My Visit to a Megadungeon

Though I've lived in the Birmingham area for over a decade, I had never been to the UAB Medical Center. Drove by the area, once or twice, but it's rare that I've ever had occasion to drive into Birmingham proper, even when I lived relatively close, in Hoover.

I knew UAB was big, kind of in the same way I know that the Grand Canyon is big. But other than that, I knew very little about the place. It's big and where all the professional wrestler's go to get put back together.

The other day, I went there with my father, so they could perform some tests and find out why he suddenly had a serious case of jaundice. UAB isn't big. It's Ginormous. They tell me that over 20 buildings comprise the Center, the few I saw being connected by large crosswalks. The Starbucks was a welcome site. (God, I Love Coffee.) The Sushi Bar was another nice temptation. (God, I Love Sushi!) I thought the bakery with Cake Decorating services was a little much (I don't like cake. Unless it's Cheesecake! God, I Love Cheesecake!)

I had taken B2 along, to keep me company and as I walked through a few of the buildings, learning my way around and getting lost on occasion (every employee I met asked me if they could help me find where I was going,) I couldn't help thinking about what a cool Mutant Future dungeon the place would make. A complex the size of a small city, filled with ancient technology and multiple factions, monsters and all sorts of mutated strangeness. But, since I was reading B2, I kept imagining Hobgoblin and Orc strongholds, with the Sanctuary Area being a rather obvious place for the horrid Temple of Chaos.

Posting is going to be erratic, over the next several weeks. My father has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. While the doctor's tell me that it was discovered uncharacteristically early, his general state of health is so poor that they're unsure if they can even attempt surgery.

The News will continue, though it may be late, here and there. I'll otherwise pop-in, as I'm able. A lot of my time will be going to clearing out a couple of room's and moving my dad's stuff over here. Though he doesn't like the idea, I'm afraid that his days of living alone are over.

Blogoversary

Holy crap! I've been at this a year now!

A big thanks to all of you guys out there, for reading my blog, following The Underdark Gazette and sharing your thoughts in the comments. And a special thanks to my fellow bloggers without whom, this wouldn't be nearly as much fun!

Check out this Ernie Chan pic I ran across - Conan vs. the Death Dealer.

OSR News From The Underdark Gazette - Saturday, September 25, 2010

Fight On! #9 Is On Sale!

$4.00 for the PDF, so if you haven't tried one of the finest things to come out of the OSR, now's a good time.

"When you're down to your last hit point, your last spell, the last charge on your laser pistol - what now? Fight On! Issue #9 is here, stampeding out of the gate with adventures big and small, a city-state, races, classes, monsters, spells, tricks, traps, tables, rules options, random encounters, NPCs, and a motherlode of mighty miscellaneous mysteries to give your game a boost! Dedicated to Paul Jaquays, this issue features contributions from Jeff Rients, Sang Lee, Tavis Allison, Kelvin Green, Geoffrey McKinney, Patrick Farley, Zak S., Erik Battle, James Quigley, Mark Allen, Jennifer Weigel, Gabor Lux, Peter Schmidt Jensen, Ed Heil, Paul Fini, Raven Daegmorgan, Eric Minton, Allen Varney, Baz Blatt, Geoffrey O. Dale, Jerry Stratton, Chris Robert, Calithena, Jeff Talanian, and many, many more! Don't get caught without the old school's newest resources - order your copy today!"

In the interests of tooting my own horn full disclosure,  my first article for FO! appears in this issue as well.

New Releases

Creatures Below the Shattered Moon - Volume 2 by Joseph Browning from Expeditious Retreat Press. Art by David Esbri, Joan Guardiet and Rick Hershey. Available in PDF for $3.00. 5 pages.

"After the cracking of the moon and before the rise of Atlantis the world was a place strange to the thoughts of honest men. The death throes of science amid the birth of magic sculpted new generations of conquerors who strode the lands forging civilizations of steel, sinew, and sorcery from the decrepit hulks of the ones that fell before. Tyrannical wizards, amoral super-scientists, charismatic catalysts, and multifarious mutants battled for wealth, power, and honor. It was ten thousand years of barbarity; ten thousand years spent in the shadowy shells of past glories, hiding from horrible creatures that scratched and skittered for blood; ten thousand years of tyranny and injustice, ten thousand years of Sorcery & Super Science!

"This short PDF provides a harried GM with 16 new creatures, suitable for various power levels and certain to bring additional life to the world under the shattered moon.

"Don't forget to pick up the Sorcery & Super Science! Core Rules as well as download The House of Blue Men, a free adventure featuring quickstart rules. Also don't forget about Creatures Below the Shattered Moon - Volume 1 and Objects Below the Shattered Moon - Volume 1. Finally, drop by our Sorcery & Super Science Blog for additional Sorcery & Super Science goodness!"

If you haven't picked up the Sorcery & Super Science! Core Rules yet, it's also available in Print.

Free Downloads

Missed this last week. Jay from the Exonauts! blog has a pdf compilation of his Random Space Finds for your downloading, space-gaming pleasure!

Greg Gillespie of Discourse and Dragons has a one-page dungeon for you, The Reclusive Redoubt of the Bullywugs!

Timeshadows from the Grand Tapestry has made some of her Tunnels & Trolls material available - Guild Houses of Blood.  

Jim Pacek of Carjacked Seraphim has some Astrological NPC's, you can check out.

What's happening back in town, while the party is off adventuring in the dungeon? Michael Curtiss of The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope has generated the answer!

Shane Mangus of Swords Against the Outer Dark has moved his downloads to Google Docs. If you missed his awesome Advanced Labyrinth Lord Screen and his other goodies, head over for the new links. 

Media Releases

Echoes from the Geekcave - Episode 7: Keep on the Borderlands.

I Hit It With My Axe: Episode 28: It Was All Over In Two Rounds.

Reviews From Around the Blogoverse

Pookie at Reviews from R'lyeh has a review up of Insidious from Die Cast Games.

Orion Cooper from The Moldy Vale has a review of LotFP: Weird Fantasy Role-playing.

