The Mass Migration of the OSR from Google+ has Begun

Yep, Google+ was given a notice today than in 10 months, Google will be pulling the life support plug on their social media platform. The OSR is strong on Google+, or it was. What is the point of staying with a dying social media platform? Who wants to be the one tasked with turning off the lights and locking the door?

Facebook is an option, but not all want to do Facebook. I understand that. The Tavern has a Facebook Community which can be reached at https://www.facebook.com/groups/849179298513223/

But what if you don't want to do Facebook? Or what if you simply want more options?

Discord is certainly an option. There is an OSR server which can be reached here: https://discord.gg/36Hfr2

There is also a Tenkar's Tavern server which does double duty as the Official Frog God Games Discord Community. Its active day and night, 24/7. You can join with this link:
https://discord.gg/fReGmuD

But you know what is on fire today? MeWe.com. Seriously, it seems to be a very viable Google+ alternative. There is an OSR Group (I am one of the admins) as well as a new, as of 2 hours ago as I type this, Tenkar's Tavern Group. Huzzah! Join us on the non-Google+ / non-Facebook alternative!

MeWe OSR Group - www.mewe.com/join/osr1

MeWe Tenkar's Tavern Group - www.mewe.com/join/tenkars_tavern

edit - if you want to "friend" me on MeWe, here's the link:  www.mewe.com/i/erik.tenkar

Google Plus to Come to an End August 2019 - Will the World of Social Media Even Notice? Will the OSR Move On?

Rob Conley gave me the heads up earlier this afternoon - Google Plus will be ending as we know it in 10 months (Enterprise users may have a version going forward). Rob blogs about the announcement at his Bat in the Attic blog.

Strangely, it's almost a non-announcement.

This review crystallized what we’ve known for a while: that while our engineering teams have put a lot of effort and dedication into building Google+ over the years, it has not achieved broad consumer or developer adoption, and has seen limited user interaction with apps. The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds. 

Our review showed that our Google+ APIs, and the associated controls for consumers, are challenging to develop and maintain. Underlining this, as part of our Project Strobe audit, we discovered a bug in one of the Google+ People APIs:

Users can grant access to their Profile data, and the public Profile information of their friends, to Google+ apps, via the API. 

The bug meant that apps also had access to Profile fields that were shared with the user, but not marked as public.   

This data is limited to static, optional Google+ Profile fields including name, email address, occupation, gender and age. (See the full list on our developer site.) It does not include any other data you may have posted or connected to Google+ or any other service, like Google+ posts, messages, Google account data, phone numbers or G Suite content. 

We discovered and immediately patched this bug in March 2018. We believe it occurred after launch as a result of the API’s interaction with a subsequent Google+ code change.
We made Google+ with privacy in mind and therefore keep this API’s log data for only two weeks. That means we cannot confirm which users were impacted by this bug. 

However, we ran a detailed analysis over the two weeks prior to patching the bug, and from that analysis, the Profiles of up to 500,000 Google+ accounts were potentially affected. Our analysis showed that up to 438 applications may have used this API. 

We found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and we found no evidence that any Profile data was misused. 

Every year, we send millions of notifications to users about privacy and security bugs and issues. Whenever user data may have been affected, we go beyond our legal requirements and apply several criteria focused on our users in determining whether to provide notice. 

Our Privacy & Data Protection Office reviewed this issue, looking at the type of data involved, whether we could accurately identify the users to inform, whether there was any evidence of misuse, and whether there were any actions a developer or user could take in response. None of these thresholds were met in this instance. 

The review did highlight the significant challenges in creating and maintaining a successful Google+ that meets consumers’ expectations. Given these challenges and the very low usage of the consumer version of Google+, we decided to sunset the consumer version of Google+. 

To give people a full opportunity to transition, we will implement this wind-down over a 10-month period, slated for completion by the end of next August. Over the coming months, we will provide consumers with additional information, including ways they can download and migrate their data. 

At the same time, we have many enterprise customers who are finding great value in using Google+ within their companies. Our review showed that Google+ is better suited as an enterprise product where co-workers can engage in internal discussions on a secure corporate social network. Enterprise customers can set common access rules, and use central controls, for their entire organization. We’ve decided to focus on our enterprise efforts and will be launching new features purpose-built for businesses. We will share more information in the coming days.  

