RPG Planet

2021-04-06

Forrest for the TreesIn That Endlessness, Our End

In That Endlessness, Our End by Gemma FilesMy rating: 5 of 5 starsI don’t hide the fact that I’m a fan of Gemma Files’ work. Her writerly reputation is solid, and deservedly so. Take, for example, her previous novel, Experimental Film, frankly one of the best horror novels I have read in many, many years. I had read and enjoyed Files’ stories as they appeared in various publications, but felt like she had hit a new watermark with Experimental Film. I was, admittedly, amped-up to read In That E…

Categories:

  • Books
  • cinema
  • Eerie
  • Existentialism
  • Horror
  • Poetics
  • Reading
  • Small Press
  • Weird
  • Writing

2021-04-05

TrollBonesThe Many Returns of Gamma World

I started this post planning to examine my growing interest inthe roleplaying gameGamma World, after having only beencasuallyappreciative of it previously. However, I kept getting side-tracked makingcomparisons between theuncommonly multitudinous versions of the game. EventuallyI realized that thelong tenacious publishing historyof GWis part of it’s charm, so I’m going to fully indulge this tangentbefore getting back to the main subject later."Edition zero” for Gamma World was Metamorphosis Alp…

Categories:

  • Gamma World
  • Metamorphosis Alpha
  • role-playing

Methods & MadnessDexterity, the god-stat that failed

In my latest post about armor, I 've got one comment saying: "I like it, except for negative Dex modifiers applying to plate armour. Dexterity is already the God Stat in 5e, and the last thing martials need is a nerf, however slight. SOMEONE in the world should be able to dump Dex."He is definitely right.Dex is already too powerful in 5e, and I've fallen into the same trap, so I am changing that part. Dex shouldn't affect you in heavy armor, even if negative, at least in the usual 5e rules.Th…

Categories:

  • 5e
  • Brainstorming
  • Combat
  • D&D
  • Design
  • Dice
  • House rules
  • Multipurpose mechanics
  • Rewriting
  • RPG
  • Weapons and Armor

Box Full of BoxesThe Doppelganger From Another World

I do notfind Doppelgangers that interesting. It isn’t that they’re terrible, it isthat their use is either mostly off-screen in the form of replacing NPCs and causing havoc with social connections, or they are used as a surprise source of conflict, taking the form of some familiar or new face so that they can lure a lone PC away to try and murder them. These aren’t necessarily bad encounters, but rather they’re fairly one-note. Ultimately they rely on effectively ambushing and hiding from the PC…

Categories:

  • B/X
  • Fifth Edition
  • Lamentations of the Flame Princess
  • Monster
  • Old School Essentials

EXPLODINGDICEArt of Wuxia – Reviews and more

The word is getting out that Art of Wuxia is a very fun game. See the latest review from The Hard Boiled GMShoe’s Office. Several more review can be found at DriveThruRPG. Here is a Video Overview of Art of Wuxia from Pellam’s Wasteland. Q&A about Art of Wuxia on the Hardboiled GMShoes Office. A […]

Categories:

  • Art of Wuxia

False MachineParadoxes of Defence

A friend sent me this link to a 1599 fencing manual, by George Silver in which the writer SHITS all over the ITALIAN rapier. Because RAPIERS SUCK!As well as going in very deep on some quite complex time-and-motion studies through entirely verbal means, and talking a lot about the complex interplay of different weapons and methods, it also contains this interesting part about the change in culture brought about by the Rapier;"That the reasons used by the Italian fencers in commending the use of…

Categories:

  • clearly not even about RPG's
  • I read a book
  • not really about anything really
  • On War?

OSR GrimoireB2: Cover Art and Artists

The cover to module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" depicts a party of adventurers battling a group of hobgoblins, with the Caves of Chaos visible in the background (see this thread at Zenopus Archives for additional discussion):Cover to original version of module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" (1st printing, 1980). Illustration by Jim Roslof, the original color study for which sold at auction for over $10,000 in 2017.The distinctive purple border and cover illustration of the original vers…

There Could Have Been SnakesOSE Wandering Monster and Encounter Activities generator

Following on from this post inputting all the d100 tables from d4 Caltrops’ OSE Encounter Activities series (and I hear work is being carried out on making a physical book version of them a thing – splendid!), I put together another file for Inspiration Pad Pro so that a GM can roll up both a … Continue reading OSE Wandering Monster and Encounter Activities generator

Categories:

  • RPG
  • BX D&D
  • Dungeons and Dragons
  • Fantasy
  • Generator
  • Labyrinth Lord
  • Old School Essentials
  • online resources

Alex Schroeder: Old SchoolThe things I learned

“Every Wednesday morning I wake up with a sense of dread, remembering that on top of everything else I have to do that day I somehow have to run a game in the evening. Every Wednesday afternoon I seriously consider calling the session off. But every Wednesday night I sit down and log in and everything actually goes fine.” – Failing better: a GMing retrospective, by Joseph ManolaLast month, Joseph wrote about the campaigns he ran and what he learned from them, and at the time I thought to myself…

Categories:

  • RPG
  • Old School

noise sans signalCommon language as memo-virus

'Common' language, sometimes under a different name, is a very persistent element of many imaginary worlds.It has some ground in history, with various lingua franca languages, but in imaginary worlds Common usually is far more ubiquitous and widespread than any lingua francas would, up to being a default and only language of many different cultural groups, default and only language of many different political powers, default communicative language between distant and isolated locations, or used…

Tale of the ManticoreMore Roguish Musings

Still thinking about thieves a lot - mostly because I play one in my weekly B/X game.A few months back, there was a healthy conversation going on in the podosphere about how gameplay should be, when done 'right'. The idea was that players should spend more time describing characters' actions and less time rolling dice.So, "I enter the room and look around for anything special. Do I see anything? Want me to roll perception?" is bad, and "I carefully check behind the bookcase and under the table…

Goodberry MonthlyHow to End Your Campaign

I've been in a few TTRPG campaigns at this point, and there's always some special feeling associated with ending a campaign that you really enjoy. It's a kind of bittersweet like finishing a beloved book series or an RPG series. Now, I'm not talking about campaigns that stop. Plenty of campaigns stop and most that stop probably aren't missed. But campaigns that end require a certain special something. They need closure.Now, this isn't a talk about how to narratively climax your campaign, or eve…

Categories:

