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Saturday, October 10, 2020

Deals of the Day - SURVIVE THIS!! Fantasy - Core Rules AND Sandy Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors

Today you get not one but TWO Deals of the Day thanks to our fine friends at DriveThruRPG. Alright, technically second pick is being offered via DriveThruFiction but really, OneBookShelf is the parent of both storefronts and they are BOTH excellent RPG resources for the Old School Gamer.

SURVIVE THIS!! Fantasy - Core Rules brings the Survive This! ruleset back to its inspirational beginnings - fantasy gaming. I own the three prior releases (SURVIVE THIS!! Zombies!, a zombie apocalypse horror RPG, SURVIVE THIS!! was then utilized for a 1980s setting in Dark Places & Demogorgons and a street-level superhero setting in Vigilante City) that use the ruleset and I'm thrilled to be adding fantasy to the genre collection. Besides, it has resources that work well with any OSR ruleset.

Normally 9.99 in PDF, until tomorrow morning SURVIVE THIS!! Fantasy is on sale for 4.99

Our second Deal of the Day is Sandy Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors. I own this in hardcover as Rach bought it for me for my birthday in the summer of 2019. My God, this is pure inspiration for an RPG horror game using any ruleset.

Normally 17.96 in PDF, until tomorrow morning Sandy Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors is on sale for a mere 5.39

Additional material beyond what you find here at The Tavern and the Tavern Chat Podcast can be found at YouTube.com/ErikTenkar. Subscribe to the Channel to support The Tavern

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on AnchorYouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.

Friday, October 9, 2020

Bundle - Mithgarthr 2e (5e Old School)

There's much to say about the Mithgathr RPG. While built off the 5e rules engine, it makes its statement with old school sensibility. Although I am not comfortable, let alone confident enough, to run a 5e RPG session, give me an hour to prep time and I'm pretty sure I could run Mithgarthr. More importantly, I'd WANT to run Mythgarthr. It's dark in all the right places...

Mithgarthr 2e was recently released in PDF and is being offered with a campaign starter in a bundle for 7.49. The rules by themselves are normally 9.99. Seriously, this is good stuff.

Core Book

Enter a rich, original world inspired by Norse and Germanic culture. Explore the dark places where Gooblitts and Dýrverr roam. Battle against the treacherous forces of Chaos led by Orcus and The Thrir. Die horribly at the hands of Greenskins while trying to get rich quick with your friends!

Mithgarthr takes its mechanics from the fifth edition of the world's most popular role-playing game, but molds them against its grim setting. Characters start at zero level with just the skills they have from their mundane profession (of which there are nine to choose from) and a desire to make a better life for themselves. Players may choose from seven races including the murine Ratten and the winged, hawk-like Fjothr. Life is cheap and death comes often, but those adventurers who survive long enough to attain first level have eight iconic classes to choose from. Magic is cast using a point system, and is less common than usual. Monsters have their own magic system, drawing their power from Orcus.

Included in this core rulebook is everything you need to play a campaign in the land of Mithgarthr. Character creation rules, combat, adventuring, equipment, magic, monsters, world and setting information including a completely detailed large city, and also a fully fleshed out town and surrounding area including an introductory adventure to begin your journey into the realm of Mithgarthr!

 The Northderry Mining Guild

The town of Northderry, nestled in the foothills of the Tralaberg Mountains to the west of Riverton, is a picturesque mining community that proudly exports over half of the copper used throughout the entire kingdom of Karak.

Bandrem Ironfinger, from the Northderry Mining Guild, has recently learned of the existence of map which leads to a rich gold vein, and he must have it. If only there were townsfolk willing to take on the mantle of adventurer to retrieve it...

The Northderry Mining Guild is an introductory campaign for the second edition of the Mithgarthr Role-Playing Game that picks up where the adventure in the back of the Mithgarthr rulebook left off, and takes your characters from level 1 up to level 3. Featuring a large, multi-level dungeon main adventure, multiple side-quests, new magic items, and new monsters, this campaign provides many sessions’ worth of adventure to kick off a new second edition Mithgarthian campaign!

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on AnchorYouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.

Thursday, October 8, 2020

We'll Be Adding YouTube Videos to The Tavern's Mix Next Week

Yep, The Tavern has a YouTube Channel and it's fairly easy to remember the URL: YouTube.com/ErikTenkar

At the moment its some old videos and a reposting of The Tavern Chat Podcast, but starting next week (or sooner) I'll be adding regular, exclusive material. Games From the Basement, a series of posts here at The Tavern, known for highlighting RPGs and other tabletop games that have been in my collection since the 1980s, will return as a video series. Its a visual thing, so the podcast doesn't work so well, but its also sentimental, which doesn't always convey well with the written word.

