New Release - Crypts and Things Remastered (OSR Swords & Sorcery)

I backed the Kickstarter, have the PDF and I'm waiting on the HC to arrive. I'm talking about Crypts and Things Remastered.

I ran a hack of the original Crypts & Things a few years back and it played real well. I'm looking forward to running Crypts and Things Remastered.

Still reading the expanded rules, so a review will have to wait, but what I've read thus far looks good. I may steal some pieces for my upcoming Swords & Wizardry Campaign using DCC RPG Adventures. SWCTDCC. Heh.

The PDF is $13, the SC Print & PDF is $26 and HC Print & PDF is $40

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's RPGNow affiliate links puts 5% of your purchase price into The Tavern's coffers. Don't leave that money on the table for the greedy corps! Tip your barman!  ;)

Crypts and Things (C&T) is a Swords and Sorcery Roleplaying game based upon the Old School Rules of the 70s/80s. It also draws upon the British fantasy games and game-books of that period to bring a distinctly dark and dangerous feel to the game. 

It was originally released back in early 2012 and after a highly successful Kickstarter in 2015 it returns in a Remastered edition, with revised and expanded content and completely new art by David M. Wright. 

Contents 

-Introduction : An over view of the book.-The Scrolls of Wonder
-The Player's section of the game, which explains how to create and play the character who will be the player's alter ego in the game.
-Creating a Character: Guidelines for creating the player's fictional alter-ego in the game.-Character Classes: Nine character archetypes for players to choose from. Four Core (Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Thief) and five exotic (Beast Hybrid, Disciple, Elementalist, Lizard People and Serpent Man).-Life Events: Quick background events tables which briefly detail the character's origin and what they did before adventuring.-Spell Lists: Black, Grey and White Magic, plus Elemental Magic.-How to Play: The game's simple and straightforward rules.-The Continent of Terror: A brief overview of the game's included setting.-What the Elder Told Me: Each of the eight human cultures of the setting detailed in ten questions and answers from a young adult to a respected elder about their worldview. 

The Book of Doom - This is the referee's section of the book.

-Secrets of the Continent of Terror: A deeper view of the setting for referee's, with adventure seeds and encounter tables.-The Greater Others and their Works: Three of the terrifying Greater Others and their followers detailed for use in play.-Snake Dance: A closer look at the society of the insidious Serpent Men.-Scourges of the Dying World: Five evil nemeses to thwart and oppose the player characters.-Ill Gotten Gains of Dark Desire: Treasure and perilous magic items.-A Compendium of Fiends: Dark and deadly monsters to populate your adventures with.-The Halls of Nizar-Thun: An introductory underground adventure.-The Haunted Lands: An introductory wilderness adventure.-Port Black Mire: A fearsome city detailed for urban adventures.-Notes from the Abyss: A compilation of articles and resources to aid the referee.

Kickstarter - Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook 3rd Printing

Frog God Games has kicked off the 3rd printing of the Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook. Now, if you are a regular reader of The Tavern, you know my love of all things Swords & Wizardry. If I have a bias, it is solidly here. I still have my softcover 1st printing and multiple copies of the 2nd printing in HC. Heck ,The Tavern has distributed over 5,000 copies of S&W Complete 2nd printing in PDF. That should give an indication of my love of S&W.

The 3rd printing follows the 2nd printing fairly closely. New cover art, new interior art and the sample of play has undergone some editing, but everything else is as Matt Finch wrote it. It may have new art and a new layout, but the words are still Matt's.

After a few hours being live it's over halfway funded. Not too shabby.

It's $35 plus shipping for the HC. The PDF will be available as PWYW.

Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of Swords & Wizardry and Frog God Games. I've worked on the condensed rules (coming shortly, hopefully) known as Swords & Wizardry Light. Its no secret that Stacey D, the Project Manager on the 3rd Printing of S&W Complete and I have little affection for each other. The interior art and layout were done by a team she assembled, which includes well respected OSR artists such as Gennifer Bone. I think the interior art choices were superb.

Kickstarter - Knights of the Dinner Table - KODT Chibi Fantasy Miniatures (Impact Miniatures)

I'm a long time fan of the Knights of the Dinner Table going all the way back to Shadis Magazine. Yes, I'm showing my age? So what! heh

So when Tom Anders of Impact Miniatures told me he was going to be producing licensed Knights of the Dinner Table Chibi Gaming Miniatures, you know I was interested.

