Tome of Tomes

Geomancy
Author: Unknown
Race: Elf
Dimensions: 14x12x1.5
Weight: 25 lbs.
Materials: Black dragonskin-bound, brassboard, vellum, brass clasps and lock
Rarity: Rare
Fields of Study: Supernatural & unusual
Special Knowledge Categories: Divination
Value: 6,625 gp

This elven treatise on the magical art of fortune telling from earthen materials seems convincing, but is actually entirely worthless. The author seems unaware of even the most basic magical principles.  However, the last half of Geomancy is a highly convoluted, and highly compact, guide to the creation of a crystal ball. Following these instructions reduces the time needed for creation by half. Additionally, a later hand included a single spell found within the margins through the entire book: legend lore.

Tome of Tomes

Glyphs of Power
Author: Archibald Williamson
Race: Human
Dimensions: 16x16x3
Weight: 15 lbs.
Materials: Giant eelskin-bound, woodboard, vellum
Rarity: Very rare
Fields of Study: Supernatural & unusual
Special Knowledge Categories: Dweomercraeft, heraldry, signs & sigils
Value: 14,000 gp

The only other known work of Williamson, Glyphs of Power is a methodical, difficult work on the nature of magical glyphs, sigils, runes, and wards. There are four spells are contained within the volume: wizard mark, sepia snake sigil, explosive runes, guards and wards. More importantly, after reading and digesting Glyphs of Power for at least a month, a caster’s spells involving such affairs are more effective (+1 to damage or -1 to save against).

Two more Tome of Tomes

I'm still plugging away at my Tome of Tomes Patreon project and should be releasing Tome of Tomes Volume 4 in a few months because of their support. Thanks all!

Here's two more tomes from the series.

Glassworks of Punj
Author: Mallient Fligiton
Race: Human
Dimensions: 8x8x1
Weight: 4 lbs.
Materials: Giant snakeskin-bound, stoneboard, vellum
Rarity: Common
Fields of Study: Humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: Arts & music
Value: 50 gp

The peoples of Punj are renowned for their glass-working ability, and with good reason, as this seminal work demonstrates. Glassoworks of Punj not only explores the common wares coming out of workshops throughout the sub-continent, but it also show many of the wondrous works of art and their historical context of many of the ancient wares.  Heavily illuminated, this work provides inspiration and sets a high bar for glassworkers of other regions.


Kemetian Fire Magic
Author: Liart Spilgie
Race: Elf
Dimensions: 16x16x3
Weight: 15 lbs.
Materials: Red dragonskin-bound, woodboard, vellum
Rarity: Very rare
Fields of Study: Humankind, supernatural & unusual
Special Knowledge Categories: History, dweomercraeft
Value: 7,500 gp

The rare companion piece to Spilgie’s Ancient Kemet, Kemetian Fire Magic deeply delves into the fire magics of that ancient people. Spilgie translates hundreds of magical hieroglyphic texts into modern form, eventually providing the reader access to the following three spells: burning hands, flaming sphere, fire trap. These translations prove the ancientness of these three magics. Additionally, it should be noted, the Kemetian flaming sphere is superior to the common spell, dealing 2-8+1 hit points of damage.

Advanced Adventures #34: The Crocodile's Tear now available!

AA #34 is now out in print and PDF forms.

Advanced Adventures #34: The Crocodiles Tear is an OSRIC(tm) module designed for 4-6 adventurers of levels 3-6.

A wealthy patron is outfitting an expedition to sail to the mysterious southern continent.  The goal of the expedition is none other than the legendary Crocodile’s Tear: a massive magical emerald! Many tales are told about the southern continent, most of which paint it as a disease-ridden jungle filled with hostile natives, reachable only by crossing a pirate- and monster-infested sea.

