Castles & Crusades 50% Off Sale at RPGNow

My return to active RPG Gaming was due in large part to Castles & Crusades. Heck, I played in a D&D campaign for the better part of two years via Fantasy Grounds 2. It was fun and certainly felt like D&D to me. In many ways, it was my introduction to the OSR before there even was an OSR movement.

I still buy much of the C&C stuff that is released, even if my current game of choice to run as a campaign is ACKS (and of course DCC RPG in shorter arcs). C&C Classic Monsters is the poor man's Tome of Horrors Complete if you ask me ;)

Not everything is on sale for 50% off (regretfully Classic Monsters isn't included) but the Player's Handbook is $6.99, Monsters & Treasures is $5.59 and even the Castle Keeper's Guide is marked down to $12.79. 

That being said, the true diamonds are Fields of Battle at $3.35 (though the mass combat rules can work in most OGL / OSR games), Engineering Castles at $2.10, Engineering Dungeons at $2.39, Arms and Armor at $3.00, Heart of Glass (adventure) $2.12 and the Aihrde Campaign Setting for $3.99 among others (a bunch of adventures are $2.10 each).

Not sure how long th sale is for, so strike while the iron is hot ;)

Next Stretch Goal of the Reaper Miniatures Kickstarter Includes the Swords & Wizardry Complete PDF

Yep, in addition to getting 4 more miniatures at the next stretch goal (for all of you supporting at the Vampire level), you'll also be getting a PDF copy of Swords & Wizardry Complete - that's worth $10 bucks right there! I find S&W Complete comes the closest to playing like the AD&D games I played as a teenager - in other words, it may not be AD&D, but it plays like how WE played AD&D. Hope that makes sense.

Pretty damn cool.

The last value computed (if this were all in metal) is over $1065 for the miniatures that already have molds (and therefore prices) - and 26 new figures + the metal sophie (which you can trade out for $25 worth of other miniatures) + the S&W Complete PDF (if it hits it's next stretch, and why shouldn't it?)

Woot! 250 Patrons at the Tavern!

Adam Bomb is the bomb! ;)

Adam is the 250th patron to sign up to follow the Tavern via Google Friends Connect. Thank you kind sir for joining the fun.

I remember struggling to hit 25 people following this humble blog. We've come a long way.

Sometime this weekend the next DCC RPG contest will go live. I'm not sure what the contest will be just yet, not the prizes, but it will be fun and the prizes will be cool. I'll probably add a few things into the mix like I did last month. If you ever want to know where the referrals from RPGNow go to, they go to prizes and such. Remember, I'm giving away prizes for contest ideas too. Even if I don't use your idea this month, if I use it later I'll still give you the prize.

Finally Downloaded the DCC RPG 2nd Printing

I'm very glad to have an index. I think I'll print the 2 pages out and slip it into my 1st print HC.

I do have a question - they dropped 2 pages of black and white art from the DCC Adventures cover art samples in the back to add in the index. I understand wanting to make sure the PDF file and the print file match and not increasing the page size - no biggie.

Why did the file size jump from 53.3 MB (huge) to 84.5 MB (frikkin' huge) when they removed art? I know there are typo corrections throughout, but that shouldn't have increased the file size by over 50%.

When you are moving your PDF collection over to your tablet, every MB counts ;)

More Thoughts on Adventures For Small Parties

Joseph Browning post a simple work around for small parties - just use an adventure that is designed for a lower level party. For example, a party composed of two 5th level characters will probably get a decent challenge from an adventure written for a 3rd level part of 4 to 6 characters. It's something you need to eyeball more that have a chart or equation to check the balance, but it's doable.

The question then becomes - what of small lower level parties? Two 1st level characters won't last long in the average adventure designed for 4 to 6 1st level characters - that's a fact, especially if it's combat heavy.

Yes, I know -"I write adventures specific to my player characters abilities". Regretfully, not all of us have that amount of free time (and others lack the skill or inclination). That is why adventures are such a popular purchase, especially on RPGNow.

Joseph also posted today that his most popular adventures by sales numbers are the low level adventures.

By extension, this means, at least in my mind, that low level adventures for smaller parties have an underserved audience.

Appendix N Update - 8/23/12 (From Brave Halfling)

Hey folks! Here is where we stand on the Appendix N Adventures Kickstarter: 

First, the Ruins of Ramat, The Witch of Wydfield and The Vile Worm modules as well as the Dagger Kids RPG are all still on schedule to ship in late September. I will start posting pictures of the products as they are being printed and assembled. 

Second, I have been working and will have finished the private forum where those who have pledged at levels that allow it will be able to log on and help create, name and describe major and minor npcs, monsters and locations in The Old Isle setting. I will begin inviting folks to sign up for the forum in order from the highest pledges to the lowest pledges that qualify next week. 

Third, Doug Kovacs is lined up to produce the cover art for the Old Isle Campaign Setting. 

I really appreciate everyone who has or is moving who has emailed me their new address. Just as a reminder, I am setting up a file on every supporter in order to double-check each shipment when it is time to go out - both the products to be shipped and where they should be shipped. Furthermore, I will be sending out a kickstarter survey to every supporter a few weeks prior to each shipment just to be sure I have the correct address. 

(Just got this email from John "Brave Halfing" Adams. It an update on the Appendix N Kickstarter. I figured I'd pass it on for those that might not have been on the Kickstarter email list. As a side note, this isnt the first Kickstarter where I've seen a large % of the pledges failed to go through)

Things are rolling now! 

On a personal note, I used a bit (less than $500) of the Kickstarter money to purchase two printing / shipping tables. These babies have already dramatically increased the number of products BHP can print or ship each day! I will be posting pictures of the halfling family working on them. 

There is some bad news that is two-fold. It appears that nearly $1,350 in pledges never went through - and this includes some of the highest pledges. Times are tough for many people, so I am not upset about it, but it does remove a large amount of money from the total raised. Actually, that amount is about what one shipment to supporters would cost. We will just have to see if it affects the whole program or not. 

In addition, since the successful end of this Kickstarter, two of my artists and my box maker have all raised their prices. Apparently, they feel that I should be flush with money now. Or maybe it is because a number of other Kickstarters are raising tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars, they can just ask and get more money? Either way, I am dealing with it. 

Just so you know, I will begin offering to the public individual Appendix N Adventure modules and an annual subscription (4 modules a year) in September. However, supporters of this Kickstarter will always receive their Appendix N Adventure modules a month before they ship to everyone else and to game stores. Supporters of this Kickstarter already have in essence what is a year’s subscription. ;) 

Lastly, I will also begin taking orders for Dagger RPG kids game in late September as well. Again, nearly every supporter of this Kickstarter will receive a copy of this game master’s shield. 

That is it for now, back to work!

-John Adams

Review - The Monolith From Beyond Space and Time - Part 1 - Into the Valley of WTF!?! (LotFP)

I've been struggling with writing the review for Monolith From Beyond Space and Time for a few days now, for the simple reason as I didn't know where to start. Well, that and I wasn't sure if it was going to make any sense. Especially if I were to avoid "spoilers".  To deal with the "making sense" issue, I've decided to break this review into multiple parts. As for where to start, I guess I'll just start at the beginning. As for "spoilers", I'll indicate when we hit that point - and it will run from there to the end of the post.

