So leave a light on, Leave a light on for me

Well, it wasn't too long ago when I detailed a few plans for the fresh year of 2010. However, like so many involved in the OSR, writing, playing and publishing rpgs is a hobby. You know where I'm going with this, I'm sure...

With a heavy heart, I must put aside my cherished hobby to put some hard work into personal matters. As we know, there's only so much time in the day, and the amount of time required to produce Prime Requisite Game materials is simply not available to me as of now.

Don't worry, friends, because as the Joe Cocker post title implies, I will be back sometime when my real life obligations aren't so hectic. I have a ton of gaming materials swimming around in my noggin that I need to get outta there!

Since I have no idea when I'll be returning to the OSR publishing circles, let me say this: The past year and a half have been amazing. I've "met" so many positive, creative, helpful, and encouraging people within the old-school rpg community. The incredible response I received for my written adventures was humbling.

Prime Requisite Games modules have always been with the "quick game" in mind - for those who play infrequently and need an adventure to provide as much entertainment as possible for a one or two night play session. That's the way I like 'em anyway: a quick start, nice little hook, lots of action and plenty of treasure.

Although I have a soft spot for all my released modules, I'd have to say that The Courtyard of Gerald Red is my favorite. It has everything I enjoy in a low level adventure: deadly mysteries and curses (the rings), surreal spectacles (the fighting skeletons), fake-outs (vampire coffins??), and loads of treasure that will be hard as hell to obtain (giant piranhas) but is worth it all in the end if you get it.

Again, since I don't know when I will be back to the OSR stomping grounds, let me get out a few thank yous (Yes, I know this isn't an awards show, but please indulge me).

First, I'd like to thank Dan Proctor, not only for his excellent product, but also for his help and encouragement in PRG. The forum space he kindly gave me at Goblinoid Games really helped to shine a bigger light on my work, and I can't thank him enough for that. Here's hoping that the Revised Edition as well as the AEC will be a huge hit for Dan and the OSR.

Thanks to John at Brave Halfling Publishing, who was a major influence in me getting PRG started. It's awesome to see how far BHP has gone within the span of one year.

A big thanks to Matt Finch for the editing help and publishing The Labyrinth Tomb of the Minotaur Lord in Knockspell #3. People seem to really enjoy that adventure and I grateful to Matt for getting it into so many hands. I owe him a new module that I hope to get to him someday.

Jim Raggi and Michael Curtis for their thought-provoking gaming materials. Anyone that has a spot of writer's block needs to thumb through a copy of Green Devil Face or The Dungeon Alphabet to help the spinning tires get out of the mud. (Side note: I have a submission sent in for GDF #4. If Mr. Raggi decides to use it, I'll pop my head up on the blogs and forums to let you all know).

David Bezio, who, along with John at BHP, was another influence in my OSR publishing. As I mentioned many times before, his Lost Daughter adventure was the first LL module I ran for my noob group. I still owe him an X-plorers module.

Moritz at Soapbox Games for his unending support of all things old-school. He has mentioned my modules on his blog and I don't think I've ever gave him the proper thanks he deserves for the support. So, thank you, Moritz! :)

Thanks to Bruce at Barrataria for his killer gaming materials and for being such a cool cat.

The many blogs out there (James at Grognardia...I'm lookin' at you. But not in a weird way). Thanks for the hours of your food for thought. My gaming experience was all the better from the old-school blogs offering up their 2 cps on rpgs.

I definitely must thank my family who put up with my endless late-night writing sessions. My wife Else is fantastic, and I know that she's proud of what I've accomplished here. Love you, girl!

Finally, a big thanks to the followers of this blog and to those who downloaded/bought my modules. Your excitement in old-school rpgs in turn made me excited about producing quality adventures. This community rocks.

I know I forgot a few folks out there. I'm sorry!

So, other than the occasional comment I may offer up, I am going to sign off for a while. I don't know if it will be in six months or 24 months, but I will be back to writing and publishing old-school rpg adventures again.

So please...leave a light on for me.

