Loot!

This weekend arrived a pretty cool haul. Just in time for Christmas.

I got the "Zogonia: Slice of Death" comic book (64 pages of strips collected from Dragon magazine) and the AD&D 2e Forgotten Realms "Menzoberranzan Boxed Set", used but in great shape and complete with booklets, maps and cards, both from eBay. Also the "BDKR1: The Unofficial Living Greyhawk Bandit Kingdoms Summary" from Amazon and, last but not least, the "Holmes & Clark" rules set by my friend Aron Clark from DriveThruRPG.

I am planning on using Menzoberranzan in my Greyhawk game, but still don't know how exactly. Maybe by making it a rival city of Erelhei-Cinlu, where the majority of the drow worship the Elder Elemental God instead of Lolth? Also I need to decide where to put it. Maybe beneath the Jotens Mts. near Sterich? That would be a good place if I want to run the city of Istvin trilogy in the future.

About the "Bandit Kingdoms Summary" I've read many good reviews as a "must have" source of documentation and inspiration for developing adventures in the area. Looking forward to pair it with Ravensrook: A Grimdark Urban Fantasy Setting running as the city of Rookroost.

Also thinking of using "Holmes & Clark" as the rule set for my next Greyhawk campaign set in the Lands of Cantona on the Wild Coast, initially though to be run under Labyrinth Lord. 

Latest acquisitions

 

Last month I backed up Joseph Bloch's latest Kickstarter for the 10th Anniversary of his mega-dungeon "Castle of the Mad Archmage". I chose the digital copy since I already have the original one in print, and it will make a suitable addition to it. Everything that the Greyhawk Grognard has ever published about it, all in one single tome!

This month Robert J. Kuntz, through Three Line Studio, digitally released "The Return of Robilar". A complete guide of this iconic D&D and World of Greyhawk figure; his stats, history, magical items, companions (Otto and Quij), mounts (3 green dragons!) and more. A must have to celebrate the Lord of the Green Dragons 50th birthday!

And one day it finally arrived...

It's been a while since my last post I know.

Anyway, back in September I ordered "The Dungeon Alphabet" and I expected to receive it way before my birthday, which is in November. 

But weeks passed and there were no news about the book. I even got in contact with Goodman Games to know when it had been shipped and calculate when it might arrive to Uruguay. I must say that Keith LeBaw, from Goodman Games, was always willing to answer my several mails on the matter. 

At some point he offered if I wanted a refund or to have another copy sent. I chose the latter since the book has been on my wishlist for a long time. And when all hope was lost, it arrived and I found the reason why it took so long to reach these latitudes. 

Yes, to UGANDA in Africa instead to URUGUAY in South America. Hello, they're different countries in different continents. Geez, I'm not in the "here be dragons..." part of the map. Somebody at the USPS needs to learn some geography...

If the second copy has already been shipped I plan to sell it and donate what I get to charity.

Impulse buying

My RPG wish list has gone down one item, because I've just bought The Dungeon Alphabet (Expanded Third Printing) from Goodman Games. I'm going to have to wait 2 or 3 weeks until it reaches Uruguay, but it's worth the waiting. It was cheaper to have send it directly via USPS, than first to a P.O. box in Miami and then here by a courier.

I guess it was because of the adrenaline still kicking after an awesome DCC session (we're through Jewels of the Carnifex), in which my level 2 wizard, Formerly Ian, spellburned his Strength and Stamina down to 1, and his Agility down to 2. It was a near death situation where he burned 5 points to cast a Sleep, then 10 more points for another Sleep (both with meager results), and finally 1 point to cast Invoke Patron, asking the Metal Gods to smite the enemy leader (some kind of undead demi-god). Like all the corruption he already has was not enough: no hair whatsoever (it grows back naturally and 1 inch with each Sleep spell cast), yellow eyes, shriveled and folded back ears, cloven hooves instead of feet, his Patron God mark in his forehead (Judas Priest cross), and a self-inflicted carving on his right cheek (Derek Riggs logo).

This last spell had him metal spikes grown all over his body and gave each member of the party a +5 bonus on their next action. We didn't die so far, so we might have a chance to make it alive after all.

Let's see if I make another purchase after the next session!

It's Contest Time!

Participate And Win The Super Secret Happy Birthday Gary Gygax Giveaway Bundle Extravapalooza!

Must have these books...

...and contribute to the:

The New Death and others

I must confess I was a bit surprised when I was asked by the author to review this book. 

"The New Death and others" by James Hutchings is an interesting mix of dark fantasy short stories and poems, which I found irreverent, amusing and sarcastic. Every piece has an original point of view, sometimes corny, but always cynical. I really enjoyed it.

