New Year's Eve

Yes, I am a sad excuse for a human being. I'm celebrating New Years Eve with a boat cruise in Minecraft.

I'm in a boat!

Happy New Year to all my readers and all the folks that have supported PBE Games over the last (almost) two years. Many thanks.

The Wilds - Old Bones and Old Stones

Back in the saddle with the Wilds, at least for one turn this week. Holidays always wreak havoc with the turn schedule, and no one likes holiday travel!

PBE Games - Last Call for 2014

The end of the year is Coming Soon (TM), so I thought I'd better put out a final update on PBE Games releases before 2014 winds down. I've published close to 150 products this year, about triple last year's total. Here are the latest.

Tile of the Week #44 - Big Time

This is the latest Tile of the Week entry. I recently started building tiles with triple-wide corridors, so I thought I'd throw a few examples out here. This is a formal-looking intersection / chamber complex, maybe a tomb or vault.

Tile of the Week 44 - Player Version

Tile of the Week 44 - GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - Move On. Nothing to See Here

With the basic nature of the flying foes in Nest Tower discovered, the party decides to avoid a fight with flying foes and seek riches elsewhere. After a quiet night, they pack up and head back to the hirelings and guards. Once reunited with the others they pack up everything, head for the Needle jump to the Fridge, and recover all their supplies, a series of tasks that takes quite a while.

Once everything is reorganized, the party heads northwest, threading the gap between Nest Tower and Corpse Hill, making a beeline for for Tragor's Hold. Once again the group discovers how painfully slow it is to travel with heavily laden mules. Dusk finds the party just a handful of miles northwest of FOB1 (which was undisturbed since the party's last visit).

[November 10] After a quiet night the party continues traveling northwest into thicker forest, good cover but slow going. They cross a narrow creek that marks the transition from oaks and maples to pines and cedars. They also stumble across old bones (not that old, perhaps a few months) along the creek's banks. They appear to be humanoid skeletons mixed with those of pack animals or horses, all hacked, scattered, and gnawed. "I don't like the looks of this," says Rawon.

"At least it isn't us," answers Ohwatoo.

"Should we bury them?" asks Durego.

"We don't have time for that nonsense. We just spent weeks dealing with a corpse. I don't want to waste more time on these unknowns," says Ingvild.

"We wouldn't have wasted that time if we'd done the right thing in the first place."

Maro sighs and shakes his head, eyes on the surrounding woods. Raúguey says, "Maybe we should search the area, see if they left anything behind."

OOC

I know you guys have a good plan in place, but with the holiday coming I thought I'd give you something to mull over along the way.

• Visit the game index.

Tile of the Week #43

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is the fourth and final of four quarter-sized tiles, each with a cross-tile stream running along one edge. You can combine these by matching up the stream-sides in any combination to create short river sections. You can also pair them up with tiles #11 and #12 to create more combinations.

Tile 43 - Player Version

Tile 43 - GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - Cloudy with a Chance of Bird-things

What really lives in Nest Tower?

Wilds - Clear and Free

With the legal situation cleared up, the party is free to leave Auslaug and head back out to the Wilds. During their stay in town the group decided they needed to do something about the flying denizens of Nest Tower. What that "something" is remains unclear to the humble GM, but it probably involves fire. This turn was a transition back to wilderness mode; the trip out was uneventful.

Tile of the Week #42

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is the third of four quarter-sized tiles, each with a cross-tile stream running along one edge. You can combine these by matching up the stream-sides in any combination to create short river sections. You can also pair them up with tiles #11 and #12 to create more combinations.

Tile 42 - Player Version

Tile 42 - GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - Town Again?

By the time the group gets back to town proper, organizes places to stay, and arranges for more supplies, night has fallen. Various sub-groups settle in to various common rooms, food and drink at hand. 

Wilds - To the Gates

The party is nearing Auslaug and are ready to face judgement. At least most of them are; some seem more reluctant to reach the gates than others.

PBE Games - New Product Announcements

It's been a busy couple weeks for PBE Games, and I need to catch up on new product announcements. Here's the latest stuff, all available via DriveThruRPG and RPGNow:

Mega Tile One Preview

On the Dungeons in Blue front, I've released Transitions, a new set of quarter-sized geomorphs. Each of these tiles depicts a change-over point between two or more tunnel styles: standard and natural corridors, grand hallways and caverns, and sewer tunnels. I've also released Mega Tile One, the first of many quadruple-size tiles. The bigger canvas these tiles provide mean I can create spaces more suitable for set-piece encounters.

