Games From the Basement - Thieves' World Boxed Set

I really enjoyed the first couple of Thieves' World books. Later ones seemed to be much less enjoyable, but the first three or four were simply aces and I could see myself running a campaign in the city and the surrounding area.

I never did.

I wasn't able to make it work in my head in D&D terms, and at that point in my gaming history we had already played some RuneQuest and moved on, or back, to AD&D as our fantasy ruleset of choice.

Damn but I can see this playing out in my head right now as a S&W sandbox. Lots of adventures, few dungeons, lots of intrigue, few magic items but the ones found will have history and power and overall lots of fun.

The encounter charts are inspirational and the mapping is damn near magical. The city is presented in a systemless manner but the personalities are stated out for nearly every damn system that was on the market back in 1981. Which systems?

AD&D, Adventures in Fantasy, Chivalry & Sorcery, DragonQuest, D&D, The Fantasy Trip, RuneQuest, Traveller (yes, Traveller) and even Tunnels & Trolls. The names working on the conversions is nearly a who's who of the early days of RPGs: Dave Arneson, Eric Goldberg, Steve Marsh, Marc Miller, Steve Perrin, Lawrence Schick, Greg Stafford, Ken St. Andre and others.

Ye gods but I really want to run this now. Damn me cleaning out the stack of games to make room for a real closet to be built...

Next Week I Play in my First Session of Swords & Wizardry

It sounds really strange to say that, but it's true. Although I run Swords & Wizardry on a regular basis, I've yet to play in a session as a player. That's a pretty big difference.

Heck, from 81 or so through 97, my first "age" of playing RPGs, with the exception of my very first session, some later whacked out session with 12+ players and 2 DMs and convention play, I DM'ed as a rule when it came to (A)D&D. Rifts and Battlelords I gladly joined as a player, but pretty much everything else I was the GM - easily 4 out of 5 sessions found me behind the screen no matter the game or the genre.

Upon my return in 2008 via Fantasy Grounds, I was a player, mostly because I couldnt figure out the interface as a DM. I didn't want to run 3x, I wanted to run classic D&D with my own adventures, and that was damn clunky for what I wanted it to do. I could, however, embrace it as a player, and I did get a chance to play in extended Dark Heresy and Castles & Crusades campaigns.

Move us up to D&D Next's beta and G+ Hangouts, and I was again playing as a player - until DM burnout and a broken game system led to me running ACKS, then AD&D 1e / OSRIC, some Ambition & Avarice and now Swords & Wizardry Complete. I have recently been playing in some of +Joe D 's excellent Blood Island Campaign, as we rotate the DM's chair. Joe runs a damn sweet LotFP Weird Fantasy (more heavily houseruled than even my S&W campaign).

Next week, +David Przybyla is going to run a session of S&W for us as we playtest something that he has written. I jumped at the opportunity, as I have yet to play in a session of S&W as a player. So, in a way, it will be a bit of a playtest for me too ;)

Final Tally - 339 Magic Items Entered into the OSR Superstar Competition and a Map Peek

Partial map for the final round

The magic number of magic items is 339.

It's not quite set in stone, as there might be duplicates or missed items in my count, but it shouldn't change by much. We'll have an accurate count when I send the judges their copies of the entries later on this week.

Next round for the 16 qualifiers will be designing monsters.

The final round of 8 finalists will get to complete and flesh out the partial map shown above by our very own +matt jackson (there may also be an open round using Matt's map - we'll see when we get there). Maps will be judges less on artistic ability and more on content, imagination and usability - but that's a bit down the line ;)

Huge thanks to all that entered!

325 Magic Items Entered thus far in the OSR Superstar Competition - Just Over 3 Hours Left to Submit

Let me put it simply:

325 Magic Items submitted to the OSR Superstar Competition with mere hours left to enter!

Wow.

There is still at least one more set of prizes to add to the list, I just need to finalize the details with the publisher. It is some damn good stuff (that I own and is based of the S&W rules).

Cut off for entries is 1159 PM NYC time tonight. That being said, I won't be up at 1159 tonight. I'll probably be up around 8 AM, which is when I will give the final tally. I'm not so much of an ass that I'll cut off late entries before the tally, but don't be late. Maybe my stomach will continue with it's grumblings and I will be up at 1159. Just send that shit in now ;)

There have been suggestions that I assign some of the prizes to "best magic weapon" and other similar categories - ain't happening. My judges will being having enough work as it is judging the best overall entries from the number we will have and I'm not going to throw a spanner into the works.

We will be expanding the first round to 16 qualifying entries from 8 - spots 9-16 will get $5 RPGNow gift certificates and move up to the second round.

There will be 8 qualifiers for the second round from 4 - positions 5-8 will get $10 RPGNow gift certificates and move up to the final rounds.

I'll be covering the cost of awarding the RPGNow credit to the expanded qualifying list.

At the earliest, judges will get a list of identifiers redacted submissions by this wednesday, but it may take longer (as this is by far more entries than I could have expected), as all the entries will be going into one huge document for them to review, with each submitted item given a number for me to match up on my master list.

Then the judges will need time to review and make their decisions - figure at least a week on their part, so it may be two weeks or so before the second round kicks off.

Trial and error folks. If the process moves more slowly then I may like, the best excuse for that is the amazing response to the event.

+R H is the man to thank for putting up the cash to kick this off and giving me the kick in the ass needed for me to kick things off on my end. God bless you sir :)

252 Magic Items Entered thus far in the OSR Superstar Competition - 15 Hours Left to Submit

The response to the OSR Superstar Competition has been nothing less amazing. Yep, simply amazing.

Just over 15 hours left to enter - over 250 magic items submitted.

So many additional prizes submitted I'll need to a spread sheet to figure it all out.

This, my friends, is what the hobby is all about.

Huzzah!

227 Magic Items Entered thus far in the OSR Superstar Competition - Yarr! Where be me Maps and Treasure?

Entries for the OSR Superstar Competition are poring in today - 25 new items enters since this morning's post with just over a day left to enter. I still need to sit down and figure out where all of the new prizes fit, which is certainly a good thing.

We are probably going to increase the number of qualifying entries from 8 in the first round to 12 or 16 just because of the sheer number of entries. The first 8 would get the prizes already mentioned and the additional qualifiers would get $5 RPGNow gift certificates as well as moving on to the 2nd round. The response really has been amazing.

So, without wasting more of your time, here are the latest additions to the prize pool:

+Peter Regan , possible best know for Oubliette Magazine and for his love of mapping tools, is donating the following for the top four finalists-

I'd like to offer up 4 prize bundles for the finalists.  They contain some of printed pads from my site Squarehex.co.uk along with a few accessories. 

Each bundle contains the following:
A5 Hex pad (7mm hexes) with Super Hex
A7 Hex pad (7mm hexes)
A7 Pad of Geomorphic Intent (7mm grid)
Little Hexes mini-campaign setting
Pocket Guide to Dungeon Geomorphs
7mm plastic card ruler
Hex symbol card
Dungeon symbol card
Dungeon symbol fridge magnet
A7 polyfile wallet
Staedtler black fineliner pen
Papermate mechanical penci

Apparently I need to get back into mapping again, because a package like the above just makes one want to map.

+Bill De Franza is adding 3 PDF bundles of YARR!, an OSR styled rules light pirate RPG. If you want to roleplay pirates with kids, adults or a fine mix of the two, this is a fine choice.

