Updated Pic & PDF Info For Fight On!'s Roll the Bones

Ignatius Umlaut sent me a much better pic, with which I've updated yesterday's post. I'm re-pimping, here. :)


The PDF link has also changed, along with a listed drop in price. 

Roll the Bones edited by Ignatius Umlaut. Available in print for $19.99 and in PDF for $8.00. 379 pages.

"With Roll the Bones, Fight On! Publications takes its first foray into fantastic fiction! These 22 thoroughly thrilling tales feature weird enclaves, black pits, dragons, knights, faeries, love, hate, vengeance, apotheosis, lepers, ostriches, Cerberus, bush nazis, a prodigious golden horde, several curses, and much, much more! If you are looking for weird tales to inspire your own adventures, read on break at work or before falling asleep at night, or simply for sheer pleasure, look no further! With exceptional art by Mark Allen and stories from Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, Michael D. Turner, Duncan Sandiland, Alicia Rieske, Tracie McBride, Andrew Knighton, Kristen Lee Knapp, Aaron Kesher, Robert E. Keller, Eric Juneau, A.H. Jennings, John Hitchens, Lance Hawvermale, Julie Frost, Mark Finnemore, James Dorr, Raven Daegmorgan, Melissa Cuevas, and Del Beaudry, this is one anthology of swords & sorcery you won't want to miss. Fight On!"

OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, January 30, 2011

(Note: The Link to the S&W WB Draft has been updated.)


Two New 1st Edition Modules From Dragonsfoot!

DF29 Ruins of the White Watch by Andrew Hamilton. Cover art by Paul Fini and Christy Cameron Smith. Interior art by C. Wesley Clough. Maps by Andreas Claren. Available as a Free PDF. 29 pages.

Centuries ago the White Watch defended the land. Then it fell and it's location was lost... until now. Who knows what treasures could be found in its depths. An adventure for a party of 6, of levels 5 to 8.

DF28 The Banked Swamp by Steve Temple. Art by Antti Hulkkone. Maps by Andreas Claren. Available as a Free PDF. 20 pages.


A thick mist, a splash heard in the distance, the lure of treasures untold... Welcome to The Banked Swamp, an adventure for a low-level party, that can be dropped into nearly any campaign.


A complete list of modules and supplements available from Dragonsfoot may be found here.

Joe's Going To Entice Me To Pick Up This Game, Yet!

Creatures Below The Shattered Moon - Volume 4 by Joseph Browning. Art by David Esbri, Joan Guardiet and Rick Hershey. Expeditious Retreat Press. 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 18 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, 2, and 3 and Objects Below the Shattered Moon - Volume 1 and Volume 2. Finally, drop by our Sorcery & Super Science Blog for additional Sorcery & Super Science goodness!

Fight On! With Some Swords & Sorcery Fiction!

Roll the Bones edited by Ignatius Umlaut. Available in print for $19.99 and in  PDF for $8.00. 379 pages.

With Roll the Bones, Fight On! Publications takes its first foray into fantastic fiction! These 22 thoroughly thrilling tales feature weird enclaves, black pits, dragons, knights, faeries, love, hate, vengeance, apotheosis, lepers, ostriches, Cerberus, bush nazis, a prodigious golden horde, several curses, and much, much more! If you are looking for weird tales to inspire your own adventures, read on break at work or before falling asleep at night, or simply for sheer pleasure, look no further! With exceptional art by Mark Allen and stories from Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, Michael D. Turner, Duncan Sandiland, Alicia Rieske, Tracie McBride, Andrew Knighton, Kristen Lee Knapp, Aaron Kesher, Robert E. Keller, Eric Juneau, A.H. Jennings, John Hitchens, Lance Hawvermale, Julie Frost, Mark Finnemore, James Dorr, Raven Daegmorgan, Melissa Cuevas, and Del Beaudry, this is one anthology of swords & sorcery you won't want to miss. Fight On!

Antediluvian Printworks

Richard Tongue A.K.A. Methuslah of OD&DITIES fame, has announced he is launching a Swords & Wizardry Whitebox 'zine, Unknown Sagas:

I am launching a new fanzine, to be called 'Unknown Sagas', that will cover Swords & Wizardry: White Box. I aim to publish this fanzine quarterly, at least for the moment, and it will be produced in the digest-sized format, to match the newest release of the White Box rules, which are impending. This magazine will be distributed for free in PDF format, and a hardcopy version will be available through Lulu at cost – this will be a free fanzine, just as in the earliest days of OD&DITIES.

