WotC Won't be at GenCon 50 - But Will be at GaryCon 2017 (and others)

It seems really strange that WotC's DnD division / staff / team / last men standing won't be at the 50th GenCon this year. I know they've been distancing themselves from GenCon for a while, but this is the 50th one after all and it has some significance (aside from being the largest gaming convention in the world)

Here's the list of the cons WotC WILL be officially attending:

PAX SOUTH
January 27-29
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
900 E Market St.
San Antonio, TX

WINTER FANTASY
February 1-5
Grand Wayne Convention Center
120 West Jefferson Blvd
Fort Wayne, IN

PAX EAST
March 10 -12
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
415 Summer Street
Boston, MA

GARY CON
March 23-26
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa
7036 Grand Geneva Way
Lake Geneva, WI

ORIGINS
June 14-18
Greater Columbus Convention Center
400 N High Street
Columbus, OH

PAX WEST
September 1-4
Washington State Convention Center
800 Convention Place
Seattle, WA

HASCON
September 9-10
Rhode Island Convention Center & Dunkin Donuts Center
1 La Salle Square & 1 Sabin St
Providence, RI

GAMEHOLE CON
November 2-5
Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall
1919 Alliant Energy Center Way
Madison, WI

I should be at two of these myself - Gary Con and Gamehole Con. Interestingly, HasCon is all about Hasbro properties. Time to play My Little Pony ;)

Tavern Chat - Tonight - 9 PM Eastern - Be There or Be Not

Yep, its Wednesday, so that means another Tavern Chat tonight at 9 PM Eastern.

What is Tavern Chat? Its that chat box on the right side of this page where readers of The Tavern get to converse via chat every Wednesday night.

What are the topics? Whatever we damn well please ;)

Join us. You never know who may pop in. Seriously. You never know...

Updated Swords & Wizardry Light PDF With Corrections & Clarifications Available for Download - High Res and Low Res

A HUGE thanks goes out to +Zach Glazar for updating the Swords & Wizardry Light PDF (both High Res and Low Res versions) with the edits, corrections and clarifications pointed out by the community.

Consider this version 1.01. Somehow I suspect there will be a minor tweak or two still to be found before we can consider this the "Gold Copy" or whatnot ;)

FYI, the High Res version of SWL was been reduced in size by about 10 MB, so over a third. to 17.5 MB. If your tablet had problems with the snazzier version before, the updated file may work better than its predecessor.

The Low Res version of SWL comes in at 3.9 MB.

As for the notable changes / corrections / clarifications:

- Starting weaponry was added to the M-U description

- Hit Dice (HD) are defined under the heading of Constitution (as a high constitution grants a bonus to the HD roll)

- The Combat Table was corrected to follow the advancement of the Fighter's BAB as detailed in the fighter's description

- Corrected the spelling of my name in the copyright ;)

- Other typos / spacing / etc

You can grab the updated PDFs as well as the Word file from here: http://bit.ly/2eHQNZw

(you do know its free, right? ;)

Roll20 Hits the 2 Million Player Mark

Roll20 has hit the 2 million player mark and then some. I was an early backer of the Roll20 Kickstarter, and truth be told, I was a little nervous with the initial release. While I wasn't asking for much, even some basic things as drawing tools were borked.

Flash ahead a bit over 4 1/2 years and not only has Roll20 become my Virtual Table Top (VTT) of choice, but that of over 2 million other players. Pretty impressive. Actually, it was my VTT of choice even with the initial quirks as the potential was just that good.

I've used MapTools, Klooge, ScreenMonkey, Fantasy Grounds 1 & 2 and a handful of other VTTs that have come and gone over the last 10 years or so and none have come close to the usability of Roll20 for me. The learning curve is small and the depth is huge.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm very much a minimalist when it comes to running my games online but there are a few features I absolutely need: online die roller, chat and fog of war (we use a third party app for voice and video usually) for my game map. Everything else is optional and not needed for my use (you milage and needs may vary). The scalability of the features in Roll20 is probably its strongest asset.

Which reminds me, now that we've resurrected the once a month "B" Team its probably time to bring back the Saturday Night Team, now with a "Lighter" Swords & Wizardry ;)

Kickstarter - Star Hat Miniatures: Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom! 2 (Get Your "Tenkar the Warrior Barkeep" Mini)

Star Hat Miniatures: Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom! 2



You know you want one. Or many.

Yep, I'm talking about your very own "Tenkar the Warrior Barkeep" miniature. Beer mug in one hand, beer cask cradled in his other arm and a bitchin' battle axe strapped to his back. Because even though beer is a priority, you need to be prepared for all situations.

Yes, the mini was made to my specifications. Darcy is amazing at the back and forth needed to get a vision like this right and my God, he did an excellent job. I owe you big time good sir, as to the readers of The Tavern. He's about 8 bucks on his own plus shipping.



Did I mention there is also a HUGE St. Andre Troll available too? Based on the creator of a certain game that goes by the initials T&T.

Oh, I'm in at $70 USC. Everything included the troll ;)

Quick Updates - 1200+ & 2300+

Over the past few days we've hit a few milestones and I figured I'd share them. I find them very gratifying as well as humbling.

