End of Year Report 2017

The end of 2017 is upon us. I started this blog back in April for Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day. The post was some custom classes I made to be used for Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox. And in that month I wrote my first One-Page Adventure, The Tower of Skulls. Since then I've had a total of 50 blog posts. There were more One-Page Adventures, Reviews, Shout-outs and other subjects. For the longest time my most view blog post was the one about my daughter being the Dungeon Master. Though, since then my One-Page Adventures have been getting more popular each month and my latest One-Page Adventure, Beyond the Demon's Web, currently has the highest amount of views.

I've also created a Patreon this year and added some of my One-Page Adventures to RPGNow. I only have four of my products up on RPGNow but with a total of 400+ downloads. For 2018 I hope to increase my blog views and downloads by at least threefold.

This just in! (Seriously, I just checked while writing this post)
If you find it difficult to find my blog or difficult to remember the crazy name you can find it on Old School Gamer Radio!! It is under Blogs - OSR Adventures & Short Stories. And speaking of short stories; a miniseries coming in 2018, The First Orc.

Here's to 2018 and to the OSR Community. And a huge thank you to, well, you! Thank you all for the support this year! I'm glad to be a part of the OSR Community.

Tunnels & Trolls: Beyond the Demon's Web

December's Tunnels & Trolls One-Page Adventure: Beyond the Demon's Web

CLICK FOR DOWNLOAD

A werespider and a demon join forces to take control of the mortal plane and their first plan of attack is a small farming village. Will you venture beyond the demon's web and stop them before it's too late!?

I am still in the process of finding that "just right" format for One-Page Adventures for Tunnels & Trolls. Anytime I read other adventures or look at how other GMs write their material there isn't a "universal" format. So for the sake of simplicity this is the format I am going to go with (modifying here and there later I'm sure):
Monster Name
Monster Rating: xxx Dice: xxx Armor: xxx
Speed: xxx Size: xxx
Special: xxx
Description (but not always used for basic/universal monsters)

Speed
N: Normal (about the same speed as a human)
S: Slow (slower than a human)
F: Fast (faster than a human)

Size
N: Normal (about the same size as a human)
S: Small (smaller than a human)
L: Large (larger than a human)

For the specifics of the size and speed of the monster I will leave up to the GM since I'm sure each group has their own way of handling size and speed.

Special
Now, for this I read this style from someone over on the Facebook Group for Tunnels & Trolls. It seemed simple and straight forward.
If the monster rolls enough Spite (6's) then the monster can choose to use their special ability by spending the required amount of Spite (6's). Who the victim of the special ability is I'm sure the GM has their own way of determining this.

To those who are new to my One-Page Adventures the one thing you will notice is that there is not a map (and never will be). The reason for this is that each gaming group is different. Some can spend 8+ hours gaming in one session while others will be lucky to just get in 2 hours. And I feel that maps (though important and needed) can put a strain on some groups. Which is why I don't add maps so the GM can design/modify the adventure that works best for their group.

Enjoy and I hope to bring you a new One-Page Adventure for T&T sometime in January!

JB Publishing

As you can tell by the new design of the blog I have some changes coming for 2018.
My goal is to create a more professional product for you. The main focus will still be for the Swords & Wizardry system (thus other games powered by Swords & Wizardry) since this is my preferred system in my house. I have recently gotten into Tunnels & Trolls and have converted some of my One-Page Adventures for it and I plan to continue to do more for T&T. Also, on the agenda is to continue work on the Campaign Setting that I promised (don't worry I didn't forget). The goal for the Campaign Setting is to be as system neutral as I can be with it. With the work on the Campaign Setting will be lore through Short Stories (as short as 1,000 words to much more).

I've recently received some feedback from some on /OSR/ that they would like to have a direct link to my downloads rather than having to go through RPGNow (even if the products are free). I will also include a direct download link including the link to RPGNow for those that want the product without having to go through RPGNow.

So here's to the future of JB Publishing!

Beyond the Demon's Web

December's One-Page Adventure is here!

Beyond the Demon's Web (RPGNow)
Direct Link

This OPA was designed to be used with Swords & Wizardry Continual Light. Also, as a reference you would need a copy of Tome of Horrors Light, Volume I (Free!).
This is a spider filled adventure with a demon and a werespider joining forces to take over the mortal plane. Will you, adventurer, dare to go beyond the demon's web to stop this duo before it's too late!?

I am now getting back in the groove of things so expect a new OPA sometime in January.
Also, this OPA and future OPAs will be converted over to Tunnels & Trolls as a bonus!

Don't forget I also have a Patreon. Sadly, I have neglected it some but I am getting back to "serious mode" so check that out if you want. Though, I know there is currently some craziness going on with Patreon at the moment.

