Mentzer D&D Basic Set Released in PDF at DnD Classics for 9.98

This ain't 4e, right?

The Mentzer version of D&D Basic is available for 9.98 ($4.99 for the Player's Manual and $4.99 for the DM's Rulebook.)

Not a bad price for something you can add to you portable gaming collection (iPad / tablet / etc)

edit:

"To commemorate the original D&D "Red Box's" 30th anniversary, take advantage of this special promotion!

With the purchase of the D&D Basic Set Player's Guide or D&D Basic Set Dungeon Master's Rulebook from the original "Red Box," get a coupon for 50% off any of the B-series adventures!

This special offer includes B1 In Search of the Unknown through B12 Queen's Harvest and ends next week so act fast!"

Axes & Anvils Is a Critical Fumble - Time to Move on From This Train Wreck

On June 27th, Mike Nystul promised a Table of Contents for Axes & Anvils "in the next day or two". It's been nearly 3 weeks. This has been Mike's MO since the beginning: make promises and never follow up.

I think it's time to put Axes & Anvils out to the curb with the trash that is now Mike's reputation. Unless Mike comes forward with an actual product (or an entertaining story as to why he's still fucking up) this is probably the last I'm posting on this fiasco (someone should turn this int o a Fiasco scenario perhaps ;)

There is a community effort on G+ to put together a "Dwarf Themed" RPG to replace this fiasco. I need to check up on it's progress.

edit: I added this as a comment on G+ in answer to an inquiry of Mikes Kickstarter history:


3 Kickstaers were used to fund Castle Nystul LLC and a Dwarf Con, not the products that were being funded.

Money was running out, so Nystul tried an Indiegogo campaign for more money

Then he had to admit the money was gone and had nothing completed (even the product he claimed was already written before it was Kickstarted)

One product was taken over by a trhird party along with the liability of delivering the print items promised (Infinite Dungeons)

Another (Cairn) was sold to a third party. They will send printed versions of the kickstarter if the supporters now pay for shipping

A&A Mike kept / couldn't unload / can't finish / never wrote anything / your guess is as good as mine.

A Look at Using Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea as a DCC RPG "Monster Manual"

I now have Critters, Creatures & Denizens for the DCC RPG in print and the fucker is killing me under it's crunch. It seems, now that I've sat down with it and read it more fully, there is little here that I will actually use at my table (with the exception of screen-capping the excellent +Scott Ackerman art for use in my Roll20 games). Scott's art is inspirational, but the the charts and extra monster stats are doing the magic of the old NyQuil for me.

So, then i thought "why not use another Appendix N influence RPG for inspiration?" Which of course let me to break out my copy of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. It also came to mind because it was nominated for like 3 or 4 Ennies earlier today. What can I say?

Now, as much as DCC is in need of a setting, AS&SH is too much a human-centric setting game wise for me to easily convert one to the other. YMMV. It is, however, as simple as converting AC to use the creatures in the AS&SH Bestiary in DCC. Not all will fit, and some may seem too common, but there are some awesome inspirational winners. Tonight, I'm looking at Orcs.

Here's the relevant text and art:

These despicable humanoids are the unhallowed progeny of swine dæmons and an abominable tribe of Picts. They are stocky, short-legged, thick-boned, and heavily muscled, but their features are horribly disfigured and oft porcine, with pronounced lower canine teeth. In the wilderness they are largely nocturnal, but in subterranean lairs not necessarily so. Orcs are temperamental and prone to infighting, but under a strong leader they are capable of exceptional obedience. They are a violent species, killing for pleasure, and they relish in torturing and burning their victims; too, they are notorious slavers. 

Orcs are intelligent enough to manufacture their own weapons and armour and perform other feats of simple engineering, but their craftsmanship is generally inferior to human standards; hence, a suit of orcish plate mail might provide AC 4 instead of AC 3 (otherwise orcs have natural AC 6 from their thick hides). Orcs speak their own language (Orcish) and oft a crude form of the Common tongue of man; some are able to speak a smattering of Pictish.

These are The Orcs I want to use in the DCC RPG. They'll make for one exciting "random encounter" between adventures with their built in flavor or even a full adventure. My wheels are turning :)

Notice I didn't bother copying the stat blocks for this example? In Appendix N style gaming, stats take a distant second to flavor.

