Semi-Random Megadungeon "Saturday Night Special" Generation Using Existing Resources

Read here for a definition of megadungeon "Saturday Night Specials." The below procedures can also be used for generated lair/mini/micro-dungeons as well.

Step 1

Roll a d20 and cross reference the result with the dungeon level on this chart that is for use with the excellent "The Underworlds" article from The Best of the Journal: The Pettigrew Selections. This determines the nature of the Saturday Night Special. Although this above table is designed for use for Tekumel games, it should be useful for most mileus. Results may refer to an ancient/ruined City, Palace, Fortress, etc., or a discrete portion of the megadungeon being used for the generated purpose by the current inhabitants (City = Warren of Derro; Palace = Pleasure Den of a Rakshasa; Fortress = Secret Headquarters of an Assassin Cult; etc).

Note that I strongly recommend the aforementioned The Pettigrew selections as a random megadungeon element generation resource, available from Tita's House of Games.

Also note that shrines and temples should have a fair chance of containing some fabulous treasure that horribly curses those that thieve it; a wonderful horror comic and pulp fiction cliche that seems woefully underrepresented in D&D.

I interpret Wizard's Tower to represent a magician's lair and not necessarily a subterranean tower; although an ancient tower buried deep in the earth by the ages or a tower in a gigantic cavern are both pretty cool.

For my usage Canals means constructed or artificial subterranean waterways: sewers, the Black Reservoir, cave rivers all fall in this category.

Nexus Point is a technical Tekumel term for "transdimensional wormhole portal thingy;" in the context of this method we can use it for teleportals, micro-planes, dimensional gates, time travel device, etc.

In the original article Ancient Tunnel refers to the Humanspace Empire era subways tunnels deep in Tekumel's crust; for non-science fantasy-ish campaigns they obviously refer to Atlantean or Lemurian equivalent relics.

Step 2
Generate a name for the special with the Beyond The Black Gate - Random Megadungeon Area Name Generator.

Step 3
Use Dave's Mapper to generate a map of the area of the special; note that you can turn on a 10-foot grid with the buttons along the top. This serves as a workable maze generator, and this does the trick for caves.What I do is generate a geomorph-map and than only use the portions that appeal to me while rearranging elements so as to remove the regular corridor placement. For most specials you probably only need a handful or two of rooms, for usage with Step 4 you will need roughly 8 to 20 rooms (d6+d8+6?).

Step 4
Using the elements generated in Steps 1, 2 & 3, think of a theme for the Saturday Night Special. For example: On level 6 of the megadungeon I generate a result of "Palace," the name "Screaming Archmaze of the Bone God," and with Dave's Mapper and the maze generator I cobble together a sprawling maze. Obviously the luxurious yet labyrinthine domicile of some sort of powerful undead aristocrat with a a functioning small cult.

Now go over to Playing D&D With Porn Stars and Read This. What you do is come up with lists of monsters, traps and treasures appropriate for your Saturday Night Special, start with the first room and work your way to the last room dicing up the contents as you go.

For the palace maze of the Bone God I come up with the following monster list off the top of my head.
8 - Villain: The Bone God, the Lich-ified remains of a God-Emperor from ages past
7 - Lieutenants: Hoochie-mama Vampire consorts
6 - Guardian Beast: Pet Froghemoth
5 - Assistant Managers: Mummy Cleric
4 - Tough Guys: Cultists with Cleric or Magic-user leader
3 - Grunts: Talkative zombie guards
2 - Servants: Dancing & singing skeleton butlers & maids
1 - Vermin: Eye Dropper

Note: Yes, I pretty much come up with the idea of putting a Froghemoth in every dungeon I think of, regardless of how wildly inappropriate it is.

Step 5
Flesh out with Tricks, Traps and Empty Room Design from the Hack & Slash blog. Also, the Wilderness Hexploration Document from the New York Red Box forum has a decent temple generator as well as other random generation resources, you could use the Island tables from it to determine what's on a island in a Canals special.

