OSR News from Dreams of Mythic Fantasy - May 26, 2016

New LotFP, some Barbarians of Lemuria and the deluge of Black Hack stuff slows down, a bit. Plus, the usual assortement of Goodies!

Some New Releases

The Cursed Chateau by James Maliszewski. Art by Jez Gordon. Cover art by Yannick Bouchard. Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Available in a hardcover Print+PDF combo for 27.50€.  Available in PDF for $7.50 at RPGNOW  (adult filter, so just do a search at the site.) 80 pages.

THE DEAD ARE ALL MAD IN THIS PLACE

Jaume made the most unfortunate mistake of seducing Ysabel and taking her virginity — a sacrilege for which the sentence was death. Enraged upon finding this out, Joudain cleaved Jaume’s head in two with an axe and then raised him from the dead to continue his duties. Not long afterward, Joudain decided that, because the twin footmen no longer “matched,” he had no choice but to inflict the same fate on Miqèl — who now looks exactly like his older brother. 

JOIN THEM. 

This heavily revised and greatly expanded deluxe edition of The Cursed Chateau is an adventure for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing and other traditional role-playing games. 

DEATH IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

England Upturn'd by Barry Blatt. Art by Sarah Richardson. Cover art by Jason Rainville. Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Available in a softcover Print+PDF combo for 16.50€.  Available in PDF for $7.50 at RPGNOW. 128 pages.

          The law locks up the man or woman

Who steals the goose off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from the goose. 

The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who takes things that are yours and mine.
The poor and wretched don’t escape
If they conspire the law to break;
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law. 

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back. 

‘Protest Ballad, Anon. circa 1635’ 

England Upturn’d is an adventure set during the English Civil War, for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing and other traditional role-playing games.

The S'rulyan Vault by Venger Satanis. Art by Glynn Seal, James V West, and Bojan Sucevic. Kort'thalis Publishing.

This product is both a PDF and very large, high resolution map files. 

The PDF contains a short history of the region and dungeon, original artwork by Bojan Sucevic, and several random tables for making this dungeoncrawl easier to run and more interesting. For instance, there's a d100 table describing things found when searching a room. There's also a multi-table system for generating fortunes.

Lastly, there's a custom, old school fantasy character sheet created by James V West.

As for the maps, there's an old school blue and white layout of the dungeon... just like we remember from the modules in the late 70's and early 80's. Alternatively, there's a parchment colored map. Each one can be taken to a printer and blown up to 34" x 44". Yeah, that's big. It'll also look impressive on your gaming table!

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for checking out this latest work from Kort'thalis Publishing... where awesome is nine-tenths of the law!

Power of Fear by Thomas Denmark. Night Owl Workshop. Available in Print for 8.99. 48 pages.

A Guardians superhero adventure for levels 1-3 Includes: 10 super-powered NPC’s New super power Multiple Maps

Marcus Grimwood, once known as the Teklord until he retired from superhero duties, was a genius super inventor from a family of wealthy industrialists. After tragically losing his partner, and the failure of his brilliant inventions to be accepted by the public, he concocted a scheme to create the ultimate power source. Grimwood did not realize that in his grief and frustration, he had gone stark raving mad...

The adventure takes place over several days as Grimwood unfolds his master plan to “harness the power of fear” and perform the final calibration of his Phobos Device.

Character Options - compatible with Stars Without Number by Omer Golan-Joel. Stellagama Publishing. Available in PDF for $1.00. 10 pages.

Stars Without Number comes with a good number of Background and Training Packages, allowing for a wide range of characters. However, the potential number of professions and backgrounds in the universe is enormous; many more packages are possible. In this publication, we humbly present a plethora of additional Background and Training Packages for Stars Without Number. 

Included are: 

- 6 new Background Packages
- 10 new Expert Training Packages
- 5 new Psychic Training Packages
-10 new Warrior Training Packages

PC7 - The OSR Summoner by Jeremy Reaban. Art by Gary Dupuis. Available in PDF for PWYW. 12 pages.

The summoner is a sub-class of magic-user that gains his magical powers by making a pact with an outsider, a being from the outer planes. This pact is one of mutual benefit, as both the summoner and the outsider, known as an eidolon, gain in power. 

