Number Encountered: 1
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 5 (descending AC)
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 1d8, poison
Save: F3
Morale: 8
Hoard Class: VI
Experience Points: 135
Chandelier Spiders live in long empty mansions and keeps. Their cobwebbed-covered long limbs and slender body greatly resemble a neglected chandelier. This camouflage allows them to surprise their target, descending directly on them from above and injecting them with a paralyzing poison. Once a target is paralyzed, this hideous monster quickly ascends to the ceiling where the target is quickly cocooned and savored until the next unfortunate party member happens by. Chandelier Spiders have learned to attack the trailing party member, often retreating to the ceiling's safety before the leading others even know someone is missing.
Jul 29, 2012
I'm Sad
That I only have a hundred or so followers. I'm sad that James M has only a bit above a grand. My hobby. My select game. My dungeon that others, at times, tinker in and and enjoy on weekends begins to fade.
Oh.
Who am I kidding? I can't compete with iPods, xBoxes, and PC's, right? Their fans present a vapid engagement that is unlikely to be shattered by the demands of imagination. Am I right?
I suppose I am.
Oh.
Who am I kidding? I can't compete with iPods, xBoxes, and PC's, right? Their fans present a vapid engagement that is unlikely to be shattered by the demands of imagination. Am I right?
I suppose I am.
Jul 28, 2012
Wait A Minute...
I was drinking and eBaying the other night and ended up with Road Striker 2, the Mekton 2 supplement that includes Cyberpunk 2020 conversions. It was part of a lot of rpg books and was one that, frankly, I wasn't all too excited about. I flipped through the seventy pages and came across the adventure in the back titled "Arcadian Deathroad". I was looking through the adventure when my eye caught this picture:
Which kind of reminded me of this:
And to make it even more obvious I found this character whose name is "Crocker".
Who couldn't in any way be influenced by this Crockett:
I, myself, would never stoop to such a level.
Which kind of reminded me of this:
And to make it even more obvious I found this character whose name is "Crocker".
Who couldn't in any way be influenced by this Crockett:
I also found this guy:
Who can't possibly be influenced by this "Deckard". I mean, come on! The names are totally different.
Jul 26, 2012
What Movie = Your D&D Game?
If you could pick only one flick to summarize, reflect, or generalize either the D&D game you run or the game you'd like to run, what would it be?
As for myself, the choice is easy. Read what you will into it, but I pick Your Highness. It has everything I strive for in my games: Evil antagonist, magic, monsters, quests, and a nude Natalie Portman.
As for myself, the choice is easy. Read what you will into it, but I pick Your Highness. It has everything I strive for in my games: Evil antagonist, magic, monsters, quests, and a nude Natalie Portman.
Jul 25, 2012
New Review for Blasphemous Brewery of Pilz!
Bryce Lynch on his Ten Foot Pole blog recently published a review of my first Labyrinth Lord adventure module, THE BLASPHEMOUS BREWERY OF PILZ! It is not entirely praising of PILZ!, but is a fantastically accurate and insightful piece. Having read his other excellent reviews, I would have expected nothing less. I heartily suggest giving his blog a visit.
PILZ! is my most reviewed adventure. Here are another four:
My third adventure, THE VEILED INVOCATION is available in both PDF and, for the first time, in print as well. The first run is nearly sold out, so if you're interested, grab one quickly!
Jul 24, 2012
First Print Run Selling!
If you're still on the fence about ordering the first print run of my adventure The Veiled Invocation, check out the OSR blogs below! You also might want to decide sooner rather than later, my first run of thirty is going quickly!
Matthew over at Rended Press does a great job of explaining exactly what you get for your few bucks and why it's original.
Tim Shorts over at Gothridge Manor (also know as the cool Dude who published The Manor) helps get the word out, too.
You can also check out this video to see exactly what it is you're getting for about what you pay for a latte' at Starbucks.
Matthew over at Rended Press does a great job of explaining exactly what you get for your few bucks and why it's original.
Tim Shorts over at Gothridge Manor (also know as the cool Dude who published The Manor) helps get the word out, too.
You can also check out this video to see exactly what it is you're getting for about what you pay for a latte' at Starbucks.
Ready to give it a try?
My First Print Product For Sale
Several weeks ago I wrote, illustrated, and published my third fantasy role-playing game via PDF at RPGNow. It's called The Veiled Invocation and is designed to take a first level party through the sixth level. I included plenty of original illustrations, monsters, and player hooks, but the real value comes with the non-player characters. Each major character in the story arc is based on a real-world old-school gamer, many of which have their own blogs.
