Free Game of the Week - Ambition & Avarice (OSR Style)

Hey, I can finally freely talk about Ambition and Avarice ;)  See, I game with the game designer of A&A, and he's bounced bits and pieces off me for a few weeks now, and I've played in two play test sessions so far. What can I say about it? Simply that I want to come back for more.

It has the comfort of being the game you know, with the twist that it isn't quite the game you know. Hit Dice size is based on race, not class (except Rangers get to step the die size up by one). The spell list is NOT the one you are sued to from nearly 40 years of D&D playing, but the magic is still pretty much Vancian in nature. The spells themselves? Mostly pure gold. Well, at lest the first level spells that are included. This is the free beta release and there is surely more to come.

I like the idea that everyone can be "thiefly" in nature, but some are just better at it than others. Non-casters (mundanes) get the addition of character points, which can be used to increase HP beyond the rolled HP total, to make one better at dungeon skills or saving throws and even the chance to hit. Customization is a sweet thing. Casters get to customize via their spells, but much like LotFP's Weird Fantasy, they won't be getting better in combat or skills or even saves. Interesting way to work out a balance between the meat shields and their magic casting buddies.

I've played in two sessions thus far - and I have a 2nd level Dwarven Priest and a Hobgoblin Knight. Yep, the humanoids and demi-humans get to mix ;)

There's a crapload more to Ambition & Avarice  than what I just discussed above, but I'll address that in a follow up post.

BTW, the PDF is formatted for Tablets / onscreen reading and has basic bookmarks, so it's prefect for reading on your iPad or Google Nexus ;)

What Defines a "MegaDungeon"?

Found on Gnome Stew ;)

Just like the OSR doesn't have a "one and only" definition, it appears defining what constitutes a "MegaDungeon" is, if not nebulous, certainly open to interpretation.

Is there a minimum size?

Can it be too large?

Does it need to be "sandbox-like" in nature?

Does it need to support a wide range of character levels?

Does it need blank rooms for GM customization?

Does it need diverse environments?

Does it need a theme?

Do different sections need their own themes?

Whimsy - yes or no?

What defines "MegaDungeon" for you?

Temple of Elemental Evil - Still the Best MegaDungeon Around?

If I had a problem with most of TSR's earlier adventures, it's that they were tournament modules poorly converted for campaign play. I of course did not fully understand the problem at the time, in large part because the only commercial adventures I had were from TSR.

Then T1-4 was published (which I found to be strange numbering, as I had only previously seen T1 - The Village of Homlet).

The Temple of Elemental Evil changed my gaming style for a long time. Simply because it was pretty awesome.

TOEE had a village for the players to base themselves in. It had a dungeon that they could spend months adventuring in. They had to deal different factions within the temple - they could align with one faction against another, before breaking the alliance (or having it broken on them). The stand alone map booklet was many layers of awesome. For all intents and purposes, it was a stand alone campaign with a suitably climatic ending with purpose and value.

I ran it at least 3 times to conclusion.

I haven't found a megadungeon to match it - yet.

Stonehell does what it does well and Barrowmaze is currently giving my ACKS party a damn fine change from the sandbox above, but have I missed the next iteration of ToEE?

Heck, how about a list of OSR / Old School MegaDungeons?

Kickstarters That Make Me Go "Hmmm" - Numenera: A New RPG from Monte Cook

Not all Kickstarters have issues or problems. Some offer so much value, you find it impossible to say no as more and more stretch goals are hit, and more and more value is added for the same price. So it was for the Reapers Minis, and so it is with Numenera: A new roleplaying game from Monte Cook.

Now, let me just ground everyone for a minute. Monte was part of James Raggi's LotFP Weird Fantasy Adventures insane July Indiegogo Campaign. Monte's project never funded. Hell, the vast majority of that multipart campaign failed to fund, but there was an expectation that Monte's name would bring in crossover fans and it would be a win win. Never happened.

Something else - like I mentioned the other day, I predicted that Monte's "Next Big Thing" would be a Kickstarter project after he left his contract position on WotC's D&D Next Project. Lo and behold, I was right.