This eidolon physically manifests on the material plane with the summoner. Its physical shape is determined when it is first summoned. It will perform tasks for the summoner, including fighting as well as casting spells.

Although primarily intended for first advanced edition, it also contains tables for other popular versions: original edition, basic and expert edition, and the cyclopedia edition.

The Treasure Vaults of Zadabad - Swords & Wizardry Edition by Carl Bussler and Eric Hoffman. Stormlord Publishing. Available in print for $25. 64 pages.

Written for the Swords & Wizardry rules, this island-crawl adventure is for 4-8 characters of level 2-4. Inside you will find, simple rules for exploring the island, a random treasure table with common and rare items, an appendix of over 30 new monsters, an appendix of 11 unique magic items, 3 detailed tombs to randomly discover and plunder, 19 fixed encounters, including the ruins of Zadabad and its fabled vaults, and 7 maps!

The Class Hack 2: Electric Boogaloo by Mark Craddock & Talon Waite. Cross Planes Game Studio. Available in PDF for $1.00. 20 Pages.

Do you enjoy THE BLACK HACK but want even more Classes? 

THE CLASS HACK 2: ECLECTIC BOOGALOO presents 15 Additional Traditional and Racial Classes. 

Part One presents Traditional Classes: Animator, Blackguard, Commander, Jester, Kensai, Knight, Psionicist, Samurai, Thaumaturgist, and Witch for you to play. 

Part Two presents Racial Classes: Drake, Gnome, Half-Orc, and Tiefling for you to play, as well.

The Price of Rebirth by Omer Golan-Joel. Stellagama Publishing. Available in PDF for $2.99. 15 pages.

Death lies in wait for the hapless adventurer in the dark corners of the dungeon, amidst the gnarled trees of the forest, and even in the halls of mighty kings. Even the strongest adventurer faces a constant threat of death, as the adventuring profession is not for the timid.

However, not all heroes and villains die so quickly, even in the absence of powerful magic capable of raising or resurrecting the dead. Instead, this supplement proposes a possibility for first aid – or even ordinary healing magic – to bring back a character from the brink of death if applied in a timely fashion. But such lucky escape from the maws of hell is not without consequences. 

The supplement includes: 

- Critical injury and treating it - and lasting injury
- Variant Raise Dead rules with circumstances, from mild to dire
- Variant and less predictable Reincarnation rules
- Become a LICH!

Fully compatible with Swords and Wizardry™: White Box, and highly compatible with a wide range of older-school games.

A Letter From Yuggoth Issue 2 by Nicolo Maioli. Yaqqothl Press. Available in PDF for PWYW. 2 pages. 

A system-agnostic one page zine dedicated to Lovecraftian role-playing, inspired by Christian Walker’s “Shudde M'ell Confidential” and other OPZs. 

The second issue contains "The Drifting House", a scenario for one Investigator and one Keeper set in Arkham 1926.

 

 Some Free Downloads

Mirrorshades: The Seatle Hack (V1.3) by  Norbert G. Matausch. Available in PDF for Free. 21 pages.

Some groups like to mix magic and cyberpunk in Their Mirrorshades game, Shadowrun style. The Seattle Hack is a simple and free add-on did tries to emulate this. Enjoy.

The Oerth Journal Vol II Issue 27. Ed. in Chief Dennis Lovatt. Available in PDF for Free. 43 pages.

For your reading pleasure, OJ #27 offers the following:

GAZETTEER OF THE FLANAESS - THE CITY OF GLASS
By Frank Myres; Art by Adam Koča, Rick Miller, and Frank Myres

RACES OF OERTH - THE BAKLUNISH
By Dennis Lovatt; Art by Adam Koča and Rick Miller

RACES OF OERTH - THE FLANNAE
By Dennis Lovatt; Art by Adam Koča and Rick Miller

RACES OF OERTH - THE OERIDIANS
By Dennis Lovatt; Art by Adam Koča and Rick Miller

RACES OF OERTH - THE RHENNEE
By Dennis Lovatt; Art by Adam Koča and Rick Miller

RACES OF OERTH - THE SULOISE
By Dennis Lovatt; Art by Adam Koča and Rick Miller

GAZATTEER OF THE FLANAESS - KET, SECRET SOCIETIES AND HIDDEN CABALS
By Michael Raper; Art by Mike Bridges, Rick Miller, and Dean Oyebo

Army of Five Eyes by G-Man. Available in PDF for Free. 13 pages. Hosted by the venomous pao at Strange Stones. 

