Kickstarter - Terror of the Stratosfiend : A DCC RPG Zine

I'm trying to get to the "short date" Kickstarters first. In this case, we are down to 16 hours as I type this for Terror of the Stratosfiend : A DCC RPG Zine Kickstarter. Short story? I'm a backer :)

What is Terror of the Stratosfiend?

Portals and warp gates have been opening all over the earth and giant aliens have been pouring out. Players will quickly find out that some of their own have been aliens the whole time, and that humans from distant stars have also shown up to help quell the madness. The setting is meant to be both an add-on to any DCC (Dungeon Crawl Classics) session the Judge and players would be running; adding a splash of tentacles. It's also being built to be a standalone setting where tentacles and sorcery would be the focus. 

As a player you'll be wielding future weaponry like laser chainsaws, and living breathing shotguns that incubate sleeping horrors. You would also find out what it's like to be 20 foot tall living battering ram... (scroll up to be reminded of what that means) 

As a Judge you'll be introducing players to maniacal Orbital Intelligences that seek to guide, destroy, and illuminate the lives of their charges. You will be throwing strange alien beasts at them, and guiding through portals leading to the stars beyond our stars.
What path will you take? Will you abandon your fellow humans and take to the stars? Or will you embrace the chaos and obliterate all that stand in your path with your tentacled fury?

I'm gonna steal the shit out of this Zine for a Swords & Wizardry campaign. Oh, maybe with the forthcoming Far Away Land hack. Oh my ;)

Actually, this would also be a good fit for Mutant Crawl Classics or Mutant Future...

5 bucks for the PDF. 12 bucks for the Print plus PDF (shipped free to the US.

Time is ticking...

Neither The Tavern nor myself receive compensation for Kickstarter coverage or Kickstarter posts. Some Kickstarters are brought to the attention of The Tavern by their creators. Such communication does not guarantee coverage here at The Tavern. I do not back every Kickstarter I highlight as my wallet's contents are not limitless but I do find all highlighted Kickstarters interesting for one or more reasons - Erik Tenkar

RPG Kickstarters Highlights in the Hopper

I rebuilt my list of pending Kickstarters to highlight and the list is now longer than the one I had tabbed prior. Somehow this list is twice as long as it was before. Expect a series of Kickstarter postings in the near future and I expect my wallet will be getting significantly lighter.

For those that want a to peek ahead:

Strange New World Gazetteer: Weird Colonial Roleplaying Zine
An RPG and OSR setting zine for adventuring in a strange fantasy version of colonial America. Fearsome creatures, witchcraft and weird.

Xboat: a Traveller RPG 'zine
A fanzine supporting the Traveller role-playing game. #ZineQuest

Fantasy World Creator + APP: Modular tiles for TABLETOP RPG
Write your adventure with the included APP, create maps and make them live with creatures token. REPRINTED and UPDATED VERSION

DCC RPG Module: Reckoning of the Gods-Into the Shadow Realm
Trespass into a parallel realm to heist the hoard of an ancient evil. A booklet of two level 3 DCC RPG adventures (adapts to any RPG).

The City of Great Lunden
A City Setting for Old School RPGs - The Midderlands setting compatible.

Spiral Isles
A pointcrawl adventure module for 5th Edition and Swords and Wizardry rulesets.

Lost Classes and Cannibal Corpses - Two Original RPG Zines
One Zine featuring re-imaginings of two character classes from proto RPG days. One adventure module.

Terror of the Stratosfiend : A DCC RPG Zine
A new tentacle and sorcery zine for the DCC RPG. (ZineQuest)

Traveller RPG: The Journal of the Travellers Aid Society
The Journal of the Traveller's Aid Society returns, in a brand new full colour, slipcase format.