I held off on supporting the Numenera Kickstarter, as I had just emptied my pockets supporting just about every Old School styled / DCC RPG Kickstarter I could find. But the damn thing kept on hitting stretch goals, and finally last night I pulled the trigger. God help me ;)

I went if for the Real Deal at $60. This is what's included thanks to all the stretches that have been hit:


THE REAL DEAL $60 Level (+$10 shipping outside North America)
App (Android, iOS, or PC)
Name in the back of the corebook
Player's Guide PDF
Numenera corebook PDF
The Devil's Spine 32-page adventure PDF
The Mechanized Tomb 32-page adventure PDF
The Other Side of the Maelstrom 32-page adventure PDF
The Ninth World Bestiary 160-page PDF
Sir Arthur's Compendium 160-page PDF
Numenera 3D Paper Fold-Up Terrain PDF
GM's Screen PDF
Cypher, Creature, and XP Deck PDFs
Numenera corebook in print
Ninth World Guidebook PDF

So, core book in print and a campaign worth of material in PDF. I can get into that.

19 hours left as I type this in the Kickstarter.

Free Adventure For Blood & Magic - The Tumbled Towers

If you're like me, you've taken an interest in John Slater's Blood & Treasure RPG. John's put out an introductory adventure for B&T, The Tumbled Towers. It's available for free in PDF, or you can grab it in print from Lulu.

It's a nice little adventure to kick off a campaign. Random outdoor encounters, random dungeon encounters and some potential role play encounters in addition to the usual dungeon adversaries. It's definitely old school in nature - where else would you find Shriekers and Violet Fungi? ;)  If you steal nothing else, grab the blue tone (classic TSR) dungeon map. It's very well done.

If you want to can a peek at Blood & Treasure without dropping your hard earned cash, look at the pre-gen characters in the back of the adventure. There are 12 and a blank character sheet.

Personally, I'd give maximum HP at 1st level, as these appear to be given average HP (except for the Bard, who has the Toughness feat to help balance out his -1 from his Con of 7).

In any case, the price is right and with little work this could be used in any other OSR style game.

Tenkar's Minor Magical Tidbits - Falagier's Bow - Friend or Foe

Falagier's Bow - Falagier's Bow is a military composite long bow. It imparts neither a bonus to hit not a bonus to damage, however, if the wielder has a Strength Bonus to Damage, he may add that to the bow's damage upon a successful hit.

The true magic of Falagier's Bow, also known as "Friend or Foe", becomes obvious when it is used to fire into melee combat - it will never strike a "friend" or someone on the wielder's side in combat. It will  strike a foe or no one.

Falagier  himself was a mercenary sniper, and a highly effective one at that. He used his bow to wreck havoc upon many an adversaries' troops, until finally succumbing to an assassin's blade (he still helped strike down nearly a dozen enemy troops in his last encounter prior to being permanently removed from  his occupation). Upon death, his bow was saved as a trophy by his assassin before being lost generations later.

Kickstarters That Make Me Go "HUH?" - Dark Realms RPG 1 Million Book Give-Away

I've stumbled across a handful of Kickstarters over the last year that have left me scratching my head. Some were poorly done, some poorly presented, some made no sense, some aimed to high - but they all made me look closer to try and figure out what the real faults were. This will, I suspect, become a fairly (ir)regular feature at the Tavern.

This time I'm going to take a look at Dark Realms RPG 1 Million Book Give-Away. Right away you can tell it's ambitious. Match that to the $45,000 goal for a company's initial Kickstarter, let alone in the RPG niche, and it raises some questions.

They answer the first question pretty well - how the hell are they going to give away a million of anything with $45k dollars? They aren't - they are aiming at 250K in the first round of funding, and publishing the free RPGs on newspaper quality paper. Interesting.

The second question is an obvious one too - what the heck is Dark Realms, and why should it be able to gain $45k in pledges and 250k RPGs distributed. This there is no easy answer. Apparently Guild of Blades (the publisher) has been around since 1994, I've just never heard of anything they've put out, let alone the game they are trying to raise $45k for.

