Deal of the Day - The Oneiric Hinterlands (OSR Setting/Campaign)

I truly enjoy picking up new settings and campaigns. Even if I never run them, they are flush with new ideas and fresh takes.

The Oneiric Hinterlands is both setting and campaign and should take the party from 1st level to about level 7, which is where many campaigns peter out in my experience. While not for all groups, I suspect there is much one can borrow or steal for their own campaign.

Normally 10 bucks in PDF, The Oneiric Hinterlands is the current Deal of the Day, and until tomorrow morning, it is on sale for 4 bucks.

The Oneiric Hinterlands is a sandbox campaign inspired by fairytales and folklore and set in an enchanted woodland.

Deep in a hollow hill in the ancient Woldwood lies the Dream Gate: a beachhead for a war against reality that never came to pass. Its custodian, Lord Nuada, has disappeared, and now the oneiric energies have begun to warp the very fabric of the world.

Nuada's subjects - the sapient animals called the Danu - are too distracted to care. Following his disappearance, a civil war ended in a magical catastrophe, and the ascension of cruel predator overlords.

Meanwhile, the 'Goblin King', deposed by Nuada, has returned from Underland. Sending his fungal minions into Nuada's abandoned hill palace, he seeks to retake his throne.

Nearby the dwindling human colonies are still dealing with the aftermath of their war with the giants two decades earlier. Rumors circulate that the leader of the giants may have returned from death, and now treasure hunters arrive to disturb things best left buried.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Requires Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy, or similar old school rules.  

The Oneiric Hinterlands features a 21 location wilderness (the mythic forest of Woldwood), a 34 room dungeon (the Temple of Typhon), and a 118 room dungeon (Nuada's abandoned palace below a hill).

The Oneiric Hinterlands provides a campaign to take 4-6 characters from 1st to 7th level.

VTT support: 74 battlemaps and 16 unlabelled maps included!

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Deal of the Day - The Book of Dungeon Encounters

I've known Phil Reed for several years, and have had him as a guest on various live streams on my YouTube Channel over the years. Phil has become the master of the Old School RPG Kickstarter :)

Today's Deal of the Day is The Book of Encounters by Phil Reed. While systemless, it certainly hues to the old-school sensibilities many of us are used to. Normally 9.99 in PDF, but until tomorrow morning, The Book of Encounters is on sale for 5.97.

Welcome to the dungeon, gamemaster. More so than any other location, the dungeon is the heart of adventure for many a fantasy roleplaying game.

On the pages of this book, you will find 100 different dungeon encounter ideas drawn from five different imaginations. This time I am joined by four other co-authors who have brought their own experiences and concepts to the book, making it far more entertaining than it would have been without them.

Over half of the book has been written by my co-authors, making my own contribution to this work little more than the act of dreaming up the project, coordinating the

efforts of the creators, and handling the task of managing the Kickstarter campaign as well as the final design and layout of the book. My co-authors deserve the real credit for how very fun this book has turned out.

The Book of Dungeon Encounters is for those gamemasters who are stuck for an idea. Simply turn to this book and roll (or select!) an encounter. I hope that you enjoy the work as much as I have.

– Philip Reed

 

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      

Deal of the Day - Carcass Crawler: Issue Three (OSE)

I've really enjoyed Carcass Crawler thus far, but then again I like zines in general. With short articles that pack a punch, value for money is usually pretty high for zines in general, and Carcass Crawler proves the point.

The current Deal of the Day at DTRPG is Carcass Crawler: Issue Three for Old School Essentials. Normally 7.50 for 32 pages in PDF, but until tomorrow morning it is on sale for 3 bucks.

The third issue of Carcass Crawler — the official Old-School Essentials zine! Each issue is packed with new material for your games, including new character classes and races, new spells and magic items, new monsters, optional and expanded rules, referee advice, previews of in-development products, short adventures, and more!

