Things I'm Excited About!

First, and most importantly, Bones II begins shipping officially on Monday! While I'm only about 40% of the way though Bones I, I am inordinately excited about this! And not even necessarily for the big minis (though I did order 2 of Dragons Don't Share!)

I mean just check this out? And this is just the core set! I'm also getting expansion 1!!

I've signed up for the A to Z Challenge again this year. Once again, I'm already questioning my sanity. This year, even more than before, since I'm planning on being on the Appalachian Trail for a good chunk of April, which means I need to get those posts written like NOW and get them scheduled.

The good news is that I have a theme and a plan already! We'll see how that works out.

DareDevil, while not one of my favorite characters, is coming to Netflix! I'll probably be on the trail at that point, so I'll catch up on the first season when I get back.



They're doing a Doctor Who lego set!

And for those gamers of a more Baltimore-centric type, Charm City Games Day is being held February 28th at Games and Stuff. If you're local, you should sign up!

My FLGS Titan Games is hosting an RPG day this Saturday. Kind of short notice, but if you're free it might be worth checking out.

Awesome Dice (the blog)

Are you familiar with how awesome dice are? If you're not, there is an entire blog about just that topic. It is inventively and imaginatively named:

The Awesome Dice Blog

Of special interest is their infographic on the History of Dice:

Well worth checking out!

More Things You Shouldn't Miss

It’s been a while since I highlighted some of the really cool things that are out there.

First up is this beautifully rendered Caves of Chaos map. Now, I’ve never actually run B2, but I’ve always wanted to, and with this map in hand, I’m really tempted to do just that...

Intelligent magic items, usually swords, have been a part of D+D for a long time, but what happens if someone melts down that sword? Paul at Blog of Holding has an interesting take on the idea.

Courtney Campbell, aka -C of Hack & Slash and creator of numerous awesome PDFs such as Interesting Treasure Generation and Tricks, Empty Rooms, and Basic Trap Design, has a series of interesting little pieces of treasure, and here are 2 that I really like - The Jewel Box, and the Golden Bee.

Pumpkin - Destroyer of Worlds

Rolang put together a dice drop table for stocking your dungeon - Evil Temple of Evilness and the Great God Orsobuffo.

The Dungeon Dozen blog, if you aren’t familiar with it, posts random charts that all use the much ignored d12. A recent one that I saved for myself is the Dwellers in the Lightless Pits.

Lord Gwydion has a page up on his blog for the Flying Swordsmen RPG he’s been working on. I’m calling attention to it for 2 reasons. 1. I haven’t really seen much talk about it, and it’s worth talking about. 2. I’ve done some editing, proofreading, and even a little design work on it, so I know what I’m talking about when I say it’s worth checking out!

Save vs Dragon is a relatively new blog, but an interesting one. As evidence check out this white scorpion, 1d30 road encounters,
and these free buttons (supplies limited, get yours now!)

Christopher O'Dell over at Grognardling has 40 books from Looted Libraries. I really like Nasty Places and How Wizards Send You There.

R.W. Chandler over at The Blighted World of Zaoth wrote up a set of random charts for generating robotic monstocities.

Did you know that Sigil, the city at the center of the great cosmic wheel from Planescape, built on the inside surface of a torus, has a megadungeon under it? Actually I’m not sure that “under” is the right adjective when referring to the outer portion of a torus, but it’ll do. Anyway, ckutalik of Hill Cantons shared some thoughts and observations about it here.

You know that scenes in Labyrinth, when Sarah is confronted by the talking doors? Does your dungeon have talking doors? If not, noisms from Monsters and Manuals has you covered with is post on sentient doors.

Microlite 20, aka M20, the brainchild of Greywulf, has spawned numerous iterations, and the massive complete M20 has just been updated! Do yourself a favor and snag yourself a copy!

Phenomenal Cosmic Power!

My favorite character class has always been the Magic-User/Wizard/Mage. This is a confession which should cause no surprise. The ability to warp space, time, and the very fabric of the universe, even if only in small ways, has always been way cooler than any sword swinger, back stabber, or prayer slinger.