Additionally, the initial plan is to record two episodes of the Tavern Chat Podcast each week, live-streamed via YouTube, for real-time feedback and interaction from the viewers. I'll announce days / times shortly. Afterwards, it will then be uploaded to the podcast feed. Additionally, I'd like to move future Fireside Chats / Interviews to a Livestream format. Again, this will allow for more immediate feedback and interaction from the viewers.

So, subscribe to The Tavern's Official YouTube Chanel at YouTube.com/ErikTenkar to never miss an episode.

As we get closer to Christmas, I suspect that OSR Christmas will intersect with The Tavern's YouTube Channel. I heard it from some elf that was talking to this dwarf...

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on AnchorYouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.

More info here at The Tavern Chat Podcast

Deal of the Day - Willow (S&W Micro Setting)

I prefer small settings to kick a campaign off. They are easier to digest and absorb without worrying about regions hundreds if not thousands of miles away. I guess you could say I like my sandboxes small but expandable.

Willow is a micro setting, a town, and an adventure all rolled into one. Normally 6 bucks in PDF, for the next 24 hours (more or less) Willow is on sale for 4.20.

Willow is a grim backwater micro setting made for the Swords and Wizardry rule system, but can easily be used with other old-school systems or even 5E.

Willow is a town that can be dropped into your campaign setting. Focused on game-able content and being easy to use at the table, It is graphic and art heavy. Structured as a mini hexcrawl, players will have to work together to investigate a mystery to move on from a damp backwater town to bigger, brighter places.

The Setting

Deep in a vast wood, a town called Willow sits beside the Lake of Tears. The lake is framed by weeping willow trees, their vines pouring into the lake’s dark green shores. Willow is not what one would call an upbeat town. The rains here are relentless and the grey skies loom low like a giant cage. Travelers do not linger here long; one night in the Blue Brew Inn is enough to make most jump on the ferry and move on. But recently the ferries have stopped running as something terrible has taken up residence on the river. Meanwhile, the town folk will not talk about the noises echoing up from the staircase that descends below the lake, nor the broken stone circle on the hill at the edge of town. The town's leader, a witch named Morose Morgan, is a recluse and refuses to leave her island.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on AnchorYouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.


 

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Deal of the Day - Grand History of the Realms (Forgotten Realms - System Neutral)

The Grand History of the Realms is actually a fan-written project that was picked up by WotC because of its high quality.

I've always enjoyed the Forgotten Realms since the early gray boxed set, but the timeline has gotten horribly unwieldy and I'd pretty much given up on following it by the end of the 3.5 era. Grand History of the Realms is something I hadn't seen until now.

Grand History of the Realms is systemless, so no matter which version of the D&D rules you are running with you'll find it to be a handy resource for the Realms. Normally 9.99 in PDF, until tomorrow morning Grand History of the Realms is on sale for 5.99.

All of Toril, and especially Faerûn, is rich in history. As the eons have passed, empires have risen and fallen all around the world. This chronology presents the history of the FORGOTTEN REALMS setting in all its glory. We’ve brought together information from dozens of sources to provide the definitive chronicle. 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.


Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Kickstarter - Maximum HP #4 - Undead for 5e

I've been a reader of Maximum HP since the first issue. Initially written for OSRIC and other OSR systems, Issue #4 delves into 5e. Maybe going forward Lloyd can look at the releases from Art of the Genre and do a hybrid OSR/5e format. Literally the best of all worlds.

Maximum HP #4 is an issue centered on the Undead, a timely topic for the month of October. I've got a soft spot for the undead, and I and Glen Halstrom have talked about doing a Swords & Wizardry monster book for over a year. Any lack of progress on the said theoretical project is my responsibility alone.

You can back the Maximum HP #4 Kickstarter for as little as 5 bucks for the PDF. Print copies are 10 bucks plus shipping.

Full disclosure. I've known Lloyd for years. The first time his work came to my attention was with the Whisper & Venom boxed set Kickstarter where he was the lead artist. His work was great then and he's only gotten better with age ;)

Welcome to issue #004 of MaximumHP - Undead! This project is creating the fourth Maximum HP RPG 'zine with the theme of the Undead. Within its pages you will find adventure, magic, monsters, and more for your 5E game! this is our premiere edition with content for the Fifth Edition of the world's favorite roleplaying game!