What's Going on With the Gygax Memorial Fund? No Updates Since GenCon 2012

Seriously, what's up with the Gygax Memorial Fund? There hasn't been an update on the fund's website since last August. Before that it seemed to be nearly weekly updates.

Did we ever find out exactly how much WotC raised selling the AD&D 1e Core Book reprints? I don't recall a percentage or amount per book sold going to the fund.

Any info on how much the find has raised so far? What it needs to raise?

Is there a date when the memorial is going to be erected?

Is there a reason why the Gygax Memorial Fund site is still collecting donations but hasn't been updated in nearly a year?

Bueller?

If you have secret squirrel info and don't want to publicly post it, send it to tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing. I'll scrub any identifiers ;)

The OSR Punches Above It's Weight in the Latest Ennie Nominations

Here's the full breakdown of the Ennie Nominated Products (list borrowed from ENWorld - if you want links to the products nominated, go to ENWorld) - I'll make comments here or there in my best Grumpy impression ;)

Best Adventure 
Achtung! Cthulhu - Three Kings (Chronicle City/Modiphius Entertainment) - this is the Nazis meet Cthulhu book if I'm not mistaken - I may need to check this out)
Deadlands Reloaded: The Last Sons (Pinnacle Entertainment)
Enemy Within (Fantasy Flight Games) - I'm assuming this is an update to the original WFRP adventure
Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition (Paizo Publishing)
The Zalozhniy Quartet (Pelgrane Press)

Best Aid/Accessory 
All We Have Forgotten—Music for Ashen Stars (Pelgrane Press)
Night’s Watch (Green Ronin) - this sound like fantasy law enforcement - must research
The One Ring Loremaster’s Screen & Lake-town Sourcebook (Cubicle 7)
Protodimension Magazine Issue 13 (Kinstaff Media LLC) - urhh?
The Unspeakable Oath (Arc Dream Publishing) - always good and bizarre 

Best Art, Cover 
Champions Complete (Hero Games)
Iron Kingdoms (Privateer Press)
The Magnificent Joop van Ooms (Lamentations of the Flame Princess) - James always does awesome art with his projects 
NPC Codex (Paizo Publishing)
The Whole Hole Volume 01: Keister Island (Mutha Oith Creations)

Best Art, Interior 
Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms (Wizards of the Coast)
Night’s Black Agents (Pelgrane Press)
Night’s Watch (Green Ronin) - ah, Song of Fire and Ice
Shadows of Esteren Book 1 (Agate Editions) - I don't need to see any other product to declare this the winner ;)
The Whole Hole Volume 01: Keister Island (Mutha Oith Creations)

Best Blog 
Gnome Stew - the only one I know and a damn good one - but where are the ones I know besides Gnome Stew? +Martin Ralya 
The Illuminerdy
Nerd Trek
Triumph and Despair
The Rogue Warden

Best Cartography 
Ancient Temple Interior (DramaScape)
Deep Blues: Nautilus (0One Games)
Drake Starship Map (Blackwyrm Games)
The Lands of Ice and Fire (Random House)
Sprawl Sites: High Society and Low Life (Catalyst Game Labs)

Best Electronic Book 
Curse the Darkness (Growling Door Games, Inc.)
Deadlands Reloaded: The Last Sons (Pinnacle Entertainment)
The Deadly Seven (paNik productions)
Experimental Paradigm of Cinematic Horror (EPOCH) (Imaginary Empire)
Hobomancer (Hex Games)

Best Family Game 
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space—11th Doctor Edition (Cubicle 7)
Hero Kids—Fantasy RPG (Hero Forge Games)
Mermaid Adventures (Third Eye Games)
Project Ninja Panda Taco (Jennisodes)
Wandering Monsters High School (Bold Pueblo Games)

Best Free Game 
Mazes and Perils RPG (WG Productions) - Vince get's us another OSR nomination - never heard of any of the others +Vincent Florio 
Phantasm (2010) (End Transmission Games LLC)
Nights of the Crusades (Aetheric Dreams)
Silent Memories (Morning Skye Studio)
Throwigames Simple Roleplaying System (Throwigames)

Best Free Product 
Battletech: A Time of War Quick-Start Rules/Shadowrun Quick-Start Rules (Catalyst Game Labs)
EPOCH: Road Trip (Imaginary Empire)
Fools Rush In (Privateer Press)
Night in the Seyvoth Manor (Darklight Interactive)
Wayfinder #8 (Paizo Fans United)

