Saturday, December 8, 2018

The OSR News - December 8, 2018

Gregorius21778 continues to release weird fantasy material, Randall Stukey is still making Microlite games and Hero Games floods DTRPG with oldies but goodies. There's Mutant Crawls, another version of Carcosa, a massive product flood from Pickpocket Press and more this week in The OSR News!

New Releases


Mutant Crawl Classic - Home For The Holideath by Julian Bernick. Art by Stefan Poag. Available from the Publisher in Print/PDF combo for $9.99 (Pre-Order: Release Date Dec. 15) Page Count Unknown.
A Level 1 Adventure

An all-new holiday module, perfectly themed for the holiday season! And fully 
compatible with both Dungeon Crawl Classics and Mutant Crawl Classics!
For generations, two tribes have exchanged gifts at a given time each winter to renew the bonds of their peoples. But now their presents have been stolen! The Seekers are sent on an urgent mission to recapture the gifts before their ancient treaty is undone. To do this, they will have to venture to a place of bloodcurdling horrors, mysterious symbols, wondrous artifacts and twisted technologies. And once inside this ancient place of splendors, they’ll face the greatest challenge of all: returning home alive!
Rollmaster Fanzine Issue 20 by Peter Rudin-Burgess. Published by PPM. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $0.99. 35 pages.
Welcome to Issue 20 of the Rolemaster Fanzine. 
Adventuring We Shall Go! 
This month brings you another adventure Facing the Idiyva 
Can your players sneak into an Idiyva settlement and steal a magic ring? There is at least one nasty surprise waiting for them if they try, that is for sure.

Random City Houses
 
I show a simple technique for creating really simple, unique house floorplans on the fly. You will need to find and dust off a d4 while you are at it.
DNH5 - Carcosa by L. Kevin Watson. Published by Fat Goblin Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF - OSR Edition $4.00, 5e $4.00 and in OSR/5e combined for $5.00. 64, 64, and 86 pages, respectively.

