Goodman Games - NEW Official Written Statement re: Judges Guild

Link here

Following up on our recent video, this statement is to confirm the following points regarding Goodman Games and our former relationship with Judges Guild.  

To start with, we are disgusted and disheartened by the antisemitism, bigotry, and racism exhibited by the current owners of Judges Guild.  

Goodman Games has stopped selling our previous Judges Guild products through all distribution channels.  

Judges Guild will no longer receive income from Goodman Games products now that sales of their titles have ceased.  

We have one remaining product to release, which is a collector’s edition focused on the works of Jennell Jaquays. Jennell’s story is one quite different from the views espoused by Bob Bledsaw Jr. Judges Guild and Bob Bledsaw Jr. have agreed to receive no royalties of any kind from this title. To say it bluntly: Bob Bledsaw Jr. and Judges Guild will not profit from the Judges Guild Deluxe Collector’s Edition Vol. 2 focused on the works of Jennell Jaquays. Goodman Games will match 20% of the proceeds of this title with donations: 10% to the Anti Defamation League and 10% to GLAAD. The funds that would have been used for a Judges Guild licensing fee will be included in this donation, as requested by Bob Bledsaw Jr.  

After this final volume, we have no plans to release future Judges Guild titles.  

We are deeply saddened and frankly horrified by the views espoused by Bob Bledsaw Jr. 

It answers the questions I had from yesterday's video.

Goodman Games makes an Official Statement re: Judges Guild / Bob Bledsaw II

The official statement is itself a video. Watch the video, then read my observations below it. It is less than 7 minutes long.

You DON'T start your official statement saying you are making the statement because "we need to get out in front of that drama."

I felt it was more of an attempt to protect their licensed project that is in the works than to make a true statement about the current situation with Bob Bledsaw II.

There is no statement regarding any possible future projects licensed from Judges Guild, nor does it mention current properties licensed from Judges Guild and their future.

Jennell and Godman were going to donate 20% of their KS monies to charity. They approached Bob II and through no suggestion from them, he offered to donate all royalties that Judges Guild would receive. Bob's donation does NOT increase the 20% donation, so more monies for Jennell and Goodman and NO MONIES towards the CSIO Kickstarter. Bob II has said in past comment all monies coming into Judges Guild from royalties and PDF sales would go towards making CSIO backers whole.

Compared to other publisher statements regarding Judges Guild, I find it lacking.

Did I mention a small thing about Kickstarter and charities?

Time for Me to Brush Up on My AD&D 1e Knowledge

It looks like I'll need to brush up on my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1e knowledge, not just the rules but the history and evolution.

Which is why I am breaking out my copy of the Dragon Magazine Archive. I didn't realize how important this would be for me on a personal level when I bought it back when it was released back in 1999. Apparently, I've lost the DM utility disk over the years. Doubt it would work on my Mac in any case ;)

Before the internet and social media became what they are now, the best way to get a feeling for the pulse of anything was magazines and the like. Dragon issues from the bast should give a decent view of the "inside baseball" of what became AD&D 1e.

Going to be some fun times :)

Deal of the Day - Dark Streets & Darker Secrets

Today's Deal of the day at DriveThruRPG is Dark Streets & Darker Secrets. While not strictly "old school" in nature, it certainly has that feel. Without much work, you could probably emulate the Dresden setting or World of Darkness. For 2 bucks (normally 9.99), you really are getting a modern age horror RPG bargain.

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets is a Street & Sorcery Rules Light Role-Playing Game with an Old School spirit, just like its predecessors: Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells and Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells. 

It’s a game about modern adventures in the world we live today, only with a layer of supernatural weirdness and horror. Characters are people who have found out about the mysteries and horrors that exist in the world and have decided to do something about it, be it battle it, join it, or simply explore its possibilities in any way they see fit. They will battle evil cultists, corrupted ghosts, bloodsucking vampires, and frenzied werewolves, or maybe they will be the horrors of others. This edition of the game assumes the reader knows the principles of what role-playing games are and how they are played. 

What will you get with this book? Not only you will get a complete game system for urban fantasy, action horror and street and sorcery stories, you will also find tools and generators to create cities, neighborhoods, organizations, factions, NPS, monsters, ancient and sinister artifacts, complete adventures, which can all be of great help to inspire Referees of all modern games! 

So grab your leather jacket, a baseball bat and whatever you can get your hands on to put the bad monsters to rest and come explore these dark streets and unveil these darker secrets.

Yep, that is an affiliate link above. Affiliate links keep the beer cold and the taps flowing here at The Tavern.

Kickstarter - Valor Knights: The Electrocube War (ZineQuest 2)

A complete roleplaying-game-in-a-zine that is more than meets the eye by Eric Bloat and Phil Stone.

Ah, Transformers. I was a bit too old for it when it released in 1984, just starting my senior year of High School, but that didn't stop me from watching it upon getting home from school. I never was interested in the toy line, but I did enjoy the caroons.

As an RPG? Shjit, I might just need Valor Knights: The Electrocube War. 5 bucks for the PDF, 15 for the Print plus PDF.

