Free GM Resources: Old School Essentials PDF Form PC Sheet (Modified)

Sorry for the delay in handing out this week's Free GM Resource, but it couldn't really be helped. I had totally intended something else entirely, but an opportunity arose and in order to fully take advantage of it I had some extra work to do....

I've recently started playing in a BX game and I've been trying different PC sheets that I've been cycling through, trying to find something that fits what I wanted. During said "tryouts" I came across Old School Essentials. I have my hardcopy of the OSE Rules Tome on it's way and I started looking at their PC sheets....one caught my fancy but wasn't quite up to spec.

Much to my surprise this one kind-of-close sheet really piqued my interest and...this was the important part, not a locked-down PDF. This let me open it up and fiddle-fart around a bit tweaking this, that, and the other to my heart's content. Even though this was 110% for my own use I had some extra space here & there and thought I'd add a few things that might be useful for a new player, mostly just repeating some modifier info where one might look for it.

Of course while this was for my use I knew someone else may have use for it so I reached out to Necrotic Gnome and showed them my tweaks. Now I figured at most I'd just print this sheet up for use at a convention and my own use and that be that. I didn't expect to get a response allowing me to share the sheet as long as I noted it was modified by me.

I certainly don't need credit, but I can easily comply as long as I get to share the sheet. Might not be your style, but hey....it just might.

Now I got this word yesterday (Monday) and could have easily just made the quick attribution and been on my way, but I figured that if I was going to share this then I should at least go ahead and tweak it out to be a form-fillable PC sheet. I'm on the fence a bit on PDF for PC sheets, but I do like to keep copies of sheets on file as my (and players when I GM) PCs level. Never know when you need to whip out a Xth level whatever for a pick-up game.

Anyway, if you find this PC sheet useful send me all your money! Just kidding.....I suggest you use it to have fun playing some OSR game and take a minute to check out Necrotic Gnome and Old School Essentials.

I haven't made up my mind quite yet on which particular flavor of BX/OSR to call my favorite, so I won't extol the virtues of one vs. the other, but I've liked what I've seen of OSE so far. Expect more on that front later......

Meanwhile, feel free to check out the custom PC sheet I "made" from my Google Drive.




PS. Inevitably there will be some stupid error I made on the form since I didn't take an extra day to QC it personally. Give me a head's up here and I'll see what I can do (if you just don't like the default font or something like that.....you can tweak that yourself).

PPS. I completely failed to mention that this is a US Letter sized PC sheet, 'cause I'm American and we just have to do things differently here and I'm just following the norms for my location.

Free GM Resource: Hero Forge STL Files for Minis to Print at Home

Last week I was a day late, so this week I'll be a day early with the Free GM Resource.....

Hero Forge, the guys who let you make custom minis, have been making some changes and one of those changes is the fact that you don't have to actually buy the physical mini from them.....assuming you have the ability to 3D print minis at home.

Maybe you know this already and you've been wondering if Hero Forge was worth checking out.....if so then you might want to know that for the month of May they are taking a couple bucks off of the price of picking up a STL file for printing up that mini, that you designed on their website, on your home 3D Printer.

Use the code ​STAYHOMEANDPRINT to get those customized STL files for $5.99 until May 31st.

OK. I'm sure by now at least one of my 12 13 regular readers has gotten this far and thought, "While I may or may not actually be interested in a custom mini STL file for $6, this is supposed to be a fricken FREE GM RESOURCE.....where is my FREEBIE?!"

Well, my dear impatient reader, every Friday during the month of May Hero Forge is giving away a free STL file for you to download. You'll need to establish an account and then navigate to your account page and BAM! there will not only be the "May Mini of the Week", but a couple sample STL files to download as well.

The 1st May Mini of the Week is the Skeletal Sentinel.

So there's not only your one freebie file, or five if you keep coming back to get the new ones, but three (or, eight), so.......insert inappropriate commentary regarding your alleged impatience.

Frugal GM Review: Creature Feature Quarterlies Volumes 1 & 2

It's been years since I did a review, or at least it seems like years....probably has been.

I've been playing a lot more BX lately and have been eye-balling a few different releases and the one on my radar right now is Old School Essentials. I haven't picked up the all-in-one Rules Tome they have available quite yet, but when these two Creature Feature Quarterlies (Volume 1 and Volume 2) were on sale for $1 each, I figured I'd check them out.

Free GM Resource: Appendix N Library at the Internet Archive

I think everyone who plays RPGs, assuming they like to read, should have an Appendix N library. I've been working on mine for some time and might share it someday, but for now this week's Free GM Resource is an Appendix N library available from the Internet Archive.

Here's the description for the Appendix N library:
"This list of fantasy books was drawn up by the late E. Gary Gygax toward the end of the 1970s. While formalizing the advanced rule set for Dungeons & Dragons, a game he created with Dave Arneson, Gygax added an appendix to his Dungeon Master's Guide listing the books that inspired him to create his fantasy role-playing game. “Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy,” Gygax wrote, “being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950.” Over the years this reading list has become so well-known in the role-playing world that it’s merely referred to as Appendix N."

Now while there is an Appendix N listing in the GMG, I personally would suggest GMs and players come up with their own list, and feel free to add and subtract authors and titles based on their preferences......I mean, why have a library of books you don't want to read?!

This collection is a good beginning of 33 books you can download and/or borrow.....for free!