If you prefer stand-alone maps for the VTT, Oyarza's Lair is now available. This is a black and white, single-level, dungeon map of the abandoned (maybe) lair of the long-dead (maybe) wizard Oyarza, suitable for use in any fantasy role-playing game. The package includes player, GM, and handout versions of the map, along with map notes and a brief history of the site to provide inspiration.

I've also released the first two Hexed Places, The Gray Ribs, and Fen Fields. Hexed Places are outdoor locations and encounters based on the classic six-mile hex format and OSR sensibilities. Use these locales as a quick side adventure, to fill out your campaign sandbox, or expand upon them to create a multi-session campaign. Each includes an overview of the region, expanded one-mile per hex maps for players and GMs (PDF and VTT format), encounter and rumor tables, and descriptions of individual locations, encounters, and features within the hex.

Next up, are Bright Decay, Old Stone, and Freckle Speckle, three new Uncommon Ground textures. All three are stone surfaces, colorful, aged, and spotted, respectively. All Uncommon Ground textures are licensed for private and commercial use.

Bright Decay Preview

Finally, we come to One Page #23: Venoms and Toxins. This table details the appearance and effect of twenty unique poisons. These entries are easily adapted to any fantasy game.

As you can see, I've been busy, but there's more to come. The next couple weeks will see another Hexed Places, a new set of Dungeons in Blue Small Dungeons, more Mega Tiles, and more Uncommon Ground.

As always, thanks for reading and happy gaming!

Tile of the Week #41

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is the second of four quarter-sized tiles, each with a cross-tile stream running along one edge. You can combine these by matching up the stream-sides in any combination to create short river sections. You can also pair them up with tiles #11 and #12 to create more combinations.

Tile 41 - Player Version

Tile 41 - GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - The Road Home

After a much needed rest and a good night's sleep, the group is ready to head back. Durego's regular reminders about the judgement hanging over (most of) the group's head have begun to weigh on folk, and everyone is ready to lay the issue to rest. With FOB1 unsafe, the group decides to use Needle Spire to cache their excess goods, lightening the load for the return trip, and allowing them to bring out more supplies when they return. They settle on the walled-up icy-cold spire destination as the best place to store their supplies.

Wilds - Cleanup, Aisle Z

The zombie owlbear abomination has been defeated. All that's left is to try and find the parts and pieces of Locky that remain, and get the hell out of here.

Tile of the Week #40

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is the first of four quarter-sized tiles, each with a cross-tile stream running along one edge. You can combine these by matching up the stream-sides in any combination to create short river sections. You can also pair them up with tiles #11 and #12 to create more combinations.

Tile 40 - Player Version

Tile 40 - GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

Also, if you didn't see it go by in my G+ stream last week, the first Hexed Places map, The Gray Ribs, is now up on DTRPG. Hexed Places are sandbox-ish, outdoor hex maps based on a single six-mile hex. Each includes a bit of background, some rumors, site-based encounters, and a general encounter table. They're mostly OSR-ish, but they could easily be adapted to any fantasy RPG.

Wilds - That's no Halfling!

The party has sprung the necromancer's trap, will they survive the encounter with the undead abomination?

Tile of the Week #39

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is the fourth in a series of curved corridor tiles. It features a pair of disconnected bends, one with a strange object on a pedestal.

Tile #39 - Player Version

Tile #39 - GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - Find the Halfling!

The main party has used the spires to head to the Blackpool Maze area. The goal: get Locky's remains and get them back to base camp so they can return them to Locky's family. Let's see how that goes, shall we?

Wilds - Back to Blackpool (almost)

Better late than never. The party's being a bit slow on decisions, possibly from too much ale on their recent visit to town. We'll be sending in ninjas shortly to get things moving. Since the cast is ever-changing, I've included the current roster, watches, and marching orders in this turn for those playing along at home.

Tile of the Week #38

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is a double-curved three-way corridor intersection, with a statue and fountain display at the juncture of the corridors. Relax, have a drink! What could possibly go wrong?

Tile #38 Player Version

Tile #38 GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

PBE Games New Releases

Here's an update on the latest PBE Games releases, available via DriveThruRPG, and RPGNow.

First up are two Uncommon Ground textures. Worn Paper is paper, that is worn (duh), and Crinkle Cut is squiggly, slick stone texture. As with all Uncommon Ground textures, these include four color variants each, and they are licensed for private and commercial use.

