Gary Con VI

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Gary Con VI is right around the corner! On Thursday morning I will be getting up, having breakfast with the family and then headed out. I hope to get into a pick-up game of something on Thursday night and I have scheduled games on Friday and Saturday, with a short seminar on Sunday morning before I hit the road and head back home.

For those also headed out and fans of the DCC RPG Actual Play podcast I have the continuing saga of the adventurers’ assault on the Wizard’s Tower scheduled to post earlier than normal on Wednesday morning. So be sure to fire up your favorite podcast client before heading out.

Beyond that the blog will be pretty quiet through early next week. I was going to try to chronicle my trip, but I have switched thoughts and plan on relaxing and just enjoying gaming for those four days. I’ve been doing a lot of freelance work this past couple of months and also hard at work on Iron Tavern Press as well. I think I will use the con as a chance to recharge my batteries!

With that said, I am sure I will take some pics and such – so keep an eye on my Twitter feed and G+ feed for some occasional fun that will inevitably find its way into my social streams.

And if you are going to be at Gary Con this year – feel free to stop me and say hey! Whether you are fan of the blog, Iron Tavern Press, want to ask when the next Spellburn episode is, or if we just frequent some of the same circles – say hi!

Free Gaming

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

I read a blog on the weekend of the bloggers top 10 favorite games that were free to download. I was impressed at the depth of games that had been included and was even more impressed by the inclusion of at least one “big” name game of years gone by. Now the list that was provided was across all genres and I thought to myself that I could probably put something together in a similar style for the readers over here at the Iron Tavern blog to have a look over and consider playing. Honestly, quality gaming has never been so cheap!

Mark Knights’ Top Five Free Fantasy Games

5. Halberd Fantasy Roleplaying

With a nod to the writing styles of Terry Pratchett and his disc-world novels this game sneaks in at number five. Humor in a fantasy game is always welcome at my table so let the system actually incorporate it! It is a high magic, high paced humorous look at the standard genre and well worth a look.

4. D6 Fantasy

If you like a fair amount of crunch with your game try out the d6 fantasy game. The rules are in place and the game has a fantastic flow to them. Even better than the robust rules set has to be the array of supplements for the game that are all free too! So they don’t suck you in with the basic free rules, they also give everything I could ever need to run a game!

3. Basic Fantasy

Written in an OSR style and based loosely on 3.5 edition D&D also Basic Fantasy is an open source role playing game written for fans of fantasy RPG’s by the fans of fantasy RPG’s! I am a big open source fan and it is why this one pips d6 Fantasy for third spot. The scope and setup of this game is great and I am very impressed with this games achievements! In this version not only can you download and play it, you could also possibly contribute to the game as well!

2. Talislanta

Coming in a close second is a game that I have spent a good deal of time in my past playing. Talislanta! That is right, you can now download this awesome game for free (any of the 5 editions are up for grabs). This series prided itself on having no elves and in fact it has a very different fantasy setting that is rich and detailed. I am actually listed as one of the official play-testers for fifth edition which is a bit of a blast. I had a great deal of fun with this game. Although some of the books appear huge the rules are actually quite moderate and the books are heavy on setting. This game is well worth a look!

1. Dungeonslayers

This is quite honestly one of the best looking, most professional free games out there. It is a game translated from its native German and it appears slick, rules lite and a fun game. There are a load of materials you can get for it including adventures, world information and a host of other materials. For such a great game I am surprised at how few people know about it AND how hard it is to find on Google! Use the link above to download the rules and get into some Dungeon slaying right now!

Check these games out and let me know what you think! Keep rolling 🙂

All images were taken from the websites that have been linked to this page to advertise the download of these products.

Mark Knights is 40 year old guy living in a small rural town called Elliott in Tasmania, Australia. I have been role playing since I was 11 years old playing the original versions of Dungeons and Dragons, MERP, Elric, Dragon Warriors and the like amongst other genre games. I played D&D 2nd Edition through the 90′s but I ran Earthdawn for my fantasy setting and loved it as a GM. When 3rd Edition came out for D&D I tried it but found it too heavy on rules. I ignored the 3.5 edition of DnD in favour of Earthdawn (big mistake) as I thought it was just a money spinner. When 4th Edition DnD came on my players and I gave it a red hot go but hated what it had dumbed the game down to be. On a trip to Melbourne to buy some 4E stuff from a hobby store an old mate of mine pointed me at Pathfinder and in a Fantasy setting I have never looked back.

