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RPGs

Isometric Gaming Paper – Quick Review

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I backed the 2017 Kickstarter for Isometric Gaming Paper. I’ve had mine for a nearly two years, and am finally posting a review, lost in my drafts folder.

I reviewed the original Gaming Paper here.

The video with the Kickstarter does a great job of showing how you can use isometric paper for your maps. I got two rolls of isometric paper, and two rolls of hex paper, one on regular white paper,and the other on blue. I also got a package of 100 sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch isometric Gaming Paper.

Just like my review of the original, the same holds true for this stuff.

It’s a great Michigan company, so it’s a way to support a local/regional company for gamers in and around Michigan.

If you need an inexpensive battle map, or just want to do wall sized doodle or mapping, this is for you. It has a bit of reusability, and can roll up or fold up to use an old map in the future.

If you’re looking for a water safe medium that can take a bit of standing liquid for a few minutes, a plastic or vinyl mat is more durable, but gaming paper can handle a small amount of moisture or a quick clean up.

If you’re looking for something that won’t matter if you use permanent marker on it, this is a cheaper and therefore less stress inducing option.

I’m not a big one for elaborate battle maps and don’t play in person often, so I’ve got many year’s worth of maps for live gaming at the ready.

RPGs

DnD Sports

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Yesterday, it was all over the RPG Twitter feeds of those involved that there will be a new spin on watching others play D&D, DnD Sports[EDIT: Name changed to RPG Sports]. While this might come as a surprise about this new thing, it all ties in with current trends in online RPGs. 

Why The Unexpected Should Not Surprise Us

A few months ago, the CEO of Hasbro, parent company of WOTC, the current makers of D&D, mentioned the rise of watching others play D&D online. Most figured it was Magic: The Gathering (MtG) card game that was getting the eSports treatment. Few expected it to be D&D. While D&D appears to have entered this new arena first, MtG will most likely follow soon. The CEO announced more crossovers of ideas, such as settings from MtG to D&D. That happened with the upcoming Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica.

Many video games are inspired by D&D and other RPGs, which led to competitive play of video games. This first foray into competitive D&D/RPGs is capitalizing on the abundance of well-watched online shows. It’s under the WOTC/D&D banner, so it is WOTC’s attempt to bring more of the audience who watch others play D&D to watch them do it competitively. [EDIT: DNDBeyond and Encounter Roleplay organized it.] There’s obviously money involved since Critical Role took their show and made a whole business out of it, in L.A. of all places. By that, I mean, California isn’t a cheap place to live, let alone run a business.

Competitive play isn’t new as their have been D&D and other RPG tournament modules, like the much maligned Tomb of Horrors [Affiliate Link], from back in the day. Few, if any, early RPG tournaments were recorded via audio or video, so we may have no record of how those went beyond written accounts. Also, tournament modules had a role playing aspect, and unlike the RPG Sports, was not directly player verses player.

Original RPG tournaments were teams of players going through the same module and competing to complete the core adventure, and as many side tasks as possible in the shortest amount of time, with the fewest character deaths.

A Different Light

RPG Sports is kicking off November 1st and is a combat elimination, basically gladiatorial combat in a dungeon setting. It will use the 5th edition rules and there will be rules of tournament play that have been play tested. According to this article, there will be four teams of four players that will pick from 16 pre-generated characters. The rules for tournament play will be released once play testing is complete.

Encounter Roleplay is a group of players that have been on Twitch for years and have been teamed up with DnDBeyond to make this happen.

Encounter Roleplay was started by DM Will Jones. Fellow DM & player, Sydney Shields is the Community Manager for RPGSports. Fellow player, Mytia Zimmer will be a caster for the first ever tournament on RPGSports.

It will use Roll20 for the Virtual Table Top (VTT). This may explain why the sudden change in Roll20 handing their subReddit over to non-employees to moderate after their customer relations nightmare a few weeks ago.

For more information and the November Schedule of games, see RPG Sports.

My Thoughts

While I find some of these shows entertaining to watch, and have friends who are a big part of it, I can’t watch regularly for a few reasons. First, I don’t get it. I know they’re really playing and having fun, it just isn’t as fun for me to watch, I’d rather play. Second, it’s a huge time sink and I’ve got too many things on my plate already.

However, no matter what you think of watching online play, the huge popularity of it has led to a great lifting of the stigma those in my generation endured. Grognards who don’t like it should keep their grumbling under their breath and be happy that those who love RPGs can make a living at it. While I’m not sure combat is the best way to do this, I haven’t seen the tournament rules as they haven’t been made public yet.

