Friday 25 January 2013

Mysterious Packages

 

Random sychronicity brought me two postal gifts at once.

The book:
Dyson’s Delves Limited Edition on Lulu http://bit.ly/VkyrlS
Lovely maps, adventures and lined notesheets, maps similar to those found at Dyson's Dodecahedron

The figures:
Dwarven Mages sculpted by Mick Leach of Eastern Front Studios
Eastern Front Studios - Facebook Group -lots more pictures of figures and sculpts in progress.

Curious about DnD 4e? Free intro adventure PDFs

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
Free on DriveThru
Still not yet played Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition?

Just a little bit curious?

Here’s some of the free introductory titles in Wizards range on DriveThru ...

- D&D "Quickstart"
- H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
- Khyber's Harvest

D&D "Quickstart"
I’m still not sure about 4e, I own the core rules and some modules - they look rather pretty, and the combat seems very dynamic …but, but still … a little confusing to my old-school eyes, and where’s story, where's the actual role-playing gone? God knows what DnD5/Next will be like.  Hey-ho, shiny, keep the game alive, roll the dice -live the adventure etc.

I have hard copies of the Shadowfell modules - a highlight being the fold out floorplans. These are included in the PDF of H1, but with very narrow print margins. For free, it’s nice little run of encounters (at least to read - for my shame I talk of this product and have yet to play it)

Khyber's Harvest
If you liked the Wrath of Ashardalon boardgame or Castle Ravenloft you’ll adapt quickly to these starter docs. If you already play DnD4 - you can point new players to these files. :)

Wizard’s Dungeons & Dragons 4e
on DriveThruRPG:
http://bit.ly/DnD4DTRPG

-Bb 25.01.13



Tuesday 22 January 2013

WotC publish older D&D PDFs on DriveThru


Wizards of the Coast are selling older edition D&D products on DriveThruRPG
http://bit.ly/WotCRPGDT

D&D Basic Rules (Moldvay-Cook)
on DriveThru $4.99
What does it mean!?
I've just heard.
How did I miss the announcement!?
My head is spinning.
My mouse hand is feverishly clicking....

So let's get this straight... official copies of older edition D&D and modules are now available in PDF form on RPGNow and DriveThruRPG. And not just the free consolation stuff that they used to give away on the Wizards' site. Titles here are from Basic D&D, AD&D, right through to 4th Edition.  It's currently an eclectic mixture at best, but I'm ecstatic because (without even thinking) I've just bought (Moldvay) Basic Rules, B5 Horror of the Hill and T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil. Regarding the latter, like everyone else in the early 80s, I owned T1 Village of Hommlet but it took so long for ToEE to arrive that I think I started spending my money elsewhere.
Compared smelly second hand stuff to Ebay - the prices aren't so bad for the older edition products: $5-$10 - For some players it will be the only way they will see these archaic tomes.  The more recent edition products are possibly orientated at the tablet-at-the-game-table market - since the 4e glossy hardbacks are still on sale elsewhere.

Quality:
The Moldvay Basic Rules look great.  It's faithful facsimile scan.  The text is selectable and copyable.  The contents don't appear to be hotlinked/tagged - which will disappoint some PDF perfectionists - but it's a tiny ruleset by modern rulebook standards.  You don't get too lost in 64 pages.  The black and white line art illustrations are all in there - it's a high contrast scan - there is slight pixelation and some tiny details are lost, but at a mere 7.5 MB the document is extremely portable.



Temple of Elemental Evil (AD&D)

on DriveThru $9.99



Some of the most interesting illustrations
known to gamers can be found in
AD&D Fiend Folio
(including those by my fave artist
Russ Nicholson)
on DriveThru $9.99
I will be watching their store with relish over the next few months. :)
This is the best thing since 4th edition Tunnels & Trolls PDF, and Empire of the Petal Throne...


Saturday 19 January 2013

Paizo 10% off in February

10% product discount in February 2013 at Paizo web store in way of thanks for their successful kickstarter.

“To celebrate the success of the Kickstarter—and to thank you for putting up with all that messaging!—we’re giving everyone a special discount code for use in the paizo.com store during the month of February. Just enter the code 
ksthanks 
during checkout between February 1 and February 28, and receive 10% off of one entire order! This is an untyped bonus, so it stacks with other discounts; if you’re a Pathfinder Adventure Path subscriber, you’ll receive your Pathfinder Advantage discount as well. This discount code does not work on subscriptions, backorders, preorders, gift certificates, pledge drives, books from Completist Publications, or non-Paizo electronic products, but there are tens of thousands of fantastic gaming products it does work on!”

-Email from Lisa Stevens, CEO, Paizo.

This is cool.
Just for a short moment I'll stop slamming kickstarters. ;)

Saturday 12 January 2013

Lulu.com 20% off books in January with code

Books & eBooks from Lulu.com 20% off- Enter code JANBOOKS13 - Save up to $25

That's
JANBOOKS13
at checkout.

I've just saved EIGHT (8) whole American dollars (I can't remember what that is in British Shillings) on a copy of Dyson's Delves Limited Edition -just for the glory and inspiration!
(Try here if link broken)

Happy Print-On-Demand and eBook Shopping! ;)



Dungeon crawling with the kids

(Cross posted to Inked Adventures.)

