Rabbitfolk and Berserker Bunnies for the D&D RC & Layrinth Lord (Happy Easter Edition!)

Hey folks. I hope you are all well out there in the bad wild world. 2020 has been a tough one so far, with more ahead, as it seems. We'll see this through, though. I'm confident we will. Getting some proper gaming going (digitally, nowadays) seems like a good start in a better direction for me. And since it's also Easter (which traditionally is a fresh start and the end of Winter and all those positive notions of life coming back and thriving), I thought I'd share some bonus classes for your D&D  Basic and Labyrinth Lord games. Please, make good use of these bunnies, and share their tales, if you are so inclined.

I used Building the Perfect Class as a guide to make the Rabbitfolk (so it's all balanced and thought through). You should check that out, if you haven't already (and here is why).

The gentle Rabbitfolk

Your classic humanoid rabbits. They come in all the variety you'd know from rabbits. They are peaceful social creatures and live in burrows (as one would guess). They are more spiritual than religious and love dabbling in magic. All of them are vegetarian and they really don't like killing at all (although they will defend themselves). They are as big as Elves when fully upright (although they do love to cower).

I love me some DiTerlizzi ... so good [source]

As far as origins go, I'd go with a martial Halfling clan that got cursed millenia ago when they angered a god with their unspeakable war crimes. They've made peace with their fate by now (as their nature would force them) and are generally rergarded as nice folk and all around pleasant company. They don't often go on adventure, but when they do, it's usually to help the peace in the realm one way or another. That and their strange relationship to magic. The lure of some mighty magic item will tempt the most cautious bunny into a dungeon. They are also highly requested couriers and make honest and reliable merchants.

Prime Requisites: Dexterity and Intelligence

Experience Bonus: 5% for DEX or INT higher than 12, 10% for DEX and INT higher than 12

Hit Dice: 1d6 per level up to 9th level.

Maximum Level: 12

Armor: Only light armor, shields permitted

Weapon: Any blunt

Combat Progression: like Magic-User

Weapon Mastery (if you use that): normal

Saves as: Halfling

Special Abilities:

• INFRAVISION (like Elf)

• DEADLY AWARENESS (can only be surprised 1 in 8 times, even when asleep, as they sleep with their eyes open, but if surprised, they need to make a Save versus Death to not drop dead)

• BINKY FELLA (can jump double as high and double as far as humans)

• RUNNER (Movement as Monk)

• WIGGLY WRESTLER (may 1 time per level and day add their complete Dexterity to an attempt to free themselves from a grapple)

• AFFINITY TO MAGIC (casts magic with 1/2 Magic-User progression)

• CASTS MAGIC IN LIGHT ARMOR

• HIDE OUTSIDE (like Halfling)

• HIDE INSIDE (like Halfling)

Rabbitfolk Experience Table (advances like Mage)

Level     XP

1           0
2       2.100
3       4.200
4       8.400
5      16.800
6      35.000
7      70.000
8     140.000
9     280.000
10    430.000
11    580.000
12    730.000

Berserker Bunnies!

Among the Rabbitfolk are also the so-called "Berserker Bunnies" (not to their face, though) that found a way to channel the ancient wrath of their anscestors(or maybe it found them?). Legend has it that they channel their ancient Halfling origin. They are very rare, very scarred and usually don't get very old. If they ever where to unite in force (as it has been foretold in obscure prophecies), whatever is in their way would be in serious trouble. Rabbitfolk in general don't like history rearing its ugly mug like that, and rabbits that discover the Ancient Way of the Berserker for themselves  soon become outcasts, living in exile from their people. They roam the world, looking for the long lost war wisdom of their kin.

Don't call him Berserker Bunny ... [source]

Berserker Bunnies are quite honorable, in a quirky way, and would rather fight for a good cause. However, they will work as mercenaries and because of their They love oversized blunt weapons and would love eating meat, but can't stomach it. Drinking blood seems to be okay, though.

There seem to be no Berserker Bunnies beyond Level 9. They seem to follow a calling of sorts when reaching name level and disappear without a trace ...

Prime Requisites: Dexterity and Constitution

Experience Bonus: 5% for DEX or CON higher than 12, 10% for DEX and CON higher than 12

Hit Dice: 1d12 per level up to 9th level.

Maximum Level: 9

Armor: Only light to medium armor, no shields

Weapon: Any (also has bite as blunt weapon), the love two-handed blunt weapons (because of the "thump" noise they make)

Combat Progression: like Monster

Weapon Mastery (if you use that): as Fighter

Saves as: Halfling

Special Abilities:

• INFRAVISION (like Elf)

• EVEN DEADLIER AWARENESS (can only be surprised 1 in 10 times, even when asleep, as they sleep with their eyes open, but if surprised, they need to make a Save versus Death to not end up in an undiscriminating berserker rage for 2d6 rounds - Level which functions exactly like the WRATH below, just without the Save)

• BINKY FELLA (can jump double as high and double as far as humans)

• RUNNER (Movement as Monk)

• HIDE OUTSIDE (like Halfling)

• HIDE INSIDE (like Halfling)

• FLYING RABBIT ATTACK (attacks involving jumps add DEX bonus to attack and damage, needs room to maneuver as full movement, though, little jumps don't count)

• WRATH OF THE ANCIENTS (as soon as losing at least 1 HP in a fight, Berserker Bunnies can call their ancestors for support and their ancestors will answer the call, a bunny possessed like that will shimmer and have glowing and steaming red eyes, they'll also get +2 on damage and attack as well as +1 HP/Level for CON/2 rounds per day, Save vs. Spells negates (unless Deadly Awareness), Berserker Bunnies will fight until the Wrath is over, even when they have no HP left, even if no enemies are left)

Berserker Bunnies Experience Table (advances like Fighter)

Level     XP

1            0
2        3.000
3        6.000
4       12.000
5       24.000
6       50.000
7      100.000
8      200.000
9      400.000

The classes here on the blog are:

Ratpeople

Feline Humanoids

Ape Men

My take on Halflings (a little series)

A Prince Charming (human that grew up with Elves)

Free RPG Day 2017: Random Encounters

So I've been checking drivethru on their EVERY DAY is FREE RPG DAY promotion and fell in love at least twice. There's some great stuff out there, but I want to highlight just a couple of items I think worthwhile for one reason or another. Here we go ... Free RPG Day!