 Creatures not living, but not aloud to expire. Haunt, torment, laugh, and cry the souls of the night and the stuff of dreams and night mares arise. Not only in the darkness of the night, but the darkness of our mind do the undead reside.

In this issue we journey into the unsettling world of unnatural things. Don't let your player explore just another crypt with tiresome skeletons and zombies. Bring the unexpected, bring MAXIMUM HP!

Monday, October 5, 2020

D&D Care Bear Errata - 5e Removes Racial Stat Penalties

I will confess. I've never played 5e, but as the rising tide that lifts all ships, I've followed 5e. It's close enough to the OSR rulesets that I can convert adventures and settings if needed.

It was also sold as a balanced RPG system.

I'm guessing that balance is no longer important to the powers that be.

ComicBook.com

Dungeons & Dragons players will no longer have a negative ability score modifier when building a character of a certain race. Last week, Dungeons & Dragons officially released updated errata for a number of their sourcebooks and adventures. The Volo's Guide to Monsters errata was particularly important in that it removed the negative ability score modifiers for playable kobolds and orcs. While kobolds originally had a -2 modifier to their Strength score, and orcs had a -2 modifier to their Intelligence, the updated rules remove those modifiers entirely from the game. Additionally, the errata also removes the orc's "Menacing" trait with the "Primal Intuition" trait, which grants players proficiency in two of the following options - Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, and Survival.

A few things to note:

This isn't errata, its a rules change not to fix and balance, but to make imaginary "races" politically correct.

So, my Kobold can be as strong as any other race. Same for my orc's intelligence. 

Because, you know, orcs are highly intelligent and Kobolds are amazingly strong - not scrawny in the least.

Are we removing bonuses that were balanced by the penalties? Er, no.

At least orcs are still "menacing", right? Nope.

they’re trying to remove “racially insensitive language” this errata also includes an update to Orc’s inborn “Menacing” has been swapped for Primal Intuition which gives a choice of skill proficiencies

Might as well make all the races the same, with just fluff to differentiate. Shit, WotC might be reading this ;)

Further thoughts on The Tavern Chat Podcast.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.   

 


Sunday, October 4, 2020

How do you Treasure?

 

How do you Treasure?
Last night my bi-weekly online OSR game started off with all the players looking at a massive treasure loot list assembled from the almost four levels (for my Magic-User at least) worth of adventuring.

It was an odd moment for me because while I was pretty content with my character and what I'd earned/had been given, there was a LOT of treasure and the argument could easily be made that I hadn't gotten "my fair share".

Again, since I know some of my group occasionally reads Tavern posts, I need to be clear I was content well before the start of last night's session......it was just a moment where I was able to mentally "pull back" and compare/contrast this group to others I have played with before. There is also the difference in general between a more free-flowing OSR game and a crunchy rules-heavy game like my beloved HackMaster.

.....and no, this isn't a segue to a HackMaster discussion. You're safe today.

My current group is a LOT like every group I've playing in that as we come across magical items the group is quick to initially hand out stuff to those that can make the best use of it during the current adventure. When my 1st level Magic User joined, they handed me a bunch of scrolls, potions, and a few wands right off the bat to make me as useful as possible. Of course I used the scrolls to pad my spellbook where I could, again.....to be useful. As we adventured and came across magic-user "stuff", there was no discussion......it was handed off to my PC, and those items didn't really get added to the treasure list. Now I didn't necessarily consider everything "mine", but I'm sure I can point out a few items that I definitely do.

In previous groups, those quickly-divvied items are usually added to the total loot list and then at the end of the adventure formally awarded to party members. I've seen magic items priced out and factored in to the shares calculations and I've seen them simply counted as "1 item" and the players pick which items they want in some sort of selection process.

Now I think the idea of permanently dividing up magic items at the end of adventure is a good idea IF your group is fluid or if each PC needs to take care of their own affairs. If my Magic User had a homestead to see to, or floated between groups (like if we had a pool of PCs playing together under multiple GMs) then I'd want my share of coins and treasure after each adventure....and "my" loot would be at risk for loss when I'm off doing murder-hobo stuff.

Adding even more crunch you might have an actual party charter that already establishes how treasure is to be divided and has allocations made for party expenses. Usually those things have treasure priced out and then divided into a specific number of shares. If your PC wants an item you'll have to pay for it with coin, either directly or indirectly by having that amount of gold deducted from your award of shares.