227 Magic Items. Over 100 folks sending submissions. Unlimited fun. It's what being an OSR Superstar is all about.

There's a day left to enter. Have you submitted YOUR entries yet?

Tavern Art from the Soon to be Released "Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay"

Tenkar's Tavern. The brazen thief Janni the Lucky takes bids on a (stolen) portrait of what appears to be the young wizard Kormydigar surrounded by angry demons. The curio shopowners/ pawnbrokers Abah the Dealer, Bekker of Malthaven, and Cadfan the Moneylender make offers while the grumpy dwarf Tenkar the Barkeep looks on disapprovingly. The Valenon guardsmen stop by for a chat.

Yep, the above will be in +Pete Spahn 's / Small Niche Games Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay. As if visiting The Tavern's blog isn't enough excitement for the average gamer, your PCs will soon be able to wet their whistles there ;)

202 Magic Items Entered thus far in the OSR Superstar Competition - The Mad Archmage Finds His Small Niche

So, it appears that this morning we are 25 entries further along than last night's post. We broke 200 magic items submitted to the contest with over a day and a half left to enter. Very humbling. Very exciting too! Yes, the OSR Superstar Competition is still accepting entries :)

I told you we had more prizes being donated and we do. This morning I'd like to highlight the gifts of two of the OSR's publishers.

+Joseph Bloch is donating a print hard cover copy of Castle of the Mad Archmage. It's a sweet megadungeon that Joe has published under his BRW Games imprint. I'll be reviewing this in the near future, as I find some down time after the first round of the competition closes to entries and it all gets tossed into the hands of the judges.

+Pete Spahn is donating a bundle of the complete line of Small Niche Games releases. Sixteen PDFs in all, including setting material, adventures, fanzines and more. I've really enjoyed Pete's releases, and the winner of this bundle should be inundated with some high end RPG reading ;)

I'm going to need to map things out on paper and see where all of these prizes will land ;)

Keep the entries coming!

(more prizes to be announced)

Adding Up the Ampersands - Looking at "&" Magazine (Free OSR Mag)

It never ceases to amaze me that the spiritual successor to Dragon Magazine is NOT Gygax magazine, despite the trappings and look, but "&" Magazine, a PDF magazine whose articles drip with the feel of Dragon Mag from the mid 1980s. (edit: forgot to mention - it's free)

Ecology articles, new classes, adventures, interviews, game theory - it's all there and more.

Did I mention the hyperlinked contents page? Sure, it's new fangled and I'm turning into the old guy that yells at the kids to "get off my lawn" but I think it's awesome.

Issue #7 even has an interview with +Vincent Florio , which besides being interesting on it's own even includes a shout out to me. How the hell did I miss that before?

I have every issue of "&" Magazine on my hard drive, but I've never spent the proper amount of time doing more than a quick flip though and occasional article read. It appears I need to look closer.

Actually, I will be doing that. I'll highlight at least one article per issue that really stands out to me. Might take me a bit to get through all 7 issues, but I'll start from issue #1. If you are going to do something like this, you need to do it right ;)

177 Magic Items Entered in the OSR Superstar Competition and The Frog God Adds Some Magic to the Prize Pool

Yep, 177 magic items have been submitted to the OSR Superstar Competition. Somewhere around 90 folks have entered. I am going to extend the contest until 1159 PM on Sunday Night, February 16, 2014 NYC time. We are adding about a dozen hours, no more. If you are going to enter, don't wait much longer.

Now, with that out of the way, I'm going to announce some more prizes for the prize pool (and we have even more prizes to announce, so yes, this is going a bit insane and that's the way we like it).

Frog God Games, publisher of Swords & Wizardry Complete and many adventures and other fine material for your S&W game (and some of that Pathfinder stuff too) has offered the following:

Winner gets 50% off on one order up to $1000 total order amount. 

4 runner up coupons for 25% off, up to $1000 total order amount.

Everyone who enters contest with what judges consider to be an actual entry gets a coupon for 10% off one order up to $1000 total order.

Now that's pretty f'n cool!

This is how I see it playing out:

Grand prize winner gets the 50% off on one order up to $1000 total order amount (and with at least $275 in cash prize money, that could stretch far)

Finishers in the 2nd to 4th finalist spots will get coupons for 25% off, up to $1000 total order amount.

1st place finisher in the consolation round will get a coupon for 25% off, up to $1000 total order amount

And everyone that plays and plays to win get's a 10% discount with the Frogs

155 Magic Items Submitted Thus Far for the OSR Superstar Competition - Are they Buried in the Barrowmaze?

I just tallied up the entries that we've received to date for the OSR Superstar Competition and we are now at 155 Magic Items submitted for the first round of the OSR Superstar Competition. Submissions are open through Sunday.

Let me say this before I go any further:

HOLY F'N SHIT!

There, I feel better now ;)

I am totally blown away by the response, not just by those entering but by those supporting the contest with additional prizes beyond what was initially announced.

Tonight, we add +Greg Gillespie 's excellent Barrowmaze I in PDF to the prize pool. This is Old School dungeoneering as it is meant to be. Don't forget to bring your cleric and some sledge hammers. Seriously, Barrowmaze is what I moved my group to when we needed to remove the taste of some uncompleted dungeon that shall not be named from our communal taste buds. Barrowmaze hit my group's sweet spot, and they are a discerning group of players. ;)

If you somehow missed the announcement, Barrowmaze Complete is currently seeking supporters over at Indiegogo. It includes BM I + II along with new material, professional layout, an optional support level that includes minis and more.

Enough With the Snow Already!

I'd rather be home reading RPG books - but as we are having work done on the house, that probably wouldn't have happened if I'd been able to stay home anyway.

So, what are you doing on this icy, snowy, wet, windy Thursday in February?

Announcing Some More Prizes for the OSR Superstar Competition - A Dragon and New Big Dragon

Look and weep at the awesome Reaper Bones Jabberwocky that +Christopher Hardy is donating to the OSR Superstar Competition. That's a $12.99 miniature (not so mini) right there. Also, 2 $10 gift certificates for CoolStuffInc.com. Needless to say, there is some cool stuff there. Just need to decide where these prizes land...

New Big Dragon, otherwise known as +Richard LeBlanc , is covering my offer of copies of the D30 DM's Companion in PDF to the top 16 vote getters in the 1st round of the OSR Superstar Competition. So, that frees up prize money for elsewhere. Decisions, decisions...

Dare I mention there are more cool prizes being donated? If we hit 200 entries, there is an extra $50 into the prize pool? That this, like other events I've been involved in, have taken a mind of their own?

Just Ran a 5 minute long, Imprompt RPG Session with my 3 Year Old Niece - Using the Cover of "Dagger For Kids"

My niece is 3 years old, and loves gaming dice (I had to buy her her own set of squishy polyhedrals). She's also been on a "monster kick", where imaginary monsters scare the crap out of her.

Tonight, she wanted to see my "website". Who am I to say no. We looked at various recent posts, and when I scrolled to Dagger for Kids" she got excited. She wanted to know "what is that?" and "why is he holding a sword?" (her father is a lapsed gamer).

I told her it was three heroes, and they were beating up monsters. She wanted to know what everyone was holding - axe, shield, armor, wizard robes - she really liked the robes.

I asked her to name the three heroes. Hank is wielding the sword, Shannon (my niece's name) is the wizard and Rachel (my wife's name) is wielding the axe. No idea where "Hank" came from, unless there is one in her pre-school class.