Much of this is a generational thing. And with all hobbies, there are those who would rather watch others have their fun than do it themselves. For many, this is also their gateway into RPGs. Converting more of them to customers is the smart thing for WoTC and any other RPG publisher to do. WoTC just had the best financial results for D&D ever, they want to continue that trend for as long as possible. Following the masses in this new market potential is only reasonable. 

I expect in years to come, we will see D&D experienced in ways we don’t expect. That or the technology to experience it in ways that are currently science fiction will become reality. 

I also expect that this is a strategy to ensure the longevity of 5e as they currently have the rules “right” as far as buy in and regaining their market share lost to Paizo. This will also hamper Paizo’s efforts to make a big splash with their second edition, now in the works. While the audience for RPGs is huge compared to ever before, it won’t enlarge the share of the pie for other companies if nearly all eyes are on D&D. For many newer fans of D&D, RPGs and D&D are the same thing. 

For this reason, gaming grognards should not complain. At some point tastes will change and gamers will want something else. Be open and accepting of that and welcome them. I have seen many younger gamers wanting lighter rules and checking out the styles of play loved by the OSR. I don’t have hard numbers on that, but I’ve ran old games for people in their 20’s and they had a blast.

As with everything in life, just wait, things will change.

RPGs

Hidden Hands of the Horla – Mini Review

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+R. J. Thompson of Gamers & Grognards has launched a new company, Apendix N Entertainment, and its first product, T1 Hidden Hand of the Horla [Affiliate Link], is now on OBS as PWYW. You can find it at either DriveThruRPG or RPGNow [both Affiliate Links].

I received a pre-release copy, and within a couple of days of that I received the final copy. I spotted one typo in the pre-release copy that was corrected in the final release.

Hidden Hand of the Horla [Affiliate Link] is the beachhead product waiting for Ryan’s take on the original roleplaying game, Gateway To Adventure. The cover is familiar to many who follow +Dyson Logos’ maps, a giant hand that is a set of towers. Ryan uses this map to full effect in the few pages of this module for levels 1-3.

One paragraph briefly touching on the old school style of play, one paragraph of player background, and three paragraphs for the referee.  There are tables that define certain conditions of the adventure so it will not be identical. For example, the intended foes in the module can find one of the items before the players and use it against them.  There is a rumor table to help the GM determine a random rumor that each PC knows about the place. And a well planned random monster tables that indicates which potential creatures represent a creature from a specific room.

Only five pages are needed to describe this small dungeon, with stats for a few creatures in the text.

The either total creature types are listed in the three page bestiary. A new creature is introduced that will require players to use their wits to best it, or avoid having to best it. For those used to rolling dice or otherwise unaccustomed to the old school style of play, it has the potential for a TPK. Players that use their heads and are team players should do well.

There are two pages of spells. Two of them new spells. The Hand Tower was built by a wizard specializing in hand spells. 

True to the name of the company, there is a one page Appendix N, that includes inspirational writing, film, television, and music. 

Following the OGL is a page with the hand tower, a page with a player handout, and a page with the map of the interior.

What I Liked

This is a great to the point adventure. It is simple, but with enough to the point details to help the GM run this. As a low level adventure, it could easily be modified for those who like DCC and 0 level funnels, or be powered up to handle more players or fewer players of higher level. Best of all it is designed to be reused, so is ideal for an initial adventure that is a location that can serve as the first adventure in a new campaign. The goatmen that Ryan included from his home campaign are one hit die creatures so you could easily re-skin them for the main one hit die creatures in your own campaign, if you didn’t want to introduce goatmen. There are also simple ideas for modularity of design that are easy to adapt to on the fly adventures you may run in your own campaign, or that other publishers would like to see.

He also has an idea for books that I’m going to steal for use in a future update to my own PDF on Libraries.

What I’d Like To See

This is a challenge to find something that is missing. I liked it and could see myself running it, and would like to play it if I didn’t know the secrets. I read this a couple days ago and I’m still not finding anything that seems lacking. While it may seem trite, the only thing I can think of that I want is more modules like this. I look forward to the release of his take on the original RPG. 

The only thing I see is that the OGL takes a bit more than a full page and goes onto the page with the hand image. A font small enough to get the OGL on one page is fine with me. this is very minor and can easily be trimmed off, or covered, if printed, but might detract from player experience if you show them the map from an electronic device. I only mention this as it is in the version now live on OBS as I write this.

