No, Brightborne isn't an OSR game (but it is a dungeon crawler of sorts). Nor is it old school in nature. But for 2 bucks, I'm more than happy to read a ruleset that offers GM-less - or even solo - play. It might be fun for a pick-up game to kill some time at a convention.
Until tomorrow morning, Brightborne is on sale for $2 (normally 5 bucks). It's impulse-buy pricing, and I'm being impulsive today ;)
From the creator of the bestselling games ENTITY, KUROI, CAMPFIRE STORY, and STORYTELLERS comes a new GM-less, roguelike, diceless dungeon-crawling RPG for 1–4 players: BRIGHTBORNE.
Set in a richly detailed, lore-packed grimdark world, all you need to play is the rulebook, a pencil, and a deck of classic blackjack cards.
Featuring tactical grid-based combat and easy-to-learn rules, it’s perfect for both newcomers to dungeon crawlers and seasoned veterans alike. It also contains a structural loop to keep your story focused, as you have seen in the Entity title.
Disregard the fact that Green Ronin has been running a GoFundMe to pay for a lawyer in the Diamond Distributors Bankruptcy case (hint - it ain't going to help). The fact is, the AGE System, introduced with the Dragon Age RPG, is a decent system. Additionally, The Expanse is a setting full of gaming. Literally a Win-Win.
Adventurer! We've resurrected (for a third time!) our December 2020 Modern AGE and Expanse RPG Bundlefeaturing The Expanse Roleplaying Game based on James S. A. Corey's mega-popular science fiction novels of diplomacy, danger, and discovery in the future Solar System. This bargain-priced revival also includes Modern AGE, which adapts the same rules for high-power action from the Industrial Revolution onward. Both these tabletop roleplaying games use the easy and fast-playing Adventure Game Engine (AGE) from Green Ronin Publishing. You have a new chance to get everything you need for your own campaign of modern adventure or high-flying hard sf.
For just US$17.95 you get all six titles in this revived offer's Modern Collection (retail value $85) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Modern AGE Basic Rulebook and the Modern AGE Companion; the cross-dimensional campaign setting Threefold; Enemies & Allies for Threefold and other Modern AGE games; the adventure Missions: Warflower; and the Modern AGE Game Master's Kit.
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $33.19, you'll level up and also get this revival's entire Expanse Collection with five more titles worth an additional $80, including the complete standalone The Expanse Roleplaying Game core rulebook, The Expanse Game Master's Kit, the scenarios Abzu's Bounty and Salvage Op, and – newly added in this revival! – Ships of the Expanse, the 144-page guide to every kind of spacefaring vehicle in the Solar System. And if you purchased this offer during any of its three previous runs, you get the newly added Ships of the Expanse automatically on your Wizard's Cabinet download page and in your linked DriveThruRPG Library. When you buy a Bundle of Holding early, you never worry about missing a title added later – even much later.
As usual with Humble Bundle, the mid-range Bundle lacks the bargain of the low end (5 bucks includes Peterson's Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors, Forbidden Lands RPG, Ashen Stars RPG, The 20th Anniversary Release of Freeport, and others), and the $25 level offers 27 titles, including titles such as Blade Runner, Dragon Age, The Strange, The One Ring Core Rules, some Delta Green Releases, some classic D20 era DCC releases, a solo CoC adventure, and much more.
I always liked GURPS, even if the rest of my gaming group wasn't as enthralled. Before the internet, GURPS supplements were some of the best-researched gaming material (or otherwise) available.
Adventurer! We've extended this revival of our June 2022 GURPS 4E Essentials Bundle featuring GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying System from Steve Jackson Games. With the GURPS tabletop roleplaying rules you can be anyone you want: an elf fighting for the forces of good, a spy on a deep-cover mission, a futuristic swashbuckler carving up foes with a force sword, or literally anything else. For more than three decades GURPS has been supported with hundreds of supplements and sourcebooks. This second revival gives you a new chance to get .PDF ebooks of all the important rules and supplements you need to get started with the Fourth Edition (2004) of one of the longest-lasting and best-supported universal systems in the hobby.