Tim Shorts from Gothridge Manor has a review of Kingdom Builder. A new generator from Chaotic Shiny Productions.

A Paladin in Citadel has a review up of The Wilderness Alphabet.

In Other News

Following up on his blogger rankings work, Cyclopeatron has made a page dedicated to Old School RPG blogs. And if you live near Southern California, you might want to check out this post on the local Gaming Conventions.

John Stater of The Land of Nod now has a Cafe Press store. Oh, and check out his progress on the Mystery Men! patronage project, while you're there!

Noble Knight Games is offering a Pied Piper Super Pack for sale. More info at Lord of the Green Dragons. 

Vigilance Press is offering a PDF Bundle of their four World of Arkara products, for $6.00.

What I'm Pimping This Week

Death Frost Doom by James Edward Raggi IV. LotFP Publishing. Available in Print from the Publisher for 8,00€ in Europe, 9,00€ outside of Europe. (blogger won't link the euro symbol.) In stock at Noble Knight Games for $9.95. Available in PDF for $5.00. 

"Up on a mountain sits a house by a cemetery, haunted by the memories of atrocities past. People remember that horrible things happened up on that mountain, but not exactly what those things were. Still, they stay well away, and live long and prosperous lives for their wisdom.

"But rumors of abandoned treasure and magic always bring those wishing to recover it. Brave, skilled men need not fear that which terrifies the common folk.

"The cult on the mountain is long gone, yet the music of weirdling death carries on the wind.

"The mountain is cold. So very cold.

"And the greedy and the foolish will march bravely up the mountain for gold and glory.

"Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Their Souls?

"Death Frost Doom is an adventure for character levels 1 – 6, and includes a revised version of The Tower, originally published in Fight On! #4."

Death Frost Doom is back in Print! As we started the news with a recommendation to try something which you've heard of, but have yet to experience, we'll end it the same way. Death Frost Doom is bloody awesome!

About the News

"Unless otherwise noted, all links to products and files are to the individual authors sites, pertinent posts, or sales pages. I don’t link directly to files, unless that is the only link available. The OSR News is produced as a service to the community and is entirely a non-commercial endeavor on my part. I have received no remuneration for advertising, reviewing or reporting on any of the items appearing herein. Please feel free to send me information on any new releases, events, or other items of interest, which you would like to see mentioned.

"As always, the What I’m Pimping This Week section of the OSR News and its accompanying blog widget, feature products which I have purchased (or items which are available for free download) and wish to support. No one has asked me to spotlight their material in this section and I have received no payment of any kind for doing so."

Segmented Combat and Spellcasting

This is pretty much how I ran combat, back in my AD&D days, with a few tweaks added for this version. I'm not sure if I want to go the simpler route, or go whole hog and use combat segments again. I do like enjoy the whole Segment thing, though. I may change the whole Surprise segment attacks, to one attack per surprise segment, instead of one complete attack action for the whole of the surprise.

COMBAT

The order of events for a Combat encounter is as follows:

1. Determination of Surprise: The GM determines if any of the parties have a chance of Surprising their opponents. If so, and it is determined that one or more sides are surprised, then the side(s) with the least number of segments of surprise may act, including taking up to one full attack action, before normal initiative is then rolled. Spells may be cast or started during this round, though the completion may spill over into the normal initiative round. Surprise will normally be rolled on 1d6 for all sides in the encounter and a roll of 1 or 2, indicates a like number of segments of surprise for the sides which rolled that result. Some creatures have a greater chance of Surprising opponents than usual. Others have a smaller chance of being Surprised.

A +1 Perception bonus will reduce a Character’s chance of being surprised by 1. Likewise, a +2 will reduce this chance by 2, and so forth. Regardless, a Parties chance of being surprised can never be reduced to below a 1, on whatever die is being used to determine the result. When rolling for surprise, one Player will roll for the party and the result will be based on the Character with the best Perception bonus. If the results determine that the Party has segments of surprise, then the Reaction Adjustment for Dexterity, may reduce the number of surprise segments, for individual Characters.

It is entirely possible for more than one side to be surprised, for an equal, greater or lesser number of segments than the other side or sides in the confrontation. There will be only one surprise round in a confrontation and after it has been adjudicated, as well as in cases where no surprise was determined to exist, Combat proceeds to step two.

2. Declaration of Spells: Any Player who is planning to cast a spell during the Round in question, must state that he is doing so and which spell he is casting.

3. Determine Initiative: All Players roll a d10, adding any reaction adjustment from Dexterity. This determines upon which segment the Character may act, with high rolls going first and Dexterity breaking any ties, if necessary. The GM rolls initiative for all non-player combatants.

4. Taking Action: Upon their initiative, players may take what action they wish, including any movement and attacks. Their opponents will likewise act, upon their own initiative.

4A. Spellcasting: Characters who are casting spells, will begin casting upon their segment of initiative. Each spell has a Casting Time which is then subtracted from the Characters initiative,
determining when the spell goes off. If the spell takes longer to cast than there are remaining segments in the round, then the casting time will spill over into the next round. In such cases, the spellcaster will make another initiative roll, after the spell goes off, which will be based upon the number of segments remaining and determine when he may begin another action.

After a Player has declared what spell he is casting, he is assumed to be gathering his components and readying himself to begin the casting. The Magic-user may not change his mind, as regards the specific spell he has chosen to cast, but he may, up until the segment of his initiative, which is when the spell-casting actually starts, decide to not cast any spell at all. In such cases, he will not lose the spell in question and may only move that round. If the Magic-user is hit and takes any damage, during the segments in which the spell is actually being cast, he will lose the spell and it will fail to take effect. Likewise, if he is grappled or otherwise violently disturbed, he will not be able to complete the casting and the spell will be lost. The Magic-user may not utilize his Dexterity Adjustment to armor class while casting and will be at an additional +2 to hit, due to not being able to properly defend himself.

