If You Were to Run an "Epic Level" One Shot, What System and / or Adventure Would You Use?

One of the things that came up during Saturday's "Gathering of Fools" was the idea of an "Epic Level" One-Shot to be run this summer for my old gaming group. Face to face, six hours or so.

When I asked what levels were considered "Epic" (as the group stopped playing during the 2e age, ignore the 3e and later labels) I was told "a high enough level where the Paladin has a +5 Holy Avenger and others have some sort of minor artifacts".

So I'm guessing a swath from 13-16 or so, depending on class. It was suggested I create pre-gens, which I will, but I expect to base them off of the last characters the group members played.

I also pointed out to them that the AD&D we played was no where near "by the book", and the rules we used were pretty much pared down on an unspoken group consensus. What we played comes very close to Swords & Wizardry Complete, although I'd have to tweak the classes a bit to make them closer to their AD&D counterparts. (as an aside, I may just work that into a post at some point - bridging the gap between S&W Complete and AD&D 1e).

So, I'm leaning towards using S&W Complete for the session - no idea what to run. Anything in the S series is probably ok, as it will only be a 4 member party and they tended to run without a cleric back in the days ;)

Any other suggestions for system or adventure or both?

Where o' Where is My Reaper Bones Kickstarter? Did an Ogre Get in it's Way?

Where o' where can it be?

When it comes to tracking my Kickstarters, I pretty much focus on the RPGs, so I really haven't touched on two of the other long overdue Kickstarters that I supported. I'm in a pissed off mood for other reasons today, so I figured this would be a good outlet ;)

Reaper Bones Kickstarter
Goal: $30,000     Total: $3,429,235     Funded: August 25, 2012
Estimated Ship Date: March, 2013     Actual Ship Date: Not Yet Shipped / Shipped / Go Figure

If all you asked for was the basic "Vampire" level, you probably already have your stuff. If you did any sort of add-ons, the "slow boat from China" literally left 2 weeks ago, 3 more weeks before it arrives, and then thousands and thousands of orders to sort and ship. I guess shipping will resume sometime in July. At this rate, I suspect both of my scheduled vacations will have passed before I see my order.

There have also been complaints on the retail level that the Kickstarter tied up production and shipping of other minis from Reaper. I'm not sure if this will be a be a boon or a hinderance for Reaper in the long run and frankly I just don't care - I want my shit!

Ogre Designer's Edition
Goal: $20,000     Total: $923,680     Funded: May 11, 2012
Estimated Ship Date: November 2012     Actual Ship Date: Aiming for October 2013

Apparently box design could be it's own college major, as the box and box tays seem to have been  the biggest delay in the oversized and delayed project.

Sure, Steve Jackson Games has kept us updated with photos and photos of all of the shit they are cramming into the already oversized Ogre box, so none of this is a huge surprise, but the nearly 5 months from last update (June 3) to projected shipping (October 21) is more than a minoir annoyance.

I need to dig out my Pocket Ogre and GEV games and relive old times. Just need to keep away from any breezes and fans and not bump the table, as the original game was easy to upset.

I will not be supporting the upcoming Car Wars Kickstarter - I'll buy that when it hits retail.

Wow, much less obnoxious then I expected when starting this post. I must be calming down or something ;)

Results of the Online Swords & Wizardry Convention Poll

I'd say there is enough interest in this to start thinking about how to make this work. I think the most important thing is To Keep it Simple. At it's root it should be no more complicated than arranging some game and interviews via Google Hangouts. No virtual publisher tables, no virtual retailer booths, no bullshit.

Now, maybe if you show up for a game the GM might have a discount link to share with you for some S&W products - that would be cool and a nice reward for playing (as online "pick up" games can get a little flakey). I'm not saying this would be the set up - I'm just throwing thoughts out there that I think are cool.

Anyway, looking at a weekend after Labor Day here in the states. Which gives me three months to screw this up ;)

The Old Gaming Group May Have Been Tempted Back Into the Fold...

This year's host for the Gathering of Fools was Tony, and he nearly floored me when he showed me that he had printed out two of my PDFs for Swords & Wizardry: Demi-Options: The Halfling and Minor Majiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Vol 1 as well as KnockSpell #6. We haven't had a session of tabletop roleplaying as a group since March of '97 yet the desire is still there.

We did come close today, as we ran the first two quests from Drinking Quest 1. Regretfully, we saved DQ to the end of the gathering, where we had all (except our designated driver Bri) had too much to drink. It was soda and water for everyone but the one player who NEVER lost an encounter (Dave). Actually, there was some cask strength scotch making the rounds, but only two dared to drink it - Dave and John. I wisely stuck to beer ;) Still, we got to use the results of the DQ session to decide the order of picking the RPG items I was giving out.

There is talk of getting together once a month via G+ Hangouts / Roll20, which would be a crap load of fun. Additionally, there is talk of me running a one-shot epic level session with pregens for a six or seven hour sitting. That should be interesting.

Did I mention I'm exhausted? heh

Time to Tempt the Old Group... With Games!

As my old group gets together to tell the stories of old times and old games, I'll be running some Drinking Quest, with a prize pool consisting of my gaming duplicates and such. I always bring stuff for the group to remind them of the old times and show them what is going on during the current times.

Biggest prize is probably a copy of Stars Without Numbers - somehow I wound up with two copies. Mongoose Traveller Pocket Edition (as the print is too damn small for my eyes), a copy of Gygax Issue #1, an orange cover UK edition of Tunnels & Trolls 5e (wound up with 3 copies thanks to Ebay) and some other random goodies to round out the pot. Others bring food, beer or chips - I bring the gaming ;)

Knowledge Illuminates Goes "Pay What You Want" (Swords & Wizardry Campaign Starter)

Add another OSR classic to the growing list of "Pay What You Want" product pricing. If you haven't checked out Tim's zine, The Manor, you can get a peek at some of his other work with Knowledge Illuminates at a price you decide.

It's worth your time to read as well as a few silvers on the plate.

From the blurb:

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

Raphael Chandler's StaughterGrid Goes "Pay What You Want"

+Rafael Chandler just recently released SlaughterGrid on his unsuspecting public a few weeks ago - I know, I helped ru the contest.

It is now priced at "Pay What You Want".

The man is a legend. Grab a copy. Throw him a few shekels. You won't be sorry.

(Raphael has also put ViewScream price at PWYW)

Which Side of the "Pay What You Want" Fence Do You Stand On?

OneBookShelf / RPGNow recently added a "Pay What You Want" option for the pricing of PDFs at their store.

Basically, the buyer can pay nothing or something for the product. He may pay nothing initially and come back and pay more if he likes, or not.

The secret to the success of PWYW from the seller's point of view is "volume sales". If you sell 10x more PDFs than you were moving prior to PWYP and folks are on average paying 25% of your regular price, you've still increased your sales dollars by 150%.

It isn't a physical product, so volume CAN make up for the lower average selling price.

