In a little less than a week, NTRPG Con 2016 will be underway, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Sniderman will be there! I'll have my laptop with me and, as I like to do during my convention sojourns, I'll be live-blogging every day from the event to keep you informed and entertained as to the goings-on at one of the foremost OSR gaming conventions! Stay tuned next week as I post a daily missive from "Deep Inna Hearta"!
Oh, and on a side note: This post marks Post Number 997. So it appears that The Savage AfterWorld will hit Post #1,000 while I'm at NTRPG Con! What wacky plans might I have in store for that milestone? Stay tuned!
As readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of DIY RPGs, and I love to discover, play, and review those games that have that self-produced aesthetic. Today, I'm reviewing the first self-produced boardgame I've played, and it's becoming a favorite here at the house.
Wayward is a fantastic boardgame by Bruce Hirst of Hirst Arts, better known for fantasy architecture models and molds. Bruce not only designed the game, he also created it, produced it, manufactured it, and sells it directly from his website and at conventions. (Click here if you'd like to see Bruce's site where he discussed how he created Wayward!)
Before I blather on with my opinions, you'd probably like to see the game in action and hear about the gameplay. Well, Bruce has also thoughtfully produced a playthrough video of the game, so rather than having me summarize the game, I'll let him show you how the game works...
To summarize for those folks who don't want to watch a video, you and up to 5 players explore a huge 24" x 36" gameboard. Each turn, you have 12 "actions" in which to explore a forbidden dungeon or medieval village, amassing as much gold as you can while you fight monsters, dodge traps, and explore multiple "special rooms" with their own unique rules and gameplay. Once the endgame is triggered (usually by the first person to accumulate 100 gold pieces), the players have one remaining turn to escape the gameboard through the exit. Failing to do so, and the players are caught by the guards and tossed into jail, losing the game.
I stumbled across a discussion of Wayward on Facebook and, from the description, knew I had to get my hands on it. The initial description gave me a Dungeon! vibe, which is a good thing, as it's one of my favorite games. However, when the huge box arrived and I unpacked the contents, I saw that this game had much, much deeper gameplay.
Rather than just randomly move about the board, the game encourages you to explore and plan your actions. (After all, those 12 actions go fast on your turn!) According to the rulebook, the board is deliberately designed to be "busy" with a lot of objects and things to inspect. Some of those items can be retrieved from the room you're exploring...if you see them before moving on! Grabbing a weapon lets you try to push past the guards and monsters lurking in the shadows. You can access secret passageways to other parts of the complex if you've found a torch. Locked doors will swing open if you have the right lockpick in hand (There are three different ones!) Hourglasses give you more actions on your turn, and tarot cards allow you to reroll the dice. And as you explore, you have to keep an eye on the ever-dwindling endgame goal, as you'll never make it out in time if you're on the other side of the board!
Speaking of the board, look at the size of it! When you've explored every nook and cranny of the dungeon, flip it over and explore the city above ground.
One side features Darrowell Dungeon...
And the other side features Darrowell City!
With two huge areas, there's a lot of explore. And there are a TON of things you can do during the course of play in either area, as there are many unique rooms and zones to discover and explore. Each of these special rooms is marked with a brazier icon with a unique number. You then refer to the rulebook (or the hardy reference card) to determine the specific actions available to you in that area. Fighting a dragon, pickpocketing a guard, and outrunning a flaming gauntlet are just some of the challenges you'll face in the game's 25 special areas. (But I won't discuss them here, and I'll let you discover them for yourself.)
The quality of the game's various parts is very high quality and are built to last. The player inventory cards are laminated for durability, and the gameboard is made of a heavy vinyl. The player pawns, endgame marker, and "retrieval pillar" are nicely designed and cast. And you can spend a LOT of time just looking over the gameboard, as it's truly magnificent. Here are a few scenes (from the creator's website):
One thing that drives me nuts when learning a new game is trying to grok the rules, especially if you're trying to learn the game on your own without an experienced player there to help you out. To combat any rule confusion from new players, Bruce has thoughtfully uploaded videos on his website showing the various rules and gameplay that a player may encounter, walking you through the nuances of the game. So if a special room's conditions are confusing, watch the video for the corresponding room as the game's designer walks you through.
This delightful fantasy adventure boardgame offers plenty of replay value and hours upon hours of dungeon-crawling adventure. And for only $35 plus shipping? It's a no-brainer. I'll be bringing my copy to North Texas RPG in a month. If you want to try it out, look for me there! Sniderman says, "Check it out."
The Savage AfterWorld presents rules, adventures, supplements, and discussion for many RPGs, focusing on the Old School Renaissance, DCC, MCC, Mutant Future, Labyrinth Lord, and the classic Pacesetter system. (There may also be some boardgame-related material too!) If you wish to contact me, email gameagain at gmail dot com (Replace 'at' and 'dot' with correct symbols though...)
