Dead Tree 4e Dungeon Crawl Classics

Tanga.com had a deal last week on a collection of Dungeon Crawl Classics for D&D 4e.  I don't play 4e... I have the core books but I would need to find a way to de-miniaturize the rules (this coming from a major user of VTTs and virtual miniatures)

Still, for less then $40 bucks I received DCCs 53 - 63 (I'm working on the assumption that the $2 DCC is number 59).  11 books.  Not bad for over $150 worth of gaming material of any kind.

I prefer PDFs for most of my gaming these days, but this was a price that could not be beat.  Time for me to steal ideas for Labyrinth Lord ;) 

Happy Hour at the Tavern 5/26

Today's Happy Hour is going to highlight an offering from West End Games.  Not sure if you've been following the drama, but things have been a-changing over there.  My first experience with West End Games was playtesting a Paranoia adventure in their Manhattan offices back in the 1980s.  The company has changed hands over the years, and now they have made the D6 system open, and offer the core books for free.

This is free and complete in one package: Bill Coffin's Septimus 364 pages of D6 goodness.

Yes, it almost wasn't published, as preorders were refunded amidst West End Game's recent drama.

It's a non-standard sci-fi RPG.  There is a dent review at the Roll for Initiative blog.

I've found it well to be well produced, and what I've read so far looks good, but its a damn huge product on a plate filled with lots of RPGs.  Still, I felt it best to share it.

Twilight of My Years

In my early college years we would play just about anything.  AD&D was our go-to game, but everything else was good for a session or three.  Twilight: 2000 was one of those games.  I don't think we ever got past the first edition of the rules and maybe one sourcebook / adventure, but it was certainly fun.  We were a NATO squad that got separated from the main NATO forces when the Soviets invaded.  Trying to survive off the land and remain undetected was fun while it lasted.

I never actually owned the rules, I was just a player in the campaign.  It is $1 on RPGNow at the moment.  Damn cheap for a memory.

Lulu is running a 20% off sale through May 26:  code is ROADTRIP305. (e-books are not eligible)

There appears to be a free shipping promotion going on at the same time at Lulu.  Very nice.

Weekend Buybacks for May 23rd

The first official (second actual) Weekend Buyback at the Tavern. This week's offerings are a smorgasbord. Actually, I expect every weekend will be offering a smorgasbord.  Remember, Buybacks were free when I posted them...

First up is Somnium Mundus from Terra-Sol Games. Nearly 30 pages of adventure for your Traveller game. I don't think I've played Traveller since my early college years, but I've always loved the system (and the system withing a system of character generation).

Next is Into the Star, another Traveller product from Terra-Sol Games.  30 odd pages of optional rules.  No idea how well this conforms to the Mongoose Traveller rules.  Let me know.

Neverwhere from Postmortem  Studios.  I'm a damn huge Neil Gaiman fan, ever since Sandman Issue 1.  Damn good stuff.  Of course, I just found this game in the midst of a large number of other products, so I haven't had a chance to see how close it hues to the book.  Four 5 Star reviews on RPGNow tho out of four reviews. 

Last Buyback for the weekend is The Boarding House at Arkham Street from Three Fourteen Games.  Billed as a system-less horror adventure, it is pretty close to Basic Roleplaying / CoC compatible.  Decent layout and an excellent price (and nice reviews on RPGNow) but this in a must download situation, especially if you are thinking of running a Horror game.

Back to the random thought process tomorrow, Happy Hour on Wednesday ;)

Bringing Method to Madness

There is generally little rhyme or reason to my posts. I post what I want, when I want. Which is fine until you realize that your Blogger's GADD keeps your from posting all that you want to, as you either get scatter brained or overwhelmed.

So I've decided on a loose schedule for my posts, inter-spread with random thoughts.

Weekends will consist of at least one posting of Tenkar's Tavern Buybacks... free RPG PDF goodies that I find and pass on to you. (see last weekend's post for an example)

Wednesday will be Happy Hour at Tenkar's Tavern. Usually a product review, it may not be free, but hopefully it will make someone happy to learn about it.

