Free RPG PRODUCTS of the Week: TableTop Day Bundle

OneBookShelf is celebrating International TableTop Day by offering a Free Bundle of games.

Much of it is Quickstarts, which are freely available anyway, but it's nice getting them in one place. However, there are 4 full games for free in the bundle:

Little Fears Nightmare: 


The critically-acclaimed game of childhood terror is back in Little Fears Nightmare Edition!

Monsters are real and they hunt children like you from the shadows. As a child, you have your wits, your belief, and the friends by your side. No adults can help you. No one else can save you. It's just you and the monsters.

Scritch-scratch.

Scritch-scratch.

Shut the door and bolt the latch.

Completely reimagined, with an all-new system, Little Fears Nightmare Edition is the definitive version of the classic game.

You're not scared, are you?

Parsely #1: Action Castle:


> LOOK ACTION CASTLE

Parsely #1: Action Castle is the first in a new line of games called “Parsely Games.” Now you can “GO EAST” and “LIGHT LAMP” with the best of them. Canst thou master Action Castle before death claims thee? Parsely games are inspired by Ye Olde Text Parsers from days of yore, but substituting a live human for the computer parser. Parsely games are small, portable and fun for (almost) all occasions.

• Play them anywhere! On trips, in long lines, camping, at game cons…• Play them with anyone! Young or old, expert or total n00b• Play with a few friends or 100 random strangers at the same time

Scion: Hero

Find your DestinyThe savage Titans have escaped their eternal prison to wage war with the Gods once more.Their battles in the Overworld have spilled over to ours.Armed with abilities and weapons granted by their divine parents, the Scions stand as humanity’s only defense. This book includes: • Six ready–to–play Scions - the offspring of the Gods • Rules to create your own Scion from one of more than 50 gods from six different pantheons • The adventure, “The Long Road to Heaven,” using the Storytelling Adventure System Scion: Hero is the first book in a new Storytelling game series from White Wolf Publishing.

The Esoterrorists


You are elite investigators combating the plots of the Esoterrorists, a loose affiliation of occult terrorists intent on tearing the fabric of the world. The Esoterrorists introduces the GUMSHOE rules system, which revolutionizes investigative scenarios by ensuring that players are never deprived of the crucial clues they need to move the story forward.

With The Esoterrorists you can

Equip your characters with up to 39 fine-grained investigative abilities, ranging from Interrogation and Data Retrieval to the ever-popular Forensic Entomology and always useful Bullshit Detector. Round them out with 13 crucial adventure abilities, which help you fight, run away, and retain your mental stability when the horrors come knocking.

The King of Wayward Kickstarters - Axes & Anvils (is pretty much dead)

Latest update can be summarized as thus:

The money is gone, I spent more time running kickstarters and organizing cons than I did to actually write the games in question. I fucked up, but so do 40% of RPG kickstarters that never produce a product (a number puled out of his nether region). No worries tho, because I can still try the pyramid scheme to have a later project fund an earlier one - wait, that's what put me here in the first place...

Here it is in it's full glory:


Project Update #39: Update

Posted by Mike Nystul

So here's the thing. I screwed up. I started a game company and proceeded as though the cash flow and production speed would keep pace. They did not. I’ve tried to keep you informed and up-to-date, but most of all I’ve tried to deliver on expectations. So far, all you’ve seen are delays and broken promises. I take this situation very seriously.

The long and the short of it is that Cairn and Axes and Anvils have become troubled projects. We are out of money, due to some poor decisions on my part. People have asked for refunds I can't possibly give them.

Some 40% of RPG Kickstarters fail, their sponsors simply disappearing with the money (bull fucking shit Mike! 40% may be late, seriously late, but few totally fail after collecting cash - it may be that 40% fail to fund, but that's not the issue here). Good people don’t ever see the projects in which they put their faith, and they don’t receive refunds. That number haunts me. That will not happen here.

Cairn could use more work to make it what it should be. I was rushing to get it out and turned in some inferior work. I just wanted to get something out the door and into your hands. Axes and Anvils has suffered because I was thinking like someone running a company and has too much going on at once.

