Humble Bundle - Cyberpunk RED and Classic Mega Bundle

I first came across Cyberpunk 2020 shortly after it came out in the late 80s. Although I didn't read much science fiction at the time, I had seen the covers of various cyberpunk novels at B. Dalton's, and the concept intrigued me. I don't believe I ever had a chance to run Cyberpunk 2020, but that was more due to the plethora of games my gaming group already owned that lack of interest.

The current Cyberpunk RED and Classic Mega Bundle over at the Humble Bundle Store should scratch all of your Cyberpunk needs. With the core books for Cyberpunk RED, Cyberpunk 2020, as well as the Cyberpunk Red Jump Kit and a total of 20 more supplements for both systems (price at 18 bucks), the cyberpunk in all of us should be satiated ;)

Calling all solos, netrunners, and rockerboys—it’s time to bring the edgy allure and explosive excitement of the legendary Cyberpunk pen and paper RPG to your table! This bundle is bursting at the seams with all the rulebooks, sourcebooks, and more that you’ll need to play both Cyberpunk RED —the latest edition of the seminal RPG—as well as Cyberpunk 2020, the classic that started it all. You’ll get over 20 books and game aids for both editions, including the Interface RED Volume 3 sourcebook, packed with new weapons, gear, rules, and more, and available for the first time anywhere as part of this bundle! Pay what you want for all the tools you need to take Night City by storm, and help support Children's Miracle Network Hospitals with your purchase.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

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 - Deck of Old-School Encounters Set Two, OSR Fantasy RPG Cards (Phil Reed)

72 more encounter cards for use with almost any fantasy RPG! May be used alone or combined with Set 1. Written by Philip Reed.

I'm a huge fan, and a friend, of Phil Reed. I've been following Phil for decades, back when he had an email list with gaming ideas. These days, he's the master of the small and quick RPG Kickstarter. Phil's current Kickstarter, Deck of Old-School Encounters Set Two, OSR Fantasy RPG Cards is only live for a short time, and as I type this has less than 3 days left in its funding period.

The Deck of Old-School Encounters Set Two includes 72 more random encounter cards, each one illustrated. This deck – for use by gamemasters and solo players – gives you a quick way to generate the next random encounter in your game. 

Fully compatible with the first set (or use this second set of cards on their own)! You can select the first deck in the $8, $12, and $30 rewards. Or, if you wish, buy it today at DriveThruRPG!

These systemless cards work with any classic fantasy RPG. They are also a good fit for modern campaigns looking to add a touch of old-school flavor.

Each card also features the baseline reaction of the encountered character or creature. The reactions are divided into three categories.

• Friendly. The encountered character(s) are open to assisting the party of adventurers . . . so long as the heroes are also friendly.
• Indifferent. The encountered character(s) or creature(s) are likely to ignore the party if the adventurers don't do something stupid. Events during gameplay may turn some indifferent situations into hostile (or maybe even friendly) reactions . . . depending on the players' actions.
• Hostile. The encountered character(s) or creature(s) are prone to violence and very likely to attack the party. Of course, the heroes may be able to sway the opposition, possibly turning an armed conflict into a tense – yet peaceful – meeting of two groups. (Who are we kidding? The adventurers are more likely to engage in fisticuffs than they are in conversation.)

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

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 

Free OSR - Downsized Dungeons - Issue 1 (OSE Mini-Dungeon)

I enjoy what I call "drop-in dungeons" that you can plop down in a hex crawl with minimal fuss. Your part cleared out their current adventure early, and you still have 90 minutes left in the game session? Something like Downsized Dungeons is a perfect fit. The fact that it is PWYW means you can pay for it if you like when you actually use it.

Issue 1 - The Crypt of the Barbarian King

This classic five-room dungeons holds all the trappings of a good crawl. There are monsters. There are ghosts. And of course, there's a ton of treasure at the end. 

About Downsized Dungeons

Fully statted for Old-School Essentials, these mini dungeons are the perfect thing to grab and go when you're low on preptime. They are intended to be played in a single session either as a one shot, or dropped into your current campaign.

Each issue contains an all new dungeon with original art and hand-drawn maps for that old school feeling. 

Pick up a copy and see how it fits into your game!

 The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

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 - Fiend Folio Vol.1 for use with OSR

I'm a sucker for new monsters in my OSR games. I like to create them, and I love it when I find new monsters that others have created. I've been a fan of Jeremy Hart's artwork for a while now, and the Fiend Folio Vol.1 Kickstarter looks very appealing. I'm a backer :)

For this zine I'll be aiming for the center of the OSR. Stat-blocks are modeled after various great games such as Cha'alt, Swords & Wizardry, Lion & Dragon, etc. Basically just a single Saving Throw and only Ascending Armor Class. All the usual funky dice are necessary. 

Each monster gets two pages. One has stats and the facing page is an artsy size comparison piece you can flash to your players. These have been generated over on my Patreon as cards. I've also been uploading them to DriveThruRPG as time allows. I try to create at least 8 different color/texture variations per creature. Of course, only one version of each can make it into the zine.

 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

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 

News Regarding Castle Zagyg and More (Troll Lord Games)

From the Troll Lord Games Website:

WORLDS OF GARY GYGAX

We are beyond pleased and honored to announce that the powers that be have released multiple works of the late Gary Gygax to Troll Lord Games for mass-market publication. These include the complete Gygaxian Fantasy World series, Castle Zagyg: Yggsburg, Castle Zagyg: East Mark, Castle Zagyg: The Manse, Castle Zagyg: Mouths of Madness, Castle Zagyg: The Dungeons (including all 17 handcrafted levels and any sublevels), and all related Castle Zagyg adventures such as the Teeth of Barkash Nour, The Halls of Many Panes, The Hermit, and the Kings of England Kings of France boardgame. See below for details.

