Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Guess what? To those who have been following the Back to the Dungeon RPG, the BACK to the Dungeon RPG Deluxe Hardcover PDF is live for all to devour for free/PWYW. I need yawl to look at it and critique it for edits! THERE WILL BE A HARDCOVER SOON but the PDF and the rules will be forever free! ALSO make some adventures for it! These rules have MEAT for players and easy to run for the Game Master!


 

Monday, July 3, 2023

STONEHELL on the Borderlands Play Report!

 AAAARRRRGGGGGHH!

I just got done playin the STONEHELL on the Borderlands OSE Powered RPG! 


The game was awesome! 

Gotri The Dwarf Fighter

Jeri Rollins the Hippy Druid! 

AND ME!

Stonus Blakdiamondous the Dwarven Fighter! 

We partied at the Keep! 

Could not find any damn good retainers. 

Left and headed toward the STONEHELL dungeons.

Went to the gatehouse. 

Went down the spiral staircase to the WESTERNMOST cave entrance. 

Me and the other dwarf fell into a pit. Got hurt real bad!

Went further and talked to some fellow dwarves.  They were exploring the ancient knowledge of some ancient dwarves. We became friend and allies but they would not adventure with us because the needed a month to study this room.

Headed south and with the druid talked to some rats. 

From the rat room we met some orcs and it was not friendly. 

Fought the orcs and the druid got reinforcements from the dwarves friends. 

The orcs retreated and so did we.

We took two days and made it BACK to the keep!



 


Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Back to the Dungeon RPG Hardcover Coming

 Back to the Dungeon RPG Hardcover Coming

Why did I write it? Because!
It was 2002-2003 and I was missing that BX feeling! 

We were all playing 2E but for some reason even with all its cool parts it just did not feel completely right to me. There was something that was magical I was missing. I mean 2E was cool and all, but kinda the 4E of old school. 

I remember starting to get onto a search of the roots of Gaming. I only heard about original Edition and it was one of those mysterious books that I would never see until PDF started floating around the internet of it. When I first saw 0E it was truly magical I could not believe that the rules were so similar yet so simpler. 


I remember seeing Project 74 from around 2004-2005 from CG and he spoke of Basic Fantasy which is incredible as I very minimally helped with the development of it with a few suggestions here and there but it wasn't quite "the fantasy game" that I wanted. Hell, in some small way I've been there lurking since the very dawn of the OSR. 

Sadly right before 3E came out our gaming group broke up in the most horrible crappy way fizzled and died out! This is a very dark time for me because let's just say I had people close to me saying that gaming has passed and that you should concentrate on other stuff that's not fun at all. Am a f****** gamer and I cannot not be one that's just what I am.

3E came out and it was a magical time! It was rules perfection on paper. Every possible situation had a rules almost! It was a magical time for tabletop gaming is all the shelves were filled with all the wonderful D20 compatible products! Then there was the giant turd in the punch bowl where they came out with 3.5 halfway someone negated many of the 3.0 products and then there was another burst as a bunch of people came out with 3.5 e versions of stuff! 

Characters were now BUILT! It could take HOURS! Monster stats filled up an entire page! Even monster that were killed in one hit! Making an NPC became WORK as it could be hours making... Uh... Hey! this is work! Instead of world building and flow, everything stops with full page stats! Sometimes rules are good and then sometimes it's just too much and they're not necessary when you can just do things without all the cluck of rules.

Again came the clone Wars! It started with Osric in response to Castles and Crusades, then Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, Swords and Wizardry, and many many many many more. One issue that I had was so many people back in the day house ruled out many of the weird Hang-Ups that the older games had such as level limits, class restrictions, too few spells, and such.

With all that going on I decided to come out with Classic Fantasy Roleplaying Game or CFRG. First I had about 12 to 15 BX stats and was trying to do something completely different upon realizing what the OGL would do for me, I went to the traditional six stats in the OGL/D20 order. The early days I gave most of it away for free as I've never really tried to do this for money just for the fun of it and the love of the hobby. I finally changed the name to Back to the Dungeon RPG to be named after my blog that I started many ages ago during the heyday of the OSR Blogosphere which I believe is coming back.

Did I even work on something as I stand here hollow? Let me tell you I did. I research from top to bottom every OSR and classic role playing blog and message board that I could find. What I was mostly looking for is what do people really love about classic gaming and what were things that the house ruled or want to changed. The last thing I wanted to do is make just another retroclone. I wanted to make a neoclone! I wanted to take the old school simplicity and makes it with new school options. On and off on my spare time and when certain night shift jobs afforded me some free ass time after I made my rounds so I can sit and write, and write I did!

