Sunday - 10 AM Eastern - The RPG Breakfast Club - Live on the Tenkar's Tavern Discord

The RPG Breakfast Club is the latest, regularly scheduled live chat event on the Tenkar's Tavern Discord Server.

Tomorrow morning, Sunday, November 5th at 10 AM Eastern join our hosts from some lively gaming chat. It's like being at a live podcast - uncensored, unedited and completely uncut ;)

Who's in the lineup for tomorrow?

Douglas Cole (Gaming Ballistic)
TheGlen (Welcome to Mystra)
Vince TheEvilGM (Wild Game Productions)
Joshua Desa (Genius Loci Games)
Hack & Slash (Hack & Slash)

Yep, we have an all-star line up lined up for Y'all. Set your alarm because you won't want to miss it. If you need to skip church, just mail in your tithe ;P

Here's the link: https://discord.gg/wHCS85

Episode #1 of the TavernSpike Podcast - Join "SpikePit" and Myself on a Podcast Crossover (Tavern Chat Episode #170)

This morning Colin and I recorded the first episode of the TavernSpike Podcast. It's also Episode 170 of Tavern Chat as well as the latest Episode of the SpikePit Podcast.

I think it's an excellent way to get listeners exposed to other podcasts and its something I encourage other podcasts to do. Sometime after I get back from GameHole (leave in 5 days for Madison) I'll be doing something similar with the fine folks over at the Save for Half Podcast (tentatively called "Save The Tavern") I strongly suspect this is going to be an ongoing thing and I am very excited that others are joining in.

Colin and I recorded Episode #1 of TavernSpike in front of a live studio audience. Well, not exactly, but we did have live listeners as we recorded this morning over at the Tenkar's Tavern Discord Server.

Here's the link and we hope you enjoy the show:

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E170---Episode-1-of-the-TavernSpike-Podcast---Join-SpikePit-and-Myself-on-a-Podcast-Crossover-e2h596

Kickstarter - HYPERBOREA: Players' Manual, Referee's Screen, and more!

My God! The HYPERBOREA: Players' Manual, Referee's Screen, and more! Kickstarter launched yesterday and it has already surpassed $21k in funding. Why do I feel like I am late to the party ;)

So, what is Jeff offering this time around?

From North Wind Adventures, an exciting new Kickstarter campaign for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea™, a role-playing game of swords, sorcery, and weird fantasy. This bundle features four new products intended to improve the fun and excitement of your AS&SH™ game day.

The Hyperborea Players’ Manual compiles Volumes I, II, and III of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, as originally presented in the AS&SH 2E hardback. The milieux of AS&SH are inspired by the fantastic literature of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith. AS&SH rules and conventions are informed by the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

The Hyperborea Player Character Folder is a valuable supplement for players of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. This 9 × 12-inch,two-pocket folder will feature wraparound cover art by Del Teigeler, with colours by Glynn Seal. The folder will contain 10 booklet-style AS&SH character sheets, each measuring 8½ × 11 inches (i.e., a single 17 × 11-inch sheet folded in half) on classic goldenrod paper. Additional AS&SH character sheets can be downloaded and printed from our website at www.hyperborea.tv. Keep your character sheets, notes, and maps organized with this great new resource! 

The Hyperborea Referee’s Screen is a useful game day accessory for referees of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. This 44 × 8½ inch, four-panel screen will feature an exterior panoramic scene of Hyperborea, with art by Diogo Nogueira and colours by Daisey Bingham. The interior will display the most relevant AS&SH tables for ready reference.

Rats in the Walls and Other Perils will feature the classic Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea adventure, “Rats in the Walls”, by Jeffrey P. Talanian. This adventure, originally published in 2014 as a special “swag bag” giveaway at Gary Con VI, was inspired by the eponymous story by H.P. Lovecraft. This revised and lightly expanded version will bring that title up to date with our current catalogue of adventure modules.

Rats in the Walls and Other Perils also will include two more short adventures: Chainsaw’s “The Brazen Bull”, and “The Lamia’s Heart”, by Jeffrey P. Talanian. (An early draft of the latter was published in the AFS fanzine.) Edited by David Prata, all three adventures are set in the dismal City-State of Khromarium and designed for from four to six characters of 1st or 2nd level. Like our popular adventure module The Anthropophagi of Xambaala™, we think you will find this to be a great AS&SH campaign starter. It contains just enough mystery and danger to whet the appetites of your players, introducing them to the weird world of sword-and-sorcery role-playing in the City-State of Khromarium. 

