Free GM Resource: A Hârn Twofer From Columbia Games Inc.

Obviously I dig maps, and I think a lot of you guys do too.

Last week I was introduced to a pretty cool online map for Hârn, that works pretty much like Google Maps. Now I've played one game of Hârn, and IIRC it was a bit too "crunchy" for my tastes.

The thing I loved about Hârn though was the maps and the world-building "stuff". There is so much great info regarding this game world that you could easily import into any fantasy RPG.

This week's Free GM Resource is a bit of a twofer regarding the island of Hârn, which is about 3x the size of Great Britain. The first resource if the aforementioned online map, and the second is a free PDF version of the regional map from DTRPG.

I don't think Hârn gets much love outside its core base of fans, but there is so much information for this setting that you can use & abuse for your own game.

Frugal GM Review: Acheson Creations

With GenCon happening next week I wanted to review something you could find at the convention. [edit] Well, you can normally find them at Origins......[/edit]

Acheson Creations is one of the entries on the +12 Links of Helpfulness page, under RPG Terrain. I've blogged about them three years ago, but never really did a review.

Personally I like the small resin bits and bobs from Acheson Creations over the large pieces, but that is more because I get a lot more mileage out of them and they are quite reasonably priced at 50¢ to $1. Over the last couple of years I have amassed a decent sized collection and I've been real lazy about getting them painted up.....until now.

Free GM Resource: The Medieval Bestiary

This week's Free GM Resource is a collection of creatures from The Medieval Bestiary.

While the list of beasts isn't extremely large, and there seem to be a lot of mundane creatures on said list, The Medieval Bestiary is still quite useful because there are a lot of links and files to historical resources. Basically this is a great site to start some research on creatures/beasts from the era.

Even some of the more mundane creatures have some surprising "aspects" as believed during that bygone time. A nice way to add some unexpected color to your game.

Frugal GM Review: A Twofer from Paratime Design

I'm not quite done with the terrain pieces I wanted to review this week (I bit off a lot more than I can chew on that one), so I started with my normal fall-back of suggested purchases on DriveThruRPG.

This week's review item caught my eye because, well because it seemed oxymoronic to me since it was a "freebie" map that costs $1. The map was from Paratime Design, so I felt comfortable giving it a little leeway up-front, which lead me to this twofer.

Evidently there are some Friday Freebie maps you can download off of Paratime Design's website. These maps aren't wimpy maps either. The freebie map version of this $1 map comes in roughly at 17" x 23" with a screen resolution of 72 dpi. There are two versions, light background and a dark background. Really not shabby at all, definitely worth the price of free.

Of course this begs the question, "Why would I want to pay $1 for a 'free' map?"

First off, the map is a higher resolution, being offered on a US Letter page (21.6 by 27.9 cm) and 300 dpi. No security, but also no PDF property tagging either (which I really don't care about when it comes to maps, just noting because this is something I look for). The great thing about this map, the thing that distinguishes this product from the freebie maps, is that the PDF format (I know that "PDF Format" is redundant) is taken advantage of by allowing a large number of display options. There are 9 listed viewing options, but only 8 actually "do" anything. In addition to selecting the light or dark background you can choose to display (or not) room numbers or secret doors.

While you could easily get by with the freebie map, tweaking the higher-resolution map will get you a lot more mileage. Odds are you'll have to select the viewing options you want and then print the map off to another PDF which you could then open in your chosen digital editing software. Since the PDF isn't secured, this is a viable option.

If the PDF was locked-down, this map would probably not even rate 3 stars because you'd be locked into using the PDF on-screen only, unless you printed a physical copy. This would realistically write-off the file for use with a VTT as you'd probably be better off with just the freebie version. I know I harp on PDF security a lot with my reviews, but this product from Paratime Design is a great example of doing things right, and I know from experience that as a publisher on DriveThruRPG you have to go just a little bit out of your way to make sure that PDF products do not get auto-locked-down by OneBookShelf.

