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 Here is a d100 encounter table tailored for classic B/X Dungeons & Dragons (and compatible Old School Renaissance systems).Yes I totally stole this photo from Wayne's Books from here. To keep this highly functional for a standard B/X campaign, the table is structured around the classic dungeon tier logic: Levels 1 to 3. It balances standard low-level fantasy staples with faction Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The post Video of the Day – Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker, 2026 appeared first on Blogtor Who.

 In ACKS II, Level 2 of Quasqueton transitions from a military fortification to a hostile subterranean wilderness. Wandering encounters here are not just combatants—they are environmental pressures that test the party’s resource management (light, rations, sanity) in a damp, enclosed ecosystem. This post  picks right up from Meditations on the classic In Search of the Unknown (Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

You see, I do all this stuff for fun, not for a living. I admire and respect my friends and cohorts who make a living at it. I do not.

I also never look at my DTRPG earnings. I'm terrible. I even neglect comments so that I see questions asked a year later. I'm terrible.

Anyway, I did run some quick numbers just out of curiosity. I predicted that the Black Pudding Heavy Helping books would be the ones that sold the most, and it's true. By a country mile. But I was pleasantly surprised that GOZR came in second to them. I had this feeling that while GOZR was the most labor intensive thing I'd ever done, it was a big fat super unknown. And it is... in the grand scheme who the hell knows about GOZR?

In terms of pure downloads, the Black Pudding zines are far and away the highest (5,678 "sold" for BP 1, for example). But they are also free (pay what you want), so that makes sense.

All told, if I had to live off what I'm earning on DTRPG, me and my family would have died a decade ago. But I kinda knew that already. I'm just stoked when anyone buys a copy of anything I do. I appreciate it! You help me keep going.

In August 2016 I published Rabbits & Rangers. That's ten years ago! Time flies.

I thought I'd look back on the book since I haven't touched it in many years.

First, I went with a traditional digest format, which is nice. The POD print book is compact, cool. Good job, me.

Layout was done by Matt Hildebrand and I have to hand it to Matt... this thing still looks cool to me. Thanks Matt!

Speaking of thanks, flipping through it this morning I didn't spot any errors. Oh I'm sure there are some that slipped through, but Andy Solberg lent his meticulous editorial eyes to this thing and I'm forever in his debt. Thanks Andy!

The Monday Doomslakers RPG group played this game. I ran an adventure called Sheep on the Borderlands... get it? So thanks to them for enduring it. We started gaming in 2014 and, with a few changes in membership, we're still going strong today (currently playing Boot Hill 3e!).

Ok, so anyway... here are some things about the book I had forgotten that I believe are quite good.

1. Size differential table. I kept it simple. Sizes are small, medium, and large. You get +1 or -1 based on where you fall on that scale compared to your opponent in a fight. Small vs. small +0, small vs. med the small guy gets +1. Small vs. large, small fry gets +2. I think that's elegant and simple.

2. Natures. Inspired by the exaggerated personalities of old cartoons, you pick or roll for a Nature. If you're a Bully, then you act like a Bully. If you're Rascally then you're always one step ahead. And so forth. I think this reinforces the cartoon inspirations, but isn't too intrusive.

3. Death options. This has become something of a theme in my games. GOZR certainly has this. In R&R, you get to decide if your character dies at zero HP or not. The choice comes with cost, of course. If you die, you get a benefit to your next PC. If you live, you're knocked down a few levels until you earn 1,000 XP. I'm not sure why I did it that way, honestly. If I wrote this today I'd just say you're knocked out for a few rounds and get back up with 1 HP. But that was 10 years ago and I was firmly entrenched in OSR thinking... the idea of letting a PC live after the dice called for death?? Preposterous!

