It has been over 20 years since Necromancer Games first unleashed the Tome of Horrors, and our philosophy has not changed... everybody needs more monsters! Necromancer Games has always been known for its monsters, and with the Tome of Essential Horrors, we would like to introduce those unique and mysterious creatures to your Old-School Essentials table.
This beast of a book contains over 100 monsters and brings classic monsters from Frog God Games and Necromancer Games to OSE referees and players. Each entry includes a full OSE stat block, classic black-and-white art, and an interesting encounter that highlights the creature.
The Tome of Essential Horrors contains all you need to gleefully exceed your players' expectations. Can the heroes escape the clutches of the witch tree, the riptide horror, or the cave fisher? Will they survive the pyrolisk’s conflagration gaze? We cannot guarantee a TPK every time, but you’ll have buckets of fun trying!
I'm always a fan of Gamma World-esque hacks. Metamorphosis BX had escaped my attention before today, but I noticed it as today's Deal of the Day. Until tomorrow morning, Metamorphosis BX is priced at $3, 50% off its regular price.
Metamorphosis BX is a post-apocalyptic MiniBX hack in which you'll roleplay a hybrid survivor in an ever-changing world in which a cataclysm has fragmented time and space. It is light both in mechanics and tone, aiming to be fun above all.
With the release of version 1.0, the game is complete with many character origins (like alien-insect, primal-animal, nano-machine, etc.), mutations (benign and malign), powers (hacking and psychic), artifacts (ancient, alien, and planar), creatures (from Alien Artificial Intelligences to Radioactive Zombies), and a setting, called Atropicalypse (inspired by Brazil), with its regions and factions.
All the cool kids are playing Mörk Borg. Or at least, that's what they tell me. I have the rules and a number of their third supplements, and it is as much about style as it is about substance. For most folks I know, it seems to be a very polarizing game to be exposed to - they either love it or hate it. I'm one of the few impressed by what it is, but not fawning over it to the point I trip over my own feet. I will say this much, for me to get a fuller appreciation of the rules as I read them, I've found playing a little Ramones (a live album, of course), or the Sex Pistols, and maybe mix the Dead Kennedys into the playlist, puts me more into the mood to appreciate Mörk Borg for what it is - an old school gaming vibe with the soul of classic punk. YMMV - the authors claim a Doom Metal Vibe, but classic punk is a better match for me. Showing my age, I guess- Tenkar ;)
Here's the pitch for Mörk Borg from the core rules sales page:
A doom metal album of a game. A spiked flail to the face. Light on rules, heavy everything else.
MÖRK BORG is a pitch-black apocalyptic fantasy RPG about lost souls and fools seeking redemption, forgiveness or the last remaining riches in a bleak and dying world. Who are you? The tomb-robber with silver glittering between cracked fingernails? The mystic who would bend the world’s heart away from it’s inevitable end? Confront power-draining necromancers, skulking skeletal warriors and backstabbing wickheads. Wander the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead, the catacombs beneath the Bergen Chrypt or the bedevilled Sarkash forest. But leave hope behind - the world’s cruel fate is sealed, and all your vain heroic efforts are destined to end in death and dismay. Or are they?
MÖRK BORG is a complete game in the OSR genre, that can be played as is or be picked apart for use in your own homebrew. The rules are easily made compatible with most of the editions of the world’s largest role-playing game. Within the book you’ll find:
A brief look at this dying world. From The Two-Headed Basilisks’ gothic cathedral in Galgenbeck and Blood-countess Anthelia’s limestone palace, to the fields of death in Graven-Tosk and the barren wastes of Kergüs.
The Calendar of Nechrubel, that decides the speed of the world’s demise.
20 occult Powers that let you bend reality, and just as many magical catastrophes for when you disastrously fail.
Optional rules which brings more depth to the game. Omens let you turn bad luck into a slightly better one. Classes with unique traits and quirks, and tables that will bring life into your character.
12 creatures to be murdered by.
Game master tools such as tables for corpse plundering, occult treasure, adventure sparks, dungeon generating and other devilry.
