Kickstarter - Far West - Where Progress is Moving Backwards

Last December (in the year of delayed Kickstarters 2014 - we need to count years with Far West) Gareth started laying out Chapter XII. Yes, layout. As in, it was written and it was done.

He has still laying out Chapter XII in February of this year.

Today we were told he is now working on laying out Chapter IX

Just how long does it take to layout a book?

Just how many chapters are laid out? He's not going in order so it's impossible to tell. Is Chapter XII truly done?

This was from the August 25th update, The 4th Year of Far West, Year 2015 Common era

So, Chapter XII is NOT done...

Kickstarter - Hawk the Hunter (Hawk the Slayer sequel)

Hawk the Slayer sequel? Check!

Original actor that shot the bow like a machine gun has a role in the sequel? Check!

Original director is back? Checkity check check!

$4.5 million of $5 million needed already raised from sources other than Kickstarter? Oh my yes check!

Less than $25k of the $500k still needed raised on Kickstarter with 8 days to go? Errr... Uhmmm... Ah shit...

Hawk the Hunter. Hawk the I'll Still be Looking for that Final $500k.

I have fond memories of the original which surprisingly don't match my rematching of the original...

White Star Release - Star Gods Help Us (New Class / Race Combos)

The "Other Spahn" ( +Pete Spahn ) has officially stepped into the White Star universe with Small Niche Games release of Star Gods Help Us.

Now, while Pete describes Star Gods Help Us as "a lighthearted collection of new White Star™ classes for that one player who just has to be different. It contains twelve (12) quirky race/class combinations including giant cockroach junkers, spiritual mammoths, living oozes, malfunctioning lawbots, zombie crewmen, and other bizarre creatures that will leave you shaking your head." I see it in a slightly different light.

Quite simply it's 12 unique NPCs that a DM can pull out of his ass at a moments notice. These race / class combos have enough depth and individuality right out of the box that they simply ooze "sandbox" play.

Imagine throwing in a Gloop when the party needs some repairs to their ship:

Gloops are a race of intelligent purple oozes with a "face" that consists of white "googly eyes" and a wide mouth. A Gloop typically appears as a shifting blob that stands 4' tall, but can flatten itself out to a height of 6". A Gloop's overall mass weighs approximately 160- 300 pounds. A Gloop is capable of forming up to six pseudopods in order to wield weapons or manipulate small objects. A Gloop can move its "face" to any of these pseudopods in just one round. 

Gloops are asexual, but some adopt male or female traits and preferences in order to fit in with other races. Gloops are vegetarians that feed through osmosis. They love spicy plants, but these plants often give them gas. 

MECHANICAL UNDERSTANDING: Gloops have a natural understanding of all things technical and mechanical, and their ability to creep into narrow places makes them excellent mechanics. At the Referee's discretion, they may receive bonuses or increased chances of success when dealing with vehicles, starships, and other large machinery.  

Thats just a small piece of the Gloop's write up. Just think, there are eleven other race / class write ups included.

All that for $2.99. Simply a bargain for those looking to add some surprises to their White Star campaigns.

Only thing that annoys me is that I won't have the time to kick off my own White Star campaign for about six months. Ah well, six more months of source material releases to pick through before then ;)

Open Call for More Tavern Header Art - This is a Paid Gig

Now that The Tavern's blog header is rotating, what I'd like to do is ad more blog headers / banners to the rotation.

Why?

Quite simple actually - I want to be able to highlight and display art from the various artists in the OSR community, both professional and amateur. I REALLY like art, probably because I have no talent in that direction ;)

If you are looking to gan some visibility in the OSR as an artist there are few places more visible than Tenkar's Tavern. I'll be working on a page of links at The Tavern to showcase the various artists works.

What's the requirement? It needs to showcase a tavern of sorts. Fantasy, sci-fi, horror - you name it, but it needs the tavern theme. Thanks to the programing wizardry of+Tony Bravo the banner's width will resize. So long as the banner is wider that it s high, we should be okay.

Free submissions are welcome but if you are looking to get paid we'll negotiate. Artists are vastly underpaid in the realm of RPGs in my opinion and I'm happy to pay a fair price.

Send you inquiries and / or submissions to tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing.

Thanks in advance, your proprietor, Mr. Tenkar :)

Free DCC RPG Tournament Adventure from Goodman Games - Dungeon Crawl Classics RC2: Death by Nexus

I saw Dungeon Crawl Classics RC2: Death by Nexus highlighted at the Frugal GM blog last week and wanted to add to the bandwidth. It's a free tournament adventure from Goodman Games but I'm fairly sure it could be tweaked into a nice, lethal funnel with a little work. Just looking a the writers involved is a Who's Who in the DCC universe of creators.

Even if you don't use it as is the magic items at the end are simply inspirational for any OSR game.

Mounts - Where Do They Go When You Go in the Dungeon?

I had this thought last night after our party killed a half starved and recently unchained hippogryph (at least I THINK it was a hippogryph.) After toying with the idea of finding hippo eggs (nope) it occurred to me that mounts, especially the special ones, are mostly hand waved away when not in use (my personal experience going back to the early 80s)

Paladin's warhorse? Leave it at the dungeon entrance and he'll be there when you get back.

Flying mount? Let it graze or hunt until your return.

Regular horses? Occasionally missing upon the party's return, but for the most part their presence (or lack there of) is hand waved.

In many ways, mounts are like strict encumbrance rules - off screen and not thought of until they impact the adventure.

What's your experience with mounts? Integral elements or mostly off stage and an afterthought?

Talk Like a Pirate - Razor Coast Titles 50% Off Today Only

Damn. Never ending day of sales today. Good thing I already have everything thus far or I'd be going broke ;)

Frog God is offering all of their Razor Coast titles at 50% off, today only. Swords & Wizardry and Pathfinder flavors.

