The Manor Issue #4 Cover

Here's the cover for issue #4.  A friend of mine at work drew it for me.  I think it looks great.  Can you guess the creature?  Shame on you if you can't.  And like always I try to feature an OSR gaming product on the back and could think of nothing better than to give Matt Jackson's, Moleskin Maps the back cover.  

You notice the yellow spots.  That's my printing being a pain in the ass.  I haven't been able to fully resolve the solution.  I'm hoping by the time I get the issue complete the yellow ink won't be a problem.  Proofreaders, be warned, I'll be coming for you soon.

The Picture that Started It All

When I was a boy I opened up a book that I still own today, Reader's Digest: Strange Stories, Amazing Facts: Stories that are Bizarre, Unusual, Odd, Astonishing and Often Incredible and saw this picture.  It always creeped me out and excited me at the possibility.  The monster section of Big Foot, Yeti, Loch Ness and all the other giant lake creatures was my favorite.  But the Loch Ness monster was and is my favorite.  Back in the 70s they used to do these weird TV shows where they tried to prove it existed.  They were always accompanied by blurry photos of a possible shadow of a fin or nose.  (Sounds like all those ghost shows today) 

This is when I first started perusing things.  Things like other books on the same subjects.  Things like maps.  I got the maps to see where Loch Ness was.  And of course that started my love of a good map.  Some maps had Loch Ness on it.  Others didn't.  Then I hit the jackpot.  I think it was in an issue of Bananas, they had a cartoon map of the world and on it they had cartoon depictions of where Bigfoot and Nessy lived.   Once I found this I pinned it up on my wall and used to study that map.  I thought for sure I could travel the world using that map.  It was mind blowing to a 8-year old. 

This morning I happened upon this picture and I had a flashback of sitting at the dining room table with my book wondering if Loch Ness was real or not.  I know back then when they were searching for it, I always rooted for Nessy to stay hidden.  I didn't want it explained.  I just wanted it to be a fantastic possibility. 

Prep for Playtesting

I've been prepping for the playtest on Thursday night.  I'd forgotten how extensive they can be.  Adventures are not too bad.  You can plug them into your world and just throw a hook to the players and let them run with it.  A good read through and some notes ought to do it.

The one I'm playtesting is a campaign starter, written by Greg Christopher.  He introduces a small section of his world, but for gaming and testing purposes I am going to focus on the priory.  That is the main site in his work.  It's not a matter of where the critters are, but the relationship between inhabitants and businesses, religions and politics.  Takes a bit more time and a lot more note taking.  It's helped me take a needed break away from my own stuff.

As I've mentioned in this case, I've needed to edit down the territory and possible adventures to focus a bit more.  Railroad if you like.  I offer no apologies.  When you're testing railroading is required so you can test what was written.  Otherwise the players may drift.  Time is finite for these projects.  The writer needs feedback in a timely manner. But I do use the hooks as written.  If the players don't bite or it does make sense or not tempting enough I gotta tell the creator. 

When I playtest I write notes about what I liked and what I didn't.  I know a shocking revelation.  More often though I ask for something to be fleshed out.

I've read through Greg's "The Last Candle" a couple of times, made notes, drew a little flow chart to see the connection between NPCs.  One of the things I do is get an idea of the personality then write a note on the side to help make each stand out a little more.  I've got the maps loaded into FG2 files.  Now I just need to size the mini without swearing too much. 

Another Excellent Mail Day

So I go to the post hoping my Swords & Wizardry Kickstarter is there.  It's got to be there.  +Erik Tenkar  got his like ten weeks ago.  +Rob Conley got his a month ago.  I has to be there...

**EMPTY**

Damn it. 

I go to work wondering what Frog God I irked and find a package on my desk.  Hmm, not my kickstarter.  It's skinny.  I open it up and look what I find.

+BareBones RPG and it buddy Keranak Kingdoms.  So I got a ton of stuff to read this weekend.  I'm looking forward to it.  I hope Bug doesn't eat any of it.

And a Storm Giant thanks to those who are donating to my giveaway.  I say I am going to have a giveaway and people offer stuff to add in.  That's what is cool about the OSR.  Thanks guys I'll contact you soon.

Friday Question

Going to be quick cuase I gots to get into work early and get some damn paperwork completed.  I see I'm coming up on my 1000th post.  Ivy just completed her 444th post and had a giveaway.  I was thinking maybe doing the same thing.  A bundle giveaway of OSR PDF stuff. 