How is the game? You can grab the PDF for free, but the link on the Kickstarter page is far from helpful, as it send you to their web store to buy it in print (direct link to download Dark realms here). Yeah, I know that's not an answer - so maybe this will help:

As a function of the Dark Realms game system, each core attribute a character has is also assigned an “Adjustment Value”. The Adjustment Value is used to determine certain combat and mental capabilities as well as potential bonuses the character might receive. They “adjust” a good number of features about the character. 

The adjustment value will be determined by the current rating of the Core Attribute and is found by referencing the following table (See Below). Attribute Adjustments typically apply in one of two ways (though they can apply in others). The first is that the Attribute Adjustment rating is a direct bonus to or the starting foundation to some other game number. For instance, a character’s Strength Adjustment is a bonus to a player’s “Attack Level”. The second is that the Attribute Adjustment is a random chance on a D6 for a bonus of some sort. For instance, whenever you spend Experience Points to buy a Hit Point to add to the character’s maximum Hit Points, the character’s Health Adjustment is a chance on 1D6 to get a second Hit Point added to their maximum for free. So yes, an Attribute Adjustment of 6 would thusly be an automatic bonus Hit Point. If a character’s Adjustment for the Attribute is higher than a 6, then they get the automatic point, and each point above 6 becomes a chance for a second bonus point. So a character with a Health of 20 would have a Health Adjustment of +7, so when the character would spend Experience to buy a new Hit Point, they would automatically get a 2nd Hit Point for free, then also have a 2 in 6 chance of getting a 3rd Hit point for free.

I hope you followed that. It left me with some more head scratching.

Why would I want to put a million copies of this game out there? I guess because it uses a singe D6 and has a simple resolution system. That's about the only simple part. Here's the rules on dual wielding:

Multi-Weapon Use Penalties:

Typically this is something few people can do and even few
people can do well; but there is nothing stopping one from
trying, even if it is often unwise. Without the Ambidexterity
skill, the following penalties apply when wielding more than
one weapon:

1) Both weapons being used must be single handed weapons.

2) The larger of the two weapons will be considered to be
held by the character’s dominant hand and be the “primary”
weapon. The other weapon will be the secondary one.

3) The character gets a -1 to Dodging. This is in addition to any
Dodge penalties that would apply from each weapon.

4) The character is -3 to Initiative with the primary weapon
and -6 to Initiative with the secondary weapon. This is in
addition to any Initiative penalties that would apply from
each weapon.

5) The character is -2 Attack Level with the primary weapon
and -4 to Attack Level with the secondary weapon 

6) Yes, if they have 3 or more arms, there can be multiple
“Secondary Weapons”.

7) The character receives no Weapon Mastery bonus they
would otherwise recieve with both of the weapons being
used.

When a character has the Ambidexterity skill each point in this skill reduces one of the penalty points to each weapon otherwise given to Initiative and Attack Levels. Additionally, at Level 1 with Ambidexterity the character no longer receives the -1 Dodge penalty.

The character will still find it difficult to utilize their Weapon Masteries, but not impossible. With each weapon, the character will be able to use 1 level of their Weapon Mastery skill with that weapon for each level of Ambidexterity skill they have; Up to their maximum Weapon Mastery skill, of course.

This is not an introductory RPG that someone is going to pick up and run for their friends if they have no prior RPG experience despite what the publishers feel to be the case.

The publishers have a laudable, if unrealistic goal (it's been live for a few days, and currently has 4 backers for $138). This isn't the product that's going to make a $45k goal. $4.5k would be highly doubtful.  It is a curiosity none the less.

First Impressions - Drinking Quest: The Original Drinking RPG

The only rule you need to know - if your character dies, you needed to chug your drink to bring them back to life (on the second or later death in the same session, 3 swigs can substitute for the chug). Really, what more do you need to know?