We have discussed ways in which to get something into your hands – maybe ashcans like the old D&D White Books. It’s not the finished project, but it lets you see what we’re doing and lets you start playing with it as soon as possible.

I believe in these games. I will move heaven and earth to get it out, and into your hands. Every promise made will be honored – every tankard and every last stitch on every last plush. This company and it's products will NOT be numbered among the 40%. I and everyone involved in the project are completely committed to that notion. All I can do is be completely honest with you, and ask you all to forgive my my stupidity and bear with me as I make it right.

I tried to salvage the company with my well intentioned, but poorly received, IndieGogo campaign. I see the point of the people who objected - I was not an effective custodian of your investment in the first place. Why invest more? An excellent point. All I can really say is my goal here has nothing at all to do with money.

Case in point - one of my bad decisions was DwarfCon. We didn't have the money or manpower to mount a first year Convention. Based on optimistic projections of where I thought we would be it seemed like a good idea. I shut it down and took a big hit. Because my first priority is the people who supported the idea I'm mounting NonCon instead. For free. A way to try to make good without asking for anything but your moral support.

Moving forward, I am searching for ways to fix these problems that don't call for anyone to invest further or take a leap of faith. I may try another IndieGoGo but this time for a complete in-hand game. Not a promise. A product. I will be working as hard as I know how to dig myself out of the hole I find myself in. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been patient and understanding.

Where Do the Cannibal Veggipygmies Live?

So, where do the Cannibal Veggipygmies live? Probably The Ruins of Azagoth.

Egaden, The Two Headed Ogre? The mountains around The Tomb of the Damned.

The mysterious Red Wizard? In his tower on the south end of the isle.

Who was "Thocar" and who rules Thocar's Castle and the surrounding lands these days?

Just how large is Tenkar's Landing, and is it really ruled by the Merchant's Guild? What of the Privateer  Cyrus the Bold and his influence?

What is the name of the island anyway?

I am finding the easiest way to finding answers is to ask the right questions ;)

Like Sand in a Sandbox, These Are the Adventures You Seek

So, at 6 miles a hex (center to center) each hex is about 31 miles square. I'm going to pretend the number is 30 miles square, as it's easier to work with and remember ;)

Which puts the island at a total of approximately (as coastline shortens some hexes) 900 square miles at 30 hexes more or less. That's a decent amount of adventure potential.

Not all hexes are going to have locations assigned to them - few will over all. Every hex should have something that has the potential for an encounter, even if it's only a plug in at a certain spot of the general encounter chart for the island. Heck, some hexes might have more than one thing going on - 30 square miles covers a lot of ground.

Now, these encounters can be anything from the old coot that lives alone on his farm and miraculously stays alive in dangerous lands to a group of bandits that ply their trade on the traders trails to the primitives that inhabit the Ruins of Azagath.

Hmmm, so if the encounter table was rolled on 2d6, a roll of say "7" would have the DM (me in this case) refer to the hex description for the results. "7" is just an example, I'm kinda thinking as I  type.

The lower half of the island still needs to be fleshed out and labeled but I'll get there. The game won't kick off officially until the first Sunday of April, giving me a good  two weeks to get this ship shaped ;)

It Feels Good Having a Gaming Project to Work On

I'm glad I have my little Crypts & Things Sandbox to detail and play with. It gives me a little bit of focus, and it's nice working on something that is very much "your own" as opposed to small tweaks to something that isnt, isn this case the awesome Rappan Athuk - "Don't let your adventurers leave home without exploring it!"  heh

It's funny, I didn't watch the video tutorial until AFTER I generated and reworked the map. The first thing I ran with from the tutorial was shrinking the damn hex number - they're much less "in your face" now than when i started with the map.

I also did some final tweaks and proofreads on a small project I mostly put to bed months ago (yeah, it was a fairly productive weekend). Well, mostly final tweaks - if the publisher likes it there may be more for me to finish off later, but I do know the artwork is done and it's awesome (any errors in the text will be all mine). Obviously I'll let you know about it when it hits RPGNow.

+Joe Wetzel how about a program that makes artists (not just decent cartographers) out of a Ten-Thumber like me? You'd really have your work cut out for you ;)

Zooming In on Tonight's Map Work - Tenkar's Landing and the Surrounding Areas

This would be, for all intents and purposes, the initial "sandbox" for the players in my Crypts & Things Campaign.

