Castle Xyntillan and the World of Xoth

 Out of sheer frustration I tapped my brother in Virginia to play Gabor Luxe's fantastic funhouse dungeon Castle Xyntillan. He was under insufferable heat and humidity so was keeping inside. This gave him the time to jump in! This was completely a nostalgia-grab back into the past when we would play B/X with a bunch of first level characters and the Isle of Dread or some such thing. A summer afternoon with the afternoon free to play DnD. Good times.

He "rolled" up 4 first level characters and spent some time briefly in the local township, a crap-hole called... whatever. They approached the castle in daylight and went right for the opening at the west side into the rose and vegetable gardens. There they were accosted by a troop of 8 bandits and their leader, one of the undead Malevelloooo, something. Neither one of us could pronounce the Hungarian script so we just called them Mulleaveys. So nine against four. Not good odds, especially because the bandits were hiding behind the rubble.

But there was nothing for it. He had just spent an hour rolling up characters so it was time to get into the action. It was a two-on-two with the missile weapons. Crossbows against short bows. Not being surprised and winning the initiative, Mike began what was a long string of high numbers, and the bandits rolling a string of low numbers. The bowmen were taken down in the first exchange! Then it was nothing but bloody melee, and even though the bandits continued to roll garbage, three of the PCs were dead and five of the bandits. This left 3 with the leader staying in the rear looking for a handy bow. Renee' the Thief took this opportunity to run back to town. I took an hour break while he rolled up 5 new 1st level characters.

And the other news I have is Book 3 Worlds of Adventure for Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery is up at DriveThru. Or it should be, it is only available in PDF right now. The POD files need to get loaded and approved. But it does close the loop on USR Sword & Sorcery, for me. There is one or two more adventures to write for the game, but for what it is worth the game and myself have rung what we can out of each other and it is time to move on!

What I am working on now is Space Acid, my FGU Space Opera retro-clone, and MEGS the MEGS retro-clone. Two big works with little small dungeons in between to snap me out of a narrow view and redundant ways of thinking. My online games as well as what I am writing.

And so back to Xyntillan, he rolled up 4 fighters and a cleric. With Renee' at the head of the troop, they assaulted the castle again. This time they went through the Great Entrance which lead into the Vestibule. They interacted with the Mulleavey paintings in the hallway and the cleric almost had his head devoured by the hat in the cloakroom. 

They continued to poke around looking for something of value when the triggered the butler to show up. His ghostly form wanted to know why they were breaking down the bricks walling off a door in the Clerk's Office? He had not heard there was any construction scheduled to start today. He insisted they cease at once. Grubb, a Fighter, had collected much of the dried parchment filled with mad scribblings and showed James the Butler the party's "authorization" for work to be done. This satisfied the butler immensely, so when the PCs asked where they could heal up James led them to the Inner Courtyard and pointed out where to enter the Grand Bath. The cleric bathed in the pool hoping to be healed. Instead, they triggered the badness, failed the save, and turned into a pillar of salt. Dead. We are up to 4 corpses now in two hours of play. He hastily left the bath, Grubb did take another stab at the pool and became immune to poison for a week. Returning to the vestibule again and again, my brother reconnoitered the immediate hallways surrounding. When Ben the Fighter walked into the Glittering Cloud and started having his blood sucked out of him he called it quits for the day. 

We will pick up again tomorrow as he returns to town, makes some meager gold, and figure out his next step.

And Book 3 Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery is out on PDF at Drivethru!

Western USR 3rd Edition Full Color PDF Available for Review!

 Here is a link to the new 3rd edition of USR. This is the second of my publications to utilize AI-generated art. What I like about AI-generated art is it allows me to move forward with full-color publications without costing me my monthly mortgage. 

I would love to pay real people to make real things for my books but my stuff has limited appeal and limited revenue potential so throwing serious cash at artwork is not feasible for the VTP. Not that I haven't done it. I truly enjoy satisfaction from paying other DIY'ers cash  money for their contributions to my game books. Feeling connected to a greater hobby world through cash transactions is intention made manifest. But I still want to get books out and I want them to look as good as I can with the time available to me. 

