OldSkull d100 NPC Generator

 I've been a fan of Kent Kelly's OSR Castle Oldskull gaming supplements for awhile now.  I recently picked up one of his newer releases the Oldskull d100 NPC Generator.  You can find it HERE

     The blurb from the Amazon description, " This book is dedicated solely to helping you to generate ideas which will allow you sketch out a unique, interesting and evocative Non-Player Character … either an enemy or ally to the Player Character party, depending on your needs... This is a compact guide which will give you only the core ideas to build your NPC from, in 5 minutes or less. (The initial read-through will take you longer.)..."

      After doing a quick read through of the book I decided to test out the " 5 minutes or less" theory.  The results are the NPC below.

 Belladonna the Terrible

female human, Fighter, Level 3   Neutral Evil

Str 14 Int 11 Wis 7 Dex 13 Con 12 Cha 5

Personality : Neurotic

Likes: Night & Darkness, due to her hideous scarring, she has a preference for operating at night and in the shadows. She views a bright sunny day as others would view a dark, cold and foggy night.

Loot/Valuables - any given time (depending on her recent  jobs or who she has murdered in an alleyway) she has up to 200 gp in valuables on her.

+1 Chainmail, Potion of Animal Control (in a pinch she will use the potion to control any nearby dogs, rats etc.  to attack her foes). 

      Guess what? The NPC Generator passed the 5 minute test.  Other than a couple of quick rolls in my OSE Treasure book to determine her magical armor and potion, I was able to get the above NPC just from a series of a few random rolls in the NPC Generator book.  It took me longer to find a picture of her that I liked than to roll up the NPC. All she needs is some hit points and a bit more gear and she is ready to unleash on my campaign!  Kent Kelly recommends using the book in between games rather than as an "at the table during sessions" resource, but it can work for that too.  I would have never come up with a NPC like Belladonna without this resource and I'm glad I picked it up!  

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and you are able to get some gaming in with your friends!  

-Good Gaming!  B.B.

Sci Fi Sunday : StarSIEGE

How cool is this? Been a big fan of C&C since it came out, this is a new version of StarSiege (and free!), based off of Amazing Adventures. I wanted to like the original Starsiege, but it was just too different from the C&C core chassis for what my group and I were looking for. This one is much closer to my play style than the original. Looks like you will need the Amazing Adventures core rules and the companion to make full use of this supplement.  I've got a Stars Without Number Campaign going at the moment, so not sure when we will get a chance to test these out, but it is good to see the Troll Lords taking the Siege engine to the Stars!

Cthulhu Alphabet now on Kickstarter!

I try to avoid pushing too many Kickstarters on my blog, and try even harder to not over pledge to all the different ones out there. However, this is one I have already backed and can't wait to add to my GM library. The Cthulhu Alphabet! from Goodman Games.
I already own the Dungeon Alphabet and the Monster Alphabet books, and love them.  You might think they are strictly for DCC games, but I have successfully used them with a variety of game systems, from Labyrinth Lord to Castles & Crusades, 5E and even Mutant Future. I expect The Cthulhu Alphabet to be just as useful and versatile! 
Have a great weekend!

Game Store Bargain Treasures!

Went by the old Hobby Shop in town (one of the last ones these days). I haven't been there in awhile, and lo and behold found some cool stuff in the used RPG section.

The Night Below box is dinged up pretty badly, but all of the internal contents are there and are in excellent condition. I got all of this for under $15 bucks!
I had Night Below many years ago, but sold it off before I ever ran it.
Looking at this pile of coolness, I do believe I need to try to work all of these items together somehow into a cool campaign!  Night Below is a great Underdark Campaign, but using the Role Aids books to supplement it could make for an even more awesome setting.  Now to just decide what mechanic to use?  I'm leaning towards 5E, but Castles and Crusades has been calling out to me, and ACKS is a great system as well.  Decisions...decisions!
More to come!

Beasties

Thanks again to everyone who responded to my call for info regarding the ACKS RPG, tons of great information and feedback, The OSR is such a great community!
As I work to decide which game I want to run during my summer break from school I wanted to mention a new OSR product that actually arrived in the mail today.
Beasties,  a fun new monster book designed by the same author who put out the awesome Warriors of the Red Planet RPG. Beasties has :
"27 Monsters 6 NPC's 37 Drawings! 5 Maps 1 "Megadungeon" sample"

To add to the above info it is directly compatible with most any OSR-flavor you may be running. The author even includes some conversion notes here and there to make it easier for you to use with different OSR games. So as I go through my games, read reviews etc. I know that whatever OSR system I decide on for my summer game, I will be able to easily use the monsters from this book. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Adventurer Conqueror King System?