Over the weekend we surpassed 1200 members in The Tavern's Facebook Community. For a community that didn't even exist even 14 months ago, I find that number to be stunning. Thank you all. I've enjoyed watching it grow from just my posts to an active community of posters and commenters. Its ALIVE! heh

Tonight we surpassed 2300 downloads for Swords & Wizardry Light. That's in addition to the hundreds of physical copies given away at Gamehole, 700 or so copies sent out with the Bard's Gate Kickstarter and hundreds more arriving with the Swords & Wizardry Complete 3rd Printing Kickstarter. And we ain't done yet. Zach, James and I have plans... as do others. Its fun. Its scary. Its scary fun!

Alright, three straight days of uncle duties are wrapping up. I need a drink ;)

Kickstarter - Life of the Party: The Realities of an RPG'er - Humorous RPG Comic

Usually I'd assume its depicting +Tim Shorts , but he avoided Natural 1's last Friday Night ;)

Time to peek at a sweet looking Kickstarter that  mocks the very game we love.

Yep, I'm talking about Life of the Party: The Realities of an RPG'er, an online comic strip releasing a printed collection.

It had a goal of $7k. It has currently surpassed $38k and still has 4 week of funding left. Stretch goals have added pages of content, a switch to hardcover and more in the pipeline.

I don't know about you, but I get a Calvin & Hobbes feel from the art, which I do like.

$10 for the PDF, $22 for Print plus PDF, $35 for Print plus PDF plus sketch - which is where I'm at. There are other, higher backer levels, but for me, $35 is the sweet point.

New Year, New Game! Sale at RPGNow - Bundles 40-58% Off - Nearly 1,000 Releases 20% Off

There's a sale going on at RPGNow - the New Year, New Game! Sale.

First off, we have bundles of Doctor Who, A Song of Ice and Fire, stars Without Number, Mummy: The Curse, Scarred Lands and Ashen Stars. You can see the "Starter" bundles here.

Then we have nearly a 1,000 other releases on sale for 20% off. White Star, DCC RPG, Crypts and Thing, Starships & Spacemen, Apes Victorious and others.

Here's the link for items tagged specifically as OSR, but its a limited selection that is properly tagged.

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's OBS 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!  ;)

This is How I Roll... Online

Well, I had a comment to the previous post which I figured needed a follow up answer and a post of its own:

Hey, barkeep. Remind us how you do your online play. I seem to recall Hangouts, but do you mix in any other apps? 

Right now I'm targeting Rolz, plus Skype. (Roll20 is just too ... much.) I don't know if I want to trust Hangouts when they are sunsetting app support. 

Regards,
Bob P

Historically I used Google Hangouts with the Roll 20 app inside the hangout. Yeah, couldn't figure out how to get ANY apps open in Google Hangouts. Google, the only company that can make great applications basically useless. Alright, maybe not the only company...

So, this is what we did:

We used Google Hangout for voice and video. I actually like seeing my players expressions and I'm sure they enjoy seeing my cat's ass in HD ;)

Then I loaded up the Roll 20 app which I had set up earlier in less that 15 minutes, sent out invite and used that on my main screen. On my vertical side screen I had the Hangout and various PDFs open.

The map is a +Dyson Logos . Its a perfect dungeon for what I needed. Support his Patreon for more awesome maps for the RPG community. Find his maps at his blog.

I use Fog of War to show may players what they can see and where they have been. I reveal new parts as the party progresses. Sure, part of the fun and challenge from my teen and college years was the mapping. Well, not really. No one ever wanted to be the mapper. Now, its not an issue.

Notice something missing? Tokens. I never use them. I could. Maybe I should. I have access to hundreds, if not thousands of them. Instead, I go more theatre of the mind. Maybe at some point in the future I'll find a nice middle ground between not using them and using all the bells and whistles.

I do use character sheets now. They actually have ones coded for Swords & Wizardry. I'm impressed.

The thing with Roll 20 is use what you need, not what sounds cool. Dynamic lighting would be a blast to use but the time needed to set it up could be better spent making blog posts like this, or writing more SWL content, or drinking more beer, or...

I roll all attack rolls, damage rolls and 99% of adversary saves in the open. I think players trust the DM to do what is right behind the screen when the rolls of chance are all in front of the screen.

As a DM, I want the players to think out of the box. You want your halfing fighter to make a running leap into the half dozen skeletons coming at you, trying to knock some over and block the doorway at the same time? Sure, make an attack roll with a penalty of 2 to the roll.

Oh, in case you missed it, here's Tim's blog post of last night's session.

Peter just put up his post. Read it. Please comment on the possible motto for The Tavern. It came up organically in play ;)

Last Night the "B" Team Playtested Swords & Wizardry Extra Light & an Adventure I am Finishing Up

Idi the Ogre by Eric Quigley

Its been a long time coming. I hadn't run a game for the "B" Team ( +Tim Shorts , +Peter V. Dell'Orto and +Douglas Cole ) since late 2015. Yeah, the last year or so of work was rough.

As Tim mentions in his post over at The Gothridge Manor, in the time since we last gamed, Doug created a Kickstarter to make grappling feasible in D20 based games and I put together Swords & Wizardry Light. Of course, Pete's been writing GURPS articles and Tim's been a beehive of creativity with his Patreon and SWL projects.

If you want a recap of last night's game session, read Tim's post on it. Its well done and entertaining.