There's no wrong way to divide treasure, unless it drives a wedge between players. I've had that happen, but really there were other problems and the division of treasure was just another opportunity to highlight those problems.

Now along the lines of magic items and loot division, I've seen a LOT of difference between players and GMs when it comes to identifying magic items. Now I'm a big fan of not telling the players that an item is magical without being identified, but as a GM....what a total pain in the ass. Give the players a +1 sword and do you want to keep track of that PC missing by one or adding a hidden +1 to damage with that weapon? If there is a secondary effect, what do you tell the players or just describe what they see? Maybe magic items just don't work unless identified? 

That doesn't make sense to me. If it's something obvious, like a +1 Sword that does an extra 1d4 of fire damage, it seems easy enough to just tell the players, unless the fire effect requires some sort of activation. Then I'd tell the players about the +1 and unless the party has the item formally identified, they'll never find out. Ideally the party has a standard operating procedure (SOP) of getting all the treasure spread out and scanned with a Detect Magic spell. Good way of catching hidden magical jewelry, or determining that there is more to that simple +1 Sword.......

Now what I've done in the past as a GM is use a index card system for treasure, but my party liked to divvy up items immediately after each adventure. Each item got a white card with a code on it and a quick description and rough GP value. If the item is magical I have a red note card on standby with that code and the same item description, but there is an additional note as to rough power level and new rough GP value. Lastly there is a similar blue notecard like the red card, but it has the full effects of the item and the official GP value. It's a little more prep work, but not a whole lot and a simple note card file box keeps shit organized.

Anyway, all these thoughts stemmed from an initial look at how my current party handles their treasure. Of course I only have my own experience to go off of, which leads me to ask, how does your group handle treasure?

Saturday, October 3, 2020

There Was a Metallic Demon in My Mail Today!

I'd like to give a huge thanks to Rafael Chandler for sending me copies of both the Metallic Tome and the Demonic Tome. Holy shit but I've got lots of good reading to accomplish in the next few days.

You can grab the pair in print at Lulu. PDF copies can be found at DriveThruRPG (14.99 for the Metallic Tome, PWYW pricing for the Demonic Tome).

Combined the two make for an awesome resource for a modern OSR game in a John Constatine like setting.

Demons feed on innocent souls and obliterate cities. Human victims are possessed, devoured, and damned. Unfortunately, the world's last line of defense is a group of ultra-violent cannibals wielding unholy magic.

They needed a hero. Instead, they got you.

Demonic Tome is a sourcebook for old-school role-playing games set in the modern day. It includes new spells, monsters, magic items, and setting information.

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Pollution chokes our seas, nuclear war has destroyed our cities, and worst of all, guitars are illegal. Surveillance satellites monitor our every move. Conformity is the law! There is only one thing that can save us: METAL.

Metallic Tome is a sourcebook for old-school role-playing games set in the modern day. It's inspired by heavy metal music. Created by the reprobate who wrote the Teratic Tome.

Features include: 

  • New character alignments, including Awful Good, Chaotic Player, and Neutral Vague
  • New starting equipment, including department store mannequin, 4 scorpions in a shoebox, and an audio cassette recording of Nuclear Assault's "Survive"
  • New Cleric spells like Necrotic Blasphemous Desecration, Interval of the Devil, and Party Hard
  • New Magic-User spells like Power Word Mosh and Air Raid Siren
  • Strange new foes, including asbestos elementals and nuclear dragons
  • Wondrous magic items, such as the Brigandine Loincloth and the Revolver of Lordly Might
  • Random tables to pad out the last few pages

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

Friday, October 2, 2020

Kickstarter - Midderlands 5e


Back at the start of the pandemic, we had an earlier attempt at Kickstarting Midderlands 5e. It was horrible timing. No, six months later we are still in the midst of the pandemic, but questions of personal financing have mostly resolved. Now we have a second chance at a D&D 5e Midderlands. 5e players best take notice, this is a setting like none other.

I own the Swords & Wizardry version of the Midderlands, the expansions, and every other Kickstarter Monkeyblood has published in the interval. Glynn simply does amazing stuff and I'm excited to see the Midderlands open up beyond the OSR to the latest edition of Dungeons & Dragons with the Midderlands 5e Kickstarter.

Quick note: Midderlands 5e is being published and distributed by Necromancer Games, a sister company of Frog God Games. I am affiliated with Frog God Games as I work the table at conventions and wrote Swords & Wizardry Light. All that doesn't change the fact that the Midderlands is awesome!

