Let me start this with some background. I've known Tom Tullis for years, and consider Tom a friend. For a number of years, I ran the 3d dungeon terrain for Frog God Games known as The Mouth of Doom at various conventions (a section of the mega-dungeon Rappan Athuk) and had a blast doing so. The terrain was 3d printed from Fat Dragon Games Dragonlock models. I do not own a 3d printer although I have backed Kickstarters that offer such as well as have purchased Humble Bundles for such in the past. Planning for the future I guess ;)
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support
The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,
or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.
Today marks two weeks after testing positive for COVID. Moments of true clarity in the brain fog are cherished, and during the next break in the fog I'll address the outstanding gift emails (there are enough moving parts that I'd like to avoid inevitable confusion.) I appreciate the patience and understanding.
Now, on to OSR Christmas Day 13 Gift Giving!
Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures is giving away One of Nearly Everything Arduin, in print, to one lucky gift receiver (US ONLY for this package) This is THE ARDUIN PACKAGE!
FrDave
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Frog God Games Gift Bundle - Stoneheart Value and 4 Modules for Swords & Wizardry (US Only - direct from the NTRPG Warehouse)
FloofQuest in Print by Lloyd Metcalf (US Only - Shipped by Tenkar, so figure in COVID delay ;)
AEIOU
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Torchlight Issue #1 - Print (Limited Print Run - Signed by Tenkar if Requested - US Only - Figure in COVID delay)
Allen Hammack
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ONE $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate to one non-US commenter.
IL
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
One $25 DTRPG Gift Certificate - Anywhere
Ikaros
The above need to email me at: tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing with "OSR Christmas Day 13" in the subject. Included your handle used to post and the gift you are claiming.
Thanks to all, the gifters and commenters both, for making this the best OSR Christmas ever.
There may be some gifts that never made it to OSR Christmas Giveaways due to Santa's COVID confusion. There MAY be a catch up day later in the month.
Anything shipping from the Tenkar household will be delayed slightly, again due to COVID. Apologies in advance.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
An original dark sci-fantasy setting by Gavriel Quiroga, creator of the critically acclaimed Neurocity.
Enter the Land of the Warp at your own risk! A dark world where technology and science are anathema and dark magick is just being discovered!
This is the 1.1 corrected final version of the corebook. 150 pages of pure lysergic visuals! Almost 30 random tables for a sandbox approach! A fully inmersive setting 1500% funded through Kickstarter! A symmetric (8.5 x 8.5) beauty of an artbook!
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support
The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,
or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.
As I've stated elsewhere, reviews will be returning to The Tavern in 2022, and they will be paid for with your support. When you use one of The Tavern's affiliate links, you literally pay for review material.
Today's Deal of the Day is The High Moors for Old School Essentials, or really, any old school RPG systems based on AD&D 1e or earlier. Normally 10 bucks in PDF (no print version available) until tomorrow morning, you can grab The High Moors for a mere 5.20.
I've snagged my copy, and a review should be forthcoming in the next few days - or weeks. Hard to predict ;)
From the blurb:
The High Moors beckon...
Little is known of the Ieldra - a race of cruel and depraved elves that once ruled the northern tableland called The High Moors - and no one has seen an elf in living memory. Their civilisation is dead, destroyed by an incursion from the Far Realm brought about by their hubris.
The ruins of the High Moors have lain undisturbed for centuries. With news from a successful expedition, people have finally considered the treasures waiting to be discovered in the forgotten north.
A number of expeditions have now been dispatched to bring back magic and riches. Unfortunately, danger, horror and madness awaits most of them.
The High Moors is a freeform sandbox weirdcrawl campaign. It is presented for Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy, but easily converted to any OSR edition of your choice.
The High Moors features:
a huge wilderness sandbox ideal for a WEST MARCHES style campaign
over 60 adventure locations, including three mapped and keyed dungeons
60 battlemaps for Virtual Table Top play!
sufficient content to take a party of five adventurers from 1st to 8th level
fully detailed and mapped town of Hob’s Lake for your party to use as a local base
full colour hex maps of the three wilderness zones
twenty new unique magic items
nearly forty new unique monsters
nine new playable races including bearfolk, owlfolk and uplifted apes!
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support
The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,
or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.
Let me get a few things out of the way. I'd rather be upfront than hear whispers in the dark.
1) Ascendant is written and published by Alexander Macris. I know there is a segment of the gaming community that has a hard-on for Alex. If you are covered by the prior statement, you can bugger off right now. This post isn't for you.