Updated OSR Analogues of Non-OGL Monsters List

Revised
Beholder - Eye of Terror; Sphere of Many Eyes *
Bullywug - Batrachian; Thugtoad
Carrion Crawler - Carcass Scavenger; Corpse Creeper *
Displacer Beast - Phase Tiger; Displacer; Coeurl *
Githyanki - Astral Raider
Grell - Beaktopus
Kuo-Toa - Ponaturi *; Koa-Tau ?*$
Mind Flayer - Mind Eater; Cthonoid *; Thulid; Brain Lasher; Thelidu
Slaad - Senufio; Ogdoad **
Umber Hulk - Wenge Goliath *
Yuan-Ti - Naga; Ophiduan **$

? - ?
* - To my knowledge these monsters are not Open Content
** - Third Edition statistics
$ - To my knowledge no free version is available

The monsters that I'm unaware of having any OSR-ish direct analogues are:
Githzerai - I admit, they don't exactly set the imagination on fire
Hook Horror

Thanks Your Charles Stross/ If You Want Slaad You've Got It...

Slaad on the rocks
Slaad on the streets
Slaad in the sky
Slaad on the sheets
If you want Slaad
You've got it...

It looks like someone else has caught Open Content Versions of Non-OGL Classic D&D Monster fever, as Bat from Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets has presented the first of the Senufio (SErial NUmbers FIled Off): The Scarlet Marauder.

[Labyrinth Lord] Dear Lawyers: I Assure You That is Definitely NOT A Grell...

Completely unrelated to my previous discussion regarding "serial numbers filed off" versions of WOTC's precious non-open content Product Identity created by fine gentlemen such as Charles Stross, good 'ole Alan sent me his write up for an exciting new floating paralytic-tentacle monster "The Beaktopus."

The material in the quote box below is hereby designated Open Game Content via the Open Game License.

BEAKTOPUS

No. Enc.: 1 (1)

Alignment: Chaotic

Movement: Fly - 120’ (30’)

Armor Class: 4

Hit Dice: 5

Attacks:   9 (8 tentacles, 1 beak)

Damage: (8 tentacles) 1d4 + paralysis / (1 beak) 1d6

Save:   F6

Morale:   10

Hoard Class: XIX

XP:   570

The beaktopus is a solitary underground predator which most likely originated in the fevered dreams of of a wizard with too much time and talent, though not enough common sense. Lucky adventurers who have chanced upon this fearsome creature and survived, describe it as well over 7 feet tall, with a body consisting of a central body from which eight radially symmetrical tentacles descend towards the ground. Each tentacle is covered with small, wickedly sharp hooked barbs which are used to capture and neutralize its prey. A large, sharp beak is found on the bottom of the body, sitting between all of the tentacles, and serves as the creature's digestive track entrance.

The beaktopus moves via a combination of levitation and using its tentacles to propel it, and is completely silent when it wishes to be. The source of the creature's levitation ability is a gland located in the central body, and if removed and lanced, will secrete enough liquid to act as a potion of levitation if captured and stored properly.

When a party of adventurers stumbles upon a beaktopus (for what foolish person would seek one out willingly?), the beast will focus all of its attacks on a single victim, and attack that poor sod with all eight (8) tentacles. If any tentacle his, then not only will each rake the victim's flesh with barbed hooks for 1d4 damage, but each successful attack also necessitates a single saving throw vs. paralysis, with a -1 modifier for each successful attack beyond the first.

Once the beaktopus has successfully attacked its prey and paralyzed it, it will draw the prey towards its beak and in the following turns begin devouring its helpless prey. The beaktopus may move and attack its paralyzed prey with its beak at the same time.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved.
1. Definitions: (a)"Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b)"Derivative Material" means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) "Distribute" means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) "Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) "You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
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4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.
5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
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7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.
9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.
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12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
END OF LICENSE

Open Content Analogues of WOTC Non-OGL Classic D&D Monsters

When WOTC released all that OGC/OGL jazz they took care to firewall a bunch of classic D&D monsters behind a product identity clause.

With indie publishers beings the wacky scamps that they are, a bunch of them has released versions of many of prohibited pre-2E monsters with the serial numbers filed off.

