Review: The Teratic Tome - A Book of Horrors

(This review is also posted at RPG.net.)

Rafael Chandler hooked me up with a copy of his new monster book, the Teratic Tome (TT) and asked me to take a gander. In short: it’s excellent.

You can pick it up the PDF at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow for $6.66 (nice price) or as hardback at Lulu for $20.99. I have the PDF, but the hardback looks fantastic (more about that below).

Listed as an “OSRIC-compatible bestiary,” it is useable with any old-school D&D edit or D&D variant.

TT appears to be part of a product line called Evolved Grottoes & Griffins. At least I hope it’s going to turn into a product line, because TT is great.

There are several things that set this book apart from the sea of monster books out there.

The Cover

TT’s cover stands out. It screams old-school, but its voice sets it apart from the rest of the OSR choir. TT looks like it came out in the late 80s, during the time of the Monster Manual II, the Manual of the Planes, and the Unearthed Arcana. It reminds me of the Manual of the Planes’ astral juggernaut in particular.

The Tone

TT is horrific. This is a book full of monsters. These aren’t hit point bags meant to be mowed down by the party. These baddies will make your players say, “Ewww.” Its R-rated (at the least), but not in a cheap shock kind of way. These monsters are meant to disturb.

The interior artwork isn’t censored, so don’t leave this book out where kids can reach.

Here are a couple of examples:

The remnant “looks like a humanoid scuttling about on all fours, except that it has four arms and no legs. Stranger still, each of its four arms ends in a bloody stump.”

The nethasq is a humanoid female that “sports a glistening mass of foot-long tentacles that end in barbs and hooks” where its genitals should be. It “haunts places where women have been defiled” and “[w]hen a man enters a place that the monster has claimed for its own, he begins to seep blood from his mouth, anus, and urethra.”

Implied Setting

The monster entries hint at a setting or world or whatever you want to call it. This is like the original Monster Manual and Monster Manual II. Remember how the MM told you about how Orcus and Demogorgon hated each other? Well, in TT, you have the Demon Queen Abyzou plotting against Beleth, the Locust Perfect. Or, we learn that the agonists were “[c]reated in a rare moment of collaboration between High Devil Ahriman and the Demon Queen Abyzou” and that the “demons of Ghorom (216th layer of the Abyss) are chaotic evil monstrosities who feed on weakness and decency.”

The details are not distracting or over the top. They provide just enough to give the reader a sense of depth and motivation.

Monsters with Motivation

The monsters in the TT have motivations that are unique to say the least.

The altar beast, a “towering, wormlike entity with rubbery mauve skin that scrapes off as it undulates across the ground,” was created by a forgotten god of matrimony. What does that mean? That means it “preys upon those who dissolve sacred bonds of marriage. This can include spouses, clerics, priests, nobles, and anyone who participates in the annulment of marriage.”

As one can see, these are specific motivations. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Would I want a monster like that?

But, the more I read, the more adventure ideas came to me. Why are all these priests dying in the city? Because there is an altar beast on the loose. These details might inspire a whole adventure.

Someone on Google+ called TT “the missing monster book for Lamentations of the Flame Princess” and I’d say that is a damn good summary. A lot of the monsters seem like they would be terrorizing a village or secretly being worshiped by the villagers.

And one could still easily ignore these motivations and use the monster without if need be.

Personal Favorites

Here are some of my favorite aspects of the TT.

The Venerable Dragons: These ten dragons aren’t your old “it's red, it breathes fire; it's blue, it breathes lightning, etc.” Rather, these dragons are each one-of-a-kind and on the level of deities.

When Ke-Sectat Hatath the purple dragon awakens, the sun “burns reds.” He “soars into the city, accompanied by giant insects and flying vermin.” Then there is Makkas-Nephata, who is “preceded by unnatural rains,” such as blood, frogs, snake venom, and bile.

I can see making an epic adventure to stop the awakening on these dragons or working them into the background of a setting to explain why a region was laid to waste.

Owlbear Variants: TT includes the Kodiak hooter and tufted grizzly. It’s fun to seem new takes on old standards.

Various Oddities

There are a few things that are, well, just odd about TT. I dug them, but they’re worth pointing out.

