On the Ninth Day of free Holiday Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeeee... The Hounds of Adranos for Runequest.

Being that I brought your attention to Mongoose's Legend RPG, a reworking and fully compatible reimaging of the Mongoose RuneQuest RPG (alas, no license lasts forever in gaming) earlier today, I now bring you the free adventure: The Hounds of Adranos for RuneQuest (Legend).

Legend RPG?   A Buck

The Hounds of Adranos?  Free

A fun and successful gaming session?  Priceless

From the blurb:

The Hounds of Adranos is an adventure for RuneQuest Fantasy Earth. Recommended as an add-on for Alephtar Games setting Stupor Mundi, it can also be played with the core RuneQuest rulebook alone.

This scenario includes:

- twelve pages of action-packed adventure

- full stats for all NPCs and monsters

- cardboard figures for all characters in the adventure

- cardboard figures for all Stupor Mundi recommended Player Characters

- two full-color maps of the Adranon dungeons

Mongoose Runequest is Dead, Long Live Mongoose Legend

Mongoose's license for the RuneQust trademark expired yesrterday. Legend, Mongoose's new RPG built upon the bones of MRQ2 OGL, has released today.

For a buck.

I'll post more on this after I've had a chance to read my PDF copy. 

That will give time for y'all to read your $1 copies ;)

On the Eighth Day of Free Gaming Swag, My Bartender Gave To Meeeeeee! Oubliette Issue 7!

I missed the Seventh Day of free swag.  I'll make it up later.

In the meantime, Gold Piece Productions has released Oubliette Issue #7 for FREE!

I don't know how they do it, but every issue is well worth the download.

From the blurb:


OUBLIETTE - A magazine for old school fantasy roleplayers.
FREE for a limited time only!
40 jam-packed pages!
Written for Labyrinth Lord, but also ideal for use with any Basic/Expert/Advanced original or clone, with little or no adjustment required.
Full Contents:

• Editorial
• Tales from Hell Cartoon
• Monster Club #11: The Naughty Step
• Miniatures Special: An Interview with Richard Scott of Otherworld Miniatures
• Monster Club #12: Dungeon Random Encounter Tables: Levels 4-6
• Newland Campaign Setting Part II: Raiders
• Monster Club #13: Newland Bestiary Part I
• Tomb of the Snake King: A Labyrinth Lord Adventure for 3rd to 5th Level Characters
• The 10-Foot Pole
• Found Familiar: The Toad
• Goblin Quest Cartoon
• What's in the Oubliette? Reviews
• Mouse Watch Cartoon
• The Song of Sithakk Part 7: A Dream of Blossoms

Warning! Oubliette may contain content that is suitable for adult audiences only. Persons 18+ only.

Two Games Are in the Final Stretch

Adventurer Conqueror King System is in final layout.  PDFs should be going out to Kickstarter supporters in the next two weeks with the print copies to follow.  There is still time to preorder:

If you know someone who might be interested in ACKS, send them over to autarch.co! Pre-ordering before the book is widely available gets you the free PDF of Domains of War, plus access to the developer forums where we're enthusiastically developing these mass-combat rules and examining how they fit into the ACKS campaigns folks are already running using the draft rules that are another benefit of pre-ordering.


Crypts & Things has gone to final PDF.  Damn it!  I like both of these systems a lot.  Plus Swords & Wizardry Complete and Castles & Crusades.


What am I going to do when Delving Deeper finally ships?  Heh!

If Only Home Depot Were A Game Store

I spent 2 hrs in Home Depot last night with my wife and my contractor. We picked out kitchen cabinets, flooring, countertop, backsplash, trim for the backsplash,a dishwasher, a stain for the sliding doors and zeroed in on a new stove.

Then we went out to the pub I had my reception at for a few rounds. Definitely helps that my contractor was also a guest at my wedding.

Hmmm... come to think of it, this is pretty much how gaming nites should wrap up. I may need to go to Home Depot more often ;)

Today, the kitchen floor gets installed, the old sink gets removed (and gets some cutoff valves installed too - the kitchen is an oldie), the sliding doors get stained and the archway to the living room gets painted.

I'm hoping I have a kitchen by Christmas :)

I Survived Black Friday / Cyber Monday - and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt!

Well, maybe I did a little more then that. Still, Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend shopping usually leaves me with most of my Christmas Shopping done and toys for myself at that. This year, it was a lot less shopping on my part.

Part of the reason is there is no place to put any "big ticket" items, like one of those snazzy 3d TVs until renovations are complete - the living room is where my contractor is storing all of his tools, and the wife and I have storage boxes stacked along one wall.

The other part is I really wasn't impressed with most of the online sales
this year, and I refuse to line up at a store on Thanksgiving Night in order to get a "Doorbuster". I worked sales in a Department Store for 8 1/2 years before I found my career - I'm certainly not dealing with the crowds for free ;)

That being said, Lulu's 30% off coupon is tempting me - CYBERTUESDAY305 can lead to some OSR shopping savings. Not to mention the deals over at RPGNow.