As the port winds fade into the winds of the open sea, the sails of The Mermaid billow firmly. Will the player characters survive the voyage, and will they find more than they bargained for? Oh, and was it mentioned that that two other trips set out before this one only to be swallowed up by the dense jungle…

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... :-)

A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe (3rd Edition) Cover

Pleased to present the cover for the new edition. Should be out in a few months.

Advanced Adventures #34: The Crocodile's Tear

Oh lookie, another Advanced Adventure's on the way! This one's by Geoff Gander, has a a rather Meso-American feel, and fits right in the sweet spot of levels 3-6.

Advanced Adventures #34: The Crocodiles Tear is an OSRIC(tm) module designed for 4-6 adventurers of levels 3-6.

A wealthy patron is outfitting an expedition to sail to the mysterious southern continent.  The goal of the expedition is none other than the legendary Crocodile’s Tear: a massive magical emerald! Many tales are told about the southern continent, most of which paint it as a disease-ridden jungle filled with hostile natives, reachable only by crossing a pirate- and monster-infested sea.

As the port winds fade into the winds of the open sea, the sails of The Mermaid billow firmly. Will the player characters survive the voyage, and will they find more than they bargained for? Oh, and was it mentioned that that two other trips set out before this one only to be swallowed up by the dense jungle…
If you enjoy this adventure, look for future releases in the Advanced Adventures line from Expeditious Retreat Press.

Tome of Tomes: Volume Three released!

Heya all, I'm glad to say that the next 100 books in the Tome of Tomes are compiled and released as the PDF Volume Three of the Tomes of Tomes! Thanks again to all my Tome of Tomes Patreons for their support, without which I would not be creating these as the clip that I am. Thanks!

A Month without Posts

I should update all of you since it's been a month without posts. There are two main reasons for this: 1. We moved from Ohio to Vancouver, WA, and 2. My computer fall down go boom.

The move is the big reason. Suzi (my wife) found a new job on the west coast and moving our household (and business) 2,500 miles has taken almost all of our collective attention for the past month. We're here finally and the house is 95% set up so things are back to normal on that front. Unfortunately, we've got about two weeks of travelling into (south) Portland for Suzi's orientation/on boarding and that's a terrible, terrible, drive, so I'm not going to be 100% at the helm until the next two weeks are done.

(we get to see this monster a lot while we cross the river)

But the computer issue isn't to be ignored. It's simply amazing how much time it takes to migrate from one computer to another when you've got as much computer-related stuff to move over. For instance, just finding all the damn fonts you used takes forever. Oh, and I still haven't figured out how to migrate custom brushes from Photoshop (but honestly, I haven't looked that hard after my initial frustration... there's got to be a way right? That seems like something people would want to do.).

Anyway, thought you all deserved a heads up on my silence recently. Thanks to all my business associates for their patience during this period. I appreciate it!

Expeditous Retreat Press joins TableTopLibrary

Expeditious Retreat Press is now selling digital product at a new retailer, TableTopLibrary! We're joined by other fine publishers such as Kobold Press, Frog God Games, Troll Lord Games, Green Ronin, Rite Publishing, Hero Games, Rogue Comet, Metallic Dice Games, Pacesetter Games and Simulations, Eldritch Enterprises, and Far Future Enterprises.

https://tabletoplibrary.com/is a newly-formed online store for RPG books and pdfs designed to offer both electronic versions and hard copy versions of books produced by your favorite publishers. TabletopLibrary will also offer a full slate of products and resources for other role-playing games, including Pathfinder and OSR-games. All of us will continue our own websites and stores, but TableTopLibrary offers a place to draw all these products together in one place for convenience.

At this time, by coming together as a consortium, we can offer the high-quality products we pride ourselves on; provide a one-stop shopping spot with outstanding customer service; and allow  a better experience for publishers, and more importantly, for customers . Centralized electronic book fulfillment, kickstarter fulfillment, and single-location warehousing will improve our delivery speed, accuracy, and customer service in the RPG download market.

