OSR Christmas, Day One - Santa Delivers ALL Day One Gifts Worldwide :)

Here we go with Day One of OSR Christmas. I figured we would hit the ground running with an amazing number of gifts, both physical and digital that can all be delivered worldwide. Let's see what's in the mix today:

1) 1x physical Lord of Suttham Oldfeld bundle for The Midderlands shipped anywhere in the world. This includes the following items...

1x The Midderlands A5 Hardcover Book
1x The Midderlands Expanded A5 Hardcover Book
1x The Midderlands Hex Map
1x The Haven Isles Hex Map
1x Midderlands Gamemaster Screen
1x Midderlands Gloomium Randomiser Die-drop Chart
5x The Midderlands Character Tracker Bookmarks

This is coming from the VERY generous Monkeyblood Design & Publishing
https://www.rpgnow.com/product/221994/The-Midderlands--OSR-Bestiary-and-Setting&affiliate_id=1446
http://www.monkeyblooddesign.co.uk/

2) 1 PDF Copy of The Midderlands from MonkeyBlood

3) 1 Bundle of OSR Patches from Thad Moore

4) 1 PDF Copy of White Star Galaxy Edition from James Spahn / Barrel Rider Games

5)  1 PDF Copy of the World War II: Operation WhiteBox adventure "The Argentine Connection" from Stouthearted Games

How do you enter for a chance to be gifted? Simply comment on this very post. On Monday, December 3rd, 2018 sometime after 6pm Eastern, we will randomly determine those to be gifted from the comments received. It really is that simple. Check back often, because we'll have at least 12 days of OSR Christmas during the month of December.

(edit - all comments at The Tavern have to be moderated - approved by an admin - meaning me. The Tavern has become the target of spambots and others and this is the best, if most tedious, way to handle such. I approve comments as fast as I can. I appreciate your patience - Erik)

Yes, there may be affiliate links above. They help keep the lights on here at The Tavern.

Below is a more or less complete list of the upcoming month of gifting.

We have an amazing list of gift givers and gifts. The gifts list is literally growing daily, but here is a quick list as of this moment:

• Far Away Lands - PDF Bundles
• OSR Patches - Multiple sets - some shipping worldwide
• World War II: Operation WhiteBox adventure "The Argentine Connection" - PDF copies
• Castle of the Mad Archmage and all the expansions (Level 3 East, Musicland, and Bitterbark's Circus - in Print)
• Lord of Suttham Oldfeld bundle for The Midderlands shipped anywhere in the world
• Daily PDF giveaway of the Midderlands
• Print copy of For Coin & Blood, Eorathril, and Print copy of Fallen Justice anywhere in the world.
• ZWEIHÄNDER Complete Digital Bundle (all 13 digital products)
• 3 PDF’s of the Sunken City Omnibus (DCC RPG)
• ALL Frog God Games Swords & Wizardry releases in digital format (that they can account for) in a bundle for 1 person
• Some Frog God Games Print products signed by Bill Webb (shipped by me)
• Outdoor Encounter Cards and Dungeon Challenge Card - in Print (shipped by me)
• 4 Class Compendium PDFs, 4 White Star Galaxy Edition PDFs, 4 The Hero's Journey PDFs
• Random Gaming Material from a Taverner's Gaming Collection
• Random Shit from the Tenkar Game Collection - at least three Priority Mail boxes of stuff
• 6 copies of Dragon Heresy in Print
• 2 copies Undying Orb in Print
• PDF copies of The Sentinel Chapel for DragonQuest / System Neutral
• The Mystery at Port Greely”, an AS&SH adventure module, signed by the author, Jeffrey Talanian

Note - stuff I'm shipping MAY not ship until after Christmas. I've found a hidden and forgotten post office here in Queens, so I do hope to ship before Christmas, but it may get swamped. Time will tell.

Some Thoughts on the Common Tongue

Its occurred to me that the common tongue, as often used in fantasy RPGs, is one hell of an unrealistic crutch. Just look at Europe. How many languages are spoken there? Well, according to Wikipedia, the European Union has 24 languages designated as "official and working": Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish. Trust me, there are others that are spoken.

So, obviously "common" is used so player characters can travel the world without having language difficulties, but is it taken too far?

In my mind, "common" should be to a fantasy setting as English is to much of the real world - a language of international trade and business. Yes, many if not most of Europe  (if not the world) speaks English as a second language, but that's the catch - it is a second language. At home, on the streets, in personal interactions among locals, it is rarely used. Such communications use the native tongue, not the common tongue.

Now, for those that the so-called common tongue is their native tongue, they may not have even bothered to learn another language. Sound familiar to anyone? ;)

Anyhow, just something to chew on when I run my next Swords & Wizardry Campaign...

If you want, I have some further thoughts and observations on tonight's episode of The Tavern Chat Podcast.