Best Game 
Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea (North Wind Adventures, LLC) - awesome pick - now it has to win :) +Jeff Talanian 
Broken Rooms (Greymalkin Designs, LLC)
Champions Complete (Hero Games)
Iron Kingdoms (Privateer Press)
Night’s Black Agents (Pelgrane Press)

(shit - this list is longer than the Oscars and the Academy Awards put together)

Best Miniature 
Dungeon Command: Blood of Gruumsh (Wizards of the Coast)
Freeblades: Black Rose Bandits (DGS Games)
Pathfinder Battles: Shattered Star Gargantuan Blue Dragon (WizKid Games/NECA)
Pathfinder Bestiary Box (Paizo Publishing)
Spot of Bother Set One: Royal Highland Guards (Okumart Games)

Best Monster/Adversary 
Champions Villains Vol. 3: Solo Villains (Hero Games)
DC Adventures Heroes & Villains Vol. 2 (Green Ronin)
Inner Sea Bestiary (Paizo Publishing)
Mutants and Masterminds Threat Report (Green Ronin)
NPC Codex (Paizo Publishing)

Best Podcast 
Atomic Array
Indie Talks
Haste: The Official Obsidian Portal Podcast
TableTop: Dragon Age (wait, wasn't this like a youtube one shot?)
Transmissions from the Ninth World

Best Production Values 
Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea (North Wind Adventures, LLC) (another chance for AS&SH to win)
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space—11th Doctor Edition (Cubicle 7)
Iron Kingdoms (Privateer Press)
Rimward (Posthuman Studios)
Shadows of Esteren Book 1 (Agate Editions) - from what I've seen, this is a contender

Best RPG Related Product 
Edition Wars (Gamer Nations Studios)
Eighth Day Genesis: A Worldbuilding Codex for Writers and Creatives (Alliteration Ink)
The Express Diaries (Innsmouth House Press)
Kobold Guide to Wordbuilding (Kobold Press) only one i heard of
The Lands of Ice and Fire (Random House)

Best Rules heard of 3 out of 5
Champions Complete (Hero Games)
Dungeon World (Sage Kobold Productions)
Experimental Paradigm of Cinematic Horror (EPOCH) (Imaginary Empire)
Iron Kingdoms (Privateer Press)
Night’s Black Agents (Pelgrane Press)

Best Setting
Broken Rooms (Greymalkin Designs, LLC)
Magnimar: City of Monuments (Paizo Publishing)
Menzoberranzen: City of Intrigue (Wizards of the Coast)
Midgard Campaign Setting (Kobold Press)
Mythic Iceland (BRP/Chaosium)

Best Software 
The Crawler’s Companion (Purple Sorcerer Games) - congrats +Jon Marr 
Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia (E-book Edition) (Arc Dream Publishing)
Dice & Dragons - 3D Dice Roller (simpleFun)
PCGen (PCGen)
Roll20 (The Orr Group, LLC) - my VTT of choice these days

Best Supplement 
Dark Roads & Golden Hells (Kobold Press)
Doctor Who: The Time Traveler's Companion (Cubicle 7)
Night’s Watch (Green Ronin)
Menzoberranzen: City of Intrigue (Wizards of the Coast)
Shadowrun 2050 (Catalyst Game Labs)

Best Website 
Adventure-A-Week
The Escapist
Gnome Stew - wait, blog or website? can you be both? - hmm, every blog IS a website, but not every website is a blog...
Modus Operandi
See Page XX

Best Writing 
Doctor Who: The Time Traveler's Companion (Cubicle 7)
Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding (Kobold Press)
Never Unprepared: Guide to Session Prep (Engine Publishing) - more congrats to +Martin Ralya 
Night’s Black Agents (Pelgrane Press)
Wolsung Steam Pulp Fantasy (Kuźnia Gier/Studio 2 Publishing)

Product of the Year 
Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea (North Wind Adventures, LLC) - do eett!
Broken Rooms (Greymalkin Designs, LLC)
Champions Complete (Hero Games)
Doctor Who: The Time Traveler's Companion (Cubicle 7)
Experimental Paradigm of Cinematic Horror (EPOCH) (Imaginary Empire)
Iron Kingdoms (Privateer Press)
Menzoberranzen: City of Intrigue (Wizards of the Coast)
Night’s Black Agents (Pelgrane Press)
NPC Codex (Paizo Publishing)
Shadows of Esteren Book 1 (Agate Editions) - the whole line looks amazing

Judges' Spotlight Winners 
Hooper - Leviathans (Catalyst Game Labs)
Matthew Muth - School Daze (Sand & Steam Productions)
Jakud Nowosad - Deniable Asset (Random Encounters)
Megan Robertson - Killshot: Director’s Cut (Broken Ruler Games)
Kurt Wiegel - Eldritch Skies (Battlefield Press, Inc.)

