I was feeling very anti Lulu for a while. Back in November I ordered 5 copies of Chgowiz's Swords & Wizardry Quick Start. Either Lulu screwed up or the postal service lost it, but I never got my shipment. Truth to tell, it was probably the USPS... my local postal office sucks.
Anyhow, with the coupon code floating around last month for Lulu, I figured I'd give it a shot with a more expensive (and trackable) shipping option. Boy, I'm glad I did.
Got my 5 copies of Swords & Wizardry Quick Start, a copy of the new Revised Labyrinth Lords Rules, Swords and Wizardry White Box Edition, and Supplement VI The Majestic Wilderlands for S&W (but I'll probably borrow stuff for LL instead. Still waiting on the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Characters to Arrive.
I own all the above in PDF, so to purchase again in dead tree version means I plan to get much use AND bathroom reading out of them ;) All are top notch on their own.
RPGNow
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
When did the OSR Assimilate Me?
I'm really trying to figure out when the OSR became my style of gaming. I cut my teeth on AD&D back in 80 or so... never really played the boxed D&D sets even though I owned most of them. AD&D 2e was awesome... except the books fell apart way too quickly, splat books multiplied like rabbits on fertility drugs, game balance went further and further out the window...
Next thing I knew we were playing Rifts, Battlelords and other such unbalanced games... because AD&D 2e showed us that balance didn't matter. Power mattered. Munckin mattered.
3/3.5 was supposed to clean up 2e, but the explosion of splats and the power inflation was even worse. I bought books and more books, but played little. It was overwhelming and unsatisfying at the same time.
At some point I found Castles & Crusades. It seemed damn close to AD&D of old, close enough that I didn't have to relearn all of my gaming instincts from years of AD&D gaming. The editing was horrid tho'. Sorry Trolls, it wasn't and (to a large extent) still isn't your strong point.
Then I heard word of something called OSRIC. AD&D re-imagined. Labyrinth Lord was fairly close behind. Basic fantasy Roleplaying appeared. Swords & Wizardry. Holy crap, but there or some amazingly great reincarnations of the original D&D and AD&D rules out there. Most of the rules in question were available free, or real cheap in PDF format. And I was hooked.
4e had interested me before release, but couldn't compare to Old School gaming for me. Pathfinder is a nice evolution of the 3.5 OGL, and Paizo's Adventure Paths are simply incredible, and I find myself reading and converting in my head to LL, and I never really was drawn to Basic D&D back in the day.
Ah well, I'm a convert. I've been assimilated... and happy at that.
Next thing I knew we were playing Rifts, Battlelords and other such unbalanced games... because AD&D 2e showed us that balance didn't matter. Power mattered. Munckin mattered.
3/3.5 was supposed to clean up 2e, but the explosion of splats and the power inflation was even worse. I bought books and more books, but played little. It was overwhelming and unsatisfying at the same time.
At some point I found Castles & Crusades. It seemed damn close to AD&D of old, close enough that I didn't have to relearn all of my gaming instincts from years of AD&D gaming. The editing was horrid tho'. Sorry Trolls, it wasn't and (to a large extent) still isn't your strong point.
Then I heard word of something called OSRIC. AD&D re-imagined. Labyrinth Lord was fairly close behind. Basic fantasy Roleplaying appeared. Swords & Wizardry. Holy crap, but there or some amazingly great reincarnations of the original D&D and AD&D rules out there. Most of the rules in question were available free, or real cheap in PDF format. And I was hooked.
4e had interested me before release, but couldn't compare to Old School gaming for me. Pathfinder is a nice evolution of the 3.5 OGL, and Paizo's Adventure Paths are simply incredible, and I find myself reading and converting in my head to LL, and I never really was drawn to Basic D&D back in the day.
Ah well, I'm a convert. I've been assimilated... and happy at that.
OD&DITIES - Relaunch Forthcoming
Bat in the Attic earlier today announced that OD&DITIES, a classic fanzine of OD&D, is about to relaunch at the end of this month using the Labyrinth Lords rules and the OGL. More OSR goodness is quite simply awesome.
