Zine Quest #3: The Many Crypts of Lady Ingrade

Nothing like waiting until the last minute to get my shit together. My offerings for Zine Quest #3, The Many Crypts of Lady Ingrade has been approved.

With art by Jason Sholtis and maps by Robert Conley I need to step up my game and make sure the writing matches the quality they produce. 

It goes live Monday, February 1st. 

Deck of Many Things with a Bonus!

One of my favorite magic items of all time, The Deck of Many Things. I was cruising on Amazon checking out some random gaming trinkets and this one populated in my feed.

Also included is the Deck of Fates. I guess it did say it on the lid of the box, but I missed it. The box itself is very nice. Divided for the two tuck boxes and I dig the Emperor Moth on the lid and on the desks. 

I was extremely pleased with the quality of the box, but of course this is all about the cards. And I'm a bit of a RPG card junkie. Not sure why, but cards with dungeons, hooks, NPCs, or whatever, I want. 

Here's a picture with the Deck of Many Things on the bottom and The Deck of Fates in the top row. There are 49 cards total. Here are a few close up shots of some of the cards.

A small sampling of The Deck of Many Things. For $15 you can't go wrong. I almost bought a second set!

The links in this post are affiliate links. It helps keep the lights on in the Manor...well not really, just let's me grab a few more gaming trinkets. Even if you don't use my link you should definitely grab a set!

Behold! The World Breaker!

 I got this beautiful beast today. A antique gold, metal 100 sided die. It weights almost a pound! This thing can do some damage. I love the look of it. It's going to make me create d100 tables. 

I grabbed mine at SkullSplitter Dice. I've grabbed a ton of dice there. Along with this die I grabbed a mystery bag of dice. I always get crazy, weird dice from them. 

Grab a Copy of Majestic Fantasy RPG

My good friend Rob Conley released his Majestic Fantasy RPG to the world yesterday. This is an interesting take on developing an RPG system using the nuts and bolds of Swords & Wizardry and adding original content and rules to reflect the setting. The tweaks Rob made are simple to implement and I adds a lot to a game. Rob and I have gamed together for over three decades so I am bias, but I also think it's very good.

In addition to the rule book he has his Basic Rules Reference Cards and Quick Reference Cards for Swords & Wizardry. Both handy tools when running a game. Imagine having an entire GM screen on a single page. Or if you are like me, having these cards near me while I'm developing adventures of content for my game is invaluable. 

I know Rob spent a lot of time getting this just the way he wanted. He had two editors look it over. He scored Richard Laschek, the artist for Harn products, to do his cover. Rob is one of the best GMs out there and if you want to take a peek at how he does it, grab a copy Majestic Fantasy RPG and find out. 

Mork Borg, Black Hack, Fallout, Dice, and More

It was a very good Christmas at the Manor. Ivy and I worked hard this year to make the best of it. Our reward was to have the ability to splurge on some gifts and enjoy a real vacation. Here are the gaming gifts I am loving. 

Ivy bought herself a Staedtler stylus for her new Remarkable 2 and absolutely loved it. She saw they had products I might enjoy and so she grabbed these ergo-friendly colored pencils. They are so good! The triangle shape and soft texture make them fantastic to use. Plus they blend so well. I hope to share some maps soon.

Part 2 of the Staedtler gifts. Markers. They are all the same size .03, and they bleed a bit. But the black is a true black. I used it as a filler pen and it works fantastic. I am curious to see what other options they have.

Dollar Tree has this deal going on where they are selling a set of 7 dice for a buck. That's $1. I went in for the case of 24 sets. Now I know I don't need more dice, but I have a good reason. Really I do. I was thinking of doing an endtable, fill a box with the dice and epoxy. Although I really want to open them all up and just roll. 

I received a copy of Black Hack. I actually thought it was The Black Hack 2. I have to read better. However, I only had this on PDF so I am happy to have a copy. 

I grabbed three (well four, I accidently bought two of one of the decks) Inkwell Sidequest Decks. 

Dungeons, Caves, & Ruins Fantasy Deck

Wilderness & Frontier Fantasy

Political and Urban Fantasy

I've been wanting these decks for a while now. I've looked through them and see Matt Jackson and Dyson contributed maps. Small write ups on each map. A variation of my micro-adventures. It got me to thinking of doing something like this only with tarot card sized decks. 

The beast of 2020, Mork Borg. This won a bunch of awards and I've seen several Kickstarters and other 3rd party publishers jumping on board this juggernaut. Each page is a mind explosion. The time it must have taken to layout each page. No pair of pages is a like. 

