Category Archives: Iron Tavern Press

Hellspike Now Available

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Hellspike from Iron Tavern Press is now available! Written by Tim Callahan and key art pieces and cartography by Frank Turfler. This and others released in the Pocket-Sized Encounters line are available at RPGNow.

Hellspike Cover

Daymar Sanctus, a scholarly wizard, began construction of his “Suspended Abode of Wondrous Enchantment” over two decades ago. Using knowledge gathered over the years he sought to build the most unique wizard’s tower yet seen. Initial construction began with traditional laborers and craftsmen, but as time went on his laborers grew more and more exotic. Eventually even these laborers proved insufficient for the construction task at hand. Frustrated, Daymar began calling his project Hellspike in an attempt to frame his ongoing nightmare in a humorous light. With his own sanity of mind fading, Daymar bound a minor demon to help him finish the construction of the tower with his own magic. Recently a magical mishap changed the situation, and the tower’s enchantments begin to falter.

A Pocket-Sized Encounter compatible with the Swords & Wizardry rules system for 3rd to 5th level characters.

Pocket-Sized Encounters from Iron Tavern Press are shorter scenarios designed to be dropped into an existing campaign with minimal preparation. Use them for shorter sessions, provide your players with choices that won’t derail your campaign or even as a launching point for a new campaign path.

Included in this product are:

  • Multiple adventure hooks
  • Location based encounter area map
  • Seeds for expanding the adventure
  • Wizard Beads (minor magic item)

New Year 2015

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The New Year is upon us! Time for a brief look at 2014 and a look at what is ahead for 2015 on several fronts (all gaming related in some fashion). There will be lots of similar posts from people on the Internet today via blogs, social media posts, etc. So I will try to be brief in this reflection post!

Iron Tavern

The Iron Tavern itself has continued to be a fun platform to post random thoughts from me. Some are reviews of product, opinion pieces, or a vehicle to promote Iron Tavern Press products or the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Actual Play Podcast. Posting got a little slow towards the end of the year, I have recently learned a 3 or 4 day break from work will do wonders for recharging the creative batteries that power my hobby interests.

The most popular post from 2014 was D&D 5e and PDFs. I suspect a lot of those hits are just people looking for PDFs to download, but even today that post tends to rank a spot in most visited posts of the day.

Since that post we’ve seen Dungeonscape crash and burn (surprise, surprise) and we still don’t have PDFs from Wizards. This is still one of my major complaints about 5e. While I own all the physical core books, I would readily pay for PDFs of the product. It just helps my preparation to have them available digitally. Not having PDFs is a handicap to my preparation of sessions.

The recent break from work has helped recharge my batteries. Blog posts will continue and I will still use the Iron Tavern blog as my platform for reviews, commentary, and promotion of some of my RPG related products. While not the most famous RPG blog on the Internet I get enough traffic to keep Iron Tavern useful to me, and seemingly its loyal readers!

DCC RPG Podcast

This question was answered yesterday! I finished editing all of the queued up live play audio and have the remaining sessions of the Sunken City Campaign scheduled for posting. Starting on Monday, January 5th, one episode will be released per week for folks to hear the completion of the podcast.

The big question is do we post actual play sessions of the next DCC campaign I am starting in January. The group is already gathering up and we should be kicking off next week or the week after. It takes a fair amount of time to prep the episodes, so there is some question as to whether I will continue the AP or not. The current one seemed pretty popular as far as an AP podcast goes, so there seems to be some interest. Just not sure how much.

Do you want to see an AP released for the next campaign? Post in the comments and let me know.

Iron Tavern Press

2014 saw the launch of Iron Tavern Press. This is my effort at self-publishing and has focused on Pocket-Sized Encounters, short scenarios designed to be dropped into a person’s campaign on a short notice with minimal prep. The line has been well received, but is still in its early stages. These things take time and I am learning a bit as we go.

Iron Tavern Press suffered a bit from my business towards the end of last year. But I have a good amount of product already written and in my queue to be published. These include some more Pocket-Sized Encounters and a Dungeon Crawl Classics module. Things are already underway to get the next PSE release out there. I expect we will see it released by the end of January, perhaps a little sooner.

