How Do You Leave A Bunch of Gamers in Suspense?

Announce a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons, yet give no details as to said edition.

Is it be called 5E? Doesn't look like it.

I'm going to place my bet and guess it's going to be called Dungeons & Dragons Unlimited (so they can continue with the theme that it encompasses players of all previous editions.)

I'm going to also state that I expect a return to Vancian Magic with some sort of "at will power".

I don't expect anything game changing to the point that 4e separated itself from 3x. I do expect something closer to 3x then 4e.

I DO NOT expect it to be OGL. Possibly released under a kinder, softer GSL.

I expect gamers to care whether or not WotC succeeds with the newest, latest and greatest version of D&D. Like it or not, D&D get's lots of shelf space at the few remaining books stores. It's a recognizable name. It's Kleenex when the rest of the hobby is "facial tissues". A successful release of a new edition of D&D can only help the hobby in general.

Me? I'm a gamer in suspense. I want to know more. Which I'm sure I will as soon as the 5e PDF starts making the rounds in the torrent sites. You know - the "pre-beta" version the press got to play with ;)

Mini Review - Loviatar #6

Picture "Borrowed" From Christian's Blog

One of the things that I want to kick myself for is not having a full collection of Christian's past zines.  I should, as I have his first zine, and I at one point had each and every one, but I never realized how much I missed his older stuff until Loviatar came along.  Loviatar hits the same buttons that the best of his past stuff hit for me.  It's just that good.

Now, I'm going to start out I love the Hex 00X series he started in issue #6,  By itself it is worth the price of admission (and as the price is 3 bucks an issue, mailed to you house, how can you go wrong?).   I don't recall what the scale of each hex is, but what he has given us in the last two issues is a growing sandbox to explore.  It should work with any of the OSR games that draw on D&D for inspiration, but could even work with Tunnels and Trolls with very little work.

Thursday Night Fight Club is Christian's first dabbling into Basic Roleplaying.  While I own the latest rules (and even the Fantasy Grounds 2 mod) I haven't played with the system or any of it's close cousins in years.  Still, Christian is always top notch with character descriptions - they are never just a bunch of stats - that knowing the system doesn't matter all that much.  A perfect NPC for any modern RPG system.

The last article details 2 NPCs for Vampire: The Requiem.  I owned the whole first generation of the World of Darkness Core books and never ran the system.  Could never get my group into it.  Maybe I didn't understand the whole setting behind the closed doors and I couldn't sell it to my friends.  Christian understands it.  Well done as always.

So, simply put, an excellent source for any game master to find inspiration.

Time to pour myself of free tap beer from my Beertender and toast Christian.  Heineken Light lad, but the wife is returning with a mini keg of Newcastle Brown Ale for when this run out ;)

Mini Review - D "Infinity" Magazine #3: Children of the Night (For Just About Every game System You Can Think Of)

D "Infinity" (because I can't end a font with an infinity symbol) is a strange little bird.  It's a magazine that tries to cover many different RPG systems from many different publishers.  It's hard to tie down the notch it covers as it covers so many niches.  The question then becomes, does it cover them well?

Surprisingly enough, I think it does.  That is due, in no small part, to some decent writing and editing.  For an article about a game I do not play to have value to me, the writing must be strong enough to go beyond game mechanics.  On the whole D "infinity" # 3 does it's job pretty well.

Oh, lest I forget:  The index is actually hyperlinked to the articles it lists.  Well done!

It starts with a Tile Based game called The Search for Bigfoot.  If you remember the old Tom Wham games that used to be stuck in occasional issues of Dragon Magazine, the concepts are similar.  For the price of a magazine, you get a free game included.  In this case, you have to print out the pieces, and I suspect you'll need to use some card stock or such to print it out if you want it to survive more then one sitting.  Can't  tell you how well the game plays, but the tiles look well done.

There is an interview with Andy Hopp.  I don't know his work as an author or artist, but the art used is pretty weird but very good.

There is a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide.  Written fairly well, but all this should be pretty standard tactics for most Roleplayers.  Still, useable in an of your modern zombie games.

Digital Dice - It deals with mapping programs.  Including many free ones (I think they are already listed on the left side of this blog but I need to see if I missed any).  Nice article but fairly short.

One Starry Night - A Call of Cthulhu / Cthulhu Live scenario set in the modern day.  I'm about 20 years removed from my last CoC game and I've never run a "Live" style RPG.  So I was fairly lost reading this.  I need to refresh my CoC knowledge.  It does include some nice looking handouts.

The Prop Room is an article detailing how to make some fake dragon teeth (well, if you could make "real" dragon teeth it would be a different kind of article).  Not sure how useful it is as an article, but it was damn interesting and kinda cool.  I guess if I was a LARPer it would be much more useful.  I'm not ;)

A look at some of the guilds in the city of Kos.  Actually, it's one guild made up of multiple professions.  It's okay.

Then we get some stuff for use with "Basic System".  I though that meant it was going to be used with Chaosium's Basic RPG.  Nope, its for use with OSR type systems.  Go figure.  Still, 8 pages of naturalish type monsters is never bad and can keep players on their toes by keeping things fresh.  Did I mention the art if pretty good though out the magazine?  It is.  Oh, and an article on Mutation Artifacts for Mutant Future.  Wait, theres more:  Some Orc Spells.

Then we go OGL, or rather 3X.  Another preview of Cooper's Corrected Summon Monsters series of PDFs.  If I recall correctly, he did this with the monster manual too.  I don't play 3X, but this may be of value to those that do, assuming you believe it all needs to be fixed.

Next we get a page of Character Caricatures.  Decent art.  'nuff said.

Hey, an OGL article about Plague & Rabies, written by an MD, with game effects and treatment.  Wan't I just wondering about stuff like this?

Some sci-fi OGL stuff.  I forget, this is a partial house organ for Skirmisher Games.

Some hybrid races for Pathfinder.  Half-ghouls.  Damn!

Alien Vegetable Monstrosities for Pathfinder.  Yeah.  Interesting painted minis.

An article for 4e, but as the system is a dead system, I didn't bother reading it.  Doh!

All in all, a decent bang for you buck.  Which is surprising, as usually the attempt to please all means you please none.

Dungeons & Dragons - A Series of Half Editions

D&D is Dead!  Long Live D&D!

Had to get that outa the way.  Anyhow, ever since AD&D the game has grown progressed evolved changed in "Half Steps", although it was rarely honest in it's labeling of such.

AD&D had its Point Five moment with the release of Unearthed Arcana.  You either played with UA or you didn't (I never saw a group that had a middle ground back then), but the power level with UA changed the game play.  It was a Half Step Edition.

AD&D 2e had Skills & Powers as it's Point Five moment, although it could certainly be argued that the Complete Series of Handbooks to Remove the Player From His Cash were the Point Five Moment and that Skills & Powers were nothing more then a chance to experiment with concepts that were to come in 3e.

Dungeons & Dragons 3e (because calling it Advanced was so limiting) had it's Point Five moment with the release of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e, which was the first (and only time) that the publisher of the Dungeons & Dragons game was honest with an upgrade to the RPG in the middle of the life of the edition.  Then again, they didn't have much of a choice, as 3.5e had many compatibility issues with 3e.  God, I just love multiple editions, don't you?

