D&D
Until May 17, 2020, Dungeon Master’s Guild is running a 20% off sale on selected items that contributors get 100% of the proceeds (which means Wizards and One Book Shelf/DriveThruRPG aren’t taking their usual cut).
Click here for links to my products (or use the individual ones on my storefront page with the affiliate links).
Wizards of the Coast is giving away free content over at dungeonsanddragons.com, and my D&D Adventurers League adventure DDEX1-07 Drums in the Marsh is available (via DMs Guild) for free until April 21. You can get it and a lot of other free material, some of which is direct download from the website, and others link to DMs Guild products. Get them while you can.
GamerNation Con is next up on my look at the past few weeks of conventions in reverse order. Hosted by d20Radio and the creators of the Order 66 podcast, GN Con is up to its 6th year, which is pretty amazing and continues to draw people from around the world - Australia, Norway, Canada, the US, and probably others I’m overlooking at the moment. At least one or more of the regulars skipped it due to Star Wars Celebration the following week, which from a health standpoint probably would have been a good idea for me as well…
Read MoreIt’s November, which always brings a convention and often an end of the year project or two, and this year is no exception. There usually seems to be one or more previews of upcoming or soon to be released works, and that too is on schedule.
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I was invited to appear on the new Pawn and Pint podcast series Board at Work. Pawn and Pint is a game pub in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. They have a gigantic wall of board games and many RPG events.
Board at Work by Pawn and Pint: EP 003 Talking Star Wars with writer and game designer Sterling Hershey - Donald the DM and I discuss the span of my career as a writer and game designer for the Star Wars role-playing games. And some other bits.
Thanks to deadlines, work travel, and more, I've been remiss in posting these past few weeks. This lasted right up until last week when I was on my way to GamerNation Con 5, The Order of the Gamers (with a Harry Potter theme). I was the Guest of Honor this year, and it was a great time. Lots of Star Wars RPGs were played, and much more.
Read MoreThe rather inaccurately named DMs Day Sale at Dungeon Masters Guild and Drive Thru RPG is on, and runs thru March 11th (so, DMs Week). Most of my offerings are available at a discount. If you use the links below or on my Storefront page to purchase items, I get also a small affiliate credit. Thanks.
As a side note, I just realized that The Game Mechanics pdfs are no longer available.
I'm happy to announce the release of Roaming Chult, my latest DM's Guild product for Dungeons and Dragons (5e).
Roaming Chult is a collection of new items and resources for players and Dungeon Masters playing in Chult for Tomb of Annihilation campaigns or other jungle adventures.
The PDF file has printer friendly pages, except for the Log and Journal Pages, which are full page color.
So, with a week to go before The Last Jedi release, I'm still largely in spoiler avoidance mode. I've done a pretty decent job avoiding the rumor mill. The only Journey to the Last Jedi books I've read it are a couple of out of order issues of the Captain Phasma comic. Out of order because there's been a couple of hiccups in my recent comic book store deliveries.
Read MoreI'm pleased to announce that Pranac Pursuit, my adventure for The Last Parsec setting for the Savage Worlds roleplaying game is now available on Fantasy Grounds (The Virtual Tabletop for Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games). Pranac Pursuit joins four other Last Parsec titles already available on Fantasy Grounds. The adventure requires the Savage Worlds core rules and the Science Fiction Companion Setting rules (but not The Last Parsec core setting rules).
I converted the adventure to Fantasy Grounds myself. It includes all of the text, art, and maps originally provided in the PDF version, plus new tokens for the NPCs. Encounters are linked to the text, and the maps have pins linked to each encounter or other elements on the map. There are screenshots in the Fantasy Grounds catalog listing.
This is my second Fantasy Grounds conversion, the first being my D&D 5e Adventurers League adventure, Drums in the Marsh (Tyranny of Dragons story line). It is available on DMs Guild, where it recently achieved Platinum Best Seller status.
A new book and award nomination announcements this week, plus a great Rebels episode.
Read MoreFantasy Flight Games announced Ghosts of Dathomir, my latest adventure for Star Wars Force and Destiny RPG. I suspected this announcement would be coming soon, but you just never know exactly when with all of the moving parts in game production, approvals, shipping, and so on. Due to be released in first quarter of 2017.
Read MoreOver at the DMs Guild, I've updated my D&D Adventurers League adventure DDEX1-07 Drums in the Marsh (Tyranny of Dragons) to include complete files for use with the Fantasy Grounds 2 virtual tabletop. Since the VTT environment works better with more maps, I've included three new encounter maps and redrew the existing encounter map. The new maps are based on my sketches for some maps originally submitted with the adventure, but not included in the final version that was released. They aren't required to run the game, but they can help.
