Shameless Plug!

My business partner and I, for our joint birthday gift a couple weeks ago, brought to life a new company called Beta|Read.

It is a fiction manuscript review and accreditation service. A cheap but welcome birthday gift idea for us: Visit our Facebook page and give it a "LIKE." In lieu of cake, please share the page with your fiction author friends and tell them about us!

Thanks in advance!

https://facebook.com/betareadreview

http://www.betaread.com/

Three days left and it's getting close! C'mon, gamer friends...jump aboard!

Even if you're Old School, there's still a lot of great inspiration here...crunch, fluff...whatever your particular slant...there's plenty there to use in your game: old school or new.

Look: I'll tell you the truth...I don't enjoy a lot of plane hopping. BUT...this book has changed my mind, at least enough to incorporate it into my own campaigns.

Trust me on this one...the art is spectacular and the content is amazing, and is being produced by some of the great talents in the biz. GO AND PLEDGE TODAY. They're LITERALLY THIS CLOSE... [NOTE: My fingers are really, really close together.]

DISCLAIMER: I am receiving NOTHING in return for my signal boost, other than the chance to have my pledge fulfilled.

Don't wait; act now! Make your pledge HERE.

Do it. You won't be disappointed.

Planar Kickstarter Goodness!

Hello, my friends:

 

There's a terrific Kickstarter winding up this week, just about $4,000 remaining.

 

A marvelously beautiful and elegant product, supporting Plane-jumping and Planar adventure of any/every kind.

The City of Seven Seraphs has some magnificently huge names attached to it: art, writing, mechanics.

Not only that, but there are some incredible stretch goals that are easily within reach.

Don't wait; act now! Make your pledge HERE. 

You won't be disappointed. I've been allowed to see some of the inside stuff and have had some great conversations with the person behind the project. I know some of my readers aren't in to 3.x stuff...but the ideas and concepts in this book are well worth the purchase, I can assure you of that.

[From the Mailbag] Pre-School Happiness

Here I thought I'd actually get a summer vacation. Little did I know that my new profession/career choice would take a drastic chunk out of the hoped-for much-needed vacay.

Turns out that 11 out of the past 15 work days? Yeah...spent in faculty- and pre-first-day-of-school meetings. 8 hours per day. Very little time to set up my classroom. (Monday and Tuesday of this week, actually.)

But Friday when I crawled into the house, i found a little something courtesy of the Manor.  +Tim Shorts  pulled off another miracle.  Two amazing micro-adventures and a great NPC. And since we're playing this weekend, I'm gonna throw these at my players. THANKS, TIM!

Now...back to my keyboard.  Had an inspiration for a new caster class... it should be making an appearance in the next Stronghold 'Zine!

[From the Mailbag] Happy Monday Goodies!

I decided today that I need to sweep the leaves accumulated at the door of the Stronghold and clear some dust from my head. It's been a LONG time, relatively.

Changing careers at mid-life is difficult; it's even worse when dealing with depression and some medical issues as well. Walking away from 20 years of legal education/experience and deciding to go back to school and get a teaching certificate has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life.

Let's see: what else to catch up on? The 5E campaign was interesting, to say the least...except it died, badly. A DM trying to run two groups of 5 each. Other than my 35+ years, and the DM's experience (He's 20-something years old), NO ONE had ever played before. It devolved from every day, to every other day, to maybe once a week... Needless to say no one's made a peep since the first of June. So...I'm pretty sure it's dead.

Now to plug some new game stuff:

First of all: a shipment of goodies from the Manor. +Tim Shorts   can always be relied on to make a day better and to produce amazing stuff. Today's envelope of joy is no different.

• The Ghoul Nest: a laminated card with a great side adventure and a unique monster. I think I'll have to drop this into my family game. My kids don't face enough undead in their gaming.
• NPC Card: Blake, a 4th-level mage. A great resource, complete with stats and backstory.
• Death Coins: a Micro-Adventure. Comes complete with a great map, great magic items, and a compelling story. I can't wait to drop this one on my group; it's just enough—at face value—for a good night's worth of adventuring, but could be used as the basis for a much longer adventure or the kick-off for a campaign.

I would highly recommend signing up for Tim's Patreon campaign so that you can get this great stuff for yourselves: www.patreon.com/Gothridge. Go there. Now.

Wait...don't leave yet. Also in the mail was the fulfillment of a Kickstarter that I've greatly anticipated: Planet Mercenary Based on the webcomic "Schlock Mercenary" by Howard Tayler and set in that universe, it came with some great add-ons and looks ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. The ruleset was written by Alan Bahr and Howard Tayler.... I'll be honest...father-type stuff has kept me from cracking it open yet, so I can't give you a review yet. Knowing Alan's gaming cred with +Gallant Knight, and knowing his experience (most recently: "Tiny Frontiers" and "Tiny Frontiers: Mecha and Monsters"), I'm sure it's going to be terrific. It's already gotten some great reviews, including one from Steve Jackson.

And now, it's time for dinner, then settle down in the 100º-plus-temperatures to plan some characters' imminent demise.

First Foray Into 5E

I'm just going to leave this here.

Illus: Andrew Hale, in Heroes of High Favor: Dwarves

And my wife wants to play as well....

Illus: Magnuson24 "Elven Ranger"  on DeviantArt

I'll see you all on the other side...

Carnage

This morning, at 12:50 a.m. I started up my truck and texted my wife that I was on my way home. It was our monthly D&D night. I'd loaded my >koff< pounds worth of minis in the bed of the truck and had scraped off the snow.