Tomorrow should be this week's posting of some buybacks ;)

GADD - Gamer's Attention Deficit Disorder

It's amazing how easily I am distracted from my original idea of reviewing some of the major VTTs. Instead I find myself reading more and more PDFs as they are released, or as I stumble across them.

I'll try to focus myself. No promises. ;)

Still, I found another treasure trove of free RPG goodness over the last two evenings, so it isn't all bad. I'll try and link that up over the weekend.

Real Life Intrussion

So, I'm about to leave work when my cellphone rings - I don't know the number, but I pick up anyway - which is rare.

"Trace the phone and wipe it!  I think he had a gun, or maybe a knife... CLICK!"  Yep, my son's phone call put me into panic mode.  Rain kept my commute home at a standstill.

Long story short:  my son had his cellphone snatched in the NYC Subway this afternoon by another "youth".  He was going to fight for it when something didn't seem right to him, and he stood down and let it go.  In the end he thinks the other kid had a knife, as he didn't run and was enjoying the confrontation.  My son then used one of those rare payphones you occasionally find in NYC to tell me briefly what happened.

Discretion, the better part of valor.  Property can be replaced.  People can't.

Of course, I'm a father and a sucker, so tomorrow I'll be supplying my kid with a new phone... no contract discount... ouch!

The thing is, after I was comfortable with the idea he was OK, after he talked about what happened, the story he painted, the details he remembered (and those he couldn't), were laid out like a damn good DM setting the scene for the party's latest encounter.  My son weaves an entertaining story.

My kid get's robbed, and I think about his gaming potential at the table. ;)

Most importantly, he is fine, and learned a lesson about showing valuables in public.  Course, my wallet is paying for that lesson...

ICONS on the iPad

My iPad is gonna need a sneeze guard.  I just got my preorder PDF of the ICONS superhero RPG.  Its FATE based, so it should be fun.  K, time to read.  I'll give my feedback after I digest this for a bit.

Allergies Suck Azz!

I sit here before my 28" computer screen (a TigerDirect.com bargain this past winter) wondering how long I have before one of my sneezes nail it dead center.  This afternoon the sneezing started full blast, and it hasn't left yet.  Would this count as an "At Will" power in 4e?  Alright, stepping away from the keyboard for a bit.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be less congested.

Weekend Buy Backs at the Tavern

It never ceases to amaze me:  the amount and free and quality publications that are usable in old school (or really any school), gaming.

This weekends freebie finds:


Zor Draxtau, Issue 1 - official newsletter of the USHERWOOD ADVENTURES.  OSRIC compatible, it consists of 6 pages you can steal for any of the Old School D&D homages.


The One Page Dungeon Codex 2009, Deluxe - Dozens of dungeons (and other maps) that fit on a single page and are system generic.  If you can't mine this for ideas you need to go back to GM school.

Signs & Portents 80 - Yes, it is Mongoose's house organ, but its an excellent house organ.  This issue is lighter then others in the past, but still priced well.

D6 Core Set - D6 Adventure, Fantasy  and Space.  For free.  Under the OGL too.  (when you follow the link to the download page, download each book separately.  My "Bundle link" just game me the D6 Adventure book).  Further downloads for the D6 system (including the books I just listed) can be found here.

PDF Apps to Read RPGs on the iPad

I'll get back to reviewing more of the VTT market shortly.  At the moment the damn iPad is occupying way to much of my time.  The main use it is seeing, besides surfing the web and emails, is reading my gaming material.  There are different apps that allow it, each has its own quirks.

In brief, we have the following (that i have used so far):

GoodReader - probably the best all around choice based on price, features, and convenience of importing PDFs.  It works nicely will most of the popular Cloud Computing services out there.  I've been using DropBox and Me.  It handles every PDF I've sent its way, even the over 100 MB ones.  Can do bookmarks and search your document.  $0.99

DropBox - my first choice for Cloud Computing.  It also serves as a bells and whistles free PDF reader.  Free

FastPDF - it has a pretty looking bookshelf like Apple uses for their iBooks app.  Damn pretty.  Getting your PDFs there is a damn PITA.  The bookshelf does look very nice with all those striking Old School Covers.  $0.99