If damage is taken before casting begins (before the caster’s initiative,) the Magic-user may still attempt the spell, but if an enemy is within melee range he will be leaving himself vulnerable to attack. Even if his enemy has already attacked for the round, said enemy will be enabled to do so again, due to the Magic-user’s attention being upon casting a spell instead of properly defending himself. Any being within 10’ of the Magic-user, so long as that being isn’t otherwise engaged or involved in melee with someone else, will be able to attempt to interrupt the caster, even if they have already attacked and moved for the round. If an enemy hasn’t taken his initiative yet, he will be able to attack the caster if his movement rate allows him to reach the Magic-user. Of course, everything written here concerning Player Characters, holds true for any NPC or Monster, under the GM’s control.

5. Held Initiative: Initiative may be held, the holder waiting until the end of the round to take an action. If desired, this may be carried over to the next round, and the action taken when the holder desires. Once the action has been taken, the holder will once again roll initiative as normal, at the beginning of the next round.

6. End of the Round: If Combat is to continue, roll Initiative.

Vancian Casting - Model for House Doc

I still haven't actually read Vance. Must rectify that, as I want to see how far he took things. Anyway, the following is from my almost finished Houserules doc, which has turned into a mini-player's handbook. It draws further upon ideas within the European Magical Tradition and its modern decendents, to flesh things out a bit and extend the play upon the idea of "live spells," within the caster's psyche.

Vancian Spellcasting

Clerics, Druids and Magic-users may cast spells. Clerics and Druids pray for their spells, receiving them from the powers which they serve, thus having the spell formula imprinted within their mind. For the Magic-user, the arcane formula and instructions are inscribed into Spellbooks, from which he chooses and memorizes the spells he wishes to hold within his consciousness.

The act of memorizing these spells (or receiving them, in the case of Clerics and Druids,) merges the spell-casters awareness with energies and intelligences which exist in other planes of existence. These highly charged and aware eldritch forces are shaped and focused, melding into aspects of the spell-casters own consciousness and becoming part of his psyche. When casting a spell, the Cleric, Druid or Magic-user calls forth, channels and releases the energy, generated and shaped by this psychic synergy. 

This disengages the mind of the caster from the source of the spells power and removes the charge within his awareness. As his mind is no longer acting with and within those alien planes, all memory of the spell is removed from the Magic-users mind. This is similar to the way a dream will sometimes fade as the sleeper becomes more awake. The effect is much more pronounced, as the Magic-user is dealing with planes of consciousness, far more foreign to the human mind than dream reality. Also, it should be emphasized, that part of the awareness with which he memorized the spell, came from those alien psychic environs. The spell is then gone and must be re-memorized, before it may be used again.

OSR News From The Underdark Gazette - Saturday, September 18, 2010

A Slow Week in the OSR

After the frenzy of activity, during the past few weeks, that's not so surprising. It's just as well, as I have a ton of work I'm trying to wrap up! So, without further ado, here's this week's news.

New Releases

Jason Kemp has released Hammersong's Legacy, a Campaign Setting for Swords & Wizardry. Available in Print for $19.99 and in PDF for $8.99. 120 pages.

"It has been a century since the War of All Gods has ended, and the land of Cameria has yet to heal from the devastation. The Duar Protectorate that watched over the people of the Eastern Shores fear the worst, now that the great warrior-king, Ollum Hammersong, has passed. Despite the twisted monstrosities that roam the lands, the people have made their first steps toward recovery. Now, a Regent’s Council rules as agents of Balmordak travel abroad in search of the king’s missing heir. Hammersong’s Legacy provides a strong foundation for running a campaign set in this post-apocalyptic fantasy setting, providing full details on the gods, races, history and cultures of Cameria, a wide range of 66 adventure seeds, a small bestiary of more than 60 beasts, and more. Referees will find herein a rich and vibrant setting for their fantasy campaigns, which in turn will provide hours of joy and entertainment as your players explore these shattered realms and discover the secrets of Hammersong’s Legacy."

The World Gorean Society has released four more $1.00 PDF's. A Book of Assassins, Clerics, Paladins and Druids, for Osric. No covers. Page count ranges from 26 to 43 each, for these four PDF's.

Free Downloads

Telecanter of Telecanter's Receding Rules has a PDF collection of cool house rules, which he gathered together from all the awesome stuff you guys have been posting. It's in his downloads section, on the right.

Rick Krebs, the gentleman who designed Gangbusters and webmaster of the Bloody 20's blog, has posted a version of the games earlier incarnation.

Media Releases

I Hit It With My Axe: Episode 27: A Little D&D Lifetime Special.

Samwise7 has some new posts up on his video blog.

Software and Online Generators

Brutorz Bill of the Green Skeleton Gaming Guild blog, turned us on to Tormentor's Virtual Wasteland, a Loot Generator for Post-apocalyptic gaming.

Reviews from around the Blogosphere

James Maliszewski of Grognardia has a review up of the LotFP release, Hammers of the God.

Cool, beyond cool! Jeff Rients of Jeff's Gameblog is doing an Arduin Cover to Cover series!

Pookie of Reviews from R'lyeh has a review up of the LotFP release Weird New World. 

In Other News

The gentleman who runs the Age of Fable site, who I only know as James, has recently started a setting blog - Teleleli. 

John Stater of The Land of Nod has started a Patronage program, for his Mystery Men! project, a rules lite Comic Book RPG. So far he's achieved 57% of his goal. If you're interested in participating, you can read more here.

Cyclopeatron has compiled a list of 165 Old School blogs, ranked by number of Followers. The rate of growth in this community, is remarkable! We're looking less like a niche of a niche, every day. :)

James Bobb of the World of Onn blog and product line, has a new forum, dedicated to his Campaign and Old School releases.

What I'm Pimping This Week

Knockspell # 4. Published by Black Blade Publishing. Available in Print for $10.00 and in PDF for $5.00. 

"Knockspell: The quarterly resource for old school gaming!

"Knockspell Issue #4 contains a veritable cornucopia of gaming content for your retro-clone or out-of-print fantasy campaign!

