It's that time of the year when DriveThruRPG puts just about their entire PDF storefront on sale for the GMs Day Sale. Sure, there are some exceptions, but if you were waiting to buy something, now is probably a good time. The percentage off runs from 15% to 30%.
The entire Tenkar's Tavern Gamen cataloge is on sale. That includes Torchlight Zero (15%), Torchlight #1 (15%), and Swords & Wizardry Continual Light (30%).
For those asking, we are getting closer to the release of the digest-sized edition of Continual Light (note the new branding). Prior purchasers of any of The Tavern's releases will get a discount when the new edition releases.
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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
I suspect every GM has tried their hand at designing at least one dungeon, if not dozens. At some point, most GMs even start toying with the idea for a world, even f it doesn't get very far in the actual design. But designing an urban environment/setting has been the downfall to many a GM. Even though it is much smaller than a country, the details required to bring an urban environment to life are daunting.
Why not let the work be done for you, much like Gabor Lux has done with today's Deal of the Day - Baklin, Jewel of the Seas. Normally 8 bucks for the 72-page Baklin setting guide and adventure module in PDF, until tomorrow morning it is marked down to $3.20.
“Oh Baklin, Jewel of the Seas, great gateway of Erillion! Minstrels sing of its wealth and marine power; and of the refinement and taste of its magnates and nobility. Minstrels of all kinds, of course, are prone to grandiloquence; and perhaps Baklin is neither as mighty nor as fair as the ballads claim. And yet, there is reason the minstrels sing so, for Baklin has wealthy patrons, its fleet is not inconsiderable – and are its streets not the loveliest within so many weeks of travel? Indeed, those who brave the high seas often believe so… and they will gladly pay for a song to remember their visit.”
A 72-page setting guide and adventure module for low to mid-level player characters, Baklin: Jewel of the Seas describes a medium-sized merchant city, including its rulers, criminal underworld, establishments, and three-level Undercity. Baklin is meant as both a campaign hub a party can depart from and return to (with numerous hooks for wilderness adventures), and as a complex adventure location of its own. It can be used along with the materials published for the Isle of Erillion mini-setting (Echoes #02–05), or it can double as almost any neutral-aligned port town in your own setting.
In any case, Baklin is meant to be played: it is focused on city intrigue, exploration, and dungeon crawling. Go shopping for great deals in port or at the stores of the reclusive Masters’ Guild; be careful not to fall afoul of the Sea Laws or anger the Knights of Yolanthus Kar; discover what lurks in the Tower of Gulls; and brave the Shrine of Roxana and the Thrones of Judgement!
This is two identical-length modules in one: a city guide with 39 major locations and a dungeon setting with 112 keyed areas, connected and bound together via multiple secret entrances, plot threads, and NPC agendas.
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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Griffith Morgan was kind enough to gift me with a copy of The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg. (a more detailed review of Tonisborg is in the works) It's a book that simply reeks with gaming history, and I've been enjoying my time traveling experience. It has, however, put the documentary - The Secrets of Blackmoor, back into the forefront of my thoughts. I decided today, it was time to rewatch it.
I am literally watching as I type this post.
To put it simply, I had forgotten how good The Secrets of Blackmoor was, not just as a gamer and a History Major, but simply for the pure enjoyment of an amazingly well done documentary. I may need to watch this again with Rach. I think she'll enjoy it.
You can rent The Secrets of Blackmoor on Amazon for less than 4 bucks, or own it in digital for less than 11 bucks.
What if everything you knew about the history of Dungeons & Dragons was wrong?
6 Years, 12 Cities, 200 Hours of Interviews, 20,000 Documents and Photos: An unprecedented investigation into the history of D&D - the game that spurred a multi-billion dollar industry.
Be among the first to know the Secrets of Blackmoor.
Blackmoor is the name of a fictional world created by David Arneson. It is also the prototype of Dungeons & Dragons, the first published role playing game. Unlike other fantasy worlds, such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, Blackmoor is a living world that is being explored to this day. Secrets of Blackmoor investigates the origins of the role playing game, through candid interviews, archival footage, and newly discovered artifacts.
