Solo Crawl Classics Part 0: "Prelude to the Great Disaster..."

Full disclosure: I love gaming by myself. Sure, I enjoy running RPGs for others and playing board games with my friends, but I don't need a group to play. I have a wide variety of solo board games, and I'm no stranger to countless solo RPG-ish games like Ironsworn, Four Against Darkness, and various solo oracles like The Gamemaster's Apprentice cards and Mythic GM Emulator. Now, I'm obviously a fan of Mutant Crawl Classics, but I'm typically too busy running or writing adventures to find time to actually experience the game as "just another hapless 0-level Seeker". So this new series will chronicle my attempt to run myself through a solo MCC adventure -- beginning with a small quartet of 0-level hunter/gatherers -- and see what grows from there. And you'll be tagging along for the adventure, both to watch how this works (if it does) and to see how it unfolds along with me...

For this game, I'm going to be using the following rules and tools:

• MCC rulebook (of course)
• Mythic One-Page GM Emulator (the classic Mythic GME solo oracle, boiled down to a single page)
• Gamemaster's Apprentice Deck: Base Deck (a fantastic resource for randomizing items, objects, locations, NPCs, and everything else)
• Purple Sorcerer's MCC 0-level Party Generator (for my initial group of unskilled 0-level hunter/gatherers)
• a set of weird dice, paper, pens, etc.

And before I begin, here are the ground rules I set for myself:

• My randomly generated 0-level foursome will consist of a pure strain human, a mutant, a manimal, and a plantient, just so I have a good mix of genotypes and abilities to work with. 
• To keep things from becoming too random in this first outing (while I work out the process and gameplay), I shall be running the team through "Rivers of Iron", the 0-level funnel found in the newest core MCC rulebook. Yeah, I wrote it, so I'm familiar with the locations and scenes, which may appear like it gives me a woefully unfair advantage. But I plan to introduce randomly generated hazards, challenges, and foes throughout, replacing the preprogrammed elements with new ones. I may be aware of the map's layout and the Big Scenes, but Fate Itself will determine what lurks within the ruins of the ironworks!
• In the posts that follow, the game play, dialogue, and color description will be in italics like this.
• Conversely, the mechanics and behind-the-scenes decision-making will be in normal text like this.
  
• I'm sure there might be some other nuances and details that will surface during play, but we'll talk those out as they occur.

So join me in the days to come as I venture into Terra A.D. during this series that I've titled "Solo Crawl Classics!"

Running A Con Game Part 2: Table Prep And Behind The Screen

This summer, I offered some advice on how to plan and write a scenario you'll be running at game conventions. Now that you have your new player-killer in hand and folks are starting to gather at the table, let's talk about some advice on how to run it.

1. Provide pregens, and have more of them than your players. At a convention game, you have 4 hours - tops - to run the entire scenario. If you think you'll have everyone rolling up new characters before getting started, think again. Even if everyone at the table is familiar with the system, it'll likely take them 30 minutes to roll stats, look up skills/magic spells, decide on equipment, etc. And if you have a few players who are first-timers, that will add even more downtime. Steer clear of anything that would take away adventuring time and have pregens ready for folks before they sit down. And as an addendum: the players will still like to have some degree of choice as to who/what they'll be playing, so have twice the number of pregens available. If you have 6 players, have 12 (or more) pregens available so everyone has a chance to pick and choose rather than getting locked into "whatever character's left".

2. Bring extra pencils and dice. But keep rulebooks minimal. Although most players who come to your table are super-prepared, there may be someone who signed up at the last minute and/or showed up with a friend who now wants to play in your cool-looking game. Make sure you have some extra pencils and dice for this late-comer so they're not trying to borrow off of the other players at the table. But conversely, try to keep rulebooks and other tomes away from your table during play. The GM should be the only one who needs to look anything up (and honestly, you shouldn't have to look anything up if you're duly prepared). There may be some table or bit of minutiae to clarify, but you should be prepared to make rulings on the fly rather than get bogged down trying to find Table 3.24 on page 232 just to look up appropriate Exit Wound Size. (And don't let any player bring out a rulebook to debate a ruling you just made. Shut that down ASAP.)

3. Keep track of time. You have 4 hours to run the game, and you don't want to run out of time before finishing, nor do you want to reach the end way ahead of schedule. So keep an eye on the clock while you play. You can use a watch or a timer on your phone. I prefer to use a kitchen timer behind my screen so that I know how much time I have left at a glance. I can use this to gauge my timing of events as we play to ensure we reach the endgame before time runs out. At the 2-hour mark, we should be halfway through the adventure. If not, I start altering future scenes to speed things up (lowering the number of monsters and/or goons or bypassing entire scenes if they don't contribute to the overall scenario). If we're running fast, do the opposite and add a few extra monsters/scenes to slow them down. You also want to try to finish a few minutes early so you can say your goodbyes, thank you players, and clean up the table for the next game. Nothing more frustrating than waiting for folks to clear out from a game that ran long and is now starting to eat into your time. So don't be that person and wrap up on time or earlier.

4. Protect your voice by staying hydrated and have some lozenges. You're gonna be talking a lot. And your voice is gonna be a bit hoarse after that first game. But you have another one to run later that day. And the next day. And the next day. And if you're in a crowded gaming hall, you might be shouting over the din. You'll want to protect your voice as best you can. My suggestion is to have a bottle of water behind the screen and sip from it every so often, even if you're not thirsty. Keep those pipes moist to counterbalance all of the air you're throwing over them. Secondly, I have a pack of sore throat lozenges at hand that I'm constantly munching on. This helps soothe your throat before it gets too sore. I've found that a lozenge every hour or so during gametime keeps you from losing your voice before the convention ends.

