GamerCon 2017 Schedule: July 6th to July 9th 2017

For those of you going to GamerCon 2017 in San Diego, CA

(Use Coupon Code: GCDCC2017 for an extra 20% off)

I will be running four games there this year:

Thursday, July 6th @ 5 PM:

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG: "Hole in the Sky", a zero level funnel.

Friday, July 7th @ 5 PM:

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG: "Frozen in Time", a first level adventure.

Saturday, July 8th @ 11 AM:

Mutant Crawl Classics RPG: "Beacon of the Gods", a second level adventure.

Sunday, July 9th  @ 11 AM:

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG: "The Frost Fang Expedition", a first level adventure.

All the independent RPG Games are listed through: The San Diego Role-Players Meetup

Free RPG Day 2016: Part 1 Session Report for "Museum at the End of Time"

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS

FOR THE ABOVE MENTIONED ADVENTURE. DO NOT CONTINUE, IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON PLAYING IN THIS ADVENTURE!

June 18th, 2016, 12:00 "Museum at the End of Time" for MCC RPG

Run at Villainous Lair Comics and Games, San Diego. CA

Players for this session: Steven G. (Bumpy the Mutant, Dole the plantient Banana Tree, Moses the plantient Moss),  Jason H. (Carl the plantient  Sage Brush, Blothar the plantient Bamboo, Mtn Du the mutant),  Lizlo C. (Shai the P.S.H., Donny the P.S.H., Coda the mutant),  Tamar C. (Snow the P.S.H., Peter The Mutant, Rachet the manimal Dog),  Logan S. (Joe Bane the P.S.H., Ker the manimal Warthog, Ribbit the manimal Frog),  Mario T. (Men-Crab the P.S.H., Hue Mann the manimal Buffalo, Man-Bat the P.S.H.)

(Left to Right: Hue Mann, Man-Bat, and Men-Crab.)

Our adventurers decided to wait until the sun had gone down before entering the Glow Desert. Traveling by night to conserve the water they had on them. 

While traveling only one member of the party managed to notice the source of the low rumbling noise that seemed to be coming just beyond the dunes around them Bumpy managed to dodge the first attack of the Giant Crystalline Worm. Dole came to his aid along with about half the party. Dole fought fiercely, but was quickly turned into banana paste by the worm. 

After seeing the uselessness of their initial attacks, Hue Mann attempted to run for the rocky outcrop nearby. Unfortunately, he was run down by the great worn and devoured whole. 

Peter realized the worms silicate form would be vulnerable to water. The party then began to attack it with every range weapon and flask of water they had. They managed to get it down to one HP, before it finally failed it's morale check and fled deep into the sand. This was not before it had consumed four members of the party. Another had been killed by friendly-fire (sling stone upside the back of the head.)

The party decided to rest for the day and bury (and loot) their dead comrades . Two more of the party died of radiation poisoning in their sleep (Man-Bat & Blothar).

Shortly after nightfall the party set out travelling deeper into the desert. After a few hours they could hear a strange deep throated screeching noise from just beyond the next dune.

Joe Bane, Men-Crab, and Shai scouted ahead to see what the noise was. To their horror they saw a number of humanoid corpses moving in their direction. These desiccated corpses gave of an eerie, yellow glow and a green, glowing, dust like powder seemed to be steadily coming from their eye sockets and mouths.

Men-Crab tried to run and hide himself by burying himself in the sand. Shai and Joe Bane shouted out a warning to the rest of the party. Joe Bane attacked with his sling, as Shai prepared to attack with her spear. Most of the rest of the party chose to stay back and attack from a distance.  By the time the Screamers were upon them only four were left standing. Joe bane went down with severe radiation burns and his body was infected by spores. Unbeknownst to the rest of the party, Three others were infected by the spores as well.

After burying Joe Bane, the party traveled on for the rest of the night. At daybreak they found what appeared to be a treeless oasis. After resting under a nearby outcrop, they investigated this strange oasis and found a smooth surface of iridescent blue-green glass. After Snow cracked the glass, Rachet used some strips of leather to fashion a crude dagger. 

