OSR OSR News Roundup

thirdkingdom said:

Welcome to the OSR Roundup for April 1st. March is over and saw a lot of in person gaming activity with GaryCon, PAX East, Adepticon, and a host of other conventions. I'd mentioned last week that Cairn 2e has launched on Kickstarter; I conducted a short interview with the author, Yochai Gal, last week, that you can read here.

• Aaron Dill of Jolly Lark Gaming is a friend of mine from high school. After working with Games Workshop, Gale Force Nine, and Monster Fight Club he as founded Jolly Lark, a small, bespoke company geared towards minis and accessories. He's running a Kickstarter (ends in a few days) for cultist minis designed for a variety of games and systems. You can pledge for either the physical minis or, what I like to see, the .stl files so you can print the minis yourself.
• Hexed Press has released Huzzah! Inspired by Honey Heist, it is a quick, rules-lite rpg designed to capture the frenetic and mad-cap energy of classic Saturday morning cartoons.
• One of the things I love about itch are the number and creativity of game jams that folks come up with. A recent one is the Door Jam, and All the Doors I Could Think Of is seedling's entry into the jam.
• Speaking of jams: naughty word or Get off the Pot is a game design jam that will be happening in May, with the goal to produce ten one-page games in the span of a month, regardless of quality. Just brainstorm and get stuff on paper.
• I'd mentioned Yochai and Cairn 2e, above, and he's also released a free dungeon, Rise of the Blood Olms, for use with the new edition of Cairn (or, really, any OSR system).
• Tropical Heat, by Marcos Dominguez, is a short, one-page rpg designed to emulate a 90s Canadian TV series that sounds like Miami Vice meets Hawaii 5-0.
• Eric Bloat has launched a Kickstarter for We Die Young, a game of supernatural horror also set in the 90s. I'm a big fan of what he did with Dark Places and Demogorgons, the Stranger Things-themed game, and I'm excited to see what happens here.
• Storied Lands Second Edition is now live on Drivethru. It runs on a BX chassis but with some modern elements added in, such as ascending AC, Advantage and Disadvantage, etc. A substantial part of the book is geared towards setting and campaign creation, which is nice.
• I backed the Goodman Games Kickstarter for the OAR version of the Dark Tower what seems like years ago, and it is finally out. You can purchase the pdf on Drivethru, We've also got it in stock at Sabre in both DCC and 5e flavors.
• Five Visits to the Temperance Stone is a short adventure by Leicester's Rambles featuring a five room dungeon drawn by Dyson Logos.
• Another release I've been waiting for is Kill Jester's Sanctimonious Slimes and Expired Epicures. Kill Jester is the publisher of Ava Islam's fantastic Errant system, and SSaEE, written by Nick Whelan, is statted for Errant but can be easily adapted to a system of your choice.
• Leyline Press (full disclosure that Sabre is the US distributor of their products) has just released The Isle of Glaslyn on Drivethru. It's a hexcrawl written for OSE that can be slotted into pretty much any existing fantasy campaign. They've also released Bastard King and The God With No Name.
• Written for Shadowdark, the Meadery Mishap features art by Carlos Castilho, one of my favorite artists. It's a low-level adventure, designed to introduce new characters to a setting and including elements of dungeon, town, and wilderness play.
• We just got the fantastic Mausritter in stock, and I was excited to see that Lazy Cat Cult has released Mauspunk, an unofficial Mausritter supplement dealing with mice in a cyberpunk future.
• Swords and Wizardry Whitebox isn't as popular as it once was, but I'm hoping that with Matt Finch at the helm of Mythmere Games it will see a resurgence. It's now available on Drivethru in PDF and POD versions.
• Welcome to Strangeville is another stab at a Stranger Things/Stephen King/Kids on Bikes system.
• Hinokodo has released an asset pack of "human-made" logos they've designed and made available for commercial use, with the only caveats being it can't go on any product with AI assets and they can't be repackaged or resold. There's a wide variety of cool designs here, and it is a PWYW release.
• Sabre Games has added the OSE Adventure Anthologies Volumes 1 and 2 to our stock.
• The Kickstarter for Volume Two of the BX Advanced Bestiary is still ongoing, with a little more than a week to go. It takes monster entries from the OSE core book entries E - K and adds to and expands those options.

