10k subs / new 5e content / giveaways

As some of you may know, the YouTube channel has continued to grow and I've recently hit 10,000 subscribers! (which, as far as I'm concerned, means that it's been a big success). As such, I have a few announcements that I'd like to make ...all of which are covered in the following video:

However, if you don't have time for all that nonsense, or would like a bit more information, then here's the breakdown ;)

 

MERCHANDISE

As I say in the video, I haven't gone overboard with this (as I doubt there'll be much call for socks or shower curtains with the channel's logo on them) ...but  a mug and a sticker is the kind of thing I'd put to use myself.

I mean, I don't really drink 'hot drinks' - so my own mug will likely get used to hold gluesticks and paintbrushes ...but the sticker will find a good home on the back of my laptop :)

Anyway, HERE is the link to the (tee)spring storefront. If there is anything else you'd like me to consider, just drop me a message.

 

THE TWISTED STAVE

I've decided that, every now and again (essentially when I have enough material), I'll tidy up some of my own DMing material (or personal / 'for fun' projects), and present it in a 'zine format.

They'll probably not be all that frequent - but this first one is available for free (subsequent ones will be free to Patreon supporters, and $1 for everyone else) - so please do feel free to check it out and see if that kind of thing will be of interest to you. HERE is the link.

Note that I'm presenting it as 5E compatible - but there'll generally be a couple of articles that aren't really tied to any system (though, for the most part, it does assume a fairly traditional fantasy-medieval setting).

(note that there is also a print-on-demand version available over on lulu)

 

THERE'S GOBLINS IN THEM THERE HILLS

I've mentioned this adventure a couple of times before (as I planned on doing a series of videos showing which pieces of terrain you'll need to build for each encounter area, and so on) - but I figured this would be a good time to release that too.

Now, I do still hope to get around to those videos at some point (as the adventure has been written with the 'print & paste' terrain in mind) - but if you're familiar with most of that stuff, then you should have a good idea of how to go about it.

Anyway, the adventure itself isn't meant to be particularly revolutionary (or all that original) - it's just a fun little dungeon romp that you can get through in a session or two.

It's priced at $2.99, it's 16 pages long, and is available over on DriveThruRPG.

 

$50 GIFT VOUCHER

For this particular giveaway you will need to go to the video's page over on YouTube (as I am only counting entries over there - just so that I don't have to monitor several different pages for the next month ;) ).

And, as I explain in the video, everyone that picks up one of my pdfs will already have a DriveThruRPG account... so the giveaway should, in theory, be available to everyone (and no-one even has to leave the house to post/receive it - because, you have to admit, we are living in strange times).

So if you do enter - here's wishing you good luck!

 

AND FINALLY...

I said this at the start of the above video, but I want to say it again here (at the end of this post).

A huge thanks goes out to everyone that supported me over the past few years - I really do appreciate it ...and here's looking forward to the next milestone*

Thanks again!

(*erm... yeah ...not sure if that's ever likely to happen ...but only time will tell :) ).

Random Dungeons...

Over the holiday period I thought I would have a go at something a little different (a little different for me anyway) - and roll up a random dungeon using the tables in the back of the 5E dungeon masters guide .

And yeah, it might be surprising to learn that (considering how long I've been playing ...off and on) that I've never done anything like that before; I mean sure, I might have used a random table here and there within a dungeon - but I've never actually rolled up an entire dungeon that way.

Anyway, the first step was to roll up the layout of the dungeon itself - so I opened up photoshop, rolled the dice, and this is what the tables gave me (though I did need to make a few alterations here and there - to make passages line up, make rooms smaller, and so on, just to get it to fit on a single page):

Next, rather than picking a room and then rolling for it's purpose, contents, etc., I instead rolled up a list of purposes (from the 'general dungeon chambers' chart) and then tried to arrange them in a sensible manner (i.e. it makes sense to put the 'cell' next to the 'torture chamber' - and not at the opposite end of the dungeon). So, with that in mind - this is how I assigned them:

1. Entrance Chamber
2. Guard Room
3. Crypt
4. Divination Room
5. Library
6. Dining room
7. Barracks
8. Storage Room
9. Workshop
10. Training Room
11. Hallway
12. Cell
13. Torture Chamber
14. Dressing Room
15. Chapel
16. Chantry

Then there are a whole bunch of tables for 'chamber contents' as well as 'dungeon dressing' and so on - so once again, in order to try and have things be as cohesive as possible, I rolled up my lists of contents/dressing first ...and then assigned them where they seemed to be the most appropriate.

For example, room 10 ended up being something like this:

Purpose: Training room

State: Ashes, contents mostly burned

Contents: Trick (on the tricks tables I rolled up a suit of talking/spellcasting armour)

Features/Furnishings: Bones & teeth (I actually took two items off my 'features' list for this one ...as I knew I could use multiple 'furnishings' in another room).