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Deal of the Day - Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing (Swords & Wizardry)


Sometimes you find a game you are just itching to run. Eldritch Tales is one of those games for me. Its what you get when you cross the comfort of Swords and Wizardry with the horror of Call of Cthulhu. I really need to hack some of this into Swords & Wizardry Continual Light.

Until 11 am Eastern, October 2nd, 2020, Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing is half off -  a mere 3.49. Do it! Your players will alternatively thank you and curse you ;)

Aeons before man arose from the primordial mire, ancient creatures descended from the stars or stepped through dimensional passages to inhabit the Earth. Whilst many of these Old Ones have since passed into inactivity, the secrets they carried with them have been shared with man and now terrible cults haunt the fringes of modern society. These ancient terrors thus still menace mankind and, if the prophecies are to be believed, the Old Ones shall return to reign again over the Earth!

Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing in an OSR rule set with its roots in the Original version of the world's favorite RPG, but instead of exploring musty dungeons, characters in Eldritch Tales investigate Mythos horrors in the 1920s! The setting and background are based on the cosmic horror tales of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other members of his writing circle. 

Within the pages of Eldritch Tales you will find four character classes representing many classic pulp archetypes, occupations, rules for insanity, spells, monsters, esoteric tomes, artifacts, a starting scenario, and setting material, as well as advice on using Eldritch Tales with other White Box games. This game is compatible with Swords & Wizardry White Box and other OSR games.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Coinage in Fantasy RPGs - Why So Large?

 


One thing that has irked me since my early days of gaming was the 10 coins to a pound ratio in AD&D. Even in my teen years it seemed outrageously large, and I vaguely remember an issue of The Dragon from the early 80s discussing such.

Above I have a pic of some Roman coins and a US Quarter. One pound of quarters gives you 80 quarters, so a coin in AD&D is the weight of 8 quarters I (2 bucks of coins jangling in your pocket)

At 10 coins per pound, a gold coin weighs in at 1.6 ounces. That's roughly $3k in today's dollars.

The denarius (Latin pronunciation: [deːˈnaːrɪ.ʊs], pl. dēnāriī [deːˈnaːrɪ.iː]) was the standard Roman silver coin for about 450 years (211 BC to 244 AD). There were 72 denarii to the pound of, though by the end of its mintage that had lighted to 96 to a pound or (and lighter still at the end).

So, 100 coins to the pound isn't a stretch, its historically accurate. Certainly more realistic.

So, why 10 coins to the pound in AD&D 1e? I'm guessing to make retrieving the spoils a worthy effort. I just don't see the need for such heavy coinage and never have.

What are your thoughts?

Further thoughts at tonight's podcast:

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E846---Are-Coins-in-ADD-Too-Heavy-eke117

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Announcing the Old School Gaming Forums - Embeddable Everywhere :)

As many of my readers know, I've been looking to upgrade The Tavern website for a while. Part of that mission was to find a forum provider that was easy to embed in a Blogger powered blog. Why Blogger? Because if it works on Blogger, it will work on ANY website.

But why does it have to work on any website? Quite simply, the concept is to have a forum that can be accessed from any blog or publisher website that joins the community. Just drop a few lines of code into a Blogger widget, drag the widget beneath your posts and Bamn! You are hosting the same forum as a dozen other sites. Literally, all doors lead to the Old School Gaming Forums. :) Yep, that is the direct link, but you can see the embedded forums below the posts on this page.

Want to add the Old School Gaming Forums to your blog or website? Use the code below:

<a class="muut" href="https://muut.com/i/old-school-gaming">old-school-gaming</a> <script src="//cdn.muut.com/1/moot.min.js"></script>

If you add the above to your blog or website, let us know in the comments below. It is kinda baren at the moment, but its only hours old. It needs you to come fully to life.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

Monday, September 28, 2020

Deal of the Day - Monster Stand-Ins (Paper Minis) {Inkwell Designs}



Most of the sessions of Swords & Wizardry Light at various conventions have been with the Mouth of Doom 3d printed dungeon. I learned to appreciate the use of miniatures, which I sorely lack. Pogs are useful but get lost in the 3d terrain. Printable minis would have been awesome and extremely portable, as well as affordable. Normally 9.95, you can snag Inkwell Designs Monster Stand-Ins (Paper Minis) for 1.99. perfect for the frugal DM ;)
Monster Stand-Ins is a PDF of creature miniatures.  Print as many as you need!  Over 350 images (originally 250+) cover all the most common creatures (orcs, skeletons, goblins, etc.) as well as many uncommon creatures such as a devourer, vegepygmies, and sahuagin. Most of the more common creatures come in several versions--get a kobold as a melee fighter, an archer, a shaman, or a buffed-up leader.

