New Release - Traveller: Explorer's Edition (A Single Buck!)

I started my Traveller experience with the Traveller Starter Set. My God, it was an amazing experience and my only regret at the time was a lack of an experience point system (heh - I still harbour that regret)

The Traveller Explorer's Edition is a mere buck. I strongly suggest, that at that price, one can easily make a decision on whether to dive in further to what Mongoose Traveller has to offer, game on with what one has, or forgo any further. 

Simply a bargain.

Traveller is the science fiction roleplaying game of the far future. The Traveller Explorers’ Edition is an introduction to the game for newcomers that provides all of the tools you need to create adventures or even an entire campaign. Create bold scouts and intrepid scientists who travel into the unknown aboard their trusty Type-S Scout/Courier, a rugged exploration ship perfect for the job.

Dock your ship at advanced starports, visit strange worlds, encounter alien beings and animals, and take on the challenges that the galaxy sets before you.

The Explorer’s Edition provides all core game rules for Traveller, plus a universe creation system that allows referees to create new star systems on the fly for their players to visit and explore…

The universe awaits. Welcome to Traveller!

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New Release - Adventure Module V2 - Red in Tooth and Claw (OSR from BRW Games)

I've been attempting to make a special effort to reveal any connections I may have to the various products I highlight here at The Tavern. This post is no different. 

I've known Joe Bloch for a number of years (and got to meet him face to face for the first time at the Gygax Magazine launch in Brooklyn back in January of 2013 - my God, 8 years ago!)

When Joe put out his AD&D 2e "What If Gary had Written 2e Clone" Adventures Dark & Deep, it showed me that Joe really knows the OSR and game design. I ran his Castle of the Mad Arch Mage for well over a year. Joe's knowledge of Greyhawk is second to none. 

Joe's latest release is Red in Tooth and Claw, an adventure written for Adventures Dark & Deep but usable with an OSR ruleset. It's 2.95 in PDF and 5.95 in Print plus PDF. 

The southern verge of the Sesve Forest is beset by evil. Woodsmen are slain, villagers’ flocks and herds are rended asunder, and no one seems able to stem the tide of evil. But this is no ordinary pack of wolves threatening the forest precincts; they strike with supernatural cunning, behave with human-like strategy, and show a pure evil unknown to nature.

You and your companions must explore the southern edge of the forest and root out this pack of evil beasts before they strike again, and bring peace once more to the region. This adventure is the second in a trilogy of adventure modules, but can easily be played as a stand-alone module.

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New PWYW - Mere Anarchy (1-Sheet RPG)

I've always enjoyed Dirk Stanley's work, and actually snagged some of his adventures for the Far Away Land RPG before I even bought the core rules. Quite simply, he does good work. Dirk, Vince Florio, and I even did a short-lived podcast for the Far Away Land RPG. 

(edit: Doh! And yes, that is Dirk's artwork at the top of this page)

So yes, I know Dirk. Yes, I am likely biased. But that's okay because Mere Anarchy is priced at PWYW pricing for two pages (1-sheet) and your risk (and investment) is literally nil (unless you tip Dirk for his fine work.

I suspect Mere Anarchy would work best as a convention game. Simple to learn, everyone can be given their 1-sheet of the game AT the game, and all one needs are some d6's.

Mere Anarchy is an ultra-lite, 1-page (front and back) rpg that uses a simple 2d6 system. You can learn the game and make characters and get started playing in minutes.

The game features unique and simplified systems for many things like NPCs and monsters and generating treasure.

• Overview of basic mechanics
• Character creation (with optional rules)
• PC Advancement
• Combat
• Magic (freeform system)
• Gear
• NPCs & Monsters
• Treasure

 

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Borderlands & Beyond for RuneQuest - Glorantian Classics Reprint Print plus PDF Sale (over 50% off)

I've recently been bitten (again) by the RuneQuest Bug. I last ran a RuneQuest Campaign over 30 years ago, using the RuneQuest 2nd edition rules and the Pavis and Big Rubble box sets. It was an amazing summer of RuneQuest fun, and although we didn't call it a "sandbox" back then, it was certainly the first sandbox I ran.

I noticed last night that on the Chaosium website, they offer Glorantian Classics: Borderlands and Beyond for $18.99, in print plus free PDF - basically half off the regular price. Not owning a prior version of Borderlands (but remembering the rave reviews of it from years ago) I promptly ordered the hard copy and started perusing my newly acquired PDF.