For just US$19.95 you get all six titles in this revived June 2022 offer's 4E Core Collection (retail value $95) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete two-volume GURPS 4E Basic Set – Characters and Campaigns – plus Template Toolkit 1 - Characters, Adaptations, How to Be a GURPS GM, and the GURPS GM's Screen.
And if you pay more than this revival's threshold price of $40.09, you'll also get this offer's entire 4E Essentials Bonus with five more supplements worth an additional $109, including High-Tech (plus its High-Tech Weapon Tables), Ultra-Tech (plus its Ultra-Tech Weapon Tables), Bio-Tech, Low-Tech, and Mass Combat.
A little background on me and James Spahn, the creator of White Box: Cyclopedia. I've known James for well over a decade and consider him family. I sent James my spare copy of Swords & Wizardry Complete, and a decade later, here we are. Blame me ;)
So, what is White Box: Cyclopedia? It is Swords & Wizardry White Box that has reached all of its potential. This White Box goes to 11. Can you use this with other OSR rulesets? Of course, but it's a perfect fit for Swords & Wizardry Core or Complete campaigns. As for Swords & Wizardry White Box? This one goes to 11, as I said above.
The White Box Cyclopedia is a stand-alone roleplaying game that takes the simple elegance of Swords & Wizardry White Box rules and countless options to allow you to create a custom fantasy roleplaying experience. Modular and fully integrated, you can make your fantasy as fantastic, as gritty, as strange, as traditional, as gonzo as you want it to be.
Thirty classes and dozens heritages. Over 100 spells. Nearly 200 monsters. Strongholds and seafaring. Psychic powers and spell duels. Chivalry and natural-born sorcery. Custom rules for the Referee to run campaigns that mimic your favorite Appendix N inspirations. A treasure trove of magical items, both familiar and new.
Five Decades of Dungeon Crawling packed into a single, simple rules set.
White Box Cyclopedia builds on that rock solid foundation, unifying the original Swords & Wizardry White Box rules with two hundred pages of additional material. But White Box Cyclopedia isn't "White Box with a ton of options," it's White Box if Dave and Gary had remained friends and partners. It's a dream of how gaming would have evolved with the simplicity and elegance you remember it having, but brought into the 21st century. White Box Cyclopedia asks what would happen if we had rode nothing more than a d20 and a d6 into the same infinite well of adventure of the modern era? You'd get a complete fantasy roleplaying game we all loved, without the baggage of being "advanced." Remember those simple days? You had a few pages of rules, but somehow there was no limit to what you could do. That is the essence of White Box Cyclopedia.
Some of the options you'll find in White Box Cyclopedia include:
Thirty Character Classes: Even the traditional Fighter, Cleric, and Magic-User classes have optional rules to make them more unique. Classic fantasy archetypes ranging like the Acrobat, Barbarian, Cavalier, Ranger, and the Thief are are joined by more exotic options like the mysterious Metaphysician, the Tomb Robber, and the Friar.
A Dozen Character Heritages: Alongside Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings, players using the optional rules can select crafty Goblins, powerful Troll-Kin, elusive Shadow Elves, whimsical Gnomes, and other fantastic heritages to give your campaign an exotic flavor that is still rooted in classic fantasy.
Strongholds and Homesteads: Every character, regardless of class or heritage, can construct and maintain a stronghold that will provide unique benefits during their adventuring career and give them a meaningful way to spend their plundered wealth.
New Spells: The White Box Cyclopedia includes over 100 spells. This includes all the spells that appeared in Swords & Wizardry White Box, dozens of new Magic-User and Cleric spells, and (by popular demand) a unique spell list for the Druid class.
Exotic Arcane Abilities: Optional rules allow players to have psychic abilities, latent spellcasting abilities, engage in Arcane Duels, summon wily familiars, and craft magic items.
Chivalry and Nobility: Optional Honor rules allow any character to earn their knighthood, unlocking unique abilities independent of their class or heritage.