Valor Knights is a complete RPG in a zine format.  VK uses a hybrid combination of The Black Hack by David Black and The Blackest of Deaths Game System by Eric Bloat.  Its fast, loose and a ton of fun to play; A perfect game to emulate the over the top 80s cartoon tropes and adventures that we remember and love.

Rules included:

• Core Mechanic
• Hindrance & Benefit
• Advantage & Disadvantage
• Attributes (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma) 
• Determining Attributes, Luck
• Hit Points, Hit Dice, Healing and Death
• Evade & Armor Points, Damage Points
• Leveling Up
• Everything in Turn, Initiative, Time & Turns
• Movement & Distances (Close, Near, Far, Distant)
• Shifting
• Character Creation
• Character Classes (Leader, Warrior, Support, Mini-Bot)
• Weapons & Equipment
• Valor Knights vs Chaos Lords

Announcements Regarding Judges Guild / Bob Bledsaw JR from Various Publishers and Conventions

FYI, Judges Guild is no longer available for sale at DrveThruRPG. I have not seen an official announcement from OneBookShelf nor Judges Guild explaining why the products were removed.

NTRPG Con That I even have to make a public statement about this is uncomfortable. But I have been contacted by a few regular attendees asking about Bob Bledsaw Jr. and the statements that came to light this week on his social media pages. No, he will not be asked back to the con nor allowed to attend. While Doug and I foster an inclusive environment, believe in free speech, and champion gaming with all other gamers over political litmus tests, this is a step too far. Bob's statements weren't another political view. They were the kind of statements that show extreme ignorance at best and promulgation of evil at worst. Doug and I both were shocked by Bob's comments and taken by surprise....we've talked with him for years and never had a clue. In fact in person he seemed like a nice guy. We never suspected he held opinions and beliefs that are antithesis to what brings us to the gaming table to share adventures and companionship at cons, nor that he would state them so publicly. Stated bluntly, if you have views like Bobs and feel the need to share them socially, please don’t attend NTRPG con. 

Doug and I aren't looking for kudos or backpats for this, this is pretty much Being a Human 101. If you want to thank us, please spread the word that Judges Guild products and Bob Bledsaw Sr shouldn't be held responsible for Bob Jrs words, and people should continue to enjoy the great gaming products JG gave us over the years. Good people like Jennell Jaquays and Paul Elkmann own some of their own JG material they worked on and shouldn't have to suffer guilt by association. Support them and other creators like Robert Conley who have contributed to the mythos over the years. And thanks for attending the con for 11 years and trusting us enough to provide a safe enough con that you share this experience with your kids and sometimes grandkids. Gaming is something that brings us together, in good and bad times, and we love seeing all of you every year. Be safe and be good to each other. Michael Badoloto - NTRPG https://www.facebook.com/groups/310434204630/ 

The Secrets of Blackmoor Team Due to recent events that have come to our attention, there will be changes in the Tonisborg Dungeon book. 

We had initially reached out to Bob Bledsaw and Judges Guild to partner on the book via artwork and branding. At the time, we wanted to ally ourselves with a company and artist that would help boost visibility to Blackmoor fans. We also felt the book should be in the same category as Dave Arneson's First Fantasy Campaign, which was produced by Judges Guild way back in 1977. However, due to a series of entirely unacceptable comments made by Bob Bledsaw Jr. and Bob Bledsaw III on social media, we can't continue a business relationship with the Bledsaw family or Judges Guild.  

We are still very much dedicated to producing the Tonisborg Dungeon book. The manuscript is full of fun OSR material for new and old referees, and the dungeon itself deserves to be in print for everyone to enjoy. To this end, we will be dropping the Judges Guild name from the publication and replace the Bledsaw artwork with works by other artists before going to press. 

Additionally, we are aware that we've delayed delivery on your Kickstarter rewards way too long. On our end, it's been an issue of trying to cut shipping costs and waiting with crossed fingers for everything made by our vendors to arrive. We're just going to cut to the chase today and ship what we have (DVD's, Blu rays, T-shirts, and Dice Bags).
We want to hear from you, our backers, on how you feel about the changes to the Tonisborg book. Please respond here, or send us a message privately.
Thank you, The Secrets of Blackmoor Team https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/secretsofblackmoor/secrets-of-blackmoor-the-true-history-of-dungeons/posts/2756098

Frog God Games Recently the owner of Judges Guild made a series of racist and anti-semitic posts on Facebook. We will not reproduce them here; they are shown on Rob Conley's Bat in the Attic blog, and we are convinced of their authenticity. Rob wrote his post because, as a licensee of Judges Guild property, he felt he needed to state clearly that he would not be doing business with Judges Guild in the future. We have also licensed property from Judges Guild in the past, and we are seconding Rob's example by cutting off all future business with Judges Guild. The posts made on Facebook were completely unacceptable.     https://www.facebook.com/frog.god.games/                                    

Bat in the Attic - Rob Conley Concerning Judges Guild

I use facebook to keep in contact with various individuals including Robert Bledsaw II, the owner of the Judges Guild IP and the son of one of the company's founders.