Facebook Page
Facebook Group

Monster: Flesh Mound

A flesh mound is a pile of “living” flesh. They are typically made of human flesh and are created by demonic beings. The size of a flesh mound can vary from that of a dog to a large bear. A flesh mound will continue to grow as it continues to eat and absorb the flesh of humanoids. A flesh mound can attack and grab its victims with flesh tentacles. The larger the flesh mound the more tentacles it has.

I have created two versions for this monster: Tunnels & Trolls and Swords & Wizardry.

Enjoy!
(And I'm sorry for my artistic skills)

The Siege of Crasmere for Tunnels & Trolls

I recently got the PDF of Tunnels & Trolls 5th edition and I love it! Though, I haven't had a chance to run a group game yet but I did play around with some Solo Games. Including the App, Tunnels & Trolls Adventures.

As I was reading through the PDF and searching all through the forums about T&T I noticed a couple of things.

1.) I didn't find any books that were "official" monster books. Which I thought was a little odd at first and was confused as I was doing my read through of the PDF. But now I love this! I am glad that what I perceive to be a goblin is going to be different than how someone else uses them in their game. The simplicity of the monsters/'stat blocks' is great and allows for anyone to create whatever monster they want on the fly.

2.) I couldn't find a whole lot of gaming material for T&T. There is a lot of revised versions of older content but I couldn't find a lot of new third party content. 

So I went ahead and converted my One-Page Adventure, The Siege of Crasmere, to be used for Tunnels & Trolls. 

With converting it I changed the arrows from the goblins, under the 'Features,' from an attack to a Level 1 Saving Roll vs Dexterity or Luck. With the monsters themselves I multiplied their HD by 15 to get their Monster Rating. And for any +1s, like the Ogre HD 4+1, each +1 I added 3 to the Monster Rating. For the monsters that don't have a full HD, like the goblins, their Monster Rating is a flat 10. I read this somewhere on a forum. Someone was asking how to convert Basic D&D to T&T and this seemed like a fairly simple formula. 

With Klatt I added an ability to her attack that would reflect the damage that she deals with the axe that can only be healed through magical means.

And I left the magic item the same just because after my searching of magic item examples for T&T I feel that this would still work as is.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE The Siege of Crasmere a One-Page GM Adventure for Tunnels & Trolls

The Horn of Kardos

Finally! A new One-Page Adventure!

The Horn of Kardos

This One-Page Adventure is something I would like to call a Campaign Starter. The adventure itself can be ran using Swords & Wizardry Light while the GM can further expand this One-Page Adventure to be used with Swords & Wizardry Continual Light.

The information that is included to expand the adventure into an ongoing campaign is vague enough for any GM to adapt and create the story for it to fit into their world. Kardos is an ancient demon who has been worshiped in the shadows of the city for years. But his followers have been growing and they have recently discovered a way to bring their god back.

What does the return of Kardos mean in your world?
What power does The Spear of Elemental Harmony have?
What happens in your world when a rift is opened to an elemental plane?
These questions are for the GM to determine and the adventurers to discover!

Depression, Anxiety and a Creativity Block

*This post isn't exclusive to gaming but it is something that has an affect on my gaming side.*

For about a month or so I've been going through a season where my depression and anxiety have been really bad. And it has put up this very large wall in my mind that I just haven't been able to pass. And it is blocking my creativity and even my desire to be creative. When I sit down to try to do something creative it is like I am all over the place and in the end I never actually truly start anything. And if I do complete something it isn't as good as it could be. In other words: It is terrible and gets thrown out.

So I've just been stuck in this rut. And my mind is constantly racing and constantly empty at the same time. So this is currently the state of my One-Page Adventures and anything else I've been working on. It has even gotten to my play-by-post game that I am in. I just can't seem to function in a creative way.

It should pass. I just hope it will be soon.

Sorry.

Tanlentin - Lake Soerc Region

Tanlentin is a world I've had in my head for about 15 years or so. There have been various notebooks full of ideas and random thoughts for this world. Sadly, 99% of these notes have been long gone for years now. Some of it, a small amount of it, is still flying around in my imagination somewhere. The original concept for Tanlentin was a setting for a Young Adult fantasy book series. The early concept was supposed to be a story about a coastal village of humans who did not know what was beyond the forest that surrounded them and what was beyond the sea ahead of them. This side of Tanlentin may still be explored in the future but for now, since this will be used as a setting for Swords & Wizardry Continual Light, we will explore the Lake Soerc Region.

