Deal of the Day - Alone Against the Dark (CoC Solo Adventure)

If ever there was a game designed for solo play, it is Call of Cthulhu. I hear some of you disagreeing most vehemently, but in my experience, character death and solo adventures go hand in hand. Character death (and insanity) also go hand in hand with Call of Cthulhu. You see, there's symmetry ;)

Alone Against the Dark is a classic solo adventure for CoC written by Matthew Costello and updated for use with the 7th edition of the Call of Cthulhu rules (and the adventure is hyperlinked - woot!). Originally 6.95, Alone Against the Dark is currently on sale for 2.78.

While the adventure calls for the full 7th edition Call of Cthulhu ruleset, I do believe the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set should suffice, and it is an amazing value at 24.99 at Amazon. The Call of Cthulhu Starter Set is also on sale in PDF at DTRPG for 7.59.

Oh, and if you just want to kick the tires for free, grab the CoC 7th Edition Quickstart rules and the free CoC solo Alone Against the Flames. You won't regret it.

A solo play Call of Cthulhu mini campaign. No Keeper is needed as you guide yourself through the adventure.

Alone Against The Dark is an adventure for one player, set in the fall of 1931. Your goal is to solve strange disappearances and to forestall a calamity about to beset the world. You will journey from New York City to Greece, Egypt, Germany, and Antarctica.

Inside a Pyramid

Beginning with the theft of a priceless relic, four friends are drawn one by one into a dark web of mystery and horror. As the darkness grows, only you can hold out against the dying of the light. The fate of the world is in your hands.

As Louis Grunewald, a quiet linguistics professor from the Miskatonic University, you will confound the forces of darkness before time runs out—but should Professor Grunewald be eliminated for some reason, you can successively assume the identity of a new investigator. There are four ready-made investigators provided for this purpose, enabling you to take on differing roles as circumstances change in your search for the truth: Louis Grunewald, a linguistics professor from the Miskatonic University, Lydia Lau, a story-seeking reporter for the New York Sun, Devon Wilson, a sailor on leave from the US Navy, and Ernest Holt, a wealthy industrialist.

This adventure is guaranteed dangerous. But, no matter how skillfully you avoid death or madness, your investigators will fail if they do not prevent the turning of the world and the freeing of the City of the Old Ones from the ice.

Armed with a copy of the Call of Cthulhu Keepers Rulebook, a pencil, and some roleplaying dice you are all set for the twists and turns of this epic world spanning adventure. Sit back, get comfy, and prepare to be Alone Against The Dark!

First released over thirty years ago, this new edition has been completely revised and updated for Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, with new illustrations and player aids.

 

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Deal of the Day - Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy: Rules Tome

The essential old-school game of fantastic adventure, monsters, and magic!

All of the cool kids are talking about Old School Essentials. Well, maybe all of the cool "gamer" kids. And in truth, they aren't kids, and many are likely grognards, and as such, it is quite possible they already own OSE. But in the off chance that YOU do not, and by not owning you potentially could miss out on being a "cool grognard", I'm happy to post that the Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy: Rules Tome is today's Deal of the Day at 8 bucks in PDF (normally clocking in at 20) for the next 12 hours or so as I post this.

A Complete Game All in One Book

• This book contains everything a referee needs: the complete game rules, full guidelines for creating and running adventures, 7 fantastic character classes, full equipment lists, over 100 classic spells, over 200 fearsome monsters, and over 150 wondrous magic items.
• Simple rules let imagination and fast-paced action take the spotlight.
• Clear, modern presentation makes the game easy to learn and quick to reference.
• Compatible with decades of classic adventures and supplements.

 

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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

We Will Be Losing Doug Rhea - NTRPG Con

Mike (Bad Mike) Badolato posted the following on the NTRPG Con Facebook page.

I have been talking to Doug this week, he had to go back into the hospital briefly due to some issues with his liver. Unfortunately, the issues are ones that cannot be fixed. He's going back home today for hospice care, and now that we have a final timeline Doug was pretty upbeat and talked to Gary and I a lot about what is coming next.  The cancer spread to his liver, and at this point there is nothing that can be done to prolong his life. His attitude was upbeat and we had a lot of laughs on the phone. Doug is the toughest guy I've ever known and he beat this for four years.  I'm going to try to spend as much time as he has left with him the next few weeks at his house. At his home he'll get end of life care from a nurse and be surrounded by family and friends, much better than being in the hospital. 

The con is going to continue and it's going to be a living memorial to Doug and all he's done for others and all he's stood for in the years I've known him. The con was and is very important to him so that's why I mention it here and rest assured we are going to do his memory right in the future, with the help of all of you guys. I told him everything is in good hands. 