5. If you must take a break, have only one, and keep it 5 minutes max. Four hours is a long time at the table, especially if everyone is chugging water, energy drinks, etc. Although folks will often be engaged and will want to keep playing, it's usually a good idea to stop at least once at the halfway point to allow folks to run to the bathroom and/or stretch their legs a bit. However, you don't want to lose too much game time and you certainly don't want to play sheepherder and try to round them all up, so set a firm time limit of 5 minutes on any breaks. After 5 minutes, pick up where you left off regardless of who's back, and have the stragglers join the game in progress. (And do not, under any circumstances, let anyone race to the vendor's room to "pick something up". Nine times out of ten, they'll never return to the game.)

6. Have some swag or takeaway for the players. It's always a nice gesture to have something to give to the folks who decided to take a chance on your game. Some game companies, like Goodman Games, provide swag for those who run their games. Stickers, note pads, quickstart rules, pencils, dice, etc. remind folks of the fun they had and may prompt them to buy the game and run sessions of their own. I admittedly go a bit overboard with my swag and have had custom dice, supplements, and other giveaways printed up for folks. One year I gave away mini-multitools like the ones found within the scenario I ran. (And this year's convention swag is a very special "parting gift" from one of my NPCs!) You don't need to have anything this fancy; heck, a bowl of candy on the table as you play is a nice gesture for gamers to refuel as they head to their next game.

Stay tuned for "Part 3: Tips and Tricks for Surviving Your First Game Convention" in a future missive from The Savage AfterWorld!

Running A Con Game Part 1: Planning And Writing Your Game

Since the 1980s, I've run many (many) RPG sessions at game conventions across the country - from classics like D&D, Ghostbusters, and Chill to newer games like Mutant Future and MCC. One one thing I always try to do at these events is to run adventures that I've written myself. My reasons are manifold:

1. If it's a game I wrote, I know all of the plot points, NPCs, and locations intimately, so I'm more comfortable at the table and can make up something on the fly (rather than looking up some bit of unfamiliar minutiae every 5 minutes).
2. I can custom-tailor the adventure for the time allotted, ensuring that the players get to the endgame before time runs out.
3. It's good for my ego when the players enjoy the game as it's an adventure I myself designed!

As we move into convention season, I thought I'd take a moment and toss out some tips I've learned over the years to fledgling Judges, DMs, GMs, Referees, and what-not. This blog entry will cover planning your game and getting it written and designed -- advice for everything leading up to the game itself. A future blog post will discuss running your convention game and tips at the table.

1. Write a game that can be completed in 4 hours. Most conventions schedule games to run in 4-hour blocks. With this in mind, you should write your game to fit into this time period. This may sound daunting if you have a lot of encounters and combat in mind. Well, stop that. The typical table has 4 to 6 players, and each encounter will likely take 30 minutes for the team to get through. So, easy math: 4 hours divided by 30-minutes-per-encounter equals roughly 8 encounters. However, you'll lose 30 minutes at the beginning of your slot to game prep (passing out sheets, making sure everyone has dice and pencils, explaining the system to new folks, etc.) and you'll likely want to plan to wrap up 10-20 minutes early so you don't stomp on the next game slot. So - realistically - your adventure should be 6 solid, in-depth encounters. Doesn't sound like much, but it is plenty, believe me.

2. Have a beginning, middle, and - most importantly - an ending. I've heard from players over the years that there is nothing more frustrating than to play for several hours and, just as they reach the door to The Ultimate Bad Guy Lair... 

time'supsorryabouthatwe'llpickitupnextyear. 

The players want that resolution and it's not fair to just end the game mid-plot. So when you write your game, have the endgame solidly in mind and make sure your adventure is short enough that they'll reach that EPIC CONFRONTATION at the end.

3. No sandboxes, but no railroads either. This is a tricky tightrope to walk. If your game is too wide open, the players may not discover your oh-so-obvious clues and will struggle to progress forward. You need to herd them a bit as time is short. By the same token, a simple A to B to C to D railroad game takes away player agency as now they're just along for the ride. Each encounter in your game should have multiple ways the players can overcome it: they can bluff their way through, fight their way through, sneak their way through. But each encounter leads down the path to the next encounter, but depending on their prior actions the encounter has changed. Did they fight to get here? Guards are now on alert and well armed. Did they bluff? Now they need to maintain the masquerade. Did they sneak? They now enter at a completely different location. Give them agency, but keep everything moving toward the climax.

4. Give everyone something to do. When you're providing the character sheets, you know what your players are going to be able to do ahead of time! If you're giving them a thief, you better have some locks to pick or some wall to climb. Have a wizard? There should be some runes for them to translate or even a magical rival itching for a spellduel! (And, of course, have some combat to keep the fighter - hell, EVERYONE - happy!) Make sure the adventure you're writing has enough character-specific elements so that each player gets a chance to contribute to the party's success.

5. Make everyone a star at some point. We're hedging into "At the Table During the Game" advice, but this is a corollary from the previous rule. Some folks may shy away from the spotlight, deferring to the more boisterous players at the table. Don't let that happen. Everyone should feel they contributed to the party's success at the end. The dice may be the final decider of fate, but as the judge, YOU have the ability to reshape the world as you see fit on the fly. For example, if the Quiet One is playing a cleric - "Oh no! Now there are ghosts that can't be hit by physical weapons and must be turned!" Offer them the chance to step up and be the hero. That's why we play these games right?