Alright, the art for Drinking Quest 1 looks real ly good, the game looks fun and you could run the game NA (non-alcoholic) if you would like - won't change the game from being fun and funny.

You can run it with or without a DGM - Designated Game Master. If you ran it with a DGM, it should work via Hangouts with a little prep. I'll try and hook something up - I already have a few interested and I'm sure there might be a few others.

The rules are simple, but I really need to read all the cards - then I'll do a "pre-play" review. Still, at first look, i'm very impressed and excited.

Hey, I wonder if we can get the "chug rule" added to D&D Next as one of those "modules" ;)

If You Want to Kill the ENWorld Forums - Make it Difficult to Find on the Homepage (Screenshot Included)

Longtime visitors over at ENWorld should remember it was pretty easy to drop right into the forums. Now, not so much. Morrus complained that forums are being ised less by companies to get their info out and that forum communities are moving on. That very well may be the case, but it doesn't help when the link to the forums looks like every other link on the page. Heck, the forum link isn't even in the upper left corner, thats for some Online Generic Randomizer Engine.

Think about it - you complain that forums are falling to the wayside, and you don't even highlight your own forums. Larger font, different colors, prime location - why bother, right?

If you can't get folks that land on your home page into your forums, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Bring Out Your Dead! Ere Now - Is ENWorld Dead?

Last night on Twitter, Morrus, the main man behind ENWorld, was involved in multiple discussions regarding the "obsolescence" of forums as news sites or hubs.

He puts the blame squarely on:

Facebook- did i mention I personally hate Facebook?

Youtube- because you know, it's so easy for the average person to produce a game related video that looks professional and uses celebrities

Company owned websites- how DARE companies have their own forums!

Celebrities- This means YOU Will Weaton!

Blogs- the bane of all existence, especially when those evil game making companies run one.

Apparently G+ is a pimple on the ass of the internet. He doesn't see it as a news distribution method or a threat to his business model.

Oh yeah, that's right - ENWorld is a business. It makes money off ads and subscriptions from it's numerous users (more like a donation). For the longest time it was one of the slowest sites to load on the internet. It seems to have gotten past that, but whether that is due to increased bandwidth or lower traffic numbers, I couldn't tell you.

I used to go to ENWorld fairly religiously before 4e hit the market - and the forums. It wasn't the edition wars that soured me, but it was the changing of ENWorld slowly to something with more flash and obviously more of a commercial appeal. Heck, even finding the forums these days can be a chore.

The more the site changed, the slower the traffic / postings seem to be. There's been less and less of anything I wanted to add my thoughts to, let alone read.

Damn shame.

Morrus wanted to know where online "communities" were going to go if forums withered and died? The answer is simple enough - Facebook, G+ and blogs (which already form a loose community). It might not pay anyone a salary, but the communities are going to go where their interests are served best.

One good thing did come from last night's twitter threads - I realized I was still paying $14.99 every 4 months as a Silver Supporter of ENWorld - a site I visit 2 or 3 times a month. The community has been leaving ENWorld for a while - the posters whose threads I would search out have moved on. So I canceled my supporter account.

I'm sure I can find a way to spend those $45 a year that will better support my gaming habit.

Friday Night Movie Tavern - Conan the Barbarian

When the wife was away for the evening taking a stained glass art class, your tavern keeper decided to stream Conan the Barbarian via Netflix. You know the one - the 2011 Blockbuster hit. Huh, it wasn't a blockbuster? Shit!

Alright, first things first - I'm not all that up on my Conan fiction, so I'm not married to the canon. I can't sit here and say "this shit never happened in a Howard story!" because truth be told, most of my experience with Conan was the Marvel comics series' (oh, and Conan the King - I really enjoyed that one).

What all this means is that I got to watch Conan the Barbarian as a fantasy movie first and a Conan movie second. As a fantasy movie? One of the better ones to come out in recent years. As a Conan move? Call me a heretic, but it was better than the Arnie version from my youth. I really enjoyed it. My wife wouldn't have, but she fell asleep 15 minutes into The Fellowship of the Ring ;)

If there is one thing I need to yoke it's the sand warriors. That fight scene was many layers of awesome and I'd love to put my layers through something similar, at least opponent-wise. Maybe I'll write them up in the next few days OSR compatible...

