New Releases for the DCC RPG (reviews will come later)

In the past week there have been a number of strong releases for the DCC RPG. I've been running Swords & Wizardry Complete these days, but I've been using DCC adventures ;)

In release order they are:

The Perils of Cinder Claws - (Purple Duck Games)

At the waning of every year, as the sun grows closer to the horizon, and spends less time in the sky, there comes a time of terrible cold and deep snow to the lands of the north.   The world waits with hushed breath for this, the longest night of the year, to be over.  Soon, the sun will begin to climb higher each day, and the days grow longer.  Although long stretches of cold weather are yet to come, this is the night in which winter’s back is broken.  After tonight, the world turns slowly back to warmth and light.

But that is after tonight.

Perils of the Cinder Claws presents two holiday-themed adventures, The Thing in the Chimney (1st level) and The Nexus of Yule (3rd level), as well as the Cinder Claws himself as a potential patron (complete except spells).

Dungeon Crawl Classics 2013 Holiday Module: The Old God's Return - (Goodman Games)

A Level 1 Adventure

A shivering plague. Knives glinting in the moonlight. A frigid mountain drifting in the sky. These ominous events attend the return of an evil long forgotten by Man. On the night of the winter solstice, when the world is balanced on a knife’s edge in the battle between fire and ice, a slumbering deity awakes. Now, only those heroes chosen as the champions of the Lord of Flickering Flames can end this growing threat before it reclaims its former malevolence and reminds the world why the old forests are places to be feared…

This special holiday-themed adventure is the perfect gift for your gamer friends. It is an excellent one-shot to play during the winter holidays!

D.A.M.N! Issue 1 - DCC RPG Adventure Magazine and News (Straycouches Press)

D.A.M.N. (Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Magazine and News) Issue 1 is a magazine devoted to the publication of adventures, articles, and reviews for DCC RPG. Our premiere issue features the work of Daniel Bishop, Paul Wolfe, Goderic McKellan, David Fischer, and Garett Oliver.

Forsaken Reavers of Praeder Peak - Paul Wolfe

An adventure for 6 to 10 characters of levels 2 to 4. Taking place in the tropical setting of Praeder Island,  the players will have to brave the harsh wilderness, battle reptile ghuls and uncover a new patron, The Queen of Abominations.

The Mysterious Valley - Daniel J. Bishop

An adventure intended for use as a mini-sandbox. Inspired by the works of the late Ray Harryhausen, the players will learn of the wizard Harhasen. With laboratories beneath his tower, he bred monsters from both Men and Animals.

The Snow Queen - Garett Oliver

An adventure for 4 to 8 4th level characters,  or 4 to 6 6th level characters.

The City of Thalos, built by Elves, was said to be the City of Eternity. The city that was lost under ice,  has now been unearthed by Dwarves. The players must now battle both foes and the winter climate to uncover the mystery of The Snow Queen.

The Barbarian - Godric McKellan

A new warrior inspired class for DCC RPG,  The Barbarian offers players an alternative to the warrior class.

Converting Material to Dungeon Crawl Classics - Daniel J. Bishop

Want to run that favorite module for DCC RPG? Well now you can! Daniel offers the tools you need to convert material from other systems for use in DCC RPG.

Tavern Kickstarter Pick - An Illustrated Bestiary of Fantastic Creatures - (Stat-less Illustrated Monster Book)

It's been busy here at The Tavern, what with an overflow of OSR Christmas goodness flowing from the taps, so I'll need to thank Mr. Land of NOD himself, +John Stater , for pointing out this Kickstarter on his blog this evening - An Illustrated Bestiary of Fantastic Creatures by Casey Sorrow.

The sweet price points are $6 for the digital DL, $16 for signed print copy and digital DL ($10 added to pledges outside the US for the print version, because the US Postal Service HATES other countries).

I'm backer number 14 for the curious amongst us. Anyhow, I'll let the art speak for itself:

The Tavern Receives an Early Christmas Present!

Much thanks to the multitalented +Andrew Shields !

Hmm, yeah, a version with "Tenkar's Tavern" instead of the weapons over my drunken ass wouldn't be a bad deal either ;)

This will find a permanent spot on the blog :)

On the 11th Day of OSR Christmas, Treasure was Awarded to the Lords that Waited...

Behold the awarding of the 11th Day of OSR Christmas gifting:

Andrew Beyers - tho shalt receive Lords of Olympus

Brett Slocum - tho shalt review Treasure Awaits

thanks again to +Brett Bernstein for his generosity

(there is still more diceless roleplaying in store later on this week)

On the 12th Day of OSR Christmas, Presents Were Mapped, Signed and Delivered (in 2014)

Note: Due to the expense of mailing packages outside the US, some days of the OSR Christmas Giveaway will be limited to US mailing addresses only. This is one of those days. I apologize to the international tavern patrons and will make it up to you (to some extent) in the coming (and previous) days. PDF gifts will be international and will require an OBS (occasionally LULU) account to claim in most cases. Early 2014 the Tavern will be hosting an event open to all.

