The Johnathon M Thompson Memorial Bundle will be Ending Soon - Get it NOW!

Note: The Jonathan M Thompson Memorial Bundle over at DTRPG will be coming to an end shortly. The value is hard to beat and the cause is a good one - the family of a fellow gamer and small publisher. Grab the bundle before its gone - Tenkar

The following is reposted from March 9th, 2023

When I was at Totalcon two weeks ago, I found out that Jonathan M. Thompson had passed. I was blessed to be able to share the GoFundMe to help Jonathan's family with their related expenses. 

Today I'm sharing the Jonathan M Thompson Memorial Bundle over at DTRPG. Pinnacle took the lead on this, but there are dozens of donors of RPG material, including yours truly, as every purchaser of the bundle gets a copy of Swords & Wizardry Continual Light as well as 147 other titles for a mere 25 bucks. It's for a good cause in the memory of a good man, and I ask that you simply give the page a look and decide if the offer interests you.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess is Looking for Artists

I was talking with James Raggi last night, and he mentioned that he looking for artists and wondered if I knew any. I figured I'd take it a step further and I asked James to put together a short pitch that I could share here at The Tavern. Below is that pitch. As an aside, every artist I know personally who has worked with James has only mentioned the interactions with professionalism and respect - Tenkar

"It's time to update the Lamentations of the Flame Princess artist files. We publish dark fantasy, horror (cosmic, splatter, all sorts of weirdness), and historical fantasy tabletop RPG books.

If you're an artist, send an email to lotfp@lotfp.com with a link to your portfolio.

We are ready to commission a number of pieces immediately.

If I'm interested in hiring you for the current projects, we will be in touch. If not, your info will be kept on file for possible future projects."

                            James Raggi - LotFP

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

Why is There A Lack of Alternative Digital RPG Storefronts to DTRPG?

Many of us have bemoaned the lack of viable alternatives to OneBookShelf/DTRPG for years.

Before OneBookShelf (actually, Roll20 now, if you look at your emails) merged with RPGNow, there WAS competition. Heck, DTRPG used to offer a "Free Game of the Week" (not a bad idea actually) in an attempt to lure customers to their site (some of these PDFs were protected by some weird Adobe security features that were a huge PITA). OBS kept RPGNow as a mirrored storefront of DTRPG for years.

There was also YourGamesNow. Never a huge site and barely used, I'm not sure many noticed its demise.

IndiePressRevolution has been around for years. Not sure how much use it gets from Old School Gamers, but I remember snagging Spirit of the Century from there a number of years back.

Lulu is an alternative, but it is a slog to navigate.

Frog God Games tried to launch a storefront for more than just their own products back at the end of 2015. It didn't go well.

Big Geek Emporium is a newer storefront that launched with minimal fanfare, or if there was fanfare, it missed my attention.

Venger has a post about supporting some alternative digital storefronts. Even if you have problems with the messenger, his message is the correct one - we need alternatives. We need competition. One company should not be the gatekeeper of the world of digital TTRPGs and PODs.

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

Kickstarter - Tragedy at Wood-witch Rise: An Adventure for DCC RPG

While I like the DCC RPG, I tend to like the adventures written for the system more than the rules themselves, and I run them on the fly for Swords & Wizardry or the OSR system of my choice at the time.

Tragedy at Wood-witch Rise is a low level (level 1 or 0-level funnel) for the DCC RPG costing 5 bucks in PDF and 10 bucks in Print plus PDF.

Tragedy at Wood-witch Rise is a DCC RPG compatible adventure for 5-7 1st level characters, or 10-14 0-level characters if you'd like to use it as funnel. It should take 2-3 hours to complete. The encounter takes place deep in the woods off of the North Road, about 2-3 hours north of Stennard. However, it can be placed in the woods close to any town or village. 