The plan appears to be a monthly magazine in PDF format for $2 an issue via RPGNow and quarterly compilations via LuLu. First issue should arrive around the end of February.
You can find the first 12 issues of the OD&DITIES fanzine for free here. (published and reproduced there by permission from R.E.B. Tongue)
The plan appears to be a monthly magazine in PDF format for $2 an issue via RPGNow and quarterly compilations via LuLu. First issue should arrive around the end of February.
You can find the first 12 issues of the OD&DITIES fanzine for free here. (published and reproduced there by permission from R.E.B. Tongue)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion
Greyhawk Grognard: Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion Now Available!
Thanks for the scoop GG. I just ordered it in print from LuLuand a digital copy with art from RPGNow. You can downloaded it for free without the art too.
I had the advance copy that Labyrinth Lord Society members were given access to and I'm really psyched. Great stuff for a great game.
Thanks for the scoop GG. I just ordered it in print from LuLuand a digital copy with art from RPGNow. You can downloaded it for free without the art too.
I had the advance copy that Labyrinth Lord Society members were given access to and I'm really psyched. Great stuff for a great game.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The OSR - Niche within a Nich
Sometimes we forget that the Old School Renaissance (OSR) is a small movement withing a relatively small hobby we call Roleplaying. Its easy to lose sight when one forgets to look beyond their immediate surroundings. My guess is that those interested in the OSR are involved, either actively or passively, in forums, blogs, and other online knowledge sources. Most of out hobby isn't. They know little beyond what they see in their game store or Amazon.
The OSR has many options for play (in no particular order):
Labyrinth Lord
OSRIC
Swords and Wizardry (and all of its different flavors)
Microlite74
Monsters and Mazes
Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game
Raven Crowking's Fantasy Game
Mutant Future
Gore
I'm sure I missed more then a few (and them as a response and I'll edit to fix) , and this isnt counting the games that are currently in the works.
Yet for all this, WotC's forthcoming Gamma World with it's noxious collectible power cards aspect will not only outsell (and I'll count free downloads as sales) Mutant Future by many powers of 10, it will also outsell our little niche IN TOTAL by a huge factor.
There is one thing WotC doesn't have tho, which our niche has in abundance: love of the game before the bottom line. Most of the OSR is available in PDF for free, or damn close to it. Most of the print books are damn near close to cost. This hobby of ours could crash and burn around us, and yet the OSR will remain.
The OSR. It's small, but resilient.
The OSR has many options for play (in no particular order):
Labyrinth Lord
OSRIC
Swords and Wizardry (and all of its different flavors)
Microlite74
Monsters and Mazes
Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game
Raven Crowking's Fantasy Game
Mutant Future
Gore
I'm sure I missed more then a few (and them as a response and I'll edit to fix) , and this isnt counting the games that are currently in the works.
Yet for all this, WotC's forthcoming Gamma World with it's noxious collectible power cards aspect will not only outsell (and I'll count free downloads as sales) Mutant Future by many powers of 10, it will also outsell our little niche IN TOTAL by a huge factor.
There is one thing WotC doesn't have tho, which our niche has in abundance: love of the game before the bottom line. Most of the OSR is available in PDF for free, or damn close to it. Most of the print books are damn near close to cost. This hobby of ours could crash and burn around us, and yet the OSR will remain.
The OSR. It's small, but resilient.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Review - The Hideout for FG2
Short and Quick review, as the module itself is short.
The Hideout is a Savage Worlds mini-adventure for use with the Savage Worlds Ruleset and the Fantasy Grounds 2 Virtual Table Top (VTT).
The Hideout details an encounter with Poachers (think evil Ranger types and you get close to the type) that the party might stumble between adventures. Its a combat encounter at its heart, which will require tactical play on the part of the PCs. A head on assault will probably be... less then successful.
It is set in White Haired Man's Kith’takharos setting, which is available in a rule agnostic format for free at White Haired Man's website. It is very much set in the setting and is not really a stand alone encounter. It's purpose is to fill the gap between two adventures, and it fill that gap well.
