Just How Did That Dungeon get Built?

As I write this I have a nail gun, an electric saw, hammering and banging going on in the room next to me as my contractor is working fairly late tonight. And it got me thinking - all this work to close up a doorway and build some shelves - how much work is there to building a dungeon (let alone a mega-dungeon).

Sure, magic helps - I'm sure rock to mud is awesome at clearing out hallways and rooms, but all that mud had to go somewhere. Not to mention the doors.

Actually, I was listening to +Vincent Florio on his Roll for Initiative podcast the other night talking about doors, and that had also got me thinking - dungeon doors are not like the doors we have in our homes or apartments. Dungeon doors keep shit in or keep shit out - it truly is an amazing thing that is often overlooked when we describe or think of dungeon trappings.

Ack, I'm all over the pace with this post. I'm going to blame the allergies and the amazing wine I have sitting next to me that I have yet to drink. Well, I hope it's amazing.

I'll try and be a bit more coherent later on tonight, but for now, I'm thinking of doors, or in this case, the removal of a door and the conversion of the space.

OSR Superstar Round 1 Results This Weekend (Fingers Crossed)

I've communicated with the judges, and the expectation is that I should have each judge's list this weekend. I'll collate and score the entries and then release the list of the top 16 (and I'll post the winners to the blogside as well).

So, if all goes well, round 2 of the OSR Superstar Competition should kick off next week ;)

Picking Up Where We Left Off - Returning to a Campaign Left 8 Weeks Ago Mid Adventure

Yeah, mid January was a bit hellish on my end, and I gladly passed the DM reins over for a few weeks, followed by a few weeks playtesting as a player (and some non-gaming G+ Hangouts thrown in for good measure.) Needless to say, I'm am pretty much off kilter as far as the campaign I was running

Do I?

- try and pick up the adventure where we left off, knowing that the momentum is gone along with player memory.

- forget the last adventure and hand-wave the party to a new situation / adventure / etc.

- move to the S&W Thieve's World as a sandbox for a session or two, either with new characters or moving the current ones over (with minor adjustments)

- something completely different?

Looking for some inspiration :)

Playing with the Blogger App - How Light can I Travel to a Con?

It's a no brainer that I plan to post from NO RPG Con, the only question is how feasible is it to use my phone to do so.

So, out at Friday's with the wife and kid giving the Blogger App a try - and trying hard not to smack the ass in the next booth that is vapping or whatever they call those electronic cigarettes.

Yeah, that would be a real life adventure ;)

When at a Con - Scheduled Games or Open Gaming?

I expect I'll do a bit of both at NTRPG Con, but I'm wondering if folks organize last minute games via social media.

My last con was GenCon in 93, and I don't recall any open gaming. Then again, that might be because I had stuff scheduled from 8 am to 12 am the first 3 days ;)

In any case, when you go to a con, how much gaming do you plan for in advance?

Testing Tables - Embedding Tables in a Blogpost and Playing With Coppers

Rats & Coppers Table

Last Gasp Grimoire has a way to imbed tables into a blog post. Mo idea if the link above is going to work, but I'd love to see the tables others come up with.

Of course, I may have buggered the above to shit for all I know. The test is in the posting.

Whether I can make it work or not, thanks go out to +Logan Knight and +Paolo Greco .

Any failures to execute are mine alone ;)

Mini Review - The Sunken City Adventure Omnibus & Guide (DCC RPG)

I wanted to get a review of The Sunken City Adventure Omnibus & Guide posted while it was still one sale for GMs Day at 30% off, but why repeat some of my earlier posts ;)

I've reviewed some of the individual titles of the Sunken City series previously:

A Gathering of the Marked

The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk

Perils of the Sunken City

The adventures read well and play well and now come wrapped in a fine bow. The complete package also includes Lair of the Mist Men, adventure hooks, new magic items, new creatures, a new patron and more.

I really had blast running The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk - can't believe that was nearly two years ago.

Listen, it's well done and fun to play and really does DCC well and would probably convert well to other OSR games too.

But hey, let me quote from the books RPGNow page so you know what you are getting, which is a lot if you ask me:

The Sunken City Adventure Omnibus & Guide contains four complete beginning adventures and a host of new material to enhance your Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign. Features include:

Every best-selling Sunken City Adventure (Perils of the Sunken City, The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, A Gathering of the Marked, Lair of the Mist Men) combined and refined into a single full-color volume.

Both a 96-page desktop/print version and a 200-page mobile version built from scratch for viewing on your tablet!

A massive 84-page master appendix containing extra content, pre-gen characters, player maps, 1-inch scale battle maps, and over 150 paper miniatures. 

A patron write-up of Malloc, the devious master of secrets.

At long last... Opossuman player characters! 

Adventure seeds, new monsters, 24 new magic items, judging tips, and more!

Print Version: Special Offer
Both hardcover and softcover version of the Sunken City Adventure Omnibus & Guide are coming! Everyone who purchases the PDF version in the interim will receive a special offer to purchase the print version at the lowest price when available!

If you've previously purchased one or more of the Sunken City Adventures from RPGNow, you should have received an email with a code to purchase it at a reduced price. If you haven't, or have purchased the adventures from both RPGNow and other locations, contact us at info@purplesorcerer.com with a list of the adventures you own, and we'll get you set up!

That's a crap load for your $12.59 (at least through March 15th.)

Wherein My Wife Decides to Join Me at NTRPG Con - Need to Get Her Up to Speed

In truth, my wife Rachel has been very supportive of my RPG hobby. She was actually instrumental in getting me back into active gaming, which I can't thank her enough.

She asked to join me at NTRPG Con, with the initial idea of me gaming while she went shopping and exploring. It has now evolved into "this sounds like fun! I want to get involved too!"

Time to get ready to run some one on one sessions with Scarlet Heroes and some OSR adventures.

Any suggestions on adventures that would work well for a first time player?

It's Official - Registered for NTRPG Con and Have My Room - When Do We Sign up for Games?

Tonight, after making sure the wife (she that rules with a velvet open palm ;) could take off from work for the days in question, I officially registered for NTRPG Con.

Holy shit - my first con in 21 years.

We will arrive Wednesday and leave on Monday. I see +Zach Glazar is running a LL session and +Matt Finch is running some S&W and there's just a crap load of other stuff I want to do. I really need to plan my battle plan out before registration opens for the individual games.

My wife is interested in hitting the Con for at least one day, so I might register her for all 4 days too. She's enjoy the board games and maybe even the Tunnels & Trolls slot I saw on the board, as her one and only RPG session was T&T 7e.

Yep, the shit just became real. I just need to find Rach some Karaoke and all will be sweet as pie ;)

In any case, I look forward to hooking up in June with the friends I've made online that I've yet to meet face to face.