The PDF also includes many animals & insects (horses, cats, dogs, lions, bears, bees, bats, rats, etc.) and over different 50 PCs/NPCs.

The back of each creature is a silhouette of the front. Each mini is available with or without a label.

As much as possible, creatures are grouped on pages of similar creatures to make printing easy.  (If you need hobgoblins, you'll likely want goblins.)

Each mini has a front and back on the same side of paper and when folded: Small creatures are 1.25" x 1", medium are 1.5"x1", large are 2"x1.5", and huge creatures are 2"x3" and a few are 4"x3".

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 


Sunday, September 27, 2020

Painting Day (allegedly) at the Game Store

 

Painting Day (allegedly) at the Game Store
News flash: I suck at painting minis.

I've actually done a good, I dare say great, job painting some of my minis in the past, but evidently miniature painting is a perishable skill and my expiration date came and went sometime in the last five years since I last painted something.

I could show you pics of minis I'm proud of, but I'm also lazy and they're roughly stored away in another room, and this post is more about my recent, shitty paint job.

My local comic book store, that has a decent RPG selection, was hosting a miniature painting event and I scored a spot in the event. For better or for worse I also had forgotten about this event and I had a date later that day so instead of painting it in the store, where I could watch a painting video, I took it home to paint where I figured I could use my personal painting "stuff" as well. A bit of a double-edged sword. If I was more skilled, having my own setup to use would have been optimal, but since I'm not.......that painting guide would have been useful.

Manticore Painting Day Box

Supplies in the painting day kit

The kit was $20 and had a Manticore mini, two brushes, and a selection of paints. I do wish there was a painting guide, but the idea was to watch the video........so a URL to the video would have been awesome as well. That way, even in the store I could watch on my phone and rewind/fast forward at my leisure.


One good thing about being at home with the mini was that mine had a severely cupped base, which I could easily fix at home with some hot & cold water before supergluing it to a thicker base of my choice.

Manticore mini

I didn't use most of the colors in the kit, choosing to use a few colors and mix on my own. Luckily there was a generous quantity of paint in the pots, easily enough to cover the entire fig with each color if wanted. I think of the Manticore as a top-tier (but not #1) apex ambush predator, so I wanted a more muted color palette than what the picture on the box implied. I did try to do some subtle thinned down coloration using a drop or two of paint and a bunch of matte medium. The main body was one color with this thin opaque darker reddish-tan color on top and a lighter yellowish on the underbelly. I thought it'd look cool to have that color darken and extend to the base color used in the wings and the tail.  I did the same thing with the "veins" on the wings. I think it was a good idea, but I didn't pull it off.

Finished Manticore Mini

Instead of using the wash supplied, which I should 120% should have done, I tried making my own and effed it up so bad. How bad? Yeah I went and tried to wash it off in the sink bad. I got most of it off, dried the mini with a hair drier, and then watered down my wash even more and re-applied. Meh....


I felt rushed, because of my date, but I personally think I needed the pressure or I would probably gotten little more than basing done. 

Overall though I loved the idea of a painting event at a game store and I really hope that this can be a more regular thing. The store gets the traffic, you get a social event with other like-minded players\gms\whatever label you use, and you get to brush-up on your panting skills (pun intended). I've already started getting my supplies together and am setting up a painting desk in my office just for working on terrain and minis.

I really hope WotC keeps supporting this type of thing. I do hope though that they pick a better intro mini to work with. Something with fewer tight spots (that tail) and fewer mold/flash lines. Still, you got to pick a cool mini to get people in the door.

Saturday, September 26, 2020

Deal of The Day - Lordling: Fantasy Role-Playing Game for Kids (Goblinoid Games)

I'm a huge fan of youth accessible RPG gaming. My niece is now 9, she was 5 when Swords & Wizardry Light released. When she realized what I wrote she told me: "Uncle, you can use this to teach me to read, and then I can play D&D too!" 

The fact that Lordling: Fantasy Role-Playing Game for Kids was written for kids is awesome. Normally 4.49 in PDF, until tomorrow morning Lordling is on sale for 2.69

Lordling is the baton to hand off fantasy role-playing to the next generation!

It is an introductory role-playing game for kids. Play all of the classic race classes from Labyrinth Lord, but with a new streamlined system perfect for young new players.