2) I consider Alex a friend. More than an acquaintance, less than a bestie. Still, it may color some of my observations, so you should be informed. Also, see Number 1, above.
3) Although I am a fan of the superhero genre, I've yet to find a supers RPG that I've felt comfortable with. At best, they've been "blah".
4) I literally just spent 55 bucks plus shipping for the Print plus PDF version of Ascendant. This is your money, the readers of this fine blog, as it was funded by affiliate monies. This is NOT a review copy.
5) Alex DID send me the first chapter of his upcomingAscendantgraphic novel in PDF. I have done little more than look at some pretty pictures at this point. I'm impressed but need more Covid-free focus before actually reading it.
6) I wanted to let my readers know that Ascendant was on sale in PDF for the next 6 days, as part of the New Year, New Game Sale at DTRPG. There are many other fine RPGs for sale too. Your purchases will fund further reviews.
7) The fucker has gone Gold in less than a month. That's pretty impressive. It's also the #1 Bestseller as I type this.
K, enough of that. I'll need to read Ascendant before reviewing it (reviews return to The Tavern in 2022). Your money will be used to review books YOU may be interested in. No obligations to do a positive spin. No "reviewer's copy so no negative reviews" bullshit. Simply honest reactions.
Here's the sales blurb:
Ascendant is the superpowered role-playing game of infinite possibilities. In this 496-page standalone rulebook, you get:
Elegant game mechanics that swiftly simulate the physics of a comic-book world using easy-to-reference real-life benchmarks
Color-coded challenge action resolution tables that resolve complex actions with superspeed
Infinitely scalable system lets you play heroes of any power level, from streetfighters to living gods – and replicate virtually any character from your favorite anime, comic, manga, or movie settings
Countless powers all customizable with an easy-to-use system of modifier tags that lets you match your power’s specifics to your character concept
Comprehensive detective mechanics for investigating crimes, interviewing witnesses, and finding clues
Detailed options for super-geniuses to create inventions, cure diseases, and even bring their outlandish devices into mass production
Extensive rules for responding to emergencies such as asteroid strikes, avalanches, disease outbreaks, earthquakes, fires, nuclear disasters, tornados, tsunamis, and volcanoes
A huge catalog of pre-built characters and objects including major military vehicles such as aircraft carriers, attack submarines, and ballistic missiles
A dynamic mission generation system to help you create challenges for your heroes
An optional campaign setting with ready-to-use heroes, villains, and organizations
Spectacular artwork by industry-leading pencilers, inkers, and colorists
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
I'm so excited that we're finally into 2022, mostly 'cause I'm expecting it to totally be my year, but why TF would anyone at the Tavern except me care about that?
The cool thing, of course as I see it, is that we've finally put the holidays behind us and now we're able to get to the important thing: weekend gaming! (well assuming that's when you sling dice.....)
My group started back up after the holidays, but since we're an online group we weren't meeting face-to-face and really we needed the first time after the holidays to sit around and catch up with each other since it's been a while.
This kind of thing doesn't happen often, but when it does it really reminds me that gaming is so much more than a hobby. Most of the gaming groups I've been in were kind of a second family of sorts and sitting around the table slinging dice is just as much about hearing about your friends' kids as they are about slaughtering orcs and collecting loot.
For my non-gamer friends and family, they see me as a big dork (they aren't wrong there) playing pretend fantasy.....I'm certain most think I dress up and LARP even though they don't know what a LARP is.
I've always wished that I could convey the friendships and comraderies I've experienced from this particular hobby, better yet if I could compare & contrast with other hobbies and even factor in the price! Sure I have spent a metric buttload of cash on RPGs, but most of that is just me being...well, me. As far as what's needed for my weekly game, that's pretty cheap/frugal.
Seriously though if you priced out a couple of game books, buying an adventure, getting everyone dice....divide by the number of players and game hours taken up by a campaign......downright cheap entertainment.
I'm reasonably certain that anyone reading the Tavern regularly already has a good opinion of RPGs and I'm not going to sell anyone here on the subject......BUT the frugality, ok potential frugality, of the hobby might be a good appeal to some for picking up the hobby.
As we all go into 2022 I'm suggesting that we all take the opportunity to strengthen out bonds within our community and reach out to non-gamers and see if we can wrap a few into the fold.
I've stepped away from doing reviews over the past few years, as I always felt conflicted about doing reviews for products that I could financially benefit from via affiliate sales.
