Category Archives: My Gaming Projects

White Box Wednesday: Forgotten Tale Preview

More on the second edition of Forgotten Tales of Sword & Sorcery, 2nd Edition. I already did a quick walk thru video of character generation and well the rules have already changed a bit. So if you want the details of what this all means go ahead and check out the video. But for this preview, I’ll show of a couple of iconic characters from the original edition, Cain the Slayer and Anya the Red. And remember, there’s already been changes from the video.

Cain the SlayerSavage SwordsmanLevel 1
Physique +1 (3 in 6)Avoidance 3 in 6HP 7
Fortitude +1 (3 in 6)Resistance 4 in 6Def 14
Instinct +1 (3 in 6) Luck 2 in 6
Knowledge 0 (2 in 6)Careers: Athlete
Charm -1 (1 in 6)Vice: Vengeful
Big Assed Sword +2 To Hit (2d6)
Anya the RedSkilled SwordswomanLevel 1
Physique +1 (3 in 6)Avoidance 3 in 6HP 5
Fortitude 0 (2 in 6)Resistance 3 in 6Def 15
Instinct +1 (3 in 6) Luck 2 in 6
Knowledge 0 (2 in 6)Careers: Noble, Nomad, World Traveler
Charm 0 (2 in 6)Vice: Pride
Nice Axe +2 To Hit (1d6+2)

And yes, I know I played around with some AI art. It’s what all the weird kids are doing. So there it is. Another quick preview and more will on the way. Stay tuned for that stuff, ask questions, and you know the drill.

Like this post or others? Want to see more behind the scenes rants and stuff. Want to support the blog? Check out the RPG Pig Pen on Locals or the Patreon.

Even More Thoughts on Lamentations of the Flame Princess

That last whole kerfuffle with Lamentations of the Flame Princess really fed my urge to run a campaign. And now it looks that there just may be a chance that it might happen in a couple of months so that means putting on the old thinking cap.

First, let me do a little rant about rules. I do feel guilty if I house rule and hack the original TSR era texts. I get over it but I feel a little guilty about. But for any retro-clone. I want to hack the hell out of it. And there’s not much really to do because there’s already so much cool stuff. First and most obvious to most are those 2nd Edition play test rules in Vaginas Are Magical and Eldritch Cock. There’s some gems in there like rolling to case, more skills, and some tweaks on the Ability scores are used. The second neat thing is an oldie but a goodie. That’s Green Devil Face No 5. What does that one have? Random character progression. You may not get more HP every level. Ouch. And pretty grim. Then there’s my own warped imagination. I’ve really gotten inspired the last couple of weeks and started scribbling all sorts of ideas down. Stayed tuned for more on that but the previews of stuff will show up over on the Locals community. And finally, there’s a few OSR style supplements that have given me some ideas but more on that later.

Now for setting. Let’s be honest. If you look at the whole line of Lamentations Adventures, they are all over the place but most center around historical eras and locations and put a weird twist into the mix. But for me, I just can’t leave well enough alone and I brought up my original memories when I read through the Grindhouse rules. A setting that’s an odd mix of Warhammer Fantasy+Evil Dead+Hammer Horror. You know grim dark gothic weird fantasy with a dark sense of humor. So got to put some notes down on that.

The best I can say is stay tuned. More stuff will here and my other hangouts on the Internet. It going to get interesting.

Like this post or others? Want to see more behind the scenes rants and stuff. Want to support the blog? Check out the RPG Pig Pen on Locals or the Patreon.

White Box Wednesday: Forgotten Tales of Sword & Sorcery 2nd Edition

Yes, I know. I missed last week. I was busy with the day job and working on this. Besides, I can use my own blog for a little self promotion.

This is one of my best sellers on DrivethruRPG and I was well along to finally getting around to writing a fun a little supplement. And then the whole OGL drama hit. That threw everything into chaos for everybody. Well, I stepped back and started thinking about what to do.

I decided to step back and redesign the game to be OGL free. That also means that I can do bunch of updates and refinements that I think make the game work more smoothly. And remember those classes? Well, those are going to get added in. And I’m adding a bunch more detail on the implied setting. Right now, I’ve roughly doubled the page count. And yes. It still will be compatible and inspired by White Box play. And I might take a few other liberties along the way including some updated art.