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/E198---How-Common-is-the-Common-Tongue-e2lvhc

Tavern Chat Podcast Roundup for November, 2018

Yeah, I know there's still a day left in the month, but tomorrow is going to be busy as heck, so I figured I'd do the roundup post now. Well, not a complete roundup, but at least a highlight of the more popular episodes.

E170 - Episode #1 of the TavernSpike Podcast - Join "SpikePit" and Myself on a Podcast Crossover

Published on Nov 2, 2018

It has finally happened. There has been a melding of worlds. A mashing of podcasts. Yep, this is the first in a series of "podcast crossovers". Today, I hang with Colin "SpikePit" Green. We touch on many topics related to gaming, geekdom and beyond. Enjoy the podcast that spans both sides of the "pond" ;)

E173 - But we Decide which is Right and which is an Illusion - I talk briefly about Game Balance

Published on Nov 5, 2018

Love me some Moody Blues. I talk a bit about game balance and why I think the true balance belongs not in the rules but in the adventures.

E177 - GameHole Day Two with Bad Mike, Ben Barsh, Zach Glazer and Rach

Published on Nov 9, 2018

I hang out and discuss Gamehole and related stuff with Bad Mike, Ben Barsh, Zach Glazer and my wife Rach. Ambient noise supplied by Dwarven Forge ;)

E184 - Mundane Magic - Spells and Items - Why is This Overlooked in Most Fantasy RPGs?

Published on Nov 16, 2018

I got it into my head today to think about mundane magic. I understand why RPG rulebooks focus on the magic aimed for adventuring, but in societies where magic replaces technologoy, wouldnt there be more mundane uses?

E185 - Does the Graphic Define the OSR or Does the OSR Define the Graphic? Does the Graphic Matter?

Published on Nov 17, 2018

Voicemails on Mundane Magic kick us off. It really seems to have an audience. Then we address Stuart R's OSR Logo / Graphic and whether it was ever really needed. I think a TARGA follow up episode will be needed.

E186 - TARGA - Its History, Its Death and an Inside View - Are We Doomed to Repeat?

Published on Nov 18, 2018

I apologize in advance for the extra-long episode. As I was putting the pieces of the episode together, I discovered a post on our very own TenkarsTavern.com from 2014 that shed further light on the battle for the soul of TARGA, from the one that fought said battle. Additional material is at the end of the episode. It was too relevant to not include. I touch upon the current OSR logo drama too.

E192 - News - There is Now a Gygax Game site - But They Don't Mention FIG (Alex does have a sidegig)

Published on Nov 24, 2018

Voicemails and then a peek at the brand new Gygax Games website. What it doesn't say speaks volumes...

E196 - Do you Use Spells with No Save Against your Player Characters?

Published on Nov 28, 2018

JoeTheLawyer calls in with an interesting observation regarding spells with no saves (Cloudkill, Powerword Kill, Sleep, etc). I respond with thoughts of my own.

Tegel Manor Full-Size Prototype Map (Kickstarter)

Wow. Simply wow. Just thinking about the idea of running Tegel Manor using the final, full-size map at future conventions makes me smile :)

Zach tells it like it is:

Here's the link to the Tegel Manor Kickstarter for 5e and S&W.

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Three Years Ago Today, The Tavern's Facebook Group was Formed

Three years ago today I created the Tenkar's Tavern Facebook Group. I had just started digging into the Gygax Memorial Fund and was getting heavy pushback from Gail Gygax because of such. I thought it might be nice to have a place to discuss blog posts (from all gaming sources) and events that related to tabletop gaming and geekdom that was directly tied to a blog post. I also wanted to give the community that had formed around the Tenkar's Tavern blog a place to hang out and communicate with others. 

I was gratified to see "Taverners" embrace the new group as quickly as they did. I am floored to see how much it has grown over those three years. Over 2,200 members, with more joining every week.

Over the years, The Tavern has seen a strong, vibrant community grow around it. Our Facebook Group is a huge part of that.

Thank you.

Tenkar's Tavern - a Neutral Ground Closed group · 2,239 members Join Group A place for Old School Gamers to hang out and have a good time

Almost Complete List of OSR Christmas Gifts 2018

Holy shit! We have an amazing list of gift givers and gifts. The gifts list is literally going to need a day or more to fully put together, but here is a quick list as of this moment:

