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!

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).

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:

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.

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: The Sword - "Night City"

I've been jamming to The Sword a lot.  Their albums make an excellent soundtrack to the Wilderlands.



There is a place where the losers win
A port of call for desperate man
It is known by many names
We come and go but it remains
Nobody cares, nobody cries
If you're scared or if you die
That's the way it goes
You should know...

You're in the place they call the Night-side
In the shadows where the killers and the
pirates hide
Stick around if you think you
can survive
in the city on the Night-side

Running scared through endless night
Too afraid to put up a fight
They shackle her wrists
It's too late to resist
Scanned for weapons and transmitters
Sold at auction to the highest bidder
That's the way it goes
Now you know...

You can find us on the Night-Side
In the shadows where the killers and the
pirates hide
Come around if you think you
can survive
in the place they call the Night-side.

Lazy Song with a D&D Reference Post: Radish - "The You in Me"

In the opening lyric, nonetheless.

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Spellbast - Goblin's Song

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Rosae Crucis - Bran Mak Morn

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Finntroll - Trollhammaren

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Damh the Bard - The Cauldron Born

Not to be confused with these guys: link

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Savatage - The Dungeons are Calling

D&D Metal Pandora Station

A few years back, this fellow named Theron over at ENWorld posted his customized, "D&D Metal" Pandora station. I've been rocking to it off and on ever since.  I give you...

ELFCORE!

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Cauldron Born - By this Axe I Rule

Just learned of this band, Cauldron Born, from the Black Gate magazine blog. ... and, yes, by this axe, I do rule:

Rolling the Dice in '11

Tonight, my group has its first session of 2011 and I'm stoked.  Last session, the party decided to go down the well.  Those of you familiar with Rappan Athuk know that this will be a hell of a way to kick off 2010... perhaps with a new bunch of characters.... [evil DM laughter]

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post (Halloween Edition): Fastway - Trick or Treat

Ok, so the "fantasy" element here is suspect, but I do still feel a D&D connection.  This song is from an old 80s horror flick called "Trick or Treat" about a kid resurrecting his metal hero, Sammi Curr, by playing a record backwards (check out the trailer here).  Of course, Sammi comes back all evil-like and starts the killin’.  This film came out at the height of the "Metal is Evil" era which overlaps with the "D&D is Evil" era, so there you have my tenuous connection.  These two manias are always connected in my mind and  Classic D&D will always have a metal vibe to me. The movie features cameos by Gene Simmons and Ozzy. This was back when Ozzy really was seen as a Prince of Darkness and not some stuttering clown and, in a brilliant move, he was cast as an evangelist preaching against the evils of metal music (see his scenes here).

Now, full disclosure, I have never seen this movie. I was chicken shit little kid when it came out (too young to see it in the theatres, not that my wimpy butt would have gone anyhow).  However, my brother did have the soundtrack (completely by Fastway) on cassette and I listened to it all the time.  The movie is not on Netflix yet, so I still haven't seen it.  It definitely looks like a "so bad, it's good" kind of movie.

Anyhow, without further ado, here is the rocking title track.

20-Sided Rhymes

Hipster, please! has posted a free, downloadable album called 20-Sided Rhymes.  Dave the Knave did the sweet-ass album art (he also did the art for Hipster-Free Singles Club Vol. 1).
There are a lot of great tracks.  I’m still working my way through them all, but “Random Encounter in the Cereal Aisle” and “Roll the Dice” are my favorites so far.

Front Cover:

Back Cover:

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Attacker - Battle of Helm's Deep

This is a pretty sweet fan-made video including a bunch of clips from Ralph Baski's Lord Of The Rings movie.  I particularly like 3:24 or so where it looks like Frodo is getting down to the metal music.

Blatantly-Not-Fantasy-Related-Metal-Oh-Hell-Yeah-It’s-Game-Night Post

We have not played D&D since April 23, 2010.  It’s f@#kin’ Friday.  It’s f@#kin’ Rappan Athuk.  It’s the f@#kin’ last battle in the Upper Temple of Orcus.

Lazy Friday Fantasy Metal Post: Edguy - Tears of the Mandrake

Dice, Dice Baby by MC 117

Ok, this is pretty good. Thanks to Dave "the Knave" for this one: Dice Dice Baby by MC 117.