Here's the story behind the project, as relayed to me by Tom himself and posted on the KS page:

Because of my love for KODT, I was an eager backer of the KODT: LAS KickStarter. I have been a bit horrified to see Jolly Blackburn's wonderful IP left in the dust of this KickStarter gone off the tracks. This upset me for several reasons. 1) Jolly is a great individual and known benefactor of the gaming community. 2) KickStarter is a major investment tool of my company and when one goes badly in the fantasy/gaming realm it means my possible future backers might not want to back another KickStarter and 3) The Creator has been regularly abusing the backers. 

As a result of all this ... I've done what I could to help. I've helped get data on the backers to assist verifying claims by the Creator. When it was revealed he had sold backer rewards to a retail outlet instead of sending them to the backers, I sent free product to the retail outlet that they could sell to cover the cost of shipping those items as rewards to the backers who should have received them. 

During all of this, I mentioned to Jolly in July 2015 that I would love to run a KickStarter with the KODT IP so that I could give him what I believe would be a very positive experience with a KickStarter of his licensed IP. Jolly let me know he was not against trying another KODT KickStarter with the focus on making miniatures for the KODT characters. This led to a year of conversations about what would the design of the miniatures would be, art proof of concepts for approval and even a Kenzer & Co employee sucking on a prototype model at Gen Con 2016 to try and figure out what chemicals were in the model when Jolly wondered. All events leading to a license contract signed on September 26, 2016 to bring you this project!

Now, we all know who the unnamed project creator is. I won't sully this KS by mentioning his name.

The sweet spot of the KODT Chibi Fantasy Miniatures KS is $24, which gets you the original 5 characters Unless you want more, cause sometimes more is better ;) If you back in the first 24 hours (it just launched this morning) you get 2 add on minis for free. What's your selection?

I'm in for $24 :)

Mini Review - Caverns and Creatures - Book 1 (RPG Fiction)

Caverns and Creatures: Volume I (Books 1 - 4) (This is a link to the book at Amazon - Print / Audible / Kindle format - the book and most of the series are free in Kindle format if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited)

Critical Failures (Caverns and Creatures Book 1) (Book 1 only - 99 cents in Kindle format)

See what it says on the faux cover of Caverns and Creatures Volume 1? Swords. Sorcery. Dick Jokes.

Well, it delivers on all three.

I'm trying to think of what series of books I could compare this to. I guess Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame, but without the harsh reality and with the harsh dick jokes.

I must admit, reading this in bed I woke Rach up a number of times with my chortling, snorting and outright giggling. I finished the first book and I'm about a third of the way through the second. I assume the jokes will go stale at some point but there are a ton of books in the series.

The writing is special, but the situations and the jokes are.

And the vast majority are free if you have Kindle Unlimited.

It's a fast, enjoyable read and it's pretty obvious the characters were playing D&D before it all goes south on them.

From the blurb:

Tim and his friends find out the hard way that you shouldn't question the game master, and you shouldn't make fun of his cape. 

One minute, they're drinking away the dreariness of their lives, escaping into a fantasy game and laughing their asses off. The next minute, they're in a horse-drawn cart surrounded by soldiers pointing crossbows at them.  

Tim now has the voice and physique of a prepubescent girl. Dave finds that while he lost a foot or two in height, he somehow acquired a suit of armor and a badass beard. Julian's ears have grown ridiculously long and pointy. And Cooper... well Cooper has gotten himself a set of tusks, a pair of clawed hands, and a bad case of the shits. He also finds that he's carrying a bag with a human head in it - a head that he had chopped off when they were still just playing a game. 

Shit just got real, and if they want to survive, these four friends are going to have to tap into some baser instincts they didn't even know existed in their fast-food and pizza delivery world. 

It's fight, flight, or try to convince the people who are trying to kill them that they don't really exist. 

Meanwhile, a sadistic game master sits back in the real world eating their fried chicken.

Remember, all purchases using Amazon affiliate links puts some kinda % of your purchase price into The Tavern's coffers. Don't leave that money on the table for the greedy corps! Tip your barman!  ;)

Bringing the Old Group Back to Life - Two Great Games, One Seamless Campaign - DCC RPG adventures and S&W Complete rules

My old gaming group, the one formed in the early 80s when we were in High School, continued in one form or another through college and gamed weekly right through the night before my rookie assignment to the South Bronx, wants to get back to gaming.