A New G-Man BoL Adventure! 

G-Man. Unstoppable force of nature or something more sinister? After you check out Army of Five Eyes, his latest eldritch electronic output, you might lean towards believing the latter. So what would happen if elder things had existed in Hyboria? Find out by downloading Army of Five Eyes now.

Five Lights - An Adventure for Barbarians of Lemuria by Finn Cullen. Available in PDF for Free. 11 pages.

MA#44 Grim Water Oasis by Tim Shorts. Available in PDF for Free. 2 pages.

Long ago before the first snake crawled from the hole to slither across the virgin sands, there was the trickster. The trickster, an immortal creature with a taste of mischief and misery is the catalyst of this adventure. It sits in the background and watches the events unfold. It presents an obvious situation, an innocent is offered as a sacrificed. Of course the boy must be saved. Of course.

Unknowingly the party may trade the life of one boy for an entire tribe and many creatures. A savory feast for the trickster.

Holmes Reference Sheets by Zenopus. Recently updated. Free PDF's for your Holmes game!

Portown Rumors by Zenopus. Available in HTML for Free.

Hack Wars by Peter Frain. 77 Studios. Available in PDF for Free. 10 pages. Link direct to file.
Yes. It's Black Hacked Star Wars.

Some Current Kickstarters

Pussy Chasers: The Legend of Oral aka Universal Exploits from Venger Satanis.

The Driftwood Verses from Red Moon Medicine Show. 

Reviews

The Lovecraft eZine reviews Black Sun Deathcrawl.

Needles at Swords & Stitchery reviews The S'rulyan Vault.

Ten Questions In Gaming With Venger Satanis & The New Alpha Blue Rpg Adventure Kickstarter by Needles at Swords & Stitchery.

The Disoriented Ranger takes a look at The Dreams of Ruin. 

In Other News

Tabletop Library has a 10% off sale going on. Link to Matt Finch's post from earlier today.

RPGNOW has a 25% off sale on select Superhero titles. 

Unless otherwise noted, all links to products and files are to the individual authors sites, pertinent posts, or sales pages. I don’t link directly to files, unless that is the only link available. 

I have received no remuneration from any publisher, for reporting on their releases, nor is such a requirement for a product to be included in these posts. At times, an author or publisher may send me a complimentary copy of an item, for purposes of review. This is not a requirement for a product's inclusion in these posts. 

As always, the What I’m Pimping This Week section of the OSR News and its accompanying blog widget, feature products which I have purchased (or items which are available for free download) and wish to support. At times, the item I'm pimping may be one which I received a complimentary review copy of, from the author or publisher. No one has asked me to spotlight their material in this section and I have received no payment of any kind for doing so. 

Please feel free to send me information on any new releases, events, or other items of interest, which you would like to see mentioned.

OSR News from Dreams of Mythic Fantasy - May 18, 2016

A new cool thing from Chris Kutalik, reprints from James Maliszewski, Stone-Age Old School and The Black Hack continues to conquer the OSR. Plus, the usual assortment of new, free and PWYW rpg Loot!

New Releases

Misty Isles of the Eld by Chris Kutalik. Art by Luca Rejec & Cecil Howe. The Hydra Cooperative. Available in PDF for $12.00. Print forthcoming. 104 pages.

Come visit the acid fantasy mini-sandbox of the Misty Isles, a hellish pocket plane that's brutally displaced a bucolic paradise. Marvel at its massive grub-ridges, shake at the body horror of its protein vats—and watch as your players dynamically unleash the Anti-Chaos Index through their own in-game actions. Misty Isles of the Eld is a stand-alone sequel to Slumbering Ursine Dunes and Fever-Dreaming Marlinko. 

