Reminder - Tavern Chat Tonight - 9 PM Eastern - Will there Be Fireworks? ;)

Tonight is a Wednesday Night and that means Tavern Chat. It's also the 4th of July so there may be a small turnout. Then again, it may be huge.

We'll open The Tavern's doors at 9 PM and see how it goes ;)

Link to The Tavern's Discord Server:  https://discord.gg/fReGmuD 

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode 49 - The Beginning of the OSR - A Look Back

Thanks to this post at the Multiverse blog: http://multiverse.world/blog/2018/07/02/what-is-the-osr-old-school-revival/ (well worth the reading( I've been inspired to do a series of podcast episodes covering various OSR ruleset. In the first episode of the series, I look at the beginning of the OSR.

The first in what will become an (ir)regular series of episodes. Hackmaster 4e to Castles & Crusades to OSRIC to Labyrinth Lord and finally to Swords & Wizardry, its the birth of the OSR.

Link to Episode #49 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-49---The-Beginning-of-the-OSR---A-Look-Back-e1of91

Kickstarter - SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City Tabletop Roleplaying Game

Doesn't look at all like Batman & Robin

After this morning's podcast episode highlighting a small assortment of Kickstarter, it was suggested I look at the SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City Tabletop Roleplaying Game Kickstarter from Bloat Games. Bloat Games is pretty good at knowing the OSR feel of things and this Kickstarter doesn't look half bad. Actually, it looks pretty good.

You know my complaint where Kickstarter creators fail to leave any graphics for bloggers and such to use in their posts about said projects? That not an issue here. Instead, except for the Risks and Challenges section, the whole project is posted as a series of JPEGs, which makes it impossible to cut and paste anything, so I'm not going to try. Want to see the stretch goals or backer levels? Go to the project's page, because I'm not retyping it.

Now, this doesn't make it a bad Kickstarter. It just makes it one that is impossible to share effectively. I understand why they did it in certain places, trying to get the "comic book lettering feel", but it is overused in my opinion.

I don't know if I need another supers game at this point (although I will gladly look at the free sneak peek) but if I did, this might be tempting.

SURVIVE THIS! has surpassed its funding goal and has hit a number of stretch goals.

The Player's book is $10 in PDF. Add in the GM's book and the pair are $17. The Print plus PDF for both books is $34.

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #48 - Kicking it w/Kickstarter - All Weather Dice Tubes?

This is the second weekly Kickstarter episode of the podcast. It will be a more or less regular thing on Tuesdays.

It's the second weekly Kickstarter Roundup. We look at the City of Brass, Towns & Dungeons RPG Decks, Pocket Companion: A Tavern Guide, and All Weather Dice Tube. Yes, you read the last one correctly ;)

Links:

Link to Episode #48:  https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/48---Kicking-it-wKickstarter---All-Weather-Dice-Tubes-e1o9ie

City of Brass

Towns & Dungeons RPG Decks

Pocket Companion: A Tavern Guide

All Weather Dice Tubes

Deal of the Day - B/X Essentials: Core Rules

Today's Deal of the Day at RPGNow is the B/X Essentials: Core Rules.

So, what are the B/X Essentials Core Rules?

The B/X Essentials line is a restatement of the classic Basic/Expert fantasy adventure gaming rule set, given a fresh, new presentation focused on usability:

• Basic and Expert rules seamlessly combined.
• Streamlined presentation optimised for ease of reference during play.
• Meticulously researched; a guaranteed 100% accurate rendition of the classic rules of yesteryear.
• Carefully clarified, ironing out ambiguities in the original rules.
• This first book lays out the core rules of the game, including: encounters, combat, dungeon and wilderness exploration, seafaring, spell casting, and magical research.

Normally $2.99 in PDF, the B/X Essentials Core Rules are just $1.50 until 11 AM Eastern, July 3rd, 2018.

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #47 - Charging at Cavaliers in the AD&D 1e UA

Sometimes I think the only things of value we took from the AD&D 1e Unearthed Arcana was weapon specialization and the new spells offered.

In this episode, I take a look at Cavaliers and why I think balancing in-game abilities with roleplay restrictions often fails in practice.

Link to Episode #47 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-47---Charging-at-Cavaliers-in-the-ADD-1e-UA-e1o6p6

If you listen on iTunes, a review would be appreciated. It really is the currency of podcasting ;)

Kickstarter - Towns & Dungeons RPG Decks

Notice how the title of this project - Towns & Dungeons RPG Decks doesn't match the graphics - Gamer's Tool Kit Towns & Dungeons? That's simply sloppy. That being said, I like this Kickstarter.