Cheaper to shut down than to fix...

I'm not surprised by the announcement. I am surprised that Google took this long to make such an announcement. Facebook drives over three times the traffic that Google Plus does for me at this time, despite 9,453 having me in their circles on G Plus and a hair over 2,000 friends on Facebook.

I know the OSR as a community is heavily invested in G Plus. Where will they move now?

G Plus has been the red-headed stepchild of Google for years. They never really knew what to do with it, and now it follows Google Wave and Feedburner onto the trash heap. I can only wonder if Blogger itself is close behind.

Other articles:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/08/google-reportedly-exposed-private-data-of-at-least-hundreds-of-thousands-of-plus-users.html

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/social-network-google-plus-bug-exposed-data-of-up-to-5-lakh-people-will-be-shut-down-1928902

https://abc7.com/technology/google+-to-shut-down-following-data-breach-affecting-500k-users--/4441213/

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E145 - Level Draining - Is It the Result of an Overwrought & Drunk DM or Something More Sinister?

Level draining undead. See them and see how I run ;)

Level Drain - never liked it, never will. In today's episode, I discuss some alternatives to the classic level drain threat.

Link to Episode 145 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E145---Level-Draining---Is-It-the-Result-of-an-Overwrought--Drunk-DM-or-Something-More-Sinister-e2bv37

Free Map Mondays - Dalgenar's Tomb

Its the second Monday of Free Map Mondays here at The Tavern. Today, we have what I have called Dalgenar's Tomb.

Lower right is the false tomb. There is a partially collapsed corridor which may or may not lead to more dungeons. Mid right is the old area for church services for the builders of the tomb. Upper right are caves that were uncovered when the tomb was dug. They are partially flooded.

Upper left was a barracks that also uncovered caves. The caves will lead above ground and may be inhabited.

Lower left is the actual tomb, hidden behind a secret door. A short set of stairs leads to the main tomb. Three coffins, two magic altars, and an altar occupy this room. To the north are the hastily stacked coffins of the workers that were killed after the tomb was built. The south room is the treasure room.

This tomb may have been raided prior, partially or fully. Parts may be occupied, but undead, bandits or adventurers.

This map is released under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ / Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0). Enjoy :)

Kickstarter - Phantasmagoria #1: A Sword and Planet Zine for DCC RPG

I love RPG Zines. I'm a huge fan of the Sword & Planet genre. Mix them together in a DCC RPG Zine and you have me hooked. Phantasmagoria #1: A Sword and Planet Zine for DCC RPG Kickstarter has me on the hook.

The first issue of Phantasmagoria will contain: 

Five new classes:
The Automaton: an independent robot discarded by its creator
The Captain: an inspiring leader and great duelist
The Gremlin: a tricksy demihuman with technical and magical skills
The Jovian: an exiled native of a gas giant
The Star Prince: the final, humanoid stage of a star's life cycle 

And additional material for playing in a science fantasy setting:
New equipment and weapons
New 0-level occupations
Rules for creating spaceships

Looks like I'll be using more DCC RPG material to inspire my Swords & Wizardry games :)

PDF is 4 bucks, Print plus PDF is 8 bucks plus shipping. I'm in for a Print copy myself.

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E144 - Social Norms, Unexpected Actions & Freedom to Do What You Want at the Table - Where's the Line?

My niece is staying the night, so I try to avoid the F-bombs in this episode. Didn't stop the S-bomb though. I'm a bad uncle ;)

I try to avoid the F-bombs today. No idea if I succeeded ;)  

I talk about unexpected actions, thinking out of the box, freedom to do what you want and social norms at the game table.

Link to Episode 144 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E144---Social-Norms--Unexpected-Actions--Freedom-to-Do-What-U-want-at-the-Table---Wheres-the-Line-e2brfr

New Release from Barrel Rider Games - White Box: Vigilant of the Midnight Gourd [Swords & Wizardry]

James Spahn gives us a new class for Swords & Wizardry just in time for Halloween - White Box: Vigilant of the Midnight Gourd.

Those Who Faithfully Await His Return Are Rewarded... 

