Friday, November 9, 2018

The OSR News - Nov 9, 2018

New Releases

Random Encounters Map Collection Vol 1, Issue 2 (Sept 2018)Random Encounters Map Collection Vol 1, Issue 1 (Aug 2018)
Random Encounters Map Collection Vol 1, Issue 1 (Aug 2018) by Justin David Russell. Published by Epic Werkes Studio. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $10.00. 70 pages.

Random Encounters Map Collection Vol 1, Issue 2 (Sept 2018) by Justin David Russell. Published by Epic Werkes Studio. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $10.00. 70 pages.

Random Encounters Map Collection Vol 1, Issue 3 (Oct 2018) by Justin David Russell. Published by Epic Werkes Studio. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $10.00. 70 pages.
Random Encounters Map Collection Vol 1, Issue 3 (Oct 2018)
Want help finding inspiration for your next adventure? Are you a busy GM looking for a quick map? Do you want unique locations to spice up your random encounter tables? Then you’ve come to the right place! Random Encounters provides creative solutions for gamers. It specifically caters to the Old School Renaissance, but the maps, hooks, and descriptions found in this book can be used for any fantasy role playing system. 
Please enjoy this offering. Have fun and, as always, GAME ON!
The Forgotten Warband by Ricardo Esteves. Published by Stranger Foundry. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $1.00. 12 pages.
The Forgotten WarbandThe Second Edition of the Black Hack brought the streamlined and inspired OSR movement to a new level. 
The characters playbooks offer very concise and focused ways to explore and enjoy the traditional classes. But what if you wanted more? What if you wished to explore the world and its dangers and dungeons with a different set of characters? Unique and powerful on their own way? 
The Forgotten Warband brings four new classes with inspirational artwork for your game. Bring destruction and avoid the perils of the Black Hack. 
  • Play as a Crusader, a mighty warrior that balances his martial prowess and his faith.
  • Be an Eldritch, a cursed wizard bóund to become and shift into a abyssal monster.
  • Conquer the wilderness as an Outlander, a trained explorer: lethal, brutal and precise
  • Unleash the Brawler within, a powerful fighter that uses strikes and grappling to overcome his foes. 
Image result for .comIt's time to take your group to the next level.
Unsolved Maze & Snakeheaded Folk by Yanhu GdR. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $1.13. 10 pages.
The Unsolved Maze is a module for GM created for use with The Black Hack (you must have the latest version to play this adventure). The maze is detailed by maps, littered with traps and inhabited by new monsters, so you can organize a good hunt in an underground environment. You can choose how to play the adventure (a rush towards the goal or a more in-depth exploration) and it's easy to adjust the difficulty to your party level. So you are ready to meet the Snakeheaded folk and try to discover what are they doing in their new labyrintic lair.

Image result for carl friedrich lessing kunstdruck: schlucht mit ruinen kunstkopie.de e.k.
The Keep of the Broken Saint by WR Beatty. Published by Rosethrone Publishing. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $3.99. 40 pages.
Only vague rumors speak of the ancient Keep of the Broken Saint. Divination fails to reveal anything useful, prayers and powerful magics continue to falter. Yet the rumors insist the place is real and that the Broken Saint has the keys to immortality. Even if the shadows of rumors that make their rounds are not true, surely a ruin that has been lost for generations holds secrets and treasures. 
An adventure set in the Rosewood Highlands (east of the Northern Tier) for characters levels 8-10. Written for the Swords and Wizards in the Highlands variant, The Keep of the Broken Saint is fully compatible with virtually all old school rulesets.
The Almost Thief- A Swords & Wizardry Mini-Dungeon by Matt Kline. Published by Creation's Edge Games. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $1.50. 14 pages.
The Almost Thief- A Swords & Wizardry Mini-DungeonA Swords & Wizardry Mini-Dungeon
For 4-6 Adventurers of Levels 1-3

A thief in training tried robbing a crypt and failed miserably, to the extent that he’s no 
longer alive. Now he’s dying for another crack at it. Unfortunately, being dead already, he’s encountering a bit of difficulty…

The Almost Thief is part of a series of mini-dungeons designed to drop into existing adventures or campaigns. Use them as side quests or a way of getting in a quick adventure when you’re short on time.