How the Gang Got Together

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Fun and Games at Origins

Something that gets assumed a lot about the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Actual Play podcast is that we all knew each other prior to this game. In reality, it is online gaming that brought us together. Today’s meta post about the podcast is how we got together as an online gaming group.

Group History

My interest in DCC RPG was growing back in the summer of 2012 but it didn’t really seem like my local group’s thing at the time. G+ Hangout gaming was taking off and an opportunity to try out DCC via a Hangout was presented. Carl Bussler (of Flagons and Dragons podcast fame and much more) was going to start running DCC RPG. He wrangled up a group of folks to start out with Sailors on the Starless Sea. Hopefully I don’t forget anyone, but that group had me, Kelly, and Matt in it. It also had Tony and James who both did brief forays into the one-shot I ran and early in the Sunken City Campaign days.

We managed to play two sessions of Sailors before that game went to the wayside. Carl’s schedule got busy and we lost some momentum. I ended up running The Jeweler That Dealt in Stardust as a one-shot. That game had Kelly and Matt, plus Tony, I think James, and Dustin in it. We had a great time and I decided to kick off an actual Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign back in the late summer of 2012.

When Sunken City launched we had Matt, Kelly, Dustin, Tony, James, and Joe (a local friend of mine). James made a session or two, Tony held on for another session or two before school reared up. We quickly brought Aaron on board with some 0-levels just after the other characters hit 0-level.

From Fall of 2012 to Spring 2013 the group was Matt, Kelly, Dustin, Joe, and Aaron. Eventually Kelly had to drop because of time commitments, but we kept on with the core group rolling through the rest of Spring 2013 into the summer. Coming into the summer we made plans to meet up at Origins in Columbus, Ohio.

Oh – I should also mention that a Dungeonslayers online game was started by Kelly in January of 2013 and there was a heavy mixing of the same players with some new faces in the DS game. The Origins meetup also involved a couple of the Dungeonslayer players – Adam (now in the DCC group) and another Dustin.

A great time was had at Origins and that likely did a lot to further cement the solidness of this online group.

After Origins, Joe needed to drop from the game so we were looking for another player again. We ended up recruiting Adam from the DS game to play DCC.

Which brings us to today, a group made up of Aaron, Adam, Dustin, Matt, and me.It seems Kelly will be returning to the group in April bringing a lot of the original crew together again.

Strength of Online Gaming

A lot of folks will say online gaming isn’t like being at the table and steer away from it. And while there are differences, online gaming has brought me a group of folks that I would call great friends. Meeting at Origins helped cement that (and we have plans to do the same this year at Origins and this time we’re dragging Aaron along – can’t wait to meet “Baptist” in person!)

So if you are out there lamenting the fact you can get some local folks together for gaming, don’t be too quick to dismiss online gaming. With a little work I suspect you can find yourself a great group of folks to play games with and build some new friendships as you do so! I know our group has had a great time playing. It has worked out very well for us!

Episode 13: Assaulting the Wizard’s Tower

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

‘Assaulting the Wizard’s Tower’ is the thirteenth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

The group recovers from the successful Temple of the Moon ritual and discuss their plans to eliminate the threat from Leotah. Working with others in the temple district Tsanth convinces a priestess of Justicia that some assistance might be in order. Bong uses his newfound position within the city guard to enlist additional help for a daring tower raid. With one group assaulting the front gate of the tower wall and the other seeking a path in through the sewers the assault begins!

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Episode-13.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Episode 12: Temple of the Moon Ritual

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

‘Temple of the Moon Ritual’ is the twelfth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

The party enters the City of the Dead to seek out the body of Ephardius in order to learn more of Leotah and her defenses at the tower. Tsanth harasses the fledgling clergy of Cthulhu in order to further prove Mani’s power and growing relevance within the city. During the day the temple is prepared for the evening’s ceremony to Mani. That night the party must defend the Temple of the Moon against an attempt from Leotah’s minions to interfere with the ritual.

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Episode-12.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Dungeon Crawl Classics Kickstarter

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

The folks over at Goodman Games have a Kickstarter running to help fund the swag for the World Tour 2014. What is a World Tour?