Halflings are Crazy SOBs. The halfling culture alluded to in TT is just nutty evil. For example the Tenebrous Halflings created creatures known as “audiences.” “When several of the Tenebrous Halflings neared death, they would perform a necromantic ritual that transferred their souls into a monstrous body that had been stitched together by their chirurgeons. Within this new body, a floating sack of flesh adorned with tentacles, each audience was a collection of diverse personalities.”

Not sure there are too many “floating sacks of flesh” floating around your standard halfling shire.

I dig the different take, but your mileage may vary.

Lots of Tentacles. I like me some Cthulhu-esque monsters as much as the next guy, but, boy howdy, you are going to find a lot of tentacles in this book.

Lots of Tentacles Where Genitals Should Be. Self-explanatory.

Monsters Have Smells. When I took writing classes many moons ago, I was told that one of the most under-described senses was smell. This seems to have been taken to heart here, as just about every entry mentions how the monster smells. And this isn’t the same ol’ “smells like rotting death and/or feces” you usually get. For example, the infiltrator “is a pink-skinned humanoid with lavender tentacles and a red-lipped circular maw in its chest” that “smells of fresh-peeled orange rind.”

I like this touch, even if it came across as a bit forced at times.

Bonus Feature

TT includes its own treasure system which is simpler than most I’ve seen and, therefore (in my opinion) better. Coin treasure categories include categories like “cache (3d20 cp, 3d20 sp, 2d10 ep, d10 gp)” or “fortune (d100 ep, d100 gp, d20 pp).” Categories for jewels, gems, scrolls, potions, and magic items include categories like “few (d4-1)” or “several (2d10-2).”

Conclusion

If you want traditional humanoids, dragons, ogres, etc., you probably won’t care for TT.
If you’re looking for horror-inspired, demonic monstrosities to make your players gag, this is the book for you.

Score! I won The Secret DM's contest

The Secret DM held a contest a while back and I won! Very cool. I love how he used a randomizer to pick the winner.

He was kind of enough to send the prize money to me via Paypal so I can blow it at Con on the Cob this weekend.

The Ballad of the Swiftblade

After a long hiatus, my group finally got a chance to play some C&C last Friday.  It was a blast of a session.

Our campaign is set in the Southern Reaches of the Wilderlands, with the party operating out of Sacred Rock. They decided to follow-up on an old adventure lead about an abandoned guard tower outside of town. Quite some time back, they saw a gargoyle floating around there.

A darkwing (notably, not Darkwing Duck).

There was a stable and an armory on the ground level, and the upper levels consisted of  a series of walkways (i.e., upper interior was mostly hollow). After breaking in and battling some zombie guardsmen, they were set upon by darkwings and, later, a gargoyle swooping down from the upper reaches of the tower.

It was a tremendous battle with plenty of "fantasy #@#$! Vietnam"-style play. Thanks to a critical hit dealt out by the gargoyle, the party's wood elf ranger, Ash Swiftblade, bled out at the very end.  The party's bard player posted the ballad below on the campaign's EpicWords site afterwards.

As much as I take pot-shots at bards, there is no doubt this is awesome:


The Ballad of the Swiftblade

To the forgotten tower I did journey
with Wil, Gravel, Ash, and Antonin
through its sealed doors we sought the secrets 
held in darkness within.

The air was thick with dust and must
We found arms and bones of horse
But in its draft we did find 
something much, much worse.

Bold Gravel cried, "I need no help
To vanquish this undead foe!"
But was soon beset by death
taken wing to dive from above to below.

Swift as his blade, Ash ran up,
his companion beset by undead scum
but a rushing, flapping sound from above
foretold of death to come.

Wings violet as night swarm in the dark
trimmed with fangs and claws
that will lift you up to heights so high
that the fall should give any man pause

A swarm so large it should be said
that it could even lift large Gravel
"We must pull back!" the Swiftblade said
"Lest upwards you wish to travel!"

Gravel found the quickest way down,
landing with a sickening thud
"To the armory!" the Swiftblade called
"They'll not have our blood!"

Through a hail of death taken wing
We struggled to the door
When it was slammed and leaned upon
We numbered only four

Potions were quaffed by one and all
both magics and fermented
The door was braced, but slowly gave
under attack unrelented.

As we took stock and readied to fight
to the bold and bitter death
When the scratching and clawing of our foe
eased like a sighing breath.