Review - Adventure Fantasy Game - Part the Second - Tasks and The Old One

I should be tackling Task Rankings and such and breaking it down into my own words for the 2nd part of the Adventure Fantasy Game review, but I really can't explain it better than the rules themselves do:

Practice makes perfect. A character can become an EXPERT in a Task by spelling out the word EXPERT next to it. This means that the character gains a permanent +1 on all 5MORE checks for that particular Task. 

Practice must be meaningful: doing the same action over and over again, like picking the same lock, does not provide additional letters unless in novel and stressful circumstances. For example, picking a lock while being shot at by the city night watch. The Referee is encouraged to put a limit on how often EXPERT letters are gained; a letter per encounter or scene is a safe limit. Beyond EXPERT, further bonuses may not be gained in this manner for a particular Task, except by achieving the proficiency of a MASTER. 

Once a character has become EXPERT in six Tasks, he or she can claim the title of MASTER and add "Master" before their name. At that time, the player shall select one, and only one Task the character is already EXPERT in and shall receive a further bonus of +1 on all 5MORE rolls in that Task. The word "EXPERT" next to the Task will be erased, to be substituted by the word "MASTER". 

For example, it is possible for an EXPERT Climber (who is also an EXPERT in five other Tasks) to choose to become a MASTER in Climbing for a +2 bonus. If the MASTER Climber has a high PHY, the total bonus of Climbing rolls will be +3.

Basically, you get better by doing, in much the same was RuneQuest (at least in 2nd and 3rd editions handled it). Want to get better at picking locks? Pick some locks WHEN IT MATTERS. Working on a practice lock in your room doesn't have the same potential.

Now, on to Divinity. In the Adventure Fantasy Game, worship makes a difference. The powers that be, whether that is a god, demon, spirit or the like are powerful and spiteful. You want them on your side. There is a lot of open ground here, as AFG "does not provide hard and fast rules to simulate this interaction" between the divine and the mortals looking for their help, blessing, intersession and the like. It does, however, provide the GM and his players with an ample sample of divine beings and the type of people that worship them - their cults, if you will (again making me think a bit of RuneQuest)

Here's a piece from the section on Cthulhu (any fantasy game that includes Cthulhu in it's mythos is starting off strong in my book ;)

Cthulhu worshippers are of two kinds: those venerating the endless cycle of life and death and those trying to awaken their master, so that everything will be eaten and born again. This last bunch is seen as problematic by a lot of people, so both kinds of worshippers organise as mystery cults. The fi rst one hides behind a layer of pagan, nature-worshipping practices, while the latter is simply reclusive. 

It's unclear whether Cthulhu rewards worship: occasionally some cult of the second kind starts kidnapping and sacri ficing a lot of people. While this is known to have a benefi cial eff ect, it's unclear whether the benefits come from Cthulhu or another Venerable. 

What's certain is that this kind of behavior is frowned upon by authorities and common people alike, and many cults have met their end at the hands of guards and angry mobs. It's not necessarily true that these cults engaged in this kind of behavior (or worshipped Cthulhu), but a few disappearances can easily be blamed on any suspect cult.

There is a lot going on in those three paragraphs, and there is more going on than the sample I grabbed. Good stuff, and easily used with the system of your choice, as the divine section is systemless. Actually, the whole of the divine section / sample cults is inspirational (figure that) and could easily be transferred to a different ruleset.

Next part I expect to touch upon magic and spells.

The Fear of Death - or - Why I Like "Old School Gaming"

I already wrote a bit about last night's play session, so I won't harp on it too much more, but there is something I want to address.

My character, Calishun the Dwarven Cleric, was ready to run when our bruisers were webbed by our misfiring flying magic-user. The thing is, he isn't a long term character of mine (the magic-user and ranger are characters from my campaign, running under the "if it happens here, it happened there" rule). Calishun was created as a 4th level cleric specifically to playtest the adventure in question. Last night was his third session in play and yet the thought of running at that moment came quickly to me mind.

In truth, I'm not even sure if my decision not to run was influenced by the fact that Calishun will probably never see use again or out of loyalty to my fellow party members. Perhaps a bit of both. Still, the fear and the initial thought were real and that was damn cool.

There can be no gain of worth if there is no risk of loss. Which is why 3rd Edition and beyond of D&D ceased to appeal to me - if you can plot out your character's advancement with a computer app from levels 1 to 20, what is the point to playing levels 1 to 20? Actually, in old school gaming, who plays to level 20? (sure, some do, but I'm making a general statement)

If I'm going to play an RPG, I need there to be some real risk, some real threat to my character, or there is little if any true potential for growth. Sure, the numbers increase, but the numbers don't truly define the character - game play history does.

Wherein the Party Nearly Suffers a Self Inflicted TPK

Last night was the 3rd and final session of the playtest of +David Przybyla upcoming Swords & Wizardry adventure, and the group had a blast with the playtest. An action and thinking styled adventure for the win.

The funny thing is, we almost killed ourselves right at the end.

We were engaged with adversaries to out north. The ranger and monk were doing a decent job taking them down, and my cleric was doing the "accent" work. The magic-user had previously quaffed a flying potion and was hovering near the ceiling.

Suddenly, we had adversaries coming from the south. Creatures that had previously set our monk's clothing on fire (he was thankful that he was under the protection of fire resistance midway through.

Not wanting the party to be trapped between two forces, the magic-user cast a Web spell. Regretfully, it was slightly misplaced - it caught the incoming from the south, but it also caught the party on the ground. Only the cleric saved. Our bruisers were webbed and the two (soon to be one) adversary to the north were not.

I spent much of the remaining combat bleeding out my Cure Light Wounds wand to keep from dropping as the ranger fought to free himself from the webs. I think if I had dropped, the magic-user would have been forced to flee, and the remainder of the party would have been lost.

Actually, in truth, my first instinct was to run when the web was down and I was the last man standing on the ground. Thankfully, we pulled our collective asses out of the fire and achieved our mission's goal.

Fun times. I really enjoyed getting some time in as a player in some S&W session :)

A Kickstarter That Takes Rifts, Rubs Off the Serial Numbers, Uses Open D6 and Has Kevin's Blessing - Breachworld

I saw this at the RPG Corner blog. Breachworld is a Kickstarter by Jason Richards that sounds a lot like Rifts without the clunk of the SDC / MDC Palladium system. Actually, it uses Mini Six, which is a striped down version of Open 6, and happens to be OGL.

Heck, it even has an endorsement by Kevin Siembieda:

I'm in at $30 for the Hardcover version of the book.

I was interested in reworking Rifts to strip the system away from the setting, and it appears that Breachworld might have done so without the fear of a lawsuit from Palladium Books ;)

From the project's blurb:

Welcome to the Breachworld RPG, a post-apocalyptic anything-goes sandbox world in desperate need of exploration or exploitation by you, the intrepid tabletop gamer. By backing this Kickstarter, you will help bring this world to life. In appreciation for your help, you'll have the opportunity to join in the adventure, and at a bargain.

