After 40+ years of enjoyable game play - in the same scenario that started 1982 - I am still inspired by the basic OSR art. This is my latest drawing from the story "The Witch of Myrkholt", one of the first scenarios I created in the 80s and the very first that started a campaign that has been going on for 45 years :)

The third installment of my Orc Mini Dungeon series features Clan Tasgu; a clan of orcs living in the foothills of the Orc Fang Mountains, recently striken by a terrible malady. Their leader, Zugil Blackbile, violated an ancient clan taboo and called upon an Eldritch entity to impart him with knowledge to craft a remedy. Letting his lieutenant T'vanc become infected, (for research purposes) he now waits for new "research assistants" to let him test his cure. But from where did the pestilence arrive?

Felt cute, so I made some covers for a hack that doesn't exist... yet.

Hey, I'm about to run Deep Carbon Observatory, and I'm having trouble understanding the Fugue State Touch ability of the Things In The Jars.

It's written as such:

Their touch causes a fugue state in which the victim does not know if they are awake or asleep.

The victim must act without any abilities gained since level one until they either take, or deal damage.

When this happens the victim must save, if successful, the fugue state ends and their levelled abilities return.

All good so far. It's this next part I am unable to quite figure out.

If not, they ‘come to’ somewhere else, doing something else.

At some point between now and their last verifiable contact with a sane PC, they have entered a fugue. This could be something as simple as waving their hands madly in the air at an invisible enemy, or they could have wandered off to a different room, or a different area.

The DM must count back to the last thing the PCs did that was verifiably real, then decide what they did since that point. PCs in a fugue state cannot confirm each other.

I don't really understand what's happening here, and I don't know how to run it if the players poke their noses into this room.

Interpretations welcome, but I'd very much like to hear from people who have actually ran or played the module. How did you or your GM run it?

For anyone interested, this is the current state of the 2nd edition of “Faerie Tales & Folklore”, my ruleset based on 0e/Chainmail. It is currently incomplete, but there has been a massive amount of work done since the 1st edition was published several years ago. My goal with this project has remained the same, I intend to release the rules in a digital format under a “Pay What You Want” model on DriveThruRPG, and, when finished, I hope to crowdfund a physical copy produced in a manner consistent with old, hardcover books. This has never been a project I hope to make a much money on, but rather a labor of love for to of my favorite things: roleplaying and world mythology. In the second edition, I step further away from a pure retro clone, and introduce many ideas and mechanics I felt supported both the setting AND the vibe of old school D&D rules, although many may dispute that second point. I did my best to maintain traditional ideas of the D&D lineage, while offering systems for magic, reputation, character creation, etc. that allowed for more flexibility within the chosen environment.

There are a number of portions I still need to finish, these are briefly noted below.

- Heirloom magic items are not yet included. Such items are intended to fill the role of hereditary weapons, armor, etc. which are common in mythology.

- The combat section has a good amount of work left to do, including the addition of more combat options to increase the viability of martial characters.

- The section on antagonist / villains remains unfinished.

- A section will be added that offers guidelines for including the heroes journey in ongoing campaigns, and how that journey can be used for a whole group.

- I will be including a small section with some notable heroes and villains from mythology fully stated out for use in games. I would like ideas on who I should include.

- I am also considering adding a small portion to the magic section for making pacts with powerful spirits.

- And more

I am posting this in hopes of gauging the interest in this style of OSR game and its setting, with intent of deciding if finishing this up and publishing the 2nd edition is currently a worthy pursuit within the OSR community. I have been away for a while, and have lost track of a lot of OSR trends as they currently exist. If you find this work interesting, please engage with me here, let me know this is something you would be interested in seeing completed.

I think a have prattled on long enough, and I will not pester this subreddit further with my self promotions, at least until I have something much more complete to offer, should that be desired. I hope those who take a gander enjoy my work, it took years of research to compile.

Thank you,
Morgan

Hello everyone,

I plan on running The Shrike for my gaming group in the near-future, and I was wondering if there was a more robust table for generating the Horned Masks that are worn by the devils of Hell's lost layer. I'm sure the party is bound to come across/pilfer plenty of them over the course of the campaign, and the default table in the Treasure section is a little anemic.

I'm up for generating such a table myself, but wanted to know if someone else had put the work in. I also wouldn't mind any other useful suggestions and/or game aids for running The Shrike in particular.

Thanks again,

Session 2 of my solo Shadowdark campaign, played with Solodark and logged in Lonelog notation.

Previously: Three strangers walked into Gavinthorp, a town blanketed in darkness, because Mother wants a pie. They found the pie stall, charmed a man named Neven, and left three of his crew dead in the market square.

https://matthewpfister.substack.com/p/torchkeeper-session-2

Follow along to find out what happens, or for the free dungeons I’ll be making from this campaign next year.

Start from the beginning here.

For the last three years, I've run a Planescape campaign through almost all of its modules. Now, after successfully finishing it, I want to look back and review these adventures, highlighting the pros and cons of each one.

