Tenkar's Tavern

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

New Release - Zucati Dice & Crayons / Holmage Dice Boxed Set - Limited Edition 1000 Numbered Copies

Zucati Dice & Crayons / Holmage Dice Boxed Set is a release that hadn't come up on my radar, and if it wasn't for a long time Taverner PMing me the link, I'd still be clueless. That being said, I'm not 100% sure of what exactly it is I'm seeing.

Note, the set clocks in at 45 bucks plus shipping.

The cover is a spot-on homage to the original Holmes Basic Set without being a copy:

I can find nothing on this "Dice & Crayons" release aside from the Etsy page. (edit - it's also available on the publisher's website at:

https://www.zucaticorp.com/listing/1006974370/holmage-dice-boxed-set-limited-edition)

Note, this is not a stand-alone ruleset, but an adventure generator to use the set of Zucati dice with.

Each limited edition boxed set is serialized and is 1/1000.
All serial numbers will be distributed randomly with no choice for number selection.
Boxed set pictured is #1 of 1000.

Your box will be a different number.

The Holmage dice

These iconic dice pay homage to the most beloved set of dice ever created. The original “Holmes” dice were included in a boxed set of gaming materials made in 1977 – 1980.

These polyhedral dice are perfectly proportioned and updated with easy to read numbers, sharp edges, and modern durable materials.

This new set features the original 5 dice in the same colors, but not the same numbering, updated to modern numbering and also includes the D10 and D% as included dice in other colors. \

All primary colors, all raw.

In modern 100% injection molded acrylic.

Same quality and standards as our first run V1 Perfect Plastic Dice.

Includes original box art, original character sheets and an original map set with adventure generator table.

Named "Holmage" set in honor of the original Holmes dice.

Just want the dice?

42 sets of 7 dice for 125 plus shipping.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern. You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar

Monday, May 17, 2021

Deal of the Day - Castle Xyntillan (Swords & Wizardry / OSR)

Gabor Lux is one of those names that's floated around the OSR since the early days, and he had articles in Fight On! and Knockspell zines. He always had great stuff to share, and Castle Xyntillan is no exception.

Castle Xyntiillan is Gabor's take on a funhouse megadungeon. While certainly not for everyone and every group, I've enjoyed Joe Bloch's Castle of the Mad Archmage as well as Frog God Game's take on Tegal Manor.

Until tomorrow morning, Castle Xyntillan is DRTPG's Deal of the Day and is marked down from 20 bucks to 10 bucks in PDF.

A 136-page adventure module for 1st to 6th level characters, Castle Xyntillan is a a funhouse megadungeon for the Swords&Wizardry game (and broadly compatible with other old-school systems). The module describes the three massive levels of the eponymous haunted castle inhabited by the remnants of a reclusive and eccentric family, from the soaring tower of the Donjon to the inky depths of the Oubliette (and beyond). Hidden rooms, secret passageways and long-forgotten sub-sections complete a collection of the dangerous and macabre from the gothic imagination – providing ample opportunities for exploration, confrontation, and subterfuge.
Castle Xyntillan has been designed to be versatile, open-ended, complex, and accessible. It is above all, a fantastic place – built on surrealism and dream logic, yet a place which makes a certain amount of sense if you look at it sideways. It should be entertaining, fascinating, and always a bit mysterious. Whether you would like a dungeon for one-off expeditions and convention play, or repeated forays and full campaigns, Castle Xyntillan should suit the demands and particulars of your campaign!
This electronic edition includes the following:
The PDF version of the module, with cartography by Rob Conley, and illustrations by Peter Mullen, Denis McCarthy, and Stefan Poag.
GM and player maps of the module, as well as a set of virtual tabletop maps, with helpful setup instructions by cartographer Rob Conley for Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds.
A GM’s Worksheet, used to track time and characters as the company explores the depths of Xyntillan. Adapted from Dungeons and Companies, a Hungarian retro-clone, and designed by Istvan Boldog-Bernad and Andras Szabo, this is a highly useful play aid for dungeon scenarios.