The sample maps shown for towns and dungeons look pretty good. The only problem I see is that they will literally be the size of a playing card. Still, someone asked about digital files in the comments section and the creator sounds receptive. Digital files would make this a "must have" in my opinion. As simple decks of cards - and at $32 for the two decks (the only support level aside from the one buck donation) it becomes more of a luxury purchase.

I'm in for a buck to see what transpires...

In any case, a decent first day of funding.

Untold Adventures (S&W WB Hack) Now Available in Print

Our very own James Spahn has released his Untold Adventures (a Swords & Wizardry White Box Hack) in Print on Demand on Lulu for $7.99. Untold Adventures is available in PDF at RPGNow at Pay What You Want pricing.

There is a free shipping code: Get free mail or 50% off ground shipping! Use Code: SHIPIT2018 Cannot be combined with other offers. Does not apply to ebooks or services. Ends 2 July at 11:59 PM

What is Untold Adventures?

Instant Adventure Awaits!  

No distractions. Just raw potential. 

Untold Adventures: Minimalist Fantasy Roleplaying is a streamlined adaptation of Swords & Wizardry White Box. This complete game reimagines several core concepts of White Box to create an even faster gaming experience. Classes, races, equipment, weapons, armor, magic spells, encumbrance, and several other foundational elements are modified to create super-fast play where rulings (not rules) are the order of the day! 

Yet with all its changes, Untold Adventures is 100% compatible with Swords & Wizardry products with no adaptation! You can drop your favorite adventures, items, and monsters, on the table and go! 

Someone mentioned I should start doing some reviews on The Tavern Chat Podcast. This might be a good choice to start with.

Note, that is an RPGNow affiliate link above (there is no Lulu affiliate program).

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #46 - Poking Around the AD&D 1e UA - Polearms

It's going to be a hot one today with temperatures knocking on 100 degrees here in NYC. So, its a perfect day to look at polearms ;)

Ah yes, polearms. Often misunderstood and truthfully, rarely used in game, polearms get a special treatment in the AD&D 1e Unearthed Arcana. Why?

Link to Episode #46:  https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-46---Poking-Around-the-ADD-1e-UA---Polearms-e1o2l3

Link to the blog post on Spontaneous Gaming

Spontaneous Gaming - Is it Just for the Youth?

Matt Jackson had an interesting post on Googe Plus about "spontaneous gaming". No, it has nothing to do with spontaneous combustion ;) Instead, he's hit upon something that was lost when we left our youth behind.

In my high school and college years, we gamed every moment we could squeeze in. Three-day weekend off from school? Why, three days of gaming of course. Summers? Not gaming on a certain day was the exception, not the rule. Screw the beach! I want to swelter at the picnic table in the backyard with some Juicy Juice that fermented (true story too).

As adults, we've left much if not all of that freedom behind. Work, Families of our own, general adult responsibilities make spontaneity a luxury most of us can barely ration out as individuals, let alone as a group.

Heck, I haven't "gotten my game on" in months. Hell, I went to NTRPG and didn't even game. Still had a blast though.

What's the solution?

Damned if I know. My old gaming group gets together once a year and that requires weeks of planning, as we actually gather in meatspace, not online. They wanted to do a "D&D on Demand" sort of thing with Roll20, but even in virtual space, the feasibility wasn't there for us. Spontaneity is pretty much dead on my end too.

Do you share the same frustrations?

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #45 - Answering Comments and ShireCon in the Fall

The past few days I've had a number of listeners reach out to me with comments about recent episodes. I always appreciate the feedback and interaction and spend the first part of today's episode answering some of there.

ShireCon is in NW Connecticut on September 22, 2018. Its a one-day gaming con with emphasis on old-school gaming. I'll be there and so should you. :

Link to Episode #45: 
https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-45---Answering-Comments-and-ShireCon-in-the-Fall-e1nune

Kickstarter - Dark Naga - Carcosa for 5th Edition (Less than 2 days left to fund)

Just a quick reminder before I settle in for a sweltering weekend of blogging / podcasting / publishing / project managing / catching up - phew! There is just under 2 days left in the funding period of the Dark Naga - Carcosa for 5th Edition Kickstarter. Yes, there are other Carcosas. No, this isn't them. This is this ;)

Oh, and Kevin updated the KS page to state there will be an OSR version of the adventure coming later.

