Whisper & Venom goes Hardcore, er... Hardcover

+Zach Glazar , he of Lesser Gnome, sent me the hardcover Whisper & Venom Compendium. It's the boxed set in a convenient book size.

The paper is high quality and the product itself is excellent (I am also a proud owner of the boxed set). If you want an affordable version of the boxed set without the bells and whistles (dice, minis, monster cards, map booklet. amazing regional poster map), this is the way to go - 30 bucks compared to 60 for the boxed set.

Whisper & Venom is written for Labyrinth Lord but converts to the old school rules of your choice without issue (OSR for the win). There is also a Pathfinder version in the works, which I am sure will increase the page count (just an observation - not a criticism - kinda.)

If I can get my wife properly acclimated to RPGs and the OSR in general via Scarlet Heroes, I suspect this would make a nice one on one campaign, as there is a richness in roleplay opportunities (and a crapload of swords swinging, dice rolling opportunities too.) Then the wife and I get to play in +Zach Glazar 's game at NTRPG Con in June ;)

Digging Out My First Two Gaming Books - 1e PH & DMG

Sure, they're beat to all hell, but that's because they were read or used every day for 6 or 7 years (before foolishly moving on to 2e, but that's a whole 'nother story).

Now I just need to find my original set of dice. I put them somewhere safe years ago and no longer know where they are...

My North Texas RPG Con Schedule is in the Bag

My #ntrpgcon schedule -

Thursday Evening - Timemaster - +Tim Snider 

Friday Evening - LL - +Zach Glazar

Sat Morning - S&W - +Matt Finch

Sat Evening - Shiverwhen - +Michael Curtis

Sun Morning - S&W again with +Matt Finch

looks like I have room to run a pick up game in the morning or afternoon of thursday or friday.

Waiting for NTRPG Con Game Registration to Open in Just Over an Hour...

Two browsers open - one for me, one for my wife.

Even took off the the 15th to stay up without issues ;)

After I see what and when I am playing, then I'll figure out what and when I'll run in open gaming...

Of course, what I run will be S&W powered :)

Problems Can Always be Bigger (Pewter Diarama)

The problem you THINK you have

The problem waiting for you after the problem you think you had

Found this pewter piece searching through a drawer of assorted "stuff" last night. Dind't find what I was looking for, but found this. Actually had forgotten about it.

I wish it were to scale with my miniatures and Dwarven Forge stuff, but alas, it's not. Way smaller.

Still, what a fun encounter to run with a group :)

Should a "Good Adventure" Tell a Story or Enable One?

Alright, so my assumption that the next great D&D release is going to be a railroad got lots of
"hurrumphs!" about railroads and sandboxes and my general predisposition D&D Next.

Now, I'm not going to be making ANY assumptions about the Tyranny of dragons in this post, except that it has something to do with a "tyranny" and perhaps "dragons" are involved. Might even involve Tiamat, who is certainly an underused property by the fine folks over at WotC. But I digress.

No, I'm thinking about adventures that were written to tell a story. We don't have to look in the recent past - we have it in the glory days of gaming. I'm not even going to focus on Dragonlance, the "Big Daddy" of telling a story at the expense of player empowerment.

I'm thinking of the horrid 'Time of Troubles" storyline that brought the Forgotten Realms from AD&D 1e to 2e in the most heavy handed manner possible.

No more "assassins" in 2e? Let's do away with those pesky assassin cults. Change the bards while you are at it too.

Throw in wild magic, spell plague, gods walking the realms, replace certain gods with characters from the books that are telling the same story as the series of adventures - oh, and don't allow the player characters within those adventures to have any real effect on the progress of the story...

I could write more, but someone else has already done a better job than i ever could. I'll wait.

You read it, right? Shit is spot on.

Yes, Shadowdale could very well be the worst adventure ever, at least as far as TSR put out. The fiction trilogy wasn't much better, either.

So, "tell a story" or "enable a story"? Rails and sand are inconsequential in the larger scope of things.

Dungeons & Dragons is a Tool of the Devil - circa 1983

Huge thanks to +David Przybyla for supplying me with a copy of this gem - let alone holding on to it since 1983.

I think the above piece speaks for itself...

A Sneak Peek at Some Inspirational Art for a Future Tavern Competition

+Jim Magnusson does some truly inspirational art. The Tavern will find a way to use this in a forthcoming contest.

My players will be seeing this fine young lad pop up
in an adventure, sooner or later.

Tonight is the cut off for those that made the 1st round cut of the of the OSR Superstar Competition to get their monster entries in. Do it!

Tyranny of Dragons - The (More or Less) Self Contained D&D Next Storyline

Forbes (of all places) just had an article on the upcoming Tyranny of Dragons "Event" from WotC based upon a preview Chris Perkins shared at PAX East.

An interesting tidbit in the above linked article:

• The ToD adventures will be separate from the core system rules coming out this summer, but will be closely tied into those rules, and the first major adventures.

So, it looks like Tyranny of Dragons will be self contained and NOT require the core D&D Next books to play. Which is kinda good for the discerning gamer, as you can get a peek at the rules and the "breakout" adventure in one shot and decide if this train trip through the Realms is right for you and your group. It also means you get to pay for the rules an extra time - or at least, non identical twins of said rules if you want the "full monty".

But, it's not like they expect players in traditional home groups to cross over with organized play groups...

  • ”We’re thinking of Dungeons & Dragons as an entertainment experience across multiple platforms” that will move from story to story fluidly… so a plotline might start in the organized play games and finish in a published module. 

Never mind.

There is certainly an effort to maximize the earnings potential from the upcoming releases. I wonder how much they will charge for B/X and 1e PDF conversions of the upcoming railroads (as well as 3.5 and 4e I am sure)?

OSR Superstar Competition - Round 2 Entries Close at 1159 PM Sunday

We're still waiting on about a dozen of the 1st round winners to get their monster entries in.

1st Round prizes are still going out and will hopefully complete tomorrow (but I'm off thru Tuesday, so yes, they will be done soon).

List of 1st round winners are here and here.

How Often Do You Kill - PCs?

There are Killer DMs, Carebear DMs and then most of the rest taking up somewhere in the middle.

Me? I don't particularly enjoy killing PCs. I, however, have no problem when their own actions lead to their demise. Most of the time I find it amusing. It removes that little bit of guilt from my DM's soul ;)

I am certainly a "let the dice fall as they may" type of DM, which can obviously lead to PC death, but I'm not so fond of "save or die" situations. Yep, not so simple to peg.

What kind of DM are you when it comes to PC mortality?