I'm working on some comprehensive simulacrum D&D encounter tables and have been using these versions to fill in some gaps; so far this is what I've come up with:
Beholder - Eye of Terror from Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion
Bullywug - Batrachian from OSRIC; Thugtoad from the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book
Carrion Crawler - Carcass Scavenger from Adventurer Conquerer King Labyrinth Lord
Displacer Beast - Phase Tiger from Adventurer Conquerer King Labyrinth Lord
Githyanki - Astral Raider from Ancient Vaults and Eldritch Secrets (a pretty "loose" version compared to the ultra-detailed Fiend Folio entry but it's there)
Grell - The Beaktopus makes for a workable substitute...
Mind Flayer - Mind Eater from the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book; Lasher from Mutant Future; The Thelidu from the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book are pretty close to the Mind Flayer, but their hit dice are significantly lower
Slaad - Bat from Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets has kindly assembled the Senufio; Claudio Pozas made the Ogdoad for 3E, but they're a bit far from the original for my liking.

The monsters that I'm unaware of having any OSR-ish analogues are:
Githzerai - I admit, they don't exactly set the imagination on fire
Kuo-Toa - A whole lot of fishmen & Deep Ones out there though
Umber Hulk
Yuan-Ti - A whole lot of snakemen out there as well, but I haven't come across anything that closely replicates the AD&D version

Are any of you folks aware of additional versions of the "product identity" monsters or non-open pre-2E monsters that I have missed?

Blair's GM Merit Badges

Stuart at Strange Magic created a nice set of icons that DMs can use to quantify and communicate their refereeing style; although I was dubious about "patting myself on the back" I took a gander and hey! some of these badges fit me to a T. So here's my estimation of which badges describe my DMing style:

Players characters Death is a likely event in my games

I roll Dice in the open and don't fudge the results in my games

 My games include Disturbing content

My games are Gonzo and can include a lot of strangeness

My games rely on a lot of Improvisation rather than pre scripted content

 The GM is In Charge in my games and "rule-zero" is in effect

My games focuses on Exploration & Mystery

There will be Player vs Player combat allowed in my games

Players in my game should be prepared to Run when the odds are against them

 Tactics are an important part of my games

I frequently Tinker with the rules of the game

Converting Swords & Wizardry Challenge Level to AD&D/OSRIC Dungeon Level Table

The Why
I'm trying to hack together some Over-The-Top Encounter By Dungeon Level Tables utilizing the material from all of the OSR Monster Books I have (The Swords & Wizardry Monster Book; Monster of Myth; Malevolent and Benign; and The Tome of Horrors Complete).
However, whereas AD&D/OSRIC categorizes monsters into a scale of I through to X for "Dungeon Level", Swords & Wizardry utilizes a Challenge Level scale that is analogous to the monster's hit dice, but adjusted for special abilities, so it's a more granular and also an open-ended scale.

The How
In the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide, in Appendix C: Random Monster Encounters on page 174, there is a table for determining appropriate dungeon levels for random monster encounters by use of it's experience value, such as III: 51-150 X.P. and IX: 5,501-10,000 X.P.
Obviously it's easier to convert from the more granular and open-ended Challenge Level scale to the restrained and smaller AD&D scale.
Now, as previously mentioned, the Swords & Wizardry Challenge Level is determined by a monsters Hit Dice (with adjustments for special abilities), so what I did was use the Experience Points Value of Monsters table from page 85 of the Dungeon Masters Guide to determine the "Dungeon Level" of a monster of average hit points and no special abilities for Hit Dice of 1 through to 21; after 21 I had to use some fancier math to determine at what Hit Dice an unspecial monster would need to Break the Dungeon Level X threshhold (31.7524 Hit Dice).
Interestingly enough according to this scheme the only monster in the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book that qualifies for Dungeon Level X is Orcus, Demon Prince of the Undead, which is actually in line with the AD&D tables. All of the CL 32+ monsters in the Tome of Horrors Complete are pretty much in line with the over-the-top nature of Level X AD&D Dungeon Monsters as well. When comparing some S&W version of monsters and their CL to their AD&D analogues and their Dungeon Levels they either match up or are off by 1 level, so this system is close enough for me.

