Free GM Resource: A Free HM4/OSR Adventure...but Only for One Day!

Today is my 44th birthday and because I want to "phone it in" and celebrate, today's Free GM Resource is a limited-time-only copy of an adventure I wrote for 4th Edition HackMaster called "The Test".

Since it is written for 4th Edition it should run just fine for AD&D and most of the Old-School clones. Sure, some stuff might not make perfect sense (like use of the HackMaster Combat Wheel), but I would be more than surprised if an experienced OSR GM couldn't adjudicate on the fly. Just don't forget that in HackMaster everybody got a 20 HP "kicker" and the damage dice penetrated!

Please feel free to use this link (or click on the adventure pic) for the special deal and pass as many copies of said link to your gaming buddies, but be warned that it will only work for Monday, June 22nd.....whenever the DriveThruRPG servers deem it to be that date.

If I can ever find the follow-on adventure I'll get that on DriveThruRPG, but that adventure is quite silly (and stupid) and isn't really required at all.

d30 Challenge Day 21

This is my 21st entry in the d30 Challenge, which is a bastardization of an idea I first saw on Mark "CMG" Clover's feed. Now I'm a sucker for these things and I know some folks aren't so while I'm committed to answering one question about my favorite hobby each day, and putting together a d30 table before the end of the month, I know not everyone is so interested. I'll put the question & answer after the break, posting late in the day, and not promoting this on G+ so those who don't like this kind of thing should be exposed only minimally.

I think this is the best I can do....

d30 Challenge Day 20

This is my 20th entry in the d30 Challenge, which is a bastardization of an idea I first saw on Mark "CMG" Clover's feed. Now I'm a sucker for these things and I know some folks aren't so while I'm committed to answering one question about my favorite hobby each day, and putting together a d30 table before the end of the month, I know not everyone is so interested. I'll put the question & answer after the break, posting late in the day, and not promoting this on G+ so those who don't like this kind of thing should be exposed only minimally.

I think this is the best I can do....

Free Monster: Ecology of the Deep Dark Cave Worm

I decided to put up a brief write-up I did of the "monster" that inspired me to create The Wizard of the White Hills.

Sometimes the creative process, at least for me, is a bit convoluted. This time around I started with a weird creature, came up with some ideas for it, and then created a story around it.....but the creature doesn't actually make an appearance in the story. Instead it drives one thing that drives another and there you go.

Now it isn't important to the story to know anything about the creature that inspired it all. To me this is the GM equivalent of the player trying to explain their PC's motivations. As a GM I don't really care about motivations, just actions. As a player, they don't care about this creature, just its effects that start the cascade of events that cause something they can interact with.

Of course with this extended write-up, there might actually be something worthwhile for the PCs to interact with. More than likely this is just some background "fluff" for the GM. At best they'll get to use some of this info to throw a bone to the players in a specific situation, at worst....well that would up to the GM's designs. Maybe some GM will decide to size this thing up to an absurd size and make it attack the party.

Heck I could see some enterprising bastard toss the real-life inspiration for this monster on the table and creep out the players.....please don't do that. Seriously, that would not be cool.

d30 Challenge Day 19

This is my 19th entry in the d30 Challenge, which is a bastardization of an idea I first saw on Mark "CMG" Clover's feed. Now I'm a sucker for these things and I know some folks aren't so while I'm committed to answering one question about my favorite hobby each day, and putting together a d30 table before the end of the month, I know not everyone is so interested. I'll put the question & answer after the break, posting late in the day, and not promoting this on G+ so those who don't like this kind of thing should be exposed only minimally.

I think this is the best I can do....

Rant: "Stealing" RPGs

I really don't like getting on my soapbox here on the Frugal GM blog and have only done so once before. Usually I save this for my personal blog, but like last time it belongs here.

I've spent over three years now trying to contribute to the larger RPG community in a specific fashion. Time will only tell if I'm either getting traction or just spinning my wheels, but I do this for the love of the game....most any game....and because I get some small measure of gratification out of it.

I've been blessed to get to know like-minded individuals and some folks within the game (specifically RPGs) industry and while I know some of them are financially well-off, it sure as hell wasn't because they made a killing off of writing & publishing. Sure some do make a living at it, but the majority just get by like most of the rest of us do. Life tends to ebb and flow, filling in to take up all the resources (money, time, & energy) that are available to it. My assumption is that most people do what they do in life for one (or both) of two reasons: it gets them by or they have a passion.

Little infuriates me more than when I see people ripping publishers off simply because they can*.

Frugal GM Review: KOBOLDS ATE MY BABY!

After a good couple years of trying (albeit probably not that hard), I finally got in a game of KOBOLDS ATE MY BABY! (KAMB) at Origins. For a while now I've been looking around for a light-weight RPG that could serve as my go-to Beer & Pretzels game.

Only fitting I should look at KAMB since they bill themselves as the "original" beer & pretzels game. Heck, the PC's 4 main stats spell out "BEER"! I do have to say that I can really see playing this at a bar or some loud venue where you can have a few and let this game rip. Ideally you want to play this game where you can be loud and a bit obnoxious...at a convention with other games & gamers playing something else a scant few feet away....not so much.

KAMB is a light-hearted game where you play a bit fast and loose as a potentially lovable, always hungry, seldom smart Kobold. You serve a God that doesn't like you and a king who bullies you around. King Torg...ALL HAIL KING TORG! seems a bit insufferable, and you will too, because whenever you hear the name King Torg...ALL HAIL KING TORG...you have to shout out ALL HAIL KING TORG! or risk losing your little furball to all manners of nasty & unpleasant deaths. There are a few other potentially obnoxious behaviors you might need to act out at the table to either gain and advantage or keep from getting screwed over in-game. While this can be good fun for those in the game....not so much outside of the game.

While the PC sheet and game mechanics seem pretty simple, there is a small flip-side that gets a bit confusing. The normal mechanic is to roll a number of d6 and attempt to get under your stat, with more difficult tasks generally requiring more dice and easier tasks fewer dice.  There are 4 main stats and those stats have secondary characteristics and it is those secondary characteristics that get a bit confusing because they indicate how many dice an opponent gets to use against you....by rolling the number of dice off of your PC sheet to get under or equal to on their PC sheet. It isn't that hard to understand, but I can see it being an issue if you didn't at least start the game sober.

Add in all the little things, like edges & bogies, being able to force the Mayor (Judge/DM/GM) to re-roll (but only once by having all player with living PCs singing an appropriate drinking song), and let's not forget the seemingly random and capricious Kobold Horrible Death Record.....well it can really add up to a bit much for a beer & pretzels game.

I will say it is a fun game and the general silliness might easily be too much, but it might also end up being just what you needed. I could see KAMB being a welcome relief to a serious RPG when you need a bit of a break.

d30 Challenge Day 18

This is my 18th entry in the d30 Challenge, which is a bastardization of an idea I first saw on Mark "CMG" Clover's feed. Now I'm a sucker for these things and I know some folks aren't so while I'm committed to answering one question about my favorite hobby each day, and putting together a d30 table before the end of the month, I know not everyone is so interested. I'll put the question & answer after the break, posting late in the day, and not promoting this on G+ so those who don't like this kind of thing should be exposed only minimally.

I think this is the best I can do....