Hot Springs Island and Beyond

As folks that follow my Instagram and Facebook page may have noticed, I've been really getting into Hot Springs Island.

If you're unfamiliar, Hot Springs island is a small island in the Sword Fight Islands archipelago. The island is described in two books, A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island and The Dark of Hot Springs Island. The field guide is an actual in game artifact, written as a journal, to give players. The information contained it may true or false, as it's an actual adventurer's journal. The Dark of Hot Springs Island is the gm's guide. Various factions vie for power on the island and it's a black powder hex crawl. Both books are system neutral, incredibly well written, and gorgeous. I will probably do a proper review of the books one of these days.

My goal is to run a 5e game that starts with the characters finding themselves stuck on the island and exploring it. Since they can't stay there forever, I've already been thinking about how to expand the world (which will also expand character creation and such). I'm picturing an exploration style game (which could also include piracy, diplomacy, and many other things depending on what the players want). I decided to take another pre-existing setting and build from it. While it's not going to copy everything (especially the multiverse of it's setting), a lot of my groundwork is going to be taken from Planeshift: Ixalan. Here are some notes of what I'm building.

Nations/Factions/Locations

• Torrezon - this world's analog for Europe. about conquered about the Church of Dusk.  Other religions are illegal and considered heresy. The nobility of nation are all vampires. Most are MtG Ixalan-esque vampires (meaning they are long lived, can walk in the light, drink blood, and are tied to negative energy, but aren't actually undead), though there are more classic vampires in the hierarchy too. The general population is mainly made up of humans, though there are dwarves, gnomes, and halflings too. Elves are very rare and when the expansion of the Church began, most of the elves on the continent chose to flee to other planes. In the campaign, this is all mostly background. Adventures will not take place there. However, it still will affect the game as vampires will be playable characters and the Legion of Dusk will be common place. These vampire soldiers and paladins are conquistadors and privateers. 
• Brazen Coalition - this hodgepodge of nominally allied group is made up of pirates and traders from various races (human, orc, dwarf, gnome, and halfling). When the Church began to conquer the Torrezon, these folks made the choice to flee and take to the sees. Along the way other races of folks have joined up, such as the island harpies and the goblins of Ixalan. While not always welcome, they have embassy and small settlements spread across the world and in some major metropolitan areas.  They have a hidden island sanctuary (think Tortuga from original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy). 
• High and Dry - this floating city is made up of barges, ships, hulls, and other floating things lashed together. It's a mostly lawless city frequented by the more piratical side of the Coalition.
• Flotsam - a village in the vein of High and Dry (described in Pirate Bundle by Limitless Adventures), this will be an important early homebase for pc's
• Ixalan - This majestic and primal island is often referred to as the center of the world. It is ruled by the Empire of the Sun (an Aztec-like civilization). They worship the Three-Fold Sun and have a symbiotic relationship with the numerous dinosaurs that dwell on the island. Other nature spirits are venerated and the nation's pantheon was once much larger, but several of hte dark gods were eventually cast out. There are many ancient ruins on the island and it is considered a treasure trove by unscrupulous individuals. The other major faction on the continent is the River Heralds. These nature-loving merfolk-kin roam the rivers and protect the secrets of the continent. Additionally, parts of the jungle are cursed and inhabited by savage tribesman that worship the cast Empire gods (which is my way of placing the material from Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride into the setting).
• The Snout of Ogmar - This small island is technically a part of Ixalan. It is primarily known for it's village of tortles (mainly including to use all of the fun from The Tortle Package).
• The Swordfish Islands (mentioned above)
• While I don't have a name for them yet, I will be creating a series of islands based off of Filipino legends as presented in The Islands & Aswangs. 

I think this could be an amazing and magical adventure campaign. I really hope I can get a group together to run it for one of these days. 

Your Game Is About To Get Boozier

Just wanted to let folks know that Cade's Big Book O' Booze has been sent to the print! We should have the copies back in two weeks and then we'll begin shipping them out to backers. The pdf will be uploaded to DriveThruRPG today and sent out to backers later.

Hunt, Kill, Survive

In October Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack) has a new series coming to Adult Swim. It looks brutal and fantastic. Check out the trailer and a clip.

I don't care about anachronisms (dinos and humans... bat people), this looks fantastic. I can definitely see gaming inspiration coming from it.

