Wizards of the Coast Print On Demand: The Results

Yesterday I got a surprise in the mail from DriveThruRPG/OneBookshelf/LightningSource.

My copy of the Shady Dragon Inn came in.  It looks fantastic.
I don't have an original one to compare it too, but inside it looks great.

The maps are part of the book, not detachable, but that is fine really.

They are set to 1" = 5', so D&D 3, 4 & 5 standard.
They do not print out to 1" exactly, but when you buy the pdf you get the maps as files to print on your own.

The characters inside can be converted to 5e easily enough.
Ignore the saving throws, and recalculate the base to hit as 20 - THAC0.  I find that 22 or 23 -THAC0 actually works out a little bit better for 5e.

Plus $8 is better than the $30 or so it can go for on eBay.

I do kind of wish now I had grabbed something that I have an original of just to compare.

The quality is very good; what you would expect from a high quality print of a high quality PDF source.  Though the source of that PDF is a scan of the original that has been seriously cleaned up.
The results are something fantastic for the table or reading, but no collector will be convinced it is an orignal.  That's perfect for me really.  I am a collector, but a pragmatic one and a "playing" one.  I like to have these books, but their value to me is not on my shelf, but my game table.

 DriveThru has promised us new Wizards of the Coast Print on Demand updates each week.  So check back on every Tuesday to see what is new.  In fact they have new items up today.

Bookmark this link to check back on what's new each week.

Thanksgiving Break

Taking some time off for the Thanksgiving break.

Only sporadic posting this week.

Zatannurday: Justice League Dark Animated Movie

How I missed you Zatannurday!

This is exactly the sort of thing I was waiting for in Zatannurday's long run.  A new DC Animated movie of Justice League Dark.

This isn't exactly JLD, it's more Justice League Dark + Batman, but it still looks cool.
It's also rated R, which I guess is not a big surprise given the content.



Looks like it will be out in early 2017.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2E

We are coming into the last few hours of the Kickstarter for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2E.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1806106772/astonishing-swordsmen-and-sorcerers-of-hyperborea-0

I am very, very fond of this game. There is just so much potential here that I become overwhelmed with ideas.  Do I want to do do the dawn-time of humanity when the Old One have left the Earth?  Do I want to do an older, colder Earth of the far future under a dying sun?  Or just smoosh it into my current games? I want to do it all, to be honest!!

There is a lot love about this game really and I can't wait to try out this new addition.

Reviews: New Castle Falkenstein Supplements

During October I reviewed a ton of new (and old) Victorian Era games and supplements.  I didn't get to everything I wanted so I going to fix that now.

Fist up are a couple of new books for the venerable Castle Falkenstein.

Full Disclosure: I received free copies of these PDFs in exchange for a review and also because the author knew I would like them. He was right.

Castle Falkenstein: Curious Creatures
Author J Gray, Artist Rick Hershey, Fat Goblin Games, 146 pages
Ok, we all know I love monster books. Like all Castle Falkenstein books, new and old, this book is gorgeous.  The art is fantastic.  The book is a nice mix of travel guide, creature catalog, and journal.  This is a fairly common feel to all CF books and it is served well here.  The first 50 or so pages cover some new rules and some various stories.  The central conceit of the book has notes from the very Doctor Doolittle. I have to admit this is really awesome.  I wish I had thought of it, to be honest.
The next 100 or so pages cover the Bestiary proper. This includes about three dozen monsters, as many normal creatures and a little more than 20 or so unique characters and intelligent animals.  This includes Doctor Doolittle, Gregor Mendel, Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde.  The surprises include Mowgli, Riki-Tikki-Tavi and Fantomah.   The mere fact that Fantomah is here really increases the value of this book in my mind.
The writing is very fluid and is a pleasure to read.  The CF stats are, well CF stats, you either like that game or you don't.  The bonus here is that this also makes the book extremely flexible for use with any number of systems.  In fact, this book is a very fine supplement to be used with any number of other game's monster books.  The art, is for the most part, Public Domain, but that is something I REALLY like in my Victorian books and here it flows seamlessly in with the text.
I don't have the softcover book, but I am considering picking it up now.  It is really that good looking and really that useful.
Do you all remember the old "Enchanted World" books from Time-Life books?  Well, this book reminds me of reading those.  It is less like a game book and more of a coffee table book of monsters.
This is a very, very fun book and I am so pleased to have it.