Downloader - this app lets you got to websites and download whatever... music, videos, PDFs, etc and let you open them with another app.  So, using this app, I log into my DropBox via the web, download some PDFs, open them, then click to open with FastPDF, and they land on my pretty bookshelf.  Seems to choke on PDFs larger then about 50 MBs or so.  $2.99

iAnnotate PDF - let me start by saying it is a bit buggy right now, as importing PDFs is more then a PITA.  However, for those that you do import, you can highlight, underline, mark up, pin notes, bookmark - it is simply an amazing tool to use when you are going thru a PDF and want to make it yours.  Needs the ability to erase your changes, which I haven't found yet.  Pricey at $6.99, but will be priceless when they work the bugs out and refine it.  Amazing what it can do right now.

Alright, stepping away from the iPad...

My Swords & Wizardry White Boxes!

I have my Swords & Wizardry White Boxes, and they are good!

Only one came with the adventure and map insert, but that's okay, as the extra box will be a giveaway at the next "Gathering of Fools", tentatively scheduled for some time in June (its when my old gaming group gets together a couple of times a year).  I plan to have them do a last man standing with some pre-made PCs... winner gets the box, losers will get the Swords & Wizardry Quickstarts.

I tend to bring gaming material as to pass out at these.  C&C Player's Handbooks when they were for sale real cheap on Buy.com a few years back, Rolemaster Express when it was $5a book if you bought 6, OSRIC soft covers, Labyrinth lord soft covers... you got to feed the beast ;)

Okie, I'm just damn excited.  Going to touch the pages a few more times.

Decision Time

I know the main campaign I'll be running with Fantasy Grounds will be using the Labyrinth Lord rules and the AEC supplement.

My struggle now is do I use the Basic Roleplay rules for the side games or the FATE rules. Can you tell that FATE is fully on my mind now? Heh

Decisions, decisions. Could be worse, I could like none of the available rules as opposed to too many ;)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I'm Crazy - Really Loopy

Yep, on my weekend getaway I made a purchase at RPGNOW / DriveThruRPPG. Nothing new there, I tend to pick up PDFs there on a nearly weekly basis. I need to find time to read them... heh.

It wasn't the purchase of OUBLIETTE Issue 2 that makes me label myself as crazy. The first issue was a good one and I have no reason to expect anything less from the second issue. This purchase probably marks me as somewhat sane. Haven't done more then glance at it yet.

No, the purchase that marks be as loopy, crazy, jumped into the deep end of the pool is Legends of Anglerre. I'm a big fan of the FATE system even tho I've yet to use it in game. Spirit of the Century, Starblazer Adventures (nice, loose sci-fi rules), Dresden Files... its a great system for storytelling. Legends of Anglerre makes the FATE system accessible to us Fantasy roleplayers. And it looks good so far. I say so far because its a huge friggin book. The damn iPad is getting a workout.

Now all I want to do is read ALL of my FATE powered RPGs and see what I can steal from each. There is not enough free time for me to do so. And it is really driving me loopy. It's not like I can read the stuff at my desk at work... or I could, but the results won't be pretty, work-wise.

I need another vacation. ;)

Posting From the iPad

Hmmm... It seems Blogger and the iPad's default browser have some issues. In order to enter text for this post, I had to "edit HTML". A work around, but not a great solution. I probably should have used a specialized app ;)

Anyhow, all my reading material for this weekend's country getaway resides on my iPad or in a Dropbox folder, waiting for me to grab it. Therein lies another problem I've been having today... Everyone wants to play with the damn iPad, preventing me from reading (and preparing RPG reviews). It looks like one iPad in the family is not enough... Heh

Hopefully back to VTT and RPG reviews tomorrow or Monday. I just need to squirrel away some alone time for me and my iPad. Wait, that doesn't sound right.

Urh? OOTS!

Somehow, someway, I have failed thus far to post about my uber-favorite online comic - Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew.  Major damn oversight on my point.  It single handedly brought me back to gaming.

Go.  Read.   Start at 1. There are 719 strips to go, not counting the extras in the printed collections.