Lake Soerc Region (Click for large map)
*In a later post I will describe in detail the locations of the region.*

The known player races in the region are Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings and Constructs.
Humans - Live in Run'Hule, the capital of the region, and Rador.
Dwarves - The Dwarves of Tanlentin are not mountain dwellers but rather they live out in the sea in the large ships they create. They are sailors, fishermen, shipwrights and some of them are pirates. The ships that they create are true works of art. Some of their ships are as large as villages. The Dwarves can be found near the docks of Run'Hule and Rador. They can also be found on their ships in Lake Soerc.
Elves - The Elves of Tanlentin do not live in the forests but rather they live on the peaks of mountain tops. They are the guardians of the realm. They spend their lives dedicated to keep the evil that dwells within the mountains contained within the mountains. They are trained in combat and magic. They use enchantments and rituals to keep the evil contained. Though, they aren't perfect so some evil does manage to escape. The Elves can be found scattered throughout the tops of Irb Mountains. There are some that patrol the lands between Run'Hule and Vuhlkunder.
Halflings - The Halflings of Tanlentin were once human before the War of Jufohr. During the war, Jufohr, an evil entity from the depths of Tanlentin, cursed the humans of the region far south of Lake Soerc Region. The humans were cursed that their future children would be small, weak and frail and that they wouldn't be able to reproduce with other humans of Tanlentin. Eventually, their human-sized kin died off. The Halflings had to learn how to adapt and survive in Tanlentin. Not being as strong as the other humans they began training their mind. Over the course of many years they have become highly skilled engineers. Creating things such as guns, steam engines, constructs and other devices. The Halflings can be found in Run'Hule and Rador. They try to avoid traveling by water so they would rather travel around Lake Soerc than take a boat.
Constructs - The Constructs are the creations of Halflings. They are created for a purpose and each construct has it's own purpose. They are often created to be personal guards, labor workers, servants and merchants. The Elves do not trust these spiritless creations and they do not allow them into their villages and towns. The Dwarves take advantage of these creations and will allow them on their ships or use them on docks for loading and unloading goods and equipment. And the Humans, like Halflings, use these creations for all sorts of purposes. The Constructs can be found throughout the Lake Soerc Region.

In the coming posts I will discuss how the classes and races in Swords & Wizardry Continual Light work in Tanlentin. The in-depth descriptions of the locations in the region including plot hooks and lore.

Plans for Swords & Wizardry Continual Light

Swords & Wizardry Continual Light is almost here! This means I can finally start sharing with you what I've been working on from the beta files.

What you will need:
A copy of Swords & Wizardry Continual Light (will be released soon)
A copy of Tome of Horrors Light Vol. 1

What to expect from me:
- A custom campaign setting that is designed to be used for Continual Light. The setting will start small and will slowly gett bigger as I write more locations/lore/history/hooks/NPCs. The setting will also have custom classes and races.
- An online play-by-post game on rpgcrossing.com that will use my custom campaign setting with Continual Light. The campaign setting will more than likely evolve through the actions of the players.
- I will try to produce one piece of new information to the setting once a week. I will also allow for others who want to contribute to the setting to do so and will get credited for their work.

I will slowly start producing information on this setting real soon!

A Review - Slashers & Victims Light

It is Friday the 13th and an amazing product was released for the occasion!

Slashers & Victims Light written by Justin Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim.

This is a Slasher/Horror Movie hack for Swords & Wizardry Light. You will need Swords & Wizardry Light to run this hack.

Included are rules on how the players take on the role as the Survivors. The Survivors are very much like thieves from SWL. They have thief like skills such as, Hiding in Shadows/Move Silently, Appear Dead and Repair. The Survivors are also average humans so their AC is 9 [10]. But they aren't completely useless! 

The Survivors are allowed to select special Perks. High School and College age Survivors select 1 perk while other adults select 2 perks. Perks are, well, perks! For example: Slugger Perk gives the Survivor +1 to hit and damage with blunt weapons. 

There are also Flaws. A player may take a Flaw for their Survivor which also grants them an extra Perk. An example of a Flaw: Nerd Flaw gives the Survivor -1 to attack rolls.

There are special rules for Fear Saves. A simple Saving Throw with a 2d6 table of results if a Fear Save was failed. Which, this could also be used in SWL. 

And of course there are the Slashers and Other Cast (other villains and monsters). There are a total of 10 Slashers and Other Cast. Killer Dolls, Relentless Stalkers and Undead Killing Machines just to name a few.

Go get this now! I highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the Slasher/Horror genre and love Swords & Wizardry Light!

A Review - Lost Hall of Tyr (Kickstarter Edition)

As I am writing this up Lost Hall of Tyr: A 5e Adventure (Dungeon Grappling support) just needs less than $400 to be funded. If you read my previous post you know that I am pretty excited about this project.
Also, +Douglas Cole sent me a Review Copy for me to read through. And these are my spoiler free thoughts on it.

In this current state Lost Hall of Tyr is 52 pages (not including the cover and back cover).
Introduction/Background - 4 pages
Adventure - 19 pages
Wilderness Travel Rules - 3 pages
Bestiary - 16 pages
Quick Start: Dungeon Grappling - 2 pages
Preface/Legal Jargon/Table of Contents/Art Placeholder Pages - the rest of the pages

First, and like my previous post, the layout is great. The coloring and the borders for the layout really have set the bar on what a 5th Edition adventure should look like. Yes, a thousand times better than WotC's layouts for their adventures.