So please download for FREE my finished PDF copy of Western USR. This is the same copy which will be available on Drivethrurpg.com, so yeah, a back door to free product. But please try and play it. Please shoot someone in the face utilizing the RAW, and tell me how it plays. Better yet, write a full on review of actual gameplay and I will send you a free softcover copy of the book with the actual full-color cover!

Shrine of the Keepers Now Available Full Color Hardback

Yes, I have created my first full color publication. Shrine of the Keepers is now available as its own stand alone adventure module. I took the plunge and played around with AI to generate the full color illustrations for the adventure module. Here are some photos of the final product. 

It is 33 pages and by this time the adventure has been vetted for all typos, it is a clean manuscript. Hey, it is even complete with a 5e conversion guide so you can play the adventure with the world's most popular roleplaying game. 

This 33 page adventure is available as a POD publication from Drivethrurpg.com. Get your blood-soaked copy today!

Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery Session

With some judicious holiday hours off I decided to actually run a game of Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery instead of laboring on the third and final book of the trilogy. I offered up the introductory adventure from the setting guide (the third book), Shrine of the Keepers. A venerable adventure I wrote back in 2012 for the first playtest of this game. Wow, USR Sword & Sorcery has a first edition!

I was much pleased to get many enthusiastic answers and interest to the game session. After I sorted out the time slot, I ended up with 4 rogues. A goodly number, for the pulpy nature of classic sword and sorcery does not lend itself to large parties of dungeon delvers. The roll call consisted of Hackon Rinson-Hunter, Nosarat-Hunter, Patty-Warrior, and Votwin-Sailor. The adventure was to begin in Zul-Bazzir in the world of Xoth and two of the players rolled for nation of origin. This came up as Khora, the Island of Sea Reavers, and Khazastan, the might empire across the great desert east of Zul-Bazzir. The other two I just declared they were locals of Khazastani and Jairan heritage. Character creation was done at the “table” for USR Sword & Sorcery is a rules-lite system and creating a character is dead simple. Gear, on the other hand is a pricey proposition. Armor and fine weapons are well out of reach for a starting character in the world of Xoth. The wealth disparity between the rich and powerful and everyone else is vast. This meant, outside of some favored weapons I granted the Warrior and Sailor, the group possessed no armor. I take that back, Hackon was able to purchase a shield to complement his sling and club.

The set up for Shrine of the Keepers is one of simple robbery. It is late night, and the group is finishing up hours of carousing and look to settle their tab. Unfortunately, whatever silver they had left on their person was gone. I slinking thief twirling their coin pouches good be seen slipping through the rowdy crowd and exiting the wine bar. A swift pursuit began as the players leapt after the thief, all the while the wine tender hollering for his payment. They chased the fleet-footed scoundrel through the warren of alleyways in the slums of Zul-Bazzir. They lost sight of the thief and as they wondered which way to continue the chase when a blood-curdling scream pierced the night now far away. Descending on the scene they were just in time to hear the death rattle of the thieving dog. His body was slashed and ravaged. Their coin purse gone. The crafty hunters searched the ground for tracks. The night was full of light from the twin moons of Xoth, and they could pick the tread of sandaled feet leading down an alley which ended in a walled courtyard. The single large door for the gate left slightly ajar. 

A passing city guard, drawn to the scene by the dying scream of the thief, quickly assessed the situation and cautioned the party to let go their loss. The open gate led to the temple of the Seekers. These demon-worshipping cultists were not to be trifled with. The Seekers keep what they take and only fools and madmen would risk causing their wrath. They predictably ignored the watchman’s sober advice (and it is a one-shot gaming session), and cautiously approached the open gate.