"This issue features another installment of the Isles on an Emerald Sea setting by Gabor Lux, two adventures (including one by Jeffrey Talanian), an article on artifact types and attributes by Scot Hoover, a weird weather system, and much, much more!"

About The News 

"Unless otherwise noted, all links to products and files are to the individual authors sites, pertinent posts, or sales pages. I don’t link directly to files, unless that is the only link available. The OSR News is produced as a service to the community and is entirely a non-commercial endeavor on my part. I have received no remuneration for advertising, reviewing or reporting on any of the items appearing herein. Please feel free to send me information on any new releases, events, or other items of interest, which you would like to see mentioned.

"As always, the What I’m Pimping This Week section of the OSR News and its accompanying blog widget, feature products which I have purchased (or items which are available for free download) and wish to support. No one has asked me to spotlight their material in this section and I have received no payment of any kind for doing so."

Answering the Cover Question - Imagining D&D (and Cheating)

In response to James Maliszewski's Open Friday Question. I'm Cheating because I'm going to post three covers.

So, in no particular order:

And just for fun, I'm going to post two non-cover pictures as well.

Mike Mearls Interview at the Escapist

Interview.

This quote is kinda the gist of it:

While I'm quite happy with my game(s) of choice, I do like the idea that Mr. Mearls wants to resurrect a few of those Sacred Cows, which WotC so gleefully slaughtered. I like the idea that the D&D Manager plays Old School versions of the game and thinks that playing a Fighter should feel different than playing a Wizard. And that judging from his comments, he doesn't think that "Narrative Gaming" is something that should be a part of D&D. 

I like the idea. I don't think it's gonna effect my life, very much. I haven't checked out Essentials, but what I've heard doesn't make me think I'm going to like it. Certainly, not nearly as much as Gygax/Arneson D&D. And even if I liked it a little, I just don't have the time or inclination to add another game to my schedule. Or to invest in a game that wouldn't be at the top of my list, of what I want to DM. (Yeah, eventually I plan on scouring ebay for old Rolemaster and Talislanta stuff, that I'll probably never run. But that's different.)

And the 3e crowd seems pretty damn happy with Pathfinder. 

Speaking of those events from two years ago, Mr. Mearls was quoted as saying this:

"Look, no one at Wizards ever woke up one day and said 'Let's get rid of all of our fans and replace them.' That was never the intent," Mearls said. "

Is that what he's planning on doing to the 4e fans?

Truth is, that's not what I would like to see happen. Making the old material available in Print again would be nice, but I don't need WotC. And ultimately, they did players and publishers of pre 4e editions a favor. Repeating history and dismissing the hobbyists who've made emotional and financial investments in their game, looks like just one more dick move, from WotC. Not that my finger is on the pulse of the 4e community. Are there many 4e players, who are complaining about the game, but sticking with it?

The next year or two, should be rather interesting.

Handling Adventuring Tasks - Draft from my Houserule Doc

The following text is Open Game Content.


Adventuring Skills

Adventurers learn some commonly used skills, in the course of their chosen career. Certain classes have their own special rules for determining success in these instances, the Thief in particular. Unless otherwise stated, the following rules help determine a Characters chance of success at accomplishing typical adventuring tasks, when random determination is called for.

For example, a non-Thief character has found a Trap and is attempting to disarm it. After the Dungeon Master explains what the Character sees and has found out, the Player will then tell the DM, how he is going about removing or circumventing the Trap. If the Player’s plan is sound and there is no need for a random number to be introduced, then the Character will succeed. If the plan is a risky one and the DM decides that an appreciable chance for failure exists, then the Character’s Dungeoneering Roll will come into play. If the Player isn’t sure how he would go about disarming such a trap, or concocts a seriously flawed plan, then he will also be allowed to fall back on the Character’s Adventuring Skill. This may be particularly necessary, in cases of highly complex, specialized Traps.

Other types of Adventuring Skills, like those covered under Stealth, will always be determined by a percentile roll.

Dungeoneering: Dungeoneering includes Disarming Traps, Jimmying Locks and other common tasks involving mechanical aptitude. Characters begin with a base 10% chance, +/- their Dexterity Adjustment, to perform these actions. Racial modifiers may also come into play.

Stealth: Stealth includes Moving Silently and Hiding. Hiding is not quite the same thing as a Thief’s ability to Hide in Shadows, or a Druid’s ability to Hide in Natural Surroundings. Characters begin with a base 10% chance, +/- their Dexterity Adjustment, to perform these actions. Racial modifiers may also come into play. Stealth abilities may not be used, when wearing metal armor.

Perception: Perception helps determine a Character’s chance of detecting secret doors, detecting traps, being surprised, and noticing easy to miss details. The base chance for most of these actions is a 1 in d6. Surprise can be variable, but in situations where it comes into play, Characters, Monsters and NPC’s  will usually have a 2 in 1d6 chance of being surprised.

Expertise: At times, a Player will want his Character to perform an action, which is related to his class, but for which there is a chance of failure. For instance, a Player may need to know if his Magic-user Character is familiar with an obscure Arcane legend. In such instances, the Character’s base chance of success will be 10%, + 10% per every other Level of Experience, up to a maximum chance of 98%. In certain cases, Ability Score adjustments will also be factored in and with such a broad area of action, there are often other considerations, which may affect a Character’s chance of success.

Advancing Adventuring Skills

Expertise is handled as given in the description above, but a Characters abilities in Dungeoneering, Stealth and Perception, may also increase. 

At 2^nd Level and every third Level thereafter, a Character’s Dungeoneering or Stealth skill may be increased by 10%. The Player may, if desired, split this between the two Adventuring Skills, however he sees fit. After adjustments for Ability Scores and Racial Modifiers have been taken into account, a Character’s Dungeoneering or Stealth skills, may never go beyond 90% (this restriction is not placed on any of the abilities of the Thief Class. Likewise, a Ranger may increase his Stealth to 98%)

Instead of increasing Dungeoneering or Stealth, a Player may save up these points until +20% has been banked, and then use them to add a +1 bonus to Perception. Perception may never be increased beyond a 5 in 6, and regardless, the chance of being Surprised will never be less than 1 in 6 (though Dexterity Adjustments can effectively, further negate Surprise effects.)

