Barrel Rider Games is Running a 25% Off Sale on PDFs 'Till the End o The Year - White Star, White Box, oh My!

+James Spahn / Barrel Rider Games is running a 25% off sale on nearly all of their digital releases as a way of thanking the gaming community for all of the support they've shown James over the years and especially in the past few months. Even Kamikazi Bambis can't stand up to the power of community support ;)

White Star? 25% off

White Box? 25% off

Heroes Journey? Already PWYW

Labyrinth Lord releases? 25% off

Sale prices are good until the end of 2016.

Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's OBS affiliate links puts 5% of your purchase price into The Tavern's coffers. Don't leave that money on the table for the greedy corps! Tip your barman!  ;)

White Star - The Man With No Name (Character Class)

You've seen them even if you didn't remark about it at the time. Drifters, yet something more. They have a purpose, something that drives them. Maybe it's revenge, but they don't seem to take things all that personal. You should know their name, but it really isn't all that important, is it? Joe? Blondie? You know, "that guy". The Man With No Name. Damn if he ain't a good shot with that gun though. When did he land on planet anyway?

The Man With No Name blends easily into a crowd, but that's the point, isn't it? Loose, nondescript clothing is the only thing in style. If you do have to take a life in the city, it's best no one remembers much about you. Of course, if you do need to take a life, it's simply justice. The law doesn't always put a value on that, and being spaced or hung is not the way for an honest man to die. Keep your head down and keep walking. Much obliged.

LEVEL      XP      HD      BHB      ST
1                  0        1           +0        15  
2              2,250     2           +1        14
3              4,500     3           +2        13
4              9,000     4           +3        12
5            18,000     4+1       +3        11
6            36,000     5           +4        10
7            72,000     6           +5          9
8          144,000     6+1       +5          8
9          288,000     7           +6          7
10        576,000     7+1       +6          6

Weapons / Armor Restrictions - Any weapon in wilderness. Any weapon concealable under his poncho or clothing in an urban environment. Any armor in wilderness. Light Armor in urban environments (unless the default armor is higher in that local) The point, as always, is to blend.

Always Has A Credit - Although The Man With No Name is limited in his belongings to what he can carry, he always has enough credit to pay for a cheap meal and a dump of a lodging. Even if he has more credit than he knows what to do with, he always goes for the cheap meal and the dump of a lodging.

Take 'Em Down Hard - Once per combat, The Man With No Name can take a -2 penalty to hit in return for rolling twice the number of damage dice if he does hit.

Saving Throw - + 2 to any saving throw that is a dodge or reflex type more

XP Bonus for High Constitution - The Man With No Name with a Constitution of 13 or 14 receives a 5% Experience Bonus. Those with a 15 or higher get a 10% bonus.

May Never Have Assistants - He's (un)lucky enough to have adventuring companions. Assistants would bring undo attention.

Fast Healer - The Man With No Name heals faster than normal folk. He heals at a rate of 1 HP of damage per day WITHOUT rest, 2 HP per day with rest.

(easy enough to use in a more standard White Box campaign pretty much as is)

OGL

Let's Pick Some Dyson Maps for White Star / White Box Adventuring

Cartography by Dyson Logos

Yesterday I posted an informal poll asking my readers what they would like to see in terms of White Star / White Box content. Right out of the gate, adventures appear to be a strong contender. So, adventures will certainly be a major part of the mix of content.

The problem is, my mapping skills suck. So, I need a quick fix and I think we have one.

+Dyson Logos releases some amazing maps for free commercial use thanks to his Patreon Supporters (of whom I am proudly one of)

What I would like my readers to do is follow THIS LINK to Dyson's free Patreon Supported commercial maps. Pick the ones you would like to see written out as an adventure for White Star, White Box or both, provide the link in a comment below and tell us why you chose the map you did. If you have chosen multiple maps, please make multiple comments. It will make it easier for all to follow.

The goal is to write some up as 1-sheet, 4-page adventures, posted as they progress here at The Tavern with the completed adventures shared initial with The Tavern's Patreons.

So, have at it. Comment below. Do eet! Do eet now!

