Mindscape: Cliffside Town

Another Mindscape for you. Cliffside towns. One of the cultures in our Xeria setting are the Morecians, and theirs is a culture somewhat of a cross between ancient Arabia and ancient Greece.


The music is by Gabriel Yared, from a rejected score composed for the movie Troy. This score far trumps the replacement score in my own opinion.  

Mindscape: Desert Ruins

Since I'm so fond of music and art, I thought I'd put together a feature I call Mindscape. I post some landscape art and a soundtrack to go with it, and hopefully you get inspired for a cool location, character or adventure!

This is a desert Mindscape. It may have something to do with the setting I'm working on right now... The music is from the game Journey. Enjoy.

Dark Souls: Old School in a Delightfully Dark Package

I felt it necessary to share some of my feelings on Namco Bandai Games' new title, Dark Souls. In a word, it's a megadungeon.

Yes, you begin the game by creating a character, choosing from some uncommon archetypes like wanderer, bandit and pyromancer. The game does not, by design, tell you much if anything about the way anything works. It is for the player to figure out. So choose something you think looks cool, because the one-line descriptions are quite brief indeed.

After character creation, it's off to the world of Lordran. Your character is in some kind of asylum for the undead. It seems as though undeath is common throughout the world and those who suffer from it are sent to a big complex far to the north. In any event, you escape and head off on a mission of some sort, a quest, if you will. But how does any of this relate to old school gaming? Well, let me tell you.

First off, the enemies are mean. Button mash and you'll find yourself dead at the hands of a simple skeleton, returned to the last bonfire you rested at, any souls (XP) you had gone. Killing enemies and discovering new areas gets you souls which you can spend on equipment at the very rare merchant or blacksmith you might come across, or on leveling up attributes.

You are given five healing potions which can only be replenished by resting at a bonfire, and bonfires are few and far between. Making it to a new bonfire is very challenging, as every time you die or rest at a previous bonfire, all the enemies you just spent half an hour killing re-spawn. This is something I find very much in the old school spirit. Do you turn back, rest at an old bonfire and spend the souls you've managed to gather thus far, or do you press on, your supplies dwindling, risking all of your work on the hope that a new bonfire will be round the next corner - which is guarded by a massive bull demon boss. And the bosses are tough. Tough as hell. And equally as terrifying. Massive dragons, huge demons, towering golem knights.

The world itself is a series of seamlessly connected areas. There are multiple entrances to each area, which gives it a real megadungeon feel, and after braving an area for hours, you suddenly find yourself on a cliff overlooking the area you started at, a little path you missed before leading down to it. I find that satisfying.

In general, I found myself getting all sorts of awesome roleplaying ideas for adventure settings, enemies, NPC's and traps. If you are a fan of fantasy, horror, and especially old school gaming, this may be the title you've been waiting for.

Hot Elf Chick Sorceress

How do you like your Hot Elf Chicks? Flinging spells, flinging arrows or swinging swords? However you like 'em, you can take them on fantastic adventures using some of these great FREE role-playing games. 

Welcome to the OSR!

A Quick Primer to Old School Gaming by Matthew Finch
Download Swords & Wizardry the 1st Edition Retro-Clone For Free!
Download OSRIC the 1st Edition Retro-Clone for Free!
Grognardia!
Lamentations of the Flame Princess!


... Playing D&D With Porn Stars!

Elric of Melnibone: $18!

I have spent the last 10 years buying brand new editions of every book I wanted. I would be damned if I would buy a used book, something someone else's grubby hands were all over. Until recently.

Having discovered the liberating Old School Renaissance (OSR) has changed me, for the better. Suddenly, instead of feeling the need to rush out and buy supplement X for the newest edition of Awesome New RPG Y, I was content skimming through old PDF's and the wealth of knowledge available within the OSR blogging community. I found my imagination stirred by old Frazetta art and retro fantasy novel covers. And now I am living joyously in the past.

As a young gamer, I was never exposed to OD&D. It was around well before my time. My dad and his buddies were playing AD&D when I was a kid, and I was always completely fascinated by what they were talking about - wizards, swords, giants, dragons! But alas, too young to play, my dad told me.

So I ended up discovering D&D for the first time with 3rd edition. I never quite felt at home, but I would never have considered playing an older, "outdated" version. Now, 10 odd years later, I have finally discovered the freedom that is old school gaming. I have been eagerly drinking in every retro and old school source of inspiration I can find. Which, after a long introduction, brings me to the subject of this post. Books!

A few weeks ago I ventured out to a used book store for the first time ever (I am deeply shamed). I couldn't believe how cheap everything was. I picked up a copy of Conan the Warrior, and a little seed of wonder bloomed up inside me. I had heard a lot about Michael Moorcock and Elric of Melnibone, and having always been a fan of the weirder side of fantasy, I scoured the shelf for any sign of his work - alas, there was none.


Today, I stopped back in on a whim and went back to the fantasy & sci-fi shelf. What's this? A book by Michael Moorcock, though not part of the Elric series. Cool, I told myself. Then I looked over and my eyes settled upon a towering mound of Moorcock books. I quickly opened the first Elric one I found, figured out which books were in the series, and promptly grabbed the whole set. Despite my efforts, I couldn't find the second and third books in the same silver edition as the others. Oh, well. The whole series came to a mere $18!


I am really looking forward to delving into this world I've heard so much about. As a curious side note, my cat has a strange fixation with the books. He keeps knocking them off of the shelf and vigorously pawing at them. Needless to say, I've put them into hiding for now, until I finish Conan the Warrior!