Because of this I’m always on the lookout for things that can make a wizard, especially a low level one, a little more fantastic, and a little less squishy.

Bat of Ancient Vaults created the Staff of the Arcane.  It’s a fairly potent item, yet not wildly powerful. It’s just the sort of thing that you could drop into the hands of a 3rd level wizard.

If you’re worried that it’s too powerful, you could always limit the level of spells stored within it, or cause the use of the knockdown power to use up one of the spellslots (limiting it to 3/day)

In a similar vein as Shields Shall Be Splintered, Telecanter of Telecanter’s Receding Rules suggests the possibility of Wands Shall Be Broken. Now, wands and staffs (in most campaigns) are orders of magnitude rarer than shields, so this is a rule that would see little use, but it could be worth it if it’s an almost certain instant death sort of situation.

Depending on what rules you use to create magic items, the requirements can sometimes be silly. For example, creating a fully charged wand would require casting the same spell 99 times all at the same time. Grognardling had an idea that would address that issue, at least to a certain extent.

Personally I don’t see why item creation can’t take an extended period of time, rather than involving dozens of casters, but his rule idea isn’t a bad one.

Of course not every mage is a paragon of virtue. There is a certain temptation when you can hurl fireballs and raise walls of ice to ignore such trifling concerns as honor or ethics or social norms. It isn’t even entirely an internal temptation, as there are lots of beings (mortal and otherwise) that would be happy to see the spellslinger walk the dark side. The Grimoires of the Pact Insidious are a tool to aid a wizard down that dark path.

Star Frigate 'Tower of the Archmage'

I can't even come close to justifying $30 for a miniature of this, but it's still cool.

You can make your own design by clicking on this link: http://ship.shapewright.com/?name=Tower+of+the+Archmage and entering whatever name you want!

RPG Blogger Carnival August Animal Roundup

August is well and truly over. September, with it's cooler temps, soggy weather, and worse traffic (as everyone is back from vacation and off to work or school) is here. This means 2 things here at Tower of the Archmage:

First, my month of hosting the RPG Blog Carnival is over. The creativity of everyone who participated is as always stunning. While I had originally wanted October and had planned on a Halloween/horror theme, I think that Animals ended up being an even better topic. It's one that isn't discussed nearly enough, yet can have a big impact on a game. The importance of the topic shows in the quality of the posts you wrote. You all rock, and I thank you for participating in your posts and comments.

Second, I am overdue getting the roundup written. It takes a while to compile everything, especially when you were all so prolific! I hope I didn't miss anyone. If I did, please let me know, and I'll add you to the list ASAP!

Now, without further ado - The List!!

Monsters and Manuals wrote an entire dog series!
Dog Personalities!
Orc Hunting Mastiffs
Basilisk Hound
Ghost Hound
Azumchefe Climbing Dog
The Paladin's Dog
He also wrote about magical octopuses

Zac at DnD with Pornstars came up with a Random chart: What dogs are available?

Sky Full of Dust stated up some Giant Bugs!

JD Jarvis of aeonsnaugauries explored PHB Animals examined in the context of the dungeon.

The Dump Stat wrote about Pet houses and Beastfolk Races

Anthony of Roleplay geek looked at the different roles of Animals in RPGs

Marshall of Division Nihil explored the benefits of Bonding with Animals. You really don't want to run into his goblins...

Nevermet Press wrote up some 4e Intelligent Ravens that can add some interesting spice to urban campaigns.

Trey of the Sorcerer's Skull shared some WWII Anthropomorphic animals.

Sporkchop shareed the Giraffelich - An evil herbivore. Just because it eats grass and leaves doesn't mean it can't kick your ass!

Fitz aka The Gassy Gnoll over at Game Knight Review did a 4 part series:
1. Familiars
2. Omens
3. Hunters
4. Heroes and Monsters

E.G.Palmer of Old Guard Gaming Accoutrements came up with some Killer Blink Frogs.