Use the coupon code: PIRATE-DAY

Alright, nap time before tonight's shift ;)

White Star 40% Off in PDF This Weekend Only!

Perhaps you live on the far side of the moon and missed the earlier release of White Star.

Or maybe you've been waiting for White Star to go on sale so you can see how well the OSR can cover Sci-fi gaming of differing tropes.

In any case, for one weekend only, White Star is 40% off in PDF. Yep, you can jump on the White Star bandwagon for a mere $5.99.

Do it. You players will thank you ;)

Venger (Kort'thalis Publishing) is Running a 50% Off Sale on PDFs This Weekend

If nothing else, +Venger Satanis puts out some beautiful products. The art may be a bit risque but it certainly is top notch.

This weekend Kort'thalis Publishing is running a 50% off sale on it's entire PDF catalogue (well, some releases are already free.)

Looking for some picks from the bunch? The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence (on sale for $6 in PDF) and Liberation of the Demon Slayer (on sale for $3.50.) Both are excellent (if disturbing) choices for some OSR gaming fun.

Note: POD versions are also reduced in price, just not 50%.

Wizards of the Coast Announces Closing of It Community Forums - Is There Anyone Left to Watch as the Light Gets Turned Off?

Wizards of the Coast recently announced the closing of their Community Forums. I haven't read their forums in years and rarely go to forums in general, but there are folks that just use forums for their gaming news and interactions with other gamers.

Even if, as WotC says, that the majority of the community conversation is taking place elsewhere, I suspect a sizable amount of it was happening on the company's forums. This is simply cost cutting, plain and simple, but I suspect part of the cost will be a loss of traffic to the WotC site.

Instead of trying to build a community, they'd rather cut it loose.

I know few if any of The Tavern's readers frequented the WotC forums, but it's still a shame to see them shut down.

When they should be looking to build up their loyal gaming community, they end it.

Technology in Gaming (Guest Poster Eric Hoffman)

Tonight we have a guest post from +Eric Hoffman - I remember getting my father to photocopy the old Goldenrod Character Sheets at his job.

Technology in Gaming

When I was a teenager, my gaming crowd always wanted to play games at a particular friends house more than any other.  Did he have a dedicated game room?  Lax parental oversight?  Unlocked liquor cabinet?  Attractive sisters?  No.  His dad had a photo copier in the basement.  It seems silly now in this day of fingertip technology but back then that was a BIG deal.  Even if you had a home computer (which not many people did at the time) only a few people had printers and there were no all-in-one machines.  To make copies you had to go to the library and pay for them.  With a home machine you could make copies of maps, character sheets, attack matrixes, anything you wanted right at the table.
Al Gore had barely invented the internet and the general public was largely unaware of it.  If you somehow had a modem, and knew how to use it, you had to actually pick up the telephone receiver and put it on the modem to dial up...something...

Today we have so much at our fingertips, including virtual gaming tables where you can connect with players anywhere in the world in a few keystrokes.  How do you use technology in your gaming today?

For me personally, 98% of my gaming is online.  I have been lucky enough to find a solid group of 30+ people that are awesome to game with.  Google Plus has been key to that, and if you aren't on it, you are missing out on an unbelievable OSR/DIY gaming scene.  The only limits to my gaming now are put in place by me (ok, my wife...).

State of The Tavern - Rotating Header Art, Designated Creation Time and More

Hit the refresh button on your browser. Hit it again. And Again. There are currently four pieces of artwork that are in the header rotation for the banner. Huge amount of gratitude and thanks goes to +Tony Bravo who spent hours last night making this a reality. Tony has an online adventure generator which deserves some attention - Basic & Expert RPG Generator. Give him some love.

Of course, a huge amount of thanks goes to the artists whose work is in the header rotation - +Scott Ackerman , +Far Away Land RPG (Dirk), +Jim Magnusson and of course +Eric Quigley . I'm always open to adding a new header into the rotation, so if you are interested, let me know.

The new work hours have been kicking my ass and have totally screwed my productivity on the creative front. Waiting the six months for life to return to normality simply isnt an option. Hell, I'm probably 3 to 4 weeks behind on reading emails, let alone answering them.

So, designating some creative time. Mondays and Tuesdays from 2 to 5 pm eastern and Fridays from 8 to 11 am (when I reset the clock for my weekend) that's in addition to the basic blogging time, so hopefully i can get back to making some White Star and Swords & Wizardry content (as well as getting that content into the hands of my Patreon backers.)

Remember, Tavern Chat is now THURSDAY NIGHTS from 9pm to 11pm Eastern

Tavern Chat Tonight at 9PM - I Nearly Slept Through It ;)

And here I thought I was handing the new work hours well. Slept from 730 am until 230 PM, went out for lunch and then napped from 530 PM until PM. Could have slept more too.

Tavern Chat tonight in 40 minutes!

Woot!

40% Off DungeonMorph Cards & System Neutral Ecology Creature Decks - Print & PDF

+Joe Wetzel is running a sale on some of his excellent offerings - both his DungeonMorph Cards and his System Neutral Ecology Creature Decks.

The links are below:

System Neutral Ecology Decks

DungeonMorph Cards (Dungeons & Caverns)

DungeonMorph Cards (Cities, Ruins & Villages)

Use the code “40cards” for 40% off

Looks like I'm getting Geomorph Cards ;)

Wayward Kickstarter - Far West - Someone Gets a Refund and History Gets Revised

The Red Hands of Justice

Far West released a "Backers Only" update yesterday. It is so full of excuses and misdirections I almost felt I was in an alternate reality.

Really. It was that bad.

After nearly four years of lies, misstatements and broken promises we now have revisionist history going on. Simply amazing. If it was set in a faux Western / Wuxia mash up we'd have the game written already.

Now, to point out the issues, I need to quote from the update.