What do you think? Something you're going to watch?

All Hail The King!

Jack Kirby was born August 28th, 1917. I just wanted to take a moment to honor the gent that gave us Marvels. Stan may have been the man, but Jack was the king.

Add some Kirby to your DCC/MCC game with this free pdf.

Retired nerdcore rapper, Adam Warrock's tribute to the King.

Tenebria: Remnant of Rome

Tenebria: Remnant of Rome is the newest Kickstarter from my friends at Wet Ink Games. The Roman Empire has fallen and you and your fellow party members must figure out what to do next. Do you contribute to rebuilding, travel with refugees in Tenebria, or do you fight those that have taken what your people have built?

Tenebria is a survival and resource manage rpg. It uses the +One system developed for Wet Ink Games' newly released game, Never Going Home. It uses a combination of playing cards and d6's to keep track of things and determine what happens.

You can get the game in pdf, softcover, hardcover, and limited edition hardcover. The premise is fantastic, the art looks phenomenal, and the folks making it are some of the nicest in the industry. You should definitely check this one out.

October Horror Movie Challenge - TubiTv

While I've not made my final decision, I've contemplated making all of my selections for the October Horror Movie Challenge this year from TubiTV.com. This would allow any readers in the States to check the movies I review out themselves. I scrolled through all 1500+ horror flicks currently available and compiled this potential list.


New To Me

1. Motel Hell (1980)
2. Triangle (2009)
3. Bloodstone: Subspecies II
4. Subspecies III: Bloodlust
5. Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm
6. You're Next (2013)
7. River of Darkness (2011)
8. Blood Moon (2015)
9. Wicked Little Things (2006)
10. The Violent Kind (2010)
11. Midnight Meat Train (2008)
12. Kill or Be Killed (2015)
13. House of the Witchdoctor (2012)
14. Johnny Gruesome (2018)
15. Rabid (1977)
16. Borderland (2007)

Alternates/Overtime

1. Creep Van (2012)
2. A Vampire's Tale (2008)

Previously Viewed

1. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
2. Splinter (2008)
3. The Loved Ones (2012)
4. My Name is Bruce (2007)
5. Pool Party Massacre (2017)
6. The Barn (2016)
7. Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
8. Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
9. The Lords of Salem (2013)
10. C.H.U.D.  (1984)
11. Don't Fuck in the Woods (2018)
12. Dog Soldiers (2001)
13. Castle Freak (1995)
14. Subspecies (1991)
15. Night of Something Strange (2016)

Alternates/Overtime

1. Santa's Slay (2005)

Upcoming Projects

Howdy folks,

Decided to give a little update on upcoming projects I'm working on.

Cade's Big Book O' Booze - other than delivery, I'm done with Cade's. We're waiting on one piece of art that we should have in the next day or so. Then we'll upload the pdf and get it out to backers. The file will be sent to the printer this weekend and zines should be in backers' hands by the end of September (the schedule delivery month).

3 Unnamed Bloat Games Projects - The Lone Bards are writing writing a book for Bloat Games and I'm helping with two other Bloat Games releases.

Vigilante Files: The Eternal Damned - This short pdf will be a serial numbers filed off Evil Dead supplement for Vigilante City. Will include details about the Eternal Damned and their master, the Abomination. It will also include new spells that anyone can cast and a gallery of Evil Dead/Army of Darkness inspired foes.

In Dark Shadows: Drunken Demons - This currently untitled Dark Streets & Darker Secrets scenario will involve the seeking out a pair of drunken demons who kind of like the world the way it is and don't want it to end.

Songs of the Glowhio - My second attempt at making an MCC/DCC zine, this Mutant Crawl Classics zine will be focused on the land of Glowhio and will be chocked full of Ohio-inspired content. I'd like to have the first issue submitted and approved by Goodman Games before Con on the Cob. I'll be running a Glowhio funnel there.

The Cult of Diana

Just wanted to direct y'all to The Cult of Dianna: The Amazon Witch. It is the latest witch release from my friend, Tim Brannan. The 28 page pdf contains the complete witch class and Amazon witch tradition. Like all of Tim's work, it's a great addition to any old school game. Oh yeah, did I mention it was free? What are you waiting for? Go snag it now and spread the witchy love!