Full Disclosure

Ryan and I are friends. We met at UCon a few years ago after I reviewed another publication of his. As a friend, I wish there was something that jumped out at me that needed work. I hope I didn’t gloss over anything that others will point out as problematic, or needing more polish.

Pay What You Want doesn’t do this module justice. You should at least pay something in the realm of a dollar or more for this. 

RPGs

Mini Review – Low Fantasy Gaming

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[This has been sitting in my drafts forever, and I updated it a while ago to mention newer products. Rather than leave this hidden in my drafts, I thought I’d let it see the light of day.]

Low Fantasy Gaming (LFG) is a free OSR Clone that takes a bit of the original RPG and adds in various tweaks to game mechanics with advantage/disadvantage, skills, exploits (feats?), etc. and limits the availability of magic.

It focuses on humans as the only player race, but has options for other races. Each class is a sort of template for a general idea that has the ability to tweak it to the player’s preference. Some things are left open for new levels to work out between the player and the GM, inviting looking at other RPG’s for ideas. This section acknowledges that this part of the rules is in a perpetual play test state.

There is both a table of contents and an index, but neither is hyperlinked. Still nice to have the basic features in a free product. If the rules are ever for sale, I suggest links in contents and index.

In the credits, several of the artists’ websites are linked. I like that, in case I ever manage to have a project that needs art. It also helps the artist by letting others see their other work.

It is the type of ruleset that is in some ways a setting, but there is no defined setting. One can easily take Robert E. Howard’s map of Hyperboria and place their campaign in it, or develop their own campaign world from scratch.

There are magic user characters, but their access to and use of magic is limited.

Levels are capped at 12th level. Each class gets some sort of base and followers at the appropriate level.

Overall, this gives one an interesting combination of mechanics and options. If you want a simple set of rules, or like collecting free RPGs, check it out. At 188 pages, roughly 80 pages are for players, and the rest for the GM.

As I look at the draft of this post I started in 2016, I am reminded of Knave [Affiliate Link], the new rules light RPG from Ben Milton, creator of Maze Rats [Affiliate Link]. The older I get, the less patience I have for fiddling with and arguing over rules. Let the GM make a ruling so we can get on with the game.

RPGs

Lizards vs Wizards – Mini Review

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Lizards & Wizards [Affiliate Link] is a fun RPG by James V. West. You can get it as Pay What You Want on DriveThruRPG. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world after “The Great Big Blammo.” You play a lizard seeking stuff while avoiding monsters and wizards. This is a 32 page booklet that is a full RPG, complete with tables for character generation, a d100 name table if you are stuck for one, three d100 loot tables for stuff you can find. There is a one page bestiary of six monsters, such as cats, dogs, and birds.

Like the character generation tables for lizards, the wizard generation table deals with size, and color. There are other wizardly attributes, aura and mobility. All wizards have powers, a d100 table helps generate them. Wizards need a goal to motivate them, and you get a d100 table also. A d100 name table is complemented with a d100 title table. So you end up with combinations like, Randy The Cannabalistic.

It is designed for quick play, lizards are very small and fragile, and everything else is larger and deals a lot of damage. The game master is called the Monitor, because, you know, lizards.

James has quite the artistic and otherwise plain old creative skill to make quick little games like this. He has illustrated it with images of various lizards, wizards, beasts and items to set the scene. He even lays it out on the first page:

The human world was blowed to bits in the Great Big Blammo way back in the Longago Days. Now is The Squam. There are monsters. There are wizards. There are lizards. You are a lizard. Good Luck.

This is an all around fun little book. I found it worth it just to read and enjoy the art. It is simple enough, it can serve as an introductory RPG for all ages. One could easily modify it for pre-literate children. The straight forward structure of this game makes it easy to mod so that you replace lizard with any small creature.

It already has a revision to the PDF, and also comes with two PDF character sheets, one is form-fillable. I can’t see what changed, probably a typo.

James V. West has done other games, is well-known in the OSR for his own hand-drawn character sheets, and has done them for specific games. Here are his DriveThruRPG links as an author [Affiliate Link] and as an artist [Affiliate Link]. Most of his own stuff is PWYW, so at least give him a dollar on any of his PDFs. They are definitely worth it.

This is very simple, a random generator via a spreadsheet or other simple random list picker could generate lizards, wizards, and loot for pre-gens and one shots. However, I think half the fun would be rolling up a lizard on the spot to see what you get. Online play, such as with Roll20 would also be quick. I’d rather play this with a group around a table.