What's inside its 104 pages:

Four dungeons. The Vat Complex (with its menacing sealed off-west wing, body-horrific industrial process and pocket dimensions), the flying god-prison Monument Five, the meth-fruit Plantation House and Colonel Zogg's Pagoda Bunker.

Full “extra-planar” pointcrawl. The wilderness crawl spreads over one main isle and two smaller islets subdivided by massive, movable grubs.

An “Anti-Chaos Index.” Through their actions the players shape the very reality of the Isles. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst, but always for the weird.

A slew of new otherwordly monsters.

A large collection of bizarre technological Eldish artifacts and treasure. Includes a random generator for miscellaneous artifacts picked up.

A new psionicist player class, the Psychonaut, with a soft scifi twist. Including its own powers and mutations.

Mechanized Men of Mars by Thomas Denmark. Night Owl Workshop. Available in Print for $8.99 and in PDF for $2.99. 32 pages.

The Mechanized Men of Mars is an adventure for Warriors of the Red Planet, a roleplaying game in the tradition of classic style RPG's, also known as original edition, OSR, or retro-clones. Warriors of the Red Planet captures the "Sword and Planet" genre of science fantasy romance, inspired by the works of Burroughs, Vance, Moorcock, Kline, and other novels, movies, and comic books where an earthman goes to another planet and discovers he has unique abilities. There are strange creatures, weird science, power hungry warlords and of course beautiful space princesses.

This adventure takes place on Barsoom, the alien world described in the genre defining book A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. But, it has been written in a way that it can easily fit into any science-fantasy world that combines lasers and swords.

This adventure is compatible with the Original Fantasy Roleplaying game and related systems.

Beasties by Thomas Denmark. Night Owl Workshop. Available in Print for $9.99 and in PDF for $4.99. 84 pages.

A collection of monsters, creatures, strange beings, traps, and encounters compatible with the Original Fantasy RPG and similar systems.

Beasties is a fantasy bestiary supplement compatible with the original fantasy roleplaying game and subsequent editions, and other “OSR” games that follow in the mold of the original like Colonial Troopers, Guardians, and Warriors of the Red Planet. More than just a manual of monsters this book includes ready made NPC’s, traps & tricks, a mega-dungeon adventure synopsis and random encounter tables.

This is a handy reference book to bring to your gaming table, or use for inspiration in creating adventures.

The Quarrymen by Duncan McPhedran. Art by the author and Dyson Logos. Zorathan City State. Available in PDF for PWYW. 16 pages.

For years there have been legends of a lost ancient complex hidden deep within the town quarry, and it seems that the local quarrymen have now stumbled upon an entrance to it. Long thought lost to the ages, little about it is known for sure, although rumours are now flying through the town.

Sixty-six quarrymen took the opportunity to enter the complex opening and take a look around, but they have all since disappeared.

Mirrorshades by Norbert G. Matausch. Matush Manhunt Publications. Available in PDF for $3.00. 76 pages.

Mirrorshades uses David Black's The Black Hack rules and takes them for a ride into hardcore cyberpunk territory. Using Mike Evans' Cyber-Hacked as a foundation, the Mirrorshades rules present a complete, stand-alone game.

• Choose between 10 different character classes
• Play a netrunner and hack into hostile computer systems
• Build your own cyberdeck
• Use our complete rpg drug creation system
• Design your characters' cyberware from the ground up -- simple and easy
• Use 20+ random tables to flesh out your game world

Simple, super-flexible, customizable, fast-playing, robust and in-depth.

HS3 Incursion of the Chain Devils by Jeremy Reaban. Art by Jacob E. Blackmon,
Alex Schomburg, Karl M. Available in PDF for PWYW. 15 pages.

Three nights ago, strange lights and screams were heard from the local temple of Ishtar. Grotesque humanoids, wearing tattered clothes and wrapped with chains, emerged from the very walls, causing murder and mayhem within. 

Can the PCs save the temple of Ishtar from the incursion of the chain devils? 

H3 Incursion of the Chain Devils is a module for 4-8 characters levels 5th to 7th using the first edition advanced rules of the world's first and still most popular fantasy role playing game. It can be used with any older edition of the rules set or modern retro clone, though other editions likely need higher level characters. In any event, magic weapons are a must. Thieves and even clerics are not. 

