Kickstarter - SCIENTIFIC BARBARIAN No.3 (post-apocalyptic)

I'm pretty fond of the Mutant Crawl Classics RPG. To hamfist a quote inspired by Spinal Tap: "This Gamma World Clone goes to Eleven!" Note, no drummers were killed creating this RPG ;)

So, what is SCIENTIFIC BARBARIAN No.3? According to the Kickstarter page, "Bigger and better than a fanzine, not quite as fancy as a magazine, SCIENTIFIC BARBARIAN No.3 is a megazine. It’s 6” x 9” in size, with 64+ pages of professional gaming content created and produced by industry veterans. Our megazines are also perfect-bound with a spine, so they stand up nicely on a shelf as you collect them! This is an exciting new format we here at Mudpuppy Games are proud to pioneer, and we can’t wait to see how many others adopt what we think is a pretty handy format for jamming a publication straight into your game bag or your backpack."

So, a zine that goes to Eleven! Cool :)

Does that mean that SCIENTIFIC BARBARIAN No.3 is specifically written for the MCC RPG? No, but it will certainly fit very well with MCC, Gamma World, Mutant Future, and the like. Heck, even fits with your OSR fantasy rules if you want to push your campaign in different directions.

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Kickstarter - Folio #27 - Lair of the Serpents (1E & 5E - Get the PDF for a buck!)

I've been following Scott Taylor and his Folio series of adventures since the first one he published. Amazing art, quality writing, and adventures that are ripe for using, by piece or whole cloth for your own campaign.

If you haven't checked out The Folio yet, Scott's latest Kickstarter is a great opportunity to do so, as you can get the PDF of Folio #27, Lair of the Serpents Gaming Adventure! for just a buck. Even better, you can grab all 30 of The Folio releases in PDF for 30 bucks. Many campaigns worth of gaming material for D&D 1e and 5e for less than the cost of the 5e Player's Handbook.

Want to watch Scott talk about The Folio and more? I had a FireSide Chat with Scott a few weeks back: 

Join the adventure as Art of the Genre continues to add content to its first new mega-dungeon in over three years!  This second part of a six-phase mega-campaign is based around 1st-3rd level characters in a completely revolutionary setting.  I've specially designed the dungeon to breathe new life into those adventuring levels while allowing the DM the ability to create incredible story arcs with old favorite monsters like lizardmen, giant serpents, huge toads, and even early fantasy RPG video game monsters inspired by classic crawls like Wizardry and Bard's Tale!

The Virgin Mine setting revolves around an adventuring company moving into the ruins of the wild jungle around the Imperial Capital city of Nextyaria. Here, they will match wits against other treasure-seeking adventuring companies as well as the intelligent dungeon that hosts relic treasures with nearly unlimited power.

Folio #27 will introduce characters to the next section of the massive Virgin Mine Dungeon, the Lair of the Serpents!.  Unlike normal dungeons, this one carries various mysteries and wrinkles that 'bend' the rules of character advancement, and strategy will need to be employed as the party learns the ropes within the Virgin Mine Dungeon setting.  Dungeon details include 2D standard hex maps as well as fully 3D renderings of The Lair of the Serpents section of The Virgin Mine.  A gazetteer section will give background on the new rules and the exterior camps and companies.  Several new monsters lurk within as well as new magical treasure.  It also features a fully removable and stand-alone cover in perfect OSR tradition!

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Doing Something "Nice" for my Players.....and the Unintended Consequences

 

This is my second attempt at a post because my earlier almost-finished post.......I thought it was a bit much as it had some adult content about the time one of my player's PCs was kidnapped to be sacrificed to an evil deity....the method of sacrifice was the "adult" part.

I was inspired to tell that story initially because I found the printed out (huge, like most of the table big) map I had mounted and laminated. This encounter had a couple of possible outcomes, from the straight-up gruesome (for that one PC) to a TPK, or even just a complete bloodbath. It ended up going the bloodbath route, but that happens when you have three women (players and PCs) facing off against a deviant murderous cult that happened to also abduct the orphan the party had taken a liking to........