Now, naturally, such a fanzine is nothing without submissions, so I'm calling for writers and artists! No submission restrictions on content, this fanzine is to be by the fans and for the fans; that's the whole idea of a fanzine. I'll take spells, monsters, adventures, house rules, classes, rants, poems, campaign write-ups, short stories, anything in fact that the readers wish to send in! The rules system used in any article should be 'White Box', naturally, and submissions, ideas, questions and comments should be in Word, Open Office or rtf format, to methuslah1@yahoo.co.uk.

Richard has consolidated his blogs into the Antediluvian Printworks site, where you can keep up with Unknown Sagas and his other projects.

And Speaking of Swords & Wizardry Whitebox

Matt Finch has posted a link to the review draft of the new Mythmere Games version of Swords & Wizardry Whitebox.  Kudos to Matt, Marv and the gang at the Swords & Wizardry Forums for jumping on this so quickly! Available as a free PDF download.

Need A Sandbox and Dungeon To Go With That Whitebox?

R. W. Chandler of Black Hole Diaries has a 5 page PDF available for free download, Crypts of Aezoul Vhezian Level 1. As well as a very handsome worldmap, The Land of Numendyr.

For The Star Frontiersman

Adventure Idea Factory by William Logan. Art by Shane Tyree and William Logan. DwD Studios. Available in PDF for $5.00. 24 pages.

Fantasy adventures are so easy to make up… slay the dragon, save the princess, stop the advancing goblin horde. But those of us who love science fiction role-playing games have a lot more work to do in coming up with imaginative adventures in the vastness of space.

Until now.

So grab your dice and this booklet… and in a few minutes you’ll have a new and imaginative adventure concept sketched out and just waiting for a group of intrepid players. This book will spur on your imagination, will give you new ideas that you may not have come up with on your own.

This book is compatible with all science fiction role-playing games and contains a large amount of inspiration for game masters. It is the first of DwD Studios Game Master's Accessories.

DwD Studios are the guys who bring us Star Frontiersman and the Star Frontiers Remastered PDF's, which are available for Free. They've also recently put out a Minor NPC Cards PDF, for free download.


The Times They Are A-Changing

And Greg Christopher of the Errant RPG blog has a character portrait Smartphone App for free download.

I'm Going To Be Lazy And Just Forward Dyson's Forum Post

Dyson Logos of A character for every game posts a weekly link recap for his blog to the Goblinoid Games Forums. What, with all the cool maps, geomorphs and other goodies he posts, it'll be a lot quicker if I just forward this:

Another week, and a tragedy for me - my hard drive AND backup drive both got blown out somehow last night during a routine backup. So Dodecahedron 2 will be delayed a bit.

But this week we did get some cool old-school stuff out... and a LOT of mapping goodness (3 maps in one week? Madness!)

• Geomorph Madness! (seriously, you have to say it like Ren Hoek saying "Space Madness!") - a photo of over 250 geomorphs put together into one megadungeon to end them all!

• Dungeon Creation Game - A map and a link to the game elf23 started on these very forums!

• The Zombie Cabs of Parrain - A bit of flavour material from my D&D campaign setting - giant undead ogres as taxis.

• One Hour Dungeon Map - One of my best maps. In only an hour!

• Random Thursday - Brigands, Bandits & Highwaymen - a d12 table to add a bit of spice to the Bandits wandering monster entry.

• Friday Map - The Great Underground - A map of a huge underground complex - or a series of complexes linked in various ways.

Thanks Dyson, for sharing all this great work!

D&D Without Funny Dice? 

eggofcoot posted an RTF file of his Big Brown Book, a few months ago. The BBB is a clone of the LBB's, which only use d6's. If you scroll down, he's recently put it in PDF format as a Free download. 

Oops! Sorry Samwise! (I May Be The Only Person Besides Frodo To Have Ever Said That.)

But I've been relying on your posts to the Goblinoid Games Forums to let me know when you've updated the video blog. I haven't seen such a post in a few weeks and sure enough, I checked the channel page and you've got more stuff up! Head over to Samwise7's Youtube Channel for some gaming goodness!

One Grognard's Opinion: Lovecraft Edition

Johnathan Bingham of Ostensible Cat has a review of Charnel Crypt of the Sightless Serpent. 

Beedo of Dreams in the Lich House has a review of LotFP: Weird Fantasy Role-Playing. 

ckutalik of Hill Cantons has a review of Realms of Crawling Chaos, Part I and Part II.

JDJarvis of Aeons & Auguries has a review of Realms of Crawling Chaos. 