Succubus Sunday - Lillith

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Ultimate Tinkering

I wanted to share this Kickstarter because I believe it's the first created for Pathfinder Second Edition. I still don't understand everything about the new edition of Pathfinder, but judging from the description of the project, the author does. If you want to play a mechanic sending out robotic minions to help you adventure, this sounds like a good book for you.You can find Ultimate Tinkering here. It's not funded yet, but has more than three weeks left.

Islands + Aswangs Kickstarter

Last night (while I should have been sleeping), I came across a cool project on Kickstarter. Islands + Aswangs is an illustrated book of Filipino folklore for use with 5E. It is made up of stories the creators were told by their families, passed down through the generations. I think this is a great project because it brings some great cultural content to those of Filipino heritage and new myths and legends for the rest of us to learn and enjoy. This seems like a win-win to me.

I'm always on the lookout for new content that's not based on European legends and folklore and this is write up my alley. Plus, I've wanted to do a pirate/explorer game and this seems like a great book for a campaign of that nature.

Above all else the sample pages look absolutely gorgeous. Even if it didn't have 5e content, there's a good chance I'd back this one.

You can check out Islands + Aswangs here. The project is funded and goes will be going to print in the next few months.

Pathfinder 2E

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard that Pathfinder 2nd Edition has been released. While I used to have many books for the system, I'm not a Pathfinder player anymore. I used to have a blast with 3.0/3.5 I found my tastes in games changed. I'm not the biggest fan of skill points, giant attack bonuses, and a lot of actions/attacks per turn. It just seems complicated to me. I tend to like simpler rules. I think one of my other hangups with Pathfinder is the same hangup I had with 3.0/3.5. There are so many source books. Players get these sourcebooks and want to use the content (which is understandable), but it's a lot to keep track of.

All of that aside, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in Pathfinder 2E. There seems to have been some interesting changes. Some of thing things I dislike are still there, but others are gone. I want to check it out. I'm not going to drop 60 bucks to do so though. I'm going to grab the core pdf (which is only 14.99) and dig into that.

Expect a review sometime in the future. Until then, check out these two reviews by Runehammer. Note the first one ends on a pretty harsh note, but he reverses his stance quite a bit in the second.

#Spidersona - Web-Archivist

I don't have the art I commissioned for this a while back yet, but I still wanted to share my #Spidersona.

-------------------

The Spider-Man of Earth 740  goes by the hero moniker, Web-Archivist. J.R. was a small-town librarian, excited when he scored a position at a major metropolitan library. It took him a bit to adjust to city life. Folks seemed colder and less receptive to others then they did where he grew up. This didn't deter him though. He worked hard to establish programs to help the youth and give them a safe place to learn and just be kids. 

One fateful day, during a summer reading program, his life changed forever. That afternoon the performer, known as The Spider Guy, brought one his newest acquisitions. Unbeknownst to both of them, this spider was actually an escaped genetically engineered spider. It got out of it's cage, bit J.R., then died. 

The bite gave him abilities he never had. He was stronger and more agile. These traits weren't superhuman level, but they gave him the ability to keep up with some professional athletes, despite his heavy frame. He could climb walls. In addition, he could naturally shoot webs from his wrists. Finally he gained some sort of spider-sense, that warned him when danger was approaching.

Combining his new abilities with his drive to do better and help his community, he created the costumed persona of Web-Archivist. He feels that he's primarily vigilante support, but he'll always step up and answer the call when needed.

-------------------

Name: Web-Archivist
Real Name: J.R. Isaac
Alignment: Law
Class: Mutant
Level: 3

Str: 12
Int: 16 (+2)
Wis: 14 (+1)
Dex: 13 (+1)
Con: 10
Cha: 13 (+1)
Sur: 10

Courage: 11
Critical: 10
Death: 12
Magic: 10
Mental: 14
Poison: 7

Languages: English, French, Spanish

AC: 13 (Dex, Danger Sense)
HP: 13
Toughness: +1
Move: 12/Climbing 32

Initiate: +1 (Advantage)
Attack
+1 to punches and kicks
Punch
+2 to hit, 1d4+1 damage

Skills
Basic Athletics 1 (+1/+2)
Computer Skills 3 (+5)
Fighting Style: Brawling 1
Investigation 2 (+4)
Knowledge: General 2 (+5)
Knowledge: Literature 2 (+4)
Mathematics 1 (+3)
Parkour 1 (+2)
Science 1 (+2)
Wilderness Survival 1 (+2)

