VICTORIA JACZKO WINS RPG SUPERSTAR 2014 Largest Global Open-Call Game Design Contest Comes to a […]

I kind of slacked off, so I'm doing a few days of this non-D&D blog challenge all in one shot. I'll break it up with some images so it's not too boring.

What non-D&D monster do you think is as iconic as D&D ones like hook horrors or flumphs, and why do you think so?
I would say Cthulhu, but its just iconic period and not only in relation to RPGs. If I were to take a close second, I'd say Ducks from Glorantha. They're such an odd species to have around, but anyone who reads about them remembers them.
It's [...]

Cast

• Pernilla Hemming (Bare-Fisted Brawling Half-Huldra Orphan)
• Aleksander Jorgensen (Would-Be Dragon Slayer)

Pernilla packed up her fishing gear and started back to camp. This week had been pretty bad; she would have to try and pick up some extra hours swindling people at Gnorbitt's. She had been doing that a lot lately, which meant that she would need to work on some new glamours, so as to avoid the other patrons from catching on to her act.

As she began following the stream out of the forest she smelled-well-before-the-saw dead fish along the bank. A lot of dead fish. When she [...]

Thumbnails of most of the icons in the science fiction icons collection. (Click to enlarge.)

Thanks to artist/cartographer Robert Altbauer, we have just released a new set of battlemat icons that addresses the needs of Science Fiction settings. These were made for the map software Dungeonographer, but they are any tool that imports transparent PNGs may use them. They are scaled so 300 pixels represents 5 feet of an object, perfect for 1″=5′ square battlemats. Of course you can scale them down and keep a high-quality image.

Check them out on the Dungeonographer website.

Dorind's Demulcent Yellow Hand
Level: 2
Duration: 1d4 rounds/level of caster
Range: Self

The caster's hand (either one) becomes temporarily pock-marked with hundreds of tiny glandular nodes that secrete a sweet-smelling yellowish mucous that has a number of curative qualities, not the least of which is its ability to neutralize airborne poisons or spoors and soothing inflamed mucous membranes, allowing those exposed to corrosive fumes, toxic gasses, or dangerous fungi to recover at triple the normal rate. The recipient suffers a -2 penalty to DEX for the duration of the spell, and cannot hold anything in the affected hand. The 'salve' [...]

Victoria Jaczko

Victoria Jaczko has won Paizo's annual RPG Superstar competition. Her module, The Daughters of Fury, is set now to be published professionally for November 2014.

RPG Superstar host and former judge Steam K Reynolds said;

“Victoria’s design decisions---a grief-based magic item, an undead warhorse, a haunted chapel in a land torn by revolution, and a city besieged by a devil trying to collect a debt–are all unusual and interesting choices, showing she has the ability to approach an idea from a new perspective and present it in an intriguing way,”

"Being able to come up with something new really struck a chord [...]

VICTORIA JACZKO WINS RPG SUPERSTAR 2014
Victoria Jaczko
Largest Global Open-Call Game Design Contest Comes to a Close

REDMOND, WA (March 11, 2014): Paizo Inc., publisher of the world's best-selling Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, as well as novels, game accessories, and board games, is thrilled today to announce the winner of the 2014 RPG Superstar contest. After 4 months, more than 1000 submissions, and nearly half a million votes, game designer Victoria Jaczko is 2014's RPG Superstar. Paizo will publish Jaczko's winning Pathfinder RPG module, The Daughters of Fury, set to release November 2014.

"Victoria's design decisions---a grief-based magic [...]

Our first, official, look at Grant Gustin in full-on Flash costume from the upcoming Arrow spin-off.

I'm getting nothing but positive vibes about this show and can't wait to see one of my favourite superheroes come to life on TV.

Egregious Effusion
Level: 2
Duration: 6 Rounds
Range: 30'

This spell forces 1d4 targets caught within its area of effect to uncontrollably give vent to all their negative emotions and opinions. Those affected get so caught-up in their ranting that they must make a Save or begin violently lashing out at a randomly selected target--anyone within reach/range. Anyone surviving such an attack incurs a permanent -1 penalty of all subsequent Morale and Reaction Rolls involving the person that attacked them while under the influence of this spell.