I'm inspired to run a RuneQuest Campaign again, with Pavis & Big Rubble, as well as the Borderlands at my disposal. Apparently, I ordered a PDF copy of Pavis & Big Rubble from DTRPG in the past, and I'll be uploading that to my iPad, much like I've uploaded Borderlands. Edition changes don't phase me, as I've been running all editions of various D&D / OGL adventures for years using Swords & Wizardry rules. So long as the players don't know what the "true" stats should be, any stats you present as a GM are the "true" stats ;)

So, what do you get in Borderlands & Beyond?

This is an updated and reformatted 300+ page reprint of ALL of the information from the original Chaosium Borderlands boxed set, Plunder, and Runemasters.

Rick also included additional Plunder items, expanded Runemasters character histories, and loads of background info from Nomad Gods and Wyrms Footnotes magazine. The interior is lavishly illustrated with dozens of new pictures from Simon Bray, Dario Corallo, plus loads of oldies but goodies from Lisa Free, Luise Perrinne, Gene Day and Rick Becker.

Note, this is the last of the Glorantian Classics line Chaosium has in print.

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Bundle of Holding - Goodman Gems

Looking at one of the latest Bundles of Holding, I am quite impressed by the quality works included at these price points. Truth be told, I believe I already own everything, if not in print than in PDF. That says a lot IMHO.

With the Goodman Gems bundle, you get The Adventurer's Almanac, the DM Campaign Tracker, PC Pearls, and GM Gems for 9.99. If you increase your buy-in to about 26 bucks, you also get The Dungeon Alphabet, The Monster Alphabet, The Cthulhu Alphabet, 50 Fantastic Functions for the D50, and How to Write Adventure Modules that Don't Suck.

It's a pretty damn strong collection overall.

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Giantlands - Reviewish - Book 1, Part 1 - Damn It Tenkar, Where Are the Rules?

To be honest, I did not purchase Giantlands with high hopes. At $130 plus shipping my expectations were severely muted. That being said, I can honestly say, the editing is, by far, better than any of the peeks we've had of various TSR3 products that have not been released yet. Surely, not a high bar to meet, but one that has been met and exceeded.

Now, on to the cover of Volume 1 of Three Booklets, Spirits Guide. Yes, I know that looks awkward, but there it is. 

Giantlands: Science Fantasy Roleplaying Game Playable with Pen, Paper, Dice & Masks

Maybe it's just me, but we never played with masks back in the day OR today (but occasionally we did play with hand puppets, like the Rocky & Bullwinkle Game from TSR). This makes it seem like masks are expected to be used as part of gameplay. It should be noted that masks are NOT included in the box, but pencils are, as well as dice and some tokens.

At first glance, the art looks above average to pretty damn good. Jeff Dee did some interior art, and the other artists did fine jobs overall.

We start with the description of the 5th Age. If you've played an RPG with a default setting before, you probably already know much of the script.

This is followed by the section The Fun of Roleplaying. If this is your first RPG, do read it. Also, my sympathies, as this should likely not be your first RPG. That applies to MOST RPGs. It's not a knock on Giantlands specifically, just a general note.

Definition of Terms comes next. At four pages, it does a decent job of defining terms used in RPGs in general and Giantlands in particular. 

Core Guidelines is the next page and really feels like it could have been included with The Fun of Roleplaying Section. Again, as a gamer, this section can likely be ignored by most.

The What Do You Need Section ("the following is a list of what is needed for a game of Giantlands") is where I find myself blinking and shaking my head. Spirits (players), Spirit Keeper (GM), Dice, Sigil Coins (tokens of a sort. Four are included in the box, but you could substitute coins), Pencil (the cover says "pen", but that's nitpicking), Paper, Imagination, Lusory Attitude (basically the ability to immerse yourself in the game - yeah, Gygaxian word) and lastly Masks and Costumes.

Now, let's pull that last piece out on its own.

Masks and Costumes

Masks are a way to help us stay safe while stepping even more out of our everyday selves and into other roles. Decorate your mask with Sigils, human or animal features, or anything else that makes you feel more like your character. Costumes of any kind also help us and others to imagine more deeply and suspend disbelief in the fantasy

Does the above paragraph make anyone else cringe? It certainly makes me cringe. Needless to say, no masks or costumes are included with Giantlands but they are included in the What Do You Need Section of the rulebook.

