XRP in a Bundle of Holding

I'm pleased to say that our One on One Adventures Compendium is part of a Bundle of Holding, the Bundle of Holding for Two #2.

This bundle focuses on games suitable for two people and contains five other 1 GM/1 Player options that make for great play when you can't get the gang together.

10% of the sales to to Human Rights Watch!

1 on 1 Adventures November Sale - 80% off!

I've put all the 1 on 1 Adventures PDFs up for sale at drivethrurpg for 80% off for all of November. If you've needed Pathfinder adventures for 1 player and 1 GM, they are the things to pick up. Hell, if you do a bit of work, they're easily expandable for a full-sized party.

30% of Compendium Sale at Lulu!

I've put all our compendium products up for sale at Lulu for 30% off. That includes all four of the Advanced Adventures compendiums for old-scholl/OSRIC/1e modules as well as the two Pathfinder One-on-One Adventures for one player and one GM.

Advanced Adventures Compendium One
Advanced Adventures Compendium Two
Advanced Adventures Compendium Three
Advanced Adventures Compendium Four
One On One Adventures Compendium One
One On One Adventures Compendium Two

Enjoy!

(Oh, Lulu also has a coupon for 25% off right now BLACKFRIDAY25, so you can get a little be more knocked off the price.

Career Path Character Creation for Starfinder

So now that Starfinder is out and I can pimp the PDF I made for it wherein I gut the entire character generation process to put in an OGL-Traveller-Inspired career path version working off of my World's Apart Fantasy version of OGL-Traveller.. It's not balanced (duh!), but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun! Career Path Character Creation is only $5.

20% off Compendium LULU sale!

I've put all our compendiums up for sale at LULU for the next week at 20% off. That includes...

Advanced Adventures Compendium One (1e modules)
Advanced Adventures Compendium Two (1e modules)
Advanced Adventures Compendium Three (1e modules)
One-On-One Adventures Compendium One (Pathfinder modules)
One-On-One Adventures Compendium Two (Pathfinder modules)

... and if you include the current 15% off LULU coupon (LULU15) you can pick them up for 35% off the regular price, which is a pretty good deal.

A series of new 1 on 1 Adventure are coming. Here's the first, The 300th!

I'm happy to say that I've a series of new 1 on 1 Adventures (for Pathfinder) coming out over the next year. Here's the cover for 1-on-1 #17, The 300th! I've got numbers 17-21 in the pipeline... :-)

Call for 1 on 1 Adventure Manuscripts!

Expeditious Retreat Press is looking for authors for three 1 on 1 Adventures for the Pathfinder rpg.
Project Length: 10k-14k words, with target of 12k words.
Pay Rate: $0.01 cent/edited word. Pay on acceptance via PayPal or USD check.
Additional details: I'm looking for three new adventures in our line of 1 on 1 Adventures. We've put out 16, I've one in manuscript form right now, and I'm looking for #'s 18, 19, and 20. 1 on 1 Adventures are for one player and one GM. Any expressing serious interest will be provided examples of published adventures for guidelines in terms of format and style.

1 on 1 Adventures require a different creative hand than standard adventures. For example, any magic that paralyzes is effectively a death sentence when there is only one player (barring the intent to capture, of course.) Prospective authors should take this difference into consideration.

I prefer site-based adventures over plot-based adventures (but any type of good adventure is desired), and am particularly looking for adventures for the more martial classes.

Respond by: I would prefer responses occur prior to May 1, 2015 to josephbrowning@gmail.com with title "Call for 1 on 1 Adventure Manuscripts!" If you're interested, please contact me.
 
Sincerely,
Joseph Browning
Expeditious Retreat Press
josephbrowning@gmail.com

50% off all Expeditious Retreat Press PDFs!

Heya all, I'm running a 50% off sale on all our PDFs over at rpgnow.com.

Call for Manuscripts

Been a while since I made a general call for manuscripts. I'm looking for OSRIC modules for our Advanced Adventures line and for Pathfinder adventures for our 1-on-1 Adventures line. Both have a word limit of 12k (can be bumped up to 16k if necessary) and pay $0.01 per word upon acceptance of the manuscript. OSRIC is for a full-sized OSR group (6-10 players) while 1-on-1 is for only a single player and a GM.

If you've never published anything before, don't worry, I honestly believe every long-term GM has at least one good publishable adventure within them and I'm glad to help bring them to the public. Our hobby should be a shared hobby.

If you want to pitch me an idea, email me at josephbrowning@gmail.com.