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• Pocket Quest is an annual Drivethru event that I always seem to overlook, but I did see that Zadmar Games has published Conniving Cat Burglars, a one-page system/scenario that can also be used as part of the Tricube Tales system.
• When it rains it pours, because another entry to Pocket Quest is Mission: ImPAWsible, by T-Rex Games, a game of three raccoons in a trench coat trying to save the world.
• I'd mentioned the Fishing With John game jam on itch a few weeks ago, and one entry that's just been published is Way Down on the Waccamaw, by giantrobottackler. It's written for Cairn and is a little one-page scenario about a fishing contest that may or may not turn out badly for you.
• I'm a big fan of Emmy Allen's work, and Soul Muppet is currently running a Kickstarter for a remastered version of the Garden of Ynn, a procedurally generated, zero-prep adventure set in an ever-shifting garden.
• Eva K has released a pack of grayscale wilderness hexes, with the idea that they are a minimalist aid to writing an adventure rather than something to spend time fiddling with.
• One of my favorite parts of Worlds Without Number is system generation, and Robotic Topologist just released their Minimalist Solar System Generation.
• The pdf of Goodman Game's recent Dark Tower release is now available on Drivethrurpg. It's available in both DCC and 5e flavors.
• Hirelings is an interesting new release on Drivethru. It's billed as a fantasy heist game, suitable as a one-shot or a mini-game inside an existing campaign.
• I'd mentioned Prisoners of the Secret Overlord a few months back when it was on Kickstarter, and it's now out on Drivethru in pdf and POD. Written for DCC, it's a 2nd level adventure with science fantasy elements.
• Flooded Realms Adventure Press has released Oglia's Folly, a short (3-page) high level adventure for OSE. I like seeing shorter high level adventures that can be slotted in as part of a larger campaign or hexcrawl without the baggage of a longer campaign setup.
• Land of Mist is a campaign supplement written for Old School Essentials. It looks like it's got an interesting variety of new classes, monsters, and, what may be of interest to some people, rules for achieving Immortality.
• Populated Hexes Monthly Issue 32 is now available in pdf and print. This issue is the first in a two-part look at creating artifacts and relics for OSE and other similar games, and provides plenty of tables and tools to create both them and mortal magical items.
• There's about a day left in the BX Advanced Bestiary Kickstarter, which expands on monsters E-K in the Old School Essentials Classic rules. It adds new monsters, classes, spells, psionic powers, and more. Illustration below is bee-folk soldier, by Marco Ortiz Walters.

Whizbang Dustyboots said:

I love that bee-folk.

I'm new-ish to itch.io. Is there a way to see RPG jams specifically? I can't find that filter. Even better, is there an RSS feed of such things?

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thirdkingdom said:

If you go to the itch main page there's a button for Jams along the top. Game jams

The problem is that the vast majority of stuff on itch is non-tabletop gaming, so it takes some searching. I mostly rely on folks posting announcements about the jams they're starting on various social media platforms.

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Whizbang Dustyboots said:

Yeah, that's what I ran into as well. It would be nice if itch added a tabletop tag to the jams page; a lot of the stuff in the jams can be really fun. I'm interested to see what "do a bunch of fishing-related RPG content" produces.

