Rose Colored Glasses OSR and 5E Musings

Well, finally got to run a game of Labyrinth Lord with a group of old gamers and some of their kids and cousins. 

I guess I look back at Old School gaming with rose colored glasses as the character creation compared to 5E was 

a drudgery.

Without some kind of very nice preset character creation help built in like 5E has, the game can really be taxing on 

your patience. Once everyone had their characters made we finally started to play.

Now mind you we were already a few hours late getting started. After playing the extremely smooth unified 

mechanics of 5E (and my Back to the Dungeon RPG), I quickly realized that much of the old school systems are quite

clunky in comparison. We just had gotten used to how they work and wrapping our head around another system 

can be hard. 

Having used both 5E is pretty much an old school game (because of the design advice from RPG pundit) mixed with 

some new school unified  mechanics which just simply flows better. It's not totally lethal like B/X games but it can be 

once you have ran out of dice for a short rest AND if you have used the exhaustion mechanics. After that, it becomes 

quite hard on the players once those buffers are gone.

The unified mechanic is pretty much Superior to any and all of the old school methods of task resolution. Why? 

Because system matters if it gets out of the way of the game! Roll a D20 instead of just pulling out the various dice 

for checking on sometimes the same thing. Some abilities use a D6 while as a thief they use a % so after coming 

from the B/X, 2E background from my early days of gaming, it seems 5E mechanics are a sweet spot. Very simply 

it just is way smoother than the old stuff.

I am pretty sure that I will be shelving pretty much all my old school games and for my fantasy fix will just be playing 

Reevaluating My RPG Gamer (NON) Life

CAUTION LANGUAGE!




After the 4E Apocalypse and the OSR

Well my old group from back in 2006-2009, well some of the people started to suck and make it not so fun anymore. We we're glad to have a new game due to our collapsed 3.5 game raped by a rules lawyer bastard and a weak ass too nice of a DM (Me)! Also 4E was starting to suck and not really be fun anymore as well and it was time to disband the group.
A profound disregard for my suggestions of trying other RPGs because they had spent money on books while sitting in my $5000+ Meade Hall with $20,000+ in game books.

A void in gaming! Working out of town. Chaos! It all fell apart. People got lots of criticisms, and wants but can they run the game?

Well my wife bought a copy of Mathfinder and with a few of the select non sucky people we tried that. My out of town job started to interfere as Mathfinder is a lot of work. A perfect system but too much system. I just didn't have time to set the game up. Tried to switch over to Labyrinth Lord as the Dungeon was originally written for that but the group said hell no and so I pulled the plug on that one.

DAMN so much time has went by! 

While all this was going on I read over and over the complaints about the old systems but the love of the simplicity across the OSR blogs and forums. I kept seeing the same complaints so I went to make the perfect neoclone hybrid. The simple D20 mechanics and options mixed with the old school simplicity. I gave body and soul as working turnarounds took all my time but also late at night and on weekends gave me time to create and write with unlimited access to computers and printers and so I wrote. Back to the Dungeon RPG came out well but I was always dissatisfied. I released it back in 2012 then to my dismay the announcement of the new 5E came out. I thought damn I got bad timing but I have worked so hard on Back to the Dungeon RPG. The OSR is going to eat this up, a perfect merging of the Old and New school styles playing at the same table. Totally easy to run and tell stories! Then I noticed something worse than being rejected, no reaction.

A Small Start with BttDRPPG

I didn't give up, 5E wasn't coming out until 2014 (on my Birthday) so I could carve me a little piece of the market. I started chugging out supplements and modules. I stopped giving it away and put it on DriveThruRPG and actually got a few responses and sales as well as a stellar review. My style is primitive old zine style because some of us old people don't know how to edit documents like a boss. 

Still it never took off but I knew some local Game Masters so I was going to fill the pre 5E void with a local scene.  Mostly it was going to really kick ass and be totally fun to do! A giant collaboration of people all creating one gaming world! There was this huge void in the area of gaming as in campaigns starting and dying all over the area. My timing would be perfect, giant organized gaming on a local scale! 5E came out but I had momentum..

BUT...