Last year Goodman Games offered some promo items for folks running Dungeon Crawl Classic games open to the public. The judges running the game could sign up to receive some swag in the form of bookmarks, buttons, con ribbons, mechanical pencils, etc. When the game was complete the judge could submit the event to Goodman Games and receive cooler swag for themselves. T-shirts, transfers, the infamous belt buckle, and a secret prize if you hit nine games or more.

The World Tour is in effect for 2014 as well. Word is a certain Spellburn acolyte already has 5 games under her belt! To help fund the swag for this years World Tour Goodman Games started up a Kickstarter. From the blurb:

Send DCC RPG on a 2014 World Tour! Fund swag, travel, and games across the known universe, including the epic Wizard Van!

The goal here is to get enough orders for various swag items to bring down the manufacturing cost to allow the production of more items at about the same cost. Most folks know the more you make of something, the cheaper it gets. So while an order of 100 might cost $100, an order of 1000 might only cost $120 (I made these numbers up to make the point). If Goodman Games gets the order quantities up for a lot of these items, that lets us get some cool swag and helps them be even more generous with it during the World Tour this year.

The Kickstarter page has the full list of items, but they have everything from buttons to bookmarks to mechanical pencils to pads of 0-level character sheets, and more.

Stretch goals range from sweet blacklight posters, custom character sheet pads, to a Wizard Van for Goodman Games.

To help out the effort Purple Duck Games has contributed Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror, The Falcate Idol, and The Perils of Cinder Claws. Folks that pledge $25 or more are eligible for these PDFs.

So swing on over to the Goodman Games Kickstarter pickup some swag for yourself and help Goodman Games with World Tour 2014! You have about 10 days left!

Aaaaand ACTION!

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

You put a whole lot of preparation into the first game. Built the skeleton of a campaign world and some NPC’s, possibly even a few adventures planned. But how do you hook the players? How are you going to get them keen for this game, then the next, and the one after that!

Let me give you a hint. Watch a James Bond movie. Not the whole thing if you are time poor, just the bit before the starting credits. What does every Bond movie have in common to get the viewer into the main movie? Action. Hook them with a good level of heart pounding action.

Don’t plan this action out too much, just some combatants thrown together that might give a bit of a hint of what is to come. Once you have that and a setting (the players find themselves at a dungeon entrance as a swarm of skeletons start toward them from the adjoining cemetery) ask the players why they are there? Give them a bit of power to work out how they find themselves here.

In this initial moment the players will come up with some hook plots that you can use and they will also build a past. A past that gels their characters together. The pressure will be on too. They will want to get into the battle and so the plot will come out nice and naturally. The cohesiveness of the group will build from this point.

The job of the GM at this point is to encourage them to come up with this story and the greatest encouragement is to ask them questions and show some interest in the story they are building. When they tell you a Demon Lord ordered them to the dungeon ask them what the Demon Lord’s name is and why they sent them? What can be found there? As they start talking about how they all got together make sure everyone gets involved. If you have two players building something without starring others turn the focus of the story to them. Ask the other players how they enter the story and encourage them to take it over.

And that’s it! Call Action! Get into the fight. Ask them why they are there and take lots of notes about what the players come up with. You can use this to flavor your main plot or use their material to build some interesting side-plots in the campaign. Just make sure you use it and start as soon as you can because the players will lap up their involvement in the stories that sprout from their imaginations. If they do not get hooked in a campaign they helped shape then they never will! Keep rolling!

Cover Art – Or Lack Thereof

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Iron 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.

…and Taxes

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

I have not posted anything gaming for a while because I work in the Tax profession. That means from January through April 15 I can be quite busy working long hours and not finding enough time to do other things. We do have a little slow down here in March so that brings me to one realistic aspect that is rarely seen in games: Taxes!

No one likes taxes. They are a pain in the ass to do and the system, at least here in America, is complex and serves to do more than just collect taxes. It is a carrot and a stick system rewarding certain behavior while punishing other types of behavior. The rewards come in the form of refundable credits and refunds while the punishment is a greater tax liability. Can that be translated into gaming though?

I think the better question is not can it, but should it be? In games like D&D that tend to be a bit of a resource management game a Tax system is just pulling gold out of the PC’s pockets. One would also want to tax the magical assets of the PCs and not just the cash on hand. I like the idea but I don’t know a way of doing so that is fun. I would not want to place a tax system into the game and have the players feel like it is just there to punish them. It would be easy to come up with paper work for them to fill out and get them involved in the taxing process but that just seems tedious and a good way for the players to revolt. Paranoia is the only game I’ve seen that paper work is accepted and even there it is easy to go overboard.

