I Don't Ever Want to Play the Part of a Statistic on a Government Chart

The best Police song, IMO.

Rush

OK, so this has jack-all to do with gaming, but I just wanted to say that I think Power Windows and Hold your Fire are two of the best Rush albums.

That is all. :)

ps. I'll be out of town gaming this weekend so don't expect much from the old bloggy for the next few days. Oh, and I'm really cranking away at the new idea I had - its flowing faster than expected.

Jumping Into Something New

So I've finally decided to go ahead with the idea that's been rolling back and forth in my mind for the past few months. I can't say much about it now, and it probably won't materialize for many months, but I've got a passion for the idea and am thoroughly enjoying working on it.

Because, ya know, I had soooooo much time before... :)

Tome of Tomes

The Customs of the Burrow
Author: Lily Hilltopple
Race: Halfling
Dimensions: 6x5x1
Weight: 1 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Common
Fields of Study: Demi-humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: Law & customs
Value: 25 gp

This is the definitive guide to good manners when within a halfling burrow. Everything from where and how to remove shoes, how to use silverware, when smoking is prohibited and expected, and even when not to bring gifts when visiting. Lily Hilltopple is a familiar name to any self-respecting halfling and her work graces thousands of shelves.

The Stroke

Finally finished the character sheets for the Gen Con tourney and spent all of yesterday in Columbus, running around doing pre-moving stuff - ending with an awards ceremony at the OSU library. Tired as all hell and a bit loopy. :)

I did manage to pick up a CD at a half-price books I visited: Billy Squire's Don't Say No. I still think "The Stroke" is one of the best songs ever written: biting and sarcastic while being just tired and sad at the same time.

Tome of Tomes

The Elf
Author: Grung Hutherin
Race: Half-orc
8x10x1.5
Weight: 6 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, stoneboard, parchment, iron clasp and lock
Rarity: Rare
Fields of Study: Demi-humankind, supernatural & unusual
Special Knowledge Categories: Biology, medicine
Value: 650 gp

This foul work compiles a decade of grave digging, dissection, and even vivisection. Hutherin exhaustively documented the physical anatomy of the elf using over 150 different subjects. Elves who know of the work detest it and view those possessing it with great suspicion. The work is, however, almost invaluable to any with an interest in the biology behind the long-lived race.

Sunday Un-seriousness

Took yesterday off - slept late today. :) Below is some funnies with a wee bit of profanity.

Formula Folio

This poor series has fallen to the back-back burner. I really need to allot at least 15 minutes a day to both the Tome of Tomes and the Formula Folio to make sure they keep going. I like doing them, but I can't do more than one or two in a row so they tend to get pushed behind the longer works that I can focus on for longer periods of time.

Animal Friendship
For the ink required to scribe a druidical animal friendship scroll

1 oz. of giant squid sepia
1 oz. of holly berry juice
1 small carrot
1 small piece of raw meat

During a full moon, pulverize the carrot and meat into a paste, incorporate the holly berry juice, and place in a pine container covered by a freshly-picked large oak leaf. When the leaf is dry and brown, add the squid sepia and decant into any container. Makes enough ink for 2 scrolls. Any special quill is suitable.

What's up with Sorcery & Super Science?

I'm sure there are some out there wondering, "Where's all the S&SS stuff that used to fill the blog?" Well, the answer is I've got The Scourge of the Rat Men and The Vulture Men of Waukegan in editing right now and they'll be coming out by Gen Con, so I'm experiencing a little bottle-neck in terms of work-flow. Additionally, I've been very focused on the OSR stuff, making sure the Gen Con tourney adventure is ready as well as both of the Shadowvein adventures.

The good news is that all I've got left to do for the OSR stuff is the character sheets and then S&SS will move back to the front-burner. There are still dozens of critters, items and artifacts waiting to be discovered in the ruins - I've just jaunted over to the fantasy dimension for a bit. :)

The Goldenrod Character Sheet

So I've been making character and information sheets for Advanced Adventures #20: Obsidian Sands of Syncrates (the tourney adventure at Gen Con 2011) using the character sheets created by The Mad Irishman. I think its vitally important for a 4 hour tourney game to have fully-fleshed-out pre-generated characters in an easy-to-use format. The players are coming to a brand-new character and need to quickly understand their abilities, possessions, and spells. They are paying to play the game - its best to make sure the fiddly bits are all in order before they arrive.

This is quite important to the game at the table, but man does it eat up the time. Even though I'm just transcribing the char from a list to the pages, its quite the daunting task. At least I've got The Clash on the music box. :)

Tome of Tomes

Things are getting back to normal here in casa de XRP, so here's a tome.

The Laws of Manip
Author: Demane Jink
Race: Human
Dimensions: 14x12x0.5
Weight: 2 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Common
Fields of Study: Humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: Law & customs
Value: 25 gp

A truly ancient work, the laws of manip rarely appear in their native tongue, a language so old that there are none who speak it. There are dozens of different translations of the work however, as the laws of manip form the backbone upon which much of the civilized world’s law currently rests. It is a stilted and dense work, utterly boring to those uninterested in law.

Finished with The Mouth of the Shadowvein!

Just finished Advanced Adventure #24: The Mouth of the Shadowvein! It's about 19k words and should prove quite the challenge with several moments of wonder. Now on to art direction... Stefan Poag has agreed to do the cover work for both Down the Shadowvein and The Mouth of the Shadowvein so all three of the Shadowvein adventures will be artistically linked.