As some of you are aware, I’ve issued a partial refund (from their original level, down to the digital-only level, to reflect that they’ve been receiving digital copies of the rewards (last we were told there's a few more chapters to be worked on))to a backer who filed a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General’s office. I wanted to talk about that in more detail. 

The sole reason I went ahead and did this, rather than defend myself under the original Kickstarter terms we had funded FAR WEST under (which clearly stated that demonstrating good-faith progress towards completion [wrong - here's the section in question - Project Creators agree to make a good faith attempt to fulfill each reward by its Estimated Delivery Date.] was an indication that I was fulfilling my obligations) (https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-use/oct2012) is simply because I did the math and realized that I could not afford to secure legal representation in Washington. It was cheaper to simply issue the refund. 

Since the backer in question went public with this news, though, I’ve had a handful of additional requests — and that’s what brings me to this update. I’m going to go ahead and talk about the stuff which I’ve previously refused to detail, preferring that it remain confidential. But maintain that confidentiality prevents you from understanding my situation, so I’m discarding it. Even so, I would please ask that the information in this backer-only update be kept between us. (sorry - no can do - misstatements of the truth must be addressed)

In 2013 (May 8th, 2013 was the announcement -  The FAR WEST Adventure Game core rulebook will be released this Summer, first to backers of the 2011 FAR WEST Kickstarter, and then to distribution world-wide. Additional releases in the FAR WEST game line will be announced soon), I signed a contract with the UK game company (Cubicle 7) I was working with, where they agreed to fund production beyond what I’d already paid for, and to distribute the game not only to you backers, but as a game line under their imprint. 

In 2014, as you all know, I fell very ill (but he told Cubicle 7 it would be ready for release in Summer of 2013 - mere months after signing the contract), and spent about half of the year in and out of the hospital. Confident in that contract, I paid my medical bills. However, during my recovery, the company cancelled our contract -- leaving me with almost no funds to continue, or to hire an attorney in the UK to take up the breach of contract issue. I was, as you can imagine, devastated by this news. (as I am sure Cubicle 7 was when each month they were told "it will be done at the end of next week")

wait - here's an update from 2 years ago:

Look at the amazing progress. We were what, 2 weeks from digital delivery in November 2013 and then this:

Two months later and only the first 5 chapters are ready. 20 months after the January 16, 2014 update and we still have a few chapters to go. Who breached what contract?

Now thankfully, in the year since, I have secured several private investors who have made the offer to fund the physical production -- although via this arrangement, I will make no money on the commercial sales of the core rulebook. (wait - didn't the Kickstarter for Far West raise nearly $50,000? Where did all that money go?) That's fine with me -- as long as you backers get what was promised, I have no problem with earning nothing for the core book. (again, you earned nearly $50,000 less payment and Kickstarter fees - you WERE paid and have returned with a project yet to be complete 4 years later) It is my hope that the supplemental releases will push the project into the black.

 Now, I’m going to get back to work. I’ve got to finish these last few chapters. 

Up is down and left is right. I backed this train wreck for 150 bucks. I'll never get value for my money so I may as well keep my readers informed.

"d20 System" Sale at RPGNow - 15% Off Select Titles in PDF - OSR Included

I thought the "d20 License" was dead. Not the OGL, but the actual d20 License and graphic. I was under the impression it couldn't be used anymore. (did some further research - apparently it's alive but no sane publisher would use it these days.) Maybe OBS knows something I don't. Maybe WotC gave them the OK to use the graphic. The thing is, even if the titles are OGL, none of these are technically "d20 System."

Anyhow, +Joseph Bloch 's excellent Castle of The Mad Archmage is 15% off in PDF as are +Kevin Crawford 's various Sine Nomine releases such as Silent Legion, Red Tide and others. White Star is NOT included, even if it is part of the graphic. Strange. Maybe on a future weekend sale.

The main link for the sale is here.

The plan is that over the weekend (weekend being Thursday / Friday for me and my overnight hours) I'll try and pick some OSR diamonds out of the "d20 System" chaff ;)

ENWorld Article - Is the OSR Dead? (It Ain't Quite Dead Yet!)

An article went up on ENWorld earlier today titled "Is the OSR Dead?"

It's fairly long and the sources quoted aren't necessarily "authoritative" in my opinion (the Four Year Cycle attributed to Ken Hite for example is one I'd never heard of before and doesn't represent the experiences of myself or most of the gamers I know) but it does raise some interesting points. Read it in full at the link above.

The most interesting quote from the article in my opinion is below:

OSR-style games currently capture over 9 percent of the RPG market according to ENWorld's Hot Role-playing Games. If you consider the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons to be part of that movement, it's nearly 70 percent of the entire RPG market.  

The OSR has gone mainstream. If the OSR stands for Old School Renaissance, it seems the Renaissance is over: D&D, in all of its previous editions, is now how most of us play our role-playing.

As was pointed out in the comments section of the article, the numbers quoted are based on discussions at ENWorld, not actual sales. ENWorld has a higher % of D&D players than the hobby over all, as it is by it's history and nature primarily a D&D site. I think Paizo may disagree a bit with the market share assumed above. I also take issue with lumping 5e in with the OSR but maybe thats just me.

Now, if we look at Roll20's 1st Quarter usage numbers, we get the following:

See how 5e has more games but less players than Pathfinder? I suspect that's due to "New Game Excitement" effect.

AD&D / OD&D / OSR adds up to 16.49 % of players (obviously folks can vote for more than one game / category) - AD&D on it's own is over 11.5%. As for the share of games run, the numbers only add up to 3.19%.

Only in the RPG hobby would one consider success as death. Or dismiss something because another game borrowed from it. The OSR is less about the rules and more about the products you use those rules with. Until 5e goes OGL or some such, the OSR is where the real innovations will lie.