The introductory dungeon crawl scenario Rotblack Sludge, where you investigate a forgotten part of the Shadow King’s enormous ruin palace. Cannibal warlocks, poison peddlers from beyond the void and hungry gutworms await.
MÖRK BORG is constructed by Pelle Nilsson (Ockult Örtmästare Games) and Johan Nohr (Stockholm Kartell). The game is published by Free League Publishing and is available in Swedish and English - the English text is edited and cursed by Patrick Stuart (Veins of the Earth, Silent Titans).
Blood & Treasure is the fantasy role-playing game for people who want to spend less time arguing over rules and more time playing! Compatible with most old school games but not shy to dip into the new school, it keeps the rules simple and the play quick. Includes easy to learn rules of play, including mass combat and naval combat rules - All the information you need to create fantasy characters from one of seven fantasy races and one of thirteen fantasy classes - Over 600 magic spells - Rules for building strongholds and running a domain - helpful guides to creating dungeons, wilderness, cities and other dimensions for your adventures - over 400 monsters and scads of magic items. Desert the edition wars and play a game with Blood & Treasure!
Six-Shooters & Wagons is a Swords & Wizardry Continual Light hack that lets move away from dungeons and into the saloons and wagon trails of the old west. This pdf is everything you'll need to make a posse and become a legend of the west. In the pdf you'll find.
Complete light rules for playing in the old west.
4 new classes: Gunslinger, Scout, Soldier, and Swindler
The BX Advanced Gold Edition rules are based on the 1978 advanced first edition edition of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game with the less complex game systems of the 1981 B/X edition. In other words, this is a modern version of the fantasy roleplaying game many people played in the 1980s. They started playing with the B/X edition and just added the races, classes, spells, monsters and treasures from the first Advanced edition, instead of using all the more complex rules from the Advanced Edition. All of the first advanced edition fun without all the often complex and fiddly rules.
In BX Advanced, you may play a first edition style assassin, barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, illusionist, magic-User, monk, paladin, ranger, or thief in an old school game of exploration, treasure-finding, and fast to play combat. While B/X systems are used instead of the more complex first advanced edition rules, many of the limits of B/X have been removed: there are 20+ levels instead of 14; race is separate from class, spells go to 9th level instead of 6th, and there are many more monsters and treasure items than in B/X. Be a hero or a rogue: your decisions determine whether your character will retire rich, rule a kingdom, or die before his time.
This modern version also includes many optional rules: psionics, some of the house rules the author used in the 1970s, and selected ideas from other roleplaying games. While a sample adventure and campaign setting are included, these rules can easily be used with all of the old adventures designed for B/X or 1e and the many new adventures published for these games in the last few years – or you can easily create adventures of your own.
The Guidebook to the Duchy of Valnwall is a FREE Labyrinth Lord™ supplement that expands on the critically acclaimed Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay and details the people, layout, and government of the Duchy of Valnwall. The Duchy is presented in broad strokes and is open to customization. It was specifically designed to give Labyrinth Lords a convenient and familiar fantasy setting to place their adventures.
The Guidebook to the Duchy of Valnwall is largely open content. Small Niche Games would like to encourage professional and amateur publishers to use the Guidebook as a shared fantasy setting and set their commercial adventures within the Duchy of Valnwall. Labyrinth Lords (and publishers) should feel free to change, add, or remove any of the information in this book to better suit his or her own game.
The Guidebook to the Duchy of Valnwall contains:
-A breakdown of Valnwall adventure themes
-History of the Duchy of Valnwall
-Detailed overview of the Duchy of Valnwall including government, religion, commerce, and laws and punishment
-Descriptions of over a dozen major festivals
-An overview of the citizens of the Duchy including a breakdown of social classes, daily life for commoners and nobles, style of dress, arms and armor, rumors and gossip, and common gestures, curses, and phrases
-Geography of the Duchy including details on cities, towns, mountains, forests, other terrain features, and more. . .along with an amazingly detailed set of maps by cartographer Tom Fayen
-Descriptions of numerous factions and stat blocks for NPCs
-Descriptions of different types of settlements
-Over a dozen unique Valnwall random encounters
-Over two dozen new plants and monsters native to the Duchy
-More information about the massive seawall and megadungeon known as the Great Valnwall
The Guidebook to the Duchy of Valnwall is available now for FREE so check it out!
