Dungeon World’s Kickstarter is finally here! It’s a great game, and it’s come a long way.

Reading the latest Beta last week inspired me to make some custom moves for my homebrew fantasy campaign setting. I’m really proud of the document and can’t wait to use it. In the spirit of Dungeon World’s open approach, I’m sharing my homebrew rules.

Fair warning: none of this has been playtested. I’ll let you know about any updates.

If you want to get straight to the goods, you can download the Sarrenor Rules Compendium as singles or spreads (same content in both, just singles prints as a booklet better and each is viewed better on certain devices). 

If you want to hear a bit more about the setting first, read on… Continue reading…

You might also be interested in reading...

• IAYC: Fantasy Newspaper (Free Download)
• ZILLA! – Free ‘Classic Character Pack’
• Link Hoard: Free RPG Round-up
• Monsterhearts Actual Play – Edgegate, Part 1
• Let’s Back Monsterhearts

Joe Mcdaldno, creator of Monsterhearts, asked me “What happened in your session? What were the big highlights?”. I thought this deserved a separate post to make it easier to find. I’ll probably do a follow up post too once we have our second session tomorrow.

For those who just want the highlights, here they are:

• Cole, the chaos ghoul, made another student’s lab experiment explode, probably killing the poor NPC. Cole jammed the door as gas filled the room, to create more chaos, yet when he finally stopped pretending the door was stuck and dragged the unconscious NPC into the hallway he was hailed as a hero!
   
• Jane, our part-machine Hollow dealt 3-harm to an NPC with a Terminator-strength bitch slap in a cat-fight, hospitalising her.
   
• It was subtle, but I really liked that Aurora and Cole shook hands on a promise and both lingered slight, both rolling 10+ on to turn each other on. In the backstory, Cole has had love rekindled in his dead heart after seeing Aurora frolic naked in the woods. Before we even started play Aurora had 4 Strings on Cole, now it’s 5.

• More than anything I loved how the game played, how we all suggested how things could go and how as the MC I didn’t have to strain to come up with where things would go next. Snowballing and chain reactions are awesome.

You might also be interested in reading...

• Dungeon World: Sarrenor Rules Compendium
• Monsterhearts: ‘Ask Questions’ Reference Card
• Kobold Quarterly #14 for Free!
• IAYC: Fantasy Newspaper (Free Download)
• ZILLA! – Free ‘Classic Character Pack’

So, do you read Kobold Quarterly? It’s pretty great and has stuff from Pathfinder, 4e and AGE. Also, non-crunch stuff. Still not sure? Well, it’s your lucky day. Download Kobold Quartlery #14 for FREE up until February 14th. Some info about the issue:

Issue #14 was the extra-big Gen Con issue, and in its pages you’ll find:

• Exclusive Pathfinder content, including two articles by Paizo staff
• The Ecology of the Tengu—in Golarion and in Zobeck
• An interview with 4th Edition D&D lead designer Rob Heinsoo
• Treasure Trove articles with phat loots to improve your game and bring smiles to players
• Paladins, secret languages, and aasimar PCs
• Secrets of Game Design by Monte Cook
• So much more that it makes us dizzy to even think about it!

All you need to do to get your PDF copy is go to the KQ Store, add issue #14 to your cart, and enter the coupon code KoboldWelcome at checkout. Enjoy!

You might also be interested in reading...

• Dungeon World: Sarrenor Rules Compendium
• Monsterhearts Actual Play – Edgegate, Part 1
• IAYC: Fantasy Newspaper (Free Download)
• ZILLA! – Free ‘Classic Character Pack’
• Link Hoard: Free RPG Round-up

It’s done!

Life has run away on me this year, but I have finally managed to complete the fantasy newspaper I promised as my contribution for I Am Your Champion. I had some interest, but few donations, and that’s fine. I had fun making it and I hope those who donated to my charity are happy with the result. This isn’t just for them though, it’s a free download for everyone. I’ve made a parchment version and a print-friendly version. I hope you enjoy this and get some use out of it

Game masters can the newspaper for hooks, NPCs, adventures and worldbuilding or even just as a source of random rumours, information and goings-on. I think the best use for it, though, is for GMs to read it, think about it, then next time the PCs are in a tavern tell them “Someone’s left a newsletter on your table. It looks like this…” and then just give them the handout. I love doing this sort of thing in game and I hope you’ll enjoy my attempt at a fantasy newspaper, inspired by a thoughtful present my wife and friends made for me a few years ago.

If I get enough interest I might just make another issue. Enjoy

You might also be interested in reading...