Dungeons & Dragons 4e, under the glorious days of the GSL (which also was revised to go from Ominous to Slightly Less So) recently had it's Point Five moment with the release of the Essentials Line.  WotC refuses to call it a Point Five moment, but as the class abilities in Essentials are different than the ones in the 4e Player's Handbook, I'd call it a Point Five moment.  Oh, and a money grab, as it was a way to repackage and slightly revise material that was already published in an attempt to soak the loyal player base.  It's dangerous to be a loyal follower of the D&D Brand.  One needs deep pockets or a serious line of credit.  Thank God for the OSR.

Now, the game NOT to be Called Dungeons & Dragons 5e, for although it is the 5th glorious edition of ADVANCED Dungeons & Dragons (otherwise it would be 8e or 9e depending on who is counting) apparently want to shed it's edition counting, much like Microsoft shed it's numbering by year, and went to edition number.

I suggest we refer to the new Dungeons & Dragons game as D&D 2012.  Even though it will probably release in 2013, because that's how Microsoft usually did it, by lagging a year.  We can use the Mayan calendar and safely announce that it doesn't refer to the end of the world, but the end of Dungeons & Dragons as a table top MMO impersonator.

Nope, D&D 2012 is going to be full contact medieval reenactment combat.  Screw dice, it will require real player skill.  And if the DM isn't careful, he might just get himself killed.

On second thought, it's probably going to be more like Magic the Gathering.  You get a random assortment of pages from the Player's Skills & Powers Deck, and if you want more options, you need to buy boosters.

I really want Wizards to succeed, but they can't be The One Ring to Rule Them All (besides the fact that the Tolkien Estate probably has that trademarked already).  They won't be bringing back many that turned their noses at 4e and essentially stayed with 3Xe by going Pathfinder, unless they out do Pathfinder.  That's a tall order, and to do so they'll be working against the 4e they built up (and now have to bad mouth to start the tear down) and Pathfinder (which they essentially also built).  It's like a bunch of fucked up clones, same yet different, fighting each other to the death.

As for the OSR corner, some may dabble in the new edition, but few will fully give themselves to The Dark Side.  I'll probably dabble, as I'll be curious.  I might even, if it's really good, keep 5e as my "Bim on the Side".  But she better be damn good ;)

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Part 3 - Hardly Anything to Wear

Just like Specialists in the Weird Fantasy Grindhouse Edition, Bards must be unencumbered to use many of their class skills.  The skills that fall under the encumbrance restriction are Inspire, Performance and Fascinate.  Oh, and Spell Casting, as that will generally require the use of an instrument.  I just thought of that.

So, less is more as far as what they carry.  The instrument will add to that encumbrance (or maybe that could be excluded as a class feature... hmm).

In general, Bards tend to be lightly armored and gravitate towards smaller, lighter weaponry.

They favor brightly colored clothing when in urban areas, but have been known to "tone it down" while adventuring.

I'd be open to letting Bards be of any race with no racial benefits given.

Next part - putting it all together.

The skills

Winner of Tenkar's Tavern's Top Ten List Contest of Reasons to Kill Things and Take Their Stuff is...

Where's my drum roll?  Anyhow, I was gonna break out Feltothraxis for this little contest die roll, but I'm not quite up to that.  So, 11 entries, D12 ignoring results of 12...

rolled a 9

matt jackson!, come on down!  your the next contestant on the Price is... oops

yes matt, you won a $10 credit to you OneBookShelf/RPGNow/DriveThruRPG account.

email me at trubluniteATgmailDOTcom with the email you use at OBS and I'll contact the fine and generous folks at OBS to get your credit to you.

Thanks to all who entered.

WotC Big Non-Event - D&D 5E is Coming (Surpised? Not!)

It's a huge announcement, right?  Lets see where Wizards of the Coast have it linked on their website:  Homepage?  Nope.  But look, Magic the Gathering comics are coming!  yay!  That's the headline announcement, from 9/1/11.  Four months ago.  MtG comics come before a new Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, the game that launched the RPG industry.  I'd go with comics too!  Wait, if I check the Twitter feed on the page there is something about a big announcement - good going guys, your webmaster sucks!

How about the D&D Brand Homepage (and how depressing is it that D&D is a "brand")?  Well, if you wait long enough, the main graphic will rotate in a link so you can "Sign Up Today and Be a Part of Gaming History".  Clicking that put's you on a page for the WotC mailing list for the 5e play test info.  But wait, on the left side there is a small caption about Charting the Course of D&D!  Whee!  We found our link!

These are the fucktards that are going to make D&D viable in the eyes of Hasbro?  They can't even post the announcement on their site the right way.

Wait a second?  Didn't we just get D&D Essentials, the "essential" way to play 4e.  Oh, and when I say we, I don't mean me, as I don't play 4e, I mean "we" as in "you".

Not that this announcement is all that surprising.  Ever since Monte returned ("All Hail Monte, Lord of 3e and in turn, the trickle down known as The OSR") to WotC we (now I mean "me", but probably "you" too) knew that 5e was coming sooner then later.

So, 4e has run it's course.  Stick a fork it it and the abysmal GSL.  Game over Johnny.  Now, obviously they talk their parents at Hasbro that 2012 was going to be a wash for the D&D Brand, and they were saving all their pennies for the launch of 5e and the return of Wizards to a viable component of Hasbro.  Either that or we get the D&D RPG shelved for a few years, it whatever iteration it ends at.

What is 5e supposed to accomplish (besides making money for WotC / Hasbro in a shrinking market)?  Apparently they want to bring all the disillusioned D&D / Pathfinder / OSR / OGL gamers back into the fold.  Because then they might actually have a market sizable enough to keep the brand afloat.  Good luck with that one lads.  You fucked with a lot of gamers' (and publishers') goodwill when you released a Dungeons & Dragons game barely recognizable to it's long term fans, with a screwed up licensing scheme on top of that.   You think many will trust you this time?

Maybe that's part of the reason for bringing back Monte Cook.  He makes the newest, latest edition possibly redeemable.  He's also a face and a name that the 3e generation know and respect.  Monte's got impossible job if it's to integrate players from 0e to 4e, and all the "E's" between.

Me?  I hope they can accomplish 10% of what they hope for, as that will still be 100% more then 4e added to my gaming enjoyment.  Maybe I'll be surprised.  I'm certain this is far from the last I'll be posting on this.

How do you feel about 5e's announcement?

RuneQuest Archives Offers a Selection of $1 PDFs of MQ1 & MQ2 Releases

Going to give a big shout out to Akrasia from the Akratic Wizardry blog for bringing this to the attention of the Blogosphere. An assortment of Gloranthan and some other Mongoose RuneQuest products available in PDF at OneBookShelf  affiliated storefronts (RPGNow / DriveThruRPG) for a buck a piece.  The MRQ2 stuff is full compatible with Legend (Mongoose's OGL version of the RQ2 rules, also for a buck).  MRQ1 products are less compatible, but are easily mined.  MRQ1 and MRQ2 are both apparently compatible with the upcoming RuneQuest 6.  Follow all that so far?

Here's the list as posted on The RPG Site.