Here's my highlights:

I got to put the Swords & Wizardry Extra Light rules into play. They are built off of SWL and they really don't change the core, just add to it. The Ranger class played well.

I also got to give the short adventure I owe +Pete Spahn a playtest. Some parts can use tightening and I certainly need to take into account that even my players can attempt non violent solutions to encounters ;)  Attempting to Charm Person an Ogre, even one that speaks Common and is inclined to negotiate, shouldn't work. But when you roll a Natural One on a save, anything can happen ;)

I need to flesh out the setup a wee bit. Which is good to know. I also know where I left out details that were in my head but not on the sheet.

It went well, even though I knew we were on a time constraint. It played out in about 2 hrs 15 minutes - probably closer to 3 hours with a larger party and a tweak to the last part of the dungeon the party reached. Right about where I want it.

I expect a relatively quiet posting weekend...

Original set up of the adventure is here.

Bundle of Holding - Adventurer Conquerer King System - ACKS Collection

I can't believe I would have missed. this if it hadn't been pointed out in a comment on the previous post. I used to check the Bundle of Holding site every few days but I've gotten lazy. In any case...

Grab this bundle!

ACKS is a great system, kinda like Labyrinth Lord with racial classes (note, I didn't say Race as Class - there is a difference and ACKS handles it well) Then you have the ACKS Player's Companion. You want a set of rules, charts, costs and balance checks to create new classes for the OSR game of your choice? This is the book for you.

Looking to handle larger combats or military actions? Check out the Domains of War books. Lairs & Encounters is practically worth the price of admission to the Bonus Collection (currently just under $20) on its own. Don't forget Dwimmermount. Even if you don't run it as is there's simply a huge amount of material to mine.

I strongly suggest the Bonus Collection if you can afford it.

You have just over 17 days to close the deal, but don't wait too long... you might forget ;)

Pathfinder Resource Material - Echelon Game Design - 40% off - Plus Pathfinder Humble Bundle

I don't play Pathfinder. Quite simply, there are just too many rules for me to follow, let alone remember while playing. Still, it is a well written system and enjoyed by a very large segment of the RPG community.

So today I'm highlighting two Pathfinder deals.

The first - Echelon Game Design, aka +Keith J Davies , is running a sale that covers nearly all of his Pathfinder resource series. Keith does extremely accurate and complete work. Here's a description of the Echelon Reference Series which is currently 40% off:

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game offers a vast range of options for characters of all classes. This is great when a player wants to explore variations on a theme, but it comes at a cost: the character options for each class have been published across many places. 

Books (hardcover compilations such as Pathfinder® Roleplaying Game Core 

Rulebook™ and Pathfinder® Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Combat™, plus the various companions, adventures, and chronicles); 

PDFs (from Paizo and from third-party publishers); 

Websites, blogs, and other online sources. 

This can be intimidating to new players, and inconvenient to experienced players. The Echelon Reference Series aims to make this easier for everyone by gather information for each class into a single book.

Then we have the Pathfinder Humble Bundle. Just in case you are a Pathfinder player without the proper basic resources - oh, and comics!

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's OBS 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!  ;)

Tavern Talk Livestream is Live! Kicking at 9 PM EST

Join +Zach Glazar , +Michael Badolato and myself for The Tavern's 2nd Tavern Talk Uncut Livestream.

Link below:

Tavern Talk Livestream Tonight with The Lesser Gnome and the Dwarven Tavernmaster - 9 PM Eastern-ish

Yep, we have the 2nd Official Tavern Talk Livestream tonight around 9 PM Eastern. Figure we'll still need a few minutes to get our act together ;)

The success of the Livestream is YOU and YOUR questions, so think of some and join us live tonight.

I'll update this post and throw up a new post when we have the link for the livestream ready.

Hopefully we'll have some Swords & Wizardry Light news to share.

For those looking for the first Tavern Talk Livestream, its linked below:

Gamer in Need - Doug Rhea (NTRPG Con Founder and Main Man) has Medical Expenses From Stage 4 Colon Cancer

Doug's Chemo Relief - SoTA CTA

Doug Rhea has Stage 4 Colon Cancer and is currently receiving chemo. The medical expenses his family is incurring are very large. In addition to being the main man behind the yearly NTRPG Con (which loses money every year because of Doug's desire to throw the "Best Gaming Convention Ever!") Doug is very active with Shroud of the Avatar (an on-line game and community) since Kickstarter. Although the GoFundMe has benefits for those that donate and are in the Shroud of the Avatar Community, Doug needs all of the support the various gaming communities can give him and his family.

If you've ever attended NTRPG Con, you should know that the awesomeness of the Con itself is directly related to Doug's generosity. Lets see if we can return the favor in this time of need.

Those pledging $50 or more will receive a free pass to NTRPG Con courtesy of Doug.

From the GoFundMe page:

SoTA Community Call to Action - Help IronMaiden 

The campaign is on behalf of Doug (IronMaiden) Rhea. Doug recently (and unexpectedly) discovered he has stage 4 colon cancer. Doug needs $25,000 to cover overwhelming medical bills.  

Doug is an avid gamer and a major supporter of Shroud of the Avatar (an on-line game and community) since Kickstarter.  Doug has 7 accounts + add-ons (and no time/energy to play) and would like to sell them to help pay for his unexpected medical bills.  

