I am not a massive fan of Supers RPGs—I never have been and never will be. That being said, if I were to play a Supers RPG these days, it would be Mutants & Masterminds—hands down. It's just familiar enough to feel comfortable.
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 Rumbleor YouTube - Tenkar
I've heard a lot about Nights Black Agents. Surprisingly, I bought this back in 2017 - I need to redownload The Dracula Dossier.
Agent! We've been cleared to resurrect the December 2017 Dracula Dossier Bundle. The Dracula Dossier is an epic improvised horror-espionage campaign for Night's Black Agents, star designer Kenneth Hite's GUMSHOE system tabletop roleplaying game of burned spies vs. vampires from Pelgrane Press.
In 1893 a visionary spymaster in the British Naval Intelligence Department tried to recruit the perfect asset: a vampire. Operation Edom contacted Count Dracula in Transylvania, set up a safe house and headquarters in England, and arranged transit. Then it all went wrong. Dracula betrayed his minder and double-crossed NID. British intelligence hunted him down on his home ground and terminated him with two knives and extreme prejudice – or so they thought. Dracula lives. Now it's up to you to finish the job.
Funded by a November 2014 Kickstarter campaign, the Dracula Dossier series follows in the fully improvisational path of the award-winning The Armitage Files campaign for Trail of Cthulhu. Players follow leads in the margins of Dracula Unredacted, a rare edition of Bram Stoker's masterpiece that reveals the terrifying truth behind the fiction. Players choose which leads to track, which scarlet trail to follow. The Director, using the clear step-by-step techniques in these ebooks, improvises a suitably blood-soaked thriller in response to their choices. Together you create your own unique story for one of the greatest RPG campaigns ever published.
This comprehensive revival once again brings you the entire Dracula Dossier line. For just US$19.95 you get all three titles in this revived offer's Agent Collection (retail value $54) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the Night's Black Agents core rulebook, Dracula Unredacted, and The Edom Field Manual.
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 Rumbleor YouTube - Tenkar
What would your players' characters do if aliens crash-landed in your campaign? This adventure just may answer that question!
This is the part where I pull back the curtain. I've known Thom Wilson for years, first meeting Tom at NTRPG Con and later being a Special Guest at the first Shire Con (run by Thom) and yearly since. Thom is a skilled and prolific producer of Old School RPG material.
It Fell From the Sky is Thom Wilson's ShadowDark low-level adventure. It's 4 bucks in PDF, 15 bucks for print plus PDF, and includes shipping.
It Fell From the Sky is a 24- to 28-page adventure designed for the Shadowdark RPG. It contains enough content to last one to three sessions of gameplay for most groups. It can be dropped into any campaign or world of the game master's choosing.
This adventure will be available to backers in two formats: a PDF or a digest-sized print-on-demand book. The cover is full-color with a black & white interior.
The adventure was created and written by Thom Wilson of ThrowiGames. Eric Lofgren created the fantastic cover. Maps were hand-drawn by Glynn Seal of MonkeyBlood Design. And the original interior art was developed by Joey Docil. Of course, Joshua Newey is handling all the editing.
DriveThruRPG will handle PDF delivery, and Lulu.com will fulfill the print-on-demand copies.
This is the part where I talk about who I know, so you can read this post with open eyes. I've known Ben Burns, owner of New Comet Games, for about a decade. We set aside time to talk at every NTRPG Con, and I consider Ben a friend.
I own nearly all New Comet Games Call of Cthulhu print releases, which are well worth the investment. At 7.95, this PDF bundle is practically a steal.
Ahoy! This all-new Corsairs of Cthulhu Bundle presents Corsairs of Cthulhu: Fighting the Mythos in the Golden Age of Piracy and other historical Call of Cthulhu Seventh Edition tabletop roleplaying scenarios from New Comet Games. This piratical guide to the years 1650-1730 gives you new rules for alchemy and voodoo, historical occupations and equipment, and maps of Port Royal and far Tortuga. Your 17th-Century Investigators can crew a pirate or privateer vessel, freelance out of a Caribbean port, or sail their own ship as corsairs. They face curses left by ancient civilizations, and nightmares hidden around the Gulf and the seas beyond (waaay beyond). Join the crew, hoist the Jolly Roger, prime your pistol, and sharpen your cutlass. It'll take more than luck to save you today.
