Thought Eater Podcast: The Willy the Wizard Show

My daughter and I put this short skit together based on characters from our D&D campaign. Meet Elizabeth the Fighter and Willy the Wizard. Short and very silly.

LISTEN HERE!

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

Rest in Peace, James Smith

I am so horribly saddened to hear that James Smith of the awesome, essential Dreams of Mythic Fantasy blog has passed. His family made a post with a link to his obituary HERE.

Some people try to be cool. Some people are cool without trying. James was the latter. James was always awesome in every interaction I ever had with him. Always. His passion for old-school gaming and the way he treated others was an inspiration to me.

My heart goes out to his family and friends. James, thank you for all you did. There is a hole in the OSR.

Humpday Blog-O-Rama 4.10.19

Blogs are an integral, vital part of the RPG hobby. They serve as incubators for new games, sounding boards for fresh ideas, and platforms for up-and-coming talent. They keep "forgotten" games alive, foster discussions, and build communities. Not everyone can work for a big game company, command a large audience on Twitch, or make a living from their art or cartography, but every RPG enthusiast can easily create a blog and start sharing their passion with the world.

Every Wednesday on the Thought Eater podcast and blog, I take a look at what is going on in the vibrant RPG blog scene. Check out previous Humpday Blog-O-Rama posts HERE.



LISTEN TO THIS WEEK'S EPISODE HERE!



LINKS FROM THIS WEEK'S EPISODE


MAPS

https://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2019/04/figuring-out-scale-of-viridstans-map.html

https://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/2019/04/stuff-dungeons-of-morthimion.html

http://bearded-devil.com/2019/04/09/how-i-run-a-citycrawl-campaign/



APRIL A-Z

http://www.kjd-imc.org

https://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com

https://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/

http://punverse.blogspot.com

https://mythopoeicrambling.wordpress.com/2019/04/05/aprils-past/



REVIEWS

http://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/review/the-black-hack

http://zedecksiew.tumblr.com/post/183933450206

https://www.indygaming.com/video-astonishing-swordsmen-and-sorcerers-of-hyperborea-collection/

http://psychicmayhem.blogspot.com/2019/04/review-stranger-things-d-roleplaying.html



SAVE (G+) OR DIE

https://spoutinglore.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-g-archives.html



RANDOM TABLES

https://randroll.com/archive/random_realms_chartopia/

https://chartopia.d12dev.com/search/



VARIANTS

http://retiredadventurer.blogspot.com/2019/04/flipping-core-mechanic-of-mythras.html

http://themansegaming.blogspot.com/2019/04/50-methods-of-balancing-magic-in-your.html

https://thewanderingalchemist.com/2019/04/03/year-of-4e-minions/



MISCELLANY



https://wanderinggamist.blogspot.com/2019/04/notes-from-hiking-seminar.html

http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2019/04/stats-saturday-ad-wandering-monster.html

https://phantomrollbooth.blogspot.com/2019/04/help-im-cheating-at-d.html

https://boggswood.blogspot.com/2019/04/thoughts-on-arnesons-armor-class.html

https://dmdavid.com/tag/the-history-of-traps-in-dungeons-dragons/

http://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-laymans-guide-to-hard-sci-fi-and-200.html



ZINES ZINES ZINES

http://www.slackernerds.com/2019/04/nuggets-2-is-live.html
https://anchor.fm/rich-fraser/

http://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/2019/04/zine-echoes-from-fomalhaut-05-lost.html

http://natetreme.com/blog/2019/3/19/join-the-pamphlet-dungeon-game-jam-this-april

https://itch.io/jam/pamphletjam

http://oldskulling.blogspot.com/2019/04/lost-in-fantasy-world-and-maze-of-many.html

http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2019/03/3fold-dungeons.html
http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2019/04/more-pix-of-my-3fold-dungeons.html

https://frothsofdnd.blogspot.com/2019/04/check-out-my-free-osr-zine.html


If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

Thought Eater Podcast: Night Below Session Recap 4.7.19

Sundays on the Thought Eater podcast, I recap the events of my Saturday night 1e/BX Night Below campaign. The Night Below is an absolutely MASSIVE 2e-era box set, often started, seldom finished.

If you haven't listened to my Sunday show before, this is a really good one to jump in on, as I do a campaign overview at the beginning to catch new listeners up. 