BttDRPPG the Local Scene Dream that Became a Nightmare.
To my amazement none of the stuck in the mud turd GMs didn't even attempt to even read my rules or collaborate. I explained this Grand vision of a local gaming scene as well as multiple Game Masters collaboration of Homebrew settings.  A few of them only played the old stuff or didn't want to learn another system even though mine was 15 minutes or so to learn. I did get some of them to play and the adventures flowed, only through me. Got tired of running shit, wanted to play. But as usual my new job killed everything.

As a side note, two of those GMs actually asked me to "take a look at or help me write and publish a game" but that's a different story. Shortened version, none of them even barely got their games written cuz "man writing an RPG iz hard!" Yeah no shit Sherlock.

Jobfuck and Gamedeath

The old job was taking up all my time and through betrayal and the company being done with me after using me all up I got laid off. The new job killed all free time as well as shit breaking down at my house, as well as my Meade Hall being filled with various people's crap because we were supposed to move, so no gaming space! Back to the Dungeon adventures flowed but got farther a fewer in-between. I decided to retire my BttDRPG as it just got too hard to try and put it out there. I was a little black and white zine compared to a full colored behemoth.


5E came out and I saw a very robust community out there and all my BttDRPPG gaming had came to a stop. Well I started messing with 5E because hell, nobody was digging my brand and it was surprisingly much better that I initially read.  We started gaming in my cramped ass living room but as if on cue my stupid job starts working soul raping amounts of hours and kills all my gaming once again. 

What sucked is my 5E games went really incredibly well and they were really fun but that fucking soul raping malignant job made sure gaming was ruined! Other than at the local con I have not gamed in almost 10 months and life sucks.  I am not doing it anymore in my cramped ass living room muddy shithole outside along with 3 dogs and I don't have anywhere else to put the crap stuffed in my Meade Hall as well as a few other reasons..

Termites and the Great Awakening

One thing I did have was a collection, a legendary gaming collection. But looking at systems other than 5E that had been sitting around for 20+ years it was time to maybe sell them. I decided to first sell all my 3.5 RPG books for like half the cover price. Got the deal set up. Guy on his way to meet me. I pull some of the books and one falls the fuck apart as termite shit and filth falls out instead of pages of the goddamn book. Like half the fucking books eaten by foul little asshole termites. Went through the wall and just to my huge collection of 3.5 books! I already am overworked and at a breaking point so I flip the fuck out and spray the fuck out of the wall with termite spray. Took a huge loss on my sale price.

I check around that shelf and it appears they only went after those books. I was wrong.

I made a deal with a pretty cool Pathfinder player and had all my books sold that were on an entirely different shelf. Most of the books were in very good to perfect condition, that was until those books were also eaten and I had to take a huge loss on the price.

Fuck it. I just don't give a fuck about collecting anything anymore. 

A (not so) Great Awakening! 

Sold my Cyberpunk 2020 and all my AD&D collection for less than half price before those God forsaken termites ate those. They also got into the 4E books but who cares. Still got some more to sell but my job schedule is starting to resuck. Hopefully a new position with SOME free time is on its way. I have tried to move stuff around in my Meade Hall and it's maybe going to become usable soon. I am going to add an outside bathroom as well.

Can't get no Satisfaction!

I still had my writing and publishing once in awhile. That's one release I can do to get some kind of gaming related activities in but it seems I can't even do that. I am not getting the reaction I want from my RPG projects other than it's kinda good, but what about a play report? Has anyone played any of my modules after all these years? Did they delve deep in the Black Stairs? No play report s anywhere. I am slowly realizing that I am playing music nobody wants to hear. Total waste of time if it's for nothing.  I will try and finish some of my projects, MAYBE bit it's time to change gears.  Worst of all is I don't have my creative space anymore and if I have to burn or throw my family's crap that they decided to store in my building, I will.

Back to the Basics, Fuck the World!

I am not going to be typing up any of my new projects anymore with the anticipation of selling them. I am going back to my old gaming roots. All on paper, scratchy drawings and maps on graph paper. All hand written dice rolled stuff. I am just going to create stuff for my own personal games. I may still in the future try and start the Adventurer's Guild Unlimited (My idea for an "unofficial" organized play like AL) but I will be concentrating on the fun of creating once again. 

Got a few "open" projects to finish but maybe I will and maybe I won't...

