the joys of public domain day

May (Eric Ravilious woodcut)

Apart from being New Year's Day, with resolutions, regrets and recaps of the last year it is also Public Domain Day.  A celebration of the commons is vital in this time of litigious technologists.  Victor Hugo, author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables argued passionately for the promotion of public access to works.

This is because the public good is our primary concern, and I declare this [as an author], the people’s rights come before ours.

      -- Victor Hugo, Discours d’ouverture du Congrès littéraire international (tr. Kerton) taken from The Digital Public Domain: Foundations for an Open Culture

 Among those entering the public domain this year are:

• A.E. Waite, writer and occultist (co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, said to be inspiration for Ephraim Waite in Lovecraft's The Thing at The Doorstep) whose works on western occultism and Freemasonry survived a feud with Aleister Crowley.
• Ernest Bramah, who is credited with the quote "May you live in interesting times." and whose Kai Lung and Max Carrados stories are wonderful inspiration and whose Secret of the League inspired George Orwell's 1984.
• L.M.Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables and numerous short stories.

The beauty of the public domain is that it offers a wealth of resource for creators to use.  It's worth taking a look to see what inspiration may be found.  The idea of detective mysteries with occultist themes and red-haired orphans in Victorian times does appeal.  Wonder what you'll find?

yet more tools for writing & groups

A trio of sites that help get ideas together.  What happens next?  That's down to you.

Springpad - This intuitive notepad app has hidden depths.  Idea capture, task management and integration with Google and Facebook.  Browser integration makes it easy to share notebooks or individual notes.  Web page capture is available.  Also supported on Android and iPhone.

TitanPad -  Fans of EtherPad may find this open-source web-based version useful.  The big draw here is that you don't need to install anything or sign-up to use it for short-term collaboration with up to 8 people.  Just open a pad and send a link - useful for editing around a document.  Doesn't play with Mac/iOS yet alas.  

Trello - A web-based virtual pinboard that lets you can ideas on boards and sequence them into 'to do', 'doing' and 'done'. Cards can be given attachments, colour coding, checklists, completion dates and voting options that can be expanded into a task management system including allocating cards to other Trello users.

review: fold-n-go castle kit #1

Metric: Guards. They may or may not have an outrageous French accent but they might have a grail, which is nice. Just don't draw their attention or they'll taunt you.
DISCLAIMER: This review based on a copy provided by Lone Tree Games.
Overall: 5 guards.  Classy stuff, Castle Oooh! rather than Castle Argh!
This modular kit becomes greater than the sum of it's parts when fully assembled.  A lot of the modules don't require glue, but where needed a little glue and finesse goes a long way. Photo tutorials help to master this kit.  Assembly is intuitive with great results.  Brian Bartlow and Jonathan Roberts have made something well worth your time here and the re-usability of the component modules makes it an excellent choice.

Contents: 5 guards.  Lots of reusable bang for your buck.
Towers of varying heights, two houses (one storage, one bunkhouse), parapets, wall sections, gatehouse, keep and portcullis. The signal mound even has wood to ignite!  The utility of each section as a stand alone component ensures you have plenty of vignettes for a fantasy game or even more contemporary pieces depending on selection.  Assembled they make an excellent border castle and the kind of place adventurers and soldiers hang out.  Functional fantasy rather than fairytale, excellent nevertheless.

Artwork/Layout: 5 guards.  Excellent detail and helpful pictorials go a long way.
This is where the meat of the product lies. The attention to detail is excellent. From shutters on bunkhouse windows to wood on the signalling mound.  The little touches make a difference.  The detail doesn't limit it's utility either - unlike some floorplans I've used before.  In the PDF there's plenty of pictorials showing how to assemble the sections.  Some glue and manual dexterity is required.  That said, there's a lot of quick wins here for a beginner.  The experienced modeller will get plenty of hacking utility out of this possibly building massive fortresses from the templates here.