If given the opportunity I like to have really nice maps to play on, but coming up with nice maps....even if you're just finding and using other people's maps, takes a lot of resources (mostly time). I usually just end up with some props and a good set of Staedtler markers and Chessex Battlemat. If I'm running a bunch of tables, like when I'm head GM, I'll maybe splurge on some clear acetate you can buy at the fabric store. I can easily draw out one map and then make copies and hand out the maps for GMs to plop down quickly on an empty battlemat. Works for me!

If I expect a big battle, especially a challenging (i.e. potential PC death or TPK) encounter I'll more likely go all out. If I'm fortunate enough to find someone else's map (like something from Dyson Logos) I'll take and get it printed up, preferably at the UPS Store or FedEx Kinkos, but I'm not above printing it at home and piecing it together. Mount that map on some foam core and cover it with lamination......good to go, though if I'm really lucky and have the time, I'm not above creating a 3d model using Hirst Arts bricks or insulation foam.

Of course, as a GM, creating terrain pieces for table-top play is not just fun, but a means of me continuing or pre-planning the fun outside of the normal game-time. Generally speaking if I think the players might get their PCs killed, more than just the normal dangers of a game session, I like to treat them to some thing "extra". Of course if you do this enough then you can establish a pattern....

...and as a GM I love establishing patterns. Nothing like being able to mess with your players at the table using Out Of Character (OOC) knowledge. If they get used to potentially ugly battles being preceded by the GM whipping out a custom laminated map....then I can mess with their heads, and expectations, by whipping out a nice map for a mundane encounter. I once had the party spend a good 20', table-top time, checking the room five times for a secret or hidden door because there HAD to be something beyond the walls if I had bothered to slap down a full-color & laminated map.....

Good times.

Makes me wonder what "special things" other GMs do for their players that are outside of the norms. Also, how do other GMs mess with their players (aside from making them do surprise random rolls for no reason....) the former, by all means comment here, but if you have some juicy (but not too mean) ways to mess with players, hit me up outside of the Tavern....too many eyes in here!

GM's Day Sale - Swords & Wizardry Picks

While I'm fairly disappointed with this year's DTRPG GM's Day Sale, as the bundles pretty much suck, and the majority of the titles on sale are only discounted 10%, there are a number of pics that are 40% off for the sale. The picks below are all 40% off.

Here's the link to the Swords & Wizardry picks. My highlighted picks are far from exhaustive.

Tome of Adventure Design - I can't say enough in praise of ToAD. I own multiple physical copies - The Tome of Adventure Design is organized as a series of "books," each one providing resources at every step of the way. The vast majority of the content of each book is made up of random generation tables that we created over a quarter of a century (sigh) for our own use. It should be said upfront that these are tables for deep design - in other words, most of them are too long, and contain too many unusual or contradictory entries, for use on the spot at the gaming table. There are already many excellent books of tables for use on the fly; the tables in these books are different. They work best as a tool for preparation beforehand, providing relatively vast creative resources for browsing and gathering, rather than quick-use tables designed to provide broad, fast brushstrokes. Our shorter tables tend to deliver cryptic results designed to shock the reader's creativity into filling in the gaps, whereas the longer tables are unusably vast for easy random generation, being designed to shock the reader's creativity into operation by presenting a sea of possibilities. 21.99 13.19

Dark Places & Demogorgons - Survive This!! - Core Rule Book - Stranger Things for the OSR - In Dark Places & Demogorgons, you play as high school students during the early 1980s. The town you live in has had a rash of disappearances and strange happenings. The adults seem lost as to what to do, the police are as clueless as ever and aren’t helping and Reverend Phillips is on another witch-hunt. It’s up to you and your friends to figure out what’s going on and stop it from happening again! 9.99 5.99

Operation Unfathomable - I'm dying to run this one day - OPERATION UNFATHOMABLE is a 108-page, internally-consistent, gonzo funhouse module for Swords & Wizardry that runs like a subterranean wilderness trek instead of a “down the 10-foot hall and kick in a door” affair. There are random elements aplenty to keep GMs guessing as well as players. No balanced encounters to be found here, but the clever setup allows low-level characters to drop into the dungeon “deep end” and still have a chance of making it out alive—if they’re smart and wary. 12.00 7.20