Sunday, May 16, 2021

GMs Don't Get Enough Love

North Texas RPG Con is just a couple weeks away and since Erik is attending, and likes to do the video/podcast thing with Bad Mike, you might have reached your fill about the event already.

Maybe not.

Don't worry, this isn't a post so much about the convention so my 12 13 readers can read on if not interested in this convention, but I will add my 2cp and simply say that if you are in a position to attend this convention and you aren't....your loss. Small con, big guests....I bet that NTRPG is like what the first handful of GenCons were like....well as close at it could be in this day and age.

Anyway, my point that I'm laboring to get to, evidently, is that I know I'm going to a convention in a couple of weeks, as a player, and I still have a lot of prep to do. Realistically I know all I need to do is pack my tablet, computer, RPG HDD, and my dice box and I'll be good to go.....10' packing tops. Maybe toss in some game books if I'm feeling froggy........even though I have PDFs of everything I need, I keep buying or printing out rulebooks 'because evidently I prefer the physicality of them at the table. Maybe I just like having multiple books "open" and that's harder to do on a tablet?

No, my big prep for the convention is trying to figure out, and then make, some GM "Thank You" gifts. Most of my convention experience is still as a GM and tournament organizer, not as a player. I can most definitely tell you that being a GM at a convention is largely a thankless task. Sure most players will express a simple "thanks" at the table, and a couple might shake your hand.

Now, there is nothing wrong with this, BUT.....there is a lot more to GMing that simply leading a table game for three or four hours. The average GM, well the average GM that cares about having a good game, easily puts in at least three or four hours for every hour at the table, even if they are running a pre-printed adventure. Conventions and game companies are quite a bit hit or miss in showing GMs any love as well.

Yes, many conventions do give free badges to GMs, but they usually make you work for it. That $50 badge, well maybe $85 or so now (depending on the convention) usually want a good 12-16 hours of GMing to qualify. Sixteen hours of table-time for an $50 badge, or twelve hours for an $85 badge makes that work worth $3.12 to $7.08 an hour, $0.78 to $2.36 an hour if you factor in non-table time.

78¢ and hour and a couple handshakes, sign my ass up! Seriously though it isn't about money, but really the resources of time and energy. Twelve to Sixteen hours of time at a convention is a HUGE resource suck.

Don't even get me started about volunteering at a higher level than just a table GM as that involved me paying for the privilege of working.....again not to mention the time and energy suck.

No, in my experience (and I'm not just talking about my personal experience) GMs don't get enough love period. I really doubt that anything I can post will change that, but I will add a tiny bit of self-promotion in that I did make a couple of free "Thank You" cards that are available on DriveThuRPG.

What I can do, have done (although I totally dropped the ball last year), and will do, is make some small GM thank you gifts, along with the thank you card. A couple years ago I did some small boxes (that could double as a dice tray) and some coasters. Both were just purchased from the hobby store and tweaked. I like the idea of something small and useful.

This year I'm thinking of some handmade wooden/leather dice trays and/or die rolling tower. Now I'm not much of a wood worker, but I'm learning, so the die rolling tower will probably be a bit much for me to pull off. Actually I could easily make some dice towers, but I mean dice towers in the style I want to make them, not what I can manage.

I've got a couple of weeks to get these GM Thank You's squared away, but I'll have to get started this week for certain, unless someone here at the Tavern has a better idea....and no, drinks at/after the game don't count because I'm already down for that (I tend to bring drinks to the game already).

Saturday, May 15, 2021

Deal of the Day - Warlock! (Inspired by Early Days of British Tabletop Gaming)

I loved the Fighting Fantasy solo game books and the Warhammer Fantasy RolePlay 1e ruleset. Both games were British and both oozed with flavor. I spent as many hours reading the WFRP rules and source materials as I did running it, and I ran a campaign of WFRP. It was a blast.