So far all of Iron Tavern Press releases have been in PDF form. When catering to an old-school audience this is necessarily optimal. The customers want physical products – often buying both physical and digital form. This year I hope to work the kinks out of creating a physical product and release in print on demand form as well. I still have some learning curve to get through on this front.

Gaming

And lets not forget what this whole blog is centered around – gaming! 2014 saw me in an online game and a face-to-face game. A good mix of gaming. I plan on continuing in and with both of those games.

My biggest shift here (and this is the closest thing to a New Year’s Resolution I am making), is I want to focus on gaming with my kids more often. The oldest is definitely of the right age and my youngest has interest and would happily play. So if a blog post has to slip, an AP release a little late, or an ITP product slide a touch because it allows me to play a game with my kids then so be it!

Now resolutions require some plan of action. I think we have the makings of a kid’s game with some of my son’s peers. I am making plans to get that coordinated to start in January will take the form of a Friday night 5e game. This might even involve some mini painting (I have a boatload of Reaper minis with more on the way!!!) and maybe even finishing off my Dwarven Forge pieces!

And that’s it! A look back and a look ahead to 2015! Thanks for all your support and interest!

Kajak’s Kave for Labyrinth Lord

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KajakKave-LL-CoverWith a little time off for the holidays I decided to try an experiment for Iron Tavern Press. Several months ago I released a Labyrinth Lord conversion sheet for Kajak’s Kave, the initial release in the Pocket-Sized Encounter line. The sheet was relatively well received.

I have been playing more Labyrinth Lord over the past several months as well. Since I’ve been having a lot of fun with the system, I decided to do a Labyrinth Lord conversion proper of Kajak’s Kave.

The Labyrinth Lord compatible Kajak’s Kave is now live at RPGNow. As is usual for Iron Tavern Press I am releasing it at a temporary introductory price of $1.75. I am also temporarily marking down the original Swords & Wizardry version as well.

 

Calamity Mine Now Available

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Calamity Mine from Iron Tavern Press is now available! This and other released in the line are available at RPGNow and shop.d20pfsrd.com!

Calamity Mine Cover

Two decades ago rival mining companies bickered over the rights to Calamity Mine. When blood was not being shed during these skirmishes, the mine itself claimed many lives. Cave-ins, flooding tunnels, and volatile gases plagued operations at the mine. Eventually The Rusted Hammer Mining Company shut the claim down, boarded the entrance up, and sold it to Cyrus Milnar nine years ago. Cyrus left the claim boarded up, but recently noticed activity near the closed mine. He seeks brave folk to ferret out what is going on up there.

A Pocket-Sized Encounter compatible with the Swords & Wizardry rules system for 1st to 3rd level characters.

Pocket-Sized Encounters from Iron Tavern Press are shorter scenarios designed to be dropped into an existing campaign with minimal preparation. Use them for shorter sessions, provide your players with choices that won’t derail your campaign or even as a launching point for a new campaign path.

  • New Relic
  • Multiple adventure hooks
  • Location based encounter area maps (GM and Player versions)
  • Seeds for expanding the adventure
  • Random misfortune table

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses…

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Wow! Time really slips by in the summer! If you don’t stay right on top of things you’ve gone two weeks without a blog post or actual play release! I fully blame summer and the long hours of daylight for these problems. Oh – and a computer crash that took up way too much of my time over the past week (between troubleshooting and restoring).

The computer is up and running again. I have all my data as the majority of it is on cloud services and the rest in a Time Machine backup. Which while was a little flaky, was recoverable. So where does that leave things?

DCC RPG Actual Play

On the Actual Play front, I hope to finish the rough edits and polish on an episode early this week and get Episode #21 out by Wednesday for Thursday. The group had been rather schizophrenic in regards to which set of characters they wanted to play. Episode #21 finds them back with the high level guys and beginning the conclusion of the campaign. This topic likely warrants a more in-depth post prior to the release of the episode, we will see if I get that done.

