DTRPG Site Was Hacked on Friday, May 20th, 2022

I was wondering why DTRPG was down on the evening of May 20th, 2022. Then I had the following forwarded to me:

Meredith Gerber (She/Her) — Today at 10:27 PM

MAY 2022 SECURITY UPDATE

In the afternoon of May 20th, 2022, we had a security incident on site that we continue to actively investigate. We have no evidence that any customer account data was compromised.

A third party was able to set prices on titles that they were not authorized to modify, and they set the prices of many titles on site to free which led to some customers placing orders for free titles that were not meant to be free. We shut down the site shortly after this began to happen.

@Publisher & @CC Creator:

We are restoring the site to service, however, for the time being, there will be no access to the normal tool pages to enter or edit titles or to manage bundle titles. We continue to investigate these pages for any security issues and will restore them as soon as we can. Files can still be updated with the normal update file tool page.

Publishers may still use the main publisher hub title search to find and make some edits to titles.

In the coming week, we will analyze any titles that were ordered at incorrect prices and make restitution to publishers and creators whose titles were affected.

We will continue to post messages to Discord, publisher hub, and social media as our investigation continues.

Interestingly enough, there was no mention of this incident on the DTRPG Facebook page.

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 YouTube - Tenkar

Humble Bundle - Heavy Metal Comics Bundle

I remember Heavy Metal Magazine from back in my teens years, and it always had and least one comic story that blew me away. For the time, it certainly pushed the envelope, and to find it still being published 45 years after its debut in digital format is nothing short of amazing.

Issue 316 is the latest issue of Heavy Metal, and the bundle includes issues 307-315 as well as a large number of trade paperback collections. I'm in for 25 bucks for the Heavy Metal Comics Humble Bundle. I've got a few weeks of comics reading ahead of me it seems. 51 titles will last a long time ;)

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 YouTube - Tenkar

Write Up Jus'Tinlau the Master Baker of Clan Nassa and You Could Receive a $25 DTRPG GC

Fugli has been gifting The Tavern with unique artwork for a while now. I am always impressed by his work, and his latest piece even includes a 3d file for the figure to have your own Jus'Tinlau the Master Baker of Clan Nassa.

https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D30949702/

So, we are doing another giveaway.

What do you need to do?

Write up Jus'Tinlau the Master Baker of Clan Nassa. Justin is an Ogre, but you can stat him out as you would like, using the OSR system of your choice. Write a paragraph or three describing his motivations and goals, and I'll use him as the BBEG for an off-the-grid adventure for this year's NTRPG Con. The adventure will also be shared here at The Tavern and likely published in a future issue of Torchlight.

The best entry (enter by leaving a comment below) will be awarded a $25 DTRPG GC and co-author credit on the adventure when published. (Note, by entering you agree to have your entry potentially published in a future issue of Torchlight)

Enter by 1159 PM, Sunday, May 22, 2022, to have your entry considered. The winner will be announced Monday, May 23, 2022.

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 YouTube - Tenkar

Kickstarter - A Good Book for Bad GMs and a Book of GM Inspiration

I've been a fan of Jim Pinto's work for years. Always creative, always intriguing. His latest Kickstarter, A Good Book for Bad GMs and a Book of GM Inspiration has sparked my interest, as it isn't game material or a new system, but advice. I may be an old dog and a decent GM, but I can still learn new tricks.

This is exactly what it sounds like: a comprehensive guide to gamemastering advice. The book walks the reader, step-by-step through all the roles the gamemaster takes on, all of the players they will encounter, and all the pitfalls that can trip up even the best gamemasters. Each section details advice on how to deal with disruptive players, shy people, slow adventures, boring plots, and bad habits that follow you from game to game. The book compiles over 40 years of gamemastering after attending over 100 game conventions with hundreds of strangers with some of the worst behavior you've ever seen, including other gamemasters who forced me to walk away from their tables. The book even talks about how to avoid those situations in the first place, and how to correct those behaviors if you yourself are one of those types of gamemasters.

To get both books in PDF is 19 bucks, and I really think that is the sweet point. I'll put these on my tablet for leisure reading and inspiration.

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 YouTube - Tenkar

Kickstarter - Original Adventures Reincarnated #7: Dark Tower

I must say, when Goodman Games puts together a Kickstarter, they go all out. Judging from the monies already raised in less than 48 hours - over $287k as I type this and still growing, the Original Adventures Reincarnated #7: Dark Tower Kickstarter is going to kick ass for the DCC RPG and 5e fans out there.

If you don't have a copy of the originals, this 3 volume set for $100 bucks is likely a bargain. Were I a DCC RPG player or D&D 5e gamer I'd likely be all in. I'm not sure I will personally pull the trigger on this as I have the originals, but it certainly is tempting.

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 YouTube - Tenkar

Dave Johnson's (Star Frontiers New Genesis/nuTSR Writer) Has a Website (apparently created by a third-party) Devoted to His Hateful & Bigoted Tweets

I was shown the below link late this afternoon. It took me a while to digest what I was seeing and to reconcile how any sane individual could share so much hateful and bigoted content.

I'm not going to share the content on The Tavern, but I will link to the site below, as well as Dave's Twitter account, which as I type this still has the tweets collected on the below website.

https://nohateingames.wixsite.com/home

https://twitter.com/DavefilmsUs

A Sunday Post By Not "Not Erik" ;)

I'm sure most of you expect to see Chris writing today's post. I know I look forward to it every week. Chris had to take today off, as he is traveling home followed by traveling away from home, things that those of us (well, not me) often have to cope with due to work responsibilities.

Today, I thought I'd mention how big a favor Chris does for me every week, and has been doing for years, ever since I was hospitalized in 2020 with Congestive Heart Failure. I've known Chris for a number of years, and he understands my compulsion to have a daily post (as well as video) up at The Tavern. Before my bout with illnesses in 2020 and my trifecta of hospitalizations, I hadn't missed a day of blogging in years. When life and fate lined up to end that streak, Chris reached out to me and gracefully stepped in to shoulder the load. It wasn't just a favor for me, but it was a favor for each one of you too.

For far too long this blog had only one voice and Chris showed me how important it was to ensure I was not the only voice heard. Sure, I had guest posters on occasions, but Chris is the only one to step in with his own voice that also felt 100% comfortable and true to The Tavern. Chris and his posts belong here as much as I do. If I'd known earlier what a great addition he would become, I'd have invited him years before The Year of Trials ;)

I've been toying for the last year with the idea of handing off Wednesday's regular posting to another. I haven't found such yet, but Chris has proven on a weekly basis that such an addition could only make The Tavern an even better place.

Thank you Chris, and thank you to all the readers. 2022 will be a big year at The Tavern, and when the time is right we'll have some announcements you should enjoy.

Oh, and Chris should return next week :)

Note: Above art by Fugli

Tenkar Not "Not Erik"

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 YouTube - Tenkar