I'm still trying to put everything together, and locations and and names are subject to change.

So, for the brief outline:

Tenkar's Landing will be the starting point. A large merchant town that does much trade by sea. Nominally under control of the current occupant sitting on the throne at Thocar's Castle. So long as Tenkar's Landing pays it's taxes, the merchant are left to run the town as they will.

Ruins of Azagath - this might become a "mini sandbox", as I see this as a remains of a mad sorcerer's tower. The explosion was large enough to partially destroy the mountain in hex 1213 and laid ruin to hexes 1214 and 1314. There are rumors of treasure and possibly magic still left in the ruins. The creatures that roam hexes 1214 and 1314 are believed to be cursed.

Tomb of the Damned - place holder for a newbie adventure - either the one in the C&T book or the Halls of Nizar-Thun or one of my own creation (or a DCC RPG adventure conversion).

Alright, not bad for a night's work ;)

Played With Hexographer This Evening and Here's The Results

Not bad for screwing around with a program and not reading how to make it work ;)

I like the way it came out. I'm thinking the island in the lower center would be where the party would start out. It limits their ability to go all screwy on me before they level up a bit.

I need to add a crapload of locations, populations, sites of interest and the like but it's a damn good start for less than 2 hrs work.

I may also change around some of the terrain, but that's neither here nor there at the moment - I need something to work from and I'm surprised at how quickly it came together.

Definitely for the Crypts & Things Campaign, so any empires are in decline. I see it more city-states and less nations, but who knows as it get's fleshed out.

I'm going to give Hexographer "Two Thumbs Up!", because if it can make my mapping look decent, it's got to be an amazing program ;)

I'm leaning towards 6 miles per hex, which makes the initial island roughly 15-20 miles wide and 65 miles long. Decent sized area to adventure in I think. A "sandbox with walls" for the early levels.

There Will Be Some "Tekumel" in the Petty Gods Project

Gorgonmilk is on a roll! Here's the latest update on the Petty Gods Project:

I just received an e-mail from Victor Raymond at the Tekumel Foundation. Mr Raymond has kindly given me permission to include M. A. R. Barker's classic 1980 essay -- "Create a Religion in Your Spare Time for Fun and Profit" -- as an appendix in PETTY GODS. If you grognards weren't excited before this, you damn well should be now!

So, apparently I'm going to share space in a book with the works of Michael Moorcock AND M. A. R. Barker. I don't think I have an expletive that would convey the proper excitement that I currently feel.

What's the next awesome surprise you're going to pull out of your sleeve Mr. Gorgonmilk?  ;)

Thoughts on a Swords & Sorcery Sandbox

Yesterday I asked for some ideas / thoughts / feedback on designing a sandbox. The feedback was / is (as it's still coming in) excellent on both the blog side and G+. Lots and lots of stuff to think about, especially with the size of the default hex - I must say there is something to be said about the 10 mile hex broken down by 2 mile hexes within. 6 mile hexes have a good argument too.

As I look at my sandbox, I've pretty much decided that I want it to be Swords & Sorcery in flavor. Why? Mostly because my newest campaign is going to be using the Crypts & Things ruleset (which in turn is based of Swords & Wizardry). Since S&S is the flavor for the new campaign, I may as well mix the exercise of working on a new sandbox into the mix.

S&S leads to, in my opinion, a less default urban setting and more of a "each urban center, large or small, has it's own feel to it" which is cool to play with when designing. It also means you no longer have the usual fantasy races to play with and fill their default roles, which become a whole 'nother change.

Actually, starting small and working outward is a good thing. Maybe the world does have a limited numer of demihumans, but this area is remote enough that they are known as mere legends amongst the populace. It allows be to throw "generic fantasy" into the mix at a later point, with all of the issue / problems / intrigue that follows it.

Alright, time to read some of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Graphic Novel to get myself in the right frame of mind ;)

Michael Moorcock To Write a Petty God - Where is Yours?

Probably the best thing to happen to the Petty God crowd-sourced project was Gorgonmilk taking the abandoned reins and running with them.