Yep! The Fantasy Trip: Melee is quite possibly the Pocket Game that proved the popularity of pocket games.The seeds that turned into GURPS in the end. If you want a quick game of physical fighting, here's your opportunity. Grab some d6 and have at it!
A classic game of fantasy combat. Create characters in just a few minutes – then send them into the arena. Winners become stronger and faster for the next battle. Losers die.
Each counter in this fast-moving game is a single warrior. Players choose weapons and tactics for their fighters, and send them into combat against men, beasts, or monsters – to victory, or death.
This is the basic combat system for The Fantasy. Trip For the basic magic system, pick up Wizard. For ready-to-use adventures perfect for solo or group play, check out Death Test. And for 40 – yes, forty! – postcard adventures, download The Fantasy Trip 2019 Postcard Contest collection absolutely FREE!
Say what you want about Dyson (and I probably have), but few come close to Dyson's skill when it comes to maps suitable for fantasy adventures (and occasionally beyond). Matt Jackson might exceed by a tad, but Dyson is by far the most prolific dungeon mapper I've seen.
Dyson's Dodecahedron is an irregularly scheduled 12-page digest-sized OSR zine for the Labyrinth Lord RPG with content easily adaptable to just about any OSR style system.
The very first issue of the Dodecahedron presents an eclectic mix of material for old school play drawn from the early days of the blog:
Pain, Wounds & The Death Spiral presents a system whereby serious injuries to a character are easily tracked and accounted for, reducing a character's abilities over time as they become more and more injured.
Obscene Eyes are horrid subterranean monsters of strange alien intelligence and disgusting appearance.
2d6 Thief Skills rewrites the classic thief abilities into a simple 2d6 chart and three core abilities - the thief's favoured skill, other skills, and climbing walls. This both makes thief abilities simpler in play and in book-keeping.
Atarin's Delve is a small dungeon adventure that can be played on it's own or inserted into any other dungeon or megadungeon. It features a bandit camp, some magical traps, and of course Atarin Darkhunter.
Polearms! explores the many varieties of "pointy and/or bladed bits on the end of a long stick" that can be covered by the basic polearm - from the classic Bardiche to the Reticulated Earspoon-Guisarme. All of course have exactly the same stats and handled by random tables.
Okay. Technically, Deadball: Baseball With Diceisn't really an RPG. But if you consider yourself a capable couch-sitting baseball manager, Deadball is the game for you.
Not only is Deadball: Baseball With Dice PWYW, but Print copies are also PWYW. Print copies can be had for as low as 4.99 - maybe less.
I have had this in PDF since it was a Deal of the Day post-Covid, and it is a blast to play, even solo.
Deadball is a fast-paced baseball dice game for one or two players that uses real statistics to bring the ballpark to your tabletop. Its elegantly simple rules are intuitive to die-hards and casual fans alike, allowing you to simulate a game between real or imaginary teams in about twenty minutes. Download the free quick start guide to see how it works.
Deadball uses real statistics that every fan knows and understands, like batting average and ERA, allowing new players to pick it up in minutes. Because the game is based directly on real, freely-available stats, you can play as any team you want.
Any. Team. You. Want.
Pit history's greatest teams against each other. Replay seasons from fifty years before you were born. Watch today's all-stars go head-to-head with the legends of the past. Any match-up you can imagine, Deadball will make real.
Don't want to play with real players? Deadball's fast, intuitive character creation system generates players, teams and leagues faster than you can say "Play ball!" The game's rules are easy-to-learn and endlessly customizable, allowing you to remake the game however you see fit.
This book contains:
Basic rules for ultra-fast play, and advanced rules for a deeper game
An introduction to baseball scorekeeping
A random player table that allows you to roll up a new team in minutes
Guidelines for creating and running your own league, including rules for new prospects, high-stakes trades, catastrophic injuries and player aging
Detailed rosters for the legendary Southern Circuit, a fictional league whose story begins here
The revolutionary Five Tool System, which allows you to create custom-designed players and watch them grow, game after game, season after season
For the dead of winter, for the dead of night, for when your team is dead in the water, Deadball is there.