A Response to My Post About the D&D Documentary - From Andrew Pascal, Producer - Dungeons & Dragons: A Documentary

This was added as a comment to the original D&D Documentary post, but as it will probably get very few views there, I'm reposting it as it's own post. It goes a long way to addressing questions  and issues raised on this blog and elsewhere.  As I post this the Dungeons & Dragons Kickstarter has 53 hours to go.

Hi All -

I'd love to weigh in on some of your concerns and be given the opportunity to explain ourselves on this forum. 

My producing partners and I have been working for over a year now on the footage we've acquired. We've paid for everything out of pocket and had come to the point this past April when we realized, taking into account the scope of the story we needed to tell, that we simply could not afford to do it ourselves. What's more, the story is so compelling that our initial budget simply would not suffice in order to tell it appropriately and with the due respect it deserves. 

So we decided on a KS campaign. And we also decided to launch at GenCon 2012. What we imagined to be the simple process of mounting a KS campaign, was without question, one of the hardest things we've ever had to do. It was something we completely under estimated. Plus with the added deadline of GenCon, things became very interesting for us, very fast. We've never done anything like this before, we're film-makers not fund raisers. So yes, we made a lot of mistakes.

That being said, we managed to hobble together the clips we wanted to show at GenCon, a trailer for KS and a few interesting rewards to offer. And we launched, hoping, truly beyond hope that what we had to show would be enough to get us the funds we needed to meet the KS goal. We begged and pleaded the many connections that we made to help spread the word. Many in the industry championed our project and to them we owe an eternity of gratitude.

The fault in explaining our goals and stretch rewards was purely mine. Our intention was never to obfuscate what we have set out to do, which is to make a kick-ass documentary on a game we love. And we have addressed any and all who had their concerns about what it is exactly their funding. Simply put, the KS allows us to finish filming the way that we have been filming with the added exception of some help (and a good sound mixer). It also allows us to finish the film in a much shorter period of time instead of waiting for our own bank accounts to be replenished with our day jobs. Documentaries of this caliber cost lots more money than what we are asking for (an average Michael Moore documentary is in the neighborhood of $5-7 Million). We've managed to creatively cut costs wherever we can and use the resources we have to come up with a budget that is a tenth of what bigger documentaries cost to make, but without sacrificing the "look" and "feel".

Someone mentioned "Clerks" as perhaps a model to follow in terms of getting a labor of love made with maxed out credit cards and loans...that may be well and good for a movie like "Clerks". But when you're looking at $100 a second for archival footage, things get very expensive very quickly. And this is nothing but a labor of love for us.

Beyond the money we get from KS, we still have to raise even more. And we will go to investors for that. What the KS is going to help with is easing the concerns of our investors in terms of getting their money back. We can show them that the anticipation for the film is already in place. 

Our goal has always been to make a great documentary about a game we love and guys (Gary, Dave, et al) we admire and do it well. Unfortunately all of that costs money. Money we just don't have.

I hope this helps to explain our position a little bit. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to reach out. Our email is DungeonsDoc@gmail.com

Thanks for your time and thanks for listening.

Andrew Pascal

Producer

Dungeon & Dragons: A Documentary

The deal for the companion book has been put together with Chris Pramas of Green Ronin and author James Lowder. Everything is in place, except for actual funds. Our stretch goal, which as you mentioned, we have no way in hell meeting, would have paid for the printing of and shipping to our backers. The rest of the money would have been spent on the proper marketing of the film.

Mini Review - Crawl! #4 - The Tainted Forest Near Thorum

Crawl! for those that don't know, is a print only fanzine for the DCC RPG. Issue #4 of Crawl! is even more special then the previous 3, as it's actually an adventure. Yep, for $3.50, you get an in print DCC RPG adventure with detachable cover and artwork by Scott Ackerman. You don't know who Scott Ackerman is? Look at my blog header above to see some of the amazing work he does. Yep, him. Art AND cartography for The Tainted Forest Near Thorum.