"This is our chance!" the Swiftblade growled
"We open this door and fight!"
All agreed and so we did,
his blade the first to cut right.

Only a few remained, the rest drawn away
A riddle quickly won
When a voice we heard, Antonio's cry out
"These beasts, they fear the sun!"

Took flight we did for the door we came in,
cutting through the winged lot
seeking the solace of the sun
and its warming rays most hot.

As we did a beast did join, 
larger than the rest
It sought our blood as its favorite sweet
Nearly putting enormous Gravel to his rest.

Wil came up to the giant half-man,
"We make our stand now and here!"
And all did turn to fire upon
the gargoyle without fear.

Know that gargoyles are not the sort to shy
with their stony bodies and hide
Though pelt it we did with arrows and blows
With our line it did collide.

"You'll not have my friends!" the Swiftblade yelled
His sword arced for a mighty blow
But the gargoyle tore with tooth and claw
to lay him bloody low.

As there he lay, his lifeblood spilling
He beckoned me to take his blade
"Take this now and run him through,
before to darkness I do fade."

I wish I could say I did such a thing,
though at least I can say that I tried.
But even as he lay bleeding he save me once more
or else I would have died.

Slick with his blood, I could not stand
And the gargoyle terrible and fierce
Expected with my rise to run me through
With its horns it meant to pierce.

With it low to the ground my companions did strike
They ran it through front and back
And there it fell, beside the Swiftblade
Its blood as Ash's name most black.

"Thank you for that," he sighed me
as he died there in the sun
But he'd done much, much greater for us
for because of him the battle was won.

So when into darkness you must tread
or through trouble you must wade
hope you have a noble friend
as brave as Ash the Swiftblade!

Two good reasons you should fund Hulks & Horrors

There is less than 12 hours to go to fund Hulks & Horrors.

Two Good Reasons to fund H&H

1. Mother lovin' Hovering Squid player characters

2. Freakin' psionic bearmen

The Google+ Role-playing Blog Directory

Have a Blog?  On Google+?  Then check this out!

The Google Plus Role-playing Blog Directory

 

Hulks & Horrors vs Stars Without Number

I'm pretty excited about the Hulks & Horrors game and hope that it funds.  One reasonable question gamers have, though, is why should I sign up for H&H when I can get Star Without Number for free?

The short answer is that H&H is really meant to take on the "dungeon crawl" theme and put into space, whereas SWN seems to take a broader approach. H&H creator John Berry addresses this here: link.  He is also fielding any questions you might have at TheRPGsite forum here: link

Dungeon Crawling IN SPACE: Hulks & Horrors

James of Grognardia fame mentioned Hulks & Horrors on Google+ yesterday.  It takes the old school dungeon crawl and tosses it into the blackness of the void.  The sales pitch sold me, so I'm in.


Just when I thought I reached my saturation point on Kickstater/IndieGoGo projects, this pops up!

The contribution levels are very reasonable, so I went it.  Give it a gander.

Castles & Crusades Monsters in Kobold Quarterly

Just a heads up to my fellow Castles & Crusades fans, 4 pretty slick monsters for C&C are in the new issue of Kobold Quarterly (#22). (The cover says 9 monsters for some reason, but there are only 4).

I don't want to give away too many details, because I'd like to surprise my players, but these beasties have a fungus and island theme going for them.

Castles & Crusades Players Handbook Kickstarter

The Trolls are gearing up to release the 5th printing of the Castles & Crusades Players Handbook (Note: 5th printing, not edition), and have kicked off the process with a Kickstarter project.

No rules, but errata will be added.  The big deal for this printing is that it will be full color, a first for the Trolls.

Give it a look. The Trolls just added some great bonus rewards:

BONUS REWARD #1: When we reach $3500.00 all the PRINT versions of the Players Handbook will be autographed by Steve and Davis Chenault.

BONUS REWARD #2: When we reach $4000.00 we'll add an EXTRA Players Handbook to everyone who has pledged $40.00 or more. This will be unsigned, allowing your autographed copy to avoid the game table abuse! [Steve Chenault has said this printing will retail at $30, so that means that since this benchmark has already been hit, you get two of the new PHs for $40.00. Not too shabby].