Wizard Burial Ground: A Dungeon-Punk RPG Book (Zine Quest)
Prog Rock inspired Dungeon-Punk resource book full of plot hooks, monsters, NPCs, and magic items (Zine Quest)

Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad Zine Returns!
Four years in the making, the original Metal Gods team returns for three more issues of metal-fueled mayhem for the DCC RPG

Draugr & Draculas
An old-school RPG zine about undead vikings and vampires

Mercenaries Spies & Private Eyes RPG by Michael Stackpole
A New Edition of the rulebook for Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes (MSPE) a modern role playing game by Michael Stackpole.

Secrets of the World Harvesters
An RPG adventure for DCC (Dungeon Crawl Classics)

The Folio: Black Label #1
A fantasy adventure for a more refined RPG gamer in both classic AD&D and 5th Edition D&D formats.

Phew! I got my work cut out for me ;)

Goodman Games Announcement - OAR #3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

You know you are having a busy con time when you are at the con and miss announcements like this - http://goodman-games.com/blog/2019/03/11/announcing-oar-3-expedition-to-the-barrier-peaks/

We’re very excited to announce the next release in our Original Adventures Reincarnated line: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks! As with previous releases in the OAR series, this one will include scans of the original 1E editions, a conversion to 5E, and new 5E material filling in some gaps from the original 1E module. 

OAR3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is slated for a September release. It will be solicited to distributors soon and will be available for pre-order once the book is at the printer. 

Originally run was a tournament adventure at Origins II, the adventure was published by TSR in 1980. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is a famous adventure module, because it mixes “science fiction” and “fantasy.” For this reason it is both well known, and an enduring favorite for those who played it during its heyday. The 5E conversion is consistent with the original design principles, and also offers new avenues for exploration. 

In the adventure, characters come across a spaceship that has crash landed into your fantasy world, and have to deal with the consequences. Which include robots, plant people, and a zoo of alien creatures. And ray guns. It has ray guns.  

The OAR volume will also include complete scans of the original 1E publication. This includes both the adventure booklet as well as the extensive book of handouts that was part of the original publication. Dedicated fans may already know that the handout art changed between printings. Three handout illustrations were changed between the first (1980) and second (1981) printings of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and most of the remaining handouts were renumbered. The OAR volume will include scans of both versions of the handout booklets. For those of you who have an old ragged copy of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks in your personal collection, you will be able to discover which set of handouts you never had the chance to see before!

Kickstarter - Shotglass Adventures - 10 adventures for D&D 5e and OSR RPGs

True confession. I had a nice handful of crowdfunding projects all tabbed up and ready to be shared and I decided to update my OSX this morning. Eight hours later with a fresh install, I finally had a working computer again. Of course, those open tabs are gone. I may miss something that I was intending to share as well as back. I'm working on re-finding those tabs :(

Which brings us to Shotglass Adventures - 10 adventures for D&D 5e and OSR RPGs. This wasn't even on my initial list - somehow I missed it. I'm very glad I found it!

A book of 10 fantasy adventures with DM and players' maps, new monsters and magic items, city and region settings and random tables.

That's the elevator pitch, and what a pitch it is.

SHOTGLASS ADVENTURES is published under the OGL and compatible with 5e and other OSR fantasy role playing games. It’s 52 pages long (with unlocked stretch goals included). Inside you’ll find: 

· 10 'adventure-on-a-page' one-shot adventures of all varieties - murder, dungeon crawls, heists, breakouts, sieges, love stories - complete with additional DM and player maps! These adventures are fully playtested, for PCs of 1st - 5th level and are designed for minimal preparation and flexible delivery. Each adventure can be run as a ‘fill-in’ for 1-2 gaming sessions (3-4 hours per session) or played as a mini-campaign. Over 50 hours of gaming content!    

· 12 New monsters! 4 new magic items! Plus some monsters from Kobold's Tome of Beasts! 

· Hints on the art of improvisation to bring your NPCs and adventures alive 

· Random tables - for names, motivations, room dressing and special items to add additional nuance to your adventures  

· Verona City - a city for adventurers to use as a base  

· Verona Province - a region for players to explore, complete with every location used in SHOTGLASS ADVENTURES

But wait, there's more!