Labyrinth Lord sighting and a set o' dice

While browsing my FLGS (Tabletop Games in Overland Park, KS), I noticed a fresh Labyrinth Lord paperback on the shelf. I asked the kind gentleman (dude) if he has people coming in asking about LL. He said, "Oh, yeah" and went on to tell me that the number of people buying the small press products is growing and growing.

That's encouraging news. Especially for small press publishers like BHP and Black Blade Publishing getting their products up on the shelves.

It was hard to not buy the LL paperback, but since I just received my hardback from Lulu over a week ago, I had to leave it behind for another lucky bloke to find.

Instead, I saw that they had a bunch of Gamescience precision dice, so I bought my first set- blue opaque. Beautiful. My wife asked me if was going to retire some of my old worn-out dice. Haha!

No.

Never, ever, ever throw away dice. I don't care if the sides of my old d20 are so worn that it more resembles a marble. Never toss out dice! I keep 'em all, even the so-called "cursed" dice (I give those to my players - heh heh).

One day I'll have enough dice to satisfy my gaming needs. But then again, probably not. Probably not ever. :P

Test-play for new adventure completed

Two two straight nights we hacked and slashed through my new adventure The Dead Heir of Kressik Keep. The players came out the other end of this module with more than a few bumps and scrapes, but everyone survived. Even Jason's thief survived this time, which is a rare occurrence 'round these parts. :P

Kressik Keep was going to be my submission to Knockspell #4, but I missed the deadline with this one. Many obstacles kept me from my hobby including a sick two year-old daughter and a severe case of writer's block.

Well, not that I wasn't writing, it's just that the adventure was not quite coming together. It was done. I had the map and all the rooms were keyed, but...it sucked. Blah. Patooie.

So then came the rewrites. I knew by this time that I would miss the Knockspell deadline, but I needed peace of mind with my work. With a bit more planning and a heavy dose of help from the Dungeon Alphabet (man, that book can stir up ideas!), I was able to reach a point with Kressik Keep in which I was comfortable enough to run a test-play.

Now, after a two day marathon of Labyrinth Lord fun, it's back to the rewrites, tweaking what needs to be fixed before I submit it to Knockspell, hoping to get it into issue #5. We'll see!

The Dungeon Alphabet and the OSR make me feel great!

I finally received my pre-ordered copy of The Dungeon Alphabet, and it's beautiful. With its $9.99 price tag, such a book is truly a steal. Looking over the material, I must say that Michael Curtis really knows how to jump-start the imagination. From the wondrous to the disturbing, The Dungeon Alphabet is teaming with ideas that would prove valuable at the fingertips of any dungeon designer.

Yes, I am a fan.

While I may come off as some sort of slobbering fanboy, it's difficult for me to contain my enthusiasm due to all the quality products available from the OSR. I haven't acquired so many gaming materials (both bought and for free) since the TSR days.

For those of you who were gaming in the late 70s to early 80s, I'm sure you remember the bubbling excitement of visiting your local bookstore to thumb through the game books, modules and magazines. To me, it felt like my friends and I were onto something truly unique, and as far as we were concerned, it was all lovingly produced specifically for us alone.

Such is the feeling I get with the new material streaming out of the OSR. In fact, the products getting churned out of people's basements ARE specifically for us: the FANS who love this crazy hobby. When I think of all the great materials published by Goblinoid Games, BHP, Mythmere, LotFP, 3 Headed Monster, Barrataria, Grey Area, ect., etc., and so on, it takes me back to that small local bookstore to find that one strange product to add a bit more fun into my rpgs.

Right now is a wonderful time for our hobby and I hope many within the OSR are taking advantage of the goodies provided and soaking in the old-school rays of resurgence. I know I am (to the best of my ability, both money and time-wise). Right now, I am awaiting the arrival of my copy of Stonehell and the hardback copy of LL Revised. Meanwhile, I have my eye on a print copy of the Companion Expansion and when AEC is released, I'll get that, too.

Now, back to my copies of Green Devil Face and The Dungeon Alphabet to gather up a bit of dungeon creating inspiration. Yep! Again, what a great time for us old-school game-lovers.