Lordling is meant to be used by a mentor to teach young kids how to play role-playing games. It is a self-contained game, but as the players become more experienced it will benefit from using Labyrinth Lord for additional material.

Finally! Your kids are ready to play. But can you handle their imaginations?

Lordling presents rules very similar to B/X, but uses 2d6 or 1d6 for resolution. The overall system is streamlined for kids, but with enough detail that it can also be used as a "beer & pretzels" RPG for adults or older kids.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

Friday, September 25, 2020

The Tavern is Looking for a Web Designer to Design The Tavern 3.0

I know that I've been talking about upgrading The Tavern for well over a year now, and its time for me to admit to myself that I lack the skills and the time to do so.  Hell, I'm far behind on every project at the moment - "knock on wood" I am working on the assumption that further hospitalizations are no longer a thing, and if they are a future thing, expanding The Tavern will ensure things continue smoothly even if I am unable to temporarily participate.

This is what I would like for the next / future version of The Tavern:

  • rotating header art
  • portability of the web address. currently registered with Google/GoDaddy.
  • the ability to host multiple blogs by multiple authors, each with their own feed
  • integrate Discord Chat into the website
  • add a forum
  • possibly a web store
  • further features the community may pitch, that are feasible and doable

Note: This is a PAID position for the initial design and a monthly stipend to keep things up and running smoothly. No, I am not made from money, nor do I print my own, but I do want to see people paid fairly for the work they do. Call me Old School.

Email me at tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom with Tavern 3.0 in the subject and we can discuss potential web hosts and other such details :)

Shit is becoming real :)

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 




Thursday, September 24, 2020

The Tavern is More Popular in the US than RPG.net - Thank You for the Support!

I was running some websites through the Alexa.com ranking system of web traffic. I was VERY surprised to see that in the US, The Tavern ranks higher than RPG.net (worldwide RPG.net places significantly higher)

The Tavern

RPG.net

I'd like to seriously thank each and every one of you for spreading the word about and supporting The Tavern. There are plans to expand on what you currently get, and with a little luck and a healthy streak, we should have something to show by the New Year. Wish us luck :)

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 


Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Humble Book Bundle: Dungeons & Dragons: R.A. Salvatore Showcase

When I was younger, the Cleric Quintet was one of my favorite fantasy series. That led to more Drizzt and R.A. Salvatore's rising star. If you missed the releases or don't want to pay "dead tree" prices, the Humble Book Bundle: Dungeons & Dragons: R.A. Salvatore Showcase is a bargain and then some.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Frog God Games - 50% off Sale on PDF - Swords & Wizardry Picks

There is just over a week left on the Frog God Games PDF Sale over at DriveThruRPG. While nearly everything for 5e, Pathfinder, Swords & Wizardry, and more are on sale, I'm going to highlight some Swords & Wizardry relevant picks (and one Pathfinder pick that is just a HUGE bargain)

Monstrosities - NOW 7.50 - Probably THEE monster book in the OSR, each entry has an adventure hook.

You can never have too many monsters, and this book is filled with them! No matter what kind of campaign, there are foes galore to stock its wildernesses and dungeons, even the unknown depths of its mysterious oceans. This is a compendium that contains the monsters from the rulebook and many monsters from the First Edition of the original roleplaying game, but there are hundreds and hundreds of completely new beasts. Note: this is a second printing of the original Swords & Wizardry monster book, updated with errata and hundreds of illustrations.

The largest compilation ever of monsters for Swords & Wizardry/0e. If you play the very first edition (0e) of the game, or if you play Swords & Wizardry at the gaming table, this book is a must-have! 186 brand new monsters await, along with hundreds of the older monsters so that they're all in one book.!

Monstrosities was created with the generous help of the Swords & Wizardry internet community, as you can see from the list of unusually brilliant authors whose erudition and eloquence grace these pages. The book’s successes are due to them, whilst any errors or failures in the transcription of their noble work are doubtless my own.

Tome of Adventure Design - NOW 6.30 - My go-to book for inspiration when I'm looking to design a new adventure.

A fantasy adventure game, at its very heart, is about developing an open-ended "story" of the characters. The referee is in charge of the fantasy world, and the players direct the actions of their characters in that fantasy world. Neither the referee nor the group of players has complete control over what's going to happen, and the result is an evolving set of surprises for both the referee and the players. Unlike the players, as the referee and creator of the game world, most of your "work" is done ahead of time. To some degree or other, you have to create the groundwork for the adventure before the game starts. Even though no battle plan survives contact with the enemy - and if you're an experienced referee you know exactly what I mean - the game has to start ... with a starting point. This might just be a vague set of ideas, or it might be as complex as a set of maps with a detailed key and well thought-out encounters for the players to run into.