And my last gaming gifts, I love my Fallout. I grabbed Fallout Wasteland Warefare RPG and Wasteland Warefare Dice Set. I'm not sure if I would ever run this as is. I've always wanted to create a d20 version of it. I think with this book and with the other source materials I have, the only thing that is stopping me is time. 

That wraps up my Christmas. I am excited to read and use them all. 

Mystery Box of Adventures: Sold Out! Thanks!

 

The GM Games warehouse needs room. So this year I'm offering a Mystery Box of Adventures! The picture above is a sample of what you might find in one of the boxes. 

The Mystery Box of Adventures consists of 25 items from my warehouse. All randomly packed by Whisk. Inside each box, all of these are possible. 

• Micro-Adventures, small and zine-sized
• Micro-Locations, small and also zine-sized 
• NPC Cards
• Mini Manor Zines
• Issues of the Manor
• Hunters in Death 
• And other surprises

These will be shipped in zine-sized manuscript box. These boxes are sturdy and can withstand fireballs and the paralytic touch of ghouls. But the best thing about them, perfect to store zines. Even though I'm throwing 25 items into each box, there is plenty of room left for other zines. And we all need more zine storage.  

The Mystery Box of Adventure is $50. That's $2 per adventure and shipping is included.. Help me make more space in my warehouse for 2021 and you'll have more adventures, locations, and NPCs than you can shake a +5 Holy Avenger at. 

I only have a couple dozen of Mystery Boxes of Adventure! so grab one while you can. Or two, sent one to a gaming friend. 

Due to the brutal cost of international shipping I can only ship within the United States. 

Artist Spotlight: Jeremy Hart

Jeremy Hart is not an artist that is going to give you a standard goblin or an angry face orc. Jeremy gives you nightmares. 

I've been using his work for years. His style and choice of subject allows a writer like myself to go deeper and darker. The creatures he draws won't be found in any standard monster book. Jeremy digs into that dark ID we possess and manifests these horrors. 

One of the features I really love about his artwork is the backgrounds he adds. These backgrounds set the mood, framing his creatures in chaos. 

This is the cover of the alpha release of Mythhoard. It was the first exclusive. Jeremy's art inspired the entire sandbox adventure. And I absolutely love that cover.

Jeremy's art has been on the cover for some of my micro-adventures. His images pack a punch. When scrolling through products and one of Jeremy' pieces comes up, I stop to check it out. Just fantastic.

Right now Jeremy has a Kickstarter. The Creature Feature Quarterly. He's offering four volumes. He crafts the monster and stats them using OSR systems. There is one day left. I'm in for the $15 to get all four quarters. 

Here are some of the other links where you can find Jeremy Hart and his incredible work.

DriveThru RPG

Patreon

Blogspot - check this page out, really shows off his work

Facebook

Instagram

Subscribe Star

TeePublic

Giveaway: A Copy of Hunters in Death

 

How would you like to get a copy of Hunters in Death?

Well Matt Jackson ordered two copies and said to give the other one away. So let's do that. 

Just comment below or in any of my social media posts about the giveaway to enter. Maybe thank Matt for the idea.

I ship worldwide so anyone can enter.

I'll pick a winner tomorrow night, 8pm Eastern time. 

Good luck and enjoy the day. 

Game Store Finds: Zine Artifacts

I rarely go out these days, and even rarer do I go to the gaming stores. But yesterday I felt the need to go for a drive and I ended up 35 minutes away at a gaming store I visit a couple times a year. About half the time I go they have a small selection of older gaming items. I scored yesterday. I grabbed all of it except for two 2nd ed. GM screens. 

A Forgotten Realms map? I know I have one or two copies of it, but for a buck! Hell yeah I am getting it.

I'd forgotten how large the map is. It's as tall as Ivy. She tried to stand on her tip-toes and act like she was a giant, but she was still shorter.

I wasn't expecting to find zine artifacts! What!?!? I don't have a lot of knowledge of past zines so I did a little research. It looks like Griffon Magazine had a six issue run that ran from May 1988 to January 1990.

It looks like I know have issues #4 and #5. I haven't had a chance to look through them other than a flip through. The font is tiny, but surprisingly legible. 

Then this zine sized gem, Bounty Hunters Handbook. It looks to be from the same folks who did Griffon Magazine. This one looks to use similar format also. I was psyched to find these in the store. Completely unexpected.

Another old time magazine. I've never owned a copy of Polyhedron. Unfortunately this one was kind of jacked up. Someone carelessly jammed it into a tight protective sleeve and the back pages were ripped. 

