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Incline OSR Games - Official thread

Sacibengala

Prophet
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Messages
1,098
Lamentations is doing free shipping in the US store and 20 eur shipping for any quantity of books purchased in the EU store. Plus 80% of the bundle on drivethrurpg. Links:
EU Webstore: http://www.lotfp.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=42
***

US Webstore: https://us.lotfp.com/store/
***
Offer ends December 28!

DriveThru, the LotFP Everything Bundle is 80% off normal prices! Through December 31!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/.../LotFP-Everything-Bundle...
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
Some how I've never heard of Star Frontiers before which is a sci-fi rpg published by TSR back in the day.

Before I go diving into the old books is there lost gold to be found here or was this a forgettable series.
 
Self-Ejected

TheDiceMustRoll

Game Analist
Joined
Apr 18, 2016
Messages
761
Some how I've never heard of Star Frontiers before which is a sci-fi rpg published by TSR back in the day.

Before I go diving into the old books is there lost gold to be found here or was this a forgettable series.

It's better than Starships and Spacemen but that isn't saying much.
 

Zed Duke of Banville

Dungeon Master
Patron
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
11,760
Some how I've never heard of Star Frontiers before which is a sci-fi rpg published by TSR back in the day.

Before I go diving into the old books is there lost gold to be found here or was this a forgettable series.
Supposedly, Lorraine Williams insisted on discontinuing Star Frontiers due to perceiving it as a competitor with a prospective Buck Rogers RPG. Regardless, Star Frontiers was created by TSR specifically to compete with Traveler, the dominant Science Fiction RPG, and your opinion of the game will depend first on your consideration of that particular subgenre of SF and secondly on whether you think Star Frontiers is an improvement or decline relative to Traveler.

I note that the Trove has recently added a multitude of Star Frontiers products that it previously lacked. Also, Star Frontiers seems to have featured the first TSR art contributions from Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley, and Jim Holloway. :obviously:

SF-1e-Boxed-Set-Complete-1980-Page-001.jpg
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
Backer Update 27 is out for Old-School Essentials.

Rule tomes and such are done and sent to warehouses. Adventures are in the final stages of writing or editing with a warning while their still on track to have fulfillment done in March possibility of a slight delay could occur.

So might not get our still till April ish. Unless I'm mistaken and they'll ship out the rules tomes first and then adventures?

Also new art from the adventures and stuff
 

Sacibengala

Prophet
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Messages
1,098
What do we know about other contents by the authors?They did something interesting before?
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
Well Incandescent Grottoes is Gavin so if you got Hole in the Oak or Winters Daughter you know what your in for.

Diogo for Halls of the Blood King made Sharp Swords and Sinister Spells

Donn for Isle of the Plangent Mage previously worked on A Pound of Flesh for mothership

Last one is Holy Mountain Shaker by Luka Rejec who did Ultraviolet Grasslands
 

Stormcrowfleet

Aeon & Star Interactive
Developer
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
1,020
Official adventures? Cool. Do we know what kind of adventures they are? Old school or new school artsy bullshit? (Sorry not a fan)

Birthright Campaign is awesome. We are playing Birthright right now on the 'dex with 5th ed.
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
Can't say much about the official adventures for OSE till their out but two are being given for free to all backers Incandescent Grottoes and Halls of the Bloodking so those will be pretty widespread and avaliable to see if they're any good whether you backed or not.

Other than Incandescent Grottoes which I expect to be good since Gavin's making it I have high hopes for Isle of the Plangent Mage. Sucker for horrors from the deep adventures.
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
So White Hack 3e will be a thing


For those who've played it how is it? Never tired the white or black hacks
 

Melan

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
6,603
Location
Civitas Quinque Ecclesiae, Hungary
PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! I helped put crap in Monomyth
Some of my players have tried it. It is very simple, but also insubstantial - you are not getting much. OD&D is similarly simple, but at least you are getting strong procedural support, and here, this aspect of the game is not strongly developed.
 

Sacibengala

Prophet
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Messages
1,098

I don’t know why or when this guy became the magnum opus of OSR opinion. I like his channel only to SEE how the books are. It’s a shame that a lot of stuff in the scene he doesn’t even bother to look at. Just because of some bullcrap about the personal life of the author or something else . And I personally don’t like his opinions in general, but OSE is cool, though. At least we still have Bryce and Melan. Is there someone else in the review department that I should look for? Doesn’t need to be on youtube, a blog would be cool.
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
Is there someone else in the review department that I should look for?

Well he dosent do OSR only but I've liked Rpg crawlers reviews. Most of it you probably already know and have opinions off.