Carcosa - The OSR Edition 
An adventure for 3 to 7 characters levels 12+. 
Part Five in the popular Haunting of Hastur series by Dark Naga Adventures! 
After defeating the second incursion of Hastur's cult under Castle Brytha in Meawold, preventing the kingdom from falling under his control, the party members find themselves drawn into Hastur's domain: Carcosa. 
With twenty-four hours to escape before they become a permanent part of the domain, the party members must navigate the foreign land and find a way home. Four demon lords, three brothers, and the demonic seductress they all worship, control Carcosa. Perhaps one or more of them can be manipulated to help get the party home. 
Included with DNH5 – Carcosa – The OSR Edition 
  • The OSR Adventure - 33 pages of awesome information! Everything you need to run the adventure! 
  • The Map and Illustration Book. Don’t worry about taking apart your book! Use this book to show your characters examples of the amazing artwork contained in the adventure!
CASTLE OLDSKULL - Oldskull Dungeon Encounters Book I by Kent David Kelly. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $1.99. 34 pages.
From the dungeons deep 
beneath the haunted Ushirian Manor, 
Castle Oldskull, the first fiends 
and treasures 
are now unveiled at last … 
In this mini-supplement tome you will find 25 unique dungeon encounters and 25 treasures, unearthed from the author’s Castle Oldskull setting, dungeon level 1.  The encounters herein are specifically suitable for adventuring parties of the first or second levels of experience.  Compatible statistics are provided for Basic, Expert, and Advanced editions of the world’s finest old school role-playing game. 
These encounters were designed using the Gygaxian bestiary of 1977 and have been specially developed to reveal the extent to which classic monsters can be elaborated upon in order to highlight unexpected role-playing, combat, cross-encounter, and interaction opportunities.  Each encounter has been created to offer a basic monster and treasure, while also offering an intriguing adventure hook leading to deeper insights into the cultures, secrets, and mysteries of the game world of Oldskull.  Your players can ignore or explore these curious leads however they see fit, and in doing so their actions, inaction, questions and pursuits will likely compel you to weave a wider world around the hints, lore, and unique monster characterizations that are all provided here. 
This mini-supplement can be used as a dungeon room key (to a map which you provide), or as a random monster lair generation table perfectly suited to a campaign with beginning players. 
Enjoy! 
Another fine offering from Wonderland Imprints, Only the Finest Works of Fantasy.
Further Finds on a Dead Body Deep Down Below by Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW. 5 pages.
Attention please! The preview shows you the whole of the product, so that you may read it first and then decide how much you want to give me for my effort. Thank you, and please remember: everything counts in large amounts.
Page 282 of Veins of the Earth has a list with results for the unavoidable I search the body. As we are talking about the Veins here, it includes all manner of strange and bizarre items (mixed with a few mundane results). A nice touch of the list is the following quote:
ENTRIES WITH AN ASTERISK* CAN BE FOUND MULTIPLE TIMES. THOSE WITHOUT SHOULD ONLY BE FOUND ONCE. CROSS THEM OUT WHEN ROLLED AND WRITE IN YOUR OWN.
In September 2018 I started a small series of articles with possible further entries for use with that list. At the beginning, I planned to reach about 30 items. I ended up with 50 items and this little PDF.
This product is an independent production by Gregorius21778 and is not affiliated with Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Lamentations of the Flame Princess is a registered trademark owned by James Edward Raggi IV.
CASTLE OLDSKULL - The Order of the Scarlet Tabard by Kent David Kelly. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $1.99. 35 pages.
Hale companions, ready and true, prepared to brave the dungeons deep in the name of hard-won gold and glory … 
Behold the doughty and stalwart men- and women-at-arms who hail from the Free City of Grimrook, the infamous and ever-ready “Redshirts” from the mercenary company known as the Order of the Scarlet Tabard! 
The old school rules always encourage us to include men-at-arms ready for hire by any low-level Player Characters, so that the adventuring party’s strength is bolstered in the dungeon.  After all, if there are not enough bodies in the ranks to soak up those pit traps, fatal spider bites, and energy drains, all of those nasty attacks go straight to the imperiled and beloved heroes who are played by the players.  But while the rules provide a few guidelines, the scant existing information lends itself to a system in which these heroic NPCs are nameless, faceless, generic, and completely lackluster, until they meet their grisly end. 
This book is designed to give you 100 unique individuals, each with their own name, epithet (“the Eremite”, “the Merciless”, etc.), race, sex, alignment, personality, homeland, ability scores, morale level, hit points, troop type, armor worn, weapons carried, and suggested rate of pay.  Now when the PCs hire 10 men-at-arms, you can roll the dice 10 times and have an instant set of 10 adventure hooks and frontline victims … ah, warriors … ready to go. 
Here is a sample: 
Harika the Enforcer, a Human Female, Alignment Lawful Neutral. Personality: Flamboyant, Homeland: Galatia (mythic Asia Minor). Low Ability Score: INT 5, High Ability Score: CON 16. Morale Level 8, Hit Points 3. Troop Type: Light Spearwoman, Armor Type: Leather Armor and Shield (Base AC 7), Weaponry: Broad Sword, 2 Throwing Spears. Pay Rate: 5 1/2 Gold Pieces per Month (or Expedition). 
Another useful mini-supplement from Wonderland Imprints, Only the Finest Works of Fantasy.
First Five Fantasy Roleplaying Player's Guide by Andrew Marrington. Published by Grimm Aramil Publishing. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print, Print/PDF combo and in PDF for PWYW. 31 pages. (A Character Sheet is also available from DTRPG for PWYW.)
First Five Fantasy Roleplaying is an easy-to-master game based on the fifth introductory boxed version of the original fantasy roleplaying game. It is ideal for young players and players who are young at heart. This Player’s Guide contains all the rules you need to play exciting dungeon adventures, through levels 1 to 5. Just add some funny shaped dice, monsters, and friends! 
This book is the Player’s Guide for First Five Fantasy Roleplaying. To play the game, at least one person in the group will need a copy of the complete First Five Fantasy Roleplaying rulebook, the 1991 boxed set (in the black box) of the world's first fantasy roleplaying game, or the popular encyclopedia of rules, which is also suggested for use once your adventurers gain enough experience to move beyond the first five levels. 
The Player's Guide is intended to be a table reference for players during play. It does not contain monsters or treasure. It includes: 
  • Character creation
  • The 7 basic character classes (Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, Thief, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling)
  • Cleric and Magic-User spells from levels 1 to 3
  • All the "black box" basic rules of play
DARK PLACES & DEMOGORGONS - Holiday Special by Justin Ryan Isaac. Published by Bloat Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for Free. 30 pages.
Happy Holidays from Bloat Games