Lets see - Ackerman cover, Ackerman town map on the inside of the detachable cover, Ackerman art on the first page of the booklet (I could swear that Tenkar the dwarf is depicted in the art there) and more Ackerman art for the dungeon map. Damn good stuff.

Yes, the US Postal Service
Got It Wet

As for the adventure itself - it's a 5th level adventure with both outdoor and indoor locations, so there should be ample opportunities for role playing and head bashing. When it comes down to it, that's what RPGs are all about ;)

It should be a fun one to run and play, assuming I ever get a party up to level 5 in the DCC RPG. One word of caution - there is a fairly powerful weapon that the party will probably acquire - because as we know, players would rather kill than talk. Depending on the type of campaign you are running, you might want to tone down some of it's power. You'll know it when you see it.

For $3.50 Crawl! #4, heck, any of the issues of Crawl!, is a bargain. Do yourself a favor and pick it up. Tell Dak "Tenkar sent ya ;)"

From the blurb:


The 4th issue of Crawl! is an adventure module by Yves Larochelle and art by Scott Ackerman. It features:

A complete adventure for 4 to 8 5th-level characters!

A detailed village full of interesting locals but with a hidden secret!

A nearby forest full of unique beasts including a dragon!

A deadly dungeon with a sinister evil!

Plus new magic items and more!

This adventure can be played in its entirety, or bits and pieces can be used on their own, including a random forest encounter table.

I'm "This Close" to Announcing the Completion of my First Project

Thank the Gods it's Nearly Done

Alright, I just finished the bulk of the project I've been working on over the last two weeks or so. I still have to tighten stuff up and work on some "fluff", but the meat and potatoes are done.

I'm really not used to writing stuff that isn't for the blog directly, let alone working on a project by terms that resemble a schedule. It almost would seem like work, except for the fact that most of it has written itself. If I had to force this stuff it wouldn't be suitable for even orcish consumption.

Once I dot the "I's" and cross the "T's" on this project I'll talk more about it in detail (as it will then be in the hands of someone that can turn it into something worth publishing - oh, and an artist too. Sweet!) Then I go back to working on a yet earlier project, one that's been slowly coming together but needs a decent push on my end.

I'm slowly transforming myself into one of those "creative types".

Scary, ain't it? ;)

The Poll Results are in - Labyrinth Lord Wins by a Late Surge (Blood & Treasure a Solid Second)

Yep, the Poll is now closed, and the results are in.

Election results were verified by the same fine folks that verify elections in most 3rd world countries. Was there some ballot box stuffing? Based on the late Labyrinth Lord surge, it's certainly possible, but it's nice to see folks looking forward to playing their favorite game.






Final tally for the top five:

Labyrinth Lord with 111 votes

Blood & Treasure with 94 votes

Swords & Wizardry Complete with 68 votes

Castles & Crusades with 50 votes

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea with 50 votes

What this all means is that I'll be running a session or two of Labyrinth Lord for readers of the Tavern in early October. I'll work out the details and obviously post it here to recruit players. Aiming for a one shot, but if enough want to play I'll run it twice for two separate groups.

In addition to LL, I'll also run a session or two of Blood & Treasure at the end of October or early November. The two were neck and neck for most of the week, with either one in first place depending on when you peeked at the numbers.

Congrats to all the games - they all got votes and they are all winners :)

8 Hours Left in the OSR Poll

There's about 8 hours left in the poll in which you tell me which OSR game i should run for patrons of the Tavern in the month of October.

At the rate the poll is going, and the tight race at the top, I may have to run a session each for the top 2 vote getters. That will depend entirely on my ability to free up time next month, but I'm already working on it.

So, if you haven't yet voted - tick... tick... tick... ;)

D&D Documentary Kickstarter - Why I'm Not Kicking

Gareth Skarka had a very good point abou the D&D Documentary on G+ earlier this week - their funding and stretch goals raise some flags.

