Deadlands: Reloaded Player's Guide [Pinnacle Entertainment]

edit:  I'll be adding the entires here as a reference

from mikemonaco - Book of Erotic Fantasy

from Jim -  Of Skulls and Scrapfaggot Green

from Ze Bulette - Starsilver Trek

Two Minutes to Midnight

At the moment I have the Iron Maiden song mentioned above going thru my head.  I know I'm 43, and too old for metal, but when Maiden was hot, I was the right age for metal... I'm grandfathered in.

In any case, the kid is doing his auxiliary duty until midnight tonight.  The funny thing is, my worrying doesn't start until he gets off and has to come home.  Must be the years I've spent on "the job" myself has desensitized me to its danger, but the thought of my son on a NYC subway at midnight will keep me up... or wake me up, as I am ready to pass out now.

I can just see this in the fine World of Greyhawk:

"Maaaaahhh!  I'll be fine.  I've made the trip to Verbobonc so many times I could do it in my sleep."

"Ach!, But what about the highwaymen?  You could be laid on by highwaymen!"

"Maa!  I'll be Oh-Kay!  Remember how me and my party laid waste to Iuz and all his evil?"

"Yes, but you had that nice elf and the sour dwarf with you.  Fine men.  I trusted them to keep you safe."

"I think you mean 'dour' dwarf ma."

"Nope, he always smelled of soured beer that lad.  Musta been his beard.  Still, they kept you safe."

"Ma, I'm level 17 now!  I can hold my own against a small army.  I'll be fine."

"So says you!  Maybe I'll go with you.  I'd never let one of them highway men lay a hand on my little boy..."


If I sleep now, I have three hours before I have to start worrying ;)

Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride

I was almost always the DM, rarely a player when we gamed back in high school and college.  With the exception of one short lived AD&D campaign that went down in flames (literally), I never had the opportunity to play in a D&D or AD&D campaign back in the days.

There were two campaigns that I was a player in.  One was Battlelords, an insane game of big guns and huge damage.  I couldn't tell you off-hand the type of character I played, but it wasn't a tank and I'm fairly sure I was a pain in the ass... heh.

The other game I played in was an on again, off again RIFTS campaign.  I had gotten my book at GenCon the year it was releases, Kevin Siembedia and Kevin Long both signed it, it read damn cool but I just couldn't figure out how to run it.  So it sat on a shelf for a bit until my friend Dave grabbed a copy.  It spoke to him I guess (as did Battlelords - he just dug unbalanced games).

One day I'll have to post about that RIFTS campaign.  It was a blast, even with the Glitterboy sized holes in the rules.

Now I'm solely a player.  I played in a Warhammer Dark Heresy campaign via Fantasy Grounds for about a year, and the Castles & Crusades game I've been in for the last 2 years via FG is still going strong.  Heck, I even play in a Tunnels & Trolls message board game these days.

Still, I'm getting the itch to GM again.  Really.  It even looks like it wont be D&D or one of its clones, but T&T.

Go figure.

Just need to get all the pieces in place for now.

What Were They Thinking!?!

Talk about Weird Fantasy...

But of course I had to snag a copy on Ebay.

I'll convert this to Tunnels & Trolls and never let the party know the actual name of the adventure until the end ;P

The Distracted State

All this white stuff that fell on NYC (19" in Central Park) was left me very distracted.  The kid in me wants to build snow forts and have snow ball fights, the adult in me dreads having to dig out the car and the gamer in me is remembering the random weather tables from an old issue of Dragon Magazine (many of the entries would make these 19" seem like a dusting).

So, what's my solution to all this?  I'm taking tomorrow off from work so I can shovel and do some game related reading at my leisure.  Well, that and the sergeant I share responsibilities with is going to be off the next two weeks.  I'll be doing the work of two.  May as well rest up now ;)

I do have some game related ideas bouncing around my head, but they are hard to lock down.  Unless, of course, my head is on the pillow and I'm trying to sleep.  Then the overdrive kicks in.  One day I'll actually write the stuff down.  Heh

NYC Winter Wonderland

Manhattan is all white this morning. It will be grey by afternoon ;)





- Posted from my iPhone

The Trollish Taproom - House Ruling Tunnels & Trolls - Vamping the Warrior

I've had a chance to read thru The Tunnels & Trolls 6th Edition (unauthorized) and there are bits I'd like to steal in whole, and other bits I'd rather balance out.