Thanks to Fantasy Grounds for the opportunity to create these files. It was easier than I expected once I got the hang of it. I plan to make use of this for some future DMs Guild works.
For those who play at the tabletop or on other VTT products like Roll20.net, I also released a separate Drums in the Marsh Map Pack.
The pack includes:
The areas included are:
It's not every year that the world's most prestigious literary science fiction convention comes to town, so Worldcon was definitely not an event to miss. Then I found out there was a gaming area, so I knew I had to try and participate. Then they announced they were having a Star Wars Day, and I definitely wanted to be involved in some capacity. I went in for pretty much the full Worldcon experience, buying a membership early on and getting in on the Hugo award voting process.
Read MoreKansas City Comic Con last weekend, and now MidAmeriCon II / 74th Worldcon starts today. Same venue, but two very different events. I'm excited to see how Worldcon compares, though some differences are already apparent. With three conventions in three weeks (and two world class), it's definitely been the busiest con season I've had for a while. It definitely helps having two of them in town, and even better that both had good Star Wars connections.
Read MoreThis year, the 74th annual World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) is being held in Kansas City as MidAmeriCon II, August 17-21, 2016. Among the events, such as the noted Hugo awards, is Star Wars Day. The original MidAmeriCon hosted Worldcon in 1976, and featured a promotional panel of an upcoming sci-fi movie called Star Wars. Mark Hamill, Charles Lippincott and producer Gary Kurtz attended. This year's convention is welcoming back Lippincott and Kurtz for a return visit, along with novelist Alan Dean Foster.
There will be a number of other events for Star Wars Day. I will be part of the Star Wars Tie In panel, discussing novels, games, and other elements beyond the movies. Stephen Saffel (past Del Rey editorial director for the Essential Guides, etc.) will be the moderator, and the other panelists are Kevin J Anderson (Jedi Academy Trilogy, etc.), Rebecca Moesta (Young Jedi Knights series), and William Dietz (Dark Forces trilogy).
I will also be running Star Wars RPG games and demos. The demos will feature the just-released Star Wars the Force Awakens Beginner Game RPG. The full 4-hour games will feature the main RPG lines. I am also running one session of Dungeons & Dragons (5e).
Sign up for games ahead of time on Warhorn. My events are not yet listed, but hopefully will appear soon. My games are listed on my full schedule (link above).
DM Combat Tabs is my new product now available at the Dungeon Masters Guild.
Track initiative, conditions, and more on any DM screen.
The kit includes 37 tab types:
DM side.
Fill the PC and Monster tabs out by hand after printing, or use the PDF form fillable options before printing. Forms can be saved for reuse.
Customize tabs for your game. Do you want to track different conditions, spell effects, or other information not provided in the kit? Do you run the same adventure often and want to create tabs for the specific monsters used? Use the customizable tabs to add your own text to the front and/or back of the tabs. Add images to the front of the PC and Monster tabs.
5 fully customizable tab types:
An example of a customized tab page.
Tabletop Tab Rack.
Keep organized and find the right tab quickly during the game using one of two rack types:
DM Screen Tab Rack: This pair of racks hangs right on the DM's screen to minimize loss of table space. It works with the official standard D&D screens or most any other screen type.
Tabletop Tab Rack: A simpler rack folded into a sawtooth shape to hold the tabs. It sits on the table top.
Storage options: Assemble the included custom box to store the DM Screen Tab Racks with the tabs still in place. Other storage suggestions are also included.
DM Screen Tab Racks and Storage Box.
Also use on table tents and minis.
Printing on cardstock is highly recommended, but thick or regular paper can be used. Cutting and folding is required to use the tabs and the racks. Assembly of the optional storage box requires glue or tape.
Formatted for US letter sized paper.
Player side view.
DM side view
Storage box.
My latest DungeonMastersGuild.com product is now available for Dungeons and Dragons (5e).
Uncommoners is a collection of 10 new backgrounds for characters starting their adventuring careers from commoner roles and unusual jobs. These backgrounds are suitable for most characters, particularly those starting in villages, settlements, or cities. Some characters may continue to use their backgrounds while adventuring, while others have moved on to greater things.
Uncommoners includes the following backgrounds, complete with features, personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws.
Wizards of the Coast announced the new Dungeon Masters Guild today. It's an online store selling D&D 5e PDF works. Here are a few of basic highlights:
The new open gaming license SDK is also now available, and there are differences between publishing thru the GMs Guild and on your own using the license.
I've also updated my Store page for my other titles available on DriveThruRPG.
I have additional content I hope to post soon (the site went live a bit earlier than I expected).