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• My apologies to the authors of Mystic Punks, a ttrpg of weird punk role-playing. This project is based off the previously published solo rpg, and a quick start version of the game can be found on itch.
• We carry a few products by Crumbling Keep, and they're currently running a Kickstarter for The Troll Hunter, a trifold pamphlet adventure written for OSE. If you're interested you should hurry up and back, as the project ends in about two days from the publication of this blog.
• Luminary Matt Finch has just launched Swords and Wizardry Expansions, a collection of new stuff for Swords and Wizardry.
• Cloud Empress, by Watt, is a unique and charming Nausicca-inspired setting that uses a rules-lite version of Mothership. They're currently Kickstarting Cloud Empress: Life and Death, an expansion upon the original products, which a bunch of new stuff and options. This is definitely worth a look.
• I've mentioned projects by Wuggy before, and they've just released an urban art asset pack on itch. For 2.00 you get over 500 hand-drawn icons for use in your projects, whether personal or commercial. They're super impressive and detailed, and an absolute steal at the price point. They're in .abr format, for programs like Photoshop and GIMP. I haven't taken them out for a test drive yet to see if they work in Worldographer.
• Robin Fjärem has released Shadow over Gloomspire, an adventure for the new and increasingly popular Dragonbane RPG. It's inspired by dark fantasy and gothic horror.
• Robert Conley's How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox is out and available on Drivethru, along with the mini-setting the Isle of Pyade.
• Sword of the Dragonslayer is an adventure for characters of levels 4-6 and written for OSE.
• Wandering Mage has released a collection of six new classes for the popular Shadowdark rpg, including the assassin, troubadour, and the intriguing looking undead revenant class.
• Ill-met in the City is a collection of urban locations that can be added to your fantasy game. It's described as having a Lankhmarian vibe, which is right up my alley in terms of tone.
• Along with Wuggy's icon release, Elderberry Inn has released a series of icons that also use the Creative Commons license. This icon pack seems more geared towards VTT play and less towards map-making or commercial use.
• Sam Sorenson has just released The Seas of Sand, an intriguing-looking setting designed for OSR play. The premise is that the setting is a vast desert of amorphous sand; by day ships can sail upon it, while at night the sand solidifies and can be walked upon. I'd seen this mentioned on social media over the past few weeks, and am excited to see it released.
• The Domain, featuring art by a Roundup favorite JE Shields, is system agnostic fantasy setting that comes in at almost 300 pages.
• I'm not sure I would ever use any of the items in 20 OSR-style Magic Items, but it is a collection of odd and unique magical items that can be added to games, perhaps as low-level trinkets to amuse your players.
• After is billed as a "post-apocalyptic stone punk rpg", and is inspired by a wide variety of systems and settings. There are a couple of sample spreads in the titles description that do more to sell the product than any promotional blurb could.
• I've launched a Quickstarter for Issue 33 of Populated Hexes Monthly, which picks up were Issue 32 left off with a look at adding artifacts and relics to your OSE and OSR-style games.
• Just a reminder that I've decided that the only Third Kingdom Games books that I'll be keeping in stock will be offset versions, which means I'm putting my remaining inventory of print on demand titles on deep discount, 50% off all titles. The POD titles will still be available via Drivethrurpg and Lulu, but my goal is to only stock offset versions in my own webstore. If you'd like to pick up some books at 50% off now is the time to do so.