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

2023 Annual Charity Raffle for Feral Cats - Organized by David Baity

Sadie, our current feline daughter

A few words from your bartender: I am a cat guy. Always have been, and always will be, although marrying Rach also turned me into a dachshund guy too ;) My deceased feline daughter was adopted by my son's mother as a kitten (I inherited both when his mom passed) and my current feline daughter adopted Rach and me in 2020 (she was a stray that literally walked into our back door that October). I am honored to give some extra bandwidth to David's Annual Charity Raffle - Tenkar

(Edit-04/20- Original art has been added-checklist and pics below)

(Edit- 04/17- I'm including a list of prizes at the bottom of the post. Some great prizes have been added thanks to some very special people and I don't want them to be overlooked.)

(Edit- to share this post go to my profile and share from there. I wasn't aware you can't share a post if made in a private group)

If you know me, and/or you love cats, please take the time to read this post: 

Hey guys! Most of you know that I try to do something every year to help a local feline (mostly) rescue that really goes above and beyond to rescue cats and kittens who are on the street and are destined for a very short and miserable life. Paved Paws Animal League ( https://pavedpaws.com/ ) not only participates in the local TNR (Trap Neuter Return) program, but they feed several feral colonies daily, come rain or shine. Last year, the organization rescued 113 felines. We’re just getting into 2023, and they’ve already reached 65 since February (which means it’s going to beat last year, sadly). Right now, the rescue has 24 kittens, 2 teenagers, and 6 adults. They’re at capacity, and money for food, litter, and medical care is quickly becoming scarce. 

There are a few reasons why I do this every year, but the main one is to give back to a rescue to honor the best thing to ever happen to me that also came from a rescue. Sadie was my world and until it’s my turn to pass on to whatever lies beyond, I make it a point to help in the little ways I can. One way is by doing a raffle that offers some nice RPG items for winners to pick from. All it takes is $1 to enter, and you get an additional entry for each additional dollar you donate (for example $10.00 would get you ten chances to win). In anticipation of this year,

I knew my prize closet was getting shallow, so I asked a legendary artist in the field if he might consider taking a commission for something feline. San Julian agreed and sent two pieces of original art that serve as the main focal point of the raffle. I’ve added a handful of additional items into the mix in hopes that it might entice you to throw the cost of a cup of coffee into something that will go directly towards saving the lives of kittens and cats in my hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. 

To enter the drawing, please use one of the links below. Please consider using “Friends and Family” if you donate through PayPal. Remember to enter “raffle” in the notes of your payment so that your name and entries will be recorded properly. All donations are tax-deductible as Paved Paws Animal League is a 501 (c) (3) charity.

Venmo- https://account.venmo.com/u/pavedpaws

PayPal- https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/pavedpaws

The raffle begins tonight and will end on 4/30/23 at midnight EST. I will have a DCC celebrity draw numbers randomly at this time and match the numbers with a name. Right now, I have 12 prizes (shown below) to award. That number may grow by the end of the raffle. Thank you for taking the time to read, and please spread the word on the raffle. It really does help!

Thanks,

D

Prizes- 

San Julian pencil sketch (batcat)

San Julian oil painting (white cat), 

Weird Frontiers package A (standard cover book, 5 adventures, character sheet pad x 2, dice tube, dice bag, t-shirt), 

Weird Frontiers package B (limited edition cover book, 5 adventures, character sheet pad x 2, dice tube, dice bag, t-shirt)

Metamorphosis Alpha: Epsilon City Kickstarter

Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea boxed set

Carnival of the Damned adventure and DCC dice

HUBRIS softcover

Dying Earth Kickstarter boxed sets

DCC rulebook (hardback) and dice set

Transylvanian Encounters hardback

Weird Frontiers digital bundle x 3 (everything I've published)

The shadows about hope adventure (2 physical and 3 digital copies) donated by author Mar Zio Marzio Muscedere

Judge Smith's tube of Boons and Hexes for Weird Frontiers RPG donated by Paul Smith 

Mutants and Masterminds 3rd edition hardback donated by Paul Smith 

Atlas of Hyperborea for use with Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea donated by Paul Smith 

Conan RPG Players Guide hardback donated by Paul Smith 

Necronomnomnom cookbook hardback donated by Paul Smith  

Tournament of Pigs boxed set with stamps, sleeves, and a judges screen donated by Thom Denick of Weird Works LLC 