It was tight because there were two other items inside. Silver Griffin (seems to be a theme forming) was the NRPA newszine. Never saw a copy before. 

I have a lot JG from back in the day, but I don't think I owned this one. Either way for $3 why not. It's in good condition. I have a special fondness for this adventure because my friend Rob Conley updated it for Goodman Games. Which happened long enough ago that it would be considered a relic. 

I know I have a copy of this, but I decided to grab it for an extra.

I didn't know what this one was. No title. Just knew it was Forgotten Realms. It's for a region called The Great Glacier. I know I don't have that one. Now I need to find the rest of it.

Not a bad run at the gaming store. I think my total was $22.

Artist Spotlight: Denis McCarthy

 

I've featured Denis's work in my own adventures several times, including the fantastic cover for issue #9 of The Manor, picture above. His work can be found in nearly a 100 publications on DriveThruRPG, including several issues of Gabor Lux's Echoes from Fomulhaut and Castle Xyntillan, Erik Tenka'r's Swords & Wizardy Continual Light ruleset, Greg Saunders's Warlock products, and John M Stater's Blood & Treasure. That's just a few.

His artwork has the look and feel of the old-school aesthetic I love to see. In short, he draws fun pictures. And the reason hos work is found in so many places. 

He's got a fantastic range of work, but I think what he does best is capture the personality of the characters he draws. I've used this bartender several times because he now become "when I imagine what my bartender looks like" model. I use a lot of Denis's portraits for my NPCs. 

Does he do monsters? Check. He's got a variety of beasties on his digital store. 

Dungeon scenes. Check.

Random items and minutia. Check. 

You can get a lot of pieces from Denis on a budget. His prices range from $1.49 to $5. One of the products I'd like to point you to is his Stock Fantasy Character Art 2. You get a dozen images of adventures/NPCs at your disposal for only $4.99. 

Denis is always creating. He has a Patreon I've pledge to since the beginning and he's always got something great going on there. Below are the links where you can find more information about Denis and his fantastic artwork. Please consider backing his Patreon or pursuing his work on DriveThruRPG. 

Oh, and did I mention, he's probably one of the nicest people you'll meet. I've only had great experiences when I work with Denis. 

DriveThruRPG

Facebook

Instagram

Woodpress

Patreon

Revisiting Old Micro-Adventures: The Pig and the Ogre

 

I've been doing my Patreon since June of 2014. Yep, a way long time. The Pig and the Ogre was my 3rd micro-adventure. It was done on a 4" x 6" notecard that I laminated. My mapping style was basic with a flair of colored pencils. I was using a program called Xara to add the numbers and adventure title. What you see on the map is about the extent of what I could do. 

I used silhouettes to depict the monsters, and the pig in this case. I can't draw worth a shit and I didn't have a lot of money to buy stock art so I made due. And the system I used was Swords & Wizardry.

I present a simple situation where the crops are being damage by an ogre and villagers are afraid that they won't have enough food for the winter. I love my fake sleeping ogre and the fact he created a makeshift catapult escape plan. What could go wrong? 

I present you the adventure with warts and all. If you're interested in the PDF of The Pig and the Ogre you can grab it off my Patreon for free. 

Introduction

An ogre was spotted in the forest outside the village. The northern crops were heavily damaged. If more fields are harmed the villagers will not have enough food for the winter.

1. North Field

The three north fields look like a giant pig routed around ground leaving large holes. Nothing to do with the ogre. Only a few plants managed to survive the onslaught. Also apparent is the large foot prints next to giant hooved prints. They are easily tracked into the dark forested area.

2. Forest

The forest is thick with large trees and heavy undergrowth. The ogre has left an easy trail to follow. Within the forest the party will need a light source. Fire light sources may cause a bit of extra excitement (a 1 in 6 chance of catching debris or dead branches on fire).

3. Pit Traps

The ogre has dug a series of crude, but effective pit traps. He’s trying to catch the boar. The pits are hidden by a few branches (4 in 6 chance of spotting it). Each pit is about 12’ deep with spikes at the bottom. Falling damage is 1d4 due to the soft earth, but if the player get impaled by a spike (2 in 6 chance) it causes 2d6 damage.

4. Giant Boar

Off the path the party hears loud snorting and huffing. A squeal erupts, and the under branches shatter as a giant boar smashes through and charges the party.

Giant Boar: HD 6+1; HP 30; AC 4 [15]; Atk gore (3d6); Move 15; Save 11; AL N; CL/XP 1/15; CL/XP 7/600; Special: Continues to fight for 2 rounds after it is ‘killed’.