Koe is a Japanese style role-playing game (JRPG), but with a difference. It is reminiscent of your typical JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, whilst also introducing the player to the Japanese language, helping the player to learn the language as they play the game. This giving the person a great start to learning…

100 Sessions!

…draining the strength from Xellos, before they are both destroyed. The finals couple of gnolls falls to his axe, and they party rejoin further in the tunnels, exploring a chamber with a sarcophagus and two stone statues of Kord. Another wraith manifests when Calibos opens the coffin, but that is turned by Halmary and dispatched by Xellos.

However, back down the passage, where Medmyr was standing guard, gnolls suddenly charge in to attack, driven by a sword wraith. The fast-learning fighter holds his own as the other front-line fighters squeeze past and engage the monsters. Ungrid cleaves his way through [...]

Here's the Obligatory: SPOILER ALERT

If you want a good laugh, head on over to EN World and read Example from the worst TSR adventure module(s) ever published, where the Forest Oracle gets torn apart. Soon The Patriots of Ulek ends up getting roasted because of its a railroad with heaping amounts of boxed text. Erik Mona himself put it best:
"For example, in one encounter the PCs enter a town, talk with the populace, meet the local mayor, eat a meal with him and leave, all without ever having made a decision for themselves."

Yes, there's boxed text. If you love [...]

I'm going to be honest, I'm disappointed in myself for the lack of new content on this blog. I know I've went longer without any posts, but I want to be better. I am planning on taking part in the A-Z April blogging challenge. I still can't decide if I want to focus on supers (M&M particularly) or Cinematic Unisystem. Those two systems tend to be the ones I have the easiest time coming up with material for.

I mentioned a few days ago that I have a few games in the works. While this is still true, there's [...]

The PDF version of Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space Limited Edition Hardcover Edition is now up at DriveThruRPG.



If you have either of the 11th or 10th Doctor version of this game then you have most of the rules and text, though some things look like the are a bit clearer (or I am rereading them for 10th time).  This is one full document as opposed to the multiple PDFs of the "boxed sets".  It also updates the text to reflect the last bits of the Matt Smith seasons and the Day of the Doctor 50th [...]

Not sure where the idea for this guy popped up, but I think he fermented after some discussion on the use of a shovel or spade as a weapon.

Quick history: During WWI hand-to-hand fighting, the bayoneted rifle and trench knife often got tossed aside in favor of a sharpened entrenching tool, which could cut or smash through flesh and bone and not get hung up.  The Germans make good use of entrenching tools in their defense of the trench in this scene from All Quiet on the Western Front (shovel-swinging action starts at about 2 min):

This patch of the meadow is filled with tall, dry grass. Type: magical; Perception DC 30; Disable Device30 Triggerlocation; ResetNone Effect When walking through the grass, there is a 20% chance each round that the grass wraps itself around a PC’s item and steals it. It targets items that are carried and not held, like […]

... and I'm still 10mm, dammit! ;)

( .40 caliber = 10.160 mm; .41 caliber = 10.414 mm)

Anyway, this exchange actually happened last night:
Mom, from the kitchen: "Your birthday cake has the plague."Me, getting up from the computer to come see: "Why, does it have buboes?"*sees cake*Me: "... yep, it sure does."The pox marks are actually where the chocolate chips melted
and stuck to the pan rather than come out with the cake.
My weirdness... I come by it honestly.


Speaking of weirdness, Herr Kapitan Von pointed out to me that I share a [...]

Reptilian Humanoids, Dragonkin, and Dragonsby Tim Wallace
To begin this week's post, I would like to announce that Errant d20 Games will be publishing the Multi-Variable Spell Compendium: 0-2nd Level Spells in conjunction with d20pfsrd.com Publishing. I want to give a big "thank you" to John Reyst of d20pfsrd.comfor being willing to publish it.
Feat UpdateI have updated the Racial Paragon feat as follows:
Racial ParagonYou display a wider variety of racial traits than a normal individual of your race.Prerequisite: Character level 3rd.Benefit: You gain an additional 4 race points (RP) to purchase new racial traits from one or more [...]

When The Punisher takes out a black market weapons dealer with stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. tech, he inadvertently stumbles upon a much larger terror plot under investigation by Black Widow, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Detained by the clandestine law enforcement organization, Nick Fury offers the Punisher his freedom in exchange for one mission: to work with Black Widow and stop the terrorist group known as LEVIATHAN.Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher is available digitally, to our American friends, from today via iTunes and Amazon.




And a trio of peaks behind-the-curtain:

Temptation Tuesday is a look at new and upcoming games. Warning: this could be dangerous for the wallet.