As with previous entries in the HS line, the focus is firmly on combat. There are 20 rooms and likely 8-10 encounters. Most of the monsters are backward converted from third edition and full write ups are provided.

(Note: the subject matter of this module is slightly suggestive)

The Cthulhu Hack by Paul Baldowski. Just Crunch Games. Available in PDF for $2.50. 42 pages.

The Cthulhu Hack is a tabletop role-playing game in the tradition of the Original 1970s Fantasy Roleplaying Game, based on the hugely popular modern OSR clone The Black Hack. 

The Cthulhu Hack summons and binds the fast play potential of the original (just a little bit), adding in new elements to handle an investigation and deal with the sanity-shattering shock of facing Things Best Left Unknown. It uses The Black Hack's elegant Usage Die mechanic to emulate the dwindling investigative resources available to those intrepid sorts willing to put their lives and reputations on the line in pursuit of the Unmentionable and Unthinkable. 

Includes Lovecraftian monsters and a Mythos 101 for those unfamiliar with the original tales. 

For a thorough and balanced review, check out The World According to CARP. 

Mike Hill - "The bottom line is that I will actually play this game. I download a lot of projects that never make it off the hard drive." 

Made using The Black Hack: This is a standalone product, including the Open Game License material of The Black Hack. 

File includes two character sheet files - both A4. One provides the basic character sheet, the other an extended version on two sides with room for a character portrait, notes and Last Will and Testament.

 
A Hack of Class by Brett Slocum. Weird Realm Games. Available in PDF for $1.00. 12 pages.

This supplement contains seven lightweight classes for The Black Hack: Assassin, Bard, Druid, Illusionist, Monk, Paladin, and Ranger. The also includes spell lists for druids and illusionists. It has been a pleasure to create these. I hope the reader can have fun with them.

Eastern Expeditions: The Samurai (Delving Deeper/0E) by Joseph D. Salvador. Raven God Games. Available in PDF for PWYW. 12 pages.

Bring the samurai to your original edition games! The samurai has been represented in role-playing games from the days of the earliest edition but has been plagued by imbalance and inaccuracies. The Eastern Expeditions™ line aims to address these issues.

Eastern Expeditions: The Samurai provides a complete character class based decidedly in the historical Japanese warrior, as well as Japanese weapons and armor suitable for a samurai’s use. The class is written for the Delving Deeper RPG, but with minor modifications could be used with any “old-school” RPG, including the advanced editions of the original fantasy game, Swords & Wizardry, and OSRIC!

This product is designed to be printed in booklet format.

Eastern Expeditions: The Ninja (Delving Deeper/0E) by Joseph D. Salvador. Raven God Games. Available in PDF for PWYW. 12 pages.

Bring the ninja to your original edition games! The ninja has been represented in role-playing games from the days of the earliest edition but has been plagued by imbalance and fallacies. The Eastern Expeditions™ line aims to address these issues.

Eastern Expeditions: The Ninja provides a complete character class, as well as Japanese weapons, armor, and equipment suitable for a ninja’s use. The class is written for the Delving Deeper RPG, but with minor modifications could be used with any “old-school” RPG, including the advanced editions of the original fantasy game, Swords & Wizardry, and OSRIC!

This product is designed to be printed in booklet format.

The Eight of Wands: A Class Hack for the Black Hack by Warren L. Denning. I Cast Light. Available in PDF for $1.00. 14 pages.

Eight alternative character classes inspired by the 5th edition of that classic RPG, but designed for use with David Black’s The Black Hack (and other OSR systems) to extend its class options beyond the core four of Warrior, Thief, Cleric, and Conjurer. Included are class descriptions for the:

Barbarian whose rage and skill with two-handed weapons allows better criticals and heads to roll;

Ranger a resourceful fighter with command of the forest and mastery over beasts;

Smuggler with luck to spare and ability to move goods and people for gold and gain;

Poisoner whose tinctures, oils, and powders can be use to confer a variety of player-defined effects on friend and foe;

Paladin whose devotion to their ideal allows them to gain magical ability and alter their allies' position in initiative;

Druid who can call forth the power of lightning and transformation in defense of their territory then escape untraceably;

Sorcerer who uses their bodies vessals for living spells which change as a result of the caster’s heritage;

& the Warlock whose pact allows them to not only ask weapons, familiars, and favors of their master, but permanently alter their character sheet- for a price!