In 1963, David Wesely becomes a founding member of a club that includes history buffs, model makers, and miniature collectors. Hiding within the group, however, are a bunch of college students who are interested in war gaming. Within a year, the gamers meet a high school kid named Dave Arneson who is playing war games with his friends in his parents' basement.
These gamers have no idea that they will change the face of this hobby forever. Their only concern for now, is how to simulate the reality of war, and above all, they just want to have fun. Their voracious hunt for new rules and knowledge leads them to the University of Minnesota Library where they discover an old manuscript, Strategos; the American Game of War. Within the dense pages are a few sentences that inspire them.
The influence of Strategos changes how they play their war games. But are they really following these old rules, or have they stumbled onto something truly unique by misinterpreting what it says? Should a game be constrained by rules, like Monopoly, or should there be no boundaries at all, like a game of make believe?
One thing is very clear--something magical was going on in the Twin Cities.
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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
I'm heard the name "M.T. Black" in the past but truly can't tell you what he has written (looking at his self-published work, he's published a sizeable amount). The Anatomy of Adventure is a Platinum Best Seller at DTRPG, less for telling you how to write an adventure and more for showing you how to write adventures for publication. As there is certainly a large overlap between the two, The Anatomy of Adventure is a bargain at 1.98 until Thursday, 3/3/22 at 11 AM Eastern.
"It's a lovely read and hugely helpful."
"Tons of great advice for an aspiring adventure writer."
"Inspiring!"
In just a few short years, M.T. Black has established himself as one of the most successful indie-writers on the Dungeons & Dragons scene, with thirty-five platinum best-sellers and over a hundred thousand book sales. In this practical and engaging book, he shares many of the principles, tricks, and secrets he has learned along the way.
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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Two Mörk Borg Compatible adventures in print-on-demand hardcover! 100% completely written, edited, illustrated, and test printed.
I'm putting this post up as I listen to the State of the Union speech. I know, dangerous but I am focused. Kinda. Not turning it into a drinking game. I promise ;)
Truth in posting, Thom Wilson is a friend of mine. I've been a special guest of Thom's Shire Con every year he's held it. I consider Thom a good friend of mine. That being said, Thom produces consistently good Kickstarter projects.
I'm in for PDF plus Print plus POD costs at 15 bucks. PDF only is 7 bucks.
Two Separate Print-on-Demand Hardcovers, Both Compatible with Mork Borg!
There's only one thing better than a Mörk Borg adventure: two Mörk Borg adventures! That's right, two fully compatible adventures for the award-winning roleplaying game that we all love. Each adventure is 100% complete - fully written, edited, illustrated, and even test-printed! Backers will receive completed PDFs just weeks after the project wraps up and print-on-demand books within a few months.
The Two Adventures
Sacrifice Before Sunrise, The Child Must Die!
Whispers of dark work drift from the twisted mouths of temple priests in Schleswig. Doom approaches in the form of a small child, begat by an unnatural union between Nechrubel and the arch-priestess of Galgenbeck. A plan to dethrone King Fathmu IX by replacing him with the grotesque child-god is mere days from success. Soon, Two-Headed Basilisk temples will burn and all will praise their rival, the shadow lord who awaits his true position in the world.
Buckets of silver will be showered upon a group who succeeds where others have dared not even try. Your skills are in alignment with the task: infiltrate an abandoned village, capture the unnatural offspring of Nechrubel and Josilfa, and sacrifice him to the Two-Headed Basilisks before the next sunless day begins.
Initially Written for the Anti-Christmas Jam at Itch.io. Mixture of 29 b&w and color pages*, hardcover. Approximate print cost: $9.50.
The Demon's Arse
Demons plague the eastern Wästlands, decimating villages and mutilating travelers seemingly for sport. Dense, acrid smoke billows from a wide hole under a remote hill. This is the legendary Demon’s Arse, rumored to be the home of unearthly creatures both demonic and dead. Who dares enter?
Initially written for TotalCon 36 (play-tested at the convention). A mixture of 19 b&w and color pages*, hardcover. Approximate print cost: $8.00.