Sure, we've done the Everquest, Anarchy Online, Conan Online, Star Wars Galaxies, EverQuest 2 and myriad other MMORPGs together since then, but getting them to sit down for tabletop roleplaying has not been in the cards. Not until now that is.

I've been giving away RPGs every spring when we gather together for out yearly meet, eat and drink and there is always talk about playing but never a consensus. Which is why I was surprised that last month I was getting emails about not "if" we will game again, but "when."

Well, that when is soon. We'll be using Roll20 (as 2 members of out group are in Texas) and the Swords & Wizardry Complete rules. They are close enough to the AD&D that everyone used to play to feel familiar without bogging down in the AD&D rules we used to argue about and then ignore (weapon speed I'm talking to you!)

I gave them the option of campaign play or episodic and they have opted for episodic, at least initially. Which of course made me think about the DCC RPG adventures, which simply scream episodic play.

So, I'm tossing this out to my readers. What DCC RPG Adventures should I put my soon to be resurrected gaming group through? Remember, I'll be using the S&W Complete rules, but I've converted DCC RPG adventures for use with S&W Complete in the past, mostly on the fly and it works fine.

The Not so Ugly Truth as to Why There are Few Negative Reviews in the Gaming Community

There was a discussion on social media this past weekend about honest and accurate product reviews for RPG products, whether affiliate links muddy the waters and how much disclosure is needed regarding relationships and such. Opinions ranged across the board. One thing is certain though - the RPG Hobby / Community / Industry does not have professional reviewers.

Before anyone gets bent out of shape, let me explain what I mean. Unlike the film industry, we don't have full time (or part time), paid for by a third party (media / news outlet) reviewers / critics. Heck, we have few full time creators in the RPG industry. Most folks that create do so on the side - they have "real jobs" that pay the rent, put food on the table and hopefully offer health benefits.

Our "reviewers" are pretty much the same. They review on their blog, podcast or YouTube channel on their own time. Nobody pays them to review products (that's where affiliate links come in - that's fodder for another post).

So, what does all this have to do with a noticeable lack of negative product reviews?

Simple. There are basically two ways for a potential reviewer to obtain a product for review. The first is to buy it themselves and the second is to be comped / gifted a copy to review, usually from the distributor (OBS / OGS) or from the publisher / creator themselves.

If I'm going to buy something for review purposes, I'm going to pick something that I have high expectations of. The publisher / creator will have a history of releasing top notch work. It's likely to be something I could see myself using in my own campaign.

What I've done here is I've filtered the results of the potential review pool. I am, most likely, going to have a product that will have a positive review.

What about review copies? If you are a reviewer for OBS, you likely get numerous emails each day containing links to comp copies of products to review:

Now, how many of those will I actually download and review? Very few. One in a hundred, maybe. It really has to strike my interest to want to grab a copy and review it, even if it's free.

Why?

Because its no fun reading crap and generally speaking, its even less fun writing a review about crap. So I self filter, again. Looking mostly for OSR releases and even then, looking for something that I may actually use at my table.

Products aren't chosen for review by a random lot, at least not by me. They are chosen based upon my interests.

If they were random, I'm sure there would be a spike in negative reviews. Come to think of it, if they were random I'd be less likely to do them at all. As stated earlier, writing reviews of RPG products generally isn't a paying gig. Affiliate links to the products reviewed aren't just about the immediate sale but the long tail and later sales. I don't post reviews hoping to sell copies at an online store. I do hope that folks will be interested enough to check out the online store and maybe make a purchase down the line that suits their interests.

I do post some negative reviews, but that isn't by design. I just happen to grab the occasional product that, despite my best hopes, isn't up to par.

As stated, reviewers generally are filtering what they will review, not how they will review it. That initial filter does keep the number of negative reviews in check.

Kickstarter - Lands of Lunacy - A tabletop RPG Setting Guide for 1E or 5E

Lands of Lunacy - A tabletop RPG Setting Guide for 1E or 5E is from +Lloyd Metcalf 's Fail Squad Games. Lloyd has produced 6 prior RPG related Kickstarters and I've backed them all. Yes, I am a happy backer.

So, what actually is Lands of Lunacy?

The Lands of Lunacy setting, a place created from chaos and consisting of limitless dimensions connected to limitless planes.   

