Saturday, January 10, 2015
Same Great Podcast - New Awesome Graphic - Brains!
The Brainstorm Podcast is now sporting a new, awesome graphic. Yes, those are three "Brain Eaters." Any resemblance to mind flayers or illithids are completely coincidental. We feed brains, they destroy them. 'Nuff said!
Don't settle for impostors. Get your Brainstorm today!
Great job by Sal and Vince setting up the new page :)
Friday, January 9, 2015
If This Brings Back Uncomfortable Memories, You Might be an Old School Gamer
This cartoon was found by one of my players in the monthly "B" team after exploring some more of the Castle of the Mad Archmage earlier tonight.
Hello nurse!
My name is Erik Tenkar, and I'm an Old School Gamer...
Do You Fear "Fear" in Your RPGs?
So, we discussed fear in the latest episode of The Brainstorm Podcast, both as a mechanic for the PCs and using it with effect on the players themselves.
As an effect on the PCs, it usually falls into one of two results - frozen with fear or "oh shit! Run!". Which is fine and all, but doesn't really replicate true fear.
Here is the Fear spell in AD&D 1e
True "fear" gets into the heads of the players. It's harder to pull off and probably works best with props - which means it's damn near impossible to pull of on a VTT.
Running away is a pain in the ass, but getting into the heads of your players? Priceless.
So, how do you instill fear in your players?
As an effect on the PCs, it usually falls into one of two results - frozen with fear or "oh shit! Run!". Which is fine and all, but doesn't really replicate true fear.
Here is the Fear spell in AD&D 1e
True "fear" gets into the heads of the players. It's harder to pull off and probably works best with props - which means it's damn near impossible to pull of on a VTT.
Running away is a pain in the ass, but getting into the heads of your players? Priceless.
So, how do you instill fear in your players?
Some Random Thoughts on Moral and Loyalty in D&D
Last nite was my bureau's "After the Holiday Party." 80 bucks a head. Food sucked but at least the bar included a decent selection of bottled beers and even cider, but I digress. This is supposed to be random thoughts about moral and loyalty in D&D. I'm getting there.
One of our Inspectors, who has been out long term sicks due to slow recovery from a broken back, made an appearance. It was almost electrifying. Subordinates would do anything for this man and probably already have. I know I have in the past. He's fights for his people and they fight for him.
It's a classical high charisma score.
Then there is comment I heard in reference to another supervisor- "I'd walk through fire WITH this man." I heard this or a variation used multiple times with the same person. This seems less charisma and more leadership skill or ability. Someone who leads from within the group, instead of a long term loyalty factor that defies distance.
Yes, I'm simplifying things but it got me thinking, especially about hirelings and henchmen and going beyond charisma score for the moral bonus.
Ah well, not sure yet where this is going, but it's going somewhere...
One of our Inspectors, who has been out long term sicks due to slow recovery from a broken back, made an appearance. It was almost electrifying. Subordinates would do anything for this man and probably already have. I know I have in the past. He's fights for his people and they fight for him.
It's a classical high charisma score.
Then there is comment I heard in reference to another supervisor- "I'd walk through fire WITH this man." I heard this or a variation used multiple times with the same person. This seems less charisma and more leadership skill or ability. Someone who leads from within the group, instead of a long term loyalty factor that defies distance.
Yes, I'm simplifying things but it got me thinking, especially about hirelings and henchmen and going beyond charisma score for the moral bonus.
Ah well, not sure yet where this is going, but it's going somewhere...
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Mark it on Your Calendars - Wednesday, January 14 @ 830 PM - Inaugural "Tavern Talk"
+Vincent Florio and myself will be hosting the inaugural weekly Tavern Talk Chat Session next Wednesday Night, January 14th @ 830 PM Eastern Time here at The Tavern using the chat widget you can see right now on the upper right corner of this page.
Vince already shared the info as an event over at G+ and the response in less than 12 hours has been very exciting.
Now, the question came up as to "what actually is going to go on at this 'chat session'?"
People will mingle, ask questions, make funny comments and most of all - make connections with other members of the OSR community and gaming at large. Sure, you might know some of the bloggers, podcasters, creators, artists, mappers and other personalities in our corner of the hobby but here is your chance to communicate with them and others in real time.
I'm excited to kick this off. It is planned as a weekly event, so hopefully it gets some real momentum going. I may get into the chat as early as 730, all depending on when my niece gets picked up. Otherwise, there will be lots of random typing going on ;) My witching hour is 1030 my times, as I need to be at work at 6 am.
I'm trying to work out a once a month chat session in which the hours will be more friendly with those across the pond (and even further.) Give me a little time to set that up. When it's locked down, I'll announce it.
There is no need for 98% of you to sign up for anything to chat as the service recognizes most of the major social networks and online services for login purposes. Same with the forum (yeah, we have that too.)