Our reasons for setting up a consortium at this time include (1) each partner retains ownership and editorial control over the individual campaign worlds and other “intellectual property” that our fans have known and loved for years; (2) our desire to offer physically higher-quality printing, paper quality, and binding than print on demand outlets offer; and (3) the desire to continue drawing upon and increasing the vast resources of Open Game Content as opposed to other alternatives.

TableTopLibrary is committed to offering a deep and broad-based marketplace of Fifth Edition products, superior to any other online store, as well as many other game system products. We are joined in a partnership of many large publishers in this project, and expect many more to join us as time goes on. TableTopLibrary will be issuing its own press release soon, describing the advantages and the procedures involved in joining.

You can continue buying products directly from each of us, as always. But if you want to browse the whole library of Fifth Edition and other products produced under the Open Game License over the years, we’re letting you know that there’s a new online game store in town.

New Art!

Got some new art in today and am pleased as punch! The artist is Robert Altbaur, he of www.fantasy-map.net fame.

XRP PDF GM's Day sale at OBS. 80% off!

My computer died yesterday so I wasn't able to put up our sale on time, but it's up now. All of our products are 80% off and will be for a few days!

Looking for Patreons for my Tome of Tomes Patreon Project!

Heya all, looks like I've lost 4 supporters in the past month, so I probably need to do a bit of advertising about my Tome of Tomes Patreon project. Basically, every two weeks I put out 8 new Tome of Tomes entries and I'm requesting a $1 support for each batch of 8, so $2 per month. All of these Tomes are Open Game Content, so you're free to use them in your publications if you're a publisher. Below are the next 8 tomes in the list that I've been posting here at my blog, so you can get an idea of what's coming out twice monthly. Also, when I compile the Tomes into PDFs of 100 each, you get a free copy as a Patreon. Thanks to everyone who's currently supporting me and to those who've supported me in the past!

Halfling Pipeweeds
Author: Fortinbras Undertower
Race: Halfling
Dimensions: 16x16x2
Weight: 10 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Uncommon
Fields of Study: Demi-humankind, flora
Special Knowledge Categories: Law & customs, grasses & grains
Value: 75 gp

A thorough undertaking from a master pipeweed grower, many consider Halfling Pipeweeds the definitive book on the subject. Undertower’s 150+ years of growing, drying, ageing, and flavoring pipeweed are carefully displayed, as over 100 different types of pipeweed are illustrated and explained. As they saying goes, Halfling Pipeweeds covers the subject, “from seed to smoke.”


Deronian Furniture
Author: Harfig Theofos
Race: Human
Dimensions: 16x16x1
Weight: 5 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Common
Fields of Study: Humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: History, art & music
Value: 35 gp

The Deronian period of the Hefestian Empire was a time of intense ornamentation in clothing, architecture, music, interior design, and furniture. Deronian Furniture classifies the furniture of the period into 12 different styles, with 12 examples of each style. Included are woodworking plans for the traditional Deronian dining set, along with plans for the unusual self-playing enclosed lyre.


The Gnome Gnose
Author: Giberbald Gemget
Race: Gnome
Dimensions: 6x5x0.5
Weight: 1 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, vellum
Rarity: Common
Fields of Study: Demi-humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: Art & music
Value: 15 gp

The Gnome Gnose is a collection of tavern music and ribald lyricism. Gemget filled his work from the examples he experienced traveling in human lands for over a century and slightly modified them for his purposes. All of the songs have gnomes as their focus, most showing an unseemly focus upon the schnozzles of said demi-humans and having a generally derogatory message. However, that is only how it seems, for more intelligent and/or wiser listeners note that the protagonists in the songs are actually the butts of one clever Gnomish joke after another.