I havent seen a blog that does a focus on only reviews though.
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
I think its more that the questing beast guy is trying avoiding drama surrounding individuals/products by not covering them like how I havent seen anything on his channel in ages tangently related to lamentations of the flame princess.

He still has those old videos up about Lotfp and hasnt deleted them just never talks about them anymore.
 
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Sacibengala

Prophet
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Messages
1,098
I think its more that tfe questing beast guy is trying avoiding drama surrounding individuals/products by not covering them like how I havent seen anything on his channel in ages tangently related to lamentations of the flame princess.

He still has those old videos up about Lotfp and hasnt deleted them just never talks about them anymore.

Yes, this. He deleted his videos abou zak s. stuff also. He did a review for zzarchov lotfp stuff a while back and got bullied on twitter because of that. I never saw again he reviewing anything about lamentations stuff after that. He does not even mentioned lamentations when he talked about osr influentional systems some time ago.
 

Morblot

Aberrant Member | Star Trek V Apologist
Patron
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
2,288
Location
Finland
PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut
OSE_ZineQuest2021_1080x1080_6734e528-67ad-44d8-a41c-cdb6964d8510_512x512.png


There are some pretty interesting RPG projects currently on Kickstarter as part of the Zine Quest 3 event. Necrotic Gnome has listed a few on their blog: https://necroticgnome.com/blogs/news/old-school-essentials-at-zinequest

Here are two not on the above list I ended up finding myself and backing:
  • The Vast in the Dark - Exploring Ruins in an Infinite World - A zine about exploring the dark and alien megastructures of an infinite realm.
    Apparently it's meant for "the world’s most popular role-playing game", so chances of it being 5e trash mechanically are lamentably high, but the setting itself at least sounds interesting, so I figured I'd take the risk. NGL, they had me at "Brutalist Alien flavor", whatever that means. :D
  • Lowlife - old-school tunnel warfare zine
    For "old-school elf-games, you know the ones". This is a toolset for building "hellhole dungeons", as they state. I'm hoping to use this to ramp up the danger level of my pussy dungeons and to hopefully put the fear of the DM back into my players. The aesthetic is pleasing as well.
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
Gona drop Melan's review of The Palace of Unquiet Repose as it sounds pretty awesome

[REVIEW] The Palace of Unquiet Repose



The Palace of Unquiet Repose
The Palace of Unquiet Repose (2020)
by Prince of Nothing

Published by The Merciless Merchants

Levels 3-5 (HAH!)

Know, oh Prince, that good sword & sorcery adventures in old-school gaming are still hard to come by; and for all the talk of the mouldering tomes of Appendix N, few have struck the right balance between the imagery and spirit of S&S, and the playability of old-school D&D. Most old-school adventures do not reach deep into the pulp tradition, or fail to grasp what is in there; and most S&S adventures remain semi-interactive railroads, failing on the game level. Indeed, one of the most credible efforts in the last few years has been The Red Prophet Rises, by Malrex and Prince of Nothing; and furthermore, Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers by Malrex was pretty good too. So here is another adventure written by the Prince – and by the gods, he gets it right once again!

The Palace of Unquiet Repose, an expedition into a dead city serving as the tomb and prison of a haughty demi-god, is a monster of a module, a blood-and-guts nightmare in under 60 pages (a further ten or so are dedicated to The Screaming Caverns, an extra dungeon scenario). Those pages are not wasted. The substance – the information to help you run the module – is present, while padding is excluded. Everything serves a purpose, and the text is highly polished. No, it is not an exercise in layout-as-avantgarde-art. The maps are simple, plain-looking, highly readable affairs. The text is ultra-orthodox two-column century gothic, occasionally broken up by mini-maps showing the present area, and pieces of inky-looking art that do not really add much. Bullet points and bolding are used in appropriate places for structure and emphasis. Important details in the text are cross-referenced with the appendices and other parts of the module. It looks as adventurous as Swiss technical documentation, and it all works as unobtrusively and efficiently as Swiss technical documentation – in the background.

The writing is the heart of the monstrosity. It has power, menace, and gloomy pomp; expressive terseness. Opening it up at random points: “The double door is set in the naked rock, man-high, of tarnished, ancient bronze. Faded imagery can barely be made out on the surface.” Or: “These Sial-Atun have been led to the Palace by Captain Sarakhar with promises of infinite riches and godlike might. Instead they find only ennui and ancient horror while they wait for their comrades to return.” Or: “A great marble hall contains rows of carved sepulchers of worked obsidian, edges sharp like razors, gleaming from the light source. Alcoves on both sides of the room stretch off into darkness. Faint glimmers can be discerned within.” It earns its barbarian chops, although the appendices wander into purple prose. Where it matters most, though, the lean-and-mean writing succeeds on the technical level, as a mood-setter, and as a scenario rife with potential for conflict, exploration, and off-the-wall ideas. There are great names. Diorag the Breaker. Uyu-Yadmogh. The Children of the Tree. Gate of the Host Incarnadine. Chamber of Tribute by Conquest.