As I have been told by many others in the past I have terrible grammar, spelling issues, and I edit like a dumbass. The reason that I make most of my publications look like Zines is partially as I like the way as he looks but the other side is I'm a talentless shulb when it comes to editing. After all Louisiana is number 67 in the nation in education! 

But chugged along I did! I came out with my first few books and after a few free edits! I then put the game on DriveThruRPG for sale back in 2016 and waited for the adoring crowds to come forth! 

I think no reaction is worse than a negative one...

Also I was trying to create a local game scene where there was none, that's another story and I've told it a few times on here already.

As time has went by, the people that did buy my game did say that they would really like this in an all-in-one all inclusive hardcover. It's been quite a few years so now it's time to do it. 

So, with all the other OSR games out there, why should you buy my TTRPG Neoclone Back to the Dungeon RPG Delux? 

It's not a retroclone, it's a Neoclone! With very little modifications you can use it to play OSR and old adventures and modules quite easily and is quite compatible with any other old school game as well. 
Simplicity! 
Unified mechanic of roll a D20 + modifiers, roll high with attribute modifiers. That's it.  
Backgrounds instead of skills. Skilled? Add 1/2 Level or HD. That's it. 
Less rules means you don't have to stop and go look in the book! 
Spells, Powers and Psionics are simplified. Also casters don't become completely useless when they run out of their daily spells! 

It has a big equipment list that will allow one to become equipped for deadly dungeon delving. Oh and you're going to love my simplified Stone's Weight encumbrance system! 

Now for the Game Master, the unified mechanic! Just make a DC against an D20 roll +attribute modifier and make a call! 

Make an NPC in a few minutes, not hours! Even high level NPCs are easy! 
Zero Level Human: AC10 HD1 Move 30' by weapon 1d4
Base combat, skills, everything is 1/2 HD + D20 unless otherwise noted! Monsters can be effortlessly modified right there on the spot. Want to make a strong orc Warrior?  Go ahead and give him additional plus two to hit and damage and you're done with it right there.

Do you want to create your own monsters? At the beginning of the monster section there is a simple set of rules to make your own!
Many of the monsters will seem very familiar, but also there are some that are completely original! Anyone can just add in and make their own stuff!

Just write up and draw out your dungeons and adventures, adding in all the details you can because most Monster stats or just a few lines of information not a full page character.  

Goblin CE AC12+ HD1-1 Move20 Damage 1d6 Weapon and Ranged.
Goblins are small 4' tall evil stinking humanoids of various bestial looks. They only live to destroy. They are the ancient enemy of the dwarves but the plague all when they come to an area and multiply.

XP is also been simplified and with the new additions to the rules, gold will also count for XP as that is a classical feature that I wanted to definitely put back in there.

Combat is set up with options to play at old style with "side initiative" or the modern day "Dex check in order" to have combat as either way is great fun and acceptable. Combat is of course very simple as I've taken out most of the modifiers and now using advantage disadvantage system! I really like combats to go as fast and exiting as possible. A system should never clog down because of the rules. The system should facilitate fast combat and that's what I believe I have done with back to the dungeon role-playing game. 

One can have the option of death at zero hit points or a very brutal death save system that is very dramatic and unlike any of the others I've seen out there. 

Basically you go negative your Constitution score before you die, BUT you lose one point per round and have to roll that number or less each round or die. Having tested this a few times it really is very dramatic and stressful to roll this if you're wanting your character to live. Now NPCs and monster simply die at zero hit points unless it's an important NPC

There is of course a very simplified treasure table system as one of the biggest clogs in RPGs I've ever seen his treasure tables. 

There is a list of magic items that I will be reworking to become more Back to the Dungeon RPG specific, but still usable with any other rpg.

I am going to have this PDF out there once I get done with it in a play test version for at least 6 months before I make a hardcover book so that I can get input and everyone's opinions on this game. This is not a new edition but for a few streamlining of rules. 

The existing modules out there of The Little Barony Far Far Far in the Western Frontier...
Should remain the same and still be fully compatible with first edition back to the dungeon role-playing game.

I'm going to also, if time permits, make some videos of different features of back to the dungeon role-playing game to showcase the simplicity and speed of the system.

Anyway with the recent debacle from the leaders of the industry, I decided to go ahead and try my system out there. 

Well it's already been out there actually for quite a few years but it's now time for something a little bit different, something streamlined, something simpler.