Check out this Appendix N collection over at the Internet Archive.

Free GM Resource: DIY Terrain Modeling "Recipes"

This week's Free GM Resource is a bit of a deviation from my norm in that I'm kind of dipping back into a previous freebie form some time back, but I'm not actually recycling the old post.

Close to three years ago I highlighted Luke's APS YouTube channel and these last several weeks I've been watching &/or re-watching a LOT of YouTube while working on my laptop. I prefer YouTube to watching movies on Hulu or the like since I don't have to follow along so much.

Anyway.......Luke has a couple hours of content specifically regarding some DIY terrain modeling supplies and I thought "I really need to right this stuff down!"....so I did! I also watched a few associated videos and one of the recipes comes from a different channel.

While I do really recommend you watch those videos, it's a nice thing to have the details written down and in one case I think I improved the recipe a bit with a little math (Luke was diluting 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, when it is generally easier to get lower % at the store, but not right now during this COVID-19 hoopla.) and I did some leg-work on sourcing ingredients.

Now instead of cutting & pasting the Google Docs I actually made for my own use, I'll just link to them here. This way if I make any additions or changes for my own use, I don't need to update this page. For the record, I haven't made any changes specifically for use here on Frugal GM.  While I'm at it I'll go ahead and provide a link to the YouTube video I pulled the info from:

Homemade Modpodge (good for base-coating foam terrain) YouTube Video Source

Homemade Flow-Aid (good for hobby painting in general) YouTube Video Source

Homemade Acrylic Retardant (makes paint dry slower & some blending) YouTube Video Source

Homemade Airbrush Thinner (assuming you use an airbrush) YouTube Video Source

Homemade Airbrush Cleaner (again, if you use an airbrush) YouTube Video Source

Homemade Sculptamold (good for making terrain) YouTube Video Source

Free GM Resource: D&D 5th Edition Adventures and Coloring Pages

I'm a big fan of today's Free GM Resource despite the fact it's for a game I don't currently (or ever have) played: D&D 5th Edition.

WotC has put together a "Remote D&D Tips and Tricks" page full of freebies that they are adding to every weekday. There's a bunch of adventures, some rules stuff, and some awesome coloring pages for smaller (or young at heart) players.

Aside from the free resources, anything that helps frame RPGs in a positive light for kids will win points with me, not that my opinion matters.

Some stuff can be downloaded from the freebie page and the rest needs to be downloaded from the web store. Personally I had problems creating an account and I don't know if it was a problem with my browser or something messed up on their end. Either way, after several attempts I was able to bypass the issue by simply allowing the webstore to login with Facebook. Just mentioning this in case you run into the same problem......

Like usual, you can get to the freebies by clicking on the lead-in graphic, or by using this link.

Somebody Evidently Doesn't Like Me and/or My Writing....

Not sure just how appropriate this post is, but I'm a bit butt-hurt and I'm at a loss to understand why someone could be...well, mean for a better lack of a word.

I've made a lot of stuff I've put up for free, PWYW, or a low price on DriveThurRPG. I don't make much money on these endeavors, not enough to justify the time spent, but a lot of us don't do this for the money. It's a rare month when I get some feedback.....any feedback on that work. My products get maybe 4 or 5 ratings a year, and maybe half that in actual reviews....on a good year.

You might imagine my shock when I check me email and see that I got FOURTEEN (14!) two and three-star reviews, and one four-star, for a total of 15 reviews. It's obvious, because of the time-stamps, that this was one person going through and giving bad ratings. What really got me is that the 1st rating happened at 3 AM and then the rest were shotgunned through at 10 AM.

I get it if you don't like a product or three, but 15? Seriously? If you don't like the first few freebies (I didn't make a penny on any of the products rated in the last two days) then why would you go ahead and download another dozen or so? 

Rating-bombing does no good to anybody. If this hero had something to actually say they could have left a review. They could have sent an email, or a quick note.....

Free GM Resource: Zoom Video Conferencing

Unless you're "blessed" with a large family and/or have been deemed an "essential" employee, you've been in some sort of isolation/quarantine. If not, well....take my word it kind of sucks big donkey....anyway...

With this China Virus ruining face-to-face tabletop gaming, you've either got to suck it up and do without, or figure something out.

This week's Free GM Resource is a web-based video conferencing app called Zoom. Sure, it's largely fee-based, but they do have a freebie option that lets you run a meeting for 40'. That doesn't sound like a long time, but establishing a meeting is easy and honestly, I've yet to be part of an online gaming group that went solid for more than 45' at a stretch. During this current crisis Zoom is offering to lift the 40' cap for educators.

If that's an issue, then the $15/month Pro plan (clearly not free) will work for you.

I've been using it for a couple weeks now, and I'm quite surprised at how easy and intuitive it is to use. I've taken part in/hosted a few video (and sometimes even just audio) conferences in my day and none have been as easy to use as Zoom.....well that technically isn't true, but that one audio conference was like $2 a minute and all people had to do was call in to a specific toll-free #. Zoom is so much better than that $2/minute service was.

The host can also share their computer screen, so being able to show handouts, maps, etc. is quick and easy.

We had a couple of folks on low-bandwidth networks and they couldn't do the video, but they could still easily connect and participate.

I highly recommend that a) you don't give up on gaming during this time and b) if you do a virtual game, give Zoom a try.