I generally don't get the traffic and sales of bigger publishers, but I put my heart into my products and personally enjoy them. Besides, I can't get too worked up over a $3.99 Dungeons and Dragons game. After giving it some thought, I've decided to release The Veiled Invocation as a print product. If you're into supporting such a product or your like fantasy gaming, check out the video below. I do a complete flip through with author commentary. It should, at least, let you know if it's the type of product in which you may be interested.
I selected my third adventure rather the first two, which feature far more illustrations, because it lends itself particularly well to book format despite having a somewhat bland first glance. The central story hook revolves around a mysterious and magical spell-book. The player characters must explore dangerous caverns, face down hideous monsters, and solve mind-bending riddles to assemble the book. I have included the actual illustrated spellbook, itself, at the back of the adventure as a player hand-out.
Jul 23, 2012
There And Back Again... and Again
As a father of a toddler, gamer, and fan of The Hobbit, I got a kick out of Martin's recent post about reading The Hobbit to his three-year old daughter. I would like to bring it to your attention. You can find it by clicking HERE.
Reading The Hobbit may be a major Grognard milestone. Check THIS out. I, on the other hand, must not be a very good parent. Mainly because I don't feel my daughter is ready. She's so darn feisty at bedtime that I'm lucky to get through a reading of Froggy Goes To Bed, let alone a few pages of a chapter book!
Reading The Hobbit may be a major Grognard milestone. Check THIS out. I, on the other hand, must not be a very good parent. Mainly because I don't feel my daughter is ready. She's so darn feisty at bedtime that I'm lucky to get through a reading of Froggy Goes To Bed, let alone a few pages of a chapter book!
*sigh*
Gencon Pub Crawl
If you're attending Gencon 2012 you likely know that it is partly sponsored by Sun King Brewery. Sadly, the Sun King Brewery sample room is scheduled to be closed for renovations all through Gencon. Since I enjoy beer and am taking a friend who isn't all that into gaming, I put together an Indy pub crawl based on beer. All of these places either offer their own, or those that are fairly unique.
Broad Ripple Brewpub
Broad Ripple Brewpub
Tomlinson Tap Room (couple blocks from monument circle)
Rock Bottom Brewery (about a block from monument circle)
And of course, Sun King Brewery is co-sponsering gencon this year.
If you want to check out the Indy craft beer scene, this website is a decent place to start. This is a good one, too.
Be sure to check out my adventure set in a brewery: THE BLASPHEMOUS BREWERY OF PILZ! I'm running it at Gencon as well!
Note: Feel free to join me for a cold one. And don't worry. I don't get drunk. I get awesome.
Jul 20, 2012
Lady Lamprey
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Lady Lamprey
Number Encountered: One (unique)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90' (30') 120' swim
Armor Class: 9 (same as unarmored human)
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 2 (lamprey, tentacle attack)
Damage: see below, 1d6 drain
Save: F3
Morale: 5
Hoard Class: XXII
XP: 65
A disgruntled god transformed an arrogant and beautiful woman into a slug-like lamprey woman. She now lives beneath the waves feasting on aquatic animals and unlucky fishermen. She stealthily boards ships and attacks by wrapping an appendage around her target. As this is happening, individual lampreys slide off and secure a strong grip on any exposed flesh. The lampreys do 1 HP of damage each twenty four hours. However, removing them is exceedingly painful, taking one round and doing 1d6 damage. Lady Lamprey's own attack drains 1d6 HP each round from the target and adds them to her own HP. If reduced to 0 HP, Lady Lamprey's body continues to quiver and spasm for three rounds.
Jul 18, 2012
Digital Orc Giveaway!
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| Are you an Orc? |
So, how do you win?
You need to do two things. First, make sure you're a member of this blog. Second, you need to give me an address to which I may send these amazing prizes. You can submit addresses privately by clicking HERE.
Good Luck!
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| A picture of the ultra-rare Russian D&D module DDD. Only three in known existence. These suckers go for thousands on eBay. |
This post was brought to you by the following equation:
BEER + EBAY = PRIZES FOR YOU!
Jul 17, 2012
I Caught Cthulhu!
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| My awesome brother and I and a 42" Muskie. I'm on the right in the green shirt. |
Recently I drove up to Ontario Canada to go fishing with my brothers and dad. We had a great time trolling for trophy muskie and delicious small-mouth bass. As all our get-togethers, the time went too fast. We caught a lot of fish and I finally caught a 40"+ muskie. Several in fact.
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| Small Mouth Bass = Delicious Dinner! |
We noticed that many landed Muskie have parasitic lampreys attached. As we spent over eight hours a day trolling the beautiful waters of Lake Saint Claire, my mind wandered back to D&D now and again, and a new monster was born: Lady Lamprey.