If the Thief Class is not available in the Campaign, or if no Player elects to run a Thief, then the DM might allow Characters to add an additional +10% to their Dungeoneering and Stealth and to start with a Perception of 2 in 6.

End Open Game Content.

I wanted to add a Comment of mine, from below:

Thanks guys. A lot of the inspiration came from a Fight On! article by David Bowman, which discussed letting non-thieves advance in dungeon type tasks, using the d6 mechanic. I'm using a modification of the Thief by Al at Beyond the Black Gate, which also helped shape things. I split up his Thievery into Thievery and Sneakiness, which are more comprehensive versions of the Dungeoneering and Stealth, which other characters get. His Thief also has another skill set, the name of which escapes me, but it covers the same things as the Perception skill, listed above.

OSR News From The Underdark Gazette - Saturday, September 11, 2010

Two New Releases From Dragonsfoot

DF27 Red Tam's Bones by John A. Turcotte. An AD&D Adventure for Character Levels 3 - 5. Cover art by Brian "Glad" Thomas. Interior art by Rachel Drummond. Maps by Andreas Claren. 54 pages and available as a free PDF download.

"Can you find the bones of Red Tam, the notorious Bard? An adventure for 5 to 8 characters of levels 3 - 5."

HM5 - Isensan's Secret by Todd Hughes. An Adventure for 4 - 6 Characters Level 6 - 8. Art by Scott Harshbarger.  Maps by Greg Covey and Jared Preston. 18 pages and available as a free PDF download.

"The story of HM1 (The Disappearance of Harold the Hedge Mage) and HM2 (The Hunt for Istan) continues in this new adventure. For four to six characters of levels six to eight."

 Dragonsfoot has been publishing quite a lot of stuff, here lately. If, by some chance, you've yet to discover the site, there's a ton of adventures to download. I really like the covers on both of these latest offerings, in particular the Brian Thomas piece. If I like the contents, I might just have to print these out!

A big thanks to the folks at Dragonsfoot, for helping to keep Old School gaming alive and creating a ton of Gaming Goodness!

New Releases

Object Below the Shattered Moon - Volume 1 by Joseph Browning. Art by David Esbri, Joan Guardiet, Tamas Baranya, V. Shane. Expeditious Retreat Press. In PDF format. 7 pages. $3.00.

"After the cracking of the moon and before the rise of Atlantis the world was a place strange to the thoughts of honest men. The death throes of science amid the birth of magic sculpted new generations of conquerors who strode the lands forging civilizations of steel, sinew, and sorcery from the decrepit hulks of the ones that fell before. Tyrannical wizards, amoral super-scientists, charismatic catalysts, and multifarious mutants battled for wealth, power, and honor. It was ten thousand years of barbarity; ten thousand years spent in the shadowy shells of past glories, hiding from horrible creatures that scratched and skittered for blood; ten thousand years of tyranny and injustice, ten thousand years of Sorcery & Super Science!

"This short PDF provides a harried GM with 3 new items, 36 new sorcerous artifacts, and 5 new creatures suitable for various power levels and certain to bring additional life to the world under the shattered moon.

"Don't forget to pick up the Sorcery & Super Science! Core Rules, and Creatures Under the Shattered Moon vol 1 as well as download The House of Blue Men, a free adventure featuring quickstart rules. Drop by our Sorcery & Super Science Blog for additional Sorcery & Super Science goodness!"

World of Arkara: Fractured Realms by Charles Rice. Art by Marco Morte. Published by Vigilance Press. Available in PDF format for $3.00. 26 pages.

"Welcome to what was the Kingdom of Damask; what is a fractured realm. Once the greatest empire the world had seen in a thousand years, a home to commerce and diplomacy, favored by the King of the Gods, Atos and home to the Eternal City of Atosia.

"In the length of time it took an assassin's blade to puncture his heart, a great man died and his kingdom, his dream, would soon follow him into hell. Quick to destroy, the realms will be far harder to reassemble. Can heroes turn the tide?

* Avenge the elven genocide at the hands of orcs, humans and red dragons in the Slaughterwood
* Find a lost prince and restore him to his usurped throne
* Rebuild a shining kingdom plunged into chaos and despair
* Discover the secrets of the Mithril Dragon

"In addition to campaign materials, a map of the region, important NPCs and plot hooks the Fractured Realms contains several organizations PCs can join or fight against, along with rules for benefits and responsibilities of membership in a sword and sorcery organization.

"Organizations include:

* The Aerie, the largest thieves guild in the known world
* The Crucible, a foreign legion of humans, dwarves and halflings serving the elves in a genocidal war against an invading orc army
* The Firebrand, a chaotic evil gang of orcs and humans under the control of a brood of red dragons that have they have already eradicated the elves of an entire forest
* Freelancers, a group of knights who are either bandits or freedom fighters... or both
* The Owlguard, a mysterious order of Paladins devoted to the god of truth and knowledge
* The Red Dragon Mercenaries, the meanest, toughest mercs in the world have made a home in the Fractured Realms because chaos means lots and lots of mercenary contracts

* The Basin Tribes, once a shining beacon of a truly civilized and peace-loving orc civilization, their king is old and weak and his son seems determined to return the tribes to the old ways and spark a genocidal war to the death between orcs and elves" 

Cool! Keep it coming, guys!

Free Downloads

Visit Christian at Destination Unknown for the Iridia Compendium!

Visit Joe Bloch at Greyhawk Grognard, where he's got a link to some Poster-Sized Castle Greyhawk Maps.

Rick Krebs from the Bloody 20's blog, has a Gangbusters adventure for your downloading pleasure.

Chris Creel of  The Polyhedral Dicebag has put Phasic issue 2, an Encounter Critical 'zine, up on Scribd. Check out his Links section, for the link.

Head over to The Delve and if you look in the first section of links, you'll see a Dungeon Master Rules Reference Sheet for Holmes Basic, that's recently been added. Of course, there's other goodies there, as well!