Lots of  goodies in Santa's bag today. So much, in fact, that this post will be left open until December 26, at which point the OSR Christmas Giveaway will start back up, as there are still more goodies to give away.

If you haven't dropped a comment yet, now's the time ;)

First off, +Tim Snider has kicked in a signed (by James Ward himself) reprint of Metamorphosis Alpha.

Then +Zach Glazar decided Santa's bag isn't properly filled unless it's overflowing:

- Classic Boxed set of Boot Hill, copyright 1979 (not signed but way old)

- Pool of Radiance "Gold Box" computer game, signed by Zeb Cook, James Ward and Steve Winter

- one oversized map from the Whisper & Venom Kickstarter, signed and numbered and not folded
(also includes one normal sized black and white map and a Jeff Dee print from the Kickstarter)

- one signed Jeff Dee print from the Whisper & Venom Kickstarer

- one unsigned Jeff Dee print from the Kickstarter and one B&W map

last, but certainly not least, we have:

- two copies of +Ken St. Andre 's Dwarves & Dragon game, signed and numbered

Don't expect these to arrive until early 2014, as I suspect by first opportunity to mail these (as oversized mailing tubes dont fit into mailboxes very well) won't be until the first Saturday after the New Year.

For Those that Play Mutants and Masterminds (or just want to peek at a cool modern sourcebook) - Deus ex Historica (376 page sourcebook) is PWYW

Let me preface this by stating unequivocally, +Mark Gedak - aka +Purple Duck Games games is one of the most generous indie / 3rd party publishers I have had the pleasure to deal with. I can attest to this by the stack of in print DCC RPG adventures Mark has published and sent to be to given away to this blog's readers. The man is, simply put, aces.

So, here's the background as to why over 375 pages of Mutants and Masterminds goodness, aka Deus Ex Historica, is being offered at a Pay What You Want pricing:

Purple Duck Games originally shared -   

After much deliberation, I've decided to place Deus ex Historica (M&M) up as pay-what-you want.  

Deus Ex Historica was a product that was kickstarted by 4 Winds Fantasy Gaming. When I took over 4WFG, I inherited the responsibility for completing the kickstarter but not the funds from the kickstarter. This was known to me at the time. It came to me with the art (paid) and the writing (unpaid). 

The book turned out to be 376 page long. The writers have been paid, the kickstarter rewards have been sent and its been out in PDF for quite a while now.  

But its not moving. My additional costs on this product (rewards, paying writers, some additional art) amounted to just over $5K. It has brought in $450. So its definitely a terrible red smear in my ledger.  

We have tried sales including a deep discount one of at d20pfsrd and it didn't amount to anything. 

I'm very pleased with the authors work. I'm very pleased with the work of the artists who contributed. I'm very pleased with the final product. 

So even if I never break even on it, I want people to see it an enjoy it.  

So as of right now you can download it for nothing if you want. Download it, read it, enjoy it. There is nothing worse than a product that is not seen.

From the blurb:

DEUS ex HISTORICA

Gods from the Ages!

From the dawning days of the Second World War to the present day, the dynamic, colorful world of super-heroes has thrilled generations of readers. Whether draped in the dark of night, or wrapped up in brilliant colors, they duel with their arch-enemies across cities, countries, space and even time – modern myths to inspire the imagination.

With this book, you take a look into the files of future archaeologist Danni Cipher, and explore the Ages of the Super-Hero: from their Golden Age beginning, straight through to the Modern Age. Follow the way these comic book eras focused on different styles, struggles, attitudes and even powers, for hero and villain alike.

And more: you can step into the role of any one of four dozen ready-made heroes, to take up their struggles against dozens of their most diabolical foes! Golden, Silver, Bronze, Iron, Modern; each age presents its own team of heroes and the criminals and maniacs that they opposed, good to go straight from the book. Or as GM, use them to populate the backdrop of your own world's history, with secrets, stories and excitement that can serve to flesh out your players' own characters. With advice on scaling characters in power level to fit any campaign's needs; bases and vehicles, gear and gadgets; adventure seeds; and even a chance to peer into the timelines of our characters, to see how things might go villainous for them, these pages can provide more than enough material for any gaming group ready to make the leap into playing out their own modern myths!

376 pages packed with heroes, villains, and adventure seeds for a new superhero campaign

How Detailed Do You Like Your Adventures?

When I purchase a prewritten adventure, I understand that it will be written in a manner that will cover most contingencies that could come up. Cover as many bases as possible type of thing. I expect details even if most of them will never come into play.

When I flesh out an adventure for my own use, I just need "memory signposts". Just enough written down to jog my memory when the times comes. Heck, I find that if it's a common enough creature in the encounter, I just write the name and move on - in theory, i should be able to recall the AC, HD and damage of the average orc or even troll - and if I am off in one way or another, it just helps in keeping the players on their toes.

