The Winners of The Grand Original Map Contest Are...

It took us a bit of time to judge this contest, but as +Mark Hassman and +Dyson Logos will tell you, judging is hard when all of the entries are good or better. It isn't easy choosing winners from amongst an abundance of strong entries, but the deed is now done.

The winners of an original Dyson map are as follows:


Dungeon

Beneath the Windowless Tower by John


Creature

Bone Blade by Viz


Trick/Trap/Treasure

River's Bend Poets Inn by Mark Chance


Environment

Mellified Men by Ian Coakley
[entered as monster but very cool Environment]


So, if your name is above, you are soon to be the proud owner of an original +Dyson Logos map. I'll need you to forward me your snail mail address.

If your name is not above AND you entered the Grand Original Map Contest, all is not lost. I have a $5 credit at RPGNow with your name on it. As I said above, all of the entries were strong, so you are all winners in my eyes. Of course, some were bigger winners, but such is life ;)

Email me your relevant info (snail mail or RPGNow e-mail as stated above) at erikATtrubluniteDOTnet and we'll get those prizes out to ya ;)

Hexographer / Dungeongrapher (and more) 30% Off Through March 6th For GM's Day

You probably won't see this sale mentioned in many places, but here's the skinny - everything at Inkwell Ideas Online Store is 30% off with the code: March4 from now through March 6th.

Need mapping software? It's there.

Need to design your own Coat of Arms? There's software for it.

Want your own set of Dungeonmorph Dice?

I believe even the Monster Stock Art is 30& off.

I have everything I mentioned but the Coat of Arms software. Might have to snag that before the sale ends.

Do You Consider Yourself Primarily a GM or a Player

I'm fairly certain I've asked this question around this time last year, but as my readership has grown (and the opportunities to play online have greatly increased with apps like Roll20) I figure GM's Day 2013 is as good a time to ask the question as any.

For myself, I primarily see myself as a GM. It doesn't mean i don't get nervous as all hell before every game session, even with folks that I consider "my friends" (although one-shot pick up style games up that anxiety level). It's just that I seem to be more geared towards the GM's side of the screen.

I do enjoy playing, but I find myself too easily distracted by "down time", especially with Hangout Style gaming, where I can surf the web when I'm not the focus. Being the GM makes in game web surfing much more difficult ;)

So, what do you see yourself primarily as: GM or Player?

GM's Day Sale is Going on For the Next Week at RPGNow

Yep, RPGNow / OneBookShelf is running it's yearly GM's Day Sale.

If it's on sale, it's at least 25% off.

I'll need to take a deeper look over the next few days, but there are some highlights amongst the publishers:

Goblinoid Games has most (not all) of it's stuff on sale, including Rotworld and Starships and Spacemen (both old and new editions).

Chaosium has what appears to be it's whole PDF library on sale including Basic Roleplaying and CoC

Eldritch Enterprises has it's full catalogue on sale. Curse of the Weaver Queen isnt a bad deal for less than 6 bucks.

Goodman Games has all of the DCC adventures for sale, as well as the DCC RPG for $14.05 in PDF. Not bad for a 480 page PDF ;)

more later...

A Damn Cool Kickstarter - Dungeon Deck: Quests Expansion

I need to thank +Tim Shorts for bringing this to my attention, much like he did the Tavern Cards. Tim, I expect you will keep us properly notified of all other card based aids for our OSR gaming (Tim, you should request a commission at some point ;)

Wait, +Tim Shorts , I did send you to look at Drinking Quest I hope...

In any case, Dungeon Deck: Quests Expansion looks like a really handy way to quickly generate (or use for inspiration) a quick and short dungeon. For those times the gang is all ready to play and you have absolutely nothing prepared. Give yourself a minute with this deck and BAMN!, you have something.

I'm in for the starter deck and the two expansions. Luckily my wife does not read my blog...

From the blurb:


WHAT THIS KICKSTARTER IS FOR:

The Dungeon Deck: Quests is a way to create an adventure for one night's gaming (for any fantasy tabletop RPG) in 30 seconds. It has been in print since 2009 in the current format, and we have two expansion decks which we have had printed in a very low number by another printer. We're not as happy with the quality on those, and since we are sold out of them, we're asking for your help to print these two expansions in the better quality format.

Inside the Dungeon Deck, there are seven numbered sub-decks: (in order) Lure, Entrance, Atmosphere, Setting, Map, Challenge, and Reward. The DM pulls one card from each ahead of time, and lays them out, creating the adventure. The only things left to do are decide where the challenge(s) and reward are located (either by a random roll or by choice), and determine the exact challenge. For instance, if the "Orcs" card is pulled, what would be a challenge for a party of five 5th level characters would be deadly for three 1st level characters.

Mike Mearls Latest Legends & Lore Column - Where Less is More (Maybe)

It's been a while since I turned my sights on D&D Next. Really, what was the point? The game to "Rule Them All" had set itself up to fail, trying to be all to everyone. It wanted to cover the desires of the OD&D Grognards right thru 4e. In that madness lies failure.

Then we had this week's Legends & Lore Column - early as it as pointed out elsewhere. Mike tells us that after the core rules, the emphasis will be on story, not mechanics. Fluff, not crunch. This is a complete turn around from the 3e days.

Let's look at Mike's post (original post is here):


It might be strange for the guy in charge of D&D R&D to say this, but here it goes: After the core rules for the game are done, we really want to stop adding so much stuff to the mechanics of the game and shift our emphasis to story (emphasis mine).

D&D is a shared language. The rules serve to make it easier to talk about the game and make stuff happen. They take abstract concepts and give them clear meaning. When we say "5th-level wizard," we know what you can do and how you do it. (well, we did up through 3x - 4e significantly changed the language) We know that because we play D&D. Someone who never played the game would be utterly lost. (again, 4e is a different game with different assumptions than it's predecessors) 

A language works best when everyone who uses it can communicate efficiently. If I described my character as a "prime tier ensign," that doesn't mean anything to you. Could you guess what my character wears, what sort of weapon he might wield, and what special abilities he uses? Any answer you give is a pure guess. (sure - but again, 4e describes a manner of play that is unfamiliar to those that played earlier editions)

For that reason, in building classes, character options, and everything else in the game, we need to stick to things that make sense and resonate with you. That's why we've adopted things like specialties and backgrounds as tools to organize game rules. Rapid Shot and Precise Shot are abstract things that aren't really clear. You can only understand them by knowing what they are. They don't stand on their own in a meaningful way. Describing your fighter as an archer, though, makes sense to anyone. Your character uses a bow. That's self-evident from the word archer. There are still details to study, but the general idea evokes a key fantasy archetype. (So far I'm following)

The trick is that the list of things that resonate is shorter than an unbound list. It's a challenge, but it's one worth tackling. Realistically, I'm willing to bet that most people didn't start playing D&D because they wanted to take Rapid Shot. You probably wanted to play an archer, or a sneaky thief, and so on (I started with D&D because my friends played it and I loved the Lord of the Rings - classes and skills we the least of my concerns - I wanted to share in the excitement of my favorite fantasy stories). The most resonant elements arise from outside the game, in the myths and stories that we're all exposed to. (Gee, just what I was talking about)

The other side to this coin is that with a much-reduced emphasis on turning out new rules mechanics (who would have expected this from WotC?), the material we make receives more playtesting, development, and care. If you want to make an archer option, it has to be a good option. You don't get a second chance at it.