White Box: Vigilant of the Midnight Gourd puts a dark twist on a modern Halloween classic, reshaping it into a terrifying and twisted class for use with Swords & Wizardry White Box and other OSR roleplaying games. 

Children who wait in the pumpkin patch sometimes receive strange gifts and become known as the Vigilant of the Midnight Gourd. Entice new followers to your dark master with sweet treats, stand sleepless and untiring in the pumpkin patch, and cut down those who would dare doubt the existence of the dark gourd that is your master with this 10-level class!

Damn it, James! Now I want to write an adventure centered around this. How much time do we have before Halloween?

White Box: Vigilant of the Midnight Gourd is available in PDF for a buck at RPGNow.

Yep, that's an affiliate link above. Go ahead, buy your bartender a beer ;)

Old School Blues Live! Podcast / Youtube - Episode 13

Join Vince, Glen and me as we ramble and meander our way through the latest episode of the Old School Blues and occasionally talk about where we find our inspiration in gaming.

It was a fun time :)

Link to the Old School Blues Anchor Podcast: https://anchor.fm/oldschoolblues

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E143 - Did Evil Hat Get Too Big? Layoffs and Product Cancellations Announced

Evil Hat, purveyor of FATE, is not having a good 2018. Reminds me of the yearly purges WotC would have at the holidays...

I received review copies of Dungeons & Dragons - Art and Arcana: A Visual History yesterday and they look amazing. Doesn't translate well to a podcast though ;) Black Hat is laying off stay and canceling some planned releases. They are hoping to be back in "the black" in 2019, which means they are "in the red" for 2018...

Link to Episode 143 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E143---Did-Evil-Hat-Get-Too-Big--Layoffs-and-Product-Cancellations-Announced-e2bl2c

https://www.evilhat.com/home/refocused-resized-hat-mode-activated/

First Look - Dungeons & Dragons - Art and Arcana: A Visual History

Just as I was walking out of the house this morning, the postman delivered a not too large but fairly heavy box into my hands. I saw Random House of the box and knew it had to be a review copy of the soon to be released Dungeons & Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found not just the standard released but also a copy of the Special Edition, Boxed Book & Ephemera Set. Grognard heaven :)

These are huge books and they may not weigh a metric ton, but they come close ;)

The paper quality is really good (much better than the B1-B2 omnibus) at the same base retail price (50 bucks). The binding looks like it will stand up to a lot of reading, and reading I need to do. It's not just the art but the history happening around the art.  Maybe I'll read this instead of watching football on Sunday, as both the Jets and the Giants are having a horrible start to the season.

I'll be sharing a bunch of pics on this post. It's not a review post. Its simply first impressions, an I'm simply blown away.

Dungeons & Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History has a suggested retail of $50 - on Amazon, it is available for pre-order at $31.45

Dungeons & Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History - Special Edition, Boxed Book & Ephemera Set has a suggested retail of $125 - on Amazon, it is available for pre-order at $76.27

Note - these are Amazon affiliate links. A small portion of your purchase price made via these links will go to support The Tavern. I Thank you.

The following pics are from the Special Edition:

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E142 - Protecting Your Reputation from Groundless Accusations

Groundless accusations. They are a dime a dozen these days. Often, just the accusation can hit your reputation. Take steps to protect yourself.

We have some voicemails related to Episode 141 and the Tome of Adventure Design. Afterward, I talk about steps you can take to protect yourself and your reputation from groundless accusations on social media. Quite simply, screenshot anything and everything in a conversation online that may go south.

Link to Episode 142 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E142---Protecting-Your-Reputation-from-Groundless-Accusations-e2bg5v

The Evil DM's Video Walkthrough of Illwinter's Floorplan Generator

Vince Florio - AKA The Evil DM - does a video walkthrough of Illwinter's Floorplan Generator and it's awesome. Even taught me a new trick or two ;)

I plan on putting together a "cheat sheet" of sorts for Illwinter in the next few days and will probably follow that up with a step by step tutorial on the blogside.

I simply don't have the video chops that Vince has :)

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E141 - Finding Inspiration in the Tome of Adventure Design

I love referring to the Tome of Adventure Design when I need inspiration when creating an adventure. It really is the go-to book on my gaming shelf, although I tend to roll less and scan and pick more.

