OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, December 26, 2010

Star Frontiersman #16 Is Now Available

For Free, as always, from DWD Studios. 139 pages of Old School Science Fiction Gaming Goodness!

For those unfamiliar with Star Frontiersman, or even Star Frontiers itself, you can go to this section of the site and download the Star Frontiers Remastered PDF files. Alpha Dawn, Knight Hawks, Gamma Dawn and more!

Then, there's the Adventure Modules page. 

And some sheets, maps and playing aids. 

By god, this site has everything you need for one hell of a Star Frontiers campaign! A great big Thanks to the folks at Star Frontiersman, for all your hard work and dedication!

New Releases

Splinters of Faith # 3 and # 4  by Gary Schotter and Jeff Harkness. Frog God Games. Art by Rick Sardinha. Both are 24 pages. Available in PDF for $4.99 each and in a Print/PDF combo for $8.99 each. Available in versions for Swords & Wizardry or Pathfinder.

Ancient Evil Awakens

In a long-buried tomb, a grave robber restores a death-cult leader to life, and his cloud of evil spreads across the land. Left behind are the broken Scepter of Faiths and a litany of shrines to restore the weapon. But the evil one and his minions wait to destroy any who try...

Temples of faith, bastions of evil

Splinters of Faith™ is a collection of 10 adventures for characters of levels 1 to 15 that can be played individually or as part of an epic campaign to restore the Scepter of Faiths. Adventure in 10 fully detailed temples such as the Shield Basilica of Muir or the dwarven city of Anvil Plunge, and conquer the nightmarish Nether Sepulcher to restore the balance of good.

Ten complete adventures for low- to high-level characters, usable separately or as a massive linked campaign.

Eighteen unique temples (10 fully detailed) ready to drop into any campaign world.

New monsters and magic items to discover, and ideas for further adventures.

The Ruins of Tenkuhran by  RC Pinnell. Art by Joe Calkins. Published by Cerberus Illustration. 32 pages. Available in PDF for $3.95. AD&D 1st Edition.

An adventure for players level 6-10

In an ancient age Tenkuhran, a wise and powerful sorceror king ruled over a most prosperous realm. Tenkuhran was an adventurer and often led dangerous expeditions in search of items of great power. Upon returning from one such excursion the king became reclusive and rumors that an ancient evil had overtaken him began to circulate. The rumors were indeed true. The once beloved king waged a murderous campaign against his loyal subjects, creating an army of undead. The heroes of light gathered against the evil king and his forces in a great battle, leaving the keep in ruins.

Generations later, evil once again stirs in the jungle. Some say King Tenkuhran has returned.

Free Downloads

Havard of Havard's Blackmoor has turned us on to the Mystara 2300 BC Campaign Setting!

Al from Beyond the Black Gate has the Beyond the Black Gate Compendium 2010 ready for you to download.

Thanks to Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern for keeping us up-to-date on what's happening with Tunnels & Trolls. You can download a free new solo adventure, The Temple of Issoth, here. 

Greg from The Weirdlands of Xhuul has turned us on to two huge, gorgeously detailed maps of the Moathouse & Dungeon from T1. 

Dyson Logos of A Character for Every Game has Dyson's Delve - Level 10 ready.

Sniderman from The Savage Afterworld has released the updated version of his World of Thundarr the Barbarian Sourcebook for Mutant Future. 

ze bulette of Dungeons & Digressions has some dice you can download. No, really, dice!

golan2017 has a Whitebox Thief for you to download.

Jim Pacek of Carjacked Seraphim has made some Gamer Coupons for you to enjoy.


Videos & Podcasts

Samwise7 has updated his YouTube Channel with A Dungeon and a Small Town and Running Games for the First Time. 

The Save or Die Podcast: Interview with Doug Niles.

Review Round-up

Zak from Playing D&D With Pornstars has some thoughts on the Dungeon Alphabet.

Doc Grognard of Crawdads and Dragons has Part I,  Part II and Part III of his Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules posted.

Higgepedia of Gaming All Over The Place has a review of Something Unholy Stirs and Part II of his Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules review. 

Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, ChicagoWiz of ChicagoWiz's RPG Blog and Rob Conley of Bat in the Attic give us some reviews of RPGNOW's Print on Demand Beta.

ANDREAS DAVOUR of The Omnipotent Eye has Reading Dragons at Dawn Part V posted.

New & Events

G. Benedicto is back in the blogosphere, with Gorgonmilk! Welcome back, Greg.

The Swords & Wizardry Whitebox booklets from the Boxed Set are now available in PDF for $8.95.

What I'm Pimping This Week

Beyond the Black Gate Compendium 2010 by Al Krombach of Beyond the Black Gate. Available as a free 50 page PDF. 

I should have done a Blog Spotlight on BtBG already, but haven't. Mainly because it's one of the most popular Old School blogs around and most folks know about it, already. But, for those of you who've missed it, you can download the Compendium and quickly discover why Beyond the Black Gate is ranked #5 in Cyclopeatron's December Blog Rankings update.

