Adapting & Running The Free OSR Adventure Resource GP Adventures LLC -The Stone Alignments of Kor Nak - Tankar's Landing Hex 15/12 For AD&D 1st Edition or The Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg

So I'm fulfilling an emailed in request from a friend about GP Adventures LLC -The Stone Alignments of Kor Nak - Tankar's Landing Hex 15/12 which over a year ago I ran for six players. This is a pretty nice little piece of adventure setting restate to run a party of adventurers through especially on their way to a larger dungeon location. Perhaps near Restenford from L1 in some out of the way little location or near Hommlet. Personally, I'm leaning far more towards Hommlet because of its placement and pseudo dark European feel of the adventure location.
GRAB IT RIGHT HERE



Alright so before I get ahead of myself here's the blurb from Dungeon Hobby shop's  website.
Hex 15/12 of Tenkar’s Landing, the crowdsourced fantasy setting initiated and sponsored by Tenkar’s Tavern. Complete PDF format, including maps and key. Discover the secret of the Alignments of Kor Nak, defeat many foes, and piece together a secret that will perhaps bring peace to the Carnelian Queen of old. This short module is compatible with 0e, 1e, and most variants of the World’s Premier Role-Playing Game. Light on stats and mechanical details, this hex is usable in a variety of settings and games, including your own.
E. Gygax & P.Poire have put together a hex for Tenkar's Landing. Called The Stone Alignments of Kor Nak, this 6 mile hex comes with two maps and an 18 page companion PDF. The adventure seeds are suitable for OSR characters of 4th level and above. The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea is perfect to set up the Stone Alignments of Kor Nak out around  on the coast by Brigands Bay. Its got everything you might need for a low level party to cut their teeth on plus a good deal of science fantasy set dressing lurking right in the background.

The Benoist Poire points out -
"I could post some notes about possible AS&SH adaptations, but I'm not even sure those are even necessary: Switch Tenkar's Landing for the east coast of Hyperborea, and the ancient Ayceni just emerged on the continent from there, cast out from Old Earth or whatever alternate setting (our own Eurth, perhaps) you'd be using in your AS&SH game. Exchange humanoids like ape-orcs for fully blooded ape men, for instance, and you're pretty much there. It's even got a bit of science-fantasy on the side with the Iron Pyramid, the Cobalt Caves and why not, the Lone Tower as well."

As far as our HSD AS&SH campaign is concerned, just include a portal from the Marmoreal Tomb into the deepest level of the Alignments of Kor Nak, back-and-forth, so the PCs can return, and you are set. Of course, any portal of such sort in Hyperborea would include some sort of chance of failure, mishap, or misdirection, but that's the gist of it right there. Boom. Enjoy the Dark Youngs of Shub-Niggurath, players." Basically this adventure can serve as a mid point for your adventurers to cut their teeth before journeying on to a larger adventure location such as the Temple of Elemental Evil. Your players will get more experience points another mid point to tie in everything that they might need and plenty of Lovecraftian action.

As a free adventure location, this brings quite a bit to the table for an evening's entertainment and could with some adjustments be used for a location in a game such as Dark Albion especially around the lairs of the Frogmen near France. For Lamentations of the Flame Princess I would default to the coast of Spain especially around the mythical location of "Imboca", a Spanish adaption of "Innsmouth". About ninety percent of the monsters are easily adapted from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons or built into the AS&SH Referee's Manual making this one great mid point resource to throw at player's for a few sessions of play or an evening's entertainment.

Sex, Death, Chaos, and Hell Or How To Make Hell Work For You In Your Mega Dungeon

Its Jack Kirby's birthday today and there's one of his creations that I absolutely love, Etrigan the Demon.Today bears little to no resemblance to the Jack Kirby's original creation. All of this really relates back to the 90's and the even further back to the Satanic Panic of the 80's.But I digress, Etrigan is perhaps on of Jack Kirby's finest creations and perhaps on of his most underrated in my humble opinion. What does this have to do with megadungeons, Chaos, Hell, death, and the Demon? Well everything and nothing. Very briefly according to wiki :
The Demon is a superhero and antihero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, the titular character, named Etrigan, is a demon from Hell who, despite his violent tendencies, usually finds himself allied to the forces of good, mainly because of the alliance between the heroic characters of the DC Universe and Jason Blood, a human to whom Etrigan is bound
 

I remember cracking open my first issue of  Etrigan The Demon back in late '89 from the 1970's and being blown away. After the canceling of  Kirby's Fourth World saga, he pulled the Demon out of his bag of tricks.
And at the time I was blown away with such sights as this.