A fun little game that I look forward to playing someday.

RPGs

Stars Without Number Revised Edition Mini Review

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Stars Without Number: Revised Edition [Affiliate Link] is the result of a Kickstarter to fund a second/revised edition of the rules that are backwards compatible with the original. Kevin Crawford is the man behind Stars Without Number, and in my opinion, is the best at running RPG Kickstarters. I backed this Kickstarter personally, and am extremely pleased with how well he ran it.

The Right Way To Run An RPG Kickstarter.

On the Kickstarter front, Kevin had a plan and worked his plan to his advantage. He had the artists lined up and had a spreadsheet to track each step of each artist’s work on each picture they were contracted. He tracked drafts, revisions, due dates, payments, etc. The end result for the art, thanks to a stretch goal, is that the complete art is available for free for both personal and commercial use, in the Art Pack [Affiliate Link]. He set a goal to raise enough money to buy the complete rights to the art, and he has given it away! He also did that with the original.

When I say Kevin had a plan, I mean it. It is also something he shares with others. He wrote about it in his zine The Sandbox #1 [Affiliate Link]. He directly mentions that he has a process for running a Kickstarter. He also has a total catastrophe plan, and if he does not deliver 100% by the day he said he would, he will refund all the money. This will only happens if he dies. Well we needn’t worry, it completed today, a month and a half before the delivery deadline.

I think everyone who wants to run a Kickstarter should get the first edition of his zine, and use that to build a plan. The big secret is having the writing done, and lining up the artwork, printing, and fulfillment process up front.

What’s In The Kickstarter?

Obviously the revised rules. There is a whole section on the Kickstarter page about what is changing and what is being added. The rules came as a PDF to all backers, and he added ebook formats of mobi and epub. The PDF is in a lightweight format with smaller resolution art, and the full quality art. There is a form fillable PDF character sheet in the rule, and Kevin separated it into its own PDF. Plus there is the GM screen with all the tables pertinent to running a session.

The artwork is gorgeous! Don’t take my word for it, the art is available for free! [Affiliate Link] The first image in the GM screen PDF hit the right spot for me. See the image below. This is the portion of the image I was greeted with when I first opened the PDF for the GM screen. WOW! My monitor is set so I have to look up just a bit, adding to the feeling of awe.

There is a PDF with a picture of all the art with the name of the artist under it. All 28 illustrations come in tif format, meaning full color and ready to print! The only requirement for using this royalty free art is to credit the original artist. Free pictures of star fields, nebula, and other astronomical objects from NASA help add to the awesomeness of this project.

First Page SWN GM Screen by Aaron Lee
First Page SWN GM Screen by Aaron Lee

The book is a hefty 321 pages with a gorgeous cover, good quality paper that is easy to read – the background art sticks to the edges away from the text.

Finally, Kevin offered a code for all backers to get a monster tome with all of his previously published material for SWN. This tome was only available to backers. I wasn’t going to spend the $100 to get this 1009 page beast of a book, but I relented and added it to my collection. This is even bigger than the 609 page 2nd edition Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea [Affiliate Link] that is bigger than the DCC [Affiliate Link] rule book.

If you want to see an actual play, Adam Koebel ran a game that is on YouTube. He also had episodes just for the GM. I have only watched the session 0/character creation video, and the first GM video on the faction turn. Having the PDF of the rules available for free is a low bar for jumping into the game. The only difference between the free and full rules is the art.

The Mini Review.

Gorgeous art, with a science fiction setting built in, tables for system and session generation. Lots of cool ideas that can be used in any game. The original edition had rules for a faction turn, which remain. I really like the idea of multi-system spanning corporations and other organizations seeking to control things. It has been described as the GM’s turn between sessions. While the ideas are not totally portable to all genres, it has a framework that gives you something to think about.

The system is based on the standard six abilities from D&D. While much is familiar, there are minor differences. Initiative is with a d8, for example. I was really impressed with the original edition, and I bought the PDF a while back. I decided to back the Kickstarter, when I learned of it.

I’ll be running a session of SWN at Gary Con X in March, and I will be digging in to all of the materials I now have in my hands as I polish and tighten the scenario. If you are interested, you can sign up for event #222 Raid on The Space Vikings. I got inspired last year when I read H. Beam Piper’s Space Vikings.