A NOTE ABOUT DICE: This book does not come with dice. You can play Deadball with any standard set of RPG dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d00, d12, d20), or a dice-rolling app.
I own a physical copy of Free Trader Beowulf, and it has been a pleasure to peruse. At 7.95 for Free Trader Beowulf in PDF, it is a bargain!
Traveller! For a limited time, Mongoose Publishing is offering This is Free Trader Beowulf, Shannon Appelcline's comprehensive "system history" of the Traveller tabletop science-fiction roleplaying game, for a special promotional price.
From the author of Designers & Dragons, which told the story of the entire roleplaying industry, comes the intimate, detailed history of a single roleplaying game. This is Free Trader Beowulf tracks Traveller from its inspirations in the early '70s to its initial publication and across seven distinct editions of its original 2d6 gaming system. It tells the stories of Traveller's major publishers, its many licensees, its Long Night, and how it rose again like a phoenix. Now you can get a non-watermarked, DRM-free .PDF ebook of the complete full-color 298-page This is Free Trader Beowulf (retail value $30) for just US$7.95!
The Evils of Illmire is a dark fantasy hexcrawl adventure module for B/X D&D, Old School Essentials, and other OSR systems.
NEWLY UPDATED FOR 2025!
This 126-page zine is 8.5x5.5, with color cover and black/white interior.
A whole classic campaign in your pocket! The Evils of Illmire is a "mini-mega" hexcrawl adventure module designed to provide dozens of sessions of perilous wilderness exploration and dungeon crawling. It features an evil cult, a doomed town, a dangerous wilderness, and a variety of vile monsters. The zine aims to provide plenty of free-roaming adventure content, but with an over-arching threat that looms over the entire region.
Features:
- Tons of content jammed into 126 lavishly illustrated pages
- 19 detailed hexes, each with a unique random encounter table
- Illustrated town map with keyed locations
- Sixteen keyed one-page dungeons illustrated by Dyson Logos
- Easy weather system to tell where its storming on the map
- New for 2025! Complete hexcrawl system with mountaing climbing, weather, and a campaign calendar to track your adventures.
- Full stats provided in bestiary with nearly 100 monsters
- More than 50 new and unique magic artifacts to discover
- Bonus digital content including a custom old-school character sheet
- Artwork provided for visuals during online play or to print out
I'm a huge fan of The Witcher franchise - video games, TV series, and even comics (in digital, of course). While I own The Witcher RPG, I don't expect I'll ever run it (I own WAY too many RPGs). Instead, I read it for the lore.
In the midst of the 3rd Nilfgaardian War Geralt of Rivia, the White Wolf, scours the Continent for traces of his lost love! But this is not the only tale. A million other stories play out across the vast continent and you are right in the middle of one of them!
The Witcher Pen & Paper RPG allows you to tell your own story in the world of The Witcher! Adventure across the Continent, interacting with living legends and influencing the politics of the land! Fight in the brutal and horrific Third Nilfgaardian War. Or play out your own adventure as you avoid death and dismemberment!
Featuring
9 Unique Classes: Play as Bards, Craftsmen, Criminals, Doctors, Mages, Men At Arms, Merchants. Priests, & Witchers.
A Bestiary of Vicious Monsters: Traverse the wild and hunt everything from the troublesome nekker to the hulking, hypnotic fiend.
Numerous Spells & Invocations: Call upon the chaotic magic of the Witcher world to summon tornadoes, leave hidden messages, and more.
A Visceral Combat System: Skill & tactics rule the day, and a wrong move can mean ruptured organs or more.
This digital edition includes both the full-size PDF and a Phone PDF version designed for reading on your smartphone.
I just finished playing in a 2-year-long AD&D 2e campaign run by JoetheLawyer. I realized mid-campaign that, except for my trip to Gen Con in '94, it was the only time I played 2e as a player. Go figure...