I'm open for suggestions of other comics to follow.  High standard to be met ;)

Midweek Meltdown - Or at Least Rescheduling

Looks like this weekends proposed first session of the Fantasy Grounds 2 / Labyrinth Lord Campaign will need to be rescheduled... Mother's Day is more like Mother's weekend these days, especially when you have two (or more) sides to the family.  Ah well.  Soon.

As a complete aside (and bizarre tangent)  my "get paid to play with your firearm training" has been postponed and instead tomorrow I will be sitting in a classroom learning "Basic Powerpoint".  If you can think of more diverse training I'd love to hear about it.

I've been putting the iPad through a nice workout with the plethora (always wanted to use that word) of PDFs I've been loading up on it.  I'm even going to bed early just so I can read in bed ;)

Next up (or at least soon) should be a small write-up on Battlegrounds.  I just need to find one of the two external hard drives I have it installed on.  Too many gadgets, not enough organization.

Twofer Tuesday

Yep, its a Twofer Tuesday here at the Tavern.

What's the Twofer you might ask?  Two short reviews ;)

First up is  Dark Fate, a Swords & Wizardry Campaign Setting.  Quite simply put, it is a product full of great ideas to lift for your own campaign (assuming you don't want to stick with the included campaign).  Actually, the included campaign information is so thorough, a prospective DM would be well adviced to just read up on a small corner of the detailed world.

It includes some variant rules (personal favorite... undead are harder to turn then in standard rules, but every 2 points of damage inflicted adds +1 to the turn roll - priceless).  It does suffer from one minor (or major problem depending on your sensitivities) issue -  the author is not a native English speaker, and it shows with the tense of verbs and some other awkwardness in writing.  The ideas and presentation rise above this in my opinion, but others may feel differently.  I'd like to thank my iPad for making this a very pleasant read from bed ;)

Next is OpenQuest, a free, total open ruleset of Mongoose's RuneQuest.  As Runequest is published using the OGL.  From the site:

Open Quest is based on the Mongoose RuneQuest SRD (MRQ SRD), with ideas from previous editions of Chaosium’s RuneQuest and Stormbringer 5th, mixed in with some common sense house rulings from the author’s twenty years of experience with the D100 system.

I don't own the Mongoose version of  RuneQuest.  My last experience with RuneQuest was from Avalon Hill, although I did pick up the Chaosium 2nd Edition years ago.  The price is right for me to start checking out the system again.  You can also pick it up in paper format on Lulu, but that kinda defeats the point of free ;)

Fantasy Grounds / LL - Soft Start Set

It looks like this coming Saturday will be the first session of the Fantasy Grounds 2 / Labyrinth Lord campaign I'm starting up.  I call it a "soft date" as it works for me, barring any unforeseen circumstances.  It may not work for my whole group, as the next day is Mother's Day.  The following week won't work for me, as I'll be playing as a player in a C&C campaign.

I've also been trying to get feedback from my players for an alternate campaign or two of one offs - kinda used for pick-up games when we don't have a full group.  I was figuring on using Basic Roleplay for that, as the rules can cover most genres, and a level-less game works better when your party is less likely to be balanced.

Of course that means they overwhelmingly voted to make the alternate campaign Star Frontiers.  Now I need to translate that into Basic Roleplay.  Eh, could be worse... I could be trying to translate Paranoia (great game, decent rules - don't think I could EVER translate it).

Weekend Wrap-Up

So, what did I accomplish towards getting my Labyrinth Lord Campaign up and running?  Nothing

How about getting ready for my next blog piece on Virtual Table Tops?  Nada

Maybe I found a nice RPG product to write a review of?  Maybe.  Dark Fate has my attention at the moment.  It's written for use with Swords & Wizardry, but that hasn't stopped me in the past.

No, Ive been a slave to the iPad.  Dumbass name but an amazing little product.  Dropbox is my friend for moving my PDFs over to the iPad and I've been ignoring family and fiends as best I can to keep my new toy in hand as much as possible.

Now, if someone could write a basic VTT that would run on the iPad... that would be damn sweet.

Back to work tomorrow.  Back to my regular blog posting tomorrow.  Tonight, I'll be reading some gaming material on my newest toy ;)