THE FATHER OF A HOBBY & INDUSTRY

Though Gary Gygax was not alone in creating role playing games, others like Dave Arneson certainly played a part, it is to Gary’s drive, creativity, expertise, and sheer love of gaming that launched it from a basement hobby for a passionate few, into an industry that spans multiple media platforms.

What You Need to Know Right Now

Currently we are set to launch the Gygaxian Fantasy World Kickstarter campaign this March. Be sure to sign up and be there for any early bird specials!

The Kickstarter campaign for Gary Gygax’s The Hermit ended in December of 2023, support for which broke six digits! Fear not if you missed the Kickstarter, for you can pre-order The Hermit on our website and receive yours when it becomes available this spring.

Furthermore, we still have copies of the classic printing of Gary Gygax’s Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh. This classic reprint relaunched the Gygax Estates properties, and a host of folks came out to order it, support TLG and the Estate, and help launch this whole endeavor. A hearty thanks to all those people, but if you missed it, you can buy yours now in our store. It ships immediately!

TROLL LORD GAMES

Troll Lord Games served as Gary’s primary publisher from 2000-2008. After he crossed over much of Gary’s material vanished from the gaming table. Now we hope to launch a new era of publishing, bringing back the many rich worlds of Gary Gygax.

Gygaxian Fantasy World Series

The Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds (be sure to SIGN UP NOW for notifications) is an Encyclopedic series envisioned by the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, Gary Gygax. He conceived the series as an open-ended collection of role-playing gaming aids for the Game Master and the Player, the specific focus of which was World Building. Written, co-written, or edited by Gygax himself, its intent was to cover all the bases of our gaming world.

The first of these books, The Canting Crew, was published in 2001. Six more volumes followed, and more were planned prior to his passing in 2008.

Now, for the first time since they were pulled from the market in 2008, this collection of Gygaxian knowledge returns to the gaming world. Through this Kickstarter we hope to bring back all seven volumes and possibly more. Join us in recreating part of our gaming heritage and flood your own table with mountains of gaming content.

For a complete list of the Castle Zagyg material see below.

WHY CASTLES & CRUSADES

In 2003 Gary opened a discussion with Steve Chenault about Castle Zagyg. He did not want it to appear under the Dungeons & Dragons name or game system. When the Troll Lords proposed that we make Castles & Crusades compatible with his vision for a game for Castle Zagyg he heartly agreed. Both he and Steve wanted C&C to be near to AD&D, so it worked well. Gary was given the right of approval of the rules, and did so with few corrections, so that when Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh and Upper were finally published, they launched with the Castles & Crusades SIEGE Engine system. We will pick up with his wishes where we left off in 2008.

Castle Zagyg

We are going to revisit Gary Gygax’s Castle Zagyg like never before, but much like we intended in years past. This project is massive!

Mike Stewart, known for his Victorious RPG and many adventures like Shadows of the Halfling Hall, has come on board as the head writer. But he won’t be alone, Luke Gygax joins him as does James M. Ward, Jason Vey, Jeremy Farkas and Davis Chenault. Peter Bradley and Bill Edmunds on cartography.

This project will include several major areas:

• Castle Zagyg The City of Yggsburg
• Castle Zagyg Yggsburg Environs (24 neighborhoods of the city)
• The East Mark Setting
• Castle Zagyg: The Manse & Mouths of Madness
• Castle Zagyg: The Dungeons, 17 levels

We’ve not yet settled on an organizational format but have settled on hardcover books with pockets in the back to hold the many maps that will come with this set.

MISSION STATEMENT

We are going to try to stay as true to Gary Gygax’s vision of his work as we possibly can. Steve and Davis Chenault and Peter Bradley all worked closely with Gary for almost 8 years and have a pretty good handle on what he wanted. On top of this, we will be consulting with family members such as Ernie and Luke Gygax, and long time friends like James M. Ward and Jeffrery Talanian to make these works as close to Gary’s vision as we can. New art! New maps! Layout and all, but Gary through and through.

Hall of Many Panes and Other Games

There is so much more to work on. Gary’s creative output was unmatched and even in the wanning years it continued to grow.

We were very happy to have launched The Hermit kickstarter (preorder here), and move toward bring that fabled adventure to your table.

But there is more. The Hall of Many Panes is on the deck. This massive planar adventure, written by Gary and originally published in 2005, is a monument to the bizarre and genius that was Gary’s gift to us all. We’ll bring this on up to date and republish in full color!

One of the projects near and dear to his heart was the Kings of England, Kings of France board game. We are going to dust off the old maps and playing pieces and bring this one back to the fold.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

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 

D&D's Golden Anniversary

As this is the "last Sunday of January" in 2024, that means realistically today(ish) is the 50th Anniversary of D&D.

50 Effing years.....holy crap. I think I started playing in the winter of '78, but I could be off a year either way. I should be celebrating like any faithful dork by playing this weekend and I had full intentions of attending NTRPG's gaming day/weekend at the hotel, but I'm not fully recovered from the flu from last week and traveling to the event, I'm certain, would've been "terminally stupid".

Anyway, 50 years is a lot of time, but that number is really misleading. The real number is the hours spent around the table, days playing between school sessions, weeks at conventions, and (if you were lucky) years in campaigns. Those numbers, well they're the real numbers we celebrate.

If you haven't been able to in a while, please pick up some appropriate dice and roll one out in commemoration.