Kickstarter - Lusus Naturae: A Gruesome Old-School Bestiary - Funded, Full Color OSR Bestiary - 2 Hours Left

There's about two hours left in the funding of Lusus Naturae: A Gruesome Old-School Bestiary written by +Rafael Chandler .

You are already supporting this - right?

This is what old school gaming dreams and nightmares are made of ;)

Saga of the Splintered Realm Kickstarter - Less Than 12 Hours to Go (Funded)

Yep, the Splintered Realm Kickstarter is the one I'm writing up a mini-level (or three) for.

Yes, the man who harps on late Kickstarters is actually going to participate in one.

There really is no potential "upside" for me - but think of all the potential drama! ;)

Tavern 4k - Looking Back at the Underdark Gazette

(this is the second in a series of posts taking a look at the blogs and personalities that have had an influence on me and this blog as we approach 4,000 posts. If you have suggestions of your own, feel free to add them to the comments)

When I think of "must read" blogs of the OSR that are no longer with us, the Underdark Gazette is at the very top of that list. This WAS the go to news site of the OSR.

New releases, new blogs, interesting threads and general awesomeness, if something had happened, was happening or soon would be happening in the OSR, this was the site to find it on.

I learned about much of the OSR from the links that were found at the Underdark Gazette, and it was never afraid of showing some link love to new projects and worthy blogposts from elsewhere.

Regretfully, my attempt to use the Wayback Machine to link to some of the old goodness failed, so you'll have to take my word (or if you were reading it back in the day, your own memory) that this was a must read OSR resource. Heck, i couldnt even find a pic of the old banner to use for this post.

I've never attempted to recreate the news resource that the Underdark Gazette was (as much as I miss it), as it would be an exercise in futility. It was unique in it depth and usefulness as the visible "pulse" of the OSR.

+James Smith , the man behind the Underdark Gazette, now brings us Dreams of Mythic Fantasy, a fine blog in it's own right but different than it's older and now deceased sibling.

The First Rule of the OSR - One Does Not Define the OSR

This actually came up in last night's RPG BS Session hosted by +Tim Shorts - the whole nebulous definition of what constitutes the OSR.

What I took from that part of the discussion is that the definition of the OSR is a personal matter that is colored and defined by one's gaming background and expectations - I've yet to find two folks actively involved in the OSR give the same definition of what it encompasses.

This in and of itself makes it a wondrous thing and for me it would lose much if it's magic if it could be pinned down to a definition accepted by all, or even most.

The OSR is very much in the eye of the beholder...

The Tavern is Officially on the ENnies List for Voting - And It Has Good Company

Yep, it is official.

Good competition too - at least the ones I know of ;)

Tavern 4k - Looking Back at Grognardia

(this is the first in a series of posts taking a look at the blogs and personalities that have had an influence on me and this blog as we approach 4,000 posts.)

Even now, well over a year after Grognardia went silent, it still resonates on the RPG blogosphere. It's still there to be read and referenced. In a way, it is much like a dead planet in some sci-fi or post apocalypse story - it still has tales to tell, it's not quite gone and won't be forgotten for a long time.

I remember my reaction when I first found Grognardia - "Who the fuck can write this many blog posts, consistently and on a daily basis and still be employed?". I look back years later, and I find that the answer to that question, at least in part, is me.

The amazing thing of those early days of Grognardia, or at least my early days of reading it, wasn't just the sheer amount of posting, but the connectivity it gave to the budding OSR community. Conversations there were deep and broad, and it was rare for the comment section of a particularly thought provoking post of James's to not drive dozens of comments. Before the advent of G+, the place to be part of the OSR was for many people, myself included, Grognardia.

Grognadia was also a bit of a crossover, as it brought in readers that wren't just "old school gamers" but those that were curious about the topic. It's reach was deep, and at it's best it was the standard bearer of the OSR, whether that was the intention or now.

There will never be another Grognardia. There is no need for another. It's still there. A snapshot of earlier times and well worth your reading if you haven't frequented it before (although I would advise you skip the gaming magazine "play by plays"and dig into the true gaming articles and early Dwimmermount sightings)

Thoughts on the Upcoming 4,000th Post

We are just over 50 posts away from 4,000 posts here at The Tavern.

Let me type that again:

4,000 posts...

Probably by the end of April

Holy shit...

I want to do something special for "Tavern 4K" but I'm at a loss - besides, OSR Superstar will probably still be going on ;)

Maybe a series of posts highlighting all of the awesome gaming blogs that I read on a daily basis and have an influence on The Tavern, even if they don't even realize it.

This post is #3948...

Locked & Loaded - The Tavern Has Been Entered for the 2014 ENnies

Yep, I done did the deal. I entered The Tavern under "The Blog" category at the ENnies sign up page. I expect it will take a few days to register on the site.

I'm happily surprised to see blogs I know and follow have entered as it's nice to have good company.

Now favorite is HelpMyRPG - which apparently has an expired domain- DOH!

So, what does that mean for The Tavern? Not much. I'm sure I'll put out a "call to arms" when the voting starts if nothing else.

Being that there are at least three blogs on the current list it would be an honor to lose to if needed, I'm just happy if it brings some more attention to all the blogs involved.

Gamer's Man Cave - Finished - for Now

I had to finish this tonight in preparation for participating in +Tim Shorts RPG Bull Shit session on G+ Hangouts tomorrow evening - my only disappointment is that I haven't found Feltothraxis yet - he's still packed away somewhere because of the renovations...

Ashley was insistent that she get in a picture too - the cat is a damn ham!

CHILDHOOD MONSTERS - Guest Post by Rafael Chandler

For me, it started in the mid-eighties.

My friend Brian had something he called "the red box." It was a new game, something we'd heard about -- Dungeons & Dragons.

We agreed not to tell our parents. They wouldn't get it. Brian's dad wouldn't let him listen to Megadeth because they were a self-described speed metal, and obviously "speed" was a drug reference. "You kids think I fell off the turnip truck yesterday," he said. We had no idea what the fuck he was talking about, so we didn't listen to Megadeth or play Dungeons & Dragons when Brian's dad was home.

Top left to bottom right: Jump in the Fire by Metallica, Dungeon Master's Guide, Calibos from Clash of the Titans, The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, Mephisto, Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden, Mon*Star from SilverHawks, Show No Mercy by Slayer, Freddy Krueger.

That first summer, Brian hit level 20 or 30. He conquered an entire kingdom, cleared out all 7 layers of Hell, and killed Satan with a sword made out of an ancient red dragon's skull.

I considered myself an excellent DM. I was eleven.