Continuing on yesterday’s news that the pre-purchase option for World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor has now gone live, it just made sense that today’s edition of Temptation Tuesday would follow suit. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s less that WoD is tempting me to buy it – I will most definitely be buying the expansion – but more about which version will I buy.

There’s essentially three versions of the expansion to choose from: the Standard Edition (both digital and physical versions), [...]

While perusing the Goblinoid Games forums the other day, I noted mention of a supplement for the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion (AEC), Theorems & Thaumaturgy by Gavin Norman. It’s open content and free in PDF format on the author’s Lulu page, so I downloaded it and gave it a look.

It is essentially a magic supplement for AEC (although there are some notes on core Labyrinth Lord compatibility). It details three new magic-using classes (Elementalist, Vivimancer, and Necromancer), a variant Elf race (the Fey Elf) and class (the Sorcerer), expanded Illusionist spells (to 9th level), some handy tables, new magic [...]

Here’s this weeks latest link to episode 13 of The walking Dead. Remember to make sure your pop up blockers are on so it won’t mess with your viewing! http://www.tubeplus.me/player/2136259/The_Walking_Dead/season_4/episode_13/Alone/ As ever, here’s the link to the after show, Talking Dead, and the same rules apply for blocking those troublesome pop ups. http://www.tubeplus.me/player/2137612/Talking_Dead/season_3/episode_13/Alone/ Enjoy!! Related […]

I have to admit that while I like to check out the myriad of projects on Kickstarter, I spend more time making fun of them than anything else. I've backed a few here and there, but mostly I look for the big losers for cheap entertainment.

Since this blog isn't about general stupidity I thought I should point out a "good" Kickstarter that fits in well with the Frugal GM philosophy.

Blue Dungeon Tiles is already funded and the creator, Kevin Scott (of Red Kobold Games), has been pretty cool about tossing free stuff up on his website. [...]

  As I was mentioning on google+ recently, I have a set adventure for people who have never played a fantasy RPG (or any RPG, for that matter) ever before. The main element of this little set piece is Clarence and his kobolds!
  Clarence: 1st/1st Fighter/Thief Half-elf. H.P. 5, A.C. 8/7. Average characteristics. Leather armor, buckler, short sword, dagger (2), dart (9). 8 g.p., 4 s.p., 7 c.p.
  Clarence is about 5'6" tall and weighs about 125 lbs. He has shaggy auburn hair worn a bit long and an unruly beard of the same color - with his features [...]

Since all the text of the story appears separately from the image, I’ve been able to go back and make little changes as I notice errors.

In the text for “Kratos: Look Around,” I described the village thoroughfare as east. The village thoroughfare is *not* east. Now you know.

Why do so many documentaries feel the need to include at least one crackpot?

I love documentaries. Documentaries on history, nature, science, everything. The worst, though, are the documentaries that purport to explore or examine some historical or natural mystery. Typically, they will present a story, then they will present researchers who make their claims and theories, then they show some sort of evidence or model that supports or rebuff’s the theory. The first 2/3s will almost always be grounded in reasonable science, historical knowledge, archaelogy, whatever. Fact. But then they drag out some weird beard who is all “DARK MATTER!” [...]

Alien Film Festival

Kimberly Chapman is a roleplayer and a baker. She runs the site Eat the Evidence where you'll enjoy a mix of 'edible media', parenting chat and geek references.

Baking and gaming are both hobbies and as Kimberly's site says, "Failure is always an option, then eat the evidence" who better to ask about tips, tricks and lessons learnt? Read on for a combination of gaming and baking tips.

How did you get into roleplaying?

I dabbled when I first got into the gifted program at school. Yay for nerdy stereotypes! Unfortunately, that stupid “Mazes and Monsters” movie came out and [...]

Breachworld is a new RPG on Kickstarter that seems to be inspired to some degree by Rifts (that's not a knock, if its as imaginative and gonzo, I'll be very happy) but using the excellent Mini Six system from AntiPaladin Games.

I've backed it and think you should take a look.

The preview of artwork and write-ups for some of the player races sold me.

Check them out here.

The skeleton playbook is up for sale on Drivethrurpg.

This playbook allows you to play a bonafide monster: how did you die? What brought you back across the threshold of the Black Gate into a state of unlife? What are you going to do about it?

