JOURNEY TO RAEDWALD

 Lee Reynoldson has written a fantastic grim and gritty Saxon setting!  This is not your high fantasy skipping elves and all powerful wizards...this is mud, blood, backstabbing and brutal deeds by characters with nothing to lose! RAEDWALD REQUIRES the HEROES & OTHER WORLDS rulebook to play!

You can purchase RAEDWALD now and if you use promo code LULUEMP2013 you can get 40% off!  I used the code a few minutes ago to order hard copies so it works, but I do not know for how long nor can I guarantee it works in every country, sorry.

All the best to you and yours this holiday season!

Raedwald is nearly complete

Lee Reynoldson's outlaw Anglo-Saxon scum setting for Heroes & Other Worlds...coming soon!

Retrospective: Pocket Full of Peril

Wow how time flies...a little more than 3 years ago a little adventure idea came to life thanks to a re-working of module B2  by Ze Bulette and the geomorphology goodness from Dyson Logos and A.J. at Stonewerks.

The concept (which I still use) is an adventure condensed down to an index card sized overview.  Just the basic bits necessary to have an adventure are included! 

Anyway for those not around at the time, those looking for inspiration, or those who wish to take a trip down amnesia lane here are links to the original six Pockets Full of Peril.

http://swordandshieldrpg.blogspot.com/2010/11/pocket-full-of-peril.html

http://swordandshieldrpg.blogspot.com/2010/12/pocket-full-of-peril-2.html

http://swordandshieldrpg.blogspot.com/2010/12/pocket-full-of-peril-3.html

http://swordandshieldrpg.blogspot.com/2010/12/pocket-full-of-peril-4.html

http://swordandshieldrpg.blogspot.com/2010/12/pocket-full-of-peril-5.html

http://swordandshieldrpg.blogspot.com/2011/01/pocket-full-of-peril-6.html

Batman? Lennie James

This isn't anything to do with Ben Afleck hating...what it has to do with is who is the best actor who could play Batman the way I read him, the way I hear his voice, the way he carries himself, and the way he is menacing and threatening with single glance or word but driven and fiercely intelligent...the actor who best embodies the Dark Knight detective is British actor Lennie James.

 If you have seen the Walking Dead...especially last season's BEST episode "Clear" then you have some idea of the intensity and talent Mr. James brings to the screen.  Didn't see it or don't like zombies stuff? Go over to Netfilx and check out the TV series Jericho. For two seasons Mr. James was THE reason to watch that show and you will get a much better idea of his range as an actor.  Want to see a more recent and  take on his talents? Check out the AMC series Low Winter Sun.

In all of these, and many more, Mr. James is able to pull off not only the necessary requisites of disarming charm of a Bruce Wayne, and an Eastwood like menace and strength with a simple look...but as importantly he clearly conveys intense, single-minded, driven intelligence that is often missing from a more rounded and I'd say proper vision of Batman. 

Like most everyone else we kicked around in our social circles who could be Batman...and once I came up with Lennie James it just clicked for everyone.  There were takeaways from everyone else mentioned, Mr. James was the only actor who everyone agreed could pull off all the dimensions of Batman and would give a script writer something to work with beyond gadgets and special effects.

If you've seen Mr James's skills on screen, you know he could do it...and if you haven't? Brother you are in for a treat.

What does #1 mean?

According to ICV2 Pathfinder is the #1 selling RPG and it has been the #1 line for the last year.

Top 5 Roleplaying Games – Spring 2013
	Title	Publisher
1	Pathfinder	Paizo Publishing
2	Dungeons & Dragons	Wizards of the Coast
3	Star Wars	Fantasy Flight Games
4	Iron Kingdoms	Privateer Press
5	Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader/Deathwatch	Fantasy Flight Games

Top 5 Roleplaying Games – Fall 2012
	Title	Publisher
1	Pathfinder	Paizo Publishing
2	Star Wars	Fantasy Flight Games
3	Dungeons & Dragons	Wizards of the Coast
4	Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader/Deathwatch	Fantasy Flight Games
5	Iron Kingdoms	Privateer Press

Top 5 Roleplaying Games – Summer 2012
	Title	Publisher
1	Pathfinder	Paizo Publishing
2	Dungeons & Dragons	Wizards of the Coast
3	Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader/Deathwatch	Fantasy Flight Games
4	Dragon Age	Green Ronin Publishing
5	Dungeon Crawl Classics	Goodman Games

Top 5 Roleplaying Games – Spring 2012
	Title	Publisher
1	Pathfinder	Paizo Publishing
2	Dungeons & Dragons	Wizards of the Coast
3	Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader/Deathwatch	Fantasy Flight Games
4	Dragon Age	Green Ronin Publishing
5	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying	Margaret Weis Productions

According to Inc. Paizo Publishing is ranked #2370 of the top 5000 list.