I own the Warlock! rules. I grabbed them last year when they were released. They are simple and fun. I really should mine them for some SWCL inspiration :)

Warlock! is today's Deal of the Day. Normally 14.10 in PDF, until tomorrow morning (5/16/21 @ 11 am Eastern) Warlock! is on sale for 2.77. All I can say is it is well worth the minimal investment for the pure joy you will likely get in return. There is a reason it is a Platinum Bestseller in less than a year's time.

Friday, May 14, 2021

Deal of the Day - Maelorum (Solo Gamebook)

When I saw that today's Deal of the Day was Maelorum, I smiled. Not only do I remember backing the Kickstarter, but I remember playing through the adventure. It was well written and a lot of fun.

Now Maelorum is the Deal of the Day. Normally 9.99 in PDF, until tomorrow morning it's on sale for 5 bucks. How sweet is that?

The Gamebook is Reborn!
Enter into Maelorum, where an ancient evil has risen to remind the world that magic and monsters still exist. Choose one of three main characters to read the story, and play the game as. Explore old school dungeons with high res, hand drawn art that will take you back to your gaming roots. With multiple endings, and random events, you will never read the same story twice!
Rules and character sheet is included, along with a ten page item list in the back of the book. With ten years of R&D, this is an interactive adventure book unlike any other.

Thursday, May 13, 2021

I Took Pics of my Swords & Wizardry Collector's Edition Boxed Set and Contents

So, yesterday I shared a quick pic of the box of the new Swords & Wizardry Collector's Edition Box.

Well, now I've opened the box and yes, the contents are impressive - and pretty :)

I will say the dice are eh, but I wasn't expecting Gamescience.

I'm sure the bookmark will be misplaced very shortly.

The character sheets look really good as well as useful.

I'm very happy with the goodies enclosed. Now to dig through the books and look for new material.

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Kickstarter - Corsairs of Cthulhu - A Call of Cthulhu® Campaign Book

Fighting Mythos in the Golden Age of Piracy - A Call of Cthulhu Campaign book.

Call of Cthulhu is probably tied for my favorite rule system I'll likely never run again, the other being Paranoia 1st Edition from West End Games. Note, I didn't say I'll never play them again, as it is possible I'll find a convention game I could sign up for, but neither game fits well will my fellow circle of players.

Why?

Because neither seems to do campaigns very well, but as one-shots or story arcs, they thrive.

So what does New Comet Games decide to do? They offer a CoC campaign book in the age of piracy.

I think I'm sold :)

Corsairs of Cthulhu - A Call of Cthulhu® Campaign Book is a Kickstarter from New Comet Games.

Ben Burns, the man behind New Comet Games was the guest of Bad Mike & Myself on Talking Crit earlier tonight.

Corsairs of Cthulhu is a rules and setting supplement to the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game and focuses on the period between 1650 and 1730 CE. Your keeper can set up your investigators as crew on a pirate or privateer ship, freelancers in one of the Caribbean ports who love the gold doubloon more than a foreign governments rule, or even provide your investigators with their own ship. Working together the investigators must face evil Mythos, real and imagined. Curses left by ancient civilizations and hidden nightmares around the world.
The golden age of piracy is a time of spreading empires. England, France, Spain, Italy as well as several other smaller countries are planting their flags and colonies on any piece of land they can find. Empires rise and fall, Spanish ships are hauling new found gold from the new world back to Spain and ships are lost to pirates and storms regularly. Governments authorize privateers to sail under their flag but can raise the black when needed.
There are new skills, new professions, famous NPCs and new weapons that the investigators must learn to use if they want to survive against not only the dangers of the Mythos, but also against disease, dehydration, sea monsters, warships, and other pirates.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Swords & Wizardry Continual Light 2nd Print, Digest Edition aiming for September 2021

As I announced earlier today on The Tavern's Youtube Channel, we will hopefully be releasing Swords & Wizardry Continual Light as a digest-sized edition in September 2021. It is a format that folks have been asking for since SWCL first released, and I'm happy to say I've assembled the right team to do such a project justice.