Iron Tavern Press

Despite the most recent release being Zedkiel’s Chapel things are progressing very well for Iron Tavern Press. The edits are done on the next release (working title Calamity Mine), artwork is rolling in for it, and the first set of maps almost complete. Layout needs finished, one more proofing and editing pass and it should be out. Hopefully no later than the end of August.

A piece rolled in over the weekend from another writer for Iron Tavern Press as well. It is an awesome adventure and particularly happy to have this writer on board for this project. I’m going sit on the name of the author for just a bit – you know – to build some suspense and mystery over what is to become Pocket-Sized Encounter #6.

Once the 6th release is out the plans for Iron Tavern Press is to branch out from the PSE line and into DCC RPG. I already have a writer that has nearly completed the first adventure in this line. Playtesting is done and it is back with the author for some revisions based on the playtest.

Mapping

Picked up another set of freelance work over the weekend with a publisher I have worked with before. Looks to be an awesome project and a chance to try out a different mapping look for me.

Gaming

Through all of this I have still been gaming! The DCC game continues as it races towards its climax. Due to scheduling issues in August I will be running another Barrowmaze mini-delve for two weeks. I have the hook for that all prepped and ready to go. Should be a fun romp through the dungeon!

And my local group has been playing Pathfinder with some old-school modules. Keep on the Borderlands has made an appearance, as well as Tomb of the Lizard King, and Night’s Dark Terror.

Back to Work

So there it is! Despite a lack of visible output things have been busy behind the scenes!

Behind The Curtain: Shorter Adventures

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Iron Tavern Press LogoThis post is part of a ‘Behind the Curtain’ series for Iron Tavern Press. They are intended to provide some insight to design decisions made for current and future product lines.

Gamer’s time is limited these days. A lot of us have taken on responsibilities of families and careers. These responsibilities cut into our free time and can often lead to playing shorter or more infrequent sessions – if we get to play at all. Even the younger gamers, still new to hobby have a plethora of other interests bidding for their recreational time.

Today’s Gamer

An informal poll of G+ users several months ago indicated the average length of session hovered in the 2 to 3 hour range. This informal poll holds true to my experience as well. My online sessions are 2 hours long and my weekly face-to-face session is only about 3 to 3.5 hours of actual playing time. A far cry from how the sessions of my youth used to be!

Not only are sessions shorter, but for some they are more infrequent. Maybe every other week or once a month. Sometimes that is simply the schedule and other times cancellations make that the more realistic gaming interval.

So What?

What does this shorter and sometimes more infrequent session time mean? It means trying to play through long sprawling adventures can be a chore. Either you can’t get enough accomplished in a single session to feel meaningful or it takes months to close a story arc. Sometimes you just need a short side-trek to fill a session or two where only part of your gaming group can make it.

GMs also tend to have less time to prep for sessions. Or sometimes they need a quick option for a night of gaming. Something that doesn’t take hours of preparation, but rather a brief read through and a small map for an evening of entertainment.

And that is where the Pocket-Sized Encounters line comes in…

Pocket-Sized Encounters

The Pocket-Sized Encounters line from Iron Tavern Press aims to fill this gap. The products are written to be played in sessions that last 2 to 4 hours. This makes is easier to pick one up and finish it in a single session while providing a fun night of play. Something the players and can feel good about accomplishing contributing to the fun of the session.

In addition they purposefully try to keep themselves adaptable. Towns are not explicitly named. Directions to the mountains or hills or plains are kept loose, only that there are some nearby. This helps make it even easier to drop into any campaign world on the spur of the moment. The intent is to drastically reduce the GM’s prep time by not being overly detailed with the backdrop forcing the GM to adapt entire villages or regions he has already taken efforts to detail.

Several adventure seeds are provided in each product so a GM can pick one and integrate with their campaign world. And for a GM that wants to expand the scenario beyond how it is written a ‘Where To From Here’ section is included with suggestions on how to get even more gameplay out of the scenario. So while remaining highly portable from one setting to another, there is information in each PSE to turn it into something bigger.