Blue Dungeon Tiles - A Kickstarter for a Modular Gaming Mat / Map / Tiles

When i see a Kickstarter like this - Blue Dungeon Tiles - I regret the fact that I lack a face to face group, as this would be awesome. Inexpensive compared to set piece such as dungeon wall, it's also hard to discount the easy of storage and carrying. I have Dwarven Forge stuff from their last Kickstarter, and the stuff is awesome, but really, I'd have to be running the session from home for me to break out the pieces.

I'm actually surprised no one thought of doing this before. Wet, dry and permanent marker erasable tiles. Pretty sweet.

I may just have to kick in for the possibility of finding a local OSR styled group at some point, or even for use at a con.

Who am I kidding? 30 bucks for the basic set? I'm in...

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Cats

Last Sunday I was totally psyched. I had stuff in the review pile ready to be reviewed and even thought I could get to as many as TWO a day at times. Which was a great plan until Monday struck at work. Overtime every day but Wednesday (when I have 'Uncle Duty" in the later afternoon.)

Good for the wallet, not so good for reading and posting.

Today has been "clean out the pantry and deal with the mice mess". I'm going to try and steal some reading time even if my wife kills me. Oh, and prep for renovations on monday ;)

Oh, and have already spent a chunk of the overtime earned earlier this week on... mouse resistant storage containers that are air tight. Thank you Amazon for allowing me to spend the money that isn't yet in my paycheck without even leaving my home.

FLAILSNAILS - Why I Don't "Flail my Snail" ;)

I play with some fairly frequent "Flailsnailers", but I myself, have never done such.

I do see the appeal, even if it holds little for me.

See, if you have limited game time available to use and a steady group, there is little need for Flailsnailing.

As a DM, my group and myself vet any guest players into our sessions. As the campaigns we play have core sets or characters, I am likely to review any new PC coming in to see how well they fit and if any adjustments are needed - the inherit occasional FS wackiness is generally not an added feature I'm looking for (that being said, I can see it fit well into certain styles of campaigns).

As a player, I don't have the free time to bounce from game to game, system to system. My time to play is limited and scheduled well in advance, much like my DMing

Now, without a steady group and an abundance of free time, I can certainly see the appeal of Flailing One's Snail, as it were.

I can also see how it would work well as an underlining conversion set of rules for an OSR styles online con, where players could bring their own characters to the game and not use a pregen. There certainly is a lot to say for that use.

Ah well, just some random thoughts...

Of Mice and Men and Living Dungeon Trappings

So, I was sitting at my desk trying to brainstorm a post for the blog (it wasn't coming easy - today was a nearly a 14 hour work day) when I heard my wife scream.

Yep, there was a mouse in the kitchen.

I fail to understand how a mouse can run across the top of the stove when I have a cat that is a proven hunter in the house.

Still, there is a post hidden behind that mouse, as it's gotten me thinking about "dungeon trappings", the things that bring dungeons to life (as opposed to "dungeon traps", designed to remove life in dungeons).

Sure, we can always have 9 giant rats in a room waiting for the PCs to slaughter them for a pile of coppers, but where are the mice, the insects, the spiders and the dust bunnies. We'll mention the color of the walls and the stone cut of the floors, but what about the life that scampers about?

Shit, talking about scampering, i guess I'll have to put out some traps myself to remove some of the "extra life" roaming around The Tavern's kitchen.

You know it's been a long, cold winter when the mice are willing and able to brave the cats...

Almost Ready to Go Big - Big Maps, That Is

I'm thinking of leaving the mini grid map book to work to doodle during meal and use the larger book for doodling at home. Figured I'd grab a hex book of paper while I was at it, but don't expect to be filling in such a large hex sheet for a bit - still need to work on the smaller hex sheets first.

I haven't had the time (or the energy) to do much mapping this work week even if I find it to be a great tool for de-stressing. Overtime 3 days out of 4 (Wednesday afternoon I have "Uncle Duty") so far, and probably 4 out of 5 days once I finally sign out tomorrow.

Yep, the hits just keep on coming ;)

In any case, I certainly plan on getting some quality mapping time in this weekend...

Reddit "Flash Mob" at The Tavern Today

Apparently the following post: http://www.tenkarstavern.com/2013/06/mike-nystul-fiscally-incompetent-washes.html got linked in a discussion thread of the ass who burned a bunch of books he didn't ship to backers: Kickstarter Fail: Artist Raises $51K to Publish Books, Burns Them in Alley

Reddit drives amazing traffic. Sadly, I suspect its not quality traffic. Still, it's a fun ride and I've already hit twice my previous high for daily traffic and there's still 3 1/2 hours to go.

Go figure ;)

Stop the Presses - I've Agreed to Participate on a Kickstarter Project

Holy shit Batman!

Yep, I've agreed to participate on a Kickstarter project in a limited scope.

The creator of the project has Kickstarted in the past and has done it well. No complaints from my end and I've supported the previous Kickstarters - they never made "the list".

More details as the project gets closer to going live, but it is RPG related.

Gygax's Last RPG - Lejendary Adventures

Lejendary Adventures is the game I always wanted to play. I ordered the signed books when they originally came out, and never read them straight through, as I no longer seemed to be fluent in High Gygaxian. Didn't stop me from gathering another set of the books (unsigned) although all are currently in storage.

At some point, I realized that Troll lord Games had published a sized down and edited version of the rules in a boxed set, and I picked it up. Well, I picked it up three times apparently. One box is a full set with dice, one set has no dice, and one set only has one booklet in it, so the rest of it must be boxed away somewhere. I may need to take my son up on his offer and have him catalogue my gaming collection. Even the shake down he'll attempt will save me money in the long run.

At least the two extra boxes will be finding homes in my gaming group. Who knows, we may actually play it at some point ;)

Castles & Crusades - The Other "White Box"

I had forgotten I had the Castles & Crusades Collector's Edition, otherwise known as the C&C White Box.

I guess I should do a "White Box Comparison" post or series of posts at some point. Original Dungeons & Dragons, Swords & Wizardry White Box, Delving Deeper and the Castles & Crusades Collector's Edition.

It is kinda neat with just the 4 core classes, 10 levels and 4 races. A whole game in just one box.

Amateur Night at the Tavern - My Thoughts are Bigger than the Paper

Yep, stairs in the center and three open passageways of the paper.

I am certainly not ready for ink and it's "once and done" rules ;)

I'm not sure how to make the lower right room stand out more, short of cutting it by half a hex to the south and the west sides. Eh, work in progress.

That being said, I did order some larger sheets of graph paper and may need to order some more small sheets from across the pond at the rate I'm going...

Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay - Released on RPGNow as PWYW (OSR City Setting)

The Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay has been released and I'm pretty pumped. +Pete Spahn puts out some damn good stuff, so when he Kickstarted this I was all over it.