So, that's the general philosophy on expanding the rules of the game.

So basically, less is more. Which may very well mean D&D Next has to live or die on it's own strengths, not by emulating previous versions of D&D. It's an interesting trip this D&D Next has travelled to get where it is now, and with over a year before release, I suspect there will be even more twists and turns between now and then.

Makes you wonder if the release of the previous versions, both in print and in PDF, have as much to do with a "we aren't going to convert many of the grognards, so we may as well embrace them" as it is a cash grab during the lean year and a half left before the new edition releases.

Yeah, I know Grumpy normally handles the D&D Next posts, but I figured I could handle this one. Maybe Next time ;)

My "Old" Group is Talking About Gaming Again - So Why Did They Have to Mention 4E?

My old gaming group (and still close knit group of friends) has started shaking the tree regarding "playing D&D again". Now the core of the group is still based in NYC, but we have others in Texas and Washington State that were added during the MMORPG years.

As a gaming group, we broke up due to the usual commitments - work, family, the complicated lives that adults live, but we transitioned to MMORPGs as it allowed us to game from home and get the most out of our limited free time. I remember waking up at 430 on a Sunday morning to play the original Everquest until about 1030 / 1100, when family commitments would start to come into play).

Many systems were tried, and now we are largely fragmented - heck, I hardly play MMORPGs these days myself.

So I was surprised to get emails inquiring about me running a D&D game for them via G+ Hangouts. I suggested OSRIC or BFRPG (damn cheap on Amazon) - they responded with either AD&D 1e or the new fangled D&D Essentials. Yes, they've been out of the loop for a while. They want to play "real D&D, like it was 25 years ago" and somehow the clones don't make that connection (despite me putting copies in many of their hands over the years - from C&C to OSRIC and others in between) but 4e Essentials did in their mind.

Amazing the power of "The Brand".

Needless to say, I put my foot down on the "4e Idea" ;)

Time will tell if this idea takes root. If it does, I'll be running a second campaign on Friday nights. I'll need to smooth things over with the Wife Goddess ahead of time... heh

An Early Kickstarter - Adventures Dark and Deep Players Manual - PDF In Hand!

Less than an hour ago I got my redemption code for the Adventures Dark and Deep Players Manual RPGNow for supporting the Kickstarter - due in June of 2013, the PDF is now in the wild and books could be shipping in a few weeks. This might be another record being set.

I've only read through parts of the races and classes, but they feel more 1e plus UA plus "something" than they feel 2e as we know it.

Which is a good thing, especially if you are trying to base this 2e "What If?" ruleset off of 1e.

More as I dig deeper, but impressed with what I see so far. Not saying I wouldn't houserule the shit out of it, but I do that with all of the OSR rulesets ;)

From the blurb:


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?

Adventures Dark and Deep attempts to answer that question.

We will, unfortunately, never know exactly what it would have looked like, because Gary Gygax 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 we have 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 wrong with 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 Players Manual is the first of three core rulebooks, including the Game Masters Toolkit and Bestiary. It contains all the rules you need to create and run a character. Those who are looking to run a game should also get the other two core rulebooks.

The rules are designed to be completely modular; take what you like, leave what you don't. Want mountebanks and savants but not the new combat system? No problem.

Slowing Down of the Postings - To About Two a Day

This week will have my lowest number of posts since early 2012 - approximately 13 months. It's not something planned, it's just how things have gone. Oh, and probably more comments in a week than the previous two months combined - so the unintentionally pared down posting has worked fine.

I never really set out for any specific average number of posts. They happen as they happen.

That being said, I'm open for ideas.

I've already compared the Three White Boxes, and going beyond the first books and basic rules would have been looking at truly minuscule differences - I think the main ones were covered well.

I do need to write up some more impressions of Empire of the Petal Throne (yet another "White Box") but this is a game that I can't just speed read through the fluff. It is like walking to school, uphill both ways in 2 feet of snow - you need to take your time with it. Even doing that, I expect to epically fail ;)

There should be an Overdue Kickstarter post up in a day or so - gotta keep them honest. It's also a new month, so there may be some additions to the list as games come due.

Alright, time for dinner and game prep for tonight.

Tell Us About Your First Player Character

Generally speaking, your first Player Character should have been in the first RPG session you played, but maybe not if you were a GM right from the start. Than again, DM PCs were fairly common in my early days of gaming.

My first PC was a Human Fighter named Cyrus. At 13 / 14 (not 100% sure) Cyrus sounded like an exotic name. Dont ask me why, I have no idea.

In any case, Cyrus only played in the 1 session, but still managed to level up over the years as I naturally increased his level to keep par with my later main PCs. Ah, to be a teen again. He was nothing special as rolled, but as he aged, his stats increased too ;)

So, tell us about you first PC.

Some Dwimmermount Rewards Are Shipping - Labyrinth Lord HCs and ACKS

Labyrinth Lord rulebooks (both Core and AEC) as well as the Adventurer Conqueror King System rulebook were offered as rewards during the Dwimmermount Kickstarter. The publishers of these products have taken it upon themselves to ship these out now, and not wait on the unknown progress of the rest of the Kickstarter, which I think is an excellent way to provide customer service.

From Dan Proctor, writer / publisher of LL:

"For those interested, I just want to confirm that all hard cover copies of Labyrinth Lord and the Advanced Edition Companion that were ordered through the Dwimmermount Kickstarter shipped today. The PDFs were delivered several months ago. I also want to make sure people know that James Maliszewski did in fact pay me for all of the orders. I asked him to deliver the money for this long back, well before his personal difficulties arose, because I wanted to ensure that I would be able to deliver the books in case anything unforeseen happened. At the time it seemed unlikely there would be any snags, but I was sort of looking ahead in a paranoid fashion I guess, and we now know that snags did in fact arise. Although I have every confidence James will eventually complete and deliver Dwimmermount, it is now clear that Dwimmermount may not be fulfilled for some time. In light of this, I want to take care of my supporters and customers by fulfilling this one component of the Kickstarter that I have control over. I did take some hit due to unforeseen shipping expenses associated with this, but I did not take an overall loss. That's why even though some customers very generously offered to pay for the additional shipping, I have declined those offers. As a supporter of Dwimmermount myself I know many people already have a lot of money invested in the project."(I did the bolding to point out what a stand up guy Dan is)

As for ACKS, from Tavis' update on 2/22 on Dwimmermount:


A number of backers added to their Dwimmermount pledges to receive copies of the two rules systems the mega-dungeon is written for, Labyrinth Lord (and its Advanced Edition Companion) and the Adventurer Conqueror King System (and its ACKS Player's Companion). Those who pledged for the PDF versions of these books should already have received their copies. Email support@autarch.co if you didn't receive them and I'll help resolve it for you.