Next is One Page #22: Weapons with Weird Tricks. This twenty-entry table is all about weapons, wands, swords, bows, and maces, each with a unique magical enchantment, all can easily be adapted to any fantasy RPG.

This week, I've released three new Dungeons in Blue Small Dungeons, numbers 10, 11, and 12. Each Small Dungeon includes a stand-alone and a geomorph-ready version of an underground locale in classic blue style. These three maps depict a shrine complex, an underground river / dungeon complex, and a watery cliff-face cave complex. The bundle deal map pack containing these three Small Dungeons should be up by the end of this week too [edit: or now].

Here are a couple previews:

Small Dungeons #10

Uncommon Ground - Crinkle Cut

And that's a wrap, thanks for reading!
Mark - PBE Games

PS - Oops, missed one: Dungeons in Blue Sewer Tunnels is a set of simple sewer line passages. As with other simple connector sets, there are no GM versions of these tiles.

Wilds - These are not the Ghosts You're Looking For

After the scouts report their findings, the group decides there's nothing more to gain from investigating the shadowy battle (and no one really wants to go chasing that many things in the dark), so they resettle the mules and double the watch. The rest of the night passes without incident.

Wilds - Before Midnight

Just a short turn this round. The party is scouting the battle sounds from the east, but how they respond to what they find could change the followup action, so it's a bit of an enforced stop in the action.

Tile of the Week #37

The latest Tile of the Week entry. Today's entry is another curved corridor. This one is meeting up with a straight passage, and it's clear there's no trust, a nice portcullis blocks the way. Or does it?

Tile #37 Player Version

Tile #37 GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

PBE Games - Work in Progress

WIP

Wilds - No Damn Good in the Mud

Still chugging through the mud on their way back to Blackpool Maze. Winter is coming, etc.

The Wilds - Soggy

The night watch rouses the party early the next morning. There's a lot to do. While some work to get the piles of supplies under better cover, the rest of the group and the unburdened mules head out with Strom and Grendor. The intent: to escort the pair at least as far as the river that crosses the Wood Walk. Some party members are still suspicious, some are simply cautious. With the mules unburdened, the group makes better time, limited only by stubby dwarf legs. The weather has cleared up, but it's still a muddy mess on the road.

Tile of the Week #36

A new Tile of the Week entry for Dungeons in Blue. This week starts a four-tile series featuring curved corridors. Today's tile is a simple bend with a statue-filled circular chamber connected to the outer rim.

Tile #36 - Player Version

Tile #36 - GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - Corpse Run

Finally, we're back on the road. There was much wailing and whining and gnashing of teeth concerning logistics and gear, but we finally got it done. Here's the first turn of the new cycle...

A Bit More Hexing

This is another round of work on one of the hexes I posted here. I tweaked the hex sizes, text, and borders a bit, added scale information, some icons for the GM's version, and... something else I don't remember.

GM's / Icon Version

Players / No Icon Version

I'm still pondering how to deal with water / roads.

Some Hexing

A while back I did some work on a hex map sandbox, the Nameless Coast. I never really took it anyplace, because I kind of got lost in messing around with immigration history and population groups and how they moved into the area. I also think the area was too big, it's approximately twice the size of the state of Pennsylvania.

Anyhow, a few RPG.net posts started me thinking about hex maps again, and that led to messing around with the classic six-mile hex. From there I decided to subdivide into one mile hexes just to see where that ended up. Starting with a mountain hex, I ended up with this:

And a forest led to this:

Of course tiling these together is a bit messy, because there are overlapping partial hexes on the corners and edges. I'm not sure how I'd handle that. There's also the problem of roads and rivers crossing from hex to hex, and for a geomorph-ish approach, those are hard to do, though I guess you could standardize some cross-over points on the edges.

Anyhow, there's some random map musings.

Oh, if you're missing the Wilds updates, well, players are being disorganized, and work travel is interfering, so Monday's turn... wasn't. Soon (TM).

Tile of the Week #35

The latest Tile of the Week entry. As with last week's entry, this is a small multi-floor structure, two stories and two cellar variants. Note that as is sometimes the case, there are no real differences between the player and GM versions here. This is just a small house, nothing special. I provide both versions for completeness.

Wilds - Still Shopping (and Other Things)

This visit to town has taken much longer than anticipated, in part because one of the chief logistics guys is traveling for work, but also because Things Have Happened (TM). Here's another quasi-organized update. Like the last one, it's a bit of wall of text, and represents several days back and forth with the players. I'm pushing to get back on the regular schedule in time for a Monday turn next week.