Before I get to the nitty gritty, I'll admit to being extremely interested in this documentary. This is my hobby, the root of my hobby, my High School and College preoccupation. In many ways, it changed the world of games as we know it, because without D&D, there is no PRPG hobby, no CRPGs, no MMORPGs - no gaming as we know it and enjoy it. So yes, I'm emotionally invested in the D&D Documentary I'm just not monetarily investing myself in it.

Why?

Let me quote some stuff from their kickstart page (oh, and please go to the kickstarter page for some really great clips from the documentary -  as I said, it's damn interesting stuff).

Making a movie isn't cheap, but we've managed to cobble together some figures that might help explain what we need and why need it.

If we get our goal of $150,000, we get to shoot the film. This is the minimum we need for actual production, crew, equipment, flights and lodging. (Grumpy the Dwarf here - as of the posting of this blog post, they are just over 2K away from goal - they will fund - yippee!)

If we get $250,000, we get to edit, add music, mix the sound, add some graphics and do the Mastering. (wait a fucking minute! if they fund, they dont have the money to edit this fucker unless they hit a stretch goal?!? So, they get to film it, but they will never finish it unless it funds at $250k?) We get to pay for the archive footage, which, we are learning, is expensive. This pays for all the finishing costs. The $250K level brings everyone to the first of our FIRST STRETCH GOAL, a beta version of our smartphone app: GAMER FINDER. Find gamers around you using your smartphone's geo-tagging features. Now, if you want to play a game and your friends are too busy, just use your app to find gamers near you. (uhm, that app is called G+)

At the $500,000 level (which there is now way in heaven or hell they are going to reach), we get to market the film. Yes, marketing is expensive. Even the extra $250K is never enough. (trust me, if they complete this and somehow miraculously find the funds to edit it, they are going to find a way to market it) This helps us send it out to film festivals (Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, to name a few) and eventually, cross our fingers, sell the film to a distributor so they can get it to theaters.

The $500K level brings everyone to our SECOND STRETCH GOAL (and this one, we are very excited about). Everyone who donated $100 or more will automatically receive the Dungeons & Dragons: A Documentary Companion Book. This beautifully bound, illustrated book, published by Green Ronin and edited by James Lowder (all this means is the book is a done deal and will be available separately - wait, if the book is a done deal, the documentary must also be a done deal - I mean, they have a publisher and an editor already) will chronicle the creation of the documentary and will include essays from interviewees and other special guest contributors. Those who payed less than the $100, will be given the opportunity to increase their pledge to the $100 (or more) level and we will send the book along with your other rewards.

Alright, let me understand this. The documentary appears to be mostly filmed already (at least the interviews). So, is the basic goal there for the filmmakers to recoup their current out of pocket expenses?

If the first stretch goal isn't hit, will there be nothing more to this than the clips already on the kickstarter site?


I hate to be like this, because I really like the idea behind the documentary and the clips look damn interesting, but I can no longer treat kickstarter as a black hole to toss money into and hope for the best.

Mini Review - DCC 72 - Beyond the Black Gate

If you've read this blog previously, you'll know how much I really enjoy Goodman Games' DCC line of adventures. The art is always awesome and the maps themselves are works of art. Have Harley Stroh write the adventure and it will probably be love at first sight.

Spoiler Alert! There will be spoilers in the review below! Fair Warning!

Case in point - Beyond the Black Gate. Harley pulls off the start of the adventure in a manner I usually avoid - with a shipwreck. This means, of course, you need to get your part on a boat going somewhere - somewhere they won't actually get to. Harley's writing skill pulls it off, or at least makes the whole situation exciting enough that I'll jump through hoops to get my party there.

There are some very nice roleplaying encounters dispersed throughout the adventure. Each of these encounters have motivations and twists that will be a blast to run as a GM. The players may not appreciate all the twists as they happen, but they'll enjoy the ride none the less. Mendax - even if I never get a chance to run Beyond the Black Gate, this character will be making an appearance - somewhere, somehow.

