Old School RPG Planet

May 19, 2013

Tower of the ArchmageSunday Inspirational Image: Monastery

This looks like something you'd find deep in a dungeon...



Image Source: Monastery by By Iñaki Matilla

HeroPressJust Go With It...

The Zhodani BaseT5 Review

(Disclaimer: Jonathan Sherlock was both a beta tester and a kickstart backer.) Traveller 5th Edition (T5) is an ambitious reconstruction of Traveller. The central mechanic, the task system, combines the traditional “roll under a characteristic” of Classic Traveller with the … Continue reading

My RPG charactersThe ritual

One by one the seven men arrived to the house. They were received by an grim looking warforged that gave them a key. They were ordered to get into a side room, remove every possessions from themselves, which could be locked into one of the seven chests available, and to return wearing only a black hooded robe. Not one of them dared to contradict Sybian, the pole-armed automaton.

Each was led through a set of double doors into a bigger room. A bed covered in black silk sheets stood enclosed by a circle of also black candles, all lit, but their light was not enough to reveal the whole room. Ten feet from the candles were seven mahogany and leather seats forming a circle. A stool with a silver goblet containing an unknown beverage stood next to each seat.

One by one, in silence, they took their places. All kept their hoods up. No one spoke. No one dared to to look around or taste what was in the goblets. When the seven men were seated, they heard the doors being closed... and locked. The …

10 Bad HabitsUr Undone?

It’s been almost a year and a half since the Vaults of Ur game began and it’s now looking like it’s winding down. The core players mostly want a break to play other games, not to mention the one player … Continue reading

Dispatches From KickassistanMake It Happen

What are you doing right now, folks? 
Wouldn't you rather be gaming?

Make it happen.

So, there's this guy, +Jason Hobbs. More than anyone I've ever met, Jason wants to game all the damn time. It's pretty awesome. He wants to run games, he wants me to run games, he wants everyone to run games. And that's pretty damn awesome. And inspiring. 

Lately, my "gaming to thinking-about-gaming" quotient is way to far on the "thinking-about-gaming" side. That's not a cool thing. I skipped out on my EotE game two weeks in a row not because I had something else going on but because (week one) I forgot to set up the game and (week two) I was dead tired after having worked crazy early. Bad excuses and what's even worse, they're fucking excuses. I should never make excuses to not game, that's just ridiculous. 

My Saturday night S&W game is pretty erratic these days thanks to schedules being all wonky. I'm not really sure what's happening to my Wednesday night ACKS game (it might end up being bi-weekly, …

HeroPressThe Two Doctors...


Matt Smith and David Tennant chatting behind-the-scenes on the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special (coming on November 23).

Until I watched this I hadn't quite realised how much I miss David's Doctor. No disrespect to Matt - who I think is great as well, just has generally shoddy material to work with - but there really was something rather special about Tennant's joie de vivre.

I'll also stick to something I said at the time that I felt weighed enormously in his favour: he's a massive Doctor Who geek himself and that helped him bring extra character to the role.

Greyhawk GrognardOn Intelligent Magic Items

Even back in the very earliest days of my RPGing career, it never made all that much sense to me that the only sorts of magic items that could be intelligent were swords. Perhaps the most famous intelligent magic item in fantasy literature, The One Ring, bucked that particular restriction:
__________

The One Ring

Forged by the Dark Lord Sauron many centuries ago, the One Ring is filled with a portion of his malignant will. It has an INT of 17, an Ego of 17, and an alignment of Lawful Evil. It will make its wearer invisible whenever worn, and will also allow the wearer to dominate the will of any creature wearing one of the other 19 Rings of Power at any distance. It has a special purpose of reuniting itself with the Dark Lord Sauron and ruling the world.
__________

That said, the intelligent magic item is not otherwise unknown to fantasy literature, whether it is the Singing Harp from the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, the crown of the former king whose will allows him to dominate …

I SEE LEAD PEOPLEGeek Music Done WELL

While cruising YouTube I found a heavy vein of covers of music from various geeky sources such as the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and even Skyrim. Here are a few to get you started...














My RPG charactersWon a minor magic item

How? I won The Preakness 138 contest set up by +Erik Jensen! Had to name the first two horses across the line, winner/closest gets a minor magic item based on those horses' names. The contenders were: Orb, Goldencents, Titletown Five, Departing, Mylute, Oxbow, Will Take Charge, Govenor Charlie and Itsmyluckyday. I chose Oxbow because of the owners' colors (black and yellow) were the same of my favourite local soccer team, and Itsmyluckyday because I just felt lucky.

Being Gimli my main FLAILSNAILS character:

"Gimli stumbles across what seems to be a length of ribbon snagged on a tree; although wary for a trap of some sort, he plucks the adornment from the branch, and instinctively knows its magical worth.

The Oxbow Lucky-Day is a 16" length of supple, tanned ox-hide, just over an inch wide, decoratively forked at each end. When worn in the hair and tied in a bow, the Oxbow Lucky-Day provides its charm - the wearer's first saving throw each day is at +1. Should the wearer ever …

Blood of ProkopiusSaintly Saturday: St. David the Martyr of Georgia

Today is the feast of St. David the Martyr of Georgia, who was born to a noble Christian family. His father died when he was still young and his uncle, a pagan, seized all of the family’s possessions. The true heir, however, was St. David. Fearing this claim, the uncle first tried to win over his sister Tagine, David’s mother. This proved to be futile. Therefore, he tried to convince David and his brother Tarichan that he was now their father and that his was a better way than Christianity. Both refused, boldly declaring that were willing to endure anything for their Lord and their true Father in Heaven.

St. David’s uncle feared reprisals from the Christians, therefore he did not immediately kill his nephews. Rather, he plotted their murder in secret. Tagine, sensing danger, smuggled herself and her sons to lands in the south. There, they lived in hiding as shepherds for many years.

Spies, however, eventually discovered their whereabouts and St. David’s uncle ambushed them in the …

Paper Brain GamesSavage Worlds Character Build - The Fighter

One of the things I really like about Savage Worlds is how customizable the characters are. In both character creation and when advancing from experience point gain there are a range of options for you to choose from. But sometimes the sheer number of available options can be difficult for new players. Characters can end up lacking focus and I've seen some players become frustrated and want to

Worlds Galore1,510 and why I tend to keep my toys to myself...

So, I've been so busy on the work and home fronts that I haven't really had time to devote to much of anything. Since I feel like I need to be "in the zone" to get much setting writing done, I've balked on sitting down and chipping away at that. However, I have been building a master catalog of creatures (something I can sit down and work on a bit at a time and not worry about losing my focus).

May 18, 2013

HeroPressDoctor Who: The Name Of The Doctor


Aaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhhh! I wanted to hate The Name Of The Doctor - it was archetypal Moffat, all flash and bang, ridiculous deux ex machina use of time travel, a villain with no motivation and a story that could have been compressed into ten minutes.

But, on the other hand, we got the solution to the "mystery of Clara", we saw - albeit glimpses of - most of the previous Doctors (I particularly enjoyed seeing The First Doctor stealing The TARDIS - I wonder how many 'new Who' fans have ever thought what it looked like before it got stuck in the shape of a police box?) and then there was THAT final scene.

There's not really much else to say, really. It was a typical Moffat mess up until the final moments, even if it did tell us why Clara is the "impossible girl".

But outside of that it was pretty dire fare - there's a message, "the one place The Doctor should never go" has been discovered and he goes to investigate... or something.