Over the past few months, I've picked up (or ordered in the case of GiantLands) a number of RPG products directly from the publisher. Good or bad, the best deals for these products likely will be directly from the publisher (as the price will often include PDFs for instant gratification (GiantLands is an exception - no PDF).
I want to start delving through these acquisitions with a critical eye. The first will likely be the RuneQuest Starter Set, which is looking really good to my initial eyes.
More in the next few days :)
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Holy Christmas! I can't believe we are actually here. OSR Christmas Day 13, Three Kings Day!
Today is a HUGE day. Lots of Gifts. And to be honest, I may have forgotten one or two with the Omicron brain fog. So, if you are donating for OSR Christmas, and I've missed something, PLEASE PM me on Facebook or email me and I'll add it to the list of gifts.
But first, we need to gift the gifts from OSR Christmas Day 12:
Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures is giving away Volumes IV through IX of Arduin (six books!), in print, to one lucky gift receiver (US ONLY for this package)
Mickey G!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
North Texas RPG Convention Mystery Gift Bundle (US Only - direct from the NTRPG Warehouse)
Torchlight Issue #1 - Print (Limited Print Run - Signed by Tenkar if Requested - US Only)
dogrodeo
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ONE $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate to one non-US commenter.
IL
Now, on to OSR Christmas Day 13!
Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures is giving away One of Nearly Everything Arduin, in print, to one lucky gift receiver (US ONLY for this package) This is THE ARDUIN PACKAGE!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Frog God Games Gift Bundle - Stoneheart Value and 4 Modules for Swords & Wizardry (US Only - direct from the NTRPG Warehouse)
FloofQuest in Print by Lloyd Metcalf (US Only - Shipped by Tenkar, so figure in COVID delay ;)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Torchlight Issue #1 - Print (Limited Print Run - Signed by Tenkar if Requested - US Only)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ONE $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate to one non-US commenter.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
One $25 DTRPG Gift Certificate - Anywhere
Comment below, indicating if you are within the US or outside the US (sadly, it matters for certain things that are shipped) by 9 PM Eastern, Thursday, January 13th, 2022 to be considered for a gift.
Yes, a full week to enter.
Seriously, thanks to all, the gifters and commenters both, for making this the best OSR Christmas ever.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
The Expanse on Amazon Prime is wrapping up its final season, and damn what a wonderful ride it has been. So, it's no surprise that Bundle of Holding has relaunched The Expanse RPG and Modern AGE Bundle of Holding.
Now, you should note that although The Expanse RPG takes the first position in this offering's title, you'll need to kick in at the higher LEVEL UP pricing to get The Expanse Material (currently nearly 31 bucks).
There's talk in my Monday group about running an Expanse game arc next month. Exciting times :)
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
For those following at home, Rach and I started coming down with Omicron symptoms last Wednesday, and Rach tested positive last Thursday. The worst has been the brain fog. It cleared for a few hours late yesterday afternoon, but returned last night. I HAVE NOT looked at/read/forwarded ANY emails since, and likely will not until it clears again.
Thankfully I used the hours of clarity to clear out a huge backlog of OSR Christmas emailed gift claims.
If you claimed a gift from OSR Christmas Day 10 or before and don't hear anything in the next 5 days or so, email me again. I'm currently a bit addled ;)
Now I need to truly focus and award the gifts for OSR Christmas Day 11.
Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures is giving away Volumes IV through IX of Arduin (six books!), in print, to one lucky gift receiver (US ONLY for this package)
Torchlight Issue #1 - Print (Limited Print Run - Signed by Tenkar if Requested - US Only)
Doug
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ONE $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate to one non-US commenter.
Dave Thompson
Note, the above need to email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing with OSR Christmas Day 11 in the subject and the gift you are claiming in the body of the email. Anything that will help my brain fogged mind ;)
Addendum - Torchlight mailings are likely delayed due to brain fog and quarantining.
Now, on to the gifting for OSR Christmas Day 12!
Woot!
Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures is giving away Volumes IV through IX of Arduin (six books!), in print, to one lucky gift receiver (US ONLY for this package)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
North Texas RPG Convention Mystery Gift Bundle (US Only - direct from the NTRPG Warehouse)
Torchlight Issue #1 - Print (Limited Print Run - Signed by Tenkar if Requested - US Only)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ONE $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate to one non-US commenter.