Genre Customization: Players aren't the only ones with new options! Referees can draw upon optional rules to flavor their campaign. So, whether you're trying to solve the riddle of steel, facing off against a vampire count in a realm of shadow and mist, or an eclectic collection of heroes on an epic quest to destroy an evil artifact, you'll have optional rules to highlight what makes those classic fantasy sub-genres unique and engaging.
Endless Exploration: Rules for hex crawling, dungeon exploration, seafaring and ship-to-ship combat, are all included, meaning players can seamlessly travel to the ends of the world and back again.
New Monsters: Almost 200 monsters are detailed here, ranging from classic goblins, to the familiar floating, eye-stalked Orbitus, to exotic new monsters like the Sanguine Fog and Killer Bees ("Not the bees!")
A Hoard of Treasure: All the classic magic items found in Swords & Wizardry White Box are found here, along with new, unique treasures. Over 200 magic items are provided, including intelligent weapons.
White Box Cyclopedia is an all-in-one tome that will allow you to craft the classic fantasy game experience you want - and it does it all with just a d20 and a few d6s. As part of that, we've worked hard to provide a simple, effective, and minimalist bookmarked PDF that will be easily usable and accessible for reference, quick searching, and reading! Function and utility carried the day here.
A One-Shot Adventure for Marvel Multiverse Role-playing Game! When a giant monster rips through the pavement on Yancy Street, the world’s premier super-hero family is called on to save the day! Play as Marvel’s First Family as they take on giant monsters and travel through the underground realm of the Mole Man. This short adventure is a perfect entry for new players to take their first steps into the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game.
This module includes character sheets for:
Mister Fantastic
Invisible Woman
Human Torch
Thing
H.E.R.B.I.E.
As well as brand-new character profiles for Mole Man and two other characters, and one new henchmen profile. Each character profile includes power descriptions for Narrators to threaten their table with.
I first came across the Neon Lords at TotalCon a number of years ago, and I was hooked. A great game with a fun premise and awesome Gonzo.
You can get the Neon Lords Bundle at Bundle of Holding for $14.95 in PDF - Core book, two supplements, and three adventures. I highly recommend!
Adventurer! With some hesitation we present the all-new Neon Lords Bundle featuring Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland, the gonzo slime-punk post-apocalyptic cassette-future tabletop roleplaying game from Super Savage Systems. Mutants and monsters roam the toxic wastelands of the forgotten world. In this kill-or-be-killed world, magic and tech collide, only the strong survive, and attitude is everything. Become a Scum Dog and brave the ruins in search of cash and prizes. Collect fantastical gear and wield the galaxy's most powerful weapons to become the baddest dude in Neo-Terraxx: the Neon Lord.
Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland is a visceral mashup of '80s-'90s pop culture mixed in a grimdark blender and barfed onto the table. For fans of The Toxic Avenger and other Troma Entertainment B-movies, Neon Lords provides all the sleazy over-the-top late-night horror you can handle. It has an Ultra-Nightmare Mode. It has three tables of mutations. It has a three-page Hairstyles Table. One 9th-level spell is called "Slaughter All Existence." One illustration is captioned "The wasteland war of Lord Blistergut Wrecksmasher vs. the Free Humanoid Army of Shrapnel City." Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland is an exultant trash-heap rhapsody, a paintball shot that hits its mark so hard it makes it glow. You admire a game like that, right? Though possibly from a distance
Marshal your courage and pay just US$14.95 to get all six titles in our Toxic Collection (retail value $73) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete 272-page Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland Core Rulez, the character expansion Riders of the Burpwarp, and the scenarios Warpshine Runnerz, Space Bulk, Mutant Hive Warz, and, uhh, Sleazoid Mutant Freaks From Cannibal Island.
Another great Deal of the Day, this time from our very own Rob Conley / Bat in the Attic. I've known Rob for over 15 years, and the quality of his work consistently amazes me.