Each adventure has been designed for 3-6 desperate characters, and can generally be completed in 1-2 sessions.
*While several pages feature colorful backgrounds and bright-colored text, more than half are in standard B&W. These books were designed in typical MB fashion (bright colors, different fonts), but many pages have a layout similar to that of Rotblack Sludge (from the MB rulebook).
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You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Three Deals of the Day in three days. I don't think that has ever happened before at The Tavern.
The latest Deal of the Day, M-Space, is a sci-fi ruleset based on Mythrus, which in itself, is built off of the Mongoose RQ/Legends rules. I'm on a bit of a RuneQuest kick recently, and this looks like a good fit. Normally 15.95 in PDF, until tomorrow morning at 11 AM Eastern, M-Space is on sale for 6.38.
M-SPACE is a d100-based science fiction roleplaying game. Everything needed to play is included.
With this book, you can create imaginary universes and play characters from a variety of cultures and careers. They can pilot starships, meet strange alien lifeforms and travel deep into unknown space.
Contents include:
Rich character generation, with unique, personal characters driven by Passions.
Rules for extended conflicts, applicable to any type of conflict, including social.
Intuitive, modular starship design.
Quick-paced and creative starship combat, based on the acclaimed Mythras combat rules.
Alien and culture creation.
World building.
Rules for how to create and run Organisations.
Modular vehicle design.
Creative combat rules - in both classic and simplified flavour.
Psionics.
Equipment.
The game engine used for all this is Mythras Imperative. If you are familiar with any closely related d100 game, you will feel right at home.
M-SPACE is published under a Mythras Gateway license by The Design Mechanism.
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
Let me get a few things out of the way. I'd rather be upfront than hear whispers in the dark.
1) Ascendant is written and published by Alexander Macris. I know there is a segment of the gaming community that has a hard-on for Alex. If you are covered by the prior statement, you can bugger off right now. This post isn't for you.
2) I consider Alex a friend. More than an acquaintance, less than a bestie. Still, it may color some of my observations, so you should be informed. Also, see Number 1, above.
3) Although I am a fan of the superhero genre, I've yet to find a supers RPG that I've felt comfortable with. At best, they've been "blah".
4) I bought the Print plus PDF version of Ascendant. Currently, the Print version is not for sale as it is being updated with errata. This purchase was made possible with your money, the readers of this fine blog, as it was funded by affiliate monies. This is NOT a review copy. When I do a review (so many books, so little time) it will be without obligations.
5) Alex DID send me the first chapter of his upcomingAscendantgraphic novel in PDF. I have done little more than look at some pretty pictures at this point.
6) The fucker has gone Platinum at DTRPG in 2 1/2 months. Very impressive.
Until tomorrow morning at 11 AM Eastern, Ascendant is marked down to 10 bucks in PDF from its normal 20 bucks.
Here's the sales blurb:
Ascendant is the superpowered role-playing game of infinite possibilities. In this 496-page standalone rulebook, you get:
Elegant game mechanics that swiftly simulate the physics of a comic-book world using easy-to-reference real-life benchmarks
Color-coded challenge action resolution tables that resolve complex actions with superspeed
Infinitely scalable system lets you play heroes of any power level, from streetfighters to living gods – and replicate virtually any character from your favorite anime, comic, manga, or movie settings
Countless powers all customizable with an easy-to-use system of modifier tags that lets you match your power’s specifics to your character concept
Comprehensive detective mechanics for investigating crimes, interviewing witnesses, and finding clues
Detailed options for super-geniuses to create inventions, cure diseases, and even bring their outlandish devices into mass production
Extensive rules for responding to emergencies such as asteroid strikes, avalanches, disease outbreaks, earthquakes, fires, nuclear disasters, tornados, tsunamis, and volcanoes
A huge catalog of pre-built characters and objects including major military vehicles such as aircraft carriers, attack submarines, and ballistic missiles
A dynamic mission generation system to help you create challenges for your heroes
An optional campaign setting with ready-to-use heroes, villains, and organizations
Spectacular artwork by industry-leading pencilers, inkers, and colorists
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