I can see how this pricing would not work for many publishers or even most products, but as a way to sample a publisher's wares (perhaps on an older product) I can see the usefulness of the pricing scheme.

I know there are some fairly large opinions on both sides of the fence (Tim over at Gothridge Manor has a similar post up) but I'd like to see some other well thought out opinions of the perceived "pros" and cons". I'm always up for a good rant and I suspect I'll be reading a few before the night is out, but hopefully there are some decent opinion pieces too ;)

For the "Long Term Players" Out There: Do You Still Get Together With Your First Gaming Group?

Tomorrow will mark the mostly annual Gathering of Fools. The core members of my earliest gaming group from my High School and College years and beyond (1982-97) will be gaming, eating, drinking, watching bad movies and generally doing stupid stuff.

Although we stopped gaming weekly back in March of 1997, we keep in contact daily through emails and get together every June starting in 2002, as we lost one of our members on 9-11. Paul's birthday was in the middle of June, so we gather in his memory. We used to get together once or twice a year before we lost Paul, but June became the time to mark the memory.

Which of you still game with your original gaming group all of these years later? Still keep in contact with them? Gather up the lads and lasses once or twice a year?

Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Volume I is Now "Pay What You Want"

Yep, what the hell, might as well give it a try myself.

We're putting Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Volume I at "Pay What You Want" pricing. If nothing else, you'll get some decent art and some ideas for use in your game. Even if you are just checking it out for free, it's more exciting than not getting it out there, at least for me ;)

The OSR List of "Pay What You Want" PDFs

I plan to keep this post updated with new items as they become "Pay What You Want". I'm fairly sure I'll be missing stuff if I rely on my lonesome. Feel free to email me updates at tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom.

Now for the list:

Brave the Labyrinth Issue #1 - LL 'zine

Knowledge Illuminates - a S&W Campaign Starter

Teratic Tome - and amazing monster book for the OSR

SlaughterGrid - the latest from +Rafael Chandler

The Grinding Gear - a barely survivable Tomb of Horrors

Death Frost Doom - Raggi likes three word titles, don't he? ;)

People of Pembrooktonshire - three words again...

No Dignity in Death: The Three Brides - well, there is a "three" in the
title ;)

Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Volume I - hey, is that my name in the credits? ;)

Dungeon Crawl #2 an old school fanzine

Chronicles of Mhoriedh Map 00 Olden Lands Continent - maps for James Mishler's campaign world

AL1: Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror - an excellent DCC RPG adventure by +Daniel Bishop

Dyson's Dodecahedron -  series of 6 issues of a very useful OSR zine by the master mapper himself.

Fate Core and Accelerated Go "Pay What You Want" at RPGNow. Will Others Follow?

Fate Core and the Fate Accelerated Edition have gone "Pay What You Want" on RPGNow. You can grab them for free or pay what you think they are worth.

Theoretically, you could probably grab them for free, read them, then decide to pay what you think they are worth.

So, is this the start of a new trend for RPG PDF pricing?

It's a good idea for products that have been historically free, as you can now "tip the creator".

I personally don't see a downside to it. Any other thoughts on it?

13th Age - I'm Trying to Remember Why / When I Preordered It...

Apparently 13th Age is off to the printers and set for a (maybe) Gen Con release. I preordered this, but I don't recall when or even why. I do remember placing the preorder, so I haven't totally lost my mind.

I seem to recall it was something along the lines of:

"Something old, something new,
Something borrowed and something blue"

Or is that for weddings?

Hopefully there will be something salvageable for me in the rules for use in the OSR but I doubt it.

Lookie! I just searched for my order. It was last August. I think that was around the time I ordered RQ6. I really should unload that book - there is nothing there that Mongoose Legend doesn't do without the complications, page bloat and excessive cost.

In any case, if 13th Age was a Kickstarter, the cost for a printed copy and PDF wouldn't have been excessive at all. I guess that is a saving grace of sorts.

Do You Remember Your First Player Character?

Remember that first RPG session? The magic, the confusion, that first player character?

Mine was Cyrus. This was back in 1980 or so. I hope he wan't named after Cyrus Vance, the VP, but I really don't know at this point.

Cyrus was a 1st level fighter that killed some skeletons and other beasties in a solo adventure in which my DM and best friend Kenny only owned the DMG. We had to call one of his school mates to see if I hit second level.

I don't remember Cyrus's initial stats, as he fell victim to the "stat inflation" that was common during my early teen years, but I'm sure they were nothing special ;)

The Tenkar's Tavern Overdue Kickstarter List - The Worst of the Worst

My love affair with Kickstarter is coming to an end. There seems to be a lot more screwing and a lot less satisfaction than I expected.

Lets look at the projects that had such promise and left me hanging...

Myth & Magic Player's Guide

Goal: $5,000     Total: $24,076     Funded: May 7, 2012

Estimated Ship Date: August 2012     Actual Ship Date: Not Yet Shipped

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Last backers only update on April 17 was brutally honest. At this point, I expect no product. Here's a snippet:

Well, and here comes some brutal truth: The cost of the Player's Handbook Kickstarter was astronomical. Every decision that I made that I thought was a minor decision (like glossy paper in the PG) turned out to be an awfully expensive one. My inexperience and excitement over the success of the campaign collided to turn me into a donkey business man. So, we have officially approached the point where I'm either dipping into GMG funds or self-funding the shipping, printing of the Starter Guides, etc. It's not your problem, and I don't want to make it your problem, but it's the harsh reality of where we are and why things will take so long. 

Awful Note: Things have clearly deteriorated. Myth & Magic is likely doomed now because of my mismanagement of the campaigns and the fact that with my new job, I lost a significant amount of time that I used to happily spend on the game. Goodwill may or may not be salvageable. 

What can I do? I'm not sure. I plan, regardless of public hate, to finish the Kickstarter campaigns and deliver the product. Hopefully, somewhere along the line, things will go from negative to neutral. They may never be positive, but heck, I'll take neutral.

Quantum Roleplaying Game

Goal: $13,000     Total: $47,747     Funded: December 30, 2011

Estimated Ship Date: April, 2012     Actual Ship Date: Not Yet Shipped

14 months late and still no closer to shipping . As per the May 27th update, this is how things stand. Snazzy but depressing.

Far West

Goal: $5,000     Total: $49,324     Funded: August 25, 2011

Estimated Ship Date: December, 2011     Actual Ship Date: Not Shipped (and has missed interim ship dates)

Cubicle 7 is now taking over distribution. Which means it will probably release, but I can't get angry at C7 for being late as usual as Gareth hasn't completed the project to turn it over to them. 18 months late and going strong. Huzzah!

Nystul's Infinite Dungeon

Goal: $2,000     Total: $16,017     Funded: June 3, 2012

Estimated Ship Date: September 2012      ?

Read here for the horror story

Axes & Anvils

Goal: $1,000     Total: $35,000     Funded: August 11, 2012

Estimated Release Date: November, 2012     ? 