New Year. Same Tavern. New Toys.
Vince already shared the info as an event over at G+ and the response in less than 12 hours has been very exciting.
Now, the question came up as to "what actually is going to go on at this 'chat session'?"
People will mingle, ask questions, make funny comments and most of all - make connections with other members of the OSR community and gaming at large. Sure, you might know some of the bloggers, podcasters, creators, artists, mappers and other personalities in our corner of the hobby but here is your chance to communicate with them and others in real time.
I'm excited to kick this off. It is planned as a weekly event, so hopefully it gets some real momentum going. I may get into the chat as early as 730, all depending on when my niece gets picked up. Otherwise, there will be lots of random typing going on ;) My witching hour is 1030 my times, as I need to be at work at 6 am.
I'm trying to work out a once a month chat session in which the hours will be more friendly with those across the pond (and even further.) Give me a little time to set that up. When it's locked down, I'll announce it.
There is no need for 98% of you to sign up for anything to chat as the service recognizes most of the major social networks and online services for login purposes. Same with the forum (yeah, we have that too.)
New Year. Same Tavern. New Toys.
Damn but it's Cold This Morning - Gaming Thoughts Have Fled
It was 9 degrees when I started up my car this morning. It was mid 60s this past Sunday.
I had some gaming thoughts bouncing around my head as I showered, but the moment the cold hit me they failed their morale roll and fled.
Hell, my fingers are STILL cold.
Last night's chat session went really well and will only get better as we work on a regular day and time for this. I say WE, as +Vincent Florio is going to co-host this with me. We are leaning towards Wednesday nights, 830 - 1000 PM Eastern. Great time to brainstorm some topics for the Brainstorm Podcast (hint hint ;)
Damn, I think I need some tea to shed this chill.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Healing in RPGs - Resource Management or Daily Recharge?
In the latest episode of The Brainstorm Podcast, we discussed healing in RPGs, mostly in the different editions of D&D. One thing that struck me is how the later editions made healing easier and less of a resourced needed to be managed.
Up through 2e, Clerics & Druids had to use specific spell slots for healing spells to the exclusion of other types of spells. Given a choice between Bless and CLW, I'd go for CLW every time.
3e introduced spontaneous casting of healing spells. Now you could memorize what you wanted and yet had the flexibility to burn a spell memorized to cast a healing spell. The resource management is loosening up. Oh, and healing spells at nearly every spell level. No longer are levels 2 thru 3 a barren wasteland bereft of healing.
4e had Healing Surges, which made healing much more accessible and lessened the need for specific healing classes.
5e has it's Hit Dice Pools. And long rests. Healing is no longer a resource to be managed, at least as I see it.
For me, the sweet spot is somewhere between earlier editions and 3e. I'd allow one swap per spell level, and allow the burning a higher level spell slow for a lower level healing spell.
Just some thoughts that came up after listening to the episode.
I'll Be Lurking in the Tavern's Chat Room for 830 to 930 Tonight, Eastern Time
I'm going to try and spend an hour or so catching up on communications tonight - emails, G+ messages, Facebook - it's amazing what can build up when your time isn't your own for the better part of a month.
So, as I work my way through emails and the like I'll be lurking in The Tavern's spanking new chat room. I plan on setting time aside once a week on a regular schedule to lurk in the chat room (and of course I'll pop in as time allows throughout the day.)
I'm thinking of running an AD&D 2e Trivia game next Friday, the 16th, via said chat room. Not written in stone yet, as it is the evening before a holiday weekend here in the States, but I should know by this weekend.
This weekend will also see the continuation of OSR Christmas. It's still cold, it's still Christmas season as far as I'm concerned.
As an aside, we now have 25 members in The Tavern's Common Room, the new forum that was set up earlier this week. Very cool :)
So, as I work my way through emails and the like I'll be lurking in The Tavern's spanking new chat room. I plan on setting time aside once a week on a regular schedule to lurk in the chat room (and of course I'll pop in as time allows throughout the day.)
I'm thinking of running an AD&D 2e Trivia game next Friday, the 16th, via said chat room. Not written in stone yet, as it is the evening before a holiday weekend here in the States, but I should know by this weekend.
This weekend will also see the continuation of OSR Christmas. It's still cold, it's still Christmas season as far as I'm concerned.
As an aside, we now have 25 members in The Tavern's Common Room, the new forum that was set up earlier this week. Very cool :)
Do Your PCs Have a Home Base, or Are They Wandering Murder Hobos?
In one of the episodes of The Brainstorm Podcast we recorded last night, we touched upon "home bases" for the PCs. Do you use it, hand wave it or whatever.
In my eyes, if the PCs are the usual band of merry misfits that kill things and take their stuff, being on the constant move means one has a ready supply of creatures to kill and stuff to take. A true home base, especially at early levels, kinda defeats that purpose.