Herein, domineering lords rule domains interconnected by webs of lunar gates surrounded by the utter madness of the Chaos Void. The price of entry may be your sanity, or even your life. The rewards are immeasurable, and every domain brings new possibilities, rewards, and challenges.  

You can choose between 1e and 5e (care to guess what I'm choosing?)

My only question is do I back high enough for a piece of original art from Lloyd? Decisions, decisions.

$5 for the PDF / $14 for the Print + PDF (or $10 for Print w/o the PDF)

Or for $29 you can get Print + PDF + Stone of Power:

In the sample adventure included, the key magical item of the quest is a mystical Stone of Order. Pyramid stone of unknown power. 

You can get a Stone of order with your adventure and setting guide if you act fast (Limited Quantities). You not only bring the lunacy to the table.... but the actual magical item from the quest at hand!!

Is it a gimmick? Sure. Is it cool? Yes.

In Print - The Frost Fang Expedition (DCC) - Purchased with Review Forthcoming

Over the last couple of days I've noticed I've sold (via my RPGNow affiliate links) a number of copies of The Frost Fang Expedition (DCC) by Purple Sorcerer. If you don't know who Purple Sorcerer is, go now. We'll be here when you return.

Cool stuff, right? Anyhow, The Frost Fang Expedition is also current the #1 best seller on RPGNow. Not too shabby, right?

I've really enjoyed everything +Jon Marr / Purple Sorcerer Games has published for the DCC RPG, so this one was a no brainer. It was purchased using the affiliate monies raised by The Tavern thanks to readers like you. Who will I be beholden to when I do the review?

You. Actually, I'm always beholden to you, my readers and my community. This time though, the item being reviewed has been purchased by you.

As an aside, it claims to be readily adaptable to "any old school system". As I will shortly be kicking off a Swords & Wizardry Complete campaign for my old high school and college group using Roll20, this just may be their ticket to return to gaming. We'll certainly be putting the claim to the test.

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's RPGNow affiliate links puts 5% of your purchase price into The Tavern's coffers. Don't leave that money on the table for the greedy corps! Tip your barman!  ;)

The Frost Fang Expedition challenges PCs to reach the top of a frozen and treacherous peak on a mission of discovery: why have huge chunks of a mysterious sorcerer’s floating castle begun raining down on the once quiet village of Neverthawes? The quest for answers will uncover hidden motives, fearsome foes, and deadly environments galore! 

72 digest-sized pages of level one Dungeon Crawl Classics carnage! 

Easily adaptable to any old school system. 

An 'instant action' adventure with tips to play in a single 4-hour session (perfect for cons or demos), but with enough backstory for extended campaign play. 

Includes a 40 page appendix PDF containing judging tips, patron sheets, a host of paper miniatures, and easily printable versions of every map and image in the adventure (to be used as handouts or judge's aids). 

From the author of the best-selling Nebin Pendlebrook's Perilous Pantry (including tips on how to link the two adventures).

Kickstarter - Salt in Wounds Tabletop Setting (Tarrasque tastes like Chicken)

Yes, in the background that is dinner. Have a few kabobs ;)

Numerous readers sent me links to the Salt in Wounds Tabletop Setting for 5th Edition & Pathfinder Kickstarter. Most emails started with something akin to "Have you seen this shit?!?" followed by "its either a great concept or..." where "or" led to many other varied and sometimes colorful descriptors.

What is Salt in Wounds exactly?

Salt in Wounds is a fictional city; a detail-rich dark fantasy setting designed specifically for tabletop roleplaying games (although it can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates intricate works of imagination). More specifically, Salt in Wounds is a city whose culture, economy, and existence is beholden to the reality of the giant, regenerating kaiju called the ‘Tarrasque’ which is imprisoned within the city center so it can be butchered over and over again. 

There are few monsters in role playing games more iconic than the Tarrasque: the ‘end game’ boss that’s been terrorizing high level characters (and delighting players) for decades. The Salt in Wounds setting takes the beast in an entirely new direction: as the perpetually slaughtered ‘natural’ resource that has been feeding the population & fueling economy of the sprawling metropolis of Salt in Wounds for the last two centuries.

Yep, Salt in Wounds is a city that has gone green... or something like it.

I love the art sampled above. Shit, I'd like a print of it. I just don't know if the project has much appeal to me.

Here's the scary thing. Its smashing through stretch goals that add content like a Tarrasque through a 1st level party.

