OSR Christmas - Christmas Eve Update

I answered, forwarded, and read all outstanding OSR Christmas related emails this morning. I am all caught up as far as I can tell, but there are still unclaimed gifts. If you have a gift pending and you haven't emailed me to claim it, please do. If you haven't heard from me, and you have emailed me, comment below. I dug through my spam folder and there were no OSR Christmas-related emails in it.

There WILL be a Gamers' Health Livestream tonight but at 10 PM Eastern instead of the usual 8 PM. We want to ensure we have time to spend with family AND our community.

OSR Christmas gifts will likely be awarded Monday, Dec 26th. OSR Christmas still has a few days left ;)

Humble Bundle - New Perils! For Classic Game Crawls (DCC RPG)

 

The DCC RPG is the only RPG I've run that had the same magic to me as running AD&D 1e. Sadly, it was short-lived, as my group didn't enjoy the rules as much as they enjoyed the adventures. Now, I convert the DCC RPG adventures I like to Swords & Wizardry on the fly.

New Perils! For Classic Game Crawls is an amazing value for the money. 29 Books and a discount coupon are in the bundle.

18 bucks get you the DCC RPG Core rules, Referee Screen, Lankmar Boxed Set, Chained Coffin, Perils on the Purple Planet and so much more. I have about half of the material in print but for 18 bucks the rest of the collection is still a bargain and then some.

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 cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

OSR Christmas Day 8 (and gifting gifts from OSR Christmas Day 6)

It's the most, wonderful time of the year - it's time for OSR Christmas! I just verified, and this is officially the 10th Year for OSR Christmas. Holy Santa, but that's a lot of gift-giving!

Now, this is Day 8 of OSR Christmas (and the assigning of gifts for OSR Christmas Day 6). Some may ask: "where was OSR Christmas Day 7?" Day 7 was on the Tavern's Youtube Channel on the Wednesday Night Livestream and Day 9 will be Friday, 8 PM, again on the Youtube Channel Livestream. Day 5 was awarded  to subscribers of the Tenkar's Tavern Substack.

The following are the gift receivers from Day 6 of OSR Christmas. If you see your name below, you are being gifted. Email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing with "OSR Christmas" in the subject. Digital gifts need an email, and physical gifts need a mailing address. 

$10 DTRPG Gift Certificate, donated by The Tavern - Worldwide - MGSherm

OSR Refrigerator Magnet, donated by Thadeus Moore - Worldwide - davrion

Shadowdark PDFs, full set, donated by James Mishler Games - Worldwide - Matt

Arduin Map - Physical, donated by Emperors' Choice Games- Worldwide - Tim Baker

Endless Encounters PDF (choice of B/X or 5e), donated by Pacesetter Games - Worldwide - 

Fire in the Mohle! in PDF for MCC, donated by Silver Bulette - US ONLY - Narmer

Frog God Gift Pack - Either Splinters of Faith for 5e or an Assortment of Soft Cover Modules - Print - US Only - Trainer

To be in the mix to be potentially gifted one of the following gifts, you need to comment below. One random gift receiver will be picked for each gift sometime on Saturday, December 24th. So you have 2 days to get your comment in. Note: if you are outside the United States, I need you to indicate such. Some gifts are cost-prohibitive to ship outside the US. Blame the USPS, not us.

So, without further delay, the gifts in today's OSR Christmas Day 8 mix are:

$10 DTRPG Gift Certificate, donated by The Tavern - Worldwide

OSR Refrigerator Magnet, donated by Thadeus Moore - Worldwide

Shadowdark PDFs, full set, donated by James Mishler Games - Worldwide

Arduin Map - Physical, donated by Emperors' Choice Games- Worldwide

Endless Encounters PDF (choice of B/X or 5e), donated by Pacesetter Games - Worldwide

Dice Tower and Tray – Set – Archania Workshop - Note: US ONLY

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 cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Bundle of Holding - 13th Age MEGA

Bundle of Holding has been hitting it out of the park recently. Their latest bundle, 13th Age MEGA, is an amazing value for a truly well-spoken system. I have had the core book on my shelves for a number of years, and with this bundle, I think I'll complete my collection in PDF format.