Talysman examines (and rants about) animal stats and also discusses the Purchase Costs of Animals

Kobold Quarterly shared a humorous Lemming Swarm that at first I thought was written by Bat!

bySwarm shared Beastfolk of the Dark Golden Age.

Geoffrey of the Stuffed Crocodile gave us some Ratmen and RatOgres.

"Ka-Blog!" of the Armchair General discussed Animal Themed Superheroes and Dog Superstitions.

Runeslinger wrote about the pros and cons of Animal Companions.

The Sea of Stars shared the Domesticated Animals in the Sea of Stars.

Matt from Surprise Round wrote about a boy born of a peach and his animal companions, as well as the Chinese Zodiac.

My own contributions include:
Guinea Drakes
Strange Rodents
An Exotic Pet Store
A look at PHB animals
and all my posts about dogs

Again, a big thank you to everyone who contributed!

Remember to head on over to this month's host, Roleplaying Tips. Watch yourself though! Assassins are lurking around every blog post....

This, that, and the other thing

Tomorrow I'll be running the next session of Thunderspire, and I still haven't finished writing up the assault on the Horned Hold.... So glad I took a lot of notes! Anyway, since it's been a while since I've done a link roundup, I thought I would take this chance to clear out some tabs and starred posts on my Google Reader.

Oddysey and Trollsmyth talk bout DMing styles, and how the rules only matter a little bit.

Here is a wonderful gallery of d6 era Star Wars art.

James of A Dungeon Master's Tale as finally compiled the PDF of his Sample Dungeon!

Noisms of Monsters and Manuals has been around since 2008, but I only just discovered him. Seeing as he has twice the number of followers I do, you probably already know he posts some great stuff!

Speaking of Trollsmyth and monster, he has compiled an incomplete list of some of the monsters from Taichara's Hamsterish Hoard.

Nevermet Press is offering up 108 free character portraits.

Blood of Prokopious offers up an idea for prestige classes for classic D+D.

Vaults of Nagoh offers up some criminal punishments for SBVD.

Huge Ruined Pile came up with some rules for gems of exceptional value. I'm adopting this for my megadungeon!

Fictitious Entry joined in on the One Hour Dungeon Map madness. I really like that his map has 3 distinct areas.

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This month's RPG Blog Carnival topic is Animals and it's being hosted here at the Tower of the Archmage! How can you get involved? Easy! Write a post about animals, anything about animals, and share the link!

Bits and Bobs IV

1) This month's RPG Blog Carnival topic is Animals and it's being hosted right here! How can you get involved? Easy! Write a post about animals, anything about animals, and share the link! (I know you’re going to get so tired of reading that this month. You might as well just go ahead and do a post on animals...)

B. There is an awful lot of gaming stuff on my Google+ stream. I like it! I only wish I had more time to devote to it. So many things to comment on...

III - Fight On #2 is Free (for a limited time) So I Oubliette #6! You should snag them while you can!

4. I haven’t worked on my megadungeon since May, and I’ve been feeling the itch!

e - I find myself editing more than I ever expected, and for a number of different people and projects. I sometimes have to remind myself that as a volunteer editor I can only suggest changes. If the author/project leader doesn’t take them, that’s their choice.

VI) There is no #VI.

7 - I am obviously not at or going to GenCon this year. Believe me, you’d have known about it for months if I was going! Maybe I should make that a goal for 2012... anyway, I hope everyone who goes has a great time!

Found Treasurers

Greg Christopher of Dark Horse Game Design examines polytheism and D&D. His analysis is that DnD does it wrong as compared to real world examples of polytheism. I can see his points, and I think his analysis is pretty accurate, though I'm not sure it matters. Either way it's worth reading. The comments are well worth perusing as well!


Tim of Gothridge Manor wrote a great post about the mystical nature of crossroads, and Paul of Quickly, Quietly, Carefully expanded on Tim's ideas. Both posts come with a table for determining what you find at a crossroad. Tim's list is vaguely horrific, while Paul's is more fairy tale.