I never really liked the doubling of armor for warriors, as it wasn't level based, and I felt it should be.  6e makes it a straight +2 armor points per level instead of the doubling, which is a major powering down, especially at low levels.

At the same time, 6e ramps up the combat adds for warriors at an immense rate.  It adds the new level to the previous level as combat adds.  So the progression is +1 / +3 / +6 / +10 / +15 for the first five levels.  +21 / +28 / +36 / +45 and finally +55 at level 10.  It get's even more unbalanced at higher levels.  In 7e, the combat bonus at level 10 would be +10, as a ground zero reference point.

What I would like to propose for my house rule would be to use the same progression for both armor points and combat adds.  It would be +2 per level for the first 5 levels, +3 per level for levels 6 thru 10, +4 per level for levels 11 thru 15 and so on.

This gives us a progression of +2 / +4 / +6 / +8 / +10 for both armor and adds for the first five levels, +13, +16, +19, +22, +25 for levels 6 thru 10

Overall it balances out the curve of the combat adds progression, while advancing the curve of the armor  points slightly.

The Games I Own, But Have Never Played - The Original D&D Basic Set

I didn't even buy a D&D Basic Set until I had been playing AD&D for a few years. To me, at the time, D&D was "a kid's game" and AD&D was for the adults. Lets be real, I was in High School - neither was being played by any of the adults I knew.

I was dragged to some discount store with my mother, and lo and behold, there was a table full of D&D Basic Sets, with a small rectangular hole punched thru the front and side of the boxes. In retrospect, I think its a good bet that the D&D Red Box was hitting the market, and these were remainders. All I knew at the time was there was a D&D boxed set on sale for 2 bucks. Bought it, thought it was crap compared to AD&D (but was happy to get a copy of Keep on the Borderlands, which I shoehorned into AD&D) and promptly put it in the closet.

I still haven't played it, but now I can appreciate it for it's place in the hobby's history. Heck, I'd gladly play it now, even with the hole punched in the box. I no longer think it's crap BTW ;)

I'm Damn Proud

Got to see my son graduate as an Auxiliary Police Officer tonight. He gets to volunteer his time to help our community, and I get to stay up to midnite on the nites he volunteers, 'cause that's what parents do.

Nothing game related here, just pride. Well, I guess the late nites will be game related, as I will probably either be reading game blogs or gaming material ;)

Mini Review - Resolute, Adventurer & Genius

If the title bring thoughts of Warrior, Rogue and Mage - it should.  It's built on the same basic system and it's from the same folks.  Resolute, Adventurer & Genius brings the rules to the Age of Pulp - basically the years right before WWI to the years right before WWII (at least that's how I codify it).

How well does it do it?  Pretty well for a book that is just 36 pages long.  The original system is tweaked a bit, but it is still largely compatible.

I'd say the largest omission is the lack of a sample adventure, no matter how short.  The vast majority of roleplayers cut their teeth on fantasy and sci-fi, and have probably played other fantasy RPGs before finding the indi press stuff, but the same can't be said for the pulp genre.

Still, I'm complaining about a very well written and free RPG game not including something that is generally thought of as being optional, so I'll stop.  Besides, if you want pulp source materials for your RPG, Adamant Publishing has everything it sells for 1.99 a pop, and it's well stocked on pulp. 

Back to School - Sorta

So, I'm sitting in my car, as snow that I don't recall as being in the forecast falls around me, waiting as my son takes an assessment exam for a college he is looking to attend.

I don't recall taking an assessment exam when I went to college. I must have, as they told me to take calculus as a freshmen. Need I say that didn't go all that well? Heh

College for me greatly expanded my gaming opportunities. The game club had about a dozen and a half members, with a small overlap with my regular weekend gaming group. I played more then I had any right to game (as I cut classes and work fairly often to do so). I'm still amazed at times that I actually got my BA.

My son doesn't game, at least not like I used to. MMORPGs and Multiplayer Shooters are his cup of tea. Hopefully they don't prove be a distraction of a similar scope as my gaming was, or he'll have a long 8 1/2 years of undergrad ahead of him ;)