Anyhow, she asked me to tell her what was happening in the picture. I told her the "almost scary monsters" wanted to grab the heroes and asked he what the heroes were going to do.

She said "Shannon throws ropes on them!" (just like the picture, but it is probably webs ;) and Hand and Rachel were going to "crack them on their heads and tell them to GO HOME!"

All that was missing was killing things and taking their stuff.

She watches a lot of Spongebob, so maybe that's where the "crack them on their heads" line came from, but I'm damn sure I have a future gamer in the family.

My son is 20, and RPGs never hooked him, and I never tried until he was older. My niece is 3 and roleplaying seems to be in her blood ;)

Guest Post - "How Play-by-Post Made Me a Better Gamer"

How Play-by-Post Made Me a Better Gamer

The Setting

I was just a kid back in the early days of role playing games - you know, the late 70s and early 80s. My cousin introduced my brother to basic edition of Dungeons & Dragons, who then roped me and all his friends into gaming.  Sure we didn't understand a lot but we had loads of fun and I still look back on those days with fondness!  As the years rolled by and the devil-worship mentality took over in our town I left the gaming scene for a long time.  In 2008, however, a neighbor got me back into the hobby, and it didn't take long before I discovered the OSR and the fantastic retro-clone systems like Swords & Wizardry, OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord.  A while later I started an online game (via Skype) with my brother and his family, but it just wasn't the same as it had been those many years before.  Yeah, we still play, once in a while, but arranging a time for everyone to get together is proving more and more difficult and less and less likely.  I have enjoyed keeping up on the hobby, however, by reading blogs, web sites and many of the cool books and supplements put out by members of the community.

The Hook

A few months ago I had the bright idea to look for an online RPG group that didn't require a huge chunk of my precious free time.  I struck upon the lucky idea of play-by-post, or PbP as it is also known. I spent several days searching for a good community and site, and finally settled upon joining Roleplay Online - mostly because they had a number of specialized tools and tailored software that made the PbP experience easier and more fun.  Also, they had a robust community of several thousand active members, which made it easy to get into a game quickly.

The Treasure

Since taking the PbP plunge I have made several surprising discoveries.  First, let me share with you the unexpectedly good things.

I've become a better role player.  Yeah, I've found that spending some time thinking about and composing a well crafted reply has made me take more notice of my character and try to do as he would do and say as he would say.

I'm getting a much broader gaming experience.  Whereas nearly all of my pre-PbP gaming experience was concentrated in the fantasy genre, I find myself now branching out into lots of games, such as Call of Cthulhu, classic Spycraft and many of the awesome science fiction games I've always thought would be fun to try but never had the time to do so.

I can play on a time schedule that suits me. Time was my biggest issue for getting into PbP - both the amount of time required for a regular in-person gaming session and when I was able to set aside that much time to play.  PbP has let me play games on my own schedule.  I can post whenever I want, and spending as little as a few minutes each day keeps me connected to my game and the gaming hobby in general.

The Damage

However, there have been some adjustments which weren't so fun to make.  Here are some of the cons I've found with PbP.

The play action is much, much slower.  Yeah, be prepared for things to move glacially slow.  My rule of thumb is that it takes about one month to cover as much as we would in one hour of real face-to-face gaming time.  That can be agonizing, but it also allows me to play in more simultaneous games than I otherwise would have the chance to do.

Some of the rules and actions need to be tweaked in order to be feasible on PbP.  I'm finding that games with more rules (such as d20 based games and several newer RPGs) tend to be more difficult to play.  I think this is a natural result of needing to know more details for those types of games - such as the exact relation between two combatants, or where characters are standing when surprised by some dastardly villain.  However, the upside to this is that old school rule sets are very well suited to PbP!

It is not as social.  The part I probably miss the most is the good times that go along with live gaming sessions.  Subtle humor and inside jokes are virtually absent.  And don't even get me started on the snacks and drinks!  It's just not quite the same imbibing your favorite beverage when you are the only one in the room!  ;-)

The Experience Points

Overall I've found that I enjoy PbP immensely. The old school and retro game systems seem particularly well suited to the free-form / less-rules type of role playing that is often found on the site.  If you are thinking this type of play might be something you would enjoy, here are a few tips I would offer:

Give PbP a try if you don't have a regular group... or the time to play in one.

PbP may be right for you if you want to experience some game systems you otherwise might not get a chance to play.

And finally, this type of gaming may be your cup of tea if you want to get in a little bit of quality gaming time each day.

Most of all I've found that, just like other things in life, you get out of it what you put into it - so go for broke and have a blast doing it!  If you've had experience playing RPGs by post then please let us know how it turned out.

Rusty loves the OSR and tries to constantly keep up with its ever growing flood of blog posts and awesome products.  Although he doesn't have a gaming blog you can contact him at his science fiction review site: BestScienceFictionStories.com.

Talking About Magic Items - How Do You Handle Charged Magic Items?

Do you tell the player the number of charges when they find the magic item?

How do you determine the number of charges?

Can a totally spent charged item be recharged?

How do you handle recharging charged magic items?

Inquiring minds want to know, as new charged items are popping up in the OSR Superstar Competition ;)

A Gift for All that Enter the OSR Superstar Contest - "Dagger For Kids"

Everyone that submits an entry to the OSR Superstar Competition will get a PDF copy of the soon to be released revised Dagger for Kids, courtesy of +John Adams and Brave Halfling Publishing.

We have over 70 magic items submitted thus far - not bad for just over 48 hours.

We also have additional prizes to announce, ranging from discounts, miniatures, in print RPG products, PDF products and more cash for the prize pool - exciting times will only get more exciting. I'll try to announce the additional prizes daily.

What are you waiting for? Read the rules for the OSR Superstar Competition and enter today!

(I have a friendly wager that we will hit 200 entries - lets see it happen ;)

New appreciation for Old School Revival Gaming over at the Gaming Ballistic Blog

I game with bloggers, game designers, artists and the like. I'm probably the least creative in my gaming circles. I love reading the feedback and experiences of those that game with me.

One of those fine folks is Douglas Cole, owner of the Gaming Ballistic blog and writer of GURPS Supplements and articles:

New appreciation for old school revival gaming 

So, when +Peter V. Dell'Orto told me that some guy named +Erik Tenkar was looking for extra members for his Swords and Wizardry "B-Team" campaign, I'll admit I more or less had no idea who Erik was when Peter told me to sign up, only that I had had most of the games I played in drop offline...

You can read the rest of the post in it's entirety at the Gaming Ballistic blog. Tell Douglas "Some Guy" sent you ;)

Seriously, read it. He makes some great points.

Time to Bring "One on One" Play to your Stars Without Number Campaign - For Free

Mandate Archive: Stellar Heroes (free) does for Stars Without Number (free) what Black Streams: Solo Heroes (free) did for fantasy OSR clones - it gives us a short, free supplement that enhances one on one gaming with a GM and a single player. Did I mention it was free?

From the blurb:

Face the perils of a heartless cosmos with a single daring hero.

Stellar Heroes is a brief collection of rules modifications that will allow you to run a Stars Without Number game with but a single player and GM. Can't get the group together this week? Want to introduce a spouse, kid, or friend to Stars Without Number without the complications of a full table? Use Stellar Heroes to arm that daring galactic freebooter with the toughness and competence necessary to stand alone where a full party of lesser heroes might otherwise be required.