Comment below, indicating if you are within the US or outside the US (sadly, it matters for certain things that are shipped) by 9 PM Eastern, Thursday, January 6th, 2022 to be considered for a gift.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
For those following at home, Rach and I started coming down with Omicron symptoms last Wednesday, and Rach tested positive last Thursday. The worst has been the brain fog, which lifted late this afternoon, but seems to be returning as I type this.
Thankfully I used the hours of clarity to clear out a huge backlog of OSR Christmas emailed gift claims.
If you claimed a gift from OSR Christmas Day 9 or before and don't hear anything in the next 48 hours or so, email me again. I'm currently a bit addled ;)
Now I need to truly focus and award the gifts for OSR Christmas Day 10.
Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures is giving away Volumes IV through IX of Arduin (six books!), in print, to one lucky gift receiver (US ONLY for this package)
Torchlight Issue #1 - Print (Limited Print Run - Signed by Tenkar if Requested - US Only)
Vance A
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ONE $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate to one non-US commenter.
macloud
Note, the above need to email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing with OSR Christmas Day 10 in the subject and the gift you are claiming in the body of the email. Anything that will help my brain fogged mind ;)
Addendum - Torchlight mailings are likely delayed due to brain fog and quarantining.
Now, on to the gifting for OSR Christmas Day 11!
Woot!
(Day 11 looks much like Day 10 ;)
Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures is giving away Volumes IV through IX of Arduin (six books!), in print, to one lucky gift receiver (US ONLY for this package)
Torchlight Issue #1 - Print (Limited Print Run - Signed by Tenkar if Requested - US Only)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ONE $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate to one non-US commenter.
Comment below, indicating if you are within the US or outside the US (sadly, it matters for certain things that are shipped) by 9 PM Eastern, Tuesday, January 4th, 2022 to be considered for a gift.
Yes, it is a quick turn around, but Days 12 and 13 are coming up and you don't want to miss out :)
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.
You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Today I'm travelling for work and I'd normally pre-load a post or ask Erik to cover, but he's sick and since it's been more than a year since I've traveled (thanks Covid!) my ability to properly prep/manage my pre-trip time socks more than it should.
The great thing about travelling, gaming-wise, is that I get the chance to (hopefully) find some new game stores. My last trip I mentioned a cool couple of finds, one in Kansas City KS, and the other in Ames IA.
I've been to this location a few times before and there is a cool hole-in-the-wall store I like to drop by, but I'm hoping I get a chance to branch out a bit more.
The thing is, and this is something I really should bug Erik about, is that we need our own (managed) listing of Favorite Local Game Stores (FLGS). Probably something to go along with a convention listing. I've found some gems in my travels, but really only by dumb luck. I've always wondered how many great stores (and finds within!) I've just driven past. A couple of years ago I spent almost a month in Florida and I didn't find diddly-squat.....but I bet there was a great store I just couldn't locate.
I really miss the days of ads in the back of Dragon Magazine.....but those days I didn't travel very much.
I know there might be some listing to be had somewhere.....anyone care to share some links?
As I mentioned yesterday, Rach and I have been hit by COVD, likely Omicron. Aside from the fact that it manifests as a severe cold, one of the symptoms both of us are suffering from is brain fog.
Suffice to say, brain fog sucks shit.
I'm avoiding going through emails related to OSR Christmas, because they require me to be, at a minimum, cognizant enough to record and forward information to a third party, or in certain cases, forward DTRPG credit to those that have earned such.
As an aside, thank GOD for Grammarly, as the above paragraph had a half dozen spelling and/or spelling issues. That's about 6x my normal ratio ;)
I'm strongly hopeful that I'll be back to my usual mental state by Monday (not that that is saying much ;)
Expect OSR Chrismas to return with 24-hour turnarounds early next week.
Thank you for your understanding and patience. As always, The Tavern is here because of you.
Yep, according to the home kit we used Thursday evening, after the both of us came down with fresh cold-like symptoms on Wednesday, Rach is COVID positive and the assumption is I am too.
My ass certainly dragging. 10 hours of sleep last night and a three-hour nap this afternoon.
Not the way I'd have chosen to end the year, but so far the symptoms are mild and my complaints are minimal.
All that being said, I'm (potentially) going to be far slower than usual to get to emails and PMs for the next few days. Packages coming from The Tavern directly from OSR Christmas will be delayed, as trips to the post office are not in the immediate future.
I'll keep you updated, but this appears to be more inconvenience than a threat.
The DOOM of the DARK is coming...
-
The Black Casket of Night has indeed been opened beneath our feet, soon,
only days will remain!