The titles available through RuneQuest Archives are:

RuneQuest

RuneQuest Empires (MRQ2)
Monster Coliseum (MRQ2)
Vikings (MRQ2)
Land of the Samurai (MRQ1)
The Price of Honour (MRQ1)

Glorantha

Glorantha: the Second Age (MRQ2)
Cults of Glorantha (MRQ2)
The Abiding Book (MRQ2)
Pavis Rises (MRQ2)
Dwarfs (MRQ1)
Dragonewts (MRQ1)
Ducks (MRQ1)
Elfs (MRQ1)
Blood of Orlanth (MRQ2)
Dara Happa Stirs (MRQ1)
Fronela


For that price I'm buying the lot.  I'm going to have WAY too much on my plate to read, but that is better then too little.  I haven't run a RuneQuest Campaign since RQ2 and RQ3 (I actually went back from RQ3 to RG2, but that's a whole other story ;)

Switching Gears to the Unknown and the Weird

I've been delving fairly heavily into Carcosa during my previous bed bound two days.  It was probably the prefect way to first really read Carcosa, as it made the sick stuff seem even sicker and otherworldly.  I haven't looked that closely at the rituals, as I suspect they won't come much into use except as tools for NPCs, plot hooks and the like, but I did start to poke around the Hex Crawl, and there is much to like.  I'll return to Carcosa later.

In the meantime, I've been spending more time reading the Isle of the Unknown, which is a more standard fantasy style Hex Crawl.  Much to like here.  I could run a campaign using this fairly easily with what I've reads far.  (Carcosa would be much harder for ME to run without some heavy tweaking - but that's me.

I've also spent some time with the Weird Adventures from Trey Causey.  This is actually fun to read!  I'm not saying that reading RPG material isn't enjoyable, but Trey works well with the Pulpy source material. He had fun putting this together and it show.  More when I've gotten thru more.

Off the next two days (thanks Doc!) so expect me to get some more non-feverish reading done. I still don't know which came first: me reading Carcosa or me getting sick ;)

Crap, I need to get back to building my LotFP Bard class too!

Sitting At the Local Doc in a Box

What every mega dungeon needs is a Doc in a Box. Why leave the dungeon when you can reup on healing without leaving the adventure?

Wish me luck. It the same place I took my wife when she broke one foot and sprained the opposite ankle.

What Do PCs Do When They Get Sick?

This thought often occurs to me when some virus or flu knocks me for a loop. PCs frequent cold, dank dungeons, sleep on floors, eat trail rations, horrid sanitary conditions and drink from water sources that may be less then fresh.

And yet I've yet to see a cleric spell that addresses illness. Wounds, diseases, blindness, lost limbs, even lost minds and the raising of the dead - yes. A cure for the common shits, flu, cold, rash, fever, etc - nada.

If I had to adventure the way I currently feel, the party would be dragging dead weight.

I wouldn't be in this soft, warm bed milking it for all it's worth, either ;)

Carcosa Has Kicked the Crap Outa Me

Alright, maybe not literally, but I've been mostly bed bound today, the day after I opened up the Carcosa hardcover for some stay at home reading.

Must have been one of the rituals I read (not that I was feeling all that great yesterday - its the reason I took off).

I just noticed there is a very slight, almost imperceptible color tint to the pages that changes depending on the section you are reading. Very cool.

And yes, the psionics section looks very workable, as long as you leave that daily random roll shit. Blows away the AD&D version of my youth. I always figured it was thrown in due to some otherwise empty pages in the back of the book.

Posted from my iPhone. Hot diggity dog!

Review - Carcosa - Part I - Impressions

The Look.  The feel.  Heck, touching the Carcosa book gives one a special feeling.  I said it before and I'll say it again, James really put together a nice package.  But how does it read?

Geoffrey McKinney writes well.  The imagery he draws with his written word compliments the art and the physical presentation (assuming you are reading a dead tree copy and not a PDF).  He writes over the top, and he writes it well.

The ideas presented are the key here.  Carcosa (so far - I've yet to reach the halfway mark) is one of those rare products where the parts are worth more than the sum.

I don't see myself running a campaign where Hit Dice and Weapon Damage are decided at the beginning of every battle - it adds too much randomness, too much bookkeeping, especially in the OSR corner of the hobby, where streamlined and basic is generally considered better.

Would it work as a diversion if the PCs get sent to an alternate dimension?  Definitely.  This is one of the reasons I think Carcosa is worth more for it's parts - as a toolbox / sourcebook hybrid - than a campaign setting of it's own.

Geoffrey has similar feelings, or at least expects a large number of readers to feel the same:

There is no right or wrong way to use Carcosa. Please
feel free to add to this book, or to delete or change anything
within. There is nothing in this book (or anywhere else) that
is “official” Carcosa. Following are only some of the possible
ways to use this volume:

ЖЖUse it as-is for a ready-made campaign.

ЖЖThe player characters in your regular campaign have
been transported by a curse to a terrible location:
Carcosa.

ЖЖUse Carcosa as a change of pace or for one-shot games.

ЖЖCherry pick contents (whether monsters, the psionics
system, the dice conventions, various encounters, the
sorcerer character class, or etc.) to use in your regular
campaign.

ЖЖSimply read the book as inspiration for your own
creations.

Above all, enjoy yourself.

There's a lot of stuff to borrow and steal.  I'll try and hit on it in the next part of the review.

Snuggling Up With Carcosa

I woke up this morning, realized I felt like crap, called my boss and took the day.

After trying to stay in bed as long as humanly possibly, the following hat up by a nice bath, I've decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in bed, under the sheets and reading Carcosa.

I'll either get better or die trying ;)

Free Stuff - Savage Worlds: Eye of Kilquato for Fantasy Grounds II

Eye of Kilquato fills three useful niches for me:

It's for Fantasy Grounds II, my favorite Virtual Table Top (and which is due an updated review at some point, as the current review is getting a bit dated)

It's for the Savage Worlds RPG system, which I had a blast when I had the chance to play with the guys from White Haired Man playtesting via, you guessed it, Fantasy Grounds II.

It free.  Damn, how can you beat that?

From the blurb:


A free simple adventure from Pinnacle Entertainment Games converted for play within the Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop. It is perfect for inclusion in your existing Savage Worlds Pulp campaign or as a one-shot!

Danger awaits around every corner as the players venture to South America to search for the fabled "Eye of Kilquato." A mix of adventure and mystery, set in a 1939 backdrop, awaits the players.

This adventure showcases what a simple adventure looks like within Fantasy Grounds. The Savage Worlds ruleset is flexible enough to support a wide range of genres and provides as much or as little automation as you want. After playing a few sessions online with old gamer pals or newly made friends from the over 22,000 FG community members, you'll wonder how you ever played around a boring kitchen table.

Requires: A Fantasy Grounds full or ultimate license, the Savage Worlds v3 Ruleset

Tenkar's Tavern's Top Ten List of Reasons To Kill Things andTake Their Stuff

Tenkar's Tavern's Top Ten List of Reasons To Kill Things and Take Their Stuff:

10 - Because they're evil!

9 - Because we're an evil party - duh!

8 - The barkeep looked at us strange.

7 - They would have attacked us if given the chance!

6 - Just because the DM says he's a poor, innocent villager doesn't mean he really is.

5 - We don't take prisoners

4 - Did you see the lip he gave the halfling?

3 - How else are we going to earn our expo?

2 - Because the DM didn't want us to kill 'em, so we had to.

1 -

I leave the #1 answer in your able hands.

Add it to the comments section of this post. One random commenter will receive a $10 gift certificate from OneBookShelf.