1. Planet Crashers

FIRST IMPRESSION: Nice Cover, name-drops the Space Dandy ... good enough for me.

FIRST LOOK: A short one with 21 pages. The players are bounty hunters IN SPACE, the DM is actually the opposition, trying to get rid of the players. The engine is card based and uses poker chips as currency. No chips and you are out of the game ... Clean layout, no artwork, has a character sheet at the end.

VERDICT: I like it. Seems to be a fun one-shot game if all players and the DM are on the same page. Only thing I'd house rule immediately is that players need to be out of the game once the character is dead. "Need to be" because the DM wins if all players lose all their chips and the players win if the DM loses all of his chips ... so creating a new character and bringing new chips to the table might be a no-no. But it is easily enough fixed by having them work for the opposition (they get the chips they lost to play some opposing force supporting the DM, maybe?). Or something. Anyway, seems like a fun little game and you can get it FOR FREE! (PWYW)

2. Fleshscape

FIRST IMPRESSION: Nomadic tribes on a landscape made out of flesh ... very weird, good enough for me.

FIRST LOOK: Evocative layout and art, very rules lite, just 8 pages long. Players are leaders of a tribe trying to survive in a very weird environment. Wizards are called "Moulders", which is quite nice. Sounds like fun, too.

VERDICT: This is a gorgeous little booklet, lovely done. If you are into rules lite systems, this works as-is, but it's easily enough used as a setting book for anything you want to use. Very much worth checking out, imo. And you can get it for free, of course! (PWYW)

3. Engine Heart

FIRST IMPRESSION: I liked title and cover, actually reminded me of Wall-E for some reason before I read a word about it ... good enough for me.

FIRST LOOK: The first surprise is that this is a big one. A completely fleshed out rpg running 150 pages. The premise is interesting, too. Humanity is gone and left all kinds of service robots behind. Players play those robots and explore the apocalyptic wastelands for a number of reasons (purpose, spare parts, energy) ... yeah, that's Wall-E alright.

But it's also so much more. Spielberg's horror movie A.I. is in there (that movie is so cruel ...), some Philip K. Dick, a bit Star Wars, the Hitchhiker's Guide, lots and lots of sources can fuel a setting like this. The system seems a bit inspired by White Wolf's d10-system, which I like quite a lot, so that's a plus. It also has lots of moving parts, random creation of ruins, sample characters and lots of scenarios. Good advice, too.

VERDICT: This is the full package! I love it and I want it in dead tree format. I'm really happy I stumbled across this game. Concept, layout, game design, all top notch and it sounds like a fun game. Definitely something I'd like to DM. And it is FREE! (maybe just for the Free RPG Day promotion, so you might want to get into that action ...)

4. 193Q

FIRST IMPRESSION: Liked the cover, name-drops DieselPunk ... you guessed it.

FIRST LOOK: A complete game, 210 pages strong. Chapters are hyperlinked, which is a nice touch. Artwork is public domain or free and all over the place. The whole thing has a strong DIY-vibe and is full with ideas and concepts. Took me a while to realize that the first half is a rather generic system you can use for everything and the second half is where it gets into DieselPunk as one possible scenario. The writing is excellent if you like funny and the system seems to be very light.

VERDICT: I'm not sure I'll ever get to DM it, but it's one hell of a good read and I'd definitely play a character in that system. While my first impression had been less favorable, it grew on me while I read parts here and there and I got to say, if this is a hobby effort, it's quite impressive. Good show and, of course, FREE! (PWYW)

5. Adventures in OZ

FIRST IMPRESSION: I had read good things about this game, remembered it ... and here we are.

FIRST LOOK: 77 pages, professional layout and artwork, there is a epub-version with the download. Very rules lite and kid friendly, as you'd maybe expect from a game like this. It goes after a short introduction directly into character creation, which I think is a mistake (it should give at least a basic concept of what the game is about and how it works before going into detail, me thinks). On the other hand, it's all atmosphere and setting. I respect that.

VERDICT: Lots of flavor and lots of OZ to get here. The system is "roll under" which is something like personal Kryptonite for me (I just can't roll that way ... early conditioning or whatever, sorry GURPS), but that's changed easy enough (it's really a very light system). It's as much usable for something of an "adult" campaign as you'd expect from a game like that: not at all. This is a game you play with children, maybe after you've read the books with them to let them explore OZ themselves. But that's not a bad thing. On the contrary, I think it might be a great way to get young ones into the hobby. Highly recommended if you can find use for it, even just as a setting book. And it is [drum roll] FREE! (PWYW)

Honorable Mentions

The Maze Of Memory (fun little OSR-rpg with a great premise ... free for the weekend, I think)

Wolf-packs and Winter Snow (primeval LotFP clone, could go well with Fleshscape above ...)

Motobushido (card-based rpg about motorbike-riding Samurai in a post-apocalyptic world ... great fun)

SLÜGS! (LotFP last years entry for Free RPG Day ... a great read from cover to cover)

And that's that. I know there is lots and lots more like it. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments for others (and me!) to check out. I know I fell in love with Engine Heart. What a great little game, definitely recommended! So happy :)

Also, I have a little PWYW module out there in the wild: Monkey Business! So maybe you want to check it out while you are over there looting (if you haven't already).

I wanted to end this with something like "Now go and hunt for those magical Vaginas!", but thought better of it ... Have fun gaming and sharing the love, folks!