• ZILLA! – Free ‘Classic Character Pack’
• I Am Your Champion: Act for Peace
• Campaign Setting: Hang Ups
• Demonsea: Ships of the Demonsea
• Fever Dreams – Entertainment Built on Pyres

It’s Free RPG Day again. Last year I released my first roleplaying game on Free RPG Day. It’s called ZILLA! and is a game of destruction, mayhem and love. You’re a giant zilla on a city-smashing rampage. Zillas are powerful and hard to kill, but they are prone to becoming enamoured with humans. Will you fight another zilla, escape the city to a better place, smash the city to the ground, or even… find love?

This year, I have released a free character pack with three pre-generated zillas for you and your friends to take to town. This is the ‘Classic Character Pack’ and it isn’t hard to see the inspiration behind Thoron, the giant lizard with atomic breath, Leoptra, an enormous psychic moth, and Kapparo, a gargantuan magma-infused tortoise.

Download the classic character pack for free. If you don’t yet have the game itself, download ZILLA! for free too.

Happy Free RPG Day, everyone!

You might also be interested in reading...

• ZILLA! – My Free RPG Day Offering
• Link Hoard: Free RPG Round-up
• Fever Dreams – Entertainment Built on Pyres
• Dungeon World: Sarrenor Rules Compendium
• Monsterhearts Actual Play – Edgegate, Part 1

In the spirit of Free RPG Day, here is a list of some great RPGs that have been free all along. Some I’ve played, some I haven’t, but they are all great games. Feel free to add more in the comments.

Remember a while back I was posting about I Am Your Champion?

There’s just been a lot going on lately, so unfortunately the Pyres have gotten a little cold. I just wanted to post to let you all know that I’m still around and I haven’t forgotten about the fantasy newspaper. I’m working on it, slowly, and still waiting to hear back from one person who donated. If you’re reading this and haven’t emailed me your donation receipt and information about the content of your article, please contact me at pyresofvam@gmail.com.

Anyway, below you’ll find a layout preview of the fantasy newspaper. There’s only one article there so far, but you’ll get the gist of the final product by checking it out. Feedback and comments are appreciated as I continue working on this free publication.

Download the ‘Word of the World’ Layout Preview (PDF 157 kb)

You might also be interested in reading...

• I Am Your Champion: Telling My Story
• I Am Your Champion: Upping the Ante
• I Am Your Champion: Act for Peace
• IAYC: Fantasy Newspaper (Free Download)
• Dungeon World: Sarrenor Rules Compendium

I Am Your Champion has been an awesome, exciting experience. I recommend it to everyone. Everyone has something to offer. Here’s how the week went for me.

For many years I have supported Act for Peace at Christmas through their Christmas Bowl appeal. I knew I could always donate more, but this was the first time I had felt like I could do something more with my skills and gather donations for this worthy cause.  And it has inspired me to donate more to the charity. I’ve contacted them to see how else I can help, but I’ve got the feeling they won’t have a lot of opportunities. If that’s the case, I’ll set up a regular monthly donation. I had been meaning to do this, but IAYC gave me the motivation I needed.

I have a sense of satisfaction writing this post. I’ve done something good for people in need and helped out other Champion’s charities that I may not have even known about before, let alone donated to. I’ve made new connections in the roleplaying community and I now get to create a fantasy newspaper knowing that it has helped people in need.

I Am Your Champion update! If you don’t know what IAYC is, check out this link and/or my original post about this awesome challenge for charity. In that link you’ll learn about the charity I am Championing – Act for Peace – and how you can help me.

I’m supporting Act for Peace by making a free PDF-format fantasy newspaper full of adventure locations, artefacts, NPCs and the like. Donate $5 to my charity and you’ll get your name in one of the articles. Donate more money and you’ll get cooler articles that are more focused around your namesake (or your namesake’s artefact or adventure location!). See my original post for the full reward/goal structure.

I’ve gotten really excited about this since people started throwing in and throwing down and offering combined challenges. So, I’m upping the ante! I’ve added some more sections to the newspaper: obituaries and an advice column.

Read on for info on extra rewards and how you can help out some awesome charities.

A Terrible Idea has come out with another great idea. I Am Your Champion is a game/challenge played in five rounds that will challenge your existing ideas regarding charitable fundraising. Basically, you choose a charity and support it, but it’s more like you use your creativity to provide rewards or thank you gifts to those who contribute to your charity. Jump over to the website to catch up on the requirements for each round. It’s not too late to join in! I’m participating, and this post is me announcing myself, my cause, my goal and my reward.