Another Half Price Books Score

I braved the frigid temperatures and went to the Half Price Bookstore during my lunch break today. In the past, there I have found near-mint copies of Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure ($7), The C&C core books ($9 each), and a ton of old Dragon magazines.

Today I was able to replace my missing copy of the Moldvay Basic rulebook for $5. This sucker is also in near-mint as the pages haven't even yellowed much.

In addition to this fabulous find, they were selling comics in bulk - 20 for $5. I landed a bunch of 70s/early 80s issues of Avengers, Hulk, Iron Man, and Invaders.

Man, I love HPB. :)

Plans for 2010

For PRG, 2009 was about as successful as I could have ever hoped. This past year I was able to publish Fabled Curse of the Brigand Crypt, Labyrinth Tomb of the Minotaur Lord (for Knockspell #3), The Lost Staves of Maurath, and the Treasure Crypt of the Salstine Pirate mini-module.

For 2010, I want to keep the momentum going. Here are the plans (which may change, of course).

- Finish my new adventure for Knockspell. Whether it gets into issue #4 or #5 is up in the air right now. I'm way behind schedule on this one.

- The Classic Deep Level Dungeon Adventures Vol. I: a compilation of modules DLD 1-5. This will include the never before published DLD3 Beyond the Midway Post. Also this will be the Maurath adventure's first time in print. This volume will also include all new editing, art and layout.

- I plan to finally begin my Labyrinth Lord mega adventure The Fierce Foes of Fire Peak Mountain. I'm kicking around the idea for this module to be used with the LL Advanced Edition Companion. If I didn't mention it before, this will be a nice fat old-school adventure filled with all my faves: Deserted ruins, mysterious villages, trap-filled tombs, caverns, and a big ol' Red Dragon at the end of it all (I'm not giving anything away. It will be known that a dragon is up in them thar mountains).

- Once the dust settles, I can get my X-plorers game going. I have a rough idea for an adventure, and I'd like to see if I can finally get one published. It's just too cool of a bare-bones sci-fi RPG.

Anyway: Happy New Year to ya'll!

Just saw Dorkness Rising

After hearing bits and pieces about The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, I finally saw it streaming on Netflix. Yes it is a shoestring budget affair, but I actually found myself laughing hysterically at most of the adventuring gags. The dead bard gags were priceless as well as the alignment arguments.

As I was watching, I kept thinking of the average non-gamer who might try to watch this and how freaking confused they would be by all the gamer lingo. Dorkness Rising might not be for everyone, it is definitely a love letter to tabletop role-players.

Although this movie has some obvious low budget drawbacks, as a gamer I would still recommend checking it out.

Favorite quote: "There's 37 more of me, asshole!"

Another D&D clone available? Sure, why not?

I just stumbled upon Paige Oliver's Red Box Fantasy rpg (Player's guide here for free), a game that is described as "the new face of Retrogaming." A more in depth description can be found here.

Jim Raggi is kicking around the idea of a LotFP traditional rpg in order to market his games under his own brand.

With S&W, LL, OSRIC, BFRPG, M&M, etc., as well as similar themed companions from Barrataria and Blackrazor, do you think this fragments or waters down the OSR, or do you find more options to be healthy for gaming references/growth.

I mentioned before that I think that most old-school gamers love to draw ideas from various sources. As a young roleplayer, I used to mix B/X with a fat dose of 1e and a dash of the ol' Arduin Grimoire. That being said, I am all for more ideas based on the old game we know and love to be written and available for public consumption. For I shall consume, see?

I would like to believe that someone who mainly plays Labyrinth Lord or BFRPG would have no problem utilizing other retro-sources into their game if they wish. If not, for those who use a set of their choice rules as a strict source for play, why would/should it bother them that other retro rules exist?

To ask if more and more retro-clones are necessary is moot. That opinion is up to the one who might want to use additional rule sets for inspiration. For those playing strict B/X D&D by the book (and with the originals no less), of course new sets of retro rules are unnecessary...for them.