Without giving too much away I will say that a major …

Tenkar's TavernThunder! Thunder! Thunderbird! (Swords & Wizardry Monster)

Art By Matt Bulahao
Thunder Bird


Hit Dice: 10 (45HP)
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Attacks: (3) 2 claw (1d8) and 1 Bite (2d6) or Special
Saving Throw: 9
Special: Can breath Lightning 1/day for 8d6 damage (save for half) as per Lighting Bolt spell. Immune to electrical damage.
Move: 6 / 24 (in air)
Alignment: Neutral
Number Encountered: 1-2
Challenge Level/XP: 11 / 1700

A large (8' from tail to beak) carnivorous bird, Thunder Birds hunt either solo or in pairs. They hunt for food, not for thrill, and will often seek out lone (scouting) individuals. If they are brought down to 1/3 of their starting hit points or less, they will seek to flee, in the hopes of hunting another day.

Tactics wise, they will attempt to swoop down on their target from up high, in the hopes of surprising and killing out right with their Lighting Breath. They often hunt during thunderstorms, using the weather as cover for their attack.

Swords & Stitchery - Old Time Sewing & Table Top Rpg BlogSon of The D30 Low Life and Galactic Scum Table For Your Old School Space Opera



Son of The  D30  Low Life and Galactic Scum Table
  1. An ancient astronaut infected with a parasite is seeking his apprentice to pass on his knowledge and the parasite to a worthy individual.  Actually the parasite wants to breed and needs some fool to do so. 
  2. A bald Tybarian slave trader is looking to unload a bunch of unwanted stock because some religious zealots want to roast him alive. 1d100 slaves are in the offering. Are you that fool?
  3. A green Artruicus puzzle maker is selling his shoddy wares and is looking for some fool to buy them. These psychic puzzles are capable of warping minds and sanity into the psychotic and gullible. 
  4. Gas Giant Miners looking for a "good time" with any sex of any species. Actually space pirates casing out a prospective mark to steal and use their ship. 
  5. Valicrtus ambassodor on a mission from his god. He's actually a human under that antique armor and a drug runner looking to expand his market. He's on the run from bounty hunters. 
  6. Adrenaline Trafficker looking …

B/X BlackrazorCheap-Ass DUNGEON!


[EDIT: I have written a retraction of some of the criticisms found in the following blog post...you might want to read them after reading this. Just FYI]

I don’t know which I loathe more…WotC, or myself for giving them money.

No, actually, I do know.

Yesterday, I picked up a copy of WotC’s re-release of the classic DUNGEON! board game…a classic D&D-light type board game that I have been playing (off-and-on) for over 30 years. A couple days, I posted about doing a retread…which is to say, creating a new set of cards for my existing game. And guess what? I’ve done it…but more on that later.

Made in China


I stopped by Gary’s last night to actually talk about card construction and buying some new pawns (neither assignment successful, by the way) and I asked about the new Dungeon! game, which they carried, and was amazed to find it was less than $20! “What…was it manufactured in China or something?”

Yes…yes it was.

We popped the top and looked at the goods, and it ISpretty cheap …

B/X BlackrazorApologies to WotC


When I posted yesterday about the new release of Dungeon! I had more than a few unkind words to say about WotC's re-release of the classic board game. I need to retract a few of those words.

First off, regarding construction: I was incorrect earlier when I said the cards of the new game were smaller and flimsier than those of the original. A side-by-side comparison shows they are exactly the same size, and the thickness extremely comparable (it's difficult to tell for sure because of the slick/laminated surface of the new cards...but slickness does not automatically equal "flimsy").

The board of the new game is quite a bit larger, and while the construction doesn't appear to be as durable (to my eyes and touch) as the original, it is quite sturdy and should hold up to plenty of handling. In addition, the SIZE of the board should facilitate play with larger numbers of players, which is a good thing in a game that does well with more than two or three players. The addition of the random …

Playing D&D With Porn StarsComic Book Guy's Razor


Comic Book Guy's Razor Principle

The most insulting possibly explanation is rarely the correct one, but it's the first one you'll hear on the internet.



Self-Loathing Academic Anecdote Corollary (SLAAC) 

...when the evidence for applying the Razor is: "I know because I totally would've totally done the same thing, too, until I, like, grew up, man."


Forgot A Condom Sub-corollary (FACS)

...as SLAAC above, when the evidence of having grown up is that the speaker owns or jizzed in a snatch that produced a human infant.
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Tenkar's TavernThe High Price of Success: Reaper Bones Kickstarter


For some strange reason, most probably naivety on my part, I thought that the Reaper Bones Kickstarter whole point was to add the capability of Reaper to produce Bones (plastic) miniatures in large numbers. What I didn't realize is that the purpose was for a second company in China to produce the miniatures for Reaper. This, apparently adds about 5 weeks to the shipping process, and makes Reaper subject to whatever delays the mysterious secondary company might suffer.

I probably should be surprised, just about everything is made in China these days.

So yeah, this Kickstarter is either shipped or not shipped, depending on whether you had add-ons to your order or not.

I'm in the "not shipped" category.

As of May 14th, this was the latest:

We are currently waiting on only 4 more shipments (Containers) from China, the last of which should be leaving China about one week from today!
It normally takes 3-6 weeks from ship date to arrive at our dock, with 5 weeks being the Average. 
As things …

The Nine and Thirty KingdomsCrossing a Rope Bridge

Benoist posted a "ruling challenge" for AD&D1e on The RPG Site. I posted my answer there, but I thought I'd preserve the OD&D version here.

The Scenario: Crossing a rope bridge covered with slime. The waters below the bridge swirl with the movements of an unknown monster.

The Basic Rule: Use the chance of falling into a pit trap (1/3rd chance, or 5+ on 1d6.) There's no roll if the character is moving safely (not in combat or trying some stunt, moving slowly.) Max safe movement is based on Dex:
High Dex (13+): Move 12
Average Dex (9-12): Move 6
All Others: Move 3
There's always a roll if Move is 13+ or if the character tries something else while moving.

Modifiers to the 5+ Target Number:
Cursed, Ill, Lame, etc.: -1
Counteract Slipperiness (Destroy Water, etc.): +1
PC Takes Measures That Favor Strength, Int, etc.: +1 for ability 13+
To make use of high ability scores, players can explain their plan; if it seems reasonable, they get the bonus.

Cauldrons & Clerics100 Pseudo-magical Tomes for Your Game

I've culled and collated a list of more-or-less silly ideas for pseudo-magical tomes - updated to 100 items with great help and motivation from the G+ OSR Community (looking at Grey Knight, Chris Tamm, Keith J Davies and Noah Stevens in particular. Fellow contributors: if there's some particular link you want associated with your name, let me know. In lieu of other information, I've simply added any active blog I could find to yer naem. :))


  1. Teobaldik's Necrologicon – a book on the theory of necromancy.
  2. The Voerrecian Interpretations of the Ancestors – a book on necromancy.
  3. Childred's Vivifective Sourcebook – a book on reanimating the dead.
  4. Forma Pelluriana – a book on shape shifting.
  5. Philip's Draconiforma – a book on shape shifting with an emphasis on dragons.
  6. Miscellania Pyrologica – a book on miscellaneous fire magics.
  7. Onin's Elementary Pyrotechnics – a book on explosive and elemental spells.
  8. Anthologia Cryomantica – a book on ice spells and weather forecasting in winter.
  9. Nevan's …

Roles, Rules, and RollsSt. Amaro's Western Adventure

While researching my folk saints I came across a most intriguing real-world figure, the legendary, uncanonized Santo Amaro.

This blessed wanderer set sail from the land of Alia, "whose cities now lie in ruins," searching for the terrestrial Paradise, convinced it lay across the oceans - he is assumed to have sailed west, although the direction of travel is not always clear from the manuscripts. He gathered a crew (could YOUR PARTY be that crew?) and set forth into uncharted waters, guided only by faith.