4. HD limits and XP mods. I put a lot of thought into this book. Looking at it now, I see hundreds of files of revisions and ideas. I spent a long, long time on this bastard. The tone and logic had to work. So it mattered to me that a mouse Fighter and a moose Fighter would have the same HD and stuff. It doesn't make sense. So I put limits on them. The mouse has a d4 HD limit, even as a Fighter. But they get a beefy +20% XP bonus. I also applied ability score modifiers quite liberally, but with balance. The mouse, for example, gets +3 to Dex but -3 to Str. They also get +1 to Cha (cute mice!) and a bump to AC for being small and quick. All animals get similar considerations for their size, speed, and traditional characteristics.

5. 21 new spells, 18 new magic items, 14 new creatures*. Notes and advice about armor and weapons that work for the vast array of animal shapes. Like... you find some plate mail in a dungeon. You're a polar bear and your companion is a bat. What are the odds this armor fits either of you? Well, unless the LL already knows the answer, you roll 1d6 to see what size it is. Then maybe you roll a percentile to see if it's specialty. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a rare All-Fitting Armor, which is described in the book.

Some of my favorite little bits:

StoatThe first level spell Ahkme's Catalog. The mage sends gold and a request by way of a magic bird to the laboratories of the geniuses at Ahkme. Within the hour, the bird returns with a package delivery containing an item that may help in their situation. You roll on a table to see if the thing explodes in your face or works like a charm. There's also a magic ring of Ahkme you can find.

Spells that target certain types, such as Down to Earth, a spell that grounds avian creatures.

The cute little animal portraits! I did one for each of the 50 animal types and I adore them, even if I drew them. I'm not above loving my own work. And it's so rare that I adore my own work from so long ago.

 

I'm waxing nostalgic now, but I have a hankering to run this again. What's more... there exists an expanded edition that started as a sequel. I did all the work of adding 50 more animals, some new spells, etc. I just didn't finish the work. It's something I'd like to do... but I would have to put myself back into a full on Labyrinth Lord mode and beg Matt to do an updated layout for the expanded edition. It would be worth it, though. Hopefully I would hold firm and keep to the classic LL format... complete with descending AC.

But there's also the strong possibility I'd want to change the whole thing to mesh with Black Pudding Play Book... and that would be awesome too.

The PDF is free to download. 

*Fun fact: the zard makes its first appearance here! I ported them over to GOZR later and I don't even know if I remembered they came from this book originally. 

 

 Here is a d100 random encounter and lore table tailored for a high-lethality Sword & Sorcery campaign. In classic pulp style, these entities aren't just blocks of hit points; they are reality-warping terrors that twist the landscape, corrupt the mind, and demand heavy logistics or clever tactical thinking to survive. This blog post picks right up from D100 Sword & Sorcery Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The post Video of the Day – BUILD Series, 2019 appeared first on Blogtor Who.

By Greg Gawron
Advanced Fantasy Games
OSRIC
Levels 2-4

Hidden within a long-forgotten cemetery stands an abandoned mausoleum, once a place of grand splendor and solemn reverence. Now it lies broken and rotting — its roof collapsed, headstones shattered, and its glory buried beneath decades of neglect. But decay has not left this place empty. A new evil has claimed the ruin as its lair, and by fate or folly, you have found its resting place… and it now awaits your party of adventurers in The Lost Tomb of Kazcuk Mot the Undying.

This 28 page adventure presents a small tomb with fourteen rooms that is primarily aimed at tournament play. There is a certain, physicality? to it that I find interesting, however, it’s a bad tournament adventure, with mucho read-aloud and padded out DM text with rather simplistic challenges. 

It’s not every day you see someone thanking both Finch AND Taormino in the same breathe, like the credits page to this one does. I assume he went to a con and they both said some kind of Gandhi shit to inspire him to publish? I hope that’s the case. I don’t know, Taormina cranks his shit piles out so maybe it was publishing tips? Anyway, this is a tournament adventure. Tournament adventures need a few things special going on so you can judge them similarly, fairly, amongst different tables. I think that’s all bullshit and it’s like comparing a Rothko to a Picasso. “You get a prize!” Fuck that shit. 

