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.

...Minotaur Lord adventure released in Knockspell #3!

The cat is out of the bag!

It looks like Mythmere has a sweet deal with Black Blade Publishing! What's even sweeter is that Knockspell #3 has finally been released. And even sweeter-er is that KS#3 features our new adventure Labyrinth Tomb of the Minotaur Lord!

It has been a long time coming for this adventure, and it's worth the wait! Now, with the modules Treasure Crypt of the Salstine Pirate, The Lost Staves of Maurath, and now Labyrinth Tomb of the Minotaur Lord, that equals three module releases within one month. Good times. :)

I doubt that I'll maintain this type of schedule, but it's nice when everything comes together at once, you know?

You can find Knockspell #3 here in both PDF and print.

EDIT: There will be a big announcement on the Mythmere forums tomorrow (10/27) about the publishing deal. Regarding this, Matt said: "Don't buy anything today, because there may be a sale announced with the launch."

And you think Pac-Man is a retro game??

This is non-rpg related, BUT, I found these fantastic pics over at Retro Hound of a place called the Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

I have actually visited this place a couple times and it is just as cool as it looks. Those who think that Space Invaders is an old game should check this place out and learn a little history.

Man, I love this stuff!

The Lost Staves of Maurath now available! FREE!

Prime Requisite Games is proud to announce a new Labyrinth Lord / BASIC rpg adventure available as a FREE download!

Classic Deep Level Dungeon Adventure DLD5: The Lost Staves of Maurath

An open sinkhole under a sacred temple has revealed a catacomb of twisted dark caverns. Vicious creatures from below raided the temple of its most precious possessions, the magical Staves of Maurath.

Now the staves must be found, and an open call has been issued for a group of powerful adventurers to explore the caverns and find the Lost Staves of Maurath. However, it is believed that the caverns may echo the deadly secret of an ancient and evil burial chamber.

The Lost Staves of Maurath is a challenging adventure for character levels 4-6. For use with the Labyrinth Lord™ rules or other Basic/Expert RPG systems.


Available for FREE at Lulu, Scribd, and Issuu.

Enjoy!

New mini module while you wait!

While the finishing touches are added to our next module, let me douse a bit of your adventuring thirst with our first Labyrinth Lord mini adventure released under our new KTM3T brand: Treasure Crypt of the Salstine Pirate.

The legend of the Salstine Pirate tells of a sea captain who turned pirate, killing off most of his crew and taking his treasure to land. Salstine found an abandoned tomb within the Dwarven Mountains to hide his stolen goods, and meant to stay there to avoid getting caught by the military he betrayed. However, what he found in the tomb was a horror that would keep the Salstine Pirate trapped within forever.

As always, this is a free download!

Influenced by the One Page Dungeon contest, KTM3T (which stands for Kill The Monsters, Take Their Treasure) mini modules are one or two page adventures that can easily plug into any existing campaign, or they can simply be a great Saturday night time-killer.

These adventures will be written with the quick-game in mind. There will not be long drawn out stories full of cryptic rumors and mysteries to solve. KTM3T modules will have three major elements: monsters, traps and treasure. So not only will these adventures make for a nice quick one-session game, they are perfect as introductory modules for new players.

As far as scheduled releases for KTM3T mini modules, I must say that the full-length modules will have priority, so the minis will be released as time permits.

Enjoy and Happy Gaming!

New cover art!

Here is an early peek at the cover art.