Prior to review, Steven Russell said this would be something special. That's a modest assessment. This is something a modelling klutz like me can manage to build something classy out of.  Individual modules are eminently re-useable. If you play a game where maps and positioning are significant, get this. You will be pleased with the result.  Those of you with a copy of Kobold Quarterly 18 who want to run the Who Watches the Watch Fires? scenario have the perfect model with this castle.  Additional support is available via the Lone Tree Games website.

recession-proof gaming XIII: victory lap edition

Serious kudos to Old School Hack for their Gold Ennie award for 'Best Free Product'.  With the new levels of financiapocalypse, I thought it may be wise to collate more free things for your delight.

Artwork!
108 Free Character Portraits - Courtesy of Duane O'Brien & Jeff Preston.  Thanks Nevermet Press!

DM/GM/Referee Tools
DungeonWords / WilderWords - Tables of words, useful for inspiration from Risus Monkey.

Geomorphs
Geomorph Collections courtesy of Netherwerks.

Systems
Classic Marvel Forever - A massive site full of classic Marvel Super Heroes (MSH) RPG stuff & rules!
Gaslite - A PocketMod format steampunk/weird future system from Black Hole Diaries.
Small But Vicious Dog - A B/X edition set in the world of Warhammer Fantasy from Vaults of Nagoh.

quick and dirty geomorphs with inkscape

As part of this month's RPG Blog Carnival and inspired by the excellent and numerous geomorph pages and Bat In The Attic's clueful tutorials on mapping with Inkscape, I had a bash at some geomorph floor plans.  Getting to grips with Inkscape was relatively painless and in short order I had some blank geomorph templates that scale with most miniatures.  Trying to recall old TSR map keys was nostalgic fun until I found ideapod's Omnigraffle stencil and some old modules.  Then I had a minor epiphany when I stopped for a cup of tea.

Why not create the symbols once on stencils, then cut and paste them into new geomorphs?

Assembling the stencils took a little while and a lot of leafing through old modules.  A quick explanation - the SVGs have four layers (floor, walls, fixtures and grid). If you place walls at the wall layer and things like doors and windows at the fixture layer, you don't need to worry about a wall showing in your door when you open it in true Looney Tunes fashion.

Now I can throw out some quick and dirty geomorphs when I have a minute and if I want to prep player floorplans, I can move some of the map information onto a new layer and hide that.  Who said this mapping stuff had to be difficult?  A zip of all the stencils and a couple of blank templates can be downloaded here.  Some fully-built geomorphs will be appearing in due course.  Have fun with these!

preparation - everything or nothing?

This month's RPG Blog Carnival is about preparation.  For some a necessary evil, for others a breeze and for the brave few, something they've heard of - once - but have no truck with. Preparation varies with a number of factors not just the quirks of the person running the game.  There are common elements that resemble story creation - the who, what, where, why, when and how of a situation.  Putting the whole thing together may be as simple as having three distinct events or working up something a bit more elaborate.

Then there are variables based on system of choice and overall game duration.  Some people enjoy one system only while others prefer a bit of variety in their gaming.  These variables include but aren't limited to:

• complexity of game system (compare 3:16 with D&D 3.5 with high-level Rolemaster)
• session duration (D&D Encounters vs. tournament vs. an evening's gaming)
• if the game is a one-shot or part of a campaign
• nature of the setting (pre-generated module vs. self-created sandbox).

Time to prepare can be a precious resource. Making it easier to prepare a game is one of the strongest ways a publisher can support the growth of their game.  Tools to simplify and automate the process makes even the most intensive preparation easier.  Checklists and templates can spark ideas not just for stories but also for characters, locations and even items met on the road. 

Extremes in preparation can be a game killer.  Too much can stifle the ability to say 'Yes' when you need to and lead to burnout through exhaustive preparation of unused items.  Too little leads to chaos unless you're down with improvisation, keep it up while making notes of what went before and getting your story straight.