Do you use home bases in your campaign? Why or why not.
In my eyes, if the PCs are the usual band of merry misfits that kill things and take their stuff, being on the constant move means one has a ready supply of creatures to kill and stuff to take. A true home base, especially at early levels, kinda defeats that purpose.
Do you use home bases in your campaign? Why or why not.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Forum, Chat Box - Just What the Hell is Going on at The Tavern Anyway? (Plans - We Got Plans)
New Year. Same Tavern. New toys for The Tavern's Community.
Some basic plans / ideas for the new features are as follows:
- with the chat, I'd like to schedule a once a month trivia contest. I'm going to guess a Friday Night from 8pm to 10pm Eastern. Initially I'd be using the AD&D 2e Trivia cards, but I'll probably work on questions for other editions. Person with the most points at the end of the night would win a RPGNow Gift Cert. When I lock down the day, I'll post it in the blog and the forum.
- also with the chat, I'd like to host a weekly chat session, about an hour once a week with a steady day and time. Again, when I nail this down I'll post it. Should be fun to interact with everyone. (as an aside, in 2016 I'll probably add a second weekly session in hours apart from the nightly one for those in the community on the other side of the globe. may have some such sessions in 2015 as scheduling allows.)
- the forums are a work in progress. I'll be adding new sub-forums in the coming days and I'm open to suggestions. Google is going to move away from OpenID sign in (at least that's what I've read.) The Tavern's community is not strictly G+ based, which is one of the reasons I haven't moved to G+ for comments. Having our own forums will be a work around if Goggle buggers up the commenting ability on this end.
- forums live and die based on their community, or lack there off. So, I'm offering a bribe ;) When we hit 50 members, I'm going to award one random member (who has posted at least once) a $5 RPGNow GC. At 100 members, I'll award a $10 RPGNow GC. At 250, a $25 RPGNow GC and at 500 a $50 RPGNow GC. Yes, take my money, please :)
- the forums DO NOT require a new account to log in for 98% of the readers of this blog (number pulled out of my ass). If you have one of any number of social media accounts or emails - Google, Yahoo and the like, you can log in and become a member.
- if you are a publisher of OSR or Old School games or gaming material, let me know if you want your own sub-forum. Ask and ye shall receive.
- it's been suggested that I host a G+ Hangout once a month. Working on nailing that down.
- i've got some further ideas but they aren't far enough along to mention yet. not sure if they will take fruit.
- remember, The Tavern belongs to the OSR community. Tell me what we can do to make it better serve your needs, desires, dreams...
By Unanimous Voting - Presenting the New Tenkar's Tavern Common Room Forum
This forum software has some tweaks that puts it far beyond the other software experimented with yesterday, and it's not just the neater appearance that seamlessly blends in with the default colors of The Tavern.
No, the biggest bonus is... OpenID.
No need to register for yet another forum or social network. If you have anything that resembles a social media account from just about anywhere, you already have an account for The Common Room Forum.
I have a temporary banner / bar in blue on the right side of this page, just under the chat box. I'll need to commission a "true" one at some point.
I'm working on some plans to use both the forum and the chat box to really push the community to the next level. I'm really liking the chat box for a trivia game with prizes at some point.
Apparently Google is going away from OpenID for Blogger in the coming months. If so, the forums will be the key to keeping discussions going that aren't solely on G+
Thinking thoughts of further Common Room uses...
Monday, January 5, 2015
Two Forums, One Tavern - Who Will Win the Rights to The Common Room?
I'm experimenting with two different forum plugins here at The Tavern.
Do we go with Exhibit A? (uses OpenID)
or Exhibit B? (requires account registration)
Let me know in the comments. It for the community to use, so help make the decision :)
Do we go with Exhibit A? (uses OpenID)
or Exhibit B? (requires account registration)
Let me know in the comments. It for the community to use, so help make the decision :)
Added a Chat Box to The Tavern - Will Announce "Official" Chat Times at a Later Date
![]() |
The real chat is on the right --> |
Yep, in addition to the Forums, henceforth known as Tenkar's Tavern Common Room, I've added a chat box, Tavern Chat. ChatWING allows you to sign in with pretty much any of the usual social media suspects so you probably don't have to sign up for anything (the forums need an account if you want to post, but any can lurk.)
I'm going to try and work out a schedule where a night or two a week I will definitely be lurking in chat for an hour or two, answering questions and generally chatting. I'll be there often anyway, but knowing when can make it a regular weekly event. I do like the idea of an RPG Trivia Night. That could be really cool.
2015 - New Year. Same Tavern. Some new decor ;)
Introducing the "Tenkar's Tavern Community Room" - A Forum of Sorts
New year. New experiment.
One of the things I love about G+ is the lively discussions. One thing I hate is the damn near impossibility of finding a thread days, let alone weeks later.