I am partial to using +James Raggi 's Random Esoteric Creature Generator for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and their Modern Simulacra for the BBEG and / or it's minions on occasions. Again, a great tool to keep the players off balance, but I would use it lightly. If your otherwise "meeting typical D&D expectations" styled fantasy world has a bizarre creature behind every door, the bizarre will become normal and lose it's effect.

In any case, how detailed are the adventure that you write for your own use?

Part 2 - Do you design unique creatures / encounters to keep your players guessing, or do you stick to the book?

On the 10th Day of OSR Christmas There Were 10 Winners of "Mishler-toe"...

Yep, 10 bundles of James Mishler Games releases were up for grabs. The receivers of these awesome gifts are:

+Doug Medesha 

+Erik Jensen 

ENN

+James Smith 

+AJ Fritz 

Viz

Damian Breen

Sevenbastard

Henry Wong

Arslayer

You know the deal - use the contact box on the right to get me your email, which I will forward to +James Mishler

Congrats to all and thanks to James!

About to Open the Sandbox - Dyson's Maps Will Be the Toys

I've found that sandboxes work best AFTER the PCs have established themselves a bit - once they hit 3rd level or so, it's time to remove the training wheels and allow the players to explore the world at large as they wish.

My last campaign was set in Rappan Athuk, and as a megadungeon, it allowed for my players to decide on the challenges they were to seek out, but at the same time, I had an idea where they would probably be for the following session. That doesn't apply this time, especially since I'm running two groups in the same setting and allowing crossovers - the events experienced by one group may be reflected on the other.

So, my game plan is to load up a crapload of +Dyson Logos' awesome dungeon maps into Roll20, each with a sentence fragment or so to describe it. From there, an index card to fill in some of the major encounters in each, as well as the seeds to plant for the groups and let it all fall where it may. I may also load up some DCC adventures, but these would be more in the line of major dungeons / ruins / events.

It's been many years since I allowed myself to DM an adventure that I can fit on an index card, but it allows for more spontaneity from my side of the screen. This past Friday's session fell into that category, as work and life events left most of my preparations unwritten and residing in my head.

I enjoyed the challenge and embrace it ;)

On the 11th Day of OSR Christmas, Lords & Treasure Awaited

Note: Due to the expense of mailing packages outside the US, some days of the OSR Christmas Giveaway will be limited to US mailing addresses only. This is one of those days. I apologize to the international tavern patrons and will make it up to you in the coming (and previous) days. PDF gifts will be international and will require an OBS (occasionally LULU) account to claim in most cases. 

This is definitely NOT wrapping up in 12 days. Go figure ;)

What does Santa have in his bag today?

Lords of Olympus and Treasure Awaits thanks to the generosity of +Brett Bernstein

LoO is a diceless RPG based on the classic Amber Diceless and Treasure Awaits is a fantasy RPG that evokes many "old school" feelings in me. It's a game I want to run at some point.

(there is a free adventure for Treasure Awaits - The Brewmaster's Tomb - my kinda tomb ;)

edit - open 'till about 8am Monday morning

The Eldar Futhark Runes Fall Upon...

The dice have spoken.

The recipient of the Eldar Futhark Runes is

+James Stanton 

Congrats!

Use the comment thingamajig on the right side and tell me where +matt jackson should be sending your gift :)

Some Thoughts on Magic Users Learning New Spells in Swords & Wizardry Complete (and other Old School Games)

I was listening to THAC0's Hammer (an excellent 2e podcast) in the shower and one of the topics that came up was "chance for magic-users to learn a new spell". In truth, I never liked these numbers, even back in my early days of gaming. Even with a high Intelligence score (say 16), a magic-user would still fail on his chance to learn a new spell 1 time in 4.

Fail that roll to learn "fireball" and you'll never learn it. It's pretty much why I don't use it in my current S&W campaign - it's a huge downside with little upside as far as I'm concerned.

I seem to remember the stated reason for the limitation was that each individual magic-user interprets every single spell differently. Get a dozen magic-users together, and not one will have the exact same "recipe" for "magic missile". Which got me thinking - what if the chance to learn was actually the chance to understand that particular interpretation of the spell?

You failed to learn "fireball" from the scroll you found? Sucks, but at least you can try again when you find the next "fireball" scroll.

I'd also rule the chance to learn does not apply to spells learned directly due to level advancement, so if you REALLY want to learn fireball, make it the free spell you learn at 5th or 6th level.

Hey, look at that - a really gaming post squeezed in between OSR Christmas Gifting ;)

On the 10th Day of OSR Christmas, Santa Bundled James Mishler 10 Times...

Alright, maybe Santa isn't bundling +James Mishler himself up 10 times, but he is bundling 10 sets of James Mishler Games releases in PDF.

The list includes:

Gods, Demi-Gods, and Cults #1: Chaos Queen of Ants

Hercynian Grimoire #1

Ogres of the Olden Lands

Vampires of the Olden Lands

Chronicles of Mhoriedh Map 00 Olden Lands Continent

Open to all. 10 winners. Comments close around 3 pm tomorrow. Get commenting!

Santa Will Ship Day 8's Ogre and Fires to...