There have been a few other times when I was this excited reading a comic book, the first time I read through Spawn, and the introduction of Hellboy plus the various Vertigo lines from DC back when they didn't play it safe. Hell was something #$@ed up and completely alien & when I asked one of the guys who worked with Kirby what they were thinking when they did this stuff it was his response that gave me pause. 'It was fun!'  That's right kids Chaos and Hell can be fun. Because there is a vast difference between the 'Pulp Hell' of D&D and the Hell of Scripture and religion. Pulp Hell is the Hell of horror comics, D&D, and Rpgs. Its also one of the most over used cliches since the days of Dragon magazine. But it works in grand style. So much so that in both Fantastic Heroes and Witchery as well Dark Albion, Chaos does a damn good job of aping many of the conventions and issues of Jack Kirby's the Demon in style. If you don't believe me then check out this preview of the Dark Albion's Demonic Magick


Alternative Cover for Dark Albion the Rose War Available Through Lulu

The Hell of Dark Albion is the Hell of Faust and Shakespeare as well as the Gothic writers and later the comic book and  pulp writers of yesteryear. This also dovetails into the fact that since Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea works very well with Fantastic Heroes and Witchery, many of the artifacts,treasures,locations and whatnot can be used in a modern setting. Such as the mythical past or mythological connection to a game set in modern times or as a part of an alternative Earth. A fact that has been exploited by Dungeon Crawl Classics numerous times in their products  and as something of a convention that both Marvel did with Conan back in the 70's as part of their super hero and horror titles and one that DC took full advantage of in their own Dr. Fate appearances. A more recent appearance of this convention has been recently unlocked as a part of the Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign. This megadungeon could be used to link all of the products that the Otherside mentioned. With only four days to go the Marmoreal Tomb is offering some very tasty ideas & link ups for a multidimensional megadungeon touching areas across all of time and space as well as beyond.

Artwork by Mark Allen 2014
THERE ARE ONLY FOUR DAYS TO GO!

Here's where the sex and death come in folks, given such a location of a megadungeon the powers of Chaos could well be exploiting the  heck out of this location staging numerous sorties into all kinds of campaign times and adventure landscapes. It might also mean that PC's eternal souls might well be denied their eternal rewards allowing the Revenant PC class that FH&W to come into play or the other version of these characters from the Gong Farmer's Almanac to come out to play for Dungeon Crawl Classics.
But there's more to the issue then simply allowing a megadungeon to go plunking down across space and time. Chaos could well be spreading its seed across the post apocalyptic landscape as well as the fantasy one. The spawn of Hell could easily turn up as part of the landscape allowing the implementation of  many of the options of races to be a sign of the taint of the landscape. The powers of  Hell itself can easily manipulate entire generations of adventurers into doing their bidding through the various locations a fact that DM's should take full advantage of. But Hell should be very dangerous, unpredictable, and never ever something PC's should really be familiar with. More on that tomorrow!

All of the various rpg and retroclone systems mentioned copyrights and respective trade marks belong to their owners. Jack Kirby, Etrigan the Demon belong to their trademark & copy right holders no violation or infringement has been implied. This blog post is for educational and entertainment purposes only.
The term 'Pulp Hell' is trade marked and copyrighted to Dark Corner Productions & Eric Fabiaschi the author. This copyright and trademark extends to the Warlord of the Outer Worlds campaign setting and the Accursed Atlantis setting as well. All rights reserved.

Commentary On Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign KickStarter By Ernest Gary Gygax Jr & Benoist Poiré For Your Old School Campaigns

So I have some thoughts on adventure location design and how it dovetails in with the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Kickstarter. So what is the Tomb Campaign? What interesting about the Marmoreal Tomb is how the product treats its adventure design setting.

Its design seeks to reflect both the way Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. runs the game, and to be amenable to one's own preferences and play styles. And the following is pure speculation on my part. But I've gotten to know a bit of how the writers and designers think. But there are bound to be surprises and the fact is that I might be entirely wrong! I haven't seen any of the material from Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign nor Benoist Poiré notes over the last year or so. I do know how much work that went into this product line however. 