Now, starting at the beginning might make sense for most reviews, and maybe it even makes sense here, but I'm not sure. The first thing you, as the future GM of this adventure needs to do is read the Author's Notes. This is shit I usually pass right over, but read them. There is a huge SPOILER ALERT! HP Lovecraft vibe to the Monolith and it's environs, even if nothing is specifically borrowed from his mythos. You do need to understand this before moving on to the rest of the adventure, or else the confusing aspects won't make sense (as they conform to their own sort of reality).

The Valley: Into the Valley of WTF!?!

I really don't know how to describe the Valley. Literally. It's size and effects on the party are random (anywhere from 1' across to 1000 Astronomical Units). Truth to tell, on my first reading I thought all 10 possible effects were actually 10 effects that were always in effect in the Valley, which nearly made my poor GM head explode. I'd like to not have my head explode, and rereading correcting my bad assumption. Still, the Valley is extremely dangerous (Magical Sentience brings your cast spells literally to life that can cast itself at will - just one example)

So yes, your environment can potentially kill you before you even get to the Monument, and that is without using any of the possible random encounters / locations. Now, there are 7 encounters / locations detailed in the adventure. The GM is encourage to add his own. Or maybe just use a D7. Some are a few paragraphs long. Some are 2 pages long.  All serve to add to the general weirdness of the Valley (which is a direct result of the Monolith itself). Some may have long term repercussions on the PCs. As is usual with James' stuff, know how far you want to take it on your players. Or, better yet, make this a campaign ending adventure, because then you may feel less guilt when the characters are forever fucked ;)

Did I mention that the art is excellent? Yep, some pretty sweet stuff in here (and no where near as disturbing as Death Love Doom)

(alright - end part 1.  I'll try to get to part 2 this weekend)

Looking For Ideas For The August DCC RPG Contest

I'd like to get the August DCC RPG Monthly Contest up and running sometime this weekend. Although I have a few ideas of my own, nothing compares to the ideas you guys and gals come up with.
So, give me some! ;)

If I go with your idea, I'll buy you one issue of Toys for the Sandbox (your choice) AND a copy of Tangents #1 - The Barrow Mound.

See, you can win just by helping the contest :)

(and yes, I still need to cut last month's list down to 100 professions ;)

Published Adventures For 2 to 3 Players - Are There (M)Any?

When it comes to published adventures, there is usually a range for the number of players that recommends 4-6. (DCC RPG certainly ranges higher). That is why in my survey 4-6 players plus GM was one of the choices, and it seems to apply for 2/3 of the gaming groups out there. The question then becomes: "How do you modify an adventure to balance for a smaller / larger gaming group?"

For the larger group (or PCs of a higher level than the recommended level spread) the answer is usually to simply increase the number of adversaries. Heck, some adventures even give examples on how to do so. It's not so easy to modify the power level down, or at least, it's not as intuitive in my experience. Which is probably why we rarely see examples of how to power down an adventure.

Why is this important? Fully 25% of the groups (as per my I'm sure "unscientific survey") regularly play with a group of 2 -3 players plus a GM. Assuming folks aren't doubling up on PCs, we're talking fairly lean in numbers adventuring parties. An adventure that is level appropriate for 4-6 PCs is going to be a very tough for 2-3 PCs.

While I don't expect publishers to aim their products at 25% of an already small market, I can't think of any adventures off hand that have easy conversions notes for accommodating a smaller party.

Before someone states the obvious: "Why aren't you just writing your own adventures?" time is often a luxury I don't have, and a well written adventure is a time saver. Having to rewrite one to accommodate a smaller party can be a PITA. I've done it. Just wondering if there is anything out there that takes into account a larger possible spread in the party numbers, especially on the smaller party side of the equation.

$900 Worth of Miniatures for $100 - Reaper Miniatures Kickstarter

This Kickstarter from Reaper is utterly amazing. The sweet point to pledge is $100, which gives you over $897 worth of Reaper Miniatures in high def plastic as of the time I'm writing this. It can only get better before it closes in the next few days. This site (be warned, it's slow to load but awesome) gives you the current lowdown on the value and close ups of the actual miniatures.

Here's the current $100 package with the current stretch goals included-

I haven't painted miniatures in over 20 years, but I guess I'll be getting back into the hobby ;)

Anyone Play HARP?

I have a crapload of the system in paperback - bought when whatever entity that took over for ICE was clearing out inventory. Heck, I just picked up the HARP 2nd edition rules in PDF for 5 bucks (I got a link - if you want the link, let me know - I won't be posting it  it's in the comments of the post) and truth be told, I don't know what the differences are.

Heck, I'm not even sure what the difference is between HARP, Rolemaster and Rolemaster Express.

The thought did occur to me that if I wanted to run a smaller group, say 2 to 3 players, a system like HARP (if you want levels with skills) or Crypts & Things would be the more obvious choices. I suspect with the critical charts, HARP would be a tad less forgiving if the players ran into a stretch of bad luck.

So, can someone tell me a bit about HARP? Is it worth me breaking out the books and giving it a serious read through? Is 1e all that different from 2e? Or should I move them on to storage? (I think the Loot book looked portable to other systems, so that might stay)

Help me Tavern Patrons! You are my only hope ;)

Does Ruleset Impact Expected Group Size?

As I think about group size for RPG sessions (and working on the assumption of one PC per player) the following question comes up for me:

Does the ruleset impact on the group size?

I ask this, because most D&D styled gaming is based on covering the four main classes grouping: fighter, cleric, magic user and thief. Therefore, you need four players (absent multi-classing) to cover the spread.

Crypts & Things is one of the few OSR games that I can think of that does away with the spread of "core four". Fighting classes, an universal caster (mixing magic user and cleric) and a thief. But the thief isn't "needed". He's better at thieving than the other clases, but all can attempt the skills and all get better with them. In Crypts & Things, you can cover the spread with two PCs.

RQ, Legend, Basic Roleplaying, Openquest - you don't have classes, you have skills that define the character. With rules like this (and Savage Worlds and the like) you can create characters that cover more of the spread, if you will. They might not be specialized, but they should be competent.

I'm by no means saying you can't play D&D or a class based system with less than four players / PCs (or whatever the number may be). I ran a game AD&D 2e game for a year with just three players, and a Space Master game for nearly just as long with just two. What I am saying is that certain rulesets default to different group sizes by their very nature. They have a minimum number that fits their "sweet zone".

How hard do you find it if you fall below that number (no cleric or no thief in the party, etc)?

Looking at the Numbers - How Big is Your Group?

As I stated earlier, 310 readers voted in the How Big is Your Gaming Group Poll.  Here's the numbers (complete with comments)

GM +1 player = 9 votes (2%) I expected a larger number, as I've read a number of blogs that talk about 1 on 1 play.

GM + 2 to 3 = 78 votes (25%) This number was actually larger than I expected. I'm happy to see that it is sizable, as I ran a group of GM + 2 for the better part of a year and we had a great time.

GM + 4 to 6 = 206 votes (66%) This group size is the sweet spot, and 2 out of 3 groups fall into it. If you play a D&D styles game, you have a large enough group to cover the 4 main class types and maybe some overlapping.