It is great to see publishers using PDFs to their best effect, and this $1 "Friday Freebie" map is an excellent example. If you need a dungeon, especially if you need a VTT dungeon, then these maps from Paratime Design should be right up your alley.

Free GM Resource: A Treasure-Trove of Stuff Over at D&D Adventures

I must apologize for the unexpected week-long absence, but that sickness I mentioned in my last post ended up turning into a rather severe viral infection that knocked me on my ass and should have resulted in a trip to the ER. Unfortunately I live alone and wasn't in the best of conditions to take proper care of myself.

I'm still recovering, trying to build my strength back-up and I have a personalized understanding on how something like a flu outbreak could wipe out millions.

Anyway......

This week's Free GM Resource is simply a treasure-trove of "stuff" collected by the folks over at D&D Adventures. Holy crap, is there a lot of links to look at. I'm sure there might be some bits and bobs I've covered in the past, but with a link library like this that would just be inevitable.

This list of resources is HUGE!

Failed A Con Check, But A Cool-Enough Video to Share Anyway

We've been having unseasonably cool weather here in the City of Trees, and somehow I failed my fricken Saving Throw vs. Poison (or something...maybe a CON check) because I caught a damned cold. All I want to do is lay in bed and suffer until my body fights this thing.

Yeah.....I'm one of those man-childs when it comes to being sick. Luckily I won't be missing any work, but I had plans today to finish up a Tweak & Toss and work on the next map.

I'm hoping that I can suffer on the couch and finish up painting my resin terrain....but I don't want to....

On the good news front I did get my Tenkar's Tavern Membership Card.

Since this blog isn't about me and my feelings I should point out something useful. Doug Anderson (of DungeonTeller fame) has been working on a WWII battle game. Now I'll freely admit that this new game doesn't excite me in the least..of course that may be my sickness apathy kicking in....but this video of making 6mm hex terrain certainly does. I think it would be super-cool to have a bunch of this small terrain to make a larger area map for Fantasy RPGs. You could assemble your hexes, take a few photos, and BAM!....cool overhead map. Populate what you need to and let the players move along until you need to switch to a smaller "tactical" map.

Doug only has the one video for now, and I already account for 1/3 of the views, but this has a lot of good potential for all kinds of gamers......

....and if you bothered to read down to this far you might like to know that DungeonTeller is celebrating a two year anniversary and is currently FREE! I know.....I'm burying the lead....I'm sick, remember?

Free GM Resource: Newb Crafting Channel on YouTube

I should probably apologize for getting this post our so late. Not an excuse, but an explanation.....I stayed up quite late last night binge watching Netflix and painting some of my resin terrain pieces. I had a small box full of resin bits and bobs from Acheson Creations that I had already washed & primed....a couple years ago.

Anyway, staying up well past 3 AM on an unseasonably cool night made it really difficult to get up at the crack of noon.

Today's Free GM Resource is another terrain building YouTube channel. Bill Allan's channel is pretty new and not really big yet at 271 subscribers. What I like about his crafting videos is it looks like he is new to crafting RPG terrain, which I think adds a cool dimension that I personally enjoy. One of his videos from January was about crafting fails, which immediately piqued my interest.

Bill Allan's YouTube channel.

Frugal GM Review: 50 Ships of the Harbor, Vol. 13

This week I decided to check out a rather cheap offering from a publisher that pops up a lot in my "feed" over at DriveThruRPG: Fishwife Games.

I've really tried to distinguish the difference between being cheap and being frugal, a subtlety that is often lost on people I run into online and at conventions. I don't mind spending money on quality and I often try to take in the "big picture" when it comes to prices of "stuff".....

.....but not so much this time. I really picked up on 50 Ships Of The Harbor, Volume 13 because it was cheap, at 75¢. I really didn't need a list of 50 ships for my own games, which I thought might be a bit more useful as far as an honest review goes.