6. Give your players their money's worth. Typically, convention game players have paid good cash money to play in your game. No pressure! All kidding aside, players want one primary thing from your game -- a story they can tell their friends about later. Don't toss together a series of cliches, but rather give them something they've never seen before! New locations found only in their most fevered dreams and creatures that live in their nightmares! I typically begin writing by asking myself one question: "What has NO ONE ever seen at the game table before?" It could be a place or a beast or an NPC or a quest - but that is always the spark that ensures the players will get their money's worth. (Oh, and a bit of take-home swag from the game is always a bonus!)

7. Here's some of the best advice on writing a convention game I've ever found. Years ago, I discovered a series of blog posts titled "How to Run Con Scenarios the Gar Hanrahan Way."  Writer and game designer Gareth Hanrahan posted a series of incredibly useful tips and tricks on how to write and run a game specifically for a convention setting. His old gaming blog is long gone, as well as these posts. But before that happened, I grabbed his advice, put it together in a PDF, and printed it out and binded it for my own personal use. I later posted it to Google Drive so others can benefit from these great tips. (And Gareth seems to be cool with it!) 

---> Download it here <---

Stay tuned for "Part 2: Running Your Convention Game" in a future missive from The Savage AfterWorld!

[Review] The Spirit Coin - The Pocket Diviner, Decision Maker, And GM Tool

Quick: Come up with the name of a wood elf your PCs just encountered. OK, now come up with his motivation as to why he's in this desolate area. Can he be trusted? And how far away is the nearest inn from here?

At the table, the GM is tasked with coming up with a lot of answers on the fly. Sure, you could refer to tables you have on hand or rely on your own imagination (although "Steve the Drow" might raise eyebrows). Or you could summon The Spirits to answer these queries through the use of The Spirit Coin.

Created by Alex Kool and launched on Kickstarter, The Spirit Coin is like a portable Ouija Board. The two sides of the coin have four circles: the two outer circles contain the alphabet (consonants and vowels, respectively); the next contains the numbers 0-9 (odd/even); and the inner-most is YES/NO. The user takes the coin in hand and concentrates on the question. Turn the coin in your hand and randomly seek out the answers you need. For example, taking the questions from above (and I swear these are legit from The Coin):

Elf name? ETWIN - That sounds good, so "Etwin" it is.
Motivation? HRNWND - I see "Horn Wind", so I'll say he's on a quest to find The Horn of Winds. He's a sailor and he can use this item to propel his vessel.
Trustworthy? NO - I see our new friend is up to some mischief. Perhaps he mistakenly thinks the PCs possess the item, and he wishes to fight them for it?
Nearest inn? 2 miles from here. And Etwin will accompany his new friends (in hopes of prying The Horn from their hands!).

The Spirit Coin is solidly made of heavy metal and comes in two finishes, bronze and silver. I've taken mine and placed it in my dice bag for those moments when I need quick answers from The Spirits. (Usually at the game table, but you also never know when some otherworldly guidance may come in handy!) The Spirit Coin is now available on Etsy for $15 (with free shipping). I've found this to be very useful during writer's block or as a random prompt for all types of situations, so for GMs who could use a bit of spiritual guidance at the table, go grab one!

[MCC RPG] "Dead In The Water" 0-Level Funnel Adventure Now Available

Over the years, I've led many post-apocalyptic mutants and freaks across The Rainbow Sea to The Island of Fire aboard Capt. Laird's seaweed-encrusted ship. Now, I hope many, many more make the voyage!

Dead In The Water is an adventure I've written and run for several years at many conventions and home-based games. However, it has never been committed to print for any specific RPG system...until now! With the approval of Goodman Games, Dead In The Water has become the newest adventure available for the Mutant Crawl Classics role-playing game of post-apocalyptic adventure and mayhem.

DEAD IN THE WATER

Mindless, water-logged abominations have been coming ashore, attacking fishing villages along the coast of The Rainbow Sea, then dragging their victims off to a watery doom. Your ragtag party of post-apocalyptic Seekers have been tasked with stopping the invasion. Perhaps the answer can be found on the legendary Island of Fire.

Dead In The Water is compatible with the Mutant Crawl Classics Role-Playing Game. Dead In The Water is a 0-level funnel for 12 to 16 starting characters. (Although it can easily be adjusted for 1st or 2nd level PCs.)

Dead In The Water is now available in PDF and print at Drive Through RPG, in print in Lulu, and it will soon be available at the Goodman Games webstore and at their booth at conventions and such.

I'd like to thank all of you who playtested it over the years and I hope you all had fun. And to those of you who have never ventured into the village of Narleen or faced The Drenched? Climb aboard and set sail for gonzo adventure!

[CRYPTWORLD] "Burial Plots" Origins Of Horror Part 5: "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear"

As the Kickstarter for Goblinoid Games' CRYPTWORLD adventure compilation Burial Plots enters its last 24 hours, I thought it'd be fun to explain where each of these horrific scenarios came from. (These reflections will be full of spoilers for the adventures within, so if you plan to play in any of them, proceed with caution!) The fifth adventure I wrote, "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear," was a macabre Christmas gift to Cryptworld fans...

Like a lot of people, my two favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas. And anything that can combine the two diametrically opposite seasons is very cool in my eyes. I especially love horror films that take place on Christmas. No, not "Nightmare Before Christmas" (though that happens to be a holiday favorite). I'm referring to such fare as Jack Frost, Santa Slays, Black Christmas, Silent Night Deadly Night, Krampus, etc. (And I have a special place in my heart for Tales From The Crypt's killer Santa in "…And All Through The House".) So a few years back, I decided to create my own "Scary Little Christmas" for readers of my blog.

