PRE-NTRPG SALE at the NBD Storefront. Get 10% off with the code NTRPG!

People asked that I run one of these sales at the beginning of the month (when they have more disposable income), and I wanted to do something to coincide with next week's North Texas RPG Con, so here you go. This weekend, get 10% off your order at the New Big Dragon Storefront (where you already save over Lulu pricing, and save even more on bundles). Just enter the code NTRPG at checkout (or the savings won't be applied). Get your order in by Monday, and I'll get it shipped before the con starts. Offer ends Monday, June 2, 2014 at 11:59 p.m.

And don't forget, once your order comes in with your email address, I'll send out links to RPGNow for complimentary PDFs for each title you order!

My deepest, sincerest thanks!

Today is the 5 month anniversary of the release of the d30 Sandbox Companion, and I am constantly humbled by it's continued success. If were to use this blog entry to thank each and every person that reviewed it, or mentioned it on their blogs or G+, this post would seem to go on forever. And I'm sure that as complete as I'd try to make that list, I'd surely forget somebody. So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for its acceptance and resulting success. To those who reviewed, mentioned, bought, or simply used it... thank you, thank you, thank you!

Prepping for NTRPG Con& Dragon Horde Zine #2

I'm assuming that a few of you are wondering what's been going on with all the radio silence around this blog for the past couple of weeks. Long story short, I've been spending most of my time prepping for the North Texas RPG Con which starts next week. The majority of that work has been in wrapping up the 2nd issue of the Dragon Horde zine, which will premier at the con. There are just a handful of edits that need to be made, and one article that needs an overhaul. Time permitting, this should mostly be put to bed by late tonight, which allows me to get into the printing tomorrow night. The picture here is a copy of issue 1, and a test print of issue 2 (thus the "X" in the corner that tells me not to mix it up with the final issues, when printed).

So here's what's inside issue 2:

• The Monster Roster: Linnorms - Oe/BX/1e info for 6 types
• The Long and Short of the Viking Longhouse - includes an overview and sample map
• Here's the Thing - an intro to using things/folkmoots in your adventures
• The Volva: A New NPC Character Class - part seer, part shaman, all woman
• Viffilmein - a beetle-infested adventure for characters levels 1-3
• Dealing With Level Drain - guidelines for 10+ variants on monsters' level drain
• The Houses of the Mark - an abundance of NPC encounters adapted from William Morris's The House of the Wolfings
• A Trio of Norse-inspired Magic Items

The print copies of the 2nd issue will probably not be available at the New Big Dragon storefront until the con is over, and the PDF copies on RPGNow will be available the same day as the print copies. The print copies of the 1st issue will be available then as well.

KILLER weekend find!

Let me start by saying,
THIS IS NOT A PRINTED POSTER!!!
THIS IS AN ORIGINAL PIECE OF ART!!!

There seemed to be a lot going on in the DFW area this weekend... a HUGE gun show, a well-known food fest, and the biggest every Dallas Comic Con. So the vendors at the Cotton Bowl Trade Days (a flea market-y kind of event) were a little more than upset with the WEAK turnout for the weekend. My wife and I went Sunday (yesterday) after having spent Saturday Estate Sailing (sic). This beautiful piece (though it has a couple of blemishes here and there, but nothing I can't photoshop easily) cost me a sum total of $40. YES! JUST FORTY DOLLARS!

The name of the artist who signed it doesn't seem to produce any answers for me as to its origins after some Google searching. But a little digging did give me one theory on who it might be. If it's who I think it is, it was most likely done in the late 70s/early 80s as a student or portfolio piece before he embarked upon a 25-year stint as an industrial stylist/concept artist. I'm going to reach out today and see if he can confirm my theory.

Stay tuned...

UPDATE (05.19.14; 10:15 CST): Just received an email and confirmed my theory. The artist is Steve Ferrerio and it was done while he was studying at the Art Center of Pasadena in the late 70s. Ferrerio went on to become a stylist for Chrysler for 25 years, and did the exterior design for the "star car" of the TV series Viper. Ferrerio is now an independent artist in the Detroit area.

Estate Sale Finds Report: 05.17.14

Came across this big orange beauty at an estate sale yesterday. The smaller red one is from a big haul a while back. The red one is about the appropriate height for a smallish hill giant. But the new orange one, though it looks like a hill giant, is more the height of a cloud giant or storm giant.

I also picked up, at the same sale, several copies of Galaxy and Astounding Science Fiction magazines. I only bought a few copies, but the ones I bought have super cool interior artwork. I will probably share some of it later this week.

Valley of the Five Fires Microgame Update: Encounter Table

Welbo and I spent a good hour last night thinking and re-thinking the encounter table. We've been re-thinking it off-an-on for a few months now. The encounter table is critical. It drives the rhythm of the game. What works in theory (based on percentages and law-of-averages) doesn't always work in practice. There's a subtle shift that comes into play when you look at the dice combinations that will yield certain results. Theoretically, that shouldn't matter... but it does (or at least it seemed like it did). I think what was really happening was that even a few percent difference in one result coming up over an another made a huge difference on the game flow. So, after an hour, I think we landed on a table that felt like it yielded the results we wanted it to. Now we just have to get through the big hurdle of how encounters with Special NPCs play out and we should be in the home stretch toward the beta round of playtesting.

d30 Feature of the Week: d30 Blob Generator (Jellies, Oozes, Puddings, Slimes)

When I posed the question the other day (via Google+) asking about d30 charts you'd like to see, I got a lot of good suggestions. Today's d30 download is one of those suggestions. It was a tough undertaking, and I'm still not sure I'm 100% happy with the results. It's a lot to get into a limited space, and still be roll-economical. I'm thinking that eventually this could be a 2-pager.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Blob Generator from MediaFire.