I want a place where The Tavern's community can post about looking for games, looking for players, excellent gaming blogs and resources, Kickstarters (good, bad or simply amusing), suggest blog post topics, elevator pitch guest posts, suggest topics for The Brainstorm Podcast, give feedback on what we do here - basically all the good things about a forum except for the name calling ;)
So, I've put together a forum for use here at The Tavern. It's integrated into it's own Blogger page. If it does well and gets used, I'll pony up the cash to run it ad free after the first month. If it turns into a forum wasteland, I'll let the ads run.
This doesn't replace commenting on blog posts or discussions over on G+. Think of it as a supplement for The Tavern. Completely optional. Hopefully useful.
The Tenkar's Tavern Community Room can be found at this link as well as the link on the right side of the page.
I may need to commission a button or banner for this...
One of the things I love about G+ is the lively discussions. One thing I hate is the damn near impossibility of finding a thread days, let alone weeks later.
I want a place where The Tavern's community can post about looking for games, looking for players, excellent gaming blogs and resources, Kickstarters (good, bad or simply amusing), suggest blog post topics, elevator pitch guest posts, suggest topics for The Brainstorm Podcast, give feedback on what we do here - basically all the good things about a forum except for the name calling ;)
So, I've put together a forum for use here at The Tavern. It's integrated into it's own Blogger page. If it does well and gets used, I'll pony up the cash to run it ad free after the first month. If it turns into a forum wasteland, I'll let the ads run.
This doesn't replace commenting on blog posts or discussions over on G+. Think of it as a supplement for The Tavern. Completely optional. Hopefully useful.
The Tenkar's Tavern Community Room can be found at this link as well as the link on the right side of the page.
I may need to commission a button or banner for this...
Sunday, January 4, 2015
What you see to the left are the yearly post totals here at Tenkar's Tavern going back to back to 2009 (2008 had one post, and that was just to secure the the blog over at Blogger.)
As you can see there was a significant ramp up of posts thru 2012 / 2013, with a noticeable drop off in 2014. Still an insanely huge number, but a drop off of nearly 200 post a year is significant. Considering the type of year 2014 was for me and my family, I'm actually surprised I surpassed 900.
One thing I do pride myself on is not missing a day of posting in 2014 or 2013. It could go back to 2012, but that would require me to do some heavy scanning of a couple of thousand posts. Ain't happening anytime soon ;)
One thing I might do for 2015 is put a couple of potential posts "in the hopper" so to speak. Life does not politely ask when it's a good time to intrude, and having stuff ready to go would be nice. I've never done it before, but it seems like it would make sense.
What does 2015 hold for The Tavern? Damned if I know. Mini reviews, Kickstarter highlights, gaming thoughts and observations, some gaming content - probably some Tunnels & Trolls goodness if deluxe T&T ever releases, OSR articles, some 5e thoughts if I ever get the time to read the core books, and whatever news, drama and loopiness that effects this hobby of ours.
That in and of itself is the main reason I don't write posts in advance - how do you write about a vibrant and constantly growing hobby and it's community and then put it on a back burner for weeks or months? I've seen that with some gaming podcasts - they talk about events in gaming that are current when the episode was recorded, but it's all over and done when finally released.
I'm still open to guest posters, as The Tavern is a community first and foremost. I'd like to get the community more involved with the blog and I'm certainly open to suggestions. I'd add a forum, but they tend to either be wastelands without activity or battlefields of personalities.
So, goodbye 2014 and hello 2015! May you be a kinder mistress going forward ;)
As you can see there was a significant ramp up of posts thru 2012 / 2013, with a noticeable drop off in 2014. Still an insanely huge number, but a drop off of nearly 200 post a year is significant. Considering the type of year 2014 was for me and my family, I'm actually surprised I surpassed 900.
One thing I do pride myself on is not missing a day of posting in 2014 or 2013. It could go back to 2012, but that would require me to do some heavy scanning of a couple of thousand posts. Ain't happening anytime soon ;)
One thing I might do for 2015 is put a couple of potential posts "in the hopper" so to speak. Life does not politely ask when it's a good time to intrude, and having stuff ready to go would be nice. I've never done it before, but it seems like it would make sense.
What does 2015 hold for The Tavern? Damned if I know. Mini reviews, Kickstarter highlights, gaming thoughts and observations, some gaming content - probably some Tunnels & Trolls goodness if deluxe T&T ever releases, OSR articles, some 5e thoughts if I ever get the time to read the core books, and whatever news, drama and loopiness that effects this hobby of ours.
That in and of itself is the main reason I don't write posts in advance - how do you write about a vibrant and constantly growing hobby and it's community and then put it on a back burner for weeks or months? I've seen that with some gaming podcasts - they talk about events in gaming that are current when the episode was recorded, but it's all over and done when finally released.