Introduction/Background
This section gives a brief description of the setting and where the adventure will take place. And rumor has it there is a campaign setting in the works for where this adventure takes place.
Also, there is a brief story that sets up the adventure and the hook for the characters. There is also information on how to tie this adventure into your own setting. Though, there are two things I want to address:
1. No where in the Introduction or the Preface does it state what level the characters should be and how many characters the adventure is designed for.
2. There is a weapon mentioned in the introduction, "magical against all foes and as a +1 magical weapon against a creature type." (I left out the type of weapon and creature type) But I don't know if it is meant to be +1 against all foes and a +2 against the creature type or is it supposed to be treated as non-magical +0 against all foes except magical +1 against the creature type.

Adventure
*When reading through this the maps were not included just the placeholders for where they would be.*
First, there is something that needs to be addressed before I continue on with this section. There is NO flavor text. As in, there is no blocked text that is dedicated to the GM to read to the players. Personally, this doesn't bother me at all. This might be a turnoff for some but I think this also helps with adapting this adventure into whatever setting the GM is running.
I like the writing layout Douglas has done with this adventure. He has created four different categories that helps the GM with running the adventure.
Challenges - Describes the challenges that the PCs will have to overcome in this section. Whether it is NPCs or an obstacle that is their way.
Concealed - Describes some skill checks they may be needed to achieve a challenge. Also information that may be hidden from the PCs.
Alternatives - Describes some alternative ways to deal with the challenge in the section.
Rewards - Describes the rewards/treasure the PCs can find in this section. Some rewards are just being able to bypass the challenge.
Though, this adventure was written for 5th edition, there is enough information with this writing layout that the adventure could easily be converted to another system.

Wilderness Travel
This section of the book shouldn't be treated as something optional. Surviving in the wilderness is essential to this adventure. This adventure is a fairly long trek and a challenge within itself. In this section there are all sorts of rules and information on how to survive in the wilderness. Such as, how much food/water the PCs should have, hunting/gathering, preserving food, weather and climate. Again, this shouldn't be optional in this adventure.

Bestiary
This section of the book describes all the NPCs that will be found in this adventure. There is a description for each NPC and their stat blocks. There are familiar monsters that most GMs should know but some of them have been modified to fit this campaign setting. Such as, the goblinoids are considered fae in this setting. There are a total of fifteen NPCs in the Bestiary.

Quick Start: Dungeon Grappling
This section of the book is also very important and shouldn't be ignored or treated as optional. Douglas has created an awesome system when it comes to grappling. The preface of this adventure also describes the importance of this system. If you get this adventure and you plan on running it I highly recommend that you read through this quick start guide and know how Dungeon Grappling works and then show your players how it works. Some of the Challenges in this adventure use this system so it is important to know. Encourage your players to take advantage of this system. You can learn more about Dungeon Grappling here.

I didn't have any art or the maps but from this Review Copy I could run this adventure now without any of the maps. And that is an important thing to me; being able to just use the text to run an adventure. I look forward to receiving both my PDF and Physical Copy after it is completed. There is still plenty of time to back this project. $7 for PDF backer level and $20 for PDF and Physical Copy backer level. Also, the more money this project receives the more that will be added to it!

Kickstarter Recommendation: Lost Hall of Tyr

Lost Hall of Tyr: A 5e Adventure (Dungeon Grappling support) is written by +Douglas Cole  of Gaming Ballistic.

Lost Hall of Tyr is an adventure scenario for Fifth Edition, targeted at four to six characters of level 3-6. It offers support for the alternate grappling rules from Dungeon Grappling, including an introductory two-page quick start. The guts of the book is an adventure scenario for Fifth Edition, targeted at characters who have chosen their archetype but are not yet the movers and shakers of the world. - From the Kickstarter Page

I personally want this funded for my own selfish reasons. Not only for running the adventure but also for displaying it on my bookshelf. Showing it off to everyone and flip through the pages and show them the beautiful layout within those pages. And that beautiful layout is the work of Todd Crapper of Broken Ruler Games.

Just take a look for yourself!
Isn't that beautiful or what!?

Also, the artwork is going to be by John Blaszczsyk, Gerasimos Kolokas, Juan Ochoa, Rick Troula, Dan Roy and Roland Warzecha.
The more money this project gets the more artwork there will be! And these are some great artists!

A very important stretch goal that I would like to see reached is the $8,000 for a Swords & Wizardry conversion. Not only is this a personal want (need really) but it would also get this out to the OSR community.

Anyways, go check it out and back it! Even if you go with the PDF only for just $7!