I'm about to have a bit of a break from Graduate School and would love to run a few sessions of something Fantasy-based before I have to jump back into the grind.  I'm considering giving 5E another shot, but the OSR calls to me.  I've been looking at my stack of C&C books and thought about going with that system but it might be fun to try something new, I really love Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea, but some of my potential players really enjoy playing non-human races. Blood and Treasure is also another great choice a new edition of it is due out "soon". I've been playing in a friend's Friday night Labyrinth Lord (W/ AEC) game so I'd like to run something different for the group. One OSR product that I have never played and don't know much about is the Adventurer Conqueror King System.  I'm curious to hear what folks think about it?  Any ideas, thoughts or input would be appreciated.  My biggest question is from what I have read it seems like you would need the campaign setting to make full use of all of the classes (especially the ones in the companion) is that the case? Or can I use the classes, rules and such from it in my own setting?
Thanks!

Monster Muscle Men Minis

She Who Must be obeyed decided we needed to go to some Estate Sales today.  I of course was overjoyed to accompany her on such an important Quest.  While wandering down old dusty halls, and successfully making my Save Vs. Mothballs, I made my Spot check and noticed a small bag of colored plastic treasure.  Snatching them up I asked the creepy lady working  the house how much?  When she said .50 cents for the lot, I couldn't pay her fast enough!

 

The Horde!

             Looks like Righteous Rude, Cleric of Kord is ready to rumble!

                                  Umm, this may take awhile!

The Dungeon Dozen

My print copy of The Dungeon Dozen arrived today.  All I can say is Wow!  This is a great resource for the game table.  If you are running a Fantasy game (any system) then you need to have this book.
Struggling for some ideas for your next session? Some random rolls in this book will jump start your creative juices!  Players take an unexpected turn during your session?  Grab your trusty d12 and make some rolls!  I wish I had spent a bit extra and got the hard cover, this book will be seeing a lot of use at my game table!

Mid South Con

This weekend was Mid South Con in Memphis, Tennessee.  I managed to get to go for part of Friday and a good bit of Saturday. I had fun, The Troll Lords had a booth and I got to talk C&C with some folks. Bought a copy of C&C Classic Monsters.  I played some Labyrinth Lord with an old gamer friend who was in town for the con, wherein we got to adventure in The Castle of the Mad Archmage (at least I think that was the adventure the DM never specified but the art he showed us looked like the image below)! Labyrinth Lord is so cool that we had time to roll up our own characters and still have time to play.  I was Biorn Biscuit Eater rotund fighter of renown, along with Graga the Dwarf and Lucky the Thief (Lucky wasn't so lucky he died down in the dungeon's depths)!  The dungeon was fun, I wish we'd had more time to explore it, but the DM had to go to another event so we wrapped up the session.

Boardgames were very popular this year, not my thing, but I did play Conquest of Nerath, and actually did pretty well. There were several Pathfinder Society games going, again not my thing.   I was disappointed in the dealer room, not much to choose from this year. But the money I didn't spend can be used to purchase The Dungeon Dozen!  All in all it was a fun weekend, the Labyrinth Lord session has me hankering to start running again. So if your in the Memphis area and want to toss some dice give me a buzz!

Fall of Man Kickstarter

Just learned about this Kickstarter:

The look and sound of it reminds me alot of Rifts (and I mean that in a good way!), but with the Pathfinder system.  Hmm...  I've kept my Kickstarter participation to a minimum, and Warlords of the Apocalypse is still potential "vaporware" at this point, although I think Owen K. Stephens is honestly trying to get it out.  But this Kickstarter is tempting, plus it looks like there will be conversion notes for Castles & Crusades among other games.  This has spiked my interest!  The character classes sound pretty cool!  Asphalt Samurai!  Sweet! I may have to get in on this bandwagon!
Oh you can check out the Kickstarter HERE.

 

Free RPG Day a la Castles & Crusades!

Free RPG Day is coming up!
June 15th to be exact.
Our local Hobby Shop is going to be celebrating it this year! Woo Hoo!
I've been asked to run a Castles & Crusades adventure, a system that I'm quit familiar with and enjoy running.  I picked up my DM ...er.. I mean Castle Keeper packet tonite, after dinner I'll be looking over the adventure. If your in the area (Memphis, Tennessee) please stop by! My game starts at 11:00.
This should be fun!!

High Praise for Zogorion!

I recently picked up the Zogorion Lord of the Hippogriffs zine/module!

Gotta say this is a great product, can't believe it was only $2.00 which includes shipping!
You can get it here. You can easily plug this into most Fantasy campaigns.  I can see myself using it in conjunction with some of the great sandbox stuff Christian has put out recently.

