The DM’s Guide is System Neutral

Or at least can be used with any game you may be running, regardless of genre. There are many useful random tables and information any Game Master usually feels are essential at the table while running. For myself, I am constantly turning to the Non-Player Characters section on page 100. Regardless of genre I am running I can always turn to this section and quickly get an NPCs personality whipped up on the spot. This makes for legitimate apprehension in the PCs. If they know the Game Master is rolling up personalities randomly they can’t get all mad at you when the last three armor smiths turned out to be sociopathic cheerful aesthetics! There are twenty tables alone on these two pages, no NPC ever has to be like the other. I don’t even use all of them. I roll randomly four or five times to get the tables I am going to roll on and then roll for results. This mix and match of character traits assures me and my players will have unique NPCs to engage with whenever this level of detail is warranted.

Here is a list of other tables which are useful at the table, no matter the genre!

p. 25, Value and Reputed Properties of Gems and Jewelry

p.12, Character Age, Aging, Disease and Death

p. 215, Appendix F: Gambling

p. 82, Effects of Alchol and Drugs

p. 53, Waterborne Adventures, excellent resource for manual and wind-driven craft!

p. 29, Description of Occupations and Professions

p. 32, Sage Fields of Study and Special Knowledge Categories

p. 36, Loyalty of Henchmen & Hirelings, Obedience and Morale

Really, you should get your own copy of this 1^st edition book and mark it up for all the tables you find useful. If you are running any type of fantasy game the book becomes even doubly useful with the more fantasy specific sections and tables in the book. It is dubbed a “Special Reference Work” on the title page. I would go so far as to call it an “Essential Reference Work” for the serious Game Master as well as the fantasy codex it is.

Back Ad Copy for Deluxe and classic USR Sword & Sorcery and Horrors Material & Magic Malignant

The primitive media operation which is Vanishing Tower Press has been busy making product ads for all the mad DIY zine and POD products Vanishing Tower Press products can currently be found.













Here is what I am using right now.

Santapocalypse - Holiday Themed Wargame

Is NOW released in PDF form from Peryton Publishing for the holidays. Not an overtly complicated miniature/P&P wargame, it is heavy on theme!  A commissioned piece (yes I take paying work blind, unquestioned and with enthusiasm), the publisher seems to be really pleased with the game because they really delivered on adding commissioned art for the game cover.

The rules are a minimalist distillation of my years reading and not playing hex-and-chit wargames, and my developing rpg mass combat system for Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery.

The only components of the game will be the rules and counter sheets. If you are familiar with miniature war-gaming you will know what to do. Even so, I think you will see where I am going with a role-playing mass combat mechanic; random tables to generate unique encounters, while underneath is a simple, scale-able, playable set of rules which facilitates getting the battle completed, with interesting results, and leaves traditional role-playing unhindered.

The order of battle is, under the leadership of Santa; reindeer, toy soldiers, and toy cannon. The elves do not have leaders, but their force pool is as such; elves, elven archers, and some candy cane pickets which may or may not come into play.

No pretense of a balanced engagement being modeled here! The counter sheets don't represent a limit on force-pools, print as many as you like? The combat resolution mechanic is a contested dice roll with results being rolled on a Christmas Carnage Table. Right? Who doesn't want to roll on that?!

I designed the game basically around one result off of the Christmass Carnage Tabel; Mound of Bodies!. If this result is rolled..., well, you will have to play it to find out.

http://www.perytonpublishing.com/ 

Daniel Hernadez Delivers!

Another artist finished their commissioned work for Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery, Daniel Hernandez. He completed six black and white line drawings of the signature mascot for Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery; Dor Stryker! A reaver of blood red rivers and blood red passion, she embodies the wild freedom of the Sword & Sorcery genre I have built into the game. 

Dor Stryker earning a night's pay

I should probably keep these under wraps, make folks pay for a view in my book, but I am so excited by the whole experience; searching, contacting, negotiating, and waiting for finished product, f#@%ing exiting I tell you.

Daniel Hernadez is an artist in San Diego, easy to get a hold of, and charges appropriately. You can trust him with your project. You heard it here from the tower.

Here is my current list of reliable artists for hire:

Michael Gibbons, Aos, Metal Earth; if you are a fan of black and white illustrations and want them fast then Aos is your guy. Themetalearth@gmail.com.

Jeremy Hart; monster stock art and commission work. He does solid, detailed line drawings.

and Daniel; makestuffsd@gmail.com

All DIY'ers can get some great art in your games with this bunch. It also will also prompt you to start drawing your own illustrations. You'll want to see your own stuff in your books for sure, and damn, your art budget will thank you.

Classic Traveller Combat Revealed!

I don’t know if Traveller’s combat system is considered “deadly”, but it has carried an air of complexity around it by those who have never played. I’ve had the pleasure of running six-seven sessions of Classic Traveller and I find the combat system amazingly plain, but with oft overlooked features which make it really sing!