As a bonus, you'll find a free two-page side adventure inside suitable for use as a quick detour for your newly-minted hero, or as the sort of situation that could easily be used for a full party of more traditional adventurers.

If you enjoy Stellar Heroes, consider grabbing Black Streams: Solo Heroes for a version of these rules intended for compatibility with Labyrinth Lord (tm) and other similar old-school games. Keep on the lookout as well for Scarlet Heroes, my old-school-compatible game of fearless adventure for one hero and one GM!

OSR Superstar Competition - 35 entries in 32 Hours!

We are having an excellent response to the OSR Superstar Competition - 35 entries in 32 hours! Simply amazing!

I'm going to throw out an additional carrot if we hit 135 entries of Magic Items for Swords & Wizardry - not only will the top 8 entries win $10 in RPGNow Gift certificates, but the top 16 vote getters will also get PDF copies of the D30 DM's Companion, courtesy of readers like you.

If you've bought anything from RPGNow using the links here at Tenkar's Tavern, you are not only providing $10 Gift Certificates to the top 8 vote receivers in the 1st round of the competition, but the top 16 will be getting an excellent OSR resource. All we need is 135 entries by noon on Sunday ;)

edit: (for those hoping for email responses to their entries - if the mail didnt bounce, I have it - response has been awesome, which would make answering everyone time consuming - so I have your stuff - please send more ;)

How Do You Award XP in Your Campaigns?

I was listening to an episode of the Roll For Initiative podcast on the drive to work this morning and the topic of awarding XP came up.

Give XP for gold or not? Full value or modified?

Give XP for magic items found?

Give XP for overcoming obstacles?

Give XP for attaining goals?

Give XP for overcoming monsters?

Other methods?

I award for overcoming adversaries, recovering gold, ad hoc XP for attaining goals and overcoming obstacles. Session write ups award a 10% expo bonus.

I also award a small bump in XP awards to my once a month group compares to my more regularly meeting group. Not a huge bump, but it it there.

How do you award XP in you campaigns?

If You Could Make One Post Here, at The Tavern, What Would it Be?

I've had two guest posters recently, one the other week and one tonight. I finding that I'm enjoying hosting the postings of others. Different perspectives are fun for me, even if I don't always agree with them completely (not saying that about my guest posters, just making a general observation).

I've been told I have "reach" and "influence" between the traffic The Tavern sees and those that have circled me on G+.

That very well may be. If so, I'm offering it to the community that has given it to me so freely.

I'd like to have a guest poster or two a week. We'll see if I get enough inquiries.

I'm open to topics that deal with gaming. Try not to offend too many folks, I do that well enough on my own ;)

If you are interested, use the contact form on the right and send me a query letter. Well, nothing that professional, but give me an idea of what you want to post about. I do reserve the obvious right to not publish a submission, but I doubt many potential posts will get denied with the creativity my readers have.

While you are at it, why don't you write up a magic item or three for the OSR Superstar Contest ;)

Guest Poster - Dylan Hartwell, AKA the Digital Orc - Describe Some of the Favorite Convention Games You Have Played In

For those who don't know or haven't figured it out yet, I allow guests to post over here at The Tavern. There really isn't much of a requirement as to topic, but it should, in general, revolve around RPGs, the hobby and the like. Or not. I do retain the right of refusal. If you are interested, use the contact form on the right ;)

Dylan Hartwell, AKA the Digital Orc, has been playing and running roleplaying games since 1985. He has played in and ran D&D, RIFTS, and Dark Heresy campaigns each running more than fifty individual game sessions.  Dylan has attended more than 20 gaming conventions since 1997 including Con on the Cob, Origins, and Gencon where he has run multiple Labyrinth Lord adventures.  He has maintained an OSR blog called Digital Orc at www.digitalorc.blogspot.com since 2010 and is an active member on the Dragonsfoot and Goblinoid Games forums in addition to being a regular commenter in the OSR blogosphere.  He has self-published six Labyrinth Lord game adventures and supplements. Dylan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Technology in Education.
...

Gary Gygax helped get Gencon started way back in 1968.  It’s always been a part of our roleplaying game culture.  Even if players didn’t attend in person, the details in Dragon Magazine, the new products released, and later the awards all contributed to cohesion in our favorite hobby.  It became a rallying point around which we players could both meet and measure our style of gaming.  Recent reports of increased housing blocks in Indianapolis selling out faster than last year suggest that we’re on track to beat the record-setting 49,000 unique visitors that attended Gencon 2013.

Midwest Gencon attendance also correlates with the rise of the OSR.  That is, Gencon attendance was relatively stagnant through the second half of the 1990s and the following ten years, but experienced a massive surge during the second decade of the 2000s, as did our OSR movement concomitantly.

However, convention register-and-play roleplaying games are significantly different than at-home campaigns, which are the heart of this hobby.  They are different for a wide variety of reasons.  So, here is my prompt for your comments:

Describe, in as much detail as possible, some of your favorite convention games in which you have played. (added thought - what do you think made them so enjoyable?)

Kicking Off the OSR Superstar Competition - Let's Design Some Magic Items!

Here's the moment you've all been waiting for - or not :)

It's the opening round of the OSR Superstar Competition, and that means there is loot up for grabs.

Here's what you need to do:

1 - Name, design and describe a magic item for use with Swords & Wizardry. We are using Swords & Wizardry because it is easy enough to convert to other old school / OSR rulesets. Use any flavor of the rules you may desire (Whitebox / Core / Complete). They are all available for free in PDF. (there are links to the various S&W Rulesets on the right side of this page)

2 - Be creative. A magic sword, + 1 / + 3 vs. opinionated RPG bloggers might be new, but it really isn't all that special. Try to make your item special.

2a - Remember, special does not necessarily mean "all powerful". This is something many of us (myself included) often forget.

3 - Mail your entries (no more than 3 per person, so send us your 3 best) to OSR.Superstar@gmail.com - do NOT post entries on the blog - entries posted on the blog will be disqualified.

All entries remain the property of their creators. By entering the contest, you agree your entries will be added to the OGL and released in PDF format for free to the OSR community to peruse, use and abuse. They will also be posted on this site.

8 entrants will be chosen to move on to the next round of the competition. Those 8 entrants will each receive $10 RPGNow Gift Certificates in addition to any prizes they may receive in later rounds of the competition. Non-qualifying entrants may be placed in a pool for random donated prizes.

The 4 qualifiers of the 2nd round will each win $25 cash, paid out via Paypal. Other prizes may be added.

The final winner will be crowned the OSR Superstar, will all rights, privileges and slings and arrows such a position may entail. The OSR Superstar will receive $250 paid out via Paypal and a copy of the Original Dungeons & Dragons Reprint Box, retail value approximately $150. If the OSR Superstar has a mailing address outside the US, the prize money may be reduced slightly to cover the excessive cost of shipping items outside the United States thanks to the US Postal Service

This round of the OSR Superstar Competition will be open until Sunday, February 16th, at 1PM Eastern (NYC) Time, at which time entries will be forwarded to the competition's volunteer judges for review. Judging may take a week or more depending on number of entries - we will be better able to estimate the time needed when the number of entries are counted up.

Once the entries have been forwarded to the judges, they will be posted here at The Tavern without identifying the creators (to keep the judging unbiased).

Edit: Everyone that submits an entry to the OSR Superstar Competition will get a PDF copy of the soon to be released revised Dagger for Kids, courtesy of +John Adams and Brave Halfling Publishing.