Al at Beyond the Black Gate ponders what the OSR is missing: a Players Handbook. 


The Jovial Priest has an interesting house rule for a wizards wand and staff. I must admit that as compared to a Harry Potter style wand or wizard's staff the Dungeons and Dragons counterparts are seriously lacking in awesomeness. 


Paul of Quickly, Quietly, Carefully posted a house rule for what happens when spell research fails. In the best tradition failure not meaning a dead end, his ideas give the wizard a chance to successfully complete his research, it just becomes more difficult.


Justin's Field Guide to Doomsday (A Bestiary for Mutant Futures, Gamma Worlds, and Assorted Post-Apocalyptic Wastelands) has some bizarre offerings, but Hitchcock has to be my favorite.

Old Guard Gaming Accouterments offered up the Stone Woman, who would fit very nicely standing at a crossroads.

Things you shouldn't miss

Feeling a bit drained at the moment, so I’m going to share some links to cool things.

The Legion of Super-Groomsmen! This is just cool and a wonderful way to bring a little geeky fun into a wedding without going crazy.

Sky Full of Dust gives us The Man on the Corner. This is a table to explain who that guy on the corner is. It’s really useful for any RPG system or genre.

Digital Orc did some Xenomorphs for Labyrinth Lord. Not anything I'd ever want to run into in a dungeon!

Well of the Lonely Man from Sky full of Dust is a wonderfully creepy adventure idea!

Megadungeon Links

Sky Full Of Dust shared DungeonCrawl rules based on the Urbancrawl rules written by Zac.

Hack & Slash has some interesting thoughts on random random encounters vs random planned encounters.

Paladin in Citadel did some musing about bricked up dungeon doorways. More of these should be included in dungeons and Discourses and Dragons shows us how to do it.

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If you’re curious, there are some planned, but as yet unwritten posts.
They include:
My Megadungeon Binder - How I organize my inherently unorganized thoughts, doodles, and inspirations.
Morrowind, and why I hated it
Pirate Games (it's not the post you think it is matey...)

Also, Dyson thinks I should Blog Out with My Dog Out! I can get behind that sentiment!

Bits and Bobs III

I read the various blogs that I follow via Google Reader. I don’t know how many of you do the same, but there is one minor annoyance I’ve found and it’s blogs where only the first couple lines of each entry are shown. Well, now there is a solution that doesn’t involve skipping past or clicking through.

http://fulltextrssfeed.com/

I’ve been using it for a couple of days now, and it’s great! You just enter the blog into the link above, and then subscribe to the link it gives you. Definitely worth doing!

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Sandbox debate

There’s been some great posts on this subject, and it seems that unlike previous cross-blog debates, this one isn’t spinning itself into one of those dreaded teapot tempests!

I get JB’s line of thought, and the Old Guy’s too, and between them and the other commenters there has been some great and lively discussion. I don’t really have anything to add to it except to say that my games have tended to stand somewhere between both ends of the spectrum.

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I’ve adjusted the design of my blog somewhat. There is now an option to follow the blog via e-mail, should anyone be interested.

There is also a new poll! I’m considering putting together PDFs of my blog posts, as sorted by themes. For instance all my dog related posts, or the various magic keys, or the monsters, etc. They wont be particularly pretty, but I’ll try to do some formatting beyond simple copy/paste, and they will of course be free.

I get  -C’s thoughts on PDF pricing. I really do. I sympathize. For all that I put out, I really get very few hits, and pitifully few comments. I’m ok with that. Sure, I’d love more followers who all leave lots of comments on every post, but I don’t do all that I do here that. I do it because I enjoy it, and you get the benefit! Besides, I'm not sure I'd pay for my own PDFs, such as they are, so why would anyone else?

Oh, and if you haven’t checked out -C’s awesome PDFs, you need to. I haven’t checked out all of them yet, but the Tricks and Traps PDF should be required downloading.

Now.