Dead In The Water for MCC RPG Now Available!
Available at DriveThroughRPG! Click the cover for ordering information!
Creepy Comic Conversion Issues 1-5 for Cryptworld in PDF and Print
Available at DriveThroughRPG! Click the covers for ordering information!
Sketchbook of Grotesqueries for Cryptworld
Click the cover to download the free Cryptworld supplement!
Quill Noir and Forgotten Case Files
Available at Drive Through RPG! Click the covers for ordering information!
The World of Thundarr the Barbarian for Mutant Future
Click the cover to download the free World of Thundarr supplement!
Time Flies
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Today marks the sixth anniversary of my House of Worms *Empire of the Petal
Throne *campaign. The campaign began in March 2015 with six players, four
of ...
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In a world where supervillains are commonplace, two estranged childhood
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It's *GM Appreciation Day* today and I just want to say, I appreciate you!
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Helmet of Hindsight and Foresight Koram slipped the weathered copper helmet
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You know that MyHeritage service that creepily animates your photo of your
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Alias ...
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Wow it’s been a long time since I’ve given this blog some attention. I
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The Gathering of Heroes
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Richard LeBlanc posted this morning that Lulu.com finally responded to his
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I have come to dislike maps.
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*Drawing maps ...
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I skipped a “Year in Review” type post this year, in no small part because
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After some reflection, I have decided to no longer update this blog. I
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*The Sphere in Judgement, a common motif in the art of the Western Church,
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*Escape of the Dead 2* is a game for 1 player where the player plays as a
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Ihr lieben Seifenkistlinge. Morgen beginnt die digitale, da coronale, SPIEL
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As a bonafide grownup for more than a decade after finishing law school,
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Rangers are human fighters who patrol the wilderness protecting the
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Closing Comments.
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commen...
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Apropos nothing, how I run a point crawl.
Make a master map of a constrained area like an island, a valley, a
plateau, a big oasis, ECT...
Make a less comp...
WIZARDS OF POHJOLA
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Init +0
Melee Atk
• sword or dagger +1 (1d5 or 1d3)
Ranged Atk
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5')
AC 14
HD 12d...
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In what's become a bit of a tradition now around New Year's Day, the
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"...infectious diseases, as we all know, have spread beyond limit; in
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every vestige ...
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*As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded
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James A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Video
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A beloved father, devoted friend, and D&D Dungeon Master extraordinaire. We
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The Kickstarter for *Zorro: The Roleplaying Game* closes in three days;
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Christmas Eve with Full Moon Entertainment 2018
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Christmas Eve is here again! This is a night of personal and family
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Amazing RPG Fun ...
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For months, I’ve been slowly moving entries from my old blog (here) to my
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"BARN DANCE" — AN OCTOBER VIGNETTE
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*Barn Dance*
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Hey, I'm back. I plan on posting regularly, albeit less frequently that
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authored by "A...
Advanced Labyrinth Lord now Kickstarting!
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On Saturday I launched the Kickstarter for *Advanced Labyrinth Lord*, which
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volum...
[Gaia] Aktuelle Timeline
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Nachdem es einige Fragen bezüglich der aktuellen Timeline von Gaia gab,
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Natürlic...
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Infinite Third
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Once more I am proud to present to you Billy Mays III's excellent musical
voyage. His music is hard to define as it explores avenues, rhythms and
concepts ...
Free OSR of the Week: Revised MAZES and MINOTAURS
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Looking for a free OSR game with a Greek Mythos theme?
Look no further than MAZES and MINOTAURS. Three core books plus a
companion, all free pdfs.
http:/...
Harbinger
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Since I last checked in I have played some *Labyrinth Lord* off and on, but
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cam...
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hosting plan. Don’t worry. We’re not dead yet. The content has already been
move...
Gonzo Sci-Fantasy - What is it?
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Hello all,
It's been a bit since I blogged on gaming in general. Life has taken over
and I am pretty sure that blogs have been relegated to a bit of an o...
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Night Ride Part 1 “Look, Pa, it’s my turn. Also, Nana is having one of her
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In addition to all the radness you've come to expect fro...
A Relocation of Sorts
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After checking with my editor/mentor today, I was given the go ahead to
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contract wi...
The Blank of Four Years
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It has been a long time.
My last post was in a long ago November and we're a few months off from the
4th anniversary of me starting this little blog. In th...
Fungus Forest - Pay What You Want .PDF
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Fungus Forest - Pay What You Want
The Fungus Forest is available now as a Pay What You Want .PDF on
DriveThruRPG.com. Check it out and download now!
The ...
The Shrine of Six Fingers
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HELLO GAMERS and HAPPY GM’S DAY! I have a special treat for you here, an
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Out of th...
The World Beyond hardcovers published!
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DriveThru...