PCs can earn themselves a new enemy and might even find themselves a fairly unique magic item if they survive the encounter ;)
It might be a bit light ( the PDF, which is very well done, runs 2 pages) compared to the amount of material you get with other White Haired Man products but it packs a lot into the smaller package.
So, after all that, how does it rate? I'd say the encounter itself is a strong 4, FG2 programing a solid 5, value is a 3. It's a short but complete adventure that accomplishes its goal, which is to serve as a viable drop in (or intermission) between larger adventures or story arcs . Which averages out to a strong 4 for The Hideout, Savage Worlds Edition (just noticed they released it in OGL/3.5 too).
Thanks again to White Haired Man for giving me the opportunity to dig thru their stuff ;)
The Hideout is a Savage Worlds mini-adventure for use with the Savage Worlds Ruleset and the Fantasy Grounds 2 Virtual Table Top (VTT).
The Hideout details an encounter with Poachers (think evil Ranger types and you get close to the type) that the party might stumble between adventures. Its a combat encounter at its heart, which will require tactical play on the part of the PCs. A head on assault will probably be... less then successful.
It is set in White Haired Man's Kith’takharos setting, which is available in a rule agnostic format for free at White Haired Man's website. It is very much set in the setting and is not really a stand alone encounter. It's purpose is to fill the gap between two adventures, and it fill that gap well.
PCs can earn themselves a new enemy and might even find themselves a fairly unique magic item if they survive the encounter ;)
It might be a bit light ( the PDF, which is very well done, runs 2 pages) compared to the amount of material you get with other White Haired Man products but it packs a lot into the smaller package.
So, after all that, how does it rate? I'd say the encounter itself is a strong 4, FG2 programing a solid 5, value is a 3. It's a short but complete adventure that accomplishes its goal, which is to serve as a viable drop in (or intermission) between larger adventures or story arcs . Which averages out to a strong 4 for The Hideout, Savage Worlds Edition (just noticed they released it in OGL/3.5 too).
Thanks again to White Haired Man for giving me the opportunity to dig thru their stuff ;)
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The Book of Eli - Fallout 4?
I just got back from watching the Book of Eli. Without going into to great a detail, it is a post nuclear apocalypse adventure with lots of violence and a story that would make for a very nice arc in RPG setting that would support it. Probably not any of the many iterations of Gamma World, nor do I think Mutant Future would work (it is free tho', so maybe it could be tweaked to fit). Atomic Highway might be the proper ruleset and setting.
Still have the One Page Dungeon Contest whispering in my ears too. Shhssssss!
Still have the One Page Dungeon Contest whispering in my ears too. Shhssssss!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Getting My Fix...
As I type this I'm playing in my monthly Castles & Crusades game via Fantasy Grounds 2. Always a fun time. Rob runs a really nice game. I'm glad it was salvaged when work and life in general threatened it. Rob had to move it to once a month instead of weekly, but in truth more then 2 Saturday nites a month would have been hard to maintian and not get killed by my girlfriend. ;)
Oh, I just joined the Labyrinth Lord Society. Its free to join and you get a monthly newsletter and access to additional freebies such as early access to the Advanced Edition Companion (1st edition characters and spells for LL).
Oh, I just joined the Labyrinth Lord Society. Its free to join and you get a monthly newsletter and access to additional freebies such as early access to the Advanced Edition Companion (1st edition characters and spells for LL).
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Free Kobold Quarterly
Would you believe I got this email on Monday, and it never occurred for me to post it until I saw JoeTheLawyer had done the same on his blog. So, here it is. Enjoy, I know I always enjoy the Kobolds:
Do you know someone who you're sure would love Kobold Quarterly, if only they would take the plunge and pick up an issue? Now we have a special offer that you can send them. From now through January 31, they can go to the KQ Store and download a FREE copy of issue #10 by entering the coupon code KQ10Free at checkout.
You remember #10, right? It had an interview with Paizo's Jason Bulmahn, Ed Greenwood's Dwarven Goddess, Ecology of the Hill Giant, a wicked take on Halflings, Secrets of the Halberd, Monte Cook's Game Theories, Rampant Elf Lust. Your friends will totally dig it. And if they become fellow subscribers, you'll be helping to support Kobold Quarterly so that we can continue to bring you great content like the articles in this very issue.