As I recently had occasion to mention, I have more of Al's material in my "big binder o' stuff by other DM's" than anyone else's. He consistently posts great stuff, that I can quickly and painlessly put to immediate use and in particular, his Random Tables, Rock! You can also find a link to his 2009 Compendium, in the Stuff I Wrote section of his right-hand blog column.

Thanks Al, for the Beyond the Black Gate Compendium 2010!  


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.

Happy Christmas! And I've Discovered the Krampus!

Holy Crap! Thanks to a few pictures posted by some old school bloggers yesterday, like this one (don't remember where else I saw them)  I was inspired to do some research and found out about Krampus! How the hell did I miss that one?  Religion and mythology, especially the weirder aspects thereof, is my thing.  Huh.

It's kinda bizzare, thinking I knew what Santa was all about and suddenly, after all these years, there's this whole nother side to the story. One which would be pretty damned nifty, to steal for a D&D campaign.

Apparently, old Santa used to make his rounds with a demon sidekick. Sometimes, the two were merged into one, but the whole dual-aspect manifestation seems to have been the more popular, by far. While Santa gave presents to all the good little children, the Krampus would beat the hell out of the bad ones.

I knew about Santa's pagan connections (him and just about every other Saint) and amused myself on more than one occasion by thinking of all the parallels between Santa and Satan: the two names of course, both are referred to as Nick, both wear red, Satan lives where it's very hot, Santa where it's very Cold like the Norse Hel, Santa gives you something for nothing, which Satan often promises to do, Elves are sometimes associated with evil, Santa draws your attention away from Christ...

But the Krampus? Hah!

"He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!"

Far, freakin' out!

If anyone knows of a good source for further research, by someone without an agenda and who's not trying to save my soul, please do let me know.

Here's hoping everyone has a Merry Christmas! And that you've been very, very good...

Raymond E. Feist Pisses Me Off!!!

A lot of book collecting sites, dealers and what-not will tell you that Book Club Editions aren't worth collecting and that you should shy away from purchasing such editions, for collecting or resale.

As is often the case when so-called experts are involved, this isn't the whole story at all, at all. While usually true, there are exceptions, especially when it comes to Fantasy and Science Fiction. 

If there was never a Trade Hardcover edition of the book issued, then a lot of folks wanting a HC will look for the BCE, assuming one was released. Booksellers often designate these editions as "First, thus," indicating that while it isn't a true 1st edition, it's a first in some sense. There are other types of books so designated, besides the case of BCE Hardcover 1st's.

A good example would be the Star Wars: New Jedi Order books. Only a handful of titles in the 19 book series were released in Trade HC editions and I've seen some of the BCE editions of the ones which were only released in ppb, go for as high as $70 on ebay for a single volume, though $20 or so is more typical for most of the titles. A set of 7 NJO BCE's, all in New condition and featuring two of the rarer BCE's from the series, recently sold on ebay for $250.

When the omnibus hardcover of Glen Cook's first three novels of the Black Company, Annals of the Black Company, first appeared on ebay, it was going for as high as $40. This title wasn't rare enough to sustain such a price, though and after a ton of people dug out their copies to make a quick buck, the price dropped significantly and a decent copy can now be had for $10 - $15, which is about what I sold my extra copy for a couple of years ago.

Another factor which can make a BCE Collectible, is when the original Trade Hardcover has become so valuable, that it's out of the price range of most collector's. For a while, the BCE of Eve Forward's Villains by Necessity was going for about $50, as the 1st edition had skyrocketed to over $200! The last time I checked, the 1st edition had come down in price to a much more reasonable $70  or so. A recent BCE still went for $25.

Which brings me to Mr. Feist. While Magician was re-released in a new Trade HC a few years ago, the BCE of the original release is still going for $25 on ebay. I don't know what the original 1st is going for, but some people are asking ridiculous prices for even the re-released trade.

So, yesterday I went back to my new favorite bookstore and found a copy of Mr. Feist's Magician, a BCE HC in beautiful, unread condition. Someone had taken exceptionally good care of this book, for almost 30 years. One small nick on the jacket, tight hinges, nice, straight boards, etc. As the price was less than five dollars, I quickly snatched it up! In the condition it's in, I could probably get at least $30 on ebay, for the thing. Unless, of course, I decided to keep it.


Spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






Mr. Feist pisses me off! As a young lad of 16 or so, I was really enjoying reading his first series, which so reminded me of the Most Awesome Game in the World, that I had discovered a year or so, before. I devoured Magician: Apprentice and Master, Silverthorn and was just as thoroughly engrossed by A Darkness at Sethanon. With growing excitement, I tore through the chapters of the series' finale, wondering how, as the climax approached, the heroes would defeat the Valheru.

The piece of shit, deus ex machina ending turned me off of Feist, for good.