Especially suited for new 13A players, this bargain-priced Megabundle gives you everything you need to run your own 13th Age campaign in the Dragon Empire. (Even if you bought our December 2015 13th Age Bundle and its December 2019 companion offer 13th Age Adventures, the six recent titles here might still entice you.)

For just US$24.95 you get all nine titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $158) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete 13th Age Core Book (plus the Free RPG Day adventure Make Your Own Luck), the 13 True Ways rules expansion, the Bestiary and Bestiary 2, The Book of Loot and Loot Harder, The Book of Ages, the introductory adventure Crown of Axis, and the Game Master's Screen and Resource Book.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $40.66, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with ten more titles worth an additional $172, including the supplements The Book of Demons and Book of the Underworld; the adventures Shards of the Broken Sky, Elven Towers, Eyes of the Stone Thief (plus the conversion for D&D 5E), and Shadows of Eldolan; three sets of iconic Battle Scenes (with their accompanying Map Folios) – High Magic & Low Cunning, The Crown Commands, and Fire & Faith; and the 171-page adventure Diamonds and Shadows, a collection of seven modules from the 13th Age Organized Play program available exclusively in this offer and nowhere else.

 

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 cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

OSR Christmas Day 6, and Giving Out Gifts for OSR Christmas Day 4

It's the most, wonderful time of the year - it's time for OSR Christmas! I just verified, and this is officially the 10th Year for OSR Christmas. Holy Santa, but that's a lot of gift-giving!

Now, this is Day 6 of OSR Christmas (and the assigning of gifts for OSR Christmas Day 4). Some may ask: "where was OSR Christmas Day 1?" Day 1 was on the Tavern's Youtube Channel on the Wednesday Night Livestream and Day 3 was last night, Friday, again on the Youtube Channel Livestream. Day 5 was awarded  to subscribers of the Tenkar's Tavern Substack.

The following are the gift receivers from Day 4 of OSR Christmas. If you see your name below, you are being gifted. Email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing with "OSR Christmas" in the subject. Digital gifts need an email, and physical gifts need a mailing address. 

$10 DTRPG Gift Certificate, donated by The Tavern - Worldwide - Helen

OSR Refrigerator Magnet, donated by Thadeus Moore - Worldwide - The Malum

Shadowdark PDFs, full set, donated by James Mishler Games - Worldwide ShadowStalker

Arduin Map - Physical, donated by Emperors' Choice Games- Worldwide - Jayson "Rocky" Gardner

Endless Encounters PDF (choice of B/X or 5e), donated by Pacesetter Games - Worldwide - Lasgunpacker

Fire in the Mohle! in Print for MCC, donated by Silver Bulette - US ONLY - goeticgeek

To be in the mix to be potentially gifted one of the following gifts, you need to comment below. One random gift receiver will be picked for each gift sometime on Thursday, December 22nd. So you have 2 days to get your comment in. Note: if you are outside the United States, I need you to indicate such. Some gifts are cost-prohibitive to ship outside the US. Blame the USPS, not us.

So, without further delay, the gifts in today's OSR Christmas Day 6 mix are:

$10 DTRPG Gift Certificate, donated by The Tavern - Worldwide

OSR Refrigerator Magnet, donated by Thadeus Moore - Worldwide

Shadowdark PDFs, full set, donated by James Mishler Games - Worldwide

Arduin Map - Physical, donated by Emperors' Choice Games- Worldwide

Endless Encounters PDF (choice of B/X or 5e), donated by Pacesetter Games - Worldwide

Fire in the Mohle! in PDF for MCC, donated by Silver Bulette - US ONLY

Frog God Gift Pack - Either Splinters of Faith for 5e or an Assortment of Soft Cover Modules - Print - US Only

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 cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Bundle of Holding - The Fantasy Trip (Steve Jackson Games)

The Fantasy Trip Bundle presents The Fantasy Trip, the tabletop roleplaying game designed by Steve Jackson in its 2018 Legacy Edition from Steve Jackson Games.