So, seeing as how that's all the information I had to work with - this is how I tried to tie it all together:

* * * * *

10. Training Room

• This large domed chamber is supported by four tall columns - each of them blackened as if by fire (fire emanating from the centre of the room).
• Similarly, the floor (especially near the middle of the room) is coated in a layer of ash - at the heart of which stands, what looks like, a practice dummy clad in fine armour.

Examining the ash reveals that it also contains tiny fragments of charred bones and teeth. In addition, a successful (DC11) Perception test uncovers the fact that a strange mumbling sound seems to be emanating from the armoured dummy itself (a further DC14 Arcana test also reveals it to be fragments of fire based evocation chants). However, should any living creature approach within 15ft of the dummy (i.e. cross into the area beyond the pillars), the chanting will increase in volume and the dummy will spring into action.

MAGICAL TRAINING DUMMY

Treat the dummy as Animated Armour except that it has 50hp, is immobile (and thus grants its attackers advantage on their attack rolls), and instead of attacking with its slam attacks - each round it can be heard uttering an incantation (roll on the table below to determine the effect).

Once defeated, a serviceable (though probably in desperate need of repair) set of +1 half-plate armour may be salvaged from it's ruin.

1-3 ...Bolt of fire: +3 ranged attack (as fire bolt but deals 1d8 fire damage)

4-5 ...Cone of fire: DC12 Dex save (as burning hands but deals 1d6 fire damage to those within its cone)

6 ...Blast of fire: DC13 Dex save (as fireball but deals 1d4 fire damage to everyone within a 15ft radius of the dummy, and 1 point to everyone else in the room)

* * * * *

Now I admit that this was one of the more complex rooms, but even so, taking the random elements and tying them all together was a fun little exercise ...one which led me into some unexpected places.

However, I'm not going to pretend that the finished dungeon is a particularly great example of the kind of thing you might expect to find in the latest version of the game (with regard to dungeon ecology and so on) - but I have tried to have it make as much sense as possible ...considering what I had to work with.

Anyway, since finishing this fun little experiment (yeah, my idea of fun is a little weird) I've turned the whole thing into a A5 booklet/zine type thing (again, just for a bit of fun) - and if you want to check it out, I've uploaded it to google drive HERE.

And if you do take a look, let me know if you find any errors (as there's bound to be a few).

As I say, it's not anything special, but it was an interesting little project nonetheless :)

'Neath the Shadow #3 in print!

Just a quick message to say that the latest 'zine (for the Age of Shadow RPG) is now available in print via lulu.

Note that the booklet is also available in digital form via RPGNow and DriveThruRPG.

Plus, if you want to be in with a chance of winning a print copy of the Core Rules and Campaign Guide - check out my latest video:

'Neath the Shadow #3

It's been a long time coming, but I'm pleased to finally announce the release of issue 3 of my little Age of Shadow 'zine...

The 'zine is mainly for use with the Age of Shadow RPG (which you can get HERE for free) - though it should be compatible with other percentile based games with little or no modification.

Included in this issue:  
Elvish Ancestry: Random tables for generating an elven PC's forebears.
Welcome Guests: A 28 page (A5) adventure scenario.
Weather in the Northern Kingdom: Calendar and weather details for Fornan Tarnath.
Beastling Descriptions: Random tables to help describe the soldiers of the enemy.
Runes of Power: More magical enchantments for your game.

'Neath the Shadow #3 is available for just $2.99 from DriveThruRPG and RPGNow.

'Neath the Shadow #2 (a zine for the Age of Shadow RPG)

I'm very pleased to announce the release of the next little 'zine for the Age of Shadow RPG...

Included in this (A5 booklet size) issue are:

• A small dungeon filled with traps, hazards, and puzzles.
• A new undead hazard.
• New abilities for magical weapons.
• Additional rules for creating beastling characters and NPCs.
• Several basic plot-hooks and encounter ideas.

And while some mechanics/statistics are geared towards the Age of Shadow RPG, most of these articles should be compatible with other percentile based games with little or no modification.

'Neath the Shadow #2 is available (in pdf form) from RPGNow and DriveThruRPG.

Furthermore 'Neath the Shadow #2 is also available in print via LULU.

A possible Age of Shadow 'zine?

A little while back, I posted a photograph on the various social media sites that featured a little home-made 'zine that I put together...

At the time, it was just a fun way of collecting some of my notes together (for my own use) - but since then, a few folks have expressed an interest in getting a hold of something like that ...and now I'm thinking of actually doing something with it :)

However, it seems that most print-on-demand services (like lulu) only seem to have a 'full colour' option for the cover (rather than a black & white image printed on coloured cardstock) - so I've been playing around with an alternate cover for a possible POD book...

That being said, I'm still not 100% sure if I'll be going ahead with this project (and if I do, how regular it would be, and whether I'd open it up to submissions or not, etc.), so if you have any opinions on the matter, it would be great to hear them :)