White Star / White Box - Informal Content Request Survey

Sometimes all you need is to get "Your Irish Up" to find some motivation. In this case, it re-awoke my gaming content muse. When I wrote yesterday's Star Marshal class for White Star, it took less than 30 minutes, and that includes the OGL update. Apparently, when the muse is full awake, it works fairly fast.

So, what I want to know is what you want gaming content wise from The Tavern. And when I say "you" I actually mean YOU. The content I plan to create will be for White Star and / or White Box (S&W), but the actual type of content is what I'm asking you about.

Are you looking for character classes, new races, new monsters, NPCs, equipment, spells and / or powers, micros settings, encounters - what is it that will give you the most benefit in the games you are running or playing in?

As an aside, the Dragon White setting is still in the works and parts of it may leak out in upcoming posts.

I'm going to spend the next week or two putting my current White Star / White Box content into 1-sheet / 4 page PDFs for the The Tavern's Patrons on Patreon (long overdue, but I'm blocking out creative time these days, so hopefully shit falls into place ;)

So, tell me what you want in the comments below. I make no guarantees that all will get their wish but everything will be taken into consideration.

Look What Was Waiting for me Tonight When I Got Home

Every once in a blue moon I check Ebay for some of the older TSR era releases. Occasionally I bid on something. Earlier this week I spotted an OCE White Box Dungeons & Dragons set - minimum bid $75.

This was the description:

Box shows some wear.  All books and reference sheets show some staining on the outside. Monsters and Treasure book has some staining inside as well.  See pics.  Names are written on the inside cover of each book. Rest of the interiors are in good shape.

I figured $75 for an OCE in okay condition? I'll bid on that. Well, no one else did. It's in better condition than the description would leave one to believe. Hell, the box itself is in better condition than the OCE I bought on Noble Knight for $175 five years ago.

A very decent Christmas Gift for myself ;)

Dragon White Setting - Initial Bullet Points

Art by Stom Cook

I really like +James Mishler 's idea of multiple spheres aligned with different colored dragons, but I need a way to keep the initial number of spheres in play limited, thus the closed gates.

Anyhow, here's the initial bullet points if you will. No idea if it will survive the week, or at least, which parts will survive the week ;)

Dragon White

• decayed and broken empire - ruled by dragons over multiple worlds - dragonkin are their face to other races

- dragonkin - humanoids with dragon blood - magically created race

- White Box Elf Variant as base model

- can drain spells from memory to power dragonships planar gates.

     -     inner stellar travel uses ships with sails that catch the solar winds

• inter stellar travel uses planar gates - gates are paired - all gates pair with the Dragon White System - gates directly linking other systems have not been found - ex no direct link between Dragon Green and Dragon Red - think Babylon 5 for travel via gates

- dragonships have their own planar gates that can pair with any stable gate - need power and skilled navigator - rare - single digits in number

- planar gates have just recently reopened after a millennium of closure - no one is sure  

 why they have opened, or those that know aren’t talking

     - the systems / spheres are:

Dragon White - central - numerous races - a handful of inhabited moons -                

                       fragmented governments that can trace their lineage to the empire of old

Dragon Green - elf dominated - isolationist - slowly dying

Dragon Red - orcish empire - expansionist - it’s moon is a dwarven fortress

ever in resistance

     - each system / sphere is one (inhabited) planet with one or more inhabited moons

     - there are other systems / spheres - the gates have yet to be activated

     - pirates / privateers / tax officials know where the active gates are - small towns have

           sprunt up around these gates - built like endless piers with buildings / taverns /

merchants and the like - mostly lawless

Thoughts on an OSR "Dragonstar" Type Campaign - and Other Random Thoughts of a Dangerous Type

I've got training this week, so instead of being a vampire an working when the sun is down I'll be in training at 7am tomorrow. My mind is bouncing around, and lack of sleep this morning after last night's overnight shift has left me a little punch drunk. But hey, the Jets AND the Giants both won today. Football is alive and well in NYC :)

Anyhow, back in the D20 era, when I didn't game but I did collect gaming books, Dragonstar was a setting that really caught my eye and sparked my imagination. On the surface, it seemed similar to Spelljammer, but it was much darker (Spelljammer always felt "campy" to me.) Hmmm, the other D20 era setting that got my imagination going was Midnight. Must be the idea of dark in my fantasy.


