Category Archives: Crypts & Things

Dark November is Here!

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So I missed out on doing anything for Halloween because I was preoccupied with the end of my Gloranthan Fanzines, and before that, in Sept/Oct I was in full pimp mode for the OpenQuest Kickstarter which kind of blew up in my face.

So It occurred to me that my Dark Fantasy OSR/D&D stuff is not getting the love it deserves. So I’ve decided to run a month of promotions/competitions/new-releases for the Crypts and Things, the soon to be released Swords Against the Shroud as well as other OSR bits I do is in order.  This is what I call…

Oh, and It has a logo, that uses the most British Old School of fonts (Moria Citadel) 🙂

First Dark November competition is to get more minions…oops sorry followers over on D101 Twitter Account. When we reach 500 followers, I will do a prize draw for one of D101’s OSR/D&D titles in print.

 

Under Dark Spires coming soon

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It’s Fiendish Friday, so here’s some news on what’s coming on for Crypts and Things very soon…
The long-overdue adventure pack for Crypts and Things, Under Dark Spires,  after a series of writers blocks, and various production failures (both straightforward and arcane) is back on track for being completed.
Under Dark Spires is a collection of five adventures. Blood of the Dragon (C&T’s long out of print adventure), The Dark Path, Terror At Black Oak, Fort Boneguard and The City of the God-Emperor. There’s also setting information for the Dark Spires region that the adventures take place in. Its a low level, 1st – 3rd, sandpit of nasty wriggly things that rises up to the pcs exploring one of the big secrets of the Serpent Kings.
I’m not going to give a firm date, but I’m looking within the next couple of months.
To help fire me up and inspire me, I’ve commissioned Dan Barker who did the art for Tournaments of Madness and Death, to do the art for Under Dark Spires. Dan brings his own take to the Weird Fantasy Swords and Sorcery world of Crypts and Things.
Here’s his take on a Barbarian being taken by surprise by a carnivorous plant in the fetid swamps of Stink River.

Stay tuned for regular updates.

Grogzilla now live on ZineQuest 2 on Kickstarter

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Now on ZineQuest 2: Grogzilla, briefly seen at Grogmeet 2019 now getting a proper printing. It’s full of fire-breathing three-headed skyscraper-sized giant lizards  (stats for D100, OSR, and Monkey!), articles for Mythras, and a mini-adventure sequel to the Road to Hell (for Swords and Wizardry) amongst other things. And It will grow in page count as we hit stretch goals.  

Also, our other zines for Glorantha and Crypts and Things/OSR games are available in print/pdf as add-ons at a significant discount. 

Grogzilla

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Missed out on getting a copy of Grogzilla at Grogmeet 2019?

This 36 A5 page zine of D101 Mega Gaming Fun with skyscraper high three-headed firebreathing lizards is now available to preorder (with free pdf)

As well as articles for OpenQuest and Crypts and Things, it also has a sequel to the Road to Hell in the form of Wigan Pigs an adventure for OSR games. Also making their debut in Grogzilla are the Six Traveller culture for Mythras, which is a short taste of things to come in the new year.

 

 

From the Shroud #2 Kickstarter now funding Beyond Dread Portals Preview Edition

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The From the Shroud #2 Kickstarter is nearly over, with less than 48 hours to go. Four stretch goals funded which include two additional a5 books (Crypts & Things Black Hacked and The Lost Lands of Grungamesh) and now we are funding a preview version of Paul Mitchener’s Beyond Dread Portals; an A5 version with adventure playable up to 5th Level. This is your chance for as low as £3 (the pdf level) to get a playable sneak peek of this game of fantastic multidimensional exploration.

From the Shroud now delivering two Zines for the price of one

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Quick update about the From the Shroud Issue 2 ZineQuest Kickstarter.

The zine itself funded on day one, its maxed out size wise due to the successful funding of two stretch goals which add new monsters and strange locations to bring the page count up to about 60 pages

So I added a zine sized (A5 approx 40-50 page)  version of Crypts and Things powered by The Black Hack, called Crypts and Things Black Hacked, and guess what?

That’s right, so all backers of the campaign (whose buy-in is as low as £3/$4 for the PDF) get a copy of C&T Black Hacked as well as the From the Shroud #2. That’s two for the price of one!!!

And soon it’s going to be three for the price of one, as we are now funding a stretch goal which gives a new Swords and Sorcery setting in A5 Zine Format for C&T, C&T Black Hacked and other OSR RPGs to all backers. The setting has a more Saturday Morning Cartoons feel than C&T’s default grimdark setting of Zarth, and its sandbox nature means its the ideal accompaniment for C&T Black Hacked.

Welcome to The Lost Lands of Grungamesh!

Note, you won’t be able to get this bundle of zines at this crazy low price once they go on general release. Crypts and Things Black Hacked and Lost Lands will be full priced individual items, and Intro the Shroud won’t even be available in print outside of this Kickstarter.

If you’ve not backed you’ve got 5 days at the time of writing to do so.