THE HOBBY SHOP DUNGEON is an adventure game setting originally created by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. in 1978 while working as a clerk for the fondly-remembered Dungeon Hobby Shop of Lake Geneva, WI. Inspired by the many games and campaigns he played with his father and many friends, and aided by incomplete maps initially drawn by Terry Kuntz, Ernest came up with a large sprawling dungeon complex that could be used to run games at the store. Since then, more than a thousand players have explored its depths, as remembered by Ernest, including TSR alumni, family members, customers and gamer friends, up to 22 players per sitting! It has been played in a variety of venues including Margaret Weis’s and Don Perrin’s Game Guild, in California’s Dungeons & Dragons Entertainment division, as a special event for game conventions and many more besides.

For the past couple of weeks I've watching the  Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign KickStarter By Ernest Gary Gygax Jr & Benoist Poiré, the project has been a juggernaut and has been rolling along with gusto. But its been unlocking various goals and add ons since its start. These are interesting to me from a DM's design perspective.Not only is the Marmoreal Tomb its a location that crosses boundaries of time, space, & dimensions. This makes the setting very useful for a DM wanting to run a cross over point adventure where they're own campaigns can converge. This isn't the first product do this, in fact I first noticed this going all the way back to the Labyrinth Lord version of Dwimmermount and expanded upon in the Adventure,Conqueror, King, version of that legendary megadungeon. There will be comparisons of the two mega dungeons, don't the fact is this style of mega dungeon location is unique. Contrasting and comparing mega dungeons is foolish each one is unique and even room locations as well as sections can be miniature ecologies and worlds unto themselves. These never follow the dictates of the 'real world'  at all.

And yes this was a technique that the infamous Carcosa and many of the Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventures use to great effect.

Basically right out of the gate this means that the adventure location itself is going to touch high fantasy, sword and sorcery, science fiction, post apocalyptic, & even modern alternative Earths. So basically this is a campaign setting that is built to be pug and play from as wide a variety of OSR settings and rule sets  as possible. This adventure is going to cover as many OSR style games as possible from OSRIC to White Star plus everything in between. According to the Kickstarter :

PLAYER'S GUIDES: These are the same Guides as those described above in the Design section, and the same included in the basic pledge levels of this kickstarter. If you want to add one or two copies to a pledge, or would like multiple packs of four for your entire game table, beyond a specific pledge level, this is the good way to go.

OLD SCHOOL REFERENCE AND COMPILATION DOCUMENT (OSRIC): Black Blade Publishing and Stuart Marshall of the First Edition Society have graciously agreed to let us include this fantastic hardcover along with this kickstarter project. This single hardback volume gathers all the first edition rules you will ever need to run the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter and The Hobby Shop Dungeon proper. If you want to run the game the way it was first envisioned, these are the rules to get, all in one book, for a very decent price.

WHITE STAR - WHITE BOX SCIENCE FICTION ROLEPLAYING: Based on Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox, White Star brings all the simple elegance of WhiteBox out of the dungeon and into the stars! This complete roleplaying game includes seven new classes as well as rules for advanced technology, laser weaponry, space combat, and so much more! Ideal add-on with our Science Fiction and Science Fantasy Conversion document for the Marmoreal Tomb!

SCIENCE FICTION AND SCIENCE FANTASY CONVERSION DOCUMENT: This PDF co-authored with James Spahn will detailed how to use the Marmoreal Tomb Main Module and its Expansions in a Sci-Fi universe, instead of a medieval fantasy setting. Includes a complete, sample translation to the White Star Roleplaying Game (see above). 

These games weren't chosen at random by the designers and writers of Marmoreal Tomb Campaign, besides covering the widest possible variety of old school and retroclone systems. The Marmoreal Tomb Campaign is picking up on a design and marketing trend in adventure games, the trend of the adventure as  a tool kit for the design and care of the setting itself. Not everything is going to be mapped out with these products for you the DM, instead your given a whole range of options and guidelines to customize and add in what you need and like. This also means that the metric ton of monsters in the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign come  with their own motives, motivations, and agendas for your PC's along with the adventure being a  world into itself. This means that each of the various toolkits and sections that have been added into the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign. There is going to everything here from PC options to leveling up to simply having your PC killed outright. There are going to be  sections of sheer nasty and lethality that are going to take PC's by surprise. While all of this is pure speculation much of this can be extrapolated from the Kickstarter add ons and rewards. These can also serve as a guide to dealing with your own megadungeon design.