White Star: Galaxy Edition - Space opera for the OSR -Ace Pilots, dead-eyed Gunslingers, and irrepressible Star Squirrels blast off across the stars to save the galaxy from the horrors of the Void! Hellfire Mecha march across the battlefield, leaving carnage in their wake! From the galactic center of Omega Consor to the Manrash System on the edge of the universe, the galaxy needs heroes! Endless galactic adventure awaits you in White Star: Galaxy Edition! Integrated and updated to include material from White Star and the White Star Companion, White Star: Galaxy Edition integrates new rules, new options, and expands the original game. Now more than just a toolbox, White Star: Galaxy Edition offers you a universe full of thrilling adventure! 9.99 5.99

Crypts and Things Remastered - Newt did a great job with this Swords & Sorcery hack of the S&W rules - Be a wild Barbarian, a deadly Fighter, a soul-torn Sorcerer or a sword sharp canny Thief, fighting evil tyrants and foul demons in a world rapidly dying and heading towards its final nemesis. Crypts and Things (C&T) is a Swords and Sorcery Roleplaying game based upon the Old School Rules of the 70s/80s. It also draws upon the British fantasy games and game-books of that period to bring a distinctly dark and dangerous feel to the game. It was originally released back in early 2012 and after a highly successful Kickstarter in 2015 it returns in a Remastered edition, with revised and expanded content and entirely new art by David M. Wright. 14.42 8.65

Gathox Vertical Slum - I like the cover and the premise. Snagged! -Welcome to Gathox Vertical Slum, a far-out, gonzo science fantasy campaign setting for Swords & Wizardry White Box Edition and other classic tabletop role-playing games. Aliens, mutants, spellslingers, and hardened criminals struggle for dominance in a lawless city built upon the back of a wandering, world-hopping godling. Inside this tome, you’ll find:* A fully mapped and fleshed out Vertical Slum, stuffed to the gills with greedy factions, hook-laden NPCs, and seedy locations.* A new gangland system for running domain-level games at level 1.* 43 fully illustrated strange and inimical monsters to spring on unsuspecting players.* New classes, skills, ability checks, hirelings, and gear for players to work their will across the mean streets of the Great Spire.* A vertical dungeon introductory adventure to test the skills and resourcefulness of new and seasoned players alike. 9.99 5.99

Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing - There is much within that I want to put into my next S&W campaign - Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing in an OSR rule set with its roots in the Original version of the world's favorite RPG, but instead of exploring musty dungeons, characters in Eldritch Tales investigate Mythos horrors in the 1920s! The setting and background are based on the cosmic horror tales of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other members of his writing circle. Within the pages of Eldritch Tales you will find four character classes representing many classic pulp archetypes, occupations, rules for insanity, spells, monsters, esoteric tomes, artifacts, a starting scenario, and setting material, as well as advice on using Eldritch Tales with other White Box games. This game is compatible with Swords & Wizardry White Box and other OSR games. 6.99 4.19

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Gangbusters B/X Edition is on Sale for 99 Cents in PDF - Grab it Now!

Earlier tonight, Glen Halstrom and I had Mark Hunt as our guest on the Dungeons, Dragons, & Discourse LiveStream. (podcast version is here)Among the many games Mark has written and published, perhaps one stands out the most.

Gangbusters B/X.

As I type this, Gangbusters B/X is on sale for 99 cents. Grab it NOW! ;)

Gangbusters B/X the Roleplaying Game is set during the Roaring Twenties and Dirty Thirties. It has all the usual trappings of the period: Prohibition, mob bosses, Tommy gun-toting thugs, speakeasies, big hats, big cars, big personalities, swanky gin joints, illicit booze and crooked people out to make a quick dime, and more, but what the game is about is rather simple. It is at its core just a good old fashion game of Cops and Robbers. This is because it is set during a time when America produced some of its most notorious and legendary figures.  John Dillinger, ‘Scarface’ Al Capone, ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd, ‘Baby Face’ Nelson, ‘Ma’ Barker, Bonnie & Clyde, Eliot Ness and the ‘Untouchables’, J. Edgar Hoover, Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and a host of others.   Whether you join the in the crusade to stamp out lawlessness or join in on the crime spree that is gripping America is up to you.

Based on the Original Gangbusters from the ’80s created by Rick Krebs this edition is adapted to use the B/X game engine.  But instead of exploring musty dungeons, characters in Gangbusters investigate crime, run speakeasies, rob banks, expose corruption, capture murders or try to get away with it all.