Table of Contents

Happy Holidays
1
Never Gonna Give You Up
2
You’ll Never Get Me Pot O’ Gold 4
Peter Rottentail 6
Mother Nature Strikes Back 8
Nightmare on Derby Day 10
A Little Patriotic Spirit 12
All Hallows Evil 14
Happy Thankskilling! 16
Beware The Krampus! 18
Other Holiday Entities
Befana 20
Tur’da Kun 22
OGL 24
d512 Character Aspects. Published by Black Earth Press. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW. 4 pages.
All you require is a single eight-sided die in order to generate one of 512 unique Aspects for fantasy Characters or NPCs. 
Aspects represent rare qualities, special abilities or prized possessions. They may prove useful, irksome or merely colourful personality traits. 
Add opportunities for some creative and fun roleplaying moments to your games of old-school fantasy with d512 Character Aspects. 
This product was designed for use with old-school games of first edition, Basic, or Expert rules. 
Feel free to adapt these rules for use with your own games. Enjoy!

Black Earth Press is an independent design studio dedicated to producing innovative game rules and supplements, with that old-school feel.
Gregorius21778: Boarswood by Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $3.50. 23 pages.

Welcome to Boarswood!
A small fictional barony that was written as a staging area for your own sessions. Tiny hamlets, proper villages and a small town form the fiefdom that Baron Payton rules overs. The assumed period is “somewhere in the Tudor area / during the 15th or 16th century”. All locations come with a brief description that help to imagine the place but do not weigh themselves down with an abundance of details that would be tiresome to read, hard to reference. The most likely NPC to deal with the party are given names and brief descriptions as well. Taverns and inns are given the same treatment, because the PC are likely to spend much time there in-between adventures. Same is true for the vendors of special goods, as a gun maker or armorer may easily become a given PC´s best friend (everybody loves a returning customer).

A large part of the document are detailed price lists for locations and special vendors, all of them meant to be printed as handouts for the players or as handy cheat-sheets for the GM.

Ten plot hooks/ideas for side quests are given as well, so that Boarswood itself may become the stage for one more adventures of the PC.
 
Microlite78 First Edition Lite Expanded Second Edition (Tablet/Digest) by Randall Stukey. Published by RetroRoleplaying. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $9.95. 1012 pages.
Interested in the First Edition of the world's most popular tabletop fantasy roleplaying game, but put off by its seemingly random mechanics and design elements? Interested in trying some of the best known First Edition adventures with old school play but want to use the "better designed" D20-style mechanics you already know. The second edition of Microlite78 First Edition Lite is the game for you. These rules take the First Edition rules and filter them though the D20-based Microlite20 system to produce a conversion of the First Edition rules to a rules-lite D20-based system that encourages old-school play without strictly old-school rules. 
This Expanded Second Tablet/Digest Edition of Microlite78 First Edition Lite is the ultimate version of the second edition of Microlite78 First Edition Lite. It is suitable for digest-sized printing or tablet viewing (pdf, epub, and mobi versions are included). This 1008 page digest-sized PDF includes new material not included in the standard (orin the "pay-what-you-want") version of the second edition of Microlite78 First Edition Lite, for example: 
  • New (Optional) Classes: Alchemist, Commander, Monk, and Necromancer
  • 120+ additional monsters
  • over 50 new magic items, including some magic items designed specifically for Microlite78 systems (e.g. items working with the hit point fueled magic system)
  • new spells, including 8th and 9th level spells for Illusionists
  • Additional optional rules
  • rules for using small parties of 1-3 characters in old TSR adventures designed for 8+ PCs
  • a sample campaign and several sample adventures (including a walk-through of creating a dungeon)
  • more advice (e.g. on environmental and terrain hazards) and random tables for Microlite78GMs
  • more art. 
Of course, the Microlite78 First Edition Lite Expanded Second Tablet/Digest Edition includes all of the standard features of the second edition of Microlite78 First Edition Lite: 
  • Simple Character Creation Rules: Roll 4 attributes and select a race, class, alignment and a background.
  • Basic Classes: Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric, Druid, and Thief.
  • Additional (Optional) Classes: Assassin, Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Illusionist, Paladin, and Ranger.
  • Races: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, and Halfling.
  • Simple and fast-playing combat system that tracks physical damage (aka body points) separately from luck/skill/fatigue (aka hit point) damage. Combat is BAB-based: no to-hit tables or THAC0.
  • Hit points recover with a night’s rest. Spells cost hit points to cast. Actual wounds recover more slowly.
  • Rules for hirelings, monster reactions (not every monster wants to fight), morale (not every monster fights to the death), and more.
  • Many optional rules (Advantages and Disadvantages, Psionics, Action Points, Sanity, more traditional magic and saving rolls, etc.): use none, some, or all.
  • A complete information on spells, monsters and treasure.
  • Gamemaster section with setting design information, and advice.
  • Rules for PC-ruled dominions.
  • Compatible with most other 1e based games and adventures -- as well as many designed for 0e, B/X, BECMI, and 2e. 
The rules needed to create characters and actually play are short and sweet. Character Creation rules (including race, class, alignment, and background descriptions) are 48 digest-sized pages. The Core rules (skills, saving throws, magic, combat, experience and level advancement) are 22 digest-sized pages. They are written in fairly normal english, not "High Gygaxian". The rules assume that the GM understands the basic concepts of roleplaying games, but provides information for both the GM and the players on the various “old school” styles of play. Microlite78 First Edition Lite games can easily use adventures and material from early editions of the world’s most popular tabletop fantasy roleplaying game or modern clones. 
The Delver by David Guyll, Melissa Fisher. Published by Awful Good Games. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $5.00. 80 pages.
The Delver is a magazine primarily intended for Dungeons & Delvers: Black Book, but easily converted to other hacks, clones, and editions of the world's first role-playing game. 
The first issue features a myriad of mushroom-themed material for both players and GMs: 
  • A new sorcerer bloodline (requires Appendix D)
  • A new warlock pact
  • Alchemical pods (both harmful and helpful)
  • Magic items
  • Monsters and molds, including our unique spin on the classic myconid
  • An adventure featuring the aforementioned myconids 
There are two PDFs: one in color, and the other in black and white, in case you prefer that or want to save on ink printing it out.
Worldsend by Keith Salamunia. Published by pinupsbyindi. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $1.00. 24 pages.
Worldsend is series of one page dungeons that can be used together to form a short campaign or individually. Additionally includes supplemental art and maps. 
The plot is the adventurers are hired by a mysterious benefactor to aquire parts in a remote region, that ultimately leads to a seige to hold off an army of the undead. 
SM1 Krampus for OSR by Louis "sirlou" Kahn. Published by Starry Knight Press. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $1.00.
KRAMPUS FOR OSR 
A Seasonal Holiday Beastie
Compatible with Most OSR Retro-Clone Systems
 
