Barrowmaze For 5th Edition

Barrowmaze Complete for D&D 5th Edition Kickstarter

I've bought the original Barrowmaze, Barrowmaze II, Barrowmaze Complete and loved every single one.  The concept is original and executed brilliantly. Maps are huge, beautiful and interestingly complex in the non-linear, fun to explore way. The art is great and complements the story, descriptions, encounters and details of the dungeon which is dripping with evocative detail.

I've only be able to run a dozen or so sessions of players through the Barrowmaze.  Mostly because the pool of face-to-face old school gamers is fairly limited. I'm stoked about a version for the hoards of 5ed players that crowd several FLGS couple nights a week in my area. And while I could convert it myself, or on the fly, I'd rather spend that energy in running the thing, consternating and delighting my players. Plus Stan Shin was one of if not the first to post 5ed conversion notes/system (which I've used and approve of). I have confidence Barrowmaze 5th ed conversion will be done well.

The Megadungeon 

The core of Barrow is a vast megadungeon. The content is broken up into sections so you can dive into the adventure without having to read the entire book first. The megadungeon content includes:

Over 600+ dungeon rooms

• 36 lavishly illustrated player handouts (each referenced in the text of the megadungeon itself) 
• A dedicated monster section each with individual illustrations 
• New magic items and spells 
• Random Encounters 
• Patron Generator 
• Random tables for Dungeon Dressing, Graffiti, Runic Tablet Results, Dungeon Restocking, Sarcophagus Contents and more! 
• Random Crypt Generator to create your own Barrows 
• Enough old-school content for literally years of gaming!

Quick, Grab Some Wonderful Weirdness from the Heart of Texas

I of course reference the Slumbering Ursine Dunes Kickstarter. Straight outta Hill Cantons! San Antonio area home campaign.

I, upped my pledge to "The Brad" level (The Full Brads had already sold out) after they, The Hydra Collective LLC, a newly-formed worker-owned company that aims to serve as a publishing vehicle for the DIY/Old School(ish) side of the rpg hobby, were nice enough to acquiesce to my overbearing demands and post the point crawl map preview cause I was working on point crawl of my own.

 

The Kickstarter has already blown past funding and several stretch goals. Funding now, you are guaranteed plenty of bonus loot. But, don't dither, delay, or dally, project is now in last couple days.

Btw congratulations to the whole crew. Some of whom I know. Which you may think influences my support their Kickstarter. But, I know lots of people and I'm not blathering on about all their Kickstarters. Besides Hydra Collective are a bunch of drunken louts, .

There are previews of the complete text are posted in various updates like this one describing the 5th Stretch Goal. Check out this side view, an unrelated work by one of the projects artists. Wow! It's like Old School version of Richard Scarry.

Damn, I knew this project was gonna be cool and haven't been following it too closely (busy playing games). But looking over things to write this up. I'm getting really excited about this KS. And impatient to get my grubby paws on this. 

Metamorphosis Alpha Kickstarter Loot

Woot!

In my mail box I spy Cthulhu stamped package from Goodman Games. All good omens. Forgetting what it may be for I'm totally stoked to find a Warden Red Security bracelet in side.  Metamorphosis Alpha pin and custom MA themed dice.

All great quality. Two sparkly tranparenty (but still readable unlike many translucent dice) purple/blue, one swirly green, one swirly black all with MA logos. and Two nice yellow Radation Sign dice.

A Captain band would have been nice. Only five of those were produced! Security is one of the better looking bands. I like med red on white best. But who wants to save lives when they option to be the thuggish enforcer of authoritarianism. :)

Just noticed security emblem is all seeing eye.


The Metamorphosis Alpha Kickstarter.

Respect my Authoritah!

The Great Kingdom Documentary Q&A

The fine folks behind the Dave Arneson / Gary Gygax / early TSR documentary, The Great Kingdom (facebook page), took the time to answer a few questions about their film and its production. The primary filming is complete, but the filmmakers need our support to finish production. They created a KickStarter campaign to fund the final Production of The Great Kingdom. I really would like to see this film and have made a pledge. Watch the trailer and decide for yourself.

The Great Kingdom (Trailer) from The Great Kingdom on Vimeo.