Relevance to the characters (and to the players) can elevate a game.  Making it personal is a double-edged sword, some thrive on the challenge, others resent such base attempts at manipulation.  In some cases, there are hot buttons you just don't press.  Knowing what your players want is half the battle.  Providing it is the other half - talking good game is one thing.  Delivering may need slightly different capabilities.

Everyone who runs a game has their own way of doing things.  Share what worked or what you learned from your failures.  If you've got tricks, tools or even opinions on how to make preparation easier, better or just plain quicker now's your chance to shine.  Let's see what September brings...

recession-proof gaming X: pixel-stained technopeasant revolt

Image courtesy of Drollerie Press

More financiapocalyptic musings means it's time to look at what makes  good gaming without breaking the bank (assuming the banks don't do a good enough job themselves) and for those in post-GenCon hock, this may be a good thing.  This edition is dedicated to Jo Walton whose books are worth your consideration.  From such stone soup can spring some neat games. 


Games
5x5 - Action-based system toolkit.  Anime-style artwork and a smooth template system. 
Clockwork - Steampunk cowboys.  On one page.  You can't say fairer than that.
Mini Six Bare Bones - Open D6, cinematic in the vein of Star Wars but much more to it.  Remember when West End Games put out all those movie tie-ins?  Hack your own version.  Anti-Paladin Games needs more submitted settings and an Inception-based Mini Six would be interesting.

Game maps

Drag and drop map generators at Stone Sword.
Dungeoneering.net provides free terrain maps for RPGs and wargames.
A lot of free high-quality maps at Paratime Design Cartography.

Online Dungeon Generators (brought by the letters D and G it seems).
Dizzy Dragon Games Adventure Generator - Several shades of geomorph and OSR awesome. 
Donjon - Dungeon and Encounter generator in d20 and 4E flavours.
Gozzy's Dungeon Generator -  For those who like their dungeons unpopulated.

recession-proof gaming VIII - classics and cool

Still paying your way out of the financiapocalypse?  Gaming can still give you lots of good times and it need not cost you an arm and a leg doing so.  These are some more options for you to explore. 


Games
Dragoons20 - Classic fantasy steampunk using Microlite20.
Frenzy - 8 pages of action RPG dynamite, an antidote to boring combat.
Talislanta - The d20 version of the classic RPG now available for free.
Zombi - a game about the risen dead, recommended by Jeff Rients.

GM Resources
d20 On-Screen DM Screen - d20 reference tables.
Online Herbal - Gathering herbs from numerous tabletop RPG sources.
PDF Campaign Journal - courtesy of The Warlock's Home Brew

Resources
DocsPal - Converts document and graphic file types to other file types.
Gray TiddlyWiki - Lo-fi flavour of TiddlyWiki.

geolocation, geolocation, geolocation!

Mad Brew Labs has an intriguing post on geolocation and RPGs.  The concept of using sites like FourSquare, GoWalla, Layar or Wizi to view location-based information and get has much to recommend it.  Even sans smartphone, you can use more accessible services like SCVNGR and the difference between a podcast and an audio tour is context - namely where you hear it.

You could augment existing gameplay by geolocation.  Pervasive play experiences such as Sandpit's V&A Late events and live-action roleplay (LARP) can be augmented by geocaches, mapped out on GPS route sites like Woophoo or location-specific websites.  This would lend itself well to things like cyberpunk-style data runs or games of exploration.  Set dressing and codes of practice may be needed to enable immersion and avoid misunderstandings though .

Going the ARG (alternate reality game) route allows you to get people to act differently in order to gain benefits (either in game or real-world).   Make following the trail as easy or as hard as you like - some ARG puzzles can get quite fiendish.  Evidence of activities would verify receipt of benefits ("Pics or it didn't happen!") and with consent, provides ready-made marketing.  Speaking of marketing... 

Imagine an event where clues are left at local bookshops.  Collecting the clues allows you to obtain a collectible or find a secret website with a sneak preview PDF, product web enhancement or even a secret level.  Given an online community (maybe Ning, Facebook or even your own site) fans can pool their efforts to work on the puzzles you've given them and this can only serve you well.