Within these pages you will learn of the foul demon Krampus.
Each winter he stalks the realm in search of naughty children.
Shoving them in his basket, he drags them down to the Hells!
Can your players best this ancient yuletide beastie?

Gruß vom Krampus, adventurers and Game Masters!
 
In your hands is a game supplement detailing the wonderfully devilish folkloric creature known as Krampus, and the Old School Renaissance (“OSR”) statistics which I designed to bring it to life in my OSRIC campaign world. 
For those of you just learning of Krampus for the first time, let me provide a little background to introduce him. Krampus is a creature of primarily Central European folklore. Krampus is generally depicted as a furry demonic figure: a horned, anthropomorphic “half-goat, half-demon" who travels about at yule-time with a sack or a basket strapped to his back, who’se sole purpose is the punishment of naughty children who, according to legend, he pops into his basket to be dragged off to the Hells, never to be seen again! 
This supplement contains a full monster listing (a la the Monster Manual) for Krampus, which should be compatible with most OSR retro-clones. The OSR version of Krampus in this supplement first appeared in the pages of my 2017 holiday one-shot adventure “Krampusnacht”, and will next appear in the 2018 follow-up to that module, the adventure “Return of Krampus”. 
However, I believed many GMs running OSR games might enjoy having a ready-made OSR version of Krampus to drop into their own campaigns at the holidays, especially the many of you who do not like to run pre-made scenarios, so I decided to release this version of the beast for your use and enjoyment! He is easily modified to challenge players of any level by merely adjusting his hit dice and hit points. 
This book features a full OSR statistical listing and description for Krampus, along with illustrations of the beastie, and it is sure to be a hit with discerning GMs and players everywhere! 
(To clarify so no one is upset, what you are getting is only a monster listing for Krampus, not a scenario. -LEK) 
As an ADDED BONUS, as a purchaser of one of my modules you also get, ABSOLUTELY FREE, a copy of the inaugural issue of my Old School RPG zone, CAVALIER ATTITUDE!! This is a $2.00 value for only $1.00!
Gregorius21778: What the Smithy has to offer by Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW. 4 pages.
Attention please! The preview shows you the whole of the product, so that you may read it first and then decide how much you want to give me for my effort. Thank you, and please remember: everything counts in large amounts.