Much better then some 3D TV that I wouldn't have any 3D programming to watch on. ;)

Troll Lord Games' 12 Days of Christmas Sale Has Gone Live

The Trolls are offering 12 different bundles of C&C goodness on their web store.

The module collections are tempting me at 3 bucks per module in the bundles of 10.

Here's the link. I'll make it pretty later ;)

http://www.trolllord.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=45&osCsid=3av86c2c1ol8iadhmrvrjilef3

Procrastination is Making Me Wait...

I've got a real itch to get a game going on a semi regular basis via Fantasy Grounds 2 / G+ (maps, dice rolling, chat and voice - perfect combo).

I want to get it started soon, but I probably need to wait to the new year for the holidays to pass.  Oh, and renovations to be completed, as the wife and I are currently living out of our 2 room bedroom area... I'll need to have a working living room for me to run games, as she'll need a place to escape to ;)

Which means I've got about 6 weeks to figure out that I'm going to run system-wise and find or write an adventure and put it in Fantasy Grounds format.

Time to stop the procrastination...

On the Seventh Day of Free Holiday Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeee... The Atomic Highway RPG

Much thanks to the Green Skeleton Guild Blog for pointing this out.  The Atomic Highway is an amazing post apocalypse RPG that was Ennie Award Nominated.  Besides that, it's just good stuff.  Oh, did I mentions it's now free?

From the Blurb:

Civilization came crashing down. Billions died.
A new Dark Age has begun. The descendants of the apocalypse's survivors scavenge the remnants of the Before Times, struggling to build a new life amidst the ruins of the old. In a savage world where the strong ravage and exploit the weak, the survivors' settlements are oases, connected only by convoys of armed and armored vehicles that run the gauntlet of raiders... and worse.
Though the threats of chemical and biological agents and radiation have all but faded, their taint lingers on in every mutant born to man and beast.
This is the world of Atomic Highway.

Atomic Highway is a complete roleplaying game. All you need to play it is this book, a few friends, paper and pencils, and a few ordinary dice.

Features:

• The V6 Engine: a simple, fast-playing game system that emphasizes cinematic, or "movie-style" action, supported with many clear examples.

• Quick and easy character creation rules providing dozens of potential character types. Tear along the shattered highway as a road warrior, track down monstrous threats as a brave tribal warrior, or unearth the wonders of the past as a canny scavenger.

• Rules for mutants and mutations, including optional rules for humanoid animals and psychic powers.

• Straightforward rules for a wide variety of vehicles and modifications.

• A complete bestiary of threats, mundane and mutated.

• Easy-to-use scavenging tables - you never know what you'll unearth.

• A customizable setting with advice and tips on how to create your own post-apocalyptic world.

• Roleplaying and game running advice for Players and Game Masters, new and experienced alike.

• A ready-to-use introductory adventure.

What's Your Work Worth?

I've been reading Zak's posts (and associated comments) from the last few days and the numbers are fairly depressing.  It seems that getting paid a fair amount for your work in this corner of gaming, whether writing or artwork, is pretty much the exception.  That's a damn shame.

If you blog, you probably do so due to some frustrated creativity that needs to come out.  I know that's part of the reason I'm on here.  Heck, at some point, I'd like to write gaming material for a profit.  I just don't think I can afford to do so at this point.  And so I blog.

Those that can make a living with RPGs, God bless you.  Those that can make beer money with RPGs, may God bless you even more, as you do it for love of the hobby and that is a beautiful thing.

As for Zak's nut job project, I'd actually enjoy seeing whatever results I can come up with for my Fluor-Eight RPG System, Gaming With Fluorite Octagonals. 

On the Sixth Day of Free Holiday Swag, My Baretender Gave to Meeeee - A Free RPGeeee! (PDQ Sharp!)

PDQ is the core system used in lots of games, such as:

• Dead Inside - Embrace your Virtue. Resist your Vice. Find meaning. Regain your soul.
• Truth & Justice - Simple. Speedy. Super.
• Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot - Are You Ready for a CHALLENGE?
• Ninja Burger - The world's only fast-food chain run by ninja is looking for new recruits!
• Questers of the Middle Realms - The lighter side of fantasy gaming. In less than 80 pages.
• The Zorcerer of Zo - Fairy tale adventures in the zantabulous land of Zo.
• Jaws of the Six Serpents - sword and sorcery, and the darker side of fantasy.
• Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies - Musketeers, Pirates, and Skyships - oh my!

With PDQ Sharp!, you can get a feel for the rules for free.