Read here for the horror story

Long story short - I am NEVER going to spend my money on ANYTHING associated with Mike Nystul EVER again. Holy shit. The spell Nystul's Magic Aura is aptly named, as all it does it give the impression of magical value to utter shit. Mike did pull off some magic this time around, and these projects MAY actually release at some time, but that is no thanks to him. Money for the projects was spent on a Con failure and building a non existant business. What did he do when he ran out of money? Another crowdfunding attempt. He's like the pyramid scheme of Kickstarter.

Appendix N

Goal: $1,000     Total: $18,893     Funded: July2, 2012

Estimated Ship Date: July, 2012     Actual Ship Date: Not Yet Shipped (New Estimate Late September November December ? 2012  March April Pick a card, any card...)

I hate putting Brave Halfling on the list, as I know it's been a shit year for him on a personal level and he and his family are in my prayers, but this was beyond late even before all that. Next month will mark a year late for any shipped products. Not so sure if I expect them at this point and I'm strangely okay with that.

I Have Not Updated My Overdue Kickstarter List Since March 26th? WTF!

Yeah, apparently I'm slacking.

The good news / bad news is that the projects that were slacking over two months ago are still slacking.

I'll be working on updating the list tonight

Dyson's Delves (Hand Drawn Maps) Now Available in PDF!

I have the softcover version of Dyson's Delves and it rocks hard. There is so much I want to do with the included maps, but I can't bring myself to write in the book. Additionally, I want to use the maps in Roll20, and scanning them just isn'r feasible for me.

These problems are now in the past, as Dyson's Delves in now available in PDF.

I can't print out the maps I want to use, write all over them and then upload the original maps to Roll20.

Yep, I'm happy as a pig in shit :)

What Kind of GM Are You? A Planner or an Improvisor?

As I read through Odyssey (The Complete GM's Guide to Campaign Management) I'm being reminded that there are two basic types of GMs:

Those that "plan and prepare" are on one side of the graph.

Those that "improvise and pray" are on the other side of the graph.

Me, I'm pretty well situated on the "improvise and pray" end of the spectrum. It's not that I don't prepare, but my plans towards preparing greatly outweigh any actual preparation that gets done. With my group, that is probably a good thing, as they couldn't follow a straight line or a plot path without some major whacking with a 10' pole.

Odyssey covers both extremes of GMing style (I named the styles here, not the book, but I feel they are accurate depictions, at least in my eyes). Even the "improvise and pray" side of the spectrum does require some prep, but it's generally much looser in nature.

So, while I'm enjoying the sections that are aimed at the "plan and prepare" type of GM, I also know that despite my best intentions, I'll carry over very little from these sections. It's just my nature. As for the "improvise and pray style" - there's some gold within. Thankfully both types of sections are readily identifiable.

Where do you stand on the GM graph? "Plan and Prepare"? "Improvise and Pray"? In the middle? "P&P with some Improvisational Tendencies"?

Modern Adventures (Beta) - I Want This JUST For the Cover!

I simply love this cover! It's an awesome homage to B/X D&D, even if the insides are for the Pathfinder game.

Heck, for 99 cents I may get Modern Adventures just for the cover ;)

From the Blurb:


Modern Adventures is an supplement to the Pathfinder Roleplaying game published by Paizo, designed to expand Pathfinder for modern settings. Not just a rehash of d20 Modern,* Modern Adventures is a new take on fantasy gaming in a 21st century setting. Inside, you'll find:

Updates to the existing Pathfinder core and NPC classes, bringing them into the 21st century.
6 brand new classes with 20 new archetypes.

Charmer

Masters of the social arts, charmers are masters of flattery and persuasion, using their innate appeal to deceive, manipulate, and bend others to their will.

Archetypes: Animal Whisperer, Gambler, Romancer, Undercover Spy

Entertainer

Consummate performers, entertainers are happiest in front of an audience. They create and control the raw emotions of everyone around them. As they advance in levels they also gain status and influince.

Archetypes: Stand-up Comic, Pro Athlete, Stuntman


Gadgeteer

Techies. Gearheads. Geeks. Rocket Scientists. Whatever you call them, gadgeteers are technological virtuosos, able to create short-lived gizmos - technology so advanced it makes "cutting-edge" look like a blunt rock.

Archetypes: Hacker, Racer, Saboteur

Investigator

Investigators are tireless seekers of truth and insatiable puzzle-solvers, never content unless they're working a case. Using flashes of intuition as well as the scientific re-creation of crime scenes, no clue is beyond their reach.

Archetypes: Bounty Hunters, Gentleman Detective, Muckraker, Superfan

Scholar

Part bookworm, part mad scientist, the scholar's primary advantage is their raw intellect which they can shape into various talents and tricks. They can also create concoctions that can have either beneficial or detrimental effects.

Archetypes: Engineer, Psychologist


Stranger

Every culture produces individuals who ultimately live apart from it, strangers within their own lands. Whether driven away from society or choosing to live apart from their fellow man, strangers face scorn and derision wherever they go. Still, living outside the system lets them accomplish things that most 9-5ers can only dream about.

Archetypes: Drunken Bum, Parolee, Street Preacher, Traditional Tribal Warrior

New Skills
New Feats
Modern weapons, equipment, and vehicles.
2 campaign universes and sample adventures:

Fifth Realm

The nine worlds of Norse mythology are real... and on a collision course with Midgard, the fifth realm. Participate in the return of magic to the modern world. Explore 8 new dimensional planes and, most importantly, defend earth from magically adept alien invaders.

Silicon Gothic

A hard sci-fi universe completely devoid of magic, the near-future world of Silicon Gothic follows the dystopian footsteps of Bladerunner, Brazil, Escape From New York, Max Headroom, Metropolis, and Robocop. Corrupt and greedy corporations oppress their workers and bully the powerless government. You must learn to work the system or be crushed by it.

* OK, a good deal of the equipment list is carried over from d20 Modern. You've got me. Did you really expect us to re-research everyday items that everybody already knows?

There Will Be Drinking Quest This Weekend!

The mostly annual Gathering of Fools will be taking place this Saturday afternoon. My old gaming group - we started in high school, moved on to college, reset to MMORPGs when work and family commitments prevented us from getting together in person regularly - will be getting together this weekend.

Grown 40+ year old men eating, drinking, watching bad movies and this time around - playing some Drinking Quest!

Hell, I'm not even the designated driver (I've been so on many of the previous gatherings) so I'll be able to chug with the best of them.

Now when does the Indiegogo of Drinking Quest 2 ship again?

A Kickstarter That's Gone to the Dogs - "Dogs Playing D&D"

You know the iconic paintings of dogs playing poker? The ones that you cringe when you see for the uhm-teenth time?

Would you feel differently if the dogs were playing D&D?

I don't, but if you do, you can get it in electronic or printed format, and for the stretch goals you can even vote on different editions of D&D besides the default 3e.

Hey, you knew it was going to happen at some point, right?

What Replaces "Magic" in SciFi Campaigns?