All backers at $20 not only get Print plus PDf of the adventure but also two custom d6s. That's pretty nifty :)

Yeah, the sweet point is 20 bucks in my opinion.

The project is funded and hitting stretch goals. No brainer if you play 5e. East to convert if you play OSR.

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #44 - Unearthing the AD&D 1e Unearthed Arcana - P1

Ah, the Unearthed Arcana. The official book to destroy all AD&D 1e campaigns. Oh, how I loved you so. Broken in so many ways but also so magical.

This is Part 1 of a series episodes digging into the AD&D 1e Unearthed Arcana. Today, we look at Method V of generating character stats.

Link to Episode #44:  https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-44---Unearthing-the-ADD-1e-Unearthed-Arcana---P1-e1nr80

Kickstarter - Hall of Judgment - a Dungeon Fantasy RPG Supplement (GURPS)

I've liked GURPS ever since I found the Man to Man rules and the Orcslayer supplement back in my early days of gaming. The support material is top notch and I've used it with other RPGs. That says a lot about the system.

Dungeon Fantasy is the Boxed Set RPG about dungeon crawling powered by GURPS. I really need to find a group that plays it at some point as I'd love to get my dungeon crawl on with the GURPS engine.

Which brings up to the Hall of Judgment - a Dungeon Fantasy RPG Supplement Kickstarter. Its a conversion of an adventure originally published for 5e and now available in a GURPS Dungeon Fantasy version.

• Hall of Judgment is a micro-setting and scenario for the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (Powered by GURPS)
• It features non-linear adventuring for 4-6 250-point characters
• Explore a Viking-flavored world trekking through cold, harsh mountains, facing dangerous fae, and searching for a lost holy place, and the priceless relics within
• Easily portable and usable with any GURPS Fantasy campaign

I'm pretty stoked.

It's also a licensed third party publisher release for GURPS, licensed by Steve Jackson Games. That's a big deal, as usually, its SJG snagging a license (Discworld anyone?) This could be big going forward.

Hall of Judgment is published by Gaming Ballistic. The man behind GB is Douglas Cole. I've known Doug for a number of years and he used to play in my B-Team Roll20 sessions. Doug is an excellent project manager and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result of his current project. This is not Doug's first Kickstarter (but even his first went extremely smooth) Chat Doug up in a Wednesday Night chat session on The Tavern's Discord Server and use him as a resource if you are thinking of Kickstarting a project. Don't worry - Doug won't mind ;)

PDF only is 10 bucks, Print plus PDF is 30 bucks (shipping will be added later). I'm in for 30 myself.

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #43 - Playing Mind Games with the AD&D 1e PH

Ah, sweet psionics. Psionic Blast vs my Mind Blank. Cell Adjustment for the win. Interesting option but not well balanced IMHO. YMMV.

If you know of any programs for OS/X that might be able to transcribe episodes, please leave a note. Or one that could turn the written word into an audio / podcast format. Inquiring minds want to know ;)

Link to Episode #43:  https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-43---Playing-Mind-Games-with-the-ADD-1e-PH-e1nl7k

Reminder - Tavern Chat 9 PM Eastern - Someone Mention Kickstarter?

Today is a Wednesday Night, so that means Tavern Chat at 9 PM on The Tavern's Discord Server. Somehow I suspect Kickstarter will be one of the topics ;)

Link to Tavern Chat: https://discord.gg/fReGmuD

What do we do during Tavern Chat? We talk gaming, gaming news, events in gaming and some random topics. Come and join us - we don't nite - much ;)

Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #42 - Be Careful What You Ask 4 & Happy Anniversary

A big KABOOM!

I've made this warning in the past, but not all attention one gets from The Tavern in its various forms is beneficial ;)

Well, one of the Kickstarters I talked about yesterday got suspended an hour or so after the podcast went live. I did mention that the same creator had two projects funding at the same time. Oh, and the AD&D 1e Player's Handbook is 40 years old this month.

Link to Episode #42: https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-42---Be-Careful-What-You-Ask-4--Happy-Anniversary-e1ngk8

Kickstarter - The Forgotten Dungeon Mega Adventure - AD&D, D&D5e, DS, 77W - SUSPENDED

About an hour after this morning's Tavern Chat Podcast went live, The Forgotten Dungeon Mega Adventure - AD&D, D&D5e, DS, 77W Kickstarter was suspended after being live for a week.