  • Essay

The Vanishing TowerBlood of Heroes Second Session Report

The recording of my vocals failed to capture me (though it recorded the players just fine) today so I will do a written session report to keep up with the game. I have some of the audio because the two players, who have never played together before, used today’s second session to expand on their roleplaying and crafting this new superhero relationship in our Neo-Gotham, Capitol City! I will

Categories:

  • MEGS
  • superhero role playing

Bat in the AtticSmall Islands of Wonder, Magic and Society Part III

Part IIAfter the end of the last post, the world of magic is dominated by clerics, religion, and divine magic. With the exception of the Elves and their allied culture where a tradition of arcane wizardry was developed along divine magic.As world rediscovered bronze and later iron technology. Arcane magic remained in the background. Cultures and religion proved to be a barrier but not an impenetrable wall. Independent discoveries and trade with the elves slowly spread arcane knowledge, spells,…

Categories:

  • Advice
  • managing sandbox campaigns
  • sandbox fantasy

Bat in the AtticSmall Islands of Wonder, Society and Magic Part II

Part IIn my previous post I discussed the status of magic at the beginning of history within my setting, the Majestic Fantasy Realms. Here I will discuss the aftermath of the Dawn War and how it gave rise to the first great era of magic.Prior to the Dawn War all magic was arcane and ritual based. The gods were known as the Lords of Creation and functioned as guides, teachers and coaches rather than as a source of divine mystery. Their roles were to prepare the two races, humans and elves, for …

Categories:

  • Advice
  • managing sandbox campaigns
  • sandbox fantasy

Spriggan's DenCan’t see the forest for the trees

Given how many fantasy worlds are dominated by uninhabited wilderness, and how much the generic image of fantasy is based around forests, it’s pretty surprising to see how little ink has actually been spilled on this aspect of fantasy worlds. If you look around the internet for information about forests in RPGs, there’s basically nothing. … Continue reading "Can’t see the forest for the trees"

Categories:

  • worldbuilding

Metal EarthThe Weird Wood

1. Behold the Weird Wood.The weird wood resides at place isolated from the world- or perhaps, outside of normal time and space altogether. It is an impossible place with a strange secret at its very foundations.

Categories:

  • Maps
  • Weird Wood

Red Dice DiariesSave or Die

In this episode we’re talking about Save or Die mechanics, the positives, the negatives and how we us them (or not) in our games. This episode was inspired by a DBJ live-stream I watched today, check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IH5PqtAm7E Title Music: Fireworks by Alexander Nakarada (Public Domain) : https://freepd.com/electronic.php Want to get involved in the conversation? You can leave us … Continue reading "Save or Die"

Categories:

  • OSR
  • Tabletop RPG Ramblings
  • Buzzsprout
  • Podcast

Tearless RetinaDemoing desert - part 1.

Here is a short solo demo of the current state of desert (https://iam-scire.itch.io/desert)The game begins with a cyberattack on a city block. The single held character/killdoll lives in a building there. So prep has to start with that block. With multiple players, it would likely be more than one.THE DISTRICTThe targeted block is located in a tech level ⚄ district. Its six impressions are randomly determined to be...(chaotic + people) = undersized bars and clubs spill glittering crowds.(lo…

Categories:

  • desert
  • game design
  • Mapping

Tearless RetinaDemoing desert - part 2.

THE FACTIONSdesertHopes to leverage the killdolls for blackmail. The cyberattack demonstrates that desert is in the know.Goal: ⚀ profit.Resources: Killdolls’ identities, pts of computing power needed to jam the initial blocks, ⚂ personnel per player, ⚃ crates of molotov cocktails.Shutting down the Killdoll's city block requires 7 points of computing power. 6 for the sensor systems plus 1 for communications. Below is the infrastructure desert has taken over for this attack.(1) An office tow…

Categories:

  • desert
  • game design
  • Mapping

The Alexandrian5E Hexcrawl – Part 4: Navigation

Go to Part 1 In general, an expedition can navigate through the wilderness by landmark or they can navigate by compass direction. NAVIGATING BY LANDMARK Generally speaking, it’s trivial to follow a road, river, or other natural feature of the terrain. It’s similarly easy to head towards any visible landmark. The landmark or terrain feature […]

Categories:

  • Roleplaying Games
  • d&d
  • hexcrawl

The Vanishing TowerBlack Book of Sorcery Now Available in Print

There does not appear to be a means to find it with a book search at Lulu, so I am providing the direct link to the product here in this post. The link will be also posted on the products page of this blog. The book looks really sharp! I was surprised at how good it looks in its designed size, A4 I think? The PDF is serviceable and gives all the goods, But in book format it makes a nice

Categories:

  • Sword & Sorcery
  • USR

The Other Side blog#AtoZChallenge2021: D is for Dragon, Purple

I am SO glad I watched Dragonslayer over the weekend because it really puts me in the mood for today's monster.Dragons are a huge part of the games we play at home. My oldest son LOVES dragons and has, well, I have no idea how many, scattered all over the place. His games are filled with dragons. So when I want to add new dragons to my games or books, I first turn to him. Especially if I want a fresh take.I remember the Purple, Yellow, and Orange dragons from Dragon Magazine 65 and then update…

Categories:

  • A to Z Challenge
  • dragon
  • Monstrous Mondays

Take on RulesA Seventh Spring Haiku

Pressing seeds into Loamy soil as sky portends Coming thunderstorm

Categories:

  • haiku
  • poetry
  • spring

tenfootpole.orgThe Sleep of Reason, dungeons and dragons 5e adventure review

By James Hanna, Brett Sullivan, Isaac Warren Fey Light Studio 5e Levels 2-4 The towns of Bassu and Inloc are at each other’s throats. But behind their mutual loathing lies a threat greater than either knows. A fiend in the … Continue reading →

Categories:

  • 5e
  • Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Review
  • Reviews

In My CampaignDivine Trappings: Domain Tables

Polyhedral Pantheons and Divine Trappings both depend on having a broad selection of domains. That need seems to be met pretty handily. Paizo Domains, Third-Party Domains, and Druid Domains I see three distinct sets of domains (plus a fourth that exists only on this blog, that I’ll be writing more …

