Kickstarter - Up the Beanstalk: A Solo Adventure for 5e & B/X! (Pacesetter Games)

I've known Bill and Ben (best hair in the OSR) Barsh for well over a decade, and their knowledge and devotion to the OSR and old-school gaming is second to none (even if Ben is a bit of a 5e guy)

At the moment, I'm in between campaigns, so a nice, solo adventure may do me well. Of course, my preferred flavor is B/x ;)

Damn it! I'm in for the Up the Beanstalk: A Solo Adventure for 5e & B/X! Hardcover...

Up the Beanstalk is a true solo adventure for 3rd level characters using the 5th Edition or B/X game systems! For more about solo gaming, see the SoloSystem header here in the "Story" section.

This book will feature a variety of new content to each game system to better fit the adventure at hand. You can expect:

• 75+ Pages of Adventure
• New Marvelous Magic Items
• New Malicious Monsters
• Detailed maps to guide adventure where necessary
• Beautiful black and white artwork to tell the visual story

"Writing a fantasy roleplaying adventure based on such a classic story comes with a fair amount of responsibility. I have done my best to retain the spirit and themes present within the original tellings of this story. The stalk is still a challenge in itself, a certain hen may lay certain eggs, Blunderbore (you know him) is still evil, etc etc. However, this adventure module gives your character the opportunity to be the hero of the story. I hope you all enjoy this adventurous re-telling of one of the greatest stories on Earth. We all have a beanstalk to ascend to become whom we were meant to be. Time to start climbing!" -Ben Barsh, author and designer of Up the Beanstalk 

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Kickstarter - Legacy of the Green Flame: A Solo Campaign for 5e & Classic!

I've been dabbling in the world of solo play recently, snagging rulesets and trying to get comfortable with the idea of playing when I have a few minutes to spare, without a GM or other players. As such, I constantly have my eyes open for new solo play options, which brings us to Legacy of the Green Flame: A Solo Campaign for 5e & Classic from Pacesetter Games.

The Legacy of the Green Flame: A Solo Campaign Kickstarter offers a full campaign (to 5th level), to be played with essentially any OSR system, or 5e (and probably Pathfinder with some minor tweaking). Hardcover plus PDF, for the system type of your choice, is 45 bucks, which I consider to be very reasonable.

This multi-part solo campaign includes four linked adventure modules that can be played as part of the campaign or independently. Each module is set in a unique location and environment. There are two versions of the campaign adventure, 5e and Classic (which includes BX, Holmes, OSE, Swords & Wizardry, and 1e). Additionally, your character gains experience and advances in level as you move through the adventures (5e uses benchmark leveling but may opt for traditional experience point leveling, while the Classic version uses experience point progression).

Legacy of the Green Flame uses Pacesetter’s innovative SoloSystem for augmented solo gameplay; however, you still use the core rules of whichever RPG system you prefer (5e or Classic). Every creature, magic item, and new spell is full described (with full stat blocks in the Classic version). Did we mention there are dozens of new monsters, magic items, and spells? Well, there are. The SoloSystem provides added guidelines and rules to help move the game along while maximizing the solo game experience. These are generally items such as resting, wandering monsters, hirelings and henchmen, Adventure Points, etc. You also can map as you go! This is a unique facet that Pacesetter innovated way back in 2010.

Each of the adventures has multiple adventure paths and routes so you can play them many times and experience new adventure areas and results.

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Deal of the Day - Endless Encounters: Dungeons (5e and OSR)

I'm a big fan of Pacesetter Games and Bill and Ben Barsh. I've been buying Pacesetter stuff since my first NTRPG Con in 2014 (and have watched Ben grow from a teen to a young man).

Endless Encounters: Dungeons is pretty much as it says on the tin: a series of tables and charts for generating encounters on the fly to keep your players entertained.

Until tomorrow morning, Endless Encounters: Dungeons is DTRPG's Deal of the Day. Normally 20 bucks in PDF, but until tomorrow morning Endless Encounters: Dungeons is on sale for 6 bucks in PDF.

Within these pages are dozens of charts for each level (1-10) that generate memorable encounters with just a few dice rolls. Whether you need to add an encounter to your adventure or design an entire dungeon, EE: Dungeons is an exhaustive resource and easy to use. Charts include everything you need to create an amazing encounter including illumination, room type, room contents, traps, monsters (full statistic blocks), treasures, and much more. EE: Dungeons also has 53 new monsters and 64 new magical items! Of course there is more in the form of a complete sample dungeon for each level with room descriptions and full-color map. All ten levels connect and form a mega-dungeon with more than 500 encounters! EE: Dungeons is designed for use with the 5e RPG and compatible with all other OSR classic game systems based on the world’s largest fantasy RPG.