Filmmaker Questions & Answers

CH: Chris Haifley (director)
AP: Andrew Pascal (producer)

How long have you been working on the The Great Kingdom?

CH: We have been in production on The Great Kingdom for almost year. If you count the years playing, we've been working on this project for 30 years. It's been an incredible, rewarding if not heartbreaking journey.

THIS IS THE REMARKABLE TRUE LIFE STORY OF THE RISE AND FALL OF GARY GYGAX, DAVE ARNESON AND THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE CREATION OF THE EPIC ROLE-PLAYING GAME, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.

What was the most challenging obstacle in filming The Great Kingdom?

CH: One of the most challenging obstacles in any production is logistics - getting equipment, crew and schedules to match up with the busy lives of our interviewees. A challenge that we love to overcome.

AP: We're a small crew (3-5 people usually) and so everyone puts on a different hat at different during production. The hero of our production is James Sprattley. At any given moment, he is a Camera Operator, Grip, Make-Up Person, Producer, Craft Service, Driver, etc. It's been challenging, but great fun.

Editing transforms a pile of footage into a compelling story. But, there are many hard-core gaming/history buffs that might be interested in seeing behind the curtain. Is there any pledge level or possible future plans to release outtakes, extras, raw footage?

AP: We've discussed this only preliminarily. Of course we would love to show every bit of interview footage that we've filmed. Perhaps a website where everyone can access the interviews is something to consider. Paul Stormberg, one of our experts, has told us many times that what we are doing should be archived...these are testimonials that have never been recorded. We agree. It's something everyone should have access to. I would like to add that our website (http://www.thegreatkingdom.com) has a bunch of "behind-the-scenes" pics that might be of interest to anyone who would like to know how we work and who we are interviewing.

THIS IS THE STORY OF FAMILIES, BOTH BLOOD AND PERSONAL BOND, AFFECTED BY THE SUCCESS OF THE GAME, A GAME THAT BROUGHT JOY TO MILLIONS AND HEARTBREAK TO ITS CREATORS.

What time period does the film focus on?

CH: The time period that The Great Kingdom focuses on is from 1972 -1985 - from the inception of the game through the point when Gary Gygax is fired from his own Company, TSR. We picked that timeline because we felt the flashpoint of the story happened between those years. The story of Dungeons and Dragons is a big story, bigger than a feature length film. We didn't want to be the definitive documentary about Dungeons and Dungeons. There's a compelling story about the triumph and heartache that came with the development of the game - this is the film we wanted to make.

Did you interview any of the iconic TSR artists?

CH: We have not interviewed any of the original TSR artists. There is a core group of interviewees that support our origin story. We are focusing on those interviews right not now. If we had the opportunity we would have interviewed the great Dave Sutherland (Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual). He was there at the very beginning of our story.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE INDIVIDUALS AS THEY WEATHER THROUGH THE SUCCESS, THE EXCESS, THE BETRAYALS, THE DOWNFALLS AND EVENTUAL REDEMPTIONS, ALL TAKES PLACE IN THE GREAT KINGDOM. 

Do you have a total number of people interviewed for the documentary?

AP: We don't have a large number of interviewees as we wanted our story to be intimate and personal. Having too many people would have been confusing to any one watching the film. 12-15 people at most for any decent documentary and that's been tough to follow as there have been so many great people that we've interviewed already and there are still a couple of hold-outs. We'd like to keep the list a mystery for now as there are a few surprises we'd like to share when the film is released. The pictures on our website will give a glimpse of some of the people we've interviewed.

After you reach funding goal, when might the film be finished and released?

AP: We are hoping to have something to show by Gary Con next year (March 2015). If the stars align, we would love to be finished sooner, but that would be our projected date. We felt that it was our small way of giving thanks to the wonderful people in that community. After all, it all started in Lake Geneva.

Any thing else you'd like to say?

AP: Please support our efforts on KS (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/720223857/the-great-kingdom). We need as many people to get the word out as we can get. We are so excited to tell this story. It's a story for the ages, something every true fan of documentaries, D&D, RPGs and games in general would be interested to watch.

Andrew Pascal, Jim Gavin, Chris Haifley and James Sprattley 

(the filmmakers)

Thanks guys, and gook luck!

The Great Kingdom D&D Documentary

A kickstarter to pay for post-production of "A feature length documentary uncovering the true tale of the rise and fall of the creators Dungeons & Dragons."