Reminder - Only a Few More Days Left to Get Your Entries in for the July DCC RPG Contest Here at the Tavern!

Don't make me go out there and physically twist your arm!

In all seriousness, we have a crapload of prizes and only 2 entries. Excellent entries, but we need more. I may extend the deadline if needed but I'd rather not. Play the odds, they are in your favor!

We have print copies of Appendix N Adventures, In the Prison of the Squid Sorcerer, Through the Cotillion of Hours and the latest Crawl! IN PRINT! There are also a bunch of PDF prizes including Purple Duck and Purple Sorcerer releases.

Take 10 minutes and enter. It will make this old bartender feel useful ;)

Mini Review - Transylvanian Adventures - The Winter Home (DCC Adventure)

Transylvanian Adventures - The Winter Home is a strange beast. It is written as a one-shot with pre-gens to serve as an introduction to the forthcoming Transylvanian Adventures sourcebook.

What is Transylvanian Adventures? It's "a supplement for Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics roleplaying game (DCC RPG). It is quasihistorical and heavily influenced by Gothic Horror and the Hammer Films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The setting is a mythical version of Transylvania at the turn of the 19th century. There are no Elves, Dwarves or Halflings."

Yes, it's one hell of a divergent direction for the DCC RPG. If the full Transylvanian Adventures sourcebook / supplement for the DCC RPG is anywhere near as good and fun as Transylvanian Adventures - The Winter Home, we may just be seeing some alternative DCC RPG campaigns cropping up.

In The Winter Home itself, it refers to the rules included as Quickstart Rules, as The Winter Home plays with it's own variation off of the DCC Rules proper. We get Fear Saves, Dead and Mostly Dead (which replaces the current unconscious and dying rules), healing without a cleric, turning undead without a cleric and Killing Vampires. Yep, this is no longer the DCC RPG you know so well.

The divergence is why there are pre-gens included as well as rules to cover some of the changes in the default setting. They say you can use regular DCC RPG characters / classes, but you'd have to shoehorn the adventure a bit awkwardly into the default assumed setting for DCC (unless your party get's thrown into another dimension - now there's an idea)

For me, I'd rather appreciate this for what it is, an amazing introduction and hint of promises for the forthcoming Transylvanian Adventures setting book and save it for when that book is released. I'd rather use it as part of a campaign for the implied setting. Now, if I was running a one shot at a con or the like, this would be aces.

The atmosphere in this adventure is so thick you can cut it with a knife. This is a good thing. Because if he can pull that off with the full setting book, this is going to be one of the better horror releases for the OSR in general (and the only one for the DCC RPG that I can think of).

Now we just need someone to take the DCC RPG into space ;)

From the blurb:

Transylvanian Adventures is a supplement for Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics. It is heavily influenced by Gothic Horror and the Hammer Films of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

"The Winter Home" is an introductory adventure designed for the 5 pre-generated characters included in the back. The characters in The Winter Home include 5 of the 8 new classes from  Transylvanian Adventures: the Valiant, Exotic, Half-Breed, Hunter and Reaver.

The adventure is also suitable for a party of 3rd or 4th level Dungeon Crawl Classics characters.

The Magic of Freehand Mapping the Classic AD&D Module G1 With Roll20 (Complete With Pictures)

We were playing the classic G1 last night. The original map is in blue. The map as drawn is in grey.

Needless to say the map as drawn got some great comments from the players. The sad thing is, Joe probably still draws straighter lines than I do ;)

Next Saturday the DCC RPG Campaign Will Start - It's Funnel Time!

It looks like we'll be switching up between the classic Against the Giants AD&D series run by +Joe D and some DCC RPG adventure run by me. Should be fun. I've enjoyed my chance to play as a player and not the DM, but I also enjoy running games. This seems like a very good way to keep things balanced.