As a skeleton you are not only harder to kill, but your unique brand of strange abilities allow you to create weapons from your bones, detach parts of your body and control them from a distance, skullk around the shadows (and even teleport between them), transfer your soul into other skeletons, help your [...]

This is an interesting article on research into using natural language for NPCs in video games, specifically things like trade, gossip, and lying (which unfortunately isn't hardly mentioned, even if it's in the article's title). This subject has always intrigued me, because of this phenomenon I've noticed among players:
Players nearly always believe the NPCs. As a corollary, when they do decide to distrust an NPC, it's nearly always the one they should be trustingIt leads to some very interesting developments, for sure, as an NPC can spout off nearly any sort of complete nonsense and the players will follow it right into [...]

It's been a long time coming, but I feel like things are steady enough that I can apply myself properly to a campaign.

It'll be modern, probably monster-hunter-ish. It will start with templates and characters from Action 1, Action 3, or Monster Hunters 4: Sidekicks. I'm not going to be slavish about that, though.

It will be modern, TL8. For now. Mwa ha ha.

Characters

The rules for character generation are in flux, but will likely revolve around:

1. All characters have to show that they've kept their head in a crisis in the past. This need not be "I was in the military," but it could be.
2. All characters must either belong or have belonged to an organization that sends you to potentially dangerous places around the globe. Oil exploration, private security company, military all might qualify
3. The first 4-6 adventures will be somewhat introductory, giving the team a chance to gel as a team, while also killing monsters. It will set up the future plotline. 
4. The first adventures, then, may well have some finagling and social stuff - and see below for campaign options.
5. The characters shall be mundane. No sorcerers, psions, robots, or werewolves.

Notes on the notes
I'm playing in two DF campaigns, or will be. I have a great outlet for sorcery, magic, and divine stuff. I want to run a modern-day campaign that lets me play with stuff I've written and enjoy. +Jeromy French ran a one-session GURPS Sci Fi campaign that started to scratch that itch, and [...]

The Sophie's 
painted by John Bonnot01508: 2010 Convention Sophie
Gene Van Horne ($9.99)

About John Bonnot, member of the Paint Crew:

davis

TLG's New TLG Store is open and ready for business. We know its a pain in the rump to open a new account, but its quick and painless and for the next 36 hours we are making it a wee bit easierwith some deep discounts: purchases up to $10.00 come with a 10% discount, up to $50.00 and you'll receive 20% off, purchases of $51.00+ net you a whopping 35% off!

New: search function, digital download, password reset, easier to navigate! Its all there!

A quick note about accounts: Because this is a brand new [...]

So, I just found out about this. This guy Zwingli ( a priest) did not like the use of Swiss mercenaries all over Europe (he was not a pacifist but was Swiss and deplored the idea of Swiss dying in other lands for others purposes).  SO, he liked sausages or something. During a lent, when some workers got some sausages for they wa hungry.

So a big debate occurs about eating sausages and Zwigli comes to the workers defense. This leads to a type of Luther affair in Switzerland and the beginning of the reformation in Switzerland. Zwigli was [...]

Not sure where I am at on this as I do not have my notes in front of me, however, (so with complete train of consciousness) I was thinking about fantasy elements in sword and sorcery themed games this morning. Now, S&S settings all seem to have a particular feel. And that feel does not include orcs, elves, gnomes, halflings etc. Thinking of halflings in this regard, in a typical S&S setting or themed book, halflings would just die.

They would die because they are weak.

Nothing is weak like that or should be. On the other hand, [...]

Have I mentioned the Rumors of War Relaunch Project FUNDED?
See for yourself!

The new comic has started!

—
I mentioned before that I was working on stuff for Rumors and Subplots, and here’s the current list of objectives I’ve developed for each of the skill groups — warrior, rogue, and mage. Important to know before looking at these tables is a few things about the Skill system I’m using right now:

There are 12 Skills — break, charm, coerce, detect, discern, effort, escape, focus, logic, lore, sneak, and speed — which break down into three groups of four. Skills aren’t assigned by [...]

Following hot on the heels of the first volume of  Libram Mysterium, Pulp Mill Press is seeking submissions for a volume of horror-themed tales.

The submission guidelines explain: "'Horror' is used here in the loosest possible sense, and any story with a strong element of the macabre will be considered.  We are open to dark fantasy, science fiction, sword & planet, Lovecraftian horror, contemporary horror, or just about anything else so long as it maintains a pulp aesthetic."