Remember, this special offer ends on January 31! Tell them to head for the KQ Store pronto, and use that code!
Remember, this special offer ends on January 31! Tell them to head for the KQ Store pronto, and use that code!
Thanks for supporting Kobold Quarterly!
Shelly Baur
Kobold Minion
Cleric on Call
We've all seen the issue of health care and health insurance in the US. There's probably not a day in the past few months where it hasn't been part of a newscast. My question is this... why hasn't the issue cropped up in Fantasy Roleplaying?
Seriously, who needs a affordable access to health care then our very own adventurers? The get sliced and diced, whacked and skewered, burnt and disfigured, disemboweled and decapitated... all on a weekly basis. Why don't we see any local churches offering some sort of All Cure Insurance, where the members pay a premium up front, some sort of copayment for each incident and in turn get priority healing?
It's a great way to constantly drain cash from the players, especially during downtime. It also ensures that they have adequate access to healing. Then again, overusing the policy would lead to an increase in premiums...
Seriously, who needs a affordable access to health care then our very own adventurers? The get sliced and diced, whacked and skewered, burnt and disfigured, disemboweled and decapitated... all on a weekly basis. Why don't we see any local churches offering some sort of All Cure Insurance, where the members pay a premium up front, some sort of copayment for each incident and in turn get priority healing?
It's a great way to constantly drain cash from the players, especially during downtime. It also ensures that they have adequate access to healing. Then again, overusing the policy would lead to an increase in premiums...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Dragon Age RPG - The Boxed Set...
was at my doorstep when I arrived home yesterday. I promptly opened it and was suitably... unimpressed. The last boxed set RPG I had ordered was the latest incarnation of Warhammer. Steep price but a plethora of goodies to fondle and oodle. Not so much with Dragon Age.
Lets see. We have a Player's Guide, a Game Master's Guide (both perfect bound soft covers), a fold out map, and three lonely 6-sided dice (2 blue, 1 green). The box feels... light. Eh, maybe because I received the PDFs earlier due to preordering my anticipated excitement is lacking. The books look nice, the artwork is professional and appropriate, they just don't feel like they were worth 30 bucks for 2 64 page softcover books, a map and three dice I could have grabbed from any family game.
Maybe I'm harder to please in my old age, but this was anticlimactic.
The computer / Xbox 360 game rocks tho ;)
Lets see. We have a Player's Guide, a Game Master's Guide (both perfect bound soft covers), a fold out map, and three lonely 6-sided dice (2 blue, 1 green). The box feels... light. Eh, maybe because I received the PDFs earlier due to preordering my anticipated excitement is lacking. The books look nice, the artwork is professional and appropriate, they just don't feel like they were worth 30 bucks for 2 64 page softcover books, a map and three dice I could have grabbed from any family game.
Maybe I'm harder to please in my old age, but this was anticlimactic.
The computer / Xbox 360 game rocks tho ;)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
One Page Dungeon Contest, 2010
The Rusty Battle Axe: One Page Dungeon Contest, 2010
Damn you Ken! Because of you I just went to DungeonForge to download some free mapping software.
Not that I don't own CC and Dundjinni, but I dont know their policy on using their source material in such an endeavor. Besides, I never really learned to use either besides the basic, might as well play with a third.
Not guaranteeing I'll get to finish the project, but it will be fun to try ;)
Damn you Ken! Because of you I just went to DungeonForge to download some free mapping software.
Not that I don't own CC and Dundjinni, but I dont know their policy on using their source material in such an endeavor. Besides, I never really learned to use either besides the basic, might as well play with a third.
Not guaranteeing I'll get to finish the project, but it will be fun to try ;)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Pssst! Free Stuff from Lakofka
Treebore (from the Troll Lord Games forums) recently posted that Len Lakofka has released L4 Devilspawn and the accompanying The Lendore Isle Companion up on the Dragon's Foot website. For those that don't know, Dragon's Foot is dedicated to AD&D 1st Edition gaming and has a large collection of fan produced adventures.