This blog just got 5 years old ... (a post with useful stuff in it)

Damn it, I hate it when that happens, but I'm so frecking busy right now that I won't make the progress I'd like to see with Monkey Business.  You know what they say: "A plan is a list of things that don't happen." Anyway. I'm also further ahead in this than I thought possible to begin with. 50 pages laid out, another 35 conceptualized and ready to make their way into the module as soon as I find the time and the rest being at least outlined. That's good, right? Well, it isn't enough. So I'll go ahead and show some juicy bits of the module, some real crunch, so you people get a good impression where a good part of the time went I could have used blogging.

For those completely unaware: Monkey Business will be my first published module. It's a procedural jungle sandbox with drug trafficking apes, crazy cannibals, sloppy aliens and all kinds of good weirdness. It keeps growing and growing, so there'll be a shit-load of content. Here is a (wee) bit of it.

A post where I show more than I should ...

First some layout and text. There's still a last spell check and what-not in order, but I think this is presentable:

One of around 160 possible encounters with some pd art for flavor.

And here is the rumor table:

10 ideas how to get the party started ...

... and still raise you one Cannibal Village Drop Die Generator

Alright, I'll go all in and show you a bit of the procedural sandbox tools I've been working on for this thing. It's part of a hex-field generator and will be accompanied by a ruins generator. One roll on this table alone will already give you enough fodder for an adventure, including some hooks for more. The whole thing should give you enough for a campaign. The "Cheat Sheet" at the end is supposed to be the icing on the cake. I think it's important to give the random content produced for the module a home to make book keeping as easy as possible.

Well, here we go:

Random Village Generator

Roll 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12 and 1d20 all at once. Add the result up, that's your population. Copy the pattern the dice form as relative positions of the different village areas and the numerical results as indicated in the tables unto the Cannibal Village Cheat Sheet (at the end of the module). Die size indicates hierarchy, die numbers indicate how strong or weak (high or low results) that aspect of the village life is. Doubles indicate a strong bond between two results and if one result is the double of another result, than the higher one has some kind of dominance over the lower (ignoring/conflicting with hierarchy).

Use the Cannibal Village Cheat Sheet to fill in the die results and draw a sketch of the village. Although this method is pretty fast (taking not more time than one roll of a couple dice and noting the results), I'd prepare a couple of those up front. Hex results will indicate further details as soon as you drop a village somewhere. Let's get to those tables.

D4 – Sick Huts (old, wounded & sick)

1: Many here are insane (-4 to basic culture roll)

2: The Sickness is here ( 3d6 of the population are really sick)

3: Many wounded (2d10 wounded because of war)

4: People take care of the old and weak (+3d6 to population, +4 to basic culture roll)

d6 – Big Communal Huts (women, children & simple work)

1: People are angry, something riles them up (-4 to reaction rolls)

2: People are afraid, something bad is about to happen (possible quest, -2 to reaction rolls)

3: People are nervous, something is wrong (possible quest, correct reaction roll 2 towards neutral)

4: People are content, all is as it should (+2 to basic culture)

5: People are curious, something strange happened (possible quest, +2 to reaction rolls)

6: People are happy, something fortunate happened (possible contacts, + 4 to reaction rolls)

d8 - Storage Huts (valuables, workshops, food & prisoners)

1: This is not their village! (1d6 prisoners, -4 to reaction rolls, -6 to basic culture)

2: They are very primitive hunters & gatherers (-4 to basic culture roll)

3: Primitives with basic farming & rudimentary tools (-2 to basic culture roll)

4: Greedy Savages, they lack nothing (+2 to resource)

5: Wealthy savages, fat is a beauty ideal (+4 to resource, +2 to reaction roll if a fat character is in the group)

6: Living in the ruins of a lost culture (+2 to basic culture roll, +2 to resource level, -2 to reaction rolls)

7: Sophisticated savages who'd eat you nonetheless (+4 to basic culture roll, shaman is M-U, +1 to resource level)

8: Retired group of adventurers brought civilization & blond children (+2 to reaction roll, +6 to basic culture roll, shaman is M-U, trainers for all classes, +2 to resource level)

d10 – Initiation Huts (combat training, armory & trophies)

1: All warriors dead, dying or wounded (2d6 of population are warriors in the sick huts, +4 to reaction rolls, -4 to basic culture, -4 to resources)

2: Cowards (+2d6 warriors to population, -2 to resources, -4 to Morale)

3: Poorly equipped (+3d6 warriors to population, +1 to level for warriors, +2 for two veterans/leaders, -4 to resources, -2 to Morale)

4: Lazy (+2d6 warriors to population, +2 level for one leader, -2 to Morale)

5: Peaceful tribe (+1d6 honor guards to population, +3 to level for each warrior, +2 to resources)

6: Very Young (+3d6 warriors to population, +1 to level for warriors, +2 for three veterans/leaders, +1 to resources, +2 to Morale)

7: Only old veterans (+2d6 warriors to population, +3 to level for veterans/leaders, +2 to resources, +4 to Morale)

8: Organized and trained (+4d6 warriors to population, +1d6 prisoners of war, +2 to level for warriors, +3 for one veteran/leader, +2 to resources, +2 to Morale)

9: Experienced warriors (+3d6 warriors to population, +1d6 prisoners of war, +2 to level for warriors, +4 for two veterans/leaders, +4 to resources, +4 to Morale)

10: Elite warriors of fame (+3d6 warriors to population, +2d6 prisoners of war, +3 to level for warriors, +6 for three veterans/leaders, +4 to resources, +6 to Morale)

d12 – Shaman's Hut (boneyard, shrine & altar of sacrifice)

Even result: male shaman, uneven result: female shaman

1-2: Faking it (possible quests, because needs help, +1d6 prisoners for sacrifices, -4 to resources, -4 to reaction rolls, -4 to resources, -2 to morale)

3-4: Sold soul to evil for powers (+2d6 prisoners for sacrifices,+2 resources, -4 reaction roll, -4 to basic culture)

5-6: Controls a demon (+1d6 prisoners for sacrifices, -2 to basic culture, -2 to reaction rolls, +4 to morale +4 to resources)

7-8: The spirits of the jungle listen! (level 3 shaman, +2 to basic culture, +4 to resources, +2d6 to population)

9-10: A holy presence (level 6 shaman, +4 to basic culture, +4 to resources, +2 to morale, +2 to reaction rolls, +2d6 to population, +1d6 level 3 holy warriors)

11-12: A place of pilgrimage (level 8 shaman, +4 to basic culture, +4 to resources, +4 to morale, +4 to reaction rolls, double population, +3d6 level 3 holy warriors)

d20 - Chieftain's hut (Chief's family, honor guard & place of assembly)

Roll is base value for basic culture.