The courtyard beyond was illuminated by the moonlight and the hunters again could see the tread of sandaled crossing the dusty ground to the entrance of the Shrine of the Keepers. A wide stone building unadorned. Black smoke issued forth from somewhere out of the roof. In the middle of the temple’s simple facade a wide set of steps led into the building fronted by three wide pillars evenly spaced across the entranceway. They slinked up the steps into a wide unlit chamber. The slanting rays of the twin moons revealed large bronze doors directly across from the staired entry. Open archways gaped to the left and right, one had the flickering of torchlight coming from it. The other, darkness. All was quiet and no further tracks could be discerned indicating which way the group of cultists had travelled.

While they debated which course of action they should take, their brief exploration of the entrance chamber revealed a door to the left of the mammoth pair of bronze portals, discreetly hidden behind a tapestry writ large with obscene images and runes of dreaded black speech. The group globed onto this hidden door and desired to pass through it. It was locked, but the sailor worked one of his arrows (he carried a bow) and rolled well enough on his non-contested attribute roll (NCAR) to spring the latch.

Their exploration of the hallway beyond found them abruptly entering a bald priest’s quarters, the owner present. They had interrupted the robed priest in the middle of scratching his meaningless ramblings upon parchment. He quickly leapt from his chair and brandished a dagger gauging the danger in which had come upon him. Hackon boldly charged with raised club. The priest, considering his odds poor, ran to another door close by, opened it looking to escape. Votwin had his bow at the ready and made a called shot against the priest’s legs. His shot was a success, the damage great, and the priest fell to the floor incapacitated. The rest of the party followed, and before Hackon could fast-talk information from the wounded man, was stabbed repeatedly through the chest and killed.

The group made a thorough search of the main level of the temple, encountering four priests loitering in a room of tall shelves stacked with scrolls (they were dispatched in close hand to hand fighting), a sunken chamber filled with granite sarcophagi, a room heated to a blast furnace by a coal-fueled fireplace burning a pile of human bones, and a room with a large, lurid stone idol adorned with candles holding a bronze platter with a decent pile of gold and silver coins upon it. Besides doorways leading out of this room a narrow set of stone stairs descended to a lower level.

The group had no stomach for the lower reaches of the shrine, but they had yet to gain significant loot to leave. They continued their search of the upper level until they found the chambers of the high priest. There they were confronted by 4 priests and 2armed temple guards. Here they experienced the benefits of armor as the priests were cut down by quick thrusts and Votwin’s rain of arrows. But the 2 guards presented a hardier challenge and before they were hacked down, they grievously injured Hackon and Nosorat. Facing no further opposition they then looted the high-priest’s chamber of valuables and quickly left with their loot into the late night streets of Zul-Bazzir sleeping under the twin moons of Xoth once again.

Official Press Release for the Book

 VANISHING TOWER PRESS  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

CONTACT: 

Jay Murphy, Vanishing Tower Press, jay@vanishingtowerpress.com 

First Two Books in Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery RPG Series Deliver Rules-Light Classic Pulp-Fantasy  

Aspen, CO - Vanishing Tower Press is pleased to announce the release of the first two books for the Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery roleplaying game in print-on-demand (POD) format on DriveThruRPG. Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery delivers classic pulp-fantasy using the Unbelievably Simple Roleplaying (USR) engine, a rules-lite system customized for adventurers who live—and often die—by the terrible swift sword.    

 

USR Sword & Sorcery Deluxe Book One: Characters, Combat, and Carousing and Book Two: Mass Combat and Magic feature never-before-printed mass combat rules for the game, as well as carousing, an expanded magic section, and more. 

 

"I grew up reading Sword & Sorcery by Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, Lyn Carter, and other writers who gave us heroes and anti-heroes that carved up their world one sword stroke at a time," said Jay Murphy, the game's designer. "This is a love letter to the genre and it utilizes a rules-light formula that stays out of the way and lets game masters (called Crypt Keepers in the game) and players get right into their own bold adventures."