RPGNow Deal of the Day - Mischievous Monsters (ACKS / OSR Adventure)

Forgive me if this post seems rushed - I leave for work in 30 minutes and nearly missed this altogether.

Mischievous Monsters is today's Deal of the Day at RPGNow. The OSR selections are infrequent and I'd hate to miss any. Glad I didn't miss this one. With writing by +Simon Forster and art by +Jim Magnusson I'd be kicking myself if I had.

$1.96 until tomorrow morning in PDF, $7.70 in Print + PDF.

Several leagues off the main road
is a portal to the realm of fairy; a
ring of standing stones resting in
a clearing surrounded by ancient
trees. Once a year, from the full
moon to the next full moon, this
portal opens and allows the
fairies to cross over, to wreck
havoc and cause mischief in the
mortal realm. 

This adventure pits the characters
against a group ofmischievous
fairies, who raid the inn the
characters (henceforth, the Party)
are staying at and steal the goods
of a wealthy trader. The trader
hires the Party to track the
thieves down and recover his
goods, and awards them
handsomely to do so. 

Some Random Thoughts on the OSR Going Off the RPGNow Grid

There has been some recent talk about starting a new online RPG distributor of PDFs and Print on Demand for the OSR to avoid the perceived threat of censorship by RPGNow on products that "push the edge."

Personally, I think competition is good. If RPGNow / OneBookShelf had any sort of true competition, the site itself would run faster with less down time, better site security and I suspect more responsive customer service.

The thing is, OBS is THE distributor of RPGs in digital and on demand services. There is little competition.

YourGamesNow is long gone. The d20pfsrd Store is a horror to navigate and doesn't have POD as far as I know. Paizo sells third party PDFs as a supplement to it's core business (and is more likely to censor than OBS ever will), Indie Press Revolution doesn't have the size and Lulu is even worse than d20pfsrd to navigate.

Building a competitor from scratch is cost prohibitive, especially if you are hoping for POD. Although the OSR certainly packs a punch far outside it's weight class, it is still just a small piece of a relatively small hobby.

You'd also be fighting RPGNow's market share and ability to cut into their own profits to undersell your price points on any new distribution service. In many ways, RPGNow is free advertisement for it's releases.

The DriveThruRPG site (the half of OBS that the OSR tends to ignore) does significantly more traffic than ENWorld. RPGNow trails ENWorld but it's fairly close. How do you compete with inertia like that as a start up?

You can't. Not without investing and losing money for years up front.

What you could do for little cost (but I suspect lots of man hours) is put together a central site that links to all the above, allowing shoppers to find the product no matter where it's hosted (and compare prices at the different online stores.) Use what is already out there instead of creating new. Use the marketing strength of all the available services to ensure that if a product is not carried at one source buyers can easily find it at other sources.

Eh, maybe my idea isn't as simple as it appears to me, but it has to be cheaper and easier and more effective than trying to compete directly.

RAINN RPG Benefit Bundle (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)

RPGNow is offering a huge bundle of RPGs to benefit RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)

For 25 bucks, you get the following in PDF (there are also fiction {$15}and comic book {$25} bundles):

Some Thoughts on Dyson's Creative Commons Released Maps (Go Patreon!)

As I've mentioned before, the new work hours are putting some major hurt on my creativity. Sliding into bed at 645 in the morning (or later) just runs roughshod over any kind of real life scheduling.

Which means I'm looking for inspiration, and +Dyson Logos has inspiration in spades.

On the chance you don't already know, Dyson has a Patreon campaign where, if enough money is raised each month, the maps that he draws and posts on his blog are released for free to be used personally or commercially. Here's the link to the free maps. Heck, you don't even need to be a backer to benefit from this but the more backers the more maps potentially released into the gaming wilds.

Anyhow, here's two that I'm currently looking at to inspire some of those drowsy braincells...

I figure the above would make for a nice city to kick off a S&W campaign when I finally get back behind the screen next March.

This would be just the right size to kick off a dungeon, and the river might even lead the players elsewhere.

Plenty of time for me to work on this but the fact that i want to work on this is pleasantly surprising. I may be awaking the inner muse ;)

Kickstarter - Attribute Shirts (Leading to Another "WTF?" Moment)

A few quick observations about the Attribute Shirts Kickstarter:

- It was canceled back on August 20th and rebooted shortly thereafter

- 3 backers, $63 of $10k goal - how much money do you really need to print shirts?

- shirts are priced at challenge level - WTF?

- I'm going to guess the stats are based on Warcraft? I have no idea

- somehow this was categorized as "Gaming Hardware" - I don't get it

- Backer rewards are interesting. Yes, you can back for a coupon to use at a store that doesn't yet exist (and probably will not)

You know what? The shirts are so easy enough to obtain you should probably have your own made for less. That's assuming there is even a market for this. I'm going to hazard a guess that there isn't/

9-11 Fourteen Years Later (NOT Directly Game Related)

Tip of the hat to +S Robertson 

Fourteen years later.

I remember working on crime maps that Tuesday morning and being told a plane had hit the WTC. I turned the TV on in my Captain's office (he wasn't in yet) and was watching the live coverage when the second plane hit. I called out to my Sergeant we needed to suit up (we worked in civies) as this was no accident - 30 seconds later the announcement came over the intercom - we were going from the South Bronx to the World Trade Center.

I drove the van that day filled with 8 cops and a sergeant. I drove down the FDR until it stopped moving, down avenues, streets and even sidewalks. Saw a homeless man and a business man directing traffic on Houston Street - the businessman's briefcase lay atop the homeless man's shopping cart. The City, New York City, has a habit of pulling together when things are at their worst.