• One of my favorite things to do is to highlight the works of first-time authors, and so I was tickled when I stumbled across Halls of the Beetle Queen. Written for Cairn as part of itch's Hex Jam, it is the first release by BoRyan.Online. I look forward to seeing more of their work in the future.
• Tidal Wave Games has released Knight of Diamond, a free rpg compatible with OSE and other similar systems. What caught my eye is that it is inspired by the only Wizardry CRPGs, which I enjoyed imensely as a youth.
• The Cairn kickstarter is chugging along nicely, and hakbyte has relased a minimalist character sheet for use with that system. I especially like the evocative antlers that frame the top entries.
• Dave Blandy has just released Eco Mofos, a game of environmental apocalypse using a mash-up of Into the Odd and Cairn. There's a vertitable who's who of collaborators on this project: IKO does the editing and Daniel Locke the artwork.
• It's not a new release, but Dark Tools just came across my radar and I thought it looked cool. Inspired by the ghost stories of MR James, this short game involved hunting for artifacts in a quaint, rural setting.
• Roxanne B has relased OIL, a rules-lite dungeon crawl about exploring the darkness with a lantern that requires oil to keep lit.
• The Darkest Outcome looks really interesting: it's a tactical skirmish horror game written by Orbital Crypt. I'm curious to see how the mechanics work in play.
• It seems like steampunk has been dwindling in popularity recently, but the recently released Sky and Steam Miscellany looks to be a refreshing take on that genre, with the characters playing the roles of super-powered Dickensian protagonists.
• Jeffrey Jones has released Issue 5 of Gary's Appendix, a wide-ranging zine focusing on quality OSR content.
• Mighty Peasants Deed Book is a collection of almost 100 tricks and deeds that are usable by 0-level characters in your DCC game to make playing at that level more exciting.
• Ophoric Labs has released The Wizard Sea Chronicles, Vol. 1, a zine based upon their homebrewed setting. It looks to be a mix of adventure and gazetteer, with some rule additions.
• Mausritter is one of my favorite new systems, and Sam McKay has released Mousepuzzler, a collection twenty puzzles that can be used for Mausritter, or really any other game.
• You Meet in a Tavern, You Die in a Dungeon is a procedurally generated dungeon delving game where all of the characters are destined to die. In my opinion it's worth picking up for the rules on procedural dungeon generation alone.
• I'm currently running a Kickstarter for Issue 33 of Populated Hexes Monthly, which is part two of the series on artifact generation. It comes in at a whopping 57 pages of content, and you can pick up the pdf for just 2.00, as well as pick up Issue 32 if you haven't gotten that yet.

• There's an itch bundle going on right now to support trans rights in West Virginia. You can get an amazing 529 titles for 5.00, and this includes a number of OSR titles, including FIST, Brewkessel #1 (one of the my favorite adventures from the past two years; am eagerly awaiting Vol. 2), The Dessicated Temple of Locha, and more.
• I stumbled across the PÈLERINES x AORI NOX Kickstarter and was immediately intrigued by it. Written by a team of French creators, and beautifully illustrated, it's an ambitious, two book collection of science fantasy gaming designed for solo or group play. I'm really impressed by the scope and the attention to detail in all aspects, from illustrations to the physical construction of the books. They could use support in reaching their goal, though, so if it sounds interesting you should consider backing.
• I really don't see that much stuff being sold through Lulu, but Wuggy has just released their print version of The Undermall on that platform. I mentioned the Undermall awhile back in a previous Roundup; it's written for Electric Bastionland and is set in an abandoned, underground mall.
• Jeffrey Jones, of Gary's Appendix, has just launched Journey Into the Madlands, a post-apocalyptic setting using Old School Essentials.
• Attack from Space: the Mork Borg Ditto Game, is available on Drivethru. Play a medieval knight battling alien invaders in this game, formatted to look like the ditto worksheet copies many of us will remember from school in the 80s and 90s. The art is absolutely top-notch.
• Downsized Press has released Volume 4 of Downsized Dungeons, their OSE compatible mini-zine. This issue is influenced by John Carter on Mars.
• ZZ Walker has released Kobolds of Karnath Canyon, where the players take the roles of kobolds battling invading adventurers. It looks like there are some interesting ideas in this produt.
• Sometimes I see something that I don't know how to classify, and Candle III falls into that category. It bills itself as a "fantasy audio magazine", but I must confess I'm not sure what it is. You can get a pdf or a print version, and it looks like it contains some interesting stuff, but I'm left with the feeling that I'm not cool or punk enough to get it. Some of the readers of this column may be, however, so this one goes out to y'all.
• I haven't seen that much recently coming out of the immensely creative LatinX scene, but I did see the other day that Tragos Games has released Metamorphosis BX, a hack of Rolim's MiniBX that is a South American take on Metamorphosis Alpha.
• Medieval Mercenaries is a short zine that provides guidance for adding mercenary companies to your fantasy games. Ever since I read Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion trilogy in middle school I've been fascinated by this overlooked aspect of gaming.
• Shadow and Fae 2e has just been released on Drivethru. It allows characters to take the role of fairy tale characters. It looks like a delightful little system, inspired by GLOG, that is in the process of being polished.
• We've added a number of Used titles to the Sabre webstore, including a selection of classic Rolemaster titles.