The Great Kingdom Kickstarter

"In 1969, GARY GYGAX, a family man and an insurance underwriter with an entrepreneurial mind meets DAVE ARNESON, an idle, yet brilliant game designer. Their collaboration would change the world, their families and themselves.
This is the remarkable true life story of the rise and fall of Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson and the people behind the creation of the epic role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.
THE GREAT KINGDOM explores the personalities behind the game and the families they engendered. This is the saga of the people who brought a company from its humble basement beginnings and transformed it to a multi-million dollar corporation. A story for our time that parallels the rise, fall and redemption of Steve Jobs and echoes the who-invented-what question of the creation of Facebook."

Dave Arneson (seated, with glasses) at Gen Con II

Gary Gygax (striped shirt) at Gen Con II

Kickstart the City State

I should spend more time writing blog posts and less on Kickstarter...

City State of the Invincible Overlord

I *so* don't need this. I have all the original stuff with extra maps.  Still, in at $40, totally reasonable price for softcover and all those digital maps. I'm sure to get all of them in print for $5 a pop. Totally passing on the miniatures. Got too many. Plus Wilderlands minis don't excite me.


City State of the Invincible Overlord, the first and one of the largest fantasy RPG city settings in gaming history, written by Judges Guild founders Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owen, defines sand-box roleplaying by giving information for over 350 shops, taverns, inns, palaces, barracks, temples, and the NPCs who inhabit them! City State of the Invincible Overlord was first released at Gen Con IX in 1976, along with Wilderlands Campaign Map I: The City State. The City State was written for the Judges Guild's Wilderlands of High Fantasy Campaign Setting but can be easily adapted and dropped into any setting.

Kickstart Metamorphosis Alpha

I should spend more time writing blog posts and less on Kickstarter...

Metamorphosis Alpha Collector's Edition

In at $80. Long ago I got the Amazing Engine Alpha to Omega and it has inspired me to put various amounts of mutanty science into almost every game I run.  Totally worth having it's 1st edition and the progenitor of Gamma World, Mutant Future, and all the rest.  Wikipedia Metamorphosis Alpha

METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA is the first science-fiction role playing game. Originally released in 1976 by TSR (publishers of Dungeons & Dragons), it is now in its fourth edition, and is the predecessor of Gamma World and other science-fiction RPGs. The original 1976 edition of METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA is considered by many to be among the most important RPGs of all time. As Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, wrote in the book “Hobby Games: The 100 Best”:

“Furthermore it blends fantasy with weird and super science in a unique manner that is captivating to players with imaginations suited to such a startling mixture. METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA – in any edition – stimulates the imagination, encourages keen thinking, and breaks the mold of typical fantasy and science fiction roleplaying games. If that doesn’t make it one of the best hobby games ever, I don’t know what would.”

Terrain Kickstarters

Modern / Sci-fi urban - T5: (Tactical, Topographical, Table-Top Terrain): Tile City Ending Soon! Looks cool, I'm tentative (only pledged $5) only because I'm not sure I would use urban tactical terrain.

Old School Blue - Blue Dungeon Tiles – Wet & Dry-Erase, Double-Sided Map Tiles Plenty of time, but I'm still in at $60 double set. Love versatility.

Also, heard rumor that there's upcoming Dwarven Forge Caves! Kickstarter.

Barrowmaze Complete

Booyah! 

Dean of the Dead, King of Chaos, Megadungeon Maestro, Greg Gillespie has created an Indiegogo for Barrowmaze Complete. Includes Barrowmaze I (awesome), Barrowmaze II (more awesome), new content (village of Helix, mo barrow mounds, and more), new art (including Erol Otus color cover), professional layout (I've had no complaints with BMI or BMII, but I always dig sidebars "commentary by me in the outside margins to help facilitate play for referees").


So, totally rad right? But wait, there's more! Custom Barrowmaze Other World Miniatures! Box set

Boxset Baby!

 2 Tomb Robbers
 2 Sapphire Skeletons
 2 Fossil Skeletons
 2 Juju Zombies
 2 Sons of Gaxx
 1 Ravenous Zombie
 1 Crypt Thing
 1 Crypt Knight
 1 Mummy Lord
 1 Barrow Harpy
 1 Barrow Guardian

With more added as stretch goals.