We got as far as City Hall Park, right near the Brooklyn Bridge before the sea of humanity stopped us. I've never seen such a mass of people in my life, all heading north to go uptown or east to cross into Brooklyn. I didn't initially see Tower 2 come down - I felt it. The van shook and I looked out the windshield to see Tower 2 coming down like a house of cards. "Of fuck! Oh fuck! Oh my fucking God!" are the words I've been quoted as saying.

The number of people killed that day is staggering and I counted myself blessed that I only directly knew one person lost that day (Paul, we miss you every day - keep rolling 20s my friend) but the truth is 9-11 has been a long term killer. Cancers, lung disease and other ailments have been killing people almost daily in the 14 years since then. I myself came down with cancer a few years after 9-11 (and thankfully I'm still here.)

If you are religious, please pray for those that we lost and those that are sick from the events that happened 14 years ago. If you aren't religious, kind thoughts and words do a fine job too.

God bless.

Tenkar

(back to normal posting with the next post - thanks for taking the time out of your day to remember)

Tavern Chat Tonight at 9PM - Be There or Be Not!

Yep, tonight is the new night for Tavern Chat.

9PM Eastern

Join us and BYOB ;)

Never Go Into Battle Without Your Battle Tavern! (Jim Magnusson Does IT Again)

+Jim Magnusson NEVER ceases to amaze me. We toss some random ideas back and forth and THIS happens.

Holy Shit!

Really, you folks need to support Jim's Patreon.

This will be going into The Tavern's rotation of headers. I'm trying to find a way to get the ones I have to rotate randomly, which would simply be way too cool.

Oh, and I need to stat this out for Swords & Wizardry...

Kickstarter - The Folio #4, 1E/5E Format Adventure Module

This almost passed me by. I've been watching the releases of The Folio on Kickstarter and I've been impressed with what I've see with the first three (PDF only for me.)

Folio 4 wraps up funding in less than 18 hours as I write this. 5 bucks for the PDF is a bargain and a half.

Damn. I need to make my dinner to take to work tonight. Where did the day go?

From the Kickstarter page:

The Folio #4 is a 1st Edition & 5th Edition combined gaming module. It will be produced as an 8x11”, removable cover [11x17" once removed], adventure with mostly b/w interior artwork. There are two interior booklets, The Gazetteer and The Dungeon, with the final size being roughly 40 pages of content.

The bulk of the module is complete, we only need to be funding so we can begin the full printing process. This means that PDFs will go out after the campaign wraps in September, and the physical copies should be to you no later than November!

So much good gaming material, so little free time...

Kickstarter - Foot Soldiers P&P RPG

I really like this piece of art. It has a nice feel of action and movement and does a great job of showcasing the chaos of the battlefield. The amount of red used certainly makes one think of blood. Heck, I'd like to use this piece as my screen's wallpaper. They certain picked a nice piece of art to showcase the Foot Soldiers P&P RPG.

It's just that something seems missing. Let me try to put my finger on it...

Ah! Yes, that's what's missing. Foot Soldiers.

If you can't show at least one foot soldier in the art that you're using to showcase a game called Foot Soldiers, you're doing something wrong.

Well, that or you're telling your audience that foot soldiers just aren't all that exciting.

Here's a bit abut the gameplay. Not my cup of tea, as it seems to infer way to much to track in game for my taste, but it may appeal to others:

In Foot Soldiers, you are not what we consider "the hero." Characters in Foot Soldiers have no plot armor. Every violent encounter is a brush with death. A weapon is a weapon, intended to maim and kill, and even the unskilled can deal serious damage to an unlucky foe. 

Foot Soldiers models locational damage, which means that every hit lands on a body part. Its location chart is based on a bell curve, meaning most unaimed hits will land on the torso, followed by the waist and head, with arms and legs being less likely, and a hit to the foot or hand being the least likely of all. However, in real combat, both opponents look for an opening wherever available, and will not hesitate to strike an extremity if it may be done without counter-attack. 

Foot Soldiers also models bleeding, limb crippling, and dismemberment. It is a real possibility that your character may be disfigured or killed every time he or she enters combat. Medieval fighters played with live weapons, and armor was sparse. Not every injury will be a permanent one, and your characters will likely rack up more scars than missing limbs (after all, emotional investment in a character is difficult to justify if they could die at a moment's notice), but Foot Soldiers simulates the real fear of violence and encourages players to avoid combat where possible. 

When played with a grid, proper positioning, tactical planning, and decision-making are vital to survival. The depth of the combat system allows for real teamwork and ensures that no one build is too overpowered. The acquisition of better equipment, skills, and knacks will result in a noticeable improvement in combat prowess. 

Of course, physical violence is not the only threat to your life. The English landscape is harsh, and characters will need to ensure that they have enough to eat and drink, and a warm place to sleep at night, both of which cost money. Traveling too much without equipment is rough, and characters must ensure they dress appropriately, which also costs money.

If nothing else I'll be using the art above on a personal level.

Reminder - Tavern Chat has Moved to Thursday Nights - 9PM to 11PM Eastern

For those that may have missed the announcement over the past weekend, Tavern Chat has been moved to Thursday Nights from 9PM to 11PM. My work shift has moved to the overnites - Thursday and Friday night are the only nights I am home.

Now, this doesn't stop folks from holding their own Tavern Chat tonight, but the official one will be tomorrow night.

Okay - Carry On!

RPGNow Deal of the Day - Creature Decks: Fate Core RPG Aberrations & Magical Beasts (and also On Sale in OSR and System Neutral Versions)

I just woke up 30 minutes ago. I'm surprised the dog was happy to go a second round of sleeping after she slept all night with Rach (and I got home from work at 630 AM - these overnights are a biatch.) What do a find in my email upon getting to my desk? A note from +Joe Wetzel , he of Inkwell Designs.

It appears that Creature Decks: Fate Core RPG Aberrations & Magical Beasts is the Deal of the Day at RPGNow, at least until 11 am tomorrow morning. $2.38 for the PDF and $8.95 for Print & PDF. If only I grocked FATE.