There is even a Tenkar's Tavern located within.

The price is right at PWYW. Take a peek and download it. If you find it useful, and you will, toss Pete a few scheckls. Trust me, it's worth it.

A review with be coming soonish, as soon as I review the things that are sooner ;)

In the meantime, step in Tenkar's Tavern...

GM's Day Sale is Live at RPGNow - Over 15k Products at 30% Off - Sifting Out Some OSR

With over 15k products to choose from, finding the OSR products you want is like finding a needle in a goblin's latrine. Lets see if we can help your searching:

The Troll Lords have discounted their catalogue at 30% off.

The search for keywords Swords & Wizardry (some LotFP stuff is here too)

Search for OSR stuff  (lots of Expeditious Retreat Press stuff among others)

Can't forget the Labyrinth Lord search.

Sine Nomine's catalogue is on sale - lots of OSR goodness within.

Goodman Games has it's catalogue in sale - perfect time to grab those DCC adventures.

Purple Duck has it's DCC RPG line of adventures at 30% off.

Purple Sorcerer also has it's line of DCC RPG adventures at 30% off

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea for 7 bucks - can you beat that?

Adventurers! for 79 cents. bamn!

Liberation of the Demon Slayer - even the soft cover is discounted

Edit: New Big Dragon Games has put both the D30 Sandbox Companion and the D30 DM Companion on sale ($4.95 and $2.50 respectively) - I can't say enough good stuff about either product.

Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Open Beta (Free)

The Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Open Playtest is free in PDF.

It comes in three flavors - print friendly, low res and hi res.

I've peeked at the hi rez and it does look pretty. I would, however, consider the print friendly version easier to read.

Damn, This Map Could Almost Be a Player Prop at this Point ;)

I've been digging into boxes and in between the pages of books that I haven't looked at it ages today, all in the name of "getting shit outta the way for renovations".

I remember drawing this with colored pencils, probably around '85, give or take a year. The pencils have faded, the paper has gone through hell, but even back in the day I found mapping to be therapeutic.

I think I have a few more mini-dungeon levels in me before I switch gears to outdoor hexes ;)

Review - Adventure Fantasy Game - Getting My D6 Fix (part the first)

Every so often, someone attempts to capture the "old school" flavor of the OSR and package it with new mechanics. Success, I think, lies greatly in the manner in which those mechanics are used.

The Adventure Fantasy Game, henceforth to be referred to as AFG, is the latest to make such an attempt. Does it succeed? For me, yes, but then again, I'm comfortable with the idea of putting away all other dice but the venerable D6. Tunnels & Trolls is my go to system that is not directly built on D&D (but is greatly influenced by D&D). The influence of D&D on AFG is just as obvious.

There are three classes (or paths or ways) in AFG - Casters, Fighters and Practitioners (just like there are three core classes in T&T - go figure). Casters and Fighters are pretty self explanatory. Practitioners are the skilled workers, and the definition would include thieves in all of their roles.

There are three stats: Physique, Craft and Spirit. They are rolled using 3d6, and high scores (13+) and low scores (8-) will give bonuses and penalties in different circumstances.

Casting is a bit Vancian in nature, as a spell that is cast cannot be cast again until the following dawn. Actually, I could hone in on the classes right now, but I'd rather look at hits (or hit points for the rest of us).

Hit points are rolled with a D6 (fighters get to add a +2 to the roll. At first level, 2 dice are rolled and the best roll is kept, which i think is a fine compromise between roll once or give max at first level.

At 2nd level, 2 dice are rolled (+2 per die for fighters). If the new roll exceeds the previous total, you keep the new roll. If it doesn't, you add 1 to your old total. Repeat at 3rd level with 3 dice and so on. It goes a long way to ensure that hits will be around average in the long run, without extreme lows or highs due to chance. I like this, and may port it over to my S&W campaign - but it's sure to not be loved by the ranger who has rolled damn near max with each die - heh.

The resolution system is referred to as 5MORE. Basically in a nut shell, roll 5 or more on a single D6 (with adjustments) to succeed. Truly hard to succeed attempts will need more than one successful roll to achieve. There is a lot more to that simple system than what I just wrote in the previous sentence, but that will have to wait to the next part of the review, which will also delve into EXPERT and MASTER task rankings, combat, wounds and if I can squeeze it in - Cthulhu, the Tentacled Ur-Dragon and the rest of the gods.

D&D Next Player's Handbook Lists at 50 Bucks at Barnes & Noble - August 19 Release

Looks like D&D Next, or simply "Dungeons & Dragon", is releasing this summer. Well, we knew that, but we didn't know the pricing.

The Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook is listing at $49.95, with Barnes & Noble discounting it to $37.96.

If they keep the pricing across the board with the thee core books, it's going to be $150 just to have what you need to play the new D&D. Assuming you support your "brick & mortar" store. At these prices, where you can save nearly 40 bucks or more ordering from B&N or Amazon, who is going to support their neighborhood store?

Actually, at these prices, D&D is obviously no longer for kids.

Wasn't Next supposed to make D&D simpler and less bloated? Shouldn't that mean less pages and at least keeping the price steady, or near-so, compared to 4e?

At least they are putting out a D&D Starter box in July for $20. The thing is, if it's anything like the 4e starter box, it's totally worthless. If they put out something like the Pathfinder Beginner Box, WotC could redeem themselves. But they won't. A loss leader to bring folks into the hobby? Fugetaboutit

Mini Review - JD2 Darkland Moors (OSR Sandbox Adventure for levels 3-5)

The second part in the Jeff Dee series of adventures (thus the numbering of the adventure as "JD2"), Darkland Moors is a sandbox adventure of sorts. The only map supplied is an outdoor map (supplied in both DM and player versions, which is damn cool and very suitable for VTT play).

So, your players defeated the bog-mother or whatever she was in JD1 and are going to continue adventuring in the area - this is their sandbox.

You get your choice of three hooks to get your players involved, which is cool. If your players kicked off the campaign with JD1, you should probably home brew and adventure or two before kicking off the plot line in JD2, but as you have the local sandbox supplied as well as the local map, that shouldn't be much of an issue. Unless, of course, you failed to move a decimal point in the loot values in JD1 - in which case your PCs may already be level 3 to 4... sigh.

Actually, Darkland Moors is a nice little sandbox so long as you put some minimal time into fleshing it out. There really is a lot more this can be used for then just the included storyline. Why waste a sandbox that's already been handed to you? There are roughly 500 square miles of adventuring in the Darkland Moors. Use them to your, and your party's, advantage.

From the blurb:

A huge, monstrous presence rampages through the farms and villages of Darkland Moors, throwing the locals’ formerly peaceful lives into turmoil. What manner of giant is responsible, where is it taking its captives, and what is their fate? To restore peace, our heroes must scour the misty Moors and track the beast to its lair! This is the sequel to JD1 Cess-Pit of the Bog-Mother!