There are MANY different backer levels for PDF or Print, with the above on their own or bundled.

If you just want the Player's book, the GM screen and the adventures in PDF its 25 bucks.  If you want it all in Print plus PDF (including "goldenrod character sheets and a folder) its 90 bucks. In my opinion, those are the sweet spots.

With all due respect to Jeff - Fuck You! Just take my money damn it!

Tavern Chat Podcast - Live Episode - 10AM Eastern Friday Nov 2 - Crossover with Colin Green / Spikepit

Tomorrow morning at 10 am Eastern, Colin Green and I are going to be doing a live episode of the Tavern Chat Spikepit Tavern Spike Podcast. Yep, two hosts, one episode, shared on two podcast streams. Should be fun.

Drop in if you can. If not, I'll share the link when it goes live.

Link to The Tavern's Discord Server:  https://discord.gg/JJ2SFZ

Kickstarter - Socks of Speed and Socks of Elvenkind (for realz!)

It's not often that I find myself at a loss for words. When I was sent the link to the Socks of Speed and Socks of Elvenkind Kickstarter.

I don't even know where to start. It is tempting in the same way buying pairs of superhero socks when my son was staling my normal socks - I KNOW no one but me would wear them.

Did I mention the video is 7 seconds long and has nothing to do with the socks? Go ahead, watch it. I dare you ;)

A single pair is 15 bucks plus 4 for shipping. Four pairs are 45 bucks plus 4 for shipping. Want 10 pairs (5 of each)? 75 bucks plus 4 for shipping.

Shit. Sweet point is 10 pairs. Maybe I could give some as gifts...

Kickstarter - The Dreams in Gary’s Basement: A Documentary on Gary Gygax

There are a number of interesting Kickstarters on the gaming radar right now, and I'm going to do my best to get to them in a timely (meaning - still funding) manner.

The Dreams in Gary’s Basement: A Documentary on Gary Gygax is what it says on the tin - this isn't a D&D focused documentary, instead it's focused on one D&D's co-creators (and the wind beneath the sails and sales of D&D - see what I did there?;)

I must say, it does look very interesting. I may be a bit gun shy after dueling D&D documentary Kickstarters spent years duking it out in court - and I still don't know what, if any, is going to see the light of day from either.

Here's the pitch:

Gary Gygax was one of the great minds of the 20th century – his innovations have influenced generations of artists and spawned tens of billions of dollars in global revenue. 

With Dungeons & Dragons, Gary crafted a vehicle for engaging the mind at a creative, analytical, social and even emotional level - all at the same time. There is truly nothing else like it. 

Gary's work has woven itself into the fabric of our culture, yet there is no monument to recognize him, not even in his own hometown. (wonder how that failed to happen?) We intend this project to be a filmic monument of sorts – a high-quality, emotionally engaging record of Gary’s story that can be appreciated by gamers and non-gamers alike for generations to come.

As a lifelong player of D&D, I feel this project has been a dream come true. I've met so many of my idols, made so many friends, and developed a deeper understanding of Gary Gygax and his magical game. 

This movie has been three years in the making and is now just months from being completed. We have dozens of interviews and hours of other great footage, and in a rough cut, it already tells a compelling story. 

With your support, we can bring it across the finish line by giving the movie high-end color grading, sound mixing and additional archival photos and video. We have a talented post-production team in place and ready to work as soon as we fund.
Please help us bring Gary's inspiring story to life and create a lasting addition to his legacy. 

- Pat Kilbane, Director

Watch the video on the Kickstarter page. It's less than 3 minutes long and I find it enticing. 

Still not sure I'm going to pull the trigger on this one, but it has funded and is hitting stretch goals.

Reminder - Tavern Chat - 9 PM Eastern - Where the Cool Geeks Hang ;)

Alright, I'm not so sure how well the words "cool" and "geek" matchup, but there you have it :)

Tonight is a Wednesday Night and that means Tavern Chat, a voice and text hangout on the Tenkar's Tavern Discord Server starting at 9 PM Eastern.