I have no idea how Magician would hold up, 26 years later. I don't remember being overwhelmed by the author's prose, but at 16, his ideas certainly fired my imagination, which is the first thing I demand of an author. I have serious doubts, that my 42 year old self would find the ideas in Magician to be as exciting.

And if I were to going to re-read the books, I could and would pick up some cheap reading copies, for somewhere between Free and $3. The Collector would consider the Unread HC to be worth keeping in its current condition.

Or, I could put my recent find on ebay and The Gamer could turn the profits into some cool rpg gear! :)

I'll probably keep it, as the book does bring back some nice memories. It looks good on my bookshelf, too.

The Dark Entity: More Teachings of the Cult of Esh-Na-Vhod

The following exercise in gaming theology is not meant to be representational of any sort of Truth, within the campaign world. It merely represents the beliefs and world view of one specific cult. 

And just in case it needs to be said, this work of fiction bears no relation to my own philosophy or values, which are both more imaginative and humorous, than that given below. 

A letter, found in the library of Danis University

My beloved Enemy,

It is clear nephew, from reading your letter, that your Will has perceived the truth, which it found within the
Book of the Whirling Force (notice that I now name you my Enemy!) As such, I thought it best that I write this letter, so as to answer a few of your subsequent questions.

Now, obviously there is flux and reflux, within War, as a dominant Will may later find the tables turned, with a Subject making itself the Master. This is to be expected, as within the workings of Will are feints, bluffs and schemes of all sort. When a Will dominates another, it begins to subsume the Subject into itself, consuming, as it were, the power exhumed by the Whirling Force, like a diner, feasting upon shellfish. But a Subject will ever fight against this domination, seeking to make itself the Master. This will only end if the Subject is utterly broken, making of it a Slave, or by destroying the body and personality, which clutches that Will you aim to reclaim. Killing a Subject is the final and most total domination of its Will and the subsequent incorporation is irrevocable, save in one special instance, of which I shall inform you below.

Now, it is not practical or desirable to kill every Subject, as their use is of valuable assistance. Also, the practicality of doing so is rarely manifested. Mass murders do, on occasion, take place and many a ruler is, in reality, an Enemy and one who knows full well what he accomplishes by sending his Subject armies into battle! Remember, it matters not one whit, whose hand wields the dagger. It is the Will behind the act, which directs the action of the Whirling Force!

Of course, this begs the question, "what of accidents, death from so-called Natural Causes," and the like.

There is no such thing! An accident, such as a mountain climber falling from a cliff, is caused by a weakening of the Will, which, as I shall relate, is constantly under attack. And disease? Death from Old Age? The Same! And this is the first, terrible secret, which I shall impress upon you.

After the End and the Beginning, when the Whirling Force again shattered Esh-Na-Vhod into a near infinite number of pieces, a powerful being arose and succeeded at a most daring scheme. This Dark Entity, while unable to slaughter all of the inhabitants of this plane at once, managed to force an opening into the Will of all creatures manifesting in this place, so as to subtly work upon weakening those Wills, damaging their bodies and minds. Eventually, unless a means is found of thwarting the Dark Entity, all those born here, whether they be Enemies or Fools and even if they have thus far managed to retain the Mastery of their Will, shall succumb to the Will of the Dark Entity and enter into Slavery, devoured and incorporated into that fell being!

Indeed, Death is what the Fool's call the Dark Entity, but the Enemies, know the truth! The Dark Entity is the Greatest Enemy we know of and the first obstacle to be overcome, by any who thinks himself Esh-Na-Vhod.

Now, you may think to yourself, "Surely this Dark Entity is Esh-Na-Vhod, for who can stand against it?" Say you so? Your thought has been belied, on more than one occasion!

When the Dark Entity forced an opening into the Wills of so-called "Mortal" creatures, it also created an opening with itself. Workers of magic may call forth broken Wills, which have been subsumed into the Dark Entity, back into the husks which formerly clutched them. Then, these Zombies, Skeletons and the like, these Undead, may be commanded by their new Master, at least for a time. This suggests many things...

But there is more! Remember the exception, I mentioned above? An Enemy, or even a Fool, may, at the moment of Death, when the Dark Entity swallows his Will, snatch itself back through this opening! Before the Dark Entity may consume it, the Will is placed once more, within its former husk.

Changed, transformed, but once again under its own dominion! These are the "self-willed" Undead, Vampires, Lich's and the like. So, the Dark Entity may be thwarted and if so, it can be defeated!

There are other ways of escaping this being. The life of a "Mortal" may be extended in various ways. What is more, I shall write to you of another secret, the secret of the so-called "gods."

Now, a Subject will ever fight its Master, though a Slave will submit, readily. But, the Will of a Slave is a paltry thing, not granting much power to its Master. A Subject will slowly, but surely, grant power to its Master, but this power will ebb and flow as the Subject fights its Domination. The Master will subsume more and more of the Subjects' Will, so long as he remains in control, but until it is finally broken, or killed, the Subject will not only retain a more or less major portion of its Will, but will often cut off its flow of power to its Master. 