Now extend this further.  How about seeding some materials not just at bookshops but also nearby coffee shops, say a tasteful but small flyer in their window and a business card on their noticeboard with a URL - if the coffee shop has WiFi, even better!  Your audience gets a decent cup of joe, you get a whole new place to promote your content.  Such symbiotic relationships can be mutually beneficial.

Geolocation provides another channel, not just for games and story content but also for their marketing - with events like conventions, flash mobs and ARGs providing more opportunities than ever for people to get together and share something they really like, it's an ideal opportunity for someone with a bit of research and a bit of talent to build a passionate community.

recession-proof gaming VII - mission to game

Is that light at the end of the financiapocalyptic tunnel?  Maybe.  Here's some more stuff anyway.

Browser Tools

• hack/ has produced some neat RPG bookmarklets.  I've mentioned bookmarklets as game tools before and these provide dice rollers and character generators for D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Hackmaster, Classic Traveller and WHFRP.

Games

• Dino Pirates of Ninja Island combines dinosaurs, pirates, ninjas, monkeys and robots with adventure into an intriguing whole.  A Creative Commons license lets you add to the game setting - the rules and lots of content is free.  There's also an introductory adventure for $6.  Courtesy of Scratch Factory.
• Engines & Empires is a free PDF steampunk sourcebook for Labyrinth Lord courtesy of Relative Entropy Games - the Relative Entropy site also has free resources and nicely priced print copies.

GM Resources

• Those running d20/OGL games will like The d20NPCs wiki which has a searchable list of pre-generated NPCs for both fantasy and modern games.  
• More d20 fantasy generators are found at Myth Weavers including an updated version of the random dungeon generator originally coded by Jamis Buck.
• Dream Weaved Worlds offers some generators for barrel and crate contents,  name generators and the taverns & inns random encounter generator as well as d20 fantasy and sci-fi resources.
• What's in a name?  Chris Pound's Language Machines provides names for people of many types including Barsoomian and Tsolyani, Dying Earth spell names, martial arts moves worthy of Feng Shui or Exalted and has a wonderful list of name/word generation resources.
• CrystalBallSoft has a random fantasy city generator which can handle any settlement you'd find in the older editions of the DMG (thorp, hamlet etc.)  It outputs based on D&D data and takes into account some nice touches.

theme in the details and triangulation lists

"In war, victory
In peace, vigilance
In death, sacrifice"  

     -- Grey Warden motto, Dragon Age: Origins.

A recent RoleplayingTips article about the virtues of Dragon Age as example of good game story technique made a salient point about theme.  Theme lives in the details.  Reality is not blatant, heavy-handed messages are contrived. Neither is entertaining or fun.  So how to do this well?  There is a risk of going overboard.  Character diamonds, location design, story arcs and beats as well as theme - plenty to keep track of.  Getting there requires work, particularly if your theme is complex.

Common elements of theme and story lets each reinforce the other. 

Enter the concept of triangulation lists - a bullet point list of relevant items.  Here, the list defines your theme.  To prevent information overload, keep it to three things.  Ensure characters have at least one attribute or wrinkle that will match or conflict with an item on the list.  Reveal it by action or dialogue and where it's relevant to a plot arc, let that attribute change.  These list items may modify an existing attribute (hypotaxis).  The darker side of war is a recurring theme in Dragon Age, difficult plot choices provide and remove allies and the Warden encounters orphans and grief-stricken characters.

Or an item may exist in parallel to the existing idea (parataxis) so the audience makes their own connection by fluff information   Audience agency is a virtue with interactive entertainment like RPGs and your audience will probably make connections you didn't realise were there. Sometimes it doesn't work how you've intended, even for David Gaider, author of Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne so don't worry.  Sense-checking helps avoid passive voice, echoes (repetitive mannerisms) or even worse unintended tropes.  Roll with the punches and rework the worst while remaining true to the character. The perfect is the enemy of the good here.