1: Old & senile (-4 to morale, -4 to resources, +4 to reaction roll with even reaction roll or -4 with uneven reaction roll, because senile)

2: Stupid (every other village in the same hex-field makes fun of him, -4 to resources, +2 to morale, -6 to reaction roll)

3: Crazy (half the population, -2 to resources, -2 to morale, +2 to reaction roll)

4: Young & inexperienced (-4 to resources, +2 to morale)

5: Incompetent (always does the opposite of what would be wise, -6 to resources, -4 to morale)

6: A drunk (-4 to resources, -2 to morale, +2 to reaction roll)

7: Extra savage cannibal (always aims to eat you, +1d6 prisoners for soup, +2 to resources, +4 to morale, -6 to reaction roll)

8: Warmonger (at war with every other tribe in the hex-field, +2d6 level 1 warriors, half of the warriors are down to half their hit points, +4 to resources, +2 to morale, -6 to reaction roll)

9: Superstitious (easy to impress with magic, -4 to all saves vs. magic for the tribe,

10: Greedy (tribe is poor, chief is rich, -2 to resources)

11: Rich (bought alliance with one other factions in the hex-field to be the strongest force in the area, +4 resources)

12: Wise (chief is level 2 cleric, +1d6 visitors seeking advice, +4 to reaction rolls)

13: Suave Savage (chief is level 2 thief, +6 to resources, +2 to morale, +2 to reaction rolls)

14: EVIL! (other tribes fear this tribe, leader is level 4 chaotic warrior with issues, +2 to morale, -4 to reaction rolls)

15: Warrior Chief (+3d6 warriors to population, +1d6 prisoners of war, +2 to level for warriors, +4 for two veterans/leaders, +4 to resources, +4 to Morale)

16: Educated Savage (chance to buy normal equipment, leader is level 4 wizard with 3 level 1 apprentices

17: Prodigy of the gods (chief is level 6 cleric, double population, +2d6 level 3 holy warriors, +4 to morale, +4 to resources)

18: Diplomat (allied with all other tribes in the hex-field, chief is level 6 fighter+1d6 honored hostages, +4 to morale, +4 to resources)

19: Noble Savage (respected by all tribes and factions in the hex-field, chief is level 6 fighter, double population +2d6 level 3 elite warriors, +4 to morale, +6 to resources)

20: A king among cannibals (level 9 warrior, if there are other villages in the same hex-field, they also accepted him as king*, double population and warriors, +2d6 level 5 elite warriors, +4 to morale, +6 to resources)

*Unless they also came up with kings, which would mean war, unless they are all kings, then they also control every hex-field sharing a border with them.

Reaction and Basic Culture Rolls (always 2d6 +/- modifiers)

Tribes always act as a whole. That means that the first reaction roll with the members of a tribes also counts for interactions with other members of a tribe until the characters do something to force another reaction roll (like bringing gifts, killing someone and so on). Basic culture rolls are always made when characters ask if a tribe has something or not (medicine, tools, knowledge) to find out if and how they might have something. The results read:

negative result (deep seated hatred/alien customs, they oppose what you want)
1-4 (aggressive prejudice/different customs, they don't have what you want)
5-8 (neutral and cautious/close enough, they might have what you want, but for a price)
9-12 (friendly and open/the same thing, as you'd expect)
13-16 (they celebrate you/they are happy to accommodate)
higher results (they think you are gods/they top what you want)

Resources

Take that just for the value it has in the beginning. If it's above zero, they are wealthy and if it's below zero, they are poor at the moment. A tribe uses a number of resource points equal to a tenth of its population per week (rounded up, so a tribe of 32 cannibals would use 4 points per week) and gain their resource level (see Appendix 1, p. XX or on the Cheat Sheet) in d6.

And here's the sheet:

Results go to the left, drawing of the village and connections to the right!

That's all I'll write today ...

And less than I promised, I'm afraid (as I wanted to give you the whole thing today). I hope you guys enjoyed this extensive look behind the curtain, there's going to be way more of the same where that came from. It'll be around 100 A5 pages of rampant procedural weirdness to throw at your players. It'll also be PWYW, so you all can have it for what you think it's worth :)

I really tried to give this to you guys as celebration for the 5 years existence of this here blog. And it will be that. Just a couple of weeks later. I'll try December, but I shouldn't promise.

Anyway, to end this on a positive note: I still enjoy doing what I'm doing here. Lots of great people all around and although I'm pretty damn slow in finishing what I started, I'm pretty sure I will get there sooner or later. All I'm trying to say is, maybe, I really don't know when I'll be done with Lost Songs of the Nibelungs, The Grind, The Mines under Karrakez, The Goblin-Tribe Simulator or Monkey Business, but the more I do all this here, the more confident I get that I will eventually get there.

So please stay tuned, if you have the patience :)

Thanks for staying with the blog, everyone, however long you dared to endure my ramblings. I really appreciate all of you. Here's to 5 years more!

A look into the old school module The Dreams of Ruin (sort of a review)

This is not a review, since I didn't read the whole thing yet and play-testing it would take years. But I've seen a lot. More than enough to justify a review, actually. So here are my impressions and thoughts about the opulent PWYW Labyrinth Lord/Mutant Future (horror) end-game module The Dreams of Ruin (pdf-variant) by Geoffrey C. Grabowski.