The very fact that he got THE Michael Moorcock on board the project and agreeing to submit a Petty God is simply amazing. Actually, getting Mr. Moorcock on board potentially opens then door to others of similar ilk to participating.

It boggles the mind :)

So, where is your entry?

Gus L's Awesome Work on
Ratagus Gant
Petty God

Thoughts on Designing a Sandbox Setting Piecemeal

You need to start somewhere, right?

I'm seriously toying with the idea of designing my own sandbox setting using Hexographer for the mapping. I think I can grok the software and end up with something that looks decent. I'm not aiming for great, as I doubt my mapping skills hit that height, but decent and serviceable work for me.

I'm kinda immersing myself in hex crawls at the moment - Points of Light, Blackmarsh, Hex Crawl Chronicles from Frog God, NOD, Isle of the Unknown  - you get the idea.

I'm thinking of working in sizes of 5x5 hexes, so 25 hexes at a clip. A sentence or three for those hexes of import.

Now, I want the hexes to be of a size where a 5x5 hex area allows for a decent amount of adventuring, but not so large that the details are lost. 2 miles across? 5? 6 like HCC? Some other number?

What percentage of the hexes should be remarkable? What is considered "remarkable"?

I appreciate any thoughts on this that you feel like sharing :)

Mini Review - Monstrosities (Swords & Wizardry Monster Book)

Out of all the cool loot I got in the Swords & Wizardry Complete Kickstarter, Monstrosities is probably the coolest. I think I like it better than The Tome of Horrors Complete, and that's saying a lot.

See, Monstrosities is for the most part, your usual "D&D" monsters with a fresh coat of paint and a "hook" for each of them. Me, I love the hooks. I loved them in ToHC and I love them here. They are enough to riff off of, and I am, if nothing else, a DM that enjoys the challenge of improvising.

Now, if you have the older S&W Monster Book, much of what you get here was in there. It's just presented in a more enjoyable fashion, with each monster getting it's own page, art and hook.

Here, let me show you an example from both books:

From the S&W Monster Book

From the S&W Monstrosities Book

I really like the second presentation :)

It comes in PDF and Print flavors. PDF at RPGNow, Print with free PDF at Frog God.

Personally, I'd go with the Print and PDF, as the book is fairly massive and nice to hold and a decent value at $50 for the 500+ page hardcover book and the PDF. Still, you can't got wrong if you get it either way. You'll get some good use out of it, especially the hooks if you are anything like me.

More Inspirational Reading for the Swords & Sorcery (C&T) Campaign - Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser Graphic Novel

Snagged on Amazon, it's the Dark Horse Graphic Novel of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Need I say more? I'm really looking forward to running some Crypts & Things, but the first session may not happen until early April.

Dwimmermount Update #48: Good News Emerges from the Dungeon

I'm very happy to announce that this afternoon, James Maliszewski transferred to Autarch the Kickstarter funds necessary for us to complete the Dwimmermount project and pay the artists who haven't been compensated for their work.


The next step will be to negotiate a transfer of the rights we'll need to develop and publish James' draft and use the contributions of the artists whose work was done under contract to him. The details of this agreement will take a little while to iron out, but we're confident that a happy arrangement will be reached. James has clearly demonstrated his intent to do the right thing and we've received some invaluable assistance in drafting a proposed contract that we feel is fair to all parties.

This transfer of IP is the last barrier to progress. Once it's lifted we'll begin working out a new estimate of when we can deliver the remaining rewards and bonus goal items. Some of these, like the wilderness mat, are very close to being ready to ship. Others will take longer to finish polishing, but in every case I have no doubt we'll be able to do justice to the vision of Dwimmermount and fulfill the promises of this Kickstarter.

I know backers have waited a long time already, and although we're moving forward again we're still a ways from the finish line. Autarch remains committed to the offer of discount coupons described in the last update as a way of making restitution for our role in the delays; we'll have those ready soon. However, if at any point you feel that you've waited long enough or lost faith in our efforts to deliver on our promises to you, I'm glad that we've now reunited Autarch's responsibility and ability to offer a full refund on the Dwimmermount pledge of any backer who chooses this option.