But wait!

All of the Creature Decks are on sale. The rest are priced at $2.95 PDF and $8.95 for Print & PDF. Notice that bit? The printed cards are normally $11.95 a deck and you can get the Print & PDF for $8.95.

In an OSR version at that!

I'm grabbing all 5 decks in the OSR version. They are simply a great resource for use at the table in game - if you like to run a sandbox, the Creature Decks along with the Encounter Decks (priced at 1 buck more and I have sitting at my desk) are priceless resources.

Wayward Kickstarter - Odin's Ravens - Where a Refund Offer is More Like an FU Moment

I never backed this, so it wasn't on my radar until this update. After reading the above, I have a few comments:

- If you backed the Odin's Ravens Kickstarter you aren't getting a free copy if you pay shipping - you are paying shipping to get the copy you previously backed for.

- I'm happy the backers (and the actual game designer) have found an alternate game publisher

- 2 1/2 years of silence since Odin's Ravens funded. That's more than flaking out. That's more than mental problems. That's a fucking scam and a half.

- But he is offering refunds, so I guess all of the money wasn't spent on hookers and blow.

- I stand corrected. Refund offers that by design can't be completed and a project creator that can no longer be contacted, thus, no refunds.

Well played!

Kickstarter - The Lost Lands: The Northlands Saga Complete (Swords & Wizardry / Pathfinder)

Yep, the Frogs are bringing us another installment in The Lost Lands campaign setting, and this is a huge one.

The Northlands Saga Complete has been touched on with the Northlands Saga series of releases back in 2010 and 2011, but now it goes to 11. Or 20 if playing Pathfinder.

The book is estimated to come in at 800 to 900 pages and I'm assuming that is the Pathfinder page count. Swords & Wizardry will probably be about 75 to 80% of that count - still a huge book if you ask me.

Some of the text from the Kickstarter page:

Now The Northlands Saga Complete updates and expands those original adventures with new material, completing the saga with six more adventures by Ken Spencer, Greg Vaughan, and Kevin Wright that follow directly after the originals. If you want, you can resume campaigns that “ended” after the last adventure was released in 2011, or start fresh. In addition, an eleventh new adventure is added as a “prequel” to the original four, so you can play an entire adventure path to take PCs from level 1 to 20 (about level 1 to 9 in the Swords & Wizardry version). You can play any or all of the eleven adventures as standalone sessions, or you can use them as a single continuous campaign to explore the Northlands and beyond. And as a bonus, authors Ed Greenwood, Ken Spencer, Kevin Wright, and Jeff Provine have committed to write four more adventures as stretch goals to take your campaign beyond the adventure path. This book has an estimated page count of 800-900 pages (this will vary depending on the number of stretch goals reached), and will be library bound, for years of use.

As a part of the Lost Lands campaign world, The Northlands Saga Complete includes a full-color poster map as well as a complete campaign guide detailing the cultures, history, races, nations, languages, geography, new monsters, magic, and equipment unique to those lands. In the Pathfinder version there is also a chapter dedicated to new optional rules that you can use in your game to capture the authentic spirit of the Northlands with rules for things like a character’s wyrd, death speeches, becoming a jarl, the examples of early representative politics in the Things and Althing, and trial by combat in the holmgang. In addition there are a multitude of new archetypes, feats, player-character races, and character traits for use in your Pathfinder game! (emphasis mine) When you delve into The Northlands Saga Complete, you step into the living, breathing world of the Northlands. 

Actually, maybe change the page count for the Swords & Wizardry version to 65% or so of the Pathfinder version. I guess the PF page bloat is paid for by the higher print run, as the Pathfinder / Swords & Wizardry pledges are running about 3 to 1 right now.

I'm in for the S&W version. I need lots of reading material when retirement hits in March 2016 ;)

Of One Page Fanzines (Guest Poster Tony T)

Never Too Young

In my younger years, one of the best thrills each month was to open the mailbox to discover the latest
issue of Dragon or Dungeon magazine waiting for me. Back then, there was no worry about bills; only the discovery of the newest spell, magic item, or place to take a side adventure to and conquer the evil.

Recently, I discovered the one page zine called the Tolling of the Great Black Bell by +Christian Walker . I ordered an issue and a few days later open the mailbox and there I am again some thirty plus yearsago with excitement to see what awaits inside.

This zine stoked the muse inside of me and now I have started my own venture into the world of one page zines. I believe there such a great idea to reap some new into a long-running campaign. Take a break and do a one page quest of some sort before you continue on in saving the realm.

So I encourage my fellow RPG friends to support these authors in their contribution to our hobby. They are doing this because they hope you'll open that mailbox and for just a few moments, you'll forget about the bills and the stress of this adult life.

Tony T.

Here is a current list of the authors and their zines:

http://thegreatblackbell.blogspot.com/
+Christian Walker  The Tolling of the Great Black Bell

http://swordplusone.blogspot.com/
+Mike Davison   Boarding Action

http://www.msjx.org/p/the-ten-foot-pole-opz.html
+matt jackson  Ten Foot Pole

http://goblinminimart.com/dark-ruins-adventure-mini-zines/
+Wayne Snyder  Dark Ruins

http://outpostowlbear.blogspot.com
+Tony T  Outpost Owlbear

White Star Now Available in Print - Softcover & Hardcover POD

You've been asking for it and now it's finally here.

White Star. In Print!

I had nothing to do with it getting released in print, but as I have the author's softcover proof of White Star, I know how good the print version is.

If you bought the PDF before, you should have an email from RPGNow with a discount code.