Within these pages lie the keys to open worlds of wonder and adventure! Whether you are exploring dank dungeons, forging mighty kingdoms, or questing to save the world, For Gold & Glory contains all that you need to run a complete game. Inside these covers, you will find rules to:
Create heroic characters and guide them as they advance in power.
Equip characters with everything they need to survive the perils of adventure.
Guide characters through encounters, whether through wits and skill or strength of arms.
Reward characters with glittering wealth and wondrous treasures.
Challenge all characters, from novices to veterans, with over 140 creatures both fair and foul.
For players and game masters alike, For Gold & Glory is compatible with the second edition of the "advanced" version of the world's most popular role-playing game.
Do you want to play in the Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland world but are bogged down with the massive Core Rulez? Well look no further! Neon Goons of the Toxic Wasteland is based off of Tunnel Goons by: Nate Treme! In these 10 pages you will find all the rules lite you will need to enjoy a quick slime-ridden vomit punk over the top good ole game!!!!
Looking for monsters for your campaign with a Cthulhuian twist to many of them? Look no further than the Terraric Tome. I may need to bring out my print copy in the weeks ahead and do a proper review, but damn does the Terratic Tome have an AD&D 2e feel along with a true edge to it.
This enchiridion of entities should only be used by DMs inclined towards malfeasance, sadism, and base wrongdoing.
Torn from the pages of the Books of Pandemonium, these horrific fiends -- including the grotesquely talented Curhadac, the sadistic Eremite, and the death-singing Acronical -- will test the mettle of any adventuring party.
Teratic Tome is an OSRIC-compatible bestiary featuring:
* Strange variants: Brine orc, gelatinous pyramid, and azure slime
* Undead: Ivory banshee, demimondaine, ash ghast, and verminated zombie
* New threats: Remnants, karkinoi, pontiffs, craanoi, and ingenues
* Unique entities: Baskra, Lunamic, Malchior, Pantagruel, and the Seamstress
Hey! Do you wanna adventure under Tenkar's Tavern? Written for Swords & Wizardry Light by Thom Wilson and published by Throwi Games, Under Tenkar's Tavern, Levels 1-3 is priced at PWYW. Hmmm, I should run this at a convention...
Under Tenkar's Tavern, Levels 1-3 for Swords & Wizardry
Once a boisterous and popular bar, Tenkar’s Tavern has recently become a place shrouded in mystery and despair. Members of the kitchen staff have disappeared and have not returned in several days. Additional hired hands have also since gone missing. An empty kitchen means unhappy customers and the barkeep Nerik is losing money! He needs outside help to solve his dilemma. Can the adventurers help find the kitchen staff or the source of the tavern’s problems?
An Adventure for three to six characters of 1st or 2nd level, designed for Swords & Wizardry TM by Matthew J. Finch.
Are you looking for new classes for your OSE/LL/B/X game or for Swords & Wizardry or other OSR ruleset? How about some mass combat rules that aren't only usable, but understandable? Rules for herbs and foraging? Maybe even alchemy? It's all here and more in Fantastic Wizardry, nicely priced at PWYW.
FANTASTIC WIZARDRY is a rule supplement for "basic" editions of "the world's first and most famous fantasy roleplaying game" and associated retro-clones. FANTASTIC WIZARDRY expands upon rules found in "basic" games by adding the following:
- NEW CLASSES! Alchemist, Arcane Fighter, Brawler, Hunter, Swashbuckler, Theurge, and Warlock!
- EXPANDED PLAYER OPTIONS! Misc. Combat Options, Exceptional Abilities, Retraining Abilities, and Mundane herbal Crafting and Foraging!
- MORE MAGIC OPTIONS! Alchemical Crafting, Overcasting, Intuitive Casting, Commoner Casting, and Finding, Binding, and Summoning Outsiders!
- ADDITIONAL GAME MASTER RULES! Strongholds, Settlements, and Demense! Hired Jobs, Missions, and Commissions!, Narrative Dice! Mass Combat!
FANTASTIC WIZARDRY is for those who love "old school" gaming but are interested in adding something new to their table!