Seed of WorldsShiny TTRPG links collection #11

This is the eleventh weekly round up of interesting TTRPG things found on the internet, this week there is quite a lot. Previous one found here. Inspired by weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links.A take on how to run XP at your table that may be of interest - far too detailed for me but a good breakdown of factors to consider.Aboleth Overlords has a great entry to the FKR world challenge - Ghost Town Slow Crawl - that doubles as an awesome quick town generator for any system.Hopes and Highlights …

Categories:

  • weekly links

roleplay-geekReaper Bones #34 - Mangu Timur

Big dudes wearing plate are the stock in trade of epic fantasy tabletop Role Playing Games.Mangu Timur - Bobby Jackson (SKU 77148)Mangu's got a big shield which gave me the opportunity to paint some planks. He's also wearing some weird elven looking decorative hip guard over the top of his faulds (the little skirt which does all the hip and butt protecting). I painted this antique gold but then felt that the viewers eye was drawn to the crotch area so gilded his pauldrons as well.Mangu Timur …

Categories:

  • Bones
  • Fantasy
  • mini
  • Miniatures
  • Painting
  • Reaper

Jennifers Hobby-blogPendragon XCI - Chaos: "You called?"

Met twee spelers die niet mee konden doen, speelden we dit keer met alleen Ridder Benno en Vrouwe Edna. Zonder de rustgevende invloed van een Ridder uit Broughton ben ik bang, dat dit alleen maar tot chaos in de campagne kan leiden.Pendragon paginaGeschiedenis van LogresBenno van Steeple LangfordBrent van DintonEdna van BurcombeRomulus Livius van BroughtonHerfst 546, Het GraalkasteelVrouwe Edna is voor het eerst in het Graalkasteel en maakt daar een Graal ceremonie mee (net als Benno dat …

Categories:

  • Corona
  • Pendragon

CROSS PLANESStar Frontiers: Dralasites for Cepheus Quantum

Dralasite for Cepheus QuantumThey are short, rubbery aliens that have no bones or hard body parts. Their skin is a flexible membrane that is very tough and scratchy. It generally is dull gray and lined with dark veins that meet at the dralasite's two eyespots. The internal structure of a dralasite is very different from the other races. The dralasite's central nerve bundle (brain), numerous small hearts, and other internal organs float in a pudding-like mixture of protein and organic fluids. Dr…

Categories:

  • Cepheus Quantum
  • OSR
  • Races
  • Star Frontiers

ZENOPUS ARCHIVESHolmes Day 2021

Today marks the 91st anniversary of the birth of J. Eric Holmes in 1930. Above is a picture that Chris Holmes sent me a while back for the J. Eric Holmes Photo Gallery, which I will be adding to it shortly. Chris doesn't have a specific date but thinks it is from the late '50s or early '60s.Some "Holmesian Highlights" of the past year for me, in roughly chronological order:On Leap Day, just before the pandemic hit, helping the Scrum Club put on its second Scrum Con, including running a session…

Categories:

  • Boinger and Zereth
  • Chris Holmes
  • DMsGuild
  • Holmes Ref
  • Legacy
  • RTOZ
  • Scrum Con

Damn Elf PressSession 8 ~ 4-4-21 Exploring the Wizard’s Tower

The players begin to explore the tower of the wizard Thalifax. Click here to read the session notes.

Categories:

  • Uncategorized

Paper ElementalWandering Titans (Monster as a Hex/Weather)

Idea 1: Storms are fun in hexcrawls.See this system of tiered weather tablesor this Weather Hex FlowerIdea 2: Giant Monsters are fun. Yes? Yes.I trust you see where I am going with this.RulesIn addition to the normal features of a hex, the presence of one of these Titans adds some sort of environmental effect and additional things to encounter to the hex it's in.The Titan should move about the map, but not nearly as quickly as PCs. It's a mountainous lumbering beast. Untested suggestion: N…

Categories:

  • creatures
  • elements
  • hexcrawl
  • rules
  • titans
  • worldbuilding

The Viking Hat GMAD&D1e: Common men & the shield wall

Too often players and DM come to the game table imagining some solitary friendless hero who charges off by themselves. Should the DM not be soft, weak and useless and fudge the dice to save them from their foolhardiness, this would-be Rambo typically perishes horribly sooner rather than later. The wise player realises that they are part of a party, a team of adventurers who work together to accomplish their goals of gold and glory. As the dwarves in The Hobbit put it,Far over the Misty Mountain…

Categories:

  • AD&D1e
  • playstyle
  • viking hat
  • Viking Hat GM

2021-04-04

Playing at the WorldA Date for Monsters! Monsters! Monsters! Galore

Everything leaves a trace. That's been my guiding principle researching the history of early wargames and role-playing games: any commercial product that survives, no matter how obscure, had to be available somewhere and somehow, and that means a paper trail. All too often the products themselves give us little indication of when they were made, as was the case with today's subject, Monsters! Monsters! Monsters! Galore. But with the help of distributor catalogs, we can show how it became availab…

The Man With A HammerOSR: Stonehell Rival Adventuring Parties

There are good guidelines on Old School Essentials regarding the generation of rival adventuring parties (SRD here). And even a handy online generator to quickly have a new party created!But as useful as that is, I want to shake things up a bit...Generate a rival adventuring party with a dice drop, taking each of a kind from the full array (d4, d6, d8, d10, d%10, d12, d20) and reading all results at once from tables below. Let's assume the following example is for your favorite flavor of B/X, …

Categories:

  • stonehell

Burn After Running: RPG One-ShotsMud, Blood, and Saxons – Low Fantasy One-Shots

If, like me, you’re an Assassin’s Creed fan, it’s likely you’ve been spending at least some time interfering in Mercia’s fortunes in AC: Valhalla over the past few months. With this in mind, and playing in a Pendragon campaign run by @the_smart_party, I’ve been hankering for some down-and-dirty low fantasy, with rare, dangerous magic that’s […]

Categories:

  • Uncategorized

Bernie the FlumphNymph Class (Gorgon Crawl Classics)

The Nymph has been the hardest class for me to put together for Gorgon Crawl Classics. It started off as a simple reskin of the Elf, a kinda-fighty spellcaster. I quickly realized that the Cleric spell list fit the “semi-divine nature spirit” concept better than the Wizard spells did, so it changed into an Elf with Cleric spells. But the Cleric spells, on average, lack the “oomph” of Wizard

Categories:

  • class
  • dcc
  • dungeon crawl classics
  • gorgon crawl classics

Take on RulesA Sixth Spring Haiku

Fourteen deer cross field Finding days refuge as blue Heron seeks cold creek

Categories:

  • haiku
  • poetry
  • spring

B/X BLACKRAZORHappy Easter!