 

The soft-cover POD format in a comfortable A5 size, just like they did in the old days. Book One: Characters, Combat, and Carousing is 50 pages B/W with a price of $12.25. Book Two: Mass Combat and Magic is 40 pages B/W, with a price of $12.06. The retro-styled game is written by adventure writer Jay Murphy and includes new art by Jeremy Hart, Daniel Hernandez, Gennifer Bone, Michael Gibbons, David Lewis Johnson, Earl Geier, Joyce Maureira, Luigi Castellani, and Miguel Santos.

 

"I believe the artists commissioned for this project delivered illustrations which match the fevered-pitch of combat prevalent in the wonderful books that inspired this game," said Murphy. "The line art really give the books the feel of the game's simple, but exhilarating, combat rules." 

 

Murphy has previously published old-school adventures, including Purging Woth Nrld Oekwn’s Muddy Hole, a 40-page adventure that pits PCs against a well-organized tribe of troglodytes and alien slime, which 10 Foot Pole's Bryce Lynch said was, "full of evocative writing and interesting interactive encounters. And is non-standard as all get out."

 

Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery Book Three: Worlds of Adventure, featuring the sinister and savage world of Xoth, will be released in the near future. 

 

Vanishing Tower Press is happy to arrange interviews with the author and PDF copies for online reviews. Direct all inquires to jay@vanishingtowerpress.com.

 

USR Sword & Sorcery Deluxe Book One and Book Two are out!

Finally dragged these over the finish line. The size is in homage to the LBB's released at the dawn of roleplaying, and the first two books make a complete game. DriveThruRPG Link

Book three is still being rewritten and reedited. It is a much larger book (in page count) from the rules of the game. It is a setting book featuring the World of Xoth. Then I will have my own LRB's (little red books). 

I wish Drivethru RPG could produce boxes for our POD books. These little darlings are screaming to be put in a small red box with bad-ass art on the front.

Speaking of art, I finally can let people get a hold of the great line art I commissioned. 

I went as heavy as I could featuring sword-swinging women in the book. Muscle-bound male barbarians have had all the attention over the last 90 years, so every piece I commissioned features the game's mascot; Dor Stryker! This artist hasn't captured her broken nose, but yeah, she is a little beat up and battle scarred while still displaying the physical power which traditionally makes for your Sword & Sorcery "hero".

The system is still the rules-lite game you have come to love, but now you get Massed Combat rules and an expanded magic section (this is what makes up Book Two). The signature features of the game system are simultaneous combat, and carousing being the most effective means of healing Hits damage. Some have bemoaned the critical hits and dramatic fumbles mechanic as being too crunchy for a rules-lite game, but I have found the mechanic a lovely narrative tool in the blood-soaked contests PC's will find themselves in the center of. Others who have used the game for years love the tables, so there is that!

The game was play-tested for three years (2012-2015) so I know it delivers true sword and sorcery feels unfettered by licensed property and well known fantasy worlds.   

But these same features don't make the game a good "first" game for those new to roleplaying. There isn't anything really in the rule books which explain what a roleplaying game is and how "best" to play one. These slim books (50 and 40 pages are the page counts for the first two books) will serve players and crypt keepers who have a firm grasp of pulp fantasy adventures and know exactly what they want their game to look like. 

The game is a solid scaffolding the crypt keeper can hang any sword and sorcery vision they have on and start adding their own colors, textures, and tones. For a long time I was content with the game not having a built-in setting. The game did exactly what I wanted it to do, that was the goal to begin with. 

But you can't have three Little Red Books with only two tomes, now can you? Fortunately there is a fantastic map which illustrates the fabulous primeval world known as Xoth. When I first wanted to run a true sword and sorcery campaign I did not want the game to be subservient to existing, well-known fantasy worlds from the storied history of pulp fantasy literature. I was surprised to find when I did many internet searches there wasn't really anything out there for options. I think my search terms were "Sword & Sorcery Campaign World", and you can imagine what search engines return. Nothing new, Except this evocative name Xoth. Totally metal and smelled of moldering crypts and vicious desert nomads, steaming jungles, and lost civilizations. So after letting my playtesting PC's roam from one end of the world to the other (they never did plunge south into the dark jungles, but one only has so much time do they?) I reached out to the creator about marrying my rules with their setting. 