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| Freaky little dudes. |
I'm still working on her stat block, but you can get a good sense of what she's about looking at the pictures below. She is a unique (cursed, perhaps?) encounter and tends to surprise and drain life using her many lampreys.
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| My original sketch for Lady Lamprey. |
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| My newer drawing (unfinished). |
Jul 16, 2012
Viking Helmets: Bros, Babes, & Beer
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| Two of my three favorite "B" things: Babe (wife) & Beer! |
Just like last year, I ran the Warrior Dash in central Ohio this year. It's about the closest I like to get to LARPing. I did fairly well, but hope to perform better next year. The t-shirts and medals were way cooler this year and I kept my viking hat clean. Last year I ran with it on and by the last mile it resembled a dead muskrat... and smelled much like one as well.
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| Two of my three favorite "B" things: Bro's & Beer! (That's me on the far right... keep looking... wait, what were YOU thinking?) |
Jul 9, 2012
Thanks Tim (or) Another Reason to Love the OSR
Got my copy of The Manor in the mail today. Awesome yellow kind of reminded me of the yellow in the original Dungeon Masters Guide, pretty cool. Issue two is twenty-four pages of all-around role-playing coolness and utility. Tim is obviously getting pretty good at Publisher, 'cause the formatting is much better (read: less blank space/more stuff).
Tim has also been a very generous and consistent blogger friend over the past year. In this issue, he placed an ad for my module, THE HORRENDOUS HEAP OF SIXTEEN CITIES! on the coveted back page. This was exceedingly kind of him. It's another reason I started and keep this little gaming blog; an awesome community.
Tim, I hope The Manor continues to sell well and thanks! Keep up the good work.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Vamp...
I just finished reading Anne Rice's new novel about werewolves called The Wolf Gift. Having read and enjoyed Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat during middle school, I was optimistic at first. Having now finished I find many thematic similarities between the vampire and werewolf stories Rice weaves. Ultimately, however, both the story and mythos in Gift prove wanting.
In Interview, Rice immediately sets up the theme of grief with Louie and his zealous brother. The grief is a form of tension created through the feeding nature of a vampire. In the case of Gift, Rice attempts the same thing, only with werewolves. Does evil exist? How do you live with yourself for all eternity sustaining yourself through immoral means? Does god exist? Rice raises these questions repeatedly through character dialogue and monologue, but not with rigor and certainly not elegance.
Omitting needless words is a key component of elegance. Rice uses cumbersome, lengthy, and unnecessary dialogue to peruse vague and disconnected ideas. She tells instead of shows, even when we meet characters for the first time. She uses generic descriptions such as "person" as a way to describe people, again, even for the first time. She ends character monologues with "did he not" making for very confusing reading, especially when the veracity is in question.
Looking beyond the grammar, however, we see not not only similarities between the two monster myths of vampires and werewolves, but between Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyers as well. With both authors religion is a major part of their personal lives. Both authors reflect religious tension in their writing through the use of guilt. Both authors attend to the thematic elements of immortality, atheism, and the nature of evil. Interestingly, Interview, when it was first published, was also marketed towards women.
Vampire: The Masquerade became extremely popular, in part, because it offered story and character-driven role-playing against a highly detailed political environment as opposed to the typical dungeon crawl of D&D or mass warfare of Warhammer. This reflected the changing nature of the vampire, which was deeply enriched if not outright initiated by Anne Rice.
I respect that Rice brought a different angle on the vampire novel, characterization, and even role-playing indirectly, but I don't think she's done the same with The Wolf Gift. That's too bad, because werewolves are due for a revision and comeback, don't you think?
In Interview, Rice immediately sets up the theme of grief with Louie and his zealous brother. The grief is a form of tension created through the feeding nature of a vampire. In the case of Gift, Rice attempts the same thing, only with werewolves. Does evil exist? How do you live with yourself for all eternity sustaining yourself through immoral means? Does god exist? Rice raises these questions repeatedly through character dialogue and monologue, but not with rigor and certainly not elegance.
Omitting needless words is a key component of elegance. Rice uses cumbersome, lengthy, and unnecessary dialogue to peruse vague and disconnected ideas. She tells instead of shows, even when we meet characters for the first time. She uses generic descriptions such as "person" as a way to describe people, again, even for the first time. She ends character monologues with "did he not" making for very confusing reading, especially when the veracity is in question.