And, therein, is the issue, at least with regards to the tournament aspect to this. Let us consider two different scoring systems for a dungeon. In the first, I give you one point for each room you enter. In the second I roll a d6 for every room you enter and if it comes up a ‘1’ then I give you a point. IE: what are we measuring? The ability to penetrate the dungeon by any means possible or are we measuring how lucky the dice are for the party? Further, we must be up front with the players on what we are measuring. SHould they be tearing the place apart looking for treasure, or defeating monsters, or “winning” the plot, or trying to roll as high as they can on their dice? This adventure, of course, does not disclose the scoring to the party other than to say you get a point for accomplishments and lose a point for mishaps. And then it does things like “if you search the room then roll a d6. If you roll a 1 then the party finds a pearl necklace. They get a point.”  I seem to recall that some tourney adventures went so far as to have die rolls prepared for the DM in order to make things as fair as possible across tables. Rothko does not approve. So, as a tournament adventure I think this fails to do a decent job with the scoring. The answer is not more prepared die roll and less randomness, but a different axis of scoring, I think.

Ok, so, the adventure intro also says we can use this as a stand-along adventure. How was the play Mrs Lincoln? Not as bad as one might think, given the murder of the president.

I’m not happy with the adventure, or the interactivity as a whole, but there is a certain physicality to the interactivity that I think works well. One of the entry rooms has a door under a sarcophagus that flips up. There’s a grate in the floor to go down. There’s a portcullis to lift. There’s a decent amount of this kind of physical interactivity in the adventure. Or, maybe, environmental? Whatever. There are other classic elements as well, such as yellow mold, the old water monster in a pool of water thing, and so on. They don’t feel tired in this, but I’m also open to this being because the amount of text that surrounds them. Interactivity, beyond that physicality, is generally limited to stabbing. And, even that is a bit iffy. The wanderers are bats, rats, and centipedes and they show up a decent amount. One wonders at the boredom of it all. 

Otherwise, the adventure has some of the long standing usual problems with the untrained. The read-aloud can be quite long. And, of course, players don’t listen to long read aloud. It’s not a new thing. You’re boring them with read-aloud. Keep it short. It’s the designers job to figure out how. Further, the read-aloud over-reveals the rooms contents. You want the read-aloud to hint at things for the players to have their characters follow up on, not to just expo dump every little detail. at the party. You want the back and forth. 

EVerything here is padded out. Every read-aloud ends with “WHAT DO YOU DO” and then immediately we get a “DM NOTES” heading. Yeah, got it man. It’s not read-aloud so it’s DM notes. Yeah, got it, the read-aloud is over so now the party and do things. The first trap takes like three paragraphs to describe, and it’s a simple stair foot pit. Ok, so, I take it back. Four paragraphs. This is a quarter of a page. For a simple trap. It’s not complex. It’s just padded out. The wanderer text is padded out. “Inside the mausoleum the characters will find ample space to move about and it may appear to be a safe place to rest and take shelter. It is not.” Jesus man, that did nothing for the adventure. It is just worthless text. You didn’t actually say anything. All you’re doing is adding words to the adventure. And these filler words and paragraphs get in the way of the ACTUAL meaningful text that the DM needs to locate in order to run it at the table. The DM needs to be able to quickly scan the text, and right now they have to dig through shit like that in order to get to the stuff that matters. 

It’s just relentless. The editor is the designer, which is either magnificent, if the designer knows what the fuck they are doing, or a disaster is they do not. The designer was not born with some a priori knowledge of how to write an adventure and do layout and what makes it fun and so on. Ideally, an editor, a decent one anyway, can help with some of that. YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. You might be a decent DM. You are probably an ok guy But YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Seek help. Seek an editor. Learn what makes an adventure a good adventure and also an easy to run adventure. 