The Black Hack: Cyber-Hacked! by Mike Evans. Art by Alex Mayo. DIY RPG Productions. Available in PDF for $2.00. 19 pages.

The Black Hack: Cyber-Hacked! takes the awesome OSR rules created by David Black for The Black Hack and uses them to create a OSR-style cyberpunk system. Simple rules for hacking, cyberware, car chases, drugs, and guns are included.

Which class will you choose to be when running in the shadows and doing jobs for the local Fixer? Will you be The Street Meat, The Martial Artist, The Street Rat, The Mechanic, The Face, or The Psychic? Do you have what it takes to survive a run through a corporate Acrology to obtain secret plans? Let's roll some dice and find out!

Wolf-Packs and Winter Snow by Emmy Allen. Dying Stylishly Games. Available in PDF for PWYW. 156 pages.

Blood spilled on the snow. Stone-tipped spears brandished against the

dark. The howls of wolves echoing across the tundra.

This is a time before writing, money, walled settlements and the many other comforts of civilization. The ice-age wilderness is harsh, and filled with dangerous beasts. In dark forests and the depths of caves, there exist other, stranger creatures; mad beasts that are the products of magic.
The ice age is coming to an end. Retreating ice-sheets reveal tracts of land unseen for millennia with each spring, and in their wake leave the environment in turmoil. As the snow withdraws, modern humans follow, and every year new tribes of humans enter the Neanderthal‘s ancestral lands. Against this backdrop, magic begins to emerge as a force in the world. Driving the rise in art – jewellery, cave paintings and figurines - that will fascinate later historians, some humans begin experimenting with the supernatural, learning to shape the wild forces of the world into controllable spells and items of power.

Strange Prehistoric Roleplaying

Included in this book is everything you'll need to run or play in games set in the fantasy ice age. Inside, you'll find-

• Quick character generation, with classes for human hunters, skilled experts and magicians, and for the race of Neanderthals.
• Optional rules to play as lurking mutants, unnatural morlocks, orphaned children, mystics worshipping strange powers, or cannibalistic wendigos.
• Systems for food, weather and sickness that drive home the struggle for survival.
• Quick, dirty, brutal combat.
• Rules for gathering and leading a stone-age tribe.
• A magic system that combines familiar Vancian casting with the dangers of experimentation in a time before spellbooks.
• Guides to running a game of exploration in the wilderness or deep underground.
• Systems to create unique monsters on the fly.

All in a rules system that will be familiar to any fan of the OSR. Stripped down, streamlined, and customized to match the stone-age setting.

Planetary Display by Roger Thorm. Antherwyck House Games. Available in PDF for $1.00. 1 Page.

A planetary display map form to use with any role playing game. The map sheet displays a truncated icosahedron (buckyball or soccer ball form) with geometricized latitude and longitude gridding to enable mapping locations anywhere on the face of the world.

Layout is for a science-fiction system, but this is equally usable with any game system wanting to have an abstracted global map.

Re-Releases

The Excellent Travelling Volume by James Maliszewski. Back issues #1-4 available again in print. $9.95 to North America. $11.95 to the rest of the world.

Some Free Downloads

The Rod of Seraillian by Carl Sargent. Remastered by Kellri. Available in PDF for Free. 68 pages.

Here's my re-mastered version of the 5th Pelinore module from GameMaster Publications - Carl Sargent's Rod of Seraillian. It's for 1e AD&D characters of levels 7-9. Enjoy!

Kellri has also posted some Stars Without Number resources. 

The Glog: Alchemy + Oozes by Arnold Kemp. Available in PDF for Free. 18 pages.


D100 mildly plausible backgrounds for Old school Characters by Shane Ward. Available in PDF for Free. 1 page.