Two New Print Adventures for Sale!

We've just got our copies of Advanced Adventures #31: The Lost Lair of Drecallis and 1 on 1 Adventures #16: The Lost City of Bransik up for sale at the XRP website. It's been a while since we've put out an old-school mod ('bout 6 months or so) and even longer for a Pathfinder mod ('bout two years, sheesh!) and we're glad to have new stuff up.

Here's the blurbs....

Advanced Adventures #31: The Lost Lair of Drecallis is an OSRIC(tm) module designed for 4-8 adventurers of levels 4-7. For a second year in a row, Drecallis has not appeared on the appointed day to collect her tribute from the people of Longridge. Is the terrible beast dead? Or has the great reptile departed for greener pastures? The elders are desperate to discover the truth, and if the dragon is indeed dead, a priceless hoard may be sitting in the dragon's lair, unguarded. A call has been put out for brave souls willing to seek out the remote lair of Drecallis and investigate!

1 on 1 Adventures #16: The Lost City of Bransik is designed for a Rogue, level 6-8, powered by Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. A reclusive mage desires to recover the spellbook of the powerful wizard, Herinack Dersuni. The mage’s library/workshop was in the Lost City of Bransik which was swallowed up in an earthquake centuries ago. Offering a handsome reward, plus spoils from the recovery operation, you must find this lost city, descend into its ruins and find the library and its precious spellbook. Do you have the skills to survive in a dead and deserted city?

2 New PDF Adventures - 1 OSRIC, 1 Pathfinder!

Just uploaded two adventures - Advanced Adventures #31: The Lost Lair of Drecalis for OSRIC/1e and 1 on 1 Adventures #16: The Lost City of Bransik for Pathfinder. Hrm... Looks like there's a "lost" theme going on today... :-)

If you've any interest, follow the links and check 'em out. The print version are hitting gamestore shelves early next month.

 

XRP at Shop PFSRD.com

I'd like to announce that we're now selling Expeditious Retreat PDFs at Shop PFSRD.com. I've added all our Pathfinder material and most of our OSRIC material so far and I'll keep slowly adding more of our products. The Shop is having a sale today for 30% off, so if you're interested, take a look.

Seeking Manuscripts for 1 on 1 Adventures

Heya all, I'm looking for more manuscripts for our Pathfinder Compatible 1 on 1 Adventures - Adventures designed for one player and one GM. I'm looking for around 12k words. Please e-mail me at josephbrowning@gmail.com if you have ideas or manuscripts. The line has been defunct for a while and I need to get it going again, so please help me out.

Sorcery & Super Science Pathfinder Version

The Pathfinder conversion of Sorcery & Super Science! should pick up here shortly once we get in a signed contract from a freelancer. I'm a bit overwhelmed right now (I tend to jump from thing to thing) and I think hiring-out should help make sure this one sees the light of day. It's a big project and I've got a lot of irons in the fire. Just wanted to let everyone know that it's still an ongoing work - one which should hopefully speed up.

XRP at Fantasy Grounds

Thought I should let everyone know that our entire 1-on-1 line is available at Fantasy Grounds. We've also got the first two of our 4e Lands of Darkness series available there as well. You can see all our products via this link and some previews for Pearls of Pohjola here.

I'm trying to convince them to get our Advanced Adventures line, but they don't have a working OSRIC system yet. They've been communicating with a developer on that matter and hopefully we'll see OSRIC pop up at Fantasy Grounds eventually.

Pathfinder Sorcery & Super Science! Catalyst Class

Here's another sneak peak into Sorcery & Super Science! for Pathfinder: the catalyst class.

Catalyst
Every mutie knows that Lady Luck is fickle and some muties are favored by her beyond all reason. These are the lucky muties, the brave explorers under the shattered moon who rely upon luck to see them through tough spots. They use their good fortune and quickness to survive below the shattered moon and they often find themselves the only survivor of situations that claim the lives of their companions. When only a single shadow walks away from a backdrop of carnage, the smart mutie knows who it is.

Role: Catalysts are capable, stealthy, warriors whose abilities with Fortune Points make them dangerous foes and boon friends. They are cunning risk-takers, with the wisest among them judiciously using their abilities and pressing their luck as little as possible.

Hit Die: d8

Starting Wealth: 4d6 × 10 gp (average 140 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.


Class Skills
The catalyst's class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int),  Knowledge (nature), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis) and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks per Level: 8 + Int modifier.

