Free GM Resource: Castles & Crusades 7th Edition

I was thinking this particular Free GM Resource was a recycle, and in some ways it kind of is.....but it technically isn't because Castles & Crusades is now on it's 7th printing/edition and the previous 2020 C&C Freebie was for the 6th printing/edition.

I'm not that familiar with Castles & Crusades, at least not through 1st hand play, and if you're in the same situation, I'd recommend the Wikipedia account for Castles & Crusades.

Free GM Resource: Two Free Higher Level Adventures from Dark Wizard Games

This particular Free GM Resource is a bit of a twofer, or possibly a threefor from Dark Wizard Games. By signing up for a Mailchimp email list you can get two free higher level OSR adventures: Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen (levels 10-14) and Palace of the Dragon's Princess (levels 8-12).

Both of these are "old-style" 40ish page complete adventures with stereotypical blue grid map, new monsters and magic items, and even half-page sized pregens. Some of the monsters don't seem very new to me, but they are probably just edition-appropriate conversions.

Now I personally don't get a ton of usage out of higher level adventures, and if you don't either you might feel like passing on this freebie. Thing is adventures can be scaled down or stripped for ideas.....just saying.

Oh, and that other download that makes for a twofer/threefor...evidently Dark Wizard Games writes their adventures for OSRIC and they have a landing page for getting your hands on that system.

2023.12.09 Edit: Updated the email link as it is no longer a Mailchimp service.

Free GM Resource: Open Broadcaster Software

Been a few weeks....had a convention to prep for and attend and then I'm off doing stuff. Not an excuse, just a fact.

Like normal, I have a few RPG projects underway. Some will undoubtedly never see the light of day and others, well they probably won't go further than my own personal gaming table....like my long-standing Work In Progress (WIP) digital game table.

I'm not documenting that table, but if I make a portable version I probably will. Anyway, as part of that project I'm needing some video(s). I've been checking things out here and there, but on some level I'd rather just have the ability to...I don't know....just play a fricken video background! Now I like to use VLC Media Player (bit of an unintended twofer!) and that works great....but....

...what if you need to edit your video?

That's where Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) comes in to play. It's a great, simple video editor that does a great job. Easy to use, easy to integrate audio, just easy.......and free!

OBS is used by a metric.....er, a lot of podcasters. I tend to use it for capturing my audio, even though I already have another audio capture/editing software that is part of a larger AV suite. OBS...just works. Highly recommended.

Free GM Resource: Rae'chel Does Some... Stuff

 

I recently discovered a cool YouTube video making small terrain squares that were really, really good (well, I thought so). The production quality was great as well and I immediately saved the video and subscribed.

Imagine my surprise when Rae'chel Does Some... Stuff had a total of five (5) videos over the last two months and the one I liked was only a week old.

Not used to getting in on the relative ground floor of a content creator.....but if she can keep the videos top-notch I look forward to seeing more.

Free Fat Dragon Games Dragonlock Files.....Once a Month

I know I've brought this particular Free GM Resource before....and no, I'm not going to bother to look it up....BUT some new info came to light that needs to shared, so technically this isn't a recycled share.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

If you haven't signed up for Fat Dragon Games' newsletter you need to do so like yesterday (from Facebook, links are mine):

"PLEASE READ! Starting later this month, FREE expansion tiles for the 'DRAGONLOCK Lost Dungeons' set will be included in at least one Fat Dragon Games newsletter each month for the next year (we usually send 2-3 newsletters a month, and at least one of them will have free expansion models.) The models will not be available to download indefinitely, so make sure you watch for our newsletters! You can sign up for the FDG newsletter on our website under the 'Resources' menu."

These will be limited-time freebie offers for expansion files that will eventually go up for sale. Jump on this opportunity while you can.....

....come on, you know you want to!

Free GM Resource: Free STL File from Asguard Rising Kickstarter

This week's Free GM Resource is a bit of an odd one because it is Kickstarter.....adjacent.

One of the Patreon campaigns I support (I do really need to update my links) is from Asguard Rising and they currently have a Kickstarter that is worth checking out (IMNSHO).

Kickstarter aside.....'cause that's obviously not a free resource, if you browse the offerings you'll see this particular graphic, which...when clicked, will take you to MyMiniFactory where you can download a sample:

Of course this is just a sample, but if you look at the other mini figs in the campaign you'll notice that they are missing the arms, which is a feature, not a bug.

The way Asguard Rising works the models is that you can mix and match the (usually) arms so you can use the same base model in different ways. I have some of their models of horsemen that let you change up the riders and horse, and arms so a small number of base files can create a larger number of finished models.

Definitely worth checking out.....even if all you do is nab the freebie 
 

Free GM Resource: Syrinscape 2nd Look

I covered Syrinscape back in .....2013(?!). It's been just shy of a decade and when I got an email from the creator, I went back to see how the last 10 years has fared and there's been a lot of progress. This isn't so much a recycled Free GM Resource, but a much-needed update.

Syrinscape can be utilized in two ways: online, or through a free app. Functionality is a bit different between the two but you can get two flavors of the app for free (Fantasy of SciFi) and each freebie version comes with 10 SoundSets (collection) each.

If you want more, or to add you own sounds, you'll need to pay for the privilege.

The thing is, you can play with both the app and the online player for free and they even offer a free month of their subscription service. The service is either $7.15 or $10.99 a month, which seems too rich for my blood, BUT if I was GMing online with a VTT I could totally see how I'd like to use Syrinscape Online. There's some extra cool bells and whistles that I think would get me a lot of mileage for immersion with players geographically separated.

I suspect, with my own style of GMing, I wouldn't get enough mileage out of this, but that's also more on my then on them. 

Thing is, I'm not really even scratching the surface of what Syrinscape can do....and I think that some of the features are a bit buried. For example, there is a way for you to use the Syrinescape Online to have player toggle certain sounds on their end, which I only saw when watching one of the videos on the Syrinscape website.

You're probably best checking out Syrinscape yourself. Poke around the web-based player and please, check out the videos. 

Free (Technically PWYW) GM Resource: Editing for TTRPGs

I do not consider myself an editor, even though I have some editing credits for RPG stuff and I've been our in-house editor at work on our student workbooks, which we update every year or so. Because I have some experience editing I have enough experience to step-up in a group of folks with absolutely no experience, but not enough to give any original advice.

So this week's free (or PWYW) GM Resource is some editing advice from someone with "close to twenty years I have freelanced as an editor for both speculative fiction and tabletop role-playing games."

If this advice helps even a little bit.......