The tales we studied in school mirrored D&D and its otherworldly entities: Theseus decapitating the Minotaur, Beowulf wrenching off Grendel's arm, Sigurd cutting down the dragon Fafnir. I devoured every tale of myth and legend I could find, eager for additional material.

My appreciation for the game was magnified on the day that I first held the Monster Manual. Sure, I'd already figured out that D&D was a horror game -- after all, the adventures had titles like Tomb of Horrors and The Temple of Elemental Evil -- but when I opened the Monster Manual, I found confirmation: demons, devils, ghouls, zombies, vampires, and hell hounds. The stuff of horror novels and movies.

For the next ten years, I ran blood-drenched games full of scenes lifted from Stephen King and Clive Barker novels, or whatever slasher movies I watched on HBO at a friend's house. In my D&D games, an NPC had the lifespan of a mayfly, and usually wound up getting torn to pieces by displacer beasts or trolls. Every dungeon wall dripped with blood. If you swung and you hit, then limbs went flying and guts splattered all over the treasure chest full of gold. Obviously.

At some point, I decided to write my own monster manual. It only took me the better part of three decades.

Teratic Tome was released in 2013, and people said nice things about it. A gentleman named Shane wrote, "I can only presume that Chandler dreamed up these monsters while smoking weed mixed with the ashes of Ed Gein." That was damned kind of him.

Now, a year later, I'm looking to create a new kind of evil. But unlike last year's tribute to the orange-spined books of my youth, this new tome features none of the traditional monsters -- you'll find no dragons, orcs, or demons in the pages of this compendium.

Lusus Naturae includes 100 new creatures, each more nightmarish than the last. Most are from my own warped imagination, but I've also included a few monsters inspired by mythology. The legends in question are all from Inca and Mochica tales, because as I approach 40, I've become quite curious about my Peruvian ancestors.

This enchiridion of entities, Lusus Naturae, is currently Kickstarting. The project is funded, and we're pretty close to the stretch goal of full-color illustrations throughout.

Do you love monsters the way I do? Does your dungeon crawl (or city adventure, or random hexcrawl encounter) sometimes resemble a horror movie?

Do you ever read monster manuals just for fun?

Do you like it grimdark and twisted?

If so, then this might interest you.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rafaelchandler/lusus-naturae-a-gruesome-old-school-bestiary

Stay brutal.

\m/

-- Rafael Chandler

I've Decided to Submit The Tavern to the ENnies - Help Me Pick a Defining 2013 Post

After a long (and sobering) night's sleep, I've decided to submit Tenkar's Tavern to the ENnies awards under the "blog" category.

Really, what could go wrong? An influx of Pathfinder players asking about articles on "feats" perhaps? ;)

Anyhow, I need a post or two from 2013 that highlight's "what The Tavern IS", and the Lord himself knows that I can't answer that question... heh.

So, let me know what you think was the best or defining post from this blog in 2013. One random commenter either here on the blog or G+ will get a $10 RPGNow gift cert sent to them. I'll be open to your thoughts for the next 48 hours or so.

Oh, and the musical selection should The Tavern place:

So, What Value is an "Ennie" to the OSR?

I had the page open on the ENnies website - I was about to enter Tenkar's Tavern as a blog entry to the ENnies, and then I thought - why? Actually, i thought "who cares what music gets played when one's entry places in the top three", and then I asked "why?"

Does it really make a difference in our corner of the universe?

Heck, do main stream RPG Blog readers even read this blog?

Beyond the Three Castles Award, is there an OSR award floating around that I don't know about?

Should there be?

Does it matter?

Should your bartender be partaking of the The Tavern's stock (Allagash Tripel Reserver, 25.4 oz, 9% alcohol) - is the fine Belgian Style Ale clouding my thoughts? - damn good brew thought)

Bundle of Delta Green is Here to Haunt You

Yep, i have the Delta Green book. Probably the best book for CoC or most any RPG.

The current Bundle of Holding got me to dig my copy out, and then put money down for the PDFs.

Just doing my small part to fuck up the OBS servers ;)

(sent the first 7 prizes out via RPGNow to the top 7 first round winners. Will hopefully start with the rest of the first round winners tomorrow - Wednesday the latest)

Gamer's Man Cave in the Works - With Props to My Wife

In the midst of everything else going on, we've been having renovations at the Tenkar Abode for a few weeks now. The final part of the major projects (at least for now) was the closet being build behind my back - literally. It's behind me when I'm sitting at my computer desk.

Now, the closet literally holds a crap ton of clothes - we have a high clothing bar and a low clothing bar inside. We have cubbies on the left side and two large cubbies above. I asked what we were doing with the two large cubbies and I was told "use it to display your boxed games - so when you are online gaming or interviewing you can look the part".

And yes, 90% of the plush is mine... heh

I'm only partway done with filling in the cubbies, but what a joy it is :)

OSR Superstar Round Two Reminder - We Need Your Monsters by Friday, April 11th at the Stroke of Midnight

Last day for the first round winners to get their monsters in for the second round of the OSR Superstar Competition is Friday, April 11th. edit:  moving it to Sunday, 1159 pm eastern time - the beauty of a 4 day weekend ;)

Swords & Wizardry is the default ruleset.

The email address to submit to is the same as before.

First round prizes will got out as soon as OBS's site stabilizes. I'd hate for the credit (and the Crypts & Things Bundle) to get buggered.

Top 7 Round One placers

The 34 others that made the cut

email for the above to enter is at osrDOTsuperstar at that gmail thing

edit - this round is only 1 entry per qualifier - so we should see 41 entries if I recall correctly ;)

Are There Any OSR Settings / Systems that use the "Plot Point" Format?

I was looking at the Savage Worlds site, and it seems to me that I really haven't seen the "Plot Point" format used elsewhere - or maybe I'm spending too much time reading the format and not the results.

From the PEG / Savage Worlds site:

Format 

In general, Plot Point books follow a certain format: 

1) Introduction: Geared for both players and GMs. This section tells you what the world is all about, what the big backstory is, and who the adventurers typically are. Maybe a quick overview of the world goes here as well. 

2) Characters: Any special rules for making characters, gear, or new Edges and Hindrances. 

3) Setting Rules: Any new rules the particular setting needs, like rules for Superheroes in Necessary Evil, or ship-to-ship combat in 50 Fathoms. GM’s Section – The rest of the book is purely for the Game Master. 

4) Gazetteer: A list of locations the group will travel to and the things they’ll see there. Locations should be keyed to Savage Tales to help the GM run adventures on the fly. 