The party pressed on through the night, as a sandstorm built up. Barely able to keep together as a group. As the storm began to subside, they could see a strange, green shining cylinder sticking out from the side of a dune up ahead. They approached to find an opening in the base, and decided to use their rope to climb down... all of the party with the exception of Ribbit made it down safely. Ribbit lost his grip at the top and managed to grab hold of the rope further down, but severe rope burns ripped the flesh clean off of his hands. He collapsed at the bottom of the rope, dead.

Beyond this point I will not go into to too much detail in order to not spoil the main part of the adventure.

In the atrium, the party found the corpse of the long dead security guard. They took his "Metal club", The strange "rectangular medalion" he had around his neck (unable to decipher the strange, mystical symbols on it, or what the "realistic painting" of a man in a strange blue outfit on it meant), "the shiny metal medallion" ("It would make a great broach for your cloak"), and his strange looking hat. 

Most of the party went exploring the room, as Moses almost killed himself attempting to figure out how to use the "metal club", destroying the artifact in the process. 

The party got separated in the "Hall of Portals".  Ker wandered off into a particular room on his own, when he turned to see what the squeaking sound was behind him, he was pelted with darts. Two of the party lost their way back out of one of the rooms as the others were hunted down by a group of primitive apelike men. The last thing most of them heard was a "Squeak-squeak".

It was a TPK, but a lot of fun was had!

Things to do while on Vacation #2: Find new podcasts to listen to...

While trying to catch up on my reading, I often find myself listening to podcasts in the background.  Nothing makes me happier than finding people discussing the same material I am trying to read.

I've been reading through appendix N material a lot lately.  I've been enjoying the Appendix N podcasts on The Tome Show for a while.  I'm glad to see that Judges Jen and Bob Brinkman and Judge David Baity have started a new Appendix N discussion podcast titled Sanctum Secorum.

The focus of Sanctum Secorum is how to apply ideas from the original material into your game.  It's well worth checking out.

Another promising new podcast is for game designers and judges has just gone live.  Designers and Discourse promises to be a one on one interview format roughly an hour long with host Jim Wampler. The first episode is an hour and nine minute interview with Michael Curtis discussing the development of the Chained Coffin setting, and game design in general.

I am finally getting around to reading The World of Ice and Fire... by George R R Martin, Elio Garcia, and Linda Antonsson (of Westeros.org).  I'm hoping to find enough time to squeeze in a reread of the Dunc & Egg novellas. I already have them, but I couldn't resist getting the new collected set of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (by George RR Martin).  If you are into the the ASoIaF series, there are plenty of great podcasts worth checking out.

Here are a few of my favorites:

http://podcastoficeandfire.com/

http://radiowesteros.com/

http://www.historyofwesteros.com/

Wars and Politics of Ice and Fire


Recommended Comic Books: Scottie Young's  I Hate Fairyland #1 (and it's alternate cover @#$! Fairyland! #1), the Hinterland series put out by Vertigo.

RPG a Day 11 Favorite RPG writer:

The toughest question so far, there are so many great writers over the years.  Gary Gygax , Dave Arneson, David Cook, Tom Moldvay, Frank Mentzer, Tracy and Laura Hickman, Mark Acres, Lawrence Schick, Jim Ward, Joseph Goodman, Jon Mar, Harley Stroh, Greg Gillespie, Michael Curtis, Jobe Bittman, Daniel J Bishop, Zach Glazar, Stephen Newton, Mark Bishop....the list goes on.
There are plenty more writers that I just can not recall at the moment, and this list is only of D&D and DCC RPG authors!  There are even more writers for other games.

By far the most prolific in his time was Gary Gygax.  He left a lot up to the DM in running his adventures, but the bare bones were there to make the adventures fun and exciting.  He was great, but there were a large number of even better writers that wrote for his company, and the many other companies that formed afterwards, that were almost as influential on gaming.

I honestly can not say that I have a favorite writer, or even a group of writers.  Every one of the above listed writers has a unique style of writing.  All of them create material to inspire your own campaigns and adventures.  Ultimately, it comes down to what you find useful for your table.