GM + 7 or more = 17 votes (5%) I expected this to be a bit larger in number, yet closer to the 1+1 numbers. It does seem that gaming groups gravitate naturally to the sweet spot of 4-6 players plus a GM. It might also have something to do with the number of people that can fit around your gaming table comfortably ;)

Now I'm wondering if game system has an effect on the size of one's usual RPG group, as classless systems probably have more flexibility for smaller groups. Something to think about.

"How Large is Your Gaming Group?" Poll is Closed - Time to Pick a Winner

I'm pretty excited by the "How Large is Your Gaming Group?" Poll. 310 blog readers casted votes! Simply amazing. I am at a loss for words, really. I would have been happy if we had topped 100.

So, we have 47 fine folk that left comments on two related blog posts for this contest. 45 on the main post and two on the follow up post. So, 1-45 on the original post, 46-47 from the follow up post - breaking out my trusty d50 (d100/2), disregarding results of 48-50.

Drum roll...

42

Roger from the A Life Full of Adventure blog.

Congrats!

Roger, I need you to email me at erikATtrubluniteDOTnet with the email address you use at RPGNow, and I will see that the fine folks over at RPGNow hook you up with a $10 gift certificate.

Thanks to everyone!

New Feature - Free Game of the Week - Star Frontiers (Remastered)

After passing some emails back and forth between Larry Moore and myself, I kinda realized that my link list on the left side of this blog is lacking any kind of highlighting - it's a fine list, but lists can be boring.

So, every week I'm going to showcase "The Free Game of the Week", although sometimes it may more accurately be a game supplement or adventure (but that wouldn't all fit as a title).

This week, it's the remastered Star Frontiers, a much loved game from my teen years right through High School.

So there you go Larry, this link's for you!  :)

As for the rest of you - feel free to add suggestions for later weeks in the comments section of this post, or send me a message on G+. This should turn into a decent resource for all of us with your help.

Mini Review - Tangents #1 - The Barrow Mound (Generic Fantasy)

I've noticed a recent spike in "generic" adventures and such recently. Maybe its the success (and frequent releases) of the Toys For the Sandbox series, but there is certainly a market for such. For one thing, you don't have to worry about abiding to the OGL or another license. For another, you aren't pinning yourself to a specific ruleset. LL, S&W, ACKS, RQ, Legend, the list goes on. Possibly just as important, you aren't locking yourself into a specific level or power range. Generic might just as well mean "flexible" in these cases.

The Barrow Mound is certainly "generic fantasy". It is systemless. It can work in just about any fantasy type system, and I think would make a sweet little DCC RPG adventure with some work. This is the point where we talk about The Barrow Mound's strength and weakness if you will. It isn't read and drop into play. It has a deep backstory. Deep enough that it should be reflected in the region's history. Which means this is more of a read, revise, tweak and plant sort of adventure. Actually, some of the encounters require fleshing out to tweak to the party you have, so there is prep needed before running this adventure in any case.

The strength of this is that your players will appreciate the depth of the story. Heck, the adventure even ends with a number stories seeds that can build of this one. There is a lot packed into 8 pages of adventure. I just don't see it as drop an play like the adventure states. It's good though. There's almost enough ideas here to flesh out the history of a corner of a sandbox, and isn't that what it's all about, great ideas? The Barrow Mound succeeds in providing the GM with some great ideas.

From the blurb:


Under a black, cloud-choked sky, something stirs near the hamlet of Elrin. Rumors of an unnatural blight, creatures of darkness and evil threatening the countryside abound. Brave souls are needed to dare the twisted forest, to find the heart of wickedness plaguing Elrin and defeat it forever...or be consumed by it.

DCC RPG PDF Updated at RPGNow - Includes Index and Errata

I work up to this email in my mailbox:

Hello DCC RPG customers! This email is to let you know that a new version of the core book has been made available for download. This new version is the same content as the book's second printing. It includes errata and an index. Enjoy!

I'm especially looking forward to the index. I'll check this out when I get home later.

With Swords and Sorcery Style Gaming on My Mind, I'm About to Re-Read Crypts & Things

As nice as Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperboria is as a game with a crapload of options and character classes, it doesn't really satisfy my sweet tooth for true Swords and Sorcery style gaming.

When I first got my copy of Crypts & Things last November (in PDF) I had just gotten married earlier in the month, just started a new supervisory position at work and had just commenced renovations at the house. I did a quick read of the rules and and didn't get to do the multi-part review I was hoping to get to. I wasn't running or playing in any games at the time either.

Now I've been GM'ing and playing again since the beginning of the year and I really have an itch for some Swords and Sorcery styled gaming. I think Crypts & Things is going to satisfy that urge for me. It doesn't hurt that the system is built off of Swords & Wizardry Core, a system I'm fairly comfortable with. Yes, I know all of the OSR games are fairly similar in set up, but some are just easier to run with than others.

Besides, Crypts & Things is much less cluttered than AS&SH (but I will be yoking classes from AS&SH as NPCs in other games, and possibly my ACKS campaign). The DCC ROG most certainly has a Swords & Sorcery feel, but I want to try a system that is lighter. That being said, the DCC RPG is the main factor in my renewed desire to try other S%S style gaming.

Here's a very nice list of what makes C&T different than vanilla S&W core (from page 4 of the C&T rulebook):


Characters

The Fighter has optional fighting styles, to add more
options and fun and to differentiate between fighter
characters.

Adds the Barbarian character class based off the version
of the class originally published in White Dwarf 2 in
1977.

The Thief class., is a more martially-inclined version
of the Thief, inspired by the Grey Mouser from Fritz
Leiber’s Lankhmar stories.

Adds the Magician class, which combines the spell lists
of the Magic-User and Cleric, and then separates them
into White/Grey and Black magic spell lists.

Higher Ability bonuses (+1 to +3) to highlight
exceptional characters.

Removes the Cleric and Magic-user Class

No Elves, Dwarfs or Halflings..

No Turning the Undead either as a class ability or spell.

Life events. This takes the form of a simple table where
characters roll a single D20 three times for starting
characters to learn some of the events that occurred
before they started adventuring and the benefits that
they caused.

Rules systems

A simple skill system based off the Saving Throw
number. Used for class skills (such as the Thieves’
skills and Barbarian’s abilities) and other skills that the
character may have picked up along the way.

Sanity rules. Wisdom is used as a measure of mental
stability. This system is used for both taking mental
damage for witnessing horror and for magicians casting
Black Magic.

Altered damage rules. Hit points become a measure
of exhaustion and fatigue – and are lost as a Magician
casts spells. Constitution is used as a measure of
physical health, and is lost once Hit points have been
exhausted.

Back ground and Setting

Crypts & Things is based more upon the Sword and
Sorcery works of Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber
and Robert E Howard, than the more traditional
Tolkienesque fantasy.

So, I'd say that all looks pretty good. I also have the introductory adventure Blood of the Dragon, which includes a small sandboxie setting. If all goes well, I may run this for a few session in September.

Adventurer Conquerer King System - 12 Session Review

I believe we have played at least 12 session of ACKS - we started in early May of 2012 and have taken off one week a month (sometimes two). So, by my reckoning, we are at 12 or 13 sessions. So, what can I tell you about ACKS?

First, let me "pick the nits" and get them out of the way:

Using the Player's Companion will lead to some unbalanced classes. It's the nature of the beast - the book is in beta. Still, be prepared to fix things on the fly if needed.