Lakofka (Leomund's Hut anyone?) has been involved in D&D since the early years, and L4 is a direct descendant the classic AD&D adventures of L1: The Secret of Bone Hill and L2: The Assassin's Know. L4 comes it at 136 pages with some really nice maps (suitable for VTT gaming). I haven't given either of these PDFs more then a quick scan thru, as I only came accross Treebore's post earlier this evening, but they look good and the price can't be beat ;) Perfect for some AD&D / OSRIC / fill in your old school system of choice here.
All that and at a glance I suspect they will render perfectly on the Kindle DX. I'll give that a try during the week and let the results be known.
Lakofka (Leomund's Hut anyone?) has been involved in D&D since the early years, and L4 is a direct descendant the classic AD&D adventures of L1: The Secret of Bone Hill and L2: The Assassin's Know. L4 comes it at 136 pages with some really nice maps (suitable for VTT gaming). I haven't given either of these PDFs more then a quick scan thru, as I only came accross Treebore's post earlier this evening, but they look good and the price can't be beat ;) Perfect for some AD&D / OSRIC / fill in your old school system of choice here.
All that and at a glance I suspect they will render perfectly on the Kindle DX. I'll give that a try during the week and let the results be known.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Weekend Wrap-Up - The Next Weekend
Jets lost, but kept it honest for 3 quarters. Nice game from both teams.
Well, I'm still underwater with the Haiti Relief Donation package. I need to stop downloading, peeking and moving one to the next item. Pick one or two and just read the crap damnit! heh
Not part of the Haiti Relief package, but a damn sweet looking piece of work is Atomic Highway. I know the smaller and indie RPG companies have put out a plethora (nice word, eh?) of post Apocalypse RPG games, but this one has been a fun read so far. Hopefully I'll finish reading and get to reviewing.
I still have a digital stack of White Haired Man products that I need to dig thru and review. Next month's week of vacation cant come soon enough ;)
Well, I'm still underwater with the Haiti Relief Donation package. I need to stop downloading, peeking and moving one to the next item. Pick one or two and just read the crap damnit! heh
Not part of the Haiti Relief package, but a damn sweet looking piece of work is Atomic Highway. I know the smaller and indie RPG companies have put out a plethora (nice word, eh?) of post Apocalypse RPG games, but this one has been a fun read so far. Hopefully I'll finish reading and get to reviewing.
I still have a digital stack of White Haired Man products that I need to dig thru and review. Next month's week of vacation cant come soon enough ;)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
OneBookShelf Press Release re: Donations
(re-distributing with permission)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
In an effort to hurriedly engage publishers and fans in a charitable relief action for the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (following the earthquake that devastated the region), DriveThruRPG put together the single most amazing bundle of products ever seen in the RPG hobby's history. For a $20 donation, fans are given over $1500.00 in RPG books, music, and more.
It killed their servers within hours of going live.
As one fan put it, "I've never been happier to get an error message." The generosity has been utterly overwhelming, and the collective patience of the customer base has been greatly appreciated by the folks at DriveThruRPG.
"It is an embarrassment of riches of the highest order," said Sean Patrick Fannon, Marketing & Communications Manager. "We simply had no idea how huge this would get, and how quickly it would become a massive sensation throughout the gaming world. I've never been more proud of my community or my job."
In order to resolve the server issues, DriveThru employed a "coupon solution" that enabled customers to gain a code that would let them select each of the products in the original bundle for free download. With well over a hundred products, however, this became a tedious and frustrating process, and the customers rightfully complained.
As of now, a new coding has been employed, and now customers are getting all of the products that go with the bundles automatically added to their download lists. The folks at DriveThruRPG care immensely for their customers, wanting the experience to be as easy and enjoyable as possible. While the main focus is to get help to Haiti, DriveThru also wants to leave a positive and lasting impression on everyone who comes to the site.
As of this press release, DriveThruRPG has collected well over $56,000, which will be going to Doctors Without Borders for their efforts in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The "Gamers Help Haiti $20 Mega Bundle" will be available until January 31st. Other relief efforts may continue as needed.