As for Risks and challenges:

There’s always risks associated with supporting a Kickstarter campaign, but for this campaign the risks are minimal. 90% of the initial descriptive text has already been written/collected and much of it has been published on the weekly Salt in Wounds blog (that hasn’t missed a single scheduled update). There is still plenty to do: some rewrites/expansions, lots of game design, editing, and otherwise wrangling art and maps and so on. But J.M. Perkins has been publishing high quality supplements like this for years, and has run two previous kickstarters that delivered on time (for The Adequate Commoner and CHEMO: How I Learned to Kill via his brother’s account). We should point out that page counts are only a ROUGH ESTIMATES (subject to change given editing and stretch goals).

Personally, I'd be afraid of stretch goal content spinning out of control.

Now, something else that I noticed and I really don't know what it means, if anything, but there are currently 356 backers of this very unique setting with multiple stretch goals behind it, but there's only 16 comments on the KS page from 11 individuals including the project creator. The lack of activity just seems... odd. I mean, I had nearly half as many people email me about Salt in Wounds as are actively talking about the project on it's page.

Paizo Introduces a Retail Incentive Program - Pay to Play (with Bennies) is Here

Yep, Paizo must be feeling the pressure from D&D 5e Organized Play. Why do I say that? They have introduced a Retail Incentive Program. What is that? Basically, make an in store purchase of at least $10 and receive an in game benefit. Spent $50 or more and the entire group gets a bennie. Pay to Play... better...

I understand trying to make hosting Organized Play beneficial for the host, be it a store, a bar or whatever. I don't agree that there should be an in game benefit for patronizing the hosting establishment. It just seems like gaming the system. Shit, did I just type that?

Game stores and other retail locations are an important part of the Pathfinder Society community, and it's important to support them so that there's always a public venue for organized play events. Players can now redeem receipts in exchange for a modest benefit shared by the entire table—all as a way of thanking players for supporting their game stores. 

At any time during an event, players may redeem receipts from their purchases worth $10 or more to gain a single-use benefit that applies to all of the PCs at the table. If the total combined receipts provided by one or more players are $50 or more, all players receive an enhanced benefit. No matter how many receipts the players have, the table can never use the same benefit more than once during a game session; they can, however, gain both benefits during a session. 

All of the PCs gain the following benefit: 

Harder to Kill: Treat the character's Constitution as 5 points higher than normal for the purpose of determining when hit point damage would kill him. For the enhanced benefit, treat the character's Constitution as 10 higher. 

Each player may also choose to use one of the following during the game: 

Cheaper Healing: Before the end of the session, you can use the benefit to reduce the Prestige Point cost of one spellcasting service of the healing subschool by 1 (minimum 0). For the enhanced benefit, you can instead reduce the cost by 2. 

Recover from Wounds: The PC recovers hit points equal to twice their character level. For the enhanced benefit, each PC also recovers 2 points of ability damage to one ability score. This benefit can only be used outside of combat. 

Bonus Wealth: If you do not use the subsidized healing benefit above, you can instead choose to roll twice and take the higher result when rolling a Day Job check. For the enhanced benefit, you also increase the gold you earn from the day Job result by 50% (maximum 300 gp total).

You can read the full post at the Paizo blog, including exchange rate examples for other currencies (Paizo is using USD) in this example.

Yes, most of my readers don't play Pathfinder, but if you game in a retail environment, this might just squeeze you out at some point.

I expect there will be some vocal opinions on both sides of this.

OBS' Offensive Content Policy - 1 Year Later (Fourth in a Series)

In the first part of our series we heard from Scott Holden, Manager of Promotions and Business Intelligence at OBS, who answered a number of questions about the new policy. In our second and third parts of the series we spoke with the two men at the heart of the controversy that sparked the policy. Moving forward we look at the effects of the implementation of the policy. We continue our examination of the policy and its effects by speaking with author Venger Satanis.

Venger Satanis is no stranger to controversy over his products How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss and his RPG product Alpha Blue. While “How to Game Master” has been hit by a few low reviews, it was the 70’s style Sci-fi titillation product Alpha Blue that was flagged for review. Like the previous product discussed, Tournament of Rapists, Alpha Blue is also found behind the Adult Content barrier and carries the following additional warning:

“Warning: Alpha Blue contains potentially offensive material in regards to sexual content, adult situations, vulgar language, mature themes, etc. “

Despite the warning and the content filter, Alpha Blue was flagged for review in March of this year. Tenkar himself weighed in on the event [Why You Should be Concerned that Alpha Blue got Temporarily  Pulled From OBS, March 21, 2016]. This caused a new outpouring of concern over the policy that, in places, rapidly ascended to hyperbole. Author James Spahn paraphrased concentration survivor Martin Niemoller's famed commentary when speaking of the matter and how it could effect any number of authors if the process continued. The public response varied greatly from this level of  outrage that the product was pulled for review and apathy over the policy in general.