Basically this all goes right back to something that I noticed back in the 80's from TSR. Adventure locations were meant to cross the boundaries of time and space. Not all of them mind you but those campaign benders.  If you look into products like Boothill, Top Secret, and Gamma World then you will see that in the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide there are those damn appendixes. This tells me that given a certain amount of time and energy as well as money we would have seen a rules document to cross these games over with an official TSR setting. But once again this is all simply speculation and wishful thinking on my part or is it?
Or is it?  If  the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign represents a trend in adventure design then you can bet your life that your going to see a bunch of these adventures. And it also brings me to the heart and soul of this entry. The Marmoreal Tomb Campaign represents another style adventure design, namely that the adventure setting is at the center of the action. The PC's while important are stumbling upon a place whose events were set in motion centuries ago. This emphasis on adventure location vs PC is one of the differences that marks old school design from new school. In new school design everything is about the characters from attributes to equipment, in old school PC death doesn't matter. The show will go on in the adventure setting, your PC has been killed. Alright everyone take a smoke break so that Sarah or Fred can roll up a new PC and the show will go on.  So what about the fact that the setting transcends time and space? Well this is actually a great thing and here's why. You don't have to keep spending money over and over again to get expansions for your setting. Because your adventure location is your setting are campaign settings unto themselves. The fact is that  megadungeons are sprawling affairs that can take years to play. My feeling is the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign is going to be one of these affairs.
Do I think that you might want to get on board the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign kickstarter? I believe the answer is yes and your not going to be sorry because these guys have worked out all of the details and rewards over a year ahead of time. Just something to keep in mind.

Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr Kickstarer For Your Old School Campaigns

Go Fund This Kickstarter Right Over
HERE

So for the past two year or more now, I've been quietly lurking on the fringes of Ernie Gygax's Facebook page watching and reading about hints of this project with Benoist Poirie : Frenchman and mapper extraordinaire on the Dungeon Hobby Shop Facebook group forever it seems.

The Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter is a completely self-contained sandbox module introducing Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s setting, The Hobby Shop Dungeon, and the lands of the Duinnsmere around it, to the gaming masses. The Marmoreal Tomb can be played entirely on its own, in whole or in parts, or used at the game table in conjunction with other GP Adventures offerings. It can be used with its own default setting of The Duinnsmere, and/or in conjunction to other settings, published and home-brewed. Its design seeks to reflect both the way Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. runs the game, and to be amenable to one's own preferences and play styles.

THE HOBBY SHOP DUNGEON is an adventure game setting originally created by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. in 1978 while working as a clerk for the fondly-remembered Dungeon Hobby Shop of Lake Geneva, WI. Inspired by the many games and campaigns he played with his father and many friends, and aided by incomplete maps initially drawn by Terry Kuntz, Ernest came up with a large sprawling dungeon complex that could be used to run games at the store. Since then, more than a thousand players have explored its depths, as remembered by Ernest, including TSR alumni, family members, customers and gamer friends, up to 22 players per sitting! It has been played in a variety of venues including Margaret Weis’s and Don Perrin’s Game Guild, in California’s Dungeons & Dragons Entertainment division, as a special event for game conventions and many more besides.

This is this entire dungeon and setting around it that GP Adventures wants to bring to publication via its Hobby Shop Dungeon game line, starting now with the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter.

This is one of the Kickstarters I've been quietly waiting for in the background for months, I know how hard the authors have worked on this one. Its extraordinary that its out in the wild now. My advice right is to get on board and see where this is going to go! Go pledge & I'll be following this one up in the next couple of weeks to see how it get's funded.
Given the Gygax legacy, the professionalism that the authors bring to the table and the amount of work that's been put behind this project I wouldn't hesitate to get involved if I were you. This looks like an excellent product that's going to be taken to market. I'm really digging Mark Allen's artwork and what I've read on this project!


This is one of the bits that has me really excited; THE GYGAXIAN GAME. The Marmoreal Tomb has to present an authentic Gygaxian game play experience and present it in an original, unaltered format for those that want it. As such, the module is described by default using first-edition compatible rules, which allow game masters and players to experience the module the way it was played at Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s game table. This play style is directly inspired by the games Ernest played with his father, obviously, and we couldn't pass on the opportunity to bring about the publication of an entire castle and campaign that would honor and address this play style in an authentic fashion today.