Saturday evening, I noticed the following post:

Read the caption above the picture to see the issue. This is unacceptable. 

Sunday evening, I called Robert Bledsaw II and discussed the issue. I notified him that I will no longer be doing future Judges' Guild projects and will only continue to sell what I have currently listed.  I stated that I will be calling the other Judges Guild licensee and inform them of the situation and of my decision. 

I was not planning making any public announcements. Given the mob mentality I have seen emerge, I was not comfortable in making a public statement. 

However, because I was calling several people who are immediately affected by this situation, the odds of a public post were high. With issues like these, one has to follow the dictates of their conscience. It has gone public hence this post explaining what happened and why. 

In addition to the above post, I noticed shortly before the call the following post:

The video is of Christian Bale dropping the card and looking disappointed. 

This cemented my decision that I can no longer be in a future business relationship with Judges Guild. Then later this post was pointed out to me:

This too, I consider unacceptable. 

For now, I will keep up my Judges Guild related products up for sale. I currently have a unique situation in regards to the royalties I pay. Given the state of the Kickstarter finances, Robert Bledsaw II suspended the royalty payments in lieu of paying me for finishing the last nine maps. This has been going on since November of 2017 when I released the CSIO map. Since then, all revenue after taxes and expenses have gone to me. This will not last indefinitely, at which point I will have to revisit having these products listed based on how things have progressed. I will make an announcement accordingly. 

Expect a post outlining my future plans for Bat in the Attic Games. In a nutshell, I wasn't expecting to have a license to Judges Guild IP ten years ago and was proceeding on that basis for what became the Majestic Wilderlands supplement. Then an opportunity came up after I finished working on the map for City State of the Sea Kings, and as a result I secured a license. 

Last Word

To those of you familiar with my published writing: I try to follow a philosophy of less is more. So is it the same in the case of my response. I don't need to explain the ills caused by generations of bigotry and prejudice. It is just wrong, and it is unacceptable.

http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2020/02/concerning-judges-guild.html

Kickstarter - Beak, Feather, & Bone: A Map-Labeling RPG (ZineQuest2)

A competitive map-labeling RPG and worldbuilding tool.

It's rare that I look at a Kickstarter and say: "Wow, this is really unique and interesting." Beak, Feather, & Bone is one of those rare Kickstarters. 5 bucks for the PDF, 10 bucks for print plus PDF.

Here, I'll let the KS page explain:

Beak, Feather, & Bone is a collaborative worldbuilding tool as well as a competitive map-labeling RPG. Starting with an unlabeled city map, players are assigned community roles before taking turns claiming and describing locations. Players draw from a standard 52-card deck to determine a building's purpose and then describe its beak (reputation), feather (appearance), and bone (interior). As buildings are claimed, a narrative for the town and its inhabitants emerges, including major NPCs and shifting power-dynamics.  

Inspired by map-making games like Avery Adler's A Quiet Year and archetype-focused RPG systems like Meguey & Vincent Baker's Powered by the Apocalypse, Beak, Feather, & Bone is a zine-length game including rules of play, 11 community roles illustrated by Austin Breed, a map by Jonathan Yee, and optional lore & GM tips for running games in a city populated entirely by ravenfolk (or kenku, tengu, etc).  

While default play is lightly competitive, rules variants for solo, cooperative, and character-focused play are included as well. Similarly, while the illustrations and GM notes provided will help inspire a ravenfolk city, the beak/feather/bone labeling system can be used with any map, game genre, or populace.

Kickstarter - The Bone Age - Weird School RPG [Zine Quest]

Tabletop RPG of stone age people fighting off Invaders from outer space, Turtle-Apes and Ape-Turtles.

Back to our regularly scheduled posting :)

I would back The Bone Age - Weird School RPG Kickstarter for the art alone. The fact that the setting looks to be a blast is simply icing on the cake.

8 bucks in PDF, 18 bucks Print plus PDF shipped in the US.

The Bone Age is an old-school RPG of neolithic-era tribes struggling against the sudden arrival of bug-eyed aliens. You play a Tuzanian, a tribe of jungle-dwelling, vine-swinging, pterodactyl-riding, bone-wielding savages. Radiation leaked from the Invaders' crashed flying saucers spreads on winds of purple, blue, and white, mutating the land and its inhabitants. Meanwhile, a race of turtle-apes and ape-turtles sleeping in stasis beneath the surface awoke...1,000,000 years later than planned. And they were not impressed by the native population – or the alien Invaders. 

The Bone Age will be a 48+ page saddled stitched book with illustrations by the incomparable Jack Woiak.

The Bone Age isn't based on a specific OSR system, but comparisons can be drawn to Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and Dungeon Crawl Classics. The base mechanic uses a d20 where higher rolls are better than low rolls, and works in a similar fashion to the way saving throws and attacks work in Labyrinth Lord. Thus, an ability might be expressed as 12+, meaning you want to roll a 12 or higher on a d20. Placing the target number in the hands of the players means they get the thrill of shouting "My attack hits!" or the agony of lamenting "I failed my mutation roll," as opposed to the Game Master setting a secret Difficulty Class.