Mini-Dungeon Module S1: The Almost Thief is compatible with the Swords & Wizardry rules available for download through this site.
Free RPG Day - 2018/Deluxe T&T Minirules by Kenneth St Andre, Steve Crompton. Published by Flying Buffalo. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $0.99. 28 pages.
Image result for t&t adventures japanT&T Japan Mini Rules & Solo
From the pages of T&T Adventures magazine in Japan, and translated into English with original Japanese illustrations. FRPG Manga, and a special set of T&T mini-rules written by Ken St Andre. The 16 page mini rules include details on rolling up a character, equipping them, 11 basic spells, pre-rolled characters and a Treasure Generator.
The Solitaire adventure, Coming Down the Mountain was especially written for this booklet and is available no where else. all are included to make this a perfect book to introduce RPG to beginners, or fans of Japanese RPG. This booklet was originally distributed on Free RPG day in 2018.
Galactic Guide One: Rotgut Station ed. by Mark Dowson, Tom Grennel, Josh Moore. Available from the Rancor Pit in PDF for Free. 186 pages.
Sequestered in a small area of the outer rim it lies. Once a mining facility its hollowed out interior now serves as a waystation for all sorts of vile scum and weary traveler. A main platform dominates the space and is surrounded by walls teeming with commercial, residential, agricultural, and altogether dark and mysterious purposes.

Visit the Blue Waffle Bar & Lounge, place a bet on the droid taxi races, pay tribute to the mysterious Mongdollian Monks, gain an audience with Endo Fash the Hutt crimelord, or enjoy some Wangs Tacos.

Just keep your blaster ready!
Tomb of the Frost-Walker by Nickolas Zachary Brown. Published by Five Cataclysms. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $2.00. 11 pages.
Tomb of the Frost-WalkerThere is but one mountain in these lands for which the frost never abates. Even in the height of Summer, when crops wilt in the heat, this peak continue to emanate a chill wind. There is a cave in the mountain, its crystalline walls and floors white with frost, with corpses of long dead things encased in the ice. Legend has it that a terrible evil is sealed there, an evil that would encase the world in ice. Where he walks, the frost follows. 
This dungeon is ideal as a second or third adventure for a group which has gained a few levels and is looking for more. However, if the big bad is released and is given time to gather his power, he may become a terrible world-changing force. 
Includes 16 content-packed rooms with plentiful treasure & encounters, and may leave your characters changed forever. Could be completed in a 10hr session by a determined and skillful group.
Cepheus Light by Omer Golan-Joel, Josh Peters. Published by Stellagama Publishing. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for PWYW. 164 pages.
Image result for planet ross 128 bStarships riding fire across the sky. Heroes and villains exchanging laser fire. Desperate spacers struggling against an alien monstrosity. Vast alien vistas, flying cities, moonscapes, mad robots, and first encounters. In short: high-action science-fiction adventure that stimulates your sense of wonder. Cepheus Light puts you in the shoes of an adventurer visiting distant stars and encountering untold alien wonders. Whether you are a seasoned player looking for a rules-light game, or a new gamer wanting to experience what science-fiction role-playing games are all about, Cepheus Light opens your way forward. 
Cepheus Light is a set of rules for playing classic science fiction games. It includes rules on creating characters, resolving actions, fighting other creatures, and engaging in space battles, generating worlds, handling the risks of interstellar speculative trading, exploring new worlds, and many other activities. While rules-light and designed for fast, action-packed play rather than an accurate simulation of reality, Cepheus Light encompasses a wide variety of rules and materials for building a science-fiction universe and playing in it. 
Cepheus Light draws its inspiration from old-school science-fiction roleplaying games. It shares a lot of similarities with these games. Material from older rules sets and those created with Cepheus Light, the Cepheus Engine Core, and old-school sci-fi roleplaying games are easily compatible with only a moderate amount of adjustment.
PALADIN: Warriors of Charlemagne by Ruben in 't Groen. Published by Nocturnal Media. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $19.99 and from Chaosium in PDF for $19.99 (Chaosium has a coupon for PDF purchasers, which will offer a discount on the printed version when it becomes available.) 463 pages.
Paladin - Core Rulebook - Front Cover
Enter Medieval Europe Like You've Never Experienced It Before! 
Set in medieval Europe, PALADIN weaves together the historical Carolingian events and the medieval epics of The Matter of France into a single chronology! 
In PALADIN the players play young Frankish squires or knights in the service of one of Charlemagne's powerful vassals. By going on adventures, the characters will acquire glory and riches, becoming lords of their own lands, building castles, and founding their own family.

Hopefully, the road to fame will lead to the ultimate goal: becoming one of the legendary paladins themselves!
 
PALADIN is a game for knights. It is based on the standards of knighthood found in the original literature about Charlemagne and the paladins (epics such as Song of Roland, Ogier the Dane, Aymon's Four Sons and more).

PALADIN uses a modified version of the King Arthur Pendragon ruleset, adjusted to fit the themes and elements of Charlemagne's legends.