For just US$7.95 you get all four CoC supplements in our New Comet Collection (retail value $44) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete 299-page Corsairs of Cthulhu campaign sourcebook along with three 1920s-era campaigns: A Time for Sacrifice (about Mayan mysteries in the Yucatan), Devil's Swamp (the Hockomock Swamp in southern Massachusetts), and The Star on the Shore (Rockport, Massachusetts). Each campaign consists of shorter scenarios that can be played as standalone sessions, and all are fine for both beginning and experienced Investigators.
Note: These campaigns require Call of Cthulhu Seventh Edition (not included in this offer) or compatible rules such as the free and open Cthulhu Eternal.
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 Rumbleor YouTube - Tenkar
I first ran a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying with the release of the first edition of the WFRP ruleset, and it was a blast. The system is fun, but the setting is second to none. Rich and dark, the world of WFRP is familiar to us but also significantly divergent.
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 Rumbleor YouTube - Tenkar
Character Creation Challenge: Crystal the Psychic
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[image: Crystal the Psychic]
I was going to do a week of all evil characters, but Grenda did not have a
lot of them. The ones he did have were fun, but t...
Friday Fantasy: Treachery in the Beggar City
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*Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #13: Treachery in the Beggar City is a
scenario for Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and
the thirt...
Sci-fi Terrain: Chemical Processors
-
The construction and painting of these 2 terrain pieces was amazingly
simple, once I got around to actually doing it. I built them at the end of
June in...
T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evil (1985)
-
*From the back cover:A sinister force, long thought destroyed, stirs from
the black hole that spawned it. Like an ebony darkness it prowls the land
a...
GURPS VTT Module Wish List
-
Here is a quick list of what I'd like to see in my VTT, especially for the
GURPS module. I'll keep the updated as I go or as things change.
*drag and drop ...
Mode, Not Genre or Type
-
We tend I think to classify or categorise campaigns into genres (fantasy,
SF, horror) or sub-genres (high fantasy, sword and sandal); or into
particular ...
Brink of Calamity proofs ordered
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Hello, blog family. It’s been a minute. I’m happy to inform you all that
I’ve just ordered a proof copy of *Brink of Calamity* from DriveThruRPG.
When I ...
d100 Poltergiests
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Pesky spirits even a 1st level cleric can keep at bay
I would like more spirits in bottles everywhere so these are good for those
unsure how they get ther...
She's A Real Stunner
-
It's been a while since I've statted up an obscure comic villain, so here's
5e stats for a Spidey villain from the 90's Clone Saga era. She was brought
bac...
The Cliff-Lair of Heeter
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By Corey Ryan WaldenSelf PublishedBasicLevels 1-3 A local tale whispers of
a strange sorcerer who has dwelt in the cliffs and crags for centuries.
During t...
The Scrapheap Starter Set - Pegs in Space
-
New challenge for 2025: Can you make an entire starter set style wargame
box by raiding your leftover materials and spending as little as possible?
That's ...
A work-in-progress Elemental Color Wheel
-
I spend a fair amount of time...a lot more than anyone probably should, to
be honest...thinking about elemental philosophies in games, beliefs, and
esoteri...
FGM Review: How to Draw Fantasy Art & RPG Maps
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[image: FGM Review: How to Draw Fantasy Art & RPG Maps]
I've had my eye on this one book for a while now and I was hesitant to pick
up *How to Draw Fantas...
Check out this fashionable fellow.
-
I was looking at the *Tunnels & Trolls* stuff on the ebays and stumbled
across this guy. I love his visor, though I think it would be better if it
was p...