Another Piece of Art for Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery

 This is the draft of the latest pic for the book. Epic Werks Studio produced this gem. Dor Stryker in all her savage glory!

It gets inked tomorrow! It will end up in the setting book I reckon.

Book One USR Sword & Sorcery Deluxe is done!

 After much agonizing over format for the publication I have decided to go with a throwback, retro look in honor of the LBB's of original Dungeons & Dragons and Classic Traveller. Three books total. Here is an image of the cover for Book 1.

Blood red, of course, there will be Book One Characters, Combat, and Carousing; Book 2 Magic & Mass Combat; and Book 3 Worlds of Adventure. The third book should be the largest in page count because it will include a bestiary, notable NPCs, original adventures as well as a World of Xoth setting guide. 

The original art I commissioned is all black and white line drawings because this is what I dig, and all interior pages (so far) are black and white with a mix of one and two column text blocks with formatted tables where needed. 

For the first three who request it I am offering an advanced PDF copy for your perusal. Email me directly at jay@vanishingtowerpress.com. While not a complete game in itself, you can run your own Sword & Sorcery adventures with just Book 1. You would just have to be someone who is comfortable with a minimalist rule set.

Fuck, I am soo close to bringing this bitch home, Blood and Souls, Blood and Souls!

Dead Simple Western USR Gambling Rules

I like these rules "I" thought up. I believe they give gambling and gaming rolls emergent opportunities which otherwise might not so easily noticed during a call for Attribute tests. 

In keeping with the spirit of the (U)nbelievably (S)imple (R)oleplaying game, these rules are simple. Yet, are built on top of the internal logic Scott, the creator of the system, has incorporated successfully in his design. I'm referring to the three character attributes which make up all characters in the game. These are Action, Wits, and Ego. Pretty self-explanatory. The game revolves around three attributes. Further, each one of your attributes has one (and can only use one of each type) of the available dice allowed in play. These are a D10, a D8, and a d6. You can put these in any order you want, but being limited to one of each size the system has deftly added roleplaying prompts as soon as you look at a character sheet. 

What this means for Western USR, and saloon gambling specifically, are the following:

• Characters may use any of their 3 attributes to gamble.
• If the character chooses to use Action, they are cheating. 
• If the character chooses to use Wits, they are just good.
• If the character chooses to use Ego, any throw resulting in a Critical/Fumble check triggers a random encounter. 75% chance it is someone being accused of cheating, just not you.
• A character may switch which attribute they use for their check in between hands, and/or shoots of the dice, whatever the game of chance may be.
• A character may not change which attribute they use during a hand unless the Saloon Keeper approves. 

USR Sword & Sorcery Reaches Electrum Best Seller

 USR Sword & Sorcery notches another medal achievement at DriveThru! We've gone plaid! No, I mean Electrum! USR Sword & Sorcery is now an Electrum Best Seller. 

The little game which launched a thousand and more unpaid hours devoted to learning Scribus, Indesign, Photoshop, Live Streaming games, podcasts, blogging about games, going to game conventions and getting suicidally drunk, etc.

I have a return date expected for work on Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery (title is still in the air). It is August. This is predicated on my DC Heroes 3rd Edition retro-clone manuscript being complete and sent to the editor. This is looking good so I might even be able to return to the Word of Xoth setting guide even sooner! 

Western USR now in Hardback POD

Just got the proof in last night and I approve! The hardcover edition of Western USR. Pop on over to Drivethru and order yours today. 

This is the first hardback publication from the press and I can see why this digest sized format is popular. The same size LotFP has ridden for continued success. It lays flat at the table and compact size make it a breeze to travel with. The durable hardcover will make this indie print last forever on the game shelf, I imagine. Well, I don't need to imagine because I can look at my hardbacks currently on my game shelf. Monoliths of stone I tell you.