Sorry about the delay is getting this out (as well as the Day 9 Runic post). Long work day, long wife day (heh) and game immediately upon getting home late last night left me with little time to be had. But... I'm on vacation for a week, so lets see how it all goes now ;)

Now, I know you want to know who is getting what under their OSR Christmas Tree, so here they are:

TM1: The Ogress of Anubis will be going to Moe Tousignant

VA1 Valley of the Five Fires will be going to Robert Morris

Lads know what to do - hit me up using the contact form and I'll pass your info onto New Big Dragon himself.

On the 9th Day of OSR Christmas, Elder Futhark Runes Fell From the Sky

Note: Due to the expense of mailing packages outside the US, some days of the OSR Christmas Giveaway will be limited to US mailing addresses only. This is one of those days. I apologize to the international tavern patrons and will make it up to you in the coming days. PDF gifts will be international and will require an OBS (occasionally LULU) account to claim in most cases. We do have print gifts that will be shipping internationally in later days.

I'm a few minutes late for Friday in NYC, but if I was in LA, I'd be early ;)

+matt jackson is offering a handmade set of Elder Futhark Runes. This is probably the most unique gift in the 12 Days of OSR Christmas Giveaway.

Damn cool stuff :)

The 12 Days of OSR Christmas Will Last Longer than 12 Days, as We have a Plethora of Gifts to Give Away

I just took a glance at the spreadsheet I have for the 12 Days of OSR Christmas Giveaway and I have confirmed there is no way in heaven or on earth that this will wrap up on December 23rd.

Why?

At a quick glance, we have Lords of Olympus, Treasure Awaits, Lords of Gossamer & Shadow x2, AL 4 and 5 for DCC RPG, DCC RPG Core Book, The Manor Bundle of 1-5, a signed copy of Metamorphosis Alpha, Boot Hill, Maps, Art Prints, Minis and More from the Whisper & Venom Kickstarter, A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore, Three Days Until Retirement, In the Prison of the Squid Sorcerer x2, The Outpost on the Edge of the Far Reaches and Tales of High Adventure #2 to give away - and that's just the PRINT stuff. Oh, there might be more too.

Wait, also a signed Pool of Radiance Gold Box computer game- signed by James Ward, Steve Winter and Zeb Cook.

In PDF we still have 10 complete sets of James Mishler's current releases, the Manor 1-5 Bundle, 3 copies of The Tomb of the Squonk and the Silent Army, Eldritch Witchery, The Witch, a complete set of Adventures Dark & Deep, The Gnomes of Levnec, a Thousand Dead Babies.

We also have a handmade set of Elder Futhark Runes and a $15 RPGNow Gift Certificate.

In many ways, much of the blog's normal postings are on hold for now - reviews, game recaps, gaming thoughts and the rest play second fiddle to getting these awesome gifts into the hands of our readers.

I believe this is all worth the effort. Trust me when I say, 2014 will be even more exciting here at The Tavern :)

On the 8th Day of OSR Christmas, Santa Offered to Ship Internationally...

Thanks to New Big Dragon, we have some gifts in print that all can try for, even The Tavern's international patrons.

We have two adventures up for grabs:

TM1: The Ogress of Anubis and VA1 Valley of the Five Fires

Again, these are in print and everyone may participate, so get those comments rolling

Open for comments until about 8 pm nyc time tomorrow...

Awarding Day 7 of the OSR Christmas Giveaway to....

Joe Moore - you got yourself a copy of the Teratic Tome

Digital Orc - you got yourself a copy of SlaughterGrid

use the contact form on the right to get me your snail mail info, so I can pass it on to +Rafael Chandler

Congrats!

It's Official! D&D Next to Release in Summer of 2014

Wizards of the Coast Announces Thrilling Dungeons & Dragons Launch for Summer 2014

Players fight the most fearsome monster of all time in an exciting multi-platform gaming experience.

December 19, 2013 – Renton, WA – Wizards of the Coast today announced that the highly-anticipated new rules system for Dungeons & Dragons will release in summer 2014.  After nearly two years of an open public playtest and more than 175,000 playtest participants, the rules are complete. Players will be immersed in rich storytelling experiences across multiple gaming platforms (WTF does this mean?) as they face off against the most fearsome monster of all time.

“Just like a perfectly balanced party, Wizards has worked cohesively with fans, designers and partners to create the next generation of D&D,” said Nathan Stewart, Brand Director for Dungeons & Dragons. “We whole-heartedly thank all of the play test participants, whose feedback has proven instrumental in shaping the future of Dungeons & Dragons.”

More information about the exciting Dungeons & Dragons entertainment offerings will be available in early 2014. To learn more about D&D, visit dungeonsanddragons.com.

linky here - hat tip to czak for the heads up ;)

here's the horrid looking screenshot:

Razzle Zazzle - Pimping The Tavern with Steins and More

Last night in our Hangout session, +Rafael Chandler noticed my Tenkar's Tavern Beer Stein. This reminded me that others have asked about it in the past.