Now, what if there where a way to convince a Subject to freely, without friction, give a portion of its Will to the Master? What if you convinced a thousand Subjects, to do so? A Million! With such a great bank of power, a Master might do miraculous things, work the greatest of magics, even find the secret of thwarting the Dark Entity, once and for all! Such are the so-called gods. They are merely Enemies, no more worthy of your consideration than anything else, you will eventually seek to Dominate!

As to your final question, "If Esh-Na-Vhod is destined to be again shattered by the Whirling Force, what's the point of it all?"


1. It is better to Dominate than be Dominated, always.
2. Unless your Will is so weak as to make you a Slave, you have little choice but to play the game.
3. If you win through, at the End and the Beginning, you may find a new answer to the riddle of the Whirling Force, that it must Ever seek to Dominate.

With regards, your loving Uncle and Enemy,

XXX

Cults of Alaethia: The Faith of Akaleya

The Blooming of the Rose

A Sermon delivered by Baur Ghaz-im, Paladin of Akaleya and Sheriff of Outland. 

I’d like to thank all of you for taking the time to be here, today. We’re awful busy, here in Outland. Rhom is a hard, sometimes dangerous place to live and that’s doubly true of life in our town. But it’s worth it. Outland is worth it. Civilization is worth fighting for!

For us, Civilization begins in the old world. In Yuvedor. That’s where humankind first began to plant crops, build cities and work together for mutual strength and support. It’s where people learned to hope and plan for a better future. Where we first enacted Laws. Laws meant to protect ourselves and insure that our hopes had a chance of being realized. We learned the importance of community, the benefits of working together towards a common goal. And Yuvedor grew strong, to the point where almost all of humanity joined together and swore their loyalty to one king, one land and one body of Laws. But, there was something wrong.

Justice was served, but was seen as more important than the people, he was supposed to serve. This was also true of the king. The heart had bled out of civilization, so that when the last king died, the works of humankind were beginning to rot and became ripe for collapse. The evil of Prince Zaegra and the chaos, accompanying his self-destruction, may have spelt the doom of Alaethia’s citizens, but for the seed of a promise, a Red Rose, planted centuries before.

There was a man, a warrior of old Yuvedor, named Bethias. Bethias served his king and he served Odin. Bethias was proud. Proud of his heritage, proud of his nation. Proud of his deeds. But Bethias was made of more than just pride. He believed in his country, in his king, in his god. In his fellows. Bethias believed in Civilization.

He fought and slew many of humanities enemies, most especially the various humanoid tribes, which were then, as now, a constant threat. Thousands of orcs, fell beneath Bethias’ blade and a like number of Hobgoblins. Even giants learned to fear the name Bethias.

One day, Bethias led an army against a tribe of orcs, defeating them handily. As he set about to burn the remains of the encampment, he happened upon a small hut. Checking inside, to ensure that there were no captured humans trapped within, he instead found two small, half-orcish children. Barely old enough to toddle. Taking pity upon them, Bethias returned to the city of Gaeven, hoping to find a religious order, willing to take the two unfortunates. Instead, his commanding officer took custody of the children and ordered them to be condemned. To be burned alive.

Bethias protested! The children had human blood and were free of the curse, which condemned orcs to damnation! They were innocent, as deserving of life as any free being. So, he went to the church of Tyr, seeking justice. But there, he found none. The warrior-priests told him that the children were “casualties of war,” that it would be best if they were quickly disposed of. They then sent one of their own warriors, to oversee the execution.

In the middle of the night, Bethias defied his commander and stole out of the city, the two small half-orcs in tow. He hoped to make his way north, far from the reach of the king. Into barbarous lands, were he might find some sanctuary for his two charges. But, this was not to be. The magic of the priests insured that pursuers were able to find Bethias, forcing him to cease his flight and stand his ground. Hopelessly outnumbered, he was defeated, but left alive, so that he might witness his former comrades put the two children to the sword, right then and there. The priest ordered Bethias left in that place, cast-out and defeated, stripped of his rank, his land and all of his possessions. And as they turned and left, Bethias cried out in anguish, discovering that caring for the two children had awoken something, long buried within him.

Civilization, was supposed to help people protect their loved-ones. If this is what his civilization had become, then why continue at all? What had he been fighting for, all those years?

And Bethias then saw the oddest thing. In the pool of blood, which had poured outward and formed between the two small, still bodies, a single Red Rose had grown.

For years, Bethias wandered. He devoted his life, to protecting the innocent and banishing evil. Where before, he had been known throughout the corridors of power, as a mighty warrior and military commander, he now became famous amongst the common folk of the land, as a savior, protector and foe of the wicked. And as he traveled, Bethias noticed that he never felt alone, even when seemingly traveling by himself.