The Spanish texts of his adventures (available here, at the end of the monograph) bear a certain resemblance to themes in pagan Celtic literature of the journey across the western ocean to the Otherworld (imramm) and to the similar legend of St. Brendan the Navigator from Irish Christendom. C.S. Lewis (who was Northern Irish) may indeed have drawn on these tales of curious islands, moral lessons and marine perils for his Narnia book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Amaro's …

Jasoomian DreamsGADGETs


GADGET skill is used to determine the nature and power of rare inventions, religious relics, magical items or alien artifacts.  Although a DC 10 appraise check will recognize a gadget as special, it takes a gadget skill throw to determine the nature and usage of a gadget ; .i.e., 'this is a staff of lightning, or ‘looks like a lucky rabbit’s foot to me.’   Time required is one xat for portable equipment such as weapons and jewelry, while it could take days to understand a complex item such as a spaceship or a robotic spaceship.  If the character fails the initial relic skill throw, he can either consult a sage, or he can travel to a grand (10,000+ gc) library and after one week of study, then he may try again with +4 bonus.  

 

On the skill die roll, A natural ‘2’ implies the item is broken or damaged, while a natural ‘1’ usually means that someone is going to get hurt!    All gadgets are assigned a difficulty class which measures the complexity involved in deploying and understanding the …

The Wizard's ChestMonsters of the Northern Realms


I enjoy "the grizzlied northern shores" as a playspace. It reminds me of the places I have lived in my own life. It reminds me of other things that I like, such as Winterfell and thinking about what the ride between Winterfell and Castle Black must be like.

So, here are three new monsters to drop into "the northern realms" of your game world. In creating these monsters, to be honest, I have simply borrowed the stats and abilities of some other, published monster and then slightly tweaked them, but again, I love that about this game...that is how monsters are supposed to be made.


ICE OWL
Nothing in the initial appearance of an Ice Owl distinguishes it from any number of other, non-predatory species of owl that are regularly found in high densities throughout the various regions of the northern realms, a fact an Ice Owl will routinely rely upon in attempting to gain an initial advantage in combat. First-hand observers of these beasts claim that an Ice Owl engaged in combat will endeavor …

Sea of Star RPG Design JournalReview – Ley Lines for Pathfinder

If you have considered adding ley lines, or similar magical phenomenon, to your Pathfinder world this product should be a useful resource.  Not perfect by any means, but a good starting point for thinking about such magics in a world. Ley Lines is a Pathfinder source book from Scorched Urf’ studios detailing ley lines, that […]

((nil) is (not(null)))Vancian Swords

The origins of these accursed swords are shrouded in mystery. Both long swords and short swords appear in historical accounts, all of them very cleverly made to give the appearance of being powerful elven weapons.

Clerics or magic-users who pick up a Vancian Sword suffer 1d6 of electricity damage per round until they let go. These characters will also get the distinct impression that a sweet elven voice whispers to them about sharing "their gift" with a powerful fighter or thief.

Fighters or thieves who pick up a Vancian Sword must save versus spells or be stricken by the curse. Those who make the save suffer 2d6 of ice damage per round until they let go. These characters will also hear an angry elven voice chide them about not being worthy of "the gift" the sword has to offer. Those who fail their saving throw will hear a sadistic voice, decidedly human in character, laugh and cackle diabolically. Despite feeling ashamed and insecure when they hear the laugh, these characters will be …

Gothridge ManorAdventure Boilerplate

A few days, weeks ago, I can't remember, I purposed a boilerplate to bolt onto an adventure to give a quick summary of the adventure without wasting precious space in the introduction.  How many times do we need to read, this is this level for this many player and it is suggested...and please change anything you wish.  I'm not putting it down, its vital information, but I wanted to make a simple referral box that would provide all that information at a glance.  All I do is bolt that onto the front of the adventure and I can get on with getting on. 

There are plenty more lines you could add, but I don't want it to become a 3.5 stat block.  Just a simple, zip zip look and done.  I'm not sure if it helps or if it will speed things up, but I'm giving it a try in a few of the adventures I'm working on. 

Some quick notes about the stats.  I think the first four are explanatory.  You could have multiple settings.  Like for the adventure in the next Manor there are three settings. 

Difficulty …

The Other Side blogCodex Celtarium / Troll Lord Swag

I got my box of Troll Lord goodness today including the Codex Celtarum.


The timing is perfect since I have a bunch of things I want to do with C&C.  So look forward to some reviews this week.

Elfmaids & OctopiFor Your Evil Eyes Only: Magical Tears

Recent piece of michael d's art - more: michaldutkiewicz.com

Talking to a medical friend about tears having hormones depending on person and mood state. I thought about the tears of clowns then unicorn and vamp tears and then this...

type of tear table
eye drops (1d10 doses) hard to apply in combat or in danger or may ruin all
salve (1d6 doses) rubbed on thing 1d3 rounds hard to apply in danger may drop or lose all
inhalant (1d4 doses) inhale one round immediate effect, in a tiny tin like a snuff box
crystal (permanant) often mounted in jewelery, staff, headress, ring or contacts for visual powers
potion (1d3 doses) drink, last one 10 minute turn

1 Chaos Jester Tears - inhalant, possessed by crazy clown trickster godling for 10 minutes
2 Paladin Tears - inhalant, 1d12 rounds, makes fearless and acts as protection from evil and chaos
3 Unicorn Tears - eye drops, heals 3d10 damage, shed all dirt and filth
4 Ogre Tears - eye drops, one hour, see STR and relative HP of any being (spot …

Tower of ZenopusSuper Saturday: The Iron Man Movies



Since 3 has been out for a few weeks I thought I would go ahead and indulge myself with a  recounting of why I love these movies so much. You really need to see all 3 before reading this as I'm not going spoiler free here.I will issue a "Shameless Gushing Alert" though. You have been warned.

There are 3 comic book boxes in my house:
  • One is a grab-bag of stuff I've had forever, mostly Marvel, from Secret Wars to some Spider-Man to a bunch of X-Men I was sent by mistake in an Ebay deal. I have them mostly because I've had them.
  • One is a bunch of Avengers, including a nearly complete run of West Coast Avengers, which I really liked for a while, and its successor, Force Works
  • The most-packed is a box of Iron Man, from around issue 100 up to a little over 300, almost complete, and also a nearly full run of War Machine's first solo series.
Iron Man was my favorite from about the time I discovered him (in the single digits) onward. I liked plenty of other super hero types but he was a lesser-k …

The Wizard's Chest8 Random Poisons and Effects

One of the things that I like most about the game is the ability to delve into particular niches of the game, creating tables and rules, etc. to specifically populate that niche. This is a quick table that I prepared that outlines some fairly commonly poisonous agents that are regularly found in nature (if not always easily).

Roll 1d8 to select a pair of entries (e.g. ingesting Roasted Onion Seeds will cause nausea, dizziness, and immobility). If you are looking for a bit more variety, roll 1d8 twice - once to generate a name of the poison, and a second time to attach an effect to that poison (e.g. a roll of 6 and 2 means that Sugargrass Root may be used as a poison that causes a -2 to be applied to all saving throws made by the victim for 1d8 days).


1d8 Name of Poison Effect
1 Tears of Anasthia Loss of 50% of STR for 1d6 days
2 Shadowbane Petals -2 to all saving throws for 1d8 days
3 Wrackjaw Pollen Blindness for 2d10 hours
4 Shimmerweed Stalks Loss of 1d6 of DEX for 1d4 days
5

. . lapsus calumni . .blah....

These last two or three weeks of work have really killed me. Must have really burnt me out completely:

I saw Iron Man 3 last night, eh, it was ok.

I got on G+, and no offense to anyone out there, but I didn't give a crap. Nothing hit my sweet spot.

I opened up an PDF on my iPad. Nope nothing there interests me either.

A book? Nope, nothing there either.

Maybe I will write something. Opened up Writer....nope nothing there either.

