Free GM Resource: HeroQuest Ye Olde Inn

I was watching some YouTube this weekend and came across some history/documentary concerning D&D and I stuck around a bit and watched some other video (same channel) about HeroQuest. Now I've never played HeroQuest, always wanted to, but never had.

I had a chance to pick up a copy at Half-Priced Books, but I was just coming back from a con and it was either this or some other purchases, including an early copy of Dungeon.....I clearly went with the latter.

Anyway this HeroQuest video mentioned there were some online resources for finding all the various adventures that have been released for this Out of Print (OOP) game.

A quick Google search later and I found Ye Olde Inn. Holy cow....pretty much everything you could need for the OOP game can be found there. I was surprised by just how much is available there.....including a rather active forum!

I've barely scratched the surface on this is resource...now to just find another physical copy.

Free GM Resource: NVIDIA Ansel Plug-In

Ok, this week's Free GM Resource is really limited, definitely only useful for very specific people, but for those that "qualify"....it could be pretty damned cool.

I have what feels like a bazillion computers at my home. Between hoarding, projects, and micro-computers I'm certain I have at least 20 different computers, but only a couple (maybe even only one) with a NVIDIA graphics card.

If you happen to have a NVIDIA card and you use that computer to play computer games, which you probably do 'cause why bother with a graphic card (I know there are other reasons for having graphics cards.....just roll with me here), then you can download the Ansel plugin and then BAM!  you can now "take stunning in-game photographs in nearly 40 games, from virtually any angle, at super resolutions, and in full 3D."

I know some folks might be going, "so?" but think of it......if you can take high res screen shots wherever you want then you can capture your in-game footage to use at the game table. Like the terrain of The Witcher 3? Put that camera up in the sky, take some screen shots, and then you have a game map. Trying to make some cool isometric maps.....screenshot. Cool monster...screenshot.

Anytime you see something useful you can screenshot it and what you do with the graphic is up to you, but as they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words".


If you don't have a NVIDIA graphics card and/or play computer games using said card....sorry.

Head's Up that I'm Guest Posting for a Spell Over at Tenkar's Tavern

Just a head's up that I'm guest posting over at Tenkar's Tavern for a bit while he deals with some medical stuff. He's posted every day for like 7 years and it didn't seem like a good idea to me to let that run slip for something as little as big-time surgery.

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