Our original plan was to combine shipping on the print copies with the Dwimmermount hardcovers, but Dan Proctor at Goblinoid Games and us at Autarch have decided to go ahead and send our books separately at no additional charge to the backers. I believe everyone who pledged for the print copies has now been sent an email confirming their shipping address, and that the LL books are on their way. I sent Game Salute the addresses for the ACKS books earlier this week but haven't gotten confirmation that they are in the mail; I'll reply to the individual email threads as soon as I have more information.

(Update from 3/1 via G+ from Tavis Allison)

I don't have confirmation yet from Game Salute that the ACKS books have shipped - their warehouse guy has been out sick - but we're doing the same thing (and taking the same hit).

Friday Night Matinee - ARGO (Complete With "Gaming Thoughts")

So, my wife and I just finished watching ARGO on DVD. She has wanted to see it since the trailers were first playing on TV during it's theater run. Me? I wanted to see it from the perspective of a History Major, but I wasn't all that excited, even with it winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. Half the time "Best Picture" seems to mean "Artsy Movie Most People Never Saw".

I admit, I was wrong. This was a damn good flick.

Actually, it wasn't just a "damn good flick", it was also inspirational for a spy-thriller type RPG session. Heck, it could easily play out as an extended story arc. No guns. No violence (well, there is violence in the movie, but it's part of the setting and atmosphere). It's all out smarting you opponent and beating the clock.

Yes, I could see running a Top Secret / 007 game without all of the killing and shooting that used to happen during my Top Secret games. Well, that and I'm about 30 years more mature, so maybe I could actually pull it off. Well, not actually using the Top Secret rules, as I recall they were not very intuitive. Never actually played the 007 RPG - was that Victory Games?

In any case, as much as I enjoy the Jason Bourne movies and 007 franchise, this is the first "spy" movie that really hooked me from a gaming perspective. Somehow my Top Secret games always had body counts that would do James Bond proud ;)

What Game Was Your Introduction to Roleplaying

I think the answer to this question is going to revolve around when one started playing RPGs.

My first taste of roleplaying was via AD&D - all my friend had was the DMG and we had to call another friend to see if I had leveled. Cyrus the Fighter made 2nd level in that first solo adventure - I'm fairly sure we didn't accurately count the expo, but that didn't matter. The experience was magical and I was hooked for life.

So, what game brought you into the hobby?

What is the Worst RPG Product You Ever Bought?

This may be a tough one, or maybe not if you bought some FFE products during the D20 glut of games. I bought my FFE products as part of an eBay package deal at like 3 bucks on the book - so the stinkers stank less due to the cheap buy in.

No, my all time winner of "Worst RPG Product I Ever Bought" is also the only one I ever returned and demanded a cash refund on - Monster Coliseum for Avalon Hill's RuneQuest 3 game. Oh my fucking God - this turd was expensive back in 85/86, when all my income came from a $8 a day off the books job. What can I say? I was 18 and in college ;)

The great thing is, I got my money back (although it may have been store credit) and I saw that box remain on the store's shelves until it moved locations a few years later.

I don't recall what I was hoping to find when I opened the box, but it obviously wasn't what I expected. There was nothing to use in it for my novice RQ3 campaign.

So, what's your worst RPG purchase?

Which Rule Was Your "Most Misunderstood Rule" in Your Early Days of Roleplaying?

For me, the most misunderstood rule in my early days of roleplaying was Hit Dice or HD in AD&D. Here's why:

When my parents got me my AD&D books for my birthday way back when, I was given the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide and a set of dice. Notice something missing? Yep, the Monster Manual.

Not having the Monster Manual wasn't that big a deal - you had monster sumaries in the back of the DMG. Everything was listed, including HD. Not knowing what HD actually was, I assumed it meant Hit Points for Denizens or something. So, Orcs had 1 HD or 1 Hit Point. Ogres had 4+1, which was a silly way to saw 5 Hit Points, but who was I to argue.

Yes, those early days had monsters that were quite the pushover.

So, what rule or rules were your most misunderstood rules back in your early days of gaming?

Which RPG Do You Wish You Owned But Never Have?

We've discussed the 2nd RPG you've ever owned and the RPG you own but have never played (and truly wish you did) and now we have the next question: Which RPG do you wish you owned but never have?

For me, that's Space Opera (it would have been tied with Empire of the Petal Throne, but I snagged a copy on eBay recently).

See, back in my early days of gaming, complicated systems never upset me (I avoid them like the plague these days tho'). I always wanted to get and play Space Opera. Heck, I'm not even sure why - it just seemed to be that really great game (based upon reviews from people in my extended gaming circle in my High School and College days) that I haven't even physically held, let alone played a session of. Just heard the stories, and they were awesome.

I see it's available in RPGNow in PDF, but apparently the scans are really poor.

Damn, now that I've thought on it, I may have to troll eBay for a copy at some point.

Felicia Day Announces International Table Top Day for March 30, 2013!

March 30th is International Table Top Day.

So it is written, so it shall be done.

Kinda cool, actually. I'll need to get a new board game ready for the family.

Grab Those Dragons While You Can...

Expect them, and I assume Polyhedron and Ares to go "Poof!" sooner than later.

I listen to the birdies when they talk, and the current word is that they will soon be gone from archive.org.

Maybe WotC will upload them to DnD Classics... or not. If they do, they should use the scans that are currently up, as they are sharp and clean. Hell, the work is already done on them.

Which Game Have You Owned and Most Wanted to Play, But Never Did?"

I owe this question to +Ted Collins : "Which game have you owned and most wanted to play, but never did?"

For me, the answer is easy enough: Call of Cthulhu. The reasons, however, are multiple.

My groups always wanted to play in a campaign style game - CoC always seemed most suited to one shots and short story arcs.

PCs are pretty much domed from the start. I don't mind that kind of play, but my High School and College groups wanted to kick ass or die trying. CoC kinda kills you if you try - always.

I never felt confident in my ability to pull off the feeling of dread and horror that CoC requires, and no one else was game to try.

So, here I am, nearly 30 years later, and I still haven't played a session. Got as far as making characters - twice even!

So, "Which game have you owned and most wanted to play, but never did?"

Ever Make Your Adventuring Party a "Franchise"?

I'm not even sure where this came from, but the idea of an adventuring party being a "franchise" of a larger group / adventuring company / corporation just occurred to me.

There would be backing from the parent company, but the franchise would have to follow certain rules, especially dealing with image. A certain percentage of earnings would have to be kicked back to the parent company.

Hmmm, a "no torturing or indiscriminate burning of adversaries" clause would do wonders with my gaming group, but somehow I expect they would lose their franchise license fairly quickly with that clause alone ;)

Anyone ever use something similar to a "franchise license" with their adventuring parties in their campaign?

Mini Review - AFS Magazine Issue #2

Not that I ever got around to reviewing AFS #1(my bad) which was nice, but AFS #2 ($6.00) shows a maturing of the format. Gone are the single sided pages - now we have double sided pages. The page count jumps from 38 (I think - not numbered) to 44 (numbered). Also, the front and back covers are now printed on heavier paper - you can feel the difference (and it should be able to survive normal reading abuse now).

There's an article by Rob Kuntz to start things off. Interesting article on some early gaming history. Still, another "Old School Cred" article, and I've already read one by Rob in Gygax recently (and other places prior). Enjoyable none the less.