Last night, while recording the latest episode of The Old School Blues podcast (here on Anchor) we touched on the topic of "adventure inspiration" and I totally forgot to mention the Tome of Adventure Design.

Link to Episode #141 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E141---Finding-Inspiration-in-the-Tome-of-Adventure-Design-e2b93l

Reminder - Tavern Chat Tonight - 9 PM Eastern - Let There be Maps!

I've got maps on my mind and my mind on maps, so I'm sure maps will be part of tonight's conversation ;)

What is Tavern Chat? Its mostly a voice enable hangout of members of the community using The Tavern's Discord Server.

Here's a link:  https://discord.gg/VEEYmx

See y'all tonight :)

The map on this page is released under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ / Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E140 - Review - Illwinter's Floorplan Generator (Maps)

As I posted earlier this week, I simply love Illwinter's Floorplan Generator. It simply hits all of my sweet spots.

I had put a call out for mapping programs that were easy to use and the results were usable commercially. Illwinter's Floorplan Generator fits the bill perfectly. Its affordable (7 bucks) and cross-platform )PC/Mac/Linux.

Link to Episode 140 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E140---Review---Illwinters-Floorplan-Generator-Maps-e2b40m

Link to Illwinter's Floorplan Generator - http://www.illwinter.com/floorplan/

Review - The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide

Long story short, I was offered a reviewer's copy of The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide by the publisher. How could I say no?  ;)

I gave my initial impressions (they were good) last week on The Tavern Chat Podcast, but how does "The Ultimate" stand up to a more thorough perusal? Very well.

Let me start by repeating something the author himself mentions - hop around the book. Use what inspires you. There is no need to use it all - hell, I don't think that is possible or even advisable. Simply use what works.

Now, I am primarily a DM / GM these days, and I'm going to ask you to note that the title doesn't say "Player Character... Guide" but "Character Guide". Think of this book not just as a useful tool for the players at your table, but an amazing toolkit to give your NPC some depth.

The first entry is a series of tables to invent your own idioms. Want an easy way to make each town identifiable for your players? Give your shopkeeper a unique idiom or two.

"Can't make a dwarf till a field."

"A foolish thief finding a dragon's horde may as well dig his own grave."

"Happiness gets you killed in front of hell's black gates."

Damn. I could really enjoy this :)

Some of the sections are of the "world building" type. Unique holy/holidays, a character's approach towards religion, details of your homeland/town/etc. These sections work best hand in hand with your DM, but also serve the DM well as he/she seeks to add depth to the campaign world - either one of their own creation or taken off the shelf. Its details like this that make an RPG campaign more than a simple series of connected adventures but a living, breathing world.

One of my favorite entries deals with what a character brings with them on adventures to keep that connection to home. Again, its presented as a tool for your players, but imagine the response when your players find the bandit leader's lair, and there is a small jewelry box filled with earth next to his bed. Is it magical? What's the purpose? (I still remember my Commanding Officer in the late 90's, when I was a cop in the South Bronx, having a small piece of Irish Turf on a shelf in his office, to remind him of his childhood in Ireland)

The most surprising thing about The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide is that it hasn't been done before. I find myself reading sections like Five Things You Can't Throw Away (applies as much in real life as it does in game) and Wanted (the joys of "Wanted Posters") and think "This is brilliant!" followed by "How come I never thought of this?" It's obvious once it's brought to one's attention, but the fact is that the obvious often remains hidden in plain sight. It takes the right person, or writer, to bring it into the light.

I can give The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide the following praise - it's inspired me to want to kick off a new RPG Campaign for the first time in a year and a half. I want to DM a campaign and I want to play in a campaign. I want to pick through the guide for nuggets of inspiration, for added depth to my next gameworld. I can think of no better endorsement other than "this book will be used". Sadly, I can't say that for the vast majority of my gaming collection.

The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide has a retail price of 14.99. On Amazon, its 10.39 in softcover, 10.99 in Kindle format.  https://amzn.to/2IE1gFb

Yep, that's an affiliate link above. Keep the taps flowing and the beer cold at The Tavern by using our affiliate links.

Ramp up your role-playing game and make your character your own with this fun, interactive workbook—an essential addition to any RPG player’s gaming kit. 