I am anticipating a new position where I will have this free time soon. I have looked back at my life and for the last 10-12 years I have worked too much. 

I AM DONE. 

I will also be moving, getting a trailer, or building another house and setting myself up for a life of ease amongst the trees, drinking spirits, cooking exotic meals, gardening, rolling dice and gaming...

ANON!

BACK to the DUNGEON Role Playing Game: The Races: A few Examples and the Old School/New School Combat System...

A few Races...

Dwarf
Attributes: Str +1, Dex -2, Con +2, Wis +1, Cha -2
The stern and dour dwarves all stand a slight bit shorter
that mankind although quite a bit stockier with large
feet for stability. Dwarfs live typically 350 years on
average. The dwarven men all sport long hair and beards
while the women stand slightly shorter and are very
shapely and full figured with most having no beards
though some tribes and stocks do. Despite their
appearance they are very dangerous opponents in war.
Dwarves are a rough and tough race that likes the strong
drink. They also enjoy the crafting of fine weapons and
armor. Most of the dwarves live in great and ancient
underground halls carved out of the mountains or in
cities deep in ancient giant caverns mining for precious
gold and gems for which they love so dearly.
• STONECUNNING (WIS): Dwarves are better at spotting
traps, sloping passages, and new construction while
underground.
• CAVESIGHT: Because of this life underground Dwarves
can see in the dark 60'.
• BASTION: Dwarves can push a victim back five feet on
a critical.
• STOUTBACK: Dwarves move 20 foot a round until the get
1.5 times their load.
• GREENNOSE (WIS): Dwarves can tell by the smell what
kind of humanoid is in the area. It's not a special
power it's just that goblinoids stink and dwarves
have been around them enough to tell what type by a
successful Wis roll. Dwarves hate orcs and goblins
and will attack them on sight.
• GIANTFIGHTER: Dwarves take half damage from giants.





Halfling
Attributes: Str -4, Dex +2, Con -1, Wis -1
The Wee Folk are a short race that lives in comfortable
burrows. Most Halflings prefer the simple life and
growing old and fat eating their six to eight meals a
day, smoking tobacco, various weeds, and drinking heavily
late into the night. They stand more than half the height
and weight of mankind (Though non-adventuring halfling
can get very fat) with the more isolated halflings being
smaller and live around 120 years. A halfling adventurer
is a rare thing.
• UNDERFOOT: Halflings get +1AC and can hide better due
to being small. They are found of farming,
gardening, fishing, and crafts.
• TUNNELCUNNING (WIS): Halflings live in dirt burrows
and hills and can detect weaknesses such structures
made of dirt such as dirt caves. They are not
particularly warlike but can very ferocious when
threatened.
• SLINGER: Halflings are experts at slings and thrown
rocks and do one dice higher in damage.




Human
This is exactly like you are and they are considered the
base race to create other races from. They have no
modifiers to their attributes. Humans have the ability to
survive. The get to re-roll one death save they fail once
a day per five levels.



Wood Elf
Attributes: Str -2, Dex +2, Con -2, Cha +2
Deep within the primordial forest live the ancient wood
elves. Elves are the same size as mankind but usually
thinner and delicate framed and have pointed ears. They
are one of the many races of elves but in the entire elf
race is fading. They live in communities high in the
ancient trees singing their ancient songs in giant tree
house cities. Elves live thousands of years and only die
from violence. At around 1200 years old they go back to
the wilderness to become one with nature.
• WOODWISE (WIS): Wood Elves are wise to the way of the
woods, survival, and stealth in the wilderness.
• ELFBLADES: All elves are trained in swordplay and
archery regardless of class.
• ELFFOOT (DEX): All elves can move silently in the
wilderness or forest.
• TREEWALKING (DEX): Wood Elves can tree walk. That is
the ability to walk from tree to tree as long as
there are limbs. Clever elves can apply this skill to
other uses.
• FEYCHARM (CHA): Wood Elves can use their Charisma to
fascinate and allure other races. This is especially
so when they sing or recite poetry.
• MAGICEBB (WIS): Wood Elves can use their Wisdom to
feel the ebb and flow of magic and fate but only in
the vaguest of visions. Only those of very high level
have the full foresight. All elves see the material
world dying and it makes them seem distant.
• ELVINACCURACY: Wood Elves have Elvin Accuracy which
means they can re-roll one miss per battle.
• ELFSIGHT (WIS): Wood Elves have incredible vision and
can see ten times farther than a human and can see
quite well in moonlight but not complete darkness.
Wood Elves are really good at finding hidden or
concealed doors when they are actively searching.
• ELFWILL (WIS): Wood Elves are immune to paralysis
caused by undead such as ghouls and are very
resistant to charm and sleep