The next piece is a short story. Didn't read it. I'm not much of a reader of short fiction. Hey, at least I'm honest ;)  BTW, different typset from the previous article, so you get a real feeling of an 70s / 80s print only zine.

Cliff Warrens of the Corvid Bird Men - and adventure for characters level 2-4.complete with hand drawn map - not a work of art but serviceable. It's a short adventure, more of an extended encounter in length. If nothing else, it introduces a new monster, but if you only have 2 hours or so to play, this may very well fill your needs.

This is followed by 2 new monsters: The Zombastadon and Leiber Ghuls.

Next up is The Big Table of Semi-mundane Items (100) - I love me some random tables. The font here is small - small enough that my now aging eyes find it slightly hard to read. Well worth the effort to read and use tho'.

We get a new class for AS&SH, the Cryomancer written by Jeff Talanian himself. Complete with it's own spell list, this sizable article is probably considered semi-official for AS&SH. Pretty damn cool. I may need to pull AS&SH off my shelf and give it a fuller reading. So much to read, so little time to do so.

Another article from Rob Kuntz, this time a Mythos Monster from the Lake Geneva Original Campaign. See, this is how you establish your old school cred, by giving us old school stuff to game with ;)

The Big Table of Minor Magic Items is thankfully at a readable font size. Did I already mention I love random tables?

The Templar Class is next in line. I'm guessing it's for B/X . Possibly a very powerful class, but with a 1 in 20 chance of nearly self destructing whenever using it's divine intervention power. I don't think I'd use the class as written.

Overall, a very satisfying issue. I'm looking forward to Issue #3 of AFS already.

What is the SECOND RPG You Owned?

Most of us started with D&D / AD&D in one of it's various flavors, although I have seen a significant number that started with other RPGs, which is pretty cool.

This is not a question asking about the RPG that was your gateway into the hobby.

Instead, it's a question about the game that you were drawn to AFTER being introduced to the hobby.

For me, that game was Gamma World. It's not the second RPG that I played (that might have been Gangbusters), but it was the second RPG that I owned and the first one that I bought with my own money. It was also my introduction to the World of TSR "Waxy Dice". What memories. ;)

So, what is the second RPG that you owned?

Classic Dragon, Polyhedron, Ares Magazines (Others) Available for Free Download

Now, I have no idea about the legality of the uploaded works at the following link, but I do know about the quality of the articles in these out of print - alright, defunct - periodicals. Overall, extremely high quality. Get them here. (I assume the legality is a "gray" area on many of these titles)

Hey, look, Omni Magazine is there too. As is Cracked! Awesome!

(Edit: Also The General and The Space Gamer!)

A Kickstarter With 2 Hrs to Go - Realm Works: Streamlined RPG Campaign Tools

I tried The Keep back in the day, but it never seemed to reach it's potential. Realm Works seems to know it's potential.

The stretch goals are interesting - at $165k it includes The Razor Coast (amongst previous stretch goals that have been met).

I'm in on this one.

From the blurb:

Realm Works takes campaign management for tabletop RPGs to the next level, making it faster and easier to prepare for games, and greatly enhancing the actual game experience. You can use Realm Works with any RPGs you play — it’s “game system neutral” and can be used no matter what type of campaign you run.  GMs can create, manage, and share their world using a single tool, rather than trying to cobble things together with multiple, disconnected applications.  Realm Works was built by GMs and players for GMs and players.


What Makes Realm Works Unique

Unlike many software Kickstarters, initial Realm Works development is nearly complete. We've been evolving Realm Works for over three years and will be releasing it in July, 2013. Numerous features are already in place, as we demonstrate in the video, but there are many more we want to include in the initial release.  Your support of this Kickstarter will allow us to accelerate our current development efforts so we can pack more features into the product in time for its public release.

Our mission with Realm Works is to streamline and improve the tabletop role-playing experience for both GMs and players by empowering GMs to create, manage, and share any world they can imagine. We're doing this in four ways:

First, provide tools for GMs to efficiently create and assemble materials for their games in a way that's simple to manage, organize, and search.

Second, let GMs reveal content to players as it's uncovered during play, without introducing extra work for the GM.

Third, enable GMs to share their creations and smoothly integrate the work of others into their own material, weaving it all together into their campaign.

Finally, provide a community repository where additional material can be obtained and easily integrated with any other content you have, including the GM's own creations, letting GMs build their games from whatever sources they find compelling or interesting.

Finally Got to Use Roll20 Last Night...

Yep, after a 3 week delay, we finally got around to playing our first session using the Roll20 interface. It went amazingly well, all things considered.

What, pray tell, are those things to be considered?

Mainly my internet dropping. I wondered why everyone was so suddenly quite, and it took a good 10 to15 seconds of me yapping away to realize "shit! I stil have a wireless connection, but no internet connection - WTF?".

Things I learned.

Hangout via phone works surprisingly well, but not if you are the one that is going to be running the game. Oh, and motion sickness is a problem for those watching you run around the house as you look to get your 4g wireless hub hooked up.

The 4g wireless hub allowed for connecting my home computer to the internet, but wouldn't allow me to use voice, which kinda makes running a Hangout game impossible. Although it was pointed out to me that the message saying my mic was turned off by default could have been over ridden.

At which point I went back to using the phone and was about 30 seconds from calling the game when suddenly my desktop had an internet connection again.

All in all I think we lost about a half an hour of game time from my internet fiasco. I am so switching over to Fios in the next month or two.

Oh yeah - Roll20. Fog of War worked great, the dice roller was aces and the ability to show players a handout was awesome (not that I think that they appreciated my handout showing a tavern patron). Once we get some more macros set up for everyone, I expect gameplay will smooth out even more.

Do You Own Those Funky DCC RPG Dice?

It's kinda funny. When it was revealed that the (then) upcoming DCC RPG used these funky sided dice - d3, d5, d7, d14, d16, d24 and d30 I got all bent out of shape. Why should some new fangled game require me to buy dice that I did not have? I had hundreds of dice, and they were all of the standard weirdness, or so I thought.

When I went through the bulk of my old dice collection, I found I apparently had a set of dice that included all but the d7 (the d7 is an ugly piece of dice poo, and I've yet to see it as part of a dice set). This is in addition to the set I bought when the DCC RPG was released.

So, even though I was initially resistant to the extra dice used by the DCC RPG, I actually owned a set of "weird" polyhedrons before it was in vogue.

Go figure.

Do you own a set (or more) of "DCC RPG Dice"? Did you own them before or after the game was announced? How deep does you dice collecting habit go anyway?

Margret Weis Productions Gets Firefly License for RPGs

This announcement came out yesterday, but I'm apparently a day late and a dollar short.

In any case, this is great news. Firefly was a most awesome Sci-Fi series (short as it was) and MWP seems to do some very good treatments with their licensed products. I say seems, because I don't really own any of the Cortex powered games, but I have heard good things of them.

I guess this is one I'll be buying.

From the actual press release:

Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to Develop 

Firefly RPG Products

MWP To Develop All-New Series of Pick-Up-And-Play Games set in the ‘Verse.