Pookie of Reviews from R'lyeh has a review of All the Treasures of the World: Jewels. 

Carter Soles of The Lands of Ara has a review of The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H. P. Lovecraft. 

Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern takes a first look at Realms of Crawling Chaos.

FrDave of Blood of Prokopius has a review of Realms of Crawling Chaos. 

Paul Gorman of Quickly, Quietly, Carefully has a review of Realms of Crawling Chaos.

White Haired Man has a review of the Errant RPG. 

We Need More Quixotic Bastards

Alexis of The Tao of D&D posted an overview of the recent updates to the Same Universe Wiki. 

Meet The Delving Deeper Team!

John Adams of Brave Halfling Publishing posted the first installment of his Delving Deeper Development Blog. Here's a tiny excerpt, which tells us who's doing what:

Here is our team:

• Writer: Cameron Dubeers

• Editor: David Macauley

• Artist: Mark Allen

• Layout: John Adams

Groovy! Click this link for more.

A Character Sheet!

Chris Creel of The Polyhedral Dicebag has a Generic Fantasy RPG Character Sheet you might like. 

Time For Some Gamer Porn

Scadgrad of The Savage Sword of Scadgrad has A Campaign Map for Stonehell Dungeon. 

JDJarvis of Aeons & Auguries has another Dungeon Map for you. 

sirlarkins of The RPG Corner has made and posted a really, really sweet post-apoc map you might want to yoink. 

I linked R. W. Chandler's World Map: The Land of Numendyr already, but I'm doing it again because it's so awesome!

Convention News!

It's all about Cyclopeatron this week, who has kindly made an Upcoming Games page, to keep us up to date on what he's running at various Conventions. He also has a page on the O. C. Gameday, taking place on March 20, so if you're in California you might want to check it out.

What I'm Pimping This Week

This week, I'm pimping the Draft release of the new Swords & Wizardry Whitebox PDF. Matt's asking for input, so if you're a Whitebox aficionado, head over to the forums and throw in your two coppers!

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. 

Fight On! #6 is Available for Free!

For a limited time only, so get it while it's hot!

Edit: This link is dead and the publishers original post on the OD&D boards is gone. Here's the thread, in case it goes back up.

OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, January 23, 2011

Are You Sure This Won't Wake Cthulhu?

Realms of Crawling Chaos by Daniel Proctor and Michael Curtis. Art by Mark Allen and Sean Aaberg. Goblinoid Games. Available in Print for $17.95 and in PDF for $4.95. 63 pages.

In R’lyeh, Cthulhu Stirs… Evil cultists consummate their union with Shub-Niggurath in dark woods no other mortals dare go. Alien terrors lurk in the underworld; their vast riches wait, or their incomprehensible powers could leave you broken, dead, or worse. Adventure in underworlds filled with horrible entities, or the ruins of alien beings that enslaved the ape-like ancestors of mankind. Seek hidden secrets from the arctic wastes to dark, briny seas. But as you approach the ocean, what are those strange longings you feel? Realms of Crawling Chaos is a Lovecraftian Dark Fantasy campaign supplement for Labyrinth Lord and the Advanced Edition Companion. In this book you will find: New player races, including white apes, white ape hybrids, sea blood, and subhumans. New spells New monsters New artifacts and a system for designing unique artifacts Rules for psionics, compatible with Mutant future.

A Free Weird Adventures Appetizer

Strange Trails -Journeys Into Weird Pulp Fantasy by Trey Causey. With Illustrations by Reno Maniquis and Johnathan Bingham. Available as a free downloadable 23 page PDF.

While we're waiting for Trey of From the Sorcerer's Skull to finish Weird Adventures, he's given us this to whet our appetites:

Strange Trails features:

Eight articles from this blog, some expanded, and all of them annotated and illustrated--including artwork by our man in Manila, Reno Maniquis, and that ostensible cat,Johnathan Bingham.

An “Appendix N” for the City and its world.

A shot of flavor fiction to set the mood.

If you haven't checked out what Trey's doing, I can't recommend it highly enough! Weird Adventures is going to be awesome!

An Original Edition Roleplaying Game Box Set!

Delving Deeper by John Adams. Brave Halfling Publishing. This Boxed Set is Available for Pre-order for $29.95.

Delving Deeper RPG closely emulates the rules of the earliest version of the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Go back to a time when every weapon did d6 damage, clerics could cast no spell at first level, only fighters could use magic swords, and if you wanted a locked door opened you had to bash the thing in! It is difficult to imagine in a world where multiple, weighty tomes comprise the rules; but the these three small books contain all you need to build a campaign that can span decades of real time! If you’re tired of trying to find the rule for determining whether your fighter is left-handed and is able to swim and just want to kill some goblins, have we got a game for you!