Leading to a land of dead empires, the Palace beckons. A hazardous wilderness trek is followed by two entrance levels, leading into a vast subterranean necropolis surrounded by a lake of liquid mercury, and then the titular Palace, a 26-area dungeon serving as the resting place of Uyu-Yadmogh, accursed sorcerer king, and his vast treasury. You are not alone: three factions, two coming from outside and one established inside, contend for the ultimate prize (whatever that may be). Death and horror will follow.



Mr. Thing, He Who Must Be
Fun at Parties
The genre is high-magic sword & sorcery turned up to 11. It is not for everyone. It is macabre, loud, album cover art S&S, set to metal riffs. (Or so I think, since this is a musical genre that goes right over my head, and feels pretty much like random environmental noise to my ears.) It is a lot more baroque and grandiose than even most S&S fare, a bit in the manner of Diablo and a bit in the manner of the Final Fantasy series, and I have to confess that it feels rather over the top. Grimdark easily becomes its own parody, and The Palace of Unquiet Repose is on the borderline, because it has no “normal” to fall back on, no section that is just a modest “/11”, and no counterpoints to its sensory assault. Here is a grand grimdark dungeon-palace “dotted with all manner of hideous gargoyles”, and haunted by tattooed, cannibalistic, insane, deformed, gem-studded things. That eat souls. The writhing souls of the eternally damned. Here are the grimmest motherfuckers of a rival NPC party, one “a beautiful golden, hairless child, one of its eyes (…) an orb of absolute blackness”, another one “a monstrous silhouette etched in absolute blackness”, and he is called “An Unbearable Thing, Drawn From The End of Time, Given Hatred and Substance (Wolf of Final Night)”. The leader of the other guys wears “the gilded skulls of lords and generals (500 gp total)” on his plate mail. The leader of the third faction has “a single wild green eye staring out of a skull-like face”. Sometimes, you can’t catch a break. After a while, “Fred the Fighter” starts to look like an appealing concept.
This is not a Palace of honour. Indeed, the wasteland hellhole is more containment zone for a grand sort of evil than convenient treasure-hole, and those who disturb it mostly go here to die. Yes, the cover indicates a 3–5th-level range, but it is the sort of 3–5th-level adventure which will kill off entire parties of characters, starting before the dungeon entrance. Everything here is dead, dangerous, insane, or cursed (sometimes all four). It does not quite become what the loud kids call a “negadungeon” (a punishing killer dungeon where you are much better off backing out and not adventuring), but it is a dungeon where you have to bet with dear stuff to start rolling, and the odds are stacked in favour of the house. It is also a fundamentally static setting even with the rival factions, and in this respect, it is less successful than the lively Red Prophet Rises. “Do you touch the horrible soul-devouring trap for its fabled treasures?” This is the central premise, and it shall determine whether you and your group will like the module. If you like poking bear traps (and the sleeping bears trapped therein), this module has a lot of exciting things to poke, and princely prices to extract. Break off chunks of a massive golden idol. Pry blasphemous death masks off of a mindless golem-thing. Rouse a reanimated demi-god chained with adamantium chains to “a monstrous throne of jagged glass” and find out what happens. You know you want to.

While a bit one-note in its themes, the Palace is very open-ended. This is a place to develop bold plans and win big or lose big. There are useful suggestions in the text to run the scenario and resolve some of the encounters, but there are so many ways you could exploit the Palace and its moving parts (not to mention the rival NPCs) to “break the bank” that it would be folly to list them all. You can sic the proverbial irresistible force against the proverbial immovable object. You can build yourself an invincible army, or a Rube Goldberg contraption to entrap soul-eating 15 HD monstrosities. You can become just a bit too powerful. The resourceful will thrive, and the weak shall be weeded out. Kill or be killed.

In summary, The Palace of Unquiet Repose is a grand module of a very specific sort – one maniacal and meticulously perfected note played very loudly by people who know exactly what they are doing. It is exemplary as a “GM-friendly” module, and it has splendid imagination. All of it, or most of it is brand new – aside from scorpions, the monsters, magic, and NPCs are original creations. And it goes up to 11. Yes, it is very good, if you like this kind of fringe thing.

No playtesters are credited in this publication.

Rating: ***** / *****


Mouths. Why did it have to be mouths?
 

Bara

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
1,320
If your looking for a Dwarven City adventure Vault of the Dwarven King looks pretty good

 

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