What do we have here?

Here's what's on the tin:

The Dreams of Ruin 

They come from the abyss between the worlds;from the foul darkness of the planes of evil. 

A twisted enchanted forest that consumes whole worlds;an ancient, endless curse that yearns unceasingly for expression. 

The Dreams of Ruin are a unique element of dimensional terror for Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future and other Old School-style games. 

Designed to remedy the lack of "end game" content for Old School-style gaming, The Dreams of Ruin is a setting-neutral adventure supplement aimed at characters of level 12 to 16. The material can be used with groups from level 8 to max level (and beyond, if the system supports ascent to divinity for high-level character).  

Capable of challenging even the most experienced players and most powerful characters, The Dreams of Ruin are an unforgettable addition to any high-level campaign.  

But beware! The dreams are mighty and can overwhelm even fearsome warlords and powerful wizard-kings. One touch of them, and your campaign world will never be the same. 

INTENDED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES 

A Mazes and Mutants Supplement! The Dreams of Ruin works best with Labyrinth Lord and Mutant Future, but can be used with any Old School gaming system with minimal modification.

That's already a lot to digest, I'd say. And something you don't see often nowadays, even (strangely enough) in our little corner of the internet: an end game module. The main pdf clocks in at 261 pages, but it comes with 10 additional pdfs (with an average of 10 pages) for player handouts and other materials.

First Impressions

Let's start with the buzz for this thing: there is none. There'd been some words about it for the kickstarter early in 2015, but no one seemed to care that much anymore after it's release in July 2015. It's a bit strange, I think, because from a first glance it seems to have all the right ingredients to make lots of OSR folks very happy. 

Sure, some things are missed or just not successful, but to get entirely ignored (and seeing the effort that went into this thing, you'd have to ignore it, really) seems to be a third option. Hulks & Horrors comes to mind, so does For Gold & Glory. I'm sure there are more just like it. Anyway, I stumbled across this by accident (don't know how anymore, maybe someone mentioned it in passing or I just saw it on drivethru ...), was interested enough to download it and kept reading after the first page, because ...

... the pdf layout is well done. Pages fit easily on the screen without loosing readability, which is really necessary with two columns text spread per page (it annoys me if I have to scroll down and back up again to read a pdf ... why are people still doing this, btw?!). It's easy to look at, too, and transports a certain atmosphere without leaning to heavy on it. The text is free on the page (no watermarks in the background), which is always a plus. And ... 

... the writing is really good (as you could expect, given that this isn't Grabowski's first rodeo by a long shot). It starts with some prose at the first pages and I always found that kind of annoying. Didn't read it in Vampire: tM or any other game that did something like that and I wouldn't start here. Or at least that's what I thought. But it's only done once in the whole book and the first thing you'll learn after that, is that it really is part of the whole thing and one of the more important texts to give to the players. So I had to read it after all and lived to write about it :) But it's not only the style ...

... it's well structured, too. And reflective. Grabowski takes the reader by the hand and leads him into the topics, the problems that could (and will) arise, points out difficulties and does a great job in showing how you could just use parts of the thing and what an end game in Labyrinth Lord can (or should) look like. Which leads to the last point ...

... because if you want to write about the end game of a role playing game, you need to know the game you are using really, really well. My first impression is, that The Dreams of Ruin is not only very well researched, but also very conscious about how LL works on a high level scale. It's impressive that way.

Is this "old school"?

So we get a White Wolf guy writing an old school module. Some might wonder how much "storytelling" is in it and if it's still "OSR" ... There is so much wrong with that last sentence that I honestly hesitated to write it at all. But as much as it is wrong, it is almost necessary nowadays to address those issues.

I'll give an indirect answer, though. I just read an excellent post over at the Pits & Perilous blog about how minimalist games don't really exist. The basic idea of it was (as I understood it) that the complexity when using light-rules-systems shifts from the rules to the DM-player interaction, making the point that we are more flexible when using light rules, but the decision making process within the narrative comes with a higher complexity and responsibility.

Now, I would put Labyrinth Lord and Mutant Future into the "light rules"camp. It comes with the territory that such games will have developed very individually as they reach higher levels. A campaign world is established, some house rules and (usually) a huge DM binder full of the stuff that needed specifying along the way.

With the complexity derived from the narrative instead of the rules, we get a natural bridge between the storyteller and the old school approaches in role playing games, in my opinion. Furthermore (and for those very reasons) it's almost impossible to write a module aiming for the end game, like Dreams does, from anything else but the storyteller side of things.

Because when all is said and done, that's exactly what a DM will do when the domain level game starts getting stale: he'll think of a story that will challenge some very rich and powerful characters. At this level, you're not dealing with monsters as written in the books, but with organisations. You are not dealing with NPCs as much as with kingdoms or even other worlds and dimensions.

In other words, the light rules you use will have to form clusters to become challenges and it needs a solid understanding of the fabrics that make a game's reality (as every high level wizard will tell you). Stories are the glue for those clusters. They need to be consistent if a DM is about to threaten them and the characters start to research behind the curtain, so to say.

This is where The Dreams of Ruin sets in. It is a setting agnostic story that starts when things settle down in a campaign. It is very well grounded and consistent working within the systems it supports. And it needs to be, as characters will have to do a lot of research about an infestation that spreads on the astral plane, feeds on negative energy like a tumor and affects reality as an apocalypse. They'll have to develop new spells and artifacts and get an understanding of how magic works. They'll have to muster millions and millions of gold pieces, mobilize armies, move populations, make new and very powerful allies and face some gods ... 

It's exactly the end game you'd want to have in early D&D and very "old school" in that regard alone. If you add Labyrinth Lord and Mutant Future compatibility, a good dose of weird and the fact that it was published last year (and why wouldn't you add all that?), it's exactly what the OSR does, digs and spreads.