At the end of last night's session, I told everyone to go to the Purple Sorcerer site and roll 3 sheets of characters (using 3d6 in order) then pick the 3 characters they want to use in the funnel. One straight up stat swap per character. Sure, on average the characters are going to have slightly higher stats than just rolling 1 sheet and picking 3, but as I plan on running this as a campaign and not a series of one shots, the opportunity to have qualified funnel survivors works better for my group and I. Besides, no matter the stats, all funnel participants are just as squishy as the other - for the funnel I expect the usual lethality ;)

I'll be running with a version of my idea of the players having a "stable" of available characters. I'm thinking three, but we'll see what shakes out in the end. I'm also thinking of allowing the players to distribute a number equal to half the expo earned by their active character at the end of a session among their two inactive characters.

Toying with the idea of an "organic sandbox" of sorts - very localized initial setting, with rumors and treasure maps to lead the party astray ;)

Shadows of Esteren - Book 0 Prologue (Free Fantasy / Horror RPG Quickstart "Plus")

The Shadows of Esteren - Book 0 Prologue is more than a quickstart. It's more like a preview of the Shadows of Esteren RPG / Setting that is playable over multiple sessions. (There is currently a funded Kickstarter proceeding for Book 2 in the series)

Why over multiple sessions? This 80 page free prologue includes game system, setting and three adventures for the price of FREE. Hard to beat that. 

It's an excellent way to find out of the game meets your (and your gaming group's) needs and expectation with little investment other than the time to read it and perhaps play it. At first glance the system seems simple enough at it's core.

Production qualities are second to none. If you like high quality artwork in your RPG, you've found a winner here. If I use this for nothing else, I'll be screen capping much of the artwork for use in my Roll20 sessions. It's just too good not to find a use for.

From the blurb:

Shadows of Esteren is a medieval role-playing game with horrific and Gothic overtones. Drawing inspiration from Celtic myths, this universe has a discreetly fantastic side under a bleak, realistic surface. This world is populated by humans who have to cope with a harsh daily life and supernatural threats lurking in the dark. Focused on investigation and survival scenarios, Shadows of Esteren is a game in which the atmosphere and the interactions among the players are paramount.

Prologue will be your first journey into the universe of Shadows of Esteren’s role-playing game, and will prepare you for the first episode of the official campaign. 

You will find:

. An Introduction to the Universe. Familiarize yourself with the main concepts of the game, as well as with a general presentation of the universe.

. A Summary of the Game System. All the necessary elements to grasp Shadows of Esteren’s system and play your first scenarios.

. Six Template Characters. Illustrated and ready-to-play characters: Yldiane the Varigal, Arven the fighter, Ean the fugitive, Liam the scholar, Mòr the Ionnthén, and Urvan the Blade Knight.

. Three Scenarios. The triptych “Omens” offers three scenarios, which are very different, and yet linked by a single red thread. They are meant for players and leaders of all levels.

. Poison: An ideal scenario to discover Esteren and take your first steps in role-playing. The village of Melwan is threatened by a poisoning. Will you be able to discover its source and how to stop it?

. Loch Varn: Dive into the confines of nightmare in an elaborate scenario with original narrative concepts and discover the secrets of Loch Varn’s vale.

. Red Fall: A dead man and a missing woman. Lead an investigation in Dearg and experience an initial overview of the vale in which the first episode of the official campaign will be set.

Free Shadowrun 5th Edition Quickstart

Hey! Are they trying to make
QSR look like OSR?

As I post this, there is only one product that is selling better at RPGNow than Ambition & Avarice, and that's the full version of Shadowrun 5th Edition.

You can get a free copy of the Shadowrun 5th Edition Quick Start Rules from this link, that way you can save your cash and pick up Ambition & Avarice for about a 1/3 of the price of the full Shadowrun rules ;)

From the blurb:

Shadowrun, Fifth Edition is here and there's no better way to dive into the Sixth World than with these Shadowrun Quick-Start Rules. Take on the role of a Combat Adept, Decker, Street Shaman, or Street Samurai in a brawl against fast-food goodfellas using this set of streamlined rules perfect for both those new to Shadowrun or long-time players getting back into the game.

Some Thoughts on Using Ambition & Avarice With DCC and Other OSR Systems

I did some serious reading of the new Ambition & Avarice release last night, which is a much different experience than reading different sections as stand alone pieces while trying to proofread. It struck me that in addition to being an excellent OSR ruleset on it's own, it makes for an extremely useful DM's tool or supplement for other OSR rules.