S&W Challenge Ratings by AD&D/OSRIC Dungeon Levels
AD&D - S&W
I - 1
II - 2
III - 3,4
IV - 5
V - 6,7
VI - 8
VII - 9-14
VIII - 15-18
IX - 19-31
X - 32+

Some Awesome News Regarding the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book; Attention Artists

NOT the Swords & Wizardry Tome of Horrors Complete, but the 300+ monster book put out by Mythmere Games available Here, with the illustrations free .doc version graciously available Here.

I bought the PDF a while back and I liked it so much that I purchased the softcover; recently out of some OCD need to have my monster books somewhat resemble my AD&D Monster Manual is size and format I've been considering ordering the hardcover version (along with the hardcover versions of Monsters of Myth and Malevolent and Benign, both of which I own the PDF and softcover versions... ...there's also albums that I own in cassette tape, CD and vinyl LP format as well, I'm a real piece of work).

EDIT: Although the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book is sorely lacking in MORALE SCORES and HOARD CLASS; I know they're not S&W rules but come on people, Morale Scores are absolutely crucial for fair DMing!

EDIT II: And as J Random pointed out, NO. APPEARING should be included in the revised edition as well.

It's a good thing that I didn't because I came across This on the Swords & Wizardry Forum:

"I have been putting my re-writes of the monsters into my draft of the S&W Monster Book, and the urge is coming upon me to get illustrations and new monsters, and upgrade the book. Not a second volume, but an upgrade (the cost of the bigger, complete book would not be measurably more than buying a second volume, so might as well do a combined one for convenience). We'd do basically what we did for the first printing, a group project of monster-writing. I might even be able to get contributions from one or two of the D&D celebs that I've hung out with a lot at NTRPGCon. No guarantees on that, but I think a couple of people might be persuaded to chip in a monster or two.

Has it been long enough since the initial release of the monster book for this not to piss off people who bought the first one? Keep in mind that a second volume would cost only slightly less than what I'm thinking of doing here. I think. I haven't run the numbers on the lulu calculators, yet, but that's what I'm assuming. The key here is getting more illustrations, too...

... the S&W Monster Book, only with a new set of monsters to be generated the way we did last time, with people posting their monsters on the board, group comments, me editing, and so forth, and also getting more illustrations (the paucity of illustrations in the monster book is its big flaw). This would be a Mythmere deal, not a Frog God deal, so it would be done through lulu."

I'm pretty jazzed about this bit of news; I'll be able to get my titty-grabbers on a bigger, badder hardcover version of the S&W MB and this is a great opportunity for all of the talented artists and monster-makers out there in OSR land to get their work in an awesome book.

Also, if you don't LOVE this song you're a fucking asshole ;)

Dear PDF Publishers: Please DON'T Do This...

So when I download a freebie or purchase a D&D/OSR/RPG PDF, I generally take it to my friendly local small independant print shop where the absolute dear of an owner uses an Acrobat plug-in to output the PDF in booklet format (although lately I've been handling the mouse-clicks) which is than printed, folded, and stapled into assembled booklet form by the absolute behemoth of a printer in the back.

However, whenever I've tried that with a purchased or free watermarked PDF, the plug-in is denied permission to output in booklet format. Which kind of defeats the purpose of exporting the file into an easy to read, store and use format (with the amount of reality TV that The Warden watches on MY computer, referencing the file on the computer is not a practical option, nevermind that I HATE using a computer while DMing).

So yeah, watermarking PDFs, please don't waste my time with that jive...and I seriously doubt it is going to help you make a living with your hobby publishing venture. Considering that EDIT 95%+ of purchased PDFs I own don't have watermarks, it really makes you look like a worried dork.

My Watermark is integrity and dedication to supporting the publishers that produce material that I use, there's no way that I'm going to be part of cash-blocking any of the awesome dudes out there in OSR publishing land!

Adventure/Module Recomendations?

I'm looking to pad out my collection of adventures; system doesn't matter as long as it's reasonably compatible with OSR-ish D&D & varients.

Looking for swords & sorcery/pulp fantasy/science fantasy. Free, not-free, included in a magazine, it's all good.