Before I knew it, I had the beginnings of a Tenkar's Tavern Zazzle store. Not sure about the stein in blue - I need to order a piece for myself, but there is a watch on the page that I think I shall gift myself - well, that and the larger key chain.

+Scott Ackerman I think I owe you a beer stein and then some for the awesome banner work :)

On the 7th Day of OSR Christmas Santa Slaughtered the Teratic Tome

Note: Due to the expense of mailing packages outside the US, some days of the OSR Christmas Giveaway will be limited to US mailing addresses only. This is one of those days. I apologize to the international tavern patrons and will make it up to you in the coming days. PDF gifts will be international and will require an OBS (occasionally LULU) account to claim in most cases. We do have print gifts that will be shipping internationally in later days.

+Rafael Chandler is offering up a copy of the Teratic Tome and a copy of Slaughter Grid in PRINT to 2 lucky gift recipients. This is a US only gift day.

Teratic Tome is $22.62 on Lulu and a bargain at that price. There is a 40% off coupon floating around for Lulu right now, so even if you don't get lucky you can still treat yourself ;)

Not sure how long the code is good for:  LULUEMP2013

This will close to comments around 7 pm tomorrow, NYC time. Best of luck to all.

Time to Award Crawl! from Day 6 of the OSR Christmas Giveway

Yes, it's time to Crawl! Much thanks to not so secret Santa +Dak Ultimak for the generous gifts! Our recipients are:

Rodney Hankemeier - Crawl! Bundle in Print and PDF

Boric G - Crawl! Bundle in PDF

OSRbaron - Crawl! Bundle in PDF

+Dyson Logos - Crawl! #1 in Print and PDF

Erik Talova - Crawl! #1 in Print and PDF

Teh Bagder - Crawl! #1 in Print and PDF

Congrats to the gift recipients!

Use the form on the right side of the page to contact me so we can get these gifts out to you!

LotFP PDF Sale - $2.50 PDFs

+James Raggi has put his collection of PDFs on sale at $2.50 each. Most of James' releases are pretty good, and even the ones I'm not personally crazy about have a strong following.

Carcosa is something I'd never run, but would liberally steal ideas from, and at $2.50, it's a bargain.

Vornhiem is something I swear at, but others swear by it. Again, a bargain for $2.50

LotFP Rules and Magic Full Version - sure, you can get the no frills no art version for free, but the art is what makes this, for good or ill.

The Seclusium of Orphone of the Three Visions - Vincent Baker's take on wizards in LotFP Weird Fantasy.

Isle of the Unknown - a sandbox ripe for picking - probably the bargain of the bunch.

There's a lot more, but this should get you started.

Prices are good until December 30th.

The Recipient of the Day 5 Small Niche Games Bundle of Goodness is...

DSB

DSB, use the contact form on the right side of the page and let me know the email this stuff is going to.

Congrats!

On the 6th Day of OSR Christmas, Santa Made Us Crawl!

Yes, it is time to Crawl!

+Dak Ultimak has donated some Crawl! bundles (1-8) to the OSR Christmas festivities.

These bundles are open to all, no matter their mailing address.

1 Bundle of Crawl! in Print + PDF

2 Bundles of Crawl! in PDF

EDIT Adding 3 Crawl! Issue 1 in Print and PDF!

One of the best gaming fanzines ever, and if you are lucky you may find this DCC RPG fanzine under the OSR Christmas tree.

You know what to do - add a comment and you may be one of the lucky three six:)

On the 5th Day of OSR Christmas, We Found More of the 2nd Day Goodness...

Small Niche Games has been kind enough to give away another set of PDF goodness open to all :)

If you missed this over the weekend, you've got a second chance...

The Chronicles of Amherth

Blood Moon Rising

The Inn of Lost Heroes

Pyramid of the Dragon

The Stealer of Children

The Shrine of St. Aleena

Ghoul Keep and the Ghoul Lands

A very nice collection of Small Niche Games products in a tidy package to one fine commenter on this post. Again, open to all.

Post will be open for comments until 8pm or so tomorrow night.

(Day 4 gift recipients can be found here)

The Recipients of the 4th Day of OSR Christmas Gifts Are...

OSR Santa has rolled the magic dice and decided on the recipients of the OSR Christmas Day 4 PDF give away. They are:

Christopher Wood - Blood & Treasure

Shawn Kilburn - Tales of the Space Princess

mbeacom - Par Fortuna

use the email box thingie on the far right to contact me, so I can pass your info on to +John Stater and get these gifts out to you.

Congrats!

Some Observations on the 12 Days of OSR Christmas and Ideas for the New Year

The response to the 12 Days of OSR Christmas is simple more than I expected by many magnitudes, both with the gifts to be given away and the folks that are hoping to be gifted.

Like always, it seems that these events take on a life of their own and I'm just along for the ride. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get everything out in the 12 days I'm running this, but if there are gifts that don't make the 12 days, I'll kick the rest of them off with the New Year - kinda like a Three Kings Day extension to the whole thing.