Case in point. I'm looking to kick off a DCC RPG campaign this summer, with the plan to use both published adventures and my own scenarios mixed together. The PCs classes (and "savage" or humanoid) races would make for some excellent NPCs or adversaries for use in DCC.

I can just see using a goblin cultist and his minions in an adventure, using the A&A spells with minor alterations. No one says that NPCs and monsters have to be created using the same rules as the game you are running.

It's a great tool to keep your players on their toes and keep everything fresh.

Well, except for the fact that +Greg Christopher is one of the players in my gaming group, as is +Craig Brasco , the cover artist. Or the fact that our group playtested the rules. But that's okay, as they will get a chance to playtest the mish mash of rules I'm talking about above this summer ;)

Anyhow, here's a bit on the Cultist in A&A. I think it's a perfect fit as an adversary in DCC:

Cultists are able to perform sacrifices to capture the life force of their victims. The sacrifice must be a humanoid. The subject must be bound in a ritualistic manner on an altar or in an open area of at least 10 square feet. They must also be healthy (no toxins, no diseases, etc.) and possess over 50% of their maximum hit points. 

The sacrifice kills the subject and transfers their life energy into the escaping blood, which can be stored for future use. For every hit die possessed by the subject, a pint of infused blood (16 ounces) can be captured. Consuming a pint will recover 1d6 hit points or heal 1 points of attribute damage. It remains potent for up to a week.

Some Minor Observations and Thoughts on Wizard Spell Casting in the DCC RPG

I've been listening to podcasts on my drive to and from work for months now. Gaming podcasts up the wazoo. Woot! My most recent addition had been Spellburn, an excellent DCC RPG flavored podcast. The last episode focused on wizards and spell casting, so I thought I would take a look at it too - and raise some questions.

See, for me, spell casting in DCC was the hardest part for me to wrap my head around. It's similar enough to the source material to seem familiar, but different enough to confuse the shit outa me when I first encountered it.

The whole "can cast a spell until you fail to successfully cast it" was another head scratcher when I first came upon the DCC rules. I wanted to see my spells by level chart. I've gotten past that handicap now, thank you much ;)

Wizards start out with 4 1st level spells plus their Int modifier. The starting spells are chosen randomly, but if the assortment is lame, the Wizard can drop half of those and choose that half (page 124 - easy to overlook as it is not next to the class description).

Wizards also gain 1 spell per level gained after 1st level - which would mean that as written, the characters will gain on average 2 spells of each of the higher spell level.

Is it possible to forget a spell and replace the knowledge of that spell with a different spell of the same or higher spell level that the caster can cast? As PCs find new spells via adventuring, they may want to replace some of their more useless spells with new shinnies. (spells like Patron Bond are pretty much single use, and I suspect would be readily forgotten after use by most wizards for something more useful in a game session).

If not, I can see that x/day type magic items that replicate certain spells would be very useful to fill in these gaps for the casters.

Ambition & Avarice: 1st Edition Releases in PDF (OSR Ruleset)

I'm very excited to see the full version of Ambition & Avarice released into the wilds, not least because I game with the writer and one of the artists ;) I've been playtesting this, and it is good. It's takes some of the usual tropes and twists them a bit, but it is solidly OSR.

I'm working off a Chromebook, so grabbing a copy will have to wait until I get home.

I know what I'll be reading before tomorrow night's game session ;)

From the blurb:

Ambition and Avarice is an action-adventure roleplaying game. It provides a rich tapestry of choice for the player while remaining light and fun. The adventuring mechanics are OSR compatible and allow easy integration with a variety of old school campaign material. You can pick up this game, grab an old module, and get playing in a very short amount of time.

The characters are rough and dangerous adventurers. No more clerics wagging their moralistic fingers at thieves. You are all thieves in some sense of the word, having come to feed on the treasured corpse of the past. There are 10 races and 10 classes that each bring a unique flavor to the classic dungeon crawl. The five magic-using classes have a varied selection of new and exciting spells. The non-magical classes have their own rich choices and don't fade away in importance as the magical characters advance in level.

The entire package is designed to allow quick character generation and presented in a format that is clear and easy to read. It is an ideal choice to hand to a new player who is looking to get into the great game, but turned away by thick rulebooks with byzantine organization.