Comments must be posted by 1159 PM, NYC Time on Sunday, January 8, 2012

Mini Review - Book 'Em! (Modern D20ish)

If you are a regular reader of this blog you probably have an idea that I am employed in Law Enforcement.  With that out of the way, how could I pass up on Book 'Em!, a short RPG product designed with the intent of letting the GM find out how the police investigation goes when the players go postal on someone's ass!  They will.  We all know it goes down that way.  It's the D&D training of "Go Forth & Kill & Take Their Shit!", but that's for another post at another time.

How does it succeed?  Well, it's a system.  It get's results.  Are the results realistic?  Uhm, it's a game, right?  Where does realism come in?

The thing is, there are so many modifiers and variables attached to the system that it sure as hell seems like the writer wants to go realistic.  At least, in depth, convoluted systems usually mean "attempted realism".  Then why does a highly competent police department potentially end investigations in 2 1/2 weeks, while the Mayberry Police will stick at it for months?  You get to roll each week for success, 2 successes are needed, more time means more successes.  Alright, I'm confusing myself here.

The resolution charts at the end help make sense of things, but even then, the results don't make sense to me.

I was hoping for more of a "what the PCs should expect" sort of product with a simple resolution system attached.  Instead, I got a convoluted system with no background depth attached to it.

Eh, maybe my issue is with more with the whole "roll for everything and everything with a roll" mentality that pervades 3.5 in its various incarnations.

From the blurb:


Ever wonder what happens when your players do something really bad and the cops get involved? Wonder no more! "Book 'Em!" provides the harried GM with a quick and easy means of figuring out how good the local police are at figuring out what the players did and to whom!

Designed for d20 systems with an eye on the contemporary rather than the fantasy, this simple system can be used with little or no alteration in nearly any game system.

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Part 2 - The Skills

Because We All Know This is What The Bard
Will Look Like After a Few Failed Castings

You can't have a proper Bard without proper bard skills.  Here's the list I'm looking at (more or less) for Lamentations of the Flame Princess's Weird Fantasy RPG (now I know why I always abbreviate that).

Lore - The chance to know some of the history of important / magical items.  This isn't the same as the Identify spell we all know and love / loath.  As magic items are relatively rare in the default assumed Weird Fantasy setting, all will probably have a fairly unique history.  While knowing the history may certainly hint at the items powers, it shouldn't spell them out.

Inspire - This is a powerful ability, especially in a system that only allows fighters to increase in combat ability.
I'd say:
 +1 hit / +1 saves (never increases)
 - 5 rounds per pip
- 10' radius per pip
max persons effected - 1 pip=1  2 pips=2  3 pips=4  4 pips=8  5 pips=16  6 pips=32  (yes, at high levels they can possibly turn the tide of a closely matched, fairly large scaled, battle).

Performance - Work crowds for pocket change / food / beer lodging - the greater the success, the better the results.  Would also be used for Sleight of Hand and Picking Pockets

Charm Fascinate - I'm thinking of a Sleep like effect, but the the targets are sleeping standing up.  Or I just steal the Fascinate spell from another ruleset.

Read Languages - They are Bards after all.

Anything I'm missing?

Building a Better Bard - Prelude

Part 1- Spell Casting

Part 2 - More on Spell Casting

NYC Temperature Swing Is Worse Than the Carcosa HD Swing

Saturday Night / Sunday Morning I had to pick my son up from the police precinct he volunteers at as an Auxiliary Officer. He got off after working New Years Eve at 1:45 AM. I drove over in the pair of shorts I had been bumming around with. It was warm enough.

Today I woke up to 12 degree weather. I really REALLY need to break out my winter jacket ;)

I felt like a fighter that woke up to D4 HD in Carcosa (thanks to Dreams in the Lich House for pointing out this Carcosa quirk - I noticed it in my reading, then put it aside and forgot)

I was completely unprepared this morning ;)

A Word From White Haired Man

Andugus from White Haired Man posted this as a comment to yesterday's post about digital formats and such. I figured it was important enough to get a post of it's own.

Andugus: My goal is to eliminate the format issue in roleplaying. For example that ePub is a taste of what is to come for all of our adventures, in ePub format. Adventures are shorter than full blown resource books and ideal for holding in your hand while GMing.

That said, WHM has not abandoned the PDF format. We are currently laying out the Kith'takharos line in a new PDF format. This will of course be free to anyone who purchased earlier PDF versions. My goal as the designer is to make these new PDF's work well for self-printing (IE no background art) and Print on Demand through RPGNow. The Print on Demand option will sport a color cover and B&W interior pages due to cost. My goal is to offer our products in print under $10. About half the cost of a Paizo Pathfinder adventure product.

Summary. WHM will be publishing adventures for Savage Worlds and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game System in three formats: ePub, PDF, and POD.

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Part 2 - More On Spellcasting

I've been having a small discussion of the Bardic Spellcasting on Google+ (small as in me +1 ;).

This is the alternate idea:

John Allder Stephens  -  As an alternative to using a control die, you could also have the Bard Save vs. Magic, with a mishap if d6 comes up 6 or if the Save fails. The Save vs. Magic would allow for the bard's magic getting more stable over time.

Yesterday 7:39 PM    

So, this would be harder on the caster initially but easier as they level.

Another possibility is just using the Pip to determine spell level / spells per day and requiring a save vs spells to have the spell go off unchanged.  A failed save can result in a minor change to the spell up to some fairly major issues for the caster.  The Pip could even be a saving throw bonus for this save only.

In either case there will a "Spell Mishap" table.  I like tables :)

I'll take any input you wish to offer, then I'll be putting the Bardic Spellcasting on the back burner and moving on to some of the bard's other abilities, such as Charm, Performance, Lore and such.

If a Product Is Free, But In a Format You Can't Use, Does That Make It Crap?

(damn Blogger's iPad app - sent to wrong blog - sigh)

I ask, because it came up in regards to White Haired Man's release if The Hideout in ePub format. Which means it was aimed at gamers with ebook readers that use ePub (all but the Amazon Kindle line).

There are lots of freely available stuff in the world that I either don't need, can't use or would use, but for some reason I can't. It doesn't make it useless, it doesn't make it worthless, it just means it's not for me, time to move on.

The world was not built for me. Amazingly, I am NOT the center of the world.

I don't expect every RPG product, especially the free ones, to be of use to me (or even usable by me). That's life.

I just don't see the anger that was directed at a free product as being viable. Then again, the reviewer may have been bitching about ereaders in general, but as the product is a digital product sold at RPGNow, which specializes in digital products, I fail to see the surprise.

Tales of the Blue Knight - Bring Out Yer Dead!

Another repost of one of my earlier Tales of the Blue Knight.  New fiction is in the mental hopper ;)

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Part 1 - Spellcasting

For me, a Bard in a D&D styled game needs access to spells, or else he isn't a Bard.  That being said, LotFP's Weird Fantasy has pretty strict class roles with little if any overlap.  As Bards by many definitions (and most importantly mine) are Jacks-of-All-Trades, how do we rectify that with the Weird Fantasy Rules, let alone the implied setting?

