Labyrinth Lord and Otherworld Miniatures Super Team-up

I've known about the following for some time now and I think that this stands to be one of the cooler things to come out of the OSR so far. I'm proud to be part of it and, even if I wasn't, I'd certainly be dropping some serious scratch to get my hands on these sets once they start rolling out.

This Summer, Otherworld Miniatures and Goblinoid Games will launch a partnership project. Starting in August 2010, a range of boxed sets of ‘Official Labyrinth Lord Miniatures’ will be available, featuring 28mm figures made by Otherworld Miniatures. Most of these models will come from Otherworld’s existing ranges, but some will be designed and sculpted specifically for the new Labyrinth Lord sets.

These boxed sets will be level specific, with the first sets featuring the weaker monsters found in the upper labyrinth levels. Later sets will contain progressively stronger monsters which dwell in the deeper levels. Some wilderness-themed sets will also feature woodland inhabitants and creatures found in a marshland habitat.

This range of boxed sets will be tied together by a set of mini-adventures which are included in the boxes. Individually, they’ll make an entertaining evening’s adventuring, but together they make up an exciting mini-campaign. Adventures will be written by some of the best writers of the old-school gaming scene, including Jeff Talanian, James Maliszewski, Rob Conley and Michael Curtis, and many others.

“I have been a role-player and miniatures enthusiast for over 30 years. Otherworld Miniatures now produce the figures that I wish I had been able to buy when I first started gaming. They are inspired by old-school imagery, but we use modern sculpting techniques and production standards to make miniatures that would never have been possible in the early years of our hobby. Goblinoid Games follow similar principles with their Labyrinth Lord game, and I think that we’re ideally suited to work as partners.”

Richard Scott
Otherworld Miniatures
http://www.otherworld.me.uk

“Richard started Otherworld Miniatures right about the same time I started Goblinoid Games. Over the last 3+ years I’ve been totally blown away by the figures they have produced. Not just because of their quality, but also because they truly do produce figures that capture that period of time in gaming history when everything seemed new and dungeons were filled with gritty danger. I’m very excited at this partnership. Our companies have both come a long way since 2006, and it seems only natural for us to team up now to promote our mutual goals of keeping the old-school torch burning.”

Daniel Proctor
Goblinoid Games
http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

The Devil’s in the Details: Gnomes

Those of you who’ve had the opportunity to peruse the early issues of Fight On! are no doubt aware of the excellent three-part series written by Kesher of Sandbox Empire called “The Devil’s in the Details.” For the uninitiated amongst you, the series featured a set of random tables intended for use when a player rolls up a demihuman PC (or when the referee wants to flesh out an NPC). Although some entries on the table were unique to the author’s home campaign world, most were broad enough to be used with any D&D game.

I’m intending on using these tables (with a few substitutions) during character generation this Sunday. Unfortunately, the original series only covered dwarves, elves, and halflings, which wouldn’t be a problem if I was running a by-the-book game. But my campaign world also offers three additional races as player character classes: the gnome, the orc, and the hurg (a “hairy man of the forest” which owes equal debts of gratitude to old episodes of “In Search Of…” and the article “The Wuuky!” by Moritz Mehelm and Frank Ditsche from Fight On! #5). Therefore, I’ve had to come up with three more sets of tables done in the style of the originals.

Below are the tables for gnomes. Like Kesher’s originals, a few entries are unique to my world but they’re mostly suitable for any traditional D&D campaign. I’ve purposely tried to return the gnome to his roots as a woodlands and forested hills resident and not the technological wiz kid he’s since become. Although I have no problem mixing technology with fantasy, I just don’t think the gnome is the way to do it.

d20 Roll (Roll 3 times or pick 3)	Many Gnomes…
1	Have skin the color of walnuts or rich loam.
2	Know all the animals that live near their homes by name.
3	Believe that the mastery of puzzles and riddles is a noble goal in life.
4	Have trouble growing facial hair.
5	Do wear red caps, but of the stocking variety not the pointed kind.
6	Find practical jokes to be the highest form of humor.
7	Know hundreds of different knots.
8	Are fascinated by gemstones.
9	Keep family journals dating back generations.
10	Build their burrows near rivers and lakes, enjoying boating in the warm months.
11	Can create woodworking wonders.
12	Enjoy spirited debates and will only end an argument after it has been sufficiently discussed.
13	Tend to secret gardens in the forests and hills.
14	Share a burrow with their extended family.
15	Despise trolls and trollkin for their enslavement and mistreatment of gnomes.
16	Enjoy bowls as a sport and take matches between villages very seriously.
17	Treat elves as if they were kin, only taller.
18	Look at dwarves as respected father figures and big brothers.
19	Like humans but wish that more of them respected the natural world.
20	Enjoy playing practical jokes on hurgs.

d16 Once	Some Gnomes…
1	Wear wooden shoes as daily footwear.
2	Never speak while above ground, preferring to revel in the sounds of nature.
3	Can detect hidden springs by scent alone.
4	Have a small mammal as a companion.
5	Are envious of dwarven beards and grow wispy chin hairs to compensate.
6	Husband glowworms to light their burrows.
7	Can speak the language of badgers and hedgehogs.
8	Have a fear of heights.
9	Succumb to the lure of Chaos and dwell in the deep places of hill and hollow.
10	Have a fondness for halfling pipeweed.
11	Pan for gold and gems as a hobby.
12	Attract butterflies when walking about the woods.
13	Take up portraiture and painting landscapes.
14	Have metallic-colored hair, with silver and copper being the most common of these hues.
15	Dedicate their lives to find a single, perfect gemstone.
16	Are constantly dirty, as they find earth, leaves, and flowers to be the finest smells in the world.