One day, Bethias entered the town of Axa, a small place on the outskirts of civilization. The local Lord was ostensibly a Cleric of Baldr and Bethias called upon the Lord, to see how he might be of service. The man was genial, friendly and seemed genuinely interested in Bethias’ work, for by this time, the latter’s renown had grown to the point that once again, his name was mentioned amongst the great. But, upon grasping the Lords hand, a great feeling of wickedness and laughing malevolence seemed to emanate from within the Cleric. And Bethias knew what the Lord was, a servant of the foulest evil. And Bethias heard a woman speak to him, in a voice of compassion, love and strength. “Hesitate not!”

A mighty power filled Bethias’ soul and body. He drew forth his sword and a great burst of red light poured forth. Bethias slew the Lord and his men, all of whom were worshippers of abyssal powers, freeing the town from the evil, which had oppressed it for years.

Afterwards, Bethias carried out his mission with more strength and devotion than ever, for he now knew that Akaleya traveled by his side. Men and women began seeking him out, wishing to join his cause. And the Paladin Bethias, preached unto the people of Old Yuvedor, as did his new found fellows in the Faith. They taught that it was Love, which made Civilization possible, or even worthwhile. That all life was created by Akaleya, to share in its wonders and work together, to create a brighter future. That evil was to be faced without fear and fought, to protect life, first of all. They taught that cleaving to the Law, was cleaving to one another, but that the Law was meant to serve Life, not the other way around.

It is these teachings, which will insure our survival here, in this hard land, in this hard time.

May the blessings of Akaleya, be upon you all.

Cults of Alaethia: Esh-Na-Vhod – The Hidden Master

An Excerpt from the Book of the Whirling Force

What is Chaos, in the face of the Whirling Force? It bends, perforce, to the Will of Esh-Na-Vhod, the same Will which is instilled within all of creation. It is our choice how we use that Will, so we had best choose wisely. From the perspective of my Will, all else is Chaos. Your will is Chaos, which I will either dominate, or to which I will be forced to submit.

When a Will has dominated another, Law is once again established, for the two Wills have come under alignment, the weaker now serving the greater. All part of the One Will of Esh-Na-Vhod. So, Chaos is nothing but the unassimilated will of lesser beings acting in an unlawful manner, as it has not been brought unto subjugation by its proper master. 

Eventually, all things will be brought under the domination of Esh-Na-Vhod, with nothing left unincorporated and the One Will shall be whole. The Work shall be complete. Then, again, the Whirling Force will shatter all of existence, for the One Will must ever seek to dominate. Thus, must it be broken into a near infinite number of pieces. Esh-Na-Vhod will arise from the Chaos and the Whirling Force will begin anew its work of assimilating all of existence into one, with Esh-Na-Vhod, the hidden master, destined to dominate all things. 

And one Will shall prove stronger than all others, not to be revealed until the end and the beginning. That Will, may be mine. Or, yours. At the End and the Beginning, shall Esh-Na-Vhod be revealed.

OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, December 19, 2010

Welcome to the Mutant Future!

Featuring Errata corrections and more original art, Mutant Future: Revised Edition By Daniel Proctor, Ryan Denison has been released by Goblinoid Games.  In Hardcover for $33.95, Softcover for $23.95 and in PDF for $6.95.  A no-art free PDF is also available. 

Enter a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland filled with mutants, ruins, and radiation! You can take the role of an android, mutant human, mutant animal, pure human, and even a mutant plant! Seek wealth and ancient technological artifacts. Enter vast underground complexes, and avoid killer robots!

Blog Spotlight: Dysonlogos' A Character for Every Game.


I had a real Homer Simpson D'oh moment this week, as I discovered that my OSR radar had somehow managed to overlook Dysonlogos and A Character for Every Game. You've probably seen Dysonlogos' work, his distinctive maps in particular. You can check these out in his Dyson's Delve series of posts, where you can download the 9 so-far released levels of his mini-mega-dungeon in PDF. And be sure not to miss Mutant Omega, a supplement for Mutant Future, posted today. Maybe some character sheets? And if its geomorphs you're looking for, here you go.

There's a ton of good stuff to read, like this series of posts on Elementals. And who couldn't use an NPC Rat Cultist Class? Be sure to check out the 400 Characters page.

As the old school gaming scene grows larger, it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with everything going on. But, A Character for Every Game is well worth adding to your reading list!

New Releases

In Broad Daylight by Jeff Herman. Art by Jeff Dee. Monkey House Games. Available in Print for $13.95 and in PDF for $6.95. 85 pages. 


A famous fashion model disappears before a crowd of thousands. Was it a publicity stunt? A hoax? A kidnapping? An assassination? Her agency needs heroes to find out, but what else aren't they telling you? Find out in this exciting new adventure by Jack Herman for V&VTM and Living LegendsTM! With illustrations by Jeff Dee


Free Stuff!!!