For me, I'm going to link Bardic Spellcasting to the "Pip System" used for Specialists.  Yes, they'll have to roll to cast.  Additionally, the maximum spell level they can attempt to cast will correspond to the "Pips" they have in Bardic Spellcasting.  As their knowledge is imperfect, there will be a chance for some sort of spell fumble, and if they are attempting a spell that causes damage (HP loss), the price for failure, or even in some cases, success, may be high.

I'm figuring 2D6 when attempting to cast a Bardic Spell, the "Pip Die" and a control die.  If the control die comes up 6, there is an unwanted effect for a general spell.  If either die comes up 6 for a damaging spell, there is an unwanted effect.  Both dice come up 6's on a damaging spell, it's the nasty effect chart.

Obviously I'll need to work on some mishap charts.

New spells are learned through the gaining of a Pip (one spell learned when a Pip is gained) or while observing another casting a spell.  Spells may be mislearned (which won't be obvious until the first time casting) or impossible to learn (if a roll to learn is failed, it may not be rolled for again.  I think I'd still allow it to be gained from a Pip increase though.)

Figure a point may be spent on Bardic Spellcasting only at every odd level, keeping them from having access to spells before others.

Spellcasting in Weird Fantasy can be a dangerous proposition.  It shouldn't be something Bards (who really aren't properly trained) resort to all the time.  More likely they will cast when other options are gone.

All the above is subject to change ;)


Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Prelude

Mini Review - Fantasy Island Map by Chubby Funster

Currently Chubby Funster's Fantasy Island Map is listed on the sidebar of this blog as the 4th Hottest Item on RPGNow.  It may or may not be in that position when you read this blog post, but whatever.  It's there now, and for good reason.

CF's Fantasy Island Map is nearly a 100 MB zipped download.  Why, you may ask?  Because in addition to the main map, there are 9 maps that break that full map into 9 sectors.  He also includes icons for labeling purposes.  Oh, and each map is in JPG and PNG format.  So yeah, there's a lot in the download.

Included in the nominal price is a license to use these maps in the commercial works of your choice.  How sweet is that for a mere 5 bucks?  I feel like I'm coin an "As Seen On TV" commercial.  "But wait, there's more!"  heh

It's professionally quality maps priced extremely well for the use in a home campaign or in a commercial product.  At the very least, take a peek at the preview to see if it works for you.  It is that good.

From the blurb:

This is a poster size map file of a large island and a smaller island separated by a strait, along with a multitude of tiny islands off the coast. The map is set at a resolution of 3825x4950 placed onto a 25.5x33 inch canvas at 150 DPI (or nine 8.5x11 pages in a grid). In addition to this master file, several smaller files of each of the nine pages are included.

Some basic icon files in white are also provided for you to use when labelling the map as you wish for use in your publishing projects or at your roleplaying game table.

The zip file contains:
- The master map file (included in both JPEG and PNG format)
- The nine grid pages files for easy use and printing (also in JPEG and PNG)
- A set of 11 white icons for use in labeling


 This entire package is royalty-free and non-exclusive, allowing you to use all the components however you wish even for commercial projects. If used in a publication, please include the following citation: "Some artwork copyright Greg Christopher (c) 2011, used with permission"). The only limit is that you cannot directly redistribute or offer these images for resale on their own.

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Prelude

I had a conversation with a fellow blogger last night via Google chat about LotFP Weird Fantasy RPG rules.  There was some clarification that was needed for one of the rules, which wasn't as clearly stated as it should have been, but we both pretty much knew where Raggi was going.  Bad math (either on our side or Raggi's, it was after midnite and I wasn't rechecking math) might have also played an issue.  Still, the conversation got me thinking about Weird Fantasy again.  Which inevitably led to thinking about Bards.

There are no Bards in Weird Fantasy (no Paladins, Rangers or Druids either, but I digress).  I happen to like bards.  I even wrote one for Swords & Wizardry that made the last issue of KnockSpell.  So, if I'm going to tinker with Weird Fantasy Cannon, I may as well start with a class I really enjoy.

One of the huge strengths of Weird Fantasy is the Specialist class.  The "pip" system is really neat, and I think it could be used fairly well with a Jack-of-All-Trades sort of class, like the Bard.  We just have to define his "pip" powered abilities.

He's a bard, so Charm is a must.   Some type of Lore ability.  Spellcasting, but using the "pip" system, so it is far from powerful but possibly useful (i've got an idea for this), Pick Pockets (expanded to include all types of "sleight of hand" activities) - an Inspire type of ability would be fairly powerful in the Weird Fantasy rules, as only Fighters advance in combat ability.  Or maybe not so powerful, as most classes should be avoiding toe to toe combat in any place.

Thoughts?  Ideas?  Suggestions?  Threats?  heh

Let me know what you think, I'm open for input.  It's in the brainstorming stage at the moment...

A Word To My Would Be Spammers

In December, I opened posting on my blog to Anonymous posters.  Almost immediately, spammers attempted to add comments to random blog posts here at the Tavern.

Since then, the score is Blogger's Spam Blocker 159, Successful Spam posts 0, as in Nada, Zero, Zilch.

You can continue to piss into the wind, but all you will get is wet feet.  Or you can go play somewhere else.

During the same time I think I've had 3 false positives that the spam filter wrongly caught and I had to approve.  Overall, I'm very happy with the numbers.

So, to summarize - Spammers, go fuck yourselves!     ;P

Stepping Around the Dragon's Foot

My big forum hangout location, when I hang out in forums, has been ENWorld.  I guess more for reason of habit then anything else.  I've noticed that posting has slowed down on the site, or at least, that's been my receipt perception.  As today is the start of the new year, I figured I'd pop on over to Dragon's Foot.

I had forgotten the atmosphere in the Dragon's Foot forums can be a bit more... confrontational.  Someone was complaining about the amount of reviews done by one poster and wondered if anyone else had even read the products in question.  Did he ever think if he wanted more variation in reviewers, maybe the complainer should step up and do some reviews himself?

Of course, now I remember all f the great free adventures available at Dragon's Foot.  More stuff for ME to review here at the Tavern.

I'll be hanging around Dragon's Foot more often these days.  Not sure how much I'll be posting on the forums, but I'll definitely be lurking.

Mini Review - Dwarf World - (Tunnels & Trolls GM Adventure)

(Tunnels & Trolls product releases are rare, and go right to the top of my review pile in most cases)

If there is one thing I've been lamenting on this blog on a semi-regular basis, is the lack of GM Adventures for Tunnels & Trolls.  With Dwarf World, Ken St. Andre himself gives us one such GM adventure, and in typical Trollgod fashion, it is far from typical.

It's total subterranean yet it lacks maps.  It is a sandbox setting of sorts, but it's up to you to put the final (even most) details on the setting.  Much of this will entail actual roleplaying, but for that to succeed, the GM better be a strong improvisor.

Actually, I think that is the key to Dwarf World.  A strong GM (a strong GM is always useful, but for Dwarf World I think it's necessary).  Dwarf World is more of a series of seeds then a full grown adventure.  A strong GM will bring those seeds to full growth, but that also means that no two GMs will run it the same way.  As a side note, it is almost system neutral, and it could easily be used to borrow ideas for use in other fantasy RPGs.

From the blurb:


This is a gamemaster adventure intended for Tunnels & Trolls version 7.5 (although it will work with any version of the rules). It is for Level 1 to Level 10 characters, and there should be at least one dwarf in the party. (Although for a REAL challenge, you could try it without a dwarf companion!) Although there is wealth and knowledge to be won in this scenario, the real challenge will be to get your characters back out alive. Good luck with that.