This module was originally created as a stretch goal for Jeff Dee’s Kickstarter project to re-create his lost paintings from the covers of the classic RPG adventures A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity, A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, and C2 The Ghost Tower of Inverness. The author wishes to thank all of his backers, whose support made this work possible.

Included are three alternate introductions to this outdoor adventure, stat blocks for the standard creatures which appear herein, complete stats for unique creatures especially designed for the adventure, plus GM and player maps.

Last Night, We Playtested an Upcoming S&W Adventure - No TPK, Yet

Last night was my second session of Swords &Wizardry from the player's side of the screen and our second night of playtesting, and it got me thinking.

Neither of my S&W campaigns has a cleric in the party. For the playtest, I chose to be a cleric and I've noticed an important thing - undead are killers without a cleric's turning ability. Seriously, swarming undead that don't have a morale check to worry about are killer. It's also pretty swingy in the numbers it effects.

Hold Person is a kick ass spell. I always looked at it previously from the DM's side of the screen as the key to "potential TPKs", which isn't a bad thing, just something I had to be prepared for. As a player, it does an amazing job cutting down human and similar adversaries, without the mess of fireballs and lightning bolts (not that the party has access to such at the moment).

Being a player means "thinking out of the box" in OSR styled gaming. You are not looking to game the system, you are looking for the DM to supply game mechanics and feedback based upon your thoughts and plans. Case in point - last night Calishun, my cleric had turned a pack of ghouls and had them cowering on the far side of the room. We wanted to search that side of the room, and I asked our DM if I, moving slowly and cautiously, could use my turning ability to move them out of that corner. I was thinking classic vampire movies AND magnets with the same poles facing each other. My idea was plausible, so it worked. I'm used to dealing with what the players throw out at me, but this was me throwing a challenge out to the DM. I would have gladly accepted any answer, as I trusted +David Przybyla to make the right call (the right call didn't have to be what we wanted to happen).

Actually, there were many times in last night's session where the dungeon's environment challenged us to think of things that weren't covered by the rules. As a DM, I reacted to such feedback from my players instinctively, but as a player, it was much more of a challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed it :)

As an aside, I was able to mail out the DAGGER RPG to all that entered the OSR Superstar Competition last night, stealing time in the "in between moments" to do so. If it's not in your emil and you sent in a submission, let me know so I can correct it.

Mini Review - JD1 Cess-Pit of the Bog-Mother (OSR Adventure Levels 1-3)

I have a bunch of reviews in the hopper. I may get to two or three a day at times. We'll see.

Cess-Pit of the Bog-Mother is a low level adventure for pretty much any OSR game, but hews closest to AD&D / OSRIC. In it, your party explores the ruins of a castle in a swamp - or is it "bog"?

I like the fact that Jeff Dee supplies you with three different hooks to get your party involved. It's rare that I use the hooks provided as is, but including three options gives me a better than even chance that one of the hooks will fit without too much adjusting.

I like the adventure. It got an interesting theme and I expect would be a decent challenge for the average newbie party, but I suspect the loot is off by a decimal point. The reward offered to the party is 5,000 GP and there is over 50,000 GP worth of loot in an adventure. Maybe I'm a stingy DM, but at those levels I'd be sliding the decimal point to the left one position. Magical loot is relatively minor and balanced for the levels in question.

We get some new monsters (Bog Blights, Bog Dwellers and Blog Shamblers. Or I think they are new, as well as the Hatchlings. All are easily used outside the adventure, so they are ripe for reusing.

Two versions of the map are included - one classic blue and one more modern. I'd have preferred having the second map as an unlabeled version suitable for VTT play, but that's me.

Cess-Pit of the Bog-Mother looks to be fun to run, but you have to move a decimal point to keep the treasure in line.

From the blurb:

What strange being has taken up residence in the long-ruined swamp-circled castle, and what is its connection to the increase of Orc raids in the region?

JD1: Cess-Pit of the Bog-Mother is a dungeon on a swamp & muck theme for characters of level 1-3 for all advanced fantasy role-playing games by classic TSR artist Jeff Dee!

The adventure includes a full-page color map and a black & white cover painting by the author. Also included are three alternate scenario introductions and five unique creatures especially designed for this adventure.

PDF Copies of DAGGER, the RPG for Kids Should be in the Hands of All of the Entrants

PDF Copies of DAGGER, the RPG for Kids should be in the hands of all of the entrants of the OSR Superstar Contest. If you entered and it isn't sitting in your email, let me know.

If you get a chance to use the rules, let me know that too ;)

Jeff Dee's Latest Art Kickstarter to Recreate His Art from the Fiend Folio

The above piece is a signed 8 1/2 x 11 print from an earlier Jeff Dee art Kickstarter. I actually make a point of NOT looking at his Kickstarters these days, as I'd be supporting just about every one and I have no place to display the art I currently have.

All of which boils down to this - the current Kickstarter for Jeff Dee to recreate his art from the classic Fiend Folio is down to about 8 hrs or so. Looks like I'm "kicking in". The Fiend Folio was my first monster manual AND the first AD&D book I bought myself (second RPG product I bought with my own money after the gray boxed Gamma World).

Here's the basic list of what Jeff is recreating:

Dead Giant (p. 6)
Aarakocra (p. 8)
Aaracocra Closeup (p. 8)
Giant Two-Headed Troll (p. 90)
Cyclops (p. 103)
Dragon (p. 106)
Knotwork Carving (p. 107)

and here are the stretch goals:

The portraits for fourteen creatures in the original Fiend Folio book were left blank. Every set of seven postcard prints - and every set of seven signed 8 1/2" x 11" prints - will ALSO include prints of brand new drawings of these overlooked creatures when backing reaches the following levels:

UNLOCKED! $1700: Astral Searcher (p. 13)
UNLOCKED! $1900: Devil Dog (p. 26)
UNLOCKED! $2100: Dune Stalker (p. 30)
UNLOCKED! $2300: Goldbug (p. 46)
UNLOCKED! $2500: Imorph (p. 52)
UNLOCKED! $2700: Magnesium Spirit (p. 62)
UNLOCKED! $2900: Nilbog (p. 67)
UNLOCKED! $3100: Poltergeist (p. 73)
UNLOCKED! $3300: Protein Polymorph (p. 73)
UNLOCKED! $3500: Sheet Ghoul (p. 76)
UNLOCKED! $3700: Symbiotic Jelly (p. 85)
$3900: Urchin (p. 92) (actually unlocked)
$4100: Vision (p. 93)
$4300: Whipweed (p. 94) AND: Every backer who pledges $5 or more will ALSO receive a signed, postcard-sized print of my re-creation of this drawing from Dragon magazine #49:

I guess I'll go in for the post casd sized and stretch goals.