Starting in 2009, I wrote a series of 24 posts on the Bat in the Attic Blog covering the different aspects of creating a hexcrawl formatted setting. Now that the blog posts are completed, I have combined and rewritten these posts into a single book. In addition to advice about creating your setting, the posts flesh out the Isle of Pyade into a small setting that you can drop into your own campaign.
What is a Hexcrawl formatted setting?
This type of setting starts with a hex grid placed over the map, with each hex numbered. The hex locations of the various locales, such as lairs, are noted and arranged into an index. This format provides a convenient way to reference detailed local information within the setting.
You can look at the map, see the hex number of the location, and then look it up quickly in the book. It works in reverse as well. You can read about a location in the book, with its hex location noted in the text, and then look up where it is on the map quickly. This format allows easy access to dozens of detailed locations scattered across the setting map.
Hexcrawls and Sandbox Campaigns
Sandbox campaigns are distinguished by the fact that the players drive the campaign forward by their choices. In a sandbox campaign, the players may decide to head west instead of east in pursuit of their goals. The ease of looking up locations makes the hexcrawl formatted setting a valuable tool for the referee trying to keep ahead of their players while running a sandbox campaign.
How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox will teach you how to make a hexcrawl formatted setting and explain which details are essential to include to handle the different types of sandbox campaigns.
I've known Greg Christopher, the author and publisher of ShadowRim, for well over a decade. He, indirectly, was the driving force that brought me to the OSR. He is also one of the more prolific and skilled creatives that I know.
I own the physical boxed set, and the value is amazing!
The Call of Cthulhu Starter Set contains books, dice, premade character sheets, maps, and enough content to keep a group busy for several roleplaying sessions.
Three softcover manuals broken into rules and scenarios to guide you in playing Call of Cthulhu. The physical boxed version also includes all the dice you need to play the game: a D4, D6, D8, D20, Percentile D10, and an extra D10 in a different color for use as a bonus/penalty die.
Learn to play in the best way possible—by playing! The special introduction “Alone Against The Flames”, a solo Call of Cthulhu scenario, teaches you the basic rules of the game and character creation as you find yourself in the rural New England town of Emberhead—but can you escape?
Three scenarios designed for 3, 4 and up to 5 players.
In Paper Chase, the search for a missing professor leads to a grizzly discovery.
Edge of Darkness sees a group of investigators fulfill the wish of a dying friend, and attempt to undo the mistakes of the past.
Finally, in Dead Man Stomp, Harlem and jazz music serve as a backdrop to the nefarious schemes of an alien god.
Player aids are an essential component to Call of Cthulhu gameplay. Each scenario has its own collection of maps, notes and player handouts. Each presented in full color, these play aids will enhance your gameplay, and help your players immerse themselves in each of the investigations.
Full confession - I'm fascinated by solo play RPGs. Not so much solo adventures, but the ability to take an OSR ruleset and embrace solo play. It's not that I lack friends or a group to play with, but gaming on demand does have its appeal.
FYI, I just ordered Flint and the Cairn Player's and GM's books in PRINT (free in PDF) - there will be a review later this summer.
This supplement for Cairn: Second Edition invites you into a symbolic, character-driven experience that preserves the unique narrative-based progression mechanics of Cairn and marries them seamlessly with a new quest-based advancement system that will make you rush home from work just to keep playing.
With a tarot deck as your compass, you’ll uncover quests, endure trials, and interpret the shifting winds of fate as you wander the vast lands of Vald. Whether you’re forging mythic skill paths or wrestling with fateful omens scrivened from the Major Arcana, every choice deepens your story. There are no rails here—only echoes, intuition, and the quiet weight of consequence.
This is not a game. It’s a guide to a solo campaign of Cairn 2e (free). No AI oracle or random table will tell you what happens next—you will. With nothing more than a tarot deck and the core rules of Cairn 2e, you’ll generate your own campaign, character arc, and fate.