Mutant Powers
Adhesion (+2 to Dex, +1 to Str, +20 Climbing, shoot webbing 70' to swing or incapacitate body part of target [Str check to break] 9/day. May PUSH to shoot beyond daily limit, to double range of a shot, or take no damage from a fall)
Danger Sense (+2 to AC, cannot be target of Seize the Moment, Advantage on Initiative, ranged attacks suffer Disadvantage, cannot be surprised, can detect if mind is being probed, can Push for +6 to AC, +4 to Initiative, and Advantage on all saving throws for 3d4+1 minutes)

Scholar Traits
Outsmart +1

Other Traits
+1 against Intimidation attempts
Use improvised attacks with no penalty

Equipment: Unstable molecule costume (with cardigan), utility belt (communicator, glowsticks X4, memory stick, pen and paper)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Fishmen....

I just wanted to direct everyone over to MonkeyBlood Design & Publishing's page. Today Glynn posted free Fishman stats for Swords & Wizardry. The three page pdf has monster stats (a monster and npc) and a racial class. Go here to grab the Fishman now.

Ash Wednesday - The Evil Dead Invade Vigilante City

Recently on The Lone Bards Facebook page we posted a poll. We asked folks if they wanted to see an Evil Dead Tribute for Vigilante City or a drunken demon oriented adventure for Dark Streets & Darker Secrets. In the end, Evil Dead won. Here's a piece Josh has already created for it.

If you want more adventures for Dark Streets, don't worry. We are going to create both supplements, the poll was just to determine which one came first

Goblin Slayer - Season 1 Review

After sharing the official npc stats of the cast of Goblin Slayer yesterday I decided to sign-up for a free trial of Funimation's streaming service and binge watch the series.

The series is set in a fantasy world filled with adventures. These adventurers are ranked and sanctioned by a guild. They take bounties and get paid. You start at rank 10 (Porcelain) and work your way to 1 (Platinum). The characters are all referred to by their race or class. The only exception I can think of is Goblin Slayer (who the dwarves call Beardcutter and the elves call Orcbolg).

The protagonist of the story is the titular Goblin Slayer. While he's a high ranking adventurer (Rank 3, Silver), he only takes missions and cares about killing goblins. This stems from tragedy in his past. The goblins of the series are similar to typical D&D goblins. They aren't smart, they're about the size of children, and they're seen as pests. However, they are immensely cruel, clever, and they enjoy capturing and raping women (whom they eventually feed on).

The first episode is brutal and is a litmus test to see if you can handle the rest. The series begins with Porcelain ranked young heroine Priestess reluctantly joining up with three other new heroes to take out a goblin nest and save some local girls. They are warned that it will be too dangerous but ignore the warnings. They're just taking on goblins. It'll be nothing. They are wrong, by the end of the encounter only Priestess reminds mostly intact. The male fighter is slaughtered, the female monk SA'd and quits the adventuring life, and the female wizard is given a mercy killing by Goblin Slayer. While the actual rape isn't show on screen the beginnings of it and the screams during can be heard and it's chilling.

This actually leads me to my issue with the series. I don't like SA being used to show how bad a villain is. Wrestlers call that cheap heat. It's lazy and anyone can do it. I  can deal with it if I have to, but I think there are better ways to show characters as monstrous. I am particularly bothered about how this is used in the series. The few times goblin captives are on screen, the shots seem to linger too much and their barely clothed forms. I'm all for fanservice and cheesecake in anime, but let's not show it while sexual assault is occurring or a character is held in captivity.

The combat is brutal as Hell. The combat is bloody and well animated. There are some amazing fight scenes and the combat will have any D&D fan salivating at the action.

Strangely, the anime isn't all doom and gloom. Like a lot of anime series, there's a great humor streak within the show. Goblin Slayer's non-human party members are all really amusing. I believe my favorite is Lizard Man Priest, who becomes obsessed with cheese and ice cream. I absolutely adore his party and their interactions.

The music and setting are excellent. It's a perfect D&D world. Actually speaking of D&D, I think the setting is actually the Dungeons and Dragons universe. They are multiple mentions of the gods rolling dice and the intros and things show dice other than d6's. While it's never addressed, I think the gods are players and a DM.