"Technology suitably advanced will effectively be magical" or some such. I'm paraphrasing somebody but damned if I know who.

In any, magic is a staple in fantasy RPG campaigns, whether we are talking spells or items.

Spells kinda match up to psionics or psi powers, but what matches up to the magic items?

Now, I'm not saying that D&D is simply killing things and taking their stuff - I'm mean, it is that but it's more too. The thing is that "stuff" is often magical in nature - potions, scrolls, rings, swords, etc etc... What is the parallel in SciFi?

Better loot... er, weapons?

I'm guessing alien artifacts.

Damn, I've really been away from SciFi RPGs for way too long ;)

"Odyssey - The Complete Game Master's Guide to Campaign Management" Opens for Preorders June 3

+Gnome Stew 's / Engine Publishing's campaign management book Odyssey opens for preorders tomorrow. I've been privileged to have an advanced reviewer's copy of the PDF in my hands for a short while. I'll be doing my proper review of this later on this week, but it's timing couldn't be better, as I'm getting ready to launch my new SciFi campaign shortly.

I'm a notorious minimal preparer / highly improvisational type of GM (probably comes from years of procrastination in High School and College and at nearly 46 I'm too damn old to change) and I was moderately surprised to see that much of Odyssey is aimed at GMs similar to me.

I'll get to see Odyssey in action over this summer's campaign, which means I'll probably need to follow up this week's forthcoming review with actual "Play Updates".

You can also grab a 19 page preview over at Gnome Stew.

What Meaning Does "Official" Have in the OSR?

Recently I participated in an "online discussion" with someone that was looking for more Swords & Wizardry material. He was looking for new classes and such. I pointed him to some of the material posted during April's Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day blogfest, figuring he's find something to use, whether new classes, monsters, adventures, settings, house rules - over 140 posts from various bloggers can generate lots of material.

It's not what he wanted. He wanted more "official" classes and such from Frog God Games. I mentioned that wasn't very likely and pretty much opposite of the whole OSR thing.

It's possible he was coming from the world of Pathfinder or 4e, where turning out new classes, spells, monsters, settings and the like from Paizo and WotC is part of the whole revenue stream.

The OSR doesn't really work in that manner. Third parties offer expansions to the rules as options. Heck, even when the rules publishers themselves go beyond the original core, it's all optional.

Nothing is official in the OSR, not even the core rules.

Everything is official in the OSR, at least potentially, after approval from the DM.

Therefore, official has no true value in the OSR.

What's you feelings on "Official" and the OSR?

Adding Some More Volume - "OSR Distribution CD-ROM" - Can It Be Done?

+Timothy Brannan has a really intriguing post up over on his blog The Other Side about using a CD-Rom to promote the OSR at Cons and game stores. Here's a snippet (hit his blog for the rest and running commentary):

What about a FREE OSR distribution CD-ROM?

We put on the most popular free products that we have the permission to use, build a front end (HTML) that has the links to the PDFs on the disk and then links to the various sites and links to whatever else.

Each game would need some promotional "Ad" copy written.

The idea then is we, you, me, whomever demos the game then gives out copies of this disk to the players.

Off the top of my head I think we should include: 

Basic Fantasy
OSRIC
Swords & Wizardry
Labyrinth Lord (Free versions)
Lamentations of the Flame Princess (the free versions that out there)
Spellcraft & Swordplay (Basic version)
Microlite74
Matt Finch's Quick Primer for Old School gaming 

There could be and should be more.  

Hell, I'd put together a S&W compatible PDF just for something like this. It's a great way to get more eyes on the OSR, and with the compatibility of the systems, a rising tide would literally life all.

What say you all?

A Look at the Poll Results Thus Far for a "Online Swords & Wizardry Gaming Convention"

Let's see. 139 total votes. 94% of those votes would be interested in gaming and / or "Hangouts" with some of the creative side of Swords & Wizardry. (I suspect few that aren't interested bothered to vote, so the percentages are surely skewed. Still a nice number of responses, even with some multiple votes)

I think there is enough interest here to start with the broad strokes on how to organize this. I think the key here is not trying to replicate a "real space con" with a "cyber space con". The last attempt at that was an abysmal failure and that is not something anyone has a desire to repeat.

The strength of an online gathering / convention is the ability to get people together for gaming purposes from across the world and still allow them to game from their own homes. An online gaming con is simply about gaming, not vendors and publishers and the like.

It's needs about gaming - playing games and talking about games. Anything that gets on the way of that needs to be left behind.

Earliest we would be looking at this is mid to late September, so lots of time for thoughts, ideas, brainstorms and brainfarts ;)

As always, for this to be successful, it needs to be for the community by the community. W do have a most awesome community in the corner Swords & Wizardry calls home.

Character Gen and Workable Hangout - Session Zero of "The Voyages of the Starship Icarus"

Tonight was a playtest of sorts. I needed to stress test the upgraded DSL at my parents' place in NE PA. Shit works well. Hell, it actually works, unlike the slightly cheaper DSL they used to pay for. The Saturday Night Game Sessions will continue throughout the summer as the escape to the Poconos on multiple weekends. Huzzah!

I did Stars Without Number character gen with 3 of my regular players. SWN is a bit deeper then any of us had expected, which just goes to prove that reading through the rules isn't always a complete reading through if the rules. Heh.

I'll need to tweak things a bit for the "Red Shirt" sessions and tonight gave me some ideas on how to streamline things on the char gen side, especially for "Zero Levels".

Did I mention there still isnt much of a breeze here? Sigh.

The Winners of the "Name a Crazy Magic Item Contest" Are...

The votes are in.

Can we have a drumroll please!

Alright, the winning entries are:

The-cloak-that-weeps

The Portable Beach

and tied for third place are:

Oscillating Protuberance Magnifier

and

Burgulcut's Belt of Basic Badassery

yes, awarding an extra prize for the third place tie ;)

The winning random commenter is:

+Brett Slocum 

I'm away for the weekend, so give me a day or two to get those prizes out to ya.

In the meantime, the winners should email me at tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom so I can get those prizes out promptly when i settle in back home.

Thanks to all that submitted - that's one hell of a lot of weird magic to spark the imagination ;)

What Would Be Your Choice of SciFi RPG Rulesets?

I plan on kicking of a Stars Without Number campaign that going to draw influence from other scifi sources - RPGs, fiction movies, etc.

I'm going with SWN as there is little transition need for my mind to go from AD&D / S&W / OSR to SWN - the engine is pretty much the same even if the chassis is different.

There are other viable choices, of course.

My last (and only) sci-fi gaming in the last 15 years prior to my upcoming campaign was playing in a Warhammer 40k Dark Heresy campaign. I had a blast as a player, but the game itself is just crunchy for me to be able to comfortably run it these days. Not saying I might not borrow a lot of it's flavor for the new campaign, just not the rules.

Traveller, whether the LBBs or Mongoose is a solid system, but I'm at least 20 years past the last time I've run it.