Inside you’ll find:
A tarot-based quest system that powers advancement through emergent story
Four attribute-aligned skill trees, each with five tiers and tons of new upgrades, tactics, and abilities
Two simultaneous oracle systems; one that paints detail into every nook & cranny and another that forges narrative turning points—both wondrous and grim
Support tables for generating NPCs, locations, traps, encounters, and treasures from each of the 78 tarot cards.
A formidable overview of the Arcana including the basics and history of Tarot as well as universal interpretations of each.
Over 80 quest prompts matched to the numbered and court cards of the four tarot suits
Designed for solo play—but modular enough to use in cooperative or GM-less modes
Balanced for Cairn but easily adaptable into any of Cairn's cousins (Into the Odd, Knave, Maze Rats) or OSR systems
Since you've made it all the way down here, that must mean you're into this kind of thing, so just between me and you...
What if we assumed for a moment that what happens in a game is not a game. That it is real. That the lands you can discover are being terraformed as we speak. That the treasures are hiding themselves away, the monsters are readying themselves to strike, the swords are sharpening themselves against flint ready to be drawn and plunged into that which deserves them.
This is the premise of Flint. It's all real. And you can discover it all on your own.
The current Advanced Adventures MEGA Bundle on Bundle of Holding is a solid choice for OSR gamers and DMs. I'd jump on it myself, but I own it all in compiled print editions. That being said, there's a TON of adventuring for about a buck and adventure or less.
Adventurer! We've resurrected our January 2023 Advanced Adventures Megabundle featuring .PDF ebooks of nearly four dozen short, ready-to-play tabletop fantasy roleplaying adventure modules in the long-running Advanced Adventures line from Expeditious Retreat Press. These 43 short scenarios – dungeon crawls inspired by the earliest versions of Dungeons & Dragons – show off the Old School Revival style: tools, not plotlines; rulings, not rules; a gamemaster who doesn't railroad players onto a prearranged script but lets them sink or swim through their own actions. Encounters aren't necessarily "balanced," and outcomes are seldom scripted. Characters who don't use their heads usually wind up losing them.
Designed for the open-license OSRIC system (the "Old School Reference & Index Compilation," a free retroclone of First Edition AD&D), these Advanced Adventures modules adapt easily to any Old School fantasy RPG such as Old-School Essentials or Shadowdark, and they fit smoothly in your ongoing campaign to let your player characters ramp from level-1 zeroes to level-10 heroes.
For just US$9.95 you get all twelve titles in this revived offer's Starter Collection (retail value $70) as DRM-free ebooks, including the first ten AA modules – from #01: The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom through #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude – and we add the 2009 bestiary Malevolent and Benign I and the free OSRIC rulebook. For a list of all the modules with links to their sales pages on DriveThruRPG, see the first book entry below, "Advanced Adventures #01-10."
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $35.13, you'll level up and also get this revival's entire Bonus Collection with thirty-four more titles worth an additional $210: 33 more Advanced Adventures modules from #11: The Conqueror Worm through #43 The Warrens of Zagash, and hitting many highlights of the AA line including #15: Stonesky Delve, #23: Down the Shadowvein and #24: The Mouth of the Shadowvein, and both White Dragon Run scenarios. (For the list and the DTRPG links, see the fourth book entry below, "Advanced Adventures #11-43.") We also include the 2018 Malevolent and Benign II monster manual.
The Christmas in July Sale is going strong at DTRPG. There are a ton of titles at 30% off, as well as a few at 75% off. Today's pick is one of those 75% off games, Candela Obscura.
I've heard mixed reviews of Candela Obscura in the past, but at $5 instead of the usual $20, I figure I can take the plunge and see if I like what's presented. If I don't, I'm sure I can salvage $5 worth of entertaining from it ;)
You’re needed, investigators: join the secret society Candela Obscura to confront occult horrors from beyond, keeping hidden the true nature of magickal incursions besetting our world.