LISTEN HERE

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

Free and PWYW 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 4.6.19

Every week, talented creators upload products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers. Dozens of new free and pwyw products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve. You can find previous posts in this series HERE.



The Grand Library from Star Shine

Ok, I am pretty good at coming up with NPC names. Taverns? Sure, I'm serviceable. But let me get my players into a library or study full of books and my mind goes blank. If you are like me, you are going to love this supplement. This is more than just a list of book names. Everything from cookbooks to instruction manuals are detailed. It even assigns rarity! Definitely one for the ol' DM kit.



Antonia Lupri's Ravenloft Cookbook from Mistfactor Press, Libedrator Earl, and Anne Gregersen

Speaking of cookbooks, here we have a unique supplement detailing a Ravenloft NPC with a penchant for odd recipes. Black Pudding Pudding, anyone? Or would you prefer the Honey Glazed Stirge Wings? Includes side quests, maps of her tavern, and a handout.



Bowl of Sin: Hope from Taylor Seely-Wright

Ultra-bleak "brutal boss rush adventure" set in a dormant volcano. Bring an extra PC.



Archetypes for Weirdos: 36 Homebrew Subclasses from Jordan Allen

Idiosyncratic collection of borderline-gonzo archetypes for all core classes. Play a druid from the Circle of the Cactus, swear by the Oath of the Bartender, or make a grim living as a Black Market Surgeon rogue. The cartoonish artwork adds to the unusual feel of this one.



If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

CHECK OUT MY FREE OSR ZINE!

I am super excited to share a little project that I have been working on. This is a print-and-fold, "pocketmod" OSR zine, hopefully the first of many that I will be producing. I am calling it Psionic Platypus. Issue #1 is available for free/pay-what-you-want right now on DriveThru!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PSIONIC PLATYPUS #1

This first issue features the mini-adventure "Cruelty Cave of the Mumbling Mouther", and includes art from Evlyn Moreau and Claytonian JP, with a map from Eneko Menica. US Letter and A4 sizes are available for download. Just print, fold, and...hopefully enjoy! If you like it, please help me get the word out by sharing it with others.

I am aiming to do these monthly, but we will see how it goes. Issue #2 is already in the works, and features a dungeon crawl by my 7 year old daughter!

To coincide with the release of the zine, I have decided to start a Patreon. If you enjoy my blog, podcast, and/or free zine, please consider supporting me for $1 a month. My content is available for free, so this is basically a tip jar. Thank you for taking a look at it.

CLICK TO SUPPORT FROTH FOR A BUCK A MONTH

Oh, and here are some folding instructions if you have never done one of these before!

Thought Eater Podcast: The Legends Respond!

One of the cool things about podcasting on Anchor, besides the fact that they distribute your podcast automatically to a bunch of platforms for free, is that you can call-in on other shows. This has helped build a community of OSR Anchorites, a group of RPG folks who support each other and frequently call-in on each other's podcasts. It is a bit like the blog scene. You can favorite different podcasts (sort of like a blogroll) and call-in (like leaving a blog comment). It is a lot of fun, and if you have ever thought about starting a podcast, you can be up and running quickly with Anchor with no equipment needed but your phone.

On my podcast last week, I asked a hypothetical question. If there was an emergency and you only had time to grab one item from your RPG collection, what would it be? I ended up going with the WotC OD&D reprint box set from a few years back. I was curious what other Anchorites might choose, so I put the question to them as well.

This week's Friday podcast features call-ins from Logan Howard of Monster Brothers and Sword Breaker, Colin Green from Spikepit, Rob C from Down in a Heap, Rich Fraser of Cockatrice Nuggets, and Wayne Peacock from Motive. I highly recommend checking out their podcasts.

I hope you enjoy it...and maybe I will hear you on Anchor sometime!


If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

Humpday Blog-O-Rama 4.3.19

Blogs are an integral, vital part of the RPG hobby. They serve as incubators for new games, sounding boards for fresh ideas, and platforms for up-and-coming talent. They keep "forgotten" games alive, foster discussions, and build communities. Not everyone can work for a big game company, command a large audience on Twitch, or make a living from their art or cartography, but every RPG enthusiast can easily create a blog and start sharing their passion with the world.

Every Wednesday on the Thought Eater podcast and blog, I take a look at what is going on in the vibrant RPG blog scene. Check out previous Humpday Blog-O-Rama posts HERE.