But wait, there’s more! While Delving Deeper is a solid, rule set that closely emulates the rules of the earliest version of Original Edition, it also has a toolbox aspect to it as well. Running throughout the game are two separate tracks of options – little tweaks to the rules that help DD also emulate the rules of the First Basic Edition (“Basic Track”) and the rules of the Third Print Edition of a modern rpg inspired by Original Edition (“Modern Track”).

Delving Deeper RPG will be released directly from Brave Halfling Publishing as a digest boxed set of booklets, dice, character sheets, etc. the first week of April and in your local game store in May. We will be supporting Delving Deeper RPG with modules, supplements and campaigns. A free trademark license will also be available for third party publishers.

This Boxed Set Contains everything you need to play:

• 6″ x 9″ Game Box (This is an actual game box manufactured for just this purpose)
• Rule Booklets
• Ten digest-sized Character Sheets
• Set of Polyhedral Dice
• Pencil

(All orders will begin shipping on April 1 – much sooner if possible)

Special: The first 50 orders will also receive a free, print copy of the brand new Sandbox / Starter Campaign Setting, “Tavern of the Twin Moons!”

You Know, Giant Ants Would  be Pretty Scary...

C1 Circle of Fire by Bill Barsh. Art by Christopher Letzelter. Pacesetter Games. Available in Print for $11.00. 36 pages plus the cover.

The Circle of Fire is an OSRIC module for 4-6 characters of 4th to 6th level. The module includes a 36-page adventure book and separate color, cardstock cover.

Surrounded by an unrelenting horde of giant fire ants, your party must seek escape or die in a firey pyre. The search is frantic but finally a solution may be at hand. But is it truly salvation or are you only leaping into another Circle of Fire?

Pacesetter Games is also releasing a revised 3rd printing of their T1 The Thing in the Valley. 

For the Do-It-Yourselfer

The Text Files for Labyrinth Lord and Advanced Edition Companion are now available for free download.

S&W Style Golden Age Superhero's Anyone?

Supplement II: All-American by Scott Casper. Published by Games by Scott Casper. Available in PDF for $3.00. 68 pages.

HIDEOUTS & HOODLUMS returns with more character classes, more mobsters, more trophies, more adventure ideas, plus 16 pages of appendices for Golden Age of Comics lovers and the first ever, complete and ready to play, 14-page adventure scenario "Temple of the Rooster God!"

Be sure to check out Hideouts & Hoodlums Book I: Men and Supermen, Book II: Mobsters and Trophies and Book III: Underworld and Metropolis Adventures, available for $2.00 each in PDF. The RPGNOW pages list these as d20 games, but as the description and product covers state they're Swords & Wizardry Compatible, I'm assuming that the latter is correct.


So, You Say You Can't Get Enough Fomalhaut?

Then, Gabor Lux has you covered! Download Sword & Magic: Adventures on Fomalhaut and Towards Fomalhaut in English for free.

Those Masks Are Really Freaky Looking Roger...

Roger the GS of Roles, Rules, and Rolls has a Dramatic Personae random table PDF for free download.

And Now That Roger's Helped You Roll-up Some NPC's...

Cyclopeatron will help you document and organize those poor, doomed bastards, with his free Fillable Henchman Card PDF's. 


I'm a Picky Sonofabitch When It Comes To Character Sheets

But I really like the one included in the OSRIC PDF. Not the prettiest sheet in the world, but very damn functional! Pascal de Bruijn has made a version of it without the shadings, available for free.

Which Brings Us To...

John Stater from The Land of Nod has a Mystery Men! Character Sheet available for free download.

The DM Giveth and the DM Taketh Away

bliss_infinte of The Warlock's Home Brew has a free Out Of Dungeon Living Expenses chart PDF.

Rules, Six-sided Dice, Paper and Pencils

Dan of Sword and Board has the probably final edit of his Sword and Board RPG up for free download.

Tunnels & Trolls? Tenkar Has Us Covered!

And turned us on to The Hobgoblin's Tavern, a site with free and for pay T&T goodness!

If You Can Read German...

Then Moritz Mehlem of Von Der Seifenkiste Herab has some free Labyrinth Lord One-page Dungeons.

