I finally unpacked my OSRIC 3.0 books. Both portrait and landscape versions turned out great. PDFs are free on DriveThruRPG (player guide, gamemaster guide), while offset print versions can be purchased directly from Mythmere Games.
Return to Perinthos is now available in both PDF and print. It contains over 80 “one-spread” dungeons that can be used together or standalone, unpublished Q&A with Jaquays, and a mini-setting by Luke Gearing:
Return to Perinthos is a megadungeon a la Caverns of Thracia. It is a U.S. letter-sized approximately 200-page wirebound book. You will be able to plop almost 80 dungeon tiles and keys right onto your gaming table.
The content for the book was created by the Jennell Jaquays Memorial Game Jam. As part of this community effort, Luke Gearing graciously agreed to write a setting that ties all of the disparate dungeon tiles together. The book also features an unpublished Q&A with Jennell Jaquays that was donated by Tavis Allison with permission from Goodman Games.
All proceeds from digital sales will be donated to Trans Lifeline.
One of the included dungeons is my Halls of Viridian Mist, a dungeon level for 4 to 6 Swords & Wizardry Complete characters levels 3 to 5. This challenging adventure features many tricks Jaquays used in her dungeons like non-linear loops, multiple elevations, interactive factions, and secret doors hidden behind other secret doors.
Digital copies are available at DriveThruRPG, while wirebound print copies are available from the publisher.
It is a sandbox fantasy setting perfect for hexcrawl games, with numerous settlements, factions, bespoke encounter tables, and plenty of space to insert own adventures, locales, and flair.
Rob went to great lengths to support busy Judges:
guidebook to the Northern Marches (not just PDF, but also in markdown format for those who want to adapt the setting for their specific world)
reference PDFs for encounters, travelling, merchant adventures, and rumours
4 campaign maps for the Judges
4 campaign maps for the Players
combined campaign maps for the Judges
combined campaign maps for the Players
maps available as layered PDF and SVG for those who wish to tweak and customise them
5 town maps for Judges
5 town maps for Players
custom heraldry (for 41 factions!)
And all of that released under Creative Commons.
See below to get a feeling for the material:
Northern Marches Player map
Guidebook table of contents
Realms and heraldry
Castle Westguard Judge map
Hex entries in the Wild North
Random encounters in the Northern Marches
Important notice: while both book and associated maps are available as POD from DriveThruRPG, the latter are usually too expensive for non-USA customers. That is because DTRPG prints maps in the USA, which results with high shipping and taxes, for a high final price despite low per-unit cost. Rob has made the print-ready map files available so everyone can take them to their local print shop and get the maps done in any size they want for a low price.
Adventures Dark and Deep by Joe Bloch of BRW games is an alternative AD&D second edition, imagining how might AD&D evolve if Gary Gygax remained at the helm of TSR.
Joe is a great scholar of AD&D and it shows. Adventures Dark and Deep consists of two thick core books (rulebook and bestiary), but now there is also Adventures Dark and Deep Lite which is a single tome to get people started with the system. PDF is available as PWYW, while PODs are at cost.
System aside, I am a great fan of Joe's supplemental books, which are easy to use with OD&D and AD&D:
Book of Lost Tables sees a lot of use with its 348 random tables for generating random wilderness terrain, random wilderness encounters, random dungeon terrain, random dungeon encounters, random urban terrain, random urban encounters, character parties, and more.
All issues of the legendary Fight On! zine are on sale too. Can't go wrong with those as they are chock-full of gameable material, including some contributions by yours truly.
Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia. The best edition of Classic D&D, combining content of Basic, Expert, Companion, and Master into one tome.
Arduin Trilogy. Contains first three Arduin Grimoires, which were supplements for OD&D.
Arduin II. Combines and restates Arduin Grimoires into a self-contained game.
The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game Revised Edition. Reads like a heartbreaker based on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. It has a ton of interesting concepts and ideas, knows nothing of “balance,” and features a lot of nice art.
BLUEHOLME Journeymanne Rules. A retro-clone which extends Holmes Basic to level 20. Very well written, with guidance and explanations, making it ideal for beginners.
OSRIC 3.0 Player Guide PDF has just been released for free on DriveThruRPG. Offset print and print-on-demand will be available next year, as well as GM Guide, adventures, and a host of other material.
OSRIC, Old School Reference and Index Compilation, was the first retroclone of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Released almost 20 years ago, it led the charge during early days of OSR, providing means to legally publish content compatible with AD&D.
OSRIC 3.0 brings a host of improvements, focusing on providing more explanations and examples of play, replacing dense blocks of text with more accessible layout, discards OGL, and brings the rules even closer to AD&D, just to name a few.
Pilots' Almanac: Maritime & Piloting Rules is currently DriveThruRPG deal of the day for 50% off. Although for Hârn, I found it to be a great resource in my OD&D game, especially the sections on crews, ships, and maritime trade. An expensive book that rarely goes on sale.