Offered Without Comment...

because I am literally without words.

note: not a hack

Ever Get Totally Derailed by Something You Can't Currently Discuss?

It just happened to me. Not something good. On the level of WTF!?!

I'm going to drink now.

Maybe it will make sense after a few beers.

I'll share if / when I can. Maybe it was a hack.

Kickstarter - Zine-o-Map - Zine Quest 2

An RPG Zine of dungeons and other locations for your roleplaying adventures.

A Zine releasing maps under Creative Commons? Say it isnt so! ;) Yes, I’m still experimenting with using my iPad. Not working as well as I hoped thus far.

The Zine-o-Map Kickstarter is 5 bucks in PDF, 10 bucks in Print plus PDF.

Of course, you. Can always uses Dyson’s maps for free...

Kickstarter - Delayed Blast Gamemaster #3 (ZineQuest 2)

Phil Reed was nice enough to give me preview copy of Delayed Blast Gamemaster #1 in November of 2018. I thought it was awesome. The final release copy was simply moreso. Now Phil is Kickstarting Delayed Blast Gamemaster #3 for Kickstarter’s ZineQuest 2. Woot!

(Note - I’m on my iPad, so copy/paste is somewhat borked)

Print plus PDF for issue 3 is 10 bucks. All three issues in PDF is also 10 bucks. All three issues in Print plus PDF is 30 buckls.

In 2019, many of you supported the creation of Delayed Blast Gamemaster #1 (Kickstarter page) and Delayed Blast Gamemaster #2 (Kickstarter page). Both issues were far more successful than I could have hoped. So far, over 1,000 copies of the first issue have been sent out to project supporters (of the first Kickstarter campaign and some of my other projects), making the zine one of my top works of 2019.

Now, with your support, I will publish the third issue of the series in both PDF and print. I have prepared 48 pages for this latest issue, and with luck, we will unlock all of the project stretch goals and make this latest issue

Kickstarter - Gamma Zine, Issue #2 (ZineQuest)

Gamma World was my second RPG and the first I bought with my own money. I remember being confused that the number of Hit Dice was determined by the character's Constitution score. Took me a while to wrap my head around that one ;)

Gamma Zine, Issue #2 is a zine for the fans of old school Gamma World. It's by Thom Wilson / Throwi Games. Thom is a workhorse that simply produces great old school gaming material. I expect no less from this Kickstarter.

Do you still play Gamma World or another post-apocalyptic, science  fiction RPG? Do you wish there was more material for the games you play?  Well, your wish has been granted: a 36-page fanzine for your  post-apocalyptic game campaign or reading pleasure! In the second issue  of Gamma Zine, you'll find three short adventures, new mutated monsters, lost and forgotten tech, and more.

The zine will be black & white, saddle-stitched and digest-sized. Unlike the first project in 2019, the size of this second issue is fixed because it's already written!

Although the fanzine will focus primarily on the first edition of  Gamma World by TSR, we'll try to keep much of the fanzine flexible to  allow the reader to adapt its contents to other systems. However, when  statistics are displayed for foes and challenges, we'll use the earliest edition of Gamma World for the rules and stats.

Kickstarter - Mutant Murder Hobo Dice

Glow-in-the-dark d20s in four different radioactive isotopes.

Dice. They really are my kryptonite. Glow in the dark dice in different colors? Damn it Jim (Wampler)! I'm a gamer, not a dice collector! Ah, who the fuck am I kidding? I'm both, and four glow in the dark D20s for 10 bucks or add a dice bag to the mix for 15? Yeah, it looks like more dice for my dice collection...

Damn you and your Mutant Murder Hobo Dice!

Face it. You don’t care what the adventure is called. You’re just there to blow the reactor. And nothing says that you mean business when you kick in a bunker door like rolling a glow-in-the-dark high-impact d20 across the table — unless it’s rolling a different color glow-in-the-dark d20 on your next action! These 20mm glow-in-the-dark d20s come in four different isotopes, so there’s a die for every mutant murder hobo occasion. Charge one of these chemiluminescent babies up with an LED flashlight, and they even glow in different colors with the lights on! 

Proven by the super-science of the Ancient Makers to roll better and luckier than normal 20-sided dice, each Mutant Murder Hobo d20 glows when charged, and all those extra photons create a mild propulsive force that only adds to the spin, span, and sass of each toss of these deadly d20 dice.

The Orr Group Industry Report: Q4 2019 (Roll20 Play Statistics)

I always enjoy looking at industry reports, especially the games being played. The first chart we get from the fine folks at Roll20 is Campaign Percentage. Campaign Percentage: How many Roll20 campaigns use this game system.

https://blog.roll20.net/post/190665086865/the-orr-group-industry-report-q4-2020-a

What can we take from this chart? There are about 8x as many D&D 5e campaigns as there are Pathfinder and Pathfinder 2e - combined. You are looking at the reason why Paizo released Pathfinder 2 - an attempt to reclaim its heights prior to D&D 5e. Also, Starfinder doesn't even crack the Top 10.

Next up is Account Percentage: Account Percentage: How many Roll20 users play this game system.