Table: Catalyst
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+0	+2	+0	Charmed, lucky, fortunate 2
2nd	+2	+0	+3	+0	Catalyst talent
3rd	+3	+1	+3	+1	Evasion, sneak attack +1d6
4th	+4	+1	+4	+1	Catalyst talent, fortune point
5th	+5	+1	+4	+1	Fortunate 3, power point
6th	+6/+1	+2	+5	+2	Catalyst talent, sneak attack +2d6
7th	+7/+2	+2	+5	+2	Smooth Talker
8th	+8/+3	+2	+6	+2	Catalyst talent, fortune point
9th	+9/+4	+3	+6	+3	Serendipity, sneak attack +3d6
10th	+10/+5	+3	+7	+3	Catalyst talent , fortunate 4, power point
11th	+11/+6/+1	+3	+7	+3	Bold-faced lie
12th	+12/+7/+2	+4	+8	+4	Catalyst talent, fortune point , sneak attack +4d6
13th	+13/+8/+3	+4	+8	+4	Hand of fate
14th	+14/+9/+4	+4	+9	+4	Catalyst talent
15th	+15/+10/+5	+5	+9	+5	Fortunate 5, power point, sneak attack +5d6
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+5	+10	+5	Catalyst talent, fortune point
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+5	Directed serendipity
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+6	Catalyst talent, sneak attack +6d6
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+6	Unmitigated disaster
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+6	Catalyst talent, fortunate 6, fortune point, power point

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the catalyst.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency (Ex): A catalyst is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, and shields (except tower shields).

Charmed (Ex): Catalysts are luckier than the average mutie and roll better dice when using Fortune Points. Additionally, at 6th level and higher catalysts roll more than one die when spending a Fortune Point. The catalyst uses the most beneficial of the results.

Catalyst Level        Fortune Point Dice Rolled
1st-5th            1d8
6th-10th        2d8
11th-15th        3d8
16th-20th        4d8

Lucky (Ex): Catalysts recover 2 Fortune Points when resting.

Fortunate (Ex): Bending fortune to their favor, catalysts learn to increasingly alter fate as they progress in power. A catalyst can spend 2 Fortune Points per round, but cannot spend more than one point on any single roll. At 5th level, and at every five levels thereafter, a catalyst can spend one more Fortune Point per round.

Catalyst Talents: As a catalyst gains experience, he learns a number of talents that aid him and confound his foes. Starting at 2nd level, a catalyst gains one catalyst talent. He gains an additional catalyst talent for every 2 levels of catalyst attained after 2nd level. A catalyst cannot select an individual talent more than once unless indicated.

Ace in the Hole: The catalyst gains 2 Fortune Points. This talent can be taken multiple times.

Bounce Back: A catalyst that selects this talent recovers 3 Fortune Points when resting if he succeeds on a DC 14 Charisma check. If he fails this check, he recovers 2 Fortune Points.

Combat Trick: A catalyst that selects this talent gains a bonus combat feat (see Feats).

Fast Stealth (Ex): This talent allows a catalyst to move at full speed using the Stealth skill without penalty.

Hard as Iron (Ex): This ability has Bounce Back as a prerequisite. A catalyst that selects this talent recovers 4 Fortune Points when resting if he succeeds on a DC 14 Charisma check. If he fails this check, he recovers 3 Fortune Points.

Inner Drive (Ex): This talent allows a catalyst to gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the total of his ability score bonuses. These temporary hit points last for 1 minute. Afterwards, the catalyst suffers ability damage to a randomly determined ability equal to the greatest of his ability bonuses.

Ledge Walker (Ex): This talent allows a catalyst to move along narrow surfaces at full speed using the Acrobatics skill without penalty. In addition, a catalyst with this talent is not flat-footed when using Acrobatics to move along narrow surfaces.

Luck Pool (Ex): This talent allows a catalyst to increase his total number of available Fortune Points. Whenever at maximum Fortune points, the catalyst may “put away” the Fortune he would normally recover into a luck pool. The pool size is equal to the catalyst’s level.

Resiliency (Ex): Once per day, a catalyst with this talent can gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the catalyst’s level. Activating this ability is an immediate action that can only be performed when he is brought to below 0 hit points. This ability can be used to prevent him from dying. These temporary hit points last for 1 minute. If the catalyst’s hit points drop below 0 due to the loss of these temporary hit points, he falls unconscious and is dying as normal.

Trap Spotter (Ex): Whenever a catalyst with this talent comes within 10 feet of a trap, he receives an immediate Perception skill check to notice the trap. This check should be made in secret by the GM.