Carcosa (and Isle of the Unknown) Have Landed!

I guess there is an advantage to living in the Big Apple - I get Raggi's stuff from the other side of the pond relatively quickly.

Now, I've been slowly pouring over the PDFs of both Carcosa and Isle of the Unknown for the last few weeks.  They were impressive, but with so much else on my plate, both on the virtual review pile and at work, I never really gave them a solid look.  I have the dead tree versions in my hand now and I am beyond impressed.

Raggi (and of course, the writer of these two releases, Geoffrey McKinney) has added two amazing books that I'll be happy to pass around at the next Gathering of Fools, so as to show my friends the quality works of independent RPG publishers these days.

Carcosa is printed on high quality, parchment lile paper.  At least, that's what I'm calling it, I have no expertise in the field of paper.  Unlike Vornheim, I don't have to go blind trying to read it.  First printing of 2000 copies.  Woot!  I am very excited to snuggle up with this.

Isle of the Unknown uses a stiffer, smoother paper.  Why do I care about paper when 90% of my RPG purchase are in PDF?  How the f' should I know?  The full color artwork is on just about every page.  It looks good and feels good.  I'm going to need to break out my book light for these.

Carcosa includes a fold out map / periodic table / entities and ritual key on a thin glossy cardboard.  Isle of the Unknown includes a poster of the cover / keyed map of the Isle of the Unknown on the same type of paper / cardboard.  Pretty neat.

We also get maps for the two books printed on a vinyl / latex thingie (think of one of those maps thorn into you Ultima / EQ game box, but not on cloth).  The hex numbers aren't easily readable, but  these are more novelty then anything else, so that's forgivable.  All in all, an excellent surprise in the mail today.

I'll follow up with reviews over the next week or two.

Tavern Year End Retrospective

Another year slain!

Lets see, this post will put me at 827 for the year,  Fairly productive, if I must say so myself.  If this was my year end report at work I'd be comparing to last year's numbers and probably indicating the amount of posts that were actually reviews, broken down as a percentage, with average number of comments per post, etc... can you tell how the past week was for me?  heh

What were my biggest and bests posts of the year?

(in no particular order)

1 - First look, Pathfinder Beginner Box - This got picked up by Paizo's Facebook page.  By number of views, this was my post of the year.  By far.

2 -Is Wizards's Latest Cease and Desist an Introduction to D&D 5E? - pure conjecture on my part, but it does seem that 5e is going to be sooner then later.  47 comments in the thread too.

3 - Fool Me Once, Shame on You.  Fool Me Twice, - the Mazes & Perils fiasco.  I'm still going to label the author of this "product" an azzhole.

4 - First Look at the Tome of Horror Complete for Swords & Wizardry - I still love to look at my hardcopy.  I need to finish renovations just so I can display it properly.

5 - Reaction From Outside the Blogosphere - LotFP's Weird Fantasy is "D&D Porn" -   Second Third most trafficked post, exceeded only by the Pathfinder unboxing and Mage the Awakening.  Crapload of good comments too.

6 - The Draconic Archeologist: Mix n Match, The Dragon #8 - The draconic Archeologist post tended to do good traffic, little feedback.  I packed up my Dragon Archive CDs for the renovations, and the copies I had moved to the computer are on my other computer.  Still, I should probably return to these.

7 - Mage: The Awakening Demo Part 3 - This is right up there with the Weird Fantasy is Porn post traffic wise.  No idea why.  Interesting tho.  (Actually, It has over a hundred more views then the WF post - the strength of the WoD I guess)

8 - Castle Keeper's Guide for Castles & Crusades Released on RPGNow - this was like the spotting of a mythical beast.  The pricing of this mythical beast's PDF is still way too high tho'.

9 - Kindle Fire and My Gaming PDFs - A Working Combination - my mother bought herself one and my wife asked for one for Christmas (and is constantly on it, mores then her iPad).  It seems other's are also interested in using this for their gaming PDFs)

10 - The Red Headed Step-Children of AD&D - Classes - Wherein I talk about the classes that tend to fall by the wayside.

Of course, we also added some dragon puppet videos, and I started up two new blogs this month - Saturday Knight Special and Tales of the Blue Knight.  It's going to be a fun filled 2012.

Where the Damn Puppet?!?

I just realized I haven't posted a Feltothraxis video in nearly 2 months.

Boy, he's going to be pissed when I finally get around to him.  Hopefully some reviews and a Dragon puppet video this weekend.

I miss him ;)

RANT WARNING! Captcha Friggin' Hell!

Alright.  I'm not complaining about the Blogger captchas - those I can read.

I'm complaining about a forum for a new RPG (won't name it yet) where it uses "Chaptchas From Friggin' Hell!"  WTF were they thinking?  The letters would be hard enough to read if they weren't indistinct with multiple friggin' lines going thru them!  I gave up after 6 tries with the SAME DAMN LETTERS!  Even with the image changing and the letters staying the same I couldn't figure it out.  I finally settled on having it read them to me.  I might as well be blind at this point (for a while there I thought I might have been going that route).

Finally got the letters right, but then my password wasn't long enough.  Got it long enough, but then it told me I needed upper case, lower case and numbers.  Holy shit, it's a freaking forum for a frigging game!  This forum has more security then my bank, which is scary.  I was really close to saying f' it all, I was getting that frustrated.

I think I need to pour a pint from my Beertender to relax.

Not that I really need an excuse to pour a pint from my Beertender.  ;)

Tales of The Blue Knight - The Blog

I'm going to revisit Tales of the Blue Knight, where I took some of my experiences as a cop and translated them into a fantasy setting (with occasional game details).  The first 2 or 3 posts will be re-publishings of what I did here and I'll be writing new ones.  It should dovetail fairly well with the Saturday Knight Special blog.

So, first (re)post is up here.  Enjoy

Mini Review - The Little Book of Dungeons: Geomorphs

I am so frickin' behind on reviews it just isn't funny.  That being said, this is too cool (and too fairly priced at a buck) for me to hold off on reviewing.

Simply put, The Little Book of Dungeons: Geomorphs is 14 pages of varying sized geomorphic map pieces for you dungeon delving pleasure.  With these and The Tomb of Adventure, what more does an aspiring DM need?

Endless dungeon creation for the price of... uhm, what CAN you get for a buck these days?

From the blurb:

Within this booklet you will find over seventy geomorph-style dungeon maps that will allow you to build good old-fashioned dungeon layouts (be they large or small) for your players to explore.

Important Note: This product is a compilation of all the maps from the 2011 Map-a-Monday project (as featured on the CSP blog) as well as several new maps exclusive to this product 

What Star Wars: The Old Republic Does Right (and wrong)

I've been spending some time playing the new Star Wars MMO RPG and I have some observations I'd like to share:

Quests / Missions - well done. Love the voice acting. It's like playing one of Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic games. Really, it's a great high point.

Crafting - get done by your henchmen/ companions, so you don't ave to grind the time. You can still play as the crafting goes on in the background.

Solobility - Much of the game's missions can be completed without the help of other players. Not bad if you only have an hour or so to kill.

Graphics - its a beauty

There are some cons that I've noticed so far:

Grouping - there really isn't this driving need to group. I've done some stuff with my son, but for the most part, I've been soloing. It's almost like a stand alone game with other players in the background.

