Hello hello hello my gamerkin – I hope you are well!
Adventure Framework Collection #2 is Deal of the Day!
I just got an email from DTRPG saying that Adventure Framework Collection #2 (fourteen adventures, 208 pages, 8.5″ x 11″ book) is Deal of the Day tomorrow 21 Oct (US Central time, from 10am). The PDF will be $5 instead of $20, and the colour softcover book is also discounted down to $41.95! If you need some drop in adventure sites or situations for your sandbox, it’s a bargain!
Crypt of Kursaba softcover now available 😀
Adventure Framework #69 Crypt of Kursaba is now available in colour softcover for $9.95 (includes the PDF). My current plan is to make AF #67 & #68 into softcovers as well, after I tweak their format slightly to match Crypt. Hopefully they’ll be out next month 🙂
Coincidentally Red Mage GM gave Crypt a shout out in his recent “8 (Mostly Free) Adventures to Use in Your OSR DnD Campaign” video :DD
Kickstarter Progress
If you’re receiving physical rewards and haven’t already filled out your Backerkit survey, please do so ASAP as we’ll be charging cards for shipping at the end of October. Final addresses won’t be locked until mid November. We’ve had a slight delay with our book printing and the dice. I expect they will be shipping out to Backers in the first week of December rather than November. It could still be last week of November, but more likely first week Dec. I’m liaising closely with my production partners to keep things moving. I hope this doesn’t spoil anyone’s gaming plans for Nov!
Foundry Update
High Technomancer Dab has re-emerged from the electron wastes with more Foundry updates; the character sheet is coming along very nicely and I hope to be personally playtesting the module later this month :DD
Hobbs’ ToA Season 3 Episode 3
Jason Hobbs and crew’s latest ToA video is out! The party has found themselves in cahoots with Inquisitor Gaius, the Nydissian. He seeks something in an old Dimmish Gate and the group has decided to help… For now.
Stu Oliver Solo Play
Stu Oliver over on Solo Tabletop RPG Site is now up to his seventeenth post in his Tales of Argosa game; Betrayal of the Dragon Queen. It features a small party of four adventurers: Darowen (level 2 female ranger), Morwen (level 2 mage, younger sister to Darowen), Peran (level 2 Rogue) and Hedrag (level 2 fighter). If you’re itching for some solo play reports, be sure to check it out!
Moria Solo Play
Speaking of solo I took Free League’s recent Moria book for a spin using Tales of Argosa! I was super excited to receive my copy last month and just had to play it.
I treated Moria like a hexcrawl, with each six mile stretch on the map a “hex”. I used the Argosa Hexploration rules but the tables from Moria for Events, Chambers, Fortune, Treasure, and Orcs/Enemies.
Thrak (Fighter) & Stonmir Harrowhold (Ranger), dwarf brothers and the last of their clan, braved the ancient hold hoping for loot (along with Arrash, the Ranger’s bat). I had them enter through the Doors of Durin, just like in the book/movie.
Day 1 they moved east, sneakin’ about, eventually locating the Imperishable Hall (Area 26). It was quiet as a tomb, and alas, there was no treasure to be found. The magical ward protecting the Forge of Navi prevented the dwarves from entering the genius smith’s workshop (Area 7). At least they’d kept clear of any goblinoids…
As the brothers made their way through the long dark during Day 2, the Balrog exerted its dread influence across the complex, causing Thrak to fall into a deadly despondency (Ghash Event 10) that expressed itself as a deathwish (madness). Eventually they reached the Hall of the Third Roadwarden (Area 8). The Hall had been long flooded due to a cracked aqueduct, forming a lonely island rising from a lake. Consulting the Bones confirmed that the orcs’ fears of a tentacled beast lurking in the waters was true… but an Activity roll revealed the Giant Octopus was slumbering in the depths. The dwarves passed by quietly, oblivious to the behemoth below!
Day 3 and the dwarves descended the Great Stairs (Area 7). They became lost for a time and missed both the the Great West Cave (Area 6) and Upper Mines (Area 4), instead making their winding way to the Hall of the Second Roadwarden (Area 5). Carved into a titantic stalactite, the brothers encountered an Orc guard and a Chieftan (I made him a Boss), who were slain via ambush. Another nine orcs were drawn to the commotion however, and despite an attempt to flee (Party Retreat, followed by a chase, in which the dwarves were caught), they were forced into battle! In the end it was a close thing; after Thrak and Arras fell, Stonmir took out the fifth orc – forcing a Morale check – but the remaining greenskins wanted blood, and cut down the ranger the next round!!! Fare thee well sons of Harrowhold… perhaps your cousins will come looking for you in a future adventure.
For building “shadow” (a One Ring mechanic, I think some kind of dread/sorrow quality, that comes up on the Moria Event tables) I used the ToA madness tables instead. In hindsight a d10 table of Moria/underground specific madnesses would have been perfect.
On the downside quite a few of the locations on the map aren’t in the index, with no page numbers for them, which was very frustrating 😦 Luckily a redditor had the same issue and made their own map with all the page numbers 🙂 Overall however it was very fun. If you’re interested in a Moria game, I recommend picking it up (although I’m not sure if the big map comes with the PoD version?).
Conan – City of the Dead
I hadn’t heard of John C Hocking’s work before, but got the tip off from Robert aka Nolabert from Hobbs’ games. Suffice it to say that Hocking’s two Conan tales in City of the Dead are bloody great!! I might even enjoy them more than Howard’s stories. This volume includes both Conan & the Emerald Lotus (1995) and Conan & the Living Plague (2024 – almost 20 years between them!). They’re both great – if you’re looking for 500 pages of rad S&S do yourself a favour and grab this baby!
Dire North Kickstarter ending in six days!
If you’re not familiar, Randy M of Roan Studios is an amazing artist and RPG content creator – check out his Bay of Spirits on DTRPG – heaps of great stuff including drop in adventures with gorgeous maps (he did the original LFG Midlands Region Map, and illustrated all of AF#40 Call of the Colossus – free). Randy’s got a KS finishing up in six days – the Dire North – and it looks SWEEEET. I’m sure this 240 page system neutral book will go REALLY WELL with ToA. Check it out folks!
Community Content
It’s a three pronged attack from the legendary Caliburn this month – thank you sir for your generous contributions to the RPG arena!
- Alternate Artificer by Caliburn: Link
- Alternate Mage by Caliburn: Link
- Alternate Cultist by Caliburn: Link
And that’s enough of me waxing lyrical about my gamings goings on, by Crom! Have a great week folks 😀
Pickpocket Press 