(thanks to Hannah at Chaotic Shiny and Vi Åker Jeep)

57 channels

The announcement of GoogleBuzz (and it's current privacy flaw) got me thinking about how many methods of connection to other people we have.  Facebook, Twitter, GoogleWave, blogs, forums, newsgroups, journals, instant messenger, chat, SMS, even e-mail.  Add geodata (Foursquare), video telephony (Skype, GoogleChat) and you get a bewildering array of toys.

From a gaming perspective, these can provide multiple platforms to deliver games or stories on.  We can tailor our games to physical and virtual locations, overlaying them onto either so that people may discover what we have wrought. The proliferation of rules and tools now means you now have to focus on telling the story you want to tell in the way you want to tell it.

Once you beat the initial learning curve, your life is made easier.  Setting up a 4E game with MasterPlan is simplicity.  If you prefer Pathfinder, use the d20PFSRD and have at it.  Obsidian Portal gives you campaign wiki support for this and a whole lot of other games.  Heck if you can't find a local gaming group, keep in touch with RPTools, a preferred instant messenger/internet telephony client and a decent Internet connection.

Here's a thought for game designers - does your game need tools to make it easier to play and generate content for?  Even if you don't fancy the idea of being bound to a base rules set, system agnostic services exist in profusion - all it takes is someone to aggregate them so that you get an experience that engages with your audience.  Finding the right combination may take some planning yet the benefits are worth it. Be it's a design methodology, template or actual program, creating a good toolset gives you the opportunity to promote your game and get people playing it.

(with thanks to Christy Dena and Jeff Watson for getting me thinking, Chaos Grenade for the MasterPlan upgrade tip and Allen Varney for the warning about GoogleBuzz),

recap: recession-proof gaming and useful tools

C'mon - you knew this would happen sometime... so just imagine Don La Fontaine doing this voiceover!

First there was recession-proof gaming.  Then there was the sequel.  The field got opened up with no money, no time, no problem!  Then proof that the internet provides.  The search for stuff introduced pocketmods, graphic tools and yet more generators.  Then the discovery of undiscovered toys that could save you time.

Yet it's not just about the financiapocalypse.  It's also about making your life as games master easier - whether you have a game in sixty minutes, need some steampunk or use kanban to help you develop characters.  Add useful web 2.0 tools, browser tricks and TiddlyWiki, mindmapping and writing tools and you have an arsenal to draw on when creating a game. With these resources, it's getting easier to make the game you want to play.

recession-proof gaming VI: the undiscovered toys

The financiapocalpyse is dragging it's feet.  So if you've used up all the other materials, here's some more stuff for you to peruse and play with.

Free games
For those of you who fancy a bit of sci-fi goodness, there's steampunk alt.history courtesy of Broken Gears (which uses a d12 resolution system).  As it's Hallowe'en soon, the classic Witchcraft RPG is an intriguing one-shot or go for 44: A Game of Automatic Fear - a fast game of robot replicants and 1950s paranoia. 

If you need a system to hang your setting from, try the Tri-Stat dX system or the PDQ Core System while story gamers wanting something different may try the No Dice RPG PDF that uses cards in various ways to power a system limited only by your imagination.

Generators
Scaldcrow Games have a page of random generators (I like the abominations and town details) that can provide rapid inspiration. RPGInspiration provide another page of random generators (from Greek city-state names to orcish hunting parties and sci-fi soldiers).  Dingle Games has a 3.x edition NPC generator that will save plenty of time for the harried DM.

Web Tools
For no frills building mapping, Small Blue Printer is good as it can do isometric and 3D perspectives but if you want full layout use Autodesk's Project Dragonfly.  Both are intuitive interfaces and easy to print out.

Re:Subj is an e-mail-based group discussion tool almost perfect for play-by-email.  It uses public, threaded e-mail conversations to structure the information provided, works with any e-mail client and doesn't need any registration.  Information is sent by invitation and there's some healthy development in the works.