Check out the map by isomage at the end of this thread.

Great stuff! Thanks!!!

Media Releases

I Hit It With My Axe: Episode 26: House of the Medusa.

Check out the Save or Die Adventure #6: Thunder Kats, Hooooo!

bighara has the latest installment of Echoes from the Geekcave up. Episode 6: Blood Moon Rising Review. 

Trollsmyth and Oddysey have their second Podcast up. Featuring an interview with James Raggi.

Reviews From Around The Blogosphere

Check out James Maliszewski's final two LotFP Weird Fantasy Role-Playing reviews. Here and Here.

A Paladin in Citadel has a review of JB's B/X Companion.

Pookie of Reviews from R'lyeh has a review of James Raggi's Tower of the Stargazer.

Software and Such

Gilliadson posted a link to an Excel Character Workbook. Go to the end of the thread for the working link.

In Other News

Calithena is reporting that Jeff Dee has won the June Lulu Sales Contest for Villains & Vigilantes! Congratulations Mr. Dee.

Tim Brannon of The Other Side, is keeping us informed of the latest news in the whole James Shipman mess. 

I forgot where I found this, (thanks to the forum dweller who linked this) but this old blog post at Monster Brains has some large scans from the AD&D Coloring Album. These pictures are cool!

What I'm Pimping This Week

Supplement V: Carcosa by Geoffrey McKinney. Available in PDF for $6.00. Available in a 1st Edition or an Expurgated Edition. The author is no longer offering Print copies.

"Supplement V: CARCOSA is a 96-page book of rules options for the original Dungeons & Dragons game published in 1974.CARCOSA includes: 

* a new character class: the sorcerer who summons and controls Cthulhoid entities 

* a new form of magic, including 96 sorcerous rituals 

* an easy-to-use psionics system 

* dice conventions 

* 48 new monsters 

* tables for the random generation of spawn of Shub-Niggurath 

* 5 colors of the desert lotus 

* countless high-tech weapons and items of the Space Aliens 

* Random Robot Generator 

* technological artifacts of the Great Race and of the Primordial Ones 

* mutations 

* 400 encounters on an outdoor hex map with an area of 34,880 square miles 

*and more 

Head to the author's site and you'll find links to several reviews of Carcosa.  With the author's recent announcement of a forthcoming project, I figured I'd pimp his last one.

I'm glad I did! Its given me an amusing idea for Sunday's post.

About the News

Unless otherwise noted, all links to products and files are to the individual authors sites, pertinent posts, or sales pages. I don’t link directly to files, unless that is the only link available. The OSR News is produced as a service to the community and is entirely a non-commercial endeavor on my part. I have received no remuneration for advertising, reviewing or reporting on any of the items appearing herein. Please feel free to send me information on any new releases, events, or other items of interest, which you would like to see mentioned.

As always, the What I’m Pimping This Week section of the OSR News and its accompanying blog widget, feature products which I have purchased (or items which are available for free download) and wish to support. No one has asked me to spotlight their material in this section and I have received no payment of any kind for doing so.

A Retro Game Experience?

"Come celebrate the release of the new D&D Essentials line of products and the new Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game with a classic-style adventure and a retro game experience!"

Really? A "Retro Game Experience"?

Cyclopeatron posted pics of the Bus, for those that haven't seen it.

Does this strike anyone else as downright, Orwellian? I mean, blatantly so? Retro Experience indeed! And who the hell do they think they're going to appeal to with their "retro" claims, anyway? Current gamers? Lapsed gamers, who haven't rolled a die in 20 years? Us? Is it possible that they actually believe that the resurgence in Old School gaming really is all about nostalgia and that if they wave a few familiar symbols under our nose, we'll give them our cash and play their game? If there were more of us, I'd say that was it. Maybe they think that those Lapsed Gamers have become sufficiently used to WoW that they'll love 4e if they can get them to try it.

The Dark Tower Confirmed, Will Utilize Both Film And Television To Bring Roland To Life

The Dark Tower Confirmed, Will Utilize Both Film And Television To Bring Roland To Life

Ok, I've been wanting to see this for a long, long time. Please, for the love of God, don't let them screw it up!

I'm afraid I might find out how the really devoted LotR fans, felt after Peter Jackson's movies. I like them personally.

I was still fairly young when Conan came out. 14 I think. Old enough to hate the "Conan the Slave" origin, but not old enough to get really pissed and outraged about the whole thing.

The Dark Tower is my favorite Epic Fantasy. I started reading it when The Drawing of the Three was published. I waited patiently for over a decade, while Mr. King finished his Magnum Opus.

So, we'll see. I've decided to be cautiously optimistic.

Now, This is Gamer Porn!

"It is called the City of Splendors: Waterdeep, most populous and powerful of the cities of the north. It is a city of wealth, adventure and danger. More men have died in its taprooms and bars than in all the sieges ofDragonspear castle. Success and death lurk in its shadowed entranceways and dimly-lit streets.

"Come explore the greatest city of the Realms in this incredible new boxed set dealing with urban fantasy adventures. Waterdeep is detailed in no less than 10 expanded maps, embellished with typical building interiors suitable for use in any campaign setting. In addition, a full-size poster of Waterdeep is provided, along with a grand-scale three-dimensional map of Castle Waterdeep, hub of the city's government. In addition to all of these maps, a 32 page City System booklet provides encounters and street scenes, special features and details of Waterdeep, and methods of creating types of buildings in monuments in the pockets of those unfortunate enough to get in a player character's way. Designed for use with Waterdeep, these new features are suitable for use anywhere in the Forgotten Realms! It's all here-all you add is your imagination."