This is $20 at DriveThru. I think that’s because it was kickstarted. I’m going to, rather generously for me, NOT say this is a fucking cash grab, even though the first thing published was kickstarted at $20. That advice above? Learning what makes a good adventure, getting an editor, etc? You can ignore that. You can go down the path of filthy lucre. Just crank shit out on kickstarter the most efficiently possible and build your market. 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/562629/the-lost-tomb-of-kazcuk-mot-the-undying-osric?1892600

 Yes, absolutely. In fact, B2: The Keep on the Borderlands aligns surprisingly well with the mechanics of the Wretched system. Because the Wretched system (including Wretched Époque) is built on an OSR (Old School Renaissance) d20 foundation heavily inspired by classic B/X D&D, the core math, monster stats, and dungeon-crawling loops require almost zero heavy mechanical conversion. This Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The post Video of the Day – The Paley Center for Media, 2018 appeared first on Blogtor Who.

The BBC have announced that they are opening Doctor Who to tender by new showrunners, as Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf exit the Whoniverse

 

This week’s BBC statement on the future of Doctor Who was paradoxically both a shock and not entirely unexpected. Ever since the original announcement of a 2026 Christmas Special, the language of Russell T Davies “agreeing” to make it, made it seem like it was intended as a bridge to a new era and a new production team. Since then, there had been no sign of production starting as the months crept by. Either filming was taking place entirely on set at Wolf Studios in an unprecedentedly low key way, or it hadn’t even started by almost halfway through the year.

All things considered, then, the news that there actually wouldn’t be an episode this year, and that Davies had already stepped away from the show, is somewhat unsurprising. Still, it’s shaken the world of Doctor Who like an earthquake. Some fans are rejoicing the end of an era they personally didn’t enjoy, even though many others did. Some are giving in to despair that Doctor Who is ‘dead.’ Still other old hands have plenty of wry comments to make about waking them up in 15 years when The Wilderness Years II: Wilder Than Ever is over.

 

For the first time since 2003, not only is there no new Doctor Who in production, but no timeline for production to begin

In many ways it’s understandable. This is the first time since 2003 that not only isn’t the show actively in production, but there’s no planning in place for it to go into production. This new hiatus will definitely last longer than the gap between the Chibnall and Bad Wolf runs. However, it’s unlikely to endure as long as the 1989-2005 hiatus. Or even the gap between the end of the show’s original run and the TV Movie. The BBC announcement included notice of a new tendering process: essentially an invitation to production companies to pitch for the job.

That process could take a year or more to even identify a new showrunning team. There’s also no absolute guarantee the BBC will find any of the pitches suitable for moving ahead to the next phase. Yet, it indicates the broadcaster is serious about making new Doctor Who, and making it sooner rather than later. Even if they doesn’t feel nearly soon enough right now.

In a way Doctor Who has been extremely fortunate to have a clear line of succession up until now. Russell T Davies had been lobbying for the show’s return for years before the BBC decided to give him what he wanted. Steven Moffat was hand picked by Davies as his successor. Chibnall was the only candidate for the job in 2018 thanks to both Davies’ and Moffat’s recommendations. Then Davies again put himself forward to return. This is essentially the very first time this century the BBC have even had to ask themselves the question – “who do we want to run Doctor Who?”

It’s perfectly natural if it takes them awhile to come up with an answer.

 

Happier times at the premiere of The Church on Ruby Roady BBC STUDIOS 2023, Photo by Jonathan Birch Disney’s long delay in deciding not to renew their deal seems to have been a major contributor to the muddled end of the Bad Wolf era

There will be as many theories about how we came to this point as there are fans. In reality, it will be many years before we know, if ever. During the Bad Wolf era, Doctor Who rarely left the BARB Top 20 chart, and regularly landed in the Top 10. The last report by the BBC on their commercial activities detailed a £2.2 billion profit. That same report singled out Doctor Who as one of the main contributors to that number, along with Bluey. That explains why the broadcaster is keen to find new showrunners and make more. But it doesn’t account for why the show’s on hiatus in the first place. It seems only yesterday Ncuti Gatwa was on Graham Norton’s couch confidently talking about plans to film Season 3 in 2025.