Do you players tend to ask “what is up for sale?” instead of stating what their characters are looking for?
 
What the smithy has to offer is a quick and easy, d100-based list with weapons and armor that may be offered for sale at the next forge the PC pay a visit while they hit the town. Simply roll 2 - 5 times (or: 1d4+1 times) with a d100 to see what may be had.All entries are based upon and compatible with the item list of Lamentations of the Flame Princess ™, and the prices thereby assume “silver standard”. Most entries are about individual items and include additional house rules.
Sanctum Secorum - Episode #41 Companion by Bob Brinkman and Jen Brinkaman. Published by Sanctum Media. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for Free. 28 pages.
It has been a while since the materials covered have inspired an adventure our listeners. We are pleased to end that dry spell with an authorized sequel to the Tribe of Ogg & the Gift of Suss by Daniel J. Bishop.

Adventures
The Tribe of Ogg and the Trials of Moss – Bob Brinkman

Monsters
20th Century Mercenary – Bob Brinkman
Bat swarm, albino – Bob Brinkman
Bear, grizzly – Bob Brinkman
Bison – Bob Brinkman
Cougar – Bob Brinkman
Crocodile – Bob Brinkman
Lion, cub – Bob Brinkman
Rhizomorph – Jen Brinkman
Serpent-Men, degenerate – Bob Brinkman
Subhuman, hunter of Koh – Bob Brinkman
Subhuman, warrior of Koh – Bob Brinkman

Spells
Magic Paint (corrected) – Bob Brinkman
WFRP - Adventures Afoot in the Reikland by Ben Scerri. Published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for Free. 10 pages.
This week we present Adventures Afoot in the Reikland!, a supplement to Chapter 10: Glorious Reikland from the WFRP rulebook.

Adventures Afoot in the Reikland! is written by Ben Scerri and offers over fifty adventure seeds for the Reikland locations presented in WFRP. To ensure they are easy to use, all locations are marked
in bold text, but most of the ideas can be relocated to almost any part of the Empire with little adaptation. Each entry in the supplement presents a complete story idea that can be adapted as you see fit, or act as the background for your own adventure ideas.

So, strap on your hiking boots and get ready to hit the roads, for there are Adventures Afoot in the Reikland!
Woodfall by Lazy Litch. Published by Lazy_Litches_Loot. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF Combo for $25.00. Available in PDF for $12.00. 92 pages.

Woodfall is a system neutral dark fantasy mini setting. 
Explore a dark fairytale setting, wade through a misty swamp, get caught up in the fighting between warring monster clans, discover a strange town of witches and thieves, and search for forgotten treasure.
Woodfall is a swamp belonging to a king where witches, thieves and outlaws are squatting. They have built a town on top of the swamp and have resisted several evictions. The town is a hub for black market activity and magical folk.

The surrounding forest and swamp is a hexcrawl filled with various monster factions.

About the Book
- 6 x 9 digest size
- Designed to be easy to drop into your game or run as a stand alone
- Printed Black and white ("standard color heavyweight" was chosen as the print option because of its thicker page size and better print quality)
- 92 Pages

PDF Includes :
- Bookmarks
- Hyperlinked table of contents and village map
- Extra A4 PDF with 2 maps to print and hand out to players
O Povo do Buraco#2 by Carlos Silva, Gustavo Tertoleone, Diego Santos. Published by Black Dog. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $5.00. 48 pages.
O Povo do Buraco is the first brazilian Lamentations of the Flame Princess non official fanzine.This zine content will work not only with LotFP, but with all retro clone based games with minimal adaptation.
Contents:

1- An Adventure

2- A set of different traps

3- A set of different cursed weapons

4- A toolkit
R1: Salvation by Darvin Martin. Published by The Design Mechanism. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF Combo for $14.99. Available in PDF for $6.99. 48 pages.
Jesra Vorak, a renowned Fighter from Greymoor, hires the characters for a perilous adventure into Ravenholm. On a mission to find her family sword, Salvation, and destroy the enemy that inhabits her ancestral home, Jesra seeks only the most heroic allies. Many dangers await the characters in Ravenholm, most of them unknown; Jesra is determined to fulfil her destiny and cleanse her bloodline of its darkness or die trying. Will the characters become legendary heroes, or be doomed by the Jesra's obsession? 
A Classic Fantasy scenario for Rank 3 characters.