My question, got any suggestions?  I'm thinking of doing 4 items in each bundle.  And try to keep the suggestions of them under $20 for each bundle.  Okay off to work.  Talk amongst yourselves. 

Look at All the Great Gaming Stuff I Got in the Mail

I be-bopped to the post hoping my S&W Kickstarter was there.  Tenkar got his and I am tired of him gushing about it when I can't even play with mine.  No kickstarter package.  Crap!  But wait.  There are a few things in here.  Gaming things.  Pow.

First thing I got was a check from the LotFP Kickstarter.  Now I can get a pizza and art.  Cool.

Then I found this little blue beat up envelope.  It contained a +matt jackson creation.

 His little scout books are incredible.  I love these things.  I love the feel of these booklets.  And Matt did an excellent job with art for the covers.  It's like a song that hits all the right notes and you can't wait to hear it again.  Well done Matt.  I think you have a small success on your hands.

Then there was a yellow slip in my box.  Yellow slips means big stuff.  Big stuff is always good stuff.  I got a big box of gaming goodness from +Martin Ralya.  No really.  He sent me a lot of very, very cool stuff.  He popped on Google+ one night when I should have been sleeping and asked if anyone wanted to provide a good home to these books.  I looked to the left.  Looked to the Right.  Commented and he sent them out.  You just gotta love gamer guys who just want their books to find a good home.  I sent him a rack of Manors as a thank you.

Below is the unboxing.

I'm keeping this box.  I have some gaming books that need a good home.  Maybe this will becoming the giving box.  So the person I send it to can use it to send out some books to the next person.  A little Shel Silverstein, but if you ever saw his picture he was kinda scary.

All these books are in very good condition.  I am looking forward to digging into these.  Especially +Jack Shear's Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque.  The OSRian in me is of course going to go for that one first.

Did I make out like a champ today or what? 

Playtest Announcement

Next Thursday on the 14th of March, I'll be running a playtest for "The Last Candle", a campaign starter written by Greg Christopher.  The game will start at 6:30pm and end around 9:30pm (these are EST).  I'll be using the Swords & Wizardry Complete ruleset.  I'll be running it on Fantasy Grounds 2 so you'll need to have at least a player license to join.  And Skype will be used for the talkie parts.   If you're interest please let me know, as of now I think I have two to three virtual seat available. 

This is a campaign starter so I am streamlining the adventure to the Priory and the included adventure itself.  I am thinking I will run this in two sessions.  I'll have pre-made character available, if you wish to character you run already that shouldn't be a problem.

Any questions, just email or leave a comment.  Want to join, just email or leave a comment.  Just want to complain, just go away and leave.

GM Games 25% Off

Hi folks.  I just wanted to let everyone know that GM Games is participating in the GM Day sale on RPGNow.  So if you got a Manor in your wishlist or cart now is the time to grab a copy.  And those of you wanting a one-shot adventure, Knowledge Illuminates is also on sale.  My wishlist has gotten smaller since the sale started.  

444th Giveaway

The Wife, is giving away four books to four winners over on her The Happy Whisk blog to celebrate her 444th post.  All you need do is leave a comment.  She is giving away e-books Alex J. Cavanaugh, Susan Gorley Kelly and Suzan Harden.  Oh, and I'm the forth one.  I'll send you which ever Manor or KI in PDF or print.  All you need to do is comment and your in.  I think the deadline is by Thursday night.  Might be Friday, but just go over now and you won't have to worry about when it ends. 

Congrats to the wife who never thought anyone would read her blog.  Keep up the great posts and don't put hearts on my blog again. 

Skeletons in the Crapper

Tonight we played in Ken's mega-dungeon campaign.  Rob GMs for three Mondays and Ken does it the off Monday.  It gives Rob a break and allows Ken to flex his GM muscles.

Adzeer Mattui, Monster Hunter, and his band of thieves (no seriously everyone else is some form of thief) delved farther into the dungeon.

But first we smeared goo into the face of a comatose woman.  I would explain why we did, but it won't help.  It was as bad as it sounds.

Onward to battle.  Two orcs.  Fairly confused.  I walked into the room and proclaimed, "Come embrace Death."  They looked at each other and asked, "Who's there?"  "I'm death.  Come hug me."

Orcian butts were kicked and the glory of Adzeer raised ever higher.  Next were a nest of rats.  Not much of a challenge since they were put to sleep.  I clonked them.  And then it happened.