I have been posting here and there about ‘Doom of the Dar...
Jackson, IL: Am I Evil? NPCs of the Satanic Panic
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Last week, I talked about running two different 80s-style teenage horror
campaigns. My Sunny Valley, OH game with Dark Places & Demogorgons and my
curren...
Free GM Resource: 1shotadventures
-
[image: Free GM Resource: 1shotadventures]
I came across this blog consisting of adventures written by J.C. Connors.
The adventures are for a variety o...
Jonstown Jottings #106: Marsh Attacks!
-
Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition,
the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but
for ma...
Music Monday - Go Monkey Go
-
This one is a blast from the past. Released in 2000 and performed by Devo,
Go Monkey Go is a tribute to Mojo Jojo, the primary antagonist of the Power
Puff...
The Singing Lake
-
By Nicole Mattos, Icaro Agostino, Davide TrammaAngry Golem GamesOSELevels
2-4 After being denied recognition as the supreme lord, Severo cursed the
region,...
Dungeon Crawler Carl (book review)
-
This was a fun read if not particularly meaningful. It takes place in an
RPG world that works like a televised tournament, similar to The Running
Man and...
d100 Worst Weird Inn & Guest Rooms
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My current map with player exploration of my D&D5.5 game
Yellow is where players been and exploration has been fun
While we had 3 clerics nobody really imv...
The Great Nobility of Harry Potter
-
I am of the view that there is no pursuit that is more noble and no task
that is more worth doing than writing novels. Call me romantic; call me
delud...
Circuits and Rallies
-
I'm back from holiday! I guess coming back to familiarity after a few weeks
of novelty got me thinking.
Sometimes you repeat the same stuff over and over...
AD&D's Demi-Foot Forward...
-
AD&D's demi-humans are primarily known for their multiclassing abilities.
After all, what adventurer doesn't occasionally dream of casting spells
from th...
Adventures Dark and Deep (Lite)
-
This arrived for me today, a PoD hardback via DriveThruRPG.
Including postage, it cost me about $40 yankeebucks, so about $65 Kiwibucks.
I got it purel...
[BLOG] News on the March! Episode XIV
-
This post continues the series of brief play reports I have been posting on
Discord. This does not cover every single session (sometimes, recon and
setup...
Moldvay Basic D&D now Available in Print
-
Just a quick note that (finally) Moldvay Basic D&D is available in POD from
DTRPG – previously, only the Cook/Marsh …
Continue reading →
Abstraction in My Liege,
-
I think the aspect of *My Liege,* that could potentially put off the most
people is its lack of accounting granularity. It does not track Court
wealth in...
SoloDark: Four Drunk Priests
-
Dabbling into some solo play using SoloDark. Rolled up the party last
night. 3d6 down the line and pick the best class for the results. It was
tragic.
ht...
Consolidated AD&D Weapon Characteristics List
-
Having spent the last few days down a research rabbit hole, I ended up
compiling a chart of AD&D weapon characteristics, adding some "missing"
entries an...
Referee Sabotage
-
It is an old saw that players are bad at executing their plans. Imagine
this common scene: the party have some big job that requires planning;
perhaps robb...
The March 1636 Lantern is Published
-
Okay, The March Lantern is available. Those fast on the draw may have
noticed that I mistakenly published it as free access for 56 minutes. I
was just so ...
Gary Con 2026 Registration
-
Silver Badges get to register for events at Noon Central today (February
21, 2026). Somehow I thought I failed to register for running games this
year and ...
On a Happy New Year
-
We are about to experience the most social upheaval since industrialization.
What will that look like in sixty years?
Sinless is starting it's third yea...
Mutants and Wizards
-
Heya folks, long time no see.
I've just started working on something new called Mutants and Wizards. It's
going to be an OSE/OSR post-apocalyptic game t...
Ten Friggin Hill Cantons Wizards
-
10 Wizards of the Hill Cantons
#
Name
Description
1
Magister Dobromil the Cauterizer
Specializes in magical “cleaning” of reality leaks. Wears fou...
Rob Kuntz at Lucca Comics & Games 2025
-
If you are planning a trip to Europe (like right now) and wish to catch up
with me in person, make sure to book a detour via *Lucca Comics & Games*,
...
How do you do piracy… in SPACE!?
-
Interstellar space travel in Iridium Moons was always going to be a form of
hyperspace jump like in Star Wars or Traveller. Simply because it’s the one
for...
A long overdue hobby update!