Star Crawl Classics Bundle donated by author/publisher Jonathan Snodgrass 

Tales of the Smoking Wyrm limited edition boxed set containing issues 1-3 all signed by the creators donated by Trevor Stamper

Original art by Del Teigeler from Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea donated by Keith Nelson

3 pieces of original art by Ballyraven donated by Keith Nelson

Wendigo art by Ballyraven donated by Keith Nelson

Signed prints (frogman) by Ballyraven donated by Keith Nelson

Devilskull art by Kevin Manklow donated by Keith Nelson

Snail god cultists Weird Frontiers art by Christopher Torres donated by Keith Nelson

Owl woman art for Weird Frontiers by Christopher Torres donated by Keith Nelson

more pics can be seen in the original post:

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02jyCqasSUnEoMxQicYnuiY6cjkmveGF2AEqrXsapfnRMUYHkaTRSzZNfk8aMSRvMrl&id=704030695&mibextid=Nif5oz

Bundle of Holding - GameMaster's Apprentice

The GameMaster's Apprentice was the Deal of the Day recently over at DTRPG (the same place your Wizard's Cabinet at Bundle of Holding is mirrored at) recently, and I heartily recommended it then, and I will heartily recommend it now.

The GameMater's Apprentice Bundle is 7.95 and is simply a great price for the resources you are given. For less than 19 bucks, you can snag a full set. I have much of this in print as cards, and it is invaluable for me as a DM

This GameMaster's Apprentice Deck Bundle presents PDFs of the complete GameMaster's Apprentice line of idea-generator cards by Nathan Rockwood at Larcenous Designs. For tabletop roleplaying GMs, solo gamers, or writers – for any creator seeking inspiration – the thousands of snippets in these digital GameMaster's Apprentice decks suggest story seeds, encounters, characters, and randomizers at the flip of a card.

For just US$7.95 you get all three 120-card digital decks in our Starter Collection (retail value $30) as DRM-free .PDFs and as separate .JPG images for use with virtual tabletops: the complete GameMaster's Apprentice Base Deck and the theme decks for Fantasy and the Age of Sail. We also include Nathan Rockwood's pay-what-you-want ALONe Solo Game Engine beta version and a free preview, available nowhere else, of 30 cards from the forthcoming Cyberpunk Deck.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $18.34, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with five more 120-card theme decks worth an additional $50, including Sci Fi, Horror, Weird Horror, Steampunk, and Demon Hunters (a deck custom tailored for the Demon Hunters: A Comedy of Terrors RPG, co-designed by GMA creator Nathan Rockwood but not included in this offer).

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

Wait, This is a Thing? (World's Largest D&D Game)

Yesterday was the biggest game of D&D ever played.

I only know because a buddy of mine was telling me about his weekend gaming plans and mentioned this was happening. My initial thought was, "Oh he's playing in a big-assed tournament." No, no he was not. Him and the Mrs. were slinging dice at the single largest group of players sitting down to the same game, not a single adventure being played at 200 tables of 5 players and a DM, but basically one big-assed table of 1000 players and 200 DMs.

Wait...what? This is a thing?

Well according to the Guinness World Records folks this is a thing, and is so knew it isn't even on the website yet, but the hosts have a pic of their record on their Facebook page.

The session was four hours and a massive war front against an undead army lead and the PCs, all 1K of them, are the ad-hoc army of the Kingdom of Grand. It was called Dead Wars.

It was a 5th Edition D&D game, which I know next to nothing about and probably won't (not any OSR snobbery, just my buddy said he really doubt I'd care for it and I trust his opinion to not waste my resources). All I could think of is how much of a logistical nightmare setting things up could be, both in and out of game.

Still, kind of cool to have the chance to participate in a bit of history and maybe even find some new gaming friends. Unfortunately for most of us, this happened in Provo, Utah. Now I used to live in Boise, so I know where Provo is, but for the rest of the US.....it's a suburb (of sorts) to Salt Lake City. Of course your probably guessed that because most Americans can only name Salt Lake City as a city in Utah.

Now I don't know how far those Guinness folks want to drill-down, but I'm down for a big-assed 1st or 2nd edition game.......

Oh, and congrats to We Geek Together, you pulled it off.