For my bit of Merry Mayhem, I didn't want a killer Santa or snowman to terrorize the players. Instead, I decided to use a THING that doesn't get enough attention: the Puppet Master. During the holidays, homes are decorated with numerous figures and likenesses of Santa, snowmen, reindeer, gingerbread men, dolls, and nutcrackers. Now imagine if all of these toys came to life at the behest of an evil entity! (For added evilness, you could also animate the nativity set under the tree, but having the Three Wise Men attack the PCs is too horrible for my tastes!) Once I decided who the Puppet Master had been in life and why she was turning the holidays into a murder scene, the rest of the scenario fell nicely into place.

As we wrap up, please consider pledging for Burial Plots and discover the horrors lurking within!

[CRYPTWORLD] "Burial Plots" Origins Of Horror Part 4: "Death In The Dust"

As the Kickstarter for Goblinoid Games' CRYPTWORLD adventure compilation Burial Plots enters its final week, I thought it'd be fun to explain where each of these horrific scenarios came from. (These reflections will be full of spoilers for the adventures within, so if you plan to play in any of them, proceed with caution!) The fourth adventure I wrote, "Death in the Dust," was my effort to create a horror adventure taking place in one of my favorite settings -- The Old West...

The basic idea behind "Death in Dust" came years ago, when I decided that I wanted to run a western-themed CRYPTWORLD game at a convention. Other than the Wild West setting, I really didn't have much of an idea as to the plot. I considered having giant mutant tarantulas as the THINGs infesting the town of Weaver (get it?), but I had pretty much covered the "giant bugs" angle in some other scenarios. I also didn't know how I was going to "prompt" the players into visiting an Old West ghost town in the middle of the desert. What would be the reason? Thoroughly idea-less, I let the concept simmer.

As convention season neared, I revisited the ghost town of Weaver. But what if it wasn't a ghost town anymore? "What if," I thought, "the town had been revitalized as a tourist attraction?" Now I had my reason for the players to visit. Plus, I had inadvertently incorporated another favorite setting -- "the haunted amusement park." I then looked at the name of the camp: "The Weaver Sterling Silver Mine". It was the word "sterling" that jumped out at me. What if that wasn't an adjective, but rather another name? Perhaps a someone who co-founded the town? But if this were the case, why was the town now known as "Weaver"? What happened in the past to erase this person from the historical record? And what would this restless wronged spirit do to those who now celebrated the return of Weaver to its "former glory"?

For the answers, please consider pledging for Burial Plots and discover what other horrors lurk in Weaver, Arizona!

......weeeeeeeeeaaaavvvveeeeeerrrrrrrrrr.....

[CRYPTWORLD] "Burial Plots" Origins Of Horror Part 3: "Unquenchable"

As the Kickstarter for Goblinoid Games' CRYPTWORLD adventure compilation Burial Plots is underway, I thought it'd be fun to explain where each of these horrific scenarios came from. (These reflections will be full of spoilers for the adventures within, so if you plan to play in any of them, proceed with caution!) The third adventure I wrote, "Unquenchable," is a hex crawl where my own personal demons stalk the players in a setting where they instead hold all of the cards...

Many of my previous CRYPTWORLD adventures take place in a confined, claustrophobic space: an abandoned hospital, a jetliner in flight, the rotting farmhouse outside of town. So for my next adventure, I wanted to break out of that genre trope and have the setting be eerily "calming." So I created an outdoor hex crawl that takes place in the middle of the day. The sun's up and the players can see for miles. The players are both armed and in constant radio contact with the authorities. How could I take this setting -- where ALL of the advantages are in the hands of the PCs -- and twist it so they instead find themselves faced with a living nightmare? All you need is a good monster -- and lots of them.

They say "Write what you know," so I decided to dip into the well of Sniderman's Personal Fears. You see, spiders terrify me, as I have severe arachnophobia. Monster films featuring spiders -- no matter how low-budget and cheesy -- give me the willies. (In fact, I used this phobia earlier when I wrote "Tangled Threads" found in CRYPTWORLD's first supplement, Monsters Macabre.) So the Tarantulords were to make a comeback. But I wanted these to be even more horrific. More frightening. More dangerous. As I mulled a new hybrid of "werewolf spiders" or "zombie spiders," I chanced upon the concept of  "vampire spiders," and realized with a shudder that THOSE ACTUALLY EXIST.

 
And thus the protagonists of "Unquenchable" came to horrific life.

I don't want to spoil everything, so please consider pledging for Burial Plots and discover what other horrors are found in the woods!

[CRYPTWORLD] "Burial Plots" Origins Of Horror Part 2: "Condition Critical"

As the Kickstarter for Goblinoid Games' CRYPTWORLD adventure compilation "Burial Plots" is underway, I thought it'd be fun to explain where each of these horrific scenarios came from. (These reflections will be full of spoilers for the adventures within, so if you plan to play in any of them, proceed with caution!) The second adventure I wrote, "Condition Critical," features my favorite forgotten monster archetype…

Most horror RPGs (that are not Lovecraftian in nature) have several standard monsters the players have encountered -- those I call the Halloween Monsters: vampire, werewolf,  ghost, mummy, witch, zombie, etc. But my favorite "standard" monster is a 50's B-movie staple, one that defy classification...