Now when it comes to the political stuff, this game is not going to be right or left, woke or unwoke, it's just going to be as it is. 

Now with that if you're easily offended by violence, evilness, slavery, races hating each other that don't exist, evil races (because that's how they are), sadism, rape and mutilation go find another hobby and don't play this game. 

This one is for the hardcore gamer adults and not the kiddies. 

Right now, the entire Back to the Dungeon RPG System is on DriveThruRPG for PWYW so go get it and dissect it and give me your opinions and critiques.  



Saturday, December 31, 2022

The Dark and Horrible Night of the Gore Ogres!

The party is invited to a gathering of friends at a far out ancient woodland manor for a joyous wedding! The most handsome groom's deceased father is a famous Ogre Slayer from back in the day and has the fortune to prove it! The groom was once an adventurer with the party but decided that his family businesses needed attending too after the death of his wealthy and most admired father. The young lord has since met a beautiful half elven maiden and they are to be married and not a more perfect place to be married than in the ancient woodland manor that was once a ruin that was the home of foul, malignant and malicious ogres! Finally a time of relaxation and merriment! No blades, spell, arrows or traps here! Plenty of fair maidens and bachelors running around! Food, drink and music! What could possibly go wrong?


BUT FIRST! WE MUST START WITH A TALE FROM LONG AGO!

A TALE of an Ogre SLAYER!


OGRES!
Foul Fell Fearsome
MALIGNANT
That smell! Rotten! Spoiled Milk, Vomit, Sweat and SHIT!
Giant
clubs, hammers axes!
There was tales told of one Ogre that was the worst!

Old Bucktooth Tommy Tommy Demon Oak Hammer a most vile ogre! HE who made deals with demons! KILLER AND EATER OF ENTIRE VILLAGES! FIGHTER SMASHER! BONE BREAKER!


   

DEMONS gave him the Demon Oak Hammer from a tree of Oak from a cursed forest! It was 25 years ago today when that Old Bucktooth Tommy Tommy Demon Oak Hammer was slain!

Slain by Martino Mondragone!

Martino Mondragone the famous adventurer and ogre SLAYER! Swinger of the Ox Blade a two handed sword front the Ancient Pits!


Martino Mondragone the stylish! With his fine clothing and armor! His steel shod boots! Adorned with full of magic jewelry hard fought and taken from dungeons deep! Fine long black as coal hair and excellent mustachio! A manly man! A ladies man and there was no more beautiful young lady of legend than Brigitte Brightview, the lady maiden of Castle Dandelion!




Her eyes of emeralds and golden hair adorned with jewels, her dress woven of the finest silks that flowed over her perfect skin. It is said that angels were heard singing the night of her birth and it were only the manliest of men that could take her as her cleverness and wit had no equal and she was gifted with the sight and easily learns the arcane magics of the ancients with ease!
Such was the meeting of Martino Mondragone and Brigitte Brightview! Twas love at first sight but not after a great romance tale of legend that will be left to another time to tell.
They had many children but their best of their loins was Miguel Mondragone Ogre Slayer's Son! BUT more on him later!

Many decades later comes another Ogre, BOOTFACE BOBBY! The son of Old Bucktooth Tommy Tommy Demon Oak Hammer!




 

His father slain years ago by Martino Mondragone and he, as a child ogre, had his face STOMPED by Martino Mondragone, leaving a permanent boot print in his already vile and ugly face. Before you judge ol Martino to harshly, you must understand that ogre children are given their victim's children to play with by the adult ogres which always ends in their horrible deaths as they are just as cruel, vile and evil in childhood as they are in adulthood. Martino felt mercy on the gigantic horrible ogre toddler (not realizing that he had just horribly murdered over half of a village's children while the other ogre toddlers took care of the rest) as he cried and begged for his miserable life and let that sick and evil bastard go and now, all these decades later, this Ogre BOOTFACE BOBBY and his party of Ogres are the new plague in this realm! After finding all of the village's children slain, Martino Mondragone felt regret for the rest of his life for such mercy.
It was three years ago his light of his life the Lady Brigitte died in her sleep and a year later Martino Mondragone drank himself to death, leaving his many children his many estates to split. His favorite son Miguel Mondragone got the woodlands manor called Mondragone Manor, the Jewel of Brigitte! A sadness lurks about the place now and the faint sounds of Martino weeping can be heard at times in the dark dusk of the evening...