This Is Such A Cool Idea For A Blog Series

Daddy Grognard has kicked off his An Adventure for Every Monster series, which takes a monster from The Monster Manual and gives its stats, along with a short adventure write-up for the critter. He's still on the A's and the series should keep him busy and us entertained for quite a while. :)

Geomorph Madness, Indeed

Dyson Logos of A character for every game has more Geomorphs! And check out The Lost Crypts!

And Blair of Planet Algol posted Nine Cave & Lair Geomorphs!

More Gamer Porn (that'll get me a few more search engine hits.)

Pat of Henchman Abuse posted his Denethix Map. He busted his ass on this, so be sure to check it out!

Il Male of The Yaqqothl Grimoire posted his Yaqqothl Campaign Map #1. Labeled and non-labeled version. Very nice hexmap, Il Male!

baronzemo of Forever Free Games posted his FFG 3 Quick Adventure, featuring a hexmap and key.

JDJarvis has of Aeons & Augauries has been making some Dungeons for us.

Michael Curtis of Archive of the Rotted Moon has posted his Map of Blackpool. 


One Grognard's Opinion: Reviews 

Beedo from Dreams in the Lich House has his play-report of Death Frost Doom and a review of Blood Moon Rising. 

Mike Monaco of Swords & Dorkery has a review of Towers of Adventure. 

Carter Soles of The Lands of Ara has a review of the Oubliette #1-4 Print Compilation. 

the venomous pao of Strange Stones does not have a review of Stars Without Number. 

Pookie of Reviews from R'lyeh has a review of All the Treasures of the World: Gems.

Higgipedia of Gaming All Over The Place has a review of All the Treasures of the World: Gems and Jewels and further words, here. 

Big Bad of There's a Bugbear in my Kitchen plays some Sorcery & Super Science!

Jamie Albrecht of For A Fistful Of Coppers has some thoughts on Lost Empires.

Blog Spotlight: Greyhawkery

Many of you have no doubt been following Mike "mortellan" Bridges' web comic W.o.G., where the author brings us the funny side of Greyhawk's many deities and personages. He's recently started a blog, Greyhawkery and I for one am pleased as punch to see more Greyhawk online! If you feel the same way, head over to Greyhawkery for some entertainment, insight, information and humor!

What I'm Pimping This Week

Kellri’s Classic Dungeon Designer’s Netbook # 4 – Old School Encounters Reference. Available as a free PDF download. 160 pages of sheer Awesome!

It's time to once again pimp this tour de force! When the space aliens attack and we all have to go in hiding underground, I'll probably only be able to take a small number of gaming supplements with me. :(

While there will be some agonizing decisions to be made (I really like the Forgotten Realms City System maps, but I just don't have room in the suitcase, dammit!) there will also be a few no-brainers.

• AD&D 1e core books? Check!
• 1983 World of Greyhawk Box Set? Check!
• Kellri's Old School Encounters Reference? Check!

My younger self is wondering why TSR didn't put out something like this in the early 80's, but my self of today is just pleased as punch to have it now! 

It's one of the absolute best gaming supplements I own. Did I mention that it’s free? If you haven’t downloaded this incredibly useful, Very Old School supplement, do so! Right Now! Then, go over it thoroughly and Marvel at what Mr. Hoover has wrought!

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. 

Random Table of 30 Campaign Altering Events for a Fantasy Setting

1. War in Heaven - All gods must Save or Die!

2. A Rival NPC party has just finished Death Frost Doom.
3. The local head of state now worships Asmodeus.
4. The Entire Continent becomes engulfed in War.
5. Famine!
6. Plague!
7. A new religion, spreads like wildfire.
8. The Snake-men have returned.
9. High Level Magic-users are fighting over the newly found Black Book of Ahrthag.
10. A major technological advancement.
11. All Elves begin to rapidly age and die.
12. The Aether is in Flux: 20% chance that any spell cast will have an unanticipated effect or side-effect.
13. A Gate drops Elric, Conan, or some other literary badass into the campaign.
14. The Largest city in the world is wiped out by a meteor.
15. All first world nations sign a peace treaty! Let the partying, commence!
16. The local head of state is Asmodeus!
17. A widely believed in prophecy is found to be fulfilled or disproved.
18. A powerful Knightly Order has been outlawed.
19. Arcane Magic is Outlawed.
20. Death balances his Books and plots the demise of 25 heroes.
21. A Great Old One has escaped its imprisonment.