"Yes, I did come to that. I admit it. I did. Slowly, I did come to that." (p.376)
"Felix and Thibault were watching him as though they were mightily intrigued and couldn't guess what he meant to say." (p.373)
""I've got some supper for you on the stove," said the handyman, a tall lean gray-eyed person, very weathered and wrinkled..." (p.106)
"There was a thin webbing between what had been his fingers. But he had thumbs, still, did he not?" (p.71)
Looking beyond the grammar, however, we see not not only similarities between the two monster myths of vampires and werewolves, but between Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyers as well. With both authors religion is a major part of their personal lives. Both authors reflect religious tension in their writing through the use of guilt. Both authors attend to the thematic elements of immortality, atheism, and the nature of evil. Interestingly, Interview, when it was first published, was also marketed towards women.
...and since this is a gameblog...
Vampire: The Masquerade became extremely popular, in part, because it offered story and character-driven role-playing against a highly detailed political environment as opposed to the typical dungeon crawl of D&D or mass warfare of Warhammer. This reflected the changing nature of the vampire, which was deeply enriched if not outright initiated by Anne Rice.
I respect that Rice brought a different angle on the vampire novel, characterization, and even role-playing indirectly, but I don't think she's done the same with The Wolf Gift. That's too bad, because werewolves are due for a revision and comeback, don't you think?
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| Google search results by keyword. Blue is "vampire", yellow is "zombie", and red is "werewolf". The large yellow spike coincides with the zombie-like murder in Miami. |
Note: If you are reading via Google Reader, the embedded timeline will not appear. Also, if I could find the month and day, I included it. Otherwise, I set it to January first.
Jul 6, 2012
This D&D Module Stinks!
Literally!
I realized I never posted this video under my "Shopping" tab where you can find my three for-sale modules.
Jul 5, 2012
A Door For Your Dungeon
Note: This door will only work if your players speak in character often. If not, you need to have them start in order to move past this interesting threshold.
The first character to step into the room notices that the door on the opposite wall closes quickly. It is a stone door that heavily slides down, landing with a solid-sounding bass thud. The door is impervious to all strikes, both magical and physical. However, the door magically retracts a few inches each time a particular word is said out loud. The DM may create the word, but it should be a fairly common one so that, as the characters discuss the situation, it is likely they will say it from time to time. The players, acting as their characters, must say this word out loud for it to work.
IMO the DM should not ever divulge that it is the word triggering the door. Part of the fun is having the characters do it. Heck, even if they don't figure it out explicitly, as long as they keep running their gums the door will eventually open. I reckon it takes at least ten time saying the word for the largest member of a typically diverse dungeon delving party to crawl underneath.
To add an extra bit of surprise, the DM can also create a retraction word that causes the door to move down a couple of inches. It should also be common, for the same reason given above.
When I used this, I made the term "door" cause it to open and "floor" to close.
I got the idea for this door after playing Click Click Bang in college.
The first character to step into the room notices that the door on the opposite wall closes quickly. It is a stone door that heavily slides down, landing with a solid-sounding bass thud. The door is impervious to all strikes, both magical and physical. However, the door magically retracts a few inches each time a particular word is said out loud. The DM may create the word, but it should be a fairly common one so that, as the characters discuss the situation, it is likely they will say it from time to time. The players, acting as their characters, must say this word out loud for it to work.
IMO the DM should not ever divulge that it is the word triggering the door. Part of the fun is having the characters do it. Heck, even if they don't figure it out explicitly, as long as they keep running their gums the door will eventually open. I reckon it takes at least ten time saying the word for the largest member of a typically diverse dungeon delving party to crawl underneath.
To add an extra bit of surprise, the DM can also create a retraction word that causes the door to move down a couple of inches. It should also be common, for the same reason given above.
When I used this, I made the term "door" cause it to open and "floor" to close.
I got the idea for this door after playing Click Click Bang in college.
Jul 4, 2012
Knee High By The 4th Of July
I just got back from a whirlwind trip through Indiana and Ohio visiting family and having an all-around good time. I got a new gun: A Remington 870 Wingmaster! (I've been wanting a pump action for a long time.) I ate some delicious home-grown food, drank some wonderful cabs, and enjoyed a lot of setting on the front porch of my childhood home in the country watching my daughter chase fireflies in a deepening purple dusk. Even at three years old, she managed to catch a few and bring them up to me to create firefly rings just like I did at her age.
On the six hour ride home, while my wife read her new Kinsella book and my daughter watched Shark Tales and Ant Bully I had a lot of time to reflect. It was kind of nice, actually, to zone out with my thoughts and the hum of tires on route 30 as mile after mile of corn, wheat, and soybeans whizzed past. I didn't think about work, which was unusual, but instead let my thoughts drift from gaming, to family, to home projects, to fishing, to the book I'm currently reading (Anne Rice's Wolf Gift).