For me, I like a variety of ideas on my favorite game, whether it comes from the 0e or the 1e spectrum of play. So I read through and utilize bits from most of the clones, as well as the supplements and magazines. If Raggi publishes the LotFP rpg, I'll read it and possibly use it for inspiration in my LL campaign. What I won't do is roll my eyes and say, "ANOTHER one?!" The quality and love put into the available clones (as well as the wealth of ideas) are seriously not that off-putting. :)

Playing the Maurath module backwards? Nice twist.

SPOILERS to the Maurath module. You know...just in case.

This post will assume that you have read The Lost Staves of Maurath. If you have not, what the heck, man? Go here, download it for free, give it a once-over, and then come back for a nice twist to this module.

As I thumbed through The Lost Staves of Maurath again the other night (always, always looking for typos) it dawned on me that this particular adventure could be played in a way to add a good amount of mystery and discovery: run the module backward.

In this scenario, the characters will have zero knowledge of the town of Bremwell and their problems with their damaged temple and the lost staves of Maurath.

Deep into the original adventure, The Temple of the Black Jewel (area 21) has a northbound hall that eventually becomes a natural cavern, leading the characters outside into the hills north of Bremwell. Playing the adventure backwards, this cavern will be the characters' entrance instead of exit.

The first encounter for the characters will be with the clerics of the Black Jewel who will tell the characters about the theft of the Black Jewel. The clerics could hire the characters to explore the caverns above the waterfall to the south to seek out and return the stolen relic. Even if this encounter somehow results in combat (the clerics are Chaotic after all), the discoveries of the giant black statue, the strange interlocking staves, and sinkhole leading to the Temple of Maurath would be fun mysteries for the characters to untangle.

It's the discovery of the Temple of Maurath which intrigues me the most about playing the adventure backwards. I like the idea of the characters finding this mysteriously new structure above the dark catacombs. If the characters climb up into the sanctuary and kill off the temple's intruders, curiosity will insist that the characters hack or blast through the temple's boarded-up entrance. This might bring them to the town of Bremwell.

Should the characters end up in Bremwell, imagine the role-playing between the characters and the residents. Will they look at the characters with deep suspicion? Will they tell the story of the lost staves (one adventure, two lost artifacts! Who wudda thunk it)? The main thing the residents would want is some proof that the caverns do indeed contain an ancient, evil burial chamber. What evidence will the characters have with them?

Nice possibilities.

RPG aimed at kids to help one in need

Hey, folks.

Just read this over the theRPGsite:


Hi,

I'm new to the forums, but I work for Empty Room Studios, I am posting this not to try and plug our new RPG game that's aimed at kids, but to try and get some support from the community. One of the artists of Empty Room Studios is having a tough time right now financially -I know we all are- but his is unique in that he is dealing with a sick wife, and raising two daughters with one on the way.

The point is, we at ERS would like to offer our newest game, Dungeon Dwellers: Junior Edition for *almost* free. All you have to do is visit www.helpthehersheys.blogspot.com and donate as little as $1.00 to help out Rick's family and we will send you a link to download DD:JD.

Also, please post a link in your facebook pages (with the same deal I am offering you here), tweet out a message, blog about it, or e-mail your friends -just help get the word out to everyone you may know who would be interested in a great game aimed at kids and for helping out a worthy cause!

Thanks for your time

-Rocky


Please check it out and pass it along.

Big Bang Theory and D&D

I watch the show Big Bang Theory when I can because of all the GeekSpeak found on the program. While I enjoy the show, I can not BELIEVE that Sheldon and his buddies have not engaged in a Dungeons & Dragons edition war yet. There is no way that these characters know as much as they do about all things geeky, from comics to Star Wars to Star Trek, and they have never played D&D?

Well, I for one want my BBT D&D episode! Who at CBS do I yell at to get this done? :D

Barrataria's Companion Expansion

I'm always up for pimping other OSR products on the ol' PRG blog, soooooo...

Here is a cool new product in which one can mine some great ideas for their LL/old-school game. With Barrataria Games' Companion Expansion, GMs can introduce new spells, magic items, classes (half-ogre!), and rules to slice and dice your characters up to 36th level.

