OSR News From The Underdark Gazette - Saturday, October 2, 2010

Faster Monkey and Black Blade Team-up to Rock Your Table

"October 1, Silver Spring, Maryland: Indy RPG designer FASTER MONKEY GAMES is proud to announce a new partnership with BLACK BLADE PUBLISHING. Black Blade will sell print and PDF copies of Faster Monkey’s popular old-school modules and game aids.

“From day one, Black Blade has generously supported the Old School Renaissance,” says monkeyboy Jeff Sparks. “We’re honored to work with them as we make the jump to the world of print.”

"The partnership officially begins this month with Faster Monkey’s critically-acclaimed adventure SKULL MOUNTAIN. The best-selling module will be available in PDF and high-quality print formats with a classic module design.

"Further Faster Monkey products are planned for frequent, regular release. Like all Black Blade offerings, the products are printed on traditional offset presses, resulting in excellent print quality and rapid order fulfillment.

"Faster Monkey Games was launched in February 2010 by brothers Joel and Jeff Sparks. The company has published 16 popular RPG products in 8 months, supporting games like Labyrinth Lord™, OSRIC™, Mutant Future™, and Savage Worlds. Faster Monkey products frequently appear in the Top Sellers lists on major PDF retail sites. Blogs, twitter feeds, and product information can be found at fastermonkeygames.com.

"Formed in 2009 by Jon Hershberger and Allan Grohe, Wichita-based Black Blade Publishing is committed to publishing high-quality fantasy role-playing material for all of the hobby’s earliest incarnations. For additional information, visit black-blade-publishing.com."

This is welcome news indeed, as Faster Monkey Games produces some quality stuff! Congratulations gentlemen on your new partnership!

New Releases

Advanced Adventrures #16: Under Shattered Mountain by James C. Boney. Art by Peter Mullen and John Bingham. Expeditious Retreat Press. Available in PDF for $6.00. 12 pages. The Print version should be available soon. 

"Under Shattered Mountain is An OSRIC(tm) module designed for 5-8 adventures of levels 9-12.

"Shattered Mountain... an evil landmark looming over the countryside. In ages past, the mountain roared as a volcano and rendered the surrounding area uninhabitable, and then suddenly went quiet. Centuries later, investigation by adventurers revealed the volcano's core to be mysteriously sealed off, although large tunnels appeared to meander through the ground underneath. In time, various creatures made those tunnels their homes, though few dared to strike out into the populated areas due to the champions which defended civilization.

"However, things have recently changed for the worse; soothsayers for leagues around now say a devil lives under the mountain. Could such be true, or is it only the nattering of those too timid to delve beneath the shattered mountain?

"If you enjoy this adventure, look for future releases in the Advanced Adventures line from Expeditious Retreat Press."

The Phoenix Barony by David Bezio. Available in Print for $7.63 and in PDF for $1.50. 32 pages.

"The Phoenix Barony™ is a high fantasy adventure setting for the Labyrinth Lord™ RPG or any Basic/Expert Fantasy Role Playing Game. It is a concise lighthearted setting covering an area 100 x 100 miles. In this book you will find details on the world the Phoenix Barony is set in, descriptions of all the major locations in the Barony, history, Religion, organizations, and NPCs that make the setting unique. If that isn’t enough you will also find the details of a smaller adventure area within the Phoenix Barony, hints of further adventures that take place there, and a complete 1st level adventure to get you started.(OSRIC friendly)"

A re-release, in this case and one I've heard good things about. Thanks to the author, for once again making this readily available.

Mini Six Bare Bones Edition from AntiPaladin Games is now available in Print. $8.00 with free shipping to the US. 36 pages. The PDF is available as a free download, here.

"Mini Six is a variant of the OpenD6 system. It was created to be a little faster and simpler in play than its parent, but shares its cinematic flair."

Not sure when this happened, but Timeshadows has Print copies of the Urutsk: World of Mystery beta releases up on Lulu. Referee's Beta Manual $14.96 - 46 pages. Player's Beta Manual $14.95 - 49 pages.

"Urutsk: An enigmatic wetlands world strewn with treasures of the Ancients, is history lost to memory, now plays host to Human, Humanoid, and Monstrous Beings --all deadly, long-warring enemies. Urutsk is the culmination of over 25 years of setting development by Kyrinn S. Eis, author of Dawner of the First Light, and Eleventh Hour of the Soul. As much as seems familiar, there is something new around every bend: * Classic-Play (3d6 + Race + Class) from the start. Import characters from other Classic-Play games in a matter of minutes, or use the Point-Design Character Generation rules to get exactly the character you've always wanted to play. * A quick, comprehensive Combat System modelled after the action in the source material. * Detailed, yet customisable, setting. Make unique creatures and foes in just a few simple steps. Open-ended Adventuring Locations designed to jump-start the Referee's imagination." 

Free Downloads

Star Frontiersman # 15 has been released! 83 pages. And if you haven't checked out this awesome site, you can download their Star Frontiers Re-mastered series, give in to your gaming ADD and start a science fiction campaign! They also have released a printer friendly version of Alpha Dawn.

Christian from Destination Unknown has released The Freecity of Haldane in Word format under a Creative Commons Attribution License. 

ze bulette from Dungeons & Digressions has some more paper mini's! Vampires and Mummies.

Telecanter of Telecanter's Receding Rules has a couple of PDF's for you: The Desiccated Font and What's in the Brass Urns?

Media Releases

Echoes from the Geekcave - Episode 8: (Over) Using the Dice.

I Hit It With My Axe: Episode 29: Looting, Snitching and Forgery.

Reviews From Around the Blogosphere

Richard Tongue recently announced that OD&Dities was again, ceasing publication. He has a new blog, Tales from  the Dusty Vault, which focuses on Reviews of Old School gaming products. He already has quite a few up, so head over and find something cool to buy!

Pookie from Reviews from R'lyeh is running a series on Introductory Old School Games. His latest entry, examines the Swords & Wizardry: White Box edition.

Carnifex.org reviews Rob Conley's Points of Light.

Grognardia reviews Skull Mountain!

In Other News

Cyclopeatron has some news for L.A. & O.C. gamers.

If you would like to help ChicagoWiz with his Toys for Tots Donation Drive, check it out here.

Mr. T'sday!

What I'm Pimping This Week

By "Doc" and formatted by Jason Vey. Hosted on Jason's Classic Edition Fantasy Resources site and available as a free download.

I recently saw some folks discussing this in forums, so for anyone who's missed it, here it is!

 About the News

"Unless otherwise noted, all links to products and files are to the individual authors sites, pertinent posts, or sales pages. I don’t link directly to files, unless that is the only link available. The OSR News is produced as a service to the community and is entirely a non-commercial endeavor on my part. I have received no remuneration for advertising, reviewing or reporting on any of the items appearing herein. Please feel free to send me information on any new releases, events, or other items of interest, which you would like to see mentioned.

"As always, the What I’m Pimping This Week section of the OSR News and its accompanying blog widget, feature products which I have purchased (or items which are available for free download) and wish to support. No one has asked me to spotlight their material in this section and I have received no payment of any kind for doing so."