I have already received quite a few entries, most of which look excellent. If you have a partially finished dungeon lying about and you don’t know if you will finish it in time, take heart. The spirit of the TRVSR, and its prophet Gary Gygax, are with you, to give you strength through the painful … More Reminder: No-Artpunk 2 ends 15th of September and a gift for you Laggards
[Adventure]Strict Time Records Must be Kept (2022)Kelvin Green (Lamentations of the Flame Princess Adventures)Lvl 1-3 I don’t know what the fuck is going on with Kelvin Green but I like it. With the bulk of Lotfp’s coomer/furry/don’t-come-within-100-metres-of-a-public-school fan-segment shamelessly migrating to trendier pastures and many of its former champions stepping back nervously for fear of … More [Review] Strict Time Records Must be Kept (Lotfp); Greending Gear
The Ghoul Prince (2018)Zzarchov Kowolski (DIY RPG Productions)Lvl ??? (2-4?) Disclaimer: sponsorish content Of the by now somewhat scornfully regarded mid-10s OSR DIY era, when Lotfp was king and the OSR was moving out of its imitative phase and into its in hindsight disastrous creative phase, one man stands head and shoulders above the peers … More [Review] The Ghoul Prince (NGR); The Price of Innovation
And thus it was our heroes stood before the ruins of a many-angled shrine in the remnants of Law’s end, and there found the foundations of the altar. Having no desire to dig through a foot of earth with bare hands, our heroes sojourned back to the Keep, to purchase tools and fetch additional men. … More [Actual Play] Keep on the Borderlands Pt. XVI; Cursed Treasure
There is no genre of fantastical fiction more fundamental to Dungeons & Dragons then that of Sword & Sorcery. It is perhaps ironic that the days of D&D’s ascension also oversaw the near extinction of the genre that inspired it. The genre that was born from the pens of Howard, Lovecraft and Smith and was … More [Booktalk] The Godblade by J. Christopher Tarpey
The icy wind scourges the frost-blasted wasteland of Ultima Thule. In a rime-coated hall, KING JAMES gazes moodily into a pewter cup of mulled wine. Hair long and streaked with threads of silver, naked as the day he was born, his once ponderous bulk emaciated and scarred by the depredations of the long years. Once … More The Phoenix Arises
The differences between oldschool games and newschool games remain a frequent topic for discussion. Anything from the focus on customizable class features, character fragility, procedural generation vs premade storylines or roleplaying vs exploration are often cited as possible differentiators. One of the most important points that is often cited for OSR games is a focus … More Time, Encumbrance & Light V2; The problem with upkeep
[Adventure]Ud (2017)Unbalanced Dice Games Mid level (3-5 seems about right) Ud is an interesting deviation from UDG’s SOP. Normal ‘UDG’ modules heavily favor dungeon creation in the mode of 70s OD&D; elaborate random tables, fairly simple rooms and single encounters. As time went on, more elaborate orders of battle would start to emerge, however, the … More [Review] Ud (LL); Growing Pains
[Toolbox]Ashen Void (2022)Albert Rakowski (Underworld Kingdom) Disclaimer: Sponsored content There are two things in the OSR that I distrust the most; Setting neutral supplements and Toolboxes. Albert R., the author of the nonpareil World of Ortix Blog, has set out to prove me wrong. I harbor a deep mistrust for toolboxes. I think the format … More [Review] Ashen Void (OSR); Unbearable Burning Light
After the battle of the Hobgoblin halls had ended, the Albian wizards Diggory and Chinning wasted little time in pushing for further delvings. Relentlessly energetic, they persuaded Fox the Elf, who had been lost to a spout of yearning for fields that had known no earthly sun for a month, and Isidoro the Rogue, now … More [Actual Play] Keep on the Borderlands Pt. XV (LL); Designs of the Coven
Age of Dusk 