Fifteen minutes later, I entered an intersection only a couple blocks from home. A 19-year-old was speeding down the hill and ran the red light. I looked up and saw him just before he entered the intersection. I had enough time to think, "Oh s**t. He's not stopping," before I was tossed around like a rag doll, in spite of my seatbelt.

Thank heavens for my seatbelt.

Thank heavens for my Silverado 2500 HD.

That steel cage saved my life. I walked away. The other guy went to the hospital in an ambulance. I have no idea about his status; I truly hope he's well.

I'm pretty sure he didn't even see the light. He never braked. There were no skid marks at the scene.

He slammed into my front passenger wheel, then spun and bounced into my rear passenger corner. He turned my truck sideways, then continued to spin another 180°. He was seriously moving, at least 10 mph over the limit I'm guessing.

I'm shaken up, but OK. Sore this morning, obviously. Moving VERY slowly.

His car (a Chevy Malibu)—make that his step-dad's car—is totaled. My truck is likely totaled; I'm thinking the frame was seriously twisted.

 He hit with enough force to drive my two HEAVY boxes (one a footlocker) full of minis from the tailgate, the length of the bed and up onto a pile of sandbags. Broke the footlocker, too, in the process.

My reason for posting all this? I was nearly home, after an enjoyable night out with my friends. It's something and someplace we all experience on a regular basis. I may not have made it home last night. I keep thinking about how angry I was with one of my kids when I left the house yesterday afternoon. How I left things with my friends, my co-workers, et cetera.

Hope you all are well on this Saturday morning. I'm grateful for you all. 

Cherish every moment you have, my friends. Take the time to appreciate your loved ones and let them know how you feel. As an eloquent friend of mine told me this morning, "You never know, kids. Cherish the now. Be careful out there."

[From the Mailbag] Treats from The Manor

Came home today to find a surprise from +Tim Shorts . A bad day made much better for these maps.

Already planning on fitting these into the current campaign. Judgement of the Crow has some positively E-VIL potential.

If you aren't following Tim on Patreon, you really should be. If you do, you can get great stuff like this in your OWN mailbox. Check him out at https://www.patreon.com/gothridge

[Inktober 2016] Day 29—The Tombs of Jarra Cavernfire

The Tombs of Jarrra Cavernfire

(keyword: secret)

The tombs of this ancient Dwarven queen appear simple at first: three sarcophagi and three massive coffers,  emptied long ago . A secret door leads to an empty chamber; a priceless repeater hangs in the far wall. The floor is warded: any creature(s) that cross 3/4 of the floor fall through the floor 50' down to a floor of spikes. If the party contains a Dwarven priest (LG), the floor instead solidifies and tilts downward, revealing a surprise.

A series of rooms hold the remains of Jarra's Priestesses, piles of weapons, and coffers filed with treasure. Beware: other deadly traps and invasive vermin are in these lower halls.

A hardy and intrepid party will find its way to the grand hexagonal sarcophagus of Jarra herself. If she is disturbed, she will quickly rise to wreak her vengeance.

[Inktober 2016] Day 28—The Salamander's Cavern

The Salamander's Cavern

(keyword: burn)

After following a narrow, winding tunnel a mile or more, the party finds themselves in an air pocket.* Far beneath them flows the life-blood of the Mountain God—a river of magma.

Across a narrow bridge arching over the river is the dwelling place of an aged but cunning salamander. In a natural pool, magma bubbles. A steep ledge is where the creature sleeps.

The cavern is also home to three magmin, minions of the salamander. If approached/attacked, they will do whatever is necessary to herd their foes into either the pool or over the edge and into the molten river. The intense heat in the cavern makes it difficult for surface dwellers to breath and will weaken them physically.

*(As this is a grand cavern, the scale should be at least 1 ■ = 10'.)

[Inktober 2016] Day 27—The Lair of the Dark Folk

The Lair of the Dark Folk

(keyword: creepy)

A crumbling ruin at the ed of a dark, filthy alleyway hides a long, steep, winding stairway. Once leading to an underground hideaway of a minor noble, it now leads to the disgusting lair of a small tribe of dark folk; both dark creepers and a dark stalker reside here.

The walls, ceilings, and floors are coated and misshapen with trash and filth. The dark ones move quickly in their habitat; all others must move at half-speed or slower to avoid tripping or sliding. If someone falls, there is a 50% chance of an injury (1d4 + disease).

Ten creepers nest in the crannies of the main floor, while one stalker and six more creepers nest on the lower level.

[Inktober 2016] Day 26—The Warehouse of Amon'ley

I'll be damned if I'll let Inktober 2016 win. I lost enough in 2016 and endured enough pain and heartache to lose one more thing. I don't care that it's 2017. In my map book, it's no longer 2016 but not quite 2017.

 The Warehouse of Amon'ley

(Keyword: box)

This massive warehouse stores countless arcane treasures. The labyrinth of crates and barrels—some stacked 60' high—makes it nearly impossible to catalog the items mixed in with the mundane wares. Only Amon'ley knows where everything is, and he keeps it all in his head.

There is one entrance: through a massive sliding metal door, although Amon'ley has a portal in his small office. Two guard stations with archery slits flank the door.

Amon'ley uses the services of a huge half-demon ogre to lift and move the crates, periodically rearranging the crates to prevent any covert attempts to catalog.