Castles & Crusades Sunday!

Off to play Castles & Crusades in a bit! This will be our third session.  The players have done very well so far.  Although Thunk Thunk the Half-Orc Barbarian came very close to death last time, only the timely use of a healing potion kept him from dying. Actually I believe he came close to death twice.  heh heh heh.
I'm using the Labyrinth Lord Module: Larm with some of my own twists and turns thrown in..

Good Gaming!

HELLCOW! ; an undead beastie for your OSR Games!

The wife and I went to see Underworld today, which got me thinking about vampires in games which gave me a crazy idea!!!
                                               
HELLCOW

AKA: Bessie, Blood-Beast, Cowled Cow, Farm Killer, Recreant Ruminant
No. Enc.: 1 (believed to be unique)
Alignment: Chaotic
AC: 3 (16)
HD: 7
Attacks: Bite (1d8 + level Drain), Butt 1d8
Saving Throw: F9
Morale: 10
Move: 240' (80') Fly: 180' (60')
X.P.: 2,8000
     Whispered legends tell of a dark night when the Lord of Vampires was unable to find a human victim to feed upon, one farmer had failed to lock up his favorite cow; Bessie, the Lord of Vampires took his fill from the poor beast, and it wasn't milk he was after! The farmer finding his beloved cow dead the next day couldn't bear to eat her so he buried her. Three nights later, Bessie Returned!!
     Bessie doesn't have quite the powers of a regular vampire, but for a cow she is one tough cookie, the fact that it was the Lord of Vampires himself that created her has given her some unusual abilities. First and foremost it wasn't believed that regular cattle could become vampiric, she proves this wrong. Her vampiric state has increased her intellect, though still below the average human in intelligence she is smarter than a regular cow (can set up ambushes; seek out specific targets etc…)

     Hellcow is immune to charm, hold and sleep spells. Electricity and cold does only half damage, she is unaffected by normal weapons, and regenerates 2 hit points per round. Like regular vampires she must take refuge from the sun during daylight hours and once in awhile she must sleep in an old barn to maintain her powers' vitality. Like other vampires she can assume gaseous form at will and can grow large bat-like wings enabling her to fly. Bessie can feed upon humans and cattle, but prefers to feed upon farmers, possibly due to some resentment towards her former owner who left her out that cold night so long ago. It is believed that Bessie cannot create more of her own kind. Bessie can summon 1d10x10 bats when underground, although she seldom goes underground. If she can summon wolves, she has never done so; perhaps being a cow in her previous life makes her uncomfortable around them. Bessie has on rare occasions exhibited the Charming Gaze of a vampire but those attempting to resist it get a +2 bonus to their roll, because..well she's a cow! Bessie has the other abilities and weaknesses of vampires with the addition that a weapon forged from a milk pail will strike her as though it were a magic weapon!
     Legend has it that Bessie's vampiric blood-infused milk has various restorative properties to those who drink it. It can purportedly Cure Diseases and even Restore energy levels lost from the attacks of other undead creatures (possibly even Bessie's own attacks) although its full effects are unknown.
Bessie has a distinctive laugh,"hahahamoooo!"
                                                     
Based on the Hellcow character from Marvel Comics, no copyright infringement is intended!

Got My DCC Poster! DIG IT!

For a limited time you can get the DCC RPG Poster (Dungeon Crawl Classics) sent to you for FREE!
Got mine in the mail today.  Now to find a place for it! For some reason my lovely wife won't let me hang it in den? Weird I know...

I haven't played the Beta of the DCC rules yet ( I think the game has been pushed back to April), but I think I'm going to try out the Critical & Fumble tables from the Beta version in our next C&C game.
"Dig It!"

Castles & Crusades Sunday!

Yaay!
Finally got to get some gaming in after an unscheduled break.
We played Session 2 of our Castles & Crusades game today.

I've adapted the great Labyrinth Lord Module; The Village of Larm for my C&C game.
Really not much adapting needed.  C&C is great for me, because everything in my gaming Library will work with it fairly easily, well 4E takes a bit more work....oh wait, I don't have ANY 4E products in my Gaming Library..that's right. heh heh heh.  Anyways, Larm is alot of fun, I encourage anyone looking for a basic but fun starting point for first level characters to check it out.  Course now my folk's characters have made mortal Enemies out of the Guido Brothers!  Never a good thing!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and hopefully you got to get some gaming in!
Have a great week!