The Fire Giants of Mulaefiore
Author: Unknown
Race: Human (presumably)
Dimensions: 6x4x1
Weight: 1 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Uncommon
Fields of Study: Humanoids & giantkind
Special Knowledge Categories: History
Value: 15 gp

This brief work is the unorganized notes of an unknown observer. Over the course of six years, the author recorded the comings and goings of the fire giants around their massive ziggurat temple named Mulaefiore. Notable giants are described and named (although their real names are unknown) and even illustrated in a shaky hand. The age of the work is unknown.


The Inhabitants of the Brunal Forest
Author: Tobler Jasperson
Race: Gnome
Dimensions: 14x12x2.5
Weight: 7 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, vellum
Rarity: Uncommon
Fields of Study: Humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: Languages, law & customs
Value: 45 gp

The ill-fated Jasperson spent 34 years as a slave to a series of indigenous peoples within the fearful Brunal Forest. During his long captivity, he mastered three of their languages and learned many of their laws and customs. When he finally escaped (from a surprise sortie from the nomadic peoples that live south of the forest) he capitalized upon his hardship and produced this canonical work. Several different translations exist, with Common being the most prevalent.


On Goldsmithing
Author: Gunnar Goldmane
Race: Dwarf
Dimensions: 8x10x3.5
Weight: 11 lbs.
Materials: Gorgonskin-bound, stoneboard, parchment, iron clasp and lock
Rarity: Rare
Fields of Study: Demi-humankind, physical universe
Special Knowledge Categories: Art & music, geology & mineralogy
Value: 120 gp

This tome travels the length of the life of gold: from discovery and harvest, to purification and finished product. A thick work, it compiles centuries of dwarven knowledge into usable information.  Of particular note are the intricate drawings of the various rope gold forms, many of which are of uniquely ancient dwarven manufacture. The production of On Goldsmithing resulted in the ostracization of Goldmane after copies were found outside of Skaraborg. Exiled and penniless, he went and lived among humans for the short remainder of his life where he penned the work Skaraborg as a failed attempt at reconciliation.  Dwarves look poorly upon non-dwarves who own this tome.


Arms and Armor of the Hempodo
Author: Hurfan Tiaphines
Race: Human
Dimensions: 12x10x1.5
Weight: 20 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, brassboard, vellum, brass clasps and lock
Rarity: Rare
Fields of Study: Humankind
Special Knowledge Categories: Law & customs
Value: 255 gp

Tiaphines spent his long life in an area of the world that is typically fatal to outsiders. During his long stint among the peoples of the Hempodo jungle, he created an essential text. Arms and Armor of the Hempodo is tour-de-force analysis of hundreds of different arms and armor used by the basic peoples of the Hempodo. Intricate description and illuminations bring the dangerous subject to life.
   

The Velyvya River Basin
Author: Emirag Vargol
Race: Human
Dimensions: 10x4x1.5
Weight: 4lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Rare
Fields of Study: Humankind, physical universe
Special Knowledge Categories: Law & customs, geography
Value: 75 gp

This oddly-shaped book is a length-by-length map/gazetteer of over 650 miles of the Velyvya river basin. Settlements are described, along with their peoples and their customs. Although a bit dated, The Velyvya River Basin is still a useful book for anyone seeking transport or trade along the great river.

Tome of Tomes

Continuing the series... Thanks again to my Patreons!

On Potions
Author: Wintorp Argenthammer
Race: Gnome
Dimensions: 6x5x0.5
Weight: 1 lbs.
Materials: Leather-bound, woodboard, parchment
Rarity: Common
Fields of Study: Supernatural & unusual
Special Knowledge Categories: Divination
Value: 115 gp

This brief work provides a few dozen methods useful in potion identification using no more than 10 gp worth of materials per test. These tests produce remarkably accurate results, but 1d4+1 tests are required to weed through to a final determination. The final determination, reached in 1d3 hours, is 95% accurate.

A Great Big Giant Map of European Tribes!

This map is just beautiful! (The link has the super-sized, legible version) I think we as gamers can learn that our "barbarian" regions really need to have just tons 'o tribes within general cultural areas. Great map!