The show’s entry into the world of international streaming may have been the dawn of a bold new era. Yet it was perhaps doomed to self-destruction from the start. Streamers such as Netflix, Amazon, and Doctor Who’s new partner, Disney+, frequently make only two seasons of a show before moving on. And if they do continue, viewers have to expect multiple years between seasons.

This proved a huge difficulty for a show which thrived on constant forward movement and change. Disney teased out their decision on whether to renew the Whoniverse deal for so long a clear tension between themselves and the BBC emerged over it. The BBC couldn’t seek a new partner until Disney’s position was official. That created uncertainty about when and how the show would continue, even before Season Two aired.

 

Doctor Who will be back

The first major impact of this was that lead actor Ncuti Gatwa felt he had to withdraw, unable to sit in limbo waiting for a call back to set at some unknowable point in the future. This also led to hurried rewrites and reshoots for his final episode. The result, it has to be said, was messy and unsatisfying, not only with Gatwa’s exit, but in the cobbled together ending for Varada Sethu’s Belinda. Both would probably have been better served by last being seen dancing into the night together. (And let’s hope that original version winds up on a Collection box set some day.) As it is, the bizarre regeneration into Billie Piper will now almost certainly be a bridge to nowhere.

Doctor Who is not cancelled. It will be back. However, it likely won’t be on screens until 2030 at the earliest, and when it does return it will almost certainly be a fresh new start. Right now that might be a source of anxiety as he head into the unknown. But as the pieces come together, we may – just may – be in for the most exciting and thrilling time to be a fan since 2005.

Yes, Doctor Who will be back. Even if those plans falter. Even if it takes a generation. Fans who grew up with Eccleston and Tennant, are already making their way up the ladder of the entertainment industry. For them, bringing back that battered blue box will be an irresistible idea.

So in the meantime, go forward in all your beliefs you learned from Doctor Who. Never cruel, never cowardly. Never give in, never give up. Be kind. And prove to Doctor Who it was not mistaken in them…

 

 

The post The Bad Wolf Era of Doctor Who is Over… appeared first on Blogtor Who.

 Bringing the 80s Saturday-morning post-apocalyptic swagger of Thundarr the Barbarian into the gritty, OSR-style mechanics of Sword of Cepheus 2nd Edition is an awesome cross-genre mix.Gemini is the ultimate Thundarr antagonist: an evil, ancient-tech-wielding cyborg sorcerer with a literal split-personality. His head rotates 180° beneath his visor to switch between a short-tempered, Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

Photo by Paul Glazzard

The head of Vorlas is on display in the Revolutionary Museum in Kingshead, shielded from the ravages of time by magic so that it may be a near-permanent reminder of the revolution's resolve. One of the last of the great Wizard-Kings, Vorlas's rule was particularly despotic and draconian, but his security forces and even inhuman soldiers transformed by magic proved unequal to the defense of his kingdom during the Demon War and even less effective in dealing with the crises of displacement of people and food shortages that followed.

Vorlas was dragged to central square of Kingsforge, his capital, by the rebel army and beheaded by a new apparatus designed for that purpose, the machine now called "The Nemesis." The city was renamed in commemoration of this event and the head has resided there since.

There is another, newer head in Kingshead. That one is made from steel, thaumatite, manastone, and more than a little spellcraft. The dwarven theorists and magitechnologists behind its creation convinced the Council for Progress, a conclave formed of the various business groups that have become the true rulers of the Durendine Confederation, that the magitech mind could run the nation more efficiently than any mortal, anticipating problems before they arose, and maximizing their profits. So far, the head remains a work in progress, but the Council is still captivated by the possibilities. 

The dwarves who built it have an even grander vision. While they promise their device will far exceed the computational and planning capabilities of mortals, they hope for it to one day to be greater than either god or titan, at least in the sense that it would be free of their passions and weaknesses. 

 Blending the transgressive, Cronenbergian biopunk of New Flesh (The Red Room) with the gritty, 90s-cartoon-inspired sandbox of SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City (Bloat Games) yields a highly distinct tabletop experience. It transforms a street-level superhero aesthetic into a dark, visceral "splatterpunk-noir" setting. This blog post picks up right from Survive This!! Vigilante City & Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The post Video of the Day – Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood, 2008 appeared first on Blogtor Who.