Looking for a gonzo, Gamma World-esque RPG that riffs off the B/X rules, takes them to 11, and then rudely pukes out of the passenger side door of your car as you zoom down some abandoned highway? If so, Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland Core Rulez is the game you've been waiting for.
A gonzo vomit-punk post apycolyptic cassette futurism table top RPG. A visceral mash-up of 80s/90s pop culture mixed in a grimdark blender and barfed onto the table! Siskel and Ebert would give Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland two big thumbs down! For fans of The Toxic Avenger and all the sleazy over the top late night sci-fi/horror you can handle!
Ultra-Violent, and style matters tabletop RPG, that builds off of the “BX” rules. Half Medieval Fantasy half Sci-Fi, neon lords of the toxic wasteland is a no-holds-barred to the max game! Oozing 80's and 90's nostalgia the game features items from Ninja Stars to Fanny packs in addition to many references to the era.
In addition to being built on top of the 'BX" rules, the core rules use an ability class points system and fortune points which grants the player some flexibility in dire rolls.
The setting a post-apocalyptic Earth in which magic, mixed with the technology of the 1980’s- the early ’90s, has created the cassette futurism seen in both the Neo-Terraxx and Xeno tech, as well as the art style. Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland is over the top, bloody, random, wild, and a hell of a good time. Sit back, crack open some TAB, and roll some damage.
This bad boy has so much packed inside! The Core Rulez include:
All the rulez required to run a sick game of Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland! From character creation to combat to exploration to additional rulez, the Neon Lord (Game Master)has everything they need! Types of damage, drugs, diseases, poison, and how to play all the wasteland baddies are all included too!
Hair Style choices in character creation that can help or hinder you in your rad adventures in the forgotten future! Will you pick a Mullet or Mohawk? You decide!
11 Playable classes with 1 super secret hidden class.
Over 100 unique monsters!!!! The list spans from the Aggressive menacer all the way to Zombie!
An entire unique spell system with its unique spells and all the classics you come to expect from an OSR RPG! 121 soul-crushing black magic spells at the War Wizard's sick disposal! 41 prayers granted to the Holy Smiter by their deity. 44 Psychic Manifestations the mysterious Star Spawns can conjure up. 36 hacks the Skull Jammer can cook up on his high tech Tape Deck, plus all the other random spells or slimy dudes who cast their unique spells!
A massive section on fantastical items and all the rad treasure you can dig up in the ruins of the forgotten world or hoarded by Mutant Wasteland Warlords!
1 MASSIVE Setting to get your campaigns started!!!!
Do you want to play something like Warhammer Fantasy without all of the endless rules and need to have specific minis to put onto the field of play? Sword Weirdos might be for you.
Sword Weirdos is the fantasy sequel to the surprisingly popular Space Weirdos. "When will you write a fantasy version?" people asked. So I did. Sword Weirdos is a skirmish wargame that allows you to build stats for just about any fantasy or historical model in your collection. Your model's class and weapons determine its special abilities. With 26 classes and 54 weapons and other pieces of equipment to choose from, the possibilities are...a lot. I'm not that great with math.
You’re wondering what makes Sword Weirdos different from other games. Not much! It takes what I like from other games and mashes it all together.
Low model count: 5-10 models or so for each side.
Use any fantasy/historical minis you have.
Short but comprehensive. Everything in one 24 page zine.
Minimal tokens, but still a few because I like them.
No tape measures or rulers, all movement and ranges are measured with 5” sticks.
Uses all your RPG dice (except the d20, d20's get enough love) because dice are fun.
A points system, but you shouldn’t worry about it too much.
Alternating activations, opposed rolls, Maneuver Points, and random tables mean everyone is involved and rolling dice all the time.
Also includes:
A separate 4-page solo rules document.
A pdf with tokens, hobby advice, and a warband sheet.
If you like minis games but giant rulebooks turn you off or seem intimidating, maybe give this a shot.
The DOOM of the DARK is coming...
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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
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[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!
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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
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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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...
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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)
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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
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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
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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,
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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!?
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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*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
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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
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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.
-
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
-
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 ...
