Music Monday - The Fist of Khonshu

While I wasn't sure what to expect, I've been loving the Moon Knight series on Disney+. The finale premieres Wednesday and I can't wait to see how they wrap the season up. Here's another track by Adam Warrock inspired by Marvel Comics. 

Here are a few different Moon Knight builds for 5e.

Bell of Lost Souls - This is a classic 5e build. They've used Paladin and Warlock to build him.

Mike Myler - This build him as a Patherfinder 1e character and a 5e npc. While I don't disagree with the way he's built for 5e, like most of Mike's Hyper Score builds he's really powerful. Definitely more powerful than the supers I've been statting for 5e.

Comic Book Resources - While this doesn't include an actual 5e build of Moon Knight, it does discuss the best options of how to build him for regular 5e.

Moon Daughter's Fate

 

Moon Daughter's Fate is the latest Indiegogo project from Necromancer Games/Frog God Games. Written by Alice Peng this mid-level adventure taps into Chinese folklore. Starting with an encounter with a disguised god, the adventure features several different areas and new monsters, and an opportunity to deal with quarreling gods. 

I recently spoke with Alice and asked her the inspiration for the adventure:

It really is from my childhood.  As a child, I was raised with all these Chinese High Fantasy stories born from myths and lore.  There's lots of TV shows, movies, and books that don't have English translations.

Playing TTRPGs for so many decades, I've found an absolute void of these stories in the hobby and wanted to share a piece of my childhood and a culture that is rarely translated.

I've GMed this subgenre of fantasy for a number of gaming groups and they've all loved it but it's funny that when I try to explain to them what they can expect, there are very few movies/tv shows/books in English that I can reference them to so I always end up saying "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is Wuxia and Sorcerer and the White Snake is more FengShen/XianXia."

Representation is important and I'm really excited to see how Alice brings Chinese folklore to the gaming table. I think it's wonderful when folks share their cultural heritage and I know this adventure is going to rock. 

Do yourself a favor, if you player 5e, Pathfinder 1e, or OSR (particularly Swords & Wizardry), check out this adventure.

The Dung Monger

Like many folks, I think there’s too much going on right now to get into April Fool’s Day. That being said, I’ll always take free humorous rpg content. This year, Little Red Goblin Games have outdone themselves in that department with The Dung Monger Base Class.

It’s wrong, but really damn funny. It was also put together by professionals and had really solid art commissioned for it. You can download it here for free and make your Pathfinder games more shitty.

The Horror Out of Hagsjaw

NECROMANCER Games has a new Indiegogo, The Horror Out of Hagsaw. Written by the amazing Levi Combs (of Planet X Games), the adventure is old school Lovecraftian horror. Just check out the adventure's description:

Travelers have long considered Hagsjaw a place best avoided, haunted by whispered tales of witches and strange doings in the old days. Once terrorized by a wretched coven of witches known as the Karnley Hags, the town was held in a grip of fear that saw its citizens oppressed, its children stolen and anyone who dared oppose them viscously murdered. Though the witches were eventually overthrown and hung in the town square, they muttered a unified curse with their last breaths, promising nothing less than misery and doom for all who remained.

That was a century ago, and now Hagsjaw is little more than a forgotten watering hole on the way to bigger and better places. Time has not treated the decaying town or it’s folk kindly, as it seems to die out more and more as each generation passes. The farms at the edge of town are empty of cattle and crop, the town’s buildings are crumbling and even the sagging roofs of the abandoned, twin-steepled church don’t look like they’ll hold up much longer. There’s little left to suggest that the town hadn’t withered away completely… until recently.

To everyone’s surprise, Hagsjaw seems to be awakening from its century-long slumber. The old sawmill has fired back up again and the townsfolk have inexplicably started to go back out into the forests to log, hunt and trap. Talk of renewed industry is circulating and some say that the town’s cursed days might finally be over.

For all this talk of prosperity, a sinister undertone ripples throughout the town. The locals remain more suspicious than ever and many whisper that the Karnley Hags have returned to make good on their promise to bring their ageless curse of doom full circle. Folk have begun to act strangely. Some have even turned on each other. Paranoia and mistrust run rampant. Has witchery and the depraved worship of strange, old gods returned to the land? Do the whispers of ancient curses ring true? What nameless dread has spread its wings over the terrified folk of Hagsjaw?

Can the characters uncover what lies beneath the surface and, if so, will they survive it?

If that adventure doesn't sound intriguing to you, then we have very different tastes. Support the project and get a cool adventure written by a radical dude. 

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.

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.

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. 

Music Monday - World's Best RPG

Yahzik drops some rhymes about D&D.

How Orcus Stole Christmas!

How Orcus Stole Christmas! is an entertaining holiday themed romp by Frog God Games.You can download the pdf for 5e, Swords & Wizardry, and Pathfinder here. I backed the Indigogo campaign and can't wait to have my print copy of the 5e version. This review will be focused on that particular version (since it' the only one I read).

