Indiegogo - The Lost Crypt: A Classic Crawl (S&W / 5e)

"Ever wonder what it would be like to write an adventure with Gary Gygax? Around the year 2005, Gary started working with a small number of authors on a project to write new material for his world setting (which was totally not called “World of Greyhawk”). Bill Silvey was one of those authors, and this book includes the story of working with Gary as well as the adventure Bill wrote for inclusion in Gary’s campaign world. For obvious legal reasons, none of Gary’s original material is included in Lost Crypt: this module is all Bill’s work. However, those who are interested in Gary’s world setting will be interested to read material that would have been included in it if Gary had lived to see the project through..."

I love finding gaming stuff that was written far earlier than the day it hits publication. It's like finding a time capsule of RPG goodness that you don't have to stress about removing the shrink. To my eyes,  The Lost Crypt: A Classic Crawl is a modern release of a piece of gaming history.

Almost lost to the pages of history!

The Lost Crypt, originally inspired by master of role playing game adventure himself was almost lost to the annals of history. Until now! Written by veteran RPG scholar and scribe Bill Silvey, The Lost Crypt is an old school rules style romp through an ancient tomb and hidden lairs filled with clever monsters. Originally written for OSR rule is designed to be a challenge for veteran characters of 7-8th level.

• Authors notes on the inspiration behind the Lost Crypt and his legendary adventures working with Gary Gygax, co-creator of the most famous role-playing game in the world!
• Loads of traps, puzzles, and adversaries to keep characters on their toes as they navigate the terrors of the Lost Crypt
• Cover and interior art by acclaimed artist Hector Rodriguez.
• Can be played as a stand-alone, one-shot adventure or be fit into a larger campaign, or made part of a larger dungeon complex!
• Hand cartography by Ian McGarty of the Silver Bullettes
• An original piece of art from TSR veteran Tracy Lesch whose work is featured in Dungeons & Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History.

6 bucks for the PDF, 16 for the Print plus PDF. The Lost Crypt: A Classic Crawl is offered by Necromancer Games. Yes, THAT Necromancer Games!

So, of course, I had to find out more details of the rebirth of Necromancer Games, and here we go: Necromancer Games is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Frog God Games. As an imprint, it is like the punk rock side of Frog God - good stuff that might not fit well under the Frog God banner, but under Necromancer Games and its storied history, it becomes a perfect fit. I've been told of some future projects under the Necromancer label (I'm effectively under an NDA) and I am truly excited :)

CaveGeek Art is Offering The Tavern's Community a 15% Discount on Giclée Reproductions

Last night I interviewed Kfir Mendel (CaveGeek Art) on The Tavern Chat Podcast. My God, his work on buckskin comes out looking amazing.

Here's some background on Kfir from CaveGeek Art:

I was focusing on making what is known as Traditional Brain-Tanned Buckskin for a living. It is an ancient (yet still valid)  natural technique of making an extremely soft, supple, luxurious, and yet strong and durable leather. 

It took a few years, but eventually my love for all things geeky began to merge with my love for all things natural and primitive. I started making bone knives and swords inspired by weapons I saw in movies or by various cultures. Soon, I got interested in Pyrography and started burning all things geeky on buckskin. It actually started with a map of Middle Earth. To my surprise, art burned on buckskin acquires a 3-Dimensional look. I just cant get enough of it! I keep thinking "Wow! This is so cool!" every time I finish a piece. And it seems that, fortunately, I'm not the only one who likes my work. Which is why this website exists.

Want to buy some for yourself? I know I do :)

Go to CaveGeek Arts and use the code: tenkar to save 15%

Kickstarter - Spin Dice and Gaming Gizmos: An RPG Player's Dream

Keep track of health points or current score in games like D&D and Magic: The Gathering!

Wow. As random number generators, these things do not impress. They take up more space than actual dice, requires respins when it isn't clear which number was landed on - or just chose the more advantageous one I guess, and doesn't seem to "spin" all that well either.

The Spin Dice and Gaming Gizmos: An RPG Player's Dream Kickstarter is not MY dream.

In the video, the spinners for the different dice appear to be different sizes, but not so in this pic.

I guess the ones made to track your health points in Magic the Gathering might be useful for such.

45 bucks for a "full set of dice", if you want to include a d100. Shipping in the states is free, the rest of the world appears to be 20 bucks to ship.

A big "ehhh!" from me.

State of the Tavern - Torchlight Zine Recruitment Started Without Me ;)

Low and behold, over the past weekend, over on the MeWe social media platform, someone inquired in the group chat of the Inglorious OSR Group, if I was looking for artists for the upcoming "Unofficial" Swords & Wizardry zine, Torchlight.

Within the next day or so, we now have 3 confirmed, highly talented artists on board. I guess it is time to put out the general recruitment call for those looking to provide content for or help with the Torchlight Zine.

We are looking for writers and artists, and I suspect someone who can layout 8 to 12 pages - potentially more, per month. The size of the zine is digest-sized.

When it was going to be a mere 4 pages a month, I was thinking I'd do the layout with my pedestrian at best skills, but I don't want to take the work of skilled contributors and lower them to my layout ability (or lack there off)

I believe in compensating my contributors, even with small projects like this.

The first issue will be PWYW. Later issues will be a buck or 1.50 depending on the number of pages. PDF only initially.