Gaming, Comics and stuff

     My back is finally doing better, getting old is no fun.  Went by the Friendly Local Comic/Gaming Shop yesterday, figured I could pick up some reading material while I continue to mend.  Found a ton of stuff! I hadn't been there in awhile, the Pathfinder shelves were packed! I think they had some new 4E D&D items, but I don't even look at those anymore.  I resisted picking up more Pathfinder product, don't get me wrong Paizo puts out awesome stuff, I was just looking for something different. Right before I got hurt I ran a session of Castles & Crusades which was a blast, I'll try to post about it soon, probably gonna play it some more, but I was looking for something different to read and get inspired by... 
I found it on the Comic Book aisle! 
DC has relaunched some of their titles, I won't get into that, I know some folks aren't happy about it but I was always more of a Marvel guy so it didn't bug me, + after they kept going up in price I quit buying them so much...anyways I spotted a couple of titles on the shelf that looked interesting to me. First up:
                         Frankenstein Agent of Shade

This is pretty sweet! It features Frankenstein with Guns! and even has some from the old Creature Commandos line that I loved back in the day.  This has some great inspiration for gaming, heck I ran something similar with this for D20 Modern many years ago...and if you wanted to lose the guns I can see it working with D&D as well. Heck with Pathfinder having the Gunslinger class you wouldn't even have to lose the guns really... I'm gonna have to follow this series for sure...
But what really sparked my interest was what I found next!  Those who follow my blog will know I've been on a bit of a Sci Fi kick of late, well with my Gamer ADD I'm all over the place...anyways, I spied something that really got my attention...check out the cover!

Two Awesome things Combined; Star Trek with Legion of Super Heroes!  Yeah, I know I said I was more into Marvel, but the Legion were always cool, I enjoy Cosmic Super Heroes and the Legion has always sparked my interest.  This is a six issue mini-series, where an alternate universe is created and a team of Legionairres and a Star Trek away team have to set things right.  Instead of the Federation we have the Imperial Planets of Terra, which is a mixture of Star Trek and Legion of Super Heroes!!!  I was always a fan of the Star Trek Mirror Universe also so this makes it even cooler to me!  Here's another teaser...

Awhile back I did several alien races from Marvel Comics for the Stars Without Number RPG even worked up The Dreamer race directly from the Legion of Super Heroes for the game! I'm going to be following this mini-series for sure, I think this will be the perfect background for a great SWN Campaign, instead of the Terran Mandate mentioned in the SWN Rules, the Imperial Planets of Terra can be slipped right in there, using familiar things yet with very different twists.  Will probably still have The Scream occur, but can work in Star Trek races and Legion races in a new setting! Woo Hoo!
Could also use this with X-plorers, but for some reason I'm seeing this work better with the SWN rules...
Hmmmm things to ponder.. Feel free to comment, would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.
Anyways I guess I've rambled on enough! Hope everyone has a safe and awesome Sunday!

Skull Tower Part Deux!

I turned my back and that dastardly Necromancer Darbin the Deadly has done some major expansions to his Tower, would seem he has somehow raised a plateau to look out upon his domain!

Wonder what this vile Necromancer will do next??!!

Tome of Monsters : for the Pathfinder RPG

I recently stopped at my FLGS and was surprised to find a new release on the shelf that I had no idea was even coming out for the Pathfinder RPG.  The Tome of Monsters by 4 Winds Fantasy Gaming.

The official blurb,"The Tome of Monsters details 123 different monsters and animals, and includes information for creating another 29 variants of some of those creatures. Among the creatures are several templates and four playable races, and most of the animals include stats for using that creature as an animal companion or a familiar..."

My FLGS does new releases at 20% off and it was payday so of course I had to pick it up.  : )
I'm glad I did, it has some interesting beasties that I will definately be using for my games.  We are currently in Castles & Crusades mode, but it's easy to adapt stuff to that system with minimal to zero effort.  + I'm sure at some point we will be playing Pathfinder again so there ya go.  : )
I'm also still naively hoping that Warlords of the Apocalypse for Pathfinder will see the light of day..*sigh* has it been a year already since it was announced and I first posted about it??  Well I'll save that for another post for another day.  Anyways, if your looking for a Pathfinder Beastie book, you might want to check this one out.
Good Gaming -B.

Castles & Crusades Sale!

Still plugging along on getting ready for my Castles & Crusades Campaign, work has caused me to delay its start, but soon...soon!
Anyways, its a great time to pick up the C&C core rules for anyone that has been fence sitting!
The Troll Lords are currently running a great sale, you can currently get the Players Handbook and Monsters & Treasure in Hardback for $20 + shipping!!  I couldn't resist this deal, I was still using the old Monsters & Treasure book and I can always use an extra copy of the Players Handbook at my gametable. 

Edit: Forgot to mention you also get the adventure module Shadows of the Halfling Hall!