Hulks & Horrors is back... and FREE

Mother lovin' hovering squid and freakin' psionic bearmen!

A while back I wrote about a great looking old-school sci-fi game called Hulks & Horrors (Dungeon Crawling IN SPACE: Hulks & Horrors and Hulks & Horrors vs Stars Without Number).

Although the Kickstarter didn't succeed, +John Berry pressed on and made the game anyhow!

You can pick up the PDF for free now: link

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.

The Only Cyber Monday Deal on Amazon Worth a Damn...

.... is: Twisted Sister - A Twisted Christmas: LIVE

or the non-live version, if for some reason you want less tracks and less Dee Snider commentary: link

(okay, okay, there is Lulu.com sale going on too).

Gaming Deal: Wargods for $10.00

I am not a huge miniature games player, but I do enjoy them from time to time, especially at conventions. I don't like ones that are overly complicated and if it takes a life-time to play a battle, count me out. 

However, one of my favorite miniatures games is Wargods by Crocodile Games.  Combat is relatively fast and furious.  One of the cool aspects of Wargods is that players use counters to pre-plot their squad movement before each turn and then have to stick with it.  It gives the game a more realistic feel and seems to speed up play. You just lay out the counters in the path you plan to move and then go with it.

Right now until 10/23/11, the core Wargods rulebook is on sale for $10.00 (it's normally $30.00): link  I believe the S&H is only $5 or so.  Definitely worth checking out. 

Troll Lord Sale Going Viral - Keep this thing going and spread the C&C love

Troll Lord Games, the fine makers of Castles & Crusades, have a great sale going on right now and will keep it going as long as folks keep spreading the word (details here: link)

For $20.00 (plus S&H) you can get a copy of the C&C Players Handbook, Monsters & Treasure, and a module (Shadows of Halfling Hall). Normally, all this would cost $56.00.  link

Note, these are the hardcover versions of the books.   My group (who are recent C&C converts) took advantage and placed a large order.

You only need the PH and the M&T to play, so this is a great starter pack (the Castle Keeper Guide mainly has optional / supplemental rules).

If the combo deal is not up your alley, you can get just the PH for $15 (link) or M&T for $10 (link).

Nice Finds at Michael's

I stopped by Michael's the other day and saw these sitting on a shelf.  They might make great terrain for D&D, miniatures war gaming (the palace in particular looks great for Ambush Alley), and so on.  They were about $7 to $9 a piece.

UPDATE: These things are actually birdhouses. You can also find them on eBay if you search for "unpainted wooden castle."  I can't find them on the Michael's web site.

Castles & Crusades Players Handbook for $5.00! (PDF) until 10:30 PM ET

Like I said, the Troll Lords have sales all the time these days. This one was too good not to share:
Castles & Crusades Players Handbook PDF for $5.00

Sale lastes until 10:30 PM ET.

Scored myself a copy.

Troll Lord Games Has Sales Pretty Much Every Damn Day

Okay, so I probably come across as a corporate shill for Troll Lord Games, but I'm not. I'm simply a fan of two things:

1.) A good deal and
2.) Castles & Crusades.

I like to share these deals with everyone in case they share either of those two qualities.  But here is the problem, TLG is having deals left and right these days.  As such, this will be my final "TLG sale!" post unless they have something truly exceptional.

If you are remotely interested in TLG products, I suggest you follow/subscribe/read/whatever their blog and/or their Twitter account. Notably, they post a deal every Friday to Twitter.

Blog: The Troll Dens
Twitter: Troll Lord Games Twitter Profile

One particular great deal they have going now is a Castles & Crusades PDF Starter Bundle for $29.55 that has:

• The Players Handbook
• Monsters & Treasure
• The Castle Keeper Screen
• Shadows of Halfling Hall (adventure)
• Fat Dragon Games' EZ Dungeons

Troll Lord Games PDF sale

Just an FYI, Troll Lord Games, makers of Castles & Crusades, have all their PDFs on sale at RPGNow/DriveThruRPG.  The sale lasts until February 3rd:  LINK

Even if you're not a C&C player, it's worth checking out.  A lot of their stuff is usable with just about any fantasy RPG, especially your various old school retro-clones.