And if you need a fire & forget web page, then take a look at DinkyPage - create a one-shot page which you can customise to your heart's content.  Abusive content, malware and phishing is not welcome but if you need to put something out quickly you could do much worse.

recession-proof gaming V: the search for stuff

Times are hard - when faced with this kind of situation, you can either put the children out to beg for tobacco (as these people did) or you can game your cares away.  Not only is gaming healthier for you and your family but the links in this post also have no cost to you beyond using a computer and your printer.  Those kids don't look happy about the prospect...

Character Sheets - RPGSheets has sheets for a lot of available systems.  If you're a 4E player, then you likely already have the official 4E character sheet.  Then again, you could visit Dragon Avenue.

Graphics - Online graphic manipulation is getting more prevalent. Big Huge Labs in particular has some very neat tools that allow effects, badge making, trading card making, photocubes (a.k.a really big dice) and lots more.  Also there are timesinks like motivational posters and Flickr tools.

PDFs - Printing PDFs is easy.  Re-arranging pages and editing is a little trickier but there are still sites and apps out there for free.  I can vouch for PDFTK and PDFTK Builder.  For a web-based version take a look at MergePDF or PDFEscape.

PocketMod - A one-page disposable PDA (in the manner of Hipster PDAs).  The original site isn't so active so the torch was taken by re:PocketMod with online and offline flavours.  A Word template can be found here but I've found custom mods can be made using Scribus.  More on that later...

Random Generators - A nice selection of 3.x edition-friendly tools can be found at donjon. Grognard DMs who like 0e and who are in a hurry will appreciate the Moldvay Dungeon Generator.  For random names take a look at squid.org's RPG tools and for cyberpunk plots take a look here.

Bonus PocketMod level: Here's a couple of custom mods I've done using Scribus and converted into PDF for general use.   A five-room dungeon planner (based on Johnn Four's idea) and an Adventure Funnel planner (based on Dr. Rotwang's idea).

Got more ideas for recession-proof gaming?  Leave a comment already!

recession-proof gaming IV: the internet provides

It's been a while hasn't it?  The web 2.0 market appears to be clustering around common services in a big way so finding new stuff has been fun.  Yet there's tools and services which can provide useful for gamers so don't despair even if we're on the slow road to recovery.

Free systems - If you like mecha, take a look at Gunwave. Those of you who fancy Harry Potter (slashfic ahoy!) can consider Broomstix (a light RPG).  RPG Objects are offering the Two Worlds RPG for free.  If you prefer your action a bit more Hong Kong/Korean-style give Wushu a shot..  Those of you fancying a bit more collaborative-paced story may want to try Archipelago II.

Organisation - Shout'em is a service that lets you make your own microblogging social network similar to Twitter.  It's also mobile compatible for those who can't stay in front of a computer that long.  Some elegant privacy and integration options as well.  Use this to organise gaming groups or fan clubs. 

Printables - Printable Paper offers you multiple styles of paper including storyboards and perspective grids as well as the more typical hex and square grids.  Love for calligraphy, musical notation and printable games makes this even more impressive.

Talking - If you're looking for a (currently free) voice-chat client, try Voxli.  It handles up to 200 folks at once (which deals nicely with online flash mob style gaming and interview chats) and has no limit on the number of rooms.  It also stays within the browser.  Enough for anyone, surely?

Woolgathering - Want to throw some ideas at a wall?  Asking for feedback?  Give Wallwisher a try as this virtual wall lets people put virtual notes on with a 160 character limit on. Being able to embed images, links and videos are options as is setting up a private wall or two.  And it integrates with your Google login.

questing kanban and character development

Blame Justin Achilli and Capuchin Captions at Dice Monkey for linking in my mind kanban and player handout cards. Everyone does quests to achieve items or benefits. Unless the DM has told you exactly what you need, you may not get where you need to go. And how do players learn of prestige/paragon classes/paths/epic destinies or that specific feats or rituals exist?