PBE Games - Mid-October Update

Here are the latest releases from PBE Games, now available on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. The last couple weeks have been mostly about Dungeons in Blue, but there are a few other bits and pieces here too:

• One Page #21 - The Abandoned Room contains descriptions of twenty rooms and/or their contents: strange to intriguing to creepy.
• Black and White Maps bundles up Traitor's Cavern, Black Sage Mine, and The Lost Cellars into a discount map pack.
• Dungeons in Blue Lakefronts brings on nine new full-sized geomorphs featuring the shores of an underground lake or sea.
• Dungeons in Blue Hard Time features jail cells and prison complexes for your dungeon. Twelve new titles of varying sizes.
• Dungeons in Blue Tombs and Crypts has sixteen assorted tiles featuring (wait for it!) tombs and crypts. Just in time for a Halloween dungeon romp.
• Dungeons in Blue Fortified contains twelve assorted geomorphs focused on strong-points, watch posts, and fortifications. Prepare for ambushes!
• Dungeons in Blue Custom Built Pack bundles up Lakefronts, Hard Time, Tombs and Crypts, and Fortified into a discount package.

Here are a couple preview images from the above.

Fortified

Tombs and Crypts

And that's a wrap. If you want to keep up with the latest Dungeons in Blue information, you can always check out the free Master List, which I update with new and upcoming lists about once a month. For One Page, you can get the free One Page Index, which serves the same purpose.

Thanks as always for reading, have a great day!

Wilds - A Bit of Mapping

This is just a quick little update, a new version of the larger scale map I have for the Wilds. This one shows borders for Hembard Wilds, plus East and South Gorsebonn, and Islerkanne. The party is still in Auslaug, but Durego's been taken to the keep under guard...

25 miles per hex

• Visit the game index.

Wilds - Chaotic Updates

This is a loong, potentially boring post covering the stuff going on in town. It's much less structured than the typical turn, because it's basically my accumulated responses to the ongoing Q&A / activities of the players as they deal with logistics and such. Read on if that's of interest. If not, here is an unrelated picture from an old post:

Cheery Eh?

OK, on with the stuff. Prepare for a lack of editing!

Tile of the Week #34

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is a bit of a departure from the usual fare. It's a small tower with three above ground floors and a cellar. This entry, and next week's, are experiments in handling multi-floor structures like this. What do you think?

Wilds - Update

Just a quick update on the game. The party is still dealing with loot, training, politics, and such in town (along with a hefty dose of carousing and drinking). Here's a little graphic I did to show some of the flags of the region, including one no one recognized on the ship they saw at the docks.

I threw these together using this flag creator, some additional images from openclipart.org,  and Inkscape.

• Visit the game index.

Tile of the Week #33

The fourth Tile of the Week entry in the current quarter-geomorph series featuring sewer tunnels. This one depicts two different hallway styles meeting at a corner. A couple of planks create an improvised bridge across the sewer line, and a short stair leads down.

Tile of the Week #33 - Player version

Tile of the Week #33 - GM version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - Oh Snap!

The group has been in town for a day. Their first night back was spent drinking and carousing in the local inn, where a pair of strangers challenged Rawon and Raúguey to drinking / arm-wrestling contests (respectively). Could these be some new fodder for the Blackpool grist mill? The next day...

PBE Games - The New Things

The last couple weeks most of the new releases have been Dungeons in Blue related, so the update post has been going into the weekly Tile of the Week post. However, if you don't check those out, here's the full listing of the latest stuff.

Wilds - Final Slog

As the two halflings leave the scene, several party members, Ingvild, Durego, and Maro, start to follow, hoping to change their minds about the party's role in their sons death. Raúguey of all people stops them. "They are not going to listen, no matter what you say. And we'll just create more hard feelings. We need to let things cool down." He turns to the sergeant, who is eying the party and the crowd with a worried expression. "Will you honor this medallion and provide us a place to stay?"

Tile of the Week #32

A new Tile of the Week entry, the third of four quarter-sized sewer tunnel tiles. This is a straightforward three-way intersection with a set of stairs leading up / down. A few rooms along the passage provide some space, perhaps for storage or something more sinister.

Tile of the Week #32 - Player version

Tile of the Week #32 - GM version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

There are also two new Dungeons in Blue products available this week:

• Ups and Downs is a set of level transition tiles: stairs and shafts. There are twelve half- and quarter-sized tiles in this collection.
• Chambers and Rooms contains forty individual rooms on a transparent background that can be copied and pasted into the blank spaces of Dungeons in Blue geomorphs, providing additional customization options. There are three versions of each room in this set: one with no doors, one with standard doors, and one with secret doors. To make use of this set, you must have access to a digital paint package, Gimp, Paint, Photoshop, or similar, that supports cut and paste with transparency.