This will be a new printing but not a new edition. The rules will not be changing BUT there will be additional material, a professional layout, and new art.

James Spahn will be writing a micro-setting and introductory adventure. Think somewhere along the lines of B2. I'm totally stoked.

James Shields will be providing new cover art and a new Swords & Wizardry Continual Light logo.

Jeff Jones will be doing the layout. Jeff laid out Torchlight Issue #0 and he will be the layout artist when Torchlight Issue #1 releases, probably later this month.

Michael Gross will be editing the SWCL Digest Edition. Mike has (or is) worked (or is working) with Frog God Games, Troll Lord Games, Throwi Games, and others I've probably forgotten. Mike edited Torchlight Issue #0 and will also be editing Torchlight Issue #1.

Hopefully, I'll be able to add more names to this list in short order :)

We may add a basic magical items section to the rules. B&W or color art for the interior is currently being discussed.

Let me know what you think, tell me your wants and desires, and let's make this the Swords & Wizardry Continual Light that YOU want. :)

Monday, May 10, 2021

Kickstarter - Delvers to Grow (Dungeon Fantasy RPG, Powered by GURPS)

Fast, modular character generation. Would-be heroes from 62 points and higher as player characters, henchmen, or supporting cast.

I've been a fan of GURPS from the time I found the Man to Man rules, along with the Orcslayer supplement. The only problem was that designing characters was always a pain in the ass as a player. As a DM, it is literally a compounded player. Still, the GURPS sourcebooks have always been a thing of beauty.

The other complaint I used to have is that GURPS never seems to do traditional fantasy tropes as one would expect from a D&D-type background. Sure, you had the Fantasy and Magic sourcebooks, but they seemed to lack flavor, unlike many of the other GURPS sourcebooks.

That is until Dungeon Fantasy was released. It literally was the GURPS rules with the D&D tropes that I have come to expect from a fantasy RPG, and my God, it does the genre well. Character generation of NPCs still sucked though, and become one of the intimidating factors that kept me from truly giving the Dungeon Fantasy rules a proper shake.

All this leads me to Douglas Coles' new Kickstarter, Delvers to Grow. Doug takes the most intimidating factor of GURPS, creating characters, and makes it easy as pie for the GM. No stress GURPS. Never thought I'd see the day. Of course, Doug is selling Delvers to Grow as a Player aid, but in my eyes, it's an amazing tool for the Dungeon Fantasy GM ;)

Even the mightiest delver started somewhere. An apprentice, a squire or man-at-arms, a backup singer with The Backstreet Bards.
Delvers to Grow allows you to take the part of those starting characters, supporting starting play as low as 62 points. Delvers to Grow provides pre-built modules and packages enabling a player to create a capable, playable character in minutes.

Fully compatible with the professional template system in the Dungeon Fantasy RPG Adventurers book, Delvers to Grow lets you start much earlier in the hero’s journey, letting both players and GMs ease into the full breadth of capability that the professional delvers of the Dungeon Fantasy RPG bring to the table.
Explore different challenges or use the modules to effortlessly assemble henchmen...or create a starting character to replace the dearly departed.

Doug has an amazing track record of fulfilling his Kickstarters on time and is one of the few third-party publishers licensed by Steve Jackson Games. In truth, he MAY be the only third-party publisher licensed by SJG, as I can think of no others offhand, but I could be wrong.

Sunday, May 9, 2021

Rant About Pirates

So you may or may not know that I have my own blog, actually one of several, but I digress, where I like to semi-regularly point out some free gaming resources. Ideally I do a "Free GM Resource" over at Frugal GM every Monday, but if I'm not feeling it, can't find something, or life gets in the way I don't get too worked up about it.

I've been at it for 9 years already and that ends up being a lot of freebie posts.

Basically I'm always on the lookout for something I can share and I'm not above revisiting an earlier share to see if it's gotten better. Normally I happen along something during the week as I link-hop and generally screw around online....if I'm smart enough I bookmark it for future exploitation. Anyway I'm always looking at/for stuff and this last week I found a freaking motherload.