The kids will be on Easter vacation (what the secular types calls "spring break") for the next week, so I will probably be too busy to write much. On the other hand, Lent is over and so I might just go back on the caffeine...which would result in folks seeing the occasional early morning missive from Yours Truly.Anyway, have a good one. Blessings on your families and prayers for a springtime renewal of hope and peace. God and love be with you all![now I've got to go buy a ham...]Yes, back on …

Categories:

  • holiday
  • kids
  • religion

Playing Dice with the UniverseOSR Kitbashing

From time to time, I've criticized the OSR for losing sight of its raison d'être—keeping old D&D alive—when it goes off the rails and veers into creating games that aren't even the least little bit compatible with D&D. Can you really call a game "OSR" if it's functionally indistinguishable from any other "indie" RPG? I don't think so. But I only get significant pushback for this opinion on the r/osr sub-reddit, where I'm apt to be slapped with a familiar and oft-repeated refrain: "What good are …

Playing Dice with the UniverseI've Been Neglecting my Blog Again… so Let's Do the Mario!

I've been neglecting my blog again… which is always a sure sign that I'm in a creative slump. If I'm not writing blog-posts, I'm also not working on other projects. Which annoys me. Because I always have stuff that I want to be doing, and if I can't kick myself in the backside and make it happen, I get grumpy.There's a bunch of stuff I want to do right here on this blog apart from my work on game publications. I want to get back to writing a series that details my campaign-creation process, som…

Playing Dice with the UniverseD&D's Connective Tissue

This is more of an idle thought than a fully-developed idea, but it occurred to me a while back that the changes undergone by the various editions of D&D and AD&D look quite drastic in the absence of the "connective tissue" between the editions—the supplements and splatbooks and so forth—that shows just how incremental they really are. The transition from OAD&D to AD&D 2e is a good case in point.While I'm sure there are many grognards who consider the dividing line between "old-school" and "mod…

Playing Dice with the UniverseOn the Current State of my RPG Collection – and the Variety of the OD&D Ecosystem

Close to two months ago now, I wrote a post explaining how the variety of OSR games has made it possible for a devoted player of TSR D&D to run campaigns in practically any genre—in much the same way that a 3e/d20 System player can, thanks to the OGL and the early 2000s d20 System boom.While I don't have anything to do with the OSR scene these days, and most OSR content isn't terribly useful to me—I write my own adventures, and I have no need for mini-games or indie games or artbooks or shock s…

Rise Up ComusGeneric Fantasy Mad Libs

The Manse is one of the most prolific posters in the blogosphere. They churn out content at a pace that leaves me in gap-mouthed awe. I wish I could be half as generative.Recently, they posted about the expectations of Generic Fantasy Settings. Dan from Throne of Salt took the words out of my mouth and said that he wanted a Mad Libs version.So here it is. Use it to further your Goal for Gonzo Principle (GfG Principle).The Manse's Generic Fantasy Mad LibsThe world is based on the cosmic strugg…

Leicester's RambleStopping in at the Sweet Town of Treacle

I don't know why Treacle was given its name. It's just what's on the label... But the town has a dock, and smattering of buildings, and a few other structures of note.What I envisioned is a small "port" recently expanded and now under the eye of a magistrate or similar assigned by the regional authorities. Much to the disdain of locals, who enjoyed their quiet, unregulated dock...Like Dawold, Treacle may be a good disembarkation point for adventures and explorations to points beyond. It has a …

Categories:

  • gods
  • inspiration
  • Jackson
  • maps
  • NPCs
  • towns

The Lizard Man Diaries Methods for a FKR Skirmish Game

I've been running an online game for about 2 months now, stemming from this idea I tweeted about "Hrmm what about a miniature skirmish game with three players. One player is the referee and it's pretty much free kriegsspiel rules. And by that I mean the referee just adjudicates things as they come up". It's not been a game featuring any miniatures, but it has been a lot of fun. 6 player warbands tromping around the following hexcrawl: http://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/grab-bag/wastes/ Exploring, …

Categories:

  • FKR
  • Skirmish

Damn Elf PressSession 7 Thirty Years Reuel Campaign 4-2-21

4-2-21 Today the players get their first glimpse of Eggleston, town of Sir Ingram. You can read the full account of the party’s adventures by clicking here.

Categories:

  • Uncategorized

The Wandering GamistWilderness as Dungeon - Monster Rooms, Strongholds as Treasure?

Previously in this train of thought:Never Show Them The Map (2016): Showing your players the ground-truth hex map ruins the joy of exploration. Dungeoneering gameplay gets this right by making them map for themselves.Applied Wilderness Theory (2017): Trying to build a microsandbox borrowing some elements from dungeon play; thinking about days as like turns, and dividing monsters into beasts, sentients, and scary monsters, with the same ratios that those appear in dungeons.Further Thoughts (20…

Categories:

  • ACKS
  • Wilderness

Doomslakers!The RPG Folder Was Too Hot

Continuing this intellectually-mindthrobbing series.Dallas: the Television RPG: I snagged this by way of piracy out of pure curiosity. I needed to understand. I was largely underwhelmed by it but hey... what did I expect? An incredible storytelling revolutionary RPG that somehow nobody is talking about? Nah.The game is bland as all hell, like many or most early RPGs. This came to us in 1980, a mere 6 years after the publication of D&D. So at this time a person with a little bit of pocket money…

Categories:

  • Hill Cantons
  • Jez Gordon
  • non-review
  • RPG Folder

The Viking Hat GMAD&D1e: House Rules

In my campaigns, I use a few house rules designed to create a certain playstyle. I'll talk about each of them in detail in later posts, this is the summary.Open game table - anyone may come or go at any timeBring snacksCharacter generation: roll 3d6 down the line, choose from fighter, magic-user, cleric or thief. Regardless of rolls, characters may be of any of fighter, magic-user, cleric or thief, but will suffer a 10% malus to XP if they lack a prerequisite attribute. You character may not …

Categories:

  • AD&D1e
  • playstyle
  • viking hat

Beyond Fomalhaut[REVIEW] Fire in the Hole

Layout magic: No fucks givenFire in the Hole (2021)by Derek JonesSelf-publishedLevels 4–6This adventure is one of a rare breed: a Castles & Crusades scenario. While much of the modern “OSR” owes its existence to an ancient flame war among C&C’s playtesters, the game itself does not seem often discussed, and the official adventures have not really ignited the public imagination. However, Fire in the Hole – an amateur module available for the cost of ONE Dollar Americain – is not only a recen…

Categories:

  • gem in the rough

Jeffs GameblogYou're probably doing ogres wrong.