BONUS REWARD #3: When we reach $5000.00 everyone who pledged $40.00 and $75.00 will be able to add one adventure module of your choice to your package! Everyone who pledges $125.00 and 150.00 and more will be able add 2 adventures to their package. Everyone who pledges $175.00 and above can add three adventure modules to their package.

Bonus Reward #4: When we reach $6000.00 the project is fully funded. At that point everyone who pledged over $125.00 will receive an exclusive signed, numbered full color print of the new Cover on matte board. Signatures will include The Brothers Chenault, Peter Bradley and the rarely seen Mr. Mac Golden.

Gnomish Healing Brandy

I just introduced Gnomish Healing Brandy into my C&C Wilderlands campaign.  By the book, potions of cure light wounds (a.k.a. potions of healing) go for 300 gp a pop.  That is a bit pricey for low-level PCs, but I like how C&C keeps magic a bit rare and didn't want to mess with that.  Gnomish Healing Brandy was my answer; a good dose of healing for a reasonable cost, but with some side-effects.  It should be suitable for any D&D-style game.

Gnomish Healing Brandy

Gnomish Healing Brandy: An amber liquor that smells richly of honey and blackberries. It tastes overly sweet, but it is light and easy going down the hatch. The brandy is usually bottled in a drinking gourd. The recipe is a closely guarded secret.

Cost: 50 gp
(Note: price may vary by availability and how willing the gnome brewer is to sell to non-humans)

Effect: Heals 1d6 HP, but the character must make a constitution save (CL 0) or suffer -1 to hit and -1 to AC for 1d4 rounds due to the extreme buzz. A flask contains one dose and multiple doses can be taken (1 per round).  However, a save must be made for each dose and the effects are cumulative. For example, a character that took two doses would make a save for each dose and, if both saves failed, the character would suffer -2 to hit and -2 to AC. The GM may rule that failed saves result in other ill effects (e.g., troubling casting spells, penalties to dexterity or charisma checks, etc.)

The character must be conscious or, at the least, at 0 HP to take a dose.

Resources for Converting D&D to Castles & Crusades

Convert or else!

I've noticed that people come across my blog a lot while searching for help for converting Dungeons & Dragons to Castles & Crusades. Here are a few great resources for converting D&D to C&C (whether it's Basic, 1e, 2e, 3e, or 3.5). I haven't seen much about converting 4e, unfortunately.

Duke Omote's Advanced Castles & Crusades Page - This page has all kind of rules expansions that incorporate rules from various D&D editions into C&C.  For example, Omote has rules for Skills and Talents (a.k.a. Feats) that might make converting PCs easier. If you are looking to convert older D&D to C&C, he has rules for Racial Classes and more.

The Crusader's Companion -  Peter J. Schroeder compiled a ton of great gamer-created C&C rules into this impressive tome and it is just awesome. It includes a lot of d20 SRD monsters, items, spells, etc. that aren't in the C&C core rules. Also, the Castle Keepering chapter has a Conversion section that provides tables and charts to help you convert D&D materials from other editions into C&C.

The Castle Keepers Guide - While it doesn't deal with conversion specifically, it does include rules for Skills and Advantages (aka Feats) that might make converting 3.0 or 3.5 D&D to C&C easier.

20 Questions

My way or the highway, bitch.

Time for another questionnaire.... this time I'm answering "Brendan's 20 Quick Questions: Rules" questionnaire.


1. Ability scores generation method?
Roll 3 sets of ability scores in order using the "4d6 drop the lowest" method and pick the set you prefer.  I do this as sort of a half-way point between my "I'm old school, use those rolls in order, punk!" and "I hope your characters can survive the shit I'm throwing at them" mentalities.


2. How are death and dying handled?
Standard C&C rules:

At –1 to –6 hit points, the character or monster is unconscious and
grievously wounded. They require bed rest to recover, unless magically
healed. A character so wounded must rest 24 hours before the process
of healing begins, unless magically healed. With magical healing, the
character’s hit points can only be returned to 0, after which healing
proceeds normally.

At –7 to –9 hit points, the character or monster is mortally wounded and
loses one hit point per round after reaching -7 hit points. Aid administered
to the wounds stops the hit point loss. This takes at least one full round,
during which no hit point is lost. After 24 hours have passed, the normal
healing process as described for -1 to -6 hit points begins.

At –10 hit points death occurs immediately. Only resurrection,
reincarnation or bribes to the Castle Keeper can remedy death.