At least with Account Percentage, Starfinder actually makes the chart - at number 10 with 0.72%. Pretty sad considering all the hype it had on release.

Now, the last chart I will highlight is where you make otherwise shitty statistics for Pathfinder 2e suddenly look good. Lipstick on a pig if you will.

Well, look at that! Pathfinder 2e saw a growth of 82.64% Woot! heh

Here is the full list:

Kickstarter - The Phylactery - An Old School Heroic Fantasy Adventure Zine (ZineQuest 2)

A RPG zine full of OSR flavored adventure hooks and resources for use in your heroic fantasy games.

Yes, it is officially time for ZineQuest 2, the now annual Kickstarter even (at least I assume it is annual ;) I expect I'll be covering a number of zines this month.

This time we are looking at The Phylactery, An Old School Heroic Fantasy Adventure Zine Kickstarter.

We go in assuming you already have the core books to play your favorite games and instead jump right into OSR-inspired material that is unavailable anywhere else, giving you an entire cover-to-cover zine devoted strictly to cool new adventures, quirky NPCs, wondrous magical items, marauding  monsters, fell locations, relics from beyond the mists of time and all sorts of heroic fantasy resources for your tabletop games. 

As this project launches, The Phylactery is a cover-to-cover 24-page, saddle-stitched, 5.5-inch by 8.5-inch B&W printed zine with a bad ass color cover by Planet X favorite Ed Bickford. This booklet is jam packed with page after page of heroic fantasy adventure influenced heavily by early third party RPG badassery like Dave Hargrave’s infamous  Arduin Grimoire series and the early Dragontree Press stuff. The Phylactery is meant to be a quick and easy resource that you can pull ideas and plot hooks from for use directly at your gaming table. There’s no fluff in here and nothing padding out the page count - just pure old school goodness created exclusively for the fantasy gaming community. We have absolutely JAM-PACKED a ton of RPG goodness in here for you. 

5 bucks for the PDF, 10 bucks for print plus PDF (free shipping in the US). I'm in for print :)

 

Australia Relief Raffle (RPG Prizes)

Shared from Tales Of The Tentacled Gunslinger as requested.

Australia Relief Raffle
by Mike Harrington
Posted on February 1, 2020

This past year, an early and unusally dry and hot drought season combined with Climate Change, resulted in a horrific series of fires in Australia which continues to burn to this day.

A mindnumbing 1 billion animals are now estimated dead due the fires in Australia fires and more than 15.6 million acres have been decimated. The number of kangaroos, koalas, and others killed keeps skyrocketing and estimates of economic impact to humans is also mindblowing - at least 24 people killed, over 1,400 homes destroyed. The costs of the fires in Sydney alone are estimated at 50 million a day.

Koala Recovering From Burns

David Baity, the author of Dark Trails and himself a firefighter has put together a relief raffle for the animals and people of Australia.

I am posting his letter to the RPG community here in the hopes of boosting the signal.

Here is David:

“Hey Folks, I’ve been working on something special for the last couple of weeks in response to the, truly horrific fires currently plaguing our friends in Australia. If you know me on any level, you probably know I’m a lover of all things feline and do a yearly prize raffle to raise money for local no-kill shelters in my area.

It’s hard to comprehend the death and destruction that the fires raging across Australia have caused and by now, we’ve all seen heartbreaking pictures floating around on the web.

That brings me to the great news I’m sharing with you today. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks reaching out to friends I know in the industry in hopes they might donate some items for a charity raffle geared towards helping the animals and folks currently suffering in Australia.

The response has been amazing! Folks have jumped on board and offered some amazing prize support that I think will help make this raffle a big success! I’m going to list the prizes and donors below but want to lay out the important details first.

There will be one winner for all physical and digital rewards. In the case of multiple digital prizes, we will draw additional names for the extras.

Each $1 donated will enter you once for the drawing. Throw $10 dollars at the cause and you’ll earn ten entries in the raffle.

The raffle will begin 2/01/2020 and end on midnight 02/29/2020 with the winner being determined randomly by someone well known in the community other than myself.

Shipping will be covered for physical prizes, some of which I already have on hand, while others will be mailed directly from our generous donors. In the case of a non-US winner, we will strive to work with you on shipping, but you may be partly responsible for some of the charges.

I’ve chosen Wires (Wildlife Information Rescue Education) and GIVIT after doing some research into current organizations raising funds and think you’ll find them worthy of what we raise.

• To donate click here

So, let’s get to the fun part of the post! You’ll find all the prizes going into the raffle listed below. I’m also including a link to visuals for those wishing to take a peek at the loot! SC= soft cover HB= hardback. You can find an album with pics of all the prize support here

Goodman Games:

• Grimtooth’s Ultimate Traps Collection (faux leather edition),
• Dungeon Crawl Classics rulebook (faux leather edition)
• Dungeon Crawl Classics Annual #1 (faux leather edition)
• Sailors of the Starless Sea adventure (HB faux leather edition),
• Dungeon Crawl Classics adventures #99, #98, #97, #96, #95, #94, #93, #92,#76,#75, #74, #73, #72, #71, #70, #69, #68, and #67 (all adventures are SC)
• GM Gems (HB)
• Into the Borderlands 5E (HB)

Stefan Poag: One original piece of art

Weird Works: A selection of three RPG stamps, adventure journals and magical adventure dice bag.