That a lot of value for 11 bucks US - PDF plus at cost POD.

Neither The Tavern nor myself receive compensation for Kickstarter coverage or Kickstarter posts. Some Kickstarters are brought to the attention of The Tavern by their creators. Such communication does not guarantee coverage here at The Tavern. I do not back every Kickstarter I highlight as my wallet's contents are not limitless but I do find all highlighted Kickstarters interesting for one or more reasons - Erik Tenkar

Kickstarter - For Glory #1, The Hexanomicon

It's rare that you find something truly new and different for use with RPGs. Let me revise that - it's rare to find something truly new and different and holy shit extremely cool and useful. For Glory #1, The Hexanomicon is simply all this and more.

Seriously, I never would have thought to have a hex ap created by stickers, but now that I know such exists, I need it. Note: not saying I want it, I NEED it.

Sure, it says DCC RPG on the tin, Hexanomicon this is going to work fine with Swords & Wizardry and I'm chomping at the bit.

The Hexanomicon is a setting generator using stickers of hexmap landscape elements, sheets on which to place them and tables to determine the contents of hexes. Specific destinations are left to the judge. I dot my map with published adventure modules and a few NPC homes. This issue includes a template to create and print your own stickers from graphics you create or find.  

In the game I currently run, the party may learn that there is a Wizard's tower a few days journey away. I decide that their journey should not be trivial so I use the hex name generator to create The Glittering Bogs of Ada'akka. The bogs will contain beasts so Jumping Gore Beetles are created from a table that combines stats for jumping, gore, and beetles. Later, the evil wizard is defeated easily by burning down  the party's luck and stats. With their decreased luck, on the way home they roll a terrible encounter in the Glittering Bogs. Perhaps they should not have burned down their stats so far. 

These tools are created for Dungeon Crawl Classics but can be easily adapted to other systems. 

It's an improv hexcrawl and I so fucking dig that.

I think the sweet spot is 18 bucks (plus shipping) - PDF, Print, map stickers & map sheets and fleeting luck tokens. I do like the idea of using such tokens with rulesets beyond the DCC RPG.

Neither The Tavern nor myself receive compensation for Kickstarter coverage or Kickstarter posts. Some Kickstarters are brought to the attention of The Tavern by their creators. Such communication does not guarantee coverage here at The Tavern. I do not back every Kickstarter I highlight as my wallet's contents are not limitless but I do find all highlighted Kickstarters interesting for one or more reasons - Erik Tenkar

Kickstarter - Era: The Consortium 5th Anniversary Rulebook and Miniatures

There are times I like a Kickstarter less for its core product and more for some of the additional offerings. Such it is with Era: The Consortium 5th Anniversary Rulebook and Miniatures Kickstarter. It's not that I don't like the core rules being offered in the Kickstarter, it's just that I don't play enough sci-fi RPGs to justify investing in a new sci-fi ruleset.

Then I look at the miniatures connected to this Kickstart and I realize I want them. I certainly don't need them, but I do want them.

So, what is Era: The Consortium?

Era: The Consortium is an epic Sci-Fi Tabletop RPG with 500 years of playable history.  

Within this history, every sub-genre of Sci-Fi is available, meaning that you can play as colonists taming a new world, explorers encountering alien races, soldiers in a war against a hostile alien race, resistance members fighting against an oppressive government, and anything else you can think of! 

The endless possibilities have opened up the Consortium to some amazing roleplaying experiences, from being a member of the Resistance, trying to restore it after the Orion Incident to time travel to change the history of the Consortium! 

It's been five years since we first launched on Kickstarter. Since then, the universe has grown more than we ever imagined! With 13 expansions - each of which offers a new dimension for gameplay - three versions of the Rulebook, plus multiple sessions and campaigns released over that time, we have created a lot.

For those heavily digging sci-fi RPGs there appears to be lots of setting potential within the pages of Era. Fuck me though if I don't get continually drawn in bt the minis themselves.