As with any USR game the rules are dead simple, but offer a granularity of results and uses only seen in bigger games. Character creation takes literally 5, 10 tops. The gun play is deadly, and splattering gore is encouraged. There is the introduction of a Speed attribute, all important on the day of your main street shoot-out. 

Decent equipment list for all your western sundries, straightforward weapons tables and a combat system. while simple, allows all the flexibility a game needs to provide opportunities for cinematic action. $15.58 at Drivethru, shipping has been 3 weeks for me from Drivethru. It has reached copper status already with no marketing what so ever, great. It will be a while before I release any supporting adventures, but if you want a set of Western rules you can pick up and go... can't go wrong with Western USR.

Oh. yeah, I totally nailed getting text on the spine. Perfectly located. You don't have much room vertically with a 34 page book. 

Why USR?

 No secret, I love Unbelievably Simple Roleplaying by Scott Malthouse and Trollish Delver Games. I'm going to qualify this with a review of the system and why I use it. 

Boiled down attribute list. A character's attributes are three in number. Why? Because you do not need any more than three to cover most any character's attribute numbers. There is Action, Wits and Ego. You could call them Strength, Smarts and Spirit. You could call them Physical Dexterity, Mental Dexterity and Personality Dexterity. You could call them Grit, Guts and Cool. You could use any number of descriptions any regular player would know and understand. I've played and run games with a shit-ton of attributes. Rolemaster, Champions, Space Opera, etc. And I find the long list of attributes in these games not needed. I get the point of having 8 to 15 attributes. It is to create "granularity", creating subtle differences in a character which can be exploited up or down to make the character "unique" and create a greater range of probability. 

When I first looked at USR I was also exploring the semi-new hotness which was FATE and Savage Worlds. And when I held them up against USR I began to appreciate the thought which went into the die spread. Which is assigning one of the following three dice to the character's three attributes as mentioned above. The dice are a d6, d8, and d10. So a player has to make choices at the start of character creation; do you want the PC to be a stand out in physical action, or intelligent or very charismatic? The granularity sought in games with bucketloads of attributes is achieved by USR with varying the dice size. Rolling a d10 against a d6 has one degree of probability just like rolling a d8 against another d8 is another set of probabilities. Savage Worlds does the same thing with their character creation process, but USR does it in 3. A nice tight number you do not have to agonize overmuch. 

Match this with a simple resolution mechanic able to create tension and uncertainty and you have a powerful little engine of could. USR has contested and non-contested "tests". These are bedrock resolution mechanics which have been with us since the creation of rpgs. You are usually, no matter what game you are playing, going against a set target number (really common) or rolling off against an antagonist (not as common). When working to repair a radio, for example, you use static target numbers. The not uncommon spread of easy, hard, impossible, etc. So USR has a Difficulty Table to set these metrics and combined with different die sizes you end up with increased (granular) probabilities. If you have a Wits of d6 and fixing the radio is a Difficulty of 6 then you have only 1 number you can roll to succeed. If your Wits are d10 you have a greater probability of success. 

Contested rolls was a method of resolution I first encountered when I got into Chaosium's Stormbringer game, specifically combat. Percentile based so very easy to grasp. Two sword fighters go at it. One has an ability of 50% and the other has an ability of 80%. Clearly the character with the higher ability score is "better" and should win the contest. But one must roll. All the 50% has to do is score a good roll while the 80% rolls shit and you have tables turning. Tension, uncertainty, the meat-and-potatoes of rpgs. 

The same is achieved with USR by rolling off and variety, tension is injected by dice size. Better chance of rolling higher than your opponent when you are rolling a d10 versus their d6. But it isn't guaranteed. Between these two methods, contested and non-contested, there isn't very many other ways rpgs resolve actions in the game. USR just does it in a very compact way while retaining a great deal of probability, of scale which isn't readily apparent on the surface. But I have used the system extensively and can vouch for its utility.