DriveThruRPG has a Sale Going On

DriveThruRPG.com is having a sale right now, with over 20 games for $11.00 each (because it's 2011, get it?).
Check it out: link

Some highlights:

• All Flesh Must Eaten (Revised)
• Dragon Warriors
• Fanstasy Craft (Second Printing)
• Shadowrun, 4th Edition Anniversary Core Rule Book
• Supernatural the RPG
• The Savage Foes of Solomon Kane

Gaming Deal: Troll Lord Games 12 Days of Christmas Sale

The Trolls are having their annual 12 Days of Christmas Sale: link

Perhaps the most notable thing is that at least two of the deals (the 5th Day and the 10th day) include the yet to be released infamously delayed Castle Keepers Guide. For those who don’t know, the CKG has been in development since 2007 (at least the product page for it at Amazon has been up since then: link).

The 5th Day Deal is tempting in a novelty fashion because it includes digest-sized versions of all the rule books.

Questions and answers about the deals can be found here: link.

Given that I just ordered some stuff on Black Friday, I’m going to pass, but this sale is always a good way to get in on C&C if you’re interested.

Gaming Deal: Folding Game Table on the Cheap

A quick note:  I will post substantial content here when time allows, but between the work load, the holidays, and family life, I haven’t had time. Until then, consider this a “hey, look at this cool shit!” blog.

UPDATE: The table is now $100.00.
I’m pretty well set for my gaming table, but I got an interesting piece of holiday junk mail today from Sears and figured I’d share.  On Tuesday 12/7/10 (tomorrow as of this posting) at 11:00 AM central time, this Sportscraft Parlour Poker table will be on sale for $50.00.  It’s normally 200 bones.  I’m not sure about shipping and handling (although it’s listed as available for free in-store pickup.)

This is part of Sears’ Chimney Buster promotion.  I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I believe they offer a limited quantity (only 10 for this time) at this link (again, at 11 AM CT tomorrow) and I think you have to be signed up for Sears spam to qualify (although you can sign up now).  Here is the complete FAQ: link  From what I've seen with these deals, the limited quantity applies only for that super low price and then they bump it up to another still-discounted, but not as good, price.

$50 is a good price for what seems to be a quality folding gaming table.  Obviously, it’s meant for poker and I have no clue how suitable it would be for tabletop gaming, but the cup holders seem kind of sweet for dice or, well, drinks, ha.  Here are the dimensions:

·Table Dimensions: 81.5L x 42W x 31H (inches)
·Playing Surface Dimensions: 72L x 32.5W (inches)

If anyone splurges on this, let me know how it works out.

Update: Troll Lord Games Black Friday Sale Now Live

Just a quick update, the sale seems live now. Here are the deals: link

Troll Lord Games Black Friday Sale

The details are still fuzzy and the sale isn’t up yet, but here is some info from the Troll’s Tusk Newsletter:

“So this is the first year we've actually participated in the Black Friday/Cyber Monday event. As usual we put our own twist on it.

The sale will kick off sometime Thursday night and run through the weekend...mainly because we are too lazy to log on and change it all back. Also of course because, well, really that's the only reason.

So enjoy the mark downs while you can, they will be gone as quick as they appear.

For all the U.S. Crusaders: Happy Thanksgiving.

For those living in Europe, Canada, and Asia, or whereever you may fare...well Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

Trollzah!

Castles & Crusades: The Rosetta Stone.”

Judging from newsletter, looks like the sale will include:

• Half-Priced: Gods & Monsters, the Players Handbook, and the Monsters & Treasure of Aihrde
• $20 Off StarSiege, and Tainted Lands

I’ll provide an update when I know more.  M&T of Aihrde is supposed to be dang cool, so I’ll likely snag that.