If you've tried to create your own dungeon crawl game or tried to play something resembling D&D with your own children then you'll appreciate most of Rab's observations in his blog, The Geekly Digest

Rab has been working on a children-friendly Fantasy RPG called GoblinQuest (working title). In the play-testing with his sons I'm honoured to see that he has been using the Inked Adventures Modular Dungeon Sections. Check out his blog for more information.

(All photos courtesy of Rab's Geekly Digest)






















Thursday 10 January 2013

QUERP Compendium and Blueholme Prentice Rules

I still seem to have my "random head" on, so some well thought-out observations on floor plans in my in-tray will have to wait. 

Browsing social networks today has brought my attention to a couple of products which may or may not be on your personal radar, but both appeal to me from the fast-play aspect (and introductory) of roleplaying games.

QUERP Compendium
by Shane Garvey and Jamie Wallis (Greywood Publishing)

I’m very tempted by this Quick Easy Role-Play 4-books-in-one-volume publication- I think I have only the main rules and maybe a bestiary already.
“The QUERP Core Rule Book, The Player’s Companion, The Gamesmaster’s Companion and the Bestiary. … Each of these books have been weaved together and given added content to this the decisive QUERP Rule Book.”
It’s a 6-sided dice system -with perhaps a nod towards easy-play gamebook style mechanics, like Fighting Fantasy - a perfect introductory roleplaying game.

Downloadable PDF DriveThruRPG
$9.99USD 7,64Euros £6.23GBP

Although I'm currently struggling to find the QUERP Compendium in a printed book format - the previous on Lulu can be found in this list.






Blueholme Prentice Rules
-compiled by Michael Thomas / Dreamscape Design

If you like your D&D along the lines of the blue D&D Holme’s edition then you might like this free old-school D&D retro-clone (Three levels, Parry rules, d6 damage for all weapons etc.). Or you might insist that your friends read this PDF since you would be a fool to actually lend out your precious blue rulebook. ;)  This is an easy to play, simulacrum of a hotly debated D&D transitional system.

I'm still flipping through my copy. Impressive. A worthy addition to the collection - looks pretty loyal to the J Eric Holmes ruleset.

Edit: The rules say that players wishing to go beyond 3rd level are recommended to seek out "Blueholme Compleat Rules" which covers PC levels up to 14th, presumably yet to be published. I must investigate further.

DriveThruRPG PDF $0

Tuesday 8 January 2013

GrailQuest



Map of Stonemarten Village (own photo) from Grail Quest Book 2 The Den of Dragons by J.H. Brennan. By reading the section number based on where you chose to visit next on the map you got a real sense of exploration.

Recently Tin Man Games have announced that they intend to produce interactive texts for mobile devices based on the original books.

Random quick post ends. ;)

Monday 7 January 2013

January Sale at DriveThruRPG up to 55% off with code



For this week DriveThruRPG has over 50 games for 40% off normal price (until Monday Jan 14th).

Within this list of New Year New Game sale products you can get a sneaky further 15% off the listed price if you use use this code at the checkout page:

happynyng2013 

Heh, heh, I see what they did there ...
Happy New Year New Game for 2013 !

- Remember that shopping is for life and not just for Christmas. ;)

Friday 4 January 2013

Thoughts on Fantasy Maps

Fantasy Maps.  We loves them!

These are some insomnia inspired burblings which I rattled out on Tumblr the other night. Please forgive the poetic generalisations and bad grammar.
(All art by yours truly)


It’s interesting to think that when we draw fantasy maps in an antique style we will use a combination of symbols and representational 2D art - for mountains or forests for example. Draftsmen and architects are required to render real or yet-to-be landscaping and buildings in ways that are both accurate to scale or exactly distorted to match a viewer’s perspective.

Real and fantasy maps can please the viewer in terms of the appreciation of the artist’s craft and technique, but also as a creative vision - a communication of the mind’s-eye with detailed embellishments. The viewer can also experience a sense of vast open space, no matter what their surroundings are. We can wander around in tiny areas of maps (something done long before the the click and zoom-in of today’s technology).

Maps are immersive. 
They are virtual realities - simple and accessible.

Hadramkath Raging Swan Press on DTRPGPerhaps it is no coincidence that Tolkien’s works and fantasy books by CS Lewis became so popular whilst also having a terrain map. Perhaps AA Milne’s map of Pooh’s environs including the Thousand Acre Wood appeal in a way that mere words or scenic illustrations don’t. We are exploratory and territorial beings - a location and a sense of place is important to us. Sometimes when we are dropped into other people’s worlds its perhaps only good manners for our hosts to provide a map!

In tabletop fantasy role-playing games world maps and dungeon plans become very real and solid places. The mathematics or the game mechanics provide the thump and weight of obstacles and adversaries, as essential as any “physics engine” in a computer game. Without the game mechanics the map is merely a soft ethereal journey - a dreamlike exploration of other places. For a gamer knowing that “You are here” isn’t just about orientation, its about measuring their survival of recent encounters and bracing themselves for the next location.


Follow me - add me, friend me and all that, and I'll return the favour. ;)



Not entirely related, but here's an animated gif of my geomorphs (made with GIF+) and a new promotional graphic for my Inked Adventures 'Basic Pack:


Inked Adventures
Hand Drawn Geomorph Tiles
Product Page on DriveThruRPG



Inked Adventures
Modular Dungeons Cut-Up Sections Basic Pack
Product Page on DriveThruRPG