Group size limit - apparently its limited to party's of 4. Most games of the type use a group max of 6. If my whole gaming group transitions to SW, we'll have to split into multiple groups.

Space combat - I've only tasted it, but it seems fairly mindless. Good expo tho. Maybe that's to encourage folks to do the mindless space combat.

I'm having fun with it so far, but Skyrim calls to me far more then this. I'm not sure if it will be a keeper or not. Time will tell.

Free Adventure - The Hideout (Savage Worlds)

White Haired Man put's out stuff for 3.5e and Savage Worlds.  In fact, my one time actually playing in a Savage Worlds session was play testing for White Haired Man via Fantasy Grounds 2.  Oh, did I mention that they put out a lot of stuff for use with Fantasy Grounds 2?  They do.  Good stuff.

In any case, they are also getting into the e-book side of things with their releases.  PDF, as much as I love it, does have it's limitations.  This free release of The Hideout is in ePub format, the same format used by the Nook and the vast majority of ebook readers out there.  It is not in mobi, which would be the Kindle's preferred format.

So, if you have a Nook, Sony E-reader, or one of dozens of other ebook readers, give it a shot.  It's free, and it's a fee glimpse of the possible future of game books on your favorite ebook reader.

From the blurb:


A fragment of an ancient bridge offers a commanding view of the surrounding swamp-and a defensible refuge for poachers.


Outlaws called poachers roam the swamps and nearby river lands. Poachers continuously spar with the Order of the Jade Leaf, waylaying shipments of swamp plant products, dodging and fleeing patrols. They turn remote islands or forgotten ruins into bases.

The Hideout is a Simple Scenario designed for 3-5 Novice to Seasoned characters, with an estimated 4-8 hours of playing time. A Simple Scenario is a set piece encounter or very short adventure the gamemaster can insert when needed to fill a gap or spice up an ongoing adventure. In this Simple Scenario, the characters stumble upon a poacher hideout at the ruins of a Harlass Orn bridge.

The basic Kith'takharos Setting is available for free in a system neutral format at the White Haired Man web site.

Giant Rats Invade Lower Manhattan!

I saw this pair when I went out for lunch today. I'm going to guess there is a "Union Issue" going on at the location.

Still, this is the correct sizing for Giant Rats ;)

Larm Plus Trilogy Bundle for Free - Limited Time - (OSR)

Brave Halfling is giving away the Village of Larm and three associated adventures for the amazing price of free.  Let that settle in for a minute.  A sandbox setting AND 3 modules.

For free.

Talk about a Christmas Gift!  Free until Jan 2, 2012.

A full campaign starter worth 20 bucks for nada.

You'll kick yourself if you miss out.

What Skyrim Does Right in the Eyes of a Table Top Roleplayer

Sacrilege, I know.  How can a computer / console RPG teach anything to an Old School Grognard that likes his dice real (or really nice virtual) and his players more so?  The secret's in the presentation, or, more accurately, how the encounters are presented.

First thing first.  Skyrim is the sandbox that defines the sandbox.  Actually, pretty much all of the Elder Scrolls line is sandbox style, but this really is.  Wander into stuff that's too tough for you?  Return later.  Thank God for saved games ;)

Anyhow, this is the first computer game I've played in... forever... that I actually let the atmosphere totally draw me in.  Sounds, sights - the whole thing had me literally sitting on the edge of my seat in the first dungeon I stumbled into. Even my wife noticed.  I was actually getting scared by the sound of steps getting closer, not knowing what it was coming towards me.

Sounds are something that can definitely be used to enhance a tabletop RPG session with the right group.  Some may find the occasional sound effect more of a distraction that an enhancement, but if you can get the right group together, you may certainly add some depth to the RPG experience.

Same goes for visuals.  I've found trap switch plates by actually seeing the on the screen (usually after stepping on them, but still.  I'm not sure if you could show the party thief a sketch of the room with a possible trap and adjust the time he has to study it by his thieving skill - the higher his skill, the more seconds he has to look before describing his actions - but it would certainly be a nice twist, and add more role-play to the roll and play.

NPC that have an actual schedule that they keep is an excellent tool for a DM.  Danny the Bard is at the Minstrel Boy four nites a week, The Prancing Pony two others, and the Inn of Ill Repute on the night he isn't working.  When the party needs him and his lore knowledge, they may need to track him down.

Anyway, my wife will soon regret buying me this.  I think it's a game I plan on finishing, and that means lots of time on the PC.  Sorry lass. :)

Post Christmas Update

Well, didn't get the reading in that I had hoped to.  Ah well, maybe next weekend.

However, I did get some cool gamer gifts.

I mentioned Skyrim earlier.  My god, but this is a time sink.  Closest thing to a true roleplaying experience in a single player computer game in... forever in my opinion.  I'm going to have to set a limit on my game play, or I'll find myself doing little but playing it.  And playing.  It's that good.

The wife got me the Call of Cthulhu Card Game.  She doesn't realize yet, but she'll be my main partner in playing this one.  Time to test the sanity ;)

She got her own Kindle Fire from me.  Yeah, I'm turning her into a gadget geek too... heh

Merry Christmas To All...

It's been a very good year here at the Tavern, and today was an awesome Christmas.  Skyrim is going to be my crack, I can tell ;)

God bless everyone on this special day.

Christmas Eve Free Swag Stocking Stuffer #5 - Voidjumpers of Space

Disappointed that Spelljammer never seemed to hit all the right buttons?  Maybe you just want a new take on it.  Or, God forbid, you might want to try it in your 4e game ::shudder::.  Eh, maybe use it in Pathfinder and ACKS.  In any case, Voidjumpers of Space is a new spin on it.

From the blurb:

Updated: This second release contains greatly expanded adventures, expanded stat blocks (Essentials-style), new ship types, a much cleaner layout, and many more small improvements.

There's this legendary D&D setting: Spelljammer. D&D in space. Wizards and barbarians on wooden sailing ships, flying through space to plunder shattered worlds.

Unfortunately, TSR rushed the setting into production, so many of its components suffered from wonky mechanics. It was an imaginative setting that could be frustrating to play. And sadly, it wasn't updated for either the 3rd or 4th editions of D&D.

I'm now attempting to fix that.

This is the second release of Voidjumpers of Space, an attempt to solve all of those problems. It's free (as in beer); you can donate a couple of bucks if you feel it's worth your money.

A few goals here:

• I incorporate reader comments into each release. I want this to be a community-driven setting.
  • I'm also noodling with the idea of a Kickstarter project to fund awesome art like this.
• This is an attempt to re-capture the overall flavor of Spelljammer, with a new world. So, this is not an attempt to clone Spelljammer; it's not Spelljammer with the serial numbers filed off. That would both annoy Wizards of the Coast and be far less fun than creating a new set of races, classes, etc.

Head over to my blog, the RPG Doctor, for more information. Thanks for reading; may Voidjumpers find a fun place in your game.

Christmas Eve Free swag Stocking Stuffer #4 - Adventures Dark & Deep

Time for another OSR pick.  Adventures Dark & Deep (AD&D - follow?) is a "what if?" imagining of AD&D 2e.  It's pretty solid but still evolving.  Best of all?  It's free.

From the blurb:

"What if?"

