Wilds - Wanted: Dead or... Dead!

With the ghouls' remains burned to a crisp the party packs up and starts backtracking along their trail (with a mix of grumbling and enthusiasm). The trail is not particularly hard to follow, at least for a while, but after several hours traipsing generally northwest, the signs grow thin and faint as the dense undergrowth and tall trees give way to more open woodlands. Enthusiasm wanes and grumbling increases. By mid-afternoon, only Maro seems intent on continuing along the possibly-lost trail.

The Wilds - Bring out your Dead!

Dead, or mostly dead? Whatever the things are, it's clear the party is going to have to fight!

Round One - enemy initiative

Ohwatoo begins casting a spell!

As the party prepares swords, bows, crossbows, holy symbols, and spells, the creatures charge, closing on the party's front rank. The mules scatter back along the path, and one yanks Jonquil off his feet as he tries to control it. Thinking fast, Gorvil shifts into the gap left by the fallen Jonquil and sets his trusty pole arm against the charging foes from the second rank.

Dungeons in Blue Virtual Tabletop Tiles

Dungeons in Blue, classic blue geomorph-style maps for the virtual tabletop, are now available on DriveThruRPG! These ready-to-fill maps are packed with rooms, corridors, pits, and caves; all judiciously sprinkled with tricks and traps. Every geomorph tile seamlessly connects to every other tile in the series, providing the megadungeon builder tremendous freedom and flexibility.

Start with The Master List, a free starter kit that includes a set of ready-to-use tiles, the latest and greatest map key, one-third scale summary maps of every Dungeons in Blue tile set, and an index PDF with direct links to the rest of the Dungeons in Blue product line.

There are currently three tile sets available, cunningly named Set A, Set B, and Set C. Each of these sets includes:

• Four 100x100 foot full-sized tiles.
• Four 50x50 foot corner tiles.
• Four 50x100 foot edge tiles.

50x100 foot sample tile

Each set also includes a map key, one-third scale summary map, and a quick readme PDF.

If you're ready to dive into the deep end, all three sets listed above are available in the Triple Pack One bundle.

All maps are rendered at 100 px per five-foot square, in ready-to-use PNG-format files compatible with most virtual tabletops. Two versions of each map are provided, one for players, and one for GMs. The GM's versions show additional features, tricks, and traps. Use them as-is, or combine them into larger maps using your favorite image processing software.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you'll check out Dungeons in Blue, or take a look at some of PBE Games' other products. Have a great weekend!

50x50 foot sample tile

Wilds - The Road Home

With a pile of gold, silver, copper, and platinum bars in their hands, greed comes to the fore, and the party decides it's time to head to town. They retreat out of the vault complex, sealing all the doors behind them, and fall back to the camp they used the previous night, near the stream. The hike isn't terribly long, but Durego and Raúguey have convinced everyone that they should load excess personal gear on the mules so they can split the bars and other treasure among party members. That way a mule can't run off with all the loot. It takes a couple hours to wind down off the hill and backtrack along the old road, covering tracks as best they can.

Wilds - Pop the Box

Fully recovered and itching for loot, the party prepares to open the three chests they found in the glowing vault...

Start Date: July 16, Year of the Badger, morning
Start Status: Pop top!
Start Location: In the golden tunnels, deep in the Wilds

The Turn

After a discussion about various ways to open the chests, the party agrees to build a lifting mechanism using some poles, rope, and a grappling hook. Before heading out to gather the needed supplies, they check out the last doors. As expected, they mirror the already explored areas.

The Dwarf Kettle

Finally, the players in my Wilds game have figured out what the iron kettle they've been lugging about does! Now I can post it for everyone.

Dwarf Kettle

This iron kettle was made by the Dwarfs long ago, though it's plain shape and lack of adornment make this hard to discern. When a command phrase is spoken (Kettle Cook - in Dwarf), the kettle transforms whatever liquid it is filled with into a rich, warm broth, just right for sipping. Consuming one cup of this broth is equivalent to a full meal. The kettle can be activated twice per day.

• The kettle holds four servings.
• Anyone consuming a serving regains 1d4 HP.
• Broth produced cannot be stored for more than one hour.

Short and sweet!

The Dwarf Kettle is one of seven items in Items of Power Volume One, available via DriveThruRPG.

The Wilds - R&R

With two dead party members and depleted spells, the party faces tough choices. Press on, give up, or regroup. They eventually decide to fall back, camp at a safe distance (whatever that means), deal with their dead comrades (well the one they can recover), and head back in the next morning. Here's how it goes.

PBE Games - Father's Day Sale

I owe a lot of my gaming love to my Dad. When I was a kid he was always ready to play whatever game caught my eye. He taught me tons of traditional games, checkers, chess, poker, hearts, pinochle, and dominoes. We played Feudal and Twixt and Kings & Things and Naval War and dozens of other games. He never really got into RPGs, but his love of gaming rubbed off on me, and so did some of his card playing skills, which certainly helped at the weekly poker game.

In honor of my Dad, and gamer Dad's everywhere, I'm running a sale on all PBE Games products on DriveThruRPG, now through Father's Day, June 16th. All products are 20% off.

Thanks for the game Dad, I love you!

Maps - More Classic Blues

Here's another revision of my current classic blue map project. This one is pretty close to final, with a new water treatment, secret doors, false doors, and two styles of stairs. The stairs with the gradient treatment lead off-level, while the ones marked with arrows lead to the balcony area above the long hallway. The balcony indication is the only thing on this version that I'm not 100% happy with.

Wilds - Dead Again

The party is exploring the weird, glowing tunnels they found beneath the circular hill. Last turn something big and red and nasty jumped Grit, the Dwarf, and Locky, the closest party member has called for help.

Let's see how things go for the party, shall we?

Old Blue - Dungeon Maps Are Always Good

I haven't posted much about maps in a while, because I haven't had much time to do any drawing. May is crazy with family obligations, but now that we're into June, I have some spare cycles to devote to cartography. I've been working on some classic blue maps lately. Here are a few samples.

Wilds - Don't Touch It! It's EVIL!

To recap, the party is running low on supplies, so they've elected to do two more day's exploration, and then head back, following the abandoned road east to see if it leads them back to civilization via a shorter (or safer) path. For now though, they have a weird tunnel cut/shaped/molded from seamless yellow stone to explore...