This is one of the best ways to plan for Gen Con!

The BGG Gen Con Preview is live!Coming to Gen Con? BGG creates a “Gen Con Preview” list of all the hot new releases. You can check out the full list here, or just the Allplay titles here.

Even if you aren’t going, the Preview is a great place to see what’s coming out so that you can add games to your wishlist from home. We have 21 New Games since last Gen Con, so go check it out!

As you browse, we’d love for you to give the Allplay games a thumbs up (by clicking the thumb to the left of each game’s image). This lets us know what you’re excited for and helps other gamers know what to look out for!See The Allplay TitlesSee The Full Gen Con PreviewComing To Gen Con: “It might well be one of the most exciting games you’ve ever played. It is superb. It is awesome.”
-Shut Up & Sit DownContainer – One of the greatest economic games of all time. Build factories, produce containers, set prices, negotiate with your rivals, and sail across the sea to trade. Obviously, buy low, sell high. But, can you make it happen?See The Gen Con Preview
“Every time you think you’ve seen what this box can do, it opens up your mind again.” – Lincoln Hoppe | The Game BardMountain Goats: Legacy – The goats are back! Roll and combine dice to race up the mountain. Get to the top to score, but don’t get knocked off! As your story progresses, you’ll unlock special ability and face tougher challenges. The mountain itself might even transform beneath your hooves.See The Gen Con Preview“It’s got a really satisfying puzzle. Every time I play this, the first thing I want to do after seeing my score is to try again and get a better score… but it never feels overbearing. It always retains that cozy vibe” – Ezeekat Enchanted Ivy– Our very first dedicated solo game! Expand your inn, place guests based on their preferences, and connect the magical ivy to have the perfect stay. See The Gen Con Preview“Absolutely fantastic game! Very simple concept with a real fun twist that always causes uproars and hysterics.”
– BGG User ItcantstormJibber Jabble – A cooperative, word-association party game. Players spells one letter each. The catch? They aren’t allowed to discuss what your clue they’re trying to spell. The first time you have a perfect clue in mind, but the person next to you says a letter you weren’t expecting at all… well, that’s Jibber Jabble.See The Gen Con Preview “Phantom Ink has gone down brilliantly every time I’ve played it, and it may even replace our other similar games… Teaching the game takes a matter of minutes and it plays well with a wide range of player counts and ages”
– PROFDECUBE, Zatu GamesPhantom Ink – Commune with your clue-givers to decipher a secret word before the other team! Answers from beyond the grave are public, but the questions are private. If you’re on the same wavelength as your spirit, stop the answer mid-spelling.See The Gen Con Preview Manipulate the meme market in real time in Stonk Market. Run the best television network in The Networks: Primetime. Frantically yell breakfast items at your teammates in French Toast.

You know that we always come to Gen Con with a truckload of new titles. We can’t wait for you to try them!See The Gen Con PreviewLet’s all play.

We are making decisions all over the place this week, with the helpful folks over at our Facebook page. Wild, considering I’ve barely touched Facebook in years, but the LFG community there is still strong.  So! We landed on Crowdfunding
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The post The Return, Indeed appeared first on Looking For Group.

MooglyCAL2026 Block 12 is our yearly visit to Celtic Knot Crochet for one of her signature twisty and turny knotted designs! Jennifer Ryan has designed the Celtic Square Motif with simple stitches and amazing results. Get all the details for this free crochet along, and the free pattern link below! Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate […]

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 Integrating Dave Hargrave's Arduin (a chaotic, techno-magical, multi-genre playground) with ACKS II (Adventurer Conqueror King System II, a hyper-detailed, mathematically airtight simulation of medieval demographics and domain management) creates a fascinating campaign style. While ACKS II assumes a relatively grounded world where human kingdoms use strict economics to manage standard Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0