Sleestak Sunday Trailer

This trailer is great.  How could a 7-year old kid sitting on the couch in his pajamas eating Lucky Charms not want to watch this?  If there is one, I don't think I wanna know that kid.

Map Time!

I drew a map a while ago and decided to refine it a bit.  This is a village of horse wranglers and other exotic animals.  To the north is the whispering pylon.  And in the northwest corner is a small iron ore mine.  Those of you smart enough to buy The Manor will see this village in issue #3.

Friday Question

Fantasy fiction and RPGs.  Appendix N.  You hear about it all the time.  What book or series of books reflect your style of play best? 

For me, it's the old Thieves World series.  Primarily the first four or five.  I dig the grittiness, political overtone, religious intrusions and the cultures that co-exist next to each other. 

Character Creation, No Funneling Involved

by Jesse Riggle

With the conclusion of my campaign this past Monday, my group is already laying the plans out for the next one.  After playing over a year of Majestic Wilderlands Swords  Wizardry and about a year with my campaign playing a pretty much pure AD&D we decided to switch it up and get back to GURPS 4th edition.  Putting the d20s away for a bit.

Ron Conley will be running this one.  It is set in a different section of the Majestic Wilderlands I've rarely played in.  He said think of King Arthur/Game of Thrones type setting.  And our group has grown again.  We will have six players involved.  I rarely play in games where there is more than four, so this should be fun.

After a short discussion we decided to be a band of mercenaries with various skills and oddities.  I believe one guys is playing some sort of puppeteer.  In GURPS you can make the work for you.  One is going to be a disgraced knight.  Not sure about the others.  I was thinking of playing a ex-church knight who has some very strange beliefs about the religion he once served.

Unlike the current trend of character funneling in DCC, we put a lot of planning into the creation of characters.  It's fun and makes you really invest a bit more.  Nothing wrong with funneling and it can be a ton of fun, but so is sculpting a character you want to play for a while.  Get a concept and run with it.

I'm also thinking of getting involved in some pick up games on Google+.  I want to try different games/systems.  Would love to give Call of Cthulu a go.  Haven't had the chance yet.  If anyone has a suggestion let me know.  Have a good one.

New Manor Review and a Milestone

Reviews for the second issue of the Manor are rolling in as the creepy butterflies make their way through the world. Boric G over at The Dwarven Stronghold probably got into a little trouble with his wife from my note on the back.  I couldn't help myself. 

And the first issue of The Manor has surpassed the 100 sale milestone.  I've been getting several double orders today.  People ate grabbing up both the first and second issues.  It's been fun getting all those envelopes ready.  I need to print out copies of both cause I'm out.  I like that. 

Thanks everyone for their continued support.  I'm working on a map for issue #3.  I'm thinking of making it a semi-color issue...the text will still be all black....I think.

Manor Review from the Dungeon Workshop

The Manor received another good review from Socalcanuck (I was more careful with the spelling this time around) at his Dungeon Workshop blog .  Another generous review that helps put a little gas in my tank to keep churning on the zine.  If you have a moment, take a look at the review, but also take a look at his blog.  He's got a good one and could use some good old OSR support.

Manor Review with Awards

Mr. Blue over at The Cobalt Kobold did a short review of the second issue of The Manor.  He handed out awards within the zine which I find pretty funny.  It's a fun read.  Check it out.  Who knows when you could use a halfling ring of marriage?

Campaign Wrap Up

The campaign concluded last night with a series of Micheal Bay explosions.  It started out with a cleric who did not quite die awoken in the study of his dead goddess and was guided to so something he didn't quite understand.  It was my duty as a GM to make it confusing. 

Meanwhile the other party members were facing off with an old PC that managed to possess two very powerful artifacts.  Some were overwhelmed with awe and fell to their knees groveling.  Others managed to resist and picked away at the mage.  It wasn't until the cleric showed up with his rejuvenated sense of holiness that he fought back the dark power.

The ground shook under them as the mage they battle vanished.  Up from the ground erupted an undead Tarasque.  Within a chest cavity where its heart one was, the mage possessed the book that its dark tendril energies ran through the beast as if it was the heart pumping dark energy through it like blood. 

Here is an amusing picture of the undead Tarasque drawn by a player while in Fantasy Grounds.

Terrifying!

The cleric had gained a dagger in the study of his goddess.  One that heals rather than harms.  And when he plunged the dagger into the beast the white energy within fought back the black tendrils.   As this happened the Tarasque transformed.  Where the white energy traveled it left behind what looked to be human skin.  The players whittled down the beast.  Two of them nearly dying in the process.  When it was done a giant of man lay before them. 

The mage had been expelled from its heart and fled in the hole.  The Bard and thief gave chase and killed the mage and the artifacts of the helmet and black book fell at their feet.  That's when they noticed they were standing on a glass floor.  The cleric knew he needed to break the glass and he did so.

There me met is dead goddess.  She told him he needed to heal the giant.  The former god of the dead that had slain her and made war on the other gods before his final defeat and death.  To restore the balance he needed to be returned to his station.  The party was split on this, but they went ahead and agreed.


A battle commended.  As they found the current god of the dead sent a small force to kill the goddess so neither could be restored.  So as the cleric fought in the arena the other protected the goddess in the stands. 

Victory was had in both battles and both gods restored, but at some cost to themselves.  The other death god fled, but not before warning the players they were now his personal enemy. 

As the giant god and the goddess returned their realm, the party stood in the middle of a massive wasteland waiting for them to rebuild and conquer.