The Dreadful Horde by Ricardo Esteves. Published by Stranger Foundry. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for PWYW. 12 pages.
The 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 in their own way? 
The Dreadful Horde brings four new classes with inspirational artwork for your game. Bring destruction and avoid the perils of the Black Hack.
  • Play as a the sneaky and treacherous Goblin Raider, poking everything with your trusty spear 
  • Be an Orc Warmaster, a feared and unstoppable warrior on the battlefield.
  • Call forth the unruly magic as an Gnoll Shaman, a carnivorous and ritualistic magic beast 
  • Become one with the darkness as the Dark Elf Prowler, abandoned by the gods and magic. 
It's time to take your group to the next level.
Foe Folio by Mark Craddock. Published by Cross Planes Game Studio. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for B/X Essentials, B/X Ascending, and The Black Hack 2nd Ed. $2.99 for each version. 22, 22, and 21 pages respectively.
The Foe Folio brings you 29 creepy foes to introduced to your The Black Hack Second Edition game. Face Byakhee, Deep Ones, Oculurks, Umbrals, and Upir in your game.

Let's Talk About Pickpocket Press


Pickpocket Press publishes the Low Fantasy Gaming RPG by Stephen J. Grodzicki. It's available for  Free at DTRPG. You can also pick up a print copy at Lulu in various formats - Softcover for $5.34, Hardcover for $ 21.27 and Spiral for $10.89.

I haven't really read this, but I've looked through it and dig the aesthetics. It looks pretty cool, at a glance. Why are we talking about it? Because they've just released a fuck ton of supplements onto DTRPG and there's far too many for me to list them individually.

There's like 16 of the damn things. They look to be about 11 - 20 pages each, but I didn't check each one. The DTRPG Publisher page can be found right here.

I'm just going to reproduce a few of the covers, so you can get an idea of what we're talking about and decide whether or not you want a closer look. By and large, they do seem to hit all of the appropriate beats. Frog gods, stars, ...umm...brain eating things that look like Cthulhu and have absolutely nothing to do with Minds, or Flayers.

Not sure what's going on with the dude standing outside the Green Goblin. He seems awfully unsure about going into what looks like your typical tavern but is probably something else, entirely.












































They're all $1.00 to $2.00 each. Again, I like the style. By and large these look real groovy! So, I think I've given everyone enough to go on and did right by the author/publisher, without overloading everyone with a solid wall of Low Fantasy overload. I might order a Lulu print edition for myself, cause now my interest is piqued. And with that, onto the rest of the news. We've got another massive publisher dump coming up, so hang on!

New Editions, Re-Releases and Now in Print 


B/X Ascending for B/X Essentials by Mark Craddock. Published by Cross Planes Game Studio. Available from DriveThruRPG in Print/PDF Combo for $8.99. In PDF for $3.99. 65 pages.
Do you love B/X Essentials, Moldvay’s version of the World’s First RPG, and Labyrinth Lord?

Do you also love some of the innovations from later edition of the First RPG?
B/X Ascending is a supplement for B/X Essentials that focuses on unifying the game to a roll-high d20 mechanic based on classic saving throws. It updates the Classes while keeping Race-As-Class, and adds Paladins, Monks, Rangers, Illusionists, and Druids. It includes Trained and Untrained Skills and treats them as Saving Throws, it uses Ascending AC, and Attack Bonuses. 
B/X Ascending aims to keep the best parts of B/X Essentials while adding some of the modern ideas we’ve all grown to love. 
For those curious about B/X Ascending, I know it sounds like I just injected the d20 system into it, but I chose to focus the unified mechanic on the classic saving throw. There are no DCs set by the Referee. Each class and race ability has a target number, just like saving throws in B/X. Additionally, Trained and Untrained Skills are now Saving Throws.
The Peacock Continent of Trollworld by Ken St. Andre. Published by Trollhalla Press. Now Available in Print from DriveThruRPG for $8.99. 36 pages.
The Peacock Continent is a newly discovered region of Trollworld ripe for exploration. The Tjouse (pronounced Tah-woose-ay) are a sexually dimorphic humanoid kindred of warriors and wizards. The women are the warriors and the men are the wizards. They live in a dangerous land where they must contend with hostile elves, uruks, goblins, tse (mosquito men) and dragons. 