As a community of SoTA players, we can help Doug (our fellow Avatar) relieve the pressure of finances and focus on what is important: healing and getting well.  

Our Mission 

We will buy Doug's accounts (via this GoFundMe drive) and hold a charity auction for all whom contribute in this campaign (donating $100 or more). All proceeds will go to Doug (up to 25K) and the remainder will be put into a charity for other Avatars who are in desperate need (per Doug's request). He only seeks to recoup his investment and then wants us to help others. 

About IronMaiden 

Doug is 53 years old, married with 1 son, and 3 beautiful grandkids: Daegan 6, Cora 2, and newborn Griffin.    

Dougs still runs a BBS (gamemastersrealm.com/client), collects old BBS game doors (BBSFiles.com), hosts game servers for Never Winter Nights (nordock.net), and game servers for Quake, Tribes 1, Tribes 2, Wolfenstein, Freelancer and even an old Shard for playing the Ultima Online Renaissance. Doug is an early backer of Shroud of the Avatar and has 9 accounts ranging from Lord of the Manor to Edelmann. 

Doug also hosts and runs the North Texas RPG Con (ntrpgcon.com) every year. 

Pledge Reward Levels: 

Avatars who pledge $25 or more will receive an exclusive, rare cloak in game. This cloak will be custom-colored (TBD), and carry the unique name: IronMaiden's Chemo Relief Fund. The style will be based-off of the ever-popular community events cloak:

Avatars who pledge $50 or more will receive a free pass to the North Texas RPG Con courtesy of Doug (travel and lodging not included). 

Avatars who pledge $100 or more will be invited to participate in an exclusive charity auction for Doug's accounts/deeds/add-ons. This auction will be commission free and provided by Shroud Marketplace.  

Reminder - Tavern Chat - Tonight 9PM Eastern - SWL gets some updates...

Its Wednesday, so that means another Tavern Chat from 9PM to 11PM, using that chat box on the right.

Topics?

Swords & Wizardry Light got some edits, updates and corrections to the Word file.

I got myself a Green Screen

Possibly Tavern Talk Uncut tomorrow night

Imaginary law enforcement with imaginary arrest warrants...

Plus whatever else the community decides.

See you then...

Con Man Ken is Offering Acting Lessons Tonight

Go figure, a time sensitive post.

Yes, none other than our very own #ConManKen is offering acting lessons tonight at 6PM in London, KY.

Remember, those that CAN - DO. Those that CAN'T - TEACH. I suspect this is one of those situations that falls squarely in the middle with the expected mediocre results.

I wonder if the lessons include: "How to accumulate your own film equipment using other peoples money?" Maybe that's in the Advanced Class...

Neoplastic Press Puts All Titles at PWYW at OBS (and at cost at Lulu)

+Rafael Chandler has put all of his titles at PWYW in PDF at OBS and AT COST over at Lulu.

Terratic Tome, Roll XX, Lusus Naturae and others.

          EVERYTHING MUST GO

All my PDF gaming stuff is now free or pay-what-you-want. All my print gaming stuff is now sold at cost (no profits to me). Why? Because I pretty much broke even, and had a bit left over to commission some artwork for that heavy metal OSR sourcebook I'm working on. Time to cut prices to the bone! If you like cannibalism, tentacles, and scaphism, check out my stuff in the links below (also, new Lulu code: RESOLUTE15 saves you 15% -- Christ, talk about burying the lede, Chandler).

Here's the link for the PWYW PDFs

Here's the link for the at cost Print at Lulu

Here's a 15% off Lulu coupon:  RESOLUTE15

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's OBS 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!  ;)

TSR Tuesday - Chainmail $5 in PDF - Mic Drop...

Chainmail is $5 in PDF.

Shall we do a mic drop?

Sure, there were other releases for TSR Tuesday - Print and PDF - but does anything come close to Chainmail?

Questions for the Tavern Master - Swords & Wizardry Light Omissions, Clarifications & Questions - Part the First

+Sophia Brandt emailed me some questions / clarifications regarding Swords & Wizardry Light. Without further ado, here we go:

edit - somehow blogger dropped this post)

I'm writing on a post for SW Light. First, great idea to slim down the ruleset!

Second, I have some questions + I found a typo.
a) Typos
1. The Thief:
"...Leather Armor AC 12[7]." - Shouldn't it be AC 7[12]?
ET - yep - that's a typo

2. Magic-User
Magic-user spells – Level 1 (*user* is lowercase)
ET - I'd need to refer this to one of our grammar experts...

b) Questions
Does the game assume that the reader knows Swords & Wizardry rules?
ET - No, but it does assume a familiarity with RPGs and to a lesser extent older editions of the original RPG. Basically, lapsed gamers and current players of the latest editions and those between. Can you learn to play from just these rules? Probably, but it would sure be easier to have a gamer show you the ropes, as we learn best by doing and experiencing, not by reading. With just 4 pages to play with, explaining the concept of an RPG is beyond the scope of the rules

1. Ability Scores/Ability Score modifiers
You mention that you can use the bonuses for different things, for example, STR bonus for Fighters to hit. But there is no table for the bonuses. AFAIK the modifiers between various editions are slightly different.