So, how do we make Taxes fun? It can’t be just taxes. I think it needs to be an event like Tax day when the tax collector and his armed guards and mages come around collecting from every poor soul they encounter. It could be like in Robin Hood where they just break into everyone’s place and take a large percentage of anything valuable they find. This does put the tax collector in the villain’s role. I think most players would find that acceptable. You can have the PCs make it difficult for the taxes to be collected or even rob the tax collector making the taxes not collected.

That’s when the twist comes in. If not enough taxes are collected then bad things might start happening around the kingdom. The treasury gets smaller without taxes to fill it up so maybe the guards don’t get paid and they go on strike. Or roads and bridges don’t get repaired. We don’t have to make the kingdom good or evil just show that the money is being used for real tangible purposes and when the money goes away it eventually has a very real effect on the setting. Less money in the King’s coffers could lead to inflation. It could lead the King to search out alternative revenue streams and who knows what kind of trouble that could get the Kingdom in.

I would not use taxes as a major plot but I think it would be a good little background detail. If the PCs get great wealth and they pay their proper taxes then the Kingdom might improve. I would start out with a Kingdom that has needs of improvements and then if the Taxes come in show that some improvements happen but if the PCs hinder the tax collection then show things getting worse. Even if one establishes all this it is still very possible for the PCs to really not care. But once they get wealthy if they open a business or buy some property then the DM can hit them up with different kinds of taxes. If they don’t pay them then spend a session taking the PCs though an Audit. They will never complain about going through something like the Tomb of Horrors again.

Chris Gath. I’ve been gaming since 1980 playing all kinds of games since then. In the past year I’ve run Pathfinder, Dungeon Crawl Classic, Paranoia, and Mini d6. My current campaign is mini d6 and we are using that for a modern supernatural conspiracy investigative game. On some forums I’m known as Crothian and I’ve written a few hundred reviews though I took a sabbatical from reviewing for a few years as it burnt me out. I was also an judge for the Gen Con awards (ENnies) six times. Jeff, the owner of this blog, is one of my players and a good friend.

Iron Tavern Press – GM’s Day Sale

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

March 4th marks GM’s Day – a day to show your GM how much you appreciate them. What started as a post on EN World way back in 2002 has evolved into a major sale day/week at many of the online RPG stores. How big? About 30% off big!

Iron Tavern Press is happy to participate in the sale at the two locations our products are sold – shop.d20pfsrd.com and RPGNow.com. Both Kajak’s Kave and The Hive are at the lowest prices you are likely to see them. In fact, once the GM’s Day sales end, The Hive will be going back up to normal pricing, its introductory price it was release at expiring. If you have been curious about what I’ve been releasing under the Iron Tavern Press name this is a wonderful opportunity to check them out.

Pocket-Sized Encounters are small scenarios ready to be dropped into your campaign with very short notice. Whether to offer a side-trek to your players or using one of the ‘Where To From Here’ hooks to expand them into more is up to you. The product includes maps, adventure hooks, suggested ideas for expansion, and in some cases new monsters and new magic items. And don’t forget the random treasure hoard tables useful in any situation.

Written to be compatible with the Swords & Wizardry system, these products are easily converted to your fantasy system of choice.

Here are the summaries from each.

Kajak’s Kave

Livestock disappearing from their pastures, children discovering large humanoid footprints along the creek, rumored sightings of a lumbering giant, and Shaerie the Huntress’ disappearance several weeks ago leave only one conclusion. An ogre has taken up residence too close to town! Are you the brave adventurers to help rid the town of this threat and discover the whereabouts of Shaerie?

Available at shop.d20pfsrd.com and RPGNow for $1.93.

The Hive

Lord Oakensun was fascinated by insects, spending hours cataloging and classifying his collection. Discontent led the man to experiment with forces he did not fully comprehend. Now farms outside the village have been found abandoned. Lord Oakensun’s daughter is missing, last seen near rocky hills a short distance away. A local thief reports his partner was snatched away in the dark amidst sounds of buzzing and chittering. Has Lord Oakensun’s experiment gone wrong? What is behind the rash of disappearances from the village?

Available at shop.d20pfsrd.com and RPGNow for $1.40.