A map! Surely that will do it, I love maps.    Alas, poor Horatio, nothing there either...



What heck?

I am bored with the world......

Green Skeleton Gaming GuildSimian Saturday

Hope everyone is having a great Simian Saturday!
Here is some more amazing Gorilla art by Marco-Itri

Carjacked SeraphimTrust in Gaming

I was digging through some stuff on my computer and I found a link to an old PBWorks site that I was using over 5 YEARS AGO to document my thoughts and ideas about gaming.

It was still active (Wow!) so I logged in and found this article.  I present it as a "blast from the past".  Unedited by my current thoughts and sensibilities.  Let's see how it holds up...


Trust in Gaming


Why?

Two reasons.

One, its the right thing to do. When your friends come over to your house, they want to have fun. They don't want to take part in something that isn't enjoyable. If they wanted to do that, they'd go to work or mow the lawn. A game that doesn't follow these tenets just isn't fun.

Two, I dislike rules heavy games (AD&D 3.5 I'm looking at you!) and so I run my games fast and loose. Right or wrong, I like to think of my RPG sessions as a type of freeform jazz -- we start off in a direction and then we roll with it. I build a lot of randomness and freedom into the game. Anyway, when you …

Spes Magna GamesOn-the-Fly Gaming

This past week hasn’t been a good week for getting game stuff done. I was out of town much of the week visiting Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins, Colorado. Their mission, philosophy, et cetera, are very similar to ours where I teach in Katy, Texas, so my school sent me and two other teachers [...]

Greyhawk GrognardBestiary update: 2 weeks to go, let's get it to 300 pictures

Hey all! Just wanted to note that today marks the two week mark before the end of the Kickstarter campaign for the Bestiary. Right now we're only about $500 away from getting one third of all the monsters illustrated. If you haven't done so already, I'd really encourage you to back the book. The 900 monsters are already a given -- the book itself is already written -- now we're going for illustrations, and the more pictures we get, the more a thing of beauty the book will become.

900 monsters in one book. Almost all of the monsters from the original three monster books (or creatures that can be used in their place). How can you go wrong?

Terre TormentateRenegade Corruption

Renegade Corruption della Thistle Games è il retroclone gratuito del momento: se ne parla per esempio qui e qui. Potete scaricarlo gratis da qui, con un account DriveThruRPG, o se preferite da qui con il vostro account di Facebook, cliccando sul ‘Like’. Si tratta di un pdf di ben 400 pagine, il cui contenuto sembra […]

No Signal!PbP? (Again)!

Howdy! I've been away mostly over at G+ land since its usually less finicky on mobile devices which seems to be my primary mode of Internet usage.

I'd like to get some Vanthian related gaming going, so here's an invite I posted at the EC community page on G+:


So, would any here be interested in a PbP game of Encounter Risical? I believe the format of Risus would work pretty well in PbP, and its practically the official alternate game system of Vanth!

Any players from my old EC/Lab Lord PbP experiment that are welcome to convert their old PCs to Risus!

I have no idea where I would host the game yet, but chime in if you're interested.


For more info here's the Obsidian Portal page for an older EC Risus game that was run by Risus Monkey a while back (I think)..
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/encounter-risical/wikis/main-page

d20 Dark AgesSoundtrack Saturday: Diablo II



The Diablo II video game soundtrack, by Matt Uelman is pretty much a staple at my gaming table. Why? Because, unlike most movie soundtracks, you can play this music in the background without a problem. Most movie soundtracks are cued for dramatic purposes, but this soundtrack meant for easy listening while playing a video game. There's few ups and down, sudden bursts of music, or anything like that. Which is perfect to play at the gaming table for your dungeon or horror-themed RPG. 
Just listen to it. 
The only downside is that the physical copy of this soundtrack can be hard to find now, given its popularity. You can find it on iTunes. And there's a 15 year anniversary version available that contains must from the original Diablo video game. 
Oddly enough, the Diablo 3 soundtrack isn't as good. I'm not sure why. Maybe they were trying too hard to surpass the second game. It just doesn't have the same appeal. 
Anyway, here's a few selections from Diablo 2.











HeroPressMega-City Mail Call...


Nothing turns a frown upside-down faster than a nice parcel in the post - and you'd have to go a long way to beat a personalised Judge's badge, fresh off the streets of Mega-City One, courtesy of the talented people at Planet Replicas.


As (a slightly bewildered) Rachel said: "That'll probably come in useful when you're fighting crime!"

It's something I've always desired, but to find a place that does it and to have the means, at present, to afford one, it was too good an opportunity for this geek to pass up.

I also think we can attribute the recent wave of high-calibre Judge Dredd fan films to the superb craftsmanship of the Planet Replicas' team (a complete bespoke Judge's uniform for two grand, anyone?).

Here's another extra from that brilliant Judge Minty movie - a stunning selection of scenes showing a variety of before/after effects shots:

The Nine and Thirty KingdomsThe 15-Minute Workday as Good Strategy

I've been reading yet another thread about The 15-Minute Workday. There are three canonical examples of The 15-Minute Workday:
  1. Going Nova: Blowing every spell you have in a single encounter, then demanding that the party rest.
  2. Camping: Running low on resources and deciding to rest for eight hours.
  3. Short Expeditions: Returning to town to restock after just a couple hours of exploration.
Thing is, in discussions about The 15-Minute Workday between old school and new school players, the latter think of #3 as a problem, but the old schoolers don't. You just don't see going nova or camping as viable strategies in a dungeon crawl being run along old school principles, even if it's a common enough problem in new school play. In contrast, returning to home base frequently is seen as normal behavior, so old school people don't get why The 15-Minute Workday is a big issue.

I've never seen anyone "go nova". I've only seen one instance of camping. Ran a friend through a Fantasy Trip dungeon on …

Mutants and MagicSome Drarrings

Blentry, for Petty Gods


Skaal, for Petty Gods

A Necromentor

A lock pick spider
A few things I've worked on recently. I'm happy to say I am having fun drawing again.
Brushing out the cobwebs from the old brain and getting back into the habit of drawing everyday is very satisfying.

A character for every game » Maps[Adventure] Exploring Cavanaugh’s Hall

I originally posted Cavanaugh’s Hall to the blog in the beginning of April. Now let’s join together to explore it! …

Continue reading »

The Other Side blogZatannurday: Happy Birthday Gardner Fox

I have been meaning to do this every year and I forget.  So here I am this year finally remembering!

May 20th is the Birthday of Gardner Fox, the man that created Zatanna.  It is also, according to the 1978 DC Calendar, the birthday of Zatanna herself!





http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/5677896286/zeebirthday
http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/23412636790/520bd

By Mike Kevan

By Becca Rocks


So happy birthday Gardner Fox (and Zatanna)!

MF WARSHow to Make a D&D Cavern Pit

From last month on Ben's RPG Pile, "It's part two of our Pyramid of Shadows Entrance Pit module encounter. Ben shows you how he made the the cavern floors, walls, monsters and other gameplay effects with this new set of D&D terrain." Enjoy!


Creative Mountain GamesThe Dungeon Bastard Coaching Session

The Dungeon Bastard uses a Google+ Hangout to coach Edda the Barbarian in her efforts to properly rage. Enjoy!


NecropraxisPurple Acid Blast

Spell, Magic-User 2 Open an extradimensional rift to the acid seas of Erankzix. This causes a blast of violet, sparkling acid. If targetting a single creature directly, this does 3d6 damage, save for half. The 3 dice may also be distributed between several clustered targets (for example, two dice to one target, one die to [...]

Between Are the DoorsInto Devilmount!