Springtime in November

It hit the low 60's here in the Poconos earlier today (yes, I'm away for the long weekend).  I went flea market shopping in a short sleeve shirt - on November 26th - in the north east - less then a month before Christmas.  If you want to put more discretionary dollars in my pocket, keep my heating bills low ;)

I picked up a set of 8 sided dice at the flea market - alright, they are actually naturally forming fluorite, but they make pretty neat dice.  I might number these and use them.  Hmmm... design a game that uses only 8 sided pieces of fluorite to determine probability.  Now THAT would be an obscure system... heh

Buy in is cheap tho', as they only cost me a buck a piece.

On the Fifth Day of Free Holiday Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeee! Every Issue of Signs & Portents

How many issues?  Too many issues!

How do you want them?  I want them for free!

Signs & Portents is Mongoose's free house-zine for it's RPG lines.  Back in the day, it used to be split between RPGs and a Wargame edition, but it's all under one cover now.

I used to enjoy it for it's Babylon 5 coverage, but there really is a plethora of goodness for you to use in any of you OSR inspired games.

It's Black Friday Weekend at RPGNow!

And do they have a crapload of sales going on.  Time to do some virtual window shopping.

Here's just a few:

Adamant Entertainment:  If you get just one RPG PDF this weekend, it should be ICONs.  If you already have it, get some of supplements for it.  In either case, it's a $1.99 a book.  Oh, and all purchases enter you in a contest to win an Amazon Kindle Fire.  Saweet!

Mongoose has put it's Runequest and Runequest II lines on sale as it wraps up it's license for the name, but not the system.  If you wanted to get your hands on some RQ Glorantha, Lankmaror Elric stuff, here's your change for some bargains.

Goodman Games is running a Half Off sale.  Perfect time to fill in the holes in your DCC collection as we wait for the DCC game and a whole new line of DCC adventures.

There's a lot more on sale, but these are the ones that struck my eye in particular.

Edit:  Knowledge Illuminates, a starting adventure for the usual OSR clones, written by fellow blogger  Time Shorts, is on sale for a buck!  You only have yourself to blame if you pass this one up. (thanks Ivy for pointing this out)

On the Fourth Day of Free Holiday Sawg, My Bartender Gave to Me... a Free Setting for 3e D&D (Codex Arcanis)

Codex Arcanis is the core book of the Arcanis setting for 3e.  It's also fairly easy to convert to any of the clones.  For me, I'll be using it as a source book to farm ideas from, and it's over 250 pages of free ideas ;)

From the blurb:

The Shattered Empires Await!

Turmoil grips the lands of Onara. It is the end of an era and the dawn of a new age. It is an age of struggle against the end of existence; and age, which shall witness the rise of history’s greatest champions. Will the world of Arcanis pass into Oblivion or will her heroes raise her up to new heights?

The Codex Arcanis is the essential tome for the critically acclaimed Arcanis: the World of the Shattered Empires campaign setting. Within one will find:

The history and geography of Onara’s greatest nations.

Races, feats and prestige classes – all approved for use with Living Arcanis.

A complete pantheon, unlike any fantasy religion in that it is left to mortals to interpret the commandments of faith.

Thousands of people world-wide play in the World of the Shattered Empires and now’s your chance to join them.

Mortals stumble in the darkness; Heroes light the way.

Be that Hero and Leave Your Mark Upon the Shattered Empires.

Giving Thanks on This Fine Day!

Thanksgiving is a day to reflect on things you are thankful for.  I don't have to dig all that far back this year, this month alone has been one I've been extremely thankful:

Got married on the 5th :)

Got a new, more responsible position at work on the 10th

Professional renovations (shit I can't or won't do) started on the 14th

Officially cancer free on the 16th (just took 5 1/2 years after being diagnosed ;)

It's been a damn good month!

Bonus! On the Third Day of Free Holiday Swag, My Bartender Gave to meeeee... Even More D6 Goodies

When you lose the license to Star Wars, but your system was built with star Wars in mind, you need a new Space Opera setting.  Septimus is that Space Opera setting (including the D6 rules).

Clocking in at 364 pages, it is a beast of a book.  It is a beauty.  It is free.

From the blurb:

As one galactic empire dies, billion of people from thousands of worlds flood to their last great hope -- Septimus.

Bill Coffin's Septimus sets the players inside a Dyson Sphere made from an unknown and unknowable alien technology. Faction pitted against faction to control the sphere and the amazing technology therein -- a technology so great that no weakness cannot be eliminated and even death is not final. But, even as the obsessed techno-cult, the Sindivar Extant seeks to build a Utopia around Septimus' many nanofoundries, a dark secret spreads. The same technology that is a boon to so many billions of people contains a flaw, a flaw that may have spelled doom to the great originators, a flaw that threatens to crush Septimus and its inhabitants, even before the greatest of secrets yet remains undiscovered.