I like:
The Fane of St. Toad
The Dreaded Isle
The Unknown City
The People of the Pit
Obregon's Dishonor
The Isle of Dread

Dwellers of the Forbidden City

The Mines of Khunmar
Mesopotamia
The Coils of Set
ANYTHING by Gabor Lux

Do you guys have any sterling recommendations?

[PSA] Please Don't Nuke Your Blog! & d10 Romantic Misadventures Table

Fellow-Blogger and/or Internet-Acquaintance,

I've been reading your blog for a while, and recently when I clicked my bookmark for it and I recieved the blogspot 404 orange-beige-and-blue staring me right in the eyes. Needless to say I was confused; did I click the wrong bookmark? Did China hack blogspot? Oh wait... I've seen this before... Far too many times...

Hey, I get it, blogging is kind of a geeky, masturbatory time-suck. And BlasTeR_WvlF1986 has been really grinding and sniping at you on both the BullseyeLantern and the ZagygTemple messageboards. But, aside from the fact that I liked reading your blog, there's this one thing...

That Shoggoth Generation table; it was a piece of art! I could get everything from a member of the Cleanup Crew to a Mr. Shiny to a Blob-Kaiju using it. I really need that Shoggoth Generation table for this dungeon level I'm working on...I made the map with your table in mind!

Plus there's also that Uppity NPC Table, and Random Minor PC Humiliations Matrix, and your stats for The Headless Horseman, and that Bowels of the Worm God dungeon, and...

...Anyways, if you want to take a sabbatical or retire from blogging, that's certainly your prerogative, but please don't euthanize all of that useful content you produced! I'm sure you could easily erase the fingerprints and serial numbers off of your blog and leave the corpse floating in the internet for us scavengers to pick at. Your so graciously freely-shared creative output was appreciated, greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Joe-Sky Tax,

d10 Random "Romantic" Misadventures Table
1 - Birthmark reveals that she/he is your sister/brother!
2 - You're unable to perform and cruelly mocked for that by paramour.
3 - Premature. Way too premature. As above.
4 - Overprotective relative bursts in, menacing wackiness ensues!
5 - Everything seems fine...for 1d20 days. Better see a physician to irrigate your urethra with sulphur and quicksilver!
6 - Oh wait, afterwards it appears that she/he was expecting financial recompense for making the beast with two backs with you,
7 - She/he seemed normal, but now wants something illegal before they will "party."
8 - Turns out she/he was a serial killer (or bounty hunter)... d12 for assassin level!
9 - She/he was the princess/prince in disguise; not a fairy-tale, the consequences if the wrong party learns of this could be potentially lethal.
10 - Was a virgin; 01-50% - it is Really Really Awkward, and they seem distraught afterwards, 51-00% unleashes some inconvenient or catastrophic curse, transformation or prophecy...she/he was THE ONE!

[Category - Bloody Obvious Ideas] Artwork First Monster Manual?

I know there's been a lot of OSR-blogosphere discussion about greater collaboration between writers and artists blah blah blah... (I'm going to be a dick and NOT LINK to said discussions).

Whilst meditating on said subject the idea struck me, "It would be awesome if a bunch of awesome OSR-ish artists types assembled a collection of bitchin' original monster illustrations, and than said monsters were statted out for a monster book (including morale scores and hoard classes dammit! And also Comprehensive Encounter Tables too!)"

The next idea to strike me was "Duuh genius...I'm sure someone has already done that." Although I'm sure it was more like 20 monsters for 3E in a $12 PDF-only product, and done in that full-color, overblown DevaintArt style...

Anyways, a nice thick monster manual of OSR illustrator monsters could be pretty freaking awesome, and I'm pretty much counting on James Mal. to get on this right on this after releasing Petty Gods...

Every Monster Book Should Include Encounter Tables

By terrain type and dungeon level, utilizing all of and only the monsters contained in the book, and not those 2-20 tables - which are great for specialized tables, but the failure of the AD&D Monster Manual II is that it doesn't have the comprehensive d% encounter tables in the back like the Fiend Folio.

With the caveat that monsters books containing only a few monsters would be exempt.