5) Savage Tales: Dozens of adventures ranging form fully-fleshed out tales to short encounters. The first few Savage Tales should be your “Plot Point” adventures. These occur intermittently through the campaign as the timeline advances and the backstory progresses. It should be very clear to the GM when these are to be run, such as “When the first hero in the group reaches Heroic Rank.” 

6) Bestiary: A complete list of all the creatures and common NPCs (such as guards or bandits) the players will encounter.

It's kinda like a sandbox with set pieces.

I'm not a Savage Worlds player, so maybe I'm seeing these from a totally wrong perspective... heh

Ant thoughts?

Moving on to the Next Phase - Surviving Renovations and then Some

It's been a long six months. Between multiple deaths in the family, the passing of one of my detectives, the "re-engineering" of my bureau at work and nearly a month's worth of renovations at the house (the last week of the renovations curtailed much of my computer use, as it was happening in the room with my computer in it and my contractor works late - until 1045 or so last night - yes, a Saturday night) I find myself finally breathing a sigh of relief. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Stuff should wrap up at the house tomorrow or Tuesday.

I'm looking forward to NTRPGCon in June and DexCon (for the 2 OSR Days)  in July - my first cons in 20 years. Hopefully between the two cons I'll get to meet some my fellow bloggers and readers of this blog. It's one thing to interact via posts, comments, emails and G+ and a whole 'nother level when you get to shake hands and share some beers (beers are optional, but won't be turned down ;)

I'm going to try and send out the prizes from round 1 of the OSR Superstar Competition today. Would have done it yesterday, but my contractor was here for 13 hrs. Still, I can't complaint much with the results (all custom work, just the doors were prefab - this 110 year old house threw him curve balls and knucklers ;)

The new backdrop when I'm online :)

You've Got Your Fiction in My Gaming (Some Thoughts on RPG Related Fiction)

The way I see it, there are two types (more or less) of RPG related fiction. The first type is tied to the
setting - such as Dragonlance (which game first, the gaming or the fiction) and the Forgotten Realms. I'm not all that keen on this type, as there is little of the feel of an actual "RPG" within the story. Still, you don't need to understand or even know there are underlining gaming mechanics behind the story

The other type draws upon the RPG experience as part of the story. Spells match up, more or less, to the RPG used as it's source. Magic items can often be referenced in a rule book. Races have abilities and features right out of a monster manual. In same ways, the rules ARE the setting. This type of fiction is much less popular, but that's not a surprise. It's aiming at a niche within a niche.

I'm not sure how much of a market there is for the second type of gaming related fiction, but I know there are self published authors out there (I've been contacted by more than one after my review of Swords of the Damned)

I will say that despite it's flaws, Swords of the Damned is the first novel I've read straight through in over a year, and probably the only non Pratchett or Gaiman novel in more than a half dozen years (there's a whole post about chemo and the rewiring of my brain, but that's a whole series of post I suspect).

So, where does that put us? I'm going to aim to review gaming related fiction about once a month, although it could be more depending on the amount of bathroom reading I get in ;)

One Night in Slateholm (which I bought prior to realizing it was part of my Amazon Prime membership - as was Swords of the Damned)is the current book on the bathroom reading device (AKA my Galaxy Note 3)

No Plans Survive Encountering Your Contractor

Much like the last adventure I ran for our group, one night became two - in this case, one week became two, and the last day is going to hit 13 hrs easy. Yep, still going strong.

It's a good thing we cancelled tonight's game, as he's still working on the room my computer is in.

Well, at least I get to try out the Blogger App on my phone.

The Lost City of Barakus Kickstarter Just Ran Out of Stretch Goals ;)

The Lost City of Barakus Kickstarter just surpassed it final posted stretch goal at 30K.

So far, between the "hit 15k in 24 hrs goal" which was hit and all of the stretch goals, the following have been added:

- player maps

- player guide (free in PDF)

- bonus dungeon level 4B

- 4 new wilderness encounters of 2k-4k words each

not too shabby - +Bill Webb needs to add some more ;)

What Role Should a DM Fill at the Table?

What role should a DM fill at the gaming table?

Sure, he is sometimes referred to as a Referee, but that rarely defines the role in total.

Facilitator, director, storyteller - they are all aspects of the persona of most DMs.

If you were to read and attempt to run many of the recent LotFP releases, especially James's, you would suspect the role to be played is that of adversary - or even destroyer of parties (Monolith From Before Time and Space comes to mind).

I think, above all, the DM is there to ensure that the group has an enjoyable time, and the role adjusts to the party's needs.

How do you see the DM's role?

Solomon Kane for $4.99 - This International TableTop Thing Rocks!

Solomon Kane for $4.99?

I already own the HC and now I'm grabbing the PDF. It's Savage Worlds with all the rules included and the awesome Solomon Kane world setting.

I'd learn the Savage Worlds rules to play in this setting.

Don't forget the FREE TableTop Day Bundle and the DCC RPG also for $4.99 (and 13th Age for $9.99 and Numenera for $9.99)

International TableTop Day Bundle - Free!

International TableTop Day. Sure, it's a made up hobby, but the sale sales and freebies attached to it are real.

The Free International TableTop Bundle is chock full of quickstarts for various games as well as some premium items, such as:

Dragons of Faerun - just think, the same day I trash The Forgotten Realms, WotC tosses us a free PDF ;)

Firefly Echoes of War: Wedding Planners Cortex Plus - it's Firefly and it's free - do you need more of a reason?

Progenitor - massive Wild Talents setting sourcebook - includes the Wild Talents Essentials rulebook - I've heard enough about Wild Talents on the Happy Jacks podcast to make me interested, and at the high cost of "free", I may as well check it out...

World of Darkness - teen vampire angst - or is that another genre?

Scarred Lands - Termana - a setting book - is less still more?

Plus a shit load of quickstarts.

Don't forget the DCC RPG Rulebook is $4.99 in PDF for a limited time. Click now! Computers are standing by!

DCC RPG in PDF for Only $4.99!

Thanks to +Roger Burgess for the heads up.

The DCC RPG in PDF for only $4.99!

No idea how long the price is good for, but damn that is value for your gaming dollar...

edit - don't forget to use the DCC RPG on the Cheap link to add even more value for free...

My Wife's Dice Arrived Yesterday - Hopefully We'll Run Some Scarlet Heroes This Weekend

My wife's polyhedral dice set was waiting when I got home from work yesterday (I figured if she was going to be a good sport and try out RPGs, the least I could do is buy her some dice). I went with the larger sized set, as the numbers are easier to read and the different number of sides should be easier to recognize.