Thanks to the Nameless Jedi for inspiring this post. Let's begin with a simple thought exercise.Allow me to intriduce you to Orlando the Ogre. Formally, he's Orlando Pedgewick Ogremoore the Third, of the Crystalmist Mountain Ogremoores. He's a middle manager in the Crystalmist division of ChaosCorp and a junior officer at his country club. Orlando the Ogre wants to be your friend.Now, before you click to read the rest of the post, imagine the color scheme you would use to turn my black-and-whi…

roleplay-geekNewsround 28th to 4th April 2021

My weekly roundup of news and what I found on the internet.The King is BackGodzilla vs Kong hit streaming services this week and I have to say I was impressed. It's another installment in the Legendary Pictures franchise comprising of Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.Godzilla vs Kong - The long awaited match upIt doesn't dissapoint.The CGI is top notch and the story line pretty bonkers, but what you really came to see this movie for is a straight up duel betwe…

Categories:

  • Internet
  • news
  • newsround

The Lizard Man Diaries Krieghammer Factions: Beastmen

I want to try out some quick FKR Skirmish battles (http://lizardmandiaries.blogspot.com/2021/03/methods-for-fkr-skirmish-game.html), so I decided to convert some of the warhammer factions to be used in an FKR type game. I'm calling it Krieghammer! I've listed a cost to make it easier for people to put together a comparable warband to fight others with.(Also, join the Krieghammer Discord if you are interested: https://discord.gg/FAGRQjfeHs )Here's the Beastmen (I made the unit names more generi…

Categories:

  • FKR
  • Krieghammer
  • Skirmish

The Lizard Man Diaries Krieghammer Factions: The Empire

I want to try out some quick FKR Skirmish battles (http://lizardmandiaries.blogspot.com/2021/03/methods-for-fkr-skirmish-game.html), so I decided to convert some of the warhammer factions to be used in an FKR type game. I'm calling it Krieghammer! I've listed a cost to make it easier for people to put together a comparable warband to fight others with.(I've also converted Beastmen: https://lizardmandiaries.blogspot.com/2021/04/krieghammer-factions-beastmen.html )(Also, join the Krieghammer Dis…

Categories:

  • FKR
  • Krieghammer
  • Skirmish

Hanging Out in the City State[Ravaged Ruins of the Roglaras] Ruined Elvish Observatory and Dreadful Foundations

0728 ELVEN OBSERVATORY: Atop a small mountain overlooking the spring that births the River Elvenstar can be found the ruin of an ancient elven observatory. This 150’ tall wind- and rain-worn tower has a steep, winding 5’ wide stair winding all the way to the top around the outside. As the thin stone rail has long since fallen away, it is very dangerous to climb, but that has not stopped many in the past, as it is the best place to hide from the nearby cave bears when they are angered – the bears…

Categories:

  • Darkling Wood
  • Hex 010728
  • Hex 010820
  • Ravaged Ruins
  • Ravaged Ruins of the Roglaras
  • Region 01
  • River Elvenstar
  • Roglaras

OSR GrimoireB2: The Keep on the Borderlands

B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" by Gary Gygax replaced B1 "In Search of the Unknown" in the original Basic Set and was also sold separately. A revised version was included in the 1981 Basic Set, edited by Tom Moldvay.Illustration by Erol Otus from the back cover to module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" (1980) depicting a group of adventurers on their way to the Keep, its ramparts lit by the rising sun.There has been more discussion online concerning module B2 than for module B1 (see the Dra…

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  • Greyhawk
  • Holmes
  • Mystara

Box Full of BoxesThings to do in D&D After You're Dead Part IV - Going out in Style

Death and dying happens in old-school D&D, a lot. In the three articles preceding this one, I laid out some rules for the afterlife, raising the dead, and replacing dead characters. This installment is going to go over an oft-discussed aspect of D&D’s combat system: Dying. On the surface this seems like a fairly simple topic, when a PC/NPC/Foe is reduced to 0 HP, they die. Dungeons and Dragons is undoubtedly more on the simulationist side of table-top role-playing. Hit points are at best an abst…

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  • B/X
  • House Rules
  • Lamentations of the Flame Princess
  • Old School Essentials

The Other Side blogSword & Sorcery & Cinema: Dragonslayer (1981)

Since April is Monster Month here I thought it might be fun to check some monster-themed Sword & Sorcery & Cinema movies. Up first is a classic and premiered at the height of the 80s fantasy craze. Here is 1981's Dragonslayer from both Paramount and Disney.We are introduced to one of the most famous dragons outside of Westeros or Erebor, Vermithrax Pejorative. Though he is mentioned among the dragons in Game of Throne's first season.The movie is a little slow, but on par with what was normal a…

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  • 80s
  • dragon
  • movies
  • Sword & Sorcery & Cinema

2021-04-03

LithyscapheInspiral - A game about (not) making stuff

I've been feeling bad about not making (well, releasing) stuff, so today I made a game about (not) making stuff. It's unbalanced and untested, but I'm releasing it to remind myself that it's something I can do.Inspiral

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  • Meta
  • Ruleset

weaver.skepti.chEow Links 14

"Eow" for "End Of Week". Links I gathered during the week. This is iteration 14. For more weekly links, head to The Seed of Worlds Shiny TTRPG link collection. Most of the links below are found via the RPG Planet that Alex Schroeder built and maintains. If you have a RPG blog, please consider joining the conversation. An even longer list than last week, let's see how it works. Der Totale Widerstand Game design: life experiences This leads to a very different training approach. But it also leads …

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  • links

OSR GrimoireB1: Cover Art and Artists

In considering the possibilities for a cover illustration to module B1 "In Search of the Unknown", author Mike Carr requested a depiction of the garden room:Once the showplace of the entire stronghold, the garden has, over the passage of time, become a botanical nightmare. With no one to tend the gardens, the molds and fungi have grown out of control.from module B1 "In Search of the Unknown"The resulting scene, a rare collaboration between David Sutherland and Dave Trampier, is filled with my…