WILLIAMS BAY, WI, February 22, 2013 – Margaret Weis Productions is thrilled to announce a 

partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to publish tabletop role-playing products 

based on Joss Whedon’s fan-favorite television series, Firefly. Initial releases are expected as early 

as spring of 2013 with print and digital releases based on MWP’s award-winning Cortex system.

The adventures of Captain Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of Serenity continue to attract new fans a 

decade after the television series first aired. Fresh from recent success, MWP’s own crew of 

seasoned designers and creators of licensed role-playing games, stand ready to develop an all-new 

series of pick-up-and-play games and game supplements. Based on much-loved characters, stories, 

and locations, every Firefly RPG product will be designed to be accessible, authentic, and as 

innovative as fans have come to expect from MWP.

"This project is a dream come true for me. I have been such a long-time fan of Firefly!" says MWP 

President Margaret Weis. "I look forward to working with my crew to take us all back out into the 

Black!"

“This partnership is another way that we can give back to the Firefly fans,” said Jeffrey Godsick, 

President of Fox Consumer Products. “Firefly followers have shown continuous loyalty to the 

franchise and we want to give them quality products in return.”

About Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.

Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) is an award-winning publisher of tabletop roleplaying games. 

Their most recent successful licensed games include those derived from the worlds of Marvel, 

Dragonlance, Leverage, Smallville and Supernatural. Based in Wisconsin, MWP has been bringing 

games to fans since 2005. Leading MWP is New York Times Bestselling author Margaret Weis. She’s 

a tireless supporter of fandom and gamers with a vision for her company to bring high-quality games 

to both long-time gamers and newcomers alike.

About Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products:

A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products licenses and markets 

properties worldwide on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and 

Fox Broadcasting Company, as well as third party lines. The division is aligned with Twentieth 

Century Fox Television, one of the top suppliers of primetime entertainment programming to the 

broadcast networks.

Today's Plethora of Gaming Goodness!

I went shopping with the wife for bathroom wallpaper and came back to find the following waiting for me:

Spears of the Dawn - Scheduled to ship in March, this Kickstarter shipped in February. A month early. WTF? Kevin Crawford, you are making all of the other RPG Kickstarter projects look bad. Does this mean that "three months late" is no longer the new "on time"?

Anomalous Subsurface Environment 1- I also have ASE 2-3 in print. When I decide to take a step away from Rappan Athuk for a more gonzo megadungeon, this is where I'll be taking the party.

AFS Magazine #2 - I enjoyed #1. I expect I'll enjoy #2 too ;)

Wizards, Mutants, Lazer Pistols 1, 2 and 3 - In for a penny, in for a pound. I've flipped through #1, and it looks like fun. I'll review these and AFS in the coming weeks.

Psychedelic Fantasies Modules #1 and 2 - Damn it! #1, Beneath the Ruins appears in WMLP #1. Still, it was cheap enough, and the cover has the map on the inside and is not attached to the module, which is cool. At least #2, Within the Radiant Dome, looks to be new

Gygax Magazine Issue #1 Released on RPGNow

Yep, Gygax Magazine Issue #1 has been released on RPGNow for $4.99.

I have the print copy, and it has it's really good and really ambivalent parts to it. It is a first issue, so it may be experiencing growing pains. Or maybe we'll continue to get lets of articles proving "Old School " Cred.

Eh, at $4.99 you can judge for yourself. The cover certainly rocks!

From the blurb:


The premiere issue of Gygax magazine - the quarterly adventure gaming magazine.

Contents for issue #1:

The cosmology of role-playing games by James Carpio

Still playing after all these years by Tim Kask

Leomund's Secure Shelter by Len Lakofka

The ecology of the banshee by Ronald Corn

Bridging Generations by Luke Gygax

Gaming with a virtual tabletop by Nevin P. Jones

Keeping magic magical by Dennis Sustare

Playing it the science fiction way by James M. Ward

DMing for your toddler by Cory Doctorow

Great power for ICONS by Steve Kenson

The future of tabletop gaming by Ethan Gilsdorf

The Gygax family storyteller by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.

Talents off the frontline by Dennis Detwiller

D&D past, now, and Next by Michael Tresca

Gnatdamp: A sanctuary in the swamp by Michael Curtis

Magical miscellany - new items for AGE by Randall Hurlburt

An AGE of great inventions by Rodrigo Garcia Carmona

Scaling combat feats for Pathfinder by Marc Radle

Comics:

Marvin the Mage by Jim Wampler

What's New with Phil & Dixie by Phil Foglio

Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew

Boxed Set or Hardcover Book?

I got my start in the RPG hobby with the AD&D 1e hardbacks. My first venture into the world of D&D Boxed Sets was a Moldvay Basic Set that I bought for $3 at a store that sold remainders and overstocks. I guess they were clearing out the old Basic for the new Basic.

The first "White Box" D&D like game was the Castles & Crusades White Box, followed a few years later by the S&W White Box (and later the D&D OCE White Box and Delving Deeper's White Box). The thing is, boxed game sets didn't excite me as a teen / young adult - they annoyed me.

They annoyed me because I was horrible at returning stuff to their proper box - I had (still have to some extent) "peanut butter in my chocolate" syndrome. I'd open up the boxed set for Birthright and find Runequest stuff.

Hardcovers and even most softcovers had the advantage of their title on the spine - I could pull something off my shelf and know exactly what I actually had.

As a middle aged 40-something adult, I appreciate boxed sets much more these days, as they look very nice displayed on a shelf, but for practical purposes I think I prefer hardcovers. They are just easier to use and reference in actual play.

How about you? Boxed sets? Hardcovers? Something else?

Free RPG Day = Worldwide D&D Game Day?

It appears that Free RPG Day, the once a year event where folks converge on the FLGS for free loot is coinciding with a Worldwide D&D Game Day.

Yep, they are both on June 15th this year.

I would assume that WotC knows when Free RPG Day is, as I believe they support it every year. So, I'm thinking this is not so much an attempt to hijack the day from the other publishers as much as an attempt to get some extra push on their Worldwide D&D Game Days, as I suspect attendance is suffering with the announcement that D&D (4e) is dead, long live D&D (Next).

Still, timing is everything and this is certainly interesting. If nothing else, it may lead to slimmer Free RPG Day pickings at locations that run Worldwide D&D Game Day events. It might be a good time to get to your loot locations early this year ;)

(burnedfx - thanks for the heads up)

Five Finalists for the Three Castles RPG Design Award Have Been Announced

The five finalists for the Three Castles RPG Design Award are:


Adventurer Conqueror King System
by: Alexander Macris

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
by: Jeffrey Talanian

Barrowmaze
by: Greg Gillespie

Cavemaster RPG
by: Jeff Dee

DCC RPG
by: Joseph Goodman

With the exception of Cavemaster (which I never heard of before) I own the list, and these are all strong choices. Four out of five are game systems and the fifth is probably the strongest megadungeon released in 2012 (yes, I'm talking about you Barrowmaze.

You can read the original thread at the NTRPGCon forums here.

Free RPG of the Week - DAGGER (OSR)

DAGGER is an OSR RPG that relies on the use of another OSR RPG (your choice really) to be fully used. At it's core, it's a series of instructions on how to simplify OSR gaming to bring children into the game - kids from 5 and up.

