Sandlings

These creatures were created for one of my old campaign worlds, which featured a vast, magically-corrupted desert known as the Burning. This thousand-mile wide waste was created by the dying curse of a demi-god, and served as a backdrop for much of the campaign. The Sandlings were a constant threat to those entering the Burning.

The Wilds - To the Chaos!

When we left our adventurers, they'd started to explore the area at the end of the stairs down they'd found, ending up in a room with a big reptilian statue. They'd also heard noises of some kind beyond the north door, so...

PBE Games - Three is Better than Two

I managed to get out three new products this week, though one is kind of a cheat, being a bundle of Dungeons in Blue stuff.

First up is One Page #4 - Curious Mundane Objects, the latest One Page, which contains twenty strange objects you can use to confuse or baffle your players! Place them in a local curio shop, a mage's laboratory, or a treasure vault to add a touch of weirdness to your game.

Entries & Exits Two one-third scale preview

Then it's on to Dungeons in Blue with two new releases, Entries and Exits Set Two, which contains a dozen geomorphs featuring dungeon entrances, exits, and level transitions. This is also the final product in the big Parts and Pieces Pack, which includes all the assorted special tile and icon pack products I've released to date (at a discount of course).

I'll be spending the rest of the morning updating the Dungeons in Blue Master List with the latest product listings and projected new product releases. November / December should see three new tile sets and an accompanying bundle deal. Of course there are already two more Small Dungeons on the schedule to go with Small Dungeons #1, and I'll likely add a three-map bundle to the lineup as well.

That's about it for news today. Thanks for reading, happy gaming!

Dungeon by Table

I posted this quick table in the G+ Map-Making in Games group, and people seemed to like it, so I thought I'd preserve it here for easier reference.

These tables are a very loose mechanism for laying out a dungeon map. Roll the General Space table for an initial what's here, then roll other tables as needed to fill out / inspire details. I've been using this method for Dungeons in Blue geomorphs, making one or two rolls per tile when I need a bit of inspiration.

PBE Games - New Releases

Two new releases this week:

Small Dungeons #1 is now available. The Small Dungeons series adds stand-alone maps to the Dungeons in Blue collection! Every Small Dungeons product contains a ready-to-fill dungeon map drawn in the classic blue style. Each map includes assorted tricks, traps, and features, but leaves plenty of room for the GM's own additions. In addition to player and GM stand-alone maps, every Small Dungeons product also includes a geomorph-ready version of both maps, adding the doors, rooms, and corridors required to connect the dungeon to other Dungeons in Blue tiles.

I've also released One Page #3 : Fabulous Jewelry, which contains twenty unique pieces of jewelry, ready for your treasure trove! Each entry includes a brief description of the piece, plus a suggested gold piece value. Many pieces also include a bit of lore or a minor hook that can provide inspiration for further adventure.

That's it for this week, thanks for reading!

Reading is Fundamental

That's what this post is all about. One of my best friends and long-term gaming buddies (seriously, since high-school, and we're old), Micah R. Sisk, has published his first two ebooks in the science fiction genre. The listings on Amazon/Goodreads include a longer blurb, but here's the short and sweet:

NightBird Calling tells the tale of Y'Goth, privateer captain of the NightBird, and his cloned brothers. Their plan seemed a bit crazy: rob the human-on-a-bio-gaseous-computer Nesters. But as is always the case, things get complicated. NightBird Calling is a novella-length story, the first in a series of works exploring the history, cultures, and societies of the posthuman diaspora: the Posthuman Cycle.

NightBird Calling is available for Kindle via Amazon, and Goodreads.

PleshaCore is quest-for-identity, gender-bending action/ thriller set on the anything-goes pleasure planet, PleshaCore. Captain Jacobs finds himself in an unfamiliar body after being restored from his vessel's digital mind-locker. He, now she, also seems to have gotten married to his first mate. With the ship's A.I. on the accountancy warpath, and assorted kidnappers and assassins in pursuit, Jacobs must discover what's behind the web of conspiracy and obfuscation.

PleshaCore is also available for Kindle via Amazon, and Goodreads.

Go forth, and READ!

Blackpool Maze - Tomb & Tunnel

After checking out the stairs up and the length and breadth of the new hallway, the party decides to try the north door, a heavy, iron slab with a broken lock, first. After a check for traps, Ingvild steps back to let Raúguey do his thing, and once again the door opens into the hallway beyond, swirling dust up from the floor. The short hall turns west, then forks to the north, and as the front ranks advance, they note alcoves on either side of the passages, and another split to the north. "It's a crypt," whispers Raúguey with a shiver as he eyes the tipped-over casket in the first alcove, the bones, flesh long-gone, scattered about haphazardly.

