Instead of a free map, how about a free font?

I have a couple of map ideas I'm taking far too long working on, including a few ideas for a vertical dungeon tile set to share on Dave's Mapper.

One map I wanted to do with Dundjinni, but for some reason my program would not run properly. I decided to update my 1.04 version to 1.07 and.....well it didn't go well. A fresh install was in order and that created even more problems.

In the end there was far too much wasted time and while I do have Dundjinni 1.07 on my computer, the initial problems that necessitated the jump-through-hoops effort still remained.

So....instead of a map today you get a different file. This last week I've been messing with font creation and on a whim I made a simple RPG cuniform font. The whole idea was to make a font using a small set of shapes. The font is the same for capital and lower-case letters and this set has numbers, but no punctuation.

Here is an example of the font used to mark off a section of an older map.

Here is the shortcut for the font.

Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay Kickstarter

Personally I have had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Kickstarter, and "professionally" I'm not one to usually push a project unless it resonates just right. IIRC correctly I've only promoted the Reaper Bones Kickstarter because that was a great deal for GMs and it could only make getting cheaper minis easier down the line.

I've reviewed a couple of products from Small Niche Games (or are about to....I tend to work ahead on some entries) and while they were all geared at Labyrinth Lord for the underlying game system, I've found them all quite useful for conversion to just about any Fantasy Role Playing Game.

Yesterday I discovered that SNG has a modest Kickstarter for an upcoming City Guidebook. As of this post, the project is already funded, but any more funds are intended to be used to add extra/better art.

The cool part is that this project will be made available to everyone using DriveThruRPG's Pay What You Want Program. If stretch goals are made then there will be some additional product made available at a reasonable cost, or free for certain donation levels.

This is the kind of Kickstarter I can get behind and it seems like a win-win for everyone.

Free GM Resource: Dave's Mapper

Even if....or maybe especially if...you have a large selection of maps, sometime you just need something quick and easy.

Dave's Mapper is definitely quick and easy.....and pretty fricken cool to boot.

A quick overview: you can quickly make a number of map types (Dungeons, Caverns, City, Side View, and Sci-Fi Ships). Select a type and your desired size and whammo! A new map is made. You can deselect map tiles from certain artists, if you wanted, and editing the new map is quite simple.

Dave's Mapper is easy enough that you can use the website from your tablet.

There are tons of options for creating a map: size, offset, grids......you can even create foldable map cubes!

Although there are already 32+ artists creating tiles, the program is still accepting new tiles and there is a weekly contest (#TileThursday) for new tiles.

This is a great project and a wonderful tool for GMs.

Frugal GM Review: The Mysterious Shrine

It isn't a big secret that my favored game is HackMaster. The thing is when I get to play it is in my wife's campaign which is often completely home-brew.

When we first started her HackMaster Basic campaign though we got to play in the pretty cool Frandor's Keep setting. One of our group's adventures was dealing with this odd "savage" obelisk in the foothills surrounding the Keep. I remember a bit of this adventure, but one thing I don't remember is that the adventure was a "bonus" adventure from KenzerCo's Steve "Stevil" Johansson.

Free Map 004

A couple weeks into this map-a-week bit and I'm already using somebody else's maps.....

Actually this is a "quick" map that my wife made for a one-off. While I really enjoy the creative process and labor at putting things together in writing or any other "art", I'm more at home screwing around with the technical aspect of things. For me it doesn't really get fun until I can scan it in and start playing with Photoshop.

My wife is 180* out. She's the artistic one who would like to become better playing with the computer.

I guess the grass is always greener on the other side....

Free GM Resource: Talislanta Library

While I like to be able to scour the interwebs for some free products that GM's can use at their home table, I love to be able to point out entire new games.

Imagine my glee in being able to offer up an entire gaming system....

Talislanta has been around for over 20 years and is currently in its fifth revision. The IP holder, along with a sizable fan community, has made just about everything having to do with the game free for personal use. Aside from the downloads, all you need is paper, pencils, dice, and of course....players.

Seriously, there is a TON of stuff available at the Talislanta site:

Frugal GM Review: Dramascape Japanese Garden

I am of the opinion that there are two main reasons why a publisher would put something up for free on DriveThruRPG. The first is simply because they want to get their product "out there" and DriveThruRPG is a great distribution platform. The second, and often more compelling, reason a publisher puts product up for free is so you'll try it and then go back to purchase more of that publisher's offerings.

I specifically went looking for some free maps that I could review and the first thing I downloaded was supposed to be an example of the artist's/publisher's work, but I hated it. The download was simply two .jpeg maps, one of which had some garish overlay on it. Now I'm certain that the "regular" offerings from this publisher were pretty good as I'd looked at their homepage, but as an example of work, the free download wouldn't come close to convince me to plunk down some cash towards other map packs.

GM Prep Tip: Lewt as an Adventure Hook

Realistically there are two general motivations for PCs to be adventuring in Role Playing Games: Power and "Stuff". A lot of the times the "stuff" are things that give the PC more power.

A more appropriate term for this "stuff" is loot (or lewt).

A common adventure set-up is problem caused by a Big Bad Guy (BBG), PCs tackle the problem, defeat the BBG, and get some experience & lewt that lets them tackle bigger problems and bigger BBGs.

While this is a broad, "big-picture" overview of an adventure, it kind of holds true on a single encounter level. PCs engage a foe (combat, social encounter, trap, etc.), defeat foe, get reward. Heck, there is even an acronym for his cycle: KTATTS.