I'm still open to guest posters, as The Tavern is a community first and foremost. I'd like to get the community more involved with the blog and I'm certainly open to suggestions. I'd add a forum, but they tend to either be wastelands without activity or battlefields of personalities.
So, goodbye 2014 and hello 2015! May you be a kinder mistress going forward ;)
River of Heaven (OpenQuest / D100 SciFi) Giveaway - PDF - Awarding the Prize Bundle
Strange how time off from work doesn't automatically convert into free time. Anyhow, it is time to award the River of Heaven PDF Prize Bundle to a lucky reader.
+Jon Hershberger - woot!
Jon, you get a PDF copy of River of Heaven (and it's companion PDF, the adventure Reunion)
Thanks to +Newt Newport for generously offering this bundle. I look forward to hearing Jon's feedback ;)
edit - Jon, email me at tenkatsDOTtavernAT that gmail thing :)
Kickstarter - Micro Quest Cards - By Lloyd Metcalf (RPG Greeting Cards / OSR)
Over the next day or so there will be a handful of Kickstarter posts. If you have no interest in Kickstarter and the gaming material available from creators that use the system, you have been warned ;)
+Lloyd Metcalf (Lesser Gnome art jockey) gives us Micro Quest Cards - greeting cards and RPG adventures all rolled into one.
Lloyd, I fucking curse you, as now I will HAVE to send out greeting cards in 2015 - at least to certain patrons of The Tavern.
It's like chocolate and peanut butter, an impossible combination until actually done, at which point folks go "holy shit this is good!"
Yeah, I'm already in for this. Lloyd has come through in a timely fashion before, and as he has nearly a whole year to get these done (he is aiming for April 2015 - I'll need to give these to my wife or I'll lose them in the intervening months.
In +Lloyd Metcalf 's own words:
Micro Quest Cards
Will combine the lessons learned from My RPG Greeting Card Kickstarter and my RPG Mini Mod Kickstarter into a new and fun RPG supplement that I have dubbed Micro Quest Cards.
These will be 5x7 greeting cards in all respects, except these cards are more adventurous and unique.
Instead of having blank interiors and simple images, these "Greeting Cards" will be 5"x7" 4 page adventure hooks and lair encounters printed on the same superior quality 14pt scored greeting card stock I used before.
Why waste interiors and backs of greeting cards with blank space... for what?
So you can profess your love?
Wish holiday greetings?
Write mushy sentiment?
Trust me on this, you are FAR better off sending an edge of your seat adventure!
It's a greeting card like NO OTHER ready to be added to any RPG table as a GM extra!
The card REALLY IS the gift!
Give ADVENTURE not sappy greeting cards with cats!!
+Lloyd Metcalf (Lesser Gnome art jockey) gives us Micro Quest Cards - greeting cards and RPG adventures all rolled into one.
Lloyd, I fucking curse you, as now I will HAVE to send out greeting cards in 2015 - at least to certain patrons of The Tavern.
It's like chocolate and peanut butter, an impossible combination until actually done, at which point folks go "holy shit this is good!"
Yeah, I'm already in for this. Lloyd has come through in a timely fashion before, and as he has nearly a whole year to get these done (he is aiming for April 2015 - I'll need to give these to my wife or I'll lose them in the intervening months.
In +Lloyd Metcalf 's own words:
Micro Quest Cards
Will combine the lessons learned from My RPG Greeting Card Kickstarter and my RPG Mini Mod Kickstarter into a new and fun RPG supplement that I have dubbed Micro Quest Cards.
These will be 5x7 greeting cards in all respects, except these cards are more adventurous and unique.
Instead of having blank interiors and simple images, these "Greeting Cards" will be 5"x7" 4 page adventure hooks and lair encounters printed on the same superior quality 14pt scored greeting card stock I used before.
Why waste interiors and backs of greeting cards with blank space... for what?
So you can profess your love?
Wish holiday greetings?
Write mushy sentiment?
Trust me on this, you are FAR better off sending an edge of your seat adventure!
It's a greeting card like NO OTHER ready to be added to any RPG table as a GM extra!
The card REALLY IS the gift!
Give ADVENTURE not sappy greeting cards with cats!!
Late Night Thoughts on Ruling and Rules, or Why I'll Never Run an RPG "By the Book" Ever Again
I've been thinking of the whole "Ruling vs Rules" juxtaposition and I find it literally eye opening. OD&D was written with the idea that players would come up with ideas literally "outside the box." If a player wanted to play a dragon, the DM should work with the player to make it happen (assuming it fits the campaign I suspect.) Very open ended. The assumption is gaming group will make the game their own. The original Basic D&D Boxed Set kept to that feeling of openness.