There will be a major "event" hosted here at The Tavern, probably before the month of January wraps up - or at least should kick off sometime in January and run a bit beyond. It will require a bit more effort than "just a comment", but the rewards will be equal to the effort required.

Yep, something else that will probably resemble me trying to ride a dragon by holding on to it's tale. It's worked okay for me thus far ;)

On the 4th Day of OSR Christmas I Found Blood & Treasure and...

Open to all. We have 3 gifts in PDF - one gift each for three recipients.

Major props to +John Stater for donating the following for the OSR Christmas cause ;)

Blood & Treasure

Tales of the Space Princess

Pars Fortuna

Three gifts - three recipients - this post will be open to comments until at least 530 tomorrow night.

You need to comment to be in the running for a gift :)

New OSR PWYW - Execution Corner (GM Games)

Plug in and play. That is what Execution Corner is. It's a small yet detailed local whose name is also it's definition.

It's also stat free, so really, it could fit into any fantasy setting. I have an idea where this may fit into my current campaign.

Favorite line? 

Around the back of tavern is the pissing wall. Names of the
criminals that were hung here are carved into the wood. The
patrons are encouraged to piss on the names as tribute.

No, we don't have a pissing wall at Tenkar's Tavern, but after reading this we may need to instal one ;)

From the blurb:

Execution Corner is a location you can drop into your campaign.  A crossroads area where 96 criminals have met their end.  You'll find the No Tomorrow Tavern serving the thirsty crowd on hanging day.  A pair of peddlers selling until the rope goes taut.  And an executioner who is very particular about what rope he uses.

What you'll find inside:

A hand drawn, colored map of the area.
Descriptions of the people and area.
Extras that include superstitions and a few game mechanic additions.

The Recipient of the NOD Bundle is...

Time to award the bundle of NOD to:

goeticgeek

email me or use the contact form on the right so I can get +John Stater your needed info.

previous gift recipients can be found here. sill waiting on a few.

Recipients of the 2nd Day and 3rd Day Flash OSR Christmas Giveaways Are...

Time to give away some gifts :)

The 2nd Day of OSR Christmas gift recipient (a bundle of Small Niche Games products in PDF) is:

BlUsKrEEm 

The 3rd Day of OSR Christmas - Flash Bonus - gift recipients of That's a Goblin!? in PDF are:

Frothsof

Steve Moss

Mike Gibb

JDJarvis

Steve Balog

The Day 1 recipient was:

DungeonMastahWieg

The lucky folks need to reach out to me so we can get them their goodies - email tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom so we can put things in motion for ya ;)

Third Day of OSR Christmas - Flash Bonus - That's a Goblin!?

Yep, we have a quickie here, but the good news is there are FIVE PDF copies available, therefore FIVE winners. Open to all!

This post will close to comments tonight whenever my game session wraps up, so probably around 1230 or 1 am Eastern

5 copies of That's a Goblin!? are being gifted by +Mark Chance of Spes Magna Games.

You have about 8 hrs to get your comments in, so get cracking!

On the Third Day of OSR Christmas - Have Some Egg NOD

+John Stater has been incredibly generous with his gifting, and this particular gift is open to all to try for.

John is giving a bundle of NOD issues 1-21 to one lucky patron of this here fine tavern.

Add a comment and you may be the lucky recipient. This post will be open until about noon on Sunday (tomorrow)

On the Second Day of the OSR Christmas, My Barkeep Gave to Me...

Yep, Day Two is here, and Day Two of the OSR Christmas is in PDF and is open to all!

The Chronicles of Amherth

Blood Moon Rising

The Inn of Lost Heroes

Pyramid of the Dragon

The Stealer of Children

The Shrine of St. Aleena

Ghoul Keep and the Ghoul Lands

A very nice collection of Small Niche Games products in a tidy package to one fine commenter on this post. Again, open to all.

Post will be open for comments until 8pm or so tomorrow night.

(there may be a bonus OSR Christmas post over the weekend with a short window if I can pull it off - busy busy)

Day One Gift recipient is here

The Recipient of the 1st Gift of "12 Days OSR Christmas" is...

The winner of the OSR Three Pack from Day One of the 12 Days of OSR Christmas is...

DungeonMastahWieg

Congrats!

Send me you snail mail info at tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom and I'll pass it on to he that started this whole thing in the first place ;)

Today's gifts will be posted shortly.

(I found a use for the LotFP Ref Book Dice set with the D1000 and lots of rerolls :)

Mini Review - Monster Slayers: The Heros of Hesiod (Free WotC RPG Aimed at 6+)

Monster Slayers is loosely based on D&D - probably 4e, but it's hard to tell. It's simple and gets the player's right in the game, but I do have some issues:

1 - It's got a board, which is pretty limiting to kids imagination I would suspect. It also is heavily reliant on positioning on that board for PC power to be effective. Again, limiting imagination, which is usually the strong point in young kids.