In This Issue:

• New classes: Five new character classes. The beast master, the dragonborn, the mutoid, the mycelian, and the tiefling.
• New races: Four new character races for Advanced Fantasy games. The dragonborn, the mutoid, the mycelian, and the tiefling.
• Expanded equipment: More adventuring gear, weapons, and armour, to increase adventuring options and character customisation.
• Woodland monsters: 8 brand new monsters that lurk in the deep, shadowed glades and sacred groves of ancient forests beyond the reach of civilisation.
• Creating monsters: Referee guidelines for creating new monsters for Old-School Essentials games. Keep the game fresh (and players on their toes) by devising your own new horrors and foes.

 

 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      

Crowdfunding - Saethor's Bane: A Dungeon Fantasy RPG Solo Adventure

It looks like several creators have moved to using BackerKit over Kickstarter. Douglas Cole/Gaming Ballistic is just the latest, and it's a topic I'll be bringing up with Doug on tonight's Talking Crit Live!

As always, I'm letting you know that I consider Doug a friend. He was part of my infamous B-Team about a decade ago, making their way through Castle of the Mad Archmage. Doug has been a guest on prior Talking Crit Lives! as well as the Random Party Generator Livestream.

I've been a fan of the GURPS System since first finding Man to Man and OrcSlayer in the mid-80s. Dungeon Fantasy sits on my bookshelf as a game I really want to be a player in, and Saethor's Bane solo adventure may be just the way to finally accomplish that goal :)

Saethor's Bane is 10 bucks in PDF and 20 bucks in Print plus PDF. Those are good, honest prices for the material you get.

You won't need a GM - you follow the branching pathways as you make choices. If these choices lead to violence, resolve conflict using the Dungeon Fantasy RPG rules.

You can still use a GM! This "solo" adventure follows the path of four mercenary soldiers who have signed up to oppose Saethor, the titular Dark Lord, by force of arms. One person can play all the roles, or several can play through the scenario, dividing roles as needed.

Use Saethor's Bane to:

• Keep gaming when you can't get together with your usual group
• Learn the Dungeon Fantasy RPG game rules at your own pace
• Run players through a scenario with near-zero prep - they can experience roleplaying within moments of sitting around a table. 
• Great for bringing in new players, or even stress-free convention play.

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Free OSR - Low Fantasy Gaming (Original)

There was a period in time when I gamed on Saturday Nights. The last campaign I played with the old Saturday Night group was Low Fantasy Gaming, and it was a blast. Played well and fast, with minimal referring to the rules after getting the hang of it.

Low Fantasy Gaming (Original) is available for Free in PDF.

WHAT IS LOW FANTASY GAMING?

Low Fantasy Gaming (“LFG”) is a tabletop role-playing game built for sword & sorcery adventures in low magic worlds.

Rules Light

LFG is rules light (184 pages), with a heavy emphasis on Games Master (“GM”) rulings. It’s a hybrid of old school and modern game design, based on the 1d20 Open Game Licence.

Fast & Engaging Combat

Combat is designed to be fast and engaging, with minimal waiting between turns. Creativity is encouraged via martial exploits and magic.

Dangerous & Gritty  

Battle is genuinely dangerous and every skirmish takes a toll. The threat of serious injury or death is never far away.

A “Realistic” World

LFG worlds tend to mimic our own classical or medieval periods. Humans are the default player race. Magic and fantastic monsters exist, but are very rare. The Midlands Low Magic Sandbox Setting supplement is an example (also on DTRPG).

Dark & Dangerous Magic

Magic is not only rare, it is dark and inherently dangerous. Sorcery is a power not meant for mortals, and adventurers engage with it at their peril.

Riches & Glory

LFG is about exploring the unknown; delving into the lost places of the world to unearth new mysteries. Player characters are not epic heroes charged with saving the world; they are bold adventurers seeking riches and glory.

Open World

LFG is made for short, episodic adventures in an open world. Mechanics and random tables support GM improvisation, empowering the referee to handle any situation or side trek.