Non-Definition of the OSR

"There is no definition of the OSR. Basically people can declare they are either in the OSR or not. If they put out a product and declare it OSR, and it doesn't sell for shit amongst people who declare themselves to be in the OSR, then the product isn't OSR." +Joe D

This came up in conversation tonight. It's as accurate as any other definition (or not) that I've seen for the OSR.

Agree, disagree, expand?

An Update From Alex - Dwimmermount Update # 69

I really like the rough layout version - it looks like something drawn at the gaming table

The following is Alex Macris's update for Dwimmermout from earlier tonight. If you don't know who Alex is and what kind of cred he has, it will be explained below. I've run ACKS, and even though I'm not running it now, there is a bunch of stuff from it that I've stolen borrowed for my S&W Campaign. Give the man a chance to get his sea legs before y'all try to throw him overboard ;)

Hello, everyone! This is Alex Macris writing today's update. If you read Tavis's last update, you know I'm now actively working on Dwimmermount.

Who Am I?
I had a somewhat painful realization (by way of Tenkar's Tavern) that many of you don't know who I am, having never backed any other Autarch products or visited our forums. A short introduction seems in order.

I'm the co-founder of Autarch and lead designer of its all internal products - Adventurer Conqueror King System, Player's Companion, and Domains at War, as well as the upcoming Lairs & Encounters and Auran Empire Campaign Setting. Over the past 2.5 years I've written over 500,000 words of old-school D&D-style content for Autarch. I've also been intimately involved in Dwimmermount since the beginning, having been the one who first wrote James about publishing his dungeon, before handing it over to Tavis. Since the design portion of my last project, Domains at War, is complete, it has freed up time for me to work on Dwimmermount and I will be carrying the development and editing through to completion.

What Work Am I Doing?
I am going through each chapter and appendix of the book and finishing what is called in industry parlance "development" (as compared to "design"). This is the process of fleshing out ideas that the original designer left incomplete, reviewing the material for inconsistencies or imbalances (and correcting them where they occur), and polishing the draft.

Whereas Tavis and the team had previously focused on developing the material surrounding the dungeon, I have begun with a focus on the dungeon itself. At present I am completing development of one dungeon level every two days, to date including The Path of Mavors, The Laboratory, The Reliquary, The Hall of Portals, and The Reservoir. I see no reason that this pace will not be sustainable, so I anticipate having all the dungeon levels developed on February 24th.

As each level is completed, it will be handed-off for proof-reading, then made available to you as word documents so that you can offer feedback in real-time to me about the decisions I've made. If for whatever reason I make a development decision that displeases the majority of the backers, please be assured I'll address it. Those of you who have worked with me on the other Autarch products know that I am willing to work very interactively with backers to make sure that expectations are met. (See the changes to the city mechanics in the original ACKS as an example).

What Comes After the Development of the Dungeon Levels?
Once all of the development work on the dungeon levels is complete, I will do final development on Dwimmermount's introductory chapters and appendices, to make sure that the material in the dungeon levels matches what's in those chapters. The chapters that I'll work on, and the duration I expect each to take, is noted below:

Chapter 1: Introduction (1/2 day)
Chapter 2: Setting of Dwimmermount (5 days)
Chapter 3: Adventuring in Dwimmermount (2 days)
Chapter 4: Vicinity of Dwimmermount (1/2 day)
Chapter 5: Muntburg (1/2 day)
Chapter 6: Overview of the Dungeon (2 days)
Chapter 7: Factions Within the Dungeon (2 days)
Chapters 8-20: Levels 0 - 9 (covered above)
Appendix A: New Magic Items (1/2 day)
Appendix B: New Spells (1/2 day)
Appendix C: New Monsters (1/2 day)
Appendix D: Rival Parties (1/2 day)
Appendix E: The Four Worlds (1/2 day)
Appendix F: Azoth (2 days)
Appendix G: Secrets of Turms Termax (5 days)
Appendix H: Tables (1/2 day)
Therefore it will take another 22 days. That would put completion at around March 18th. I know that I have personal and business travel coming up that will prevent me from working on this each day, so realistically I will push this back to March 30th. Each step of the way I'll be releasing the word documents so that you can see what's being done.

Once all of the development work is done, it will pass to the rest of the development team to lay it out and bring it to print. On every other product I've worked on, the writing got done before the art and maps were finished, but in this case the reverse is true and I expect a very quick turnaround. I will, however, leave it to those more expert in that side of the business to speak to the specific timeline when it gets closer.

That's all for now. Back to work for me.

More Prizes and Possible Endgame Tweak for the OSR Superstar Competition

I have received offers to add more prizes to the competition, so it will require some tweaking of the later rounds. The tweaks will only add, not subtract from the prize list (I'm working on finalizing the prizes offered and the tweaks and I suspect I'll be adding some more cash to the pool - this is what your purchases through the links here at The Tavern for RPGNow help fund)

I will allow those donating prizes to enter the competition, as their entries will be scrubbed of identifiers when they are passed on the the judges. Some of those donating for the latest round of prizes are small publishers, and I would hate to exclude them just because they are looking to add to the prize pool.

(if for some reason I'm needed to break a tie, and one of the entries is from a donating individual, I'll strong arm a temporary 4th judge as the tie breaker)

So, if you contacted me about adding to the prize pool, yes you can enter and yes you can gift. Win / Win ;)

The competition should open tomorrow :)

Session Recap for the Swords & Wizardry "B" Team as They Romped Thru "The Manor Issue #3")

Last night was another more or less monthly session for the Swords & Wizardry "B" Team. I had planned to do a session recap myself, but one of my players did a much better job than I could ever hope to do.

The session really was a blast :)

You can catch the session recap over at the Gaming Ballistic Blog.

(note, I did make some modifications to +Tim Shorts excellent adventure)

Announcing the Panel of Judges for the OSR Superstar Competition

You can't have a competition without an excellent Panel of Judges. I'd like to present the panel for the OSR Superstar Competition:

+Rob Conley - Rob has had his finger in many an OSR project. He's also the man behind the Points of Light setting books and Blackmarsh (free in PDF). You can find his blog at Bat in the Attic

+Tim Shorts - Tim has been a sounding board of sorts for different events I've run at The Tavern. He's probably best known for his excellent zine, The Manor and his blog Gothridge Manor

+Mark Gedak - Mark is the man behind Purple Duck Games, a prolific publisher of Pathfinder and DCC RPG adventures and supplements. He has also been a generous contributor of prizes, both print and PDF, here at The Tavern.

When the judges get their entries to judge, there will be no names of the entrants attached, just corresponding numbers to my list (sorry Tim ;)

Just to make a quick note, +matt jackson will be contributing the unfinished map for the final round of the competition. You can find Matt's blog here at Lapsus Calumni

OSR Superstar Graphic is by +Richard LeBlanc . He blogs at Save Vs. Dragon

Yep, kicks off this weekend :)

Announcing The "So You Want to be an OSR Superstar" Competition

I like a good contest. My readers like a good contest. Some of my readers like good contests enough that they even donate prizes and awards and such. So it is with the "So You Want to be an OSR Superstar" Competition.

What the heck is this about?

Real simple - some one suggested we put together a competition allowing fans of the OSR to strut their stuff. They even ponied up cash monies. R H should take the blame and the credit for the underling idea, as well as the seed for the prizes.

The competition will kick off this weekend. It will consist of three rounds.