With such a protocol in place a DM could easily make up encounter tables like:

d% --- Monster Book Encounter Table
01-24  Human - use Swords & Wizardry City Encounters or other resource
25-49  AD&D Fiend Folio
50       Random Esoteric Creature Generator
51-60  Arduin Trilogy
61-70  OSRIC Monsters of Myth
71-80  OSRIC Malevolent and Benign
81-90  Swords & Wizardry Monster Book
91-00  Tome of Horrors Complete

With the number of monsters listed in each book, an obsessive DM could easily assign d% probabilities according to monster book content quantities.

I think it's great that so many OSR monster books contain indexes with monster listings by dungeon level, terrain type, and so forth, I just wish that they'd take that extra step and tack some sort of arbitrary random table function onto these listings, just for "instant functionality."

Today's Print Shop PDF Digest-Sized Booklet Blowout

Top Row: My Miscellaneous Equipment Reference; LL Advanced Edition Companion; S&W City Encounters; S&W Eldritch Weirdness Compilation; BTBG Monsterless Manual; OSRIC Monsters of Myth; Kellri's AD&D Old School Encounter Reference

Bottom Row: Pas Fortuna Basic; LL Realms of Crawling Chaos; Kellri's GW Scavenger's Field Guide; Melan's Sword & Magic; Swords & Wizardry Complete; OD&D Terminal Space; Courtney Campbell's Treasure.

My next print shop digest-sized booklet blowout will probably involve The Esoteric Creature Generator; Adventure's Dark & Deep Gamemaster's Toolkit; Swords & Wizardry Whitebox; XRP Malevolent & Benign; Kellri's AD&D Old School Spell Reference; AEG Toolbox; Gamm World 1st ed; Empire of the Petal Throne; Stars Without Number (how am I going to staple that one?!?!); etc. etc.

I'll probably start collecting digest sized adventures next as well, such as The Temple of the Toad, The Dreadful Island, Gabor Lux's output, Castle of the Mad Archmage, and so forth, so as to have a nice, deep selection of pregenerated adventure fodder.

The goal of all this silliness is to have all of my reference material in handy, portable digest-sized format, not only for dungeonmastering but also for quick, convenient reference while writing or working on dungeons. The idea that one "griefcase" could contain a wide, deep library of gaming material is one that appeals to me.

Stefan Poag - Pure Class!

I've made no secret of my admiration for Stefan Poag; I love his lurid artwork; I love Mines of Khunmar; I love his unabashed enthusiasm for gruesome, perverse and scatological subject matter; I love how he's kind of a dick (with a heart of gold) on his blog; I love Exquisite Corpses.

Anyways, when he first released Exquisite Corpses I immediately snagged the (temporarily) free PDF; my gaming group had a hardcopy as well. I had always meant to buy the print version, but like a chump there was always something else sucking up my $$.

Today I finally manned-up and bought a print copy from Lulu; afterwards I found the following message in my inbox:

"Thank you for your order. Your support is appreciated.
regards
stef"

Sure it's an automated message, but it's appreciated and is a testament to Stefan's character.

This beer and this bong rip are a toast to Stefan Poag, one of the finest gentlemen of the OSR!

A Clarification re. the "OSR Adventure Path" and Other Flights of Fancy

Usually when I make a blog post along the lines of "Wouldn't it be cool if someone made a book of hexmap sandboxes" or "Someone should make a quality, non-railroady OSR Adventure Path," it is not a case of me coyly saying "I'm thinking about making the aforementioned product..hint...hint.." it's pretty much me saying "I wish someone would make this so I could buy and use it," or, to be pithy, "I hope someone takes this idea and Petty Gods it..."

I'm just pointing this, because with the comments left in some of my wishful thinking posts, some folks seem to be operating under the misapprehension that I am considering writing said wishful thinking products. When I win the lottery (which will never happen...) I'd love to ditch my day job and become a gentleman hobbyist publisher that throws money at fine folks to make my dream RPG products, but in the meantime, it's just a hobby :)

The Dreaded Isle! and Further OSR Adventure Path Thoughts

Firstly: http://www.goblinoidgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=284 ; an Awesome-Awesome-Awesome tribute to the X1:Isle of Dread; holy crap, the 4th level chimpanzee thief!