2013 STATISTICS

Rank: 2370

3-year growth:152%

2012 Revenue:$11.2 million

2009 Revenue:$4.4 million

Web site:Paizo.com

Employees: 42

Jobs added, prev. 3 years:17

Founded: 2002

Location:Redmond, WA

Industry: Retail

There is quite a bit of information and speculation to be gleaned from these simple information bits. This kind of information should also help explain why Hasbro is expanding the license of D&D continually into boardgames, lego like toys, video games and other non-rpg fields.

How Dungeons & Dragons Gave Birth to the Modern Video Game Industry

New Book by David M. Ewalt

 Video Interview with Author

Hiatus

I've enjoyed blogging for the past couple of years.  I credit the whole OSR thing for reigniting my love of these games from ember to flame once again. Its inspired me to create my own various games and I look forward to seeing how those further develop and expand.

It's no secret I am not a d20 devotee.  I love the creative output and interesting support materials created around the system as they are very inspiring, but I just can't dig the core system for regular play no matter how much I try.  I am not saying its inherently bad or system X is SO MUCH better, I'm just saying it doesn't fit how I like to play.

As the overwhelming majority of blogs and sites are focused on d20 stuff, I just don't have anything really to add or wow you with, if indeed I ever really did.

So adieu for now. I will still be active elsewhere doing my own thing, but for now I don't really have anything to say on this blog except goodbye and thank you.

Become a Hero, Blackmarsh awaits!

Robert S. Conley's Blackmarsh setting is a perfect introduction to sandbox game play. I am a big fan of it, and fortunately he okayed a new version for my own TFT inspired game Heroes & Other Worlds.

I adapted Robert's work to work with my game and included two mini adventures as well as some handy charts and additional information for hexcrawling in the Blackmarsh environment.

You can get an art free PDF or an "artified" digest sized paperback from lulu.com. 

Just click on the Heroes & Other Worlds image to your right to go get it now. Haven't bought Heroes & Other Worlds yet?  Well now is a great time! You get 20% off your purchase on lulu.com using the code JANBOOKS13.

Special thanks to Robert S. Conley for his creativity and kindness, thanks to E.P. Donahue for his illustrative creativity, thanks to A.J. Stone for his cartographic wizardry, thanks to my wife for her patience, creativity and love, and thanks to God for making it all possible.  Game on!

OSR 2.0, is this a thing?

I read a recent post on Mesmerized by Sirens about OSR 2.0, and how it is beginning. He lists a number of new/old school games out or coming out.  This is kind of like what happened with the original D&D.  T&T never went away really but the interest in the new reprint edition is really strong.  Is this the start of broader OSR game base growing? Are we entering a new OSR wave of games?  (modified logo from Zenopus Archives.)

TFT: Dare to Compare

Robert Saint John has just posted a masterful piece of work.  In it he compares all the different iterations of the Fantasy Trip based systems from Melee to Dragons of the Underearth, to Legends of the Ancient World to my own wee game Heroes & Other Worlds. It is an excellent resource looking at a complete history of the system and a comparison of the different versions spawned by a very sensible and simple game system.  Better yet, it includes URL links to the various systems or sites so if you see something you like, you can link right to it! This is quite a great piece of work and I highly recommend it!

Note GURPS is not on here as it went its own way, but you may or may not, find that an omission.

Back from the dead

Heroes & Other Worlds is back up for sale and you can get 20% off in January using the promo code

JANBOOKS13

That code works on ebook or hard copy!

Thanks for your patience, now back to adventure time!

Next on my list is to convert Robert Conley's BLACKMARSH setting to Heroes & Other Worlds format, add some bits and bobs, and get it out!

Strange?

For some reason Lulu has sent me the following message regrading print copies of Heroes & Other Worlds:

It has come to our attention there has been a problem fulfilling an order. Please be patient while we investigate the issue. We will contact you within 2 to 3 business days with the next steps. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and would like to assure you that the issue will be handled as quickly as possible with the utmost care.

No idea what the issue is or may be.  For the time being I am taking down the purchasing until the issue is resolved...or at least until I get some idea of what's going on.