X-Plorers, Hulks & Horrors and other OSR type scifi rpgs are sources I plan to liberally liberate material from. They are both good choices, but SWN seemed to fit my needs the best.

So, if you were to run (or currently are running) a SciFi RPG game, which set (or sets) of rules would you use?

Recharging My Creative Batteries - Hot Pocono Mountains Weekend

I haven't escaped to my folks' place in the Poconos since January. I've exchanged the snow of winter for the summer heat - and it's only June 1st.

My bag and iPad are full of inspirational reading for the Stars Without Number Drop In / Drop Out Campaign I plan to run as a backup to our usual AD&D 1e / Rappan Athuk game: Starships & Spacemen, Mutant Future and Hulks & Horrors just to name a few.

I'll be doing character gen with some of my regular group tonight - assuming the upgraded DSL here in the country is up to the task. I'm hopeful, so I'll be making a trip to Walmart later to secure a headset.

I just love getting away for a few days and not having to go through a whole production to do it. I also get much more reading done during my weekends in the country.

Summer can't get here fast enough ;)

About 24 hrs Left in the "Top Ten Picks From the Name a Crazy Magic Item Contest - Help Us Choose 3 Winners!" (one random voters gets a $5 RPGNow GC)

Voting ends tomorrow nite!

Cast your vote here!

Croaker - Druid of the Swamp (Swords & Wizardry NPC)

Thirty-one days of Swords & Wizardry posting. Holy crap!

Well, thirty-one days after this post ;)

"Croaker", Druid of the Swamp

"Croaker" wasn't always "Croaker". He was a she, and human at that. That was all before stepping  onto a floor that wasn't there. Her party recovered her body but weren't able to find a cleric willing to cast a raise dead spell, so the party settled on reincarnate cast by a druid who looked favorably on their situation.

Human female dies, and "Croaker", the male Bullywug arrises. Hey, at least "Croaker" was still a druid, still looked upon favorably by her  his goddess.This is what nature meant to happen, and "Croaker" has embraced it, to the point of forgetting (or so he says) his previous name and life.

"Croaker"'s friends overlook the fact that their froglike friend likes to carry the skulls of those that he feels have defiled his swamp. What do they know of the ways of the swamp?

"Croaker", Druid, Level 7

Str 11
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 15
Cha 8

Leather / Bone Armor (treat as Ring)
+ 1 Staff

No other valuables, as he does not value material possessions anymore.

My Barrowmaze T-Shirt Acquisition ;)

Simply awesome!

I bought 2 of the same and I'm glad I did, because they are going to be worn - a lot ;)

Greg Gillespie done did good ;)

Thieves - The Backstabbing Little Bastards That Hardly Ever Backstab! (Swords & Wizardry Houserules)

The one thing I've generally disliked about playing thieves is that their backstabbing ability rarely comes into play when playing without a grid. It's a shame, too, as it is a cool ability and the whole idea of putting a thief in the thick of combat is just plain fun. Well, dangerous too, but danger is fun. :)

With the grid you can show placement and facing and the thief can move into a backstabbing position right in the middle of combat. When playing gridles, or Theatre of the Mind, those opportunities are pretty much lost. Let's try to work them back in.

Surprise. When the thief gets the drop on an opponent you probably should allow the thief to make a backstab attack. He's going for vitals, the opponent has his guard down, it should have the potential to be very painful.

Initiative on the first round of combat. This depends on how combat heavy a campaign is that you are running. If you want to make the thieves more than trap monkeys in your campaign, give them the opportunity for a reduced backstab if the thief beats their opponent's initiative in the first round of combat in an encounter: + 2 hit instead of + 4, and one multiple less on the damage bonus (so the damage bonus wouldn't kick into level 5, where it would be at x2 and move up from there). Of course, this also puts the lightly armored thief in the party's front lines.

Pick Pockets Skill - if you treat picking pockets as more of a distraction type skill, one thief could set up a target for another thief in the midst of combat. Would work very well in a dark alley ;)

Remember, what's good for the goose is also good for the gander. If you put any of these houserules in play for the PC thieves you've also made the NPC thieves more dangerous. That can only be a good thing, right?

Top Ten Picks From the Name a Crazy Magic Item Contest - Help Us Choose 3 Winners!

There are too many awesome choices for the "Name a Crazy Magic Item" contest for me to pick just three - so I'm picking ten favorites and letting y'all vote over the next two days to choose the top three (voting will end sometime Saturday night). You vote by indicating up to three favorites as a comment on this post.

I'm not including names of the entrants on this post to make the voting more for the item name and not the name of the entrant, but if you feel a need to know, you can always search the comments for the original post.

Top Ten Crazy Magic Items, in no particular order:

1 - The-cloak-that-weeps

2 - Olisbos of Venca (name changed to protect the non-OGL proper name)

3 - Oscillating Protuberance Magnifier

4 - Marshmallow of Desire

5 - Ogre Boots of Foul Smelling Fungal Excretion

6 - Abelard's Magnificent Traveling Pants

7 - Burgulcut's Belt of Basic Badassery

8 - The Stone of Dentistry

9 - Erik's Tankard of Backwash

10 - Portable Beach

I'll award a random voted a $5 RPGNow GC just for playing ;)

Wherein I Become an Emotional Sap ;)

I am overwhelmed by the offers of support, both public and private, for the Copper Droppings fanzine. I really don't know what to say but "thank you!" and "I'll get right on it".

As I stated in the last post on the topic, I see this as an ongoing community project that belongs to everyone is this niche of ours. I'm thrilled to see so many others view it the same way. Any success it has will be because of y'all.

Seriously, y'all rock.

Much appreciated.

Now I'm getting all teary-eyed ;)

Pouch of Useless Items (Swords & Wizardry Magic Item)

Pouch of Useless Items

The Pouch of Useless Items appears to be a normal belt pouch of rather largish size until one reaches inside. No matter what one intends to find, a random item from the following list is what is found. The extra dimensional space in the pouch can hold up to 25 pounds that it's owner places within (the pouch always weighs 1 pound) - it's removing what one wants that is the question.

1 - spool of thread, white

2 - bent copper piece

3 - fishing pole without a line or hook

4 - large padlock (no key)

5 - glass gem (value 1sp)

6 - half eaten trail biscuit

7 - leaky waterskin (1 qt)

8 - dead rat, slightly putrid

9 - deck of 49 playing cards (random missing cards from the full 52)

10 - 5' of rope

11 - small knife, bronze, dull (Damage 1-2)

12 - random item placed in pouch previously - otherwise slice of apple pie, crushed and w/o plate or utensils (messy but still tasty)

Mini Review - The Revelation of Mulmo (DCC RPG)

Learn from me - print out the maps to The Revelation of Mulmo before you start reading the meat of the adventure. With smaller adventures, the visual of the map isn't always necessary, but in this case you'll got from scratching your head to "holy shit! now I see how it works!" in one fell swoop. As I said, learn from me ;)

The Revelation of Mulmo is a bit of a switch from the usual DCC RPG adventures that one normally finds.