Categories:

  • Holmes
  • OD&D

A Distant ChimeThe Campaign That Wasn't: Curse of the Wednesdays

Woof! Now that's what I call a hiatus. Rest assured, I've been active gaming (in particular, learning a new system) and don't intend to stop writing for the blog. Just need to work my way back in with a few short posts before diving into any systems or writing longform.I find true the maxim that if you need something done, ask a busy person to do it. Around last month I very suddenly became less busy, and my drive to write fell substantially as a result. So here's a story of what I did(n't get …

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  • Blogging
  • L5R
  • Realplay
  • WTF

The AlexandrianAdvanced Gamemastery: Spectacular Sidekicks

“Where’s Carlos?” “Who?” “Your hireling.” “Oh. Crap. Right… uhh…. He’s been here the whole time.” “Really? Even when that dragon attacked us?” “I guess so?” Never let this happen to you again. Subscribe Now!

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  • Roleplaying Games
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  • advanced gamemastery

Alex Schroeder: Old SchoolEpisode 35

Talking about giant beetles and how I used them: pack animals for the underworld, war elephants for goblins and the like, or car sized monsters in dungeon corridors.https://alexschroeder.ch/podcast/35-halberds-and-helmets.mp3Links:2016-10-13 Giant Beetle: “When I ran Castle of the Mad Archmage, we encountered several rooms full of giant bombardier beetles and we fought them all using everything we had. It was a hell hole of flaming oil, charred corpses and madness, because somehow one of the …

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  • RPG
  • Old School
  • Halberds and Helmets Podcast

Greyhawk GrognardNew Video: Reading the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting, Part 4

Hey-o! There’s a new video up on the channel, where I continue my read-through of the World of Greyhawk Glossography. In this edition, I discuss the adventure hooks, random birthplace tables, and quasi-deities. Enjoy!

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  • Uncategorized
  • RPG
  • Video
  • World of Greyhawk
  • YouTube

Permanent Cranial DamageBrief Brainworms: Megadungeon

First of all, I think the prefix "mega" is unnecessary and has done harm to the artform of what I'll call instead a tentpole dungeon. It conjures images of 600 page tomes with long room keys that are off-putting to read and play. What we call megadungeons used to just simply be referred to as "dungeons", a setting for a campaign which, due to its ever-changing and expanding nature, holds capacity for infinite play.Making one of these is much easier than it sounds, and is not too distinct from t…

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  • brief brainworms

The Other Side blog#AtoZChallenge2021: C is for Cat-sìth

Another creature in the guise of an animal and we do not go too far astray from the homes of the barghest. This time the animal is a cat and creature is a Cat-sìth.Cat-sìthaka Cait SídheMedium FeyFrequency: RareNumber Appearing: 1 (1d8)Alignment: Neutral [Chaotic Neutral]Movement: 180' (60') [18"]Armor Class: 3 [16]Hit Dice: 4d8+4* (22 hp)THAC0: 15 (+4)Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite, + specialDamage: 1d4+1 x2, 1d6+1Special: Bad luck, fear, low-light vision (120’), scent, speechSave: Mons…

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  • AtoZChallenge
  • celtic
  • monster

Gaming – Gaming ChroniclesHeading to Bermuda

The Travellers are on New Colchis, and head to the island of Bermuda to hunt down evidence of an ancient Aslan colony.

Categories:

  • Gaming
  • GM Notes
  • IslandsInTheRift
  • Roll20
  • RPG
  • Traveller

Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets-An oldschool gaming blog….[New Monster/Encounter] Vobliv of the Balance

Vobliv of the Balance The adventurers, weary of travel, were looking for a place to set up camp for the night when one of them spotted the thing up in the tree. A cry rang out and the four looked … Continue reading →

Categories:

  • Encounters
  • Monsters
  • Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
  • BD&D
  • BFRPG
  • blueholme
  • Iron Falcon
  • Labyrinth Lord
  • OD&D
  • OS Essentials
  • OSRIC
  • roleplaying
  • rpg
  • Swords & Sorcery
  • Swords & Wizardry

Jeffs GameblogThis is the kind of thing I do on Saturday mornings.

I turn an old piece of Battlestar Galactic concept art into an album cover.Edit to add:

Take on RulesLet's Read "Worlds without Number: Tales of the Latter Earth"

Framing Expectations of Genre and System A part of my Let's Read "Worlds without Number" series. Worlds without Number (WWN 📖) and join in. I’ll be reading through the paid version; however Worlds without Number: Free Edition contains many of the same chapters. In this chapter, Kevin Crawford frames Worlds without Number; building from the Dying Earth genre. I highly recommend Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun series and Jack Vance’s Dying Earth Saga. Both are exemplars in the Dying Earth gen…

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  • dying-earth
  • lets-read
  • osr
  • rpg
  • swn
  • wwn

tenfootpole.orgA Tomb to Plunder, dungeons and dragons adventure review

By FEI Games FEI Games Inc OSR Levels 1-3 one-off 1st-3rd level OSR hack-n-slash mini-adventure. Includes the new monster “Guardian Statue” … Your party is traveling from one place to another when you spot a rotting backpack that is still … Continue reading →

Categories:

  • Do Not Buy Ever
  • Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Review
  • Reviews

Seed of WorldsLessons learned on making maps and clues

tl;dr: home-making physical props takes time, some hints to making them useable so your time is not wastedMaybe I just like mucking about with tea but I find distressing documents and creating tangible clues to hand to players to be one of the most fun and long-lasting additions you can make to games you run. Things, things you can hold, people like that and if it has extra things they can figure out, so much the better.I have run a game with a big set of props and clues and played a con scena…

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  • lessons learned
  • planescape
  • worldbuilding

roleplay-geekSector 55 Blues - Prog 8 - Avast Me Hearties it be the Easter Pirate Kangaroo!