Despite my issues, I really enjoyed this series. There's been no announcement on when it will happen, but I was glad to see this after the end credits.

If you can stomach a story with sexual violence and like D&D, this is an anime you should check out. It has great style, characters, humor, action, and an interesting story.

Goblin Slayer (5E)

I came across these official write-ups for the characters from Goblin Slayer. While I've not watched the series, the clips I've seen are brutal af. I don't get into anime much like I used to, but it looks cool.

This article on Crunchyroll actually goes into detail into how to create Goblin Slayer as a PC.

Succubus Sunday

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Scooby Doo/Darkest Dungeons Mash-up

This is amazing.

Have you played Darkest Dungeons? What do you think?

The Honorable Knight

I'm not currently running any games in Waterdeep. I don't need a colossal statue miniature. However, I want this beautiful thing. A premium figure from Wizkids: Icons of the Realms, this miniature is the Honorable Knight, walking statue of Watereep. The "miniature" is 11 inches tall and comes in two pieces. The retail price is 59.99. You can find more info about it here.

Pink Slime Fantasy

I know it's referring to pink slime meat, but wouldn't you
rather look at this adorable slime girl?

I keep seeing this post about Appendix N and Pink Slime Fantasy in my Facebook feed. It's a really good read. The writer says Pink Slime isn't inherently bad and I appreciate that. I guess I just felt like throwing my two coppers in because of various comments others have had about the post.  Here are a few thoughts though:

• While I don't want to eat it everyday I'm a fan of McDonalds and fast food, so while it's kinda gross to dwell on it, calling it pink slime fantasy doesn't make it inferior in my mind, just different. 
• The 3.0/3.5 and 5e Dungeon Master's Guides have included rules and stats for sci-fi tech. 
• I think a lot of modern fantasy fans don't care for the mixing of sci-fi and fantasy. I know many folks that don't and until recently, I was of the same mindset. 
• The core releases of D&D are standard pink slime, but WotC has made it possible for others to take the weird speculative fiction mashup via the OGL.
• I don't think D&D is eating itself, I just think it's found its brand and is sticking with it.
• Standard modern fantasy is easier to sell and has a broader appeal.
• Pathfinder (which is the big D&D alternative) has tech based areas and adventures.

Ultimately play what you want. I'm really glad we live in a time when I can have my pink slime 5e double cheeseburger and my Dungeon Crawl Classics New York strip cooked to perfection. 

Fireball Island - Isle of the Fire Spirit

Recently the classic game, Fireball Island was resurrected via Kickstarter by Restoration Games. In an unlikely crossover, they've released a free D&D 5e adventure set on the titular island. The adventure is pretty straight forward. The party must navigate the island to recover the Heart of Vul-Kar. What's really cool is you can use the actual game board as a map and the random fireballs of the game are a part of the adventure.

You can get the adventure here and buy the updated version of the board game here.

Broken!

Broken! is a really interesting new project created by a few of my Facebook friends (W.S. Quinton and Zack Viola). It's a low cost table top rpg pdf that will have all it's major decisions be made by the backers. $1 gets you the game and $5 lets you use your voice to in one the decisions about it, such as rules system, genre, or game mechanics. For a pledge of $10 you can vote in all the categories. Yes, this is a very gimmicky, but that's because W.S. is taking part in Kickstarter's Break Kickstarter challenge. To learn more about the project and get a better description than I can give, go here.

The Warriors (DCC)

I wanted to make some content compatible with Bronx Beasts and some other future DCC projects I have in mind. Decided to take some inspiration from one of my favorite 70's/80's flicks, The Warriors. 

Assume these stats are for the characters in the mid-80's, so they are in their mid to late 20's at this point. Veteran stats can be used for the boppers that survived the film. 