As with the sword-and-sorcery-themed first volume, Pulp Mill Press aims to emulate, with this latest book, the collections of weird fiction published in the pulp magazines of the early- to mid-twentieth century.

Aspiring Poes, Smiths, Derleths and Lovecrafts have until early June to get their occult scribblings in to Pulp Mill Press.

Hey Guys, This week we talk all kinds of gaming news, and Aubrey and I talk a little bit about our trip on the Jonathan Coulton Cruise Crazy this past week. Some of the things we cover in this weeks show are YGO going to after school programs D&D Next Release Date? Bravest Warriors Co-op […]

Session 123, JCCC 4, and Gaming News GoingLast

With the latest round of health issues being past, the daily grind to bring entries to format has resumed. It’s expected to last for the entire year – possibly a bit more. Hopefully we’ll make a major upgrade to the site during 2014 using the accrued donations, but that may further delay the bring-old-entries-to-format daily routine.

So much work. On the other hand the enlarged, individual images improve our visibility on Google Images Search, and thus with people who collect and share pictures – say, on Pinterest or on forums. On the gripping hand there is now an… uncomfortable number of [...]

From Zaboobadidoo

gnome home?

During my temporary break from the rigours of the world, I did schedule in some GMing/playtesting for my little critters in Xenopedia. Did I simply run an ordinary game of Savage Worlds substituting other aliens with my own creations or write a new adventure specifically to test these buggers out? Nope, not quite.

For a few months now, I've had an idea to test out an action/survival style of play akin to Aliens or Dog Soldiers. While the intention was to try it out for a different, Optional System-style system, something about Savage Worlds seemed appropriate so I said, [...]

'Temple of the Moon Ritual' is the twelfth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found athttp://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 [...]

Instead of paying the internet bill, my wife bought boots. 
I can't access Blogger without jumping through about six different hoops or chewing through my phone's dataplan like Godzilla through an army tank.
So until we get it straightened out, here is a toupee that plays any Huey Lewis and the News song on request.  <center><iframe src="https://www.thatsthepowerofhair.com/embed/" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0"></iframe></center>

and 
Some more awesome (and not so awesome) stuff about 'The Stick of Truth' 
You all realize that this single screencap has ruined all Dire-"___" monsters for me forever, right?

Dungeon Fighter was released by Cranio Creations in 2011 and it got a reputation for being fiendishly difficult but terrific fun. With some very quirky artwork and the promise of giggles, it sets itself very firmly in the party game and "let's just play for the giggles and not the depth" area. The giggles are [...]

The post Video Unboxing – Dungeon Fighter and Fire At Will Expansion appeared first on G*M*S Magazine.

Found another interesting parallel between Hari Ragat and Tekumel. Well, it shouldn't be that surprising considering how M.A.R. Barker was sourcing inspirations from across South Asia, including Southern India and very likely the lands of Suvarnabumi (Southeast Asia) -- but I personally think this one rocks.

This is a Tsolyanu plaque from the Empire of the Petal Throne sourcebook. Note the script: it's one invented by the Professor.

And this is a tracing of the Laguna Copperplate, a real archaeological artifact from around 900 AD found in Laguna province, Luzon island. [...]

Please welcome to Farsight Blogger guest blogger Richard Williams, a fellow gamer, weird stuff enthusiast, writer and a really good friend of mine. Richard has a passion for art books and for a few weeks he'll be sharing his thoughts on some of his favourites.

With 'The Art of Thief' Titan publishing has brought together all the elements of their best works to make their finest concept art book yet. Stylish, minimalist front cover? check. Succinct yet still remarkably informative text? Check. Clear demonstration of the iterative design process? To a decent extent, check. Oodles and oodles of gorgeous [...]

Como j tinha anunciado anteriormente Endless Ways vai novamente marcar presena numa Lisboacon, no entanto vai ser um pouco diferente. Isto porque Endless Ways estar venda fisicamente por um valor bastante baixo. Um jogo completo de RPG totalmente em portugus por o mesmo preo de uma refeio de fast food. Alm disto tambm irei fazer uma sesso no Domingo dia 16 de Maro pelas 14:00, a sesso ir chamar-se A Casa no Bosque e uma aventura introdutria ao Endless Ways para personagens de nvel 2. Espero que dia 2 de Maio, quando seja lanado o Endless Ways digitalmente [...]