LISTEN TO THIS WEEK'S EPISODE HERE




LINKS FROM THIS WEEK'S EPISODE



MAPS

https://vulpinoid.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-flotilla.html

https://footofthemountainadventures.blogspot.com/2019/04/forest-geomorffs.html

https://greyhawkery.blogspot.com/2019/03/greyhawk-mini-map-whyestil-lake.html

http://medievalcastles.stormthecastle.com/castle-floor-plans.htm

https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2019-04-01_Gridmapper_Updates



SECRET SANTICORE

http://vanishingtower.blogspot.com/2019/03/santicore-2017.html
http://santicore.blogspot.com/p/the-santicore-archives.html



RANDOM TABLES

http://blog.d4caltrops.com/2019/04/random-impedimenta-d100-single-page.html

https://dungeonspossums.blogspot.com/2019/04/pickpocketing.html

http://eldritchfields.blogspot.com/2019/03/1d6-things-that-might-happen-when-you.html

https://heavyliestheaxe.blogspot.com/2019/03/things-that-have-worked-rumour-posts.html



MISCELLANY

https://savageafterworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/diy-dead-stamps-for-mccdcc-rpgs.html

https://www.rpgmusings.com/2019/03/so-you-wanna-play-a-seafaring-dd-campaign/

https://attnam.blogspot.com/2019/03/my-nethack-anniversary.html

http://www.rpgnews.com/



INSPIRATION

https://monstersizeghost.blogspot.com/



BLOGGER HALL OF FAME: CHRISTOPHER STOGDILL OF FRUGAL GM

https://www.frugalgm.com/



GOOGLE +

https://followmeanddie.com/2019/03/30/g-the-end-and-googles-still-making-changes/

https://diyanddragons.blogspot.com/2019/03/final-bon-mots-from-dying-google-plus.html

http://hobbygamesrecce.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-gaming-eulogy-for-google-plus.html

https://surprisingly-capacious.blogspot.com/2019/03/all-pluses.html

https://frothsofdnd.blogspot.com/2019/04/goodbye-google-plus.html


If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

Goodbye Google Plus

This is from a blog post I wrote shortly after joining G+

About 4 weeks ago, I started to explore G+ more thoroughly. I had ignored it before; it just seemed like another pseudo-Facebook type deal. Come to find out, it is a gamer's paradise. Dozens of obscure, forgotten games have found a home there. New RPGs are playtested. Free materials are shared. And lots and lots of games get played.

Within the first 20 minutes, I was approached about playing a game of Boot Hill. I nearly swooned. Boot Hill? I literally do not know anyone but the local game shop owner that has even heard of it. I have had a player-in-waiting, The Albuquerque Kid, for years. Powers and Perils? Yes sir! Oriental Adventures? You don't say? Numenera? Why not? Mutant Future? Let me at it. Night's Black Agents? Holy moly! Pathfinder as far as the eye can see. D6 Star Wars. Shadows of Esteren. Dungeon Crawl Classics. Cthulhu. The opportunity to play games of all varieties is staggering.

I got to play in an OD&D game for the first time in years. I got to playtest the latest 5e packet. And the games just keep coming and coming. I don't have time to play half the games I would like to. If I had this while I was in college, I may have never graduated.

There is no real cost of entry. Most games are played on free tables, usually Roll20 being run through a Google "Hangout". You will likely need a mic, but that's about it.

Now, I am sure I sound a bit noobish to many. I am certainly late to the party, as there are already thousands and thousands of gamers taking advantage of it. All I can say is, better late than never. Anytime I want to find a game, I can pretty much just hop on, click around a bit, and find something going on. There hasn't been a day that has gone by that I haven't seen a game posted that I would love to play in.

Another bonus is that there seems to be a dearth of assholes. I am not saying they don't exist, it just seems like there is a lot less cynicism and edition-warring on G+ as opposed to the typical forum. I hope it stays that way. Everybody I have met has been cool.

Anyway, while you might be down in the dumps about not making it to GenCon for whatever reason, if what you feel like you are missing is the sheer GAMING, all I can tell you is that everyday is a convention on G+. Freelance designers share ideas, gaming companies preview materials, freebies flow like water, gaming news abounds, and most importantly, ACTUAL GAMES are going on near-constantly. So, don't just sit there feeling sorry for yourself! Get on G+ and find some games!