Last night I had a couple friends over, they ran 2 characters each, and the understrength party took on the challenges of Devilmount. After being sealed for 200 years, the doors to Devilmount just… drifted open. The government is worried. … Continue reading

MiddenmurkAlchemy

So, alchemy was a peculiar pursuit wherein the transformation of materials through processes we now think of as chemical reactions were in some way representative of, or a means of inducing, a parallel series of transformations in the human being conducting the experiments. At least that is my understanding of it. I have this rather sumptuously comprehensive Taschen tome called Alchemy and Mysticism (by Alexander Roob) wherein there are hundreds of utterly arcane illustrations including many where the processes of sublimation and calcination and putrefaction and the stages of rubedo, albedo and nigredo and the actions of sulphur and quicksilver and Sal Ammoniac and a bewildering plethora of other things are represented, bizarrely, by green lions swallowing the sun and burning herons and drowning kings and a menagerie of symbolic strangenesses. This is terribly funky and simultaneously very different from contemporary fantasy.







I am consistently disillusioned by contemporary fantasy, …

Delta's D&D HotspotSciFi Saturday – Ship Index Cards

For my Star Frontiers: Knight Hawks games, I've recently switched from keeping ship records on the Boardgame Ship Rosters included with the game (4-ships each on a letter-sized page) to using 3×5" index cards for each individual ship. Here are some of the advantages:
  1. Not locked in sets to specific scenarios (easier to re-use).
  2. Can be pre-filled with printable stats (no more handwriting).
  3. Full text is informative to new players (not abbreviated).
  4. Good for ad-hoc point-buy games (more on this later).

Below you'll see an image of the digital index card rosters I made, based on the original Boardgame Ship Roster format. Click here for a PDF version (including both blank cards, plus a page prefilled with each ship type in the basic game). Click here for an ODS spreadsheet (so you can copy, modify, and fill out your own stats).


With the PDF document linked above, you can print & cut out as many of each ship type as you expect to use in any game (I recommend stiff cover stock paper). Note …

Playing D&D With Porn StarsTerrain, Weird Sharks, & A Homemade Tank





Somebody asked so here's some of our homemade Warhammer 40k terrain. The picture will get pretty big if you click it.

It's made of random plastic stuff, hamster toys, military model kits, whatever was lying around.

I took a bunch of cameraphone pictures of it, to draw sci fi stuff from
I posted this yesterday but I'm posting it here for scale and so you can see how it's kinda fallen apart
This I didn't make: God did. It's called Helicoprion.


It either went extinct 250 million years or ago or never existed and isn't an exceptionally well-constructed internet hoax.

As you can see, nobody's quite sure what it looked like.

...though they are all sure it was fucked.
Speaking of fucked sharks, God also made this: it's a goblin shark

What exactly were you thinking, God?

It is indeed a lonely creature, being the only remaining representative of the Mitsukurinidae family. That's right: these things are still around.
This tank was made by Syrians.

They control it like this. The world is weird.



HeroPressLadies & Gentlemen, Ignorance Is Bliss...


After weeks of bitching and moaning about declining hits on the site I discovered a quick and simple solution to overcoming this problem: I removed the widget that was supposedly counting hits!

I actually did this a couple of weeks ago on a day when I checked my hit count and the widget told me NO ONE had visited HeroPress for three days! It was at that point I realised the counter clearly wasn't working properly (as I'd had comments and I knew from Blogger that people were visiting the site).

So now I've entered a new state of blissful ignorance where I no longer care about hits - which is as it should be - and I'm back to writing - and posting - what I want to read and watch.

And it seems to be working as I've managed to attract some new recruits this week to our big adventure. So please join me in a rambunctious roundelay to welcome:

  • Ryan B of Critical Grumble (a brilliantly-named RPG blog that describes itself as "frothings of a new-school player wishing he was born in time for …

HeroPressStar Trek: Deception...


Star Trek: Deception is a short Kickstarter-funded eight-minute fan film which follows two Starfleet officers aboard a Danube Class Runabout, transporting a Klingon prisoner to a detention centre. On the way they are ambushed by a Klingon Bird of Prey that has been lying in wait.

Hack & SlashOn the Effects of Magic, 2nd level Wizard

DKZ

The magical energies contained in the brain could cause side effects. When the wizard acts as a conduit there are risks. As these are second level side-effects, the results should be minor. But higher levels of spells could certainly have more powerful or more far reaching side effects.

This makes wizards somewhat more unique based on the spells they know and can prepare. It also can make them more useful or somewhat of a liability.

Here is a listing of those side effects:


  • Audible Glamer: When the wizard walks, his footsteps echo, when he talks, his voice reverberates. This is somewhat intimidating
  • Continual Light: The caster radiates light enough to illuminate his space
  • Darkness 15' Radius: The caster's eyes turn solid pitch black, and he can see twice as far in low light conditions
  • Detect Evil: An orange flame appears above your head. Anyone who's aura you check shows you and any other magically aware observers a blue flame (if evil) or orange (if good). This is in addition …

Zenopus ArchivesDungeon! Inventory


After playing Dungeon again tonight for the umpteenth time, I finally got around to checking my set (the 1981 revision) versus the inventory list found on Boardgame Geek. As it turns out, I'm missing just a few treasure cards, and no unique ones.

I was also interested in the numbers from a design perspective, since I am toying around with making an alternate board to use with the game for some variety. So using inventory lists I made a summary of the numbers of Monsters, Treasures & Rooms/Chambers in the original (1975) and first revision (1980/1981) of the Dungeon Boardgame. See above.

The first four columns list the number of Monster & Treasure cards for each level. As you can see, the number of Treasure cards exactly matches the number of Rooms on each level, and this was not changed in the revision. In contrast, the number of Monster Cards were drastically reduced in the 1981 revision. This is due to a difference in how the cards are used in the game. In the original version, …

EdOWar's BlogStar Trek Into Darkness

Saw the latest Star Trek movie tonight and must say that it is a very fine film.  Benedict Cumberbatch makes an excellent villain (and I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, so I won’t say who).  Lots of shooting and action (like most of the Star Trek movies).  Special effects […]

Tenkar's TavernMeaganbrand's Axe of Giant Slaying (Swords & Wizardry Magic Weapon)

Meaganbrand's Axe of Giant Slaying 

Meaganbrand's Axe of Giant Slaying is a normal + 1 Battle Axe with the following special ability:

Upon rolling an "8" on the 1d8 for damage upon a successful hit, an additional 1d8 is rolled and added to the first 8 points of damage. This is done until the wielder no longer rolls an 8.
The + 1 magical bonus to damage and any strength bonus if aplicable is added to the title from any dice rolls at the end. (think "exploding dice")

For example: Tenkar hits an Ogre with Meaganbrand's Axe of Giant Slaying. He rolls an 8 on the 1d8 for damage, so he rolls again. He rolls another 8 and rolls again, rolling a 5. His total damage is 8 + 8 + 5 + 1 = 24 points of damage plus any bonus from Strength.

Note: The axe is named for a previous wielder who slew a Hill Giant with a single blow. It has no special powers against giants or giant kind.

Side Note: As a DM, I like magic items that players and their characters want to retain even after they've "outgrown them". …

Dorkland!Whitebox Classes: The Timelord

Every culture on every world throughout time and space have their own myths and legends about the Timelords. Many of these stories hold truths, but as often as not the myths do not tell the whole story. The first species to become "time active" (i.e. be able to move through time and understand its workings) were the people of the planet Gallifrey. Those who use the powers of time, and space,

Dorkland!Dorkland! Roundtable with C.A. Suleiman

I spoke with White Wolf Developer/Designer C.A. Suleiman on the Dorkland! Roundtable. We talked about his time in the gaming business, working for companies like Wizards of the Coast and Green Ronin on projects like Eberron and Hamunaptra. We talked about his recent work for White Wolf on the Mummy RPG as well as his music.