For more information, contact Sean Patrick Fannon at sean@onebookshelf.com. Go to www.drivethrurpg.com to obtain the bundle and learn more about what DriveThruRPG is doing to help Haiti.
(at the moment I believe the amount raised is over $70k)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
In an effort to hurriedly engage publishers and fans in a charitable relief action for the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (following the earthquake that devastated the region), DriveThruRPG put together the single most amazing bundle of products ever seen in the RPG hobby's history. For a $20 donation, fans are given over $1500.00 in RPG books, music, and more.
It killed their servers within hours of going live.
As one fan put it, "I've never been happier to get an error message." The generosity has been utterly overwhelming, and the collective patience of the customer base has been greatly appreciated by the folks at DriveThruRPG.
"It is an embarrassment of riches of the highest order," said Sean Patrick Fannon, Marketing & Communications Manager. "We simply had no idea how huge this would get, and how quickly it would become a massive sensation throughout the gaming world. I've never been more proud of my community or my job."
In order to resolve the server issues, DriveThru employed a "coupon solution" that enabled customers to gain a code that would let them select each of the products in the original bundle for free download. With well over a hundred products, however, this became a tedious and frustrating process, and the customers rightfully complained.
As of now, a new coding has been employed, and now customers are getting all of the products that go with the bundles automatically added to their download lists. The folks at DriveThruRPG care immensely for their customers, wanting the experience to be as easy and enjoyable as possible. While the main focus is to get help to Haiti, DriveThru also wants to leave a positive and lasting impression on everyone who comes to the site.
As of this press release, DriveThruRPG has collected well over $56,000, which will be going to Doctors Without Borders for their efforts in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The "Gamers Help Haiti $20 Mega Bundle" will be available until January 31st. Other relief efforts may continue as needed.
For more information, contact Sean Patrick Fannon at sean@onebookshelf.com. Go to www.drivethrurpg.com to obtain the bundle and learn more about what DriveThruRPG is doing to help Haiti.
(at the moment I believe the amount raised is over $70k)
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Gamers Helping Gamers
As we dig into our pockets to help those in Haiti we also have the opportunity to help a family closer to home. Our gaming home.
I can't imagine how much cancer treatment would cost here in the States without health insurance. Well, yes I can, as apparently it tops $100k in some cases. Or in the case or a particular gamer's wife.
I myself had Hodgkin's Disease (cancer lite as I like to call it) and it kept me out of work for 11 months between chemo and rads. My bills? Some basic co-pays. My job even paid me my full salary the 11 months I was out.
I was lucky. We, as a gaming community, need to be able to help those of us in need. We've raised money for ENWorld, raised money for the Staff of ENWorld, sending over $35k and counting via RPGNow to help those in Haiti... here's our chance to help one of ours.
No donation is to small.
Heck, you even get a PDF copy of The Microlite74 2.0 Special Edition, a 60-page PDF designed to be printed in booklet format from Adobe Acrobat.
Old School gaming and the gift of giving. Nice combination.
I can't imagine how much cancer treatment would cost here in the States without health insurance. Well, yes I can, as apparently it tops $100k in some cases. Or in the case or a particular gamer's wife.
I myself had Hodgkin's Disease (cancer lite as I like to call it) and it kept me out of work for 11 months between chemo and rads. My bills? Some basic co-pays. My job even paid me my full salary the 11 months I was out.
I was lucky. We, as a gaming community, need to be able to help those of us in need. We've raised money for ENWorld, raised money for the Staff of ENWorld, sending over $35k and counting via RPGNow to help those in Haiti... here's our chance to help one of ours.
No donation is to small.
Heck, you even get a PDF copy of The Microlite74 2.0 Special Edition, a 60-page PDF designed to be printed in booklet format from Adobe Acrobat.
Old School gaming and the gift of giving. Nice combination.