What else is left to say?

There's no denying that the whole thing is very challenging for DM and players alike, because that's what a campaign will be like in the end. But the logistics are all done here. Everything you might need to make this work is there and has a price. There'll be lots of additional work to make it click with an individual (and old) campaign, but even here you'll find some advice what you might need and what not (base of operations, allies, items and so on).

There's also lots of good advice how to use only parts of it or how to structure the end game part of a D&D/LL/MF campaign in general, like how to establish side quests with lower level characters, how to reserve play for the interesting bits and how to organize the research parts of it between games. So even if you'll never use this as it is, you'll get a very good idea how to do it yourself.

You'll also find some additional house rules in the module. Nothing fancy and all of it optional. Still, nice to have in cases where you don't have already established a solution.

Now about the "mature audiences" part. There is a mention or two that this is a horror themed module and there are some pretty nasty things happening. But all I've seen was pretty vague and only showing some possibilities. It's more like a platform for all kinds of horrors and not very explicit at that.

Among the inspirations for this module are the anime Nausicaä and the 2010 film Monsters and if you like those, you won't be disappointed here, I think. But you might as well add the Marvel's Avengers series, because the impression I got from reading the Dreams, was that the D&D end game is just like those over the top superhero blockbusters in terms of scope and story structure (realizing this, I want to DM a complete D&D campaign so much more right now!).

How many attack rolls do you see ... [source]

I have some minor quibbles with it, too. The Dreams being PWYW makes it almost irrelevant to talk about this and I'll just mention them here at the end to give my complete opinion. Here we go:

• There is a script font used in the product and it doesn't fit. I've read somewhere that you don't use script for full text and especially not for presenting text that is read on a monitor. Here's a good example why this is true. Doesn't happen often and it is a nice script, underlining the atmosphere and all that. But it's kind of style over substance and it bugged me a bit.
• I don't like the illustrations that much. They are functional and you get an impression what things look like. But all in all I didn't care that much for them. Just a matter of taste, of course. They are rare and unobtrusive, so not really a problem.
• Totally the last point: there are black pages with white lettering in this thing, usually to concentrate some information in. Random tables and some charts, short monster descriptions, the complete Random Encounters section. Totally black pages. That's so counter-intuitive, it's almost cruel, because those are the pages you'd most likely want to print. Not sure what they were thinking there ...

And that's it. As I said above, minor quibbles.

Conclusion

What is left to say? You don't get that much quality as PWYW. You just don't. There is a lot to like, a lot to take and a lot to learn in this thing. It's really amazing. There are reasonable print options for the module, too, and I'm really considering to get one of them for the collection (it's on my list now ...).

If you ever considered running a D&D end game or are about to plan your campaign or asked yourself how it could be done or just need some inspiration for high level challenges, then this is for you*. So go and check it out!

Some Nausicaä eye candy  in the end. I love that movie ... [source]

* There is a mature content warning, so if that's something that bothers you, you should leave it alone. I didn't see anything justifying the label, but I don't care that much.

OSR Freebies from the Library Part 2

And here we are, back again talking about "lost" gems of the OSR community. The things others did and nobody really talked about or that didn't get enough exposure. I already did one of those here (with more words about the how and why of this series and some stuff you might not have seen yet). This is totally subjective, of course, and I'm more often than not left wondering how it is that so many people stay (almost entirely) unnoticed despite the great work they are doing for the hobby. Especially when they are doing it just out of passion and not for the buck. It's strange. But on with it ...

For Gold & Glory (RPG by Justen Brown)

Have you heard of this one? You haven't? Same here. I happened to stumble across this by accident and I got to say: a huge oversight! This is the only free and complete revision of that advanced 2nd version of the game we all love and talk about. 382 pages and it's all in there, nicely packaged in one fine volume.

Where to get stuff & opinions from others: There is a free pdf on lulu and/or over at drivethrurpg ready for the download. Opinions? None. I kid you not. Some positive comments here and there and Tenkar shows the way in the right direction. Other than that? Nothing I could find, I'm afraid.

My thoughts: This is big. Someone took the time to condense the pinnacle of early D&D development into one sweet rulebook and somehow no one seems to care. I don't get it. Well, be that as it may, the thing exists and seems to work as it should. I'm a huge fan of HackMaster 4e, AD&D 2e and friends for many, many reasons, so finding out that FG&G exists, does what it aims to do and is readily available (free even!), made me happy.

So if your old books are falling apart or you always wanted to check out what those games are about, this is your opportunity to do something about it before you start hunting for out-of-print material. I'll take a closer look in the near future, review and all.

Small But Vicious Dog (RPG by Chris Hogan)

Not the cover, but it could be ... [source]

Not as hard a case as FG&G above, but published in 2011 and easily missed, since it didn't get a broad distribution, I thought it's worth mentioning here. SBVD is a B/X-Warhammer Fantasy RPG hack and 36 pages long at that. So it's basically old edition D&D with mutations, diseases and mohawk-sporting dwarves building death machines ...

Where to get stuff & opinions from others: Links to an introduction, the rules and additional material can be found here. I couldn't find a review, but I found some house rules for the game here (about advanced careers) and here (about greenskins).

My thoughts: This is a lovely little game about a grimdark fantasy world, with some great ideas and it's funny as a bonus. And it's compatible to all things D&D, of course. What's not to love? So if you haven't checked it out yet, you can't go wrong in doing so. In a worst case you'll have a good time and see something you'd like to use in your own game. It's like it says in that post linked above: Small But Vicious Dog Steals Heart, Humps Leg.

More of the same ...

