The Return of OSR Christmas - Day 10 - PDF and Worldwide

I love OSR Christmas. It really is the gift giving celebration that keeps on giving. I apologize for the deal in getting to Day 10. I had about 2 weeks of minor but numerous medical issues cropping up. Anti-biotics for the win. I am back :)

As usual, we have some awesome gifts in the OSR Christmas mix.

1) 1 PDF Bundle of Far Away Lands from Dirk Stanley

2) 1 PDF Copy of The Midderlands from MonkeyBlood

3) 1 Bundle of OSR Patches from Thad Moore - ships worldwide

4) 1 PDF Copy of The Class Compendium (James Spahn / Barrel Rider Games)

5) 1 PDF Copy of Heart of Darkness (White Star Adventure/ Middle Kingdoms Adventure & Trading Co.)

6) ZWEIHÄNDER Complete Digital Bundle (all 13 digital products)

How do you enter for a chance to be gifted? Simply comment on this very post. On Monday, January 21st, 2019 sometime after 6pm Eastern (so comment before), 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 2 more days of OSR Christmas running this month.

Note - If you live outside the US and get picked for a Print gift, I will substitute a $5 OneBookShelf Gift Certificate and the print prize will go back in the pool. N/A this round of gifting

Note 2 - Anything shipping from me (Tenkar) won't be shipping until at least January 22 - possibly not until the 24th. Boxed and ready to go though.

Note 3 - Again, I apologize for the 2-week hiccup. General catching up was today - I'll be doing email catch up tomorrow. Assumingmy niece gives uncle the time to do so...

(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)

Below is a more or less complete list of the OSR Christmas Grab Bag:

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

Kickstarter - Dark Naga - Haunting of Hastur - Hardback - 5e and OSR

I've thoroughly enjoyed the individual releases in the Haunting of Hastur line of adventures from Dark Naga. Of course, the later ones were written for 5e and I would have had to convert them to run them. I almost backed the limited print run of the 5 adventures as a bundle in the OSR format but the stars didn't align, so I'm thrilled to see an OSR version as an option with the latest Haunting of Hastur - Hardback - 5e and OSR Kickstarter.

This is an omnibus collection of the five released adventures and it comes with Virtual Table Top (VTT) ready maps. Fog of War, here I come!

The Haunting of Hastur is a campaign designed to integrate with starting adventures like the 5e boxed set, or other introductory works and take the party through level twelve.  

The party members start out on a job to investigate missing people and are pulled into a confrontation with those who would bring Hastur back to the world. 

The campaign is a non-linear adventure that leaves a lot of room for roleplaying.  

The book will be about 240 pages, case bound hardback with a full cover interior on 70-pound paper. This tome includes the following adventures: DNH1a – Sidequest – River Crossing, DNH1 – The Lost Temple of Forgotten Evil, DNH2 – The Buried Zikurat, DNH3 – The City of Talos (Adventure, Gazetteer and Bestiary), DNH4 – Confronting Hastur, and DNH5 – Carcosa. All of which have been previously run as individual projects on Kickstarter to publish the old school, detached cover module prints.  

The PDF rewards for this campaign include the PDF versions of the Complete editions of the five individual modules. The complete version includes the 5e, OSR and in two cases, the Pathfinder version of the adventures. 

I should mention that Kevin is having the original B&W art colorized for this release.

30 bucks get you the Digital Complete level - everything in PDF, including both OSR and 5e versions.

70 bucks get you the Hardcover print copy in either OSR or 5e, plus everything listed in the Digital Complete backer level.

State of The Tavern Keeper - And So It was That Pexx Was Right - The Tavern is Becoming Full-Time :)

Pexx, the 'Tavern Custodian" and general right hand, told me recently that I may be retired, but I've got a full-time gig. I didn't believe him until one of my retired friends went down to his union office and came back with this

 I started filling in the interviews that we have on the calendar for the Tavern Chat Podcast, the weekly Tavern Chat hangout sessions, the appearances I'm making on other scheduled shows on The Tavern's Discord server as well as my physical therapy, doc appointments, and all important Gaming Conventions and shit - Pexx is right. I AM busy. Guess I'm a visual person when it comes to this stuff, as Excel spreadsheets didn't do much to drive it home ;) This isnt even including blog posts, daily podcast episodes and wanting to get back to producing some more gaming material.

I'm feeling much better after nearly two weeks of general health shittiness. OSR Christmas returns tomorrow, post office trip on Tuesday to mail out packages, email catch up this weekend and maybe even work on some maps too. I'm psyched!

Thank you for the support. Tavern Ho!

Has Roll20 Stopped Releasing Orr Group Industry Reports? No Quarterly Usage Numbers Since 1st Quarter 2018

It looks like Roll20 is no longer issuing Orr Group Industry Reports.

The 1st Quarter of 2018 Orr Report was released on June 12th, 2018 and even that was late:

We’ll be releasing the Q2 Industry Report pretty soon as the Q1 report was a little delayed. Until then, please enjoy the complete Q1 2018 Industry report below:

The 1st Quarter report follows the above paragraph on the original post, found here.

As far as I can tell, no 2nd or 3rd quarter reports have been posted by Roll20 (I'm guessing its still too early for a 4th quarter report).  I wonder if they've lost some of their user base with last year's Nolan T Jones fiasco.

In any case, if the reports have been released and I've missed them please point me in the right direction. I'd like to see and analyze the numbers.

Kickstarter - The ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) Roleplaying Game

Reminds me of the AD&D 1e core books - The Player's Handbook first cover and the Dungeon Master's Guide second cover. Not duplicates of, certainly, but inspired by.

The ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) Roleplaying Game is certainly inspired by old school gaming and the OSR but draws its main inspiration from a rogue-like computer game, at least as far as setting and style go.

(ADOM) is a complete redesign from ground up with a fresh new rules system based on the best OSR games out in the field, extended by what makes ADOM unique:

• A tantalizing Corruption mechanic representing the powerful lure of Chaos. How far will you go down the road of damnation for the powers to help you defeat the very thing you are fighting?
• A non-Vancian spell system based on power points providing many tactical options to caster classes. Will you draw on your very own life force to power the vital spells needed to survive an encounter? Will you give in to the whispering madness of Chaos to provide your spells with that special extra kick?
• A morality system where Law and Chaos should never be confused with Good and Evil.

The full-color art looks nice thus far.

34 bucks gives you B&W Soft Cover Print on Demand At Cost versions of the rules (plus PDF)
46 bucks gives you the above in hardcover.
57 bucks gives you the above in deluxe color hardcover.

Note - You still have to pay the "At Cost" amount plus shipping for your dead tree copies, but you may order as many as you want so this could be a very cost-effective way to outfit a gaming group with a set of books.

Kickstarter - Treacherous Traps for 5th Edition!

Nord Games does some solid RPG Kickstarters. Even though they are generally for 5th edition, the cover concepts that convert easily to OSR rulesets or even - dare I say it - Pathfinder.

The Treacherous Traps for 5th Edition! Kickstarter looks to be a good fit for OSR gamers DESPITE having 5th Edition in its title  ;)

Treacherous Traps is an incredible resource for game masters who are looking to get more out of their dungeon design. The book contains two hundred and fifty pre-built traps ranging in level and severity so that you can always find the perfect trap for your party. 

There is also a chapter containing a random trap generator written, in part, by the legendary Steve Winter. This chapter contains fifty trap triggers, and fifty trap effects that, when combined, create up to twenty-five hundred different combinations.  

Although the content in this book and collection of card decks is written for 5th Edition D&D, the trap concepts and mechanics can be easily adapted for use with other editions of D&D as well as other fantasy themed tabletop RPGs. (emphasis mine)

There are lots of options for backing. Single deck for 12 bucks (50 traps), 16 bucks for a 100 card random trap generator deck (very tempting), 20 for the book in PDF, 40 for the book in hardcover - and levels for multiple decks and such. I'm thinking the random trap generator deck for me.

Coming to the History Channel on January 23rd - Knight Fight (Armored MMA-like Show)

Somehow I feel we need to raise the cash to get Douglas Cole a shot at an appearance on Knight Fight :)

Welcome to the toughest, most violent armored combat competition in the world today. “Knight Fight” steps inside the world of the full-contact Armored Combat League — often referred to as “Medieval MMA” or “Knight Fight Club.” This blood sport is a full-contact armored combat league where modern-day warriors battle in over eighty pounds of plated armor with real steel weapons. Rooted in historical traditions, for the first time, these knights are set to wage war as each episode features six new fighters who customize era-specific armor, garb and weaponry and engage in numerous battle rounds to see who has the skill and strength to win the ultimate Knight Fight. Hosted and judged by WWE superstar Jay “Christian” Reso, the winner walks away with a championship title, $10,000 and a spot in the season finale for a chance to become the first ever “Knight Fight” champion.

Live by the sword, die by the sword: knights were some of history’s most brutal warriors. With an armor of steel and a will of iron, they took part in some of the bloodiest battles ever fought. So dedicated were these warriors, that between meets they would challenge one another to extreme trials of combat. “Knight Fight” introduces both beginner and expert armored athletes of different ages and backgrounds – many taking this on as a second profession – ready to endure a ruthless, intense and physically demanding tournament. Targeting a specific time-period each episode, “Knight Fight” examines the Vikings vs. Byzantine Knights, Barbarians vs. Roman Knights, Knights Templar, 100 Years War and much more.

Reso is joined by expert judges Andre Sinou, Co-Founder and Creator of the Armored Combat League, and John Clements, Director of the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts. Impressing the judges on the criteria of aggression, technique and defense in each of the following rounds will be no easy feat: the grand melee, three one-minute battles where it is every man for himself; a two on two team melee and a duel where the final two competitors left standing face off in an epic head to head clash. With $10,000 on the line and a coveted title, only one can emerge victorious.

“Knight Fight” is produced for HISTORY by Matador Content. Executive Producers for Matador Content are Jay Peterson and Todd Lubin with Vincent Cariati serving as Showrunner and Executive Producer. Jim Pasquarella and Mary E. Donahue are the executive producers for HISTORY. A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights for “KnightFight.”

Kickstarter - Off the Beaten Path, Mountain Excursions (Swords & Wizardry and System Neutral)

You know I'm feeling under the weather when a Kickstarter from our community's own Thom Wilson flies under my radar. I'd slap myself silly but I'm already halfway there ;)

Anyhow, the Off the Beaten Path, Mountain Excursions Kickstarter has 4 days left as I post this,

So, how does Thom describe his latest project:

A  minimum of twenty single or double page mountain excursions to use as side quests or stand-alone adventures for your Fantasy RPG. There are over twenty-six pages of encounters found within cold mountain passes and snowy locales. As your player's characters travel through the frozen wasteland, they will come across tombs, yeti caves, snow drake lairs, deserted lodges, and more! These adventures are a great way to add additional encounters during travel, or to handle an unexpected change in direction!

Then there are the stretch goals and daily goals:

Thom is always on time or early. His short adventures are an awesome drop-in resource in any campaign. You can choose systemless, so Pathfinder, 5e, Rolemaster players - whatever, have at it :)