AD&D was written with the idea of a set of rules for tournament play that would be in universal use (from the DMG Introduction):
I started with AD&D, and of course the first thing we did was houserule the shit out of it (we never called it houseruling). I don't think I ever read this passage until 30 years later. Still, as intended, the game was not meant to be tweaked to fit your home game and your players - the players were to conform to the rules.Thus, besides the systems, I have made every effort to give the reasoningand justification for the game. Of course the ultimate reason and justificationis a playable and interesting game, and how much rationalization canactually go into a fantasy game? There is some, at least, as you will see,for if the game is fantasy, there is a basis for much of what is containedherein, even though it be firmly grounded on worlds of make-believe. Andwhile there are no optionals for the major systems of ADVANCED D&D (foruniformity of rules and procedures from game to game, campaign to campaign,is stressed), there are plenty of areas where your own creativity andimagination are not bounded by the parameters of the game system.These are sections where only a few hints and suggestions are given, andthe rest left to the DM. (emphasis mine)
2e begat more rules and 3x even more. The idea that sufficient rules could negate the need for rulings meant that all DMs, if they were fluent with the rules, could, in theory, be created equal. All players would be on firm ground in organized play, as the rules in use would be consistent. I believe 4e moved even further in this direction, but I'm no expert, so I could easily be wrong.
5e seems to be a step back in the right direction, at least in part. Discretion is given to the DM to tweak the default rules to make things a better fit for his campaign and the players therein. If 5e grabbed any inspiration from the OSR, it is here. Not in the rules themselves, but in the flexibility of the rules.
Do you need to have all of your options spelled out? Height, weight, age - all determined randomly by dice and charts, like in 1e? Or can you just as easily decide those on your own? They don't effect the mechanics of the game, just the roleplay - and it seems like every edition after the White Box started putting more and more emphasis on roll over role and rules over rulings.
Maybe that's why I like the clones so much, as they tend to put more of the weight on rulings over rules.
Heck, even the current AD&D 1e campaign I'm playing in, which hues fairly close to being BTB, didn't have us randomly determine our age or physical stats. Which is right, even if the rules say it's wrong. No set of rules should need to define how you are going to roleplay your character beyond general class and race tendencies. If I want to play a portly and balding Tavern Keeper (Barliman Butterburr anyone?) I don't need rules telling me I'm short, thin and 18+ 1d4 years old.
Of course, I could just play myself, but where's the fun in that? ;)
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More Beautiful Development Sketches for The Great North - Tom Kilian continues to excel himself with the artwork for *The Great North*, now heading towards completion. As an Easter present, here is a work-in-pro...3 days ago
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Fog Diver’s Personal Log — SCV12 - Operator: J. Taran | Date: Cycle 2447.98 | Vessel: SCV 12 “Bleeding Mercy”I woke to the sound of the filtration alarms coughing again—three dry pulses, the...3 days ago
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The grodog Thither and Hither and Points Between - While the blog and I have languished together in torpid stupor for quite some time now, the blog's silence did not originate in or from *wordslessness*, ...3 days ago
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Tariffs, CanCon, and You - In 1972 the CBC asked listeners to complete the saying "As Canadian as...", to match "As American as apple pie." The winner was "As Canadian as possible ...4 days ago
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Witchcraft Wednesday: The "Return" of Rhiannon and Briana Highstar - A special Witchcraft Wednesday today. But really, aren't they all special in their own way? Working on the final layout of my Left Hand Path book AND pr...4 days ago
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Landmark Sites - Hazard - The next two landmarks will be the overtly bad ones. No positive spin on this, a Hazard is just a place you want to avoid. Unless... Well, let’s make th...4 days ago
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Hexcrawling for Ethyria pt 1 - As my game is small currently I'm going for sandbox style with lots of mission tables and adventure threads in my villages but now I ...5 days ago
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Afrika Korps Tiger 1 - WiP - Next project: a 15mm Tiger 1 for my Afrika Korps. I'm 3d printing an Afrika model, with the Feifel air cleaners, from TigerAce1945. It's the one in the...6 days ago
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Should you PAY your GM? - Let's start with the conclusion: GM-for-pay is okay. In other words: there is nothing wrong with paying someone to run a game for you, or charging people f...1 week ago
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Noodle Bar & Industrial Scatter Terrain - This past weekend I got a couple of solid hours to paint when I wasn’t dead tired, and decided to spend it on the 3D printed Flatline City Noodle Bar tha...1 week ago
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A Surprising Look at Murderhobos... - So I asked a question on Facebook this week. What did people do with the humanoid women and children in the Caves of Chaos, among similar adventures, persu...2 weeks ago
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36 units sold on day one - Not big Kickstarter-type numbers or anything but still pretty personally gratifying to me, because 1) it'a more copies than the first book sold on its fi...3 weeks ago
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Praise for Songs of the Dying Earth - Among my favourite works of fantasy fiction are the *Dying Earth* stories and the *Lyonesse *trilogy by Jack Vance. I’ve read the *Lyonesse *trilogy three ...3 weeks ago
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Best OSR Cartographers - A video about some my favorite cartographers in the game. This is not an exhaustive list, but the ones I go to the most and ones that have influenced my st...3 weeks ago
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Gary Con XVII - I attended Gary Con this year. Last year, I was supposed to go, but something came up and I had to cancel. This year, I ran a scenario I created called The...3 weeks ago