Thing is this is super fucked up and while you're already a couple paragraphs in, this "post" is really more of a "rant". I apologize for any perceived bait & switch, here's a 10' video of cute puppies as a peace offering:

We good?

Ok, if you're still reading this we've entered the social contract where you've accepted my consideration and now I get to piss and moan on my soap-box about RPG piracy.

Holy Fucking Shitballs.

For the record, I love having electronic versions of every RPG product I legally own, and I realize that in an of itself isn't always legit. I get that some products are very much Out of Print (OOP), for example HackMaster 4th Edition. You will not find a new copy of this game on the primary market....KenzerCo can't sell it and there is no way that Hasbro will ever renew the license. I fully understand there is a line somewhere between legal and moral, but too many people clearly don't see that line.

Last week I came across another website that was a HUGE depository of most every game system I've every heard of. There were literally HUNDREDS of game systems on this server where you could download pretty much everything made for that game. It was shocking.....and this isn't the first time I've come across such a collection of piracy, and while it was the largest, it wasn't the most shocking.

It was a while ago, but for some time OneBookShelf.....yes, the DriveThruRPG (among others) guys had a link, in their common footer IIRC that went to another depository of "free" resources that were clearly pirated materials. Thing is, something about this discovery really reminds me of the DTRPG info dump. Something about the structure is too similar, but I couldn't compare them now if I wanted to, and I don't want to.

I'd like to know who in the hell thinks it is ok to just dump a company's entire catalog online for everybody to steal. I know that odds are at least one Tavern patron here thinks it's OK to download something they didn't pay for. I know what I posted earlier could be interpreted as a rationalization, but I'm not condoning theft of IP. Now if Hasbro would work out licensing deal for electronic publication of the "back catalog" of KenzerCo products........I don't think I could get to my wallet fast enough.

Now clearly I think we need a mechanism to legally obtain electronic copies of OOP materials that will otherwise never see the light of day, but I'm really just torqued about this piracy in general. This last website just blew me away with the blatant theft of IP. To add insult to injury whoever owns the site has the gall to have a copywrite and claim "all rights reserved"!

I've talked to a couple content creators that have pirated files on this site and while they (the site) claims to honor copyright and DMCA notices, they do not. Even having a whole copyright page is just another "FUCK YOU" to those content creators. Of course the slimy bastard running this pirate site is doing what they can to conceal their identity.........most thieves would in this case.

Whoever is doing this is using a third party to purchase the domain, which was registered in another country. Lots of clear violations of laws, US and international, and definitely a few Terms of Services for these middlemen......

Lots of work, and certainly some, probably not too much $, has clearly gone in to stealing this information so what? Maybe they can earn some ad revenue off of traffic? Oh nevermind, these fucks accept all sorts of cryptocurrency as donations. Yep, the true mark of today's digital pirates.....untraceable underground currency.

...and I'm done. I just found one of my d30 tables on there.

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Ken Whitman's Deck Dice are At The Printers! ROFLMMFAO!!!

I was sent the above screenshot by a Taverner. Apparently, Kenny has a new ~~scam~~ ~~scheme~~, ~~deception~~, ~~criminal enterprise~~, crowdfunding idea he intends to spring on his adoring fans.

I expect Ken will be seeking additional funds. This Kickstarter was due back in August of 2015.

If any readers backed any of Ken's other ~~scams~~ Kickstarters and he updates the project, I'd appreciate a screenshot. I can be reached at tenkarsDOTtavernAT that gmail thing. Put "ConMan Ken" in the subject to make sure I see it :)

Friday, May 7, 2021

DTRPG SciFi Sale - Tavern Picks - Part the First

There is currently a SciFi Sale going on over at DriveThruRPG. Some discounts are as high as 33% (and much is lower than 33%). I'll be covering some Tavern Picks that are 33% off.

Hmmm, this ~~may~~ will take up multiple posts...