Secondly, the grumpy old man of the OSR, The Chicago Wizard, has some great feedback regarding my musing regarding a theoretical OSR Adventure Path:

"...Paths limit what a player can do. I'm not interested in appealing to mass market. If someone isn't going to "grok" out-of-the-box thinking, then probably old school gaming isn't what's going to appeal to them.

In those "paths", certain things "have to happen" just like in a computer game or our favorite later editions. How does that promote out of the box thinking, original creativity or freedom?"

Those are pertinent points; firstly, I think there is no shame in a railroad as long as that's what all of the participants expect and want (just as long as they are made aware of other options!); secondly, although I care little for mass market appeal, I think such an OSR Adventure Path could be a great way to bring folks that do not care for complex iterations of D&D into the OSR, you grab a copy of Swords & Wizardry or Labyrinth Lord and an Adventure Path and you've got a campaign, ready to use!

However, what I would be interested in would be an Adventure Path without the "Paths"; an Adventure Path where "certain things do not have to happen," an Adventure Path that does promote out of the box thinking, original creativity and freedom.

That's why I think an archipelago treasure hunt could be a great framing device for a non-railroady, creative Adventure Path...one that encourages lateral thinking, originality, unconventional play. An Adventure Path that won't be broken if the players don't follow the script.

Send In The (Retro-) Clones(-ish Games)!

"...Blah Blah Blah...Why do these jerkwads continue rereleasing old D&D with their houserules tacked on? LOTFPWFRPG was bad enough, but if DCCRPG, WOTRP, and AS&SOH are released I'm going to totally freak out on some internet forum..."

- Some internet dude

Castles & Crusades, OSRIC, BFRPG, LL, S&W Core, S&W WB, LL AEC, LOTFPWFRPG, S&W Complete, DCCRPG, AS&SOH... sheesh are there ever a lot of retro-clone(ish) games out there...with more coming.

As many pundits have observed, not only is it bad enough that these ungrateful hacks are raping the legacy of Gygax, Arneson & co. before pasting their own names on it and gouging the consumer for their intellectual theft, but there seems to be no end to this madness. In addition to a legion of unimaginative hacks, Swords & Wizardry Complete will be for sale any second, and next year sees the release of both the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, Warriors of the Red Planet, and the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. "What's the point? I already know how to play D&D, I already have the original books or can just buy them used, these retro-clone publishers are a bunch of assholes...THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES!"

Myself? I love 'em (well, maybe not so much with C&C although I dig prime attributes as a skill system), and I can't get enough of them. Sure I own the B/X D&D and AD&D originals (I was considering shopping around for OD&D material...but I've got to save up for university, nevermind that the wifely creature would probably kill me). I'll be buying S&W Complete (although granting bows two attacks per round fills me with furious nerd rage!), I'll be buying DCC RPG, WOTRP, and I'll definately be getting AS&SOH (haha... Ass-Oh!).

What good do they serve? In the case of the clones that cleave to the original sources, they make for a nice reference work as well as serving as an alternative perspective. And they allow several options to play oldschool D&D with the variety of ruleset that suits your fancy.

In the case of the games that deviate to a significant degree from the originals, they serve as a set of alternative and additional rules for my use as a DM. Swords and Wizardry has the inspired "single saving throw," which I have become quite enamored with, and LOTFP has a plethora of legacy D&D compatible rules options (investments, starvation, etc.).

It's much like the original "Houseruled D&D Clone", Empire of the Petal Throne, at first blush it's just a different variety of OD&D...but how about using the EOTPT Magician class and associated systems instead of the Magic-User? How about using the level based combat damage option? How about using the Monsters and Treasures instead of the D&D slection? How about all of the other rules that replace or supplement the original D&D material? It's a fucking buffet man, and I have a big plate and a big appetite.

And since all of these clones, simulacrums, and "house ruled systems" all share 90-99% of their D&D DNA, it's easy enough to mix-and-match them to make YOUR GAME.

"I want a game with the Swords & Wizardry single saving throw, EPT Magicians, LOTFP Specialists, C&C SIEGE system for task resolution, and AD&D Fighters & weapon proficiencies" ...easy enough to do man!