I found myself wondering why I keep a gaming blog and even giving serious thought to its termination. I have a lot of different interests about which I could blog. My family, home projects, and book/DVD/Xbox collection certainly give me plenty of distraction. I love reading and watching cheesy horror movies. I play video games nearly as often as I tabletop game. I enthusiastically attend beer and wine tastings fairly regularly. During the summer I fish way more than I game (lookout all 40"+ Muskie, I'm gunning for you!) All of these topics would make decent blogs and keep me writing.
I think a big part of my decision to stick with a single gaming-focused blog is a growing awareness that role-playing gamers represent a small and possibly shrinking group. There are thousands and thousands of literature, hunting, fishing, and video gaming blogs, but relatively few tabletop gaming blogs. Even fewer if you focus on old-school approaches (which I often do). Surely this isn't the only reason, or taken collectively, the most pertinent. It is, however, one I kept coming back to in my thoughts as the highway asphalt whirred beneath my butt.
And while I enjoy adding my own brand of monsters, maps, and modules to an online pool of generally friendly DIY gamers, counting myself a contributing member is a greater reward. Meeting and working with cool guys like Tim Shorts, Matthew Schmeer, and Martin Thomas (just to name a few) is a really good time. In a world of sixty-dollar video games built on an expensive infrastructure of wifi, networks, Xboxes, HDMI cables, HD flatscreens, and Xbox Live accounts, it's wholly worthwhile to pull up a totally free game like Labyrinth Lord and physically set around a large wooden kitchen table or folding basement card table and interact with other human beings for more than few seconds and without being distracted by our tv's, cellphones, beeping GPS systems, and myriad of other life-saving and enhancing, but addictive and possibly de-socializing, devices.
So, yeah. Happy of 4th of July to all my readers. The price of corn is going up. The lightening bugs are really out in the fields. My daughter has an established summer tan and sleeps deeply each night. The neighbors come over for grilling and chilling every few days. And from time to time, you'll hear the clatter of dice and laughter coming from the pleasantly cool basement.
On the six hour ride home, while my wife read her new Kinsella book and my daughter watched Shark Tales and Ant Bully I had a lot of time to reflect. It was kind of nice, actually, to zone out with my thoughts and the hum of tires on route 30 as mile after mile of corn, wheat, and soybeans whizzed past. I didn't think about work, which was unusual, but instead let my thoughts drift from gaming, to family, to home projects, to fishing, to the book I'm currently reading (Anne Rice's Wolf Gift).
I found myself wondering why I keep a gaming blog and even giving serious thought to its termination. I have a lot of different interests about which I could blog. My family, home projects, and book/DVD/Xbox collection certainly give me plenty of distraction. I love reading and watching cheesy horror movies. I play video games nearly as often as I tabletop game. I enthusiastically attend beer and wine tastings fairly regularly. During the summer I fish way more than I game (lookout all 40"+ Muskie, I'm gunning for you!) All of these topics would make decent blogs and keep me writing.
I think a big part of my decision to stick with a single gaming-focused blog is a growing awareness that role-playing gamers represent a small and possibly shrinking group. There are thousands and thousands of literature, hunting, fishing, and video gaming blogs, but relatively few tabletop gaming blogs. Even fewer if you focus on old-school approaches (which I often do). Surely this isn't the only reason, or taken collectively, the most pertinent. It is, however, one I kept coming back to in my thoughts as the highway asphalt whirred beneath my butt.
And while I enjoy adding my own brand of monsters, maps, and modules to an online pool of generally friendly DIY gamers, counting myself a contributing member is a greater reward. Meeting and working with cool guys like Tim Shorts, Matthew Schmeer, and Martin Thomas (just to name a few) is a really good time. In a world of sixty-dollar video games built on an expensive infrastructure of wifi, networks, Xboxes, HDMI cables, HD flatscreens, and Xbox Live accounts, it's wholly worthwhile to pull up a totally free game like Labyrinth Lord and physically set around a large wooden kitchen table or folding basement card table and interact with other human beings for more than few seconds and without being distracted by our tv's, cellphones, beeping GPS systems, and myriad of other life-saving and enhancing, but addictive and possibly de-socializing, devices.
So, yeah. Happy of 4th of July to all my readers. The price of corn is going up. The lightening bugs are really out in the fields. My daughter has an established summer tan and sleeps deeply each night. The neighbors come over for grilling and chilling every few days. And from time to time, you'll hear the clatter of dice and laughter coming from the pleasantly cool basement.
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| My daughter chasing fireflies. |
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