Now you can relive the adventures and exploits of these daring men and women with GANGBUSTERS™ 1920s role-playing adventure game.

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Kickstarter - The One Ring Second Edition Raises OVER 2 Million USC!

Time to take a step back and simply look in awe upon The One Ring Second Edition Kickstarter, which raised $2,007,067.12 USC.

Yes. Over 2 million bucks.

16,596 backers.

I suspect we'll be hearing a lot from the Free League in the near future.

A huge congrats to all of those involved in the project, but a special shout out to our very own James Spahn, who was signed to write The One Ring Second Edition Starter Set.

Damn you all!

I may stray from strict OSR yet! ;)

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GMs Day Sale @ DTRPG - A Whole Lotta "Ehhh"

I'm surprised to find myself saying that the GMs Day Sale for 2021 is severely lackluster.

Although some titles ARE 40% off (including Swords & Wizardry Continual Light - a Gold Bestseller), the top dozen or so linked on the sale page are a mere 10% off. Barely noticeable.

Of the six GMs Day Sale bundles, fully half are bundles of "Penny Dreadful One Shots for the Electrum bestselling Through the Breach RPG." How much are the core rules for Through the Breach? Normally 40 bucks, the PDF is on sale for a mere $24. You need the core book to use these bundles of one-shots. 

Things that make one go "hmmm!"

Notice that Swords & Wizardry Continual Light is a GOLD Bestseller, a higher ranking than the RPG that has three of the six bundles for the GM Sale. Something seems off, as Electrum and even Gold aren't really that special in the grand scheme of DTRPG sales numbers.

Over the next few days, I'll try and locate some 40% of gems in this "ehhh" sale.

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Kickstarter - Dungeon Master's Little Black Book (Square Hex)

A pocket-sized booklet of random tables for Dungeon Masters. Plus a blank version of the book that they can record new ideas in.

I've been a huge fan of Peter Reagan for years. I still use his mapping kits that I backed for years ago, and this looks awesome. I've snagged multiple copies of the Dungeon Master's Little Black Book, 48 to be exact, so if this ships on time, I should have some to give out at NTRPG Con in June of this year. Yep, got badges and plane tickets for Rach and me, and Texas announced earlier today that it's opening up 100% and it's revoking its mask mandate in a week.

The aim of this project is to fund print runs of two versions of The Dungeon Master's Little Black Book. The first version will be crammed full of random tables, ideas and maps that can be used by a DM during a game without any preparation. The second version will be a blank version of the Little Black Book that a DM can add their own content to.

Both booklets will be A6-sized (148mm x 105mm) and be 16 pages plus 4 page card covers. The content of the prefilled booklet will be printed 150gsm silk art paper. the content of the blank version will be printed on uncoated 120gsm paper so it will be easy to write on with any pen or pencil. The covers will be sturdy 300 or 350gsm silk art card.

Version 1 with content provisionally includes:

• D12 WHAT'S ON THE END OF THE STICK? table
• D6/D8 COINS ON A CORPSE table
• D6/D8 COINS IN A COFFER table
• D12 THE KOBOLDS ARE SELLING table
• D8 POTIONS SIDE EFFECTS table
• 2D8 THE DOOR OPENS BUT table
• D10 THE DOOR'S STUCK BECAUSE IT'S table
• D12 THE MAGIC MOUTH SAYS table
• D8 WHAT'S IN THE PIT? table
• D30 HIRELINGS & HENCHFOLK table
• DUNGEON GEOMORPHS TOOLKIT
• WHEEL OF FORTUNE

Version 2 without content provisionally includes:

• D8 Blank table x2
• D10 Blank table x2
• D12 Blank table x2
• 3D6 or D16 Blank table x2
• D8+D6 Blank matrix x1
• D30 Blank table x1
• Dot grid mapping pages x5
• Wheel of Fortune (back cover)

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Zak Smith Sues Gen Con / Peter Adkison for Defamation, Interference with Business Expectancy, Violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, and More

Let me say straight off the bat, my personal opinion of Zak Smith, based on my interactions with him online over the years, is that he is a wannabe bully. He is also extremely talented as an adventure writer and when he is on target he has few that can match him. I still think he's a POS.