Unless a DM is kind and prepared enough to give NPCs with relevant abilities and opportunities to meet/share their knowledge, your character has a hard time knowing of such things. Doing so adds to prep time and may lead to conflicting agendas between players. Unless you're willing to collude with players, it's inevitable somebody will lose out.

Some games may not need (or want) that focus/preparation so it's handwaved you learn about such things in downtime or by dice rolls. Nice if you know the books (prestige classes in 3.xE are found in the DMG or other sourcebooks) but some players don't have/want to read them. There may also be a matter of timing - the campaign may have secrets dependent on those classes.

Kanban is a Japanese method of boosting efficiency. You say what you need and it's supplied - the default method uses signs or cards (kanban) that convey what's needed often using graphical notation for example 4E power icons or a picture representing a particular attribute. Even if you don't have killer artwork or a perfect representation, you can just use words.

Godeckyourself earns its recession-proof gaming tag. I've mentioned other card creators - this one doesn't require you to download software and provides ready-made PDFs of your deck and shares others people have made. There are even ready-made quest cards you can adapt for your own game. A tangible reminder can keep your players focussed.

Put them together and you get cards to convey what's needed and how you might get it. The DM controls what cards are handed out and players can choose from those options what's available. Smart players may see routes to their objectives that can spark off adventures and the element of choice is still preserved. And you get to re-use the cards for future games.

even more gaming tools

Inkwell Ideas has some wonderful tools; while some people have pointed at the magnificent Hexographer, the Coat of Arms Visual Designer deserves it's own mention for those of you who need a heraldic coat-of-arms stat. And if you're a GIMP mapper, you'll love these brushes that draw on the icons from D&D's classic Mystara setting.

Dungeon Mastering have created a 4E monster database. This provides ready-made cards for your monsters and importable code into Obsidian Portal and HTML (for Epic Words, blogs and other wikis). There is also a database of shared monsters that will certainly grow over time with contributions. Potluck can be fun.

You may also find the Magic Set Editor (lets you make your own trading cards) of particular interest (and it's open source too) - this is just dandy if you have a card system for contacts/ stuff you can pass to players. Speaking of 4E, an epic labour of love can be found in the Universal Card Set that could be used with the above.

recession-proof gaming III: no money, no time, no problem!

What? You need more? Hey, don't you know there's a recession on? Here's 10 things to keep you going while times are lean in case you've already gamed out recession-proof gaming and recession-proof gaming II: the sequel.

System Free

Cartographer's Guild - People making maps with Campaign Cartographer then putting their hard work on the web for your use. High quality, name-checked in Penny Arcade no less and deservedly so.

EpicWords is a campaign forum/wiki/inventory set-up similar to Obsidian Portal. While there is a paid user option, you aren't reading this to hear about it. Simple, effective and low-key; it has no specific programming language requirements.

Gozzy's Dungeon Map Generator - One of my perennial bugbears is the provision of maps for dungeons (I used to be able to lovingly hand-craft maps...) so finding a map generator of this kind of quality makes me very happy; and the output is high quality which makes me happier.

HP Lovecraft Historical Society offer a number of fonts eminently suited to the manufacture of props for Call of Cthulhu (or it's cheaper relative Nemesis) which you may find suitable; some very nice blackletter fonts for those Gothic horror games you keep hearing about too...

RPTools - Java applications to help you roleplay at a distance. Dice, tokens, maps, characters and initiative trackers. All OS agnostic, you can network and game to your heart's content on installation; check the community for FAQs, tips and tricks.

System Specific

For 4E, there appears to be a quietly active community of people outputting free stuff for you to download (some of it in PDF - take note Wizards!) which can enhance your game.

Asmor.com - Why haven't Wizards hired him yet? Seriously??

DragonAvenue offers a selection of character sheets and power cards.

PlayWrite - Has the magnificent CrawlNotes and the 4E Power Toolkit to let you homebrew your own 4E stuff. Here's a thought exercise. How long would it take you to use the 4E Power Toolkit to simulate the 3.X classes & prestige classes in the Complete (Splat) books? And could you release them under GSL before Wizards do? Enquiring minds etc.