Since the first advanced rules of the game are readily available for anyone to peruse today, whether in their original or free OGL formats, this default presentation will also be useful to those who use different editions and variants of the game, as they will be able to get access to the original format, use the material and tweak it in a manner significant to their own game and campaigns, whatever play style that implies.
Way too many companies and authors seem to forget this fact today but I know the 'ins' and 'outs' of the way that the designers and authors have applied their skills to the Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter. So to me its going to be an interesting time waiting and watching where this Kickstarter goes!  Get on board today!

Adapting The Free OSR Adventure Resource The Stone Alignments of Kor Nak By E.Gygax & B.Poire To The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg System On The Dark Corner

Today on the Dark Corner Blog we look into adapting The Stone Alignments of Kor Nak By E.Gygax & B.Poire To The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg System. The Stone Alignments of Kor Nak has been released as a free old school adventure pdf in one lovely package.

Go take a look right over HERE

Free OSR Module From GP Adventures LLC -The Stone Alignments of Kor Nak - Tankar's Landing Hex 15/12 For Your Old School Campaigns

Want a free module from GP Adventures? Here's one we did for Tenkar's Landing: http://t.co/BbUreg4V6I 
So I stumbled upon this today from the good folks over at GP Adventures LLC. This is a nifty little eighteen page adventure turns all of the usual underworld and wildness assumptions on their collective ears. This is a very interesting little piece of adventuring and its a rather interesting challenge.
According to the GP adventures website:
Get access to GP's completed draft for Hex 15/12 of Tenkar's Landing, the crowd sourced fantasy game setting sponsored by Tenkar's Tavern, along with the high resolution maps.
This adventure is a nice piece of old school design ethos with some rather clever bits of slight of hand design that make this adventure a challenge for a party of 4th level or better characters. I'd say stick with fourth and above. There is some serious and dangerous opposition in this one. I've been quietly following this particular little adventure's development for the past couple of months and its nice to see how this one turned out.
There's more support on this adventure at the GP Adventure's website right over
HERE

The writing is well done, the ideas interesting, fresh, and the module gets down to business fast. This is quick hex with some might well done twists and turns to it.
The maps are very well done and you could spend quite a bit of time exploring it with a nice amount of custom work perfectly suited for your own old school DMing style with plenty of room to grow this one into a nice campaign cluster hex with room for expansion.
The maps are well done in an old school style and I love the home made style touches with this adventure. This one is nice for download and extended play. There's a nice fresh vibe about this adventure and plenty of play to be had with this one.
This module has down right interesting twists and turns to it. There are details and adventure hooks through out and a feeling of greater challenges lurking around the corners for the PC's. The details here are well thought out and hooks nicely done in a non rail road sort of way.
One thing I love about this module is the fact that the writers/designers have left the treasure hoards up to the DM giving just that e
Do I think that this free adventure is worth the download? Yes in a word I do with plenty of expansion into a fully realized game night's entertainment with room for growth. This is a free piece of old school adventure awesomeness with a good but lethal slant. The writers care about the material, know their world and know the players and DM who are going to run this one. Grab it now and get working on customizing this old school adventure into your retroclone system or original D&D style games today. A very worthy free down to add to your arsenal. 

The Great Kingdom Kickstarter - "A feature length documentary uncovering the true tale of the rise and fall of the creators Dungeons & Dragons.''

The Great Kingdom (Trailer) from The Great Kingdom on Vimeo.

I've been quietly watching The Great Kingdom Kickstarter for the past couple of months and we've got six days to go! I'd love to see this documentary get made and some of the interviews, stories, and such really get out into the public eye. I'v think its pretty interesting that we've just seen the release of Sixth edition D&D and we've got less then a week to go on this Kickstarter. 

 What's it about? 

A feature length documentary uncovering the true tale of the rise and fall of the creators Dungeons & Dragons.

"The AMERICAN DREAM can become the AMERICAN NIGHTMARE, if you’re not careful." - Mary Gygax, 1985

Basically, I've been following this Kickstarter and watching it. I'd love to see this documentary made and the background and story of the game I love so much told.
Here's a bit more from the Kickstarter page: 

In 1969, GARY GYGAX, a family man and an insurance underwriter with an entrepreneurial mind meets DAVE ARNESON, an idle, yet brilliant game designer. Their collaboration would change the world, their families and themselves.