 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Why a Cancelled Kickstarter is a Good Thing

You might have noticed that I didn't post last weekend, but I was laid up in a so-not-American hospital being doped up on pain meds and NOT being treated for the reason I was admitted. Was quite the shi.....it sucked.

This last week I noticed a little bit of unexpected activity, mostly on Facebook, about a particular Kickstarter: Exwyn's Handbook to Heroism.

Now I'll admit this particular project holds no interest from me because...well I don't play 5E so I don't usually even give 5E projects a look, though anything that gives an option for solo play probably deserved a look from me (it's been too long since I slung dice).

I won't pretend to know all the in's and out's of running a Kickstarter, or the in's and out's of Pacesetter Games, but I do have a good opinion of those behind the latter (don't get me started on those behind the former!), and I'd rather see their projects succeed even if I'm not into them.

When I read the Facebook posts about them cancelling this project I actually had a good feeling about it, and while I can be a dick, please don't get me wrong I'm not trying to be one here so give me a little leeway. Now on the surface it looked like that Pacesetter was going to make their relatively low funding goal, but that the minimum funding wasn't going to cut it. These kinds of things get planned out well in advance, so things like the Hasbro licensing brouhaha can really muck things up. The end-run is that Exwyn's Handbook to Heroism was probably going to be too much of a resource sink for the small company and Pacesetter Games decided to "pull the plug".

So why is this a good thing?

In my experience the average gamer thinks it would be "awesome" to run a game store or be involved in a gaming company, but both are a lot of work and jobs........not 24/7 fun and games. Sure there are cool aspects to those jobs, but don't many jobs have cool aspects top them?

I like it when businessmen "do the math" and make smart business decisions. Pacesetter Games realized that they wouldn't be able to complete Exwyn's Handbook to Heroism to the level of quality they wanted and instead of putting out a (my words) shittier product, they cancelled the project.

Now long-time readers of the Tavern have undoubtedly heard about numerous Kickstarters where the product was either shitty, or never delivered......sometimes a little bit of both! Ok, like a little bit of the project was delivered and that little bit sucks.

One thing I learned in school was that with product development you can, at best, choose two of three factors: cost, quality, time. You can have a quick and quality product, but it'll cost a lot of money. You want low cost and high quality? It'll take forever....you get the idea. Pacesetter games could probably deliver a high-quality product in a decent amount of time, but the resources (cost) just wasn't there and instead of delivering a crappy product or taking forever, since the cost was fixed, they made a wise choice.

I know Erik has blasted a few (I'd dare say idiots) who have made unwise Kickstarter decisions, as have I, but we generally don't say good things about those who make wise ones.

Humble Bundle - Essential Classic Fantasy RPG Collection

Wow.

Quite simply Wow.

I own probably half the titles in this collection in print or PDF, but for 25 bucks I'm in for those that I DON'T already own.

Highlights for me are the Lost Lands Setting from Frog God Games(awesome AND open for other publishers), Highfell (Greg Gillespie at his finest), the OSE Core Books, StoneHeart Valley (also offered in print for a grand total of $45), and a crapton of other adventures.

The Essential Classic Fantasy RPG Collection from Humble Bundle is likely a lifetime of OSR gaming for you and your group for a mere 25 bucks. Sure, you can snag it for less (or more) but 25 bucks is a sweetspot you WILL NOT BEAT. Seriously.

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The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar

Kickstarter - Endless Encounters: Dungeons (a 5th Edition & B/X Adventure Generator)

I love gaming resources that I can use for inspiration when it comes to creating adventures. The more flavor you can add, the more memorable your adventures will be. I was granted a peek at the first chapter of Endless Encounters: Dungeons as a work in progress (level 1) and I am extremely impressed and psyched. With this and the Tome of Adventure Design in hand, I'll be spending many an evening designing dungeon adventures :)

The old school has returned! Back to the good ol' days of monster hotels and dungeon crawling we go! With this 200+ page supplement for 5e and B/X, you will be able to randomly craft a dungeon to play through in just minutes! Running late for game day? Endless Encounters: Dungeons is there for you. Lacking inspiration while trapped in quarantine? Endless Encounters: Dungeons will light the way. Simply feeling a bit adventurous with your game design? Endless Encounters: Dungeons - yeah, you get it.

Endless Encounters: Dungeons is an adventure generator for characters level 1-8 for the 5th Edition and B/X game systems!

This book is separated into 8 distinct sections. Each section is designed and balanced for characters of that specific level. So, the first section is for 1st level characters, the second section is for 2nd level characters, and so on, until level 8. You may use the level that corresponds with the adventuring party's levels!