We fought two skeletons in a crapper.  I missed 92 times in a row.  I nearly tossed my mace into the pooper hole.  In the end I stood victorious, but I felt unwashed.  One was trapped in a net for the fight and it ended up killing itself by smashing its arm against the wall. 

In our final room of the night we found a chest.  Before it was opened we were attacked by a horde of four zombie gnomes.  I use my almighty power and sent them running.  "Run you undead bastards before the power of Adzeer.  Run and never return."

They returned.  Luckily one of the thieves threw down a layer of caltrops.  Two of them died on the pointy jacks.  One was killed by the thieves trickery and I sent mine to the next afterlife in a purification liquidation explosion with my mace.

There was nothing more to do this night.  Our enemies at our feet.  Their treasure in our pockets.  And I still have not learned the names of my fellow party members. 

Dungeon Deck Kickstarter

A few years back I met a very enthusiastic couple at Origins.  They had an interesting product, Dungeon Deck, cards that help you create and adventure in 30 seconds.  I thought it was a cool idea and I bought a deck.  Now they are doing a Kickstarter to get some additional decks printed.  I haven't seen anyone mention this one yet so I thought I would post about it.  Ivy please ignore the following sentence.  It looks like they have a good start on their goal and I'll probably be backing them so I can get the expansion packs.  I don't want to get randomly smacked in the back of my big, bald head. I'll do a follow up post of me using them.

Sleestak for the Win

That's right Francis, sleestak have won.  They're just not saying what they won...yet.

I finally got around to ordering Barebones Fantasy RPG and Keranak Kingdoms.  I haven't solved my problem with the PO box yet, but working on it.  For now I'm having the books mailed to my main job site.  I got BBF in hardback and the other was offered in softback.  I used up all my RPG credit, but that's what its there for.  I sell Manors to keep my gaming addition satisfied. 

I rewrote a few of the farms in T1: Village of Hommlet.  I was pretty happy the why they came out.  I will go through them today and share them later.  It definitely is a different place.  I'm not sure where I am going with it, but I'll post it all and if I accidentally have a completed product I'll post it as a free download. 

Oh, tomorrow RPGNow will start its GM Days sales.  I am participating in it again this year.  All the PDFs of the Manor and KI will be 25% off.  I already blew all my credit, but my wishlist is still of stuff I want to buy.

Glorious Sleestak Sunday!  Okay, glorious may be overshooting, but I didn't want to use happy.

Rewriting a Classic

I've been writing and layout for issue #4.  I think I also have the proper software to bookmark PDFs.  I didn't realize it was so easy.  So I am sure I'm missing something.  I've also been taking notes and preparing to do a couple playtests of an adventure Greg Christopher gave me.  And in a few minutes I am head to Staples to get some supplies.  I got one of the 20% off everything in the bag (this is a non-existent bag) coupons and going to get some better paper.  I'm not digging how the images are bleeding through the paper.  I'm upgrading to the 24lb, 98 bright for the next zine.  It will look better and feel better.

If that wasn't enough I am looking at doing a rewrite of a classic module.  Nothing new, but something I never attempted.  I am going to tinker around with rewriting the Village of Hommlet to fit my gaming sensibilities.  I know without even looking at it I know there were a crapload of magic items in the villages.  I got some pruning shears to trim a lot of them out and those that remain will become unique items.  I'll post the entries here.  Just doing that one as an old exercise in writing.

Well off to the store.  Need anything?

Friday Question

Tenkar has been asking a lot of great gaming questions so I'm going to go a different route.  This subject was brought up at work the other day.

Who would you like to see direct the next Star Wars movie?

I think Abrams is slated to do it.  I don't follow it all that closely.  But I could think of other directors I'd rather see at the helm.

Ridley Scott.  He's a tough one.  he either makes movies I really like or really dislike.

Quinten Terintino.  I think I could get behind the Jedi grooving to some tunes as the slay some sith.  Actually scratch that.  I think I could get behind the sith grooving to some tunes as they slaughter everyone on screen.

Christopher Nolan.  Interesting mix.  I think he and Yoda would be on the same wavelength. 

David Fincher.  Let's get this guy back at what he does best.  Make gritty movie.  None of the Benjamen Button bullshit.  Star Wars could use a little Fight Club in it.

If you could choose.  Who would you like see directing the next film?

This has nothing to do with the question.  I just thought it was cool.