Impact! Miniatures: Full set of dice

Vance Games:

• Escape from the Demon Inn adventure (SC)
• Temple of the Hamster adventure (SC)
• Mother’s Maze adventure (SC)

Thick Skull Adventures:

• The Haunting of Larvik Island adventure
• Stronghold of the Wood Giant Shaman adventure
• Children of the Fallen Sun adventure

Mudpuppy Games: Check this Artifact (HB) MCC supplement.

Greg Gillespie Publishing:

• The Forbidden Caves of Archaia (HB and PDF)
• Highfell (HB and PDF)
• Barrowmaze (HB and PDF)

Purple Sorcerer Games:

• Sunken City Omnibus adventure x5 (PDF
• Escape from the Shrouded Fen adventure x5 (PDF)
• Carnival of the Damned adventure x5 (PDF)
• Nebin Pendlebrooks Perilous Pantry adventure x5 (PDF)

Purple Pirate Games: Secrets of the World Harvesters adventure (SC and PDF)

Ken Campbell Creations DCC dice organizer tray (dice for show and not included)

Steve Bean Games:

• DCC-Null Singularity adventure (SC)
• DCC-World Quest of the Winter Clock adventure (SC)
• DCC-Rock God Death Fugue adventure (SC)
• DCC- Slave Drones of the Fantastiplex adventure (SC)
• DCC-Chained Coffin (gold and silver foil edition SC)
• 50 Fantastic Functions for the d50 (SC)
• DCC-The Monster Alphabet (HB)
• DCC- Pack of scratch-off character sheets
• Incredible Lifeforms- a coloring book (SC)
• Metamorphosis Alpha poster of the Warden
• 3 random Reaper miniatures
• us Alliance- A Fantasy Bluffing Card Game
• Robotech Tactics Miniature Game

Shield of Faith Studios : Note-All prizes listed below fall under the Crawling Under a Broken Moon post-apocalypse RPG based off of the DCC RPG.

• Umerican Survival Guide
• Slave Drones of the Fantastiplex adventure (SC and PDF)
• Burger Wars adventure (SC and PDF)
• Twisted Menagerie Manual adventure (SC and PDF)
• Killer of Giants adventure (SC and PDF)
• Damn Tasty adventure (SC and PDF)
• Children of the Sun adventure (SC and PDF)

Stiff Whiskers Press

• Dark Trails RPG- Gaucho pledge level (you will receive all items and stretch goals listed at the Gaucho pledge level)
• Dark Trails RPG- Rustler pledge level x 5 (you will receive a PDF copy of the game along with digital stretch goals.”

Mike Here: Please consider giving to this worthly cause to help the people of Austraila. Here is the link to donate again.

Kickstarter - Hunters in Death (Old School Zine by Tim Shorts)

What can I say about Tim Shorts? His was one of the first blogs I ever read and Gothridge Manor was certainly one of my inspirations. I've GMed for Tim and he's GMed for me. As good as he is as a player, as a GM he is awesome and as a content creator, he is amazing. I've been a backer of his Patreon for many years and the content offered is simply top-notch.

Now the fucker is Kickstarting a zine, Hunters in Death. Do yourself a favor and back this one. It won't just sit on your gaming shelf looking pretty, I can guarantee you it will get serious use.

Did I mention it funded in just over two hours? Damn!

Let's talk about what's inside: This is a glimpse into how I run a campaign. I've run games for over 41 years, and like every game master in existence, I've created my own rules and mechanics. I provide a list of these rules/mechanics to provide a sense of immersion particular to the Komor Forest. Then you'll find Hounds Head, a place for the party to get information, get henchmen, get supplies, sell stuff, and rest until their next adventure. Then what follows is an array of adventures. The adventures aren't meant to be played in any order. While the adventures are separate there are connections between some of them. Within the adventures there are new magic items, new spells, new monsters, and new artifacts. And any old school gaming zine wouldn't be complete without random tables. Yeah, it's got some of those. 

Wait a second! Our party is currently IN Komar Forest. Am I even allowed to back this? Fuck it. I ain't telling Tim if you don't ;)

Deal of the Day - The Midderlands Expanded (Monkeyblood)

Today was a busy day and I almost missed that The Midderlands Expanded is the Deal of the Day. As I type this, there are about 11 hours left to get on this deal. Did I mention that Glynn Seal is for real? Truly amazing stuff. Normally 15.72, the PDF is currently available for a mere 3.10

This book is an expansion to The Midderlands - An OSR Setting & Bestiary  

Important Note:
This book contains some content already found in The Midderlands Additions, and The Midderlands Additions II supplements. It also contains lots of new content not published already. 

Contains Strong language & Graphic Descriptions 

Written for use with the Swords & Wizardry Complete roleplaying game, but suitable for any Old-School D&D-style roleplaying game. 