22. A Gate deposits 300 Spartan soldiers into the milieu.
23. Polar Shift - Mass Destruction!
24. A widely circulated version of a common MU spell, contains a Virus.
25. A major deity changes alignment.
26. A group of high-level NPC heroes have failed and the world is sucked into the abyss.
27. A new mega-dungeon is discovered.
28. A crashed space-ship deposits alien flora and fauna upon the world.
29. A mighty hero usurps the crown of the most powerful nation in the milieu.
30. The entire campaign world is actually a training ground for the armies of an interstellar empire, a la Warhammer 40K. In the event of a TPK, the characters will be successfully revived and conscripted to fight in a never-ending war, in service to a galactic tyrant.

In Praise of Brave Halfling

I don't know if John Adams is the most prolific publisher of Old School gaming products, but Brave Halfling Publishing is certainly in the running. Thanks to John's efforts, and those of the author's and artists he's published, an impressive catalog of gaming material has been made available for those of us who enjoy TSR era D&D games and their modern simulacra.

After discovering Swords & Wizardry, I immediately began hunting for more Old School material discovering, amongst other things, John & Andy's The Halfling Adventurer, which is available as a free download. I have it printed out and added to my notebook copy of S&W Core. After downloading a bloody ton of other free OSR stuff, I went on a several month long PDF shopping spree and Brave Halfling products caught my eye and wallet, on several happy occasions!

I think I got The Ruins of Ramat, first. It was cheap, $3.50 and had art by Andy 'Atom' Taylor, whose work I really dig! I enjoyed it and printed out a copy, complete with color photo-paper copies of the covers. I liked what this Halfing fellow was doing and over the next several weeks, endeavored to buy as many PDF's from BH as I could, without incurring the wrath of "She who must be Appeased." My wife keeps track of our finances, so if I'm not sure exactly where we're at, I check with her. I heard a few muttered comments of "five dollaring me to death."  :)

Notice the older logo, on this cover, which looks great printed out, by the way. There's also an Original Edition Adventures version of the module, available.

Next I picked up Larm, which I was pleased to discover is a great supplement! I wrote a review of it, as part of this post.  If you're looking for a well detailed village to set into your sandbox, Larm fits the bill nicely!

The village of Larm is located on the Labyrinth Lord Known World and is featured in other Brave Halfling products, like Fortress of the Mountain King and Dolm River, as well as in Under Siege from Soapbox Games. I think it's present in Return of the Mountain King as well, but I haven't purchased that one yet.

I've yet to read The Forgotten Temple of Baalzebul, a 73 page long OSRIC module, which John has announced will be re-released for Labyrinth Lord/AEC. I think I'm saving it for a rainy day. Sounds cool though, doesn't it?

Several centuries past, a shadowy sect sought to enslave the world in the name of their dark lord, Baalzebul, one of the arch devils of Hell. They carved out a massive subterranean temple deep in the heart of a dense, forbidding forest to base their operations. The clerics of Tyr, God of War and Justice, were eventually able to assemble a host of holy warriors to raid the temple, and managed to destroy most of the wicked followers of Lord Baalzebul before their darksome ambitions could be fully realized. Or so they thought. Cut to the present: A company of clerics calling themselves the Order of the Black Lotus have journeyed to the evil fane with the intent of reviving the forgotten cult of Baalzebul. They are surprised to discover that many of the followers of the arch devil survived the raid, afterwards performing the necessary rites to merge with the Negative Material Plane so as to unnaturally extend their lifespans. It is up to you to see that they don't fully unite with the undead servants of Baalzebul, unleashing the arch devil's horde upon an unsuspecting world. This product is designed for 4-6 player characters of levels 13-15, and contains a detailed key and maps to the sprawling three level underground Temple of Baalzebul. Also includes a new spell, a new monster, and rules for the worship of the arch devil Baalzebul.

By the by, this item is cheaper at Your Games Now than at RPGNOW.  Or, you can get the print for $10.00. 

But without a doubt, my absolute favorite Brave Halfling item is the Swords & Wizardry: Whitebox Edition Boxed Set. Financial constraints kept me from ordering a first printing, but I got a third for Christmas this year (thanks Brisco!) and am tickled to death about it!

The stuff I've listed here, isn't Brave Halfling's full catalog. Just some stuff John has put out, which I've purchased and enjoyed over the past 15 months. If you ignore the bundles, RPGNOW lists 30 BH products. That's a lot of gaming goodness, which John and the creative folks he's working with, have made for our enjoyment!

While I don't really know Mr. John Adams, my few online communications with him have left me with the impression that he is a Gentleman and one I would welcome at my table, anytime! Thank's John, for all your hard work and here's to wishing a bright and bountiful future for Brave Halfling Publishing! 