2 - It uses 1d20 or 3d6, depending on the dice one has available, to determine hits, but the spread isn't equal. Here's an example from the rules:

An attack power is made up of the name (such as Massive
Axe), what you roll to try to hit a monster (such as 1d20), the
number you add to the result of that roll (+ 5), and what happens
if you succeed in your roll (such as “Deals 1 point of axe
damage”). If you don’t have access to twenty-sided dice, there
is an alternative using conventional dice (such as 3d6+2). 

To use a Massive Axe attack power, the player rolls one
twenty-sided die and adds 5 to the result. For example, Raen
rolls a 10 and adds 5 to get 15. The player announces the
result, and the Dungeon Master compares it to the monster’s
armor class. If it equals or beats the monster’s armor class,
then the attack succeeds. For example, Raen’s 15 is the same
as the bullette’s armor class of 15, so Raen succeeds in hitting
the bullette.

So follow me on this one: 15 or better hits, which is a roll of 10+5 on the d20 (55% of the time he hits) or 3d6+2 roll which needs 13 with the +2 (about 16% chance).

No, the numbers dont work if you switch dice around.

Not the game I'd use to introduce my niece to gaming, but it is free, so it has that going for it. Maybe others will get some mileage out of this that I won't.

From the blurb:

Are you a parent who wants to share the fun of Dungeons & Dragons with your kids, but you’re worried that the rules are too complicated or a standard adventure would tax their attention spans? Are you a teacher or librarian who would like to introduce your students to the game, but you’re reluctant to take on the regular time commitment of a full-blown campaign?

There are a great many reasons to share D&D with kids. Besides being just the kind of imaginative play that kids naturally engage in, Dungeons & Dragons develops an array of essential educational skills, including:

Math skills
Reading skills
Writing skills
Cooperation and leadership
Problem-solving
Creative thinking
We’ve heard from many of you out there that you’ve been wanting to unlock these benefits for your kids, but you feel that they’re not ready for the basic game or you just don’t have the time to run your own campaign. So we put together this variation, based on the new novel for young readers, Monster Slayers by Lukas Ritter. Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod captures the flavor, fun, and educational benefits of Dungeons & Dragons in a fast-paced, easy-to-learn experience for kids ages six years old and up.

Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod requires no previous knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons, and all you need to play is included in this adventure, aside from a few dice and pencils (and some friends to play it with). Play time can be as little as fifteen minutes or as long as an hour, depending on how many monsters you run.

Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod isn’t just for kids. It’s also a fun diversion for experienced players who need their D&D fix but don’t have the time for a full-length game. Or share it with your non-gamer family and friends who claim to be intimidated by the rules of the game. It won’t be long before they’re hooked on the game you love!

Day 1 of the "12 Days of OSR Christmas" Giveaway - An OSR Threesome

Note: Due to the expense of mailing packages outside the US, some days of the OSR Christmas Giveaway will be limited to US mailing addresses only. This is one of those days. I apologize to the international tavern patrons and will make it up to you in the coming days. PDF gifts will be international and will require an OBS (occasionally LULU) account to claim in most cases. We do have print gifts that will be shipping internationally in later days.

We are kicking off the 12 Days of OSR Christmas with a very OSR package for a single tavern patron - print copies of the following donated by +tony a. thompson

1. S&W Whitebox (softcover)
2. Heroes & Other Worlds Adventure Game
3. Whitehack

Now, how do you enter to possibly find yourself gifted these fine gifts?

Add a comment to this post. 

Really, it's that simple. I'll stop taking comments at 5pm tomorrow night NYC time and randomly pick a winner and Tony will get the gifts out to you.

The same will go one for 11 more days. Some days the gifts will be in print. Some days PDF. Some days will have multiple gift receivers, some days will have 1.

The winner(s) will be announced within 48 hours after the post closes for comments, but most likely will be announce within hours of the comments closing, usually in an OSR Christmas posting.

I can't find you, you'll have to find me after the gift(s) is(are) announced. Unawarded gifts will roll over to Three Kings Day or something...

Death in RPGs is Not an End But a New Beginning With Cheese Dip

Last weekend in +Joe D 's Blood Island game, my character Rath came to an end. He fought the good fight, but the life expectancy of a level 1 adventurer in ANY OSR game isn't all that high, and LotFP Weird Fantasy is probably more lethal than most.

So, what does one do when their character takes the big dirt nap?

Roll up a new one!

Seriously, I understand the loss of a character, even one that has only seen a few sessions use, can be annoying, even sad. I however, embrace it.

Besides, I rolled a new character with decent combat related ability scores, a 5 in INT and WIS, made him a berserker with a fondness for cheese dip and named him "Gru". Hell, he's practically written himself ;)

Beta Beta! "Shroud of the Avatar" and "Wasteland 2" Release to Kickstarter Backers in Beta - So Long as You Are A Windows User

Got emails for both Shroud of the Avatar and Wasteland 2 touting the release of both in beta format to backers of their respective Kickstarters.

Both games are being developed for Windows, OSX and Linux.

Both games are releasing their initial Betas in Windows only.

I could install them on the Win7 side of my Mac, but I supported them to play in native OSX, so I guess I'll wait.