Whether you fight alongside the Extant and the Cadre, or whether you join one of the many factions seeking to wrestle power and wealth from the Cult, you are sure to find a game that is right for you. This 360+ page RPG comes packed with everything you need for many hundreds of hours of gaming. This books needs no additional material to play. It comes with the OpenD6 core rules, huge amounts of setting information, complete with area maps, plus the most exhaustive character generation and character option information ever in a single D6 System book.

Inspired by, and meant to capture all the fun of the Classic Star Wars roleplaying game by West End Games, this free-wheeling Space Opera also takes you science fiction fun to the next level. More mature and multi-tiered that Star Wars D6, Septimus includes elements of Cyberpunk, Transhumanism, Light Mecha, all the way to fantasy elements. Septimus' vast territory only about 1 or 2% of which has been mapped, means an almost unlimited field to play in.

This is the biggest campaign setting published by West End Games in years, with more support content to follow, which means you'll continue to have the support you want and need, for a long time to come.

On the Third Day of free Holiday Swag, my Bartender Gave to Meeee...Some D6 RPG Gaming!

Yep, I've mentioned this stuff in the past, but as it is Thanksgiving here in the states, I'm giving thanks that the entire line was released for free.  This is the same core D6 system that powered West End Games' Star Wars, Xena, Men in Black and others.  It's only gotten better and the system has gotten tighter.  You literally can't go wrong with it.

Let's see some what they offer for free:

The new D6 System roleplaying game series offers fans of one of the most popular cinematic systems a new way to get their favorite game. Combining the best of over 15 years of D6 System design ? including systems appearing in Men in Black, DC Universe, Hercules & Xena, and the awarding-winning Star Wars roleplaying game ? each D6 System rulebook provides an attribute and skill set tailored specifically to the genre while using a game engine that's cross-genre compatible. The covers, when placed together with D6 Adventure in the middle, form a stunning panoramic image.

D6 Fantasy Rulebook- Suitable for any non-modern fantasy setting, including high fantasy, low fantasy, and swashbuckling.


Combining the best of over 15 years of D6 System design, D6 Adventure Rulebook provides you with the basics for playing in a wide range of modern settings, from the Wild West to the Near Future, such as pulp action, espionage, and low-powered super heroes. You'll get everything you need to add the popular D6 System to your favorite setting.







D6 Space Rulebook- Suitable for any far future setting, including cybernetics and space travel.

On The Second Day of Free Holiday Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeee... The Medieval Mysteries Role Playing Game

Apparently there is a whole genre of fiction that has passed me bye.  I need to rectify that.

The Medieval Mysteries RPG, subtitled Sleuthing in the Middle Ages, is an RPG that covers the notch of, sure enough, medieval mysteries.  It uses the same stripped down OGL engine as yesterday's Go For Yer Gun! that I posted yesterday with one major change - Hit Dice progression stops at 4th level.

If you have a background of reading medieval mysteries, you have enough here to run a game.  If you don'y (I don't) you'll probably need to read from the suggested reading list for inspiration.  I plan to track down a book or two from the Brother Cadfael series after (virtually) thumbing through this.

From the blurb:

The Brother Cadfael novels of Ellis Peters, created a massive following of readers and spawned a whole new genre that was to become the biggest growing genre in new fiction. The Medieval Murder Mysteries RPG is designed to emulate the medieval detectives like Crowner John, Hugh Corbett and Owen Archer, found in the works of Bernard Knight, Paul Doherty and Candace Robb. It uses the same simplified version of the WoTC OGL system found in the popular Go Fer Yer Gun! rpg. It features nine character classes, including the Apothecary, Crowner and Scholar, a new simplified skill system, a grittier combat system where hit die stop at 4th level as well as rules for wound infection, details about crime and punishment and a sample adventure. The Medieval Murder Mysteries rpg contains all you need to go sleuthing in England in the Middle Ages. Includes a huge reading list of medieval mystery writers and their novels.

Thinking Critical - Some Thoughts on Rolemaster

I was thinking earlier about the rulesets I have installed for Fantasy Grounds 2 (VTT) and Rolemaster kinda stuck out in my mind.

I always had big ideas about running a Rolemaster campaign back in the 90s, but I never got around to it. I did run some MERP, and we had a short but intense Spacemaster campaign that I ran when we were short players, but we never stuck with it.

It always seemed like it was too complicated. We loved reading the charts, but we hated referring to the charts. Heck, I think I winged at least half the modifiers.

Fantasy Grounds 2 automates the modifiers and the charts. It ALMOST makes it a viable choice for me to run a game of Rolemaster. It still may be too complicated for me. Swords & Wizardry Complete, ACKS and the other clones are more my taste these days.

It would be nice to have some of those criticals pop up on the screen. I might just have to play around with it tonight and see how it plays out.

Yes, I'm getting much closer to getting my game on. Or games. Fun Fun!