All that being said, I suspect that Gen Con / Peter Adkison will be paying out on this lawsuit. As was pointed out to me, the filing was likely timed as the statute of limitations to file such a suit is 2 years from the date of the incident, and it's likely there were attempts to negotiate a settlement prior. Now, it's all public and NOT the kind of publicity Gen Con needs less than six months prior to - hopefully - going back to an in-person convention this year.

I personally think the major allegation is Interference with a Business Expectancy, as my understanding is that the bar that needs to be met to prove such is relatively lower in the State of Washington than other jursidictions.

I shared this news on the podcast last night, for those that aren't excited about reading a 13-page lawsuit:

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Zak-Smith-is-Suing-GenCon-for-Defamation-and-More-er8e7c

https://youtu.be/k-3HX1-wrlQ

Still Trying to Get That Intro Game Going

 

I'm not sure I've mentioned that I'm currently unemployed....long dumb story, but in the end I'm just killing time waiting for my old job to re-hire me under a new employer. The end result is I have way too much time on my hands.

I don't do that great with a lot of time on my hands. I'm one of those people that are more productive when I'm already busy doing other stuff. If I have a week with nothing to do (or should I note, a week where I don't have anything I *have* to do) then nothing will get done. Oh I have a work project bleeding into my time at home? I'll probably work out some time to hit the gym and maybe even start some writing. While I'm at it, let's start panting those minis.....

.....ok, that's a stretch. We all have minis that aren't getting painted! Kind of a gaming maxim.....

One of my only true goals during this expected two-month "staycation" in between employers was to get some dice rolling for one of my buddy's daughters who "wanted to learn to game". I've written about that here before so I'll not delve into the fine details.

I'm thinking I should have dropped off physical copies of my game books for her to read and some dice. Now I did drop off PDFs of rulebooks and have since acquired dice. Thanks to Erik's post I found out about that Dollar Tree RPG dice set and I scooped up enough for a full group. I put a couple sets into an OG Dice Bag (Crown Royal bag), along with some cheap d6's.....I like to have dedicated d6's for character creation, but I'm odd that way.

I'm thinking I'll make a second pass at this and drop off my physical books (lending!) and the dice, along with some PC sheets. If they want to throw down while I'm there we'll make PCs and I can easily run an intro adventure off the top of my head...'cause I wrote one for HackMaster which will work for other systems. If you follow that link.....it is PWYW, but please put in $0.

I have been working on some modular terrain as well. I figure if I use some terrain instead of "theater of the mind" or a basic battlemap it might go over better.

Of course, I know I can only do so much and in the end, it doesn't matter. If she wants to game, it'll happen, and if not......well then I have some more dice and terrain. Win/Win for me either way!

Special Note:

I wrote all this stuff yesterday (Saturday) and went over today for brinner and no dice (pun intended). Will have to circle back around later in the week and see if there is still any interest.

I Backed 27 Projects During ZineQuest - Holy Sh!t

I backed 27 projects during ZineQuest month over on Kickstarter, and I literally thought I had backed more. Like 27 isn't already a huge number ;)

My initial budget for spending on ZineQuest - a "soft" budget, and more like a suggestion and not a hard limit, was $250. In the end, it wound up just north of $525. Holy shit.

I could easily have backed more, but my spending was already out of control, so I stopped looking for new projects as the month went on, and for that, I am sorry. I'm sure there were some Zines that were notably released later in the month, but my cup had runneth over.

I'm not going to list the ones I backed, because I know there were some I wanted to back and never did. Again, it was a matter of quality or lack of interest, it simply came down to a lack of available funds. Suffice to say, I'll be enjoying the zines I did back for months to come.

If you haven't checked out ZineQuest, there are still some projects that are funding and could use more backing. Here's your ZineQuest link.

A huge "thank you" to all of the Zine creators, past, present, and future. The light you shine keeps this hobby alive and vibrant.

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Indiegogo - The Dark Den of Dagon (Pathfinder 1e / Lost Lands)

It isn't often that I cover Pathfinder releases, but The Dark Den of Dagon over at Indiegogo is special. As far as I can tell, and please, correct me if I'm wrong, it is the first third-party release under Frog God Games' open license for their Lost Lands setting. I'm kinda excited, as I had advocated for such a license for the Lost Lands a few years back.