The first round will seek new and unique magic items for the Swords & Wizardry game. We are using the S&W rules because they are free and can easily be converted to other OSR games or the originals they are based on (and they are my current "go to" ruleset). A panel of judges will pick 8 entries to move forward to the next round. I will not be part of the panel of judges and I will only vote if there is a tie that needs to be broken.

The second round will seek new and unique monster designs. The 8 entries that qualified from the original round will participate in this round. In addition to the panel of judges, there will be community voting. The community voting ranking will be the equivalent of a judge's vote in the tally of votes.

The final round will consist of an incomplete dungeon level drawn by one of our premier OSR dungeon artists. The finalists will need to complete the map in their own fashion. Their magic item and monster design will need to be included somewhere in their dungeon level. Again, the community will help vote on the entries.

Prizes for the first round will consist of $10 RPGNow Gift Certificates donated by The Tavern. 8 in all.

Prizes for the second round will consist of $25 via paypal donated by our own +Rob Conley . 4 prizes in all.

The grand prize will consist of $250 via paypal donated by RH as well as the OD&D Reprint Box that was recently released (I'll be donating the reprint. International shipping will be deducted from the $250 - so yes, the competition is open to all).

All entries will be posted here at Tenkar's Tavern. All entries will be considered as entered under the OGL. Any and all entries may be compiled by Tenkar's Tavern or one of our friendly helpers into free PDF(s) available to the community. Entrants retain all rights and authorship to their work, except as modified by the OGL and stated here.

So, this shit kicks off this weekend.

The first round will be open for entries for a week. The judging will take approximately a week, maybe more depending on the number of entries. The first round of entries will be posted to the blog in the they come in, in groups of 5 or 10 (depending on the number of entries) after the entry period has closed.

How Important is the Plot to a (Mega)Dungeon?

How important is the plot to a (mega)dungeon? 

It's a simple question with some not so simple answers, so I figured I'd throw it up as its own post.

Is consistency important?

Is it more important to line up the staircases between levels on the map or to ensure the various plot elements don't contradict each other?

Are contradictions in the plot good or bad?

Does it make a difference if the dungeon is "old school" or "new school"?

LBBs - Original & Reprint - Men & Magic - Side by side

The reprint is slightly wider than the original (I'm guessing 3/4 of an inch), but the height is the same. The white color of the reprint is going to get dirty fast if it's put into regular play. And I still don't like the new covers.

Oh, and nothing beats the feel of the old covers.

The reprint is however, easier on the eyes. Where there were editing changes in the original and therefore bold print, the reprint fixes that. Oh, and Minotaurs are now underlined as they should be.

The reprint is more readable and easier on the eyes than the original, as it is all laid out new. Even a grumpy old grognard like me can admit to that.

Maybe with the upcoming snowy weekend, I'll get some time to dig deeper into the reprint box.

And I Say Unto Thee - Dwimmermount, What Have We Wrought? (Spare 2k Coppers Gov-nuh?)

Sometimes, you just don't find what you are looking for where you expect to find it. I certainly didn't expect to find the latest Dwimmermount updates over at the RPGSite, so color me surprised when I was told to look there for the latest. I did, and it seems Alexander Macris, who has taken the reins from Tavis, who in turn took them from James Mal, posted to the Dwimmermount thread on the RPGSite recently.

The underlying problems of Dwimmermount all arise from the fact that it is the product of an improvisational Judge with a knack for using random tables and in-game imagination. This shows up in (a) how blandly certain rooms are described, (b) how treasure and monsters appear, and (c) most of all in how the weave of the dungeon ties together (or rather doesn't). 

There is plenty of fun, playable, interesting material for a game table. I agree that a team of independent editors could surely have filled in the gaps in the individual levels (problems A and B) and made each one a more fun experience. But I don't think anyone but an "auteur" (I use that word for lack of a better one) can tie it all together (problem c). 

Anyway, I'm actually drafting at about 3 times the pace I expected - I finished 3 chapters in a week - and am optimistic in what I'll deliver.

A and B and yes, even C were problems in our aborted playtest way back when. Heck, that was 2,000 coppers ago and a few dead rats t00.

It's not that I'm trying to impose my philosophy (that's a forlorn hope) I'm trying to impose coherency. So, for instance:
-- Chapter 7, Factions, clearly states that the Spawn of Arach-Nacha has given the Mad Dwarf the power to create kobolds.
-- Level 1 says that the Mad Dwarf is just mad, and the Spawn of Arach-Nacha is lying. 

Or, for instance, James will say that the Elemental Planes are actually alien worlds lush with a particular element (so like Fire is actually a volcanic world, Water is an ocean world) and then in another place he'll say the opposite.
Etc., etc., etc. 

People who don't care about such things already have a playable draft of the dungeon; many people have already run entire campaigns in Dwimmermount. So the real hold-up is what goes into the pretty book for time immemorial.  

I guess I'd rather be Blizzard, and ship in when it's good, even if it's late, then EA and ship it still borked.

The thing is, even Blizzard ships at some point.

and from the Dwimmermount Kickstarter page's comments from a few days ago (also from Alex)

Some of you might wonder "what problems and plot holes is Alex referencing and why would they require consideration before getting to the real work of writing?" To that, I suppose I have be honest and admit that I am constitutionally opposite J.Mal. in that I'm a preparer and systemizer rather than an improviser. So I'm speaking of issues such as:  

- Why would the Terrim keep the Sleeping God on hand as a deterrent weapon of mass destruction if its activation is controlled by the Great Machine, which is in the hands of their enemies?  

- Why would the Lawful-aligned Prison which has ensnared Turms Termax be under the control of the Chaotic Sleeping God?  

- If Gods such as Typhon are Lawful, why would they create the Eld if doing so would represent a turning away from Law? If they aren't Lawful, what is their relationship to Law and why do they grant Lawful spells?  

- If the Secrets of the City of the Ancients are so amazing, why would a 9HD Dwimmerdragon have stopped the Eld, Thulians, and Termaxians from invading?
And on and on. In the process of answering these sorts of questions, I believe that I will deliver a dungeon to you that will ultimately be a much more satisfying product to read and run. We of course expect Judges to make up their own answers, but at least you can improvise from a coherent framework that fits together.

I never realized how screwed up this mess actually was.

I've ceased to look forward to this except for idle curiosity.

One Man's Opinion - It is what it is

So, I've been told I need to be more careful in expressing my opinions, because my opinions have weight and unintended consequences.

It's not the first time I've been "instructed" on my opinions and the occasional destructive tendencies associated with them, but previously it's been linked to various Kickstarter critiques.

My answer hasn't changed - it is what it is.

My opinions on "whatever" are mine and mine alone. I don't moderate comments here or on G+ based on whether or not I agree with the comments. It's called "discussion", which generally requires different opinions if it it going to be lively. If everyone shared my opinions, there would be no point in discussing anything.

So yeah, there's a fire (or multiple fires) burning on G+ based on last night's ConTesa post (and no, no one involved in the con messaged me, so put the pitch forks away). I think the fire is less from my initial post, but more the comments that followed. My reach is fairly large for the size of our community, so the flames may have spread.

I'll be voicing my opinions as I always have. I apologize in advance for any sparks. You'll need to supply the kindling...

If You Have a Con and No One Shows, Did it Happen?

In case you haven't heard, Contessa is an online gaming con. It's run by women, with only female GMs, although men can play. It seems to be having recruitment issues this year.

