Things to do on vacation: #1 Update old monsters!

I had to take advantage of some free time today. I decided it was high time to update a classic monster from the early days of D&D.  This one is an update of Dave Hargrave's Bubble Man. The original version was published in 1980 by Chaosium in All the World's Monsters Vol. III. If you are looking for some crazy classic creature ideas, you can still find the pdf cheap at http://www.drivethrurpg.com

And Yes, those are the Bubblemen!

DCC RPG rules options... Crawl No. 11 the Seafaring Issue

Found a nice surprise in my mailbox last night! Crawl! no 11
The naval warfare and nautical mighty deeds articles by Bob Brinkman will be quite useful in my current "Halfport" campaign. I'll have to do a little modifying to include ironclads, primitive submarines and torpedoes.
Daniel J. Bishop's has some great ideas for using deep elders. Some are close to the rules I am already using in Halfport. The other material might slip in nicely.
Sean Ellis put in a great piece dealing with life on board a ship. Included in the article are charts for ship morale, random on board events, and a wind speed table.
The Rev. Dak put in a fun table of ideas for sea propulsion, including the complications that would ensue.
The artwork of Mario T. is awesome as always.All in all, it's a solid issue and worth picking up!

Crawl!

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.
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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