Each level adds additional difficultly and complexity. This means more charts and more options. With each level, the story can truly build and expand.

Last night on the Talking Crit Livestream, Bad Mike & I were joined by Ben Barsh of Pacesetter Games and we discussed the Endless Encounters: Dungeons Kickstarter (and many other topics:)

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar

The Humble RPG Book Bundle: 5th Edition Dungeon Extravaganza (includes some System Neutral Sourcebooks)

Looks like we have another RPG Bundle over at Humble Bundle. Although this one is labeled for 5e, as I've stated before, just about any GM can convert from 5e to the OSR will little effort, and many can do so on the fly with little to no prep. Additionally, this bundle has some system-neutral setting pieces that I highly recommend: the regional sourcebook The Duchy of Reme and the Lost Lands Setting book. Both come with rules addendums for 5e, but the sourcebooks themselves are system neutral, and the Lost Lands Setting Book comes with a license for other publishers to publish in the Lost Worlds Setting and reference locations and add to the lore. Now THAT is fucking cool.

Did I mention it includes The Book of Taverns, Volumes I and II? I kinda like taverns, go figure ;)

The Humble RPG Book Bundle: 5th Edition Dungeon Extravaganza comes in at three price points: $1, $8, and $15. The Duchy of Reme is included at the $8 level and The Lost Lands Setting book is included at the $15 price point.

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Pacesetter Games & Simulations is Offering Three 1e Solo Modules at PWYW Pricing

From Bill Barsh, Pacesetter Games:

With the news of the cancellation, we at Pacesetter want to offer a few things for Gary Con attendees. We have modified our three AD&D solo modules on drivethrurpg to PAY WHAT YOU WANT. With so many groups shutting down, here is your chance to still play some AD&D. If you do decide to donate, we are donating all the proceeds to Gary Con charities - Wounded Warrior Project and Extra Life. These charities are definitely losing out and we are committed to doing what we can. As an Army veteran of two wars, I'm certainly attuned to the need. Let's all do what we can. Don't need the modules, please go to the charities directly. They always need the help. Again, thank you Luke Gygax and company.

If you can't donate, please grab the modules anyway! Fight some monsters, solve some mystery, grab some treasure, its what Gary would do!

https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/default.aspx?tsid=10043&fbclid=IwAR13ROZTkgD3YSQ7QaHE2t_4ZcX0hqM9-HyqzeTqwChDVVios5qUwh03dnw

https://www.extra-life.org/

Links to Modules:

I3-Ruins-of-the-Red-Moon

I2-Beyond-the-Black-Wall

I1-Grave-of-the-Green-Flame

Yep, those are affiliate links above. Affiliate links keep the beer cold and the heat on at The Tavern.

OSR Black Friday Sales - Part The Third - Trolls and Hacks and More

Its ACTUALLY Black Friday now. Let's see what sales have been added to the mix. Prior posts are here and here.

KenzerCo

Kenzerco's 2018 Hack Friday [CyB3rMonday] Sale

Thanks for checking out our annual mega-sale. There's values across the board with a majority of products 50% off for the shopping holiday weekend (Friday through Monday).

All orders of $50 (in merchandise) will receive a free copy of a Bundle of Trouble. $100 orders will get two. (The specific volume is determined by stock on hand.)

Note that this page has special product listings we prepared especially for you (below) that exceed even these savings! Other highlights follow:

• We've added discounted media mail shipping options for hardcover books
• "Classic" print editions of KoDT are 80% off
• Previous edition Aces & Eights products are 80% off
• All Casualty Counters are 75% off. These very kewl fallen battle figures make a great stocking stuffer for the gamer in your life.
• HackMaster bundle/shipping specials are an awesome value if you want to pick up multiple core books

Troll Lord Games

Stacking "percent off" doesn't usually add up as well as you think it might but by my math, $20 to $50 becomes 46% off and over $50 becomes 52% off. Still HUGE discounts at The Trolls.

Jeff Talanian

Time for some Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerors of Hyperborea fun :)

Pacesetter Games & Simulations

OSR adventures and minis are the Pacesetter specialty.

35% off sitewide with coupon code: Black18

Pacesetter Games Releases Four Adventures for Swords & Wizardry Light (Print & PDF)

Pacesetter Games has just released four adventures for Swords & Wizardry Light (and fully compatible with Swords & Wizardry Complete from my perusal of the adventures)

PDFs are $3 a pop, Print plus PDF is $5 each.

I'll review them once I get a chance to start reading them straight through (I've just scanned through them at this point) Pacesetter Games has had some really nice releases and I expect these will be no different.