A brief distraction before the final chapter of the Dead Gods, Epona's Daughter brings the heroes to a backwater Prime world to save a mystical horse kidnapped by a local king and his court wizard.

https://vladar.bearblog.dev/planescape-review-eponas-daughter/

A Torch Timer Has Completely Changed My Shadowdark Table

I recently picked up a physical torch timer for Shadowdark from a small independent maker, and I genuinely can't believe how much my table loves this thing.

It starts off glowing white, but every 15 minutes the light changes, going from yellow to red, then darker and darker red. With five minutes remaining, it starts blinking before finally going out.

It's such a simple little device, but the tension it creates is incredible. I thought it would be a dumb gimmick. Instead, it's become one of the most beloved things at our table. I've even had friends go to work and brag about the lamp!

It's also gotten me experimenting with physical accessories for Shadowdark. Not necessarily things you need, but affordable little additions that actually improve the game rather than get in its way.

I've been messing with magnetic cubes, the Professor's Ultimate Terrain concept, and ways of eliminating traditional grid maps altogether.

One thing we've discovered is that a room really only needs three or four meaningful objects or points of interest. Instead of tracking exact squares and distances, we position enemies around those objects. The chest, the doorway, the altar, the overturned table. You know where everyone is in relation to those things, and suddenly decisions become incredibly fast.

We've even managed encounters with 10+ monsters this way, because I don't need to track every square. I just need to know what they're near and what the players can interact with.

We've also been experimenting with using something as simple as the span of your hand (roughly six inches) for movement on abstract terrain.

The whole philosophy I'm exploring is how physical accessories can speed up play instead of slowing it down. Give players clear choices, make those choices meaningful, and get out of the way.

We've managed ten rooms in just a couple of hours, partly because that damn torch was making everyone nervous! It's funny how a physical timer made me appreciate Shadowdark's one-hour torch mechanic even more.

And now I'm wondering why we don't have more things like this!

I'd absolutely love to see an official Shadowdark torch timer someday. Maybe a little black-and-white torch you could hold in your hand, set on the table, recharge with USB, and watch slowly die. I'd happily spend $50 on something like that. I'm actually working on a way to turn my current lamp into a handheld torch that can also stand about a foot tall.

I've been talking with some local gaming shops and convention folks, and they've loved the timer too. It's made me wonder if there's a real market for these sorts of accessories.

I'm going to share more of the physical things we're experimenting with, including what actually works and what just gets in the way.

I've played tabletop games for years, and I don't think I've ever bought such a simple accessory that had this much impact on the experience.

Shadowdark has really made me rethink how we use physical things at the table. Sometimes our VTTs, elaborate maps, and endless accessories can actually slow down the very thing we're trying to enjoy. But finding something that makes the game faster, more tense, and more exciting? That's something special.

And there's just something wonderful about being able to pass this game between different GMs and keep everything moving so organically.

I'm curious what everyone else has discovered. What physical accessories have genuinely improved your Shadowdark games? Not just cool-looking stuff, but things that actually make the game better, faster, or more exciting. I'd love to hear what other tables are doing.

EDIT: didnt know I could name the product sorry: PeakyPeddlers are the ones who make this lamp!

I updated the cover for my Chainmail / OD&D hack "Kevlar," fixing the humorous spelling error, adjusting a few details, and adding a placeholder copyright to look more official.

The second page gives a small overview of three tables I handcrafted that were heavily inspired by Chainmail, I will cover them in order:

The marksmanship table is a skill that is supposed to be separate from player rank, meaning you can be adequately overqualified or under qualified for combat irregardless of rank. The numbers used for the "body" section reflect the real percentage of range success needed to hit a target, expert shooters hit 90% of their targets, so you will hit your shot 90% of the time. The only exception I've made is limbs and the head, where difficulty increases by 20% from limb to head.

I would like to add a Boot Hill-esque progression to this though where your marksmanship level increases the more firefights you engage in.

The common gun table is meant to give a general overview of firearm capabilities based on type. The only details it omits is the given firearms caliber as that can very from type to type. I would like to make a more detailed list of firearms with model types, calibers, and even a bonus/penalty to go along with each entry. I feel that would be the best way to truly make every gun unique in its own way.

The caliber vs. armor matrix, as it you can probably guess is meant to mimic the weapon vs. armor matrix from the man-to-man section of Chainmail. Though, it is much smaller than that matrix, I feel it includes a good variety of popular cartridges from 9mm to 7.62mm. The armor portion uses the newer NIJ body armor classifications as I feel they telegraph their protection levels quite well over the older roman numeral system.

**ALL THESE TABLES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE**

There are still details and rulings I feel are missing from all of this, so they will change in the final publication. I'm excited to hear any and all feedback, questions, or concerns!

Hey folks!

After a year of writing, drawing, designing, and playtesting, I'm incredibly excited to finally share BOG, my own tabletop RPG!

In BOG, you play as brave little frog knights venturing into a dark, cursed Marsh filled with ancient ruins, strange creatures, forgotten magic, and dangers far greater than yourselves.

The rules are lightweight and straightforward, leaving plenty of room for creative problem-solving and emergent storytelling. Combat is fast and brutal, and even the bravest frog knight is fragile in the face of the Marsh's many dangers.