This is the remarkable true life story of the rise and fall of Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson and the people behind the creation of the epic role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.

THE GREAT KINGDOM explores the personalities behind the game and the families they engendered. This is the saga of the people who brought a company from its humble basement beginnings and transformed it to a multi-million dollar corporation. A story for our time that parallels the rise, fall and redemption of Steve Jobs and echoes the who-invented-what question of the creation of Facebook.

The story of families, both blood and personal bond, affected by the success of the game, a game that brought joy to millions and heartbreak to its creators. What happens to these individuals as they weather through the success; the excess, the betrayals, the downfalls and eventual redemptions, all takes place in THE GREAT KINGDOM.

Who We Are

James, Chris and myself are long-time friends who learned our film-making skills working years in the LA and NYC film communities. For years, we've talked about how much we've wanted to work together on our own films. When we came up with the idea for a documentary on Dungeons & Dragons, we knew it was the perfect project to work on as a team.

We like to tell people that we are film-makers first, gamers second. Chris and I both played D&D when we were younger. When we eventually met years later, there was already a mutual understanding of what "hit points" meant or what "owlbears" were. But more importantly, we knew the thrill and excitement of telling a good story, the basis of any good adventure. Playing D&D helped frame our eventual choice to become film-makers. James was introduced much later, but has grown to appreciate the fun of role-playing and the importance of community. Together, we have created our own small community of film-makers (our own little adventure party), who are dedicated to bringing you this amazing story.In 1969, GARY GYGAX, a family man and an insurance underwriter with an entrepreneurial mind meets DAVE ARNESON, an idle, yet brilliant game designer. Their collaboration would change the world, their families and themselves.

This is the remarkable true life story of the rise and fall of Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson and the people behind the creation of the epic role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.

THE GREAT KINGDOM explores the personalities behind the game and the families they engendered. This is the saga of the people who brought a company from its humble basement beginnings and transformed it to a multi-million dollar corporation. A story for our time that parallels the rise, fall and redemption of Steve Jobs and echoes the who-invented-what question of the creation of Facebook.

The story of families, both blood and personal bond, affected by the success of the game, a game that brought joy to millions and heartbreak to its creators. What happens to these individuals as they weather through the success; the excess, the betrayals, the downfalls and eventual redemptions, all takes place in THE GREAT KINGDOM.

Who We Are

James, Chris and myself are long-time friends who learned our film-making skills working years in the LA and NYC film communities. For years, we've talked about how much we've wanted to work together on our own films. When we came up with the idea for a documentary on Dungeons & Dragons, we knew it was the perfect project to work on as a team.

We like to tell people that we are film-makers first, gamers second. Chris and I both played D&D when we were younger. When we eventually met years later, there was already a mutual understanding of what "hit points" meant or what "owlbears" were. But more importantly, we knew the thrill and excitement of telling a good story, the basis of any good adventure. Playing D&D helped frame our eventual choice to become film-makers. James was introduced much later, but has grown to appreciate the fun of role-playing and the importance of community. Together, we have created our own small community of film-makers (our own little adventure party), who are dedicated to bringing you this amazing story.

 You can find more out about this Kickstarter via its page
HERE  Recently there's been some new updates,comments, etc. on the Kickstarter page. More information forth coming.
 Well the Troll and Flame blog has a very nice Q&A session with the documentary's creator's about the Kickstarter and more right over
HERE

Review and Commentary On The OSR Benefit Adventure - Fighting Fire - For Ernie Gygax From Creative Mountain Games

This system-neutral adventure was inspired by some of those events and the storied history of gaming. 33% of the price is set up to go to the Ernie Gygax Relief Fund set up by his brother Luke Gygax. 

Get It Right Over
HERE

The plot according Rpgnow:

 The adventure takes place in and around the town of Gamington on the shores of Gentle Lake. A arsonist's fire destroys the Tower of Ernesto, a famous wizard, but a band of heroes rallies to right the wrong, rooting out the evil in the nearby Fire Peak. A GM can set this up as a campaign addition or one-shot, in any Medieval Fantasy RPG system. There are plenty of tips to help do either. Included are some character backgrounds for the heroes noted within as well as an epic poem extolling their exploits.