If you wanted to talk to Doug, I'm going to see if Gary and he can set up the Zoom on his computer so you can pop in during certain times. I talked to him a few times over the past few weeks using Zoom and it worked really well. I know he'd like to hear from many of you in the next few weeks, so we'll let you know when this is set up.

 

Kickstarter - J. Halk Games Presents: The World of Durmin (OSRIC)

The World of Durmin: A campaign setting for Old-School Roleplaying Games

Consider this a weakness of mine, my Achilles Heel, if you will, but I love fantasy settings. Sure, the plethora of settings was probably the downfall of 2nd Edition, but damn they put out some fun stuff. I don't even play the DCC RPG these days, but I certainly back every setting they Kickstart.

The World of Durmin is a Kickstarter for a boxed setting using the OSRIC rules, and it looks to be hitting many of the notes I like to see in the settings I enjoy. A familiar ruleset - OSRIC - essentially 1st Edition presented with modern sensibilities. New classes, something I always enjoy (even if I may not let them in my own campaign). New playable races (again, I may not use them as such, but having the option to do so in this setting, or ported to another setting, is excellent). New equipment. New monsters. Simply put, even if I never use the setting "as written", there is much I can use.

Oh, and it comes in a box. Just like my settings of old, and my DCC RPG settings of new.

50 bucks get you the core boxed set of the World of Durmin. I'm actually backing for 100, because I like bells and whistles, and there is simply never too much content when it comes to a setting. Even if I may never use 90% of it. I'm talking about nearly every setting I own ;)

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Humble Bundle - Mutant Chronicles (Core Rules for a Buck)

This is going to be short and to the point. I've never played, let alone read, Mutant Chronicles. For a buck, I will be able to say I own the core rules in PDF and if nothing else I'll read the quickstart rules.

If I like what I see in the Mutant Chronicles Humble Bundle's lowest entry point, I'll return and buy in at a higher dollar value, but a single dollar is certainly an amount I can afford to risk on an RPG I haven't played before.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Kickstarter - Marmoreal Tomb Update - 5 Weeks of Content Updates in the Bag

Great news for backers of Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter Kickstarter. Benoist has turned in the fifth straight week of stretch goal updates.

To be honest, I didn't expect this, and I'm thrilled and joyed to be proven wrong.

UPDATE #105

Backers only

Marmoreal Tomb Update

Stephen Chenault Collaborator

August 23, 2021

Greetings from the Dens!

        My apologies for missing last week's update.  The Castles and Crusades Castle Keepers Guide refused to ship to backers so we had to beat it into submission and get all those out the the door. Now that that is done...

         Benoist did turn over Chapter 3 last week and Chapter 4 has been turned over this week. So he remains on schedule. 

          All very good news! Let us hope it continues.

Thank you all!

Steve & the Troll Lords

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 

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Playing a Little Different Fantasy Game....

 

I'm fortunate enough to be back at my old job and in position to be looking to my purchase "my" first home. Sure, I've had a house before, but my ex-wife was involved in the home choice & subsequent design/decoration decisions. This time round it's all me...

Now my "needs" in a new (to me) home are pretty simple: good A/C, decent kitchen, and I'd like a two car garage. As far as add-on wants go I'd prefer a single-level with decent storage.

That's about it. I don't care if I have a bog master bedroom with an attached bathroom, or a specific number of bedrooms/bathrooms. Me & my three cats can get along with whatever works.

Now not on my list, pretty much because I'm going to have one regardless is I want a bonafide game room. If I convert a bedroom, great...but a lot of the houses in the price range I'm looking at come with either a decent master bedroom and/or a "second living area". 

I'm still waiting for my loan pre-approval process to be wrapped up so actually looking at homes, even online, is more a fantasy than anything.....but hey, most of us play Fantasy RPGs anyway, so I can fully enjoy the fantasy of not just getting a new home, but building out my dream game room.....

So here I am brainstorming everything I want in a game room. I think I'd prefer a space I could block off from the rest of the house if need be (ie, keep the cats out) but if there was a larger second living room/area, the space might be too tempting. Ideally though, I'd try to make the space a bit multi-purpose. I'm thinking having the walls lined with shorter bookshelves to serve as a library and one wall serving as my computer station. If I could work in my future retro-game big-screen setup, even better. The game table has to dominate the center of the room, and I really want a big-assed digital tabletop.

The bookcases will be shorter so I can hang all my RPG art around the room, and I have to figure out where my minis and terrain will go, maybe in a custom pedestal base for the game table?

My paint booth for terrain & minis, as well as all my hobby supplies will be in another room/space 'cause I don't want to gunk up my gaming space with supplies.

Hmm....time to start poking around on Zillow again....

Anyway, assuming you get to choose/build out your own at-home gaming space, what do you have to have?