Kickstarter - DRAGONLOCK: Lost City of the Dwarves

Discover a 3D printable dwarven city, featuring expansive caverns and mine terrain, perfect for enhancing your tabletop D&D games!

I'm a huge fan of dwarves, as anyone who follows me should know :) I've also used Dragonlock at conventions, and it's quality stuff. I just need to figure out where I can fit the 3d printer that I own...

This Kickstarter campaign offers 3D printable terrain models of an underground dwarven city and the expansive caverns and mines beneath it. Discover the exquisite craftsmanship of our new Lost Caverns sculpts, with intricate details and expertly crafted undercuts on stalactites that bring your cavern layouts to life. As the campaign progresses, additional stretch goal models will be unlocked for free, allowing you to further expand and enhance your cityscape!

Each set is delivered in a downloadable .stl format via our online distribution partner DriveThruRPG.com, and once you have the set, you can print as many pieces as you like and never run out or need to purchase more. These terrain sets represent the culmination of nineteen years of gaming terrain design experience.

So, of the two backer levels for DRAGONLOCK: Lost City of the Dwarves do I recommend?

Dwarven King

$49

With this pledge, you receive the Lost City of the Dwarves starter set (63 models), the Lost Caverns Master Set (over 200 models), and all unlocked stretch rewards! All models will be delivered as downloadable .stl files via DriveThruRPG. This pledge level also includes everything from the Dwarven Warrior pledge level. Stretch rewards will start being delivered in July, with timing depending on the number of rewards unlocked.

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Kickstarter - WWII: Operation B/X TTRPG for Old-School Essentials

Wow. It has to be 8 or 9 years since the release of the 1st edition of WWII: Operation WhiteBox. What an amazing interpretation of the Swords & Wizardry White Box rules in a WWII setting. Now, Pete Spahn, along with Eric Bloat of Bloat Games, have teamed up to bring us WWII: Operation B/X TTRPG for Old-School Essentials via Kickstarter.

Bloat Games has partnered with Small Niche Games (SNG) to publish WWII: Operation B/X for Old-School Essentials, a reimagining of SNG’s hugely popular game WWII: Operation WhiteBox!  This Kickstarter will include two books: OBX: Core Rules (non-supernatural) and OBX: Into The Dark (a supernatural WWII version).

Pete Spahn of SNG and creator of Operation WhiteBox, has fully written and developed OBX and Bloat Games is excited to bring his creative vision to the world. Peter Frain of 77Studios (Movie Night RPG) has created complimentary matching cover art for both OBX: Core Rules and OBX: Into The Dark, and Luigi Castellani will return from OWB to handle the interior art needs. Eric Bloat is tasked with layout duties, and Brandon Goeringer (RPG Overviews, Pocket Fantasy RPG) and Jeffey Scifert (Evolved) are onboard to assist with editing.

From the desk of Pete Spahn:

“In 2016, I released WWII: Operation WhiteBox. In the game, characters play WWII special forces spies and operatives working for organizations like the British Commandos, U.S. Army Airborne, and Special Operations Executive. The game used the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox rules (by Matt Finch and Marv Breig) as its core and received high praise for its focus and ease of play, especially at conventions.

Almost immediately I began receiving requests for an “occult” version of the game. I hesitated. For one thing, I love history, so I really enjoyed running “pseudohistorical” games set during World War II with no myth or magic involved. What’s more, other game companies had already tackled “German werewolves and vampires” and “Nazi Cthulhu” so I knew if I was going to do WWII horror, I had to come up with my own take on the genre. Something that would be customizable to monsters, myths, and legends from all over the world.

So I started taking notes on the types of horror I liked to play and run and soon came up with something that was heavily inspired by some of my favorite media including the Masque of the Red Death/Ravenloft TSR settings, the Silent Hill games and movies, various works Stephen King, and even the TV show Stranger Things. Sprinkle in some actual Nazi occult history and lore and I had the makings of a good horror expansion for WWII: Operation WhiteBox.

I had already stumbled onto Old-School Essentials years earlier and immediately fell in love with the look and feel of the game. This was the way I had played D&D fantasy in the 80s and I started wondering what an OSE conversion of WWII: Operation WhiteBox would look like. After Gavin Norman of Necrotic Gnome gave his blessing, I decided to make it a reality. And thus, Operation B/X (core rules) and OBX: Into the Dark (occult expansion) were born!”

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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

The Original D&D Cartoon from the 80's is Available for Free on YouTube

We know WotC has plans for the Original Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon characters from the 80s. They appeared in last year's movie Honor Among Thieves, they appear in the 2024 Player's Handbook, and Venger appears on the cover of the 2024 DMG (there are some theories on Venger)

Enjoy the complete run of the Original Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW8q9E0mB4_GgHu9cj7w6lItvJJUDo3dl

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 - Magical Industrial Revolution

There are some resources for RPGs that you might not need NOW, but you'll be happy to have down the line. Magical Industrial Revolution is one of those resources and, as the current Deal of the Day, until tomorrow morning is on sale for 40% off in PDF.