Stars Without Number: Revised Edition - is an old-school-inspired game of sci-fi adventure, one built from the ground up to encourage sandbox play and simplify a GM's job in providing it. Familiar mechanics are employed to forge new worlds and explore new possibilities, guidelines built on long experience used to help a group venture in wholly new directions. ~~20.00~~ 13.39

ALIEN RPG Core Rulebook - Space is vast, dark, and not your friend. Gamma rays and neutrino bursts erupt from dying stars to cook you alive, black holes tear you apart, and the void itself boils your blood and seizes your brain. Try to scream and no one can hear you—hold your breath and you rupture your lungs. Space isn’t as empty as you’d think, either—its frontiers are ever-expanding. Rival governments wage a cold war of aggression while greedy corporations vie for valuable resources. Colonists reach for the stars and gamble with their lives—each new world tamed is either feast or famine. ~~24.99~~ 16.74

Traveller Core Rulebook -A brand new edition of Traveller is now available - based on the original but tweaked, finessed and updated through a massive months-long beta playtest by you, the players! Traveller is a science fiction roleplaying game of bold explorers and brave adventurers. The Traveller Core Rulebook contains everything you need to create one of these adventurers and begin exploring the galaxy. Spaceports, ancient civilisations, air/rafts, cold steel blades, laser carbines, far distant worlds, and exotic alien beasts – this is the futuristic universe of Traveller, the original and classic science fiction roleplaying game. ~~29.99~~ 20.99

Shadowrun: Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (Master Index Edition) and Shadowrun, Sixth World Core Rulebook - can't decide which edition of Shadowrun to get? Get 'em both ;) - There are cracks in the world. They’re slender, dark, and often cold, but they are the only things that keep you hidden. Keep you alive. They are the shadows of the world, and they are where you live. You are a shadowrunner, thriving in the margins, doing the jobs no one else can. You have no office, no permanent home, no background to check. You are whatever you make

yourself. Will you seek justice? Sow seeds of chaos? Sell out to the highest bidder? It’s up to you, but this much is certain: If you do nothing, the streets will eat you alive. You can survive, even flourish, as long as you do what it takes. Sacrifice part of your soul for bleeding-edge gear. Push the limits of your will learning new and dangerous magic. Wire yourself into the Matrix, making your mind one with screaming streams of data. It’ll cost you something—everything does—but you can make it worth the price.

Either one - ~~19.99~~ 13.39

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Kickstarter - RPG Sidequest Decks (Sytem Neutral)

Every card is a mini-adventure! A map on one side, outline on the other: GM info, story hooks, encounter plot points, & follow-up ideas.

A few years ago, after I retired and well before The Year of the Pandemic, I was in a face-to-face gaming group out in Suffolk County, New York. We had been playing AD&D 1e for months (although it could have been for years as I joined late in the campaign). Our regular DM decided to take a break, and I was tasked with running the next campaign. The issue at hand was I did not know I was tasked with running the said campaign and had nothing prepared for the session. Ack!

I had the group take 10 minutes and I got to work. I pulled out a handy RPG Sidequest Deck from Inkwell that I had purchased prior and always carried in my Gaming GoTo Bag for just such an emergency. I quickly found a map that inspired me, made a few notes based on the short write-up on the card and did some fleshing out, broke out the Swords & Wizardry Light Rules, and we were rolling characters at the end of the prior promised 10 minutes. Three hours later we finished up a full and fulfilling gaming session.

I simply LOVE Inkwell's SideQuest Decks, and I'm happy to say I'm backing the RPG SideQuest Decks Kickstarter. A single deck is 12 bucks, 10 decks are 100 bucks. (I'll let you guess how many decks I'm backing for ;) Honestly, you can't go wrong, especially if you are a DM that likes to run games by the seat of your pants.