And if your choice D&D-ish rpg doesn't have the rules for a certain subject you're interested in, and you want rules for it, it's easy enough to find them in another D&D-ish rpg. "I need castle construction costs; rules for how much room henchmen need; maritime warfare rules...good thing I have this stack of retro-clones!"

So, in summary, I don't think retro-clones are redundant; I don't care if they fragment the market (ha!); and I'm looking forward to more of them!

Another OSR Product I'd Like To See

"Weird Gods of Sword and Sorcery" or something along those lines, a big thick monster manual size listing of weird, swords & sorcery deities. It's the same idea of Judges Guild's excellent Unknown Gods, but taken to ridiculous extremes. Mostly a bunch of petty, niche godlings, the kinds that Conan or Elric would stumble across.

Although that's wasn't my original intent, a monster manual of the sort of bush league jerk-demigods that or Conan or Elric would end knocking over, isn't the worst resource for picaresque high-level play...

Anyways, so you have this books and there's a ton of gods in it. There's a god of swords, a god of axes, a god of siege warfare, a god of sharks, a god of earthquakes, a god of forest fires, a god of dancing girls, a god of slime monsters, a god of sea monsters, a god of mules, a god of arson, and so forth and so forth. And none of them have any big, campaign altering elements. And they're all nicely somewhere suitably between archetypal and weird.

When a new player asks if they can have a Cleric of the god of poison, or the god of apes, or the god of flowers, or some other random or way-out god, this book could have a fair chance of providing. Plus, for a DM being able to browse the index and think that "...maybe I want cultists of the god of Wrestling in my campaign..."

Another element could be associated minor artifacts for appropriate deities, with appropriate associated complications; another resource for emulating Elric-esque High Level Sword & Sorcery, "Our adventuring buddy is possessed by this ancient, holy headsmans' axe, and so far has proven to be nigh unstoppable; we can either kill him or kill the god of Decapitation..."

Post # 401: The Return

I've got a good feeling about things.

Lamentations Of The Flame Princess Weird Fantasy RPG appears to have been a runaway success (Raggi's running out of boxes...).

The Necromancer has reanimated and Frog God Games is going to be publishing and promoting Swords & Wizardry.

Labyrinth Lord has released the means to run a simplified version of AD&D that's pretty much in line with the way a lot of folks played it.

We've got lots of great adventures and multiple magazines supporting old-school versions of D&D, as well of all sorts of wonderful supplemental material.

The "Public Red Box" meme is spreading and seems to be working.

My prediction? 2011 is going to be the year that things really blow up!

Sure, it'll never be like the glory days of the 70s & 80s, but wheels are in motion; folks are getting fired up; things are definitely happening.

As far as I'm concerned, this may be the best era so far for old-tymey D&D.

And I'm all about keeping the momentum rolling.

Now what I'm saying here is nothing nobody else hasn't said more eloquently before, but, if you have any interest in the return and growth of this aspect of the hobby, we gotta:

Keep finding new players. We've got to provide them with a supportive yet challenging experience. Lapsed D&D players; non-gamers with "genre" interests; computer/console RPG players (and there's millions of those out there!); friends; co-workers; kids. We've got to keep on pushing a pulling. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I believe that we have a great, fulfilling, social activity that'll turn a lot of folks on.

And we've to not only cultivate another generation of players, we also have to cultivate a fresh, new crop of bright-eyed, enthusiastic Dungeon Masters.

Do you know a players with an interest in DMing? We have to encourage and support them, turn them on to the great resources and wisdom available. Get them a copy of Swords & Wizardry and show them how easy it can be to Dungeon Master; turn them on to all the free retro-clones and online resources available.

That's one advantage old-school versions have over the "modern editions"; you don't have to be an accountant-cum-lawyer to run an early version of the game, as long as your somewhat creative and organized, it can be a snap.

That's something we need to communicate, how simple it can be to run or play these games.

If we want this movement to flourish we've got to lose any tendencies to be insular; to be cryptic; to be fussy.

So, if you want, I heartily encourage you all to keep finding new players; participate in your local "open/public old-school game movement" or help start one up in your locale; and encourage and cultivate a new generation of DMs.

This is something good we have going, something real, something vital. Keep the fire alive and game on!