The Candela Obscura Core Rulebook is a fully detailed guide on playing and gamemastering the collaborative investigative horror tabletop roleplaying game. As an investigator of the paranormal secret society Candela Obscura, you and your circle are charged with exploring, fighting, and protecting the people of Newfaire from supernatural dangers lurking in the folds of a bustling world unaware of the occult magick simmering beneath. Candela Obscura is the very first game to use the Illuminated Worlds System as well as the first full RPG from Darrington Press, as featured in the ongoing anthology series on Critical Role.
Inside of the Candela Obscura Core Rulebook you’ll discover:
204 detailed pages
The core rules to play and create your Candela Obscura investigators and their circles.
Over 90 pages detailing the turn of the century-inspired setting of the Fairelands, and in detail the city of Newfaire and the ancient ruins beneath known as Oldfaire.
4 full example assignments for gamemasters to dive in with their players.
Over 30 example assignments to explore far-flung corners of the Fairelands and the organizations and people operating within it.
An extensive guide to preparing for and gamemastering Candela Obscura.
Immersive, in-world ephemera and notes strewn throughout the chapters—illustrations, sketches, research notes, correspondences, advertisements, maps, and more to bring the Fairelands to life.
Get immersed in Candela Obscura’s turn-of-the-century inspired setting, learn about the secret society Candela Obscura and its rival factions, and take a spin through the Illuminated Worlds System. Grab some six-sided dice and you’re ready to go!
Today's Deal of the Day is the GM Companion for ShadowDark from Chubby Funster Games. The Chubby Funster is Greg Christopher, whom I've known for well over a decade and consider a close friend.
Add a more expansive portfolio of options to ShadowDark Core.
Upgrade your Overland Hex Crawl Experience:
d20 Point of Interest table for all 9 terrain types.
2d6 intersecting Hazard tables for all 9 terrain types.
New district types + all new Point of Interest options when creating settlements.
d20 Shop generation lists featuring all new options for Poor, Standard, and Wealthy Shops.
d20 tables with new Tavern names, new Menu items, and new Drink types.
A new dice game to gamble with in the tavern after an adventure.
Acts of Devotion: a religious alternative to carousing where you can construct temples and attract adherents to support your deity.
Combat Training: a warrior's alternative to carousing where you can hold tournaments and possibly gain a noble title.
Magical Study: a wizard's alternative to carousing where they can study old tomes for magical insight and possibly found a university or library to house their books.
Upgrade your Dungeon Experience:
Define the dungeon entrance and create multi-level dungeons using the dice-drop system developed in ShadowDark Core.
d20 Room Type table + d10 tables for each Room Type, adding even more variety of dungeon design.
2d6 intersecting Hazard tables for all 4 dungeon types.
d20 trap tables for Crushing / Gaseous / Sonic traps, Magical traps, and Wounding / Weapon-like traps.
Expanded NPC tables, including a new d20 Qualities table and a d20 Professions table.
Expanded Rival Crawler tables, including a new d20 Party Name table, new d6 Signature Tactics table, and a new d12 Party Secret table. Rival Crawlers can now include monster types like Hobgoblins or Beastmen.
45 new monsters (including 6 new elemental types).
Monster tables for levels 0-9 to randomly determine what monsters are in the dynamically built dungeon you are creating.
The DOOM of the DARK is coming...
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The Black Casket of Night has indeed been opened beneath our feet, soon,
only days will remain!
I have been posting here and there about ‘Doom of the Dar...
Jackson, IL: Am I Evil? NPCs of the Satanic Panic
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Last week, I talked about running two different 80s-style teenage horror
campaigns. My Sunny Valley, OH game with Dark Places & Demogorgons and my
curren...
Free GM Resource: 1shotadventures
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[image: Free GM Resource: 1shotadventures]
I came across this blog consisting of adventures written by J.C. Connors.
The adventures are for a variety o...
Jonstown Jottings #106: Marsh Attacks!
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Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition,
the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but
for ma...
Music Monday - Go Monkey Go
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This one is a blast from the past. Released in 2000 and performed by Devo,
Go Monkey Go is a tribute to Mojo Jojo, the primary antagonist of the Power
Puff...