Here's the invite: https://discord.gg/fReGmuD

We now have multiple voice hangouts throughout the week, with Frog Chat on Tuesday Night's at 9 PM and the RPG Breakfast Club at 10 AM on Sundays (all times Eastern).

Huzzah!

Join us tonight. It's like participating in a live, uncensored (and unrecorded) podcast ;)

Kickstarter - DCC Annual (and other forbidden tomes) - Goodman Games

Goodman Games seriously knows how to make gaming releases for collectors. We are now (as of this Kickstarter) on the 7th Print of the core DCC RPG rules. I think I have three copies myself and I don't even play DCC ;)

So, what does the DCC Annual Kickstarter offer that you, that as a DCC RPG player or judge, need to have?

Yet the urge to create is a hungry god, and gods demand nourishment. It was originally conceived that an annual publication would exist in some form to showcase the brilliance of the DCC RPG community. This would be the DCC RPG Annual, published each year to distribute these gaming creations. 

The best of things happened: the DCC RPG Annual was never needed. The DCC community burst forth a verdant jungle of inspiration, with ripe fruit on every limb. Blogs and personal posts; zines; community publications; the Gongfarmer’s Almanac; officially licensed third-party works: there is a vast supply of inspiration from whence the DCC judge can draw and iterate. 

And thus we come here to Kickstart a volume which has no place. If you are a DCC fan, you absolutely do not need to support this Kickstarter. Should you to desire to do so, however, you will receive a book that has become a legend, despite never before being published.

Interesting that the fan base supplied what the annual was conceived of to do.

But wait, there's more!

There's the new 7th printing of the core rules and a hardcover edition of the Chained Coffin.

But screw all that. What if you've never played the DCC RPG before? It's expensive to make that leap, right?

Not any more:

I have a copy of the DCC RPG Quickstart rules and they are good. Quickstart rules, in print AND three adventures in PDF, print copy shipped anywhere in the word - all for 2 measly bucks? I don't care if you play the game or now, this is simply too good a deal to pass up on. If you do play DCC and have no interest in the rest of this Kickstarter, it is STILL too good a deal to pass up on ;)

DnDSports is Now RPGSports - Why the Name Change?

I missed this change in title (and website) as well as the drama over the invite / revoked invite / never invited Youtube personality (pick and choose what happened, it matters little)

Anyhow, DnDSports is now RPGSports. Now, why would one change their name from "KleenexSports" to "TissuePaperSports?" Here's the official announcement of the name change (with some relevant highlighted comments from myself):

We’ve heard a lot of great feedback, but one thing we weren’t expecting was SO much interest for us to expand outside of just Dungeons & Dragons! (somehow I doubt this) Therefore, we’ve decided to broaden our approach and become RPGSports! 

We have a new Twitch channel here! 

This wider umbrella means that we can position ourselves to easily collaborate with other tabletop games. What other tabletop games would you like to see in a competitive style in the future? 

Of course, in other ways this doesn’t change too much. The first RPGSports tournament this November will still be played using the Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition rules. We noticed some confusion online, and so wanted to take this opportunity to clarify that this is an EncounterRoleplay production. While D&DBeyond are sponsoring this tournament, Wizards of the Coast are not affiliated with RPGSports. (emphasis mine - read these two sentences carefully)

We’re excited to start releasing more information on rules, to announce the star-studded teams, and to tell you how you can get involved in RPGSports! 

Thanks for sticking with us while this exciting project continues to expand and grow.

Then there is THIS later down the page:

Who is involved? 

The EncounterRoleplay & D&DBeyond crews have teamed up to bring this production to life! While we’re playing Dungeons & Dragons, we don’t have any affiliation with Wizards of the Coast. (again, emphasis mine)

It suggests to me that the DnDSports title was politely contested by a company distinctly not affiliated with the project

You can read the latest PR share at ENWorld.

Note: D&D Beyond is NOT a WotC or Hasbro company. They have a D&D license.

Do You Run "Horror Themed Adventures" around Halloween?

I was thinking about this last night. I haven't run a "themed adventure" it at least 25 years. There was a stretch where I ran a Call of Chtuhlu session the weekend before or after Halloween. One year I ran The Created, a puppet-themed low-level Ravenloft Adventure for AD&D 2e.

I had fun doing so. Kinda wish I had set something similar up for this year.

Do you run special adventures for the Halloween season? If so, which ones?