The Polyhedron Volume 2 #3 Issue 6. Published by Wizards of the Coast. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $0.99. 16 pages.
Included in this issue: 
  • INTERVIEW with Gary Lee "Jake" Jaquet — Our three-part series concludes
  • The Weapons of The Ancients — New GAMMA WORLDTM Game ideas from designer James M. Ward
  • An Ace Against Odds: The Solitaire Scenario — FIGHT IN THE SKIESTM/DAWN PATROLTM GAME FEATURE by Mike Carr
  • RPGATM Charter Members — The Elite, Part II, M-Z
  • First Tournament Tips — By Member Erol Farstad
The Polyhedron Volume 2 #4 Issue 7. Published by Wizards of the Coast. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $0.99. 16 pages.
Included in this issue: 
  • INTERVIEW with Michael L. Carr - A Two part series
  • Notes From The DM - THE DM Responds, by E. Gary Gygax
  • TOP SECRET® Game Feature - Campaign Clues, by Corey Koebernick
  • BOOT HILLTM Game Feature - Ranch Encounters, by Bill Fawcett
  • An RPGATM Network Membership Drive!
  • Gift Catalog Revisited and Revised
  • Convention Wrapup
  • Convention Additions
The Polyhedron Volume 2 #6 Issue 9. Published by Wizards of the Coast. Available from DriveThruRPG in PDF for $0.99. 32 pages.
Included in this issue:
  • Holiday Greetings - by Gary Gygax
  • Confessions of a Greenhorn Gamer - by Mary Kirchoff
  • The STAR FRONTIERSTM game - a review, by Steve Winter
  • Christmas Crossword
  • TOP SECRET Gadget Contest Results
  • GAMMA WORLDTM Art Contest Winners
  • DAWN PATROLTM game - The designer speaks - and so do some players , by Mike Carr
  • Christmas Carols - The POLYHEDRON Newszine Staff Meets The Monsters
  • Convention Wrapup - GEN CON XV: Megacon
  • RPGATM Network Scholarship Winners

Let's Talk About Hero Games


I never played Champions, back in the day. I was only somewhat interested in super hero games. But, no one I gamed with wanted to try any of them, anyway. Hero games just released a ton of PDF's of their classic games on DTRPG. So, if you're interested, go here and check it out! I stopped counting at 50. It must be their entire damn catalog! So, if you're a fan, your time has come!






Misc. Free Stuff


CHICAGOWIZ'S GAMES has another entry in his Three Hexes series - Lands Beyond Time.
Josh Burnett of Bernie the Flumph has a four page PDF of Random Encounters in Bleak Europe for LotFP. 

Chuck of They Might Be Gazebos! has a two page PDF of his White Box House Rules V2.

A blog post from Konsumterra of Elfmaids & Octopi: Wizard Spells 0-1-2.

Jay Murphy of The Vanishing Tower has some Yoon-Suin Random Generators. 

Richard LeBlanc returns to Save Vs. Dragon with a d30 PDF Download: d30 Rat Generator. 

Reviews from the Blogosphere

Bryce at tenfootpole.org reviews Pollute the Elfen Memory Water.

Jeremy at OSR News and Reviews has a review of DNH4 Confronting Hastur.

Bryce of tenfootpole.org reviews Arrival at Fort Perilous.

MODOC31 of Rolling Boxcars has a review of Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne. 

And in Other News

BBC Sounds has a multi-part podcast up of an adaption of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

Tim of The Savage Afterworld has a Zazzle store featuring, among other things, a Classic RPG Map Coffee Mug. 

From the Dungeon Musings YouTube channel: Actual Play - Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2nd Edition.

From the Mr. Welch YouTube Channel: Welcome to Mystara: Temple of the Frog. 

From the captcorajus YouTube Channel: RPG Retro Review: B1 In Search of the Unknown. 

I haven't looked closely at this, but The Iron Realm is a solo dungeon delving thingie that has a play along by Podcast element and a ton of supplements. Available form DriveThruRPG in Print for $12.99, in a Print/PDF combo for $16.98 and in PDF for $11.00. For more info, see this post from the author's blog at The Iron Realm: Play the Game. The supplements are also available from DTRPG and the covers tend towards the cheese-cakey. Bills itself as OSR so, if anyone gives this a whirl let the rest of us know.

And... A Kickstarter




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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. One Bookshelf site links are affiliate links and may provide some compensation from that 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.