The boar weights over 500lbs and if the meat is processed correctly, it can be sold for 2sp/pound. The pair of large tusks can be sold as a novelty/trophy item for 50sp.

5. Sleeping Ogre

The party comes to a ridge and they hear the loud snoring. Beneath a rocky outcropping is a sleeping ogre. The ogre is faking. He’s hoping to lure the party into another trap. He holds a rope that triggers six logs to tumble onto the trail. The logs attack as a 5HD creature and do 2d6 damage. The ogre will attack as soon as he releases his trap.

Ogre: HD 4+1; HP 20; AC 4[15]; Atk scimitar (1d10+1); Move 9; Save 13; AL C; CL/XP 4/120; Special: None. 

The ogre is armed with a crude scimitar and made a shield from the side of a horse cart. If he feels he may lose the battle, he will run for a tree he has tied down. He will lay on the tree, cut the rope and catapult himself on top of the ridge to escape (target roll of 12 (using a d20), if he misses he hits the side of the ridge taking 2d4 damage). There is one large sack made from a deer hide. Inside the party will find 23sp and 17cp loose, a small metal coffer (locked) with 100sp inside, two silver rings (10sp) and a silver ring with a ruby (50sp), a longsword, two wood axes and a battered helm.

Artist Spotlight: Yuri Perkowski Domingos

 

I've decided to start a new series on my blog called Artist Spotlight. I'll feature an artist I've used in my adventures or someone's whose work I enjoy. I'm a bit of a stockart junkie so I shouldn't run out any time soon. The links to DriveThru are affiliate links to help me with my stockart addiction. 

Which brings me to my first artist, Yuri Perkowski Domingos. For those of you who don't know I run a Facebook group called RPG Zines. I wanted to create a cool space for people writing zines, creating artwork, and all the behind the scenes magic like layout and editing. That's where I first saw Yuri's work. I mean come on, a rot grub picture gets me every time. 

Yuri brings an intense amount of detail to his pieces. His work jumps off the page. He has several pieces that include horrible things that happen to adventures, like our poor man-at-arms above, but also some crazy cool monsters and architectural pieces.

I love this one. If Joey Ramone was a troll this is exactly what he would look like. 

I used his lighthouse piece for my cover on my Lighthouse of  Corban Cove micro-location. It immediately invoked a desperate community living off of tired traditions to remain intact. That's what I look for. Pieces that tell me a story. 

Yuri has a fantastic selection of work to inspire your next adventure, your next zine, or whatever your working on. If you need strong artwork you can find Yuri on DriveThruRPG (I still call it RPGNow). His prices are affordable. You can pick up a lot for just a few bucks. His prices range from $1 to $3 with a few at $5. Most are at $2. 

Allow me to make a suggestion, his 38 Creature Pack is only $20! You get, yes, 38 creatures of varying horribleness, but you also get two versions of each, one with a white background and the other with a transparent background. As a publisher this saves me time having to create one. 

Here are links to Yuri's other internet presences. Follow Yuri to keep up with his latest work. 

ArtStation

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Hunters in Death Available in Print!!!!

Where are the hunters going?

USA $10.00 USD Rest of the World $13.00 USD

Now that the Kickstarter has been fulfilled I've got a few copies of Hunters in Death available for sale for those who missed out. When you buy a print copy make sure to add your email that you use for DriveThruRPG so I can send you a coupon for a free PDF. Paypal sends me an email automatically, but if your DriveThruRPG account is connected to a different email let me know.

Here is a video by Joe where he gives an overview of Hunters in Death. 

Thanks!

Hunters in Death PDF Now Available on DriveThru RPG

 

I posted Hunters in Death for sale on DriveThruRPG. I haven't posted anything new on the site for years. It was interesting navigating the new setup. I think it they improved the process. How do I know? I didn't swear once. Now that's an improvement. 

For those who don't know, Hunters in Death was my first Kickstarter. I spent a lot of time on this and had a lot of great help. It is filled with artwork from Jim Magnusson. I love his style and it fits the aesthetic I was look for. 

It's 32 pages with additional front and back covers. The first section is a description and particulars of the hex crawl of the Komor Forest, and Hounds Head, a hamlet as a base. Second section focuses on the large random table for travelers in the Komor Forest. To create random barrow mounds that populate the area. Then three adventures to test your party's mettle. 

If you are interested you can grab Hunters in Death on DriveThruRPG. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and if you purchase the PDF, double thanks!