I hope that you'll continue to stand by your investment in this dream, and even if not that you at least got more out of the experience than if you'd invested your pledge in the stock market instead. Whatever your decision, I want to thank you for having helped get us this far. Game on!

Yours,

Tavis

(Holy Crap! Good news indeed)

Let's Talk Spells, Shall We?

The response to yesterday's post on the Sleep spell was great. Thought provoking and some really good feedback. The ideas on how to use the spell against players without causing a TPK were well done. I really wish G+ and Blogger comments were easily shared, as those on one side and not the other missed out.

So, here's the question:

Shall I make such questions / observations / discussions an irregular / regular feature?

There's a nice amount to chew upon, such as:

If a Fireball is cast in a 10' x 10' room, is there blowback (i need to dig up the old Dragon Mag that discussed this).

Create Food and Water - if you don't have proper receptacles waiting, does it just drop on the floor and wash away?

Lightning Bolt - how does the rebound thing work when you aren't using miniatures?

Oh, I've got dozens ;)

So, what say you? Any interest in this?

Dungeons of Dread - S1 to S4 for AD&D 1e in Hand

True confessions here.

Although S1 - Tomb of Horrors, was one of the first adventures I ever bought (along with A1 and G1-3), it was years before I owned S2, -White Plume Mountain. I borrowed a copy of S3 years ago because my players wanted me to run it - lasers and robots sounded cool, so they went on an Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

As far as I know, this is my first time looking at S4 - The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.

Damn, it would kill me to cut out the visuals for S1 from this book ;)

Looks well put together at quick perusal - I need to spend more time with it to say more than that at the moment. Well, there's lots of art. More than I expected. Pretty cool actually.

A Kickstarter That's About to Be a Year Late: Quantum Roleplaying System

Look at that. Another "holy shit it's really late" RPG Kickstarter.

Now, you have to give credit where credit is due, this one tried to go to eleven! Last fall, with Quantum already months late, they tried to fund a city setting book for the as yet still unreleased RPG. Needless to say, that went over like a ton of bricks and didnt fund. Just imagine the fun we'd be having if it had...

Anyhow, last month Josh, the main man behind Quantum decided to address the "elephant in the room" - refunds!

Here's the post from Kickstarter:


A (Not So) Quick Word on Refunds

Update #61 · Feb. 13, 2013 · 36 comments
Hey folks,

I've held off long enough on this topic, time to address it.

I've had two (unfortunately very public) requests for refunds on the Quantum RPG Kickstarter project. I haven't responded yet for two reasons: the requests didn't make sense to me and I needed to read and study the issue to determine an answer.

The Quantum RPG Kickstarter project has 580 backers. Two of those backers want a refund. That's .3% of backers. I only include the math because the two individuals asking for a refund are doing so in a manner that's freaking out some of the other backers in other circles ("People are asking for refunds! Is the project dead!?").

While I appreciate their requests and absolutely understand their frustration, Kickstarter projects are not the same as buying a product in a store. Even Kickstarter themselves said as much recently in a blog post titled Kickstarter is Not a Store.

http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-is-not-a-store

Additionally, anyone who backs a Kickstarter project should first review the Terms of Service. In the ToS is this line:

Kickstarter does not offer refunds. A Project Creator is not required to grant a Backer’s request for a refund unless the Project Creator is unable or unwilling to fulfill the reward.
I am able and willing to fulfill the reward. The project exceeded it's Estimated Delivery Date and that's all. (by a fucking year, but who's counting?)

I'd also like to point out another blog post recently on the Kickstarter blog titled Is lateness failure?

http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/is-lateness-failure

Specifically, I want to note (from that post) that only 25% of projects are completed on time (again, a year late IS NOT common) and just 3.6% of projects failed to deliver their rewards. Then there's this section in the blog post:

The focus on lateness within Kickstarter brings three problems.

First, it incentivizes creators to take shortcuts to hit their deadlines. As legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto recently said, "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.”

Second, it ignores what makes Kickstarter so unique: getting to watch a project come to life. The opportunity to see how something is made and to have a hand in its creation is a special thing. If a creator turns the creative process into a story they share with backers, delays don't have to be bad news.