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So the gallery software we use to host the archive stopped working.
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when the colla...
The Truth About Lies (2015)
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Play Full The Truth About Lies in High Definition FormatNow you can download
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launc...
Vanity, thy name is "A New Blog"
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*"Don't call it a comeback. I've been here for years..."*
- apologies to LLCoolJ for the use of his lyrics.
I've started a new blog. It's not the "OSR" blo...
Go Vote!!
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Remember that poster I worked on a while back? Help us out, and help put my
knowledge of classic D&D to good use!
http://www.cinecoup.com/advancedwizardsan...
No Mean City Session 1.1 "National Express"
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Session 1.1 THE NATIONAL EXPRESS
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The Dragons of Poppy Smoke.
When a man signs a contract with Old Scratch, Mr. Scratch, Boruta (or any
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2420 Sq Ft modern Kerala home
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Modern luxury house in 2420 Square Feet (224 Square Meter) (268 Square
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Art! Valère Bernard
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Just found this guy. I can't find much about him, other than he died in
the 30s. Some seriously awesome stuff, though - I've just spent the last
hour sur...
LARRYCON Begins!!
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A really nice scene I caught on my phone the other night while out for a
stroll. The harvest is upon us!!
Well it has been a wonderful spring and early...
Random tables inspired by Amon Amarth
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Random tables taken verbatim from the lyrics of Amon Amarth.
TITLES
1. Guardian of Asgard
2. Son of Thunder
3. Walker on the Wind
4. Deceiver of the Gods
...
DC Gameday XIV: Casino Karnstein
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DC Gameday XIV is coming up on the weekend of March 29th-March 30th and
player registration is already open. After a grueling couple of months of
real-worl...
Happy New Year!
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First of all, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and a happy New Year's
Eve celebration. Mine was okay, and I'm kind of glad it's all finally over.
T...
The Ferrowar
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Sometimes the most fierce denizens of a dungeon are the smallest.
The Cat-taurs (a name the Ferrowar loathe) are a clannish breed of fae who
dwell in tun...
Superheroes don't get their due
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*It should come as a shock to no one that I'm a huge fan of superheroes.*
In fact, I've often thought about retooling this blog to be more of a
"spells and...
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I wanted to point out an interesting project on Kickstarter which is live
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blog for ...
Meet the Party
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I'm back in Poland for a few days. Which means it's time to move my D&D
campaign a bit. I have little time left to the session, so just take a look
at the...
Still More Obscure Early RPG Artwork
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A Gruagach Elf & His Reindeer by Jim Roslof
Valley Elf - Roslof
Libram Study (possibly) Harry Quinn
Bar-Brawl DCSIII Style (my money's on the barmaid)
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Just today I had the chance to play the Battlestar Galactica board game,
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paranoia an...
Post-Apocalyptic / Noir / Fantasy Mash-up
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Instead of morphing Cyberpunk 2020 into my steampunk Fey Engine setting, I
am thinking of combining it with the Junkpunk feel I was going for with my
oth...
Pathfinder: the Comic Book #1
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If you enjoy Role-Playing Games and Comic Books (who doesn't) you should
add this to your pull at your local comic book store. The fine folks at
Paizo and...
Asteroid Dragon
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The Asteroid Dragon or "Rock Knucker" is a predator found on rocky moons
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manag...
Rental Equipment As a Business Strategy
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During stock tracking, you might normally want to sell off rarely used and
even underused equipment. Turn these obligations into resources instead.
Create ...
Touchdown
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Well, we finally did it. I managed to get my family relocated to Edmonton
in Canada. There's a zillion things we are catching up on and trying to do
so I c...
Strength In Numbers
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Here's a silly idea I came up with while browsing some 80's retro toy sites
the other day. Collecting comics was my main addiction back then but I
occasio...
Good News! The OSR at GenCon Again!
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I'm passing along a post by Bill Barsh of Pacesetter Games & Simulations...
:-)
I would like to announce that for the second straight year, there will be
...
Have a great 2012!
-
While all activity on this blog ceased suddenly and unexpectedly the
reasons for it where sound in retrospective. I wish you all a happy and
great 2012 and...
Games last night on google+
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Circles is the key I think. Sort of like firewalls, you can basically
attach labels to people in your circles, creating chat rooms, adventuring
groups of p...
Actual Dungeon Design
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With Issue 2 being the first to feature an actual dungeon level (Level 1 is
in layouts/waiting for one more article to complete), I've decided to put
to pa...
BX Companion!
-
I realize this blog is dead, but I had top post this somewhere.
I am the proud owner of the BX Companion. This is a project i have been
excited for for ...
Some of the art used in this blog was glommed from random places on the Internet and is used without permission. No rights are implied or assumed. If you are the original owner and would like it removed, please drop me a line and I shall be happy to do so. Thank you.