Listing of RPGNow Bundle
Damn this list is long. I'll highlite my favorites :)
(heck, Three Sixteen has been on myRPGNow wishlist for montha)
(heck, Three Sixteen has been on myRPGNow wishlist for montha)
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Blogs of Inspiration & Erudition
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Friday Fantasy: The Serpent in the Henhouse - *The Serpent in the Henhouse* is a scenario for Shadow of the Weird Wizard, the roleplaying game from Schwalb Entertainment set on the world of Erth in t...9 hours ago
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Tales of Jackson, IL: The Return of All Hallows Eve - I rather love the idea of shared universes. Different people getting together to share a story, adventure, or even characters for a larger tale. It is o...12 hours ago
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Stargrave: Hope Eternal mission 4.5 The Rescue - Having lost 6 villagers from the slaver's raid, the crew decides to attempt to rescue them before the slaver ship arrives and ships them off planet. Foll...13 hours ago
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OSR Redo & Recon Converting Adapting EX2: The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror to Adventurer Conqueror King System II (ACKS II) - Adapting EX2: The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror to Adventurer Conqueror King System II (ACKS II) works remarkably well because ACKS II is built to support ...21 hours ago
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V1 Flying Bomb - Not a lot of use on the wargaming table, but that's no reason not to have one. This is a teensy 1:144 scale V1 flying bomb, from Decapod on Thingiverse...1 day ago
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I Dunno, Mike; Or, the Nerd Superiority Complex - You may have heard that M. John Harrison, author of the *Viriconium* books among others, has recently won the Booker Prize (the UK's premier general 'pos...1 day ago
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Intergalactic Bastionland Art Reveal Trailer - *Intergalactic Bastionland *now has an art reveal trailer, showing the fantastic artwork by... well, go watch the trailer! This also reveals the Kickstar...2 days ago
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Skumwad Village For Goat Quest - This is a simple village ive used in 4 con games. It was made on the fly as a doodle and used multiple times. This village has regular threats from chaos...4 days ago
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The Cosmic Horror That Is Stardust - Thank you to my friend Josh B of Bernie the Flumph for sharing this. I love Stardust the Super Wizard, but he's such and odd character. That could be why t...5 days ago
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Doors (B/X + Old School minimalist) - Another brief pause in our series, because I think this deserves a post of its own. Moldvay's rules about doors are so terse that they are almost cryptic...6 days ago
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Against the Starmaster news - *Against the Darkmaster* (VsD) is one of my favourite role-playing games of the 21st Century (matched only by *Mythras*). I’m currently running a long-term...6 days ago
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Minute Might: A Wargame Review... - Roleplaying has wargaming blood. This goes without saying. It doesn't tell the whole story given Wesely's non-wargaming contributions to the hobby, but B...1 week ago
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Fletchwind Kickstarter - My friend Hilander is publishing a zine. It is called Fletchwind. It is a city supplement for Cairn. You can click the link to read more about the cont...2 weeks ago
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[SUPPLEMENT] Gamemaster’s Guidelines Beyond Fomalhaut (NOW AVAILABLE!) - *A Tome of Mastery“Heavy is the head that wears the crown! In role-playing games, the position of the gamemaster carries the most responsibility, as it is...4 weeks ago
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Money in Mutants & Wizards - Money and wealth is always an issue in Post-apoc gaming. Mutants & Wizards uses precious metals with the expectation of bartering occurring where that's ...5 weeks ago
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Geeky SKAturday: The Family Business Ltd. - Life is wild. Sometimes I'll have a stretch of time where I feel like I'm truly in a groove accomplishing the things I was presumably put upon this planet...5 weeks ago
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Why is the Ogre there? - Joe's post on the Quantum Ogre raises an old question about sandbox play: when does moving an encounter around interfere with players' freedom to decide...1 month ago
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Dragonne #2 now available - The second issue of Dragonne is now available! BRW Games’ occasional journal of old-school gaming is back with two new features; To subscribe for free, and...1 month ago
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Murder mystery - The local adventurers guild named "fernleaf and associates" is basically a sleuthing agency. The patron is an older elf named Flynn fernleaf. He pays wel...3 months ago
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The Common Store of Monsters - I am slowly grinding my way through the re-writes for Veins of the Earth. As part of the re-write I have re-organised the ‘Pariahs of the Earth’ monsters ...3 months ago
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The Old School (Hyperborean) Renaissance - Are these poorly-masked adventure hooks? Yes, yes they are. For the last century a peculiar fever has gripped the learned societies of Marlinko, Kezmaro...4 months ago
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Micro-Adventure - #114 RATS! - Dungeon tropes are a thing to embrace, not to dismiss. It's simple to handwave the storm the orc infested tower to save the princess, evil wizard in a t...5 months ago
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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 →6 months ago
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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...6 months ago
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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...7 months ago
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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...7 months ago
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Mapping the pre D&D Dungeon Adventure From May 25 1972, Part 1 - Earlier (Here) we looked at the oldest dungeon dive preserved in Arneson's write up as found in *Blackmoor Foundations*. Turning now to the second dunge...9 months ago