I guess you might say that my "favorite writer" is you, because it is what you take from the past and current writing to create for your own gaming groups that matters.  Loot, plunder, and outright steal if you have to, for material to keep your friends having fun around the table.  You never know it may turn into a marketable adventure or campaign setting some day, that will inspire some other gamer's table.

Villainous Slayers July 25th session part 2

Our adventurers pressed further into the cavern system wading through waist deep ocean water, eventually walking into an ambush from above. The Nevodari and Orkril began by dumping lit barrels of oil down from an overhead sinkhole in the chamber above them. It eventually turned into a running battle spread over a few chambers.
.
The party found their way the upper level and defeated most of their foes, before the last few of the Nevodari fled deeper into the caves. The victory came at a great cost with most of the party badly injured, and with the loss of P___head the warrior. (Failed luck roll on turning the body.)

Torgud the Unlucky was not having a good day with his lay on hands. By the time combat was done he was at an eight disapproval, had lost all but one of his spells for the day, was making spell checks at a -2, and needed to start praying to his god for the next hour.

RPG A Day days 7-10

It's been a busy few days...

Day 7 Favorite Free RPG:  Being a fan Classic D&D and AD&D 1e, my choice would be Labyrinth Lord.  The art free versions of Labyrinth Lord and the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion are not a straight up retro-clone of those versions of those games.  Instead they are a version designed to be the way that most people actually played classic and 1e.

Day 8 Favorite appearance of RPGs in the media:  My favorite would be from Freaks & Geeks. It just seemed way too reminiscent of the games and players of my early gaming days. The DM in the game reminded me a little too much of one our rotating DMs.

Day 9 Favorite Media you wish was an RPG:  The 1981 film Outland with Sean Connery would be a great game. Gumshoe in a brutal space environment with conspiracies, corruption and drug problems... sounds like it would be a fun setting for all kinds of adventuring.

Day 10 Favorite RPG Publisher:  There are so many great publishers out there.  I have a number of favorites Goodman Games, Goblinoid / Pacesetter, Frog God, Troll Lord, Green Ronin... all of which put out consistent and useful products.  I do think that Goodman Games stands out a quite a bit for their giving back to the community by making a lot of the old Judges Guild and Flying Buffalo available again.

RPG A Day: Day #6 "Most Recent RPG you have played"

DCC RPG is my game of choice, and my most recent RPG I have played and run. I do try to find time to play in other games when I can, just to keep from hitting Judge's burnout. I've been having fun playing Dragon Age, D&D (Classic, 1e, Labyrinth lord, and 5e), Gamma World (4e), Ghost Busters, Fate, Fiasco...

It's great idea for GMs to try to get on the player's side of the table every so often. It helps you keep perspective when running games.

If you consider yourself just a player, I suggest you try running a one shot or two just to give your GM a break every once in a while. I think you will find both their and your games will improve.

If you consider yourself just a GM, encourage your players to take a shot at GMing. Try to give them positive, constructive criticism afterword.  You will find it makes them better players, and will give you a chance to see how your players view the game.

RPG A Day Day 5: "Most Recent RPG Purchase"

Going back to the basics: My most recent purchases have been the pdf versions of the AD&D 1e core books.

The Monster Manual, Players Handbook, and Dungeon Masters Guide were some of the earliest RPG purchases I made. Having them readily available on my laptop or tablet makes it a lot easier for quick reference during a game. I still have my original copies, which are great for when I'm at home and want to read up on the game.

I'm rather surprised that WotC has not made 5e available in pdf format. I would be more likely to run it, if I didn't have to lug around the core books every time someone wants to play. It's not like all of us who DM don't buy the core books anyway. It's just that I'm no longer a school kid willing to carry around a thirty pound backpack filled with reference books.

DnDClassics.com

Another great purchase I made recently was the print version of "Steel & Fury" by Purple Duck. It is a great set of options for the warrior's deed in Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. If nothing else it will inspire the warriors in your game to get creative in combat.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/147952/Steel-and-Fury-DCC?src=hottest_filtered

RPG A Day 2015 Day 4 most surprising game.