Proficiencies are great in theory - most are piss poor in execution. The chance to succeed in most of them is nearly pathetic, which is why I added stat bonuses to proficiencies.

The needless rewording of to-hit, THAC0, whatever to Attack Throws makes the conversion to other OSR games needlessly confusing. It isn't hard, but it is awkward.

Character classes. Many of the character classes beyond the core classes (and in the Player's Companion) default to a campaign setting that isn't available yet. Some of the classes seem to be very campaign specific, so working the into your game may or may not work.

Okay, the nits are out of the way - now to the good stuff:

Spells repertoire for the Arcane Casters makes them sorcerers of a sort, but it seems to be done right. Not saying I didn't throw my own house rules into the mix, but I like the way it is handled, as it gives arcane casters some flexibility.

Proficiencies - once I house ruled them, they became important parts of the game for my group. I do like them.

Levels cap of 14, 10-12 for specialty classes. It keeps the games power levels within the realms of playability.

The combat damage bonus for the fighter type classes means they don't fall behind the arcane casters, which is good (especially with the new found flexibility of the arcane casters.

Long term playabilty - the most easily ported and ground breaking part of ACKS is the framework used at higher levels to accomodate PCs that become rulers or otherwise influential players in the larger world. It is well done and pretty much defines the game. We are no where near that level of play.

So, the question then becomes: Would I run a second campaign of ACKS before running a new campaign. For that, the answer truthfully is "I don't know". I really like S&W Complete and I'm enjoying my short gaming arcs of DCC RPG. If the ACKS game were to come to an end, I suspect I might run with a different OSR style system, not because ACKS doesn't do all I want it to do, but because there is so much out there that I want to play with.

Adventurer Conqueror King or Die! - Zombies on Fire

We're about a dozen sessions into the Adventurer Conqueror King or Die Campaign that I'm been running mostly weekly. The party consists of 4 PCs (covering each of the major food groups) of levels 3 to 4 with a 1st level henchman each. The recent addition of henchman has certainly added to the viability of the party, and allows the party's mage to actively participate when he isn't casting. So, it's a win - win.

The highlights from last night's session:

The party smashed to pieces a one armed goblin statue. That might come back to haunt them - I guess we'll find out in a session or two.

Later, they stumbled into a large ass crypt with 10 skeletons and 10 zombies. Multiple successful turning attempts kept the part from going under (although one of the henchman went down and lost a tooth). This was followed up by multiple tosses of flaming oil complete with splash effects on the retreated and cowering undead.  Most of the zombies made it back to the party to reengage but the damage was done, and the undead fell fairly quickly. Mark off fire for the session.

A short time later they surprised a small group of mongrelmen. After trapping them with a web spell, they were asked the usual basics - coins, magic, loot, where's it at? When no useful answer was forthcoming, they were quickly disposed of. Maybe a "?" for the torture part. ;)

Otherwise, the usual killing, looting, bad jokes and horrible stories. All the reasons you love to play RPGs and more.

Mini Review - Fistful of Fantasy: 01 (Generic)

Do you remember the Hook, Line and Sinker series from Knights of the Dinner Table? A Fistful of Fantasy is basically that, but with a higher standard of writing.

It's not a unique way to present plots with options - Toys for the Sandbox does something similar, but it is effective.

So, what do you get for your 69 cents? (James D, I'm going to have to summon my Research Assistant to handle your "in-joke ;)

You get 5 plot hooks or Legends, presented as a small piece of fiction that the players may overhear or have fed to them when appropriate. This is followed by The Truth behind the Legend - what actually happened. You are then presented 2 to 3 Stories. These are the seeds for the GM to work out further for the players to explore. Similar to TftSB, you don't need to waste Stories that you don't use immediately. There's enough here to use for inspiration later.

Each of these 5 plot hooks takes up a page, including a decent piece of art on each. Well, done James. I'll be looking forward to more in the series. (note, at $0.69, there is a $0.35 surcharge for orders under $0.99 - so buy this with something else on your list. It's certainly worth $1.04, but you might want to pad you order)

From the blurb:


From the author of the '100' series of Adventure Seeds books, a new, shorter form source of inspiration for Games Masters. They might be adventures, non-player-characters, monsters, places... all ready to be dropped into your fantasy campaign, regardless of system.

In this booklet:

The Dragon's Head Inn: Augury to the masses and site of the Blue Moon Festival. A wild stopover for travelling adventurers.

The Blackberry Wilder: A different kind of dryad with a thirst for blood and the thorns to get it.

The Shrieking Tomb: Not every vampire can escape its grave to bring terror, but then again, maybe it doesn't need to.

Fimble Finesmoke: Halfing tobacconist, herbalist and fan of experimenting with the inhalation of substances.

Elesha the Exotic: Immortal elven companion looking for interesting and exciting places to be to distract her from the boredom of centuries of life.

Mail From Finland - LotFP in the House!

Just checked the mail and it seems my package from Finland has arrived. I was an Indiegogo supporter of The Monolith From Beyond Space and Time and I've had access to it for a few days now, but it is really nice having it in dead tree format. As I've said earlier, it's not an easy read as there is a crapload to absorb. Damn good stuff.

I've already posted a review of Death Love Doom, based on the PDF. I will say I like the fact that the cover is not attached in the print version, just like the classic TSR modules of old. The ability to easily reference the maps while reading the text is a godsend for nearly every adventure, and this one is no different. I do like the prominent 18+ Graphic James used on the back cover.

Green Devil Face #5 was added to the Indiegogo fundraiser for The Monolith. I've only now had a chance to flip through it, and t here are some fun alternate rules to play with. I think the next OSR style game I run will either be LotFP Weird Fantasy or Swords & Wizardry Complete. There is a bunch of usable tables and stuff in here. I'll give it a review later.

Two Days Left in the Poll - 245 Votes So Far!

I am continually being humbled by the response of the readers of this blog. First, last months DCC RPG contest, which had 133 entries. Now, the poll thats been running for the last 5 days (2 days left as I write this) - 245 votes.

245 votes in 5 days.

I would have been happy with 100 before the poll closed, and we might come close to 300 at this rate. If that isn't a humbling experience, I don't know what is.

I'm kind of surprised at the extremely low number of 1 on 1 play - I somehow expected that number to me larger. Not large, but larger.

Looking forward to the final results. :)

The ENnies Are In - So, When Do We Get the OSRies?

The ENnie Awards have been awarded. Notice a severe lack of anything vaguely OSR related? Not that it surprises me, as we are a "Niche Within a Niche" (some folks get all pissy when that is said, but it is true). Still, it would be nice for some of the publishers, games and products we all use and love to get some recognition.

I know we have NTRPG Con's Three Castles Award, but it really doesn't get much notice. I'm not sure if it's the size of the con, lack of awareness amongst the publishers and blogs or what. It would be nice to have an award for the OSR that was not only recognized but involved the larger OSR community in deciding who gets an award (and recognition).

So, thoughts? Ideas? Stupid idea?