Anthropomorphic Action at Half Price: Harvesters

I held off getting Harvesters by Troll Lord Games when it came out last spring, but just ordered it since it’s on sale for half price ($9.00 instead of $18.00: link).  The reviews on DriveThruRPG are very positive (check ‘em out) and it sounds like a great game to run with kids.  Judging from what I’ve read, it’s basically Castles & Crusades with animals, which is a-okay in my book.  No need to reinvent the wheel.

I’m still not sure if my six-year-old is ready for RPGs, but we’ll see.  She absolutely loves animals, so this is right up her alley.  When asked to bring in her favorite book to school, she took in Mouse Guard and she already wrote her own Cat Guard version. I think we might have a winner here.

Looking for Miniatures for Your Kids?

… then pick up a Bucket of Dragons!  I already picked this up for my girls, but it will be held in reserve until Christmas.  It looks like this has already been discussed at ENWorld (link).  Since my bucket will remain closed until Christmas morn, here are some shots from that ENWorld thread:

Amazon has it going for $20 or so, but my local Wal-Fart has it for $11.00.  It appears Wal-Fart has some kind of exclusive “How to Train Your Dragon” deal going on (we could only find my daughter’s Astrid costume at Wal-Fart as well), so that would account for the online mark up.  Strangely, you can’t order it from Wal-Fart online though.

X Marks the Spot! - The Locations of DriveThruRPG’s Treasure Chests

If you’re like me, you’re too lazy to find all these DriveThruRPG.com treasure chests on your own.  I found these at the Something Awful Forums (many thanks to demota!), except for Number 20, which was found by fellow Castles & Crusades Society member, Treebore (he posted it at ENWorld.org).  Get yer booty!
1. d∞ (“d-Infinity”) Volume #1: The Adventure Begin
2. Artesia: The Book of Dooms Volume 1
3. Waves of Blood
4. RuneQuest Pirates
5. 50 Fathom's Player's Guide
6. Fading Suns Players Companion
7. City of Secrets
8  7th Sea: Players' Guide
9. Wild Cards
10. Transylvania (I can’t get this one to work though)
11. Dork Covenant (You MUST have something in your Wishlist to make it appear!)
12. Obsidian Twilight Campaign Setting (PFRPG) (This like takes you to product page, where the price is $0.00)
13. Dead Man's Chest (free Necromancer Games goodness!)
14.  Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. 
15.  Heaven & Earth
16.  [PFRPG] The Genius Guide to Feats of Subterfuge
17.  E-Z DUNGEONS: Expansion Set 2
18.  Instant Antagonist: The Selfish Succubus
19.  Cortex System Role Playing Game
20. The Great Below

DriveThruRPG’s Talk Like a Pirate Day Sale

Starting today and lasting until September 22nd, DriveThruRPG.com is having a Talk Like a Pirate  Day sale.  Tons of gaming stuff is on sale, pirate-themed and otherwise.  They have 20 hidden treasure chests with links to free eBooks.  Give it a look-see and score some booty.

Gaming Deal - Dungeons & Dragons: The Complete Animated Series for $10.00

Just thought I'd share... Amazon.com has Dungeons & Dragons: The Complete Animated Series for $10.00: link

I could not resist and splurged.

They also have the entire revamped He-Man and the Masters of the Universe for $11.00: link
I passed on that.  I might have gone for it if it was the original, though.

Gaming Deal - Halo Interactive Strategy Game

Toys R Us has the "Halo Interactive Strategy Game" on sale for $7.69: link. The shipping and handling is an estimated $6.60. I noticed this game in a bricks and mortar store the other day and it was $10.00, which is still a good deal. I haven't played the game myself, but the reviews on Amazon are pretty positive: link (they also have a fairly decent price).

Even if the game blows, the scenery and minis are likely worth the price for any sci-fi miniatures game or RPG, such as Star Wars, Necromunda, etc.

I'm not a big sci-fi gamer, but figured I'd share this info anyhow.