Chaos Goblins - VotE Remastered Development
-
Anarchists of the infinite dark. Chaotic where nothing so uncertain should
be able to survive. By chance alone they thrive, by chance they die
Russ Nichols...
Waiting to Exist
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What is this little underground complex? A basement. A dungeon of some
sorts? Maybe a resupply station? Or a prison? Maybe. Maybe all of them.
It's a pl...
My Life in Roleplaying Games: 2024 and 2025
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As we head into 2025, here are some brief reflections on my role-playing
activities in the recent past and near future.
I've been really enjoying running ...
HeroQuest (and HeroQuest-Adjacent)
-
Some years ago, when I was making some dungeon tiles, a guy gave me these.
They'd taken all the miniatures out, but apart from that they appear to be
c...
Musk and the Moral Homebrew...
-
Our hobby is essentially homebrewed. But it's also an industry eager to
appropriate that which its players inevitably do themselves, whether
through deli...
Articulations
-
Creating house rules, custom rules specific to a local group or campaign,
has been common throughout the history of D&D. What makes an effective
house rule...
Bat in the Attic Games and 2025
-
Happy New Year Folks!
This would be a good time to update everyone on what has been happening
with me and my plans for the upcoming year.
Personal
I ...
Happy New Year from the Vault
-
Welcome back to the Vault, and a Happy New Year to you all! 2024 was quiet
on the blog front, but busy painting and gaming wise culminating in a
Cawdor ...
A Fiftieth Anniversary Year
-
The 50th anniversary year of *Dungeons & Dragons *is drawing to a close. A
number of projects I'd been planning for this year finally came out, and I
...
A Quick Look at The Wizard’s Scroll II
-
October of this year saw the release of The Wizard’s Scroll II, the second
issue of a White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game (FMAG) zine whose first ...
[BLOG] Towards Fomalhaut – and What It Is
-
The City-State of Pentastadion
(as depicted in a 1932 university yearbook)
“OK, but what actually is Fomalhaut?” is not a question I get asked
specificall...
Writing playlists for all occasions
-
Hello again! Going off the idea of inspiration elaborated on by the prior
post, I also have music playing while I write my various games and fiction
pieces...
The Tarot of Pips
-
Somewhere in your dice collection is a die like this one, the humblest of
dice. Although you don't know it, this small white die carries with it a
secr...
Blue Sky Temple, Revised
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Last week, we made a crowdsourced dungeon on Bluesky.
It was fun and it yielded a cool dungeon with a lot of good ideas mashed
together.
This week, I ...
Pirates and Necromancers, a Play Report
-
Over the Thanksgiving weekend we did a lot of gaming ranging from
“off-table” domain level stuff to some solo adventures to spell and magic
item rese...
OSR: Magical Industrial Gunboats
-
Here's some useful information for river-based adventures using *Magical
Industrial Revolution*. Skip to Part 3 or click this PDF link if you just
want t...
Welcome new Greyhawk Fans!
-
With the publication of the new Dungeon Master’s Guide, there are doubtless
going to be a lot of new D&D players interested in my favorite setting, the
Wor...
Grimdark vs. Eucatastrophe
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Noisms has some interesting ideas in this post about his desire for some
depth to his grimdark, and turns to Gene Wolfe and Tolkien for relief.
Now, it ...
It's been a bit
-
Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! I've had a lot going on and
haven't had much time to blog lately. Heres a recap of gaming events and
other st...
The Economy Engine, v0.2
-
I made a thing. For D&D 3rd edition, so it might not be that interesting to
a lot of people. But I made it and I think it’s cool. The 3rd edition
Dungeon M...
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace
-
A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient
aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or
more w...
Last move - to self-hosting!
-
As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to
self-hosting.
I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at)
Blog: ht...
Time Rolls On
-
Today is December 31, 2023, in the mid-afternoon. In less than ten hours it
will be 2024. 2023 2023 was a good year. But all years are good years. Both
goo...
