Hmm. This one gives me a couple of ideas, but none I feel like expanding into a full blog post.
I mean I have some Javascript to make my banner above display random images like my Book panel to the right.
I suppose I still fly the Banner of Old-School games here even though I am more and more inclined to newer games these days.
I still have my giant Victorian London Map from Banners on the Cheap.
I'll have to come up with something better for the other posts.
HUGE Kickstart Your Weekend today. So let's get to it!
Old-School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy
Old-School Essentials is becoming the game of the year, and the Advanced Fantasy rules are only going to add to that. There are different pledge levels to join depending which books you already have or which ones you want. Already funded it hardly needs me to sell you on it. Gavin did a fantastic job with his last Kickstarter and I see this one being even better.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/batintheatticgames/the-majestic-fantasy-rpg?ref=theotherside
Rob Conley has been a fixture in the Old-School scene for a while now. He is pulling together all the work he has done for a new ruleset compatible with Swords & Wizardry. It has a solid late 70s vibe to it and it looks like it will be quite a lot of fun.
The Great American Witch
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/greyauthor/the-great-american-witch?ref=theotherside
This one is a bit different, but it really hits all my buttons. Based on The Great American Novel RPG this one deals with the secret world of witches. Honestly, that is all I need to know. Funded quickly it is also way above their goal. It just looks like a lot of fun.
There you have it! So much great stuff coming out!
Mathew Pook over at the Reviews from R'lyeh has taken on all my latest Basic Era Witch books.
His Which Witch series reviews my Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games, The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch for Basic Era Games, The Basic Witch: The Pumpkin Spice Witch Tradition, The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition, and the Warlock.
In general I think his reviews are fair, but I tend to enjoy the Pumpkin Spice witch more than he did.
So give him a read and see what he has to say!
AAW Games is sponsoring a BUNDLE FOR BEIRUT! [BUNDLE] to support Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontiers.
All proceeds are going to aid the people affected by the explosion in Beruit.
I have two books in the bundle, The Basic Witch: The Pumpkin Spice Witch Tradition and The Witch for Swords & Wizardry White Box.
While getting two of my books is a small deal, there is over $230.00 worth of books in this bundle all for just $30.00. That's a good deal and it goes to a good cause. Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontiers is one of the charities I support often.
We are at the mid-point of the monthly #RPGaDAY2020 and today is Rest.
Given the amount of work I have ay my day job I have to do today, rest sounds great.
Though they say there is no rest for the weary/wicked, here is something I was working on last night.
Last night I was working on a new magic system for D&D and it got...out of hand. So now I have a document for Anime/Manga themed D&D I am calling "Super Dungeon Explorer Adventure Team Go, Go, GO!"#anime #dnd #dnd5e
— Timothy S. Brannan - Working the NIGHT SHIFT! (@timsbrannan) August 13, 2020
So. Yeah. Expect to see Super Dungeon Explorer Adventure Team Go, Go, GO! Sometime.
Maybe I can forego sleep for a while.
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| Larina by OneEyedNeko |
The cryptic message, or even messenger, is likely one of the oldest tropes in RPGs next to "you all meet in an inn."
It is a central feature of the Ravenloft module, likely because of it's prominence in Dracula. It's a good hook to get otherwise sane adventurers to go into a creepy castle that they know has a vampire in it. They have a leg up on Harker.
The difference between a message to the characters and hanging out in the bar is one of tangible props.
While I discovered in college that D&D&Drinking don't mix well for me. Soaking some resume paper in a bath of tea and setting it in the sun to dry as a message to the characters also really pleases the players.
I remember when LARPing was getting really big in the 90s (yes it was a thing before that, but not where I lived) and I was confused. Playing D&D in 80s we did some of that, but doing too much of it got you pegged as one of those "steam tunnel weirdoes" and with the Satanic Panic still on people's minds we tried to avoid too many real-world activities. Hell, I got looked at weird for dressing in all black. Now? No one bats an eye.
A message then, as a prop, was always easy to create. Now it is even easier.
Plus it is also a good way to get the adventurers back on track. They are wandering off in the wrong direction? A messenger shows up with news! Doing the wrong thing? A booming voice from the clouds! Ok, I tend to avoid divine, or even powerful, intervention like that. I didn't even use the Protectors in B3 where they were needed. Fire is often it's own lesson.
Right now I am planning on some minor divine intervention in my Order of the Platinum Dragon campaign. The characters (and players) are really just about 6 hours of play time away from completing the adventure and really, the campaign. I have a post script though I want them to do. I might need to nudge them into the right direction. If they don't...well I'll need a plan for what happens when a group of 18th level character land smack in the middle of my Drow civil war.
Well. Last night's derecho here in the mid-west left me without power for a while, so I did not get a chance to write today's post ahead of time.
Today is Day 11 and the word is Stack.
This is a pretty easy one. I typically have two stacks I am working on.
My TBR, to Be Read, Pile, and my Research Stack.
I mentioned my research stack yesterday. I am going through a lot of books and some older D&D material to research my High Witchcraft Tradition.
My current TBR includes a lot of philosophy. I am currently working through "The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida" by Prof. Lawerence Cahoone. I am likely to continue this path with "The Philosophy of Science" and the "Great Scientific Ideas that Changed the World" or I might take a break from this and go with this "Early Middle Ages" book. Or I might reread Robert A. Heinlein's "Friday."
Hard call. Depends on how drained I am after Cahoone's book. While I read philosophy of science in grad school, I have not read any philosophy proper, unless you count John Dewey or Paulo Freire, since I was an undergrad.
Normally when I start a new project, like the High Witchcraft book, I find a book that supplements it well. I have not done that this time. I hope my writing doesn't suffer for it.