I can see these working well in Rifts, Star Wars, Traveller and the like. Tempt me not Satan, for I haven't painted a mini in over 20 years! But I might...

Neither The Tavern nor myself receive compensation for Kickstarter coverage or Kickstarter posts. Some Kickstarters are brought to the attention of The Tavern by their creators. Such communication does not guarantee coverage here at The Tavern. I do not back every Kickstarter I highlight as my wallet's contents are not limitless but I do find all highlighted Kickstarters interesting for one or more reasons - Erik Tenkar

Frank Mentzer Posts on Facebook re: Gary Con

Frank put up two posts on Facebook today. I'm sharing without comment:

https://www.facebook.com/frank.mentzer

PLAY GAMES

A YUUGE show is selling tickets for 2020! A colossal extravaganza!
Play the latest new games, Buy the cool Stuff… and New School rocks!
https://tabletop.events/…/hotel-registration-for-gary-con-2…

The Company is also warning you about a Clear & Present Danger:
https://garycon.com/blog/2019/02/18/harbinger-unheeded/
(Another source: https://boundingintocomics.com/…/garycon-removes-frank-men…/ )

I haven’t been the company’s Guest since 2017. I don’t know why I’m being harassed.
You’ve waited patiently for details of the accusations in that February post. You’ll have to wait longer.

I know as little as you. I’ve been in the waiting room for 3 weeks.
The Company wrote to me and said “Don't contact me again by any form of communication”. (I will not reveal details about actual People.)
Catch-22; I cannot fix this.

This Company speaks of “toxic aggression” while it does the same.
It warns of terrible danger while asking for money.

I’m a retired wizard, not a young fighter.
A creepy corporate monster ate my friends. Someone should free them.
I shall be wary of this danger. You can decide whether to flee or obey.
Is there a monster-slayer among you?

-- mustengo
(the dead horse still being beaten)

and...

The Assassination Game

"we must ensure that everyone feels welcome, safe, and believes that they are a valued member of our community regardless of..." (etc etc) -- a Gary Con business executive

Except me, of course -- for reasons Gary Con has yet to explain.
I'm just an ailing retiree, not valued at all.
Ask them why.

My public execution was a month ago. We're all waiting for the mock trial that should follow.
Ask the con for details. They haven't told me yet.
Gary Con has accused me of the following. No due process, just internet smears.

past misconduct
harassing behavior
threatening behavior
threatening communications
tone-deaf unapologetic responses
violation of the ethics policy
violation of the harassment policy
toxic aggression detrimental to the safe space

And of course Gary Con is breaking all their own rules -- a month of one-sided internet attacks -- but don't bring that up. (Oops! Do as we say, not as we do...)

"left the door open for him to attend Gary Con" -- a business executive

Yes indeed. I could again be treated like an Unperson and an outcast -- "That Guest" of 10 years and a family friend for 35, who had been Cast Out and conspicuously erased from the ranks of the Privileged.

No Thank You.

Post Gary Con Wrap Up - "Attack of the Con Crud" with Special Feature "Losing Voice"

Chris Clark

At Gamehole I got hit with some con crud that Saturday night. Or maybe I failed my save against beer and booze, who knows.

At Gary Con this past weekend I started getting the runny nose sniffles along with some hoarseness of voice. Now its Tuesday night and my sniffles are mostly gone, my voice is nearly gone and my bowels have been having issues most of the night. If things don't improve I may need to reschedule the two Fireside Chats I have for tomorrow, one in the morning and one in the evening.

Worst case of Con Crud I can recall getting. If I was running a Kickstarter it would be worth AT LEAST a year or two of delays.

Had a great time at Gary Con. Was concerned Rach and I wouldn't make it back next year, but with a 5-week spread between TotalCon and Gary Con in 2020, we're looking good :)

I did take this one :)

Didn't take nearly the number of photos I would have liked, but there were a few photos taken by others that really rock!