Zenopus ArchivesGreen Grabber - New Monster

Holmes Basic (and OD&D in general) is short on monstrous plants, despite having a Ring of Plant Control. The ring will affect plants or fungi, but the only monsters in this category in the Monster List are Shriekers and Yellow Mold, both fungi. Dr. Holmes' FRPG book (1981) has a beginner's sample dungeon (The Eye of Arzaz) with a few new low level monsters in it, including "Tentacles" and "Flower Stalks" hiding in adjacent rooms. Due to the similarity of these two creatures, here I've combined them into one new plant monster for Holmes Basic.


Green Grabber

Move: 5 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 1 HD per tentacle
Armor Class: 9
Treasure Type: M x 3
Attacks: 3 tentacles
Damage: 0 (see below)

These dungeon-dwellers are actually carnivorous plants distantly related to bladderwort. Adapted to life in the dark, they lurk in pits, chimneys, closets and other small spaces, reaching silently for passersby with three thirty-foot-long tentacles (surprise on 1-4 in 6). Each tentacle attacks …

Shouting Into The VoidBugle Doodle - Elephantipuppy

I doodled this guy while listening to this week's edition of The Bugle (the greatest podcast in the universe).

I haven't really decided yet whetehr it's huge and imposing or small and inoffensive. I'm leaning towards small because of its puppyish quality, but then a huge puppy could be amazingly destructive in a playful sort of way.

Fear No DarknessBeyond The Wall (and other adventures) RPG

have you guys discovered this little nugget of an rpg? no? well, it's available here for only 8 bucks! i don't really know much about the creators - but they have created a nice little OSR game here.  it's a le guin/alexander inspired version of D&D and it is currently tickling my fancy.  i fully intend on pillaging some of it for my upcoming SWORDS & WIZARDRY WHITEBOX campaign. the stuff in here can also be used with minimum effort for basically any OSR game.

so what has me so excited? why should you really care about yet another clone-esque OSR offering? well, for one - the playbooks.

i plan on ignoring the stat bonuses.

the classes have a few playbooks each; think of them as templates or background generators for each character.  included with the core bundle we have: the untested thief, the young woodsman, the would-be knight, the self-taught mage, the village hero, and the witch's apprentice. each playbook has a bunch of random background tables that players can roll on after they …

Purple Sorcerer Games NewsGreetings from the Grotto

Wow, past the middle of May already? Good grief time sails. The draft of A Gathering of the Marked is complete, and I’m doing the ‘post-final-playtest’ re-write to touch everything up before sending it off for final proofing. It’s taken … Continue reading

The Ultimate JoshaRPG Review: the One Ring

The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild is a tabletop roleplaying game set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth. It takes place in the Laketown and Mirkwood area, some five years after the events of The Hobbit. After the defeat of Smaug and The Battle of Five Armies, civilization is being rebuilt and new frontiers are being explored. The players take on the roles of wandering adventurers and mercenaries, doing such things as scouting out new areas, retrieving ancient artifacts, and fighting the monsters of the wilderness.

The first thing that struck me about the game is the beautiful presentation. The art, by the esteemed Jon Hodgson, fits the setting perfectly and is pleasing to the eye. The only person who I think could possibly have done better is Justin Gerard.

The writing lives up to the high standard set my the art. It provides plenty of information and creates a sense of setting without being overly long-winded or heavy on exposition. It has a healthy respect for …

May 17, 2013

Tenkar's TavernDwimmermount Update 53 - Scaling the Mountain (and Adventuring Dark & Deep in the Domains of War ;)

What's the status of the Dwimmermount project?


We are making the final approach to the mountaintop. We've:

-sent the drafts, discount codes, and sample layout to backers by individual email
-taken stock of the Dwimmermount material, including drafts, illustrations, maps, and Grognardia posts assembled our team for the remaining stages of editing, development, and layout
-pinned down our best options for printing and the timeline required
-gained play experience with prototypes of the mega-dungeon tracker and vinyl wilderness map
-received further design input and assistance from James Maliszewski
-made some conceptual breakthroughs into how to publish a mega-dungeon
-set up an internal schedule of conference calls and deadlines

We are on track to have the Labyrinth Lord version of Dwimmermount available for backers to pick up at Gen Con this summer and the Adventurer Conqueror King System version in time for this year's holiday season. With the support of our backers and a lot of …

Raven Crowking's NestMathoms

Related to this post, I have been thinking about what to create for my birthday "mathoms".  

This is what I've come up with.  

Please note that the cut-off date for posting is now July 1st in order to determine the number of participants, but August 3rd in order to determine if you get something.  This is just to give me adequate time to prep materials.

Note also that, unless someone volunteers to help with maps and art, you are stuck with what I can do myself.  Which isn't complete suckage, but isn't completely great either.


Under 10 participants:  Patron:  Hizzzgrad, the Daemonic Lord of Crawling Things  (This is our current level)

10 - 25 participants:  Add patron:  Yallafial, Queen of the Birds

26 - 50 participants:  Add adventure:  The August Sun

51+ participants:  Add adventure:  Under the Moons of Zados



Lost in TimeMagic World, Mu and Tékumel too

In the seventeen years from 1994 to 2011, I did almost no gaming. (If memory serves, I DM’d three sessions of D&D and played in one.) However, I did plenty of writing – mostly for AD&D 2e, Call of Cthulhu and Skyrealms of Jorune. I filled several ring binders with maps and notes for campaigns […]

A Paladin In CitadelAppendix N: January 2013

Martin Brown of Grognard Games has recently published two videos on his Youtube channel, the first introducing himself and his mission, and a second providing a very brief introduction to "Appendix N". 
 
For the uninitiated, Appendix N is one of several appendices in the original Dungeon Masters Guide: that particular appendix provides a list of inspirational and educational  fantasy authors and editors.  Every serious gamer should read the books listed in that appendix, in order to develop a basic appreciation for the history and underpinnings of Dungeons and Dragons.
 
My personal Appendix N, below, is substantially augmented compared to the DMG version, but you can find the original Appendix N here.
 
In terms of where to start, Gary Gygax himself provides some good advice:
 
"The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably L. Sprague deCamp & Fletcher Pratt, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H.P. Lovecraft, and Abraham Merritt...."
 

I continue to augment my own Appendix …

GorgonmilkUnder the Radar: RENEGADE:CORRUPTION

No one talks about RENEGADE: CORRUPTION. But why, says I?


According to my not-too-intensive research, the original version of this game -- called RENEGADE -- is an almost exact clone of OD&D. THIS BOOK -- which many readers of Gorgonmilk will like very much -- is all that plus a lot of original concepts sewn in by the author, David Morrison (even his name sounds cool). And as a fan of graphic design and layout stylin' I wholeheartedly give Renegade: Corruption's sleek, unadorned look a giant, meaty thumbs up [as a rating system it's still in its infancy, apologies.] Did I mention it's 400+ pages? And there are Sugar Cubes (think Geli Cubes made of pure, pasty sugar slop)!

Formatted for tablets. Yet I think it will do nicely as a series of pamphlets.

Also: It's FREE.


In Like FlynnEnemies of Samardan: Raganu Pekadevi Rekatur, the Lord-Emperor of Torkobalem...

Good Afternoon, All:

Now that the Supreme Enemy of the World of Samardan campaign setting has been established, it is time to determine the two Major Enemies that will plague our protagonists once we start using the setting. The first and most obvious Major Enemy should be Torkobalem, City-State of Crystals, and more specifically, Raganu Pekadevi Rekatur, the Lord-Emperor of Torkobalem.

Raganu Pekadevi Rekatur, the Lord-Emperor of Torkobalem

History: Raganu Pekadevi Rekatur ascended the throne of the City of Crystals after his father's fatal hunting accident, although some whisper that the old Raganu's death was no accident. Shortly after Raganu Pekadevi Rekatur began his reign, Torkobalem launched both land and aerial assaults on several cities, who have been weakened considerably by Torkobalem's stranglehold on power crystals. The Raganu has made no effort to conceal his desire to conquer the cities of the Granbalem and forge a new empire under his iron rule.