Firstly, it is for level 4 adventurers, which is generally at the higher end of what one finds for DCC. Then again, DCC seems to have a fairly high attrition rate among characters, so the preponderance of lower level adventures makes sense.

Secondly, it has a Patron woven very directly into the story - one of the PCs will be hearing voices in his head. Actually, this adventure is very Patron driven. Patrons are one of the more unique parts of the DCC system, and I enjoy seeing it get some good mileage. +Daniel Bishop gets some very good mileage from it. Well done :)

Thirdly, it's a long adventure, both page-wise (about 50 of the 76 pages are dedicated to the adventure itself - the rest are maps and Patrons) and I expect play-wise. I'm guessing there are a good 2-3 sessions in here easily.

It has a nice balance between roleplay, DC checks, combat and thinking. the DCC RPG is a very lethal game, and The Revelation of Mulmo is no exception. Well, except that there are events that may remove a character from play, but may not actually kill him and he may spend years someplace but still be waiting for the party when the survivors finish. Wait, I didn't mention the time thing, did I? Well, forget I even mentioned it - or that I didn't.

Be forewarned - The Revelation of Mulmo is not something you are going to read two hours before game time and be able to run it with any sort of authority. It's not a complicated adventure but it is far from simple and it will play much better with a ref that is well prepared. For the review I did a skim and then a read through. I'd need a second read through at least before saying I had the knowledge to run it.

+Daniel Bishop has been challenging his readers of late by keeping off the beaten path (Stars in the Darkness is a recent example) and The Revelation of Mulmo is no different. Well no, that's not quite right - it is very different (and extremely good) in a different way.

From the blurb:


Death comes to us all… but what price are you willing to pay to bring back one you have lost?

In The Revelation of Mulmo, brave adventures risk magic, monsters, and the passage of time itself to bring a fallen comrade back from the dead.

This module describes a fallen elf hill, with descriptions of 60 locations, additional patron information, and a new spell. It makes use of patron information from the DCC rulebook and Angels, Daemons, & Beings Between by Dragon's Hoard Press. If you are wondering how to make patrons more active in your campaign, this is the adventure for you!

My Thoughts About the Upcoming Copper Droppings S&W Fanzine

Why Copper Droppings?

Why indeed?

Sometimes things play out on their own, in ways no one involved expects. You either embrace it and ride the wave or try to avoid it and hope to not get rolled over in the process.

I never expected the amazing response to the Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day Blogfest that manifested. It was glorious and amazing and dumbfounding. Most of all, for me at least, it was inspiring. There was so much love, so much excitement and so much “stuff”. It appears there are a lot of creative folks that are fans of Swords & Wizardry. There is also a lack of opportunities for them to share their work.

One of the great results of the S&W App Day was the announcement of the return of Knockspell. I loved it and missed it and I’m thrilled it’s returning. I expect to submit an article or two when Matt announces his call for submissions.

Still, I think there is room for a (mostly) monthly fanzine that targets the Swords & Wizardry Community. The first issue will be mostly content written by me, but I want to make it a community project. While we can’t pay much, I’d like to think we can pay something for the rights to publish work that you, a member of the S&W Community, submit to Copper Droppings (you keep all copyright to your work). I’ll be referring to this as “paying with beer money”- 5 bucks for your accepted article or artwork. Just about enough cash to buy yourself a decent pint of tap beer at your local pub - or a really crappy six-pack of beer at your local grocery. It aint much, but as the line most folks us in this corner of creative activity often say: “I work for beer money!” we want to be honest - you will be basically working for beer money (or a weird sounding Starbuck’s coffee if that’s how you swing).

It’s your community. It’s your fanzine. We thank your for joining us on this ride :)

P.S.

Will Copper Droppings be 100% Swords & Wizardry all of the time?

Probably not - the OSR is large and my interest spans many systems, but the focus will certainly be S&W. That being said, if someone submits an awesome OSRIC article or some such, they'll probably get their beer money ;)

When The Troll God Speaks, He Desires Marshmallows ;)

Fun times when Ken St. Andre joins in on the festivities ;)

I'll stat the winning entries for Swords & Wizardry AND Tunnels & Trolls now :)

Contest Time: Name a Crazy Magic Item and You May Win a Copy of Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Volume 1

We got ourselves a little contest here, with 3 copies of Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Volume 1 in PDF up for grabs (there are also be 3 copies of Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Volume 2 up for grabs at the contest over at TheCrazyGM Blog - Volume 2 released earlier today).

What you have to do is simple:

Name a magic item.

No description, no powers - simply a name.

The crazier the name the better.

I'll pick the top 3 entries (the ones that speak to my creative juices) to get a free copy of MM&MA Vol 1 and I'll stat the winning entries here on the blog and probably put them into one of the early issues of the Copper Droppings Fanzine (working on it as we speak - sorta).

The contest will run till about 8 PM Thursday night (May 30th).

If the writer of a winning entry is also a 2000 Coppers Community Member of the G+ side, I'll credit their RPGNow account with sufficient funds to grab a copy of Volume 2, too ;)

Legendary Traveller Shadowruns to Pendragon - and They Are On Sale!

DriveThruRPG has a nice assortment of RPG core books on sale for some extremely nice prices:

Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition -The ultimate adventure of fantasy samurai, locked in perpetual battles of honor and glory within the bonds of the Code of Bushido. (I've heard some really good stuff abut LotFR RPG, but I'm not sure if my group would ever go for the setting itself)

Regular PDF Prince: $34.99 Sale Price: $8.75 Savings of $26.24!!

Traveller Main Rulebook - Traveller is back, and it is better than ever! Based on the Classic Traveller rules set, this book has been streamlined for modern roleplaying, and yet still retains that unmistakable Traveller aura. (a bargain and a half. much harder to die during character gen with this edition than the classic Traveller rules)

Regular PDF Price: $19.18 Sale Price: $4.80 Savings of $14.39!!

Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition - The year is 2072. Magic has returned and creatures of myth and legend walk among us as megacorps bleed the world dry. Shadowrun, Fourth Edition offers a completely new rules system that is simple, integrated, and accessible. (I only have the 1st edition rules of Shadowrun. For $3.75 I'm sold)

Regular PDF Price: $15.00 Sale Price: $3.75 Savings of $11.25!!

King Arthur Pendragon 5.1 - Relive the grandeur and romance of the greatest of all legends - the story of King Arthur. Assume the role of a knight starting his career in the time of Uther Pendragon, undertaking quests and perilous adventures for your lord, for your lady-love, for the Church, or for your own glory. (I have this in print. even if I never play it, it's worth the read)

Regular PDF Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $5.00 Savings of $14.99!!

Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Volume II is On Sale at RPGNow

I'm happy to say that Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Volume II is currently on sale at RPGNow.

I'm not going to say much about the writing - as I wrote it, so it succeeds or fails on that aspect based upon my work.