ET - There is no table because there is only, at most, a + 1 bonus

2. Hit Die
Is it a d6? HD is mentioned but it's not explained that HD = Hit Dice

ET - The morning tea hasn't quite kicked in, so I can't say for sure we explained that you roll a D6 for Hit Dice. A D20 and D6s are, however, the only dice used in the game. That was to simplify the learning curve, as I've noticed new players often have difficulty telling the different sized dice apart.

As for Hit Dice = HD, it is a common abbreviation across all editions of the game. Additionally, it is shown here for clarity:

3. M-U
Does the M-U get no starting weapons, no dagger? Per rules as written he only gets a spellbook.

ET - That is a big "oops". Dagger or staff. I'll update the Word file later today.

4. Does spellcasting require a test?
Couldn't find an explanation, just that the M-U prepares spells.

ET - As far as I can recall, no edition of the original RPG required a test or spell check to cast a spell (later editions did require one if struck while casting, and the DCC RPG does require such, but it is a very different beast)

All the questions may be redundant if you assume familiarity with S&W Complete. But then it wouldn't be necessary to explain a lot of other things.

ET - Excellent questions. It should be noted that the Swords & Wizardry Light Word Doc will be the living document for SWL. All corrections and edits will be made to the document you see in the SWL download folder. I'll make sure to add a "date updated" to the last page, so you know how current a copy you have. If and when there is a 2nd printing of SWL we'll make sure to include the fixes and corrections.

Please send any questions / clarifications / unlawful gratuities to tenkarsDOTtavern at that Gmail thing. Put SWL in the email title if you could.

Thanks.

Tenkar

State of The Tavern - Light Posting Week and Time Sinks, Oh My!

Yep, just like last week was fairly light, this will probably be another, even lighter, posting week. I need to finish some work for +Pete Spahn , get the Tavern Talk Live podcast conversion of the Livestream done, probably record another Livestream with +Zach Glazar and deal with the ongoing drama that is my mother's cousin (amazingly NOT kicked out of Assisted Living her first weekend, but damn it was close). This is a hellova time sink. Oh, and a dozen or so other responsibilities that have crept in. Heh. Fun times.

Oh, did I mention the metric ton of product I need to review? Amazing stuff like Bard's Gate, Blood in the Chocolate, Hubris, Gramma World and others. I may need to lock myself in a room for a couple of hours a day to get all caught up.

Now, for those playing along at home, I can be found running my mouth with various others of more import than myself on:

The Old School Blues Podcast

Save or Die! Expert Edition Podcast

The Tavern Talk Livestream on Youtube (and soon an audio file on iTunes, so help me God) - I even ordered a green screen for effect - lets see if it works

Tavern Analytics - We Are an Older Bunch of F@ckers ;)

ENworld just posted their analytics results and I figured it would be interesting peeking at those of The Tavern.

79.5% of Tavern readers are 35 years of age or older. For ENworld, approximately 70% of their readership is 34 years of age or younger.

96.2% of Tavern readers identify as male, putting female readership at 3.8% (if I recall correctly, it was 3.1% back in July)

ENworld is 92.4% and 7.6% respectively.

There are observations that can be made from these numbers about the number of female gamers in the hobby, but the biggest one is that they are an untaped market for the gaming hobby in general.

68.3% of Tavern visitors are returning visitors, ENworld has a 67.3% rate. Pretty much the same.

So, The Tavern audience consists overwhelmingly of middle aged men. Sounds like my local pub :)

Save or Die! Podcast - Resurrected!

The Save or Die! Podcast is continuing in a slightly new format with new hosts. Its new, official title is Save or Die! Expert Edition in homage to the Expert Boxed Set. The main man behind the wheel is none other than +James Spahn himself.

Now, if James reaches out and asks a favor of you, who among us would say "No!" Not I, as I owe James much over the past few years, so I readily agreed to join James in his newest endeavor. Along with James and I, +Vincent Florio and +Glen Hallstrom also agreed to be part of the newly assembled team. For me, it is almost a homecoming to my first podcasting experience, the Brainstorm Podcast.

Episode Adventure#131 is actually a Swords & Wizardry Light episode. By the way, I am TM Erik - Tavernmaster :)

After hovering on Death’s Door for a few rounds, Save or Die continues! Save or Die: Expert Edition bursts on to the scene with Swords & Wizardry Light – an ultralight folio sized incarnation of the flagship Frog God Games fantasy roleplaying game. Join DM James, DM Vince, TM Erik, and DM Glen as they keep it light, keep it fast, and keep it fun!

So, if you want some behind the scenes info (and some upcoming plans) of Swords & Wizardry Light, here's your chance.

Kickstarter - The Folio #12 & #13 - 1E / 5E

Art of the Genre has issues #12 & #13 of The Folio currently funding on Kickstarter. If you've been following along at home, AoG does some high quality releases and they release on time. I know, that's a rarity among gaming Kickstarters, and R. Scott Taylor hits the mark each time. There really should be a Tenkie Award for such an achievement.

The art is top notch as always and I love the fact that the covers are folders like in the era of 1E. Yeah, I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

Folio #12 & #13, along with the prior #11, which can also be ordered from the current Kickstarter, make of the City of Taux Trilogy. You get adventure and setting material in each issue. Game information is given in both 1e and 5e format, so it is both OSR compatible as well as with the latest edition.