This adventure is designed for a group of 4-6 characters of levels 5-7 playing the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. While functional as a standalone module, this adventure is designed to be the first adventure in a series exploring the workings and reasons of a deity of the Lost Lands referred to as the Nameless One and her most faithful servant, “the Walking Stick Man” as they try to recover ancient words of power and stir forces lost and forgotten.

This adventure starts in the settlement of Chesmire, though can be moved around with little difficulty and placed in any campaign world with only minor changes, namely the addition or use of an ancient lost or near lost pantheon. The reason for the placement in this area is easy access to the adventure “Sorcerer’s Citadel” from Quests of Doom, which should be played following the events of the second adventure in this series as a return to the feelings of normalcy while still maintaining references to the ancient pantheon on which these adventures are focused via the statue of Mocham.

The PDF of The Dark Den of Dagon is only 5 bucks. The Print plus PDF is 15. For 5 bucks, I can convert this to Swords & Wizardry on the fly ;)

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Bundle of Holding - Old School Cool

I have to admit, there are some titles in the Old School Cool Bundle of Holding that I never heard of. Others that I've heard of and don't own and some that I feel are well worth the price of admissions on their own.

In the 7.95 Starter Bundle, I own Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells, and it is an excellent Swords & Sorcery OSR ruleset. I've heard of Vagabonds of Dyfed but don't own it, and this is the first I've heard of Pariah and Fallen Justice.

In the Bonus Collection (currently at 19.23), I own both Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells (Sword & Planet with magic) and Dark Streets & Darker Secrets are (modern-day horror) and they are great. I've heard of Hypertellurians but don't own it and again, this is the first I've heard of Dortoka: City on the Sea of Glass. Just because I haven't heard of a title doesn't mean it's not good, it just means it has never reached my radar.

Kickstarter - Character Collections for The Fantasy Trip

Let me start by saying I've known Douglas Cole for a number of years, and he was one of the regular players in my "B Team" Swords & Wizardry Campaign about six years ago. I may just be a bit biased, but Doug has been producing top-level RPG products since Dungeon Grappling - the only usable iteration of unarmed combat for any version of Dungeons &Dragons or its clones I've ever come across. It is simply that good.

Bad Mike & I grabbed Doug earlier tonight for the weekly Talking Crit Livestream, and Doug had some solid advice for new Kickstarter creators. If you prefer an audio-only feed, here's the podcast version.

So, what's so great about Character Collections for The Fantasy Trip? Quite simply, the character descriptions are inspirational and essentially systemless. How do I know? Doug was kind enough to give me a peek at the first three Character Collections and they look awesome. 

Heck, I'm tempted to break out my The Fantasy Trip boxed set and run a few sessions via VTT. As an improv style GM, Character Collections simply is an amazing resource for my personal toolbox, regardless of the game system I'm running.

You can snag Character Collections for The Fantasy Trip for as little as 10 bucks in PDF, which will include at least 3 books - and possibly more if stretch goals are hit. Interestingly, stretch goals are not reached by hitting certain dollar values raised, but by the number of backers. So get the word out, as I want more books like the first three Character Collections.

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Fantasy Grounds 4th Quarter Report Shows 71% of Game Sessions on the VTT are using D&D 5e

If we needed other proof that Dungeons & Dragons 5e was the "bully on the block", dwarfing all other RPGs, the 4th quarter report for the Fantasy Grounds Virtual Table Top shows the stark reality. 5e comes in with an ungodly 71% of 4th quarter game sessions on the platform.

Paizo comes in at 15% IF you combine Pathfinder 1e, Pathfinder 2e, and StarFinder as a single figure.

The following graph shows the influence of the pandemic on virtual play, at least using Fantasy Grounds (I'll be discussing 5e specifically below ):

Holding steady at around 20k sessions a month through February 2020, 5e spiked to over 80k sessions by April, and even the summer dip didn't go below 45k-ish. As for January 2021, it's knocking on 100k - nearly a five-fold increase.

These are just the numbers from Fantasy Grounds. Roll20's last ORR (3rd quarter 2020) report is less revealing, as we don't get to see the increase, if any, in sessions played (although 5e has a 53% share of the games and Paizo's share is even smaller than on FG). There is one tidbit of interesting information on the latest ORR report, and I'll share that below:

For less 5e games played to still equal a greater part of the pie, would mean that Roll20 saw a decrease in usage compared to the Second Quarter of 2020. Interesting.