The Black Hack Open Game Content. Website by Bruno Bord based on The Black Hack by David Black and Peter Regan. Available in HTML for Free. 

Psimple Psionics v1.1 for The Black Hack by Jeff Call. Available in PDF for Free. 3 pages.

A Collection of Presentations Cartographical in Nature by Matt Jackson. Available in PDF for Free. 14 pages. 

The Tomb of the Whispering Worms: A Descent into Madness for Swords & Wizardry by Mark L. Chance. Map by Matthew Lowes. Available in PDF for Free. 7 pages. 

Mentalist: TBH Class by Jeff Call. Available in HTML for Free.

Peril by Cecil Howe. Additional art by Matthew Adams. Available in PDF for Free. 12 pages.

Other Stuff

Hiring Hall Retainers and hirelings for old school dungeon crawling, a generator by Ed Allen.

Jeremy Hart is creating Art and Printable Miniatures on Patreon. 

Reviews

The Trollish Delver reviews The Black Hack.

Christopher Helton reviews The Black Hack.

Diogo Nogueira gives a review and play report of Escape from the Purple Planet.

The Disoriented Ranger reviews Wolf-Packs and Winter Snow. 

Unless otherwise noted, all links to products and files are to the individual authors sites, pertinent posts, or sales pages. I don’t link directly to files, unless that is the only link available.

I have received no remuneration from any publisher, for reporting on their releases, nor is such a requirement for a product to be included in these posts. At times, an author or publisher may send me a complimentary copy of an item, for purposes of review. This is not a requirement for a product's inclusion in these posts.

As always, the What I’m Pimping This Week section of the OSR News and its accompanying blog widget, feature products which I have purchased (or items which are available for free download) and wish to support. At times, the item I'm pimping may be one which I received a complimentary review copy of, from the author or publisher. No one has asked me to spotlight their material in this section and I have received no payment of any kind for doing so.

Please feel free to send me information on any new releases, events, or other items of interest, which you would like to see mentioned.

OSR News from Dreams of Mythic Fantasy - May 9, 2016

Life's kicking my ass this week, so this will be short and sweet. Relatively.

The Peridot - Spring 2016 Issue #1 by David McGrogan. Noisms Games. Available in print for $7.70 and in PDF for $4.35. 82 pages.

Issue #1 of The Peridot, an RPG 'zine from the creater of Yoon-Suin.

Contents of Issue #1 (80 pages total) include: 

• A complete new Ancient Mesopotamian starter campaign setting with 30+ keyed hexes, new monsters and NPCs.
• Battle bulrush demons and scorpion-men, explore a thronged wilderness, forge your destiny in a world still young....
• A grab-bag of interesting new monsters, NPCs, and magic items, including Heron Men, the Old Comrades, and the Weeping Woodwose
• A collection of scenarios to "plug in and play" to your campaign, including the Bone Miller, the Ichthyosaur's Pool, and Pan Chun Mei and Her Wraith Ravens
• New art and fiction
• Purple prose

Nod #29 by John Stater. Available in PDF for $4.99. (Print, presumably, forthcoming.) 74 pages.

The second issue of NOD in 2016 features the second half of the Trollheim hex crawl, and then delves into modern and sci-fi supplements for Grit & Vigor, including Tony Tucker's Luchador class, the final part of Luke DeGraw's d20 Mecha rules, the fabulous Lovecraftian Hyperspace setting by Aaron Siddall and a quick and easy rpg that pits Luchadores vs. the Aztec Mummy.

The Black Hack by David Black. Gold Piece Publications. Now available in Print for £4.00 (the bundle pictured below is available for £7.50!) Available in PDF for $2.00. 20 pages.

The Black Hack is a super-streamlined roleplaying game that uses the Original 1970s Fantasy Roleplaying Game as a base, and could well be the most straightforward modern OSR compatible clone available. If speed of play and character creation, compatibility, and simple - yet elegant rules are what you yearn for. Look no further!

The Black Hack is a fast playing game and the rules can be picked up in minutes. The full rules fit in a single 20 page A5 book!

The Excellent Traveling Volume #5 by James Maliszewski. Available in Print for $9.95. 32 pages.