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unofficial Savage Worlds Expansion. This is an online only game with members of my Roleplay Club Dragons Keep.Judges Cully, Hammer, Teal and Uhtred gun their bikes North and the Lawmasters quickly outpace the scavengers. about 30 minutes later they find a wide ramp on the East side of the canyon leading up and out.Is that a Ship I See Before Me?As the Judges make it out of the canyon and turn to the South they see a large vehicl…

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  • Judge Dredd
  • Savage Worlds
  • Sector 55 Blues
  • Session Report

roleplay-geekSector 55 Blues - Prog 7 - Into The Cursed Earth

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unofficial Savage Worlds Expansion. This is an online only game with members of my Roleplay Club Dragons Keep.Aftermath at The Two Ways Public HouseJudge Teal calls it in."We've got a dead Judge and five dead perps at The Two Ways in Benny Hill Block. I need a meat wagon stat.""Who's the dead Judge" replies control "Going to need to inform the Watch Commander"."It is the Watch Commander... Judge Govan is dead"A full complemen…

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  • Judge Dredd
  • Savage Worlds
  • Sector 55 Blues
  • Session Report

Doomslakers!GOZR: Gooz Enforcers

Goozer City has laws handed down by the Magistrates and the Enforcers police the people and beat the shit out of them to enforce those laws. It's fair, right?Check this post for details about the GOZR stat block.

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  • game design
  • GOZR

In My CampaignDivine Trappings: Covenants

By no small coincidence, I’ll be leaning on Mongoose Publishing’s Classic Play: Book of Immortals while developing Divine Trappings. The entire book is about how to play aspiring deities, and there’s a fair bit of material I’ll be able to repurpose. In particular, I’ll be looking to covenants for guidance …

Categories:

  • A-Z Challenge 2021

From Kuroth's Quill - grodog's AD&D bloggrodog's post-GaryCon-XIII Repose - Part 1

Yet-again, I had a wonderful time at GaryCon this year. Here's the first part of my post-convention recap, working off of my schedule for GaryCon XIII!Wednesday, 24 MarchIn our usual fashion, members of the Legio V gathered on Wedsnesday night for our pre-con get-together, which was a fun time as always. We didn't game this year, just hung out and caught up on life, the universe, and everything.If you're not familiar with the Legio V, here's some info:The Lake Geneva Legio V began as a handfu…

Categories:

  • carlos lising
  • escape from level 14
  • four-way hub level
  • garycon
  • grodog's castle greyhawk
  • henry grohe
  • legio v
  • lost temple of set
  • rich franks
  • the fortress of alexander
  • the nine
  • world of greyhawk
  • zine

Adventures in Gaming v2Posting on Hanging Out in the City State for a while...

Hey all,I am currently working on setting up a 5E Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in the Wilderlands of High Adventure, my home version of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy, so I am posting stuff on my Hanging Out in the City State blog. I'm not going to bother cross-posting, so check me out there for now...

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  • Campaign
  • Dungeons and Dragons 5E
  • Hanging Out in the City State
  • Wilderlands of High Adventure
  • Wilderlands of High Fantasy

Archon's CourtDerelict-crawling GLOG Classes

Since I am extremely boring, I absolutely love easy-to-run dungeoncrawling games. Throw together a Suspicious Location, drop a few people into it, and go. Sewer Rats is one, Sunless Horizon was originally one before it got way out of hand, and this is (sort of) another one.What is the setting? It doesn't matter. Perhaps the Company rules this section of space, or the Empire has just rolled through, leaving only ruin in their wake. The only solid fact is that there are ruined starships, whether …

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  • GLOG
  • Sci-Fi

2021-04-02

noise sans signal[finished](Annual) map giveaway

Once upon a time in times of G+ I used to do annual giveaway of maps and amateur-bond sketchbooks.On this anniversary of G+ shutdown, I still have a few maps to give away, even if the collision with Easter this year left much less time to do all I wanted to do.1. Maps will be shipped for no cost to you; on a downside this shipping will be a plain letter and won't have tracking. Delays in delivery are possible.Currently delivery is not possible to: Anguilla, Bolivia, Bouvet Island, British Ind…

Methods & MadnessD&D 5e armor: a very simple fix

(A quick note: Tiago Rolim, an OSR designer, is ill and needs our help. Please check this out. And you get a lot of cool-looking games for US$10. I don't know Tiago or anyone involved in this bundle, just want to help).Continued from last post.This drives me crazy:I think we could come up with something better and simpler:Armor types have no names anymore. Instead, you get to describe your own armor by choosing from the table above and fitting it into of the three categories below. As I've s…

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  • 5e
  • Brainstorming
  • Combat
  • creativity
  • D&D
  • Design
  • House rules
  • RPG
  • Weapons and Armor

Elthos RPGWoAF - Game Session 20

Down highway 93 they roared, full throttle, hoping to escape whatever it was that had woken up inside the gigantic Mind Shield surrounding the Black Wind V facility. They had to leave LexiB, their trusty Android with the experimental Positronic Brain behind. No choice. They fled.The desert was just starting to illuminate by the light of dawn as they rounded Ferguson Mountain. The great energy

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  • WoAF

Thoughtyapproachable theory: Meta Accessibility Tools

Today on approachable theory we're talking about meta accessibility tools, and we're going to start by breaking down what I mean by that term. Read more!

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  • Uncategorized
  • accessibility
  • accommodation
  • approachable theory
  • board games
  • briebeau leads
  • briebeau on design
  • briebeau original
  • content control
  • content warnings
  • daedalum ap
  • disabilities
  • disability
  • diversity
  • education
  • empathy
  • etiquette
  • facilitating
  • game design
  • games
  • gaming
  • itch.io
  • leadership
  • leading with class
  • mental health
  • players
  • RPG
  • RPGs
  • safety tools
  • script change
  • social justice
  • storytelling
  • table tools
  • tabletop games
  • tabletop gaming
  • tabletop rpgs
  • text rp
  • therapeutic
  • trigger warnings

False MachineWeebery Three - He He Heee

Join me as I continue my descent into the anime hidden deep within the Amazon Prime recommendation algorithm.Parts One and Two.THE GREAT PASSAGEA quiet group of people try to make a book! Will they succeed???Presumably there is a Japanese subgenre about groups of people attempting some kind of creative pursuit. This is one of those. Except in this case its the story of a bunch of underpaid and ignored nerds fighting (against the odds) to make a dictionary for a country that already has a bun…

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  • anime
  • I saw a thing
  • Reviews
  • weebery