This is a complete rulebook.
PALADIN Adventures by Jaime García Mendoza, Matthew Ryan, Colin Driver. Published by Nocturnal Media. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $19.99 and from Chaosium in PDF for $19.99. (Chaosium has a coupon for PDF purchasers, which will offer a discount on the printed version when it becomes available.) 121 pages. 
Paladin Adventures - Front Cover
Hail Brave Knights! 
Within this tome, you will find eight adventures for knights in your epic PALADIN chronicles to undertake. Drawn from the myths of medieval France, these scenarioes are designed to be interspered into the epic tale of Charlemagne, but work equally well on their own! 
Replete with stunning maps, beautiful illustrations, and reference text designed to aid the Game Master, PALADIN Adventures will provide game sessions that are epic enough to rival the tales of the heroes of yore! 
This book does require the PALADIN corebook to use.

New Editions and Re-Releases


XQ1 The Castle that Fell from the Sky by Steve Robertson. Published by The Scribes of Sparn. Now Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $5.75. 52 pages. See last week's News for info on the Print and PDF from Lulu. 
Image result for The Castle that Fell from the SkyEven in the far gulfs of space, the struggle of Law against Chaos, Good versus Evil is eternal. But wherever evil is not extinguished, it will revive to exact vengeance on those who would keep it at bay... 
...On the fringes of the realm, where civilization wanes and adventures begin, rumors are whispered of a castle that fell from the sky. Some say it has poisoned the land where it fell and nought but death can be within its walls. Some say creatures, foul and dangerous, have gathered at the dark fortress. But others, the treasure seekers and thieves who haunt the local taverns, scoff at such dire warnings and view them only as a thin ploy to keep adventurers from winning the vast treasure that surely waits within. To your ears have come these very rumors— and more: you have learned the location of the fallen sky-castle! 
An adventure module for characters level 3-5. Compatible with 0e, 1e, B/X, Original, Classic, and Advanced fantasy wargame systems and retroclones.
RPGA NEWS Volume 1 #1 from Wizards of the Coast. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $0.99. 16 pages.
RPGA NEWS Volume 1 #1Included in this issue: 
  • SPECIAL: Interview with E. Gary Gygax
  • Part 1 of this interview, and the beginning of a series
  • The Fastest Guns That Never Lived
  • A BOOT HILLTM Article by Brian Blume et al
  • The FIGHT IN THE SKIESTM Game
  • A synopsis by Mike Carr
  • An Open Letter ...
  • TOP SECRETTM notes from Merle Rasmussen
  • Gen Con® South Report
  • GAMMA WORLDTM Science Fantasy
  • Some ideas from Jim Ward
  • Dispel Confusion
  • AD&DTM Q&A by The Game Wizards
  • Notes For the Dungeon Master
  • Fantasy role playing ideas
  • ROCKSNOZ in the Land of Nidd
  • A fantasy campaign cartoon from Tom Wham
Polyhedron Newszine Introductory Issue from Wizards of the Coast. Available from DriveThru RPG in PDF for $0.99. 32 pages.
Polyhedron Newszine Introductory Issue
Included in this issue: 
  • Getting Together: How to Form a Gaming Club by Jeri McGraw and Greg Schwartz
  • Special Module Feature: Ghost Righters - by Jean Rabe
  • Gallant Heroes Opposing Supernatural Threats-G.H.O.S.T., Inc . is hired by a mysterious client to tackle a haunted castle in this AD&D® game scenario for six player characters.
  • Heroes and Vlllains - by Vince Garcia
  • Adding carefully developed heroes and villains to any role playing game campaign will add fun for the game master and players.
  • The New Rogues Gallery - by Skip Wllllams, Valerie Valusek, Bruce Rabe, Tracy Reed, and Jean Rabe
  • "Sir" Orville and Company is an adventuring group that has crossed the continent and crossed paths with a terrible foe.
  • 28 The Living City's Quill and Scribe Shop - by Fran Hart
  • Hoaten Thee, a scribe with unmatched talent, will translate almost any document.
  • 31 Ravens Bluff Rumors - by Matt Denzler
  • Traveling by sea to The Living City can be dangerous.
  • With Great Power - by Wllllam Tracy
  • Our columnist offers suggestions for creating your own superheroes.

Misc. Free Stuff


Some Slightly Less Shit random tables from MonkeyBlood Design - Armor, Weapons, Containers


Konsumterra of Elfmaids & Octopi has so many cool things on his blog that if you aren't already following it, you really should be. Fantasy Conspiracies.





Gregorius21778 brings you Pilgrimage of Hunger available in PDF. 16 pages. (Direct Link.)

Reviews from Around the Web



The Alexandrian Reviews Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

Pookie from Reviews from R'lyeh takes a look at Hive of the Overmind.

Endzeitgeist reviews Death Love Doom.

Bryce from tenfootpole.org reviews The Beasts of Kraggoth Manor.

About The OSR News

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. Some of the links, such as to One Bookshelf sites, are affiliate links and may provide some compensation from the retail site.

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