Personality: Raganu …

CirsovaMr. Pants

I recently fell into a fey mood and felt the desperate need to: Play Oblivion a.As a Khajit i. Named Mr. Pants ii. Dressed in the finest imperial fashions b.Who is a lordly swashbuckler i. using ONLY a Cutlass ii. wearing NO Armor (see also dressed in the finest imperial fashion) c.Leveling up only when […]

The Mule AbidesPlaying Domains at War and Papers & Paychecks

As a blogger and a signatory to the Joesky Accords I have a responsibility to talk about play. As a publisher I need to let you know that if you want to back the Domains at War Kickstarter but haven’t yet, you should do so soon because it closes tomorrow, May 18th at 3:32 pm. These may […]

Mesmerized by sirensPristine (shrink wrapped!) copies of Zorin Greystarr await you on May, 30th.









First post for the ORPGAD already popped up:

http://tomboftedankhamen.blogspot.jp/2013/05/dragon-half-rpg-review.html

Blood of ProkopiusWhite Mage Class for ACKS

The next classes I will tackle for my conversion of Averoigne to ACKS are some of the alternate magic-users suggested by Tolkien’s rainbow of wizards (white, grey, brown and blue). You can see my original post on the subject here. I will begin with the color white.

This is the first major conceptual bump on my journey to converting Averoigne to ACKS. It is possible to interpret Holmes so that only magic-users can use cleric scrolls. This, in turn, suggests that the cleric spells can be both divine and arcane. I took full advantage of this with my Tolkien homage.

ACKS, however, makes a much clearer distinction between the two types of magic. Indeed, should a custom class wish to cast magic from the other spell list, the proficiency that accomplishes this (4 spells at a time) is called Apostasy and the custom power is called Forbidden Spells.

If I were to follow this internal logic, it is possible to create a mage class that can expand their spell list by 12-16 spells, but can cast …

The Weirdlands of XhuulBlogger needs a good ass-whoopin'

How come when I log onto Blogger these days, it displays a message where the summary of blog posts that I follow that reads "You are currently not following any blogs, please use add button to add blogs to your reading list."  WTF?  I can never remember how I fixed this issue, but then it keeps on happening when I log in several days later.


Swords of MinariaThe Money-Changers of Minaria

Dealing with coin has always been one of the most utilitarian exercises in any Dungeons & Dragons campaign. It is a necessary evil that all referees and players engage in to translate conquest into capital. It is also one of the facets of the game that most stretches the imagination and suspension of disbelief, raising thorny questions like "why should all coins have a constant universal value across the entire expanse of the Known World?", "why are coins always evenly divisible into lesser or greater coinages?" or "why should these ancient coins from the dungeon still have currency back in the town?" The implication is that the fantasy setting has achieved what took Europe to the last years of the 20th century to figure out—a stable, universal currency system.

Of course, there are many different ways that game designers have tried to complicate the picture. Medieval fantasy markets might be tempered by inflation tables, availability charts or conversion rates. A referee might declare …

Sea of Star RPG Design JournalM&M Campaign Report – LA Stars Volume 2, Issue 10 “Sea, Sky and Black Sun”

Cover: Bald Eagle punching a jetpacked soldier while Legionnaire wrestles with boilersuited animated corpses, in the background a giant High-Q is wrapped in black bands.  A white male figure and a multicolored female one are seen from the back and they are saying “Do not worry, we will save you!”  “Who are these New Heroes?!” […]

The Dungeoneering DadReview: The Teratic Tome - A Book of Horrors

(This review is also posted at RPG.net.  A 20-page preview is available here: link.)

Rafael Chandler hooked me up with a copy of his new monster book, the Teratic Tome (TT) and asked me to take a gander. In short: it’s excellent.

You can pick it up the PDF at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow for $6.66 (nice price) or as hardback at Lulu for $26.66. I have the PDF, but the hardback looks fantastic (more about that below).

Listed as an “OSRIC-compatible bestiary,” it is useable with any old-school D&D edit or D&D variant.

TT appears to be part of a product line called Evolved Grottoes & Griffins. At least I hope it’s going to turn into a product line, because TT is great.

There are several things that set this book apart from the sea of monster books out there.

The Cover

TT’s cover stands out. It screams old-school, but its voice sets it apart from the rest of the OSR choir. TT looks like it came out in the late 80s, during the time of the Monster Manual II, the Manual of the Planes, and the …

EXONAUTS!COMICS: A snapshot of my pull list...

With SpringCon comic convention in Saint Paul this weekend, I thought I'd spill what comics I'm reading in print these days, here's a list of my regular titles:

Dark Horse

Star Wars - Brian Wood's story takes place after New Hope and Empire as Vader hunts down Skywalker to redeem himself for the Death Star's destruction, Leia struggles with losing Alderaan and finding a new home for the rebels


DC

Sword of Sorcery (just ended with issue #8) - Great series that lives up to it's namesake, stars Amethyst and her diverse Gemworld kingdom; post-apocalyptic Beowulf mini-series is pretty good too

Prophet (Vertigo label) - Really out-there sci-fi that's truly imaginative, unrelenting and also unsettling at times

 Lot's of ideas to plunder for games...

Dynamite

Flash Gordon - Classic Flash in the 1930s with a hefty coat of the 1980 film's flamboyance


IDW

Godzilla: Half Century War - Tracking the big guy through the jungles of South East Asia. Art by James Stoke is...I don't even...just look (you …

The Nine and Thirty KingdomsLayout Series Poll

To those following my Layout Tutorial series: I've just posted about about wrapping text around an image for web and EPUB output. I could do a quick installment about doing the same for PDF format, or I could do one to three installments focusing on EPUB, so that I can come back and do the same for PDF/print.

I'm going back and forth on this. Logically, since the layout and design procedures are different at this point, I should just focus on one, then switch to the other. But I figure there might be a couple people waiting desperately for the instructions on how to wrap text around images in PDF. 

So I'm polling the readership. What's your preference?

Swords & Stitchery - Old Time Sewing & Table Top Rpg BlogFree Renegade - Corruption 400 Page Retro Clone Rule Book - Thistle Games - Counterpoint and Commentary



I was recently read Gorgonmilks assessment of this free four hundred page pdf. The game isn't simply a remix. You can read Greg's comments right  HERE.  I mostly agree with him but :
I can hear you saying right now. Oh great another retroclone. It simply isn't another retroclone.
Instead its a "retroclone enhancement "! This is a four hundred page tool kit that allows a DM to create the atmosphere, setting, and options for the game that he wants.
From the DriveThrurpg description: 

"The game has plenty to offer for experienced players too, as extra content has been added to boost the original rule set. For example, the comic book dark theme adds options that encourages play that's less high fantasy/ unicorns and more gritty/ 'run for your lives!'

As an 'Old School' system everything translates almost instantly to Dungeons and Dragons, Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord and similar systems. However, at over 350 pages Corruption also contains a great deal of new, imaginative content." 

Rended PressFriday Bookface

Mail call!



CRAWLzine #7! Awesome stuff from Rev. Dak. Also, be sure to check out the web extra!


Christian Walker is back in action with two new one-sheet zines!


First up is Shudde M'ell Confidential, for Call of Cthulhu. He's got two issue out so far, and a Pinterest board with extra content (beats the hell out of the usual use of Pinterest, which is fashion and food and mommy advice. Also, best line in #2: "Starlets do not fight. They have people for that." Precious, baby, precious!


This next one from Christian is I Want to Live in Los Angeles, which explores a modern setting for Basic Fantasy Role Playing.