Other systems have a different pool to draw on:

Eposic.org has a number of random generators (including a nice batch of Tunnels & Trolls stuff) as well as more generic (FUDGE dice) and system-less tools.

Role-Playing Assistant (RPA) - A veritable Swiss Army application - it's been around a while and I was reminded of it's utility the other day. We're doing well if we forget applications this good...
A character generator for the following systems: AD&D 2nd ed, D&D 3.0 and 3.5, Star Wars (d6 and d20), d20 Modern, Cyberpunk 2020, Alternity, Rolemaster (2nd ed), In Nomine (French) and Dragonball Z (this is beta mode).

It also includes a name generator, spell book generator, monster and encounter generator, weather generator, NPC party generator, dice roller, fractal mapper, DM character summary and D&D3.0 treasure generator. You can also create your own tables and modify outputs as well as generating templates for various uses and export the results by e-mail.

recession-proof gaming

So, you're facing the financiapocalypse. Made your saving throw? Good! Keep calm and carry on.

For those who didn't, there's still options if you've still got your Internet connection (and if you haven't you can't read this anyway). Prepare yourself a nice game of d20/3.5 edition D&D. And you only need the books when you're actually gaming! All the preparation can be done via the Internet and isn't even going to be difficult.

1. Hypertext d20 SRD - This is awesome and an example of why the OGL was a good thing. Hyperlinked, cross-referenced and extra tools on top. Namechecked by Monte Cook in a recent interview about Dungeonaday.
2. Dingle's Games' Monster Generator - I met with the author at the first UK Bloggers meetup and this was recently reviewed by Campaign Mastery. If you want to baseline monsters quickly, use this site. He also has a treasure generator as well.
   
3. Big List of RPG Plots - Cumberland Games offers a number of tools but this one is the one that sticks in my mind - a collection of creative kickstarts. If you're feeling ambitious, use Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations on top.

But what about minatures, battlemaps and all the other ephemera I hear you cry? Got yourself a printer? Good.

If you need miniatures, the following sites may be of use.

Arion Games have an impressive freebie collection and a bonus area if you leave feedback on their products.
Oversoul Games has a whole page of figures and other stuff for the princely sum of nothing.
Go to Ravenblight for just about anything gothic or horror; from paper miniatures to terrain to masks to book props.
Sparks fonts by Cumberland Games offer two free samples.

Terrain and cardstock models were the recent subject of a post from Mad Brew Labs so I'll mention the one's I've tried out.
Wizards of the Coast have free fold-up paper models of buildings (some assembly required).
ArchiKit (a French site - site translated using Google Translate) provide free models as well.
For sci-fi, you might want to try WorldWorks' free ParticleBow frigate.

The Game Mechanics have shiny Initiative Cards. They also have a lot of other stuff which you can pillage for settings, one-off encounters with dragons, that kind of thing.

Invite your friends round, potluck and away you go! One or more evenings of recession-proof gaming. No subscription angsts, no guilty miniature buying, no edition wars, no making it difficult for people to have fun. May not be FLGS-friendly but there's a time when shelter, electricity and water come first.

Don't fancy d20/3.5? Want something different? OK - challenge accepted.

1. RetroRoleplaying has a number of free, simple pick-up games including Microlite74.
2. a/state lite - For gloomy high weirdness in The City.
3. Risus - Insidiously simple and yet effective.
   
4. Nemesis - For modernish horror involving unspeakable things and unpronounceable monsters.
5. Insylum - For what comes after the modernish horror.

No subscriptions required. No investment in the next sourcebook to keep ahead of the Jones'. Yes, you'll still need dice. If none of these please you, then invite your friends over and put on a DVD, potluck and snark at the movie. You're in no mood to game and it's still a social occasion.

Got other legal recession-beating games or gamer tools? Plug them in the comments!