• Far Away Lands - PDF Bundles
• OSR Patches - Multiple sets - some shipping worldwide
• World War II: Operation WhiteBox adventure "The Argentine Connection" - PDF copies
• Castle of the Mad Archmage and all the expansions (Level 3 East, Musicland, and Bitterbark's Circus - in Print)
• Lord of Suttham Oldfeld bundle for The Midderlands shipped anywhere in the world
• Daily PDF giveaway of the Midderlands
• Print copy of For Coin & Blood, Eorathril, and Print copy of Fallen Justice anywhere in the world.
• ZWEIHÄNDER Complete Digital Bundle (all 13 digital products)
• 3 PDF’s of the Sunken City Omnibus (DCC RPG)
• ALL Frog God Games Swords & Wizardry releases in digital format (that they can account for) in a bundle for 1 person
• Some Frog God Games Print products signed by Bill Webb (shipped by me)
• Outdoor Encounter Cards and Dungeon Challenge Cards- in Print (from Phil Reed, shipped by me)
• 4 Class Compendium PDFs, 4 White Star Galaxy Edition PDFs, 4 The Hero's Journey PDFs
• Random Gaming Material from a Taverner's Gaming Collection
• Random Shit from the Tenkar Game Collection - at least three Priority Mail boxes of stuff
• 6 copies of Dragon Heresy in Print
• 2 copies Undying Orb in Print

Note - stuff I'm shipping MAY not ship until after Christmas. I've found a hidden and forgotten post office here in Queens, so I do hope to ship before Christmas, but it may get swamped. Time will tell.

I may have missed a gift package or two. Not everyone used email to notify me, so if you offered and weren't mentioned above, or if you want to gift, email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing with the subject OSR Christmas and the details of what you are gifting, and I'll put you on OSR Santa's Good List ;)

Reminder - Tavern Chat Tonight - 9 PM Eastern - Who Said "Tenkar is so Neutral its Almost Pathological?"

As November comes to a close and December steps up to the plate, the smell of OSR Christmas is in the air. That as well as the above quote, all things Gygax and whatever else lands on the radar will be up for discussion on tonight's Tavern Chat, the weekly voice chat of Tenkar's Tavern, held on our very own Discord Server.

We use the "Speakeasy" for the Voice Channel and "tavern-chat" for text and pics.

Here's the link:  https://discord.gg/rsN2K9

The Tenkar's Tavern Discord Server with over 1,200 members. A Neutral Ground.

See you, or is that "hear you", tonight :)

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Orcus - Sung by James Spahn

Ah James, its like I hardly know ya :)

4 days to go - funded and then some!

How Orcus Stole Christmas! A Holiday RPG Adventure - A joy-filled holiday adventure for either Fifth Edition, Swords & Wizardry, or Pathfinder campaigns.

Kickstarter - More Sci-Fi content Add-Ons for MapForge map-making software

I love making maps for RPGs. I lack the artistic talent to draw decent looking maps by hand. Programs like Mapforge put virtual talent into the users' hands.

The More Sci-Fi content Add-Ons for MapForge map-making software Kickstarter is what it says on the tin - an attempt to fund sci-fi assets for the Mapforge software. It's also an opportunity for those that missed last year's MapForge Kickstarter to pick up the MapForge software and still help fund the sci-fi assets.

MapForge is a full-color battle map mapping program from BattleGrounds Games, publisher of one of the longest-running VTTs on the market.

State of The Tavern - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - OSR Christmas that Is!

Yep, its that time of year again. Along with seasonal depression for a large portion of the populace and Thanksgiving Hangover for even more of it, its the time where we start our holiday gift giving shopping (as shown with the Black Friday postings here at The Tavern). It also means its time to prepare for OSR Christmas.

God bless, I've already been contacted by a number of publishers to ensure they are on the gift-giving list. I guess OSR Christmas really has become a tradition.

If you are a publisher or even a generous member of the OSR and you would like to participate in the distribution of gifts for OSR Christmas, I need you to email me at: tenkarsDOTtavern at that Gmail thing. Please put "OSR Christmas" in the subject and let me know what you can add to Santa's gift collection.

Some quick reminders/rules:

• Unless the gift donor states otherwise, physical (snail mail) gifts are only being gifted within the US. Sucks, I know, but shipping can cost more than the gift itself otherwise.
• Most gifts will be sent by the gifter to the receiver. I am willing to be the middleman if necessary, but it saves time and postal expenses if we cut me out ;)
• Publishers big and small - PDF gifts are ALWAYS appreciated and they can be given worldwide.
• I'd like to kick this off December 1st if it all works out.
• I'll be putting two or three grab bags of RPG goodness into the pot. They should each fill a large Priority Mail box. Huzzah!
• Shipping of gifts from my end may be delayed until the 1st of the New Year if my post office is insane.
• Gift Posts will generally be up for 48 hrs (at least) - Comment on the posts that have gifts you might want. There is no limit to the number of gift posts one can comment on, nor is there a limit to the number of gifts one can receive. Some posts may have more than one gift in the mix and there may be multiple gift receivers per post
• Most of all, let's share the spirit of Christmas, with respect and love to our fellow men and women everywhere.

I expect I will be a bit distracted this week. My son drives to Salt Lake City Friday morning for a new position with Delta (he's been with them a few years). He's excited. I'm the nervous father. Heh. Anyone near Salt Lake City want to take responsibility for my 25-year-old son? Seriously, proud as all hell and just as nervous.