Go.

And while you’re there, remember to say “thanks!”

Web Comics You Should Check Out

There are a lot of really good web comics out there, and I wanted to share a few I've been enjoying.

Wormworld saga is relatively new, but rather good.

Gunnerkrigg Court has been around for a while, and there is a great backlog. It is a really interesting world with a very sharp divide between the magical fay and the mechanical human.

Digger just wrapped up, and I think I've mentioned it before, but it is a great story about a wombat, a dead god, and it makes for a very peculiar epic. It also runs 921 pages, and since the story is done, I think you'll be satisfied when you get to the end.

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Sorry for the filler. Things are a little crazy in real life this week, but these really are worth checking out!

Traveller Links

These are a few things that may be useful if you're interested in Traveller.


Over at RPG.net there is a series of articles detailing the 5th Imperium campaign setting.


Zhodani Base is a blog dedicated to Traveller with some fun posts.  I especially enjoyed the Christmas subsector map.

Crimson Dark is a web comic set in a world very much like Traveller.  It's been going since 2006, so there is plenty to read and enjoy.

Just this weekend James of Grognardia asked about Traveller maps, and in the comments are a lot of great links.

A to Z April blogging Challenge

Chris over at The Vaults of Nagoh discovered the April A to Z challenge.

The premise of the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge is to post something on your blog every day in April except for Sundays. In doing this you will have 26 blog posts -- one for each letter of the alphabet. Each day you will theme your post according to a letter of the alphabet.

You will only be limited by your own imagination in this challenge. There is an unlimited universe of possibilities. You can post essays, short pieces of fiction, poetry, recipes, travel sketches, or anything else you would like to write about. You don't have to be a writer to do this. You can post photos, including samples of your own art or craftwork. Everyone who blogs can post from A to Z.

Anyone else?

Now I just need to figure out what my 26 posts are going to be about. For April's Audience Participation, pick a letter and give me a topic.

Your crazy uncle gave you this map

Over at the Savage Sword of Scadgrad there is a fantastic little mini campaign map for the locations around Stonehell.  It's the map your crazy uncle made when he was nuts enough to go crawling around in ruins looking for gold and magic.


You'll also want to keep an eye out for the The Undead Guardians of Veroth. Where are they? Maybe deep in Stonehell, maybe just under a farmers field. Either way, don't get caught by them!

Lastly, you didn't hear this from me, but I heard from Bat that Virania is actually ruled by a Horror Worm!

Isn't it amazing how you can put together an entire campaign from just a couple of posts?

Boosting the signal

I doubt that there are many of you that don't already read most if not all of these blogs, but I just have to share.

Dyson, maker of maps extraordinaire, has created some basic D&D prestige classes. The basic rules are here, and then you can check out the Dark Assassin, Hierophant, Justicar, and the Stonelords. I also get the feeling that he isn't done, so keep checking back!

The Blog of Holding has a great idea for higher level characters who may take advantage of some honest pirates, and how it may come back to bite them.

Jeff's Gameblog wants to show you what gems look like in a variety of denominations. So far he's got 1,000gp, 500gp, and 100gp.

The Paladin in Citadel's post from Tuesday about the Displacer Beast as a megadungeon villian fits into that amazingly well.

Finally over at Hack & Slash is a handy 30 page PDF that shows you want to do with all of those empty rooms in your megadungeon. The timing of this couldn't be better as I'm neck deep into working on level 2 of my own megadungeon!

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I have high hopes for this.

Desert Island Dice

Greywulf posted this question:

You find yourself somewhat inconveniently stranded on a desert island. Drifting up onto the beach with you are two crates. One contains the bare necessary equipment to make a shelter and find food. The other contains just four books.

One is the Complete Works of Shakespeare. Because there’s always a Complete Works of Shakespeare, that’s why.

Two are role-playing books of some kind along with dice, paper, etc. But no internet access, laptop or iPad. Sorry.

The last one isn’t.

What are they?