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here, but Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG is the most surprising game I have both run and played. Some people say, "It's swingy, and can't hold up to a long campaign." I have found that the mechanics are surprisingly stable. Yes, TPKs and character deaths can happen, but I have had no problems running a regular campaign.

I don't run your standard campaign, however. There is no big story arch with a fully detailed setting. It's more of an extended hex crawl, with only key places and NPCs being mapped out ahead of time. We build the world as we go and let the story build organically from the results of the sessions.

RPG A Day 2015 Day 3 "Favorite new game in the last 12 months"

Far Away Land RPG is my favorite "new game"... It's a simple d6 system. The art style is very fun and entertaining. Most of the adventures are inexpensive or free.

RPG A Day 2015 Day 2

What Kickstarted game was I most pleased with backing?
This is a difficult one to answer, as most of the RPG material I backed this last year are supplements, and system neutral material.

For posterity's sake it would be the deluxe printing of Metamorphosis Alpha (1e), but my favorite new product would be the Monster Alphabet. It's a great system neutral product usable with any fantasy system.

RPG A Day Challenge 2015 Day one

For those that know me, it is no secret what my most anticipated forthcoming RPG is, but there are some great ones either just coming out or soon to be released.  Honorable mentions go to the A.G.E. fantasy system by Green Ronin, and to Victorious by Troll Lord Games.

My real love is for futurist sci-fi and fantasy mash ups. I love the freedom of DCC RPG and I have always loved the post apocalypse style of Gamma World. When I heard that there would be a set of optional rules to mix my favorite styles and genres of game, a tear came to my eye. I loved crossing back and forth from AD&D 1e and Gamma World  as a kid.  So by far, my most anticipated game will be Goodman Games Mutant Crawl Classics!

http://www.goodman-games.com/6200preview.html

Villainous Slayers session July 25th, 2015 part 1

After surviving their second raid on the mysterious sea cave, P___head and Albert sold off their spoils and returned to meet up with Roan and Torgud the Unlucky at the Speckled Sculpin Tavern.
They then announced that they were looking for some brave townsfolk or adventurers to join them in rooting out whatever the problem is at the cave. They managed to recruit Murgen (Dwarf mercenary), Locket ( a local thief and fool of some renown), Dargo, Vodu (Elven way warden), Garblek (the Dwarven smith), Henry (the potato farmer), and Sven (the woodcutter).

The party made their way to the secret entrance to the mushroom cavern and began moving into the cave network. They were quickly discovered, but the octopoid humanoids (Nevod) they saw quickly fled to warn the others. They made their way to the jail cells only to find the gate locked. Locket tried to unlock the gate unsuccessfully, not noticing the  two Orkril (7 ft. tall humanoids with lamprey like mouths) guards on the otherside.

Locket was the first casualty. He received a quick spear thrust through his leg severing his femoral artery. Unfortunately, Torgud had not caught up to the party, and Locket quickly bleed out. A skirmish ensued, eventually Murgen managed to bash in the gate and slay the last of the guards.  The party found a barrel of ale and a few useful items in the guard room. The also rescued Frank the wheat farmer, and Steve the Halfling trader from the holding cell there. Locket was not so lucky. He failed his luck roll on turning the body.

Our adventurers moved on to the sunken cavern that leads out to the main entrance to find the room is now filled most of the way with seawater and the cavern openings look like some large creature has burrowed it's way deep into the cavern complex. Roan the thief was the first to (attempt a) climb down. He fell onto the small beach bellow.

While waiting for the rest of the party to climb down he was surprised by a pseudopod arm grabbing his leg from the water and stinging his leg. He failed his fortitude save and found himself becoming paralyzed as the giant anemone. Helpless, he was pulled into the water as it began to drown and prepare to devour him.The party manged to free him, and defeat the creature, but not before he had already drowned. They turned the body, but it was too late. He failed his luck roll.

Villainous Slayers Game Session (June 27th, 2015 part 2)

After resting up for the night at the Speckled Sculpin, P---head and Albert decided to seek out Brender (one of the town elders), and ask him for help in rooting out the problem of the cave.