As I wrote in that first post linked above: there is a wealth of games to be found online and if I find someone collecting it, I'll share a link. I have found that page. It's not all free, arguably not only games you could summon under the label DIY-OSR (some missing, some more, all D&D ...) and "only" (complete) role playing games, but damn, it sure is a lot. And up to date (I think). So if you need to get an idea what could possibly be out there, go and all the entries for D&D Retroclones over at the Taxidermic Owlbear blog (which obviously comes with four more games of its own). It's amazing! Again, not all of them are free, but many, many are, so I'd say it counts for Freebies from the Library :)

Anyway, there are many more things than complete games to be discovered. Adventures, zines, you name it. The DIY-OSR scene is diverse like that, so one more for the road ...

The Castle Triskelion (mega-dungeon by Tim Stypinski)

Look at it! Tim started  at the ground level and is filling
Upper Dungeon Level 3 right now. [source]

This is a sprawling, eight publications thick (since 2013) and still growing mega-dungeon about a giant castle full of crazy wizards and their experiments, new monsters, new items, new spells ... all you could expect in a project like this, really, all D&D compatible. And of course this description isn't doing it any justice at all. It's massive.

Where to get stuff & opinions from others: You can get all the published material for free here over at & Magazine. Tim also has a blog where he publishes the whole thing room by room, almost on a daily basis (or more .. is it more?) and you can find it here. I couldn't find any reviews out there and think it's a shame ...

My thoughts: I love it. This is so much material right there, you could play for years without seeing an end of it. You have traps, monsters, treasure, factions, puzzles, dozens of maps and hundreds of rooms to explore, a little bit of humor sprinkled here and there ... it's all there and it is completely free. Add a classic  and a printer-friendly layout to that and you really get a lot for free. People should not only check it out, people should play this! So take a look and give the guy some feedback and nice words for the great work he is doing here :)

Enough for today, folks

I'll leave it at that. If you where looking for something new (even if it's been around for some time now or is still partly in development) there should be plenty to go with at this point. I will update the page where I collect all of it and there might be another post or two like this in me. Some time in the future, of course.

If you know of any other old material that could need some more exposure or have any opinions about the games (and games material) I wrote about here, feel free to share them with us in the comments section below or on g+.

Level Advancement in Lost Songs of the Nibelungs (with some D&D RC in it)

We are now several play-tests into exploring if level zero game works or not. It does and I got no reason to find more excuses to delay digitizing what I have on my desk for more than three six months now: the rules for advancing characters in Lost Songs of the Nibelungs (cue for epic music ...)! So this is the first version of how characters will advance in that grim Dark Ages fantasy heart-breaker of mine.

A Difficult Birth

Okay, I thought I'd write a few words how difficult it was (for me, at least) to put this together. One would think that Level Advancement just needs a way to earn experience and another way to spend it and gain levels that express the different shades of power. That's true, of course, and it should be very true for a Domain Master and his players.

But behind the scenes it can get messy. The thing is, do something right and no one will notice, but make a mistake and people will not stop telling you. So in an ideal case I'll set up this system and no one will notice it because it's intuitive and runs smooth in the background. To make this even possible, I need a complete overview of the game. And that's a hen/egg story, really. I need an overview to test it, but also need to test it to get an overview. See what I mean?

Anyway, next thing you know is that you are writing a huge post that is all over the place. I still discover areas that need some further exploring. But that is to some extent the reason for writing those development posts. So here goes an early system. Most of it tested one way or another, some of it as just a consequence of the tested and a small part untested. Let me know what you think.

Level Advancement (compared to the  D&D RC)

Next weekend I aim to put up a post connecting all the dots, but for now I'll just get the proper advancement for the game out there and talk a bit about it. The basic idea was and has always been to take the class based system we all know from, say, the D&D Rules Cyclopedia and break it into digestible pieces, with the hope to end up with a hybrid system that is somewhere between a class-based structure (like D&D) and a completely modular structure (like, say, GURPS). A system where it's easy enough to specialize but just as easy to diversify.

All that needed to be balanced and has to work with the system I already got. Some quick notes how all is this still (if by a thin thread) connected to D&D. I basically assigned the D&D RC class abilities to 6 areas of expertise (3 physical: Do, Fight, Endure and 3 mental: Learn, Meddle and Cast) which correlate with the 6 Qualities (think ability scores) of the game.

Next step was to fracture this even more to allow a balanced development across the 10 levels a character can achieve in the game, so all of those 6 areas got 5 levels of advancement, with 1, 2 or even (in one case) 3 options per advancement and area. That meant that someone could specialize completely in two areas (2 times 5) but with enough wiggle room to end up with a different character than another player choosing the same path.

But first things first. Here is the promised Level Advancement:

Open in new tab for details!

Back to the D&D RC. To make this comparable, I'd need to be able to "simulate" a basic class with Lost Songs. This is where it gets a little more abstract. Take a fighter, for example. Through the editions you'd say he has a focus on fighting and enduring. A high level Magic User could nuke a whole group to oblivion, but the high level fighter has a chance to still stand after a hefty punishment, most of the time even with enough punch left to kick some ass.

So this is hat I needed here. A character that advances only in Fight and Endure will end up knowing legendary combat techniques, will have lots of combat dice (so he's fast and brutal) and will also have more Health and Endurance and a way better physical condition than the others. That'll do, I think.

It's also easy. Thieves turned out be way more difficult, of course. Do and Learn with one or two advancements in Fight should do the trick, then. It goes on like that. Magic User? Cast and Learn. Cleric? Take the complete Meddle and mix Fight and Endure. It's all there!

But the beauty is (sorry if I get a bit carried away here ...), well, the beauty is, you can mix it as you please. The only two requirements are that the advancements need to stack and that you can't take 2 advancements of the same level and the same area. Other than that you are free to advance the character as you see fit, one advancement per level.

More in a few days when I paint the big picture from creating a character over gaining experience up to advancing, sprinkled with some new ideas about Oracle Dice and Magic.

That's it for now

But the thing is complex enough on it's own. And although D&D was an inspiration along the way, I believe I managed to come up with something different in the end. I have to say, this was by now the hardest part to get done. Face to face restart tomorrow and leveling up will be a topic very soon. Then I'll see how the players take it ...