Venger’s experience brought part of the OBS system to light, as he explained. “Actually, there's a hidden part of the process that some people don't know about.  Once a product has been flagged, then one or more OBS employees take a quick look at it.  If there seems to be some merit to the complaint, then it undergoes a ‘thorough staff review’.  If the complaint appears frivolous, then nothing at all happens to the flagged product.”

He continued on, mentioning that he had spoken by phone directly with Steve Wieck about the matter. “During a lengthy conversation with Steve Wieck, he shared the concerns that some people had with my sleazy, vintage sci-fi RPG.  We both came to the same conclusion - Alpha Blue may be culturally insensitive at times and offensive to a few outspoken individuals, but it doesn't deserve to be blacklisted.” In a matter of a few days, Alpha Blue was one more for sale and it had been placed on the OBS “white list”

As someone who has been through the OBS vetting process and emerged on the other side, Venger Satanis has a singular viewpoint on the process.

TT: Since Alpha Blue was temporarily pulled, are you aware of any other of your products having been flagged for review at OBS?

VS: Aside from Alpha Blue being flagged for offensive content and How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss given a one-star review because I'm considered too sexist by the outrage brigade, I don't know of any abuse directed at me or my RPG products.

TT: Having had a product placed under review, has that experience made you more likely to search for another avenue for sales or are you confident in the review system in place?

VS:  I'm confident in the review system up to a point. Before Alpha Blue, there was the unfortunately named Tournament of Rapists. And after Alpha Blue James Desborough's Hentacle, schoolgirl, hentai card game got pulled and didn't pass the "test." While I understand OBS's policy, procedure, and results, I still wish they were a little more lenient.

I'm not against finding another place to sell my wares. I use Amazon / CreateSpace now and have considered selling PDFs on my own or at an alternative RPG retailer.

TT: What is your opinion of how OBS is currently handling their content review system in regards to your products? Are you satisfied with how it has been handled so far?

VS: I'm more or less satisfied with how OBS is handling things. Although, there's nothing black and white about "obscenity" and "I'll know it when I see it." So, things could go down the rabbit hold pretty quick if there's not a firm hand on the wheel. By that I mean the watchdogs should be driven towards freedom of creative expression, and not by the desire to censure another's artistic work.

TT: Has the implementation of the content review system led to changes in which products you make available via OBS, or to the content contained therein?

VS: I've thought about gearing some products so that I don't have to worry about any kind of adult filter at all. Some things behind OBS's adult filter don't get seen as much, and so sales are lower. But I don't create anything because I want to walk the razor's edge of acceptability, and I have no interest in writing material that solely has to do with rape or pushes an agenda involving a particular ethnicity or religion that exists in the real world. Sure, I might include those things here and there, but too much takes it into a different realm.

Having emerged from the experience, Venger Satanis offered his feedback to Steve Wieck.

“At the end of our discussion, I urged OBS to put language in their adult content filter page saying that things may offend or be offensive, but OBS won't take any action unless a majority of customers find the offending material egregious.”

As opinions of those involved continue to vary, in our next installment we speak to a game creator who have created the most banned products on OBS.

Bob Brinkman has been playing RPGs since the days of OD&D. Recently he has written for both the Goodman Games Fifth Edition Fantasy and DCC RPG lines and has completed a project for the Crossroads to Adventure books for GP Adventures. He co-hosts the monthly Sanctum Secorum podcast focusing on Appendix N in relation to DCC RPG.

Kickstarter - Inheritance (Back This RPG and Complain and You May Get Booted)

Some of you may remember Luke Crane's last Kickstarter - The Burning Wheel Codex. Well, Luke apparently ran that campaign "in character" and refunded folks who complained about the slow shipping (read the link, it is eye opening) He also responded to criticism with responses like:

Now, you might think this flies in the face of Kickstarter Community Guidelines, and maybe it does, but since Luke is the one that gets to interpret that:

Yep, you guessed it. Luke is the one to talk to to complain about - Luke.