Tenkar's Magical Tidbits: Azlyn's Serving Tray (and Shield)

Heres this weekend's magical tidbit:


Azlyn's Serving Tray 

This is a round serving tray in appearance, approximately 2' in diameter and made out of silver. It has etchings in the silver of mountains and the like. When placed against the owner's forearm, it adheres to the arm as if attached as a normal shield. In combat, it is as effective as a normal shield but it is highly resistant to damage. On a roll 1 point less than what is needed to hit the user of the shield there is a chance that the opponent's weapon might get stuck. A strength check vs DC 10 must be made by the attacker or the weapon becomes stuck to the shield. Depending on the size of the weapon, this can make things awkward for the owner of the shield. (it is also highly effective at reflecting gaze attacks)

When used as a serving tray, items carried by the tray will not fall or slip, although drinks may spill from their containers.

Games From the Basement - GURPS Conan Solos

It's been a while since I've posted a Games From the Basement post, but I have a fun one tonight. We''re getting new bedroom furniture delivered tomorrow, so of course that meant more digging thru stuff that was buried away.

Tonight's find was not one, but two GURPS Conan Solos - Conan and the Queen of the Black Coast and Conan the Wyrmslayer. I can't for the life of me understand why I avoided Tunnels & Trolls solos back in the day, but I was willing to slog through GURPS Conan Solos - go figure.

Heck, it looks like I even stated out my own character, because I hated using pregens - it just felt kinda pointless to use a character that was not your own.

Wow, these things even included combat maps. I'm pretty damn sure I never bothered with using that in a solo ;)

Where D&D Goes, So Goes the Hobby - So, What's Next?

I was giving this some thinking after watching the D&D Keynote Presentation last night. I have to say, as much as D&D Next, at least the parts I've seen, are certainly not for me, I truly do wish it success. Heck, I wish it is extremely successful, because success for D&D Next will be a success for the hobby as a whole.

Am I taking anything away from Pathfinder? No. But D&D is still the marque name for the hobby. Even if you play Pathfinder, the act of roleplaying is often referred to as "playing D&D".

Sure, if there was never another single item released for RPGs, there is still enough out there to last me several life times. So if D&D crashed and burned, and the hobby went to ashes with it, I'd still have more than I'll ever need. But that's being selfish.

For a hobby to live and breath and God forbid, actually grow, it needs fresh blood. If D&D Next is done right, it will bring in fresh blood to the hobby.

One thing D&D Next HAS done right is dial back the 3x / Pathfinder complexity level. A simpler core game with hopefully an inexpensive buy in should lower the entry bar to the hobby, and that is a good thing. D&D has been in the past, and should be in the future, the "Gateway Game" to the hobby.

If they are wise, they will publish the core rules as a boxed set. The Pathfinder Beginner Box is by far the best introduction to the hobby currently in print. WotC should do whatever it takes to do it one better with D&D Next.

I doubt I will ever play it (again - I did an early beta) but I will buy the first rules release when it comes out.

I'm not going to invest in the 6 book series that will reset the Forgotten Realms YET AGAIN! I'll wait for someone to give the plot summaries in a blogpost somewhere when they are published. That's just too much of a money sink for something I'll never read.

Some Further Thoughts on the GenCon Keynote Address

I've had some time to think about last night's GenCon Keynote address, and it was in all honesty, a whole lot said for very little of worth.

If you tuned in for D&D Next News, there was very little.

If you were looking for some self-back slapping, there was a moderate amount.

If you wanted to see a marketing department written presentation from the WotC Fiction Publishing Division, you probably got way more then you expected or ever wanted. It was slick, but the video took away from the otherwise personable but scripted interactions taking place on the presentation stage.

If you wanted to see Elminster, Ed Greenwood came in costume. Wait, no, Ed came as himself, which means he looks just like Elminster. He has a great voice for voice-overs, but it was overdone in the presentation. Hell, the whole fiction aspect was overdone and overblown. It is obvious that WotC needs to push it's fiction line as it's RPG revenue is tanking between editions, but if you didn't know any better, you would think D&D was a fiction line and not a game line. Hell, maybe that's the future we saw last night.

If you wanted to see a unique and exciting game world discussed, you were instead presented with yet another revision of the Forgotten Realms. Again, as fiction is apparently what they are putting their hopes in, I understand why the Forgotten Realms are important, but personally, I'm tired of the bland and repetitive Realms.

As for the promise of releasing previous edition products in electronic format in 2013, there is only one reason to do so - dollars. As it is WotC and their associated history of dealing with electronic releases of their earlier products (klusterfuck comes to mind) I would be very weary of their implementation. Unless it is released in a manner that will not be revocable, I'll stay clear.

Highlights From the WotC D&D Next Gen Con Keynote Address

Yep, just for YOU I listened through nearly every minute of the D&D Next seminar that was streamed live from GenCon. I don't know if I made my sanity save yet - time will tell. Here are the highlights, in no particular order:

1 - A whole lotta nothing ;)

2 - Forgotten Realms will be the first setting. It is being strongly linked to the fiction side of the company (which it always has been). Still, the marketing push for the series of novels introducing the revised Forgotten Realms was damn heavy. Seriously, the books gotta sell for WotC to have a chance of making their Hasbro set sales goal.

3 - There will be electronic releases of all of the prior D&D stuff - but they didn't say PDF. My guess? Some proprietary viewer so you can only use it on your PC - because you know about those evil pirates, they're everywhere! If they do go back to PDF, I want my file access at RPGNow returned to me. I paid for that shit! Grrrr!

4 - Uhm - something about critical failures, different magic systems, releasing the Sorcerer and Warlock this weekend for levels 1-5

5 - Oh, and D&D is the only game that tells you to ignore the rules when needed. Apparently no other RPG does the same. Thanks Mike! They must have that copyrighted or something...

Obligatory "I'm Not at GenCon" Post

I've gone to one GenCon in my life. I believe it was back in '92 (although it may have been '93). It was in Milwaukee and we never even had a chance to do a brewery tour, although we did find a nice pub and restaurant to hit every night after midnight for beer and grub.

Things that stick out to me?

At 7 am, with no traffic on the streets, pedestrians were waiting for the "Walk" sign. We were a bunch of New Yorkers - dodging traffic is second nature for us.

I didn't smell gamer funk until Saturday, but maybe it's just that the ventilation system was working really well.

There was a Spelljammer Miniature Battle Gameswith huge ship models and a crapload of players. "Slade" was running it, then had to run to the bathroom and put me in charge for like minutes - definitely a highlight.

Picked up a signed copy of Rifts by Kevin and Kevin from Palladium Games.

Also grabbed a copy of EGG's Dangerous Journeys over at the Mayfair booth.

Played in a few tourneys. Ranked high enough it one to get a $10 Gift Certificate to the Dungeon Hobby Shop in one of them.


Also sat in on 2 or 3 seminars - boring as all hell ;)

So Much To Read, and Monolith From Beyond Space & Time Tops the List

Yesterday I reviewed Death Love Doom by James Raggi. To say it has a heavy read is pretty accurate. Not long, but not easy. Next up will be Monolith From Beyond Space & Time, Raggi's take on writing an adventure in the HP Lovecraft genre. It is significantly longer than Death Love Doom. If it works as well as Raggi hopes it works, it might convert very well to a DCC RPG Adventure, and I'll certainly be reading it what that in mind.

Every couple of days I check the RQ6 website to see if they've released an fillable PDF for the RQ6 character sheet. It's at least a month late in coming. My episodic review of RQ6 is on hold until / if it ever gets released. My next step was to post a character that I would create, going through the steps of character generation in the book, using screen shots to illustrate. No fillable PDF, no character generation post. Truth to tell, I was kind of disappointed with the softcover I received. Nothing inherently wrong with it, just very expensive for a paperback release.