Right so let's get something straight right off the bat, this is an old school adventure  in every sense of the word. The events of the tower of Ernesto set up what happens in and round the town of Gamington and the PC's are brought right into the chaos. The evil of Fire Peak is a pretty epic one and this adventure reminds me of many of the efforts of early Judge's Guild material. This thirty two page adventure is very nicely done and has some great add ons that I wish other old school publishers would take note about.
The artwork really adds to the presentation of the adventure and puts the DM in the mood of the events of Fire Peak.

One of the bits that I like is that this adventure is a system neutral adventure meaning that it can be run with any old school retroclone or edition of D&D. The scale of the adventure is balanced to the material and this is a well done adventure (pardon the pun).
The bit that helps to sell this adventure isn't the gaming Easter eggs scattered throughout the module. But this bit here,"A GM can set this up as a campaign addition or one-shot, in any Medieval Fantasy RPG system. There are plenty of tips to help do either. Included are some character backgrounds for the heroes noted within as well as an epic poem extolling their exploits. I hope it is as much fun to read as it was to write"
A DM can easily add this as both an epic side adventure or as a complete jump off point to a beginning campaign. The beauty of this one is that it really can be used as a complete package unto itself. While the town of Gamington on the shores of Gentle Lake is very nicely fleshed out, there is a ton of room for DM's to customize and have a fine time with the DYI bits of the adventure setting to make it their own. I'd like to see a bit more about Ernesto,  the famous wizard perhaps in a further future adventure. One of the locations that really worked for me was Fire Peak. 
Fire Peak is as nasty and dangerous as it sounds  and a place of danger and adventure. There is lots of hooks, bits, and room to really expand Fire Peak into a location of  flame  filled fun,a place of depravity and old school evil that will challenge PC's again and again.
 To really get the most out of Fighting Fire, I would suggest using OSRIC or 1st edition AD&D as the old school gaming platform. Labyrinth Lord with the Advanced Companion will also fit this adventure quite nicely and with the right balance of PC heroes there might be a chance to survive this one. 
 I can honestly say that I really enjoyed reading this adventure and can't wait to run it. The folks from Creative Mountain Gaming did a bang up job with this one and the editing is nicely done as well as the solid bits of the writing as well as the design.
 All in all I really enjoyed Fighting Fire and can't wait to run this for my players.

Quick OSR Announcement - Fighting Fire - Ernie Gygax Benefit Adventure Is Here!

                     Fighting Fire - Ernie Gygax Benefit Adventure is out! 

Get It Right Over
HERE

The plot according Rpgnow:

 This system-neutral adventure was inspired by some of those events and the storied history of gaming. 33% of the price is set up to go to the Ernie Gygax Relief Fund set up by his brother Luke Gygax. The adventure takes place in and around the town of Gamington on the shores of Gentle Lake. A arsonist's fire destroys the Tower of Ernesto, a famous wizard, but a band of heroes rallies to right the wrong, rooting out the evil in the nearby Fire Peak. A GM can set this up as a campaign addition or one-shot, in any Medieval Fantasy RPG system. There are plenty of tips to help do either. Included are some character backgrounds for the heroes noted within as well as an epic poem extolling their exploits. I hope it is as much fun to read as it was to write.

The Story Behind The Adventure  From Creative Mountain Games : 

Ernie Gygax Relief Fund and GM's Day Sale Ending

I've got one more thing to add to the GM's Day sale as it winds to a close this year and this one has some history attached to it.  As many know, I've been a tabletop gamer since the early 70s and a RPGer since D&D came out in 1974.  A few years ago, i got to know my buddy Ernie a bit better than just to spot him or nod at conventions despite seeing him around since my first Gen Con in 1975.  We started gaming together a bit more and I've gotten to know him rather well and call him a good friend.

Sadly, about a year ago, the building on the East end of Lake Geneva, WI, where Ernie had an apartment caught fire. He lost a great deal of his personal belongings, including a lot of games and particular gaming-related memorabilia that can never be replaced.  His brother Luke kindly set up a Fire Relief Fund to help him get back on his feet.  Folks have been helping and he even got a place to stay until he could acquire a more permanent dwelling.  But his troubles for last year didn't end there.

In late November, Ernie suffered from a bout of congestive heart failure.  He was hospitalized for a handful of days and still has regular visits, to make sure he won't have another episode. The medical situation and bills that piling up has kept him in his temporary location longer than he'd like.  His physical situation also leaves him was some restrictions regarding getting a new residence in that he cannot climb stairs except in an emergency and he has a service dog.