Look at the combat turn order, nothing there any regular rpg’er hasn’t seen. The surprise mechanic is simple, and interesting. To hit is 8 or better on 2D6, and wounds are applied to your Physical attributes; Strength, Dexterity and Endurance. Range is simplified and the list of actions a character can take is boiled down into 4 actual combat actions. So where does this notion of an opaque, killer combat system for Traveller come from?

The reason Traveller combat is considered deadly and/or complex is because of at least two rules never used by regular players and referees. Rules so important it changes the whole relationship of the PCs to the game universe. They are the rule on weapon skills and the use of endurance attribute in melee.

The weapons skill rules are the most significant. Ranged combat takes on a completely different dimension when not used properly. The lack of this rule makes PCs less competent and easier to kill. On page 36 of the LBB’s is the entry Untrained Weapon Usage. “Any character using a weapon in which he or she has no training is subject to a penalty of 5 when attacking and +3 when def[i]nding (defending). While you let that sink in check out the next few sentences; “All player-characters automatically have an expertise of zero (0) in all weapons shown in this book.”

Not only does the average NPC have a 5 to their ranged weapon attack, the average PC suffers no disadvantage. A minus five swing in Traveller is a BIG deal. It makes most NPC’s the players interact with are “mooks”, adversaries which they can brush aside quickly. Add in proper use of cover and the surprise mechanics, any experienced combatants run effectively will roll gangbangers, grumpy miners, thugish dock workers, enraged bureaucrat; the PCs are designed to be Bruce Willis in Die Hard. A cut above the rest of the folks trapped in the tower. This is where you get to swing from the cable with auto rifles blasting the poorly paid and trained security guards! In a flat-footed straight out draw a PC should be Clint Eastwood to every one of those “lucky” punks out there.

My test was a poll on the Mewe Classic Traveller group and it looked like this:

Your average Traveller player and referee doesn’t play with these rules at all. This is what I mean about swinging the combat game against the PCs. They are playing the game with one arm literally tied behind their back. Unlike weapon speed in AD&D, the -5 for untrained weapon usage is an essential mechanic for the Traveller game. Remove it and the way players play Traveller significantly changes. Further, this small sampling shows most referees and players have never considered this rule and its effect on combat.

Myself, I’m stingy with zero level weapon skills for NPCs. The weapon is deadly enough. Anyone can squeeze a trigger. But who can keep their heads about them when multiple people are firing guns, at short range no less?! Pandemonium is what happens. A character trained to be cool and deliberate during fire brings your game to movie-level action. Like in Heat, and Den of Thieves. The tattooed, ipod-wearing street hood goes down in a street fight with one spray from the trained PC.

In conclusion, there are some assumptions placed on Classic Traveller which change game play away from superior PCs, and therefore the game is going to be played differently. If you implement RAW I believe you will find players enjoying the game more.

OSR adventure AA03 early edition is now available!

Purging Woth Nrld Oekwyn's Muddy Hole, Vanishing Tower Press' first OSR-compatible adventure module is available for purchase as a PDF.

It is a tight little work and is available in PDF form for $3.99. 

[10/13/19] Final edits complete, the PDF is clean with little or no typos now!

The set-up: 

A gasping faithful of the Grim Gauntlet, gripping bloodied mace in gashed hands, lies

wounded in the forest. They have just crawled out from their failed mission within the “Hole”. A trio of fanged-mouthed humanoids killed their party before they escaped with their life. Robid has sworn to destroy this forgotten shrine of evil. Will the PCs help?

The POD version and the PDF with internal links is most likely two weeks out. I could have the book go through another round of layout. I may for the POD version.

But for those who want to put this adventure into play now use PayPal to send payment. I'm at jay@vanishingtowerpress.com!


It is 40 pages, includes original art from myself and others, has had editing work done to it, an Appendix and a full monster "manual" of all creatures used. 

Keyed dungeon map and a "dungeon ecology" breakdown to help the DM run the dangers fully.

Feedback is encouraged. The PDF is also on DriveThruRPG if you can't wait for me to get home and email your copy, but I do take the hit on OBS's commission. 

That is about it. Perfect Bound, I don't think I can do saddle-stitched. If it is an option I will make it saddle-stitched. 

CT: Shattered Worlds, The Siamese Syndicate, One-Shot

Need a Traveller Encounter Fast? Here is one for the harried Referee; (made using the Augmented Reality city kit!)

A New Plot for the next group of Pcs: The PC's are confronted by mysterious deaths in their concourse and are motivated to find the answer. A.C.M.W screamsheets are on the story. 

What’s going on: Rob ‘Infidel’ Castro, per orders from the Siamese Syndicate, a fixer network, is testing the “Acoustic Weapon Sensor” for the Nordeast Corporation. It is being kept at a Nordeast Safehouse(???). And is triangulating a “field of death” around the Nelson Hale Block off of Cruikshank Concourse. Nordeast hopes to buy a minor nation state on the restricted planet of Port Prince Peace.

Angry Citizens Media Web, a pro-labor propaganda outlet. ACMW is trying to uncover the cause of these deaths. They have a lead on this Siamese Syndicate.

