One Page Dungeon Entry, 2015

Well, compiled, composed, and composted this year's entry - a bit of a rogue pocket universe (or universes) invading a little town...

Download

Contest website here, with entries so far.  Looks to be another excellent year of creative goods!

Dance for morale bonus

From the irrepressible and often NSFW 'Oglaf': Why you should never mess with a king with the power of interpretive dance...

Bards got nuthin' on him....

Caleb's Point

Caleb's Point is a hamlet crouching on three islands at the eponymously-named point.  No one recalls who Caleb was - if he discovered this place, if he lived here, or perhaps died here.

Download map

The Point, and its small fortifications, marks and protects the western side of the inlet to the Nimos Passage through a coastal archipelago. The three rocky islands house a small garrison, as well as a tight community of locals who ply the straits outside the passageway and trade with ships entering and exiting the Passage.  Several small docks jut from the three islands.  The docks are generally too small for large sea-going vessels, but support smaller coastal trade vessels and fishing boats.

Dungeon Geomorph Contest

Mapper extraordinaire Matt Jackson linked to Joe Wetzel's  page announcing a bi-weekly Dungeon Geomorph Contest.

Map up a 10x10 grid using the proffered theme of the particular contest.  This first installment is 'Thrones.'  Entries for the first installment were due the 20th.

Cobbled mine together between housecleaning and packing episodes in preparation of vacation...

Hidden within the heart of the dungeon is the throne of a paranoid overlord - a disk suspended over a bottomless shaft by massive chains. The overlord, and perhaps a trusted adviser, hold forth here within an anti-magic shell, only dropping it to levitate a chosen few across. Foolhardy assassins may attempt to leap or climb across, but none have succeeded, their screams fading into the inky depths.

color/gridded

B&W/no grid

Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day 2015

Late to the party.  On vacation, so why am I even here?

Ok, so why S&W for me?  As I mentioned back in the beginnings of my blog, I re-discovered gaming via the 3.5 system.  The complexity and apparent inflexibility of the system confounded me, and it wasn't until I had a conversation with a gaming friend who said that her group was playing modded 1st edition, that it occurred to me that people may have held onto their old red- white- and blue-boxes, and kept playing them.... And thus I found the OSR.

Well, my old books were 800 miles away in a closet, and I really didn't care to buy a 'new' batch of used books, so cheapskate that I am, I headed to the internets.

Initially I was simply looking for free or low-cost game content to re-familiarize myself with RPGs, and provide a bit of inspiration. This led to a number of gaming blogs that popped up in Google searches for content, and to a certain rule-set, Swords & Wizardry. Additionally, Mr. Finch's Old School Primer was also downloaded and it was certainly an 'ah-ha' moment.

I also pulled down copies of other rule-sets - namely Labyrinth Lord and Basic Fantasy - but I kept returning to the S&W set.  It seemed simple and pretty bulletproof, yet flexible. And apparently a lot of other people agreed. The DIY vibe is strong among this crowd, with insightful and creative folks who both inspire and intimidate me as a scribble away.

So unfortunately, I don't have a new dungeon, or race, or player class to contribute today. I have things in the works, but they are not yet ready for prime time.  That said, anyone stumbling on the blog may feel free to explore the maps, critters, and fevered ramblings herein.  All are statted or compatible with S&W.

Have fun, and Happy Gaming.

(Oh and reading Leiber ... finally... and the name Swords & Wizardry makes a fine homage to this Appendix N icon).