--The Blob--

Not sure what is so appealing about the giant flesh-ingesting amoeba, but maybe its inability to be defined is what makes it such a great creature. It's a mobile pile of goo that just wants to eat. (And eat and eat and eat...) I was thrilled to see "Space Blob" listed as a new THING in CRYPTWORLD, so it was only natural that I bring this monster to pulsating, slime-coated, flesh-dissolving un-life in one of my adventures. At Ohio's Con on the Cob in 2013, "Condition Critical" was run as the first CRYPTWORLD game at a gaming convention.

For me, there's nothing creepier than a place that would otherwise be bustling that is mysteriously empty and abandoned -- especially if that location is typically clean and antiseptic, the exact opposite of the creaky run-down ramshakle house on the edge of town. So an abandoned hospital became the setting, and my blob -- Experiment TB-4 -- now runs amok within. Where did it come from? Well, that's a mystery you'll need to discover for yourself...

[CRYPTWORLD] "Burial Plots" Origins Of Horror Part 1: "Forget-Me-Not"

As the Kickstarter for Goblinoid Games' CRYPTWORLD adventure compilation "Burial Plots" is underway, I thought it'd be fun to explain where each of these horrific scenarios came from. (I'll endeavor to stay as "spoiler-free" as I can, but read with caution.) The first adventure, "Forget-Me-Not," began -- appropriately enough -- with a nightmare…

I had the dream back in 2012. It was startling enough to make me sit bolt-upright in bed when I woke. I didn't remember much about the situation or setting upon awakening, but one image was burned into my subconscious: a phantom with long blades for hands. The spirit approached me, a scowl on its face.

"Who am I?" it asked.

I could tell the question was not one of identity. The ghost knew who it had been in life. No, rather the spirit wanted to find out if *I* knew who it was. I had never seen its face before.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know you," I answered. The spirit grimaced and sneered. One of its bladed hands pointed accusingly at me.

"You did this to me," it hissed. "You should know who you've killed. again, WHO AM I?" It swung the blade at my head. I was in a panic.

"I don't know! I don't know who you are!" I pleaded. The spirit looked sad -- disappointed, really. Then with a shriek, it swung at my neck...

And I woke up.

-=-=-=-=-

Later that year, as I prepped to attend my first Gary Con, I wanted to run a series of old-school RPGs for the Dead Games Society. I scheduled games of Ghostbusters and Timemaster, but I also wanted to run a horror scenario. One of my favorite old-school RPGs was Pacesetter's "Chill" horror RPG. I remembered the image of angry wraith, and the adventure "Arbor Day" -- to later become renamed as "Forget-Me-Not" -- spilled forth. At the convention, the players encountered a scene literally from my nightmares, and I saw both horror and excitement in their eyes as the scenario unfolded.

And I knew more horrific adventures would follow...

[Cryptworld] "Burial Plots" Adventure Compilation Now On Kickstarter!

The Kickstarter for the new CRYPTWORLD adventure supplement "Burial Plots" is now underway! CRYPTWORLD is Pacesetter's game of horror investigation and survival, and "Burial Plots" places your players face-to-face with monstrous THINGS in five full-length scenarios:


Condition Critical
Dr. Howard Eastman has called a press conference at his remote research facility to announce a medical breakthrough that will “eradicate human illness and suffering forever.” But what if the cure proves to be worse than the disease?

Unquenchable
Three days ago, a group of hunters failed to return from their annual deer hunt near Akron, Ohio. Your team of expert trackers and investigators has been brought in to assist in the search. But there seems to be an undercurrent of unease amongst the police who whisper of a disturbing discovery they’ve made. Is there something sinister lurking in the forest?

Death in the Dust
In 1888, the silver-mining boomtown of Weaver, Arizona, was abandoned after a series of unexplained disasters, and the town was left to crumble in the desert sands. Today, the former ghost town has been revitalized as a historical attraction. Is history about to repeat itself?

Forget-Me-Not
Horrific axe murders recently committed in Oregon's Tillamook State Forest are identical to those committed by the legendary "Paul Bunyon Butcher" 40 years ago. However, the original killer – now elderly and feeble – remains behind bars. Has a copycat killer surfaced, or is this the work of something even more sinister?

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
The Christmas season is typically a time of peace on Earth and goodwill toward men. But one THING has decided to make this year's Yuletide visit to relatives a horrific holiday from Hell.

"Burial Plots" has a modest goal of $1500 to fund, but if $4000 is reached, a new CRYPTWORLD Crypt Master's screen will be designed and released! And those folks who have not yet picked up CRYPTWORLD, the core rules are available as an add-on, as well as the entire Pacesetter RPG line including TIMEMASTER, ROTWORLD, and MAJUS. (And if you want CRYPTWORLD'S first supplement, "Monsters Macabre," that's available too!)

During the funding period, I may revisit each of these five scenarios and give you a bit of background on how these horrors came to life. Stay tuned...

Do-It-Yourself Lovecraft/Cthulhu Picture Dice

In my last blog post, I lamented that there wasn't yet a Lovecraft-themed set of Rory's Story Cubes. After all, they have many different sets available, as well as licensed sets like Batman, Doctor Who, Scooby Doo, and Adventure Time (later this year). So why not some Story Cubes based on the brain-melting horrors of The Great Old Ones?

So, as I usually do when I want something that doesn't exist, I made it myself.