The Old School/New School Combat System

7.0 COMBAT

1. Determine Surprise.
Determine if the different sides notice each other by
rolling a D20 against the unaware party's Passive
Perception which is their Wisdom bonus +10. IF the
unaware party does not notice the attacker then that
party is surprised and their enemies get a free round of
attacks.


2. Initiative.
Each character rolls a D20 + Dexterity Bonus + ½ their
Level or Hit Dice. Highest roll goes first. Combat goes
in that order for the rest of the combat. Groups of
monsters or troops may be rolled for collectively to save
time. One may delay their attack to a go at a lower
Initiative number but they are now at that lower number
in the Initiative.


3. Roll to Hit.
When one wants to attack one rolls a D20 plus ½ Your
Level or Hit Dice, plus Strength Bonus for Physical
Attacks, Dexterity Bonus for Light Physical, Ranged
Attacks and Spell Level plus appropriate attribute for
Spell Attacks. A natural 20 does Double Damage and may
have other effects depending on the Class. A 1 means the
player gets disarmed, bowstring breaks, gets tripped, or
gets pushed back five feet. Any Dexterity bonus (or
penalty) is added (or subtracted) from the Armor Class.
Magic is detailed in the magic booklet. Monsters attack
with 1/2 their HD total round down plus any other bonuses
as noted in their descriptions.


4. Roll for damage.
If one is hit then damage is rolled as followed. Remember
to add Strength (or Dexterity) Bonus to Damage (or
Penalty but at least 1 point of damage will be done.)
Subtract the damage from Hit Points. When you are at half
your hit points you are considered Bloodied and this may
allow for special conditions to occur. When you get to 0
Hit Points you are knocked unconscious. Below 0 you must
roll 10 plus the damage below 0 every round as a
Constitution Save. If you fail you die. If someone heals
you back to at least 1 Hit point you become functional
and back in the fight. Subdue damage only knocks out
another opponent. Monsters and NPCs die at 0 Hit Points
or less.


5. Try new things!
You can try anything in combat other than just hitting
and doing damage! Try making your opponent fall down or
be blinded by throwing things into their eyes or whatever
you can think of. The Game Master makes up these rules on
the spot and most of the time the difficulty is raised.
Try Combat Extremes! Charging, Tripping, Sundering
Weapons, and Pushing an Opponent. The Game Master sets
the difficulty for you such as adding up to +4 to the AC
of the monster to be hit to do such things. Many times
giant sized monsters can hit multiple opponents in one
swing. Game Masters can and will make up rulings as they
go.


6. Healing
You heal one point plus your Constitution bonus times
your level per day. Subdue damage is healed at the same
rate per hour. Regardless of modifiers you heal at least
1 point per level per day/hour.


7. Other Combat Modifiers
Two Weapon fighting -2/-4
Flanking +2
Invisible -4
Prone -4
Cover +1 to +5
Higher Ground +1
Afraid -2
Shooting Into Melee -4
Tiny +2AC
Small +1AC
Large -1AC
Huge -2AC


8. Extra Attacks
Every 6 Levels or HD one gets 1 additional attack unless

otherwise noted.


Next Post will be over the Monster Rules.

Back to the Dungeon RPG: The Class Act! Fighter and Rogue

So why another Neoclone? 

If you print them out in booklet style, they make nifty little zine book! 

Well most of the clones out there are just that, an almost exact clone of what was, flaws and all. THEN you have the bloated new stuff with all the cool options and such but DAMN! to many rules! 
IT'S just bad game design to make rules like that! So what did I do? I made a simple version of the old system I loved and added in a few modern options. IT needs to be easy to run! 

It should be a pleasure to create dungeon deep and wildernesses wild and NOT WORK!  



Here are monsters for example! 

For example here is a Goblin...
Goblin AC12+ HD1-1 Move20 Damage 1d6 Weapon and Ranged.