The premise to the adventure is simple. The characters are hired by a local baron to deliver supplies to a rural village. Unfortunately that village has been ransacked by the violently cheery Orcus Claws and his Crueltide Elves.

The adventure is designed for 4-6 characters between levels 3-5. You might ask how these characters are supposed to take on Orcus. Well Orcus Claws is a powerful foe (challenge 10), but isn't the Demon Prince himself, but is being created from a sliver from a claw of Orcus. He has some Grinch/holiday themed powers (such as Cruel Tidings and Lump of Coal) and even has a healing item (a sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce). Other foes in the adventure include his minions, the Crueltide elves (which are magically corrupted goblins), demonic reindeer, frosted snowman, a snowbeast, and a few specific Crueltide elves based on Yukon Cornelius and Hermey.

The adventure is relatively short, but entertaining. It's filled with a variety of Christmas themed in-jokes. The encounters vary as well. There are some that require words, not swords. The adventure also includes a few Christmas themed magic items that are fun.

I'm glad I helped fund this adventure. It's got a great sense of humor and despite it's holiday nature could easily be dropped into an ongoing campaign. I'll definitely use it in my next 5e game and even if the party is too high level for it during the holidays, I don't think I'll have any problems adjusting this one.

If you didn't support this on Indigogo, you should go to the link above and pick up the pdf for your favorite rules system.

How Orcus Stole Christmas!

Right now the Frogs have an amazing sound project on Indigogo. How Orcus Stole Christmas! is a limited print run holiday adventure that can be dropped into an existing campaign. The adventure will be released for 5e, Pathfinder (1e), and Swords & Wizardry. You have a little over a week to hop in on this one.

ConTessa Fall 2018 Fundraising Bundle

Right now you can help support a great group and pick up some awesome gaming material by purchasing the ConTessa Fall 2018 Fundraiser Bundle. It's worth the price for the full version of the Lamentations core rules and She Bleeds alone. I've read the Azurth Adventures Digest Issue 1 too and it's a lot of fun. Of the material I'm not familiar with Sandy Peterson's Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder looks really good. I don't play Pathfinder anymore, but it would still be cool to have and read.

You can learn more about ConTessa and their purporse of giving voice to traditionally underrepresented folks here. As I said, I'm a fan and I even have a shirt.

OSR Patch

My OSR patch came in recently and this weekend I had it put on one of my favourite shirts (just in time for Origins).  You can find out how to get your's here.

I might not be allowed to wear it any more though, because I'm also wearing my Pathfinder Dogslicer Ale shirt.

Goblumphs... Yeah You Read That Right

Today I discovered Dungeonous Octopus and their very peculiar brand of fun. I was looking at 5E material and stumbled across their free Slugs book. I was wondering if it would be similar to another free giant mollusk book I love. It is not, but its still well written, entertaining, and could be useful if you want some weird. And that's when I found it. I saw the date it was released. I read the description. And despite that, I had to have it...  Exotic Races: Goblumphs

Here's the product description:

Have you ever wanted to play as an ungodly hybrid of goblin and flumph?

Of course you haven't, you’re a fine upstanding citizen. But now that you can, maybe you should, maybe it’s an experience you didn’t even know you wanted, until right now.

Exotic Races: Goblumphs presents the player race nobody asked for, and Octopus Apocalypse delivered. Learn the secrets of the lowly goblumph, plus new feats and spells.

If you buy only one roleplaying product this year, Exotic Races: Goblumphs technically meets that description.

This pdf presents a new race, that should not exist. It's entirely unnecessary. However, it's very well constructed and I have a soft spot for weird things. Seriously, I love flumphs and I've been a goblin fan boy since I started playing 2nd edition and Magic: The Gathering. Yeah, I'm a goblin hipster. I liked them before Paizo made them cool in Pathfinder. 

Statwise Goblumphs gets bonuses to Dex and Wis and a penalty to strength. They are humanoids and have the goblin subtype, but they are also considered aberrations. They honestly get some pretty cool features (that I don't want to spoil, because you should buy the pdf).

Do you need this pdf? No. Should you buy it? Well if you're a fan of the weird or a flumph aficionado like myself, then abso-fricken-lutely.

I've decided to do a few posts about these weird bastards. Come back tomorrow for Goblumph monster stats for 5e. 

Monsters of Mayhem #1 Review

I recently received my pdf for backing +Mark Taormino Monsters of Mayhem #1 Kickstarter.  I backed this project and have proof-reader credits for it.

Check out this cover. It's flippin' sweet (if you're okay with cheesecake art).