Warchief Swan
Init +2, Atk +4 melee switchblade (1d4+2) or +4 melee unarmed (1d4+2);  AC 13; Armor Die d3 (Warrior's vest); HD 5d8+10; MV 30'; Act 1d20+1d16; SP +1 to Atk rolls when fighting alongside other Warriors, Warriors can heal twice per combat; Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +2; AL N

Warriors Veteran
Init +2, Atk +2 melee baseball bat (1d6+1) or +2 melee unarmed (1d4+1);  AC 12; Armor Die d3 (Warrior's vest) HD 3d6+3; MV 30'; Act 1d20; SP +1 to Atk rolls when fighting alongside other Warriors; Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1; AL N or C

Warriors Recruit
Init +2, Atk +1  baseball bat (1d6) or unarmed (1d4);  AC 11; Armor Die d3 (Warrior's vest) HD 1d6+1; MV 30'; Act 1d20; SP; Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0; AL N or C

Mercy
Init +3, Atk +1  switchblade (1d4);  AC 13; Armor Die -;  HD 3d6; MV 30'; Act 1d20; SP Backstab + 2, +3 to Sneak Silently and Hide in Shadows; Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +3; AL N

You Need Maps? Kickstarter Has Maps!

I wanted to bring attention to two current map-centric Kickstarters.

I really like Wyrmkeep Entertainment. I've proofread Joe's last few adventures (and now that I think about it need to review the three I've worked on). His newest Kickstarter is Maps: Buildings, Castles, and Dungeons for All Fantasy RPGS.  Here are the details of the project:

• 32+ pages in length
• Dozens of maps
• Detached cover with one huge map on the interior side
• One map that can folded into a cube, for some non-Euclidean fun
• Notes and commentary for each map
• 6 or more black & white interior illustrations
• Color cover artwork

The other project is from Glynn Seal of MonkeyBlood Design. This project, Handy Maps - Town & Village A5 Card Handouts for RPGs, will be a set of 10 double-sided A5 map cards that can be used as town layouts and quick player handouts. Glynn's cartography is great and this project really does look useful.

Magical Industrial Revolution

Magical Industrial Revolution is a pre-apocalyptic setting guide. While written to be compatible with 5e, it's definitely designed with old school games in mind. Written by Skerples, layout by David Shugars, and fulfillment and shipping by Exalted Funeral, this project is only live for a few weeks and has already doubled it's funding goal in just a few days. The book is already written and should be released in October, which means an extremely quick turn around. Shown below is the unnumbered table of contents.

The art and setting looks really cool. Even if you don't run it as is, you could easily pull from this to add to a something like Eberron.

Bronx Beasts Volume 1 Review

Written by Dan Steeby, Bronx Beasts is a fantastic take on Dungeon Crawl Classics. I picked up a copy of volume 1 at Gen Con and I was very happy with the purchase. "Bronx Beasts is a wild 1980's action featuring rules for generating and playing bizarre mutant animal characters..." These rules let you get your TMNT fix using DCC rules.

A majority of the 43 page zine is focused on Character Creation. This is different that typical DCC rules and has seven steps.

• roll attributes
• role beast origin
• roll beast type
• choose beast size
• roll beast form
• roll and spend evolution points
• roll lucky sign
• fill in the blanks

If you want your game to have a more heroic feel, there is a four color comic variant for character creation. Characters are either random or deliberate mutations. There are several sub tables for beasts created deliberately. The Beast Type table has a great set up. You can roll a d100 to randomly determine your animal nature or you can roll different dice depending on what biome you come from (urban, rural, wild, exotic, or bird-only). You then choose beast size (tiny to huge). This choice affects various stats. Next your roll to see how beastly your speech, legs, hands, and looks are. After this you get several "evolution points" that can be spent to customize your beast (for example give you armor or a natural attack). Like other DCC games, you roll your lucky sign (which gives you bonuses or penalties are certain die rolls based on  your Luck score). The final part of character creation involves using that info and filling in the rest of your character sheet. Overall the character creation process seems like a fun blend of DCC and TMNT and Other Strangeness. 

The rest of the zine gives other variations to standard DCC. There are no classes and everyone's stats are determined by their beast's levels level. There are some cool new rules. The non-magical nature of the game reminds me of DCC Lankhmar. Characters get Fleeting Luck and can spend luck to heal. Armor doesn't actually increase armor class, but is rather a die that lets you soak damage. Finally there are beast checks, fur burn, and bestial freakouts that are reminiscent of the actions wizards can take, but in this case allow beasts to tap into their inherent animal sides.

If you're a fan of DCC and TMNT, you NEED to pick up this zine. It's only 5 bucks! You can grab your copy here. Look for a 0-level funnel adventure for the setting when this year's Gongfarmer's Almanac is released digitally.