PBE Games - Double-header Two! Two is Better than One, Right?

Well I managed to find a bug in the file-update mailing system on DriveThruRPG today (I really can break anything). Seems when you put URLs in the customized portion of an email  message for a product file update, the URLs get turned to useless goo, as the process strips off the http header and host name. Doh!

Right, so new stuff this week. First up is One Page #2 : Outdoor Oddities and Landmarks. This is a table of twenty strange landmarks, terrain features, and odd constructs ready to plug into any outdoor adventure. Each includes a brief description of the oddity and many include features that can be leveraged into clues or hints by the GM. As promised, this product is up as pay what you want for a limited time.

The second new release is Edges and Alcoves Two, which contains a dozen more Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. All these tiles have entry / exit points on one edge only, so you can bring your dungeon to a sensible close.

I also updated The Master List with links to all available products and projected release dates for the next five or six tile sets (see above note for broken-link warning - sorry if you received one of those). It includes the first mention of...

Small Dungeons

Sometime before Halloween I'll be releasing the first Small Dungeons product for Dungeons in Blue. Small Dungeons are 100x200 foot ready-to-fill maps that come in two flavors, stand-alone, and geomorph-ready. You can use them by themselves as a one-shot dungeon, or combine them with other geomorphs for a full megadungeon experience. Here's a one-third scale peek at the first Small Dungeons map, showing both the stand-alone and geomorph-ready versions.

Click to embiggen

Have I typed 'dungeon' enough in this post?

Photo of the Week - From the Archives

I haven't had much time outside over the last week or so, so I haven't taken many photos. I had to go digging in my old photos for these two shots. Both are from a trip to Swallow Falls State Park in Maryland. As I recall, it was a chilly, gray weekend, and there'd been quite a bit of rain the week before, so the water was high. These were taken with my old Nikon Coolpix.

Falls!

Easy to Cross, Right?

If you've never been to Swallow Falls, and you're in the area, it's well worth a visit. There's a network of trails, and a campground available, though energetic walkers could see most of the sights in a day-trip.

Images copyright Mark A. Thomas
Creative Commons CC BY-NC 3.0

The Wilds - Splish Splash!

After a brief fight with the bugs, which resulted in a few minor wounds to party members, and one bug escaping down a hole, the rear-guard noticed some hefty splashing noises coming from the big hall to the north that they'd just vacated. Rather than face whatever it was, they decided to avoid it....

Path of Exile Release Date Announced!

Path of Exile by Grinding Gear Games, is an action RPG that's been in open beta for quite a while now. I've written about it before, so I'm not going to spend time describing the game. The thing I will talk about is the October 23rd launch date for Release 1.0.

PBE Games - New Release Double-header

I'm happy to announce two new PBE Games products out this week. First up is the next Dungeons in Blue geomorph pack, Tunnels and Passages, which includes twenty-four classic blue dungeon tiles designed for use with your favorite virtual tabletop. This set is focused on getting from point A to point B in the dungeon. Most tiles are heavy on corridors and passages, light on rooms and chambers. There are still plenty of interesting and dangerous places to visit though!

The second release is the first product in the One Page series. Number One : Minor Treasures is a single page treasure table containing twenty unique, ready-to-use treasures, suitable for any fantasy campaign. Every entry includes a brief description of the item and an estimated value in gold pieces. Many also include a minor hook or bit of information to inspire further adventure.

The One Page series is brand new, but the next four products are mostly done. I'll probably be pushing out one per week for the month of October. I'll also be setting up Number Two : Outdoor Oddities and Landmarks as a pay-what-you-want product, so you can try before you buy if that's your thing.

Final note, the quarter is done, so that means I'll be publishing a new quarterly report on title sales. Stay tuned.

(And if you're a Wilds reader, never fear, the next post will be up sometime tomorrow).

The Wilds - One Stone Unturned

Prudence overcomes aggression, and the party elects to leave the scraping noises beneath the rock alone, for now. As Durego said, "It's not like whatever it is is going anywhere." The party retreats out of the cave into the jail, taking a careful look around as they fall back, and closing doors behind them as best they can. The two forced doors no longer close completely, but Durego and Raúguey use some of the manacles hanging on the walls to fasten the doors shut, sort of.