65% of the sale price is what we get to play with. 10% to the publisher, 55% to be split between the artists, writers and (hopefully) layout person. I do believe I should be able to set things to automatically send shares to each contributor's DTRPG account.

Contributors retain all rights to their work. The publisher retains perpetual rights to include the work in Torchlight and potential annual POD compilations of the work. If I would like to use your work in a separate publication (monster book, etc) we will negotiate new compensation if you wish to allow your work to be reused.

Customers will have express permission to print at home for their own personal use, and I may print limited numbers for distribution at conventions I attend.

Yes, we are not talking much in the way of monetary compensation, but hopefully, we get to bathe in the glory of a thankful Swords & Wizardry Community.

All contributors will have links to their storefront / etc hyperlinked to their name in the credits.

As for content? 1 or 2-page adventures, short encounters, adventure hooks, monsters, spells, magic items, new classes - if in doubt, make a pitch ;)

As an aside, Triumvulate Tavern Publications is now Tenkar's Tavern Gamen (olde English for "games"). Figure that should help with visibility ;)

So, if you want to contribute, email me at tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom, put Torchlight in the subject and let me know what you are offering to do. Looking forward to hearing from you :)

Deal of the Day - Wilderlands of High Fantasy, Color Maps

Note that buying the Wilderlands of High Fantasy, Color Maps will get you the Guidebook PDF as well. There are 18 maps to the Wilderlands divided into four sets of guidebooks and maps. This deal is for the first set of five maps including the City State of the Invincible Overlord.

The guidebook has an introduction and map commentary by Rob Conley. Each map in the guidebook is detailed with the following listings: Villages, Castles & Citadels, Idyllic Isles, Ruins & Relics, and Lurid Lairs. Any statistic or rule is compatible with Swords and Wizardry and various classic editions of the original roleplaying game. (Borrowed from Rob's Bat in the Attic post)

Normally 9.99, as the current Deal of the Day it is on sale for 4.99

Product Description

In 1976, Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owen went into business as Judges Guild. Their initial offering was centered on a magnificent 34" by 44" map of the City State of Invincible Overlord. First appearing at Gen Con IX, it was sold literally out of the trunk of a car during the convention.

This map launched Judges Guild which began working on even more ambitious project, the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. This became an ambitious project of 18 22" by 17" maps covering a total area 800 miles from west to east, and 1,000 miles from north to south. Each individual map was divided into 5 miles hexes covering an area of 260 miles west to east, and 170 miles from north to south.

Now forty years later those maps have been redrawn in full color. These maps preserves the original detail and applies known errata and corrections. Each was drawn as part of single 6 foot by 8 foot map encompassing the entire Wilderlands then subdivided and cropped.

These maps are not a scanned images of the original but have been redrawn from scratch. The guidebook is also not a scanned image but has been relaid out from the original text with errata and corrections applied.

The Wilderlands of High Fantasy Guidebook
This product contains a 24 page Guidebook for the five maps of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The books has an introduction and commentary by Robert S. Conley who has used the Wilderlands as his main fantasy campaign for nearly forty years. Each map is detailed with the following listings: Villages, Castles & Citadels, Idyllic Isles, Ruins & Relics, and Lurid Lairs.

This product contains
5 PDFs of the following 22" by 17" maps: City State of the Invincible Overlord Map One, Barbarian Altanis Map Two, Glow-Worm Steppes Map Three, Tarantis Map Four, and Valon Map Five.
1 PDF of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Guidebook.

The print option adds the following:
Ten overlapping full scale maps of each half of the maps.
There is a separate print product avaliable for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Guidebook if you want a print copy of the Guidebook. Otherwise the PDF for the guidebook is included in this product.

This product is a authorized Judges Guild release for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

Note: That is an affiliate link above. I thank you in advance.

Kickstarter - Silver Swords: a role-playing zine issue 2 (OSR & 5e)

I like zines. I really like RPG zines. Silver Swords looks like a really cool RPG zine.

32 pages and digest-sized is right in my wheelhouse.

OSR and 5e content? I'm definitely in :)

The content of the zine will be made up of OSR and 5e related content. 

This edition will include both old and new authors with many fresh ideas for your RPG experiences! We will also be including some comics and maps with this issue, so if that's what you want, then look no further!

The articles will give a good look from many new perspectives at different parts of the role-playing experience you may never have thought about. And who doesn't love the feel of a good zine in their hands? Flipping through the pages and enjoying the comfortable, nostalgic art and the well-written articles that are the hard work of dedicated authors. It doesn't get much better than that.

I'm in for issues #1 & 2 in Print and PDF.

Sale - Dragonlock 3d Printing Sale - up to 75% off (Fat Dragon Games)

If you know Tom Tullis, you probably know he's dangerous, but in a good way. Well, Tom Tullis is the man behind Fat Dragon Games, and the tempter of all things 3d printing has to offer is offering a sale on his Dragonlock series of 3d printing files - up to 75% off.

I really need a 3d printer. Well, "need" might be the wrong word. I desperately want a 3d printer and openly covet those of my fellow gamers. Tom is not helping me...

The quality is high and the prices are low. Damn you, Tom!

Link to 3d Printers on Amazon for those so tempted.

Yes, those are affiliate links above. Shopping with The Tavern's affiliate links keeps the taps flowing and the light on at The Tavern. I thank you in advance :)