Otherwise, you can grab your copy of White Star through The Tavern's affiliate link and help keep the taps flowing ;)

State of The Tavern - September 2015 - Midnight Tours, Tavern Chat and Other Fine Adjustments

Not me, but probably how I will look tonight

So, starting tonight I'm now working the midnight tour at work. Well, actually,starting at 730 tonight as I have some overtime on the front end - normal work hours will kick off at 930 the night before. Technically I'm going in tonight for Sunday -which doesn't really give me much of a Saturday.

What does this mean for The Tavern, it's readers and my Patreons? Just as I was fully adjusting to working evenings my body's internal clock is in for it's biggest shock yet. I may find some of those creative juices return as I'll be home for the later afternoon and evening hours or I may be a zombie due to lack of sleep. No idea at this point. I guess the next few weeks will tell.

One major change. Tavern Chat is moving to Thursday Nights, 9PM to 11PM Eastern. I get off at 6AM Thursday mornings for what amounts to something that supposedly resembles my weekend but I'm working Wednesday nights, so the old day would never work. Not saying I'll be able to be coherent Thursday night, but it should be entertaining none the less ;)

The next six months should be an interesting ride...

Pathfinder Online Looks to be Over Before it's Done - Goblinworks Lets Go Nearly it's Entire Staff - Ryan Dancy Resigns

Now THAT's a Dead Goblin

Remember the Pathfinder Online Kickstarter? It was basically to raise seed money to get larger investors interested in the property. My God did Paizo push this hard and fight back against the naysayers.

Of course, the game system itself had nothing to do with the actual Pathfinder system - it was using the name and maybe setting material but that was all.

In any case, it's all gone bust now:

Lisa's Community Address

Posted by: Mike Hines Sept. 2, 2015

To the Pathfinder Online Community

From the beginning of the three year journey to create Pathfinder Online, the one constant has been the support of our community and for this I thank you.  We have had ups and downs including heated debates on design, implementation and overall gameplay.  We have literally battled together (or against each other) and I know you enjoy playing the game as much as I do.  I also know that the community comes together during tough times, and it is probably no surprise that we are currently in a tough spot right now.  There are a number of things that have occurred in the past two weeks that you need to be brought up to date on.

As we have been on this journey to create Pathfinder Online with you for over three years now, we have striven to be as transparent as possible with you.  We just shared the following message with the community during our weekly Keepside Chat.  In full transparency, here is a quick run down of the state of our game:

-EE10.2 is on ZOG for final testing and should roll out to live on Thursday or Friday morning.
EE11 is targeted for the end of September

-Ryan Dancey has had to resign from the company for personal reasons (Lisa Stevens will be acting CEO)

-Finances are tight at Goblinworks, which has resulted in the layoff of the majority of Goblinworks staff

-CTO Mark Kalmes, Art Director Mike Hines, and Designer Bob Settles continue to push the game forward (your monthly subscriptions are what keep these three employed and the server up)
Goblinworks is in talks with multiple game publishers to take the game on and bring it to Open Enrollment

I know that is a lot to take in, so I will share what details we can below:

Game status (EE10.2 and EE11)
We are in final testing before pushing EE10.2 to the live server with its fully revamped and improved new player experience, buy orders for the auction house as well as auction sales histories, settlement chat, and the new crystal ogres monthly event, as well as turning the previous event (The Wrath of Nhur Athemon and its Shadow counterpart) into an ongoing escalation, and making a bunch of bug fixes and improvements.  The team has been working hard on this and on EE11 for most of July and August.  EE11 is done in design, almost entirely done in art, and just needs a bit more programming to get it to the point where we can test. It will take settlement activities to the next level by allowing you to customize and build your settlements the way you want to.  Building a settlement will be a large group task, with lots of raw materials to gather and refine before buildings can be erected.  We will also have the dark elves monthly event ready, providing more PVE content for those who are focused on that aspect of the game.  The core team has the goal of shipping  EE11 by the end of September, and we'll keep you updated on our progress.

Ryan Dancey
Ryan Dancey needed to resign from the company for personal reasons.  We were very sad that he needed to leave us, but supported his decision because it is in the best interests of Ryan’s life outside Goblinworks.  In Ryan’s absence, the board of directors has appointed me Acting CEO.

Finances
We have always known that we would need a certain amount of money to make Pathfinder Online a reality.  Some delays in getting the game to market coupled with some anticipated funding falling through have left us about 75% short of the money we need to finish the game (emphasis mine) and bring it to Open Enrollment.  We knew that we could cut our burn rate (the rate at which expenses burn your cash reserves) by having folks participate in Early Enrollment and that was always the plan, though we never thought that the Early Enrollment subscribers could carry the company to Open Enrollment.  We knew we needed that full investment amount to do that.  We had numerous times this year where the full funding was dangling in front of us only to be snatched away at the last moment.  Very frustrating, but we moved forward and kept looking for somebody to come through with the money we needed to see the game through.

Due to the commitment that you have made to the game, your current subscriptions are able to keep the core team employed and the servers live.  We will continue to move the game forward with that team and keep the servers live as long as the continued financial support from the community is there.  But that means we need you, the Pathfinder Online Community, to continue to support us with your monthly subscription fees.  They are very literally what is keeping the servers paid for, and keeping our core team employed, working on EE11, and talking with various potential partners about purchasing the game so they can finish it. If you wish to see the game through to its finish, we need you to support it financially for the next few months, and if you know people that want to support it, encourage them to subscribe now.  (During this period, we will offer only month-to-month subscriptions.)

On August 28, we had to lay off the majority of the Goblinworks staff.  Continuing to push the game forward are CTO Mark Kalmes, Art Director Mike Hines, and Designer Bob Settles.  We have been keeping the staff abreast of our efforts to find funding for Pathfinder Online and that we would likely have to lay them off on the 28th.  We felt it was super important to give our employees warning so they could plan their lives accordingly.  Their efforts to line up new jobs led to some of the rumors about layoffs.  So why didn’t we announce this earlier?  Because there was and still remains a chance for Pathfinder Online to get its funding and continue forward, so it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that we would have to lay the staff off until Friday, the 28th.