This book is about Atlantis before the tide turned. It’s about Hyperborea before it vanished between dimensions. It’s about Nu Yark Citee before the Mushroom Bombs hit.

It’s a setting guide to the greatest and most ambitious city in the world: Endon. It’s about a world slowly tipping onto its side, and all the interesting things that begin to slide at the start of a revolution. It’s about people with grand dreams pushing the boundaries of the possible, and the strange machines and devices they create along the way.

But mostly, it’s about magic.

Magical Industrial Revolution: A Pre-Apocalyptic Setting Guide contains a wealth of information to supplement Role Playing Games, including:

• Maps, People, Buildings, Dungeons, Factions, and Villains of Endon

• Eight Pre-Apocalyptic Innovations

• Hundreds of Magic Items and Spells

• Rules for Magical Industry

• Useful Tools for Urban Campaigns

• Horrible Monsters and Nightmarish Creatures

• And much, much more.

By Skerples, the author of the CoinsandScrolls blog, Tomb of the Serpent Kings, Kidnap the Archpriest, Epochrypha, and Magical Murder Mansion. Art by Jonathan Newell, Logan Stahl, & Luka Rejec. Editing, layout, and incalculably valuable assistance by David Shugars. Additional editing by Fiona Geist.

Three very useful pamphlets featuring magical industrial tips, hanging ballads, and local attractions are provided along with the 156 page book. The PDF is fully optimized and bookmarked.

 

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

Bundle of Holding - Crown and Skull

Crown & Skull talk has been making the rounds recently. From Runehammer, the creator of Index Card RPG and EZD6 (both really well-done RPGs), Crown & Skull is a game I had yet to come across. You can grab the player-facing rules for free here, but the full Crown & Skull digital package of the rules and digital media can be snagged at Bundle of Holding for 7.95 (normally 30 bucks at the Runehammer website)

Adventurer! This all-new Runehammer Crown and Skull Bundle presents Crown and Skull, the newest tabletop fantasy roleplaying rules system from Index Card RPG designer Brandish "Runehammer" Gilhelm at Runehammer Games. Crown and Skull puts the players at center stage: Players can build their own custom equipment and spells, roll all the dice in combat, and discover new setting locations, inhabitants, and events – and the Game Master is right at the players' side, discovering all this with them, and using the game's inventive no-prep tools to improvise legendary adventures across the North Holds. Characters earn hero points in play and grow their own way, eventually making the fateful choice: Crown (service to the kingdom) or Skull (independent destiny)?

For just US$7.95 you get the complete Crown and Skull Digital Bundle (sold on the Runehammer Games website for $30) with the 356-page, DRM-free Crown and Skull core rulebook, the North Holds setting map in hexgrid and no-grid versions, 30 image tokens suitable for virtual tabletop (VTT) platforms, and 23 atmospheric MP3 music tracks to enhance your game sessions.

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

New FLGS Store: Other Realms (Honolulu, HI)

So last weekend I mentioned I was in Hawaii and thankfully I'm back home. I'd wanted to post about a FLGS in Honolulu, but the only store I went to was some small hole-in-the-wall I stopped at with a coworker. I'm the only gamer in my workplace....ok the only TTRPG gamer, but at least one other guy likes comics so he was willing to swing by the one place that was on way back.

The next day I was able to get back out & about and found the store I actually wanted to go to....and holy crap the difference a day makes. The Other Realms was an awesome store, easily one of the top ten, if not top 3, game stores I've had the pleasure of visiting. Seriously, if you are on vacation to O'ahu, or on a business trip like I was, you need to make a side visit to Other Realms.

Getting there was kind of odd because it is nestled between (actually behind) a big-box retailer and a small industrial park. It really is a destination stop, because I cannot fathom accidentally finding it while out & bout. Parking also seemed a bit limiting as well, which means a customer really needs to intend to check out & shop here.

Right off the bat, the store was really clean but absolutely packed with product, pretty much floor-to-ceiling.  You'd think there wasn't a stockroom, but there was...I saw it. There was also a small back (game) room on the opposite side. Roughly one half of the store was comics and the other half games. The sales counter was more on the comic book side, but a large back-issue table occupied the games' side, so it was pretty even.

This place seemed to have a little bit of everything, but that was more of an initial impression. I didn't see any used TTPG or OSR materials, and they had but a single HeroQuest item (an expansion pack). Still, there were a lot of minis and maybe a solid three-foot section of Munchkin. The available board games were essentially the entire front wall (not pictured). I finally found myself a copy of Tiny Epic Dungeons, which I had been looking for over this last year or so. Other Realms pretty much had the whole Tiny Epic line, whereas I'm lucky to find one or two of the line elsewhere.

Not even 1/3 of the store

There was a great selection of comics as well, at least as far as comics I care about. I'm not a huge comic nerd, I mean I have a bunch, but I'm really only ever on the lookout for one particular comic. If I see a single Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos it's like a good month(?)....no, more like season. Other Realms had maybe a good dozen comics, including some single-digit issues. I picked up only half of what I wanted, which was half of what they had..... 

....seriously, if you find yourself in O'ahu you need to check out Other Realms. Just do it....