Toys on the (Gaming) Table...

As Christmas approaches, toys spring immediately to mind. Yours truly has talked (ad nauseum) about getting Holmes Basic for Christmas, but never that much about the other toys that informed his imagination, and that of the earliest hobby. Many toys are fantasy adjacent and undeniably cool; but we're talking about non-gaming products easily insertable into gameplay. These aren't mere inspiration (not to denigrate this most vital element), but goodies easily repurposed as bona fide playing aids on par with anything:

(1) First off, we've got the so-called Chinasaurs. At the dawn of D&D, before commercial fantasy miniatures were available, these not-so-authentic plastic (quasi-) dinosaurs of Asian manufacture not only became various monsters but directly modelled the now-legendary bulette and rust monster, among others. These things are iconic.

(2) But we also have plastic cowboys (and Indians), which were used for more than the occasional session of Boot Hill. The horses were handy, and some of these playsets came with always-useful plastic terrain where an adventure called for such additions...

(3) Of course, actual dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals were good not only to represent themselves, but alternately, similar mythological monsters. Brontosaurs might be dragons, minus the wings, but nonetheless serviceable. Really, any four-legged reptile makes a great reptilian horror, whether basilisk or wyvern, without straining credulity.

Oh, and these sometimes came with cavemen and even better terrain than those wild west playsets, especially when an encounter called for steaming jungles or mountains...

(4) And (not so) finally, we've got farm (and wild) animals of various kinds. Lions, tigers, and bears are frequent adversaries, and might sometimes pass for things magical, including African lions for chimeras or sphinxes, among other combinations. But these things in their conventional (read: natural) guises remain respectably deadly enemies.

It's a start. Some groups have been known to incorporate model terrain. Yours truly once participated in a game where an Aurora snap-together allosaurus became a demonic enemy all the more terrifying for the scale involved. There's no end to the great accessories now available, and who doesn't like them? But the amateur origins of our pastime shine through when we improvise and make the experience our own, something repurposing toys can accomplish. Anyway, it's something to consider this Christmas and all year, really...

Five Fixed Encounters for Epoch...

Our latest, Epoch, is a prehistoric game emphasizing wilderness hexcrawls. Even so, fixed encounters are essential to an overarching game narrative. Stories matter, and prepared events provide this. Of course, these work best when embedded within a random wilderness, and in that spirit, we offer the following suggested encounters:

1.) An old cave houses a settlement of CANNIBALS (either tribe) twisted by their strange appetites. These see intruders as a potential feast.

2.) A mysterious DARK MONOLITH has appeared in a forest clearing, instantly teleporting anyone touching it to another location within the campaign setting...

3.) Some ROGUE TIME TRAVELER, enjoying free movement across time (and access to futuristic technologies), dominates a tribe of violent fanatics. 

4.) Narcotic flowers fill a valley, releasing SPORES in a 120' radius acting as a stealer's serum against those who disturb them. Local animals are naturally immune...

5.) A solitary WICKED SHAMAN (10th level) inhabits a forgotten cave haunted by a taboo spirit who defends their disciple through possessed animals.  

This list isn't comprehensive, of course. Or the best. But it shows the variety of options available in Epoch's prehistoric (and magical) backdrop. And the roleplaying opportunities are abundantly clear. These encounters are winnable through clever strategy and wise interractions, all of which should guide creative referees in making even more...

Image courtesy of the incomparable Frazetta by way of Creepy.     

Tombs: Fantasy Made Mortal...

So Gregorius 21778 has released The Tomb of Ferkhat the Dreaded for Blood of Pangea, complete with an excursion into an Egyptian-inspired burial. We love tombs, the pastime adores them (even while heroes perish therein), and with Halloween, a celebration of ghosts and dancing skeletons, it's a great time to list the reasons why:

1. DEATH. It's the bitterest fact of life. We mourn our loved ones and recognize, in a largely supressed way, our own inevitable demise. It's scary to contemplate.

2. THE UNDEAD. Death is bad enough without the insult of rotting corpses (or worse) to ensnare the living with gruesome aplomb. Not content to wait for time, these fearsome  abominations, reminders of mortality made terrible flesh, hasten to speed death, and in the worst way possible. Death, and the dead, are the ultimate foes...

3. TRAPS (AND CURSES). Setting necromancy aside, fantasy crypts come equipped with dangerous traps and sometimes (working) curses to defend against plunderers.   

4. TREASURE. You can't take it with you; but boy, people try. Crypts are filled with worldly goods, glittering treasures enough to entice avaricious adventurers. Fantasy interments represent our mortal conundrum. Undead are the fear of death, clerical miracles the denial thereof, and vast riches our need to live on despite a certain demise...

Which is to say: the best gaming, even the gonzo variety, speaks to something essentially and irrevocably human. And heroic. A psychologist's plaything, since facing death made terrifyingly real and snatching a temporary respite from the inevitable so nicely encapsulates our situation. It's why we love Halloween. And tombs. They're fantasy made mortal.

Red Ochre & Ruins: The OSL Returns...

Well, there's an Open Supplement License for Epoch, allowing those so inclined to publish original content for the game. Interested parties can visit our website for all the details, discovering a whole new medium and joining the many excellent publishers doing exactly that with our favorite roleplaying products. We can't overstate how much we love seeing what everyone's doing with our stuff. Next to designing, it's probably our favorite part of publishing, and the great people at Ethereal Games came through in short order...

Enter Red Ochre & Ruins, the first OSL release, and the first expansion period, for our prehistoric Epoch. Now Ethereal Games, the creators of Wyrdwarden for Mydwandr, really gets us and the spirit our games try to embrace, and this one's no exception, building on Epoch's premise in every way possible. This starts with the basics, adding new clans taken from history, including the primitive Upright Folk (homo erectus) and the Lost Ones, time travelers stranded (beyond all rescue) in Epoch's universe.

The implications are many, as lost moderns come with clothing and valuable technology, including, among others, dynamite and futuristic space suits (there's an astronaut option for those desiring an alternative experience). With an emphasis on narrative, this doubles as guidance for the referee regardless of where a campaign ends, and despite its slim 19 pages, still covers extensive territory. From shamanistic rituals grounded in anthropology to hungry carnivores (both real and imaginary), this is a tasty buffet of great ideas...

In total, Red Ochre & Ruins includes the following additions:

New clans and backgrounds, with new equipment and special crafting rules.

Atlatls, reptile hides, and shamanistic rituals granting power over death.

Historically grounded beasts and a new exceptional foe to challenge the party...

Plus rules for regressive future campaigns and a starting map of Scarra!

Exploiting a series of easy to read tables, Red Ochre & Ruins delivers some first-rate content ranging from the distant past to far-flung future, all in a single universe of prehistoric adventures. Whether planning a strictly historical simulation, the vanilla stone and spell offered by the core rules, or post apocalyptic gameplay, Ethereal Games delivers something busy referees, inspired by the game's potential, might readily enjoy. Anyway, we liked its approach and think that Epoch enthusiasts, players and referees alike, might agree...