You’ve chosen your class, bought your weapons, and rolled for your stats, and you’re now the proud owner of your own RPG (role-playing game) avatar. But before you begin your adventure, there’s so much more you can do with your character to make him or her your own! Just how evil is she? What does his dating profile look like? Where did she get that scar? What does he want for his birthday? With fill-in-the blank narratives, prompts, and fun activities to help you customize your character at the start of the game, or build out your backstory as you play, The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Book will help you fully imagine your character and bring them to life for the ultimate gaming experience!

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E139 - Gygax Memorial Fund - 2017 Tax Return is In - Not What I Expected

You know when you expect one thing and get another, and the other you get does answer a question, but not the one you really wanted an answer for. That is this. We sill don't know where the monies that WotC states they are sending the Gygax Memorial Fund from the sales of the POD and PDFs of the core AD&D 1e books, but Alex Gygax is now listed as a "Director" on the Fund's tax return. He still hasn't made the Fund's webpage yet. And what's up with the left justification?

Back in early June of this year, Alex Gygax messaged me to let me know that the latest filed tax return was being updated and refiled. I thought that meant an accounting of the monies WotC indicated it had been forwarding to the Fund since 2015 for the 1e reprints. I thought wrong...

Link to Episode 139 -  https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E139---GMF---2017-Tax-Return-is-In---Not-What-I-Expected-e2auqn

Link to the Gygax Memorial Fund - http://www.gygaxmemorialfund.org

Link to the Gygax Memorial Fund's Tax Returns - http://www.gygaxmemorialfund.org/fund-info/financial-info

Podcast - Old School Blues - Episode 13 - Vince Florio & Yours Truly

Last week Vince and I recorded Episode 13 of the Old School Blues Podcast.

Its available via Ancor and Youtube - yes, there is a video :)

As if you didn't have enough of me unscripted - heh.

More to come. Maybe even with Old Man Grognard.

Anchor Link: https://anchor.fm/oldschoolblues/episodes/Old-School-Blues-The-Revival-Live----Episode-12-e2a7ms

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/6NNTw5mJiqA

The Tavern Introduces "Free Map Mondays!" (Beers are 5 Bucks ;)

As I posted about last night, I seem to have found my dungeon mapping program for the immediate future - Illwinter's Floorplan Generator. I'm still learning the interface, but my second map look less than an hour and looks pretty darn good (if I must say so myself)

If you are a frustrated mapper much like myself, I recommend Illwinter without reservation. For 7 bucks, there's little risk and the results are amazing. Its cross-platform and projects using the core resources can be published commercially.

Which is where Free Map Mondays comes into play. I plan on releasing a map on Mondays, every Monday. The maps will be free to use personally and commercially. All I ask is you include the following if you use any of the free maps commercially: "Map by Erik Tenkar using Illwinter's Floorplan Generator."

Or just buy the program yourself.

I have more map ideas in mind. Need to tweak before announcing, but it should be fun for all :)

Oh yeah, the map above is released for free commercial use subject to the above simple terms.

Edit - I'm guessing there is a CC license that covers this...

Editing the Edit - Maps will be released under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ / Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)

The Tavern Chat Podcast - E138 - Four Wayward Kickstarters, See How They Run - Or Not

Ah, Wayward Kickstarters. If I didn't mock them, I might cry. And yes, I backed all four of these.

I've been meaning to so this episode for a couple of days now. I guess I was kinda busy ;) I talk about the following Kickstarters: Yarr! The Pirate ArrPG Hardcover : Make 100 Edition, Far West: Western/Wuxia Mashup adventure game, Artisan Dice Does Handcrafted Polyhedrals, and Appendix N Adventure Toolkits (DCC RPG Modules).

Link to Episode 138 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E138---Four-Wayward-Kickstarters--See-How-They-Run---Or-Not-e2ao6l

Link to Kickstarters:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/511830989/yarr-the-pirate-arrpg-hardcover-make-100-edition/description

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Adamant/far-west-western-wuxia-mashup-adventure-game/description

https://www.mutedhorn.net/far-west-delivery-estimates

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/charliebrumfield/artisan-dice-does-handcrafted-polyhedrals/updates

https://www.artisandice.com/faq/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1778492214/appendix-n-adventure-toolkits-dcc-rpg-modules