200 Followers - You Guys Are Awesome!

Wow! When I started this blog, in September of 2009, I didn't know if anyone would stop by for a visit. Yesterday, the Gazette hit 200 followers and had 530 page-views! Thanks to all of you guys for following the Underdark Gazette, commenting, adding me to your blogrolls and for reading my posts! I hope you're having as much fun as I am!

James
Level 7: Pundit

OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, January 16, 2011

"What daring! What outrageousness! What insolence! What arrogance!... I salute you."

OSRIC V2.2 has been released!

Available in print from Lulu and as a 56.5 MB free PDF at the OSRIC site. PapersAndPaychecks posted this list of changes at the Knights & Knaves Alehouse:

Changelog

Rules change

The Weed Eel now has a Number Encountered stat. (It was previously blank, now changed to 1d4.)

Table changes

The dagger now appears on the missile weapons table as well as the melee weapons table.

The missing table in the random treasure determination section has been reinserted. (It was the random table for Rods, Staves and Wands.) Also on the subject of treasure tables, two other tables have been added, so you can randomly determine the "specials" among swords or miscellaneous weapons, if you so wish.

House style fixes

The house style fixes are things like altering "d100" to "d%" or "86-100: No effect" to "86-00: No effect". There are several of these, which I won't bother to enumerate.

I was just about to buy a print copy of OSRIC when I heard this update was coming out. So, if you've been thinking about buying a copy, now's a good time. Or, you can update your PDF to the latest version. While I'm at it, I recently discovered the OSRIC Wiki and also, if you haven't checked out Monsters of Myth, it's also available as a free download and did I mention that it rocks?

Thanks a whole hell of a bunch to Stuart Marshall, Matthew Finch, the gang at the Knights & Knaves Alehouse and everyone else who made OSRIC possible!

The Hardest Working Man in the OSR Does It Again!

I've referred to John Stater as the James Brown of the OSR on a few occasions and he continues to live up to that designation with the 41 page Beta release of Mystery Men!, available as a free download. I'm excited by this! I need a Supers RPG. I didn't have one. This one looks like it will suit me just fine! Thanks John and thanks to the Mystery Men! patrons who helped John make this game a reality!

Be sure to check out the Mystery Men! related posts on John's blog, The Land of Nod.

Which Brings Me to Zak S and Playing D&D With Pornstars

If you're not following Zak's blog, here's a fine example of what you're missing out on:

THE RANDOM SUPERHERO GENERATION SYSTEM THAT'S COMPATIBLE WITH ALL SUPERHERO SYSTEMS and that is fun.

And while you're there, if you're so inclined, you can help Zak and his readers design an RPG.

Are You Ready for Adventures Dark and Deep?

Joe Bloch's brings His Gygaxian 2nd Edition another step closer to completion with the release of the Game Master's Toolkit! The 120 page PDF is available for free download and from my quick skim-through, looks bloody awesome! If the idea of Joe's project to bring us a new AD&D edition based upon Gary Gygax's known plans, piques your interest, head over to the Adventures Dark and Deep forums and check it out!

 Oh, and if you missed it, you can go here to access the download for the Player's Guide. 

Representing the OSR at Gen Con!

One of the big news items of the week, was that there will be an OSR Booth at Gen Con 2011! For more details, especially if you're interested in having some of your products on display, check out Joseph Browning's post at Sorcery  & Super Science!

Clones? I Say, Keep em Coming!

Randall of RetroRoleplaying: The Blog has released Microlite75 V1.00. Available for free download. From the author's blog:

What is Microlite75?

Microlite75, like its parent game, Microlite20, is a trimmed down, sub-miniature version of the Primary Fantasy SRD rules (see license for more info) that has been designed to be quick and easy to play. The goal of Microlite75, however, is to recreate the style and feel of the early editions of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game published in the 1970s and early 1980s – but with a few modern ideas and additions that fit the early edition spirit.

The rules are based on the 1974 0e edition with its supplements and material from 0e magazine articles, some 0e third party material, some of the house rules the author used in the 1970s, and selected ideas from other roleplaying games. The rules are not intended to be a clone of the 0e rules, but rather a conversion of them to a rules-lite D20-based system that encourages old-school play without strictly old-school rules.

Maze Masters Rejoice! You May Now Don Your Viking Hat!

Vikings & Valkyries, a supplement for Mazes & Monsters has been released. The 50 page PDF is available for free download, along with all the Grecian flavored M&M stuff!