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[BLOG] News on the March! Episode VI. - This post continues the series of brief play reports I have been posting on Discord. This does not cover every single session (sometimes, recon and setup...4 weeks ago
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On the Success of the VOTE - You voted for it, and it's here! All the prices on the books I sell on DTRPG will be rising in price, 40-50% so I can maintain the same margin as now! ...4 weeks ago
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Lexicon of Klarkash-Ton, Hierophant of Atlantis: Lupanar - This time, we follow the good High Priest to the far future, to the final continent of Earth, Zothique, for a a tale of ennui and love: Morthylla. Witho...5 weeks ago
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Fight On! number 16 is out. - The new issue of *Fight On!* has been out for a bit. You can get copies via drivethru or lulu. I haven't finished reading my copy, but I'd like to reco...1 month ago
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Wandering through the Majestic Fantasy Realms - It's time for another Bat in the Attic update! I am halfway through the first draft of my upcoming project, Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, the Northe...1 month ago
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The Hungering Dark - Go into the earth, and reality will walk alongside you. Walk further, and you will eventually be walking alone. The world is plastic down there. Tar Lat...1 month ago
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Hobby Bingo 2025: January Progress - Welcome back to the Vault! I've painted a few bits and pieces in January and made a dent into my Hobby Bingo card! First up is a Chaplain in Terminator ...2 months ago
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NTRPG Gaming Weekend - [image: NTRPG Gaming Weekend] This weekend was a "game day" for North Texas RPG Con, held at the same hotel the con is held at. I haven't slung dice since...2 months ago
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The Stats of a Dave Arneson Player Character. - If you want to find the details for one of the characters that Gary Gygax made and played as a PC, perhaps to use as an NPC in your own game, it isn't t...2 months ago
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Into the Wild Blue Yonder: A Journey Through Blackmoor's Dark Realm - *We have been thinking about you.* *We know what you want from Rob Kuntz.* You want more than another brand-new RPG module. It has to be a *First Edition ...3 months ago
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Articulations - Creating house rules, custom rules specific to a local group or campaign, has been common throughout the history of D&D. What makes an effective house rule...3 months ago
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A Fiftieth Anniversary Year - The 50th anniversary year of *Dungeons & Dragons *is drawing to a close. A number of projects I'd been planning for this year finally came out, and I ...3 months ago
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A Quick Look at The Wizard’s Scroll II - October of this year saw the release of The Wizard’s Scroll II, the second issue of a White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game (FMAG) zine whose first ...3 months ago
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Writing playlists for all occasions - Hello again! Going off the idea of inspiration elaborated on by the prior post, I also have music playing while I write my various games and fiction pieces...4 months ago
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The Tarot of Pips - Somewhere in your dice collection is a die like this one, the humblest of dice. Although you don't know it, this small white die carries with it a secr...4 months ago
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Pirates and Necromancers, a Play Report - Over the Thanksgiving weekend we did a lot of gaming ranging from “off-table” domain level stuff to some solo adventures to spell and magic item rese...4 months ago
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Welcome new Greyhawk Fans! - With the publication of the new Dungeon Master’s Guide, there are doubtless going to be a lot of new D&D players interested in my favorite setting, the Wor...5 months ago
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It's been a bit - Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! I've had a lot going on and haven't had much time to blog lately. Heres a recap of gaming events and other st...11 months ago
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*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace - A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or more w...1 year ago
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Housekeeping 2024 - Coactus Illustration © Heather Gwinn. A gift she gave me in 2013 for an edition of Miscreated Creatures which I hope exists someday. Coloring by me. I am a...1 year ago
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Last move - to self-hosting! - As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to self-hosting. I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at) Blog: ht...1 year ago
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Osamu Tezuka (1928 - 1989) - [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970]Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970 [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover Illustration 1970]Shonen Maga...2 years ago
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This is an Important Game Mechanic - *"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does some s$&...2 years ago
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Clean Your Room - Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it was ...3 years ago
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Steve Jackson Interview - James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and upcomi...4 years ago
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The Hero’s Journey 2nd Edition, Campbellian roleplaying at its best! - (this review done using the reviewers own purchased copy) I have been a James Michael Spahn fan since he wrote his Swords & Wizardry Companion. His writing...4 years ago
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ToAD Monster of the Week: Crocoman - Now that I'm back doing the blog thing I thought I would use Tome of Adventure Design to create monsters for The Black Hack. Using the monster tables in th...5 years ago