I also need to read through Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperboria. What I've read so far is good, but not S&S as I've come to know it. I think Crypts & Things cover that base better. I suspect AS&SH will play way as high fantasy with a S&S twist, but not low fantasy S&S. I could be wrong.

Can't forget the Myth & Magic Player's Guide, but that requires a password to read, so it's a pain in the ass to use on a tablet. Why they had to use password protection on it is beyond me, as anyone who might share it with another would certainly give them the password. It won't stop piracy, but it certainly is a pain in the ass to the legitimate Kickstarter supporters. So, that's kinda low on the reading list.

On the Sc-fi side of things, I need to read my playtest copy of Starships & Spacemen. I'm hoping this supports episodic play, as that would work extremely well under the UA-LC umbrella.

I'm sure I'm missing stuff - but as it is, there's a crapload of reading on my plate. Not to mention the writing I need to do. Writing is like trying to hit a moving target - the damn shit is continually morphing on me and keeping me on my toes.

Mini Review - DCC #71 - The 13th Skull (DCC RPG)

The 13th Skull is a mixed bag, almost quite literally, as it is two adventures in one package. The first, the 13th Skull, is pretty much a 4th level rescue mission.

The quick backstory is one of the Duke's ancestor's promised the daughter of one of his 13 generation of decedents (and 12 sons of earlier decedents to a devil for power and immortal life - the fool! ;) The daughter gets kidnapped in front of the PCs, the Duke offers a fortune for her safe return and the game is afoot!

The adventure itself is good, but doesn't rise to the level of Goodman's previous releases in the DCC RPG line of adventures. The art still rocks, the maps are awesome, but the adventure itself? Maybe it's the short length - 9 pages plus map less the rocking art. Maybe its the fact that even success will likely result in the death of the hostage (I know it's DCC and it's dark by nature - but when the designer states only one playtest group managed to rescue the princess, I think there might need to be a tweak or two.) It looks like it should play well until the end - so tweak the final battle is my suggestion.

Further in it's favor, the adventure does leave itself a few hooks for further adventures at the end.

Now, on to the second part of the bag: The Balance Blade, a 2nd level adventure. This one is a head scratcher for me.

First, it is stated it is better played as a one-shot, as it concludes with intra-party combat. This effectively means it isn't much use in an on going campaign, which is where I assume the vast majority of DCC RPG gameplay takes place.

Second, it requires mixed alignments to pass through certain areas. Which means it makes it even harder to try to edit this at home into something that will work in a campaign.

Third, it requires props - index cards and colored stickers. I understand why the props are needed, but it makes online play a bit awkward.

It might make a fine one-shot for a con or gameday, but except for the fairly linear map it's going to take some work to fit this into a campaign.

So, one good adventure and one less good adventure, for the price of one adventure.

From the blurb:


Thirteen generations ago, the ambitious first Duke of Magnussen made a fell pact with an unknown power, who asked for but one thing in return: the thirteenth daughter born to a Magnussen duke. Now, generations hence, the daughter of Duke Magnussen XIII is stolen away by a hooded executioner riding a leathery beast. As it wings back across the city walls to drop behind the Duke’s mountain-top keep, all who watch know it alights in the Magnussen family crypts, where the devilish secrets of thirteen generations have been buried and forgotten – until now…

This adventure module also includes The Balance Blade, a short level 2 adventure in which a wizard’s patron makes a simple request: travel to another plane to retrieve a legendary blade of neutrality. But once the journey is in motion, the wizard finds that not all is as it seems!

The More I Look at Scott's Header For This Blog, the More I Love It

When I first saw Scott Ackerman's completed work for this blog (displayed above) I immediately loved it. I also thought I might have to tweak some things about the blog itself (such as the default colors I use) to make it work with the blog. That reaction was based upon seeing the art alone, and on my tablet.

Now that I've seen the header art on my 27" screen at home, I'm not changing a thing! Holy shit, but Scott did an amazing job matching up to and complimenting the colors I use on this blog.  As someone else said, it lightens my page and integrates perfectly.

Great work and a great eye by Scott. I'm even more floored than I was before.

Mini Review - Death Love Doom (LotFP)

Let me be blunt - Death Love Doom is a NC-17 adventure. The art makes it obvious, but even reading (let alone planning out the way to run it in your head) is disturbing and personal. Which, admittedly, is what James is going for.

For Death Love Doom to be effective, it has to be unnerving and uncomfortable to not just the PCs, but the players as well. In truth, for that to happen, the GM is going to have to be a bit unnerved by the whole thing himself.

At it's simplest, Death Love Doom is a haunted house type of story. As such, it is dying to be used as a sort of Halloween type gaming session. I used to use Ravenloft one-shots for that stuff back in the day, but this - this would have been the "piece de resistance". Nothing would ever top it. That being said, I don't think I'd find players who would want to run it, or something like it, a second time. Once is probably all that any has in them.

If I have one complaint, it's the art. Not that it's bad - it is amazingly well done and horribly disturbing. My complaint is that it is interspread throughout the adventure and there aren't second copies in the back. These should be handouts or visuals for the players, because as we've been told numerous times in our lives - "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Here, I'll give you a small piece of one of Kelvin Green's pieces:

Uhm, yeah - it gets much more graphic. But that's worth at least it's share of a thousand words.

It's good though. A guilty good. Guilty good in "I'd love to run a group through this just to see if any 'tap out' before the end" ;)

Is it a thing of nightmares? Perhaps. I can't recommend this for everyone. This is graphic, emotional and   mental horror. If you aren't into that type of stuff, give this a wide berth.

Renovations in Progress

Thanks to Scott Ackerman, The Tavern has a new header. Really, really awesome work.

It does remind me though that The Tavern is overdue for a cleaning. Now that it has a new sign, I need to work on other stuff - cleaning out the blogroll of dead or orphaned blogs, check the links to the left to make sure they are still accurate, trim out some of the dead weight, maybe change the layout... lots of stuff to look at.

Don't tell anyone, but I find myself constantly opening up my blog's page just to look at the new header art. Can't wait to see it on the 27" screen, not the 7" tablet. ;)

New Blog Header by Scott Ackerman is Live!

I'll let this speak for itself :)

Amazing, isn't it?

You can view Scott Ackerman's other work here.

Mini Review - ilialm, The Dwarf Mine - Toys For the Sandbox #31 (Old School Generic)

Why does a capital "i" look the same as a lower case "l" when typed?  sigh

It's been a while since I've had a chance to review an entry in the Toys For the Sandbox series and I figured for my next review I'd start with something special. ILIALM, The Dwarf Mine. There, all caps so you can tell the letters apart.

Ilialm is a cave based location, adventure, place to drop in front of your players when they zig and you were ready for a zag. It's got dwarves with a twist.

It follows the fairly usual TFTS menu - Six possibly way to set up the encounter, each with three twists. I often find that the most fun is to use two complimentary "possibilites" each with their own twist - it really adds lots of depth no matter which way the PCs run with it.

Ilialm is a change from what's gone before in the series and it is truly impressive. I'm not just talking about some excellent yet low key art or even the awesome map (I'm going to blame the DCC RPG for my current map obsession). Nope, it's things like a printer friendly version of the adventure. Or how about an un-keyed player's map, suitable for use with your favorite VTT (with some great background behind the map too). Heck, they've even included the file if you want to print it in booklet form.