Goblins are small 4' tall evil stinking humanoids of various bestial looks. They only live to destroy. They are the ancient enemy of the dwarves but the plague all when they come to an area and multiply.

Orc...
Orc AC12+ HD2 Move30 By Weapon +2

The ugly race of pig faced humanoids with green to brown mottled skin. They form tribes in the wilderness and join up to raid and destroy. The only weakness they have is fighting among themselves. Their leaders will have many more hit dice.

Swamp Dragon...
Dragon, Swamp AC16 HD7 Move40/60f/40s Bite 1d6, 2 claws
1d6, Tail 1d4, or Breath Weapon DC13 Acid 7d6

The Swamp Dragon is an evil swamp dwelling dragon that plots and plans how to acquire more gold.

There will be an entire post on monsters in the future. 

I gave the classes a bit more meat because players seemed to like that. I took the complication out of most of it compared to modern gaming. Check out the Fighter and the Rogue.

FIGHTER
The brave and strong Fighter is the backbone of any adventuring group. He is the first line of defense against any and all threats. Fighters can be of any background and come from anywhere. Most Fighters depend on their Strength to do great damage on their opponents in combat. The Fighter answers most conflict with weapons drawn. They are trained at all weapons and armor. They are the simplest class to play.
• STRONG (STR): The Fighter may use his Strength to perform a feat of Strength such as moving heavy objects that no other characters can.
• SOLDIER (INT): The Fighter may also use his Intelligence to see the quality of weapons and armor.
• RESIST (CON): The Fighter uses his Constitution to resist toxins and drugs as well as any thing that might shock his system.
• RIDER (WIS): A Fighter may also use his Wisdom to keep control of his horse or other steed.
• DEFENDER (WIS): The Fighter may also keep his
undivided attention on as many opponents as his
Wisdom Bonus, that if they try and get past him or
attack anyone else, he will get a free melee attack
against as many adjacent enemies as his Wisdom Bonus
even if he has already taken an action this round.
• CLEAVE: A Fighter can cleave one extra victim at
first level and then every two levels. A cleave is
when you drop one opponent your leftover damage then
continues to the next opponent adjacent as long as
the attack roll would beat the AC and another attack
is made with a damage roll as well.
• FIGHTER: You are proficient in all weapons and armor.
• CRITICAL: Fighters get the Melee Critical Hit
ability. When they roll a natural “20” they
automatically do triple damage in Melee Combat only.
This damage continues to cleave to the next monster
if the first one dies from the massive damage.
Critical hits improve to x4 at 4th level x 5 at 8th
level improving every 4 levels.
Armor: Any
Weapons: Any
Hit Points: 1d10 per level.

Here is the nifty character sheet!

ROGUE
The Rogue can be a trained criminal, a thief, the master
of stealth and locks, a charmer, or conman. A Rogue can
be many things though most depend on their dexterity and
craftiness. Some are nothing of the sort using their
ability to manipulate others by their sheer personality.
In some cases these more criminally organized sorts kinds
will gather together and form Thievery Guilds.
• SHEERCLIMB (STR): The Rogue uses his Strength to
climb sheer surfaces that no other class can climb.
• THIEVERY (DEX): The Rogue uses his Dexterity to pick
locks, pick pockets, Stealth, and other criminal
activities better than any other class.
• DIRTYFIGHTER: If they hit a victim with a surprise or
flanking attack they do an additional 1d6 damage
every two levels.
• FLINGER (DEX): The Rogue is a flinger of darts and
daggers and may fling equal too his Dexterity bonus
per round.
• STALK (CON): They use their Constitution to hang out
for a very long time in cramp hidden places to stalk
their prey.
• DECIPHER (INT): The Rogue uses his Intelligence to
decipher maps and magic scrolls as well as ancient
text if he is literate.
• POISONER (INT): They have knowledge of various
poisons and their effects.
• CANT (INT): They also speak a Thieves Cant which
varies from area to area.
• SEARCH (WIS): The Rogue uses his Wisdom to spot
hidden things and to notice traps and tricks.
• SHADOW (WIS): He can also use his Wisdom to shadow
someone in a crowd.
• CONMAN (CHA): Many Rogues have glib tongues and use
their Charisma to charm and convince others.
• GIMP:On a natural “20” a rogue may Slow an opponent
causing him to move at half speed until healed, Stun
the opponent for 1d4 rounds, or cause 1 point
bleeding for 1d6 rounds.
Armor: Anything past Leather (AC 12) interferes with
physical abilities.
Weapons: Any