And check this out: I can write off my long reach stapler as a legitimate business expense:


My Creative Writing students made a zine as one of their final products. I only made enough copies for the class. Here's the back cover:



Also, the background for future Bookface installments will soon change. I'm moving offices soon, and it's an upgrade. I'll finally have an office with …

Under SiegeVictoria Day Weekend!

Hey folks ... things have been busy the past few weeks and I don't update the blog as much as I would like to.  But that's not necessarily a bad thing.  I'm busy and, though I haven't really painted in the past couple of months, my paints and worktable are out again.  I plan on finishing a few touch ups on my Dark Angel Space marines  and then shift gears on a new project which I can't really go into detail yet since that, much like a project I did just before Christmas, is intended as a surprise.  I hope to have a quick turnaround on it and have something to show for it before the end of June.

Actually, between now and the end of June is when I expect a couple of miniature shipments to drop.  Summer is a great time to get outside in the fresh air... and do a lot of priming and base coating.  The two packages are Reaper's and another from Center Stage Miniatures.

Aside from painting, I have started writing some more for a release I have up my sleeve.  I also have to revisit some older …

Expanding UniverseHeroquests as Point Crawls


In any Glorantha game eventually you are going to eventually get into the strange world of heroquests. These are one of the coolest ideas in Greg Stafford's creation – by entering the world of myth and legend and mucking about with the contents thereof you can gain great power and magic items or even change the 'real' game world.

An example is the Yelmalio Hill of Gold quest. Yelmalio is a sun god who can't use fire powers as during the mythic godtime he was defeated by first Orlanth and then Zorak Zoran. A Yelmalio cultist can do the quest and if he beats Zorak Zoran he regains the fire magic his god lost and which he is otherwise barred from using.

Trouble is heroquests are a but dull in actual play. Players start out knowing the story and they trog from one encounter to the next doing whatever it was their deity did in a pretty linear fashion, with limited options for player agency.

But the otherworld is supposed to be a vast landscape of clashing possibilities, and you can go …

Dorkland!Time Lord: The "Lost" Doctor Who RPG

In the 90s, back in the dark ages of Doctor Who fandom when the show itself was on a razor-thin path that lead eventually to the cancellation of the program, Virgin Books was doing licensed Doctor Who novels. I am not really a huge fan of licensed tie-in novels, I think that (at best) you have to consider them to be in some sort of weird parallel universe where the characters are almost but

Jasoomian DreamsInfiltrate, Jump, Knowledge
















INFILTRATE skill is used to hide from an enemy or strike with surprise (p.12). This skill is also used to bypass security measures thereby gaining entry into a building or location.  By taking advantage of cover, shadows and terrain features, characters are able to advance unseen and unnoticed.  Infiltrating characters may move slowly,   d6” per round.   

 

            Infiltrate is an opposed roll, player’s infiltrate skill versus opponent’s reflex save, the latter dice being rolled behind the GMs screen. The infiltrating character will gain the following modifiers to his die roll based on environment  

 

+4                    crowded street, warehouse or barn
+2                    forest, ruins or private home
 - -                    mountains or dungeon, hanger
 -2                    hills or armory, jed’s palace
 -5                    sea bottoms, calots or jeddak’s palace
 -8                    sterile plane or extreme security


            If opponent does not have dark or infra- vision, then these die roll modifiers also will apply:

 
  +2                  If low light; dusk, full moon
  +5                  If dark; twilight or moonlight
  +9                  If pitch black; unlit dungeon

 
           

Tenkar's TavernUpdate: Win a PDF Copy of the Razor Coast PDF for Swords & Wizardry Now With More Booty!



You can enter to win a PDF copy of the Razor Coast for Swords & Wizardry by entering a pirate ship, it's captain and a short description here.

Now, if you also post it at the Genius Loci blog, the three finalists over here at The Tavern will also be eligible to win copies of the Razor Coast Freebooter's Guide for Swords & Wizardry. That combo is priceless.

So, what are you waiting for? Go!

EXONAUTS!New Aliens for X-plorers: Meduzhans

An adult Meduzhan (medua)

Origins
Meduzhans hail from the core of the known galaxy and are an ancient race. They evolved eons ago from the airborne oceans of a long gone gas giant world near the galactic core. Their longevity has bred in them resentment and a bitter hatred of most other sentient races. Because they've grown to endure the physical demands of the vacuum of space, they deliberatly overbreed and use offspring to form "clouds" inside which other members can travel--as a spacefaring vessel. This has allowed them to spread to many sectors of known-space.

Physical Characteristics
Meduzhans have no need for atmospheric support and can thrive in the void of space as easily as they can underwater or in a pressured environment. It's not understood how they deal with these extremes. Meduzhans live a multi-cycle lifespan which includes several stages, of which only three are known:

Larval meduzhans forming a cloud

Larvae - These seedling creatures are about the size of a grape and …

The Other Side blogWillow & Tara: BASH! (and Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia)

Today is the first day of the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia
http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com/2013/03/hop-against-homophobia-and-transphobia_15.html



As I mentioned earlier in the week that for the time period between May 17 to May 27 I will donate all the money I make from The Witch and from my DriveThruRPG Affiliate money to The Trevor Project.

I signed up for this hop to talk about characters. Honestly, who better to talk about than Willow and Tara. Plus Tara herself is a big fan of the Trevor Project.

Here is something that has been hanging out in my "drafts" for a long time. I think today is a GREAT day to finish it.

Willow & Tara: BASH!

Willow & Tara by Foxfire141

BASH! or as it was known, Basic Action Super Heroes is a great, fun game.

I have talked about it before with my super heroine "Justice", and of course I have done Willow & Tara as superheroes and as animated/cartoon/comic characters.  Bash is sort of the ultimate combination of all of that. While some …

Tower of ZenopusOverreaction Friday: Pre-Order Your Special Kickstarter Stretch Goal Preview Now!



Wow, seems like at least half of the blogs I visit semi-regularly are selling something directly, or via DriveThru RPG, or are pushing a Kickstarter of some kind. Sheesh. I'm all for people putting out good material but there are a lot of products being thrown out lately.

Selling stuff directly: I'm still amazed at what people will pay for a tweaked version of old D&D rules. Is it nostalgia? You could buy several decent copies of the original D&D books for what people are paying - sometimes for the price of the PDF option! Adventures I get, but core rules ... I don't know. This mostly seems to be an OSR thing but in the early days of that it was a big deal to put "your" version out there on the web for free. Now it seems to be some kind of deluxe printed box set thing. I suppose if there's enough demand for it, why not, but it seems like a reach to me.

DriveThru RPG: PDF's are everywhere and lord know I've bought plenty of them, but some of them are a little weak. I see people selling …

Jeff's GameblogHow many commandments have you broken?

I stumbled across this blast from the past the other day and thought I'd share.  Bolding for emphasis is mine.

Article: 86906 of rec.games.frp.dnd
Path: news.tuwien.ac.at!newsfeed.ACO.net!swidir.switch.ch!univ-lyon1.fr!jussieu.fr!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news-e1a.megaweb.com!newstf01.news.aol.com!newsbf02.news.aol.com!not-for-mail
From: tsrjim@aol.com (TSRJIM)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: TSR Authorized Sites
Date: 14 Jul 1995 12:12:53 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Lines: 248
Sender: root@newsbf02.news.aol.com
Message-ID: 3u6525$ncc@newsbf02.news.aol.com [Edited to remove brackets, as it was setting off bloggers 'open tag' error. - J]
Reply-To: tsrjim@aol.com (TSRJIM)
NNTP-Posting-Host: newsbf02.mail.aol.com

There has been a great deal of discussion as of late regarding TSR's policies and their perceived constriction of the flow of information. This should clear up some of the confusion that has been generated.

First and foremost, …