Games From the Basement - Murphy's Rules (Space Gamer Magazine Cartoon Strip)

Ever wonder if anyone kept track of all of the broken and / or absurd rules in the various RPG and war game rulebooks? Someone did, and they were presented as Murphy's Rules in the pages of Space Gamer Magazine. Murphy's Rules is a collection of said strips.

Little bits like "Children are listed as Nuisance Creatures in The Fantasy trip" and "The map scale of a hex in TSR's Gamma World is given as Roughly 43.7 Kilometers - this unusual value converts neatly to the useful amount of 27.3 miles" and even the "Car Wars Compendium has all the rules for swimming except one: the actual skill necessary to do it.

It's a trip through RPG Nostalgia Land to read about games and their rules quirks, at least for me. Shame there isn't a current version going on...

What is the "Sweet Spot" For Dungeon Size?

I've been knocking out some random mini-dungeon maps, and it got me thinking as to what the ideal size of a dungeon was. Not so much as in levels, but rooms and encounters (not every encounter need be with monsters or adversaries either).

I suppose it depends on how many sessions the adventure should last - one, few, some, many or a whole campaign.

How many encounters does your group "encounter" in a usual session?

How many sessions can your party last in the same dungeon adventure before getting antsy (this is probably very group specific, as some are one and done, some can spend years exploring Rappan Athuk and most probably fall somewhere in the middle)?

Does it help if the "dungeon theme" changes as your group explores different levels? Would that "keep it fresh"?

Inquiring minds want to know...

Mapping By Numbers - Wherein I Crawl Before I Can Walk

I remember as a kid, I wanted to draw comics. I had no talent for it whatsoever, but my mom bought me tracing paper, and I spent many a weekend tracing panels from Green Lantern and The Justice League (among others). At some point, I got good enough to draw free hand, but it really wasn't drawing. I was tracing from memory. I never took it beyond that point, which is a damn shame.

I look at the maps drawn by the likes of +Dyson Logos and +matt jackson and I see art, not just cool gaming maps. Visions put to paper.

Me, I'm mapping by the numbers right now and probably won't get much beyond that, but I'm comfortable with that. I need the training wheels of graph paper, and if I moved to a larger canvass even with the graph, I'd probably frustrate the shit outa myself before completing the first map.

The thing is, I find mapping, even with training wheels, to be strangely therapeutic. It relaxes me in general, and my mind in particular. Just the act of doing is rewarding - getting a usable map for my campaigns is bonus.

The only question is, do I make these mini maps "geomorphic" in nature, even if only some of them. These two just happened to match up fairly well. Were I to drop in a staircase, it would be on the left map, far right at the intersection.

Yeah, these things seem to have a mind of their own...

Tales of the Fallen Empire in Hand (DCC RPG setting book)

I love it when a Kickstarter arrives at my door :)

Tales From the Fallen Empire is for the DCC RPG (and the first true setting for the game).

That being said, lets see - I could put Thieve's World (layering in Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad) in the Fallen Empire setting, reskin for S&W / Crypts & Things and throw in the mini maps I've been scratching out.

Shit, I've got years worth of gaming here.

Amazing how much I enjoy the accessories (adventures, settings and zines) for the DCC RPG and I just don't enjoy the proliferation of tables in the DCC RPG. Swords & Wizardry is just easier to run without referring back to the rules (although I'd gladly play in either)

As a side note, my only initial complaint with Tales of the Fallen Empire is negated by the fact that I don't pan to use it with DCC - I can't read the spell charts without a magnifier. Shit, my eyes are bad but those tables are horrid. Good thing I can covert those spells to S&W without too much trouble ;)

Nice Mention on the Latest "Roll For Initiative" Podcast Episode

+Vincent Florio and the others at Roll for Initiative gave a nice shout out to the OSR Superstar Competition and this here blog on the latest episode. Now, if I had actually thought about proper promotion of events like this, I would have reached out to Vince weeks in advance, but I never expected this to be all that newsworthy.

Yes, I am well known for underestimating stuff in advance ;)

Most of my favorite RPG podcasts have been slow to update this week - to the point I was actually listening to terrestrial radio on my commute to and from work. Damn depressing - heh.

Forgot to Mention What the Top Vote Getter of the OSR Superstar Competition Gets

As the judges are digging through all of the entries, I thought I should mention the extra bundle that lands in the hands of the number one vote getter of the first round:

Crypts & Things + its two adventures (Blood of the Dragon + Tomb of the Necromancers) as a PDF bundle with thanks to +Newt Newport and d101 games.

I've been sending out copies of Dagger at a snails pace via email but should get through a large number tonight.

The beat goes on ;)

Amateur Night at The Tavern - "Five Rooms, No View"

I really am not good at naming these damn maps, but I did squeeze in five rooms.

I figure marking the secret door on the side that the door is "not" secret makes sense, and would work if one needed to use this with a Virtual Table Top (VTT) like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds.

I didn't add any extra details like coffins or altars or the like, as I'm going to take the night to try and figure out exactly what is going on.

Damn. I should be taking this little booklet to work with me to play with during my lunch hour.

Search the OSR at "OSR Search"

Need to search the many blogs that make up the OSR? You need go no further than OSR Search.

It really is a nifty tool to search for posts from blogs that are OSR heavy.

Did I just say "nifty?"

Seriously, OSR Search is an often overlooked resource.

I probably should put up a permanent link to it, shouldn't I?

Barrowmaze article over at The Escapist

It never hurts when the OSR gets a bit more exposure.

The Escapist has an article up today on Barrowmaze and our very own +Greg Gillespie .

It's a decent read and a nice synopsis of what the OSR is.

You can read it here.

(lunch is almost over and I need to return to the world of the working ;)

Amateur Night at The Tavern - "Some Guy's Crypt"

I'm not really a mapmaker. Really, I'm not. It's just that the damn kit that +Peter Regan sent me makes me want to draw maps. The small sized paper is a plus for me, as it allows for me to experiment.

My thatching still needs lots of work.

Lets see - two hallways, two rooms, two coffins, one statue, one dais, one single door, one double door and one secret door. Not too shabby for "Some Guy's Crypt" ;)

Quantum - The New Holder of the "Worst RPG Kickstarter" Crown - based on Kickstarters supported by the Tavern

Sure, Far West is by far the most overdue Kickstarter on my list, but I'll give Gareth a pass for legit health reason this time around.

And yes, Dwimmermount has become the poster child of "how not to run a Kickstarter for someone else".

Myth & Magic is certainly the one most likely to ship via imaginary packing slips.

Nystul is still in a world of his own.

But Quantum? Quantum holds a special place in my Kickstarter heart.