My latest ebay acquisition arrived today and I gleefully tore open the shipping box, to unearth my brand new used copy of the Forgotten Realms City System! The box has some creases, but the contents are in great shape! I think I got a good deal. With shipping I paid $10.50 and the folks at the Acaeum inform me that it's a first printing. No idea if Collector's care about the City System printings, but I'm still enough of a Collector myself, to be a little pleased by that fact. I also see that the Grey Box I picked up last week is a first printing, coming with the advert for the Secrets of the Sages newsletter. According to the Acaeum, again, only one issue of this newsletter was ever released:

"Secret of the Sages. The First printing of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting boxed set came with a form that could be filled out to receive the Forgotten Realms newsletter, Secrets of the Sages. Only a single issue of this newsletter was released, in the summer of 1988; it is 8 pages, and contains short descriptions of places in the Realms that were left out of the boxed set (Aglarond, Evermeet and Halruaa). The last page (inside back) has a map of "The North" region. (Thanks to Shane Voelker, Brett Easterbrook, and Travis Masoner for this info)."

I found the image on the Forgotten Realms wiki. A very impressive site with tons of information. It would be nice if WotC would make stuff like this available online.

Back to the City System. Now, why did they called this product City System? Couldn't they find some marketable way to say "Gigormous Collection of Waterdeep Maps and Encounter Table Booklet!"? Judging from the copy on the back of the box, reproduced above, they were trying to push the idea that it was usable with any city in the Realms. Kind of silly, considering that the meat of the box is 12 full color maps of Waterdeep! I suppose they were worried about whether or not such a specialized box set for the Forgotten Realms, would sell. Hah! The City System was released in 1988, still under the auspices of First Edition and early in what would become a flood of releases for the campaign setting. 

And speaking of FR releases, I'm now on the hunt for a copy of this little number on the left. I know it's available from WotC as a free download, but I'd rather have a physical copy.

In Just Two Easy Steps I Can Destroy D&D!

Descending vs. Ascending AC

Yesterday, if you had asked me which one I prefer, I would have said "It's really six of one and half a dozen of the other." That it's the same thing, just moving the components of the equation around a little bit. If you put a gun to my head, I would have considered that ascending is a little easier to deal with for newbies, a fact offset, in my opinion, by the superior flavor of descending AC. I've never had any patience for the "decending is so hard and counter-intuitive" crowd. As a matter of fact...

Hold on a second.

My son will be seven in November. Granted, he's bright and familiar with the idea of character levels and hitting monsters, from playing video games. But, I just now went at taught him how to read an AD&D combat matrix. It took less than a minute for me to describe what a matrix was and for him to get the concept and tell me what a 5th level Fighter needed to hit AC0. When I told him to look at it kinda like a calendar, it clicked right in for him. He would have got it sooner, but he was trying to watch Jimmy Neutron, while daddy was distracting him with this little experiment.

Anyhoo, I've been planning on using Ascending AC, just because. I like experimenting. While putting everything else together, I was considering how I would handle multi-classing, deciding to use the AD&D rules for such characters. I then idly wondered how doing it 3e style, might work. I immediately didn't like the idea and here's why.

Now, with the AD&D xp progressions, the To Hit Bonus of a multi-class character might move too far ahead. At low to mid levels, the highest level of a MC character will usually only be 1 behind a single level character. Until the MC character hits its ceiling, that is. With LL/AEC, an MC's highest level will tend towards being 2 or 3 behind. That's from a fairly quick assessment, only checking F/MU's in the systems. All in all, it would require some tweaking, but doable. So, what bothered me about the idea?

You would have to change Saves around, of course. I don't like the 3e Saves. The older schema better emulates, in an abstract way certainly, the idea. Gary goes into Saves a little in the DMG and JB has a wonderful post, along the same lines. I like the Single Save w/class appropriate modifiers, from  Swords & Wizardry. Which is what I'm using. Now, if I shuffled it around as well, we could turn that roll into a  (+x) + d20 = 20 or better to save, type deal, also. Very close to 3e.

But, not really! 3e takes things in a different direction by making the DC variable. Instead of needing a 20, you might, at the beginning, only need a 14 or so. Some things would hit 18 to 20, for a while. Then, you get one of my biggest dislikes about 3e and you see it across the board. With Saves, Skill Checks, AC's and To Hits. The goal-post moves.

A bad-ass high level Fighter will make most of his Saves in  TSR D&D. That's because he's a high level bad-ass Fighter! In 3e, that's not the case. He'll often just end up just having to roll against a very high DC. The Breath Weapon from a Great Wyrm Red Dragon is DC 40. At 20th level, the Fighter's Reflex Save is +6. So much for being high level! He'll get some help from dex. Of course, he'll also be decked out like a Christmas Tree, in regards to Magic. So, he might have a chance to make the save. You know, depending upon what weird prestige classes, he's picked up.

A Thief puts his Skill Points into picking locks, only to find that he's then having to roll against DC 35's and up! The whole Powergaming thing, is certainly a part of the design. "Let's move the characters up in level real fast and blow everything out of proportion so they're not too powerful."

Ok, if said high level Thief was in Hermes' stronghold and trying to pick the lock on the god's vault, I would make things a bit tougher than usual. But that's a rare and special case. A high level Thief should be able to Ghost his way through the vast majority of shit, because he's a high level Thief and that's what they can do!

A Balor (it was a Proper Noun, Dammit!) in 3e, has an AC of 35. That's -15, to you and me. Sort of, anyway. If I recall correctly, a Red Great Wyrm has a To Hit of +44. A Pit Fiend has an AC of 40. No problem, just break out the Epic Level Handbook and toss out some +10 Magic Swords - That'll larn em'.

I know all this has been hashed out before, and I'm not trying to start any edition war shit. I like 3e. Just less and less as time goes by and I have no desire to DM it ever again.

Now, if I wanted to turn Saves upside down I could. I would just cap it at DC 20.  I would certainly cap Ascending AC at 30 (it starts at 10, for those who don't know) and probably never see anything that high. In running a very high level AD&D campaign, I don't think I ever used a -10 AC.

But, after thinking of all this today, that Gygaxian flavor is tasting better and better. I'll certainly still use the traditional Saves and I might just go with descending AC, instead. All in all, it's more pleasing in my eyes and the other direction reminds me of silly things..;)

Suddenly, Rangers Make Sense

"...for everything herein is fantastic, and the best way is to decide how you would like it to be, and then make it just that way!" Gary Gygax - The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. 