Hit Points:1d6 per level

Deep down gaming blues... Steppin Back PII

In the LAST depressing post about gaming life was not too good. I went through a creative phase with a rules light variant to everything called DUNGEONPUNK RPG but that excitement has waned as well. It's just a hard concept to write down it seems...I did get a surprising response but some nameless person one starred me. At least say why you think it sucks that bad... BUT anyway...

I get back into a creative mode for Back to the Dungeon RPG and start having ideas flow. Things keep coming to me. Then when I go to get my BttDRPG folder, it was simply gone. Not just kinda I set it somewhere there it is! NO! I mean it's now to the level of a paranormal event gone. I mean WTF where the hell is it gone! 

I have looked every possible logical place I could have put it. I have looked into every possible illogical place I could have put it. I have looked for an entire month.

With the lack of response from my players and the entire universe making sure I can't game, no one would have or could have stolen it. I have much of it electronic but there are papers that cannot be redone from their moment of inspiration that are now lost.

None of that matters anyway as my attempts to create an ongoing campaign that actually allows characters to grow instead of game jumping and much to long sessions of making new characters for the next cool game continues it's onslaught.

The new group of players I pulled together for BttDRPG have slowly started the "hey I got this game we can try!" while the universe from the other direction foils any and all plans of gaming.

One of the chosen people that I chose for his game mastering skill surprisingly didn't even want to join my campaign vision YET he complains of game switching.  

None of these people actually have more than five sessions of any one game. I have heard that three games is the average fro this little group. Piles of characters siting around. Now it is a part of my group. Meh! 

There are groups out there actually developing their characters and actually having campaigns. I can't really try and rudely barge in with my vision.

SO if you are actually having life workout where you can actually get gaming to happen AND you actually have a campaign going, savor it. Some of us are watching life go by and can't do anything about it.     

Raven's Keep Gazette and Rumormonger

  Raven's Keep Gazette and Rumormonger 

HEAR YE HEAR YE! 

DID you hear the news? 

Campaign 

Background 

and 

Report!

A 

warning 

to the 

party 

from 

Raven's Keep Adventuring Society!

Secret Campaign Information

to 

titillate the players!

OH MY!

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY CRAWLS!

My Campaign Letter to prove that I am trying to run a good game. 

Major Update on Races and Classes for Back to the Dungeon RPG.

I have reedited Books 1, 4, and 5 that contain the races and classes in the old format. 

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/193185/Back-to-the-Dungeon-Book-1-Races-and-Classes

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/193359/Back-to-the-Dungeon-Book-4-Advanced-races-and-Classes

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/193362/Back-to-the-Dungeon-Book-5-Other-races-and-Classes

Ah but you want to see before you purchase eh? Here is the PWYW version of the Basic Back to the Dungeon RPG.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198101/Basic-Back-to-the-Dungeon-RPG-Players-Guide

And of course the Basic Game master's Guide.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198102/Basic-Back-to-the-Dungeon-Game-Masters-Guide 

Back to the Dungeon 2nd Edition! Simplified and Stripped!

Plans to simplify Back to the Dungeon RPG are underway!  

The game will still be compatible with the all the modules and such just character creation will be simplified. Many of the long winded modifiers and such will be put either into one word descriptors, or eliminated all together.   

Attribute modifies may be (Have not decided yet) replaced with minimum scores (like an elf needs to have a 16 Dex instead of a +2 to Dex modifier) for certain classes or races. 

The simplicity I was going for was obscured by the "just get it finished" mode I was in. 

After running it for awhile , I noticed that many of the features were not even used so they are going out the door. TOO MUCH CLUNK! This will allow for more customized characters I think.

I also went to make a stack of pregenerated characters for the local CON and said DAMN IT! I did it again! Made it too clunky! It was just too much work!

Here's how it should and is going to be! Roll Attributes, Pick Race, Pick Class, Roll for gold, Buy Stuff, Start playing in less that 10 minutes.   