Sidequest Decks are system agnostic tabletop RPG plot outlines & maps. They are perfect to pull out when your players unexpectedly take a casual comment for a story hook and you need an adventure idea, or for planning what dangers lurk in your kingdom. You may even chain several together for an entire campaign!
Each poker-sized card has a map on one side and a mini-adventure outline on the other side. The outline starts with a short description for the GM. (Skim these to find an adventure that fits the circumstances.) Choose between a couple of story hooks to get the adventure started. Next several encounter ideas move the game along. Customize them to match what your players do (drop some, change them to fit circumstances). Finally each card wraps up with one or two follow-up adventure ideas.
We've made 11 of these decks over the past few years, and now we're planning four more.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Zak S vs Gen Con Lawsuit - All Current Paperwork for Your Perusal

I've been doing a deep dive into the Zak S vs Gen Con lawsuit that was dismissed last Friday, with prejudice. While the dive is certainly interesting, I have no desire to give out info that is publicly available, if admtedly difficult to find, in dribs and drabs.

Therefore, I'm linking a Dropbox folder with all of the documentation from the lawsuit within it.

Here's the link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pjgit0b2qlt5uhe/AAAMTNKjKVOrq3L9rerELrFTa?dl=0

Enjoy. The link should be live at least through the weekend.

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Zak S vs Gen Con Lawsuit - I'm Digging Through a Document Dump

As always, a HUGE thank you to the Tavern's Community, as it was a member of the community that got me a full document dump of the lawsuit of Zak ' vs Gen Con, which was dismissed on April 30th, 2021.

I'll be delving into the rabbit hole today (and I expect longer).

Those that want to hear my reactions to, and interpretations of, the documents I'll be reviewing, are advised to follow The Tavern's YouTube Channel at:

YouTube.com/TenkarsTavern

I'll be using the blog to share relevant documents, like the screenshot above.

Zak S' Lawsuit Against Gen Con WAS Dismissed - Full Document Attatched

Thanks to JoetheLawyer, we got to see the original document from the King Count, Washington Court dismissing Zak S' lawsuit against Gen Con. It still needs to be filed - thus it is with Zoom court sessions in the world of Covid.

I did the attached video a few minutes before Joe got his hands on the original document, so now we know it was truly dismissed.

Last week's YouTube recap may be delayed ;)

edit - We should have access to all of the paperwork filed and generated for this case. I'll read through it tomorrow and share what I can.

Monday, May 3, 2021

Deal of the Day - Low Fantasy Gaming Deluxe Edition

If you are an OSR gamer, you've probably heard of the Low Fantasy Gaming RPG, if you haven't already played it. It's an old-school rulest with a huge amount of flexibility and just the right amount of deadliness (along with some ideas borrowed from 5e). I've played in a few sessions of Low Fantasy Gaming and they were a blast. The classes all seemed to have their own shine and time in the limelight in each session.

Normally 20 bucks in PDF, until tomorrow morning Low Fantasy Gaming Deluxe Edition is on sale in PDF for 10 bucks. If I didn't already own the PDF I'd jump on this.

Low Fantasy Gaming is a tabletop RPG built for gritty adventures in low or moderate magic settings. It has simple rules, dangerous combat, flexible PC customization, and mysterious, unpredictable magic. Designed for short, episodic adventures in sandbox worlds, LFG provides the mechanics and tables needed for easy GM improvisation. It’s a heady mix of the best old school, modern, and new game design, wrapped around a familiar d20 core.

Sunday, May 2, 2021

Finding Some RPG Art (Attend a Con!)

One thing I like to do when travelling, more travelling for fun than for work, is to bring home some artwork. Since a lot of my "fun" trips are gaming/convention related, I tend to pick up RPG art.

Now I've been really lucky over the years......helps that one con I went to every year had a huge art auction for their charity efforts. Mostly smaller local/regional artists that you wouldn't know (but should.....if they still painted)

My whopping three visits to North Texas has gotten me some larger or better known artists. I was able to pick up an original Doug Kovacs ink used in the original Dungeon Crawl Classics book (and all subsequent reprints IIRC). I've managed to pick up some Diesel prints which are simply HUGE. I will have to re-do the matboard for one of the prints as the upper left corner is messed up a bit.