Miguel Mondragone went adventuring with the party many years ago and showed himself to be a brave and daring and now a second level fighter! A truly trustworthy and stout friend in battle and in life. It was when he met the half elf Sarah the Pure of Golden Hair, now a second level cleric of the most lawfulness and goodness! It didn't hurt that she also possessed a legendary beauty equal to the angel's! The kind of beautiful woman that kings and fools of the ancient ages started wars over! Despite all the other male members of the party trying their best, she only had eyes for Miguel and it was obvious that their adventuring time was over and they were going to be starting a life together. Now any of the other male players with a charisma of 16 or more may have had a few romantic moments with Sarah or it was definitely some sparks there that were put out when Miguel came along. This may be an element of contention for some members of the party and for just good story.
It had just been around a year since you last seen Miguel and Sarah and they have invited you by messenger to his woodland Manor for a wedding (that all of you knew was obviously going to happen) on the last day of the month! It will finally be a time where the party does not have to worry about fell beast, dangerous and insidious traps, and delving in dungeons deep! This wedding is going to be a party of legend!

Each party member describes how they get to the woodland Manor. Just for flavor, here is the description of the surrounding area. Feel free to make that an adventure of the party getting there if you don't want to just start them off at the manor!
There will be a rough map that has one old cobblestone highway, an ancient road that was there from the last age. Reports of trolls in the woods were heard a few months ago but none has been seen since. One can also enter from the old creek by raft as the stream flows right past the place but it's know for it's flagitious giant algae covered freshwater crabs as large as a table and baneful and malignant bog octopuses from the putrid swamp. Those of evil hearts, it is rumored can make deals with these eight legged horrors! Crossing through the dark and haunted Scaredark Woodes will surely get one lost with all the dark things there. Especially the undead that lurk in the ruined barrows and shadows...

 https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/411782/The-Dark-and-Horrible-Night-of-the-Gore-Ogres

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

WHO WILL SAVE THE ORCHIDS?

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/401502/Who-Will-Save-the-Orchids 


YOU ALL MEET IN A TAVERN!

The party meets a weird young messenger boy who tells the party a team of weird foreign diplomats are heading into the recently conquered Orc lands and are offering a whopping 1000 Gold EACH to help rescue some Orphaned Children. 


If you agree then a party! WHAT COULD GO WRONG???


Being that the evil Orcs were completely routed and slaughtered last week, this should be an easy adventure!





WHO WILL SAVE THE ORCHIDS? 














Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Terror in the Old Fell Forest

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/398450/Terror-in-the-Old-Fell-Forest 




You all meet in a a loud and smokey tavern! It's a sad time for the quaint village of Valehaven. For the bawdy son of the portly mayor and his foppish and foolish friends have went missing. The foolish group of young adventurers went North into the Old Fell Forest some two weeks ago. They sadly and alarmingly have not returned. Dark and ominous tales are whispered about the foul Old Forest.

Adventurers have come forth to see if they can help, kill stuff, make some gold and get XP!

The party is hired by the portly mayor to find out the whereabouts of a foolish group of adventurers far to the north into the Old Forest. The mayor Miles Kaxzwell is a pale fat balding winy self righteous type of man who truly believes himself far superior to others as he is of noble blood! 



His "son" and his adventuring party of his friends, left a few weeks ago and nothing has been heard from them since. The people of Valehaven don't seem to be sad at all. 


Blurb

Just an old school gamer with a computer, scratch paper, pencils and pens who writes trashy little pulp old school zines so don't expect any high production values or high literature. I like to add in the old Folk Horror aspects form old movies as well. Especially the late 60s to early 70s Folk Horror movies where there were no heroes and everyone sucked!

Thursday, May 26, 2022

The Insane Death Pit of the Sadistic Trapmaster!

 MY NEWEST TRASHY ZINE MODULE!


Finally an adventure that actually challenges an adventuring party! You don’t get wimpy a** hand holding, players need to always win type of modules from Eldrad Wolfsbane! You get NOTHING handed to you!

NOTHING!

Down Deep into The Insane Death Pit of the Sadistic Trapmaster!


This Level 1-5 Zine Module will show the stinking maggot players that life isn't fair. If lower level adventurer trash, then hire a bunch of worthless expendable retainers! Hell, no matter what, hire some fodder! Remember morale rolls to see who is a stinking coward! Not that they can probably climb back out without dying! LOL! It also teaches one that you can't be a lazy scum and have anything without hard work and risk mixed with being a dumba**!



Every player that has their 3D6 rolled in order no cheating ass character survive this adventure on a live play video will get a genuine Certificate of Survival!



It's made by my inner 12 year old back in 1982!