The Fantasy Trip is one of the few early RPGs I didn't encounter in my early days in the hobby. I was lucky enough to get an early copy of the Kickstarter Boxed Set directly from Phil Reed of Steve Jackson Games a few months before I got my Kickstarter copy. It was an impressive box. Reading The Fantasy Trip, you can see the roots of GURPS in its design.

You can snag The Fantasy Trip Core Collection for 14.95, but for less than 26 bucks as I type this, you can grab the Bonus Collection, which is a huge bargain.

This all-new TFT Bundle brings you a Cidri-sized lineup for an unbeatable bargain price. For just US$14.95 you get all four titles in our Core Collection (retail value $47) as DRM-free ebooks. The star attraction is the mammoth The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition that includes Melee, Wizard, In the Labyrinth, both Death Test solo adventures, the dungeon crawl Tollenkar's Lair, and tons of extras. You also get the solo adventure Red Crypt and two play aids: the Labyrinth Planner and Deluxe Character Journal.

The Fantasy Trip CompanionAnd if you pay more than the threshold price of $25.58, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with four supplements worth an additional $57, including The Fantasy Trip Companion, TFT Adventures Volume 1, The Book of Unlife, and the first issue of the Fantasy Trip magazine, Hexagram.

Day 4 of OSR Christmas gifts will be given out tomorrow, Tuesday 11/20. So you get a few extra hours to comment ;)

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 cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Christmas Crunch Time......and RPG Holidays (or Lack Thereof)

It's a week before Christmas and it's pretty much crunch time for a lot of people. Last-minute presents, wrapping what you already have, maybe one too-many holiday parties/obligations, oh, and the inevitable travel plans (even if it's people coming to you).

For me, my "crunch-time" is trying to figure out just how I'm going to get in all of my Christmas movies: Elf, Bad Santa, Bad Mom's Christmas, Scrooged, Miracle on 34th Street, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, Anna and the Apocalypse, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Die Hard (I know it's not a...whatever), It's a Wonderful Life, Office Christmas Party, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Eight Crazy Nights (I know, it's a Hannukah film, but deal), Fat Man, Mixed Nuts, and the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special (for the 4th time). I have some other Christmas movies, but I don't need to see .....every .....single .....one.

Now as far as the holidays and gaming intersect, I have rarely seen a GM/campaign that has regular holidays as a thing. My HackMaster campaign did (I can envision of few readers rolling their eyes.......of course HackMaster had holidays!), but to be fair I didn't use my calendar, but one provided by somebody else. He had this whole bit of math done up to track lunar cycles (three moons) and specific holidays based on intersecting moon phases with some set holidays. I took all the math and created an Excel sheet so all you had to do was enter the year and *poof* here's a calendar for the year with holidays marked. My campaign was set thousands of years after the destructions of the Old Gawds, so I had to use Excel to make it work.

Granted, since Christmas is a religious holiday, as is Hannukah, and the majority of RPG campaigns have multiple gods...so would there be a LOT of "Christmas" holidays? Or maybe there is a predominate religion in each region and only that one has a "Christmas"?

Since before modern times almost all of our/the holidays we had were religious, not secular...holy crap that would be a HUGE amount of holidays to figure out for a campaign calendar. I mean I think it could be fun to do all of your gods, but if you use the Petty Gods book (like I do/would), you might need to lump a few together or your calendar would be only religious holidays!

Now.....if I can find the time between Christmas movies (and other last-minute holiday tasks), I think I'm going to stat-up Santa Claus for OSR....I'm thinking a dual-identity Fae that is Sinterklaas/Krampus that is (unfortunately) real easy to strike a bargain with, but like all dealings with the Fae.....there can be issues.