I haven't been disappointed with a Folio yet, but I am the type of GM that constantly mines my collection of gaming material for ideas and twists in my campaign. The Folio series has been an excellent resource for me.

Swords & Wizardry Light "Word File" and Smaller PDF (3 MB) are Now Live!

Thanks to the magic of +Zach Glazar we now have a Swords & Wizardry Light PDF that clocks in at 3 MB. The original file was a hair over 26 MB, so Zach found a nearly 90% savings for you. Yes, its now a "lighter Light" ;)

Additionally there is a Swords & Wizardry Light Word file available for download. You want to hack the rules? Have at it. I know I will. Heh.

Here's the link for the Swords & Wizardry Light folder:  http://bit.ly/2eHQNZw 

For those asking, yes, its a free download.

Work continues on Swords & Wizardry Extra Light, which is extra goodies for SWL, not a more stripped down SWL, as that would be crazy talk...

Old School Blues Podcast - Episode #8 - How can you have any Black Pudding if you don't eat your meat!?!

Last night, Vince, Colin and myself reviewed Black Pudding #2 on the Old School Blues episode #8. How did it go? Well, I'm going to quote the great DM, Tim Connolly:

It was just like having you and Vince in my car with me whilst I was driving to Levittown and back again to Glem Cove afterwards. 

I'm awarding it 6 tankards!

There you have it.

Listen to the podcast, but before you do, download your copy of Black Pudding #2 so you can follow along at home. Unless you're driving. It that case, read Black Pudding later ;)

Save Failed! Save or Die! Podcast Loses its Hosts

The Save or Die! Podcast hosts have left the podcast. Liz, Mike and Jim are moving on. To what? No clue. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a new project involving one or more of the team - podcasts rarely die, they just reincarnate as new beasts ;)

So, where does this leave the Save or Die! Podcast? Sadly, the last episode with the current team was a Email Hot Tub episode. Its no secret that I dislike email features of podcasts in general and having a whole episode dedicated to it? Needless to say, I won't be listening to episode 130. I hereby declare that the last Liz, Mike and Jim episode of SoD was episode 129, when they reviewed The Hero's Journey - that way their run truly ends on a high note.

Will Save or Die! continue? I suspect so, but it won't be the same creature. I'm interested to see what Wild Games Productions has in store for the future of SoD. +Vincent Florio , can I request less emails? ;)

Why I Focus on the Kickstarter Con Men - Hatred or Diligence?

There is currently a discussion going on in a Google Plus Community that has come down to this - is shining a continual spotlight on certain reprehensible individuals (my words, not theirs) that have abused the Kickstarter process to harm our gaming community an act of hatred or diligence?

Let me get this out there. I hate neither Gareth nor Con Man Ken. I do, however, loathe them for what they have done to the gaming community and to the Kickstarter process.

You see, no project creator on Kickstarter is in a bubble of their own (well, maybe Monte). When someone abuses the process, there are repercussions throughout this hobby of ours. I can't tell you the number of communications I've had with folks that tell me its because of Gareth, #ConManKen, Brave Halfling, Nystul, Myth & Magic or some other "took their money and failed to deliver" Kickstarter creator that they are now gun shy when it comes to supporting further Kickstarters.

Can you blame them?

Kickstarter funding requires trust and that is something that can not be bought, only earned. It is easy to lose and difficult to regain. And its a fucking shame that shitty people have taken the money of others and given back nothing that was promised, even years later.

Some do try to make right. Others, like Nystul, fall on the sword and admit to their failures. I can respect that. I might not be happy with the results, but it takes a certain amount of introspection to admit you are a failure. It also requires honesty.

Neither ConMan Ken nor Gareth are honest. They have yet to show they have the potential to be so. I will continue to shine my light on the pair of them until they either provide their backers with the products that were promised them OR fall on the sword, admit to their lies and failures and cease trying to fleece honest people of their money. They are a blight on this hobby of ours. Maybe by keeping this pair in focus I have discouraged others. Maybe...

So no, its not hatred. It isn't just diligence. Its a responsibility that I take seriously, even if I do make some of the posts lighthearted at times.

There you have it.

Darkzel Art Scholarship 2016-17

+Grim Jim / James Desborough and I do not see eye to eye on everything but we do have some significant common ground. I've always felt that artists in our hobby are underpaid, whether they are "A" names like Doug Kovacs or skilled unknowns just finding their way, taking their first steps to getting their works published in this hobby of ours. Yes, I call it a hobby - its my perspective. For others, this is a business and a livelihood.

Well, James has put together a scholarship fund to assist artists like the one this scholarship is named after:

This will be the fourth annual fundraiser in memory of my long-time art collaborator ‘Zel’ Harris, cruelly taken from us in a terrible accident, putting paid to what I always thought was a very promising career in art. In his memory and given working for me helped him through his education, I have set up an annual scholarship to aid genre artists working their way through college or in reduced circumstances such as disability, long term unemployment, mental health crises and other hardships. 

The fundraising part will run through the month of December and we’ll be accepting entries through December and January before awarding the scholarship by the end of February. 

We already have a fund of $100 from this year’s art sales, I’ll be seeking to raise another $500 on top of that for a total of at least $600 as a scholarship. 