Also waiting for me as I got home was my 3 year old niece, who threw herself and me and then was thoroughly distracted by the tube holding "Auntie's Dice". She wouldn't put it down for two hours, then charged my wife and she arrived home with calls of "Aunti! Dice!" I swear the young lady will be playing RPGs before she is 5. I may have to buy her her own set of dice (she already has a set of the spongy dice) as the large polies look to be large enough to avoid being choking hazards.

If all goes well, I'll have my wife rolling dice this weekend. If all goes even better, hopefully the closet being build on the wall behind my desk will be complete by the weekend. My contractor works late, and hitting the computer at 9pm when he is done doesn't leave much time before bed. Besides, the completed closet will make my wife happy, which can only lead to my own happiness ;)

Why Greyhawk is "Better" than the Forgotten Realms

Why is Greyhawk is "Better" than the Forgotten Realms?

Simple - less canon.

The more canon one has built into a setting, the more restricted the paths of the players and the greater the chance they will be overshadowed by the setting's named NPCs.

Also, the more canon there is built into a setting, the greater the chance the players will know more than the DM about the setting, and that can never lead to a good ending. Going off the "canon tracks" can lead to push back.

Still, it does make the Forgotten Realms more ripe as a shared fiction world than Greyhawk, because there is enough canon to keep various writers on the same page.

Stupid shit that seeps into one's mind while trying to sleep at night...

Mini Review - Swords of the Damned (Adventures Dark & Deep Licensed Fiction)

The Swords of the Damned by Richard Tongue is a licensed fantasy fiction book published under the Adventures Dark & Deep banner. I have the Kindle version, and 90% of my reading of the novel happened in one bathroom or another. What can I say, it made for decent bathroom reading.

The Good - it mostly keeps to the usual "D&D" tropes, including vancian style magic. As for the story itself, the pacing is decent, the plot was good, most of the main characters are likable and it's better fantasy fiction than most of the crap put out by TSR when it treated fiction like shovelware. Yes, it was an enjoyable read and probably the first novel I've read straight through in over a year. If you have Amazon Prime, you can read it for free with your Kindle or Kindle app - wish I had realized that prior ;)

The Bad - I am not the grammar police, but there were more than a few instances where the writing was just plain awkward, and the use of pronouns got me confused with more than one "he" or"she" being referred to in the same part of narrative.

The Plain Old Ugly - if I make a spelling mistake on this here blog, it's no big deal - you aren't paying for my shit ;)  Not that I like the mistakes, but sometimes the built in spell checker doesn't catch it all, or it changes words and the like. If that happens in a novel I'm reading every minute or two, it fucking sucks. I understand that this book is basically self published, but use more than a built in spell checker to fix your spelling and typos. Use your mother, your sibling, your girlfriend. Pay someone 20 bucks. Little sucks more then getting into a story and seeing "stares" for "stairs" and "threw" for "through" and "sand" for "said" and a crapload more where they came from.

Overall, decent read, needs a shit ton of editing. If you have Amazon Prime, nothing lost by checking it out.

How Do You Handle a Thief's Backstab Ability in Combat?

I've had trouble with the thief's backstab ability (in combat) in the past, especially when playing without tokens or facing on the map. It has the potential to be either overused or underused, depending on the interpretation of the DM.

What I've been using recently, and it has never been written down prior, as DM fiat required me to figure out a solution on the spot, is as follows:

- if the target is engaged in combat with another

and

- the PC attempting the backstab has not engaged the target prior

the PC may spend one round getting into position. on the next round, the PC rolls a Hide in Shadows attempt, and if successful, he gets the bonus of a backstab. If he fails, he gets a +2 bonus to hit, but no backstab.

It works thus far, and may come up once per session (if that), usually against a BBEG.

How do you handle backstabs? Do you even allow an attempt in melee?

The Lost City of Barakus Returns as a Frog God Kickstarter and Hits $15k Goal in Less Than 25? 13? Urh? Hours!

A great deal gets even better. $40 gets you the Lost City of Barakus in hard cover and PDF in your choice of flavors (S&W or Pathfinder) - and now includes Player Maps!

If we fund by 9am, April 2nd, we will provide Player's Maps for Barakus! For Free, no foolin' around.

Also, if we fund in that time period, Bill will write another wilderness encounter!

Done with 11 hrs to spare ;)

Now for some stretch goals!

Forgive Us in Hand (LotFP Indiegogo)

Yeah, this was one of the few adventures that funding during the James Raggi Summer of 2012 "Crowdfunding Insanity".

Nope, haven't read it yet, but as it's written by Kelvin Green and not James, I suspect I'll find use for it. Damn shame that James produces high quality stuff that are just party screws lately, so I have hope for Forgive Us (the adventure formerly known as Horror Among Thieves).

The included town map mini poster is pretty cool too,

The Lost City of Barakus Returns as a Frog God Kickstarter (no joke)

I have the original from 2004(?) somewhere. Even if it was for 3e, it read of awesome.

Now Frog God is bringing The Lost City of Barakus back, set in their Lost Lands setting.

$40 for the hardcover and PDF, in either S&W or Pathfinder flavors. Wait, it's Frog God, that price can't be right, can it?

For all you Lost Lands fans out there, this one is canon — it interfaces with Stoneheart Valley, Rappan Athuk, and Sword of Air, and represents the next of many ongoing chronicles of the Frog God Games/Necromancer Games home world. A MUST HAVE book for any fan of our material. 

Our base level of funding is small — we wanted to keep the price point down on this. We listened to your feedback from our last few Kickstarters — and we are adding more new material based on stretch goals as detailed below. 

Shit, it's legit ;)

I may need to turn some of the new closet space into game storage. Won't my wife be happy - heh!

The Grumpy Dwarf Pees in The Tavern's Scrying Pool

Another April Fool's Day is here. It's time for Grumpy to stir The Tavern's Scrying Pool for some predictions for the rest of 2014.

1 - Fans of D&D Next are going to be surprised to find the 3x SRD between the covers of their newest and latest Dungeons & Dragons. What's old is new again.

2 - Monte Cook is going to publish the "Numasutra". Enough said.

3 - Paizo's Pathfinder will reboot it's core rulebook - 550 pages for $5.50 in bulletproof hardcover.

4 - Disney World will be the next Apocalypse World game. Personally, I want to play Donald.

5 - RPGNow and DriveThruRPG will become two separate companies once again, just so today's announcement can actually come to pass.

6 - The next OSR Clone with be Swords & Lords, a mish mash of the worst of S&W and LL.

