Deal of the Day - Castle of the Mad Archmage - The Core Levels

Castle of the Mad Archmage, or CotMa, is Joe Bloch's love letter to Greyhawk, and a suitable replacement for the infamous Castle Greyhawk. I ran an earlier version of CotMA for about a year, a decade ago—good stuff.

Until 11 AM Eastern Time or so, Castle of the Mad Archmage is the current Deal of the Day. Usually 24.95 in PDF, until the late AM on Nov 3, CotMA is on sale in PDF for 14.95.

But a few scant leagues from the walls of the bustling town of Greyheim lay the crumbling ruins known as the Castle of the Mad Archmage, Jophob Schlech, long shunned by the local townsfolk. Decades ago, a series of vast treasure hoards were discovered in the twisting mazes beneath the castle proper, along with hungry beasts and deadly traps aplenty. Legends were made in that time; the names of those early explorers will live on for centuries. Eventually, though, the dungeons lost their luster as the treasures became smaller and harder to win, the traps were dismantled, and the monsters slain; eventually only the desperate or jaded dared enter the dungeons beneath the castle.

Recently, however, reports have surfaced of renewed stockpiles of wealth in the dank passages and chambers beneath the hillock upon which the stillruined castle rests. Regions once deemed devoid of monstrous habitation have been reported to teem with renewed activity. Traps both magical and mundane have once more brought explorers to their doom. Changes both subtle and gross have been noted in the very layout of the passages and chambers, rendering old maps and knowledge dangerously unreliable if not outright useless. Something is definitely afoot, and most honest folk in the nearby city find the prospect an unnerving one indeed.

To the bold and daring, however, only one message needs to be heard. The castle and its dungeons are once more ripe for exploration, and new legends are ready to be made beneath The Castle of the Mad Archmage!

This new edition contains all 14 core levels, including the surface ruins, the wilderness immediately surrounding the castle, and several sub-levels. It also comes with VTT-friendly maps that don't show trap doors, sloping passages, secret doors, etc. (you'll still need to add your own "fog of war" according to the specific system you use). It is compatible with most old school games, specifically the first advanced edition of the world's most popular RPG. 

Note: This is not the Kickstarter edition. This version does not include the various side levels, which must be purchased separately.

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Bundle of Holding - Cthulhu Reborn

Open source Cthulhu material, compatible with CoC but released under the OGL? Say it isn't so—but it is! Check out The Cthulhu Reborn Bundle.

Investigator! This Cthulhu Reborn Bundle presents nearly two dozen Mythos investigations in many eras from the open-license Cthulhu Eternal tabletop roleplaying game line produced by Cthulhu Reborn. Compatible with your favorite Lovecraftian percentile-based systems, the Eternal open rules set, based on Mongoose Legend and the Delta Green RPG, is free under the Open Game License. More than a dozen System Reference Documents adapt the Eternal rules for Mythos adventures across history, from ancient Rome and the High Middle Ages to the Cold War and the future. Run your favorite published scenarios using these lightweight, fast-playing rules – and publish your own scenarios using the Eternal rules, without threat of Sanity-shattering licensing issues.

(The Eternal system also powers Cthulhu Reborn's newly released standalone Convicts & Cthulhu RPG. Check it out!)

This new Cthulhu Reborn Bundle gives you everything you need to snap the minds of courageous Protagonists with Lovecraftian public-domain horrors across many eras of history – because there must have been some point when the stars were right. For just US$9.95 you get all nine titles in our Jazz Age Collection (retail value $43.50) as DRM-free ebooks, including the invaluable resource HP Lovecraft's Book of Yog-Sothothery and eight Jazz Age investigations: Bitter Jungle, Bottoms Up!, Help Wanted, Second Coming, Smoke Green, Spoiled Milk, Thunder God's Curse, and To Touch the Untouchable. As a convenience to players (and designers!), the Jazz Age Collection also includes The Open Cthulhu Mythos SRD and 11 free Cthulhu Eternal SRDs that support Mythos investigations in many eras.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $21.35, you'll level up and also get our entire Eternal Collection with eleven more titles worth an additional $43.50:

• Seven Investigations set in different eras from the High Middle Ages to the Cold War: Dead Flowers, Fathoms Below, Known Unknowns, Lord of Nombrecht, Physiology of Acquired Taste, Red in Tooth & Claw, and Starlight on the Gutter
• Two modern-day scenarios: Thou Didst Let Fall and The Usurpers
• Two "Lost Masterpieces" volumes by acclaimed Call of Cthulhu scenario designer Kevin A. Ross: Dark Visitations and House on the Promontor

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Tavern Updates - Blog, YouTube, Substack - Oh My!

No time like the present :)

I was initially going to kick off the Revised Tavern in January of 2026, but then I figured November 1st, 2025. Well, it's the last week of October, and I'm kicking some of it off now.

Below is the new Tenkar's Tavern Weekly Content Calendar, for both long-form content and livestreams.

Free OSR content, for subscribers and members, will be released on Saturdays going forward. See The Tavern's YouTube postings for the links.

Going forward, I hope to have a daily calendar shared here that is updated with the coming week's video topics and the special guests for livestreams. I'm also looking into sharing some transcripts of recent videos here on the blog. 

I expect there will be surveys asking viewers about future topics ;)

Oh, and the Substack should relaunch shortly...

🍺 Tenkar’s Tavern YouTube Daily Content Calendar 

Note: All videos drop at 6PM ET unless otherwise listed

Day             Series / Focus

Sunday             OSR Chronicles (History & Legacy)

Monday             Rules That Matter (Mechanics Deep Dives)

Tuesday             The Modern OSR (Spotlights & Reviews)

Wednesday        Tavern Talk (Opinion & Industry Commentary)

Thursday            DM’s Toolbox (Practical GM Tips)

Friday 2PM       Collab Video (with Joe the Lawyer & Greyhawk Grognard)

Friday 6PM        B/X Deep Dive (Members First)

Sat 2PM       Public Premiere of B/X Deep Dive

Tavern Livestreams

Sunday (1st & 3rd)      9PM ET Sunday Knight Special with Joe Bloch and JoetheLawyer

Wednesday                   8PM ET Talking Crit with Bad Mike & Jim Kitchen

Thursday                      8PM ET Vlog of Many Things w/ Don Semora +

Friday (1st & 3rd)        8PM ET Dungeons, Dragons, & Discourse w/ Glen Halstrom

Friday (2nd & 4th)       8PM ET The Random Party Generator w/ Random

Saturday                       8PM ET Gamers' Health with Rach