The original edition of Forgotten Tales of Sword & Sorcery will remain available in PDF on DrivethruRPG and POD on Lulu. That is unless the OGL gets revoked. Then that will a whole other ball of wax.

So this is the initial announcement. I’ll make many more as the project gets nearer to release and I go on a crazy marketing binge. If you want to see some behind the scenes rants and other craziness then join the RPG Pig Pen Locals community.

White Box Wednesday: Going to have mix up things a bit

Even in normal times, there isn’t that much material made for White Box gaming. Sure there are runs of a specific game but then it seems to fall out of the limelight for the next shiny. But the thing is from what I’ve seen in a totally non-scientific sense is that the game is still going strong.

It is difficult to review or hail any if there isn’t that much coming out or at least it’s difficult to find. So in one part, this my own little plea for those of you reading this. If you see something off the beaten path then spread the word.

Also, it’s time for me really consider doing some rules hacks. That’s what I really love going. So why not? I need another project to eat up my time. Be nice if I got off my butt and actually finished some. But that’s my problem. So if nobody is making stuff. Maybe I should. It’s time to put on my thinking cap. And well do something.

I know this is a short post. The day job has been crazy the last couple of weeks and it’s going to be crazy for a couple more.

Like this post or others? Want to see more behind the scenes rants and stuff. Want to support the blog? Check out the RPG Pig Pen on Locals or the Patreon.

2022: The Year That Was. 2023: Hang On To Your Dice

Like everybody else, it’s time to do that retrospective and dream about plans for the New Year.

2022: The Year That Was

There’s a lot that went on behind scenes here. First and foremost the blog had great year. About half way through the year, I stopped posting to RPG Facebook Groups just to see what would happen. Basically, I learned that it was pointless. Not only did the traffic here not decrease. It actually increased. The blog ended up with twice the traffic in 2022 than it had in 2021. I still do cross post to the blog’s Facebook page and you can follow it of there if you wish.

And speaking of social media, I deactivated my old Twitter account because the place pretty much turned into a cesspool and like Facebook, it really wasn’t doing anything other than taking up time. But then with the change in management and gut instinct that maybe things could start going better in RPG sphere’s, I want ahead and created a new account. So it’s time to rebuild that network from the ground up. And I guess we’ll see how that goes. And you follow me on Twitter over here.

So now let me talk about the “bad”. I didn’t publish a single thing last year. Nothing. Nada. Nope. I have a long list of projects there I started but never finished. And there’s no one to blame other than myself.

And on the gaming front, that went well too. While I haven’t managed to make the time or locate a good gaming group in meat space, I have had a great running a game virtually with some folks of my pre-pandemic group. Folks moved away when things got crazy but it’s good to get back in touch.

2023: Best Laid Plans

So what’s up for 2023? Lots. Hopefully not too much.

The blog is going to keep on going the way it is. My Patreon is still going to be available if you want to support the blog in a small way. I set up as sort of revolving tip jar. If enough folks demand it then I might do more but for next year I’m going to focus on building the the Locals community. I have more options than with Patreon and it’s free join in for community members. I haven’t put stuff behind the paywall yet but I might starting the really juicy bits there eventually.

Maybe return to doing some videos. Part of me hates doing it but part of me enjoys it. Of course, I’m still debating on platform. Sure, Youtube is the most popular but I’ll have a heck of hill climb with algorithms and an ever shifting content moderation and pretty much very little chance of making some beer and pizza money. Maybe Rumble. They do own Locals now so there’s some easy integration. Monetization is easier but from what I can tell there ain’t a bit of RPG content over there. But then I might do both. I dunno.

I really need to get off my ass and get some of those gaming projects done and on the street. And part of getting stuff, I still to do over to Big Geek Emporium and get started with some over there.

And finally, it’s a New Year and that means I’m starting a new campaign shortly. It’s going to be a wild ride for my players. Mash up of Hammer Horror/Warhammer Fantasy with some good old other weirdness thrown in. I’ll be kitbashing the Deathbringer rules and ICRPG. And there’s a good chance that I’ll actually get to play too. But that’s a 5E game but at least no DMing. And I have a real urge to start messing around with Lamentations of the Flame Princess again.

And with all that. Let’s get the ball rolling on this New Year.