What I am going to talk about is the art by Teo Commons, which is pretty awesome. Teo does some of the most amazing black and white artwork that I've come across, and it's especially well suited for the magic items presented in this volume and it's predecessor. I look forward to working with Teo on Volume 3 (which should be done around the beginning of July)

I'm going to see if we can get a few copies to give away. Teo's art deserves the exposure.

Will the Real "Tenkar's Tavern" Please Stand Up?

Last fall this blog got hit by a stealth attack. A third party app was embedded in the site by me (dumb, I know) but it worked fine over over a year, before the app's owner let the domain expire. Someone grabbed the domain, redirected the app and turned the blog into an adware home for a few hours.

As I had purchased the domain tenkarstavern.com from google, google's buggy interface didn't allow me to edit the original tenkarstavern.blogspot.com. So, my work around was to create a new blog at tenkarstavern2.blogspot.com and allow tenkarstavern.com to redirect to the new blog.

All was well - until today.

It appears a "blog resurrectionist" has grabbed about a dozen abandoned blogs today, and tenkarstavern.blogspot.com is on that list. There can be only one reason for the blog land grab - adware or worse.

So, if a "Welcome" message popped up in your blogroll today from a blog claiming to be Tenkar's Tavern, it's not me.

It probably only effects those that have been following this blog for 3 years or so or longer, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

Big thanks to +Tim Shorts for the exceptional looking out ;)

Games From the Basement - Dragonstar (D20)

Dragonstar - Starfarer's Handbook initially seemed like a quasi-science version of Spelljammer, but my God this book spoke to me. I so badly wanted to play it or run it or do anything with it. Hell, I bought every accessory I could find and even joined it's Yahoo Group.

It was just that cool.

Yes, I had a gamer's crush on Dragonstar during the early days of 3e, when I had no group and even less time to find one.

From what I recall, the advent of 3.5e killed Dragonstar, which is a shame, as it has a nice, dark side to everything.

As I put together the Stars Without Number / Spacement & Spaceships hack for the drop in / drop out campaign this summer, I can't help thinking about hacking some Dragonstar into it at some point.

Who the hell am I kidding? I'd love to see this hacked into Swords & Wizardry. Not sure if I have the time or the skill, but it would be damn sweet to see :)

Flying Stuffed Monkey - (Swords & Wizardry Magic Item)

Art By Teo Commons
Note - This monkey does NOT fly out of one's ass ;)

Flying Stuffed Monkey

The Flying Stuffed Monkey is a sort of quasi-golem. It can fly, walk, fight and even die for it’s master, but so long as it’s master retrieves the majority of it’s remains from the field of battle, it will be ready to fight the following day.

Hit Dice: 2 (13 HP)
Armor Class: 6 (15)
Attacks: 2 Claws (1d4), 1 Bite (1d4)
Saving Throw: 12
Special: Reforms 24 hrs after being defeated. 23 Points of magical fire will destroy the Flying Stuffed Monkey for good
Alignment: Neutral
Number Encountered: 1
Challenge Level/XP: 2 / 30

(The Flying Stuffed Monkey will be in Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana Vol 2)

Checking Interest in a Swords & Wizardry Online Convention / Gathering

I tried running this poll or survey about a month or so ago, and Blogger's plug in for it was so frigging buggy I had to stop it, so here we go again ;)

The poll is on the right side of the page. I think it maxes out at 200 votes, but if we reach that we should have a pretty good idea if there is enough interest in this or not.

We'd probably be looking at a weekend in September, sometime after Labor Day here in the States. If it does have legs, I expect this to be mostly community driven, much like the Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day was.

I would assume that most of the gaming would revolve around G+ Hangouts / Roll20, but it does't need to. There are other viable Virtual Table Tops out there: Maptools, Fantasy Grounds, EpicTableTop, ScreenMonkey and other. Add in Skype (or not) and you are good to go.

Heck, we could even get a panel or two going, interviews, maybe even a workshop - like Quick Adventure Design Hints or 10 minute Dungeon Maps.

So, what are you waiting for? Vote!

Purple Duck Games Sale - 25% Off Everything Until June 1st!

I really like Purple Duck Games. Not only do they have some nice DCC RPG adventures, but Mark is very open to feedback. When I mentioned in one of the reviews on this very blog that having an unkeyed version of the adventure map is almost a necessity for online gaming, the suggestion was addressed and the adventure in question was updated with an unkeyed map. Mark has been pretty good at adding unkeyed maps to later DCC RPG releases too.

Talk about customer service. :)

Anyhow, everything they sell is 25% off until the end of the month.

Oh, and they sell stock are too, so if you are looking to self publish, now is a good time to stock up on some stock art (I may do so myself ;)

Building a Better Bard - A Re-Imagining IV - We Can Make You Better

The AD&D 1e version of the bard needs 2 rounds to warm up with his poetry before it takes effect, and it gives a 10% moral bonus and + 1 to the to hit roll of friendly characters.

I like that built in 2 round delay, and I would rule that those two rounds must be combat rounds, not waiting for 2 rounds as the fighter gets ready to burst through the door to the next room.

The bard can fight, but can't use any of his songs or spells while inspiring courage and ferocity for those 2 rounds, and then it lasts for one round per level (AD&D 1e calls for a full turn, but that's for a character that already has at least 10 prior levels of fighter and thief behind him - one round per level should work fine).

I would give the bonus to saves too I think.

I'm getting closer to fleshing all of this out, and I really like the idea of using the Cleric's Turning Tables for the other abilities, but we'll see how everything fits together as I start to finalize things. I don't think the finalized class write up will be done by the end of the month but it is getting closer ;)

What is Your Preferred RPG Genre?

I find I'm pretty well grounded in fantasy when it comes to my PG playing, which is why this summer's "drop in / drop out" Stars Without Number campaign is going to be a huge change for me and probably a decent challenge.

It's not that I haven't run scifi in the past. Original Traveller, Star Ace and SpaceMaster were all games I ran back in high school and my college years, but they never held my attention as much as fantasy games like AD&D, Runequest, MERP, Rolemaster, WFRP and the like.

I did dabble in some horror with CoC and Chill, but my players really weren't into it.

We did get some good play out of 1st edition Paranoia, which is more slapstick than scifi.

I did play in a short Twilight 2000 campaign and thought of running a RECON game, but the last never happened. I've always found it interesting that RPGs, which built upon wargaming, don't seem to do "modern war" roleplaying all that well.

I'm looking forward to stretching my GMing chops with a return to scifi.

So, what's you preferred genre to run or play in? Is it different if you are running the game or playing in it?

The Voyages of the Starship Icarus May Kick Off Next Weekend

I guess I need a name for the "Stars Without Number / Starships & Spacemen, Star Trek meets Aliens meets Warhammer 40k" drop in / drop out campaign.

"The Voyages of the Starship Icarus. It's 8 year mission: To explore strange, new worlds. To seek out adventure wherever it may be. To return. Yes, to simply survive and return after it's mission is complete."