I took most of yesterday off and just laid in bed watching cartoons and nature shows. It's funny how you don't notice how stressful something is until its done. Glad the house is listed - I prefer working on my real job. :)

House is Now for Sale

Just put the house up for sale today. It's been a very tiring two weeks of prep and I haven't gotten as much work done as I'd like. And now for something completely different.

Mr. T Sunday Unserious-ness

Damaged Advanced Adventures Sale!

So, as Suzi and I dig through our piles of books for the move, we've discovered some damaged copies of Advanced Adventures as well as Malevolent and Benign. Instead of recycling them, I thought I should offer them up at reduced prices - surely someone wouldn't mind a dinged or damaged copy. Most of the time, the damage is a dog-eared corner, a bad cut, a chipped-out corner, a wonky spine, or cover scuffing. The copies are completely usable at the table, they're just not good for full retail value.

So drop by our website and pick up some deals. There is limited quantities of everything.

Short Day - Funny Post

Since Blogger crapped out and I haven't been able to reach it for quite some time, here's something to brighten the day.

Missing: D&D Playsets

One of the things that I've always thought a terrible mistake, especially since Hasbro purchased WotC, is the lack of D&D playsets for children. Any "generic fantasy" playset released should instead be branded with the D&D name. Playsets are a lot of fun for the very young and they could be a good introduction IMO.

Tome of Tomes

The Lineage of the Stonepick Clan
Author: Fundin Stonepick
Race: Dwarf
Dimensions: 14x12x2.5
Weight: 7 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Very rare
Fields of Study: Demi-humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: Demography, history, politics & genealogy
Value: 225 gp

A very rare work chronicling the rise and fall of the Stonepick clan the most valuable aspect of The Lineage of the Stonepick Clan is the extensive pull-out genealogy trees. Written by the last living member of the clan, the work covers the founding of the clan by Eltoren Stonepick, its growth and population explosion and how, after 500 years, it eventually succumbed to an unusual disease that left all the males of the clan infertile.

Last Day for a Free Advanced Adventure

Today's the last day to pick up Advanced Adventure #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude for free. Hope you all enjoy it! When I stop working for the day, I'm setting it back to normal price.

Sunday Un-seriousness (Mother's Day style)

Thought this appropriate. Thanks Mom!

The Lost Keys of Solitude - Free!

Did I mention that I've giving away a free PDF of Advanced Adventures #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude until Monday? :) And the download redirect issue is fixed, so it should work like a charm this time.

Sorry for not having much going on at the Blog for the past few days. We had a computer emergency and had to get a replacement will all the reloading of software and pulling of hair that entails - but thanks to an aggressive back-up strategy we lost no data. Oh, and I had to get the auto fixed as well. The past 3 days have been very hectic and I now have a week to get the house ready for showing, but at least the front and basement are now painted and the outside power washed along with the fence.

So sorry for the few updates. Go get a free adventure in the meantime. Have fun reading it and see if you can get a group together to run it. I think it's quite good.

A Free Advanced Adventure (for the weekend, that is)

Praise for free publishers has been going around lately so I thought I should show my appreciation and join them, albeit for only a weekend. I'm not a free publisher, this is a business to me, but I do like to support the community, so I've put Advanced Adventures #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude up at Your Games Now for free until Monday, 9th, 2011.

So go grab a copy now and thanks for dropping by the blog and for helping make the OSR community so vibrant and generous.

(Hrm... something's going on - some type of redirect error when only free products are in the cart. If you get an error message, just go back to Your Games Now and check in "My Account" and click on the "View" button. The download link shows up there. I'm checking more into it now. Sorry!)

Call for OSRIC Module Manuscripts

I'm putting the finishing touches on Advanced Adventure # 24: The Mouth of the Shadowvein and after that I have no more OSRIC manuscripts. That's not nice. :(

So I'm putting the call out for new OSRIC adventure manuscripts to the public. We're looking for works of no more than 12k words. We need manuscripts that don't use any of WotC's IP (no beholders, mind flayers, githyanki, etc), and preferably manuscripts that show the author is at least familiar with the Advanced Adventures line in terms of design (ie. no railroading, no boxed text, etc.). In particular, I'd like to see lower-level adventures as the line is a bit weak on them, so adventures of 1-3 are particularly desired. We pay $.01 a word for all rights - meaning that a 12k adventure would net you $120 and an author's copy of the module.

I know everyone has at least one (if not more) really good modules within them, either written in the past or just finished, so please e-mail me at josephbrowning@gmail.com if you're interested in seeing your work in print.

Thanks!

Tome of Tomes

Puns in Four Languages
Author: Fudwyn Nacklewicket
Race: Gnome
Dimensions: 6x5x1
Weight: 1 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Uncommon
Fields of Study: Humankind, demi-humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: Languages
Value: 35 gp

This small book contains over 100 different punny jokes in four different languages: common, dwarfish, gnome, halfing. Fudwyn tends to have a risqué sense of humor and many of the jokes are not fit for younger ears.

1 seat left for the XRP OSRIC tourney at Gen Con 2011.

Just want to let everyone know that there is only 1 seat left in the Expeditious Retreat Press OSRIC tourney at Gen Con 2011. 29 seats have been taken in the first day of registration. The last seat is for RPG1122706. I'm glad we're going to have another full house this year. Hopefully we'll get several more judges next year and be able to expand the number of tables offered.

For those who have signed up, The Obsidian Sands of Syncrates await!

Sunday Un-seriousness

Let's Duet from the movie Walk Hard. It's a comedy mockumentary about a stereotypical rock-n-roller. This song from the movie makes Suzi laugh out loud - she finds its unsubtle subtlety hilarious. :)