Update #82 Sep 29 2013 

Problems and Resolutions

The past nearly two months have been awful. I've struggled mightily to get the final art pieces in, even going so far as to seek additional art help for Hugo with no positive results. I've hesitated to discuss art struggles as my own writing and design struggles have been significant, but I feel all struggling aspects of this game now need to be discussed, not just my own. At this point, I may have to release the book missing some of the monster art and without a poster map. I seriously hope this doesn't happen, but I can't wait for the art any longer. 

Financially, I reached the wall where continuing to work on this game without a paycheck is not possible. I then had to spend time looking for, finding, and then accepting a new part-time job. It's not exactly the sort of job I want to shout to the roof tops, but it pays the bills. It also takes a great deal of time away from what I want to be working on (the game), but after the "busy period" I'm in right now at work ends in a few weeks, things to will settle back down to where I can crush the remaining chapters. 

Colleen is the bright spot in these last two months. She's banging out some amazing layout work despite working a full time job. Her work is amazing and I think you'll be equally impressed. 

My goal right now is to have the entire game out of my meddlesome hands by Turkey Day with the final book, at minimum, released as a PDF by the New Year and well on its way through the printing process with our overseas printers.
We are very close to being done and have unfortunately been very close for a while now. 

I'm back to frequent updates again and I'm sorry for the lack of updates. 

-Josh

See the date above? September 29, 2013. Nearly 5 months ago. I'm glad Josh returned to something that he considers "frequent updates" or it might have been 6 months since his last update.

Yes Josh, I'll drink my next beer with a toast for you. Amazing job not doing your job without even giving us a stroke job.

Map Doodle - Putting the New Mapping Kit to a Quick Test

Yep. Shit works.

Perfect size for desk doodling at work.

Heck, even Ashley appreciates the sample of my work, even if I can't draw doors for shit ;)

Peter has some stuff up at RPGNow and in dead tree at Squarehex.co.uk

Five Mapping Kits have Arrived from Across the Pond!

+Peter Regan , the Mad Mapper that Maps at Midnight! (not really, but it sounds really cool) shipped a box of mapping awesomeness that was waiting for me when I arrived home from work.
Peter's store is at Squarehex.co.uk

Peter has donated 4 bundles to the 4 finalists of the OSR Superstar Competition and also forwarded me a review copy. Let me just say I'm inspired to start mapping right away, but the size of the pads makes it something I could toy with during my lunch hour.

Each bundle contains the following:
A5 Hex pad (7mm hexes) with Super Hex
A7 Hex pad (7mm hexes) (lunch time sized)
A7 Pad of Geomorphic Intent (7mm grid) (lunch time sized)
Little Hexes mini-campaign setting (a mini sandbox campaign with a fold out map - I need to review this on it's own)
Pocket Guide to Dungeon Geomorphs
7mm plastic card ruler
Hex symbol card
Dungeon symbol card
Dungeon symbol fridge magnet (already stuck to the metal cabinet near my desk)
A7 polyfile wallet
Staedtler black fineliner pen
Papermate mechanical pencil

Any Ever "Split the Stat Bonuses" for Strength and Dexterity?

Strength gives a bonus "to hit" and "to damage".

Dexterity gives a bonus to "AC" and reaction / initiative.

Have you ever split those bonuses, so instead of a Str Bonus of + 3, instead the player has to choose between bonus to hit and / or damage. So, + hit and no bonus to damage or + 2 hit and + 1 damage.

It might need a slight reworking of the spread of the bonus itself. Just an idle thought that occurred to me.

How Important Are Ability Scores?

Sure, much of this depends on the OSR rules of choice, and whether the adjustment spread is -1 to + 1, -3 to + 3, -4 to + 4 or some variation of the preceding. In truth though, what meaning do those adjustments have in the long run?

So long as your character survives, those bonus and penalties have much less meaning as one's character progresses through the levels.

When I was in High School, those numbers were the be all and know all - those old "goldenrods" had ability scores that seemed, in retrospect, to grow on their own. In reality, they were erased and replaced with frequency. I guess, in the long run, it's good that my focus was on DMing.

One of the things that the DCC RPG gets amazingly right, even though it goes against all of my gaming instincts, is the "character funnel". The characters that survive the funnel have special meaning, no matter their actual stats. It's an amazing thing. Yep, I'm a firm believer that the "character funnel" should be liberally borrowed into every other OSR ruleset.

I'm less concerned about ability scores these days. Failure often leads to more exciting stories than success, and no, I'm not talking about "storytelling games". I just think there is as much to be found in the average game session when success comes despite failure.

Still, i think thieving abilities are largely irrelevant at lower levels, but that's a whole 'nother post for a whole 'nother day.

Talking About "Players' Maps"...

I have no idea if this map was the players' map of a homegrown dungeon, a module or something from Dungeon magazine.

I do like the idea that they made notations for the areas to check more thoroughly when there is no where else to go. Apparently they also found the well down.

At least it wasn't one of those dungeons where I filled in every block of the hex paper with dungeon. Because I have those ;)

Games From the Basement - Dark Folk (Mayfair Games)

Back in my early days of gaming, production quality equaled legitimacy on my eyes. Therefore, Mayfair Games "Role Aids" line was in and Judges Guild was out. Very foolish cutting out Judges Guild like that, but I was a teen with limited funds. There was no internet with a quick way to find a review on the next great gaming product - appearance was everything, at least for me.

Dark Folk isn't a bad product at all, although it is a bit inconsistent in quality if memory serves right (the Troll adventure "is designed for a party of 6 to 8 characters of 5th to 8th level of ability with at least three magic items specifically designed to neutralize Trolls - emphasis mine).

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if I used any of the included adventures, but the background fluff and sub races were pretty cool. I may just steal some of this for the current campaign.

How Important Are Included Player Maps to You as a DM?

I do pretty much all of my DMing these days via Hangouts / Roll20. I grab a screenshot of the map, upload it, enable Fog of War and it's ready to go.

Except that 19 out of 20 products don't include a player version of the map. Which means secret doors, traps and the like are often marked on the map, which takes some exceptional use of FoW to keep those from being exposed too early, and in some circumstances, there is not much one can do to keep the secrets secret.

A few publishers (Purple Duck is one) do provide players maps for use in VTT sessions, which is awesome for folks like me.

Would player maps make running your game sessions easier?

Mini Review - Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad Issue #1 Winter 2014 (DCC RPG Fanzine)

My first thought?

This Zine goes to 11!

Not because I think Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad is a comedy, but because it cranks the DCC RPG up to 11. It knows no bounds or maybe it pushes boundaries. Whatever it does, it does it damn well.

Actually, what is does is Swords & Sorcery as a theme to the proverbial "T", especially for an urban environment. You most certainly do not need the DCC RPG to make the most of Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad, although the wacky DCC dice will certainly help with the tables. The tables are insane, use funky dice and look to be a blast in actual play. I did mention I love tables that work in session, right? Because much of these do.