This manual of monsters is full of 48 beasties. If you've read or played through any of the Maximum Mayhem Dungeon adventures (and you should btw), then you'll recognize things like blue trolls, casket creep, and little green bastards. There are also several new monsters that are familiar if you're a fan of cinema. Here's a run down of my favourite monsters in the book:

Block of Hungry Flesh - This thing is just so fricken' gross. Ever wonder what happens when you mix the alien from The Thing with a gelatinous cube? Neither did I and now that I've seen it I can't unsee it.
Demonia Gigantica - Giant sexy demon.... though it's a frightening thought I think all of my games need this.
Lagoon Creeper - It's the Creature from the Black Lagoon. This is definitely a necessity in D&D, because that guy gets shafted compared to a lot of Universal Monsters.
Nightmare Warriors - Roving bands of blood thirsty undead warriors.
Plague Bunny - These bastards are deceptive. They look like cute little bunnies and then they explode and cover everyone with diseased viscera. That's metal af!
Tiny Terrors - Remember the windmill scene from Army of Darkness? Oh yeah!

The stats and background for all of these beasts are solid and entertaining. In addition, the artwork is fantastic. Since this is an OSR monster book, it can pretty much be used for any version of D&D with little work. Personally, I think these monsters would be great additions to Crimson Dragon Slayer.

All of Mark's adventures feature quotes from adventurers. This time, the monsters have a few words. I know this is random, but it's a nice touch.

Okay, now that I've praised the book I do have a few things to say. I am disappointed by how long it took Mark to finish with this one. The Kickstarter delivery date was July of last year and we just got the pdfs, this month. Honestly this is a trend I've seen from his past few kickstarters. At this point I pretty much expect things to take an extra six months to a year. Don't get me wrong, Mark is a great guy. His books are all well-written and entertaining. I know he's busy.  I just think he should maybe push his delivery dates back a bit.

Okay all of that aside, you should still go grab this one. You can get the pdf or pre-order the book here.

While you're at it pick up his other adventures:
Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen
Secret Machines of the Star Spawn
Villains of the Undercity
Vault of the Dwarven King

February Festivities Bundle by Skirmisher Games

If you have an extra 2.99 you should really check out Skirmisher Games February Festivities Bundle.  It includes 10 pdfs for various versions of D&D (3.5, Pathfinder, and 5E) as well as system neutral material. My favourite among them is Men & Monsters of Ethiopia... a 5E monster supplement that I reviewed here. Printable minis for the book are included in the bundle, as well as several other cool pdfs.

Skirmisher Game is a publisher I don't see many folks talking about, but in my experience they make some great books and the writers are super nice guys.

The Old Spice Gentleman for Pathfinder (link updated 2-13-18)

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Old Spice has released a character class for Pathfinder. Yeah, you read that correctly. 

It's really damn funny and well put together. Here's a link to the Google Doc if you don't want to mess with the book of faces.

Heading Out To the Stars

I bit the bullet and bought the Starfinder pdf from Paizo. It's really damn big, clocking in at 532 pages. While I'm not as keen on my Pathfinder as I used to be, I know that there are several big changes that have some Pathfinder players I know leery and/or less interested in it. Once I've delved deeper into the book I'll share more thoughts.

Until then, enjoy some videos that are getting me more pumped for Starfinder.

I've shared these before but these Destiny 2 trailers show that their are still murder hobos even in space.

This is the opening animation to the underrated, overshadowed, and now free-to-play Battleborn. It's a catchy tune and the animation is gorgeous. Also, it's very Starfinder because it has space elves.

Finally these Doom trailers are just badass (and Doom is listed as a source of inspiration in the back of the book).

Succubus Sunday - Avalexi

Avalexi, Succubus Assassin and Cultist

Succubus Sunday

Autobots Roll Out!

Want to add Transformers to your Pathfinder or Starfinder game? It's probably not something you've thought about, but now that I've mentioned it, you're kind of interested, right? No? To each their own. However, if your answer is yes, Epic Races: Adapticons has got what you need.

The pdf is 25 pages (including front and back cover, a page of advertisements, three pages of OGL). It gives you everything you need to play a transfor... adapticon in Pathfinder (or soon Starfinder). The book starts with history and origins of the race. To be honest, if I added them to my game I'd probably just straight lift all of that from Transformers. That being said, the background isn't a bad one.

In game terms the designers created the race emulating racial creation rules from the Advanced Race Guide. Adapticons are "multi-formed constructs" which means they have the construct and shapechanger subtype. They are large and get bonuses to Str, Wis, and Con, while getting penalties on Dex and Cha.  They get an alternate vehicle form, though there are also options to have a metallic animal form, or even not being able to transform. There are Pathfinder favored class options and two racial archetypes (Spybot and Transporter). While these are cool, I kind of wish this pdf had came out a little later and we could have seen Starfinder racial archetypes (assuming the game has them). Note that adapticons do use vehicle rules which are found in Ultimate Combat. We get a new vehicle (dwarven dozer), nine feats (metamagic and racial), and several bits of new equipment (some magical, some technological).

Overall, I think this is a fun pdf. It's not a must have by any means, but it's still really cool. The race isn't overpowered and due to its size and actually has some rough drawbacks (beware of rust monsters).

To be honest, I mainly picked it up because I thought it would be cool for Starfinder, and I hope the pdf gets an update once that book comes out.