Each product includes a random table to further help a GM add detail on the fly. Tables from random treasure hordes, to random items found, to rumor tables. All are there to help a GM have the answers to those unpredictable twists and turns a players like to throw at you!

And finally – the maps included with the product are provided in GM’s versions, Player’s versions, gridded, and gridless. More tools to help a GM to be able to pickup a PSE product and be up and running with a limited amount of prep time.

Summary

The changing landscape of gaming are some of the driving factors in creating useful adventures for today’s GMs. The Pocket-Sized Encounter line is there for busy GMs, shorter sessions, and the infrequent gamer to provide an evening of entertainment at a moment’s notice.

You can check out one of the products in the PSE line at RPGNow.

Did you like this Behind the Curtain post? Don’t miss Default System Choice or Cover Art – Or Lack Thereof.

Zedkiel’s Chapel Now Available

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Zedkiel’s Chapel, written by Dustin Clark, is the fourth release in the Pocket-Sized Encounter line from Iron Tavern Press. This and the other releases in the line are available at RPGNow and shop.d20pfsrd.com.

Two brave adventurers rescued Zedkiel the scholar on his way home from the tavern. A large bat-like creature had attacked the man and certainly would have slain him had Ulad and Frango not intervened. A month later reports of another large bat-like creature surfaced as several townsfolk were killed one night under a full moon. Ulad and Frango grew suspicious and discovered something horrid had happened to Zedkiel. The man eluded them until the pair of adventurers discovered the strange abandoned chapel Zedkiel was using as a hideout. The characters have a choice to make – seek out and destroy Zedkiel or aid him against the vigilante townsfolk.

A Pocket-Sized Encounter compatible with the Swords & Wizardry rules system for 2nd to 4th level character.

Pocket-Sized Encounters from Iron Tavern Press are shorter scenarios designed to be dropped into an existing campaign with minimal preparation. Use them for shorter sessions, provide your players with choices that won’t derail your campaign or even as a launching point for a new campaign path.

Zedkiel's Chapel Cover

Included in this adventure are:

  • New Werebat Monster
  • Multiple adventure hooks
  • Location based encounter area map (grid and gridless)
  • Seeds for expanding the adventure
  • Rumor Table

Summer at The Iron Tavern

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Wow! It has been almost a month since the last post at The Iron Tavern. Certainly one of the longest gaps in posting since I started The Iron Tavern a couple of years ago! Let’s see what I have been up to!

Moving

Most of the past several weeks have been filled with moving to a new house. I think things are finally getting settled in freeing up a significant amount of time. As part of stocking the new house I ended up with a sweet dining room table that will easily seat 8 folks and is going to work wonderfully as a gaming table for the Thursday night group (and hopefully a kid’s game soon).

This move really has consumed the vast majority of my time for the past 4 weeks. It is good to be getting settled in at the new place.

Origins

This past weekend was Origins. Last year we seem to have started the tradition of getting the folks from the DCC Actual Play game to meetup for the con. This year we had all the players from the actual play game and another who plays in the weekly Dungeonslayers game Kelly runs.

It was great seeing the guys again. It was four days filled with gaming! We played Dungeon Crawl Classics, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, Paranoia, and Zombieslayers! We all had a really good time – be sure to check out my G+ stream for photos from the Con.

I did pick up a few things at Origins, though really – the dealer hall was a bit of a disappointment this year. I purchased another small Chessex battlemat to hopefully replace the one I bought the previous year that didn’t hold ink well at all. And I also bought the card game Boss Monster. I played Boss Monster at Gary Con with Joseph Goodman, Doug Kovacs, and Rick Hull. It was enough of an intro to warrant the purchase.

Iron Tavern Press

Iron Tavern Press is doing well, though it would be hard to tell by my lapse in release schedule! I have Zedkiel’s Chapel by Dustin Clark through its last round of revisions. I just need to drop in the two pieces of artwork Frank Turfler did for me (have I previewed any of those yet? They are awesome!) and let my proofers give it a glance. I hope for it to see the light of day within the next week or so.