Tonight I stumbled across the Dragonstar SRD, which to be honest is really just the 3.0 SRD with some minor additions. Of course, the fluff is not open, so it's not included, but it did get me thinking - how hard would it to be to take one part S&W White Box, one part White Star, add in some dragons, borrow inspiration from Spelljammer, Calidar and Dragonstar, sprinkle the decay of a multi-world evil empire, distill it down with White Box sensibility and simplicity and cook it on the stove of creativity?

Yeah, not something I should even be thinking off with my current screwed up work hours. But wait! I've decided to run some of the comp time I've accumulated (and vacation time I've banked) to give myself a four day weekend every other week before I hand in my shield in the Spring. If I block out some creative time I may have something usable before I retire. With some work, it may even be usable by others too ;)

I think I'm going to bring a notebook to training tomorrow. 8 hrs of lectures by folks that don't and can't, so therefore they teach. I'll look attentive, taking notes and such while I'm really mapping out universe of White Dragon (or whatever it's going to be called - for now, it's code name "White Dragon".)

The secret to anything White Box is less is more. So I need to think big and execute small.

Alright, time for sleep. I have to be at work an hour before I'd normally be heading for home. Sleep won't come easy...

Mini Review - White Box Options - Psychic Talents (Swords & Wizardry)

Note - I'm in the midst of reading a handful of longer products for review purposes - White Box Options are a nice, short, change of pace from the rest of my reading - other reviews will be forthcoming - it HAS been a while.

Psychic Powers. Psionics. Wild Talents. You either love it or hate it - or in the case of AD&D 1e, never fully understood it, as it had it's own unique rule system attached to it that had little if anything to do with the core rules.

In truth, I've always liked the concept but I have never liked it's implementation. +James Spahn may have changed my opinion as I like his implementation.

Just like in 1e, with White Box Options - Psychic Talents your chance to be psychic is totally random, with higher scores in the mental abilities increasing the chance and non-human races having a decreased chance. In all cases, the minimal chance to have a psychic talent is 1% (assuming the player wants a chance - it's all opt in.)

None of the powers are game breaking, which caused a nice sigh of relief on my part. They give options and such, but aren't overpowered. A successful save allows the power to activate. A failed save means try again in 24 hours. So, you can't depend on them but they certainly can help.

Here's two examples:

Regulate Metabolism
Duration: 24 Hours
The character is able to regulate their body to such a degree that
while this ability is active they suffer no penalties from lack of food or water.
They also receive a +1 to all saving throws made to resist poison while
Regulate Metabolism is active. Once this ability wears off, the character
immediately suffers all the effects that would be applicable from a lack of
food and water. A character who would die from such things immediately
drops dead when they reach that point, even if this talent is active.

Direction Sense
Duration: Instant
The character who successfully activates this talent can immediately
sense which direction is North as well as sense their distance from the
ground, whether above or below it. 

Nice perks without being overpowering.

I'll be adding this to my bag of campaign tricks next time around. White Box Options - Psychic Talents is a good value at 2 bucks.

Tavern Closed for the Night - Reading the First 59 Pages of White Star (S&W WhiteBox SciFi RPG)

Just got sent the first 59 pages of +James Spahn 's White Star RPG. STOP

Installing to tablet. STOP

Falling in love for the first time all over again. STOP

Will update in morning after torrid sex reading in bed. DON'T STOP ;)

(I'll yammer in the morning)

edit: even the preview I have is bookmarked! woozah!

Castles & Crusades - The Other "White Box"

I had forgotten I had the Castles & Crusades Collector's Edition, otherwise known as the C&C White Box.

I guess I should do a "White Box Comparison" post or series of posts at some point. Original Dungeons & Dragons, Swords & Wizardry White Box, Delving Deeper and the Castles & Crusades Collector's Edition.

It is kinda neat with just the 4 core classes, 10 levels and 4 races. A whole game in just one box.