Some of the most intriguing works of fiction have stemmed from those two simple words. What if Hitler had won World War 2? What if the Roman Empire had never fallen? What if John F. Kennedy had never been assassinated?

This work represents just such a "what if" scenario, if perhaps one with less weighty historical consequences. What if Gary Gygax had not left TSR in 1985, and had been allowed to continue developing the world's most famous fantasy role-playing game?

We will, unfortunately, never know the answer to that question, because he did leave TSR in that year, and others took over the job of designing the second (and subsequent) versions of the game. After that unfortunate episode, he was understandably reluctant to give any advice on how he would have carried the game forward.

However, he did leave behind hints as to the direction he would have taken the game. New character classes. Streamlined combat. New spells and magic items. Consolidated and re-worked monsters. We don't have many specifics, but we do have a fair number of "big picture" ideas. All of these have been taken as inspiration for ADVENTURES DARK AND DEEP™.

Bear in mind that the author has no special insight into Gygax's mind on this subject other than what he himself wrote publicly, and certainly the game should not be taken as having any sort of official stamp, either from his estate or the corporations that have taken the game in new directions. All that has been done is to collect the hints he did leave, use them as inspiration, and take off in a wholly different direction than that which happened "officially."

ADVENTURES DARK AND DEEP™ is not a "retro-clone." It does not set out to re-create a particular set of rules from decades past, as do some other games (not that there's anything amiss in doing so!). Rather, it is a new creation, unique unto itself, and does not attempt to recreate any set of rules that has gone before. The game and its materials are compatible with other games that are based on the original and Advanced versions of the world's most popular role-playing game.

The Players Manual includes everything a player needs; character creation rules, race and class descriptions, equipment, combat rules, and extensive rules on magic, with details on over 675 spells and cantrips.

NOTE: This is a free pdf version, and the rules are not in a final state. The game is currently in an open playtest, and your comments and input are more than welcome athttp://www.adventuresdarkanddeep.com.

Christmas Eve free swag Stocking Stuffer #3 - Spellcraft & Swordplay Basic Game

Spellcraft & Swordplay is a nice twist on the typical OSR game.  It is very well put together.  Oh,  and the basic version is free.  Basic as in the classic "first 3 levels". So, what are you waiting for?  You know you need this to complete your OSR collection ;)

From the blurb:

Since Spellcraft & Swordplay was released on Lulu in 2008, almost 800 copies have been sold. Now, we present a free PDF introductory "Basic Set," akin to those games in the legacy which S&S honors. Containing a streamlined (but complete) version of the rules and character progression to level 3, this 48-page book is a perfect introduction to the new class of old school, ideal for introducing new players to the game, or for just having an extra set of rules at the table!

Christmas Eve Free Swag Stocking Stuffer #2 - Lost Roads of Lociam

For you second stocking stuffer of the day, we present Lost Realms of Lociam, a fantasy RPG.

I love free RPGs, not because I'll necessarily run them, but because they are great sources of inspiration in the games I do hanker to play.

From the blurb:

The Lost Roads of Lociam is a fantasy roleplaying game where the players portray characters on the magical world of Lociam, part of a greater story of magic, divine power and the struggle of Order versus Chaos than mortal men can even understand.

This book contains all the rules you need to start playing, including background-information about Lociam, rules various actions, magic, religion and a lot more. Richly illustrated the Core Rulebook will set you firmly on the way to high adventure, only limited by your imagination.

Welcome onto the Lost Roads of Lociam.

This Light Edition is produced for the SVEROK National Gaming Week of 2011 and is a FREE game, containing all you need to play including ready-made characters and a starting adventure. Should you wish to explore more then you can get the full rules here at DriveThruRPG for a low cost

Christmas Eve Free Swag Stocking Stuffer #1 - War of the dead (Zombie Horde Pogs)

I hope to get a few stocking stuffers out today.

First is The War of the Dead "Zombie Horde" Pogs for you to use.  Great for the Walking / Waking dead type games, as well as nasty zombies in your other games.  Use Maptools to snip these for your online VTT of choice.

On the 29th Day of Free Holiday swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeeee! Beware, The Viper (Mini Mini Tunnels & Trolls Solo)

For the Longest Nite Celebration over at Trollhala, Rarr! I'm a Monster released a short short Solo Adventure for T&T called Beware, The Viper.

It's for T&T, so it has to rock!

Tomorrow or Sunday should be the last of the Free swag posts.  Not that I won't be posting free swag when I find it, but I won't be trolling the 'net looking for it ;)

On the 28th Day of Free Holiday Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeee.... Daily Spell List (Pathfinder, but really, works for OSR too;)

Sometimes simple is better.  LPJ Design has released a Daily Spell List... er... list.  Really, three sheets to list you known spells, brief description, etc.  Nothing all that fancy.  Licensed for Pathfinder, but usable by any of the OSR games really.

Much neater then the back of a loose leaf sheet ;)

From the blurb:

Wish you have one place that listed all your spells for the day and you didn't have to flip through books or searching PDFs to find out what that spell does? Help is coming for you in the form of the LPJ Design's Free Daily Spell List. For use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game players and GMs! The Daily Spell List is a printable forms for players and GMs alike which makes managing your daily spell simple and easy. Keep up with your spells without all the head ache you have been used to. Best of all the Daily Spell List is completely free, a gift from LPJ Design and your support of the Pathfinder Role Playing Game.

Christmas Reading List

I'm sure a lot of folks are off next week. If not, most have an extended weekend. Family, gifts and church are on the plates for many of us.

Me, I'm trying to add "reading" to the holiday activities. In my case, I'm referring to actually reading Carcosa and Isle of the Unknown. Can't review what I haven't read, and if I wait to read for the hardcovers to arrive I'll never get it done ;)

Anyone else have a "holiday reading list?"

On the 27th Day of Holiday Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeee: The Lazy GM - Spawn of Non-Terrifying Beasts of Legend! (Pathfinder)

I am sick as a somewhat sick dog.  It's a hacking cough and my voice comes and goes.  When it goes I sound a bit like Selma from the Simpsons, just not as appealing.  Sigh.

But wait, despite my misery, I've found a little gem to put in your Christmas stockings.  As it's for Pathfinder, my OSR friends may see it as semi-precious, but they'd be fooling themselves.  This little piece is a keeper, and it put a smile on my face despite myself.

Yes, I'm talking about The Lazy GM:  Spawn of Non-Terrifying Beasts of Legend!  Come and meet Gabriel, the Were-Toad.  See the Ectoplasmic Cube!  Beware the Plague of Zombie Sheep!  Feast your eyes on the Half-Dragon Donkey and many more!  Or at the very least, a few more.

Not responsible for player's eyes rolling when used.  Besides, it's free ;)

The OSR Christmas Stocking is Full of Goodies This Year

Let's see what we have hanging from the fireplace this year:

Carcosa and Isle of the Unknown by Raggi's LotFP - I really need to find the time to review these two.

The Blasphemous Brewery of Pilz! which I reviewed last night.

Thousand Suns from James of at Grognardia - we've been hearing about this one for a while. I probably won't get a chance to peek until things die down over the holidays.

Weird Adventure - this one came out of no where and looks extremely interesting. I'm finding it hard to resist, but my plate is full, so I think I can wait.

I'm sure I missed a few others. I might need a second stocking ;)