d16 (1d3 times)	Common Traveling Gear
1	A red stocking cap.
2	A hedgehog companion.
3	A saw-back dagger.
4	A knife-handled walking stick.
5	A brass lantern inscribed with intricate designs and holding numerous glowworms.
6	A parasol.
7	A waterproof poncho of many interior pockets.
8	A coil of rope they can knot in seconds.
9	A jeweler’s loupe.
10	A long-stemmed, clay pipe.
11	A set of paints and brushes.
12	A chapbook on beard fashions throughout the ages.
13	A wooden puzzle box.
14	A case containing carpentry and woodworking tools.
15	A gold prospecting pan.
16	A pair of wooden clogs.

Repost: “More Present Than the Living Man”

"He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

As many of you are no doubt aware, today is the second anniversary of the passing of Gary Gygax. I’m certain that there will be a number of tributes to Gary and remembrances of the Dungeon Master occurring throughout the day, many written by scribes more gifted than myself. I would be remiss, however, to not mention it here. I have no stories of Gary to share. I met the man on only one occasion, very briefly and many years ago, and my memory of that meeting is not as pristine as it once was. So I will let others speak eloquently and at length about Gary, offering only what I can:

Thank you, Gary. We miss you.

Dungeon Alphabet PDF On Sale

As part of DrivethruRPG's GM's Day Sale, the PDF of The Dungeon Alphabet is on sale for $5.99. That's $2.00 off the regular price and nothing to scoff at in these troubled times. If you've been meaning to pick up an electronic version of the book, you might not see a better offer than this.

Click here to go and buy.

Paper Mayhem

On a lark, I picked up one of the 3D paper terrain packs put out by Fat Dragon Games. I now find myself folding cardstock when I'm looking to downshift my brain after a long day. Even though I lack the deft skills that the origami geniuses over at Fat Dragon have, the results I produce aren't half bad.

I'm very pleased with the set, much more so than I expected myself to be. The detail on the pieces is very good, the results are lightweight but sturdy, and, should they ever be destroyed in play, are easy to reproduce at little cost. While I'm doubtful that I'll use them in the upcoming game only because it takes place away from my home and would require transport, I find myself toying with the idea of making a set piece or two that is filled with various traps and other challenges and making the players navigate the chamber with miniatures.

Here's a small diorama using some of the pieces I've made so far. Our two adventurers have just met a lurking trapper down in the depths of the dungeon.

An Illustrated Example of the "Make It Your Own" Philosophy of the OSR

I found this in an old, old issue of White Dwarf and it sums up for me what the "Make It Your Own" attitude of the Old School Renaissance is all about. Pictured below are two mind flayers, but they don't look a single thing like the mind flayers that we've all come to know.


The OSR: where having a squid-headed mind flayer running about plagiarizing the cover of Eldritch Wizardry is expected, not frowned upon.

New Beginnings

This is a week for new beginnings, a time of both excitement and terror. Today is the first of March, which means that my pleasant post-Stonehell rest period has officially ended and it’s time to get back on task. Work officially begins on the sequel as of now. You will hopefully be seeing the finished product around November, which is the same time the first book was released last year. I know what goes into writing a book of that size now and that knowledge will help cut back on the production time—I hope.

My return to Stonehell actually began earlier this week. In preparation for the Eldritch Frontier campaign, I’ve done a little remodeling and rewriting of the surface and first level of the megadungeon. Two of my future players own copies of the commercial release of the dungeon, so I’ve put the kobolds to work rearranging the place and ordering new monsters. I’m obviously not redoing the entire dungeon, but the tweaks will create something the substantially different from the book. For those of you keeping tract, this means I’m now on the third iteration of the dungeon.

Speaking of Stonehell, rmckee78 of the Circle of Dar Janix is running his players through the dungeon using OSRIC. He’s been posting session reports on the blog and this week his players finally started poking around the Gates of Hell. As much as I enjoy it when people take the dungeon and run with it, as the designer I also get a kick out of when things happen as you imagined they might—which is exactly what happen to this crew.

Still, the biggest beginning of the week is that it looks like the Eldritch Frontier campaign is a go. Yesterday’s meet up resulted in the group reaching a total of three players—the minimum I was requiring before starting. On top of that, I’ve got another player joining up in just a couple of weeks. Four is a nice number but I’m still keeping the “vacancy” sign lit for now. Next Sunday will be game session #1, meaning that I’ve got some work that needs to be done on top of the Stonehell sequel launch.

Ever since we confirmed the start of the campaign, I’ve been thinking a lot about the tone of the campaign and my referee voice. Perhaps it’s my literary background but finding one’s referee voice is as important as an author finding his or her writer’s voice. Every referee needs to do their damnedest to cultivate a unique style, atmosphere, setting, and method. To create both a way and a world that is easily recognizable amongst the many. Humorous, unsettling, or gonzo—it doesn’t matter so long as you find it. Since it’s been awhile since I’ve spent more than a few brief moments behind the screen, it’s going to be interesting to try and find mine again. I’ve done a lot of thinking about this hobby of ours over the last year-and-a-half and I’ve personally undergone a lot of changes since I last did a steady ref’s gig. My new voice is likely to be very, very different from my previous one. The quest to find it anew will undoubtedly be exhilarating and downright terrifying.

I can’t wait.