Barrowmaze Complete & Otherworld Miniatures

I've personally run Barrowmaze I&II as part of my Gold and Glory campaign. It is extremely cool. Full of flavor and interesting mechanics. The whole layout of mounds and "horizontal" megadungeon is refreshing and well executed. The dungeon's "story", big-bad(s) and factions are all compelling and get me excited for players to discover them. It's written for Labyrinth Lord (Basic D&D) but I had no trouble running it under Swords & Wizardry (OD&D).

If you only buy one megadungeon this spring, get Barrowmaze Complete!

I survived BM and all my Referee gave me was this +0 shield

Alea Tools Kickstarter

To finish out Trifecta of Kickstarters, I humbly present Alea Tools Color Boost Kickstarter. These colored, magnetic 1" and 2" inch are produced by Alea Tools. I have a bunch of there existing colors and related tools. The Kickstarter is for additional (or existing) colors. Primary meant to be used under minis to represent various conditions, etc. I've used them for that and much more.

In Hackmaster, one disk under mini, another of same color on initiative trac (which is continuous in Hackmaster), and for monsters a third on hitpoint trac.  Those tracs where on magnetic surface which the magnetic Alea disks work awesomely with.  BTW each disk comes with adhesive, magnetic circles to stick on bottom of mini to keep them stuck on Alea disks. I've also used them just by themselves as markers for monsters (when traveling light without minis).  To mark which characters are carrying torches, to indicate elevation.  On ammo, time, and other ad hoc tracks I draw on dry erase board as needed.  They, of course, work great on magnetic dry erase boards.

If you use minis and/or a game system with lots of conditions or other things to track, I heartly reccomend getting some Alea Tools. Either directly from Alea Tools' online store or via the ...

Alea Tools Color Boost Kickstarter

Dungeonstone Kickstarer

I contributed to Dungeonstone's kickstarter to get some caves to match recently the completed Dwarven Forge Kickstarter.

Dungeonstone (local Texas company)
Caves & Caverns Kickstarter

Cthulhu Wars Kickstarter

This past weekend at North Texas RPG Con I got to play a pre-production version of Cthulhu Wars with Sandy Petersen. It is a fun board game. Has all the GOO flavor one would expect. Each player controls a faction recruiting cultists, summoning monsters and Great Old Ones. What I really liked besides the huge number of really large and nicely sculpted minis was that each faction had distinct flavor, rules, strategy. Adding to the replay value was the clever map board. Two double sided sections which can be combined into four different arrangements. Neat!

I was dominating with Shub-Niggaroth, the Black Goat when had to call game for time. I liked it so much that I joined the Kickstarter.

Cthulhu Wars Kickstarter

Those are the minis for one faction.
FOUR factions are included in game with many more to come in expansions.

Dwimmermount Drama

Man, why does the Dwimmermount Kickstarter generate so much drama?

Long ago it was empty rooms and rounded treasure values, wtf?

Now days, it's getting bent out of shape cause Autarch / Tavis is doing a fucking fabulous job at dealing with an extremely difficult situation.

Meh.  Maybe because I suffer depression (have lost girlfriends, one job, and jacked up many lessor things due to it) I just can't muster any ill will towards anyone involved.  I'm also probably much more patient than most.  

Dwimmermount project is going well considering what it has dealt with.  Projects without any of the same impediments have burned to the ground less graciously than Dwimmermount's "failure" has been handled.

Too many people expect Kickstarter projects to be something they are not.  They are not purchases.  They have the risks of an investment without the upside potential.  They are closest to a donation with defined perks.  You should not contribute money to a Kickstarter you can't afford to loose.

Yes, there's been lots of changes, reverses, etc.  It doesn't matter, chill already.  It's plainly obvious that people running things are absolutely not trying to screw anyone.  That they are bending over backwards attempting to appease a diverse group of participants.  Too many of which are whiny bitches. 

Yes, it's long time in coming (except that we got all the maps and good enough draft). I guess if you're a collector, wetting yourself over chance at rare hardback, I don't have sympathy.  I have friends that are collectors, nothing personal, but this is a hobby of players. Collecting gets the same treatment as half-brother mutant, we keep locked up under the stairs.