So, now Luke has a new Kickstarter running called Inheritance. It may rock. It may suck balls. Doesn't matter one bit when this is the Ricks & Challenges:

Late? Shut up.

Package never showed up? Shut up.

Maybe your criticism was too harsh? Expect a refund. You should have shut up.

Imagine if Ken Whitman were allowed such a disclaimer. Does Luke get a pass because of his position at Kickstarte?.

Yeah, if this is the example that the Head of Games for Kickstarter sets, I'm not very hopeful for the future.

Kickstarter - Sky ov Crimson Flame (DCC 0 Level Adventure)

There is just something about DCC RPG adventures, even the vast majority of 3rd party ones, that keep me coming back for more.

Sky ov Crimson Flame has certainly grabbed my interest. Maybe its the Poag cover. Quite possible it's the fact that its a funnel, and I love funnels.

Maybe it's the inexpensive buy in ($5 for PDF, $10 for Print, $15 for signed Print + PDF)

Yes, I'm in for $15 :)

Sky ov Crimson Flame is a 0-level adventure/funnel designed for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, but could also be used with your favorite Old School RPG of choice. In the adventure you will take control of 3 to 4 0-level peasants as they attempt to unravel the mysterious disappearance of their fellow villagers and (if they're lucky) stop a ceremony that'll bring darkness across the land! 

This adventure was written by Thorin Thompson (that's me) and at a 12,500+ word count it is a brutal bloody good time!  

The adventure features: 

Cover art by Stefan Poag
Some fantastically gory interior artwork by Jordyn Boci and Nicolò Maioli
5 Handouts, 2 Maps, 2 Random Tables, & 1 New Spell! 

Physically, this module will be saddle-stitched, ranging from approximately 28 to 32+ pages and measuring 8.5 x 11 inches. It will feature a full-color card stock cover and sharp black & white interiors on durable paper.

ENWorld - It's Confirmed - Sean Fannon has No Intention of Disclosing his Affiliate Links

Before I get into Sean (now doesn't that sound awkward?) I'd like to highlight that ENWorld is indeed continuing to prominently highlight when a post is sponsored. Which is a good thing. Heck, this week's Sponsored Post was posted by none other than Sean Patrick Fannon (SPF) himself. Take a looksie:

So, its obvious that Sean understands the conversation that has been going on about disclosure, advertising and affiliate links. I mean, he is the one that inadvertently got the discussion started for us with this piece of wisdom:

Why is it then, that Sean, obviously under pressure, included such a disclosure on his weekly posting right before ENWorld went down and lost 4 1/2 month of posts (including the one in question) and since resurfacing hasn't disclosed?

Simple. He was trying to get rid of the negative attention he himself had generated. He put himself in a corner and had to find a way out. By posting the above, he figured he had. When ENWorld lost 4 1/2 months of posts, he saw his chance to wish it all away. Because without the above screenshot, it never would have happened.

If it seems that I am insinuating that Sean doesn't appreciate his readers, he most certainly does - as a revenue stream. You see, when ENWorld was offline for those days, Sean's affiliate referral monies nearly disappeared. Now I'm sure in Sean's mind that drop in revenue was due to the disclosure of his affiliate links. Folks simply didn't want to feed his family. Or at least, that's the excuse he's telling himself. ENWorld being offline had nothing to do with it.

My personal experience is that disclosure, disclosure as full as humanly possible, results in a noticeable increase in revenue for The Tavern. Maybe my readers are simply better than Sean's (well, I know they are ;) but I truly believe that folks prefer honesty and openness.

The Tavern existed before there was significant monetary support from the community. It would still exist even if that support were to cease. Your support allows me to devote time to gaming projects, post excessively, be a burr against the skin of those that have taken advantage of the gaming community and, most importantly, justifies devoting my time in retirement to the community and not some time filler of a part time job (yes, you effectively keep Rach happy.) Heck, starting next year you may see us at more than one Convention. Not because I'll be a Guest (thanks Sean for bragging about that today) but because I want to get out and meet more of The Tavern's Community - and game! Your support will make that happen.

Thank you all for your support. Without you, there is no community. Without the community, there would be no reason for The Tavern to exist.

edit: Sean discloses his affiliate link usage at his own site, which makes his failure to do so at ENWord ever more perplexing

Kickstarter - Shadow, Sword & Spell 2nd Edition

I never ran Shadow, Sword & Spell 1st Edition, but I own it. It was a solid system. I just happen to be drawn to S&W and it's derivatives.