The Companion Expansion is an obvious labor of love and a useful gift to the OSR. You can check out the no-art version here for FREE! Barrataria plans to release a POD version soon, filled with glorious art and old-school happiness.

Give it a test-drive to see if a little (or a lot) of the CE can fit into your current game.

Creative ideas: Thanks, Green Devil Face

I finally purchased LotFP's Green Devil Face (#1-3) based off a harsh review from the Pundit over at The RPG Site. As a fan of Raggi’s writing and a supporter of the OSR, I pimped GDF here on this blog. After all the cool things I’ve heard about these ‘zines, it’s funny that it took a bad review to finally make me take the plunge and buy GDF.

Man, I wish that I had not waited to get these. As a writer of RPG adventures, reading GDF is a true inspiration of what one can produce when you really stop giving a %#@$ about what others think or how adventures are “supposed” to be written.

Sometimes we need to step back and say, “This is fantasy. I can do ANYTHING I want to make this more interesting and fun.”

So far the best thing I can say about reading GDF is that it has sparked in me some fun ideas. I love that. Would I use all the traps found in GDF in my own adventures? Nooooooooooooo freaking way, but that’s not the point. It’s the creativity of what GDF’s contributors put into their ideas that I get off on (whether they work or not).

Personally, I loved the humor and satire found in issue #1 (and, no, I don’t know everyone Raggi is picking on, so although the inside jokes might go over my head, the set ups are still freaking cool, if not unusual and surreal). I would like to see more of that carried into future issues of GDF. I love it when an RPG resource can stimulate ideas while tearing me up in laughter.

Also, I must say that the imagery within Caleb Jensen’s Beware the Red Stream in issue #3 could be used by David Lynch should he decide to direct a “D&D” movie. I love it.

Anyway, as I said, GDF has spawned some fun ideas in me and I am in the process of putting those ideas down in a mini adventure that I plan to submit for a future issue of GDF. Whether it gets published there or not is not up to me, but I’m having fun with the extra burst of creativity.

As for future PRG releases, I think there will be one or two areas within each new adventure where I’ll think to myself: WWGDFD?

Traditional or "Book" Sized?

I've seen people posting here and there around the rpg community about size prefence in gaming books. It seems the book (or digest) sized booklet is gaining acceptance with the traditional fantasy gaming crowd.


For me, I like both. However, back in the day when I played post UA AD&D, I used to carry around a backpack FULL of rulebooks (which, admittedly, half were never even used). I would have loved access to booklet-sized rules back then.


Now, as a Labyrinth Lord GM/player, I carry around one (1) book, so, as they say, size doesn't matter. I do have a nice collection of pdfs of other rpgs and supplements that I have recently printed off as pocketbooks, which make for great and less clunky bedtime reading.


Does anyone out there have a die-hard preference, and if so, what drove you to wanting smaller/larger sized rpg materials?

A big thanks for representing LL in Knockspell.

I received my pdf copy of Knockspell #3 earlier today and it looks fantastic. I simply have to give a big thanks to Matt Finch at Mythmere Games for not only publishing my adventure, but making it look so darn good in print (a thanks to Mr. Kramer, too)!

The last time I really gave Labyrinth Tomb of the Minotaur Lord a good read was after its first and only editing session. As I re-read the module last night, I forgot how much freaking fun this adventure was to run. The puzzles, traps, new monsters and magical items all come together in a delightfully deadly labyrinth crawl!

Could I say that Minotaur Lord is worth the price of the magazine alone? Sure, but that would be overstepping my bragging rights, and this issue of Knockspell is packed full of so much old-school happiness that nearly every piece would be able to make the same boast.

As an extra incentive to get your own copy from Black Blade Publishing, for the rest of this week, they knocked 10% off the pdf price. 64 pages of Knockspell for $3.60! Check it out here!

Or if you like the deadwood edition: here.

Last thing I want to say here is to give another thanks to Matt for allowing me to represent Labyrinth Lord in his pages. He uses Knockspell as an entertaining and useful forum to prop up the old-school - from 0e to 1e and everything in between - and I'm just happy that he has decided to take on this endeavor to share with the rest of us.