Now, there are issues with this Kickstarter, not the least of which is referring to AD&D and D&D5e right in the project title (a no-no) but I didn't catch that both this AND the Dragonscales Fantasy RPG by James M Ward and Stephen A Lee where being run by Stephen Kee concurrently until I recorded the podcast. It was literally something I noticed live. This is verboten according to Kickstarter and I did make mention of this in this morning's podcast.

https://help.kickstarter.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005133933-Can-I-run-more-than-one-project-at-once-

I did NOT notify Kickstarter (or WotC for that matter) of the issues with this particular KS. I hadn't planned to - although I did intend to bring my concerns to the creator later this week for consideration going forward.

Either a listener contacted Kickstarter or someone at Kickstarter reads The Tavern / listens to The Tavern Chat Podcast.

Hopefully, there is a cleaned up relaunch down the line.

Now, the questions become - how was this even allowed in the first place? Shouldn't there be a system in place to catch this? How hard could it be to program the Kickstarter software to do so? Is the restriction on that Kickstarter tells and remind all creators when they start a new project? If not, why not?

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #41 - Kickstarter Roundup for June 26, 2018

I'm going to try to do a once a week Kickstarter Roundup. Whatever strikes my fancy. This week ranged from awesomesauce to What the F'?

Some Kickstarters are amazing, some are "eh" and some hit the WTF level. We got you covered. City of Brass, The Forgotten Dungeon Mega adventure, Dragon scales Fantasy RPG and F@ck! Yeah! 20 Sided Dice.

Link to Episode #41: https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-41---Kickstarter-Roundup-for-June-26--2018-e1nb1i

Kickstarter Links:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/city-of-brass-epic-adventure-for-5e-and-swords-and/description

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1644549315/the-forgotten-dungeon-mega-adventure-adandd-dandd5?ref=3baefi

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1644549315/dragonscales-fantasy-rpg-by-james-m-ward-and-steph/description

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/justinsirois/fuck-yeah-20-sided-dice-d20

Mini Review - Temple of the Hamster (DCC RPG)

I don't do nearly as many reviews as I used to. The main reason is that I never seem to have the time needed to sit down and read the product in question. Heck, I have that issue with the gaming books I buy. I never would have guessed that retirement would lead to LESS free time ;)

This is my long-winded way of explaining that I've had a review copy of Temple of the Hamster in PDF for a week and a half and only now have gotten a chance to peruse it (there are other titles in the review pile, both older and more recent - I'm working on it)

Alright, so what exactly IS Temple of the Hamster? Its a DCC RPG adventure about giant hamsters. Sounds simple, but it isn't. There's a bit more here then is obvious with the first glance.

The town of Kamis lies in a panic. Townsfolk are missing and city watchmen lie dead; their sides split open from being over stuffed with grain. A stalwart cadre of adventurers must explore the town of Kamis and uncover the terrible mysteries of the Temple of the Hamster. These adventurers must brave terrible traps and minions before facing the dread peril at the heart of the temple. The Temple of the Hamster is packed with hamster style adventure and has been redesigned to have 100% more hamster wheels and mayhem. This level 3 adventure is compatable with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and guaranteed to entertain even the stoutest hamster hating heart. Also be sure to look for more forthcoming adventures from Vance Games. Mother’s Maze is coming soon!

The hook is the PCs are incarcerated and this is their chance to redeem themselves (and get a pardon to boot) While this hook is perfect for a convention session (which is where I really think Temple of the Hamster will truly shine) if you want your regular party to get involved just remind them the town watch is dead, townfolks have gone missing and they are heroes. Or at least they are a close facsimile :)

Yes, there are giant hamsters. Regular hamsters too. Hamster balls. Yep, it's a quirky adventure, but once your players get pulled along they'll soon find themselves immersed in hamster balls and giant ninja hamsters. Wait, maybe I said too much...

Beware, your player's characters can learn Hamster Style Fighting and may never be the same.

Now, it may be a bit too gonzo for some DCC RPG campaigns, but as DCC is pretty gonzo in the first place, this may not be an issue at all. As I stated above, for convention play, Temple of the Hamster is a perfect fit as is.

Yes, that's an affiliate link above. Affiliate links keep the taps flowing here at The Tavern :)