7 - Lee's List will publish 100 Lists of Lists of 100.

8 - DCC RPG in Spaaaaaccccceeeee!

9 - Mike Nystul will rise like a phoenix. Mike's Crab Shack and Mini Con will have a fundraiser on Indiegogo. Funds raised will buy Mike a new Winnebago.

10 - Dwimmermount will release. No one will notice. Rats will cry and copper will melt.

11 - Tunnels & Trolls Deluxe will face yet another rewrite. Ken will borrow from Apocalypse World to create Troll World. At least it will still use D6's.

12 - The Tavern will embrace the latest and newest edition of D&D. It will be kept in the privy and read one page at a time. Previously read pages will not be available...

Expecting Some "April Fools" Tomorrow

Every year some RPG publisher or another tries the old "April Fools" scam.

According to ENWorld, WotC is delaying it's usual Monday Legends & Lore article until tomorrow - April Fool's Day. All they need to do is run one of Monte's early D&D Next articles. You know, the ones promising compatibility to all editions at the same time in the same gaming group ;)

In any case, God willing, I'll hopefully start getting some RPGNow credit out to the winners of the first round of the OSR Superstar Competition in the next day or so. My contractor didnt leave the room my computer is in until 915 tonight - but at least we are seeing progress.

Expect the Grumpy Dwarf to take a pee(k) in The Tavern's scrying pool tomorrow. Who know the vision that may be floating in such waters ;)

Ever use a "Caller" in Your Games?

I remember reading about "callers" in my early days of roleplaying. I only experienced it once. As a senior in High School, my group got invited to another group's game session. They were college students and then some. In other words, they were old.

When we got there I counted 16 people sitting at this really large table - 2 DMs and 14 player. I don't believe I ever rolled a die that night, but I do remember there were 2 "callers", one for each side of the table, more or less. Anything you wanted to do had to be announce via the caller.

I couldn't tell you what the adventure was about, as there was just a sensory overload going on, but I understood the need for a caller with 14 PCs.

I've never run a group larger than 10 (maybe as much as 12 in college - not 100% sure) but I dont recall my groups even having leaders let alone callers. Organized chaos for the win.

So, did you ever, or do you now, us a "caller" in your groups?

What I Would Want From My Ideal Virtual Table Top (My Wish List)

After some discussion with a few of the members of the "Friday Night B-Team" I started to think about what I would want from my ideal online Hangout styled gaming session. The list below is NOT all inclusive, I am sure, nor is it written in stone. It has been on my mind, more or less, for a while tho'. It is fairly focused on Roll20, which is what I use these days, but if one package offered all that I wanted, I'd jump VTTs in a heart beat. I can be such a whore ;)

- Character sheets much like those found in Fantasy Grounds 2, including clickable macros right from the sheet. Damn, that would be an excellent way to speed things up. Damn shame FG2 chokes on the session set up side if you don't know programing, but as a player it does a great job streamlining stuff.

- Every adventure published in PDF form should have an unkeyed "player's map". Even those with "teleport traps" and the like. With a dwarf or gnome in the party, they will know they've been moved. We'll just start revealing from a new map. I can't describe room dimensions and the like well enough when I'm gaming face to face - I suck even more when doing video hangout sessions.

- Simple to set up and use "dynamic lighting". Sure, I don't use tokens in my RPG sessions, but if we had simple to set up and use dynamic lighting, I'd include a token for the party. I'd much prefer this to "Fog of War & Reveal", as this would show the party where they were yet still require them to make an accurate map on their end. Player side mapping is an often forgotten skill.

- Drop down menus for damn near everything. Drop down menus that don't cover up 40% of your screen. Drop down menus that are user editable. Drop down menus for the win.

- WTF is it with screen real estate? Allow the user to set the font size and side bar size and pop up menu size. I have a 27" screen I run my sessions from and Roll20's pop up menus and side bars take up way too much screen space.

- Truly random random dice. too many 20's and too many 1's. It's a programing issue.

- Awesome looking visual dice like Fantasy Grounds. No one has come close before or since.

- Voice and video that allows for whispers and split parties. Sure, I'm asking for a lot, but hey, it's my list. During face to face games I've taken players out of the room to keep events in private when the party is split, or someone has been charmed / doppleganged / cursed and the like. To be able to easily do so online in a manner that does not use chat text would be great. Not a must, as it's use would be infrequent, but still useful.

- I've yet to find a simple and useful way to play background noises for the players - I'm pretty sure Roll20 has the feature. I may just need to experiment more. What I would really like is a simple drop down menu with the sound clips I choose with the session in mind - fighting in the distance, a door slamming, chains dragging and the like. Shit, now that I think of it, I'd REALLY like this. The possibilities are truly epic.

- 3d graphics and walls. Just because.

A Quick Look at the Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay: Special Edition

For those that don't know, the Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay is an OSR city supplement that is about 90% OGL (the non-OGL content is mostly the regional and world setting material that is touched upon). The Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay is also PWYW in PDF, so you can check it out for free before dropping a dime. There really is no reason for any RPG fan to not have a copy of the PDF.

The Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay: Special Edition is the print / hard cover edition. It includes the low level adventure Oak Grove Whispers, which to the best of my knowledge is available no where else (and is not part of the PWYW PDF). It's a full sized adventure clocking in at 36 pages and makes for an excellent introduction to the City of Dolmvay.

Did I mention the hard cover edition is a mere $19.99? I have no idea how +Pete Spahn was able to reach that price point, but the value for your gaming dollar is excellent, as the whole package clocks in at about 240 pages. (The soft cover of Dolmvay without the adventure clocks in at $13.00 - another amazing value)

That's a thicka booka!

Make sure to stop by Tenkar's Tavern when you visit ;)

From the blurb:

The Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay is a FREE Labyrinth Lord™ supplement that details the people, layout, and government of the City of Dolmvay. The city is presented in broad strokes and is open to customization. It was specifically designed to give Labyrinth Lords a convenient and familiar city setting to place their adventures.

The Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay is largely open content. Small Niche Games would like to encourage professional and amateur publishers to use the Guidebook as a shared city setting and set their commercial adventures within the City of Dolmvay. Labyrinth Lords (and publishers) should feel free to change, add, or remove any of the information in this book to better suit his or her own game.

The Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay contains:

-A breakdown of city-based adventure themes

-History of the City of Dolmvay

-Detailed overview of the City of Dolmvay including government, religion, commerce, and laws and punishment

-Descriptions of over a dozen major festivals

-An overview of the citizens of Dolmvay including a breakdown of social classes, daily life for commoners and nobles, style of dress, arms and armor, rumors and gossip, and common gestures, curses, and phrases

-Layout of the city including details on architecture, street lighting, sanitation, as well as detailed descriptions of the city's wards, districts, quarters, neighborhoods, and businesses

-Descriptions of dozens of factions and stat blocks for hundreds of NPCs

-Descriptions of common shops and businesses, prices for food and lodging, and a dozen sample inns and taverns

-Over 100 unique city encounters

-Over two dozen new plants and monsters

-A detailed description of the religious organization known as the Church of Law and Order including church history and doctrine, major NPCs, and new magic items

-A detailed description of the Dolmvay Adventurer's Guild including training facilities, dungeons, and major NPCs

-A detailed description of the city's magical sewer system including dozens of unique encounters and several sample sewer geomorph maps

-Guidelines for NPC generation including common names, professions, dozens of quirks and traits, and rules for creating unique and interesting 0-level NPCs

-Guidelines for random treasure determination including pick pocket tables and random tables for determining household treasures

This Special Edition Hardcover also contains the full-length adventure Oak Grove Whispers, for 3-6 characters of 1st-3rd level!

A TPK Avoided, But Not Without Sacrifice (2nd session of The Caves of Ortok)

Last week the Saturday Night Swords & Wizardry group had their first session delving into the Caves of Ortok, an adventure soon to be forthcoming from +Jason Paul McCartan . They nearly killed two PC's bungie jumping off of a statue on a small island, killed a giant crab, found the caves, got ambushed and finally held position inside the small cave complex as they and the sahuigan deeper inside decided on tactics. Not bad for a night of gaming.

Last night, the party made their move.

They sent the thief in invisibly to take out the shaman as the magic user slept the front lines followed by the monk (also invisible) and ranger charging in. It was brutal.

The thief rolled a nat 20 on his backstab and opted to take maximum damage for the crit, which was then multiplied by three. Not quite down but severely wounded. Sleep took out 2/3's of the sahuigan front line, but they held. There was no where to run to and they were fighting for their prince's life.

The party won initiative, and the magic user finished off the shaman with a pair of magic missiles. The only problem for the thief is he was now facing the prince and his captain BEHIND what was left of the lines. There would be no help coming anytime soon.

Invisible monk couldn't hit the broadside of a barn those first few rounds, so he remained invisible and his opponent couldnt hit either. Damn near comical.

The thief fell and damn near bled out before the party was able to stabilize him (rubbing ointment and shoving potions down his throat). Actually, the magic user, who wadded into combat like a pro and the monk (finally visible) where each a single hit away from falling. Even the hit point tank of a ranger was brought down by half. It's one of the few times the players truly feared a TPK. Heck, even I started thinking about "the next campaign" ;)

The thief lived, but using the ACKS rules for going below zero HP, he was found to have taken severe damage to his head, mouth and vocal cords. Never again would he speak a spoken work, and thus he retired from adventuring, to be replaced by a cleric.

Yes, holy shit! Both the "A Team" and the "B Team" added clerics for the first time to their ranks. Go figure. It must be serendipity.

Afterwards, the players figured out how to open a secret door they found in the caves, and proceeded into Ortok's chambers.

I'm going to gloss over much of this part, so it should remain a challenge to others who may adventure within, but I literally laughed so hard when the monk traversed a hallway that was presumed to be trapped by literally climbing the walls. Upon reaching the other side and being instructed to use a spike or two to secure a rope high on the far wall so party members could follow suit and avoid the floor, he informed them he had neither spikes nor hammer. Come to think of it, he lacked rope too. Which kind of defeated the party's plan which they had discussed before he made his way across. Simply priceless ;)

Yes, a damn fun time was had by all.

Wherein the "B Team" Delves into the Castle of the Mad Archmage

Last night we had three players for the monthly (more or less) Swords & Wizardry "B Team" session. By popular of the regulars, it was decided that the PCs would venture into the Castle of the Mad Archamage. Megadungeon delving works well for a once a month game where the player roster has the potential to change a bit.

A few quick comments and notes:

- I change shit up, often spur of the moment. Your players may or may not have a pair of guardsmen with a tent set up outside the dungeon entrance, asking for "valid adventuring licenses", but if your players are asked, they probably should ensure they get their paperwork in order. Mine did ;)

- I like to play with accents in the sessions I run, often with "notable results", even if these results aren't the ones I was seeking

- I really wish all PDF modules / adventures included an unkeyed, sans secret doors and traps, made to be viewed by the players sort of map. With the amount of gaming that is going on online these days, this would be the icing on the cake for many otherwise excellent adventures. That being said, I've gotten skilled at using "fog of war" and keeping the secret doors"secret". If I have a single complaint about Castle of the Mad Archamge, it would be this. Not sure if it it so much a complaint as "I wish it included..."

- my party zigged when I thought they would zag. Isn't that always the case?

- poop is poop. some poop is more than others. some poop has treasure, most holds horrors. can I help it if the poop I scoop is deeper than written? ;) (couldn't help myself +Joseph Bloch )

All three of my players wrote up play summaries from their perspectives:

+Tim Shorts wrote his over at the Gothridge Manor blog.

+Douglas Cole wrote his over at the Gaming Ballistic blog.

+Peter V. Dell'Orto wrote his over at the Dungeon Fantastic blog.

Do I have great players or what?

My Biggest Gaming Regret of my Youth - Dismissing D&D Basic as "Basic"

My biggest regret of my gaming youth was thinking "Basic" D&D was somehow inferior to "Advanced"
D&D. Heck, I didn't even own Basic until I found a table of remainders with a notch cut out of each box. It was the Moldvay edition of Basic, and even then I had no idea of the gem I had in my hands.

It wasn't until I got older and returned to gaming from a prolonged absence that I saw the true value of Basic and the clones that emulate it. Sleek, streamlines, un-bloated and not needlessly complicated with rules we ignored in AD&D because we simply couldnt understand them, Basic was a breath of fresh air.

If I could go back to the days of my gaming youth, I'd make sure I appreciated "Basic" D&D for what it was - an excellent version of the D&D rules that was needlessly dismissed because of it's "Basic" label.

A Shelf, Soon to Hold Minis & Terrain (and attempting to hold off China, Vases and more)

We're having contractor work going on over here at the Tenkar Abode. This shelving unit also closed off a doorway between the living room and my son's room.

The second shelf from the bottom has been bestowed upon me for use in displaying my Reaper's Bones and Dwarven Forge Game Tiles. Thankfully, the Dwarven Forge tiles are painted - I guess I'll need to paint the Bones too.