I am also going to put all the difficulty ratings on the GM. The player will simply roll his D20 plus attribute modifier. On the GM's side will be subtraction of -1 every two levels and if he is skilled then drop the difficulty by 5. The player will not have to deal with any of the math save combat.

A few tweaks on the Armor rules and the price list. 

Monsters are pretty much going to stay the same. 

It will be released as an update on each booklet, so if you already got yours downloaded from DrivThruRPG then you will get this update for free!    

Back to the Dungeon Role Playing Game is for sale! Here is the MASTER BUNDLE! (OR sold separately!)

Back to the Dungeon Role Playing Game is for sale! Here is the MASTER BUNDLE! (OR sold separately!)

Easy to run, Easy to play...

A HUGE BIG OL BUNCH of stuff for one low price.

A printer printing out the PDFs in Zine booklet style and with less than a hundred pages you have complete set of rules!

www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197560/Back-to-the-Dungeon-Master-Bundle-BUNDLE

Easy to run, Easy to play...

A review by LUCA C...

Hey! I got a great 5 star review! YEAH! 

After a first reading of this DM and the Player guide too, I think that is one of the most beautiful, well written and complete products of this kind...and in these days I'm reading a lot of them! I put it in my Top 5 of its niche. I could say more after a "field" test :)

HERE

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars!]

Upcoming Projects!

I have surprisingly sold a few copies of Back to the Dungeon on Drive Thru RPG site. Wow it feels good! If you did not get copies of Back to the Dungeon when it was free, well you had your chance for years! More modules and Rulebooks are coming!


I also have a nearly complete Retroclone of a certain B-MOVIE Late Show RPG.

I also have a PUNKS game set in a fictional corrupt city in the early 1990s. It's loosely based on collected punk rock stories of many of my old friends. Many of the encounters are not politically correct but for some of us it's what we went through in our youth. It was a time when music, hair, girls, drugs, alcohol, and freedom were all important! It's going to be set up where the rules can be used ti tell other tales in the early 90s as well.

My other project is White Trash RPG! A rip-roaring story of what goes on when the coal mines and the plants and factories dies in  the Deep Dark Woods! Small towns located off the beaten path die and the people become tribal. The government came in and bought up much of the land and somewhat cut off the highways by not repairing them.  They started dumping toxic waste and other terrible thingsThe old military base is still got it's lights on. . Some people stayed and they became dangerous to outsiders.  Meth labs, moonsine, and weed farms put food in the mouths of babes. Old feuds still linger and sides and factions were formed.  Worst of all there still are things dark and evil that lurk in the woods. Many people tell of supernatural horrors like the pig man and the wood witch called up from dark times long ago when the dark woods people began to suffer.

In a really really hopeful next week timeline me and my Co-Author of No Hope a terrifying zombie horror RPG will be available for sale! This game is scary because the characters are just normal people! These zombies are the one bite and you're over type. Best of all less than five minutes to create a victim er I mean character.

More projects coming.

Eldrad Wolfsbane

Back to the Dungeon Role Playing Game now for sale!

Going to try my luck at selling PDF games. I finally got free time due to being laid off AND I have a massive library of half finished RPGs. Have even more in my head. These are the most updated versions of BttDRPG!
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/10088/Eldrad-Wolfsbane

In a Little Barony Far Far in the Western frontier...

On the Great Southern Gulf Coast are the Lands of the Ancient World. 

One of these lands is the Great Mastedellian Empire surrounded by monster filled wildernesses.  

In a Little Barony Far Far in the Western Frontier is the small city of Raven's Keep. 

The Western Frontier has many monster filled ruins and dungeons deep filled with treasure. 

One horrifying dungeon is called The Black Stairs.

Only the most cleverest of adventurers have returned form that mysterious ruined ground a few days form the city 

The flow of adventurers have been many.

Here is a list of all the players that have visited this dangerous land.  

Name    AL    Race    Class   Level     Player

Fulgar   CN Dragonian/Dwarf Fighter 3 Eric P.

Neko     NG Anshu Archer 3 Chris P.

Rain Silverleaf CN Wood Elf Druid 3 Machelle M. 

Jafar        LN Human Cleric 1 Gadge W. 

Rodgar    CN Karnin Assassin 1 Brent W. 