Waypoints #0: The Village of Cowfold

I saw Tenkar did a quick review of Waypoints #0, The Village of Cowfold the other day so I went and grabbed a copy.  It's free.  So there is reason not to grab your own copy over at RPGNow.  It comes in at 31 pages.  The last page was an advertisement for Moleskin Maps drawn by Matt Jackson.  I immediately marked up another product from Chubby Monster Games I'd be picking up and I haven't even had a chance to look at the first one.

Bryan Meadows wrote and edited it.  Matt Jackson did the layout and maps.  Artwork was by Carolyn Meadows.  And Keith Athey because he names things well.  

The lay out was simple one column, left justification.  I like the cover using Matt's map at the cover art and the subtle border is well done.  The fonts used were readable.  I liked the page number detail at the bottom with the number being in a shield shaped symbol.  There is a nice element used for the various price lists in the village.  It sets it off from the text nicely.  The artwork that's included by Corlyn is a lot like Matt's maps, simple but very pleasing.  Even though none of her work is featured, mainly small portraits within the text, it helps set the mood of the piece. 

The purpose of the product is provide GMs with a small village to plant in their campaign.  It starts with an overview map of Cowfold.  In typical Matt Jackson style it is simply drawn with an old school feel that I personally will never tire of.  From there it is broken into three sections.  A short journal entry from a traveler named Lexx who enters the village as a stranger and encounters some of what Cowfold has to offer.

The section section is the meat of the product and these are descriptions of Locations in Cowfold.  Each of these descriptions is accompanied by a small inset of its location on the village map.  Descriptions of the people within the village and how they interact with the others.  Then the best part is the Secrets section.  Gives a peek at what's going on behind those innocent faces.

And lastly there is a small section dedicated to three adventure hooks for a GM to tempt the players passing through.  There are many more hooks available in the secrets sections of the descriptions that a GM could plunder for adventure hooks.

This is a well done product.  It looks good, easy to read and easy to use.  There is no reason not to get it since it's free.  It's not like we all can't use a premade village in our games.  Overall, this is a great start for Chubby Monster Games.  I think they have good talent in their small group and look forward to the other products they develop.

Fake Sleestak Sunday

Before panic sets in, I want it noted that these are FAKE sleestak.  They would never wear such crappy shoes. 

Demon Wolf

Rob Conley over at bat in Attic has finally given me a complete draft to edit of his long awaited adventure, Scourge of the Demon Wolf.  I've been working on a little bit today and last night.  I'm hoping to dig in tomorrow and get a good chunk done.  This is adventure has some unique elements in it, its more of a sandbox style adventure, but with a solid storyline directing the event.  And as if you needed something else, there is a cool mystery to solve.  This is an adventure he's playtested several times throughout the years, with different systems and different groups.  Back in June 14, 2010 he posted a sneak preview.  I thought since it is coming to closure finally a new sneak preview would be in order. 

The artwork is done by Jason Sholtis and John Lorrey.  They've included over a dozen illustrations to the adventure. 

And of course, all the map work was done by Rob himself.  There are several maps for this one.  There are quite a few locations detailed. 

Not sure what the release date he's shooting for.  I'm sure a lot of it will be determined how fast I get the manuscript return.  So off I go.  Freshly sharpened editor pencil posed for the attack.

First Review of Manor #2

Erik over at Tenkar's Tavern did a great review of Manor #2.  And I did not have to spend one dime to have him say something nice.  He also did an excellent explanation about the PDFs.

I ran out of room at the end and I still wanted to include a Rusty Battle Axe ode to the Orc and when Jason sent me the kick ass piece of art I decided to put on the back cover.  Was going to be blank any way so why not.  I think it looks cool back there. 

Now I begin the task of editing a big beast of an adventure....or I may play Secret World. 

First Night of The Manor

The first batch of #2 Manors have taken flight on creepy butterfly wings. Anyone who ordered through last night, it’s in the mail. I forgot to count before I dropped them in the mailbox, but I think a total of 30 or more are on their way out. The first issue took five days to reach that number. So thanks to everyone who bought a copy.

This issue looks a bit different from the first issue. Publisher has made it so I can use the whole page. There aren’t one/two inch gaps on the top or bottom. I’ve already mentioned moving and adjusting the text and picture elements is a lot easier. But overall I can play with the elements and have more fun with what I can do. I’ll try not to go overboard.

I know I mentioned this in the introduction, but what I was amazed was the amount I could put in the zine now. I’m guess off the top of my head, but I believe the first one was like 4500 words or so and the second issue is over 6700 words.

The Paypal buttons are working well. No complaints so far there. But, I still struggle with the PDF. When I downloaded it to RPGNow I have a different file for the cover and one for the zine content. I downloaded a couple versions on RPGNow. One is for printing it out in the zine format. And I added another that is a more standard PDF. So if anyone has any problems or question please let me know.

Anyone out there wanting a copy can find the buttons on this blog or my GM Games blog. It was a lot of fun to make. A lot of hard work, but fun.

It’s Friday. Weekend can’t get here fast enough.

Manor #2 on Sale

  

It's done.  Finished up with Ivy today.  Did a read aloud and tweaked what I found and hopefully its a good clean copy.  Print and PDF is available immediately.  Those who have ordered or subscribed the creepy butterflies will be taking the issues to the post tomorrow.  

The print button is active on both sites and the PDF is available at RPGNow.  If your a thrifty one then go for the subscription and get a break in the price.  Oh, and if anyone has a problem with the PDF let me know.  I think I got it right, but won't know for sure until someone downloads it.

Have a good one folks.