I have PSE #5 written. Just a couple of tweaks and then it will go off to the editor for the first pass on it. Still artwork to be done for it as well, but should be well on track for my more normal 4 to 6 week release schedule. We did playtest this one at Origins last weekend.

A surprise author is writing another PSE adventure for me. The pitch was awesome and I am looking forward to seeing that turnover. More details to come on this as we get a little closer to release time for that one.

While at Origins we also playtested another adventure from Dustin Clark. This one is more of a full sized adventure, so it will deviate from the Pocket-Sized Encounter line’s format. There is a good chance this one will be the first release Iron Tavern Press does for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. Should be a good one!

So there has been lots of behind the scenes work and action going on with Iron Tavern Press!

DCC Actual Play Podcast

I am behind on releasing AP podcasts! I have a bunch queued up – one just needs mixed, the others need some editing. But in either case the DCC group is going strong and plenty of shows recorded and ready to be released. Expect to see these start coming out in the next week or so as well.

Wrap Up

And that’s why it has been so quiet around here the past several weeks! I appreciate your patience while real life has distracted me. Things should start to return closer to normal over the course of the next week or two.

Skull Cave Preview

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This weekend I will be putting the finishing touches on the next release from Iron Tavern Press – Skull Cave! Here’s the blurb from the title page:

A Swords & Wizardry compatible adventure for 4th to 6th level characters.

Centuries ago nomads found a cave and felt drawn to perform their death rites to dark gods within its confines. Years of ritualistic blood offerings to malevolent forces has fed demons deep below the cave. The nomads have long since disappeared, but a recent earth tremor has freed the demon spawn from their prison deep below the surface. Seeking blood of victims to fuel their infernal fires they have moved closer to the surface and begun their hunt.

And even though Iron Tavern Press does not use cover art in this product line, don’t fear – we do use art inside! Here is a preview:

Bloodfire Demon Bestiary

Artist: Frank Turfler

Cover Art – Or Lack Thereof

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Iron Tavern Press LogoIron Tavern Press has two products out in the world now, with more Pocket-Sized Encounters on their way. One decision that is now obvious to the public is that I chose to go the no cover art route with these products. This was not a decision made lightly and this post looks at what went into this decision for Iron Tavern Press.

The primary factor is of course cost. Artists deserve to be paid for their talents. But with the somewhat steady release cycle I have in mind for the launch of Iron Tavern Press, my up front expenses to put a unique cover on each product was a very real cost that I might not see return on until the venture gets it feet under it.

These funds seemed better spent to me by putting it into editing services, the tools to publish a clean product, and interior art that spruced up the product. With the release schedule I had in mind this is the decision path I leaned towards to get Iron Tavern Press established.

The other factor is the quality of that art. Given a limited budget there is a question of what quality of art would be on the cover if I went that route. I did some mock-ups a few months ago with some images. Frankly, they had a more amateurish look to them than the minimalistic covers I have launched with. Just as great cover art can help a product, bad cover art can hurt a product.

The decision is not without its risks. Who doesn’t love cool cover art? I see it all the time – a cool cover gets posted to a social network, it gets shared around and that is all based on the appearance of the cover. Very little is said about the actual content of the product. Cool cover art definitely can help with exposure and generate some excitement about a product.

My feedback from the mock-ups I sent out was mixed. Some encouraged using cover art and others understood why I would make the decision to launch products with no cover art. Even those that encouraged the use of cover art acknowledged the cover mock-up was very clean and looked well done. It at the very least gave a professional appearance, even if it did lack cover art.

In the end I chose the clean, minimalistic covers for the Pocket-Sized Encounters line. I am happy with the choice and it has allowed me to use quality interior art (some stock art, some commissioned pieces) and hire an RPG editor to make sure the words in the product are the best they can be.

All of Iron Tavern Press’ products are currently on sale as part of the GM’s Day Sales going on at the beginning of March. This is a great opportunity to check them out (cover art or not!) at either shop.d20pfsrd.com or RPGNow.