The Dragon Horde Zine Issue #1 - Pay What You Want (OSR Fanzine)

The Dragon Horde Zine Issue #1 is very Old School - not just in content, but in feel. To the point that some of the articles use a font that mimics a bad mimeograph copy. Alright, that part I didn't enjoy so much ;)

Still, it's 24 pages of Old School zine complete with a decent dungeon, new creatures and magic items and even some charts for detailing the tavern your party is currently imbibing in. Good stuff!

The suggested "donation" or price is 50 cents. If you pay 50 cents, OBS adds a 35 cent "surcharge" to your purchase for being under a buck. Either add something else to you cart if you want to kick the author back a few cents, or just pay a buck. It's well worth the price (and you can check it out for free and pay later if you would like).

From the blurb:

Inside this inaugural issue:

• The Monster Roster: the leech-man and the beguine, with Oe/BX/1e stats

• d30 feature: Where Does the Weapon Hit? 

• Familiars Found: Guidelines for Spellcaster Familiars
  in New Big Dragon's Universal RPG The System

• A Map of Yal Caramon and an overview of Lerdyn Chrisawn's Chronicle

• New NPC Class: Chroniclist

• The Undertemple of Arkon: An Adventure for Characters Levels 1-3 

• Seven New Magical Weapons 

• Who Speaks What: A Languages Spoken Crib Sheet

• Who's in the Tavern: Tables to Fill the Tables at the Local Tavern

An Amazing DCC RPG Adventure Path Put Together at the "Humanitarian Orc" Blog

You are writing something for the latest DCC RPG Contest, are you not? There's cool loot and shit!

Well, the Humanitarian Orc Blog just posted one hell of an adventure path. I like it!

Here's a snippet, then got to Humanitarian Orc to read the rest. Don't forget to enter the contest yourself - no DCC RPG rulebook necessary ;)

The Thanes of Hirot 

Since time immemorial, you and your people have toiled in the shadow of the cyclopean ruins.  Of mysterious origins and the source of many superstition, they have always been considered a secret best left unknown by the folk of your hamlet. 

But now something stirs beneath the crumbling blocks.  Beastmen howl in the night and your fellow villagers are snatched from their beds.  With no heroes to defend you, who will rise and stand against the encircling darkness?  The secrets of Chaos are yours to unearth, but at what cost to sanity or soul? 

A band of friends, family, and neighbors braved the Starless Sea.  While many were lost, by lot or by fate a few arose to become true heroes.  Tales of their deeds spread quickly and a plea from near Hirot is soon received. 

High above the windswept moors and darksome woods, the village of Hirot is under siege...

"Renegade" (OSR Clone Rules) Goes "Pay What You Want"

For some reason, this makes me think of Chivalry & Sorcery

Renegade is one of the more recent OSR clones to hit the playing field, and by more recent I mean in the last year or so. It didn't get much notice from what I saw, but that may have been due in part to the fact that most of the OSR rulesets have a free version for you to kick the wheels and try before investing in it.

I guess you could consider Renegade to now be the the "Try before you buy" category, as it has gone "pay what you want" at RPGNow.

Even if you aren't interested in another OSR clone, the adventure design tables and charts in the second half of the rules are worth the investment of bandwidth to download. It also includes random tables as a separate PDF as part of your purchase - encounters, events, foods, etc. If you like tables for inspiration, you have them here.

From the Blurb:

Renegade is ideal for anyone looking to start playing the world's most popular RPG with family and friends. This version of Gary Gygax and Dave Arnesons' rules translates instantly into other Old School RPGs and early versions of D&D.
The gameplay is fast and easy to learn, but Renegade is a complete system with all the spells, monsters and items needed to play for years. The game includes lots of support aimed at making life/ running games easier for new GMs.

The content is suitable for age 7+.

The following list outlines some of the options and content included in Renegade:

Lightweight rules that encourage improvisation and exploration
Classic and challenge-based experience (XP) options
A wide range of PC classes
Ascending and descending AC
Step-by-step support for rapid adventure and world building
A single-column layout suited to print or tablets
Optional skill challenges
Word/ OpenOffice class templates and quick start PC sheets included
Renegade has an expanded version called Renegade ~ Corruption with extra content.

A Kicking Ass Kickstarter - Maelorum: Reprint an Epic Gamebook!