The Icarus is halfway through its 8 year mission. All of the original command staff have met their end on one world or starship battle or from food poisoning or the like. Ensigns have been assigned to act in the ranks of the different command staff, but in truth they are all still ensigns.

Communications with the nearest Federated star base takes weeks to travel through hyperspace, and even if the Icarus turned back now, it would still take six months through occasionally hostile space to return home.

Over half the crew has been added from local populations over the years to replace crew members that have been lost. The new generation, or "New Gens" are inevitably "Red Shirts" until they prove themselves to the original generation of crew members. With experience comes added responsibilities, if not survivability.

(All PCs being ensigns and red shirts removes the constrictions of a rank based structure while still filling the requisite "rank" roles.)

Mini Review - Solo Heroes (Free Rules for One on One OSR Gaming From Sine Nomine Publishing)

With a title like "Solo Heroes" you might think these rules are for solo play, much like the Tunnels & Trolls solo adventures, but you would be wrong. These are rules, stated as compatible with Labyrinth Lord but in truth usable with little effort with any of the OSR rules of your choice that enable "One on One" gaming using off the shelf adventures.

Almost sounds to good to be true. I haven't had a chance to playtest the rules yet, but I expect they work well, at least at lower and middle levels. I suspect after 5th or 6th level things break down a bit. That seem to be the big power jump for both spell casting PCs and the adversaries players face

The rules are a hack to the power curve built into OSR style rules and it allows PCs to last longer in combat while taking down their foes quick, all without changing numbers on the character sheets or the stats in your favorite adventure.

I do want to give Solo Heroes a run for it's money at some point and see how well it works in an actual playtest. I'm currently running an infrequent 2 player / 1 DM - Swords & Wizardry / Crypts & Things hack as I'm trying to find a solution for balanced play and extremely small parties. This might just be the thing I need.

Sine Nomine puts out quality stuff and Solo Heroes is no different. Lots of ideas in the 7 pages, including a small adventure. The price is definitely right at FREE. Hard to go wrong, even if all you do is mine it for the included adventure.

From the blurb:


Maybe you want to show a friend the fun of classic D&D, but you can't pull a group together on short notice. Maybe you have nights where only one friend can make it, and you're tired of breaking out the card games. Maybe you just want to run a side game for somebody, but don't feel like weighing them down with an entourage of henchmen just so they can survive their first combat. What do you need? You need Solo Heroes, a free Labyrinth Lord-compatible supplement for lone adventuring.

While written for the Red Tide Campaign Setting and Sandbox Toolkit, this supplement is compatible with a wide range of old-school games. Within, you'll find a simple set of rules for running classic adventures with just a single PC. There's no need to alter character sheets or rework modules to make them survivable for whatever class your player has chosen- Solo Heroes gives you a handful of simple rules for turning such solitary exploration from a death wish in the making to a daring tale of risk and potential glory.

In addition to these rules, the mini-adventure of The Yellow Toad God's Well is provided to give you a little something instant to run for your player's new hero. And if it turns out you've got a full group for that night's session? Just drop the optional rules and run it by the book. Solo Heroes lets you play the game without painful paperwork and adventure redesign, whether for one player or half a dozen.

Swamp Hag (A Swords & Wizardry Monster)

Hag, Swamp

Hit Dice: 4 (20 HP)
Armor Class: 5[14]
Attacks: 2 Claws (1d4), 1 Bite (1d6) or by weapon, 1 Bite (1d6)
Saving Throw: 12
Special: Poisonous Bite (a successful bite attack requires the victim to make a save or be paralyzed for 2d4 rounds)
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1d6
Challenge Level/XP: 6 / 400

Swamp Hags, like most of the variations of hag, feast on flesh as often as they can find it. In the case of swamp Hags, they prefer their flesh be still living. If a victim succumbs to the bite of the hag and is paralyzed a feeding frenzy will commence. Each hag in the encounter will turn their attention on the poor, immobile victim, rending him with their claws and teeth until he is little more than bones. They will ignore other potential targets during this time  - if the party is willing to leave a comrade behind, they can usually escape without further casualties.

Thinking of a "Red Shirt" Funnel for the Stars Without Numbers "Drop In / Drop Out" Campaign...

One of my regular players ( +Keith J Davies I'm looking at you) brought up the idea of using the "red shirts" as 0-level characters and treating each session as a bit of a funnel - surviving "red shirts" get to level up and actually become identifiable crew members (they reach level 1). I simply love the idea. "The Funnel" is one of the best ideas the DCC RPG has added to the OSR and I think it makes a nice fit with "red shirts".

Which means I need a simple mechanic to let players design 0-level characters in Stars Without Number.

What I am thinking is that they get their background package but don't get their training package until level 1.

1d4 HP, the class max HP when they hit level 1.

That free 14 score in their chosen class's prime req? Not until first level.

Any other ideas? I like the idea of the first mission being a "Red Shirt Massacre" ;)

I Haven't Run a SciFi RPG Session in Nearly 20 Years...

The last time I ran a SciFi RPG it was SpaceMaster for my group when we were down to two regulars. All I remember is lots of charts and lots of blaster fights, usually with the PCs solidly behind cover and ambushing their opponents. Probably the only way to survive a combat using the SpaceMaster rules ;)

Stars Without Number is a much lighter system than SpaceMaster by far. That all being said, running a fantasy based OSR game is something I could almost do in my sleep. Not so sure I can say the same for a scifi based OSR game. I suspect I need to change tracks in my head, as I don't want this to just be "D&D in space".

Current premise is this (subject to change with player feedback and GM musings):

(SWN for the rules / Starships & Spacemen for the flavor)

The ship is about midway through it's 12 year mission - all of the original command crew have been killed over the years and have been replaced by junior officers. First session PCs are part of the original crew and are now the command crew, but others have been added over the years from planets that have been visited. Later drop ins will be "red shirts" but if they survive the session and return for a second, they will be promoted to ensign.

As the ship is far enough from federated space that communication with the fleet takes a week for messages to travel round trip, they are effectively on their own with minimal guidance. Explore, protect, investigate and make allies - that is the mission. Survival is it's own reward...

Looks Like Stars Without Number with Starships & Spacemen as a Sourcebook Will Be the Summer Episodic Campaign

So, after discussing the idea with my Saturday Night group, the majority is leaning towards Stars Without Number. There was also interest in Razor Coast, but that would be a trick and a half to make it low level and episodic. I could do it I'm sure if I avoided the major plots, but then that avoids most of what makes the Razor Coast what it is.

I figure we'll run SWN, which is a great choice as it's a strong rules system and is free in PDF, which allows us to expand the field for the "drop ins" part of this campaign.

I'll be throwing Starships & Spacemen in behind the scenes, as seems to be made for episodic play (it's inspiration is the original Star Trek series). I expect the players will be on a smaller, Federation type starship, answering distress calls, wandering into trouble and occasionally going on missions where "No man has gone before!" Que the music...

Away teams without "red shirts". Or is that too dangerous? ;)