Ax         N Dwarf Fighter 1 Carson S. 

Jregg     N Half Elf Ranger 1 Joshua F.

Mercy   NG Half Elf Ranger 1 Bridget

Tanis     CN Sylph Splellblade 1 Chris L. 

Arya      NG Half Elf Sorcerer 1 Larissa J. 

BrennonCN Half Elf Ranger 3 Kevin A. 

Karliah  CN Wood Elf Rogue 1 Jade M. 

Anna     CN Drow/Elf Rogue 3 Machelle M.

The Black Stairs Megadungeon Level 4!

Here is the 4th Level of the Black Stairs...


To order it, take a look at DriveThruRPG!



So how big are the Black Stairs you ask? Take a look.

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

(Unpublished)

Back to the Dungeon RPG: Dungeon Alchemy Playtest Coming Soon!

Dungeon Alchemy!



Weather, squarecrawls, hexcrawls, backgrounds, monstrous player races and more!



Playtest version!


Soon!

Musings of a Mad Wizard Gamer.

Not going to shelve the game. GM burnout with bouts of creativity THEN bouts of doubt. Version 1.7 is going to stay for awhile longer as I just want to make modules and maps. Not as organized as I would like , but was the original game not a total mess? I fixed and streamlined the problems with magic (see document) on spells per day and such. In earlier version casters could cast so many spells that it made it hard to keep track of. That has been fixed. It is the game that I have always wanted to run. It has that simplicity of rules that allow one just to create with a few of the modern options pegged on. 

Was greatly inspired by stories of how they were first forming Blackmoor and then Greyhawk. Have also been inspired by Ed Greenwood's stories of his forgotten realms. The Ryth Chronicles also has made creative juices flow. Stories of the West Marches of Ars Lundi. The Dark Ages Campaign of Chogowiz. The Watchfires and Thrones campaign of Micheal Curtis in The Archive of the Rotted Moon. Philotomy's Musings of the Mythic Underworld. I want to create really cool worlds. Starting small and then continuing on. My Little Barony, Raven's Keep, and the megadungeon The Black Stairs is going on 7-8 years old now. I have ran it using Swords and Wizardry, OSRIC, LL/AEC, Pathfinder (too much work!), and finally Back to the Dungeon RPG!

The maps and the stories are about to expand! I have decided to flesh out my world a little bit more. 

no plus ones

Back to the Dungeon Books and Modules...

BS3 BACK to the DUNGEON RPG The Drow Undercity of Death

BS3 BACK to the DUNGEON RPG The Drow Undercity of Death

Those horrible demonic Drow! We were a very large merchant caravan of over twenty wagons with thirty men at arms strong. We were five merchants with two of our wives with us and my two daughters. Thank the gods our sons had stayed back to run our businesses back in the capital! 

We were beset upon in the darkest of nights by foul soldiers with armor dark and black and hair as white as snow. They killed most of our men at arms and we surrendered! Why did we not just keep fighting to the death! 

The dark elves took us far into the ground in the terrible dungeon know only as The Black Stairs. First there were the screams! Screams of men women and children. Then there was the smell. A smell of feces, blood, and death! 

Blood flowed like a river in this terrible place. Bodies lay all over broken, weeping, insane, and some dead.  

We were taken to some beautiful yet horrible Drow woman. She chanted in horrible tongues and prayed to dark gods!

Some how she KNEW that the two girls were my daughters! She picked up the youngest of only three years old by her throat and looked at me. Two Drow guards escorted us to another room. 

I heard my wife crying and screaming as Drow guards piled on top of here kicking and beating. There was nothing I could do. We were brought to a huge room with a horrible stinking pit with my little daughter still gagging and choking. 

Then she looked at me laughing and threw my little girl into the pit screaming until I heard her hit in the darkness. At that time my mind broke and I do not recall all of the tortures they did to me or my family. 

I will tell you this. The Drow are evil. The Drow are coming for us one day! They will come in the dead of the night and kill us all in our safe little barony.           


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzYaSvmA-OpUNGJ5WHJXSlBad1k/view?usp=sharing 

Yes people the THIRD level of the Megadungeon "THE BLACK STAIRS" now carefully translated and edited from LL/AEC to BttDRPG.