3. What about raising the dead?

I go by the book on this as well (you lose 1 point of Constitution). I try to make it accessible and allow it if the party can afford the cost. I've learned that being too hardcore about raising the dead is more trouble than its worth.

4. How are replacement PCs handled?

Plot Convenience Playhouse style: "Oh look, a new adventurer wanders into the dungeon/tavern/campsite/sewer/brothel/Chuck E. Cheese and wants to join your party."

5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else?

PCs get individual rolls while the monsters get one (i.e., individual for the players, group for the monsters).

6. Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?

Yes. We use Paizo's Critical Hit Deck and Critical Fumble Deck (we convert the 3.X rules to C&C on the fly).

7. Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?

Only when something happens to a PC's head specifically (e.g., called shot to the melon, a trap targets the head, etc.).

8. Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?

Oh yes.  You get the penalty for firing into melee and if you miss, there is a percentage chance of tagging a relevant party member.

9. Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?

You will need to run.

10. Level-draining monsters: yes or no?

Yes

11. Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?

Yes

12. How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?

Not very strictly at all. Just don't be ridiculous and I reserve the right to enforce penalties if you are.

13. What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?

No training. Whenever the group has a break from action, you can level up. You do get new spells automatically. All this can happen in the middle of an adventure.

14. What do I get experience for?

• Monsters slain or overcome
• Treasure gained
• Magic items gained
• Smart and/or entertaining game play (I reward this and ask the players to nominate people for rewards, even themselves).

15. How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?

By dice rolls usually, but players get bonuses (or penalties) to those rolls if they describe how exactly they are looking. It is almost always is to the players' benefit to role-play the trap finding.

16. Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?
Maybe not directly encourage, but certainly not discouraged. Morale for retainers, NPCs, and monsters is based mostly on DM judgement. 

17. How do I identify magic items?
With the identify spell, trial and error (sipping potions, playing with magic items, etc.)

18. Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions? 
Minor items, potions, etc. I was more open to this with 3.5, but I think I'll be bit more stringent with C&C.

19. Can I create magic items? When and how? 
Sure, although it hasn't come up in my current campaign yet.  I plan on just going by the book.

20. What about splitting the party?
Sure, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Okay, My Turn: Zak S's GM Questionnaire

I am very late to the party on Zak's questionnaire, but better late than never, I suppose.

1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?

The Survival Trophy thing I do with my group (link).  In short, the player whose PC has latest the longest gets to hold the Survival Trophy.  When the campaign ends, the player currently with the trophy gets to keep it. Perhaps not the most original thing overall, but it reinforces, "Hey, folks, this is a game," softens the blow of a lethal campaign, and gives the players something to boast about (rightfully so).  A wrote about a fun exchange here: link

2. When was the last time you GMed?

January 6, 2012.  Resulted in a TPK.

3. When was the last time you played?

Labyrinth Lord (run by Tim from Darves Hill), November 13th, at GASPCon 12.  I usually only get to be a player at conventions.

4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.

The characters are servants of Odin and have been tasked to travel to different worlds and planes to retrieve missing artifacts. The characters maybe from any time, setting, genre, etc. Mutants, vikings, rogues, soldiers, post-apoc warriors, etc.

5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?

Grab another beer, hurrying them along, read my notes, tell dick and fart jokes.

6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?

Beer, liquor, cookies, cake, chips, and whatever else my players have brought.

7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?

No, I feel wired. Takes me an hour or so to wind down.

8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?

In a Mutant Future game at GASPCON 12 (run by Mike From Gutter Cult), after completing the mission for the mayor of a small town, my mutated human took over his brain (i.e., my character became the mayor). It went from the mayor saying, "You guys better skedaddle!" to "Bring me the blue-skinned woman!"

9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?

Yeah, they do, but so do I. We don't take it too seriously and I have a knack for setting myself up for this kind of thing....

10. What do you do with goblins?

They are poison-using, conniving, slavers who like like this:

 Wield swords like these (for 2d4 damage):

And use daggers like these (for 1d4+1 damage):

 

11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?

I can't think of anything recent, but here are a few non-RPGs things I converted in the past:


I stole the Oracle scene from "The Eaters of the Dead" (aka "The 13th Warrior") as a way to assemble a party (see this clip: link).  I also used the night attack scene as a way to take that campaign into Planescape (see link; instead of savages attacking the heroes, it was demons).