After a more in depth reading of what I have, I can post a more in-depth review. There is a lot here, and if you are a fan of science fiction, or like the ideas in random tables to add to your GM toolkit, you can’t go wrong with the free rules. Although I recommend you buy the full rules to support the creator.

Kevin has done many other games, and game supplements. Check them out at his website, Sine Nomine Publishing, or click the link for his products at OBS and see what else he has done.

RPGs

The Black Hack – A Review

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I am finally reviewing The Black Hack.

A few months back nearly two years ago, I did a review of The Front, before I understood that it was based on The Black Hack. Much of what I liked in The Front are mechanics from The Black Hack.

I backed the Kickstarter for The Black Hack and have had the items to fulfill it for several weeks over a year.

I am pleased with the book, setting, and other things that came with it.

The mechanics are as stripped down as you can get. There are the usual stats with 3d6, but then you do a d20 stat check to do anything. Roll under the ability score on the d20. Combat is quick. The players roll to hit their opponents and roll to dodge attacks. The GM doesn’t have to roll any dice if they don’t want to.

When you use an item, you roll a usage die to see if you use up any of your supplies. An item is assigned a usage die, for example, if it is a d8 for arrows and you shoot and roll a 1, your die type goes down to a d6. As long as you don’t roll a 1, you maintain the usage die. That is, you still have arrows. If you roll a 1 on the d6, it goes to d4. If you roll a 1 on the d4, you are out of arrows. I really like this concept. I suppose you could use other dice, like the d7, d5, and d3, but that just complicates it.

What You Get

  • 2 Rulebooks, each less than 20 pages, digest sized
  • GM screen, 3 panels, digest sized
    • This was a stretch goal.
  • Module/Setting, 4 pages
    • Normal sheet of paper sized cardstock folded to be digest size.
    • It has a die drop table for locations in town and tables to add flavor.
    • It discusses how to create a sandbox for that style of play.
    • This was also a stretch goal.
  • 12 character sheets
    • This was a stretch goal.

There is a robust community on G+ and there is a plethora of *Hack games for different genres. Rad Hack for post apocalyptic, for example. There is at least one such *Hack for every genre, and some have multiple efforts where many have decided to put their spin on it.

You can’t get more streamlined than this other than limiting the number of abilities and dice. This is taking OSR to the extreme in minimalism. One could probably reduce the essence of Black Hack to a page or two. I don’t know if anyone has tried.

There are rumblings about a version 2, but I have not followed those closely.

I have yet to run or play Black Hack. So far, I have only ran The Front at a couple of conventions.

Since this is a rules light system, that is what I like about it. It takes the familiar and boils it down to the essentials. Other rules light systems have boiled down to different essentials. I like it for what it is. Not having put the system through its paces across multiple sessions as a player and GM, I can’t think of anything that is missing.

If you are interested in getting the rules out of the way of playing the game, this may be what you’re looking for.

RPGs

The ABCs of RPGs – Review

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I backed this Kickstarter and ordered two of the books, one for me, and one for my granddaughter. She loves this book! It even won an Ennie in 2017!

The art is cool and the story gets the concepts of RPGs across to little ones.

My granddaughter really likes Chris, the owlbear. It is really cute the way she says owlbear.

I really like this book. It is a board book, so it is really good for reading to your little ones before they are ready to read. It teaches the alphabet while espousing how cool RPGs are. There is one page where the lettering blends in a bit with the art behind it, so I always have trouble with the page in low light.

I also got the coloring book and stickers. I got the coloring book for me. My old eyes just can’t handle the lines. Even with glasses, I have to get really close to make sure I go on the side of the line I want. That isn’t as much fun as I thought it’d be because older eyes. Now I get why my parents and grandparents couldn’t see certain things.

I doubt my granddaughter will have siblings, but my youngest son shared some news a few weeks ago that grandchild number two is on its way!

Time to head over to Hunter’s Books to get another copy!

You can get the PDF of the book on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link].

You can get the PDF of the activity book on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link].

RPGs

Oath of the Frozen King – Review

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Adventure Kit: Oath of the Frozen King by Absolute Tabletop, is a D&D 5e compatible adventure funded by Kickstarter. It is billed as being the middle ground between a full featured published adventure and your own table top notes, that they call Adventure Kits.

What’s An Adventure Kit?

The concept of Adventure Kits is a framework with the general idea and some main points for GMs that like to improv. Tables are provided to help fill in some of these pieces. It allows the GM to randomly generate, or use the ideas in the provided tables to take the general idea for the adventure and craft it to their own style and that of their players.