Wilds - From Beyond the Grave!

The party has been stopped by the watch near the market square in Hustwood. Their ragged appearance drawing the sergeants attention...

The Wilds - Hike on

Heading for town, the party decides to fill in a bit more of the blank space on their maps.

Tile of the Week #31

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is the second of four quarter-sized geomorphs featuring new, sewer tunnels. This particular tile is a four way crossover connecting a sewer tunnel to a grand hallway.

Tile of the Week #31 - Player version

Tile of the Week #31 - GM version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

And since you're here looking at sewer-related tiles, you may want to check out the latest sets of Dungeons in Blue, which are all sewer geomorphs: The Sewers One, The Sewers Two, The Sewers Three, and the Sewer Pack Bundle. All told, these sets contain 50+ stinkin' sewer tiles.

The Wilds - Truckin'

Back in known territory (more or less) the party heads for home, though the exact route is a little vague. This is a short turn covering some straight up travel days. No side trips, no exploration. The party has been this way a couple times now, so... short and sweet.

PBE Games New Releases

Here's a quick update on new PBE Games stuff from the past ten days:

• Dungeons in Blue - Set Z - A geomorph pack with two quadruple tiles and two double tiles.
• Dungeons in Blue - A to Z Pack - All the geomorph packs from the regular product line, bundled and discounted 20%. The cheapest way to get these 275+ tiles.
• Uncommon Ground - Barnboard - A worn wood texture licensed for private and commercial use, as are all Uncommon Ground textures.

I've also just updated the Master List, the free Dungeons in Blue index that contains image previews, general map key, product summary PDF with details and links for each Dungeons in Blue product, and free sample geomorphs. The latest update includes previews of several upcoming products: a new Small Dungeons map pack, a level-transitions tile set, and the three upcoming sewers geomorph sets that are Coming Soon (TM).

Here's a preview (one-third scale) of the Set Z geomorphs:

Dungeons in Blue Set Z Preview

As a bonus for loyal readers, here are a couple of discount codes for the latest Dungeons in Blue tile sets (valid through the end of September):

• Set Y for $1.95
• Set Z for $1.95

Aaand, that's it for this week. Stay tuned for further updates!

PS - those discount links are good for anyone, so feel free to share.

The Wilds - My Kingdom for a Road!

The party has been more or less lost for the last day or so, ever since the deadly encounter with the wisps (poor Jedit). Now they've seen some flying creature, perhaps looking for them, and they really want out of the woods.

Tile of the Week #30

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This week's entry is the first of four quarter-sized geomorphs that include sewer passages. This is a new style of connected passage, and I'll be releasing three complete sets of sewer tiles Soon (TM).

Tile of the Week #30 - Player version

Tile of the Week #30 - GM version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - Woodland, Wonderland, Wanderland?

After the night chase, the death of the giant lynx kit Jedit, and most of a day hiking through dense woodland, the party is... not sure where they are. It's a big forest, someone has to get lost in it, right?

The Wilds - Blistered and Sore

With half the party exhausted, there's no choice but to stop and camp. Those most able secure and offload the mules and rub them down, while the others rest. Mordikarr pulls out the dwarf kettle and prepares a batch, trickling a bit into Ava's mouth to try and revive his feathered companion. She seems to respond, and the remaining doses are divided among the rest of the party, first to those most affected by the wisp-whine, then to the most exhausted. Rawon, from his prone position, suggests adding dose to the mules' water barrel to see if it has any effect.

PBE Games Title Update

This week's update is actually short! Amazingly, I'm pretty caught up on new product announcements, so this is will be quick:

• Hacked Marble and Other Moons - two Uncommon Ground stone textures.
• Chaos - a two-color Uncommon Ground hatching pattern.
• Dungeons in Blue - Set Y - a set of four geomorphs, two quadruple-sized, two double-sized.
• The Lost Cellars - a set of three VTT black and white dungeon maps, each with multiple entrances. This set includes player, GM, and handout style maps.
• The One Page Index - a free overview of all One Page tables.

Some previews.

Tile of the Week #29

The latest Tile of the Week entry. I was digging through some old Diablo 3 screenshots, and found several with the map overlay displayed. This was inspired by one of the Cathedral level maps.