Brender runs the smokehouse and fish packing plant on behalf of the temple of Justicia, and is also a priest of Justicia. After a little negotiating, Brender gave the party a couple of longswords "... to smite these agents of Chaos that dare disrupt the law and commerce of our bright and fair town!" He lay hands on Albert and sent a couple of the towns spare "rif-raf" to go with them (Oliver the Orphan and Jim the Indentured Servant.)

The party then headed back out to the cave. Sneaking in the back tunnel they had found, the party fought a nasty battle with the giant yellow slug in the mushroom cavern. They defeated it by slicing off its eye stalks and pelting it with salt.

A short while later the party encountered two more humanoids, that had crab like carapaces for skin, crab like mouths, and three black eyes. They defeated them to get back to the holding pens that they had escaped from finding three new people in the pens, only one of which was alive. This was Marvin the Mendicant. Marvin quickly joined the party as they headed down to explore cave some more. They took along a keg of Obbie Stout's Golden Ale they had found.

A little while later the party came upon a partially sunken cavern. There was a salt water pod in the center of the cavern with a stream running from a small cave opening to the pond and continuing on to a larger tunnel at the other end. They saw a large row boat floating in the pond. A large wooden chest and three barrels were dragged up on the near shore. As they moved in to check it out, four purple-black skinned, three foot tall,  amphibious humanoids popped up from the water. One ran for the smaller tunnel opening. The others opened fire on the party, injuring Oliver the Orphan, but doing little else. The party quickly took out the creature heading for the exit, and soon took out the remaining ones along the shore.

Attempting to open the chest, P---head nearly was stung by a poison barb trap. The party found some loot and trade goods in the chest, and soon found out that the barrels were full of Ale as well.

They worked there way downstream, bringing the rowboat loaded with their haul. They found that it lead to the main cave entrance. They fought a short battle with the guards there and quickly launched their boat into the water. We last left them rowing their way back to town with their new found wealth.

Villainous Slayers Game Session (June 27th, 2015 part 1)

After the party had agreed to guard a trade caravan from the Surfside to the city of Brodechte, the found themselves in a fierce battle on the bridge leading to the trade town of Holblerie with as yet unidentified amphibious humanoids.

The town has been under attack and trade caravans and boats coming in and out of the harbor have been harried for weeks now. Envoys have been sent out to the capital and to a local Wizard (Yazarian), but none have returned and no aid has been received.

After arriving, the caravan has decided to stop and sell some of their wares for a few days in the market square.  Pusshead the barbarian was restless and decided to look for a way to earn some gold while in town. He met up with another adventurer, Albert the squire, an up jumped cheesemaker.

Whilst asking around they found their way to Obie Stout and son's. Obie, (owner of the Speckled Sculpin Tavern & Inn and Obie's Fine Fish), told them that his fishing boats were being harassed by the same creatures near the north end of the bay.  His men had reported seeing the creatures hanging around the mouth of a sea cave in that area.

He offered them some money to go and investigate the cave, and let him know how many of these creatures were out there, and what they were up to. He sent two of his men to row them out to.the cave. The men dropped them off near the cave and told P---head and Albert that they would return the following two mornings to pick them up.

Spotting some of the creatures near the mouth of the cave, P---head and Albert decided to charge them, but not before one of them had hurried into the cave. They quickly dispatched the creatures near the mouth of the cave, only to be taken out by the reinforcements arriving a few minutes later.

They awoke to find themselves prisoners deep somewhere in the cave complex penned in with Hendry the Halfling Haberdasher and Carl the Lumberjack. With no equipment, they combined their resources and tried to escape. They were unsuccessful at first getting Carl and Hendry killed in the process.

They attempted a second escape and were successful in finding a hidden tunnel at the back of a mushroom and filth filled cavern. Barely escaping the giant slug  in the chamber, the party found themselves out in the forest above the cliffs. They made their way back to town to lick their wounds, and report back to Obie what they had seen. He paid them and gave them a free night's stay at the inn.

The party were able to re-equip themselves somewhat with the gold they had earned.