They use a die-drop table with the six standard dice to generate the relative position of each encounter location. The result of each die influences the specifics of the encounter in that location. For example, the d4 is the Hall of Bone and Ice and there are 4 different things that can be encountered there. The result is a six room dungeon, as is seen later with the battle maps.

If you don’t want the adventure set in the frozen tundra, they have a d8 table with how to re-skin it for any environment.

They introduce a new notation, such as d12³, which means roll a d12 three times. This is first seen on a table with twelve rows and three columns. The intent is to roll a d12 for each column. To yield more than the initial 12 options, there are 12x12x12 or 1,728 combinations of possible quests mixed in this adventure.

Next is a table of six potential twists to tweak things so it isn’t so cut and dried.

Then a d20 table of twenty possible motivations for the PCs to be here.

The Locations are defined by two sentences, then 3 bullet points for each of the sights, sounds, and sensations in that location.

The encounters are classed as: roleplay, combat, skill challenge, puzzle/trap, and environmental hazard. Each encounter has 3 or 4 bold type phrases to describe an aspect of the encounter. Until the encounters, there is no ruleset specific terminology. This makes it very easy to run this with any ruleset.

The NPCs presented are just descriptions and traits, no stats, again making this easy to use across various rules.

Monsters that are presented have some very basic stats related to HP & AC and damage.

Next are some things to think about for resolutions and rewards, with ideas to wrap up the adventure, extend the adventure into an ongoing campaign, and repercussions in the future. There are tables for repercussions and relations, treasure, social rewards, and ties that bind. These are all good ideas for things to keep in mind when adventurers do something, there are always unexpected and unintended consequences.

There are 18 pages of tables in what is called the Toolbox, which can be used to further modify the adventure. Various details, phrases, set details, loot, hazards, trinkets, locations, sights, sounds, sensations, encounters, monster generation, skill challenges, trap generator, and NPC generator, all of which can be used for modding other adventures.

The conclusion is a short story to set the tone and mood.

What I Liked:

  • A loosely defined default setting, with encouragement to use your own, or another.
  • The use of the die-drop table to configure the locations used in the adventure.
    • The page devoted to explaining how this die-drop table works.
      • It is graphical, so makes it very clear how to use it.
  • The various tables to tweak the different aspects of the adventure.
    • One can read all the options in a given table and pick the one that is the most interesting.
  • The tables in the Toolbox.
    • All of the tables they use give a lot of ideas for crafting your own tables, or using them to make your own adventures.

What I’d Like to See:

  • Hyperlinks in the Table of Contents.
  • More options for the die-drop tables.
    • There are only four options on each table, why not just use a bunch of d4s? I’d prefer to see one option for each possible number on a given die.
    • This is very minor. I know well the challenges of coming up with good options for tables.

Conclusion:

I find this to be a helpful way to build an adventure for sale to the masses. It has enough detail that you can run it without much effort, and you can tweak it to suit your style of play. Almost all of the tables can be used on their own.  This is a great example of how little information one needs to run an adventure. For those GMs that need all the details ready to run, this may not be for them.

The PDF is available on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] for $9.95.

RPGs

Archive – Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs – a Review

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Archive – Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs is a Kickstarter funded book. by Molten Sulfer Press. It is a high quality paperback with full color photographs and art. 80 people, places, and events from ancient to modern times are presented with the known historical facts, and each topic ends with a section on how it could be used in a roleplaying game.

I backed this because I love history, I have a B.A. in History, and knew of some of the items included, but having the bare facts at my fingertips without having to get lost in Wikipedia appealed to me.

What I Liked:

  • It is well presented with a cover to set the tone.
  • The physical construction of the book is quite solid for a 266 page paperback. The quality of the paper contributes to its heft.
  • The table of contents breaks down to these categories to help you find the type of information you want.
    • Landscapes
    • Cities, Towns, and Buildings
    • Events
    • People
  • The photographs and art convey much more than each short entry.
  • The concept.
    • The idea of collecting this type of information illustrates what I, and others in the OSR and beyond say about where we get our inspiration. We get it from everything we have ever seen, done, or read.
  • There is a PDF, making for searchable text, or you can print out what you need for the table.
    • Both the Table of Contents, and the Index have hyperlinks.

What I’d Like to See:

  • More
    • More articles, however what is contained in this book have enough ideas for more than 80 pieces of a campaign. It would take years to exhaust the suggestions here.

The PDF is available on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] for $15.00.