The Singing Lake
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By Nicole Mattos, Icaro Agostino, Davide TrammaAngry Golem GamesOSELevels
2-4 After being denied recognition as the supreme lord, Severo cursed the
region,...
Dungeon Crawler Carl (book review)
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This was a fun read if not particularly meaningful. It takes place in an
RPG world that works like a televised tournament, similar to The Running
Man and...
d100 Worst Weird Inn & Guest Rooms
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My current map with player exploration of my D&D5.5 game
Yellow is where players been and exploration has been fun
While we had 3 clerics nobody really imv...
The Great Nobility of Harry Potter
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I am of the view that there is no pursuit that is more noble and no task
that is more worth doing than writing novels. Call me romantic; call me
delud...
Circuits and Rallies
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I'm back from holiday! I guess coming back to familiarity after a few weeks
of novelty got me thinking.
Sometimes you repeat the same stuff over and over...
AD&D's Demi-Foot Forward...
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AD&D's demi-humans are primarily known for their multiclassing abilities.
After all, what adventurer doesn't occasionally dream of casting spells
from th...
Adventures Dark and Deep (Lite)
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This arrived for me today, a PoD hardback via DriveThruRPG.
Including postage, it cost me about $40 yankeebucks, so about $65 Kiwibucks.
I got it purel...
[BLOG] News on the March! Episode XIV
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This post continues the series of brief play reports I have been posting on
Discord. This does not cover every single session (sometimes, recon and
setup...
Moldvay Basic D&D now Available in Print
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Just a quick note that (finally) Moldvay Basic D&D is available in POD from
DTRPG – previously, only the Cook/Marsh …
Continue reading →
Abstraction in My Liege,
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I think the aspect of *My Liege,* that could potentially put off the most
people is its lack of accounting granularity. It does not track Court
wealth in...
SoloDark: Four Drunk Priests
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Dabbling into some solo play using SoloDark. Rolled up the party last
night. 3d6 down the line and pick the best class for the results. It was
tragic.
ht...
Consolidated AD&D Weapon Characteristics List
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Having spent the last few days down a research rabbit hole, I ended up
compiling a chart of AD&D weapon characteristics, adding some "missing"
entries an...
Referee Sabotage
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It is an old saw that players are bad at executing their plans. Imagine
this common scene: the party have some big job that requires planning;
perhaps robb...
The March 1636 Lantern is Published
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Okay, The March Lantern is available. Those fast on the draw may have
noticed that I mistakenly published it as free access for 56 minutes. I
was just so ...
Gary Con 2026 Registration
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Silver Badges get to register for events at Noon Central today (February
21, 2026). Somehow I thought I failed to register for running games this
year and ...
On a Happy New Year
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We are about to experience the most social upheaval since industrialization.
What will that look like in sixty years?
Sinless is starting it's third yea...
Mutants and Wizards
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Heya folks, long time no see.
I've just started working on something new called Mutants and Wizards. It's
going to be an OSE/OSR post-apocalyptic game t...
Ten Friggin Hill Cantons Wizards
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10 Wizards of the Hill Cantons
#
Name
Description
1
Magister Dobromil the Cauterizer
Specializes in magical “cleaning” of reality leaks. Wears fou...
Rob Kuntz at Lucca Comics & Games 2025
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If you are planning a trip to Europe (like right now) and wish to catch up
with me in person, make sure to book a detour via *Lucca Comics & Games*,
...
How do you do piracy… in SPACE!?
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Interstellar space travel in Iridium Moons was always going to be a form of
hyperspace jump like in Star Wars or Traveller. Simply because it’s the one
for...
A long overdue hobby update!
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Welcome back to the Vault everyone! 2025 is going by in a blur; I last
posted in February, almost started a post in March and now it's the end of
May. W...
Playing at the World 2E V2 Arrives
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With the release of its second volume, the second edition of *Playing at
the World *is finally complete. The two books combined total well over
1,000 ...
Articulations
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Creating house rules, custom rules specific to a local group or campaign,
has been common throughout the history of D&D. What makes an effective
house rule...