It's only 8 pages, and that includes the cover and the OGL, but it's simplicity is where it shines. So simple, I know of someone who is already working on hacking it into a drinking game for adults ;)

It's free, it works and it may just open up a new world of imagination to your kids (or with the future hack, adults too :)

From the blurb:


DAGGER is a simple, fast and fantastic tool for classic, old-school role-play gaming with Kids!

DAGGER is designed to introduce kids 5 years and over to classic-style fantasy role-playing. It is compatible with most old-school fantasy role-playing game systems. It is played with one adult acting as the Referee and from 2 to 10 kids playing the parts of adventuring heroes.

This supplement uses  common, core mechanics found in most old-school fantasy role-playing games. However, these core mechanics are reduced to only the most basic elements necessary for play. This effectively simplifies the game so that players as young as 5 years can easily grasp the basic concepts. The rules presented here are supplementary (i.e. they are not all-encompassing) and it is assumed that the Referee already possesses a general knowledge of some form of classic fantasy role-playing. Any aspect of play not covered in these rules should be handled by the Referee, “filling in the gaps” as necessary with his own rulings, or rules from another classic fantasy system. This is a practice that is expected and encouraged.

Included in this Free Product (all are easily printed):

All of the Standard Dagger Rules
Recommended Spell Listing
Classic Monster Reference
Character Sheet

Butt Kicking for Goodness! Wait For It...

So, it looks like the Ogre Kickstarter won't even be arriving on the shores of the US until late July - at best:

Ogre

Updated Schedule -- Not Before July, I’m Afraid
Update #74 · Feb. 21, 2013 · 2 comments

The factory has opened -- we had a long talk today. We know that quite a few of you might be unhappy to hear of this timeline, but we wanted to share exactly what steps are left.

Then there's a crapload of interim steps


Delivery to Austin -- late July

We know that this may have been unpleasant to hear (and for us to share!), but we hope that you might be able to be big-hearted and gracious -- even though you have every right to be upset.

We grossly underestimated how long a project of this size would take – we’re really sorry about that. It’s been a learning process -- even the factory has never handled a game this big (and has had to make new machinery!).

The good news is that there aren’t many things left that can go wrong (trays and the drop test are the two biggest). We’re about 98% finished for in-house production, and 30% finished for manufacturing.

Good things come to those who wait, and we know that you’ve waited very, very patiently. We’re confident that Ogre will be very good, when it arrives.

So yeah, it's going to be very late at best.

King For a Day

King for a Day books have left NJ.

The wait is nearly over

Magicians: A Language Learning RPG

A very interesting breakdown of hidden costs of a Kickstarter


Book Update
Update #32 · Feb. 20, 2013 · 35 comments
Hello everyone,

I've got some big news that is a mixed bag but this update is mainly to let you know of a big change to the physical book. I'll hit you with the bad news straight off and I'll follow up with some explanations for those who would like one. As we neared the end of the kickstarter project I promised to both up the page count from 120 pages to 180 pages and make the book a hardcover instead of a softcover, this wasn't a stretch goal or anything, I simply believed it possible due to all the support Magicians was receiving. As it turns out, the page count will actually be 212 pages but I will not be able to afford to send out hardcovers, it's going to end up being a softcover 212-page book instead.

The reason for this is, in short, an $11,430 dollar tax hit. I know this is extremely disappointing news for everyone, this was really something I wanted but it all comes down to not having the funds. That said, the book will still be great quality and be an awesome thing to own, it will just be a perfect bound book instead of a case bound one.

The change will not affect the timeline, and I should be able to start shipping books out in about a month as I've send the final PDF out to the printer, they've told me 3 weeks to receive all the books but there needs to be a proof before then so maybe a bit longer. The only thing left to add to the final PDF is the audio, which I'm just now getting started on and I'll try to have it out to you real soon.

The longer explanation:

As you probably all know, I live in South Korea and am Canadian. Because of this I wouldn't normally be able to create or run a project on kickstarter but I have a good friend in New Jersey that offered to be the middle man for the endeavor and to let me use their account for the whole operation.

It's also tax season and since the kickstarter money came in in 2012 taxes are owed on the kickstarter money as well. I'd set aside about $6000 for taxes after talking with my friend, figuring around 20-25% for taxes. Unfortunately, I just got finished sending $11,430 to the states to cover tax costs. The kickstarter amount was large enough to both bump my friend into a new bracket and to kill any and all of his deductibles.

Here's the cost breakdown of the kickstarter as a whole:

Total from the kickstarter: $34,056

After 10% deducted by kickstarter and Amazon payments, and after pledges that didn't go through are subtracted we ended up with something a bit shy of $30,500 but we'll round up.

Cost of editing and layout: $2515

Cost of artwork: $6000 (all the stretch goals, over 200 pieces of artwork)

Cost of shirts: $500

Cost of beads: $1,200

Cost of coins: $1,200

Cost of pouches: $150

Website: $900

Taxes: $11,430

A total of $23,895 in costs.

A few more hundred dollars for currency exchanges, sending fees, plus packing expenses, etc. and I've got less than $6500 dollars left to cover both the buying of the books and the shipment of them. Even a very conservative estimate for shipment eats most, if not all, of that money. And so there's no way I can afford to go for the hardcover option. I'll already be delving into my school savings to pay for it all, will be taking a semester off school to work and try to make that money back up so I can get back to school in September.

Once again, you have my sincere apologies, I know ignorance isn't much of a defense; I'd have run an entirely different kickstarter if I'd known 40% of the project's money would end up in other people's pockets. I hope you all still feel that there is value in your pledges, everything else is unaffected and I'm working on building the final multimedia PDF with audio capabilities as we speak. I'll try to have it out to you all as soon as I can.

Maps - Hand Drawn or Mapping Program?

I've noticed that the big mappers online draw freehand (and they do an awesome job with it - +matt jackson , +Dyson Logos and the rest).

Me, I can't draw for shit. Heck, I can't even draw a straight line, as my Saturday Night group can attest to.

I've dabbled with many of the computer mapping programs - Dunjieni (SP?), Campaign Cartographer, Hexographer and the like - I still suck ;)

How do you do your maps (with that voodoo that you do)? Freehand, pen to paper, drawing program, mapping program, find already completed maps and make your adventure conform?

Dice - By the Set or By the Bucket - What Memories Do They Hold?

I still remember my first dice set. I got it for my birthday many moons ago, along with the AD&D 1e Player's Handbook and the DM's Guide. Solid dice of different colors with rounded edges. Red d4, black 6d, white d8, blue d12 and a brown d20 (with the numbers from 0-9 twice - so i colored them in with green and orange crayons for Hi and Lo). No d10 was included.

My next set was a gem set. Crappy rounded edges and scars from the molding process.

My third set was from my boxed set of Gamma World - you know the ones - waxy, irregular, barely able to read the numbers. Made my percentile set included with Top Secret (these dice actually gained stress fractures) seem like high quality.

Now I own so many dice I'd be hard pressed to tell you the history of 5% of them, if that much. The d10's that came with the different Pacesetter games, the dice that never came with my Paranoia Boxed Set, the 3d6 that came with my boxed Traveller Starter Set. I don't recall the dice that came with my AH Runequest 3e boxed set, but I know there were some. I think.