The Excellent Travelling Volume is a 32-page, digest-sized print-only fanzine dedicated to Empire of the Petal Throne, the first roleplaying game set on M.A.R. Barker's world of Tékumel and is produced under license from theTékumel Foundation.

I forgot to include this last week and James is almost sold out of this issue!

PC6 - The OSR Android by Jeremy Reaban. Available in PDF for PWYW. 8 pages.

The OSR Android is a character class designed to allow the playing of a player character android, a human like robot. Although not generally found in the usual fantasy world, androids do have a way of popping up thanks to crashe spaceships and long lost civilizations.

Although primarily intended for first advanced edition, it also contains tables for other popular versions: original edition, basic and expert edition, and the cyclopedia edition.

 How about a freebie you may have missed...

Swyvers RPG by Luke Gearing. Available in PDF for free. 38 pages. The link is directly to the file.
Aha! Here's the author's site - ANT-LERRR.

Expect to die and roll characters quickly. Expect to scrimp pennies and murder for shillings. Expect magic to ruin your day. Expect to die in a tomb.

Now features a bunch of stuff. Not necessarily the final version, still some tweaking needed I suspect.

Some wonderfully, grotty stuff!


Another cool freebie...

Meat Grinder Too by Eldrad Wolfsbane. Available in PDF for Free. 12 pages.

Bad art, bad editing, bad guys that need to DIE! It's also FREE!

A One Page Dungeon that's been making the rounds.

The Gelatinous Dome! by Jeff Call. Available in PDF for Free. 1 page.

 More Dungeons at the One Page Dungeon contest site!

The Gongfarmer's Almanac Vol. 1-6 by the DCC RPG G+ Community. Available in PDF for Free. Link to files on Google Drive, here. 348 pages.

And in Other News...

Holy Shit! Dyson Logos got profiled on boingboing!

Zak Sabbath continues to write amazing articles.

Jeff Rients Posted!

Arnold Kemp continues posting awesome shit at Goblin Punch.

Unless otherwise noted, all links to products and files are to the individual authors sites, pertinent posts, or sales pages. I don’t link directly to files, unless that is the only link available.

I have received no remuneration from any publisher, for reporting on their releases, nor is such a requirement for a product to be included in these posts. At times, an author or publisher may send me a complimentary copy of an item, for purposes of review. This is not a requirement for a product's inclusion in these posts.

As always, the What I’m Pimping This Week section of the OSR News and its accompanying blog widget, feature products which I have purchased (or items which are available for free download) and wish to support. At times, the item I'm pimping may be one which I received a complimentary review copy of, from the author or publisher. No one has asked me to spotlight their material in this section and I have received no payment of any kind for doing so. 

Please feel free to send me information on any new releases, events, or other items of interest, which you would like to see mentioned.

The Keep on the Other Side of the Borderlands

So, there's this keep. Long lost, by the forces of Law.

For decades, heroes, lords and other assorted riff-raff have tried to retake the stronghold and its surroundings, for the glory of King and Country.

Ok, mostly for themselves.

Recently, Sir/Lady NPC has managed to claim the keep, clear the area immediately surrounding it and establish a very tenuous hold on his/her new demesne.

There's no thriving little community, here. Just a few surviving men-at-arms, a Castellan, a minor Cleric, a few acolytes, some engineer/builder types, some camp-followers and non-combatant hirelings. They're surrounded. Out-numbered. Running out of time and resources.

All day long, they labor to shore up the gates, patch the walls, fortifying the keep, as best they may.

All night long, they're hard pressed, keeping the forces of Chaos from breaking into the keep.

And the Lord/Lady? Mysteriously incapacitated. Hidden away, deep within the stronghold. Only the Cleric has seen the ruler, recently. The defense of the keep is in the hands of the Castellan. He's like, 3rd level.

Worse, the baleful abominations of the wilderness, seem far too organized.

And not far away...

Not far away, the soldiers have discovered something. They think it's a complex of caves, harboring creatures of Chaos.

They're wrong. It's a fucking megadungeon.

In the face of all this, the forces of the keep must arrange for supplies, reinforcements and, gods help them, maybe some adventurers, to delve into those caves and root out the enemies of the keep.