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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...10 months ago
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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*, ...1 year ago
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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...1 year ago
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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...1 year ago
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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 ...1 year ago
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Lexicon of Klarkash-Ton, Hierophant of Atlantis: Lupanar - This time, we follow the good High Priest to the far future, to the final continent of Earth, Zothique, for a a tale of ennui and love: Morthylla. Witho...1 year ago
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Writing playlists for all occasions - 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...1 year ago
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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...1 year ago
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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...1 year ago
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*'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...2 years ago
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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...2 years ago
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Osamu Tezuka (1928 - 1989) - [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970]Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970 [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover Illustration 1970]Shonen Maga...4 years ago
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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 ...4 years ago
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The Worm Ouroboros - The Worm Ouroboros is a proto-fantasy (the in the genre sense) novel by E. R. Eddison, originally published in 1922. It is an amalgam of mythological tradi...5 years ago
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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...6 years ago
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The Hero’s Journey 2nd Edition, Campbellian roleplaying at its best! - (this review done using the reviewers own purchased copy) I have been a James Michael Spahn fan since he wrote his Swords & Wizardry Companion. His writing...6 years ago
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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...6 years ago
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OCHRE SAND - Init +0 Ranged Atk • fire burst +3 (1d14+1, 20') AC 17 HD 3d6 MV 60 Act 1d24 SP 'breath' weapon, sideslip, perfect silence, morphing Fort +5 Ref +8 Will...6 years ago
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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...6 years ago
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The Faithful - An Optional Archetype for Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells Revised Edition - Work on the revised edition of Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells is moving along. This will be a hefty tome, with a LOT of tools and new options to customiz...7 years ago
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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...7 years ago
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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...7 years ago
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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...7 years ago
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The Withered Crag available now - 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...7 years ago
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Annihilation Rising Goes live - 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! ...7 years ago
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James's Celebration of Life - 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...7 years ago
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Trap Tuesday: A step back - 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 ...7 years ago
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Let's Talk About Pacing! - 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...7 years ago
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Profane and Profound Prep Part 2 - 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...7 years ago
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MIDDLE DUNGEONS LEVEL FIVE 158 STAIRS. - 158 STAIRS. These stairs descend thirty feet to Area 79 on Level 6.7 years ago
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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...7 years ago
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New website! - 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...7 years ago
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Please Update Your Link! - 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...8 years ago
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Total Sales for WB:FMAG - 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*...8 years ago
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How can We Destroy this Campaign World? - 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...8 years ago
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Mord Mar - Session 5 - We had another successful delve into the dungeon yesterday. The delvers: Moira, the Magic-User Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?) Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf ...8 years ago
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Yodeling For Yokels or The Further Misa(d&)dventures - This is the one of those posts that points out the lack of current posts. Over the last week or three, there has been postponed Labyrinth Lord (twice, one...8 years ago
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Bundle of Fantasy Age - 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...8 years ago
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New Free PDF Module: The Hyqueous Vaults - 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...8 years ago
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Session XCIII: One Pissed Off Dragon! - Our ongoing Swords and Wizardry sandbox campaign... *Current Player Characters:* *Thenus* (Ranger) *Wang Du* (Monk) *Wolfheir* (Viking) *Arg* (Half-orc) ...9 years ago
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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 ...9 years ago
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