Tile of the Week #29 - Player Version

Tile of the Week #29 - GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - Deadly Lights

"We have to get out of here," hisses Raúguey. "Those things are busy. Let's start creeping west, and put some distance between us and them."

"I go first," says Mordikarr, "Move quiet, move careful." The beastmaster slips between the first trees and quickly vanishes from those still trying to blink away the effects of the glowing creatures' whining call.

The Wilds - Dancing Lights

"We have to stop. They're too fast for us. Too close. We're better off together and facing whatever they are as a group than trying to fight and walk." Ohwatoo seems very sure of himself.

Raúguey, who has been pushing for more speed, looks back at the glowing spots flickering between branches and leaves. "Maybe you're right," he sighs. "Let's dig in. He hefts the sword of bees, and looks around for a good spot, but there is little to recommend anything within reach of the party's light sources. Just trees and undergrowth and...

Tile of the Week #28

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This week's crossroads, at first glance, appears to be a set of blocked up passages, but a little investigation shows a twisty passage connecting things up. Why were they blocked? I vote for chuds.

The Wilds - Night Chase

Nothing like a chase scene at night to bring some focus to the party...

The Wilds - Ill-met by Starlight

After finding the corpses, and Maro's weird experience attempting to speak with one of the dead, the party is... freaked out. "We gotta get out of this place," mutters Durego.

Tile of the Week #27

The latest Tile of the Week entry. Number 27 is a four-way crossing with some heat. Who knows what that statue is, perhaps the demon lord of lava and flame.

Wilds - Rivers: Nature's Roadways

Stymied by the lake and river to the south, the party turns east, following the river's course in hopes of finding a ford that will allow passage. Almost immediately, they regret this choice. The shores of the lake and river's banks prove to be swampy, overgrown, and wet; the group has to hack and force a winding path through clinging briars, soggy reeds, and dense stands of willow and birch. Ingvild finds a nice pool of quicksand, and Rocky the mule narrowly avoids another. It takes the rest of the afternoon to progress only a few miles along the treacherous riverbank.

PBE Games - August Releases

This is just a quick catch-up post on the latest releases from PBE Games. August has been heavy with Uncommon Ground texture packs, and One Page tables. but that's going to change soon, with the release of a new round of Dungeons in Blue geomorphs this week. Here's the already released:

• Shale Swirl - is a smoothly textured stone pattern with a swirling color scheme.
• Liquified -shows a flowing stone texture with a soft, monochromatic finish.
• Tiger - a striped stone pattern with a grainy surface.
• Sheen - is a smooth stone surface with a flowing, somewhat shiny pattern.
• Ravaged - is a rough and mottled stone surface.
• One Page #20 - Strange Writings - twenty odd books, scrolls, and tomes for your game, each with a minor hook.
• One Page Pack #4 - A discount bundle containing One Page #16 - #20.
• The One Page Big Deal - An even larger bundle containing One Page #1 - #20.

Uncommon Ground Shale Swirl preview

As I mentioned, there will be three new Dungeons in Blue geomorph sets out this week, sets V, W, and X (curse you alphabet with a non-divisible by three letter count!), which will add 35+ new tiles to the collection. Sets Y and Z will be a bit different. Each contains four double- or quad-sized tiles containing some larger rooms and caves.Of course they have the usual entry and exit layout so they connect up to the rest of the series correctly.

Dungeons in Blue Set V preview

So... that's it for now. Thanks, as always, for reading.

Wilds - Into the Trees

After leaving Tragor's Hold, the party headed southwest, intent on finding a path to Blackpool Maze. However the more cautious members of the party are still pushing for a return to town to restock and resupply.

Weekend Reading

A while back, I posted up some links to a pair of novels written by my good friend and fellow gamer, Micah R. Sisk. Here are two more!

Born Into Shadows - Five posthumans working as a crew together for the first time are sent on a fact finding mission to a remote and seemingly uninteresting nebula. Their mission: investigate rumors of a large object hidden in the nebula, an object said not to be of modern posthuman design. Only one of the crew knows the identity of the expedition's mysterious backers and...what it is they fear.

Watching the Watcher - A frantic call from a space lane traffic controller is fielded by a helpline representative. Out in the main asteroid belt, stationed on a sophisticated three-kilometer long space habitat, why does the caller find himself utterly alone? Why can't he remember his time away from work? Why does he never leave his cubestation? And why does the helpline rep keep fielding exactly this type of call?

Both are science fiction short stories, both available for less than a buck. Check em out, and while you're there, if horror is more your thing, check out my own short story, Blink of the Light.