My Lovecraft picture dice is a mini-set of three cubes with 18 iconic images of a Cthulhu-esque nature. I went online with a list of icons I wanted to find and, sticking to simple black-and-white line art, found some suitable artwork to use. I created a template of 20 1-inch squares, and fit each of the 18 images within. I had a set of spare white 6-siders that were 1/2 inch across, so I shrank my template by 50% (so the squares were now 1/2 inch across), then printed it out on a sheet of label paper. I cut out the squares, adhered them randomly to my spare dice, and now I have my own set of Lovecraftian picture dice to use with my Story Cubes. (I also plan to use them with Untold: Adventures Await upon Kickstarter fulfillment.)

Here's the image I created. I'll leave the descriptions of what each represents up to your imagination:

Oh, and if you wish to create your own set of Lovecraft picture dice, you can either grab the image above of download the original PNG file from my Google Drive at this link. Print it off, cut it out, and glue the 18 images to three spare dice. Then roll up some Lovecraftian nightmares of your own!

"Changing" Airlines: Using My Saved Coins To Get Me To NTRPG Con

North Texas RPG Con is just around the corner. My hotel room is booked; my fees for attending are paid; and my spending cash is saved up and earmarked. However, there is one outstanding outlay that had not yet been settled -- the airfare from Ohio to Texas, and back. And -- once again -- my Yearly Gaming Change Jar comes into play.

As I discussed in two previous blog entries here and here, I have a change jar that all of my spare coins goes into. This change is earmarked each year for something "game convention-related". Last June, The Change Jar paid for an entire day's worth of fun at Origins. This year, the Jug O' Coins is taking me across the country for NTRPG Con. And how did it one full year's worth of saving my coins pan out?

 My former change jar was replaced with one of those big gallon-sized plastic jugs you get pretzel sticks in. When this photo was taken earlier this morning, it was half-filled, and weighed in the neighborhood of 15 pounds (by my estimating). How much was in here? Well, I also had a coin counter attached to the lid, and the grand total was:

Yup, I dropped nearly $400.00 in loose coinage through that slot over the course of a year. I took the jug to the bank, watched my teller get a hernia as she ran the coins through the sorter-counter, and she handed me eight $50.00 bills. To keep this transaction "pure" (steering clear of involving credit cards or other credit-related payments), I purchased a $400 Paypal My Cash card ($4.95 fee) and placed the cash in my Paypal account. And tonight, I booked my tickets from Expedia, and paid with that same Paypal account. So what started as coinage this morning became airline tickets to Texas about 30 minutes ago.

 What's that? My tickets were only $290.00? Well, looks like the change jar just put another $110.00 into my pocket for spending cash for the trip!

So, again, I implore everyone who complains that they can't attend conventions because "it costs too much" or "I can't afford airfare" to start saving their change. After all, a year ago, my coins pais for a full day at Origins, and this year, they're getting me to Texas and buying me some swag!

Gameable Concept: "The Underwar"

Hi gang! Miss me?

Yesterday, I came up with an interesting gameable “concept,” but nothing really applicable for any games I’m currently running or anything I’m planning on writing up in the future. So I’ll toss this out there for anyone who may want it for their own use: “The Underwar”

The ground shudders and shakes, as if a moderate earthquake were striking the area. Far-away muffled screams and shouts can be occasionally heard on the winds, but no one reacts. The people who live here go about their business, as if these sounds and tremors were commonplace. In this land, the military has a very strong presence: recruitment takes place on every corner, factories on the edge of town produce massive amounts of weapons and armament, and most individuals are wearing uniforms and other regalia marking them as soldiers. Occasionally, a massive battalion of heavily-armed troops will march out of town to much fanfare, walking off into the distance. But there is no heavy combat in the area or, in fact, anywhere in the lands. The skies are clear and all seems quiet, although there are those occasional earth-shaking tremors and faint shrieks of rage…

If asked, any one of the townspersons confirms that they are indeed at war “with Those Below.” For years, the lands have been under attack by underground dwellers. Monsters? Humanoids? Invaders from Below? None of the civilians are certain. Those Below never come to the surface, preferring instead to attack from underneath – digging and burrowing causing the buildings (and people) aboveground to fall into the cavernous depths below. The only way to stop them was to take the battle to them.

About 3 miles away, there is monstrous cave opening nearly 1 mile wide that leads into the cave complex deep within the earth. Just within the cavern, the military has set up a massive command center complete with barracks, armory, hospital, etc. From this staging area, they defend the opening keeping Those Below from ever encroaching the surface. Also from here, they enter the tunnels and caverns, fighting Those Below in their own domain. The cave network varies from narrow nooks and crannies barely wide enough for one unarmed person, to cave rooms big enough for an entire kingdom to fit within. Full skirmishes and battles have taken place in these thunderous halls, with massive explosions and the sounds of battle echoing throughout the cave chambers, being heard and felt aboveground.

The kingdom is fully engulfed in a war no one ever sees.

[Review] Evenings Of Terror For Chill 1e & Cryptworld

And now a review of one of my favorite supplements for any RPG system…

Evenings of Terror is a compilation of nine mini-adventures for the Pacesetter’s original Chill RPG. (By extension, this supplement is also backwards-compatible with Cryptworld.) Each of the horrific scenarios within this supplement are one-shots, designed to be played within a single session – the “evenings of terror” referred to in the title.

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of “microadventures”. (Heck, my Mutant Future supplement One Year In The Savage AfterWorld was directly inspired by the “quick hit” nature of the adventures in Evenings of Terror!) So this collection of Chill one-shots really scratches an itch of mine.