Comments are, as always, very welcome. What do you guys think of this?

OSR Freebies from the Library Part 1

A while ago I started seeing the phenomenon that people search for good OSR products and get pointed to titles they need to pay for to check them out. There is certainly nothing wrong with earning a buck for role playing material, but the idea to keep those free OSR gems in circulation is today (as far as I'm aware) mostly reduced to either those games that had a huge part in the beginning of the movement or are simply quoted by word of mouth. If at all. And that's where this little series of posts sets in. I'll try and create a hub for those "old", hidden or lost games and materials, see if they are still around and where to get them. I might be in over my head here ...

What you'll find here (and in future posts)

I'll start with my own hard drive and those games I already took a look at so I'm able to share a few thoughts. I'm not trying to explain what the OSR is here and in general this will be about old(-er) games that still produce free material or new games inspired by the origins of the hobby. Main criteria are that they fit the descriptions above, that there is a pdf of them online available and that they are for free. If I have an opinion on the item, I'll share it.

For now I'll go with what I know, for obvious reasons. There is a new page linked in the header of this blog called "OSR Freebies" where I collect them all and if you guys read this and got a link or two to a product worth mentioning, please go ahead and comment here or on the new page. I imagine this will remain incomplete and a work in progress, but that's the nature of the beast. It's also arbitrary and not in chronological order.

It's furthermore important to mention that there are other blogs and sites around that share similar collections. Some are still active, but others are quite old right now or just not up to date. If I find them or know about them, I'll post them. So here it goes ...

Retro Phaze (RPG by John Higgins)

So this is patient zero for me, really. A game from 2010 (first edition) and somehow I came across this again years later, checked it out and started asking myself why this didn't get more love as it did. It's mixing (old) D&D with ideas and aesthetics of 8-bit gaming.

Where to get stuff & Opinions from Others: The pdf is free to download over at lulu, here are some character sheets and additional races (all fan-made) and here is a review of the game.

My thoughts: With 35 pages quite short, but complete. Fourth edition right now, so the author kept working on it (which is good). Some interesting d6 mechanics for the game mixed with what you know from early editions of D&D. Very well worth checking out.

Renegade & Renegade - Corruption (RPGs by David Morrison)

Old version of the Cover...

400+ pages PWYW D&D retro-clones from 2011 with a great wealth of tools to loot for D&D (and friends). Renegade seems to be the "family friendly" and Renegade - Corruption is the darker variant of the same. Both are complete games.

Where to get stuff & Opinions from Others: The pdfs are free to download over at drivethrurpg (Renegade & Renegade Corruption). Opinions can be found here and here.

My thoughts: Both games are huge, professionally edited, they got nice artwork, are more than complete as they contain far more material than most other RPGs care to get out there in one product and claim to be complete, both are compatible with all things D&D, full of options for customized campaigns and PWYW. Those are very high standards and make both games worth mentioning in one row among other OSR titles like Swords & Wizardry, OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord.

Hulks & Horrors (RPG by John S. Berry III)

"This is a game of those daring and foolhardy beings that seek fortune in the ancient places of the galaxy. May you find wealth before death!" and that's what you get. 3d6 in order, race as class and tons of random table to create content for this 156 pages heavy SF D&D retro-clone from 2013.

Where to get stuff & Opinions from Others: The pdf is free over at drivethru and can be found here. Reviews can be read here and here.

My thoughts: This scratches a particular itch for me: dungeon crawling in space. H&H is focused on that premise and delivers in spades. I'd play it as is and go from there, but it's highly compatible with all the other D&D games out there, so it's free to loot and change and drop anywhere you want, to any extent you want. There is really no reason at all to not have it in a RPG collection.

Westward (RPG by Roderic Waibel)

This is a failed/canceled kickstarter from 2013 that still delivered and is free now. A 102 pages Western D&D retro-clone with as much fantasy as you'd like to have in it. I stumbled across this by accident and remembered it just recently after reading a comment about if it's a good or a bad idea to mix fantasy tropes with western, wondered why that's even a problem and where I had seen something like that before ...

Where to get stuff & Opinions from Others: Again, drivethru/rpgnow is the way to free pdf. I didn't look very hard, but as far as I know did no one even care to write a proper review. Anyway, here's some buzz I could find.

My thoughts: Scratch "Fantasy" and write "Weird" instead and suddenly this sells (same difference, right?). I've also read a lot that having no art is a big no-no for some people and I honestly don't get it. This is a complete game, again highly compatible with other games like it out there and it is for free. Mix it with Hulks & Horrors and you get Firefly, mix it with Flying Swordsmen and you get Shang-High Noon, adapt Better Than Any Men to it and you get a fantastic Western Sandbox during the Civil War. All of it for free. I could go on ...

Under Xylarthen's Tower (Module by Jeff Rients)

I'll end todays line-up with an old-fashioned 21 pages DIY D&D funhouse dungeoncrawl from 2008, the (very) early days of the OSR. It comes with six fully populated levels on hand drawn maps and should allow a group of level 1 characters to advance to levels 4 to 6. It also comes with house rules for random character-level generation.

Where to get stuff & Opinions from Others: The pdf can be found here and it's best to let the man himself talk about it, so here's a short session report for your reading pleasure.

My thoughts: I used this on several occasions over the years and have a printed version of it somewhere around. It's a great dungeon for one shots or to explore over the course of a campaign. Even if you never get to play it, UXT is a great read (same goes for Jeff's blog, for that matter) and it's free, so there you go.

Enough for today

So that should keep you guys busy for a while. I'll have another one like this up soon, but this should be enough for now. If this made you remember some gems on your hard drive, please feel free to share them in the comments. I sure got way to many on mine. There is so much great free stuff out there and the more I look into it, the more I start to believe that way too much of it gets lost far to fast. This stuff shouldn't get old and forgotten. It should be shared and used ...