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Free OSR - White Box: Eastern Adventures

White Box: Eastern Adventures is a ruleset that had escaped my radar before today. It is essentially Oriental Adventures built on a Swords & Wizardry chassis. Freaking awesome and a great way to keep your Swords & Wizardry campaign fresh.

White Box: Eastern Adventures is free in PDF, and 4.99 in print.

Welcome to the days of old… to a time when adventurers were ordinary people, who took up this dangerous calling to accumulate hordes of treasure from monster filled dungeons.  But be warned, adventuring is truly a dangerous profession here; dungeons are filled with deadly traps and even deadlier monsters.  Most adventurers will perish on their first few adventures; those that survive have learnt the importance of knowing when to fight, when to run and when to rely on hirelings to get the job done.  Take a step forward, if you dare, and enter a world of exotic dragons, talking cats and hungry ghosts with unending appetites… take a step forward and enter the world of ‘White Box: Eastern Adventures.’

‘White Box: Eastern Adventures’ is based on the simple and creative game play mechanics of the first incarnation of the ‘World’s Most Famous Role-Playing Game’.  This game is set in a world inspired by Japanese mythology and folklore; a setting where social status and prestige are just as important as treasure and gold.  Thus, the goal of adventuring is more than accumulating wealth; it is also about gaining merit and honour in a status conscious society.

 

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Do You Use Training Rules?

I really wanted to write about this new TV show I've started enjoying and introduce the d30 chart the show inspired, BUT &%$#!ing Adobe InDesign (the version I own) doesn't work with the newest version of Windows I have and I'm not subscribing, especially at the rate they want ($240 a year?!) I haven't fully evaluated it's replacement (I'm thinking Affinity Publisher 2), so that bit will have to wait a week.

Aside from this post, the only other thing I had to do is finish some homework for an online college course I'm taking. It's been a hot minute since I've been to college, but I do have a few degrees, but not anything worthy of bragging about. I've been considering a shift in my career and this course is a relatively cheap way to get some intel on that new career path, see if it feels right.

Like everything else I blather on about here, my Sunday deadline (as it was) tends to take what I'm doing and filter it through a RPG lens. The schoolwork, and my so-called-attempt to "better myself" made me think about PC's "leveling up". Most of my experience with a formal training process for PCs is with HackMaster (I'm sure someone here just groaned), and I never recall any training with my 1st or 2nd (hell, even 3.5) edition PCs. Since HackMaster is basically 50% 1st Edition, 25% 2nd Edition, and 25% the D-Team's home-rules*, I really thought that maybe formal training was part of that 25% home rules.

Nope. 

There isn't a lot there, but the 1st Edition DMG has less than a page (page 86 to be precise) on the level-up training process and it's little more than a quick formula for cost and if you played your PC "excellently", according to the GM you can pay twice as much and train yourself or go find a mentor and pay the set amount.

2nd Edition has even less about training, maybe half a page and is quite a bit vague. All of it is an optional rule, but there's so little to work with you might as well just do you're own thing.

Now, the HackMaster (4th Edition) GMG has the same base information, maybe explains it a bit better, but adds maybe four more pages about the types of school/mentors PCs can use. Personally, I think it's a great resource for role-playing and I'm... disappointed that it isn't available (at least legally) unless you get a second or third-hand copy. The splat-books are great too, but they tend to detail the training of PCs before they start adventuring.

Now I get it, training rules can be seen as "too crunchy" by some, I'm assuming most since they went from a robust single page, to a half page, to (checking 3.5....and I don't have a copy of that) nothing (I'm guessing)? I don't think training rules are too much myself, and they can add a lot of role-playing possibilities. Making contacts, using up PC/Party resources, and possibly even introducing more opportunities for adventure.

Hmm....I think I could probably do a d30 table on that, but right off the bat I don't think I'd improve what's already out there......