Castle Falkenstein: The Tarot Variation
Author J Gray, Artist Rick Hershey, Fat Goblin Games, 6 pages
Now this is a fun little book.  It's not long, only six pages, but it packs a punch.
This guide allows gamemasters of Castle Falkenstein to use a standard tarot deck instead of playing cards for the game.  There are additional rules to cover the Major Arcana.  If you play CF then I would easily say this is a must have.  If you play other games that have a playing card mechanic then is also a useful resource.  I am considering using this with Victoriana. I think it would work fantastically.

Both books are so much fun. I am really pleased to have them.

Wizards of the Coast Print on Demand

The biggest news in the D&D corners of the Internet is Wizards of the Coast and OneBookShelf are now starting some Print on Demand services for classic D&D products.

This isn't terribly new, WotC had been providing some PoD services for some of their new D&D 5 materials.  What is new that we are seeing some classic products out now and should expect to see more each week.

I picked up a copy of The Shady Dragon Inn.  It was cheap, and I never owned a copy before. It is also something I can use in pretty much any version of the game I play.
I suppose in truth I should have grabbed something like The Secret of Bone Hill or Castle Amber; something I still have a physical copy of and can compare.   Actually I should get a new copy of the 3.5 Draconomicon.  My son used to take that with him to pre-school to read (and read and read) and my copy is really worn out.

This is the start of a new era for Wizards.  D&D can now be perpetually in-print.  This will also really kill the after-market book sales now.  Oh sure, collectors will still want good original copies, but there will be plenty that will want playable copies too.  I might pick up I10: Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill just so I don't wear my copy out anymore.

Imagine if all of the TSR and WotC back catalog was available for print on demand like this?  This could open up older versions of the game in ways never before possible.  Play a game at a convention and then hand a QR code on a card or send a link so people can get their own copies.
I do have a fear that this might hurt our local game stores though.

The Future of the Swords & Wizardry Witch

Yesterday saw the release of the Witch class for Swords & Wizardry Light.  +Erik Tenkar put together a nice set of rules and I had to do something to support it.
So far I am pretty pleased with the sales.  The natural question now is "What's next?"

Well, I have some plans!

Swords & Wizardry is not a game I embraced at first.  Sure it is fun, but I didn't see why people kept calling it an OD&D clone.  It has some design elements similar to OD&D but it is still pretty far removed from my memories of actually playing OD&D.   In truth, Spellcraft & Swordplay is much, much closer to OD&D than Swords & Wizardry is.

That all being said I stopped worrying about what Swords & Wizardry wasn't and focused on what it is.  What it is is a surprisingly fun, easy and fast game that still feels like D&D.   You can thank White Star for that really.

What does this mean for you and my work?

There will be witch books for Swords & Wizardry.

The first is for Swords & Wizardry Whitebox.  I am going to focus on rebuilding the witch class from the ground up to fit S&W.  There will be plenty of new material; I want this to be worth my time in doing it and your money in buying it. I also want it to be compatible with my Basic Witch class, so that they can be used together.

There will be overlap between this new book, the Witch and Eldritch Witchery.  The new book will feature a new Witch Tradition, appropriately called "The White Witch Tradition" and have new spells and magic items.  I have not decided whether or not this book should include monsters.

Next will be another book for +James Spahn's  The Hero's Journey Fantasy Roleplaying Game.  This book will be very, very similar to the Whitebox witch. I won't lie, this book will be about 90% the same as the White Box Witch.  It will have its own Tradition as well, the "Hedge Witch".

Finally, I'll pull everything together from everything I have ever written and put that into a "Complete Witch" for Swords & Wizardry Complete.  This will contain all the spells, magic items, powers and Traditions of all my books.  In particular, I want this to be used with the +Stacy Dellorfano led 3rd printing of S&W Complete.  Plus using my witch in +Elizabeth Chaipraditkul's S&W

My plan is to bundle these together so that anyone that really, really wants all these books can get them at a reasonable price.   I also want to make it so that if you choose to buy only one book you have a set of complete rules and something unique the other books do not have.

I have other projects that NEED to be finished first, though, so don't expect these books in the next few weeks or even months.

I am very conscious of the fact that this feels like I am "going back to the same well" too many times.  But this is something I need to write, for me. If you enjoy it too, then fantastic. I would love it if you enjoyed it too.

So let me know what you think below.
Is there something you want to see in these books?
Is there something you DON'T want to see in these books?