Yep, they've kicked it up a notch and it shows. Damn good stuff.

From the blurb:


This week we venture back into the southern waters to explore the island Ilalim that some of you may remember seeing on the Lost Colony map. Here is an old dwarven mining colony that was forgotten about after a mining accident. One dwarf has found record of its existence but the colony has problems of its own, political unrest and a strange enemy lurking in the old mines below.

This week we have everything you have come to expect except we have set aside the random encounters table for an extra set of rumors, one covers what is going on around the island the other will get the party there. We also have two maps from Teo this time, there was just too much Ilalim to fit on one.

How Large is Your Typical Gaming Session?

How large is your typical gaming session?

For me, it seems to be in the 4 to 6 range for my regular weekly ACKS game, but 3 or 4 for my DCC sessions. So overall, I'm in the 4-6 range.

I'm curious how it is for the rest of you.

GM or player, cast your vote and add a comment below.

One of the commenters will get a $10 gift certificate to RPGNow.

Hackmaster Basic is Now Free in PDF

I wish I knew if this lined up with the print version of Hackmaster Basic or not - I bought 5 (actually they sent 6) copies when they had their 5 for 25 deal a while back. Meant to give copies out to my old group, but the time was never right and they are packed into storage.

This is the Next Edition of Hackmaster - their 5e if you will (as they started with 4e designation). It is not a system I am comfortable with myself. To my eyes it's more of a D&D / GURPS mash-up, which may be the ideal system for some but isn't the ideal system for me.

That being said, the buy in costs nothing and even includes 3 adventures in the rulebook to get you started.

Give it a shot - you might like it... if nothing else the cover rocks!

From the blurb:


Congratulations! In a world where there is no shortage of mediocre games, you’ve managed to find one of the true gems. Designed from the ground up to be played at a table with real life friends, this hard-hitting, old-school game makes no qualms about its heritage. This is the way role playing games were meant to be played and we present to you the best of breed.

This version of the game is 'basic' only in that it serves as a gateway to the dynamic thrill of the HackMaster game. Gone are the days of waiting around for your 'turn', of battling static opponents or of being anything but totally in charge of your own destiny.

We want you to try HackMaster so we're letting you download the basic game for free! What have you got to lose?


Here’s just a sample of what you’ll find in this free 231-page PDF:

• A combat system geared for quick, hard-hitting, dynamic action.
• 11 Ready-to-Play characters
• Knock-back rules that eliminate static “conga line of death” battles
• Penetration damage, damage reduction from armor and shields and revamped ranged combat rules, including shield 'cover'
• A combination of slot and spell point system that allows for 'straight up' mage play but at the same time allows your mage to change spells on the fly or increase a spell’s range, duration and other effects
• 70+ spells (including Skipping Betty Fireballs and Heat Seeking Fist of Thunder)
• Classic fantasy races (dwarf, elf, halfling, human) and classes (fighter, thief, mage, and cleric) for your campaign
• Five clerical classes to choose from!
• An all-new thief statistic: Luck Points!
• Quirks and flaws that transform your PC into a real character
• Building Point rules that let you customize a character to your own style (there are no ‘cookie cutter characters' here!)
• Quick-Start rules for even faster character creation 
• Skills, Talents and Proficiencies (including all weapons and armor) and specialization open to every character class... for a price
• Honor tightly integrated into play and with more flexible usage
• GameMaster chapters with treasure tables, 75 monsters, magic items, tips and more
• Three adventures included so you can start gaming immediately

Where Upon I Eat a Side Dish of Crow

The pissing match that I was having with Vince is over. Although I am happy with the  amicable resolution, I can't say I'm terribly pleased with my heavy handedness in the beginning.

It is easy to step over the line when communication is never face to face - and I did. I'm not saying Vince didn't respond in kind, but I fired the first volley.

Vince has kindly agreed to my suggestion, and is now credited with "additional writing and editing" for Mazes & Perils. I don't know if it was an easy decision for him, but it was the right one. Might have been an easier one of I hadn't started out with two feet on the Irish side of the road (I inherited that with marriage I think).

So, I thank Vince and I apologize for the excessive attitude. I get Grumpy sometimes ;)

(this would be snappier and have links and stuff, but I'm operating from my tablet)

Mini Review - Sepulcher of the Mountain God (DCC RPG)

I've I had a "not quite final" copy of Sepulcher of the Mountain God in my possession for nearly two weeks, and I've been eagerly awaiting it's release so I could talk about it. That time is here.

First things first - I really love Scott Ackerman's artwork. He has some really nice B&W (actually lightly colored) pieces in this adventure. Scott's been doing some really nice pieces for different third party publishers of the DCC RPG and I've really enjoying what I'm seeing. I may need to commission Scott to do a new header for this blog ;)

SotMG is a 1st level adventure that puts the PCs directly on the radar of a God, which can only mean tons of fun, especially when one is playing the DCC RPG. This is an adventured steeped in atmosphere and combat - probably more direct combat that I recall in the other 1st level DCC adventures released to date. So it has the potential to be pretty lethal - I strongly suggest that a group with less than 6 players run with 2 PCs per player. This isn't a funnel, but it isn't going to be easy, either.

It should be playable in a single session, unless your players are the type that turn over every dust mote. In which case, it may take a tad longer ;)

If there is a minor quibble, its that the maps are fairly linear - not literally, but with few true PC choices to be made. Still, in a short adventure, this is to be expected

The inclusion of unmarked players' maps is an extra that I can't stop praising. The maps are nice and clean and perfect for use in a VTT. This alone adds a huge value to the adventure, especially if you DM online like I do.

From the blurb:


Braving the hidden tomb of an ancient tribal king, the adventurers become embroiled in a quest directly from Ira, the Mountain God – find the Skull of Vyache and his magic club, Alceon, that were stolen by Bashkim and the twisted minions of Gelihedres.

Supulcher of the Mountain God is a Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game adventure designed for 8-10, 1st-level characters or can be easily adapted for use with higher or lower level characters.

All products in the Adventure Locale line present one or more dungeons that can be quickly picked up and used for a session of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

A Story of Perils and Mazes

Let's tell a story.

"John" is taking a class in college. He does some research and decides he wants to write his term paper on "13 y/o boys whose mothers' lock them in the basement". He sees a previous student wrote the same and likes the previous term paper so much, he decides to do a homage to it, extrapolating the data to cover "13-18 y/o boys whose mothers' lock them in the basement". He hands the paper in crediting the original writer of the previous paper as the "editor" and himself as "retro-organizer".

His professor isnt sure what to make of it. He had read the original term paper it was based on, but the amount of new material and research was significant. There were problems with some of the material that was repeated verbatim, and in the end "John" decided to abandon the term paper and the class.

Along comes "James". He wants to take the same class and wants to do the same type of term paper. "John" sees him and says to the effect: "I no longer want to take this class. Do you want my term paper?" "James" eagerly takes "John's" term paper, makes a few minor changes and submits it with his name on it "By James". He lists the previous "authors" as "contributor" and "original system and rules authors" after his name and in a much smaller font.