I suspect the rest of the shelves will hold teapots, vases, porcelain dolls, china and the like. Ah well, I should consider myself blessed I have a foothold outside the "man cave corner" ;)

and now for something completely different:

RPG Blog Carnival (March 2014): Virtual Table Tops and Online RPGs

I'm really not much for "blog carnivals" and the like. I enjoy reading them, mind you, it's the act of
participation that I often fail at. Probably has much to do with the fact that I usually have an abundance of crap to post about of my own and the distractions get lost in my own noise.

Not this time tho', and it's not just because this month's host is a member of the infamous "B Team". ;)

Nope, this time it's because it's a topic I hold near and dear - VTTs or Virtual Table Tops.

Let me give you a quick background of my VTT history. I've tried (and own licenses for where applicable) Klooge, Screenmonkey, MapTools, Battlegrounds RPG, iTableTop, Fantasy Grounds I and II, Roll20 and a small handful of others that escape me at the moment. Yes, a virtual plethora of virtual table tops.

As others, I really enjoyed playing with Fantasy Grounds II "as a player". Never got around to trying it as a GM because it was just too damn intimidating for me to even try to convert an adventure for use with the software, let alone a ruleset. Fantasy Grounds can do some amazing things in the hands of the right person - I just wasn't that person. Still, it is the interface that brought me back to the work of RPGs, and for that I am thankful.

Today, my poison of choice is Roll20. For a while, it was Tabletop Forge, but that was rolled into Roll20, and in the end it has worked out fine. In the beginning, however, it was a damn near bloody mess, as it didn't (does now, and does with ease) allow one to draw freehand - so if you wanted to actually map out the dungeon as your group progressed, you were shit outa luck.

Roll20 is truly night and day from where it was then to where it is now. These days, I mostly use maps from whatever adventure I'm running, drop it onto the virtual table top, cover it with "fog of war" and reveal the map as the party progresses. Heck, I don't even use tokens. I'm like "old school" "new tools".

So yeah, that's me pimping some VTTs for the current RPG Blog Carnival. VTTs allow me to game with folks from across the world with a schedule that works for all. As an adult with a family of my own and real employment, it sure as hell beats trying to organize a regular group in "meat space".

Scarlet Heroes Hard Cover in Hand!

Scarlet Heroes arrived yesterday. I doubt I'll have a chance to run my wife through anything this weekend, as I'm running games both Friday and Saturday nights, but I'm hoping I can put her through here second one on one RPG session (her first was an adapted T&T solo about 3 years ago) in about a week.

I'm pretty stoked!

The "B-Team" is About to Explore the Castle of the Mad Archmage

Look what the mail man left me yesterday (among other things which I may post about later).

Tomorrow night the B-Team will delve into the Castle of the Mad Archmage. Session reports and review will be forthcoming.

Here's the 34 Other Entries in the OSR Superstar Contest that are Moving on to the Second Round

Here's the list of the other entries that made the first round cut of the OSR Superstar Contest and are moving on to the next round. I'll have my staff pick 13 random numbers between 1 and 34 in the morning and I'll post the results tomorrow (this is to decide who gets the $5 RPGNow GCs and the D30 PDF)

Folks, if you made the list, start thinking about designing a new monster for Swords & Wizardry. Stat blocks, background, ecology, tactics - whatever makes your entry the best. Entries will be open until April 9th. We should be seeing 41 amazing entries ;)

As for the items listed below, we'll see them in more detail over the coming days.


Jason Reilly - Bow of the Grasslands

Mark Bober - The Lode Rod

Davis Brawley - The Jester Laugh

Tony Mullins - Beguiler's Eye

Jon Hiesfelter - Custodian's Conchitic Cover

David Chato - Crown of the Kobold Kings

Chri Nail - Sword of Kelnova

Legion McRae - The Choir Armor

John Owen - Staff of Spoken Words

James MacKenzie - Leaper's Lanthorn

Reginald McReynolds - Grave Digger's Shovel

Ed Hacket - Ghoul's Tongue

Eric Treasure - Lamp of Radiant Dispersion

Mark Clodi - Fantastic Rest Stone

Alexander Davis - Band of Oaths

Joel Davis - Deceptor

Gavin Norman - Mother Amulet Locket

Tim Snyder - Rune Eraser

Shane Knysh - Kef's Arrows of Tracking

Erin Bisson - Child of Brass and Ruby

Derek Fischer - Gauntlets of Greed / Generosity

Andrew Branstad - Chronoblade

Diogo Noguira - Backpack of the Brotherhood

Alan Mitchie - Tapestry of Tureign

Jim Stanton - Wizard's Pipe of Warning

Vita Moose - Fortescue's Gloves of Quasiambidexterity

Brian Richmond - The Lookout Beast

Danny Cline - the Marble Escritoire

Bill De Franza - Wondrous Wandering Wagon

Jasper Polane - Milvan's Master Index

John McCollum - The Wooer's Blade

Matt Kane - Book of Doors

Greg Gorgonmilk - YewGolm

Do Your Magic Missiles Automatically Hit, or do You Need to Roll?

I was listening to the Dead Games Society podcast on the drive to work this morning and they were talking about Holmes Basic and Magic Missiles came up as a topic.

In Holmes, the magic user needs to roll to hit with MM, and as all weapons do 1D6, and MM does 1D6 in Holmes if I recall correctly, why would one even bother to memorize the spell? Just throw a dagger with the same chance to hit and damage.

As for the Sleep spell, it's always been the low level nukes, but that's a topic for later.

So, do you prefer your magic users to roll for their Magic Missiles?

And Now For Some New "Old School" of a Different Type :)

Twelve hour day at work, then dinner at the pub with the wife and kid - and still had some last minute stuff to move before the work begins tomorrow on the wall length closet behind me.

Yeah, the rest of the round one winners are going to have to wait until tomorrow. Shit, retirement can't come soon enough - I could blog full time ;)

Enjoy the musical interlude, an "Old School" rendition of GnR's Sweet Child of Mine:

Judges Guild has a City State of the Invincible Overlord Kickstarter to Update the Original

Judges Guild is going to rerelease City State of the Invincible Overlord via Kickstarter and +Rob Conley doing some of the maps?

Holy sh!t! Where do I sign up?

Seriously, this is damn cool and I already signed up, although only for the soft cover book and map - so I have the cash available to add new maps as stretch goals are hit - and they will be. Oh, they will be...

Alright, enough of me fanboi-ing.

Actually, not enough yet. This is dreamy ;)