Evasion (Ex): At 3rd level and higher, a catalyst can avoid attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the catalyst is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless catalyst does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Fortune Point: At 4th level, and at every four catalyst levels thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level), a catalyst gains an additional Fortune Point.

Power Point: At 5th level, and at every five catalyst levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), a catalyst gains an additional power point.

Smooth Talker (Ex): At 7th level the catalyst can spend a Fortune Point to improve or worsen a creature’s disposition towards himself or his allies. A catalyst (and his allies) can only alter a creature’s disposition through the use of this ability a single time.

Serendipity (Su): At 9th level, the fates conspire for the catalyst making the beneficial happen. Once per week and only during a time of crisis, the GM may introduce something to help the catalyst or the catalyst’s allies if the catalyst spends a Fortune Point. This boon may take the form of a helpful NPC, an automatic success at a skill check, an automatic hit and critical with an attack, or a consumable one-time benefit advantageous to the current situation.

Bold-faced Lie (Ex): At 11th level the catalyst can spend a Fortune Point and tell 1 lie to any NPC and the NPC believes it is true for a number of minutes equal to the catalyst’s level. A catalyst can use this ability once per day. A NPC with more HD than the catalyst’s level may make a Will save (DC 10+ catalyst’s level) to resist. Any lie that is immediately provable as false (e.g. “the sky is green”) will not be believed.

Hand of Fate (Su): At 13th level a catalyst may gift any amount of his Fortune Points to another creature and any creature can gift its Fortune Points to the catalyst. The receiver of Fortune Points cannot gain more Fortune Points than its normal maximum.

Directed Serendipity (Su): As serendipity above, but subject to GM approval the catalyst can choose when something serendipitous occurs and what form it takes. If the GM does not approve, the Catalyst instantly regains 6 Fortune Points.

Unmitigated Disaster (Su): At 19th level, a catalyst can spend all of his Fortune Points to create some sort of unmitigated disaster for an opponent. The type of disaster should be determined by the catalyst and altered to approval by the GM. Using unmitigated disaster requires a number of Fortune Points equal to the maximum the catalyst possesses. If a catalyst is not at full Fortune, he can still use this power, but suffers ability drain to three randomly determined abilities equal to the number of points he is “short” of full Fortune. The drain is divided as equally as possible among the three abilities.

Sorcery & Super Science for Pathfinder!

I figure it's about time to let everyone know that I'm working on a Pathfinder version of Sorcery & Super Science! I've been plugging away for a few months now (and have many k's of words) and have many more months to go before a finished product will be available. I'd like to hit Christmas of 2012, but we'll see how that works out.

This conversion is going to be a system-modified conversion, rather than a system faithful one. This means that I'll be following Pathfinder at all possible points, but when the concept of the S&SS world varies with Pathfinder assumptions, the Pathfinder assumptions are modified to fit the setting. I'm hoping this doesn't irk to many Pathfinder players, but I suspect that the coherent vision of the changes should easily be acceptable.

We'll see. Gamers are nothing if not an opinionated bunch.

Below's a sneak peak of the Mutated Animal race for the Pathfinder version of S&SS.


Mutated Animals
The second most-common of the mutated races, mutated animals come in a bewildering array of shapes, sizes and genetic backgrounds. Mutated animals vary greatly in temperament, but typically express traits associated with their animalistic background.

General Relations: Mutated animals that more fully show their animal heritage tend to be viewed with more suspicion than those that appear more human-like, but most communities are less concerned with genetic makeup than with behavior.

Mutated Animal Racial Traits

+2 to Two Ability Scores, -2 to One Ability Score: Mutated animals have various strengths and weaknesses depending upon their heritage.

Small, Medium, or Large: Mutated animals can be one of three sizes. Small mutated animals gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks. Medium mutated animals have no bonuses or penalties to their size. Large mutated animals gain a -1 size penalty to their AC, a -1 size penalty on attack rolls, a +1 bonus to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a -4 penalty to Stealth checks. All mutated animals have a 5ft. reach.

Normal Speed: Mutated animals have a base speed of 30 feet.

Bonuses: Mutated animals possess various bonuses based upon their animal background. A mutated animal receives 9 points for purchasing of any of the following bonuses. A GM should work with a player who desires other bonuses to suit the character’s background. A bonus can only be purchased once.