Third, it presumes that Kickstarter is a store. Sure, it's unacceptable for a store to ship something late.
But Kickstarter is not a store. The Estimated Delivery Date is the creator’s best guess at how things will go, and it’s made at a very early stage in the project’s life.

I'm not willing to shortcut the quality of the project in order to push it out. It'll be done once I have all of the art in, once the chapters are fully written, fully edited (twice), and fully laid out. The day I ship the files to the printer is the day I'll be able to announce a release date. Personally, I think Kickstarter makes a huge mistake forcing project creators to put an Estimated Delivery Date on their projects and, now, they're having to post on their blog to address the grumbling about late projects since they didn't make a clear enough point (to backers) that Kickstarter is about watching the creative process on projects you like (and then getting a reward for your backing) and not about shopping in an e-store.

Two final thoughts:

1. I owe you a game and weekly updates about the game as it's being worked on. You'll get what I owe you.
2. If you truly do not want your rewards when the game is finished and being shipped out to backers, I will refund your money then. I'm not a monster. (so, if the game never finishes...)

One more final final thought:

I'm just a guy, okay? It's just me. I'm human, I'm not perfect, I have personal life issues like everyone else, and this project has become something far larger than what was intended. I love this project. I love my backers. If you feel I've been short, angry, quiet, disheartened, or rude, it seriously makes me sad to hear it. It's never been my intent to be any of those things, especially toward my backers, and I would encourage everyone to not infer emotion via the written word. Emotion is impossible to determine sometimes online without dozens of emoticons ;-) :-) :-O :-P.

I'm working. Hugo is working. The project moves closer to completion every day. Let me get it there, let me update you weekly about it, and I believe you'll love the results. Every day I see things in the game that make me excited. My enthusiasm for this project has only grown since the beginning.

I owe this project to you, the backers. I owe it to you in the sense that you are owed your rewards, but also in the sense that without you, I wouldn't have been able to work on it at all at the levels Hugo and I (and Blake and Colleen and Reid and Drew and Kyle) have been able to.

Thank you for backing the project.

Seriously, I love you guys. #Cartman

-Josh

(the only project I've backed that's running later than this is Far West)

The Sleep Spell - Where There is No "Save or Die" - Just Death

It's funny. "Save or Die" is a big topic in the OSR, with strong opinions on both sides of the fence (mostly on the "pro" side of Save or Die from my experience). Yet, the simple 1st Level Sleep Spell jumps the shark, if you will.

In Swords & Wizardry Complete, a Sleep Spell takes out 2 to 16 creatures of up to 1st level with no save allowed.

Now, this is a powerful spell in the hands of the PCs. Heck, it can take out a 4HD creature, like an Ogre.

It can also decimate a PC party of 3rd level or less if used against them. For a party of 1st or 2nd level PCs, it's a nearly guaranteed TPK. (sure, Elves are immune to magical sleep, but that can't be part of the assumption of the party makeup).

How many DM's have used this against their PCs and ended a campaign before it even started? Hopefully, none, but you never know with the inexperienced DMs.

How is "No Save and Die" an integral part of the game?

Isn't what's good for the PC's good for their adversaries? ;)

Free RPG Product of the Week - TrollZine! #7 (Tunnels & Trolls)

Like Tunnels & Trolls, but can't seem to find an adventure suitable for group play?

Looking for more solo adventures?

Homebrewed rules perhaps?

Look no further than TrollZine #7!

(the earlier 6 issues are good too, just so you know)

Oh, and it's free. As in "not costing you a cent".

Grap a copy. You won't be disappointed.

(on the off chance you are disappointed, remember the pricing above ;)

Inspirational Reading for My Upcoming Crypts & Things Campaign - Sword of Sorcery Issue #1

Once I committed to running Crypts & Things for my lapsed gamers group, I decided I needed some inspirational reading.

Lo and behold I found the 1973 comic book series Sword of Sorcery, starring Fritz Lieber's very own Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser on eBay. The series only lasted 5 issues, and I grabbed issues 1 thru 3 (and 4 was thrown in as a bonus, so just one more to grab).

Denny O'Neil wrote the adaptation and Howard Chaykin did the pencils.

Not bad at all. I vaguely remember reading the original it was based on, but it's been at least 20 years. Yeah, I guess I need to reread the originals at some point.