The aim is still to make the scholarship self funding and it has become apparent that a much stronger effort is going to be needed to make this happen. As such I’m doing a big push this year for donation art. As well as supporting with financial contributions, sharing on social media etc I will be hitting up artists for contributions that can be sold to help support the scholarship in the coming years. 

More information will be coming soon, but for now if you’re an artist or know artists and are willing to help, please contact me about submitting a piece for sale (as stock art) to help continue to fund the scholarship. Your work will be sold electronically and will be used – with credit – by multiple role-playing and publishing companies as well as contributing via the sales to the fund. 

These pieces should be genre fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, superheroes or similar) and 300-600dpi. Old pieces or concept pieces you haven’t otherwise sold are perfectly acceptable. 

I think you, in advance, for your aid, whether in donating art or helping with the publicity and fundraising in the near future! 

Love and bunnies,
Grim

So, how can you help?

Here's the link to enter if you are an artist in need of assistance or have art to donate.

Here's the link to donate to the fund.

If you do donate, please make a note of it in the comments below. The Tavern will match the first $50 raised by Tavern Readers by 1159 PM, Eastern, Sunday January 8th, 2017.

Tales From the Yawning Portal - Against the Giants, Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain and others coming to 5e this Spring

Forbes has an article on Tales From the Yawning Portal (are they getting paid by WotC?) but the gist of things is seven adventures from various editions are being converted into a D&D 5e adventure path this coming April.

What's included?

-Against the Giants
-Dead in Thay
-Forge of Fury
-Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
-Sunless Citadel
-Tomb of Horrors
-White Plume Mountain

I wonder if they will be using any of the crowdsourced edition translations that have been published on the DM's Guild / OBS site in whole or as a resources. Do you give up all rights to your work when you do said translations?

The Brain Gorger's Appetite releases at Frog God Games Online Store

The Brain Gorger's Appetite (for 5e) just released at the Frog God Games webstore. From what I can tell, this is the first third party product carried at the FGGs store, which is impressive unto itself. You know its a quality release if Bill Web approves of it. Heck, its the rare gaming release I read cover to cover.

Remember, orders of physical items, such as The Brain Gorger's Appetite, will have a copy of Swords & Wizardry Light included in the package for free. Just sayin'. $14.99 in Print. $5 in PDF.

The Brain Gorger's Appetite is the first official convention module originally released at GameHole Con 2016.

For the most part, the town of Ockney’s Hold has always been a peaceful place—bordering on boring. The most interesting things going on in this frontier mining settlement include the annual livestock fair, the cost of spirits at its various inns, and speculation fueled by those same spirits as to what foul things are being dumped into the river by the ore refinery. Recently, however, the usually placid Baron Reinson has begun to act erratically, ignoring most of his counselors, giving more responsibility to his equally erratic chamberlain, and replacing key figures in Ockney’s Hold with outsiders. With no clear answers as to what might be behind the baron’s strange behavior, his last loyal counselor seeks out a band of adventurers to help. Will these brave heroes be able to get to the bottom of a widening conspiracy? And can they expose the terrible and unseen forces manipulating the baron in time to save Ockney’s Hold?

Gareth is Adamant He will Release... Anything but Far West: Thrilling Tales 2e: Pulp Villains - The Subterranean Monarch releases for the New Year

Ah, you gotta love it when one flat out lies to one's backers about putting product into their virtual hands before the year is out (yep, never happened - color me surprised) and yet finds time to release a product for yet another product line.

Thrilling Tales 2e: Pulp Villains - The Subterranean Monarch

Awesome! So, this means all proceeds are going towards putting already paid for physical copies of Far West into backers hands, right?

Er, right?

Maybe?

Far West. When tomorrow is always a day away.

In all seriousness, the reason that Far West is Far From Complete is because there is no money in it. The money is long ago spent and the layers of media that were planned to be built upon the Far West property have rotted away over 5 years of falsehoods and misdirection.

New releases, semi detached from the Albatross can generate income for Adamant / Gareth. Far West is a time and money pit with no current upside - all the upside was spent up front with little if anything to show for it.

This is why there are no refunds - there IS NO MONEY left to refund anybody. I'm not going to guess what it was spent on, but it certainly wasn't held aside to ensure print copies went out to backers.

There is mismanagement here, not just of time but of the funds and it should serve as a warning for anyone looking to do business with Gareth in the future.

Remember, if it never releases, there will never be further refunds. I think I understand now...

Oh, and those "beta versions"? Four months later - haven't happened.

Tavern Chat - 9 PM Eastern Tonight - Talk on the Livestream and More

The Tavern Chat Livestream kicked off last Friday. Although it had a rough first few minutes, it went amazingly well over all and we'll be converting it to an audio podcast too.

Tonight is the regular weekly Tavern Chat, where everyone who wants to gets to join the chat room and chaos ensues.

My day has led me to crack open a bottle of red and I'm quite sure I'll be done with that bottle before 9 PM - Yep, we may have our very own chaos.

See y'all tonight :)

TSR Tuesday,er, Wednesday - New PoD Releases

I missed this post last week and I'm late with it this week. as I've said elsewhere, life has been busy (and today has real doozy potential ;)

This week we have two TSR Era POD releases:

GAZ6 The Dwarves of Rockhome - it's a Gazetteer about Dwarves. Really, do I need to say more?  I'm tempted, because I never owned this back in the day and well... dwarves!