Greg Christopher has released the public beta of his Errant RPG. Errant is Greg's OSR Fantasy RPG, which features several departures from more traditional OSR games. The Production values of the 80 page PDF are very professional and while I haven't had a chance to do more than skim through the rules, what I've seen has piqued my interest and inspired me to add Errant to my holiday reading list. 


Candlemarc's Atlas of Riverbrook is available for download at Dragonsfoot.

Trollsmyth turned us on to some free taverns. 

Evan of In Places Deep has made some more maps!

ckutalik of Hill Cantons has a house-rule compilation for you to check out. Also, his Medieval Miniature Battle Rules, Swords & Shields. 


Nod #6 is now available in PDF as a free download! Per Mr. Stater, the print version will be along shortly! 

The Free PDF of Swords & Wizardry Whitebox has been updated to the 3rd edition and you can also get the new Word File, here (direct link to the Word file.)

Review Round-up


Kilsern of Random Encounters has a review up of The Phoenix Barony.

tavisallison of The Mule Abides has some interesting things to say about his recent Dungeon Crawl Classics playtesting experience. 


Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern has a Mini-review of the  Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook.

Tim of Absolutely Mental has a review of the Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook. 

And Higgipedia of Gaming All Over The Place also has a review of the Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook.

Podcasts & Videos

Save or Die Podcast Adventure #16: All out of Bubblegum!

Events & Happenings

The Goblinoid Games forums have Moved! Folks are reposting some older resources, to the new space, so it's a good time to check up on stuff you may have missed.

Jeff Rients of Jeff's Gameblog has some Winter War news. 

In Other News

Scottsz posted another installment of his Cold Text File series, over at Lord of the Green Dragons. 

Time Brannon of The Other Side has worked up a Houri for Basic D&D.

What I'm Pimping This Week


Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook by Matt Finch. Art by Rick Sardinha. Frog God Games.

In 1974, Gary Gygax (1938-2008) and Dave Arneson (1947-2009) wrote the world's first fantasy role-playing game, a simple and very flexible set of rules that launched an entirely new genre of gaming. In the year 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (holder of the "Dungeons & Dragons" trademark) released the "Open Game License," which allows third parties, like us, to use various intellectual properties historically associated with the Dungeons & Dragons game - although not the actual trademarked name itself, and with specific terms and restrictions.

This book is an unofficial, "re-stated" version of the original Gygax & Arneson rules (0e), created using the Open Game License. This original game consisted of a boxed set of three booklets: Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. Four supplements were also written by Gary Gygax, Rob Kuntz and others between 1975 and 1977, containing options for expanding the game with new rules. Collectively, all those booklets are often referred to as "0e," standing for "zero edition," and we mention the "Original Game" from time to time in this book, as a reference point. Swords & Wizardry re-describes selected rules from all seven of the Original Game booklets, taking some and leaving some. In general, Swords & Wizardry adopts class, monster, and spell rules from all the supplements, but sticks to the simpler combat mechanics from the boxed set and the first supplement only. Tim Kask, the first editor of the Dragon Magazine(TM), the first employee of TSR, Inc., and the editor of Supplements 2-4 for Original Dungeons & Dragons (TM), has more to say about that in the Foreword.

The Swords & Wizardry rules are extremely short, compared to the multi-paged rule-libraries required to play most modern role-playing games. Yet this game contains within itself all the seeds and soul of mythic fantasy, the building blocks of vast complexity, the kindling of wonder. "Edition Zero" is so powerful because it's encapsulated in a small formula, like a genie kept imprisoned in the small compass of an unremarkable lamp. Take this framework, and then imagine the hell out of it!

And the Assault on the Temple of the Frog continues - More from Matt Finch:

I just got news from Bill that all the softcovers are shipping today. And by that, unfortunately, I mean all of the softcovers Bill had, not all of the orders. People who ordered yesterday or on Wednesday may not have their copies shipped until next week because we sold out by the time Tuesday's orders were processed. A rush order for the second printing had already been sent to the printers almost as soon as we saw what was happening with sales on the book (Saturday or Sunday I think), and those should be in very shortly. He is also down to only three shipping boxes, and placed a rush order on those, too, so they should arrive around the time of the softcover delivery from the printers and permit the second printing of softcovers to go out.

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."

OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, December 12, 2010

Assault on the Temple of the Frog

Chaos erupted in the OSR yesterday, as the purchase buttons went live on the Frog God site, enabling ravenous consumers to buy the newly released Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook. 

Here's what Matt Finch had to say, on the OD&D Discussion forums:

Today has been quite a day. The Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebooks went on sale today this morning.

About 30 minutes into selling, the sales volume crashed something on the shopping cart where shipping cost is calculated, so everyone who bought copies after that point will get separately invoiced for the shipping. Hundreds of books (not just rulebooks) got sold in this 30 minute period.