Truth in advance - I'm not kicking into the Maelorum: Reprint an Epic Gamebook! , but that's because I grabbed two copies the first time around ;)

Yes, it stands up to the hype. This is one of those rare solo "Gamebooks" that works on both the gaming level and the story level. This sucker is in my bag every time I take a trip to the Poconos to get away from the city (I like to squeeze in a few moments of solo gaming in between all of the running around the family finds for me). Have I finished it? Nope. I'm enjoying it in snippets. Still, my signed 1st edition is taking a bit of a beating.

Will has softcovers and hardcovers this time around, and I must say I really like the new art for the hardcover. Hardcovers can stand up to the workout you will probably put this through.

Maelorum is like taking the Fabled Lands series and making it even better. Not that they are all that alike, but Fabled Lands set the old bar in my opinion, and Maelorum is setting the new bar.

I like the "Volume One" on the cover, as it means Will has more stories planned. I may need to corner him one day and find out just what those plans are :)

There's about a day and a half left in the latest Maelorum Kickstarter. It's blowing past stretch goals and has already surpassed 500% of it's goal.

I know it will ship, as Will did a great job with the first Maelorum Kickstarter. I know the product rocks, as I have it.

If you missed out on Maelorum the first time around, now's your chance to correct that.

Damn, it feels good to be talking about a Kickstarter and feeling all good and positive. I'm sure that will fade when I look at all the projects I supported that are overdue by months and years. I'm pretty confident that Maelorum: Reprint an Epic Gamebook! will hit it's mark.

A Closer Look at "In the Prison of the Squid Sorceror" (DCC RPG Adventure Anthology)

(Did I mention that In the Prison of the Squid Monster is one of many prizes in this month's DCC RPG Contest here at Tenkar's Tavern?)

I picked up In the Prison of the Squid Sorceror last week when Lulu was having it's 25% off sale. Actually, I grabbed a couple of things, but this is the shiny that I'm taking a look at (with the DCC RPG Campaign waiting to be sprung). Yes, I already have this in PDF and reviewed it prior, but print version is always nice to have and it allows a look with fresh eyes if you will.

There are 12 mini to short encounters / adventures in this book. I really think they should have gone with 13, as it would have fit the DCC universe a bit more closely, but I digress.

The first adventure (by Ken Jelinek), after which the book itself is named, is for 1st level characters. I'm already trying to think which adventures to "seed" rumors to the survivors of the funnel, and this would be perfect. This may just be long enough for players new to the DCC RPG and characters with actual levels (and class power / spells) to get their feet wet before moving up to larger / tougher adventures.

Mermaids From Yuggoth is a 3rd level adventure from +Daniel Bishop . The name of this short adventure conjures images of Cthulhu Mythos in my mind, and the adventure itself helps that along. It's more roleplay than combat and is meant to fill in some of the dead space between other adventures - you can actually start events in motion when the party is 2nd level. It's not something you see often, but does a fine job of adding a sense of continuity between other DCC adventure.

Skipping ahead a bit in the book, we come to The Long Sleep by Ken Jelinek. Potentially a funnel for a smallish party of of 0-levels, I think it will find more use as an adventure to pull out when the party has less than it's full allotment of players at 1st level. Yeah, I'm focusing more on the lower level stuff, as that will see more immediate use.

I'm thinking these short adventures (there are 9 more included - I'll get to looking at them closer as the week goes on) would work well if played 2 in a session (the Brave Halfling Appendix N adventures could be thrown into the hat too as they are short in length). It's kinda like a DCC RPG  Double Feature, with a built in intermission / bathroom break / walk the dog built into it.

What is Your Favorite Non-TSR Module / Adventure (any system)?

Many of us "Old School Gamers" look back fondly on the classic B2 for Basic D&D. Or G1-3. Maybe Tomb of Horrors.

Often out focus is on the TSR classics, but there are others out there (many from Judges Guild come to mind).

My favorite, possibly of all time - Death on the Reik for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition.

25 some odd years I can't say for sure if the adventure was uber-awesome, but my memories of it are. It was a blast to GM and my players had a blast with it. Too bad the campaign came to an end when the party's wizard blew himself and most of the party up with a misplaced fireball. It wasn't so much the fireball itself, but the dozen or so flasks of oil that he carried to enhance his pyromaniac tendencies. Ah well, he did learn a lesson.

So, what your favorite and why?