Dwimmermount is one of several mega-dungeons in my 1.5/weekly Gold & Glory campaign.  Two groups adventure in it regularly.  People enjoying themselves around a table.  There is no higher level of success than that.

Dwarven Forge Game Tiles

Sorry for the light posting this year.  Been busy running my Gold and Glory campaign (1.5 times a week using Swords and Wizardry) or playing (1/week Pathfinder Pirates).  Playing games trumps blogging about them ;)  I mostly post to spread awareness of the occasional Kickstarter or announcement.

I've always been interested in Dwarven Forge (or similar) but two things that have kept me away have been solved by this Kickstarter.  Price and fragility/portability.  Still not "cheap", but for the price of modern board game or couple RPG books you get a usable amount of tiles.  They're made of "dungeon grey" hard, dense PVC that is strong (video shows it being hit with hammer).

My only remaining trepidation is set up time.  Which is inherent with any sort of tiles or even using wet erase mat.  Dwarven Forge Game Tiles would not be for every game but would really enhance the games it's suited for. Such as miniature focused games.  So, I'm backing

Dwarven Forge Game Tiles
Kickstarter

Reminds a bit of the Reaper Bones miniature Kickstarter (a huge success / value for backers).  In that the per unit cost can be brought way down with larger upfront capital (in equipment/process and large "print" runs).  But that upfront is extremely risky, esp for smaller niche companies. Manufacturers risk making too much, too little, or something that's not all that popular among customers.  Kickstarter is near perfect solution to this.  Get the capital upfront and gauge demand, reward early adopters, get more game stuff into more peoples hands.

Demons and Devils Miniatures Kickstarter

$75 gets you 30 or so amazingly sculpted demons and devils in metal and resin.  Some truly huge minis are available as add-ons.

Center Stage Miniatures has been producing high-quality 25 and 28mm miniatures for use in fantasy role-playing games since 2009. With over 40 figures available in our Advanced Fantasy Miniatures range and the recent acquisition of the Julie Guthrie Fantasy Personalities range (196 figures), we've been growing in leaps and bounds thanks to you, our customers. Our regular sculptors include industry veterans like Patrick Keith, Jason Wiebe, Tim Prow, as well as some extremely talented newer sculptors like Nicolas and Federico Genovese.  

In our second year of business, I decided to begin tackling the Demons and Devils of the underworld, so I commissioned a Molydeus from Tim Prow and Baphomet, Demon Lord of Minoaturs from Jason Wiebe.

Center Stage Miniatures Demons and Devils Kickstarter

S&W Kickstarter

Speaking of Kickstarter...

You have until Tuesday Sep 4, 5:00pm CDT to get in on the Swords and Wizardry Kickstarter being run by Frog God Games.

I'm in at (of course) the TROLL level!  I kind of don't even know why, already owning several copies of various versions of S&W.  I guess "it is going to be in brick and mortar game stores" tickles my fancy and augments my purely selfish desire to have more people to RPG with.  And Erol Otus art, Also, must have custom dice!

Check out the totally bad ass patch included at >= $30

4x nerd power while wearing this patch!

FLGS vs Kickstarter

There is (or was) a meme? to support local game stores. Maybe this is totally gone now that a generation has grown up not knowing a time before amazon, ebay, et al.

But, I'm old and still have that twinge.  And I (believe) I'm pretty supportive of local gaming and Friendly Local Game Shops.

I started Austin's RPG Meetup, current $funder and organizer of Austin's D&D Meetup.  There and elsewhere I promote FLGS.  I run games (campaigns, demos, newbie one-shots) at FLGS.  I created google map of FLGS. I spam everywhere about South/Central TX game conventions.  I buy something (OSR related if it's been on the shelves a couple months) almost every time I enter a game store.  Which gets hard (to find something interesting) when you game at one every other week.

But, esp with more "indie" games that many FLGS don't believe are profitable to carry is Kickstarter the new FLGS?  Why not "cut out the middle men"?  I remain "active" in the local game community but lately a lot of my money has gone this way http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/njharman


BTW Norm's FLGS

• Dragon's Lair - Central - http://www.dlair.net/
• Kings Hobby - Central - http://kingshobbyshop.com/
• Tribes Comics and Games - South - http://www.tribecag.com