Character customization and abilities. So most games have you with a character built on attributes and then they have "special" abilities, or skills, or aspects, traits, whatever the hell you want to call them. Scott calls them Specialisms and a player gets to create 3 for their new character. It is left up to the player to pick and create their character's Specialisms but they all have one thing in common. They provide a +2 to any resolution roll which the player can justify adding. Have a Specialism in hand-to-hand combat? When you are in a fight add a +2 to your die roll. So you have a skill, this Specialism which to leverage rolls in your favor, contested or otherwise. Since it is up to the player to come up with them no one is tied down to a set "skill list" or package of "feats" or some such. Smart to use the principle of threes here again. Just enough for unique variety while also maddening tight so a player really needs to lean into their character concept to arrive at satisfying results. 

And this is all fast. Creating a character takes ten minutes, tops. Resolving actions and complex situations are quickly derived because their isn't an exhaustive list of abilities, skills and modifiers which need to be waded through before the value is set and die are rolled for result. 

And this is a universal system. A generic role playing game engine. I have used it for Sword & Sorcery, Westerns, Cyberpunk, talking animals and 70's sex politics and sports. 

But there is a price to be paid with generic systems. Setting and character types need to be described and created. Or not. But the system is best used in the hands of an experienced Game Master with a great love for the genre being played. Being a fan of a genre means you should have a good catalogue of tropes which to embellish the new, generic game world with the necessary (an interesting) window dressing. Player's can be complete nubes, the game system is far from complex. Experienced players should be able to jump all over the character creation choices which are wide-open to create anything they want. 

So why USR? It does everything the best of role playing games do and it does it in a very small package. Which is free. Call it fat-free. 

Return of Wester USR, rules-lite roleplaying in the Wild, Wild West

Since I am blessed with the Adobe suite of media products I've been dipping back in the old Vanishing Tower Press catalogue and redoing some old classics. Today I dug out Western USR, rules-lite roleplaying in the Wild, Wild West and reformatted the old PDF. This is now once again available for sale at DriveThruRPG. So no big whup there. The big WHUP is I also created the files needed to release a hardcover copy of the publication. Yessir-ree-bob this fast and bloody spaghetti western work is now a 36 page black and white book. It even has some new art from the public domain to make the book more attractive. Come hell or high water the printing press at DriveThru looks like it swallowed my files correctly for this POD version.

There is an original adventure in the works for the game, Broke Down in Bug Town, but it is going to take some time to finish. I'm writing it in the spirit of the original TSR Top Secret adventure which came with the original box set. Operation something something, Code Name:Pisces. The reason it is going to take some time is it will be much more coherent than its inspirational source was, but contain the same denseness of NPCs and cross-purpose conflicts which littered the old TSR game. It will need a map of Bug Town proper and some nice wilderness movement charts. Stats for horses, buffaloes, rattlesnakes, Wendigos, etc. will be included. A rather sprawling package to complement the tight set of rules. 

Western USR is a customized version of (U)nbelievably (S)imple (R)oleplaying written by Scott Malthouse. The additional chrome added which you will not find in the base rules are more elaborate combat rules and an additional attribute, Speed, to make the thrill of a showdown and fast draw gun-fighting action possible. Now keep in mind, while the rule book contains a complete playable game (you can make a character in no more than ten minutes) it does not contain much setting material. Rules-lite roleplaying products are just that, light on setting content because it is assumed the Saloon Keeper has a good idea on what kind of western campaign they want to run. 

But if you want to blow holy-hell out of each other at high noon then this slim volume more than delivers the goods! Find the PDF version here, and stay tuned for the announcement when the POD proof has been approved and released for purchase.
 

Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery

 First part of the book is done! This includes all the rules, magic and spells, carousing and a bestiary. Now the second half of the book; World of Xoth setting and three new adventures. Shrine of the Keepers will be included as well, but has been circulating for a while. This shit is coming together, love it.

Black Book of Sorcery Now Available in Print

 There does not appear to be a means to find it with a book search at Lulu, so I am providing the direct link to the product here in this post. The link will be also posted on the products page of this blog. 