Edit - and Google / Blogger is having issues with uploading photos - le sigh

Kickstarter - Dark Streets & Darker Secrets

I've really enjoyed Diogo Nogueira's prior releases: Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells and Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells. Rules light is right up my alley and Diogo knows his light rules well ;)

This time Diogo gives us Dark Streets & Darker Secrets.

Let's take a peek, shall we?

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets a game about modern adventures in the world we live today, only with a layer of supernatural weirdness and horror. Characters are people who have found out about the mysteries and horrors that exist in the world and have decided to do something about it, be it battle it, join it, or simply explore its possibilities in any way they see fit. They will battle evil cultists, corrupted ghosts, bloodsucking vampires, and frenzied werewolves, or maybe they will be the horrors of others. The game was inspired by TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Grimm, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, X-Files and others. 

This edition of the game assumes the reader knows the principles of what role-playing games are and how they are played. This is a complete game, containing everything you need to play sword and sorcery adventures in the streets of a corrupted city of a fantastical and horrific version of our own world.

Consider me very intrigued. Most modern-day horror games have the "reality weakness" in my opinion, as we hold them up against the real world, or at least I do. Holding the game world up against TV fiction will make that an easier transition.

As for the mechanics:

Powered by the same simple and flexible system as Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells, Dark Streets & Darker Secrets core rules revolve around rolling a d20 die and getting a result equal or below the character stat, but above the Difficulty set by the Referee. There are other nuances that may apply depending on the situation, but that's the main type of die roll that is made in the game. 

Characters in the game have a defined character Archetype like The Tough, The Nimble, The Smart or The Gifted, which determine the main role of said characters and their most special abilities. However, the game also allows players to define a character Concept, which is completely free form and allow each character to be customized anyone players want. The Tough could be a "Honest Ex-Cop", "Vindictive Biker" or "Zealous Vigilante" for example. The character Concept affects rolls, giving characters better chances at accomplishing deeds related to them, but hindering them when some activity would be harder for them to execute because of it. 

Game play is very fast and focused on freedom and flexibility. Referees will find dozens of tools to help them create scenarios, locations, NPCs, monsters and complete adventures. 

If you are curious and would like to take a deeper look into the game, you can find the complete text of the game right here: https://oldskulling.blogspot.com/2018/12/dark-streets-darker-secrets-complete.html

Woah - that includes a link to read the complete text of the game for free. Wy kind of gaming Kickstarter - already written and available for a free peek.

10 bucks for the PDF  15 bucks for the PDF plus at cost POD coupon.

Neither The Tavern nor myself receive compensation for Kickstarter coverage or Kickstarter posts. Some Kickstarters are brought to the attention of The Tavern by their creators. Such communication does not guarantee coverage here at The Tavern. I do not back every Kickstarter I highlight as my wallet's contents are not limitless but I do find all highlighted Kickstarters interesting for one or more reasons - Erik Tenkar

Frank-Con in July?

What do you get the man who no longer has cons to got to?

Thursday thru Monday. Five days. New unnamed con.

I have lots of questions. What about you?

Edit - I received this screenshot from multiple trusted sources. Looks like the joke is on me apparently. DNC weekend I’ve been told. Ah well.

Gary Con Wrap Up - 2019

When I was packing for Gary Con I realized I never brought anything with me to have members of the gaming community sign. It didn't take long to realize that my AD&D Player's Handbook from 1980 (one of my first two RPG books - the DMG being the other) was the perfect book to bring. Thanks to all that signed it. I'll track down more folk at NTRPG Con. (Beware Tom Tullis)

I ran the last (convention) session of Rappan Athuk: Mouth of Doom today. I must say, not having to assemble the dungeon at every con going forward is a blessing, but not running it again is a shame. There will be another level of Rappan Athuk in 3d terrain up and running by Gamehole, or so I've been told. Leaner, more deadly and possibly cavelike ;)

It was great meeting folks from the gaming community. I'd name you all but I'm sure I'd forget to mention more than would get shout outs. I appreciate every kind word said.

Gary Con was a blast. Hopefully, Rach and I will get the opportunity again next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. And...