CM3 Sabre River (Basic) - I never owned the Companion rules, so I never owned this adventure / setting back when, but my God, it includes wresting rules for BECMI. +Douglas Cole you might find this interesting. $9.99 in Print

The Tavern Chat Livestream will soon be available as a Podcast

We've gotten some very nice feedback on The Tavern Chat Livestream that +Zach Glazar and I recorded last Friday night. Going forward, the goal is to record two sessions a month, with Zach and / or other guests from the OSR community. Just as last Friday, most of the discussion will be fueled by questions asked by out live audience.

As an aside, I'll be keeping the Adult Swim green screen effect and probably swap out art with each episode ;)

I do realize that watching Youtube videos isn't everyone's "cup of tea". The idea is to give you options to access the content. I'll be working on getting the audio uploaded as a podcast feed available on iTunes and other podcatching software. I'm hoping for mid week of next week to kick off the podcast side, but that's a soft date. I'll also be working on editing the Swords & Wizardry Light rules into a word doc for your houseruling pleasure during this time.

As for who the next guest will be, I guess we'll find out next week...

Its 2017 - Where's My F@cking Far West!?!

Gareth, he of endless release dates, promised to release Far West by the "end of the year" even if it was a dump of an incomplete manuscript.

So, where is it Gareth?

Failed again? Say it isn't so. After five fucking years there must be SOMETHING to show for the effort.

How about some words of wisdom attributed to Mister Big Time Publisher?

Gareth, after five years, this is your baby and yours alone. There is one thing I do understand about publishing - if the manuscript isn't complete, it can't be published. Gee, who has supposedly been working on the manuscript for the past five years?

Don't blame Cubicle 7 at this point. They jumped in to save your ass and you had nothing to give them in publishable form.

If you have nothing, be a man and admit it. Right now you've been playing the gaming community for a bunch of fools almost as long as Con Man Ken.

The Tomb of Imperishable Darkness - Background and Intro

-Prince Calishun, First Dwarven Lord of the Imperishable Darkness, knew his day of death was soon approaching. He had created a tomb for himself and his undying servants and for now it served as both temple and residence. Each night he threw the bones of destiny. Each night all he knew was his time was near. Then soon became now, and he barred the entrance to the tomb, his tomb. He went to his crypt and started the ritual that would make him one beyond the undying. He would leave the mortal realm and embrace his destiny. And then there was darkness...

-One of Grunx's kobold scouts reported finding doors in a shallow cave. Doors often meant halls and rooms made by the builders, and that meant warm nights and a sleeping mat. These things were important to Grunx. An ogre considered large even my his brethren, Grunx had learned long ago the secret to survival - let others fight for you and if possible, let others find your food. Finding a leaderless war band of kobolds was a win win for both. Grunx was an able leader and the kobolds had good survival instincts.

The scout was right, there were doors - double doors to be correct. Old doors. Heavy and barred doors. It took Grunx nearly 5 minutes to get the doors open and in doing so, he removed the right door completely off of its hinges. Inside was a hallway. This was promising. Grunx reattached the door as best he could and led his band of Kobolds into the darkness beyond.

-Tomas the Hunter followed the kobold tracks back to a small cave. He didn't get too close, but now he knew where they were based at. Their ogre leader couldn't be far and that was an encounter he didn't wish to have. The caravan masters would pay well for this info and bands of adventurers were rarely hard to find.

Yep, that writer's block is gone. +Pete Spahn , it shouldn't be long now. Maybe I should run a fever for full effect ;)

Creativity is Fed by Illness it Seems

So, yesterday I was pretty much laid out for the day and something strange happened - the writer's block I've suffered recently didn't just end, it started me back at the beginning and moved forward.

Whereas before I had a half dozen adventure seeds that weren't able to get over the creative hump, last night I had an adventure outlined on paper, rooms being detailed and everything already detailed in my head. Surprisingly, I don't seem to have lost anything in that head of mine after a solid 10 hours sleep.

Now, life rarely cooperates with such niceties, and lo and behold, Pinkie and my sis are coming over in half an hour. Thankfully, Pinkie, all of six years going on middle age in some ways, has been known to order me to sit at my desk and write - just need to see if I can convince her to do the same today.

So, a dozen kobolds and an ogre walk into a tomb...

Inauspicious Start for the New Year? - A Stomach Bug Welcomes your Bartender to 2017 - But Then...

Yeah, today has NOT been a fun day. Its been a good day for NYC NFL teams, but instead of watching the games from the pub or the couch, I've been watching mostly from bed. I've been knocked down by a stomach bug. Hasn't been fun.

There have been some bright spots though :)

+James Spahn forwarded the current draft of what is being referred to as Swords & Wizardry Extra Light and damn it looks good. I might have some occasional good ideas, but James has constant good ideas coupled with amazing writing skills. If all goes well the draft will be put into play next weekend.

Did I mention there is a Tenkar the Dwarf mini in the works? +Darcy Perry of Star Hat Minis is leaving me in awe with each update. Yep, that's the WIP pictured above.

Well, if I need a stomach bug to have such awesome progress being made on projects I am personally invested in, I guess I can handle it. 2017 looks better already ;)