Into the Shroud #2 now up on Kickstarter’s ZineQuest

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It gives me great pleasure to announce Into the Shroud #2, my irregular Crypts and Things fanzine is now live on Kickstarter as part of their ZineQuest,

This issue takes the form of a 48 pages A5 black and white booklet, with black and white art by Jonny Gray (whose Death Rider graces the cover) and Dan Barker.

The contents are as follows:

  •  My Dirty Little Secret. A quick table of dark secrets that player characters can have, and probably wish they hadn’t, at character generation.
  •  The Pie Makers of Peoplolis. An adventure location in the Zarth’s City of Beggars (although they may have a franchise near you).
  •  A Strange Thing Happened on the Way to the Ruins. An encounter table of weird and wonderful non-player characters to liven up otherwise dull and humdrum journeys.
  •  The Place of Dark Hooks. The old lair of a foul Court Torturer, whose riches and secrets are said to lie in its depths. A full Crypts and Things mini-module, usable with any early edition D&D game even, 5th Edition pretty much as written.
  •  All Hail the Death Riders. They are death from above with these flying undead warriors, a new monster for the game.
  •  Prince of Rona. A demonic Prince of an Other World, fit to become the character’s latest Nemesis.
  •  Varna’s Travelling Caravan. Neil Shaw details this group of travelling merchants who deal with the mysterious and harbour a dark secret.

Also available if you missed it the first time around is issue 1, in pdf and print. Note both issues won’t be available in print after the KS via my normal outlets.

Also, there’s a chance to get the main Crypts and Things rulebook and the released adventures at a deep discount as add-ons.

 

Post Kickstarter thoughts

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Slowly recovering from the awesome that was The Road To Hell Kickstarter, and getting back to the more mundane housework and day-to-day stuff I have to catch up with.

One of the things that was Awesome about the KS is that I’ve wanted to play Lamentations of the Flame Princess for a good couple of years (5 or so?) and the playtesting of this scenario (which has had a couple of outings now and has an ongoing playtest at the moment to test last-minute encounter additions) gave that one a good going over on that front. I’ll post more about that later, I’m overdue an appreciation post about LoTFP.

Another thing that was awesome about the KS was the fact that it funded and then some, so I’ll be able to take my original idea, pay the artists, pay myself and deliver it in a short time scale.

And it’s a model I can use for adventure releases in the future as well. I’ve got another two adventures that follow up Road to Hell (which I’m calling the Jacobean Trilogy for reference) but I’m also thinking about doing something for Mythras, which I’ve also wanted to run for like forever.  As I develop the ideas I have for it (in what I call the Fun Phase), I’ll blog about it here. Look out for the tag #makemineMythras.

In the next couple of days, I’ll be finishing off some writing/publishing stuff for Road to Hell to keep it on track for a December/January fulfilment. But I’ll also be getting back into Crypts and Things with the last writing for Under Dark Spires and issue 2 of The Shroud. I’m going to be running The Lost City of the God-Emperor at Grogmeet next Saturday, so nailing that one down is high on the list of priorities 🙂

From the Shroud issue 2

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Its been a while since issue 1, but issue 2 of the Crypts and Things fanzine, is nearly manifested in the world of flesh.

The contents are as follows:

  • My Dirty Little Secret – a quick table of dark secrets that player characters can have, and probably wish they hadn’t, at character generation.
  • The Pie Makers of Peoplolis – an adventure location in the Zarth’s City of Beggars (although they may have a franchise near you).
  • A Strange Thing Happened on the Way to the Ruins – an encounter table of weird and wonderful non-player characters to liven up otherwise dull and humdrum journeys.
  • The Place of Dark Hooks – a full Crypts and Things mini-module.
  • All Hail the Death Riders – they are death from above with these flying undead warriors, a new monster for the game.
  • Prince of Rona – a demonic Prince of an Otherworld, fit to become the character’s latest Nemesis.
  • Varna’s Travelling Caravan – Neil Shaw is back again with this group of travelling merchants who deal with the mysterious and harbour a dark secret.

Clocking in at about 48 pages in A5 format (which is ten pages longer than issue 1) I’m looking to get it out by by early November, when I’ll be at Grogmeet in Manchester running The Lost City of the God-Emperor, which is part of the Under Dark Spires mega-module I’m currently finishing off for release early next year.

If you want to get a print copy, there will be a pre-order that runs for a couple of weeks while it is passing muster with the printer, via D101 Games’ Web store, during which time you’ll have instant access to the pdf. PDF only will go on sale via DriveThruRPG.com after the print pre-order.

Here’s the cover for issue 2 by the talented Jonny Gray.

Tournaments of Madness and Death now available to pre-order

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This the lastest Crypts and Things module, two convention/one-shot adventures and an article explaining how to run this type of adventure.

Crypts and Things is an OSR Swords and Sorcery game, with influences from the 80s British Fantasy RPGs (early White Dwarf, Fighting Fantasy etc). The module is easily usable with other OSR systems and modern D&D style games.

Get the PDF immediately upon purchase and the print version in a couple of weeks when it clears proof with the printers.

Please note: While the pre-order is running you can pick up the main rulebook in either soft or hardcover with £5/$6 knocked off the normal price. Free postage for UK residents on orders over £10.

Tournaments of Madness and Death cover by David M. Wright