So here's what I have done to help.  Some time after the fire last year I began work on an adventure.  It is themed around fire and has some inside references to gaming, the history of gaming, and the Lake Geneva area.  I worked it out with Luke to sell this adventure and send 33% of the proceeds to the Ernie Gygax Relief Fund (originally the Ernie Gygax Fire Relief Fund, and still named so, but it now needs to be so much more).  Hopefully, so who may not have donated or now can go a little further, can pick up this fun, system-neutral adventure and assist Ernie in the process.
Original Story Right Over HERE

Auction being held by Kobold Press for the Ernie Gygax Fire Relief Fund

Auction being held by Kobold Press for the Ernie Gygax Fire Relief Fund
 From the pages of Gygax Magazine : 

In case you haven’t heard, Ernie Gygax recently had a disastrous house fire and lost pretty much all his possessions. All people and pets got out OK.

Although we’re friends on Facebook, I’ve never met Ernie in person. But that doesn’t matter. Ernie is a member of our community. Let’s use this project to help him out.

I’ll stick to the plan and document a build for the mace the kobolds selected. (The mace pictured here is what a flanged mace looks like in general; it is not the final Real Steel mace.) The mace will then be raffled with the proceeds given to the fund that’s been established to help Ernie get back on his feet.

Chances are $10 a piece. Please send a PayPal gift to todd(at)toddblades(dot)com for however many chances you’d like with a note that says “For Ernie” in it. It’s important that you specify it’s a gift because PayPal will waive their usual fees and all the money will go to Ernie.

We’ll stop taking donations on April 3, 2013. I’ll make up a ticket for each $10 you donate (more is better  ), and I’ll get my son to draw the winner. Shipping this internationally will be next to impossible, so although anyone can give to this fund, I can ship the mace only to an address in the United States. If a non-US resident wins the first draw, I’ll send you a forged Mjolnir pendant from my current Kickstarter. Then we’ll draw tickets until we pull a winner that can receive the mace (in other words, the first person with a USA address). If a mace-eligible winner is pulled first, that person wins the mace, and THEN we’ll pull tickets until we get the first non-US winner, who will receive a Mjolnir pendant.

Let the giving begin! And thanks in advance for supporting a member of our gaming community!

If you have any questions about this, please post them in the comments area. We’d also appreciate it if you spread the word of this endeavor!

 More details right over HERE

Ernie Gygax Fire Relief Update

Ernest "Ernie" Gary Gygax Jr. had a fire which destroyed his home and all of his possessions. Efforts are underway to continue to help. 
Well it looks like GaryCon is drawing to a close and the auctions for Ernie are done. But that doesn't mean the man can't use our help. He's still got to deal with all of the post fire issues.
From the desk of Gygax Magazine :
"We want to say thank you to everyone who came out to Gary Con and picked up a copy of the magazine. It was a pleasure to meet with you and we will see you again next year! - Susan (Banshee)"
 Contributions can still be made via ErniesTrust@GygaxMagazine.com by PayPal There will be more information coming from Gygax magazine soon by update. You can get the latest updates HERE
 Or
 The Facebook group supporting this effort right HERE
I know that I have been quiet for a bit if only to allow the efforts of the Gygax family & friends during GaryCon to continue. I will be posting more information as it becomes available. 
By all accounts a great time was had by all at GaryCon even on the heels of these unfortunate events. 
I'm sorry I couldn't attend this year's GaryCon. My fiances didn't allow. 
Thank you for your continued attention. 

New Ernie Gygax Fire Relief Update.

Thank you to the generous people that have donated directly to ErniesTrust@GygaxMagazine.com by PayPal and to those who are auctioning items.

Ernie is actively seeking a new residence while getting ready for Gary Con. The donations are making it possible to replace some of the most important day to day items. We'll do our best to raise more at the Gary Con Auction next week.

Just incase you don't know from the pages of Gygax magazine : 

Ernest “Ernie” Gary Gygax, Jr. suffered a fire which destroyed his home and all of his possessions. We are asking friends and fans to create eBay auctions, and donate the sale price to help get Ernie back on his feet.

Proceeds from any and all donations or auctions will be placed in a trust to allow Ernie to recover the personal possessions lost due to the tragedy. While his original works of his father can never be replaced, your contributions will ease the loss.
 You can read more right over here and shoot your donations directly to this worthy cause. Right HERE
Thanks for your attention