The rulebook includes everything you need to play:

• A complete, easy-to-learn ruleset.
• Random tables and tools to help Bogmasters create their own adventures.
• A bestiary featuring dozens of creatures.
• A ready-to-play quest site to kick off your first adventure.

I've also hand-drawn every illustration in the game myself. No AI was used. Some of you might recognize the artwork from illustrations I've shared on this subreddit during development!

BOG has been playtested by groups from around the world, and their feedback helped me shape the game into what it is today. It's been a long journey, and I'm thrilled to finally put it out there.

You can get BOG here: https://marius-niezgoda.itch.io/bog-a-game-of-frogs

It's currently available for a special launch price of $4.99.

Finally, a huge thank-you to everyone on r/osr who has encouraged, supported, and helped me along the way. This community has been a wonderful part of the journey, and I genuinely appreciate it.

To everyone who ventures into the Marsh: may your frogs be brave, your oaths unbroken, and your adventures unforgettable!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy BOG!

Many years ago now, I started an OSR project under the name “Faerie Tales & Folklore”. I published an embarrassingly poorly edited 1st edition on DriveThruRPG which was fairly well received among a small following. I had gone back to the drawing board to work on a much better version of the book, but to make a long story short, fatherhood and the construction of a family compound robbed me of all the free time I had, forcing me to sideline the project. The painful part was that I had made a vast amount of progress on the new tome before the issues piled up, thus preventing my continued progress.

I write this today, because my life is arriving at a time where I have more time again to devote to my hobbies, and I am considering returning to this project. That said, I am curious if the work itself still has a valid place in the greater OSR community, and am curious if those in this community would still be interested in a deeply historical fantasy setting built around 0e D&D with Chainmail combat. Depending upon the response I receive, I will likely make a post containing link to a PDF of the new rules and setting information in their current unfinished state for the community to take a look at and help me decide if the game is something that would still be interesting and worth finishing.

The book is almost 700 pages, and uses a smaller format than most RPG books, but is common among hardcover novel titles. I state this because it is a bit daunting of a tome to get involved with, and seems to run counter to the shorter, more rules lite material that seems more common these days. I am just trying to get back into the act of self publishing and having to promote my work, and I am sorely out of practice. If anyone is interested, please, sound off here, and depending on the response, I might post the PDF shortly.

I am sorry if this type of post is not appreciated. As I said, I have been out of the “scene” for a good while. I do not even know if the flair I used is “appropriate”. I do not really have a way to make this post flashier, or to attract further attention, I am just testing the waters before I sink myself back into this, any responses would be appreciated.

Thank you—

I'm trying to make a JRPG/LitRPG-inspired B/X hack. I chose B/X as a chassis for my game because it's easy to make classes for, but I'm looking to make classes that are more powerful and feature-rich than standard B/X. To that end, I asked around for B/X clones or B/X adjacent games that have the powerful classes I'm looking for, and one of the games I was directed to was Fantastic Heroes and Witchery. From what little preview there was, it looks to be promising, but I have two questions that need to be answered before I decide whether to invest or not:

1. What OSR system is Fantastic Heroes and Witchery compatible with? (The game doesn't say whether it was built from or compatible with B/X)
2. Are there systems for creating classes, races, monsters, and spells for Fantastic Heroes and Witchery? (I want to be able to create custom powers and special abilities.)

I want to be able to create unique, powerful, and feature-rich classes with custom powers and special abilities, but from what I've read the official class creation system for 2e made by TSR produces weaker classes than the officially published ones.

I want to be able to create unique, powerful, and feature-rich classes with custom powers and special abilities. (Also, can anyone please clarify which OSR system the Black Pudding Playbook is compatible with?

Someone took my TTRPG...and made it a videogame

Really conflicted about this. I have liked this channel and have liked the Knave system, and Ben seems to be genuinely interested in how this is an adaptation of his work under a creative commons license, but this leaves a sour taste in my mouth. This feels to me like another example of seeing online creative content plundered and generified and rendered into some slopware, and to have the creator himself show enthusiasm for it? I'm just... So confused here.

Edit: look to be clear, I’m not saying fuck Ben here/cancel him! I’m more so just confused on why highlight something like this when there’s genuinely so much passion and effort behind this hobby from talented people. This was a free game and there’s no monetization here from what I understand. For the Pro-AI content crowd I guess do you think that having these vibe coded versions of games is something we should highlight? If Ben wants to highlight stuff like this, sure it’s literally his product, but I’m conflicted if we are going to see other examples of people’s work turned into apps like this that are CC.

EDIT2: Response from Ben that people below have linked:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9J4hFsOHp0

heard i should post this here

Doomed to Die 3 - Sludge Knights is about an ascetic order of knights that are cursed after breaking their vows designed to be used in any campaign either as the prior faction or latter as a cursed monster.

There's information about the order, how it operated and how impacted other institutions, tables for generating knights in the order, and potential quest hooks.

If you're interested you can get it here: https://doomedzone.itch.io/doomed-to-die-3 All issues are free and public domain (cc0).

Happy to answer any questions or hear your thoughts, hopefully has some ideas you can use.