The story behind the adventure and the ways it may play out are extremely well put together, and the climax isn't the end. PCs may win the day and die in the evening if they aren't careful, but such is the way of the DCC RPG.

Included is a new patron - The Horned King, along with accompanying Patron Taint and Patron spell. You get a lot for what you spend with this adventure.

End Spolier Alert!

As for the maps (one of my favorite things about the DCC RPG Adventures) you get three full page adventures. I'm going to throw out a suggestion ere, but with a lot of RPG playing / sessions being run online, a VTT / G+ Hangout Player's version of the maps without the room numbers would be nice. The shame of all the DCC Adventures is that only the GM gets to see them. Player's maps w/o the locations labeled would be an awesome addition to an adventure like this.

From the blurb:

Summoned by a coven of foul witches, the adventurers are bid through the Black Gate and across the multiverse, in pursuit of the crown of the fallen Horned King. There, in the icebound gloom of Thrice-Tenth Kingdom, they must pit their wits and brawn against his dread servants. His sullen citadel looms above the darksome woods and elfin ice caves, ruling over the mystic kingdom. Do you dare to ascend the throne of bones and declare yourself master of the Wild Hunt? Whatever your answer, the land beyond the Black Gate is sure to present a grim challenge for the even the hardiest of adventurers!

The Old School RPG Poll at the Tavern is in a Dead Heat - Just Over 24 hrs to Go

At any given moment, Labyrinth Lord and Blood & Treasure are either tied for 1st in the poll, or extremely close 1st and 2nd place.

Help decide which rule system I'll use in October for readers of this blog - you have just over 24 hours to do so.

Want to pad the vote? Add a comment on this post about which system you would like to see run and I'll add it to the final tally.

Fear - Why It Is Difficult to Replicate in an RPG (and a method on how to do so)?

Fear - the final frontier of RPGs. Often attempted, rarely replicated except as game mechanics, which is pretty much a failure if you ask me.

Why does fear fail so often in RPGs?

Well, you have to be invested in the character - no investment, no return of fear. Movies draw you into the character (and add mood music and such) to draw you into the fear. Sure, the PC is yours, but until you've played him / her for a few sessions, you probably aren't as invested in it for real fear of loss to occur. Fear of loss is about the only kind of fear that works in an RPG.

RPGs tend to go for the immediate threat. Immediate threats result in fight or flight. Most situational conditioning in RPGs is to fight in these situations, even against overwhelming odds. From my own personal experience with 9-11 - when you don't have time to think, you do what you are conditioned to do. Without time to contemplate what I was fairly sure was my impending death, my training kicked in and I went into rescue mode. Believe me when I say I'm very invested in my own life, much more so than any player is in their character. Players will tend to react as they are conditioned - to stand and face the immediate threat despite overwhelming odds. I'm not saying they might not run, especially as parts of the party start dropping like flies, but that won't be the first instinct.

If you want to invest your players into their characters, if you want the stink of fear to permeate the gaming table, you have to make the object of fear a long term fear. If players are conditioned to handle immediate fears, they are rarely able to shuffle aside the long terms ones. From my own personal experience, my diagnosis of cancer a few years back (all gone now) caused me to curl up in a ball in the hallway to my kitchen and cry like a baby. Why? Because there was a distinct possibility (not a probability, but a possibility - less possibility than on 9-11 i would think) that I wouldn't make it past 12 months. I was looking death in the eye and running scared. Long term fear. I'm not conditioned for that. Too many possibilities. Too much time to worry. Heck, worrying was a luxury I had plenty of time for.

You want to put fear into your players? Hit them with a long term, debilitating curse after they've become invested in their characters. Finding the cure will become their immediate, short term and long term goal. Success and failure will have meaning. Heck, even immediate threats may get a response similar to that of a long term threat - time to run away, so as to survive long enough to overcome the long term threat.

Successful fear in an RPG is a long term situation that you need to put your players in, and much more effective (and enjoyable) than the short term "Save vs Fear."