Waiting is the name of the Kickstarter game...

Kickstarter - The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence (an OSR module)

Where does one start? +Venger Satanis is the one running this Kickstarter, and his first adventure, Liberation of the Demon Slayer was a Hot Item at the RPGNow site after it's release. I never reviewed LotDS even though I have the PDF, mostly because the number of house rules at the beginning of the product would have been better suited as either their own system or a separate product IMHO. Or heck, put them at the end. At the beginning, they seem much less optional. FYI, I also dislike Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The mix of house rules with adventure made the expectation that you would run said adventure with the optional rules presented pretty much a default.

So yeah, I really should go back to it and JUST read the adventure part this time and pretend the optional rules don't exist. Layout was nice, art was slamming and I suspect the dungeon was a good one.

What about the current Kickstarter, The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence? It appears to be an enclosed sandbox / small wilderness setting spanning three islands:

Rather than another dungeon crawl, this is a wilderness crawl.  Specifically, adventurers will explore three islands in close proximity that have been visited by a wyrm-riding empire, extra-dimensional invaders, space aliens, Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and more. They'll find black pylons enabling time/space travel, an evil temple, a shattered dome city, and most importantly, The Thing That Rots From The Sky!

I'd say that looks to be pretty damn awesome, all wrapped up in 23 32 pages and $20 for the print version. Which seems on the low middle-ish for page count. Unless the stretch goals are hit, which have the potential to gradually increase the page count to over 100 pages, which would make this a bargain.

Am I in? I'll let you know next payday, which is a week from Friday. Just leased a new car today and my discretionary spending is gonna take a hit. Otherwise, I'd be in for $20 today. Just keep and houserules in a separate product ;)

edit: maps by +Dyson Logos . It's now a "must buy"

We have our 12 Days of OSR Christmas Graphic :)

Big thanks to New Big Dragon!

Remember, it kicks off in 2 days.

All you need to do is comment on the posts that have a prize or prizes you'd like a chance to win.

Print, PDF and unique gifts will be randomly awarded over the 12 days of the new OSR Holiday. (note - some physical gifts are only shipping within the US - this will be noted when such posts go up on the blog)

Guess it's time for me to sign up at Stamps.com ;)

Reminder - Two More Days Until "12 Days of OSR Christmas" :)

Wish we had a snazzy graphic for it, but that's ok - we've got some awesome giveaways starting December 12th ;)

Signed,

Santa's Grumpy Dwarf

What Was the First "Gazebo" Sighting?

So, I've been reading Knights of the Dinner Table - Bundle of Trouble Volume 1 (surprisingly readable on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3) and the first strip is "Lair of the Gazebo".

I doubt that this was the first time a "Gazebo" was mistaken for a viable monstrous adversary in the lore of "old school gaming".

Can anyone think of an earlier reference than KotDT Issue #1 circa summer of '94?

Evil Hat Releases 100+ Page Preview of Designers & Dragons - TSR (for Free)

Tip of the hat to ENWorld for this piece.

Evil Hat has released the first 25% of the first book of the upcoming four book series - Designers and Dragons. Yep, that little (huge) book that came out a few years ago is going to be re-released in a four volume series.

The TSR section is about 100 pages (and free) and the preview also includes the full index - Volume I is going to be over 360 pages.

I seem to have a lot of reading to do...

Kickstarter to bring Knights of the Dinner Table to a Live Action Web-isodes Series

Shout out to +Jim Wampler for sharing this on G+ :)

Strange how things meet. Here I am asking if I should start reviewing the various Knights of the Dinner Table Bundles of Trouble from a gaming perspective and suddenly the Kickstarter to bring Knights of the Dinner Table to a Live Action Web-isodes Series goes live. Weird.

I will say, the actors pretty much look the part.

I suspect after I read that first Bundle of Trouble I'll be kicking in to this one. Looks like fun :)

Any Interest in Reviews of Knight's of the Dinner Table Bundles of Trouble Collections?

I'm thinking of reading through the KotDT Bundles of Trouble I own - probably the first dozen or so - more if it's a popular type of post.

The thing is, do I read them just for the sake of reading them, or do I read them with the intention of reading them? I was a pretty loyal KotDT subscriber until about three years ago - which happens to coincide with my blogging activities getting "hot and heavy".

If I did review them, it would be with an eye of "what can be borrowed and brought to the gaming table". As these are the bundles and not the original issues, it's just the comic and not the articles I'd be reading.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Project Suspended From Spanish Crowdfunding Site! Surprised?

The saga continues. Bards will sing songs about the long but fruitless fight.

The HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Project has been taken down by the Spanish crowdfunding site named Verkami.

How could this have happened if they had the rights / owned the trademark / believed elephants could fly?

Because they (as in GameZone) see just one thing - dollar signs at this point. Let the games continue.

Dead link to the project is here: http://www.verkami.com/projects/7464-heroquest-25th-anniversary

edit: thanks to ThisOldCoder for the heads up

edit edit: grabbed the following screenshot from BoardGameGeek