The Other Side blog#AtoZChallenge2021: B is for Barghest

Here is an old favorite of mine that I have done a couple of different versions of in various postings and books. Is this the final version? No idea! But it is getting close.This one is a nasty little beastie from English lore.BarghestLarge Beast (Demonic)Frequency: Very RareNumber Appearing: 1d6 (1 or 1d4)Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]Movement: 180' (60') [18"]Humanoid: 120' (40') [12"]Hybrid: 150' (50') [15"]Armor Class: 3 [16]Hit Dice: 6d8+12** (39 hp)Large 6d10+12** (45 hp)TH…

Categories:

  • AtoZChallenge
  • blogfest
  • monster

Secrets of the ShadowendThe Afterlife of the Shadowend

Beings in the Shadowend are composed of three parts: body, or corpus; mind, or spirit, called the essae; and soul, or vitae. The body, the physical aspect of a person, is exactly as one would expect. The mind, or essae is not just the conscious thoughts of a person but their essence; the "themness" of them. The soul, or vitae, is the animating force, the "aliveness".Death is a discarding of the body and a migration of the soul and the spirit. Unless interrupted, these travel by various means an…

Tale of the ManticoreCharacter Inventory at the End of Ep 33

URSULATH (NPC)Court clothing (dress), Gyrios’ old painted-over metal shield, kitchen knife.UMURALeather boots, layered tunic and leggings, goblin belt pouch (empty) waterskin, silver dagger, shoulderbag (quill, inkpot, hooded lantern, tinderbox, 3 flasks oil, ‘angel’ recipe notes, snakeskin book, goblin language book, Dermund’s spellbook, her spellbook), 6xFirebeetle Glands, Silver necklace with sapphire worth 500gp. A spool of strong thread with both a needle and a fish hook. Owl of Thressen…

Tale of the ManticoreShownotes for Episode 33 (including April Fool's False Episode)

Theme Evan King - Enchiridion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NkG3bhIxUWelcome 148 Barovian Castle https://tabletopaudio.com/Previously On Scott Buckley - Legionnaire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwW0vFUCzEM“Day 28” 'It's In The Fog' by Darren Curtis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oF5lS0sajsPart 2 Tense Cinematic Instrumental Ambient Music by Argsoundhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTz6Qp7QE_cCombat RPG SOUNDS “The Boss is Here”Post Combat Hiraeth - Scott Buckley https://www.youtub…

Goodberry MonthlyTom Generator

This is not an April Fool's post.The abundance of sexy male drow concubines in my Tidelock campaign has necessitated a table. For shorthand, a sexy male drow concubine is known as a Tom. (e.g. "House Xynyx's lounge presently has four Toms.")This is the vibe right here.SEXY DROW CONCUBINE TABLEd10NameBody TypeAccessory #1Accessory #2Secret Power1NailWindy willow branchLive spider earringsLuminescent body oilStringed instrument which resonates with the hearts of the infatuated2Xyl…

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  • Absolutely Necessary
  • Drow
  • Tidal Lock

Hanging Out in the City State[Ravaged Ruins of the Roglaras] Five Ruins in the Roglaras

I was considering doing the A to Z challenge this year, but just don't have the gumption. I do, however, want to continue work on a series I've been toying with on and off for the last 20 years -- the Ravaged Ruins of the Roglaras. The original listings for Region 01 never included a Ravaged Ruins entry, so I long ago set out to fix that error. Hopefully, I will finally complete the list this month. And even if I don't, meh, here's a bunch of stuff for you all to try out on your players...0103 …

Categories:

  • Ravaged Ruins
  • Ravaged Ruins of the Roglaras
  • Region 01
  • Roglaras
  • Temple of the Toad

My Terrible Sorcery Is Without Equal In The WestREVIEW - On Downtime & Demesnes: just what I needed

I bought quite a few LARGE gaming books in the last year or so, but they take some time to read thoroughly. When this landed on my desk, it immediately moved to the top of the list - but it took me a while since I've been so busy actually playing lately!*****On Downtime & Demesnes (Basic D&D version)by Courtney CampbellHack & Slash publishingprint and PDF hereOnce in a rare while, an RPG supplement comes out that doesn't need doctoring around with, adaptation or fiddle-fucking - it just wo…

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  • classic metal
  • hack and slash
  • OD&D
  • reviews
  • the best

Greyhawk MusingsHistory of the South-East, Part 14: A Brave New World

“…he who knows when he can fight and when he cannot,will be victorious.”― Sun Tzu, The Art of WarHis Grace Xavener's CoronationThough the War had ebbed, its legacy of destruction lingered. The Scarlet Brotherhood, mayhap the true victor of the War, found its gains in decline. Onnwal was all but lost, the Hold of the Sea Princes hardly worth the effort of holding.Indeed, most nations were left battered and bruised, still gasping from their efforts.The time had come to smooth relations, if n…

Categories:

  • Barbarians
  • Iron League
  • Iuz
  • Nyrond
  • Rel Astra
  • Reydrich
  • Scarlet Brotherhood
  • Sea Barons
  • Sea Princes
  • South Province
  • Sunndi
  • Xavener

Take on RulesA Fifth Spring Haiku

Fluttering sparrows Your wings beat vernal rhythms Heralding new life

Categories:

  • haiku
  • poetry
  • spring

Dragons Are RealVideo

Categories:

  • foundryvtt

Lich Van Winkle's Return to GamingFrom consecutive dice to 2x1d6 grid to d66

In the last post, I was probing for the earliest use of d66 (where the first die counts as the tens place and the second counts as the ones, but numerals go only from 1 to 6). With help from friendly visitors, I was sent looking for the first edition of Traveller, from 1977.They were right! Traveller, Book 3, used a primitive version of d66.There I found this chart, shown below, which may be the

Spriggan's DenMore More Maps

I think this might finally be enough maps for now. I really am quite happy with how this one turned out. A few places still need names, and I’ll have to draw in the rivers by hand in Krita (that‘s what Inkarnate decides to exclude from the free version?!) But otherwise this is a really … Continue reading "More More Maps"

Categories:

  • worldbuilding
  • maps
  • Planet Kaendor

Lich Van Winkle's Return to GamingThe first D66 and an early "rules-light" RPG

Last time, I wrote about the beginnings of slot-based encumbrance, keeping track of your character's equipment in terms of "items carried" rather than calculating weight and adding it up.It turns out I was close but not close enough. JC's useful comments pointed out that the beginning of slot-based encumbrance was in the second edition of RuneQuest, from 1979.This time I'm probing for the origins