Back in high school, I had dwarves with pump-action crossbows based on an episode of the old Filmation "Ghostbusters" show:  link

12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?

The ensuing jokes that followed the party finding a giant obelisk with a pulsing red-tip.

13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?

"Crypts & Things," a newly released Swords & Wizardry variant. I was looking at it to check out the rules and to look for ideas to steal for my Wilderlands Castles & Crusades campaign.

14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?


Apart from the usual classic guys, I really like the work of: Brian "Glad" Thomas. 

My buddy, Dave "The Knave" White:

Brian Masse:

Peter Bradley:

15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?

In the horror sense? No.  In the "Oh shit, my character is going to bite it if I miss this roll" sense? Yes.

16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)

I would have to say the years spent running the mega-dungeon, Rappan Athuk Reloaded.  Just so many good times in that campaign.

17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?

A huge table with a big, dry erase battle mat covering the surface.  Ready access to beer and chips.  In other words, my basement.  All that is missing is a big book shelves for game books and a cork-board wall for displaying maps and art.

18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?

"Carnage 3:16 Amongst the Stars" and "Harvesters" (anthropomorphic Castles & Crusades)

19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?

Kids cartoons and real-world history.

20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?

A player that shows up prepared and doesn't take the game too seriously.

21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?

I spent some time in Central Europe (Poland mostly, but I traveled around too) and I've used some real-world architecture, and customs in campaigns.

22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?

A re-print of the Rules Cyclopedia so I could afford a copy.

23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?

My wife. They usually go fairly well as she's dabbled with D&D and has at least some clue about what I'm talking about.

Crypts & Things has arrived!

Surprisingly, it's not digest-sized (the excellent Wilderness Alphabet shown for scale)

Ah yes, I received a Valentine's Day gift from Newt Newport today: my hard-copy of Crypts & Things.  This Swords & Wizardry variant is damn sweet and is a nice mix of Conan, Leiber, and Lovecraft.  In short, it feels like this: link.

For some reason, it seems to have flown under the OSR radar (at least compared to other S&W variants).  It's definitely worth checking out.


I mean, how can you not like a game that has art like this...

 ... and includes an Appendix M listing music like this!

Why the Kindle Fire is Old School...

... because it's digest-sized!

An assortment of digest-sized awesomeness.

Happy (Very Belated) Thanksgiving!

Here is a link to last year's Thanksgiving Day post and probably the only Thanksgiving-related D&D adventure in existence:  The Feast of the Gobbler 

It's for 3.x, but if you're an OSR guy, you should be able to strip it down anyhow since it is 1.) by Casey Christofferson (the guy behind several great C&C products) and 2.) was released by Necromancer Gamers.

Oh, and this seems appropriate for the holiday:

Castles & Crusades Session XP Calculation Sheet

A month or so ago, I worked up an Excel spreadsheet to help me calculate XP earned by the party after a game session.  I shared it over at the Troll Lord forums and folks seem to be digging it.  Figured I'd share it here as well:

C&C XP Calculation Sheet

All you do is enter in the various XP info for critters slain (base XP + XP per HP),  gold value for treasure, and any kind of story award you dished out.  Then enter in the number of characters and, ta-da, XP for the session for each character involved.

I keep a separate Excel file for each session just in case I need to see what was dished out before. You could also just keep each session in the same file, but on a new sheet.

GASPCon 12 - A Summary

Need I say more?

Crypts & Things: Conan, the OSR way

There are a ton of retro-clones out there, but I couldn't pass up on this one.  Crypts & Things tweaks the Swords & Wizardry rule set for some Conan-style greatness. If nothing else, it should be useful as source material for my C&C hex crawl, which has a nice sword and sorcery vibe going for it.

It's available from IndieGogo site, some kind of Kickstarter clone (I can't tell any differences).  I chipped in $30.00 (and that includes S&H) for the softcover edition. Hopefully, he reaches the goal.

Digest-sized Monster Goodness / Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Warlock - "Burning the Witches"

The Warlock has cooked up some digest-sized, OSR monster goodness... snag it here: link

Oh, and I can't let an easy Warlock reference pass without some video goodness, especially when it is just in time for a Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post.