Part of it may be the idea that is is aimed (mostly) at female gamers. Maybe it's just me, but not allowing men to run games seems just a tad discriminatory. But then you can't discriminate against the majority (i think that's in the definition of discrimination somewhere) and men are definitely in the majority when it comes to playing RPGs.

I think the bigger thing that is holding it back is that all of the sessions are Hangouts "On Air". Sorry, I'm not going to play in a session with a bunch of strangers and have it up on Youtube until the end of time. Apparently the reason for the "On Air" part is so disruptive male gamers can be booted (which they can't be in a regular hangout apparently). It looks like male gamers have a bad reputation. I can see why one would want to restrict our access to running the sessions, as who would be there to boot us then?

Before it's even said, I have no problem with female gamers. I like to see them as an active part of the hobby, as it needs all sources for it to thrive and grow. Heck, one of the best DMs I ever played under was a woman back at GenCon in the mid 90s. She was certainly the best I played with at the con, and I was in way too many gaming sessions that year ;)

I just don't think excluding either gender from the organizing of a con and running the game sessions is the best way to encourage gaming with either sex. Segregation was a failure when it came to race and I don't think it fares any better when it comes to gender.

I'd actually like to see Contessa succeed despite the self imposed handicaps. We do need more organized play online and it is a well organized convention from what I can tell. I won't be participating though. The assumption that male players are bound to include their share of "creepy guys" and "that's why we have to record everything" creeps me out...

For those interested, here's the link to the games being run on Contessa. Looks like the OSR has made a showing :)

New Bundle of Holding - RuneQuest 6

RuneQuest 6 is a good game - I just don't have the time to absorb the rules. OpenQuest 2 is more my speed for d100 style gaming. That being said, the accessory products being offered are enough for me to jump on this latest Bundle of Holding.

Maybe I'll convert some of this for personal OSR use...

Scarlet Heroes Kickstarter will add 5 Dyson Logos Maps into the Public Domain for All to Use

Did I mention how awesome +Kevin Crawford and +Dyson Logos are?

From the Scarlet Heroes Kickstarter comments section:

Creator Kevin Crawford about 18 hours ago
We do hove nigh to $8K. I've just emailed with Dyson Logos and arranged to pony up enough cash to buy full rights to the five maps he's drawing, so those will be public domain as well. Otherwise, I've mostly been cutting and editing and tweaking to get the layout for the 32-page quickstart in order. The first cut at it has seven pages set, but I'm being obliged to think about exactly how I want it illustrated.

This is a benefit for anyone and everyone that plays RPGs.

You are backing Scarlet Heroes, right?

And Then there Were Two - Two Copies of the OD&D Wooden Box Reprint Arrived Today

I had ordered the OD&D wooden box reprint from Amazon last year, and it looked like it was never going to ship. When I found a Barnes & Noble gift card I had forgotten about, I figured I'd place and order there too. Whichever arrived first I would cancel the other.

Of course, both arrived tonight. Go figure.

I'll be announcing an "OSR Competition" later on this week with donated cash awards. Yes, cash awards. The 1st place finisher, in addition to any cash award will also get my 2nd copy of the OD&D wooden box reprint. I figure it was meant to be as such. Why tempt fate?

Want to get a head start? Download the Swords & Wizardry Complete rules from the link to the left right if you don't already have it and think about a unique magic item you would design for the system. More details to follow, but that's the head start. There will be multiple rounds to the competition and multiple awards.

Start your brainstorming now...

Bring Out Your Dead - Some Ideas for Effecting PCs When Returning From Beyond

This table is far from complete, but it came to me as I spent the commute from hell driving in to work this morning. Have New Yorkers completely forgotten how to drive in snow?

Anyhow, I'll add to this as it comes to me ;)

I Once Was Dead and Now I'm Not Table

1 - Raised character must tithe 90% of all earnings for the next 5 years to the church that raised him

2 - Character no longer requires sleep, but healing magic is only 1/2 effective for them as they have "one foot in the grave"

3 - Character has a 20% penalty on future expo earned, as part of his mind is always elsewhere. This also bestows a +4 bonus to mind effecting spells

4 - Character takes on a grey hue to his skin tone. Clerics can turn him as an undead creature equal to his level. A result of "D" causes 1d6 damage per level of the turner. Undead, intelligent or otherwise, will not attack the PC unless attacked first, as they see him as "one of their own"

5 - If the raised is an arcane spell caster, he permanently loses the ability to cast 1d6 random spells that he already knows. All characters suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls, as the body is stiff and does not move as well as it used to. The first point of damage incurred by the PC from each successful attack is ignored. This can result in damage of "0".

6 - PC is "Touched by the Gods" - He is now a 1st level cleric of the god that raised him. Previous class abilities and HP are retained. New HP are not gained until the cleric level exceeds the previous class level. Clerics that are raised become 1st level fighters - holy warriors in the service of their god.
Previous cleric abilities and HP are retained. New HP are not gained until the fighter level exceeds the previous cleric level.

How Dead is Dead? The use of Raise Dead Spells and the like in your Campaigns and Mine

I don't use them. In my games, dead is dead. Maybe it's because we rarely get beyond the sweet spot of levels 5 to 7, but in my mind, the logistics of Raise Dead spells when taken beyond the player party is just unwieldily.

The king died? Raise him. They burned the body? Find a bone splinter and Resurrect him. Whatever you do, don't Reincarnate him. Fucker might come back as a badger or worse.

I'd rather bring a new character into the party with half the previous PC's expo than prop up the dead for another go. It just seems to lessen the threat all around.

Sure, you killed the BBEG, but did you incinerate the body? No? Shit, he's back and even more pissed. You better pay for some Raise Dead spells in advance because he's looking for payback!

I do remember using such remedies like they were a dime a zone back in High School, but there was no larger world in our games back then. Module to hand scratched dungeon and back again. There was no thought of the places between unless they directly impacted the adventure.

Today, I do think of the larger picture, and Raise Dead and the like make that picture really messy in the overall scheme of things, at least that's how I see it.

Do folks come back from the dead in your games (not talking returning as undead either)? Why or why not?

A Sine Nomine Kickstarter - Scarlet Heroes (If you support just one Kickstarter in 2014...)

Fact - +Kevin Crawford 's first Kickstarter, Spears of the Dawn, was distributed in PDF to backers BEFORE funding closed.

Fact - Stars Without Number is the most successful OSR Sci-Fi RPG on the market - and the base PDF is free.

Fact - +Kevin Crawford 's latest Kickstarter, Scarlet Heroes, funded in less than 18 hrs and has hit it's first stretch goal on only it's second day of funding.

Fact - I am a +Kevin Crawford fanboy ;)

Scarlet Heroes is a set of OSR rules that both stand on their own and easily integrate with other OSR rules that have been released over the years. The rules are intended to enable one on one or two on one gameplay without needing to rework the source material. Want to run Keep on the Borderlands with your non-gamer wife to introduce her to the hobby? These are the rules. Gaming group going to be short the next few weeks but you want to keep gaming? These are the rules. Want to kill some time running through a classic adventure and have no one to play with? These rules enable solo play.

Supporting the Kickstarter gives you immediate access to the current beta of the Scarlet Heroes rules in PDF. Kevin has hinted to me that the PDF may be completed in total before the Kickstarter funding even ends (he is still waiting on some 20 pieces of art).