Shadow, Sword & Spell 2nd Edition is the latest version of SS&S. I haven't seen the latest version of the rules, but if it holds to it's previous release, it should be a solid system.

It's 10 bucks for the PDF and $45 for the Print in SC (plus shipping)

I'm sorely tempted, but I might just drop in at the PDF level, as I don't know when I'll ever get a chance to run the system (but I steal and borrow liberally for my S&W games).

+Richard Iorio II has a solid history as a game creator / publisher, so I have little apprehension when it comes to the completion of this project.

Mini Review - Edgar Rice Burroughs Adventures (Pulp RPG)

This is going to be a fairly short review, but that's appropriate, as the page count comes in around 66 pages.

So, what is Edgar Rice Burroughs Adventures? It's a fairly simple, mostly d10 based system. Attributes are generally rolled using a d10, but there are alternate methods depending on the source material you plan on using (John Carter roll 1d6 + 4, Tarzan 2d6, etc). Success is determined by rolling a d10 and determining your level of success, or failure.

Adding to the attribute scores are skill, and not having a skill means that your relevant attempts are judged as one success level lower. That's pretty much it.

Character generation and system explanation takes up 44 of the 66 pages of content, and that's where Edgar Rice Burroughs Adventures falters. When you think ERB, you think Tarzan, you think John Carter and the like. Having roughly 8 pages devoted to the three covered settings (Pellucidar, Caspak and Barsoon) is a huge fail. That's not 8 pages per setting, it's less than 3 pages per setting.

I really wanted to like Edgar Rice Burroughs Adventures but there just too little setting for a game that is setting derived and driven.

As a total aside, the PDF clocks in at 342 MB. That's not a typo. Crypts & Things Remastered comes in at 13 MB. On top of that, the ToC is not hyperlinked. ERBA is $4.99 in PDF.

Ah well. Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's RPGNow affiliate links puts 5% of your purchase price into The Tavern's coffers. Don't leave that money on the table for the greedy corps! Tip your barman!  ;)

Comic - Corpus Christie and the Cape Girls TPB - Normally $4.99, On Sale for $0.25 Thru the Weekend

When I posted about the Aegis Publishing 70% off sale yesterday, I missed that the Corpus Christie and the Cape Girls TPB is on sale for 25 cents (normally $4.99).

I don't read much in the way of comics these days, but for a quarter I figured I could take the plunge. I'm very happy that I did. I'm far from through all 115 pages, but what I've read so far makes it worth the price of full entry, let alone 25 cents.

Enjoy :)

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's RPGNow affiliate links puts 5% of your purchase price into The Tavern's coffers. Don't leave that money on the table for the greedy corps! Tip your barman!  ;)

The Corpus Christie and the Cape Girls TPB follows the zany adventures of Corpus Christie (a girl who is so goth she's actually dead) and her two roommates: Squeak (a dominatrix with a speech impediment) and Purple (a portly dorky goth with serious magical mojo). 

When the trio decides to visit the coffee shop to ward off the evening's ennui, they come across a jock named Brad whose crush on Christie leads him to seek the aid of a voodoo wielding, zombie making pimp. Add to the chaos Brad's ax wielding jealous ex-girlfriend and it makes the perfect recipe for one hell of a bizarre night!

edit - fixed for proper discount link

Aegis Studios - 70% off Sale - Stock Art and More!

$0.45 for 12 images

+Denis McCarthy pointed out on his his Northport Blog that Aegis Studios is running a huge 70% off sale, not just on games and gaming material but stock art too.

The stock art happens to have been done by Denis who is an excellent Old School artist.

At 70% off, you simply can't go wrong.

You can grab Denis' art here and browse the rest of the Aegis Studios catalogue here.

Goodman Games adds 3rd Party Publishers to it's Online Store

Want one stop shopping for your DCC RPG gaming?

Well, look no further. Goodman Games has got it.

Actually, the store is a joy to look at. Ease of use? I'm still knocking it around but I like what I see.

Some of the 3rd party product is not in stock yet sadly, but I assume that has to do with the logistics of the 3rd Party Publisher part of the store just going live.

Disclaimer - I have no affiliation with Goodman Games. I get no monies if you shop at their online store. I share this because it is news and the DCC RPG adventures are some of the best written adventures for ANY RPG system. Period.

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