About 45 minutes into selling the sales and download volume started overloading the site itself, and the "buy" button stopped working. There was a work-around for this, fortunately, but only the higher-tech buyers could make it work.

Sometime around then the purchase button for the pdf also went down. We started directing pdf-only purchasers to Paizo.

Finally, we just told people to paypal Bill with their orders rather than use the work-around.

As the dust cleared, we have sold out of the hardcovers, although the exact estimate is between 90 and 110 sold before we pulled the trigger and stopped sales on the hardcover. We had a 10-hour sellout of the whole print run.

Some softcovers are still left for sale, although more than half were sold.

And we have no idea yet how many pdfs were sold. Lots.

What. A. Day.

Congratulations to Mythmere Games and Frog God Games, on their successful release of the Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook!  If necessary, you can purchase the PDF from Paizo, here.

New Releases

A3 Hunt for the Ogre Lord by Roderic Waibel. Sacrosanct Games. A 64 page PDF available for $5.00.

Barely able to enjoy the spoils from your last adventure, you are soon called upon by the mysterious Inquisitors to investigate rumors of an ogre lord rallying a humaiond army on the western border of the kingdom. Promises of sacks of gold are followed by veiled threats; it seems you have little choice...

A3, Hunt for the Ogre Lord is an adventure that contains versions for both OSRIC (or other old school versions of your favorite game) as well as Altus Adventum 2nd edition. It is the third in the A series of adventures, taking the characters on an epic adventure to save the kingdom from the horde forces that threaten. This adventure is designed for 5-6 characters of level 4-6 or of Veteran status, depending on which system you are using.

Hard Light by Kevin Crawford.  [S.]ine [N.]omine Publishing. The 36 page PDF is available for $4.99 and is an adventure for Stars Without Number, an old school Science Fiction Role-playing Game available for free. 

Hard Light takes a band of young adventurers to a system blazing with the murderous light of a red giant star. The hard-bitten novium miners of the Brightside mining station maintain the only outpost of civilization in a system filled with lethal light and stellar outlaws on the run. Will the players find the riches of the ancient asteroid sky tombs and their alien makers, or will they fall prey to the seething rebellion that boils beneath Brightside Station's steel skin? Find out in this adventure for the Stars Without Numberroleplaying game.

• Includes maps and personnel writeups for Brightside Station, a novium mining outpost hovering on the dark side of a molten planetoid.
• Maps and contents for three fully-developed sky tombs and their enigmatic occupants.
• Outlines the sinister machinations occurring on the station, and opportunities for PCs to entangle themselves in the mining outpost's ultimate fate.
• Gives details on the long-forgotten alien creators of the sky tombs and the doom that befell their civilization.
• Provides details on a selection of exotic alien technology for plunder or disastrous misuse.
• Includes a page of mini-geomorphs and a random generation process for creating as many sky tombs as your players dare explore.
• Hard Light is intended for 4-6 PCs of levels 1-3, and is mechanically compatible with most classic retroclones.

Free Stuff!

Joe Bloch of Greyhawk Grognard has released a 221 page PDF of the Player's Guide, for Adventures Dark & Deep! Download it and if you're interested in joining in the playtesting fun, Joe could use your help!

The Delve has posted a new version of his Holmes Treasury. The link is at the top of the post, dated November 30.

Jeff Rients of Jeff's Gameblog has a link to a PDF on Ornamental Stones, which was made from one of Jeff's previous posts.

Fitz of Shouting Into The Void has a revised version of his Swords & Wizardry house-rules available.

JDJarvis of Aeons & Augauries has added some more Geomorph posts. And a cool Post-Apocalypse map. 

Evan of In Places Deep has some more Maps, you might can use.

ze bulette of Dungeons & Digressions has another B2 inspired mini PDF notecard map.

Podcasts & Videos

How about some videos of Michael Curtis running Stonehell?

Samwise7 has added some new video content, including some 2e reviews.

Save or Die Podcast Adventure #15: Bugbear!

Review Round-up

Johnathan Bingham of Ostensible Cat has a review of Stefan Poag's Exquisite Corpses.

Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern has a review of Stars Without Number. 

Events & Happenings

ChicagoWiz wrapped up his Toys for Tots donation drive collecting $145 from all of you awesome grognards, to help Santa out! Congratulations and you can check out the Raffle results, if you missed them.

Today is the last day of the LotFP PDF sale! Everything's $1.34!

Norman Harman of Troll and Flame has some news on OwlCon XXX, which is coming up in January. Norman will be running B2 and it will no doubt be a blast!

What I'm Pimping This Week

Hammers of the God by James Edward Raggi IV. Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Available in PDF for $6.00 ($1.34 if you get it TODAY) and in Print for 11,00€ including shipping, outside Europe. The PDF is 86 pages. 

By the Sign of the Hammer!

A mysterious map and a promise treasure to be won are all that are required to set any adventurer worth the name into the wilderness. But sometimes what is found is far more than treasure.