The Tome of Adventure Design is organized as a series of "books," each one providing resources at every step of the way. The vast majority of the content of each book is made up of random generation tables that we created over a quarter of a century (sigh) for our own use. It shoud be said up front that these are tables for deep design - in other words, most of them are too long, and contain too many unusual or contradictory entries, for use on the spot at the gaming table. There are already many excellent books of tables for use on the fly; the tables in these books are different. They work best as a tool for preparation beforehand, providing relatively vast creative resources for browsing and gathering, rather than quick-use tables designed to provide broad, fast brushstrokes. Our shorter tables tend to d - eliver cryptic results designed to shock the reader's creativity into filling in the gaps, whereas the longer tables are unusably vast for easy random generation, being designed to shock the reader's creativity into operation by presenting a sea of possibilities.

The Lost City of Barakus - NOW - 10.00 - I had a blast running this for my old gaming group. So much fun.

The Lost City of Barakus, designed to take characters from 1st to 5th or 6th level (or higher), is as much of a campaign setting as an adventure. Detailed within these pages is the great, bustling metropolis of Endhome, the Penprie Forest and Duskmoon Hills located north of that city, and, finally, the huge dungeon that is the Lost City of Barakus. Within all these areas are many adventures, NPCs, and locations for the party to explore, interact with and conquer. How and in what order the party chooses to take on the various challenges before them is entirely yours (the GM’s) and the players’ choice.

Stoneheart Valley - NOW 8.00 - Three classic Necromancer era adventures make for a nice micro-setting and an excellent campaign kickoff.

Finally, welcome to the World of Necromancer Games! From Bill Webb and Clark Peterson's home campaign comes the old-school setting of The Lost Lands: Stoneheart Valley. For over a decade, fans of Necromancer Games and Frog God Games have been asking to see the world behind the adventures. And at long last, here is where it all began, in the Stoneheart Valley near the town of Fairhill. This mini-campaign was originally presented to the fans of Necromancer Games in three separate modules: "The Wizard's Amulet", "The Crucible of Freya", and "The Tomb of Abysthor". Frog God Games has taken the full series from the 3E version plus supplemental material previously available only online, and converted it all to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game system and the Swords & Wizardry Complete ruleset.

Razor Coast (PF) - NOW 3.00 - Yes, the Pathfinder version is far cheaper than the S&W version. My God but this was a fun read. Three bucks? Snag it!

Razor Coast is the long anticipated Caribe-Polynesian flavored, Age of Sail swashbuckling RPG campaign envisioned and designed by Nicolas Logue. It is applauded for its ambitious and original design, its epic flavor and its lurid, full-color art – including a cover by the award winning Wayne Reynolds. Logue tapped a team of veteran designers to help develop and write Razor Coast, including Lou Agresta, Adam Daigle, Tim Hitchcock, and John Ling.

“Razor Coast isn’t just an adventure,” according to Agresta, Razor Coast Project Manager, “it’s part setting, part adventure path, and part toolkit to build your own unique campaign. It’s non-linear. It’ll never play the same way twice.”

“We filled it with corrupt municipal Dragoons, dastardly smuggling rings, weresharks – lots of weresharks, desperate naval battles, oppressed tribes craving heroes, witches, cursed islands, legendary treasure troves, an impending apocalypse or two, demon pirates, retired assassins, undead worms, gator men, failed heroes waiting to be redeemed, dark conspiracies brewing in the oceans depths, vengeful ghosts…oh – and mutating cannibal pygmies. Who doesn’t like those?”

Bill Webb's Book of Dirty Tricks - NOW .75 - That's right, Bill Webb's Book of Dirty Tricks is a mere 75 cents. If you pick up nothing else, you should be grabbing this :)

This fun little tome is a GM utility for use during regular play when either too many good things happen to the players due to luck or just whenever the GM feels they need a little push to remind them that success is fleeting. 

Dirty tricks are intended to create great players. That is and should be the only reason a GM springs such things on them. It also has the effect of creating a great game, where even mundane tasks cannot be taken for granted, and boredom is rare.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 

Tenkar's Tavern is supported by various affiliate programs, including Amazon, RPGNow,
and Humble Bundle as well as Patreon. Your patronage is appreciated and helps keep the
lights on and the taps flowing. Your Humble Bartender, Tenkar

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