Shit! I'm thinking that Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad layered atop the classic Thieves' World boxed set running with Crypts & Things (but stealing liberally from AS&SH) would be like the most awesome RPG Urban Sandbox ever run by a mere mortal.

Then I remember I don't have the time! Grrrr!

Metal Gods of Ur-Habad is PWYW. This means you can try before you buy, but you will buy.

Trust me.

You will buy ;)

Tavern Winelist - Tøøthstejnn The Red, The Grimy Wyvern Wine-Hall Cabernet Franc

Woot! is one of those "deal a day" sites. They are also a bunch of geeks.

I've never bought one of their wine selections until today (and this deal has a 5 day span to run) but with the gaming theme (and the fact that I generally like cabernet wines) I had to give this a shot.

Fuel for the Fire...of Imagination! 

Hours of adventure await you and your party in the Grimy Wyvern Wine-Hall.  In every darkly purpled shadow lurks an intriguing character. 

The freebooting mercenary Blackpepper....the alluring temptress-witch Dcherryi...the cutthroat half-elf assassin twins Ceedarr and Van'Illa... 

This richly flavored source material brings a complex, multilayered world of fantasy to life, one sip at a time. The only limit is your imagination - and your bladder.

4 bottles for 50 bucks. It may be a gamble, but if nothing else I'll have some cool bottles to display ;)

Time to Get Myself Out of the Way - Judges Now Have Access to the OSR Superstar Entries

When I thought up the idea of having all of the entries on a single document with identifiers redacted, I never thought we'd have over 330 entries. I also didn't expect the interesting bit of turmoil going on at my real life job, with big bosses being replaced and others waiting for the axe to fall or transfers to be announced - it's made for a really long work week and has left me less free time at home to put together the master document.

The judges were picked not just because they know RPGs, but because I felt they were honest and could do the job without bias. I still feel that way. Therefore, I've given them direct access to the entries via the email account. What we lose in anonymity, we make up for in time - without this we'd have lost a week at least in the process of getting the entries judged. I think it is a very good solution to get the dice rolling again.

This does mean that I can now move what little free time I have to sending all of the entrants their free PDF copies of Dagger, the RPG for Kids. I'll start sending those emails out tonight in the order the entries were received. It will take a little time, but at least we've addressed the largest blockage - me ;)

Experience Points, Levels and the Demarcation Line of the OSR

Earlier this week, Mike Mearls had an article at the WotC website talking about experience points and levels in DnD Next. I am not going to critique the article here, but it got me thinking about the "line in the sand" that separates 2e and 3e, or OSR game rules from those that follow. It comes down to one thing, and it's not skills, feats or any one of a number of other things that annoy me.

Nope, it comes down to one simple thing.

Class based experience tables.

Prior to 3e, each class had it's own experience table and their own rate of advancement. Part of the balance between the classes was just that - the rate they advanced in levels based on experience points.

I do remember the houserule we used in high school for a bit - one level gained per adventure, no counting of experience points. It sure seemed to make leveling easier, less number crunching and the magic-users sure loved the idea. Multi-class characters were always an issue, and thieves got boned. We didn't use this houserule for long.

Now, Mike goes on to say that counting expo for more "open" campaign is fine, but for adventure paths, automatic or paced leveling is the way to go:

Tracking experience points and using them to award levels makes a lot of sense in open-ended games, where the players can go where they wish, tackle the specific challenges that appeal to them, and create their own goals as a campaign progresses. In this type of game, when the players decide to assault the lair of a blue dragon, their primary goal is most often the treasure and XP they'll gain for defeating it. 

In a more story-driven campaign, however, that lair assault could have a more complex purpose. The characters might serve as an elite cadre of spies and operatives for a king. The blue dragon might be a key villain who plots against the crown. Defeating the dragon removes a threat to the realm and creates a key event in the campaign's story arc. In this type of campaign, treasure and XP take second place in the characters' goals, behind the dragon's importance in the narrative.

That "story-driven campaign" crap reminds me of the old Dragonlance series of adventure.
No matter what the players did, they always ended the same way. The players were not part of the story, but detritus carried along by the pre-ordained story plot.

I suspect DnD Next will be heavily supported by "story-driven campaigns". Shame.

Not that I'm all that surprised. I'm not saying that Next won't support "open-ended", or home brewed campaigns out of the box. I just think the follow up products will be much like Pathfinder Adventure Paths, with even less wiggle room.

I may be wrong...

Books or Boxed Sets - How do You Prefer your Rulesets?

In recent years, I can only think of the following publishers putting out their rules in boxed sets:

Brave Halfling - S&W Whitebox, Deeper Delving and X-Plorers

LotFP - two editions of Weird Fantasy Role-Playing

North Wind Games - Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea

Precis - Ancient Odysseys - Treasure Awaits

Troll Lord Games - Castles & Crusades "White Box" Edition

I'm sure I missed a few, but as far as I can tell, most RPGs are released as books and not in boxed format.

As a gamer, do you have a preferred format in which to buy your RPGs, and if so, why?

(personally, I like boxed sets ;)

Latest "Thieves' World" Addition - Traitor (an edited version)

Life is like a box of chocolates. Yadda yadda. So is eBay, as you never know wxactly what you are going to get.

With Traitor for Thieves' Word, what I got was the player handouts and pregens removed from the middle of the booklet and some editing done to the pregens. If nothing else, it's nice to see the adventure got some good use back in the day, whenever that day was ;)

More and more tempted to run something using Thieves World as the setting. Time. Time, or lack there of, is my enemy.

Ah well. Do have some other thoughts bouncing around my head too...

Not Nearly as Far Along as I had Hoped...

I'm still working on putting the 339(?) entries to the OSR Superstar Competition into one document. It's moving along but no where near where I had hoped it would be. Isn't helping that we have a new chief at work, which means I had to do a breakdown of what my unit does and to justify my staffing had to work on the breakdown while home.

What is the ancient Chinese curse? May you live in interesting times. I's be happy to stay with boring and dull for a bit ;)

I also need to send out copies of Dagger, the RPG for kids - I have the copy to email out, but at about 150+ emails, sending the copies is taking second place to finishing the consolidation of the entries so I can send it out to the judges.

I'm not complaining about the number of entries, but damn it was a lot ;)
 

What is Your "Go To" Non-D&D / OSR RPG?

I ask, because I'm not even sure if I have one. Well, there is Tunnels & Trolls, but that is still fantasy and stripped down to it's history, very much "D&D".

I've heard much goodness about Savage Worlds, but I think I'd really need to play in a few sessions to really wrap my head around it. Ubiquity (Hollow Earth Expedition and others) seems almost like a stripped down Savage Worlds. FATE just makes no sense to me, even if I did support the Kickstarter and have endless support for it. Yet another game I'd probably have to play in order to grok.

Hmmm...

I guess I don't have a "go to" non OSR RPG.

That sucks.

So, what's your game to play when you're not playing OSR?