More green-hued, twisted, dark-fantasy, old-school mini-setting. Now expanded to include the whole of the British Isles and beyond. 

The first book (The Midderlands — An OSR Mini-setting & Bestiary) focused on the land-locked Midderlands, a twisted version of central England. This book expands the setting to include the whole of Havenland, Scrotland, Oldenwale, Emeraude, and beyond. 

Learn about Bear Maw, Darkpool, H’sst-Akal, Middercastle, Queensmyr, Scar Burg, the Great Wall of Hadreen and many more locations. 

Explore the shipwrecks of the coast, and be harried by Gloomcrabs, Sharkfolk, Leviathan Spawn and more. 

Learn of the dangers of the neighbouring countries, Gaulandia and the Serpentlands.
This book is full of more horrors and threats to the safety of not only the midderfolk, but havenfolk at large. 

Sea monsters, threats of invasion, countrywide travel, island enclaves, and ship combat to name a few. This expanded setting gives more opportunity for adventure and who doesn’t love adventure? 

WANT A HARD COPY? HEAD OVER HERE: http://monkeyblooddesign.co.uk/The-Midderlands 

The first book focused on the land-locked Midderlands, an area I know well. In terms of a campaign area, it is small – approximately 45 miles by 35 miles – which allows for a feeling of close ties and for the actions of the player characters to have a tangible influence. I have been to Haven’s End, Ill Faircombe, Blymouth, Great Lunden, Windsour, Caer Oldenwale, Bellthorp… the list goes on. I realised that I know quite a bit about some of the other locations around my fair island home. I love the sea, the rugged hills and mountains of Oldenwale, and I frequently take trips to Bear Maw. I realised I could use the same approach as I used in The Midderlands to twist and mould other locations, and finally make my way to the seas and discover the other landmasses at its borders. 

Ports, shipwrecks, Gaulandia, Scrotland, Oldenwale, Emeraude, and the Serpentlands could all be used to make the setting larger and introduce more alarming horrors and threats to the safety of not only the midderfolk, but havenfolk at large. Sea monsters, threats of invasion, countrywide travel, island enclaves, ship combat to name a few. An expanded setting gave more opportunity for adventure and who doesn’t love adventure?

Castles & Crusades Classic Box Edition

Boxes are all the rage these days ;)

I have the "original" Castles & Crusades "White Box" from many years ago.

While Swords & Wizardry might be my true love among OSR rulesets, Castles & Crusades was the first love that brought me back to gaming.

Classic Gaming! 

Easy-to-learn, fast and fun to play, Castles & Crusades is the game for those who enjoy tales of high adventure and epic fantasy. 

Now available in the Classic Box Edition! Everything you see here in one beautiful box!
This set contains five booklets including all the rules to play, monsters, treasure and a starting adventure. 

The Castles & Crusades Classic Edition box contains everything needed to create heroic characters and enter a world of fantastic adventure. A world where brave adventurers battle ancient dragons, descend into dungeons in search of treasure and glory, and rescue mystic artifacts from the clutches of evil wizards. 

Castles & Crusades' easy-to-learn attribute-based rules system allows players to choose among archetypal character classes and races to create their characters. Spells, equipment, fast-paced combat rules, and all essential information needed for the players of Castles & Crusades is in this box.

Gather some friends, grab some dice, unleash your imagination – you’re entering the grand adventure that is Castles & Crusades!

This set contains the following: 

Five Books *Each Book is 5.5 inches wide and 8.5 inches tall. They are saddle stitched. They are black and white in the interior and black with red on the covers. 

• Vol. 1 Men and Magic, 36 pages (this includes the OGL)
• Vol. 2 Eldritch Enchantments, 52 pages (this includes the OGL)
• Vol. 3 Adventures in the Wilderness and Underworld, 36 pages (this includes the OGL)
• Vol. 4 Monsters & Treasure, 44 pages (this includes the OGL)
• Kane’s Gauntlet, 36 pages (this includes the OGL)
• 3-5 Character Sheets
• Reference Sheets (this reprints various charts in the books above)
• Dice (randomly chosen colors)
• 1 Golf Pencil

NOTE: The first four volumes do not contain new material for the C&C PRG. These books recast material already published in other sources, but is presented here in a Classic Style Box set. 

Here's the link.

Kickstarter - The Hero's Journey 2e - Last 14 Hours!

The Hero's Journey 2e Kickstarter is coming to a close in 14 hours or so as I type this, so you have until about 10 AM Eastern time, January 31st 2020 to back it. You have backed it right? It's written by James Spahn, one of the most skilled RPG ruleset writers in the OSR Community and beyond (I'm not just saying that because he is one of my closest friends, its the simple truth :)

Over 730 backers can't be wrong ;)

The game is written, the art is done, the editing is finished and layout is done! The PDF has already been uploaded to DriveThruRPG, and proof copies ordered! 

This game is ready to go. We just need your help to get the word out about it, and help make sure everyone gets paid!  Gallant Knight Games has already paid for the art, layout, and editing, but making games is more expensive than that.  