Writing playlists for all occasions
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Hello again! Going off the idea of inspiration elaborated on by the prior
post, I also have music playing while I write my various games and fiction
pieces...
The Tarot of Pips
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Somewhere in your dice collection is a die like this one, the humblest of
dice. Although you don't know it, this small white die carries with it a
secr...
Pirates and Necromancers, a Play Report
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Over the Thanksgiving weekend we did a lot of gaming ranging from
“off-table” domain level stuff to some solo adventures to spell and magic
item rese...
It's been a bit
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Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! I've had a lot going on and
haven't had much time to blog lately. Heres a recap of gaming events and
other st...
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace
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A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient
aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or
more w...
Last move - to self-hosting!
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As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to
self-hosting.
I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at)
Blog: ht...
Clean Your Room
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Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun
playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it
was ...
Steve Jackson Interview
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James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his
Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and
upcomi...
ToAD Monster of the Week: Crocoman
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Now that I'm back doing the blog thing I thought I would use Tome of
Adventure Design to create monsters for The Black Hack.
Using the monster tables in th...
Strange, Dangerous, and Inhuman: The Fey and Fairie
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When I was a boy I loved fairy tales. Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in
Boots, Rumpelstiltskin - I devoured all of it. My fascination that there
was a strang...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
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*As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded
Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in
Warren...
Fiction in Airhde
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On a whim this weekend, I picked up some fiction off the TLG store. *A
Houseless God & Other Tales* and *The Mirrored Soul & Other Tales*, both by
the T...
Ravensburg Reboot: Streamlined City Map
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I mentioned in my last post how I was tweaking and reworking parts of my
Ravensburg setting. Today I streamlined the city map. The old map had lots
of redu...
The Withered Crag available now
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I just enabled the sale of the PDF version of The Withered Crag at
DriveThruRPG a few minutes ago, and the custom print version will be
available startin...
Annihilation Rising Goes live
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The latest in Fail Squad Games’ Quick Kick projects has gone live and needs
your support!! This project is only running 11 days and ends on 5/28/2019!
...
James's Celebration of Life
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We could not have asked for a prettier day for James's service. It was a
bit chilly and windy but gorgeous. A heartfelt thank you to all that joined
us tod...
Trap Tuesday: A step back
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I will get back to Tomb of Horrors soon. I found a topic that was
interesting enough to take a break. While interacting in a 5E group on
Facebook I talked ...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
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The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even
rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player
was...
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2
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This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release,
along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a
Saint 8000...
Please, I don't do paid advertisements - don't ask.
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A little note since people have asked me about this. My video channel's
*not* an advertising platform, so I'm not available for hire if you want to
promote...
New website!
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Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated
form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that
site wil...
Please Update Your Link!
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If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is
out of date.
Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is
h...
Total Sales for WB:FMAG
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Hi Folks,
It's been a long time since I provided an update for the sales of White
Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game.
*LULU*
Print: 396
PDF: 433
*OBS*...
How can We Destroy this Campaign World?
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d12
1. You must trick a bard into strumming the *Chords of Fate* on the *Lute
of Annihilation*
2. Legends tell of thermonuclear weapons beneath megadunge...
Mord Mar - Session 5
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We had another successful delve into the dungeon yesterday. The delvers:
Moira, the Magic-User
Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?)
Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf ...
Bundle of Fantasy Age
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Bundle of Holding: Dragon Age/Fantasy Age: Available until March 12. PA
Presents: Fantasy AGE Freeport live play Green Ronin in 2018 The Fantasy
Age RPG ma...
New Free PDF Module: The Hyqueous Vaults
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A new dungeon module—written in celebration of OSRIC's 10th Birthday—by
Rebecca Dettmann, Allan T. Grohe, Jr., Jimm Johnson, Matthew Riedel, Alex
Zisch, a...
Swords & Wizardry Light: Session # 6
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Two months after our last session (thanks to things like 8th grade finals,
a 4 year-old's birthday and party, Father's Day, etc.), we finally had our
next ...