Dice hold memories, not just of their rolls, but of their time of acquisition.

Now I own hundreds of dice. Some bought by the pound. Some picked out by hand as a youth.

What are your dice stories?

Updated OSRIC PDF Available for Free Download

+Stuart Marshall has updated the OSRIC PDF file.

You can grab a copy for free via the Knights N Knaves website.

Actually, while you are there, check out the Dangerous Dungeons thread(s) here and here at the KnK's forums. I need to see if I have anything I can contribute to the project.

Somehow I Missed Yesterday's Release of the Unearthed Arcana Premium Reprint

Is it just me, or does this cover look pretty uninviting?

Yep, I dropped the ball on this one. Yesterday, February 19th was the release of the Premium 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Unearthed Arcana (at least that's how Amazon calls it).

I picked up the core 3 AD&D reprints, so why did this fly under my radar (I'm sure I mentioned it months ago when it was announced)? Probably because the mixed reviews it had at the time it was released and the poor feedback I've read over the years.

Me? I still use Weapon Specialization and the new spells, but forget about the new classes and races. Talk about unbalancing. Hmmm, interesting referring to "new classes and races" in a book 28 years old ;)

Anyhow, it's a $49.99 suggested retail. No mention on whether or nor part of the proceeds get donated to the Gygax Memorial Fund - but then I don't think we know how much the first 3 books raised for the fund either. Amazon has it for $31.44 with free shipping. Not a bad deal, if only I needed it.

I don't.

Comparing OD&D to it's Nearest Clones - S&W Whitebox and Delving Deeper - Part IV: Weapons & Combat

Well, with the soon (alright, November) release of the "Deluxe" Reprinting of the Original Dungeons & Dragons Boxed set, this might all be moot, right? Because we're all going to be shelling out $150 for a new reprint of a cloned game. Well, actually, I might be one of the many suckers myself, but whatever ;)

So, when it comes to the Original and it's two main clones, how close is the combat system amongst them all?

Weapon (and armor) costs between OD&D and the Swords & Wizardry White Box are nearly identical across the board, which is kind of surprises me. I mean, sure, they changed up the order of the items, but except for things like the spear, the prices are the same. Delving Deeper changes up the prices to the point where you can't even figure out if there was a forumla they used - little rhyme or reason. Sure, it's a minor thing, but something that stands out none the less.

Damage for all weapons in the OD&D WB is 1d6, no matter the type or size. Of course, I can't actually find that rule, but I know it well. Damage in DD is also 1d6, no matter the weapon. Damage in S&W WB is 1d6, or + or -1 depending on the weapon. So, some diversity, but still based on the 1d6 concept for all weapons.

As for Attack Matrixes, things get a little complicated.

OD&D WB, a 1st level Fighting-Man needs an 18 to hit AC 2. Actually, that applies to 1st level Clerics and Magic-Users too. Every 3 levels (starting at 4th) a Fighting-Man moves up a step on the Combat Matrix (every 4 levels for Clerics and every 5 for Magic-Users). Each step on the Combat Matrix is an improvement of 2 to 3 points to the chance to hit. Phew!

DD starts Fighters with an 18 for AC 2, but Clerics and Magic-Users start at 19. Fighters improve by + 1 every other level or every level, Clerics are similar but slower and Magic-Users every other level get + 1.

S&W WB starts everyone at a 17 to hit AC 2 (there's also an acceding AC option, but we'll avoid that for now). Otherwise, the breakdown of the combat charts are similar to DD. Not exact, but similar.

So, snapshots:

A Fighting-Man (Fighter) 1st Level against AC 2 needs: OD&D 18 / DD 18 / S&W WB 17

A Fighting Man (Fighter) 5th Level against AC 2 needs: OD&D 15 / DD 15 / S&W WB 14

A Fighting Man (Fighter) 10th Level against AC2 needs: OD&D 10 / DD 11 / S&W WB 11

Interesting how S&W WB starts out with the better attack chance, and winds up tied for the worst

Basic Fantasy RPG - $4.62 on Amazon

Huge hat tip to +Christopher Helton for the heads up on this:

Amazon has the prefect bound version of the Basic Fantasy RPG for $4.62. Free shipping for prime members or part of a qualifying order over $25.

You could outfit a group of 6 for less than 30 bucks.

Reprint or Originals? Where Will Your Money Go?

With WotC reprinting the Original Dungeons & Dragons Boxed Set (in a real wooden box, not just a wood-grained finish) the question seems to be (at least for those interested in the material being reprinted):

Buy a used version of the original, at a higher price -

or

Buy a new version of the original, at a high price (but no where near as high as the original) -

or

Buy and own both -

or

Settle on a cloned version.

I guess all the above is a valid answer too, as I have the originals and the clones, all in nice white boxes.

Lord knows i don't need this latest cash grab by WotC, especially with the new cover art (what were they thinking?). Not saying I won't pick it up, but I certainly don't need it.

What are your thoughts?

Original Edition Dungeons & Dragons Premium Reprint - In a Real Wooden Box

Thanks to +Jason Paul McCartan for bringing this to my attention.

WotC has decided to go with a "premium" reprint of the 3 LBBs and the four supplements (from the site - a mere $149.99 with a release date of November 19, 2013):


A premium, deluxe edition of the Original D&D "White Box"!

The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set was published by TSR, Inc. in 1974 and was the very first roleplaying game, introducing concepts that have persisted throughout later editions. It included three small rules booklets in a white box.

This deluxe, premium reprint of the original "White Box" features new packaging and includes the following seven booklets:

Volume 1: Men & Magic
Volume 2: Monsters & Treasure
Volume 3: Underworld & Wilderness Adventures
Supplement I: Greyhawk
Supplement II: Blackmoor
Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry
Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes
Each booklet features new cover art but is otherwise a faithful reproduction of the original, including original interior art.

Carousing the Compiled Compilation of Fight On!

When it was announced that Fight On! was ceasing publication, I realized that most of my copies of Fight On! were in PDF, not print. Which isn't all that big a surprise, as the PDF price was much cheaper than the printed price, even with the famous Lulu Coupons.

Well, the 4 issue compilations make that less of a done deal. The PDFs generally run $4.99 each and print is $9.99 (plus tax and shipping). The compilations are 4 issues in print for 20 bucks - half the single issue prices and the same as PDF. So, I picked up the compilations of 1-4 and 5-8. These suckers are as thick as some of my old college textbooks.

My goal, now that I have these 2 tomes, is to cover an issue a week or so on the blog - starting with issue 1 and moving onward to issue 8. Hopefully by then issues 9-12 will have their own tome ;)

With print on demand publishing, these issues will never truly be out of print. I'll highlight the good, the bad and the downright ugly (which admittedly, can still be pretty good). Thankfully, Fight On! #1 was fairly short, so I should have that post up by the end of the week.

(link to the lulu page with the compilations + 4 {1-4} and +8 {5-8})

Stray Thoughts After Three Weeks of Not Running a Game

This weekend was the third straight session that was cancelled. The first was cancelled in advance, as I knew I wouldn't be around. The second was cancelled due to - well, cancellations. This past Saturday was cancelled by me with half the group running late and myself recovering from a stomach virus.