Addendum: Because this doesn't use magic or the standard classes, I'm pretty sure you have almost everything you need to run this game just by picking this up and any version of the DCC Quick Start. 

The Lost City of Gaxmoor Kickstarter

The 5e update of The Lost City of Gaxmoor launched earlier today. While past versions of the adventure (particularly the 3.0 version) haven't received the best reviews (mainly because of editing), I'm more than willing to support this one for the lineage it brings.

The adventure was written by Luke and Ernie Gygax, who ran parts of the adventure at points for their father Gary. The sandbox adventure will be a 128+ page book designed for levels 1-10 and include:

• 59 Fully Developed Encounter Areas outside the city walls
• 70 Fully Developed Encounter Areas inside the city walls
• The Labyrinth beneath the city proper
• 70 Magical Statues, Pools and Areas of Interests fully developed for campaign play
• an overarching objective for those who desire campaign style play
• over a dozen maps of all the relevant areas
• NPCs and Areas of Refuge
• New Monsters
• New Magic Items 

Big sand box adventures can be fun and I'd like to check out Luke and Ernie's work, so they've got my money. You can back the project here. If you back in the first 24 hours you will recieve a pdf of The Long Valley.

Bone Tomahawk Tribesman (DCC)

Here is some weird west content for your Dark Trails (quickstarter coming soon) and DCC/MCC games. It was inspired by the antagonists of the amazing western horror flick, Bone Tomahawk. 

Bone Tomahawk Tribesman

Init +2, Atk +1 bone tomahawk (1d6+1) ;  AC 13; HD 2d6+2; MV 30'; Act 1d20; SP unnatural roar; Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0; AL C

The tribesman communicate with  whistles embedded in their windpipes. Only males are encountered outside of their caves as the females are blinded and have their limbs amputated when they come of child-bearing age. Once per combat, instead of attacking they can release a frightening roar through their throat-whistles. Any opponent hearing this must make a DC 15 Will save or be unable to act their next turn.

Succubus Sunday

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Six-Gun Gorilla (DCC)

Six-Gun Gorilla is a character in the public domain. This npc is appropriate for Dark Trails and Black Powder, Black Magic

Six-Gun Gorilla: Init +2; Atk bite +4 melee (1d4+3) or slam +6 melee (dmg 1d6+3) or six-shooter +4 missile (dmg 1d8); AC 14; HD 5d8; MV 20’ or climb 30’; Act 1d20; SP  quick reload (can reload and fire pistol in the same round); SV Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +1; AL L

The Six-Gun Gorilla is an ape named O'Neill. He was kidnapped as an infant and brought to the States. There he was sold to a prospector named Bart Masters in Colorado. Masters loved the ape like a son and taught him to dig, fetch firewood, cook, clean, gather water, and load and fire a revolver. His life changed the day his "father" was killed by Tutt Strawhan and his gang, who were looking for "the great mother-load" Masters had found. O'Neill swore revenge and now roams the west, in search of Tutt and his gang.

Vigilante Files - Slimed!!! Available Now

The latest Lone Bards installment of Vigilante Files is just oozing with potential. Things start getting messy with a demonic slime lord is summoned the slums of the city. Can the vigilantes stop him before he creates an army of sticky servants? You can get your copy here.

Children of the Fallen Sun Review

I picked up this phenomenal Mutant Crawl Classics adventure at Gen Con this year. Children of the Fallen Sun is the first third party release for MCC and was designed along with the game itself.

A starship crashes near the players' tribe and they are sent to investigate and gain resources from it before rivals can do the same. This brings them into conflict with two other local tribes. Additionally they find themselves embroiled in the political struggle of the Blumans and Rustmen, two genetically altered races of humans who've returned to their species planet of origin.

The adventure is a wonderful combination of exploration and social maneuvering. The combats are challenging and interesting. There's also just a cool factor of having technologically advanced races descended from the ancients to interact with too.

In addition to the fun story the adventure has several crunchy bits too, including:

• Two new patron AI's (with spells) that are an integral part of the adventure
• Nine new artifacts (including one that can create zombies)
• One new mutation

This adventure is absolutely fantastic! The writing and design are top notch. The artwork and layout are excellent. I really love the great impact this 1st level adventure can have on your Mutant Crawl Classics campaign. If you play MCC and don't have this one, pick it up here asap.