1 point bonuses
Brave: You gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws against fear and despair effects.
Climber: You gain a +4 racial bonus to Climb checks and can use accelerated climbing without penalty.
Disease Resistance: You gain a racial bonus on saving throws against disease, nausea, and sickened equal to your Hit Dice.
Empathetic: You gain a +4 bonus on Handle Animal checks.
Low-Light Vision: You can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Poison Resistance: You gain a racial bonus on saving throws against poison equal to your Hit Dice.
Stable: You gain a +2 racial bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while on the ground.
Stubborn: You gain a +1 racial bonus on Will saving throws. Additionally, if you fail a Will save, you receive another save 1 round later to prematurely end the effect triggering the save.
Swimmer: You gain a +4 racial bonus to Swim checks, and you can hold your breath for four times your Constitution score instead of the normal twice.

2 point bonuses
Cat’s Luck: Prerequisites: +2 racial bonus to Dexterity; Benefit: Once per day, when you make a Reflex saving throw, you can roll the  saving throw twice and take the better result. You must decide to use this ability before the saving throw is attempted.
Exceptional Low-Light Vision: You can see four times as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Natural Climber: You gain a 10 ft. climb speed and a +8 racial bonus to Climb checks.
Natural Foe: +2 dodge bonus to AC and +2 on grappling combat maneuver checks against creatures of a single type or single humanoid subtype
Natural Weapon: You gain a bite, claw, gore, hoof, talon, or other appropriate natural attack based upon your heritage, dealing 1d3 damage. The natural weapon is a primary attack or a secondary attack if you are wielding a manufactured weapon.
Thick Skin: You gain +1 natural armor.

4 point bonuses
Darkvison 60 ft.: You can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Dense Hide: You gain +2 natural armor.
Ferocious: When your hit points fall below 0, but you are not yet dead, you can continue to fight. If you do, you are staggered, and you lose 1 hit point each round. You still die when your hit points reach a negative amount equal to your Constitution score.
Hard to Hurt: You gain 2/— damage reduction. This damage reduction does not stack with any others.
Superior Specimen: You gain +2 to One Ability Score
Wall Crawler: Prerequisites: Natural Climber; Benefit: You gain an additional 10 ft. to your climbing speed (resulting in a 20 ft. climb speed) and can cling to cave walls and even ceilings as long as the surface has hand-and footholds. In effect, you are treated as constantly being under the effect of a nonmagical version of the spider climb spell, save that you cannot cling to smooth surfaces. You also gain an additional +8 racial bonus on Climb checks normally granted creatures with a climb speed (resulting in a total of +16).

Penalties: Some of the technologies and medicines of the ancients don’t work very well for mutated animals. Mutated animals suffer a -6 on all Technology Compatibility checks.

Languages: Mutated animals begin play speaking a local language. Mutated animals with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages appropriate to the character origin and GM approval.

Still Sick and Still Seeking Manuscripts

Hard to believe, but I'm still ill. I've spent the last few days laying in bed reading, sleeping, and watching TV. Today I'm going to get some work done as I can't really hold off any longer. One of the nice things about being your own boss is that you can call in sick whenever you want, but the more you do it the less money you make. *sigh*

So I'm back at work (even though it probably won't be for that many hours today) and I'd love to see some manuscripts come my way.

More at Lulu

I've been very busy with Pathfinder stuff and only added four more Advanced Adventures to our print catalog at Lulu. Below are the direct links.

The Lost Keys of Solitude by Joseph Browning & Suzi Yee 6-10
The Conqueror Worm by Alphonso Warden 10-14
The Barrow Mound of Gravemoor by Andrew Hind 5-7
White Dragon Run by James Boney 2-4

5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons is Here

From the NY Times...

Unsurprising, IMO. I've also received confirmation that the announcement could have happened up to a year ago which is, according to my memory, when rumors really started among fellow publishers.

And Dungeons & Dragons’ designers are also planning to undertake an exceedingly rare effort for the gaming industry over the next few months: asking hundreds of thousands of fans to tell them how exactly they should reboot the franchise

In other words, WotC is taking a page from Paizo's playbook. Paizo's taken the reins away from WotC. And honestly, good on them. WotC's development of a new game expressly for the reason of IP protection (because of the OGL) was ill-advised, ill-planned, and ill-executed, IMO.

Finally, the plug (which is what it is - there is no article-based reason for the mention) for the other gaming system mentioned in the article is transparent when you know that the developer of that game and the author are friends and shared the same booth with yours truly last year.


UPDATE:
According to WotC there will be a first-draft of the new rules available for attendees of the Jan 2012 D&D Experience. Another point of confirmation regarding the duration of 5e development.