Local Conflict: Castro is experiencing TREACHERY. The Angry Citizens Media Web possibly infiltrated the Siames Syndicate fixer network and are trying to uncover the Accoustic Weapon Sensor tests which are killing their friends and neighbors.

Fixer Network "Boss":

Shaven head, wears grey suit, bulky, and sombre. He is obsessed with "zone" dancing in public places. Secretly employed by the Huron corporation, follows their instructions acting as a Siamese Syndicte diploment.

Area Event: Development/Investment leading to Rapidly Escilating Fatalities from the McGuffin.

McGuffin: Accoustic Weapon Sensor is causing the fatalities.

Where is this all located? Vanders Colony Dome 1, Cruikshank Concourse, Nelson Hale Building, as well as the Bio-sculpt sex studio Aztechnology, in ARchLuxury Apartments building complex.

Nelson Hale is mostly 2’s and 4’s (apartment type), pumped of course.

Current Events; Oil spill on Cruikshank has caused an Agit-Pop Flash Demonstration led by the Copy Catz. Ad-Lib is looking for “Infidel” Castro. He thinks he might know something about what’s going on.

NPC Names: Bashar Ad-Lib; ACMW Reporter,

Boris Yelpin’; Ad-Lib’s camerman

Dilemmas Dangers, Gang Leader of Copy Catz

Wes Dekine, Siamese Syndicate Boss

Dot Avi, Siamese Syndicate Boss

Salted Hashbrowns, Nordeasat Corp. Scientist

Uetake Kunio, Nordeast Corp. Agent

Greto Giles; Nelson Hale Urchin

Tarzan Lopez; Cruikshank Concourse scavanger

Opening Sounds: Police band radio, “Attention mobile unit. Confidential informant advises possible facilitation. Sending Threat-Let. Suspect cover is Wes Dekine, uploading profile dump, no further information. Please respond.”

Gang in the neighborhood: The Copy Catz, composed of 24d10 members led by an adult, . They fight with mixed weapons and their tactics tend towards assault and flank. The gang's primary reason for being is Political (Conservative); they love gambling and HATE daylight! The gang's symbol is two cat skulls facing each other. Gang memebers tend to wear yellow/gold attire. They usually have music from the latest Agit-Band. When first encountered, their initial reaction will be hostile, watch and wait for attack of opportunity. You encounter 3 members hanging out on a corner.

The Gang: Dilemmas Dangers (leader), C8A6B7, light auto, not skilled.

Gangmember Stats; 777773,

Hot Swap, Mad Dog, Booker Numbers, Bad Hayes, Gay Nava, Commodore 69, Computer-1.

Then there are 120 more soldiers of the line which need calling up from Cruikshank neighborhood.

Random Encounters:

Encounter 1 (Pest Control)

Blood-Matted Fitz-Trap, a dangerous predator found on the Skalvil wastes. 4HP, Bite (1d6). What the frak is it doing in the dome? A Copy Catz foolishly brought one back after field trials of the A.W.S. His body is nearby. What do the Copy Catz have to do with wild animals?

Encounter 2 (Hot Cyber Goods)

Urchin Greto Giles14 DEX, 4HP, Knife (d6). She is leading a Scavenger Tarzan Lopez 2HP, Taser (d8 stun damage) to try and sell their cybermodem. Essential part to the AWS. Copy Catz, on Infidel’s orders, are tracking them down. The pair look nervous. As if they know what they have is hot, dangerous goods.

Encounter 3 (Residents pleading for help)

Body Pit: Copy Catz members are disposing of jellied bodies in the Nelson Hale Block.

Encounter 4 (Hot and ready to rock)

Eviction Squad: Roll random reaction to see how it goes down. 1d10+SS+Int=stand down #. They are juiced and ready to pop!

Encounter 5 (Breaking & Entering) Exploitable for entry; Samuel Gompers Building.

Working for Needful to dispense street hygene. Security techs to silence the persistent alarm. These are possible angles to get access into the building. Needful Hygiene Dispensers: You will be deployed to a building lobby or reception area, and sometimes you'll operate in the street, where you will remain for the duration of the gig. You will be supplied with a paper coverall, nitrile gloves and a 20L back-mounted tank full of hand sanitiser, or other germicidal, dispensed by trigger pump to hygiene conscious citizens. You may leave your patch once you've run out of gel. Pay is docked per 500ml remaining at the end of your shift. The tank must be returned in good condition, but the gloves and coverall are yours to keep.

Encounter 6 (News scoop!)

Angry Citizens Media Web (ACMW link-95)reporter Bashar Ad-Lib and his camera man is onto the story. He wants to try and find the source and is looking for people handy with sensor equipment and electronic counter-measures to do some triangulation.

What is happening at ARchLuxury Apartments, 10 floors, malfunctioning alarm, a crime scene, the building looks gothic, pristine. Remote Assistants grant access. Eyeball recognition. The whole thing is encased in plastic siding.