Many that are good and noble will kill to make sure the secrets to be found under the old mountain stay buried. Many that enter the darkness will become beguiled by the splendor of the halls in which they walk, mesmerized by the riches to be found there, never realizing that death follows their every move.

Dwarves never forget a grudge. But what if they hold that grudge against themselves?

Beware the god who has been discarded.

An Adventure For Character Levels 3 – 5

This PDF is A5 size, with the dungeon map being A4 size.

Compatible with Labyrinth Lord, LotFP Weird Fantasy Role-Playing, OSRIC, and Swords & Wizardry Core Rules

I promised myself I would wait and order a Print copy of this, but then Mr. Raggi had to go and put it on sale for $1.34. That's almost Free!!! So I got it and read it immediately. Good stuff!! I still want a print copy, though.

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."

The Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook PDF is Now Listed on Paizo

Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook PDF - $9.99. On Paizo. It hasn't showed up on the publisher site or RPGNOW yet.

Brave Halfling Reports That the White Boxes are Almost Gone!

John posted earlier today, that he only had 5 left! Also, that all WB's purchased thus far would be shipping by Friday. My wife ordered me one for Christmas, once again proving that marrying her was the smartest thing I've ever done. It's quite possible that she won't let me have it until Christmas Morning, but that's ok. I need something to unwrap, as I already received my main present. 

It's awesome that these are selling so well! Congratulations John! 

And if you've been thinking about snagging one of these, I'd do so tonight! From his postings, John's sold about thirty or so in the past two days, so the final five are not going to last long! 

OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, December 5, 2010

And Speaking of d100 Games...

OpenQuest by Newt Newport. D101 Games.

A complete and easy to play Fantasy Roleplaying game, with monsters, magic and exotic locales. OpenQuest uses the classic D100 rules mechanic, which uses percentages to express the chance of success or failure.

Open Quest is based on the Mongoose RuneQuest SRD (MRQ SRD), with ideas from previous editions of Chaosium’s RuneQuest and Stormbringer 5th, mixed in with some common sense house rulings from the author’s twenty years of experience with the D100 system.

You can find the D101 Lulu Store, here. The author's blog, Sorcerer Under Mountain, may also be of interest.

This has been out for a while, but I've had my hands so full with everything else, that I've neglected to keep up with OpenQuest. The Developers Kit is available as a free text download, if you want to check out the rule-set and/or use it to make your own game, or house-ruled version. Life & Death, a setting and sourcebook for the game, has recently been released and there's more coming.

You might be interested in The Age of Shadow, a game utilizing the above-mentioned Developers Kit and available as a free download.

A big thanks to Akrasia of Akratic Wizardry, for turning me on to OpenQuest and keeping us all up-to-date on what's happening with the game!

New Releases!

A1 Lair of the Goblin King by Roderic Waibel. Sacrosanct Games. Available in PDF for $3.00. 35 pages.

Lair of the Goblin King is the first in a series of adventures that takes the characters from the beginings of their career to eventual heroes. It is also the first in the unique series of products that includes both an OSRIC compatible version and a version for the Altus Adventum 2nd edition game.

This Adventure is designed for 4-6 1st level characters who find themselves broke and stranded in the city of Piarth. Just about out of food and ready to give up on an adventuring career, they hear word of a reward for anyone who can find out what is attacking caravans to the border towns.

Free Stuff!

Stars Without Number by Kevin Crawford, an old school Science Fiction Role-playing Game from [S.]ine [N.]omine publishing is available for free!

Stars Without Number is a retro-inspired science fiction role playing game influenced by the Old School Renaissance. The contents are compatible with most old school clones and are designed to be easily imported to your own favorite gaming system. In addition to a complete pre-made stellar sector, Stars Without Number offers GMs and players the tools to create their own sandbox-style adventures in the far future.

Jimm Johnson of The Contemptible Cube of Quazar has his D&D for Kids rules available for download.

Joe Bloch of Greyhawk Grognard has another Adventures Dark & Deep preview up - The Bard.

Podcasts & Videos!

The Save or Die Podcast: Interview with Mike Carr.

The Save or Die Podcast: Side Adventure #4.

Review Round-up!

ckutalik of Hill Cantons has a review of Stonehell Dungeon Supplement Two: Buried Secrets.

Geordie Racer of Geordie Goes Gaming has a review of Life & Death.

My review of The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom is here. 

What I'm Pimping This Week!

Original Edition Characters by Daniel Proctor. Goblinoid Games. Available in Print for $8.45. In PDF for $3.95 and as a free text-file. 

Original Edition Characters is a player’s supplement for Labyrinth Lord. An alternate method of creating characters is introduced, with character classes more similar to the way they were presented in the original 1974 rules. Welcome back to playing fighting men, clerics, magic-users, halflings, dwarves, and elves that can be fighting men in one game session and magic-users in the next. This book is a self contained guide to making characters in this style, and will require the Labyrinth Lord core rules.

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."