Three weeks of inaction. Not good when you are prone to the Gamers' version of ADD ;)

I'm currently staring at my copy of Jaws of the Six Serpents - a Swords & Sorcery title that uses the PDQ System. Before my full return into active gaming (and fully embracing the OSR), the PDQ System was one of the RPG systems I was giving a good and hard look at.  Actually, Questers of the Middle Realms was the game that got me thinking about PDQ, but I would have had to have made the game serious, and not sure how well that conversion would have gone.

I've also got my The Golden Age of Classic Traveller on CD-Rom sitting on my desk. I always come back to Traveller when I think of running a SciFi RPG. At which point I recall that there is no expo gain in Traveller - you will not get better at doing, just what you own - and I put aside such silly thoughts. That being said, my X-plorers Boxed sets are sitting to my left - but that is the opposite of Traveller in terms of crunch, and leaves me unfulfilled. Maybe Stars Without Number...

Never got my Tunnels & Trolls session off the ground last week either.

Now Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is tempting me. Damn it! Maybe I'll just borrow a few rules for some NPCs and such...

Drinking Quest 3 - A Trilogy is Completed (Indiegogo)

Drinking Quest 3, the follow up to Drinking Quests 1 & 2, is raising funds over on Indiegogo.

Now, I already have DQ 1 & 2, and even had a chance to play DQ1 via G+ Hangouts with Jason, the creator - needless to say, the game rocks!

The great thing about the Drinking Quest games is that they are all stand alone and do not require you to play through them in a certain order. Alright, that and drinking. Gaming and drinking is always a good combo.

So, how do I show my support?

I'm in this one for all three copies - DQ 1, 2 & 3. Why, when I already have 1 & 2? Because I'd like to be able to give a copy or two away on the blog, that's why.

It's just that good.

Mini Review - Curse of the Weaver Queen (OSR Adventure)

I have had limited exposure to products from EldritchEnt. For those keeping score at home, Lich Dungeon (Level One) was my initial foray into the realm of EE products, and it was less than satisfactory. So, it was with not a small bit of trepidation that I decided to give Curse of the Weaver Queen a peek. It did help that it was written by Time Kask, whose interview by Grognard Games I've been enjoying.

Let me get the usual EldritchEnt criticism out of the way first: I find their alternate game stats annoying and unintuitive. I understand why they've chosen to go with them but that doesn't mean I need to agree with their decision. My second issue is the complete stat block and description of each creature both in their encounter AND as a recap in a monster section. Why? It's annoying in PDF format but I'd feel cheated by the fluffing of the page count if I was buying this in print.

Alright, now that I've gotten that stuff out of the way, Curse of the Weaver Queen isn't a bad adventure.

I like the mechanics suggested for dealing with swarm type attacks. Are they "by the book" or realistic? Probably not, but they look like they should work and definitely would make swarm type attacks playable. I may steal this bit or rework it just a bit for my own campaign.

The adventure itself is actually interesting. I don't mean that as a slight, just an observation. I guess I wasn't expecting much, and this exceeded that. Treasure isn't given in gold and silver pieces - wait, actually, it is, but it's value is occasionally given as something along the lines of "worth the value of a fine blooded stallion and a finely crafted suit of armor, complete with shield and helm". Which when you think of it, is an awesome way to value treasure.

No obscure math riddles either. Sorry, more Lich Dungeon flashbacks.

If this was written using one of the "usual" OSR stat blocks, I'd recommend it. If you can get past the annoying need to translate everything into a "D&D" type format it's a decent adventure. I just find the "Eldritch Language Standard Terminology" annoying. It's a personal prejudice I guess.

From the blurb:


The lunar goddess Arianhrod presides over the great wheel of life. But centuries ago, some saw the Wheel as a Web: a spider's web. And so began the Cult, and so it has festered, hidden, malignant... waiting.

Now they come scuttling out of the dunes at night, silent and deadly. Only a very lucky few have survived the ravaging horde. The bugs. The huge spiders. The Gatherers, taking what is man's and returning to their lair.

That area of the dunes is strange. You'll see. You can find it easily. And with luck, you may live to tell the tale.

Curse of the Weaver Queen uses a generic language compatible with any set of fantasy Rolepleying rules. It is a stand-alone adventure and will easily drop into any existing campaign.

Mini Review - Menagerie of the Ice Lord (LL Adventure)

She might have a cavity...

+Dylan Hartwell was kind enough to forward me a copy of his latest adventure, Menagerie of the Ice Lord, a low level adventure for Labyrinth Lord. Color me impressed, but Dylan seems to get better with each product.

The first half of MotIL is the adventure. No need to save the world, it's purely an investigate and loot type of mission, which I find refreshing. The fact that the varied assortment of creatures have a well thought out reason for being where they are? Icing on the cake.

It's nearly 100 rooms over 5 floors (alright, 6 floors if you count the 2 rooms on the last floor). Heck, this is practically a megadungeon in design. I'd love to put a party through this, as I suspect it will play out well.

I do have one problem with the adventure part - there is a magic item (actually, more than a dozen of the same type) that if they fall into the hands of the PCs can have long term unbalancing effects. Sure, it's easy enough to change the item, the effect or even the number found (if they are found - secret doors and the like) but I really don't like having to do so. Snall gripe, but it's there none the lesd.

The second half of MotIL consists of new monsters - 30 to be exact. It's like a low level Fiend Folio of sorts, and each is accompanied by artwork. This is something that you can use now and in the future.

The printed copy also comes with a laminated sheet of graph paper, so you can use dry erase markers and map if you would like, It also includes a folded map of all 5 (6) floors of Castle Denator (the location of the adventure) and on the back of that is a blank character sheet.

All that for $3.99 in print ($2.99 in PDF).

If you have to make a choice between Print and PDF, go for the print copy. You'll be amazed by what Dylan crams into an envelope for $3.99

I'm dying to see what Dylan comes up with next. I guess I can't ask for another brewery, so maybe a tavern based adventure ;)

Kickstarters That Make Me Ask: "Why?" - Busty Barbarian Bimbos (RPG)

Sometimes there's an RPG product in the works that makes you think. No, not in an enlightened way. It makes you think: "What the fuck were they smoking to think that this is in remotely good taste?" Then, thinking further, you realize "ah, so this is meant to be the opposite of good taste." Which doesn't mean it won't suck, but does mean it is more likely to suck than not.

Busty Barbarian Bimbos is one of those games. It also happens to be a Kickstarter project that has nearly funded. I'm guessing bad taste sells. Where are the legions of feminists aghast at this Kickstarter project whose four main attributes spell out SLUT (Slap, Legs, Uhm and Tits)?

Somehow I suspect Macho Women With Guns pulled off the campy flavor a bit better than Busty Barbarian Bimbos will.

That all being said, the price point on this project is sweet - you get a printed softcover copy for $15 shipped.

I wonder if it includes any real life samples ;)

edit: there is an earlier version of the PDF available for free from their site. It looks well laid out and the system is simple and intuitive. Obviously haven't read the whole thing yet, but at first glance I am pleasantly surprised.