One of the stretch goals will release the majority of the art into the public domain, just like he did with Spears of the Dawn.

+Kevin Crawford and the few project creators like him are the ones that renew my faith in Kickstarter. If you only back one Kickstarter in 2014, and you are an RPG fan of any kind, Scarlet Heroes should be that one.

An OSR Kickstarter - Ryubix Manor--Madness, Betrayal, Murder, Vengeance... Family

I'll be the first to say it. "Ryubix Manor--Madness, Betrayal, Murder, Vengeance... Family" has anawkward title. It does not flow off the tongue like Rappan Athuk and the like.  That being said, it IS different than the rest.

It's a manor - an above ground dungeon, if you will, which means it has different assumptions than the usual dungeon. It is certainly atmospheric and well done in that respect (I was allowed a peek at an early edit version).

This is not Stonehell, which you can pretty much grab and run without much preparation. With Ryubix Manor, being well prepared will be necessary to effectively run the adventure. All the tools, plots and personalities are given to you, but you will need to spend some time to be conversant with all of them. Your players will thank you (and you will find that things go much more smoothly that way).

Ryubix Manor is OSR generic, not really keyed to a specific "old school" ruleset but useable with any you choose with little work.

If there is one thing that might hold folks back is that it is written for high level play - 16-20 is the default level range for the adventure. Could you tone it down for lower level parties? Definitely, and there are some thoughts on how to do so in the FAQ section on the Kickstarter. Would it be helpful to have more substantial advice for those DMs that might need a little hand holding in the conversion? Probably. High level adventures are often aiming at a smaller market, as the number or parties that reach such levels are much fewer than the parties that are constantly starting out. It's not just the PCs that have to reach the higher levels - the campaign has to survive to those levels too.

It is a nice "haunted house" styled adventure, with lots of keyed rooms (over 300) to explore. It's also less "hack and slash" than many of the current larger dungeons I've looked at. Both are huge selling points to me.

It really does make for a nice change of pace, it's just a shame it defaults to levels my PCs have reached only once since the early 80s ;)

A Look at the Hack & Slash Patreon Project

In case you've missed the trend, Patreon is now the way to support the creators you know and like. It's really simple in concept - you pretty much set up an automatic tip amount based on criteria set by the project creator, and each time they "create" according to the criteria, your tip gets added to the pool.

+Dyson Logos was the first I saw using the Patreon system to support his mapping, and in the weeks that have passed, I've also seen +matt jackson (maps) and +Mark Gedak (PFRPG Monsters, but I'm sure I can convert to S&W without much effort). Well, not just have seen the above, I'm a supporter of all of the above, even if I have had to tweak tip amounts to cover the spread ;)

I've now added Hack & Slash as the 4th Patreon Project that I'm supporting.

+Courtney Campbell is a prolific blogger. Well, maybe not as prolific as I normally am, but his is pretty much all "game ready" content. Just like the folks above, he gives it away for free on his blog. The point of the Patreon funding is to work as a virtual tip jar. It rewards him for the work he does, and if the funding is highly successful he'll be able to devote even more time to it.

The same goes to all of the folks I've mentioned above. They provide their creations for free to all. It's the select few that tip them for their hard work that may get some additional perks, or just a feeling of goodwill for supporting some really cool people.

In Courtney's case, I'm in for 50 cents a post. He averages 15 posts of content a month. So, we are looking at about $7.50 a month and I capped my contribution at $10 a month. You can set the amount wherever you want, and even a nickel a post would add up with enough supporters.

Unlike Kickstarter, you can change or withdraw your support at any time, and you are only paying as content is created, not in advance.

I need to sit down and figure out a Patreon budget that I can comfortably use to support the creators that create content that I can use and whose work keeps me entertained.

Things Have Slowed Down, But The Tavern is Still Open for Business

This will be the 9th blog post for the week at The Tavern - 8 from me and 1 from a guest poster. That put this week's current post total below any week in 2014, 2013 or 2012.

Yeah, it's been that kind of a month and that kind of a week.

It does mean I've fallen vastly behind on the things I've intended to get to, both in real life and here on the blog.

On the blog side, I've got 2 new Kickstarters to shine a light on. Both OSR. See, that's the exception to my cutting back on Kickstarters ;)

Then there's the recent megadungeon release to take a look at.

Not to mention the shitload of random thoughts kicking around in my head for the last week or so, just lacking the time and focus to putting them down as a blog post.

I am working on finding the time and focus now ;)

A Look at LotFP Free RPG Day 2014 Indiegogo Campaign

I was all set NOT to back the LotFP Free RPG 2014 campaign, as I'm still waiting on LotFP's Summer Folly of 2012 to ship. +James Raggi 's stuff is always high quality in production values, even if some of his recent releases are so far from the beaten path as to be unusable for all but one-shots in my opinion. I'm sure James would argue otherwise (and has argued otherwise in the past).

James is also slow as shit rolling uphill in getting his projects out the door. This I know he won't argue (as he pretty much stated it himself on the Indiegogo page):

LotFP is kinda slow on these crowdfunding things, and that's a fair cop, so here's the skinny: 

The Doom-Cave adventure is already completely written and has been played once. Needs editing and layout, and will get another play and might need some minor text revisions before final editing. The cover art shown above is obviously done. Interior art and the alternate cover are still to be done. The dungeon map for publication is already done and delivered. Worst-case scenario is a cut-rate layout going to press, but last year's 3-times-as-big adventure didn't have writing done until mid-March and still got to press on time with the quality art and layout for Free RPG Day. 

Shirts and tote bags, as mentioned, will go to press just after the campaign finishes and I learn what sizes we need for everything and ship separate from any books. The design is, as you can see, already done. Previous crowdfunding knickknacks like shirts have shipped ahead of other perks on those campaigns. Track record here is good I think. 

Chandler's stuff is more of a crapshoot because I don't have the direct control over his life and pen. But Chandler has been a MACHINE - his 2013 RPG output (nevermind his day job and fiction writing) was 1017 pages and 291,000 words, with Pandemonio, Viewscream, The Starship from Hell, Teratic Tome, Slaughtergrid, Roll XX, and Bad Myrmidon to his credit. He'll get his stuff done in a timelier manner than anything LotFP does on its own. Dude's workrate puts LotFP to shame. Bastard. But we're glad he's helping us out for our fundraiser here! I mention his track record because he is reliable and works fast. Lacerations' status is "90% of the art is done, and most of the text is written by hand, or in my playtest-notebook." If the Lacerations game is late, it'll be late. Not much I can say to that, that's a Chandler self-produced thing. If the Lost World sandbox he's doing for this campaign is late (and it is in the outline stage, it is not yet written), I will ship the Doom-Cave backer copies on July 1 anyway and ship the Lost World adventures separately when they're done. If Chandler drops dead or gets hired by someone that wants FULLTIMEALLTHETIME for too-big money to say no, I'll get someone else on it, another established writer with a rep for getting things out in a timely manner.

Here's why I am going to back this, and it has little to do with The Doom-Cave of the Crystal Headed Children (which very well may be useable - at least the premise sounds useable) and little to nothing to do with totes and shirts and everything to do with +Rafael Chandler 's contributions to this project.

Rafael has a taste for the strange and bizarre yet his stuff is still pretty much plug and play when it comes to integrating it to the average fantasy campaign. Rafael "gets it". He also "gets" the OSR community.

So yeah, I'm in. Just need to figure out that euro conversion shit ;)