The long term success of a game can often depend on retail stores, gaming groups and more. The goal of our project is to run a focused, tight campaign that will allow us to make a high-quality offset print run of the corebook in both softcover and hardcover. We believe James has created a work of art here, and we want to show case that with the best print run we can do.  

The day the funds are delivered to Gallant Knight Games you'll get your PDF and we'll put the game to print. This will be a very fast turn around and a very tightly focused project. We're producing one book, and everything else is digital. 

Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day to Return in 2020

I'm still gobsmacked by the Swords & Wizardry Boxed Set Kickstarter, which is sitting at over $52k in just under a day and a half. The Frog God Team is looking for new stretch goals, as the ones that were planned are nearly blown through :)

I figured the return of Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day, hosted by The Tavern (we were the original host back in April of 2013) would be nice considering all of the love the community has shown Swords & Wizardry over the past two days.

Consider this an open call to all of the OSR bloggers, podcasters and Youtubers. I'm thinking of running it over three days - February 28, February 29 and March 1st.

Basically, if you create Swords & Wizardry related content - gaming material, reviews, live plays, etc and share it during those days, I will share a link here. So start brainstorming :)

I'm excited! I plan on producing some S&W related gaming material this weekend and have some ideas for release on each of those three days :)

More details as I converse with others. I hope to get a prize pool together for contributors ;)

Kickstarter - Swords and Wizardry: Limited and Collectors Edition Box Sets

Wow. Holy shit! Seriously!

The Swords and Wizardry: Limited and Collectors Edition Box Sets Kickstarter hit its $12k goal in 25 minutes. 8 hours later, it has surpassed $36k. You want proof of the viability of the OSR? You are looking at it.

I'm as excited as all hell. I LOVE Swords & Wizardry and this simply shows how much love everyone else has for it too :)

I interviewed Pexx from Frog God Games earlier today regarding this very Kickstarter. I interview Matt Finch at 10 AM EST tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan 28, 2020) on the Tenkars Tavern Discord Server. There will be further interviews with Frogs over the next few weeks on the Tavern Chat Podcast.

Standard Box is 50 bucks, limited wood grain box is 55.

What is Swords & Wizardry?

Swords & Wizardry is more than a re-statement of the original rules that gave rise to 5e. It is fast-playing, easy to start, and easy to learn by anyone. Swords and Wizardry is  a snapshot of the rules as they existed in 1978 right before "first edition" was released. The fifth edition game currently played, watched and beloved by millions is great fun, but the structure of the rules has changed over the course of editions, and there's a unique feel to the earlier versions of the game which you may not have encountered before. 

The rules in Swords & Wizardry are based on the original 1974 game, plus all of the supplements released from 1974 to 1978, articles in the Strategic Review and the Dragon magazine from that period, plus tips for house rules choices. The rules are organized in a more modern fashion than the original books, and are more accessible to those who started gaming after the 1970s.

Swords and Wizardry Box Set Contents 

Four Softcover Rule-books :
Player Book
Spells & Magic
Monsters
Referee's Book 

Also includes:
Extra height is reserved for dice,minis, adventures or ... expansions?

Stretch Goals 

Can you tell I'm excited?

Deal of the Day - Top Secret / New World Order

Rach and I got to playtest Top Secret / New World Order a handful of times with Merle Rasmussen behind the screen at various NTRPG Cons over the years. Actually, I think a very early playtest was before the game was publicly announced. It was a no brainer for me to back it when it Kickstarted. sadly, like 98% of my gaming purchases these days, it's sitting on a shelf. I guess I'm more of a collector these days ;)

Today's Deal of the Day at DTRPG is the Top Secret / New World Order PDF. Normally 19.99, until tomorrow morning its on sale for 9.99

The new espionage role-playing game from Merle M. Rasmussen, creator of the first espionage role-playing game. 

The time: now. The place: everywhere. 

Your mission: preserve peace and stability in a world rife with conflict, mistrust, duplicity, and shadowy organizations. 

You are an agent of ICON: The International Covert Operatives Network. You have been recruited from your former life, trained in the ways of tradecraft, and sent into the field to handle the missions that other agencies cannot, or will not handle. 

One player is the Administrator, describing and controlling the game world, while the other players take on the role of international spies, working behind the scenes where governments won’t go. 

Tense negotiations, dangerous combat, thrilling car chases, tradecraft, surveillance, intrigue, and subterfuge are all at hand with the roll of the dice. 

Top Secret: New World Order is a tabletop role-playing game recommended for 2–8 players. 

Frog God Games 35% Off Sale at DTRPG - Swords & Wizardry (oh, and PF and 5e)

So, it looks like the Kickstarter for the NEW Swords & Wizardry Boxed Set will be launching on this coming Tuesday. Completely compatible with prior printings, the boxed set will certainly be getting new eyes on Swords & Wizardry.

Just in time, Frog God Games has put its entire PDF catalog on sale at DriveThruRPG at 20% (my math shows 35% or more) off. Now's the time to plug the holes in your Swords & Wizardry virtual collection ;)

Sale prices are in effect thru early Tuesday morning, so don't wait too long...

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