Now, I'm not saying that an RPG with masks and costumes can't work, but marketing such to old-school gamers is likely the wrong market to aim for.

But wait! There's more on Costumes and Masks a few pages later. 

Costume and mask creation is an important part of playing Giantlands.

We strongly and sincerely suggest you craft your own.

Playing dress-up is great fun, but it comes with game benefits too. The costume rules state that if you wear a mask, you may add +5 to each of your Ability scores. If you wear a full-body costume, you can add +10 to each Ability score.

I'm an adult. I don't play dress-up. 

But it seems as though Costumes and Masks are NOT required to play Giantlands, just highly beneficial with in-game bonuses that literally make no sense. 

"Hey, bring blue dice to my game table and I'll make sure you get +1 hit for the rest of the session" is not the way to design a game.

Damn, where was I?

Oh yes, the Play of the Game Section. This is another section that makes me scratch my head, specifically Step Three. Actually, everything from Step Three on. Fuckit, there's too much to type. Here's the page for review purposes only:

There is no sample adventure in the box (and I just confirmed that Volume 2, the Keepers Guide, lacks such). It appears that the assumption is that the Spirit Keeper will know how to design an adventure for Giantlands, but the rules thus far seem to be directed at players new to RPGs in general.

How do you NOT include a sample adventure for a totally new game system? Even a free one on the website would suffice. From what I can tell, the only download on the WFD website is for a Giantlands character sheet. At 2 bucks, BTW.

K, I'm burned out. 

Tomorrow Night on the Talking Crit LiveStream, we'll do a Giantlands Session Zero - Character Generation. At first glance, it doesn't seem all that balanced, but maybe that's where the "old school" aspect comes into the ruleset.

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Humble Bundle - Stories From the Worlds of Warhammer 2022, by Black Library

I've always enjoyed the various worlds and settings of Warhammer and immersing myself in fiction is a fun pastime. These days, I prefer audiobooks, but with my Kindle app, even my tired old eyes can read the selections available in the Stories From the Worlds of Warhammer 2022 Humble Bundle by Black Library.

For as little as a buck, you can snag six bucks in Kindle and epub formats. $18 dollars gets you 25 books. If you are into fantasy and/or fantasy/sci-fi fiction, this is a hard-to-beat deal.

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Do You Ever Envision an End-Game for Your PCs?

Yeah, so if you think I almost forgot about today's post........you'd be right. This last week I managed to sign on a new home and then my car up and crapped out on me. Not really a good time to be needing to purchase a new vehicle, but you gotta do what you gotta do (Futurama anyone?).

So basically I'm leveling up and am able to "create" a Stronghold. I mean it's not my 1st house, but it's "my first" house....as in all me and just me. So the first thing I have to do, after "evicting" the previous tenets (i.e. bought the house) was to secure the premises.....in this case change all my locks.

Now I'm at the cleanup and slowly moving in phase.

Anyway, clearly that's my real life at the moment, but I've yet to be able to do this in-game. I did get close once. My DS Invoker got a high enough level and saved up more than enough coin. The tipping point was my PC getting a Pseudo Dragon familiar, so then he was all set to "retire", build a library, and begin his practice (he was working on being a Doctor of sorts)*. 

I've never GM'd a player building a bonafide Stronghold either.

In-game I like the idea of a Stronghold/Library/Whatever, but it seems to me to be more of a goal....a journey, not really a destination, something to work towards, but probably a campaign-wrecker if it ever came to fruition. While I can certainly come up with ideas for adventures emanating from the Stronghold, or during it's creation, they just seem way too different from the types of adventures during the normal murder-hoboing.....

So basically I see the creation of a Stronghold as more of an end-game thing. Retire the PC and maybe bring them back out here & there for one-offs. I often have some sort of end-game idea in mind for my PCs. My current OSR Magic User doesn't have one....yet, but my last HackMaster PC was expected to return to the homeland and probably die leading a rebellion to free his enslaved brethren. I was hoping that'd be an epic campaign, but alas the gaming group broke up and I haven't touched that PC since.

Usually I like to pose a question to the 12 13 readers I have here at the Tavern and the obvious one would be if anyone has built a Stronghold before, but what I'd rather read about is if/how many of us envision an end-game for their PCs. Not just what, but when (level?), and what is involved in that thought process?