Each adventure is narrow in scope, taking place in a single well-defined locale, for example, a small town in the middle of nowhere or within the confines of a classic “haunted house”. There’s even one adventure that takes place in the confines of a single room! (It’s also one of my favorites Chill adventures to run at a convention.) Each of the adventures from Evenings of Terror is self-contained with a set-up and PC introduction, the adventure itself, and a resolution at the end. Each also has every NPC statted up, as well as the THING(s) lurking in the shadows. For the price of one adventure, you get nine separate horrific journeys for your players to investigate and…perhaps…survive.

Before I give you an overview of the individual adventures that make up the Evenings of Terror supplement, I need to warn those of you who may play in any of these that I might reveal the plots and twists of each one, so SPOILER SPACE FOLLOWS HERE:

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The Epidemic – Animals are disappearing throughout DeWitt, Indiana, and the players are sent to investigate. As the PCs check out the little town, the animals return…changed, somehow. This adventure is a fun little romp as the PCs try to figure out where the numerous pets have gone. And when the townfolks begin to vanish as well, they’ll have their hands full!

Lanier House – A new twist on the classic “haunted house” tale, the PCs are sent to find out what happened to the last folks who entered the supposedly haunted house. Is it a ghost or poltergeist causing the mischief? Or is it something more malevolent? (Spoiler alert: Ever seen Monster House?)

A Little Room – One of my favorite scenarios. McClellan Manor in Ontario has a terrible curse. Anyone who enters the mansion’s Overlook Room on July 19 will find themselves trapped within. On the morning of July 20, the door will reopen and the victim will be found dead. It’s said that the curse will be broken if anyone can survive the night until sunrise. A great locked-room adventure that takes place over 8 hours in one room.

Animal House – People are missing in Chicago, and unusual pet behavior is reported. The link? A mysterious veterinarian all of the missing persons visited in the days leading to their disappearance. When the PCs get too close, they may share the victim’s fate! The weakest entry, as it’s a bit of a railroad for the PCs.

The House on the Hill – The townspeople whisper that strange and foreboding experiments are underway at the house of Dr. Frankenberg. His hunched assistant beckons the players to enter as lightning flashes in the sky. It’s a scene straight out of a 1950s horror movie, but it can’t be this straight-forward, can it? A classic bait-and-switch scenario that will cure the PCs of jumping to conclusions.

Still Life – A talentless painter is suddenly creating masterworks of artistic reknown. Any who criticize these work, however, are later found murdered. However, the artist always has an iron-clad alibi. What otherworldly “deals” have been made, and what can the PCs do to break the spell? A very unusual THING haunts this adventure, and it will give your players chills!

Rounded By A Sleep – Anyone who falls asleep in Room 1010 of the Devereaux Hotel never wakes up again as they die peacefully in their sleep. Is something killing people from beyond the realm of dreams…and nightmares? A tough adventure for the PCs as they must fight the THING on its home turf – the dreaming realm!

Crime Magazine – A private eye saw two people who were shot and killed get up and walk away. He’s invited the PCs (known to dabble in “weird stuff”) to help him investigate the seedy underworld when ghouls meet gangsters! Femme fatales and mob bosses are all after a cursed object that leaves death in its wake. An adventure with a 1930’s noir twist.

Haunt Thy Native Place – A stopover in the quiet town of Tall Rock becomes a fight for survival as a dangerous creature watches the players with interest…and hunger. How fast can the players get to the bottom of this supposedly peaceful setting? A pretty standard horror adventure but fun nonetheless. 

Oh, and what of Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark? How does she fit into all of these scenarios? She doesn’t. Elvira provides an intro and outro for each adventure written in the style of our favorite horror hostess. Her photos grace the pages throughout too, but those of you fearful that this was somehow an adventure series “starring” Elvira need not worry.

As a fledgling CM, Evenings of Terror taught me that you didn’t need a world-spanning campaign that takes months or years to complete. If you want to run a quick night of horror with a host of new and unusual creatures for your Chill/Cryptworld players, I recommend you pick up a copy of this great sourcebook. You can get it for less than $10 at Noble KnightGames.

"Apocalypse...NOW?!?" For Stuper Powers Now Available For Download

As this post goes live, I'm running a group of U-Con players through a new adventure for Stuper Powers -- The First-Rate RPG of Third-Rate Heroes! If you'd like to run it for your own home group, here it is available for download. Click the cover to download it. Enjoy, and let me know if your superhero wanna-be's were able to stop Doctor Dredd from destroying Washington DC!

"100 Oddities for a Graveyard" Now Released!

Skirmisher Publishing LLC has released their newest Oddities sourcebook: 100 Oddities for a Graveyard. The tome of creepy delights is intended to aid GM creativity, turning possibly bland areas or gaming episodes into something more. Here's just one example from the booklet:

A hollow, many-chambered headstone. In the breeze, it hums and whistles softly, like a set of deep, distant pipes. That, however, does not explain the soft voice that can occasionally be heard singing in an unknown tongue.

From the press release:

As roleplaying locales go, graveyards are classic, and can play a part in just about any type of game. As long as adventurers venture and people die, there will be graveyards. Fantasy, historical, urban, modern, horror, and even sci-fi or post-apocalyptic games can all benefit from the occasional introduction of a graveyard — and we have the Oddities to help you “flesh” them out.

Oddities are intended to aid GM creativity, turning possibly bland areas or gaming episodes into something more, and the goal of this publication is to make things more fun and to take your imagination in directions it might not otherwise have gone. They fill in the corners of a bookshelf, a room, a level, a scenario, with all the sorts of things that add interest but take loads of time to come up with.

"100 Oddities..." is 10 pages of creepy uniqueness and is only 99 cents. Sniderman says, "Check it out!" (Click this line for the link.)