I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

RPG wish list

The Dungeon Alphabet An A-to-Z Reference for Classic Dungeon Design by Michael Curtis

Loviatar issues #1 to #7 by Christian Walker

Old-School Gaming Box with Erol Otus Art! by John Adams

Hollowpoint

My copy of Hollowpoint arrived safe and sound today! Nice size, well printed, excellent packaging and binding. I'm off to read it... ;)

Thanks Lulu and VSCA!

Orcus poster arrived!

I received Mark J. Allen's Orcus "Labyrinth Lord" Poster! It arrived safe and sound in a cardboard tube. The guys at the P.O. must have felt Orcus was watching this time...

Books have arrived!

As you can see, and after a couple of weeks, the books finally arrived. Sadly the cover and some pages of Stonehell Dungeon were damaged by the morons of the Postal Office. They put a sticker of "damaged packaging" but I know it was them. Here in Uruguay every package that comes from abroad is opened to see if what's inside it's what the invoice says. Yes, I'm wondering too why they don't use a scanner or something less primitive than opening them up and violate my privacy. The thing is that here only books and music/movies under $100 can pass without problem. Anything else is stopped by Customs and you have to go personally (during ridiculous public hours if you work) to the airport (outside the city), pay the fees and get your stuff.

Anyway, aside from that minor inconvenience, the books are here for me to enjoy. Now I'm waiting for my Orcus poster. Hope it gets here undamaged or the P.O. will feel his wrath!

Books are on its way

From Lulu.com:

---------------------------------

Hi urudnd,

We thought you'd like to know that your Lulu order has shipped

[snip]

In This Shipment:

1 of Fight On! Issue #1 Spring 2008 by Ignatius Umlaut (Printed)
1 of Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls by Michael Curtis (Printed)
1 of Original Edition Characters by Daniel Proctor (Printed)

[snip]

---------------------------------

Oh, and Happy Columbus Day!

Great chance to stock up on books!

I just successfully used "FALLREADS" coupon on Lulu.com for 40% off (up to $20 max - until October 15, 2010) on "Stonehell Dungeon" by Michael Curtis, Fight On! #1 and "Original Edition Characters" by Goblinoid Games.

You can check the full list of Lulu.com coupon codes here.

Conan

Instead of the Monday's imagination quote, I thought to share with you a product of the imagination of who is considered the father of the sword and sorcery literary genre, Robert E. Howard.

Last week arrived what is the latest addition to the fantasy section of our library. I must confess that I've never read anything of Robert E. Howard's work (yes, beleive it or not). My wife have always wanted me to and she wanted to re-read them but never found a good compilation of all the Conan stories. Until she found this edition that contains the complete collection of all the original adventures in the order they were written.

This edition is also profusely and superbly illustrated by artist Mark Schultz and it even contains maps of the Hyborian Age drawn by REH himself.

I'm already enjoying reading the first book "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian" and I hope to find in the pages of all three books inspiration and ideas for present and future campaigns.

My RPG books

After putting in order all my gaming stuff, here's a picture of the gaming shelf. There's more material classified and stored in rigid type folders but it doesn't look as good as this.

From left to right: the World of Greyhawk (1980), the WoG & Glossography (1983), AD&D Dungeon Master Guide (1979), AD&D 2e PHB, DM and Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e Complete Bard's Handbook, AD&D 2e Celts Campaign Sourcebook, AD&D 2e The Complete Books of Villains, AD&D The Complete Books of Elves, AD&D Against the Giants - The Liberation of Geoff (1999), some Dragon and Dungeon magazines, 3.0e PHB, DM and MM, 3.0e Book of Vile Darkness, 4 boxes of plastic miniatures and 3 boxed sets (The City of Greyhawk, From the Ashes and Planescape Campaign Expansion), AD&D 2e Volo's Guide to the North, AD&D Waterdeep and the North, AD&D 2e Campaign Guide to Myth Drannor, Ars Magica 5e, Labyrinth Lord Advancd Edition Companion and some books of drawing techniques. On top there's a bag from the English Heritage with a poster of Stonehenge waiting to put in a frame.

From that lot are missing the 3.5e books (PHB, DM, MM and the Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk module) and another box of miniatures, that were in the gaming backpack the moment I took the picture, and the Labyrinth Lord Revised Edition that is on its way.

Read An RPG Book in Public Week

Tomorrow ends the first "Read An RPG Book in Public Week" of the year. It's a curious event to promote the hobby. Click on the image above to find out more about it.

Azincourt

I've just finished reading "Azincourt" a novel by Bernard Cornwell. He's my favorite writer of the historical novel genre. So far I've read the Grail Quest (Harlequin, Vagabond and Heretic) and the Saxon Stories (The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, The Lords of the North and Sword Song) series. Now I'm waiting to get my hands on "The Burning Land", the last one published (but hopefully not the last to be written) of the Saxon serie. Cornwell masterfully entwines a fictional storyline with historical facts to create a literary masterpiece. All the research made by the author is evident in every detail described and one feels transported to the time depicted. A book worth reading.