This 50-page, fully illustrated and bookmarked PDF book includes:

- Rules for creating Norse adventurers, including the new Viking class and rules for playing Elves, Dwarves and (yes!) Half-Giants – as well as simple conversions of existing M&M classes into Valkyries, Berserkers, Princes and other archetypes of Norse legends

- New combat options – including rules for going berserk, breaking shields and maiming opponents! 

- Rules for drinking contests and other manly Viking games!

- Rules for Ice Elementalism!

- An overview of the new world of Midgard (including an original map) and its otherworldly surrounding realms, from Asgard to Jotunheim! 

- Many new creatures – including several types of Giants and Trolls!

- A collection of typical Norse mythic items - including Mjolnir!

- The usual M&M mix of faux retro pastiche, kitsch homage and old school goodness!

Thanks to the venomous pao of Strange Stones for cluing us in on this!

Who Said That EPT was Inaccessible?

Mike D. at Sword +1 has a first draft of his Empire of the Petal Throne clone minus the setting material, up for free download.

More Cloneage

You can dowload the free open beta of Lost Empires: Swords & Wizardry Variant Rules, here. From the Publisher's Site:

“We’re big fans of the so-called Old School Renaissance (OSR) in roleplaying games,” said Stan Shinn, Lost Empires’ game designer. “Simple, fast-play rule games like Microlite20 inspired us to do something new with the retro-clone games now gaining popularity. The rules for Lost Empires fit on one double-sided page so it’s really easy to pass out a sheet to your friends, do a quick review of the simple rules and start playing in minutes.

"The game mechanics of Lost Empires, while familiar to many, introduces several changes to broaden the appeal of fantasy roleplaying to new audiences."

I'd Buy That for a Dollar

A4 Rise of the Bloodwolf by  Roderic Waibel. Sacrosanct Games. Available  as a 48 page PDF for $1.00.

A4, Rise of the Bloodwolf is the finale module in the A series of $1 adventures. Treachery is revealed, and the party has the opportunity for revenge. And oh, how sweet it will be.

So bring back that old school atmosphere and prepare to "kill them and take their stuff!" This adventure includes versions for both OSRIC and for the Altus Adventum 2nd edition role-playing games. It is designed for characters level 6-8 for OSRIC, or for HEROES in the Altus Adventum system.

News on the Convention Front 

Alex Riedel will be running an AD&D/Osric session at Winter War 38 in Champaign, IL. Alex's event will be on Saturday, January 29 @ 3 PM and he'll be running The Conqueror Worm from Expeditious Retreat Press.

Mike B. posted some info on North Texas RPG Con 2011. Here's a brief, informative excerpt, for those not familiar with the con:

NTRPG Con 2011:

Less than 5 months away, the 3rd annual NTRPG Con will take place June 2-5 in Irving, TX (same location as last time, the Staybridge Suites). NTRPG Con is the south's premier old school con, focusing on pre-2000 RPGs of all types, particularly D&D in it's many forms. No card games, no board games, no 4e, etc. Only OOP or old school oriented games need apply!

One Grognard's Opinion: Reviews From Around the Blogoverse

Johnathan Bingham of Ostensible Cat has a review of Savage Swords of Athanor. And another one of Skull Mountain. 

Kiltedyaksman of Discourse & Dragons has some Praise for Stonehell.

Pookie of Reviews from R'lyeh has reviews of The Wilderness Alphabet and Shadow, Sword & Spell. 

Some More Free Stuff to Download

Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern turned us on to some Tunnels & Trolls.

John Laviolette of The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms has some geomorphs for you.

David at Tower of the Archmage has a Traveller Subsector and Spreadsheet. 

James Raggi posted the Character Sheet for his Grindhouse Edition at Lamentations of the Flame Princess. 

the venomous pao of Strange Stones has his Strange Stones 5 Room Dungeon Compilation PDF ready. 

Dyson Logos of A character for every game has some Geomorph Endcaps.

Eli Arndt of I See Lead People posted some Quick and Dirty City Gazetteer Maps. 

Roger the GS of Roles, Rules and Rolls has some Carousing Tables. 

If you head over to Archive Of The Rotted Moon, Michael Curtis has A Partial Map of the Kinan-M'Nath posted. He also has some meta-gaming cards up at The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope. 

Evan of In Places Deep has an update of his Region 1 Map posted. 

John Williams of Rule of the Dice has posted a most Awesome Map. 

What Will 2011 Bring for Swords & Wizardry Whitebox?

John fills us in, here. 

What I'm Pimping this Week

Letting it Ride, because I'm running late for a family thing and my wife is going to strangle me if I don't get ready to go.

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.