Deal of the Day - The Midderlands - OSR Bestiary and Setting

The Midderlands is Glynn Seal's baby. I have backed every Kickstarter he's run and have all his work in print & PDF. I've enjoyed his art and maps in the products of many other publishers, and I consider Glynn a friend. 

The Midderlnads - OSR Bestiary and Setting is where all of this begins. 

The Midderlands is an old-school game setting with bestiary for use with old-school role-playing games. It is based on Swords & Wizardry Complete, but could easily be used with other old-school systems and even non-OSR systems such as D&D or Pathfinder.

It is a green-hued, dark-fantasy, late-middle ages, early-renaissance view through grime-smeared spectacles. The setting itself is based on an area in the middle of England near where I live called The Midlands. Many of the locations are loosely based on reality, but others are pure fantasy from an addled mind.

The setting part of the book contains something I call "game-juice". Not heavy of history and monotonous detail, but enough to get the game-juices flowing and let the game master twist and tweak as they need to in order to fit their campaign.

Glynn has a Kickstarter in the works, and we will do our best to get him on The Tavern's YouTube channel for a live it does kick off.

If you don't already have The Midderlands—OSR Bestiary and Setting (and you should), don't miss out on the chance to get the PDF for 8 bucks instead of the usual 20 (still a bargain for the content you get).

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Bundle of Holding - Never Going Home

I don't know what the system itself plays like, but the setting is one I'd love to run a short (4-8 session) campaign in. WWI and occult in the same RPG? I'm in!

The Never Going Home Bundle gives you seven titles for 12.95 (in PDF, for those wondering)

We've resurrected our August 2022 Never Going Home Bundle featuring Never Going Home, the Wet Ink Games World War Occult tabletop roleplaying game set in the horror-haunted trenches of WWI. In Never Going Home the 1916 Battle of the Somme tore open the Veil between Earth and the occult world beyond. Now, as part of a Unit of soldiers in the trenches, surrounded by the horrors of combat, you witness Corruption leaking into the world. The Whispers tempt you, promising power to save your friends. Will you give up some of your Humanity to live another day?

For just US$12.95 you get all seven titles in this revived offer's Never Going Home Collection (retail value $65) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Never Going Home core rulebook, the magic supplement Book of Whispers, the Tome of Corrupted Beasts bestiary, three campaign dossiers (Blood on the Snow, Bones in the Dust, and Tears in the Sea), and a collection of short journeys (scenarios), Once More Unto the Breach.

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State of The Tavern - Spring Planting and Some Fresh Paint

The first official day of Spring is right around the corner, and it is time to do some spring "planting" and "painting" here at The Tavern.

Time to reboot The Tavern's Substack, as I've had a creative block concerning rules editing, but not when it comes to content creation. So, beginning in April, we should see some OSR content on the free side of The Tavern's Substack and some short, or not-so-short, adventures and setting material on the paid subscriber side. More on that in a week or two.

I know. I used to create gaming content on the blog in recent years, but it will be a better fit on Substack.

Here, on the blog, we will aim to share links to free OSR rules, resources, adventures, etc., at least two days a week starting in April. There are a ton of such hidden in all corners of the internet, and I'll be making it a regular feature to bring them to you.

On the YouTube side, we've had great success adding some daily shorts, curated mostly from the channel's various live streams. This will continue. I truly appreciate the positive response.

Kickstarter - The Cult of the Winged Skull (DCC & ShadowDark Adventure)

A Tabletop Roleplaying Adventure in the New Setting of Wythmail for DCC and Shadowdark

Let me get this out of the way: Matt De Micco, the main man behind The Cult of the Winged Skull, is an acquaintance of mine. We've shared beers at NTRPG, shared "war stories" of our prior professions, and talked shop—the publishing side of RPGs. I like his vision, as it is truly "old-school" in nature.

So, what is The Cult of the Winged Skull? 

It's part setting (Wythmail) and part connected adventures. It comes in two flavors: DCC RPG (which honestly can use a setting) and ShadowDark, effectively hitting the fanbases of two of the most popular old-school alternatives to WotC's D&D.

Wythmail is an all-new campaign setting designed for use with the DCC and Shadowdark rules. The Cult of the Winged Skull is an adventure in this setting and provides an introduction to Wythmail, its peoples, places, and pantheons. Future endeavors will further develop the setting, but this adventure provides more than enough detail for hours of play.

Now, I have to admit, I'm a sucker for setting material, even if I would (likely) never use such material "as is." 

The world of Wyhmail struggles with an imposed fragile peace. Decades of war have settled over the realm like an uninvited shadow, devastating the land, destroying the continent, and stripping its resources dry. 

I'm also a fan of "dark fantasy," For good to have any value, there must be evil in the world. 

The pricing of The Cult of the Winged Skull is undoubtedly affordable. PDF for 1 system for 15, both systems for 20. Getting it in HC POD requires 30 plus printing and shipping, but it does include both PDFs. I'm in for 30 :)

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Kickstarter - Up the Beanstalk: A Solo Adventure for 5e & B/X! (Pacesetter Games)

I've known Bill and Ben (best hair in the OSR) Barsh for well over a decade, and their knowledge and devotion to the OSR and old-school gaming is second to none (even if Ben is a bit of a 5e guy)

At the moment, I'm in between campaigns, so a nice, solo adventure may do me well. Of course, my preferred flavor is B/x ;)

Damn it! I'm in for the Up the Beanstalk: A Solo Adventure for 5e & B/X! Hardcover...

Up the Beanstalk is a true solo adventure for 3rd level characters using the 5th Edition or B/X game systems! For more about solo gaming, see the SoloSystem header here in the "Story" section.

This book will feature a variety of new content to each game system to better fit the adventure at hand. You can expect:

• 75+ Pages of Adventure
• New Marvelous Magic Items
• New Malicious Monsters
• Detailed maps to guide adventure where necessary
• Beautiful black and white artwork to tell the visual story

"Writing a fantasy roleplaying adventure based on such a classic story comes with a fair amount of responsibility. I have done my best to retain the spirit and themes present within the original tellings of this story. The stalk is still a challenge in itself, a certain hen may lay certain eggs, Blunderbore (you know him) is still evil, etc etc. However, this adventure module gives your character the opportunity to be the hero of the story. I hope you all enjoy this adventurous re-telling of one of the greatest stories on Earth. We all have a beanstalk to ascend to become whom we were meant to be. Time to start climbing!" -Ben Barsh, author and designer of Up the Beanstalk 

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Humble Bundle - Dragonlance Fiction (A WotC First)

Many large and small publishers have offered bundles via Humble Bundle. One of the more frequent offerings of gaming-related fiction is from Black Library and its various Warhammer / Warhammer 40k fiction lines. The current Dragonlance offering from WotC is the first time I can recall WotC offering ANY bundles via Humble Bundle.

I was a huge Dragonlance fan in my younger days, and it was gaming fiction that was also read by many non-gamers.

You can get the Dragonlance Fiction Bundle for 18 bucks, giving you 26 books worth of fantasy fiction readable on Kindles, iPads, and virtually all similar electronic devices.

Embark on an epic adventure through the land of Krynn with the ultimate Dragonlance Collection from Wizards of the Coast. Follow the perilous journey to protect the mystical Blue Crystal Staff from an evil dragon goddess in Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Untangle dwarven political tensions, hidden dangers, and long-lost secrets with The Companions in Dragons of the Dwarven Depths. The battle of the gods comes to a dramatic climax in Amber and Ashes. Get 25+ amazing page-turners and help support Room to Read with your purchase!

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