The book looks really sharp! I was surprised at how good it looks in its designed size, A4 I think? The PDF is serviceable and gives all the goods, But in book format it makes a nice companion piece to any Crypt Keeper's game prep! Copies for review are available free of charge, pdf of course, for those who regularly review new game stuff.

The Black Book of Sorcery (POD)

Final Version PDF Black Book of Sorcery

 Is uploaded to Drivethru just now. This version is not at the "early-bird special" price, the final work (minus typos I catch here and there) is appropriately priced at $6.66.

The print version of The Black Book of Sorcery is going up right now on Lulu.com. I received my proof, made the appropriate revisions, and am now uploading the file. You should see it available for purchase soon after! I'll update this post with a Lulu link so anyone who wants a physical copy (and why wouldn't you) can sell their soul for $16.66 77-page softcover. I'm producing a hard-cover. I'm going to price this nocturnal gem at $666.00 so I become the only one with a hard-cover edition! I am an evil son-of-a-bitch.

As you can see from the pictures I'm giving you a clear, two-column layout with original b/w art. 11 point font size for body text at 15 point line-spacing. Its A4, nice presentation size. I like the way it looks in your hands. 

Also please note the amount of white space on the page. This is intentional on my part and I'd like any feedback you may have on adding in good amounts of white space. Here is why I did it. I don't know about you, but any adventure, any RPG print product really, I get my hands on I mark up. Professional print products use up as much space as they can in their stuff so I always end up scribbling vertically in the margins with arrows pointing to the actual text I am changing. And then resorting to notebooks as information takes the all-to predictable voluminous written pages. And then I got to track this down before game time. Grrrrr.

And I want to mark up my books. Especially adventures. Well, the BBoS is not an adventure, true, but it is a magic supplement and in game utility. Therefore I have given plenty of space in the margins. I've included blank lined sections near spell descriptions so notes can be added that can be used during the game! I have added headings to some of the note-taking spaces anticipating common uses the book will see in a fantasy game. There are even hints of the Mass Combat Rules which will be going into the next, ultimate, deluxe edition of USR Sword & Sorcery, as well as a generous casting of words and names hinting at what will be found in USR Sword & Sorcery official campaign setting, the World of Xoth. Exciting times.

The Black Book of Sorcery PDF Drops Tonight!

Like a curse laid on a restless soul it looked like there was no end in sight to my suffering and anguish over the completion of this diabolical tome.,, but it is done.

I will post the PDF in the wee hours of the night, proper summoning time and all, and it will be found on Drive Thru. The POD is done, it is going through the "artist proof" stage. When I'm sure all the graphics print correctly it will be available in softcover, perfect bound.

Here is the link to the PDF book on Drivethru!

The Lulu POD softcover edition with the completed bad ass red cover has been ordered!

Desert Adventure Generator for Fear & Loathing USR

The rules for this nifty game are not currently available, but the creator of (U)nbelievably (S)imple (R)oleplaying game Scott Malthouse offers the basic USR rules for free to download. The game mechanics are, well, simple, so having an interesting adventure is more important than having an interesting rule book.

I've dusted off Fear & Loathing in Fat City, the game's first official adventure, now that I have InDesign. I find this professional piece of software far exceeds other design software out there and is the only way to go to make POD and PDF game products for sale.

There are several tables in the adventure which drive the action and I am posting them here. Please feel free to use and critique at your leisure...

USR Sword & Sorcery Reviewed on Drive Thru

This silver best seller of mine did go up in 2016, so, 1,631 copies later its first review now appears on DriveThru Rpg!

I will count this a win. Out of all the copies sold it appears it was not sooo dreadful it moved anyone to commit an online barrage of hate directed at the press.

Designing an Ad for Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery

Common refrain I hear from potential buyers of new game stuff, besides a smart question to ask, which I have tried to tackle with this ad is "What does it offer that I don't already have?" Game Masters and Crypt Keepers alike are skeptical of the latest dark brooding thing. And they have every right to be. I think the blurby, what's inside pitch I make is a decent one. Go ahead let me know what you think.