This is an Important Game Mechanic
-
*"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good
regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does
some s$&...
Clean Your Room
-
Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun
playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it
was ...
Steve Jackson Interview
-
James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his
Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and
upcomi...
ToAD Monster of the Week: Crocoman
-
Now that I'm back doing the blog thing I thought I would use Tome of
Adventure Design to create monsters for The Black Hack.
Using the monster tables in th...
Strange, Dangerous, and Inhuman: The Fey and Fairie
-
When I was a boy I loved fairy tales. Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in
Boots, Rumpelstiltskin - I devoured all of it. My fascination that there
was a strang...
New Map of the Elf Empire and Southern Isles
-
I’ve been having fun developing a new map-drawing style that I think is
finally reaching a certain level of maturity. And yeah, it owes a lot to Matthew
Ad...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
-
*As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded
Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in
Warren...
Fiction in Airhde
-
On a whim this weekend, I picked up some fiction off the TLG store. *A
Houseless God & Other Tales* and *The Mirrored Soul & Other Tales*, both by
the T...
Ravensburg Reboot: Streamlined City Map
-
I mentioned in my last post how I was tweaking and reworking parts of my
Ravensburg setting. Today I streamlined the city map. The old map had lots
of redu...
And Now the News Draft Download on Patreon
-
It's self-styled Throwback Thursday and *having just released the 34-page
draft booklet of Hill Cantons news to my Patreon backers* I am going to
indulge m...
The Withered Crag available now
-
I just enabled the sale of the PDF version of The Withered Crag at
DriveThruRPG a few minutes ago, and the custom print version will be
available startin...
Annihilation Rising Goes live
-
The latest in Fail Squad Games’ Quick Kick projects has gone live and needs
your support!! This project is only running 11 days and ends on 5/28/2019!
...
James's Celebration of Life
-
We could not have asked for a prettier day for James's service. It was a
bit chilly and windy but gorgeous. A heartfelt thank you to all that joined
us tod...
Trap Tuesday: A step back
-
I will get back to Tomb of Horrors soon. I found a topic that was
interesting enough to take a break. While interacting in a 5E group on
Facebook I talked ...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
-
The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even
rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player
was...
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2
-
This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release,
along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a
Saint 8000...
Please, I don't do paid advertisements - don't ask.
-
A little note since people have asked me about this. My video channel's
*not* an advertising platform, so I'm not available for hire if you want to
promote...
New website!
-
Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated
form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that
site wil...
Please Update Your Link!
-
If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is
out of date.
Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is
h...
Total Sales for WB:FMAG
-
Hi Folks,
It's been a long time since I provided an update for the sales of White
Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game.
*LULU*
Print: 396
PDF: 433
*OBS*...
How can We Destroy this Campaign World?
-
d12
1. You must trick a bard into strumming the *Chords of Fate* on the *Lute
of Annihilation*
2. Legends tell of thermonuclear weapons beneath megadunge...
Mord Mar - Session 5
-
We had another successful delve into the dungeon yesterday. The delvers:
Moira, the Magic-User
Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?)
Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf ...
A Small, Quiet Plea
-
There has been a great deal of discussing political agendas, social
grievances, and personal attacks within the little corner of gaming that is
my hobby....
Bundle of Fantasy Age
-
Bundle of Holding: Dragon Age/Fantasy Age: Available until March 12. PA
Presents: Fantasy AGE Freeport live play Green Ronin in 2018 The Fantasy
Age RPG ma...
New Free PDF Module: The Hyqueous Vaults
-
A new dungeon module—written in celebration of OSRIC's 10th Birthday—by
Rebecca Dettmann, Allan T. Grohe, Jr., Jimm Johnson, Matthew Riedel, Alex
Zisch, a...
Swords & Wizardry Light: Session # 6
-
Two months after our last session (thanks to things like 8th grade finals,
a 4 year-old's birthday and party, Father's Day, etc.), we finally had our
next ...