Future
For the past few weeks, we have been shopping Pathfinder Online to a number of other game publishers, looking for a good fit to take the game on and fund it over the finish line.  There have been quite a few companies coming out of the woodwork to discuss this with us and we are in ongoing talks with a number of them about the possibilities.  More companies enter the fray every day.  These kinds of things take some time, though we are motivated to see them through as quickly as we can.  At any moment, one of these publishers could agree to buy the game and we could quickly ramp up to full tilt again.  Due to confidentiality, we can’t provide information on these negotiations.  Rest assured that you will be the first people we tell when there is news we can share.
This isn’t a super rosy picture, but we aren’t dead yet!  The Goblinworks team and the Pathfinder Online community have been underdogs for pretty much the entire project’s history.  But we have persevered and survived.  Sometimes it is darkest right before the dawn.  When I was at White Wolf, we were close to having our electricity and phones shut off in the month before Vampire: The Masquerade released and became a huge hit.  At Wizards of the Coast, we had to lay off the entire staff for 9 months before Magic: The Gathering launched and became one of the most successful games in history.  You have my word that I will work relentlessly to find the right partner to take Pathfinder Online through to the finish line.  The team has brought the ball down the field to the red zone, and now we just need somebody to punch it over the goal line.

I will be hosting another Keepside Chat on Wednesday, September 8th at its normal time of 5pm PST.  You can join the chat live by going to:
Golarion.mumble.com
Port 3093

The ability for us to make Pathfinder Online has always been entirely dependent upon you, the Pathfinder Online Community and the support you have given us.  I would like to thank the Pathfinder Online community for your fierce dedication, support, feedback, and drive to see this game made well.  The only reason to make Pathfinder Online is you, our customer.  I hope you will stay with us over the next few months as we search for that proper partner to finish the game.  It is your support, literally, that will allow this to happen.  Without you, there is no Pathfinder Online.

You have my eternal gratitude,

Lisa Stevens
Acting CEO
Goblinworks Inc.

You can go read the original and the FAQ at the Goblinworks blog.

Review of Black Powder Black Magic, a DCC RPG Fanzine (Guest Poster Jim Wampler)

See? I told you there were some guest posts in the hopper ;)

Review of Black Powder Black Magic, a DCC RPG Fanzine
by Jim Wampler

If anything marks the tide change in the growing mainstream popularity of Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, it’s the presence of a plethora of Third Party Publishing support like Black Powder, Black Magic Vols. 1 and 2.

Ostensibly presented as another member of the legion of DCC RPG fanzines (over six separate publications at last count), Black Powder, Black Magic is in fact a new game setting for DCC RPG, one billed as mixing “six guns & sorcery,” which really would have been just as apt choice of a name for the system.

But BPBM’s “six guns & sorcery” approach is also a well chosen call-back to gaming in the halcyon era of the 1970s, a period which DCC RPG itself is designed to emulate in playstyle and feel. Those of us who go back to those days well remember playing our first Boot Hill games. The typical player strategy of the day was to slowly badger the GM by turning Boot Hill into a D&D type game by any means necessary. “No Fireball spell? No problem. We’ve got a case of dynamite and shotguns” was our mantra back then.  Thus, a setting like Black Powder, Black Magic gives old school style players exactly what they want. In a much more straight forward approach than past games and settings (Deadlands, I’m looking at you), BPBM presents the wild, wild west of the mid-to-late 19th century as an alternative history in which a substance called “demon ore” has been discovered and exploited, the U.S. government has all but forbidden travel to the “Dark Territories,” and a boom town like Brimstone is the perfect place for a player character to make a name for himself or die trying.

The first two volumes of BPBM couldn’t be better presented for players and judges to get started. Vol. 1 presents the basic campaign setting, rules for generating level-0 characters including occupations, starting equipment and trade goods, a common names table, and even the clever “Token of the Past” and “Motivations for Heading West” tables to help players easily slide into the setting. Rules for firearm use are of course covered (and could be handily adapted for use in a modern era DCC RPG setting). All of this is followed by the moody and intriguing level-0 character funnel adventure “The Devil’s Cauldron.”

The recently released Vol. 2 only ups the ante, by presenting all the rules necessary to convert the classic DCC RPG classes to the new setting. Want to run a fighter, wizard, cleric, or thief in the Dark Territories? The conversion rules are here. The rules for the cleric class are especially nice, with options for running everything from a Protestant Preacher or Native Shaman to a Chinese Mystic or a Cultist of the Old Gods.  Notably, two new setting-original classes are given: the Gambler and the Prospector (notable for actually being able to sense and find the vital demon ore). More BPBM classes are sure to follow in Vol. 3.  Vol. 2. also contains my single favorite item from the first two volumes — a full Patron writeup for BPBM: John Henry, the Steel Drivin’ Patron. Everything you need is there, from John Henry’s Invoke Patron results to his Patron Taint, Spellburn effects, and new spells. The second book then ends with some new monsters for BPBM with the promise of more to come in subsequent volumes.

So while Carl  Bussler and Eric Hoffman’s Black Powder, Black Magic bills itself as a DCC RPG fanzine, it’s really much more like the Little Brown Books of original D&D, albeit with considerably better organized rules, better typesetting, and excellent art by Todd McGowan. A sure sign of the warm reception these booklets have received is that as of this writing, the first print run of Vol. 2 has sold out. Fortunately, Vol. 1 is currently still available and a new print run of Vol. 2 is in the works. So what are you waiting for? Saddle up and ride hellbent for leather to Stormlords Publishing and go get yourself the DCC RPG setting that will make your players want to always have the sun at their backs, because a PC always needs an advantage.