[Cryptworld] "Monsters Macabre" Now Available For Purchase

"Monsters Macabre" for CRYPTWORLD is now available for purchase!

Monsters Macabre is the new 64-page sourcebook for CRYPTWORLD -- the new Pacesetter horror RPG -- featuring:

* 71 new THINGS that haunt the night
* 10 new unsettling powers
* A complete adventure featuring one of the new creatures
* Rules for monster PCs
* Guidelines for creating your own THINGS
* Optional rules for variable weapon damage
* Tables for generating random monster hunting organizations

"Monsters Macabre" is also compatible with the entire Pacesetter library of games -- both old and new --  including Rotworld, Timemaster, and Majus!

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/155950/Monsters-Macabre-Cryptworld
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/155950/Monsters-Macabre-Cryptworld

[Review] The Gamemaster's Apprentice Base Deck

I'm a sucker for any product that claims to make a GM's life easier at the gaming table. Adventure creators, GM emulators, story prompts -- I really enjoy having something at-hand to help me through those unexpected "curves" your players toss at you.

"Oh, so you want to enter that room I never wrote up to follow that NPC I never fleshed out? Ohhhhh-kay...."

So I'm very pleased to have discovered The Gamemaster's Apprentice by Nathan Rockwood. This incredibly useful deck of 60 double-backed cards (120 card faces) gives the GM a TON of useful prompts, randomizers, seeds, and details for nearly any gaming occasion I can think of. It can also be used as a GM emulator for solo gaming. The deck is also system and genre-neutral, so you can use it with pretty much any game I can imagine.

Each card offers the GM 14 different "tools" at the table, with each card providing a randomly created element or prompt. If the GM is stuck, he pulls a card and runs with the result on the card. Just LOOK at the sheer number of tools found in the GM's Apprentice:

1. Difficulty Generator: Here, the numbers 1 through 10 randomly appear. Distributed through a bell curve with 5-7 appearing most often as an "average", you can randomly determine how easy (1-4), average (5-7), or difficult (8-10) a given task is.
2. Likely Odds:  Need a yes/no answer to a situation? First determine the likelihood of a positive outcome, then pull a card to see if they succeeded or not.
3. Dice: Each polyhedral dice is here, with an even distribution of outcomes across the 120 faces. (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d%). Don't have your dice on hand? Grab a card and find the result instead.
4. Norse Runes: The runes correspond to a handy chart provided in the deck's instructions (provided as a free download). These symbolic prompts are meant to fuel your imagination as needed.
5. Elemental Symbols: The symbols for air, earth, fire, and water can be literal prompts or suggestive for the situation.
6. Random Event Generator: Each line here has a verb-adjective-noun layout. Pull three cards (one for each word) or just read the prompts as written for a random situation prompt!
7. Sensory Prompts: Need to give the players something they can see, hear, smell, or feel in a scene? A random card draw give you some sensory clues for the players to act upon.
8. Tag Symbol: The tags are used for another set of randomizers that correspond to a previously designed list of possible events or encounters, or just for symbolic interpretation.
9. Scatter Die: Need to quickly determine a random direction? Check out the scatter die icon to see which way the path goes, the wind is blowing, or where that grenade landed!
10. Possessions: What's in the NPC's pockets? The handy list gives the GM a way to determine a list of random objects.
11. Names: What is the name of this random NPC? Pull a card an give him/her a quick moniker on the spot.
12. Catalysts: These story prompts push the situation in unexpected directions when needed.
13. Location: Where are they? Where do they need to go? Where is the Macguffin to be found? Each card has a unique location to explore.
14. Virtue and Vice: What's so good/bad about a certain person? What habits do they have. Pull a card and give them some quick quirks.

As you can see, the many uses of these cards is staggering. You can create an NPC on the spot. You can use the deck as a game engine. You can flesh out a random scene or event. Story ideas and seeds can be created with just a few draws of the deck. I'm just beginning to discover the uses this deck has, and it has gone into my travelling game kit. The Gamemaster's Apprentice Deck is available at Drive Through RPG for $10 for a print-your-own version, or $20.00 for a deck of cards. I got the cards, and they're very good, high-quality. Sniderman says check it out.

[Kickstarter] The Complete Oracle AD&D Fanzine Reprint From 1982-83

One of my favorite gaming archival organizations is the Play Generated Map & Document Archive (PlaGMaDA) which takes materials created by players and GMs and gives these handcrafted gaming treasures a home. (I even made a donation of my own to the archives.) Every so often, Tim Hutchinson of PlagMaDa will compile some of these materials into a new supplement for players, collectors, and gaming historians. His most recent Kickstarter was the amazing "Habitition of the Stone Giant Lord and Other Adventures From Our Shared Youth" that collected eight D&D modules written by players during the D&D heydays of the 70s and 80s.

Tim has launched a new Kickstarter for another amazing compilation -- this one collects all five issues of "The Oracle," a D&D fanzine from 1982-83 featuring new character classes, new adventures, new rules, as well as movie/game reviews and original fiction. This new compilation looks to be 200 pages and will be a limited-run hardbound book for collectors. Within 24 hours, the fundraising met its goal, and now Tim is adding new stretch goals to the project including more supplementary material and the only issue of The Augury -- a companion 'zine to The Oracle.

I love stuff like this. I love homemade gaming materials. I love 'zines. And a hardback collection of D&D gaming zines from the 80s? Count me in. If you have a similar tastes, you should absolutely help fund this slice of gaming's past -- a past you can bring to your table and play!