Here’s mine: The two RPGs are the Classic D&D Rules Cyclopedia and Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition. Between those two I don’t need any other. If you’re reading this blog, I’m guessing I won’t need to explain why :)

The last book would be De Bellis Antiquitatis, probably the best (not to mention most fun) wargames rules around. The rules themselves take up just 16 pages and the rest of the book provides historically accurate (or at least, historically accurate enough) army lists and campaign setups from 3,000BC to 1500AD. It’s easy to play solo too, so I won’t need to teach a passing dolphin how to wargame.

Give me the DBA rules and enough palm trees to carve myself a few armies and I’ll never want to leave that desert island. When I’m not pushing armies around I can create domains, dungeons and adventures in Classic D&D, or invent superheroes and villains (or explore any other genre, for that matter) in M&M.

That’s mine.

What’s yours?

My answer is this:
I’m totally with you on the Rules Cyclopedia for my first choice. The second book would be West End Games’ Star Wars 2nd Edition Revised core book. The third would be The Hordes of the Things miniature game rules, which are based on the De Bellis Antiquitatis system. Being stuck on a desert island, I’m less inclined to care about historical accuracy.

 Go give your answer!

Assorted things

Carter Soles over at the Lands of Ara has collected various postings on Megadungeon Philosophy.  He even included a quote from me!

There has been a bit of discussion about an OSR Adventure Path. Over at Planet Algol an island archipelago treasure hunt is being considered. It sounds really more of a setting than an adventure path, but then I haven't really noticed any real original settings coming out of the OSR either, plus I think an island hopping treasure hunt, along the lines of the old Sinbad movies would work out really well for just that sort of thing.

Sword and Shield shares Theories of International Politics and Zombies!

One Hour Dungeon Nexus

Since I haven't seen anyone else collect the One Hour Dungeon posts, I thought I would do it.

Planet Algol started it off.

Aeons & Augauries used Adobe Illustrator to make one, geomorphs and digital tools for another, and he hand drew one too.

Quickly, Quietly, and Carefully posted one.  Then he posted another.

Nice of Carto Cartography took a stab at it, as well as doing a regular map roundup that's well worth keeping an eye on.

Dyson spent a little longer on his (2 Stargate episodes). And now has done a proper one hour dungeon.  Plus he's created a genuine Dyson Logos background fill! He then did another 2 hour dungeon, and then another one hour dungeon.

Of course I got in on it too.

Blood of Prokopius got in on the action with this nice computer generated map.  Ok, he really took 80 minutes to do it, but he posted what it looked like at 60 minutes.

The Lands of Ara completed a Robocop Dungeon -  it took an hour and 43 minutes aka the length of  Robocop!

Shane Knysh of Fictitious Entry added his dwarven/kobold/dragon one hour dungeon.

If you know of any I missed, please let me know so I can add them to the list!

**Edited 1/25 to add Dyson's map.
***Edited 1/28 to add Blood of Prokopius
****Edited 2/2 to add The Lands of Ara
*****Edited 2/21 to add Dyson's new maps.
******7/30 added Shane Knysh's map

Links worth passing on

Al at Beyond the Black Gate has come up with some old school magic items for 1st level characters.  Some of the comments offer some good tweaks on the original post, so be sure to read them too.

If you're curious about those Fate Cards WotC is putting out for 4e, but have no interest in spending cash for them, Jamie over at For a Fistful of Coppers has a link to some free fan made Drama Cards.  Or you can get them directly from here.  Tim over at Gothridge Manor has some fair thoughts on the subject too.

Sorcery and Super Science posts briefly about the joys of rolling hit points for monsters. 

What do you do in this game?  The Omnipotent Eye tackles this question, and brings up some interesting points.  Again, worth checking out the comments too.

Stonewerks' Mystery Meat (a fun weekly series) is The Raven EXD-5200S-RVN an Explorer Class Ship (Type D) for Traveller.  A great little ship for some PC's to take on a spin.

The Dump Stat shares some thoughts on Tag Team Powers for 4e.