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More Arden Vul Art - Another great piece from Del, this one's the Forum of Set: a place that the PCs may spend quite a bit of time within.5 years ago
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OCHRE SAND - Init +0 Ranged Atk • fire burst +3 (1d14+1, 20') AC 17 HD 3d6 MV 60 Act 1d24 SP 'breath' weapon, sideslip, perfect silence, morphing Fort +5 Ref +8 Will...5 years ago
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Strange, Dangerous, and Inhuman: The Fey and Fairie - When I was a boy I loved fairy tales. Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in Boots, Rumpelstiltskin - I devoured all of it. My fascination that there was a strang...5 years ago
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New Map of the Elf Empire and Southern Isles - I’ve been having fun developing a new map-drawing style that I think is finally reaching a certain level of maturity. And yeah, it owes a lot to Matthew Ad...5 years ago
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The Faithful - An Optional Archetype for Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells Revised Edition - Work on the revised edition of Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells is moving along. This will be a hefty tome, with a LOT of tools and new options to customiz...5 years ago
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Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule - *As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in Warren...5 years ago
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Fiction in Airhde - On a whim this weekend, I picked up some fiction off the TLG store. *A Houseless God & Other Tales* and *The Mirrored Soul & Other Tales*, both by the T...5 years ago
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Ravensburg Reboot: Streamlined City Map - I mentioned in my last post how I was tweaking and reworking parts of my Ravensburg setting. Today I streamlined the city map. The old map had lots of redu...5 years ago
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And Now the News Draft Download on Patreon - It's self-styled Throwback Thursday and *having just released the 34-page draft booklet of Hill Cantons news to my Patreon backers* I am going to indulge m...5 years ago
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The Withered Crag available now - I just enabled the sale of the PDF version of The Withered Crag at DriveThruRPG a few minutes ago, and the custom print version will be available startin...5 years ago
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Annihilation Rising Goes live - The latest in Fail Squad Games’ Quick Kick projects has gone live and needs your support!! This project is only running 11 days and ends on 5/28/2019! ...5 years ago
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James's Celebration of Life - We could not have asked for a prettier day for James's service. It was a bit chilly and windy but gorgeous. A heartfelt thank you to all that joined us tod...6 years ago
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Trap Tuesday: A step back - I will get back to Tomb of Horrors soon. I found a topic that was interesting enough to take a break. While interacting in a 5E group on Facebook I talked ...6 years ago
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Let's Talk About Pacing! - The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player was...6 years ago
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Profane and Profound Prep Part 2 - This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release, along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a Saint 8000...6 years ago
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MIDDLE DUNGEONS LEVEL FIVE 158 STAIRS. - 158 STAIRS. These stairs descend thirty feet to Area 79 on Level 6.6 years ago
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Please, I don't do paid advertisements - don't ask. - A little note since people have asked me about this. My video channel's *not* an advertising platform, so I'm not available for hire if you want to promote...6 years ago
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New website! - Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that site wil...6 years ago
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Please Update Your Link! - If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is out of date. Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is h...6 years ago
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Total Sales for WB:FMAG - Hi Folks, It's been a long time since I provided an update for the sales of White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game. *LULU* Print: 396 PDF: 433 *OBS*...6 years ago
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How can We Destroy this Campaign World? - d12 1. You must trick a bard into strumming the *Chords of Fate* on the *Lute of Annihilation* 2. Legends tell of thermonuclear weapons beneath megadunge...6 years ago
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Mord Mar - Session 5 - We had another successful delve into the dungeon yesterday. The delvers: Moira, the Magic-User Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?) Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf ...6 years ago
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Yodeling For Yokels or The Further Misa(d&)dventures - This is the one of those posts that points out the lack of current posts. Over the last week or three, there has been postponed Labyrinth Lord (twice, one...6 years ago
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Bundle of Fantasy Age - Bundle of Holding: Dragon Age/Fantasy Age: Available until March 12. PA Presents: Fantasy AGE Freeport live play Green Ronin in 2018 The Fantasy Age RPG ma...7 years ago
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New Free PDF Module: The Hyqueous Vaults - A new dungeon module—written in celebration of OSRIC's 10th Birthday—by Rebecca Dettmann, Allan T. Grohe, Jr., Jimm Johnson, Matthew Riedel, Alex Zisch, a...7 years ago
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Session XCIII: One Pissed Off Dragon! - Our ongoing Swords and Wizardry sandbox campaign... *Current Player Characters:* *Thenus* (Ranger) *Wang Du* (Monk) *Wolfheir* (Viking) *Arg* (Half-orc) ...7 years ago
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Swords & Wizardry Light: Session # 6 - Two months after our last session (thanks to things like 8th grade finals, a 4 year-old's birthday and party, Father's Day, etc.), we finally had our next ...7 years ago