On a side-note, if you can cut mat board well (I've done ok up to that one attempt), you can either cut plexiglass with a fine-tooth table saw blade or even have the big-box home supply store cut glass/plexi for you. Couple with some reasonably priced frame pieces ("chops") and you can frame your own art for probably less than a 1/4 of the price of getting it done "professionally".

Special note/plea: I was going to my favorite frame supply place online so I could provide link to you fine folks, only to discover that they've closed up shop/retired after 48 years in business. They literally closed up shop last Friday. If you have a good alternative please, leave me a comment so I can check them out.....I still have stuff to finish framing!

I also managed to pick up a Jeff Easley artist proof last year, which I'm going to hang by the trio of Elmore prints I picked up years ago at GenCon.

Now I've clearly thrown around a few big names who might very well be on people's wish-lists. I've got some pieces by some "big names" that might not be so big to other people, namely Jolly Blackburn and the Fraim Brothers. Now I've "showed off" Jolly's print (it is still one of my most prized possessions) and I know if talked about the Fraim Brothers, but probably on one of my other blogs.

I really do want to sing the Fraim Bros praises for a hot minute here, if not for the reason that they were the inspiration for todays post in the first place. Now if you read The Knights of the Dinner Table you've undoubtedly seen their work. The thing is these two brothers are.....prolific, AND they take reasonable commissions. I've commissioned them I think four times now to do character portraits for me and my (ex) wife's PCs, and I've been blown away. At $50 a pop, so worth it! Turn-around on their website is listed as 2-4 weeks, but every time for me was less than a week. The picture on the right was off their old website.....and one of my ex's PCs. It's subtle, but you can actually tell she's missing a finger on her right hand!

Now they only take commissions that "interest them", but what I think helps is to just let them go nuts. What I did was describe each PC in detail, but only a paragraph or so and made it clear that I'm looking for their take on what I gave them and not a graphical representation of what's in my head. I think giving the artist carte blanche and letting them know I'm not expecting a bunch of approvals and revisions is important. First, they are more likely to accept the commission, and second......well let's face it: You're hiring them for their expertise! There is no way I could have envisioned a better "picture" of Arainell (pictured here) that what they came up with.

Now I have smaller pieces from even smaller artists that I got here & there for a buck or five. I like the tables at the "Artist Alley", assuming the con has one, and if they're offering a small print for a few bucks or even some on-the-spot "Draw your PC for (usually $1-$5)".....I'm down. I'll pick up a badly printed piece of decent art or commission a cheap PC portrait in a heartbeat. I might only use the portrait for one game, but it's all good. This piece on the Left was a $1/60 second art piece of my Dwarven PC. All I said was "Male Dwarf with a big-assed hammer". I think she actually took about two and a half minutes, but who am I to complain. BTW you can find the artist (Tina Bongomo) here.

I actually have all of my RPG art, save one huge HackMaster Poster framed and up on my walls or on my bookcases. I'd guesstimate that it's a good 50/50 split between larger and smaller pieces. I've run into a bunch of folks that have said something to the effect of "I'd love to get some RPG art....but..."

....but nothing. I originally started this post with the intent of highlighting a single commission artist (well a pair of brothers, but still), but it got me thinking about RPG artists in general. I can tell you that outside of the rare piece at a FLGS (which is almost never for sale), you generally have to go somewhere the artist has the opportunity to reach a large audience....like a convention. If you can pry yourself away from the gaming table, and away from the dealer room, visit the Artist Alley. Smaller cons tend to put the Artist Alley in with the dealers and if you can find an artist self-publishing some RPG material you might find they have original art as well, though that's more a side thing for their table.

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Humble Comic Bundle - Heavy Metal's Heaviest Metal

Heavy Metal was THE edgy comic book when I was younger. At Humble Bundle pricing, the amount of quality and potentially edgy graphic reading material in the Humble Comic Bundle - Heavy Metal's Heaviest Metal is impossible for me to pass up. I'm in for 25 bucks.

There is also a Dungeons & Dragons Comic Book Bundle and a Warhammer 40k Fiction Bundle

Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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