Work on the Retro-Golem continues. I have the first draft of the Player's Handbook/Character Creation Houserules doc, done. It's pretty much turning into a heavily houseruled S&W. If Matt Finch's wonderful game, had an incestuous affair with the vast, dark pool, which is the sum and total of all the D&D lore I've absorbed... well, that pretty much sums up what I'm doing. God knows, I've absorbed a LOT of new D&D lore, over the past year. Thanks to all my fellow bloggers, for playing a huge part, there!

I dropped several things, I was considering adding in. I don't want to stray from the sublime simplicity of the game, any more than necessary, for accomplishing my goal. Aside from adding some of the additional classes you guys have been creating and posting, the main changes are revised Experience Point Advancement and revised Combat To Hit Progression. I'm using the Combat Progression from AD&D, with some minor modification to the Cleric and MU rolls. My reasoning for that can be found here, though the chart I posted there has been modified. I've also tweaked HD.

Because of personal events, which I've mentioned before, I had to put off resuming regular gaming for so long, that I've had a year to plan, ruminate, brain-storm and generally fart around, about all of this. The above quote from Mr. Gygax, pretty much sums up my current feelings about the game and why I ended up on my present course. It's not that I'm adverse to houseruling AD&D, or slaughtering a few sacred cows, even. But, if you kill enough of those beefy fellows, then you're no longer practicing the same religion. Or, more appropriately, within the same Denomination.

Allright, I certainly had other motives, as well. The desire to conduct an in-depth study of the game, its history, mechanics and associated ideas, has been a driving force in my doings, of late.

Oh, yeah, the Ranger. So, since I'm running the Grey Box, I wanted the basic AD&D classes and Races, for the most part. I've left Gnomes out, though if someone wanted to play one, I'd be ok with it. Maybe I was just being lazy, but I decided to make them NPC's.

As to classes, I'm not porting in the Assassin. While I kind of like the general idea, I never liked Mr. Gygax's execution, there. Besides, anyone can kill for pay and I'm fine with leaving it at that. I'm not worrying about the Illusionist, either. I know there's a Whitebox S&W Illusionist, already out there. Not sure about a Core Rules version. Maybe I'm being lazy again, but I just don't dig the Illusionist enough to go about converting it. Of course, I've never played one or DM'ed anyone else playing one, either. If I'm really missing out on something here, let me know! The idea of the Illusionist sounds cool and all. I like the AD&D Illusionist spell list.

The Monk is another story entirely and I might just roll up my sleeves and see if I can make one I'm happy with. Or, not.

Oh yeah! The Ranger. So, I decided to use James Maliszewski's S&W Paladin (conforming it to my xp and combat modifications.) I think it's a great take on the class all in all. I never liked the Paladin Spell Progression thing. It feels tacked on, too much, and too late. The Dispel Evil power, found in the original Greyhawk Supplement, if I recall correctly, is a sound replacement. And I think they have enough going for them, without bringing Turning Undead into the mix.

Ah, but while looking through all this I also came across his Ranger. As well as this post on the concept of the Ranger. Here's a quote from Mr. Maliszewski's post:

"The impression I get from reading Fischer's original class -- and it's entirely an impression, since there's no expository text beyond game mechanics -- is that rangers are humans (and only humans, since this is OD&D) who learn the ways of the Wild in order to defend civilization against it. Like Tolkien's Dúnedain of the North, rangers are civilized men who forsake the comforts and safety of civilization in order to protect those they leave behind. To borrow a phrase, rangers exist in the Wild but they are not of it."

I always associated them with Druids and felt kind of uncomfortable with the alignment issues. To give another quick quote from Mr. Maliszewski's article:

"...from my perspective, rangers and druids would most likely be foes, or at least often at loggerheads." 

All in all, I like this POV a lot. Mr. Maliszewski's Ranger Class, dumps the spells altogether and it's an approach I'm comfortable with. But, it does, in my mind create another complication. Here's snippet from Mr. Maliszewski's Ranger:

"Code of Conduct: A ranger must be of Lawful (Good) alignment and loses all class abilities if he ever willingly commits a Chaotic (Evil) act, becoming an ordinary fighter forever after."

Given that this version of the Ranger is all about Wilderness skills, there's just no reason for the above. The only class feature, which could reasonably tie-in here, is the Special Followers thing. The Good Aligned magical and Fae creatures, would disassociate themselves from the now evil Ranger. But, there's no logical reason for the character to lose his tracking, damage bonus against humanoids, etc. Granted, you could make those based on some sort of divine favor, or whatever. But, that doesn't sit well, with me at all, at all.

So, here's my attempt to fix that, by giving the Ranger a little bit of magic back, while staying at least partly within the concept of the class, mentioned above:

Touched by the Wild: Through their close association with the wild places of the world, Rangers become attuned and aligned with certain Natural Forces, which are well-disposed towards man (or, at least have a vested interest in mankind.) At third level, the Ranger may choose one 1st level Magic-user Spell, which he may cast as a Spell-like Ability, 1/day. At sixth level, he may choose a second 1st level Spell. At ninth level, he may choose a 2nd level Magic-user Spell. At twelfth, he gains another 2nd level Spell. Finally, at fifteenth level, he may likewise choose a single 3rd level Magic-user Spell. The Ranger does not need to memorize these Spells and all of them may be cast 1/day.

And my revision of the Code of Conduct:

Code of Conduct: A Ranger must be of Good alignment and will lose their ability to attract Special Followers, any Spell-like Abilities gained as well as all Experience Point Bonuses, if they ever change their alignment to anything other than some form of Good.

I kind of like the idea of the Ranger being slowly seduced, by the forces of Nature he's trafficking with. And eventually, becoming more and more cut-off from civilization.

Of course, an Evil Ranger, or rather an NPC class I might call a Dark Hunter, becoming attuned to the more sinister powers of the wild, is also a possibility and one which fits an idea I have about current events near the Dalelands, quite nicely.