Actually, FG2 might have seen a similar, small drop

I'd love to see Foundry's usage stats.

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State of The Tavern - I Missed a Day of Posting, and it Was Good ;)

I can't believe I'm saying it. I totally missed putting up a post on Saturday. The first time The Tavern had a postless day in over 7 years, although much of that streak is thanks to Chris Stodgil stepping up and assisting during my hospitalizations in 2020, and covering Sundays on a regular basis now. It truly is a team effort.

So, what emergency caused me to miss posting on Saturday?

None whatsoever. 

Could it be that 2 1/2 weeks of near-daily and often multiple livestreams caught up with me? That could be part of it but in the final analysis, I think the answer is an easier one.

I was distracted.

By what, you may ask? An idea that is NOT quite ready for prime time, and won't be announced until it is ready. In truth, I was so psyched on Saturday, that I was afraid I'd spill the beans if I did post, so I think the idea was to bleed off some of the excitement before posting. That didn't work out so well, as I never posted, but thought I had. Heh.

Ah well. Back to working on this new project as well as tying off some loose ends on Torchlight #1.

As I mentioned in last night's Livestream of Gamers' Health, the three hospitalizations in 2020 took a toll on me, not just physically (physically I'm currently down 50#s and feeling better than I have in years) but also mentally. I spent the last half of 2020, and the beginning of 2021, considering the idea that when I went to sleep at night, I might not wake up in the AM. I no longer have that fear, or if I do, it is no longer a controlling and distracting factor. In retrospect, it crippled my creativity, and I'm glad to have refound much of my mojo :)

Thanks to all for the support, and I hope to have something to announce fairly soon. Heck, I've even arranged for a logo and stuff ;)

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Learning Something New About my OSR Game: Strap-Hangers

 

With one notable exception, in all my infrequent years of playing and/or GMing I have never really had to deal with any manner of PC strap-hangers that would be classified as henchmen, followers, mercenaries, or Protégés. Actually HackMaster (4th Edition) had a pretty cool Protégé system we used so if your main PC kicked the bucket you didn't have to start off with a zero-XP 1st level nobody.

In my bi-weekly game we decided to pick up some.......henchmen? I know I should probably pick up a DMG or some such and familiarize myself with the concepts, but what's the fun in that?

Seriously? What is the fun in that.......bear with me a second here.

Like probably a good many of the readers here at the Tavern I've been playing and/or running various RPGs for decades now......yes, off and on, but still. The Out of Character (OOC) knowledge base is HUGE and if I play stupid about something at the game table, it's literally me playing stupid. "Oh gee, my 1st level nobody on his very 1st adventure I didn't know that Holy Water can do damage to Undead" *wink* *wink*

Actually it should be more like "HOLY FUCKING SHIT ZOMBIES ARE REAL AND NOT SOMETHING MY MOTHER MADE UP TO SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF US AS KIDS! RUN MOTHER-FUCKER, RUN!!!"

Aside from the occasional GM change-up, "Oh, you run this spell that way? Cool...." there aren't a lot of in-game, at the table surprises in most games. Sure, some systems.....I'm looking at you DCC, have some interesting mechanics that are all about surprise through random weirdness (in a good way, really), but your regular OSR game......not so much. Discovering something new about a game you've played for a long while is a refreshing surprise.

Now my GM may have thought I was bored, or looked bored over Zoom, but I really enjoyed the idea of bringing on a strap-hanger for the adventure and figuring a couple things out. Sweetening the deal with a magic item, sure.....here's a +1 Dagger or two I'm not using. Do I try to get the fighter to follow me or do I play it safe with a PC who won't out-level me......I'm assuming that if they get to be a higher level than I am the dynamic will change and I become their follower, hench....strap-hanger.

I ended up "hiring"....well I'm not technically paying outright for services.....so whatever flavor of strap-hanger that is,  new Lawful Cleric that sounds like she'll fill a need for the party, and evidently her Morale is pretty high....

I have absolutely no fricken clue where this strap-hanger thing is going to end up, and I'm looking forward to trying out this new/old aspect of OSR gaming.