-
Welcome back to the Vault everyone! 2025 is going by in a blur; I last
posted in February, almost started a post in March and now it's the end of
May. W...
Playing at the World 2E V2 Arrives
-
With the release of its second volume, the second edition of *Playing at
the World *is finally complete. The two books combined total well over
1,000 ...
Articulations
-
Creating house rules, custom rules specific to a local group or campaign,
has been common throughout the history of D&D. What makes an effective
house rule...
Writing playlists for all occasions
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Hello again! Going off the idea of inspiration elaborated on by the prior
post, I also have music playing while I write my various games and fiction
pieces...
The Tarot of Pips
-
Somewhere in your dice collection is a die like this one, the humblest of
dice. Although you don't know it, this small white die carries with it a
secr...
Pirates and Necromancers, a Play Report
-
Over the Thanksgiving weekend we did a lot of gaming ranging from
“off-table” domain level stuff to some solo adventures to spell and magic
item rese...
It's been a bit
-
Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! I've had a lot going on and
haven't had much time to blog lately. Heres a recap of gaming events and
other st...
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace
-
A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient
aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or
more w...
Last move - to self-hosting!
-
As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to
self-hosting.
I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at)
Blog: ht...
Clean Your Room
-
Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun
playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it
was ...
Steve Jackson Interview
-
James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his
Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and
upcomi...
ToAD Monster of the Week: Crocoman
-
Now that I'm back doing the blog thing I thought I would use Tome of
Adventure Design to create monsters for The Black Hack.
Using the monster tables in th...
Strange, Dangerous, and Inhuman: The Fey and Fairie
-
When I was a boy I loved fairy tales. Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in
Boots, Rumpelstiltskin - I devoured all of it. My fascination that there
was a strang...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
-
*As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded
Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in
Warren...
Fiction in Airhde
-
On a whim this weekend, I picked up some fiction off the TLG store. *A
Houseless God & Other Tales* and *The Mirrored Soul & Other Tales*, both by
the T...
Ravensburg Reboot: Streamlined City Map
-
I mentioned in my last post how I was tweaking and reworking parts of my
Ravensburg setting. Today I streamlined the city map. The old map had lots
of redu...
The Withered Crag available now
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I just enabled the sale of the PDF version of The Withered Crag at
DriveThruRPG a few minutes ago, and the custom print version will be
available startin...
Annihilation Rising Goes live
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The latest in Fail Squad Games’ Quick Kick projects has gone live and needs
your support!! This project is only running 11 days and ends on 5/28/2019!
...
James's Celebration of Life
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We could not have asked for a prettier day for James's service. It was a
bit chilly and windy but gorgeous. A heartfelt thank you to all that joined
us tod...
Trap Tuesday: A step back
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I will get back to Tomb of Horrors soon. I found a topic that was
interesting enough to take a break. While interacting in a 5E group on
Facebook I talked ...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
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The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even
rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player
was...
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2
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This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release,
along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a
Saint 8000...
Please, I don't do paid advertisements - don't ask.
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A little note since people have asked me about this. My video channel's
*not* an advertising platform, so I'm not available for hire if you want to
promote...
New website!
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Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated
form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that
site wil...
Please Update Your Link!
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If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is
out of date.
Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is
h...
Total Sales for WB:FMAG
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Hi Folks,
It's been a long time since I provided an update for the sales of White
Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game.
*LULU*
Print: 396
PDF: 433
*OBS*...
How can We Destroy this Campaign World?
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d12
1. You must trick a bard into strumming the *Chords of Fate* on the *Lute
of Annihilation*
2. Legends tell of thermonuclear weapons beneath megadunge...
Mord Mar - Session 5
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We had another successful delve into the dungeon yesterday. The delvers:
Moira, the Magic-User
Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?)
Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf ...
Bundle of Fantasy Age
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Bundle of Holding: Dragon Age/Fantasy Age: Available until March 12. PA
Presents: Fantasy AGE Freeport live play Green Ronin in 2018 The Fantasy
Age RPG ma...
New Free PDF Module: The Hyqueous Vaults
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A new dungeon module—written in celebration of OSRIC's 10th Birthday—by
Rebecca Dettmann, Allan T. Grohe, Jr., Jimm Johnson, Matthew Riedel, Alex
Zisch, a...
Swords & Wizardry Light: Session # 6
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Two months after our last session (thanks to things like 8th grade finals,
a 4 year-old's birthday and party, Father's Day, etc.), we finally had our
next ...