Now the professor is getting pissed. He's definitely seen this before. The tables match the previous copy he pulls out of his desk. Paragraphs may be rewritten but say basically the same thing. There is no way"James" wrote this.

"If I accept this paper, I'll have to bring it to the attention of the school authorities." After a little thought, "James" withdraws the the term paper.

The next semester, "James" rewrites pieces of the previous term paper, changes some numbers on the charts and resubmits it. He wonders why the professor refuses to accept his rewritten term paper, which in substance hasn't changed at all.

So, here's the issue with Mazes & Perils, just so it's out there in plain english - Vince didn't write it. He claims authorship, but it's not his work. It's the work of another (or two others, depending on your point of view.)

If Vince had released it as "Mazes & Perils, based on the work of Holmes and Pinnell. Additional work and editing by Vincent Florio" I doubt there would have been as much as a whisper. Ego apparently wouldn't allow that.

So, where's my facts? As apparently Vince feels I've appointed myself "OSR Cop", I figured I'd take some pictures of the crime scene. To Vince's credit, he does change up the numbers and charts in the second release of M&P. Doesn't change the fact that he is not the author of the work. Editor? Certainly. Additional material? I'll grant him that. Author, let alone sole author? Not happening.

The following screenshots are, from left to right: Holmes 77, M&P 1e, M&P 2e. You'll need to click on the images for a larger view.

Let me put it another way. Vince does podcasts. If Vince were to suddenly say "I'm done with podcasting! Jack, here, Save or Die is all your's now." Jack now goes and instead of writing new episodes of the podcast, uses old scripts, changes a few words and now claims authorship of the "new" episodes. People that listen to Save or Die would be going - "WTF?!? I know I already heard this! This guy "Jack" is taking credit for Vince's work!"

Therein lies the problem - taking credit for work that isn't your own. As a creator, I'm sure Vince has a better understanding of the point being made now.

Racially Aligned Magic Items

Post from my phone and in the car, so please forgive the typos ;)

I'm thinking for next week I may write up a magic item that is linked to one of the core Demi-human races. It's magical in anyone's hands but more effective when wielded by the aligned race.

Nothing I've written or plan to write is a game breaker - they are mostly minor. I'm just interested in trying out another twist ;)

Thoughts?

Where There's a Whip, There's a Way!

I was in no state to be productive last night. I had planned to work on my project (the "micro beer money' project, not my GAPs project - which is in a semi-holding pattern until I can get a bit further on the paying gig) but my mind was not cooperating. Brain fog would be a mild way of putting it. A busy work week, allergies and the change in air pressure had me in bed early.

Which apparently was good. I got up early and went right to work. Even found time for an early morning blog post (and got the magic item of the week up early too). Then back to work. Just sent some stuff off to be looked at.

See, didn't even need to break out the whip. That being said, i suspect my editor was getting antsy to see some results, so hopefully he likes what he sees and he doesn't need to activate the "red pen" too often.

I didn't even plan to do any writing today as I'll be at my in-laws for the afternoon and running my ACKS campaign tonight. So, this morning made up for last night. So long as tomorrow is productive I'll be back on track. Saweet!

I was tempted to work from the Nexus 7 using the bluetooth keyboard and mouse (which is what i grabbed during lunch as work yesterday) but really, why move from a 27" screen if your don't have to?

Tenkar's Minor Magical Tidbits - Backbiter

BackBiter is a magic short sword made out of a black metal - even it's edge is black. It's edge is keen, however, and imbues a +1 adjustment to the blade's damage in combat (no adjustment "to hit"). The blade's special enhancement comes into play when the PC's opponent exposes their back to him. At this point, the player may opt to attempt a backstab (+4 hit, x2 damage). If successful, the blade may not be used again to attempt a backstab for a full 24 hrs. If unsuccessful, further attempt may be made when the opportunity presents itself, up to and until a successful backstab attempt is made.

In the hands of a thief, Backbiter adds to the damage multiplier for one successful attempt per day. So, if the thief currently has a X2 backstab multiplier, he can attempt to use Backbiter for a X3 backstab multiplier until he succeeds, at which point he'd have to wait 24 hrs to attempt a X3 backstab (obviously he'd still be able to backstab for X2).

As a side effect of the black metal, a thief can hide in shadows with Backbiter in hand without fear that light may reflect off of the blade.

There is more than one Backbiter in existence. There have been at least two daggers made to the exacting magical specifications and one long sword is rumored to exist.

One Trick (a Day) Ponies - or - Finding Common Ground Between Always On Powers and Charges For Rule Breaking Abilities

Damn, that was a long as post title.

Anyway, as the weekend is upon us, and as I am geised to procure a new magic item per week on this blog, I got to thinking about the rules managing magic items in most OSR games. They aren't really written anywhere, but they are there.

Permanent, always on power - +1 sword, rings of protection, magic armor, gauntlets, belts, robes and the like. Generally, the item is worn or wielded.

Charged Items - item usually recreates a certain spell and uses 1 or more charges per use. Upon expenditure of the last charge, item is usually rendered powerless and useless.

One use items - potions and scrolls are the most popular such items

X Times per day items - became fairly popular in the 3X edition of the game. Usually duplicates a spell effect. It is similar to a charged item with less charge, but it regains those charges every new day. In 1e, these types of powers were often attached to intelligent swords and artifacts.

So, here's what I'm thinking - An item that can be used once per day to replicate the ability of another character class. The charge is only used up if the use is successful. Otherwise, the PC can attempt to use it again (I might rule that a roll of a 1 on the attempt uses up the power without gaining any benefit for that day).

So, Cyris the Fighter, who finds himself in possession of St. Bertran's Holy Chalice, may use it to replicate one Paladin type power once per day (the power would be cast at the lowest level the power is available - usually level 1)

Rathman the Ranger finds Backbiter, a magic short sword that allows him to attempt a backstab as a thief (using Rathman's attack bonus  - if successful, the blade's damage is doubled).

Just some thoughts as I think about this weekend's mission :)

Draft Cover for Angels, Daemons and Beings Between

I've made no secret of my love for nearly all things DCC. It's a surprisingly really fun system (I say surprising, as the Beta Rules for DCC never struck a cord with me, but the finished release is one of my favorite systems). So, if you see me harping on different DCC projects, get used to it ;)

The cover mock up (not yet finalized) of Angels, Daemons and Beings Between IS something that would make me stop and take the book of the shelf at my FLGS. This is pretty much what I envisioned summoning a patron in DCC would look like.

I'm still a bit surprised that for such an important aspect of the DCC RPG, patrons kinda got the short stik in the core rulebook. Heck, after my first read through I started brainstorming some patron names and backgrounds of my own. Then I realized how painful and time consuming it would be to actually write up a few. I'm glad someone else is doing the heavy lifting ;)

It's a Cat's Life

Anyone who has played in one of my G+ Hangouts game sessions has seen at least the tail of my feline daughter Ashley. She has a habit of walking along my desk, waving her tail into the vid cam. She also enjoys rolling dice - off the desk and on to the floor.

In any case, folks rarely comprehend when I call her a "large cat". She's not fat, she's not stocky - she's just long ;)

She is also my companion when I write. I think I need to write her into a game session at some point. That's it, I'll make her "gaming fodder" ;)

Hopefully she can help chain me to my desk this weekend, as I have a crapload of writing that needs to be accomplsihed.