Random RPG Roundup

So, a lot has come up recently that I want to talk about, but none of it necessitates a whole post. So, what do you get? You get a little ttrpg tapas table of goodness. Without further adieu, on to glory!

New [ish] Products

First of all, I bring you product reviews. Understand that my early D&D experience looked a lot like Travis Miller's, as outlined here. That said, I try not to focus too heavily on buying stuff. Sometimes, though, I like to buy things. Don't we all? Then, I like to review those things here.

Towns & Taverns

For Christmas, my wife got me The Dungeon books of Battlemats, which I talked about in my Holiday Gift Guide. Meanwhile, I pre-ordered the Towns and Taverns set from my friendly local game shop, Comic Store West because I do a lot of Urban-ish adventuring. My primary, longest running campaign is Waterdeep Dragonheist, and I also have a Saltmarsh campaign, where we spend a lot of time in town. 

Again this is a great set. It's portable, versatile, and well designed. I can throw this in my bag with my set of Lazy Monster Tokens, and I'm ready to run some serious urban D&D. My only disappointment is that the town themed clings I ordered with it have not yet arrived. I'm really hoping to see those soon.

Player Character Pawn Collection

So, I've been waiting for this product for quite some time. I've mentioned it here on the blog in other posts. I picked my copy up a few weeks ago, again from my friendly local game shop, Comic Store West. 

Since discovering Paizo's Pathfinder Pawns, I have been nothing but positive about this product. They're reminiscent of the Cardboard standups that TSR put out with their Thunder Rift line, beginning with the fabled Black Box. I bought both the 1st and 2nd edition Bestiary boxes, and the NPC collection. Then I began to look for something for my players and hit a brick wall.

The Heroes and Villians collection was awesome, but is no longer in print and not available. The Pathfinder Society - Pawn Collection was also awesome, but also not in print and no longer available. So, I waited for this Player Character collection. 

So, I finally have them, but I have to say... meh. They're pretty good, but they're also very specific. I loved that the old pawns felt very system-agnostic. I could use them with Pathfinder 1, D&D 5e, D&D 3.5, Old School Essentials, 2nd Edition AD&D etc. The new PC pawns really double down on the new classes in Pathfinder 2, as one would expect, but really don't offer a breadth of classic fantasy characters. I will use these, but I really wish they were more like the old discontinued sets. 

DM Inspiration 

Now from products to knowledge and, dare I say, wisdom. I'm constantly looking for inspiration to help me make a better game of D&D for my players. Man, did I hit the jackpot about mid December when I stumbled upon Dungeoncraft!  

Dungeoncraft

So a cursory look at this Youtube channel may lead you to believe that it is only about crafting dungeon terrain, but that is only half of what is here. DungeonCraft is about running the "ultimate game of Dungeons & Dragons". If you're a DM, and even more so if you're a DM for kids, you need to pay a visit or two to Dungeon University and enjoy a lecture or two from Professor Dungeon Master. Professor DM's approach to magic, improvisation, combat, and so many other topics has led to an instant improvement in the pacing of my family game. The hook that caught me randomly from my Youtube suggested videos was "D&D Prep: Stop Flipping Through Rulebooks! (Episode #85)." I'm playing Ghosts of Saltmarsh with just my kids. It's the smallest game I run. My other two games include 7 kids and one adult player. Sadly, this home game, with only 3 players is my slowest. We're constantly looking things up, despite all of my prep. The above video was great, but more importantly, it sent me down the Dungeoncraft rabbit hole where I discovered so much more.

Here are the three videos you need to watch now. Seriously, GO WATCH THESE!

DungeonCraft #3: The Secret Every DM Must Know

DungeonCraft #13: Speed Up Combat

DungeonCraft #37: How to Handle Magic in D&D & Pathfinder

There's a lot more where these cam from. A great runner-up would be DungeonCraft #22: The SECOND Secret Every DM Needs to Know. Either way, you may not agree with or apply everything he has to say, but it will improve your understanding of the game. 

VTT Tools Revisited

I recently did a whole post on Virtual Tabletops, as one of my games moved online as a result of the pandemic. Well, I knew nothing about this next tool when I wrote it.

Owlbear Rodeo

In my original post about Virtual Tabletops, I shared how you can use Google Slides, a tool almost every student in this country has access to / an account with to stand in as a VTT, along with Discord or Zoom or Google Meet. This was based on  this video by Tabletop Terrors. My argument was that this had the lowest barrier to entry for young players. What if there was something that worked better with a lower barrier to entry (no account necessary for players)? 

Owlbear Rodeo is straight brilliant. Owlbear Rodeo, as explained on the site, is an attempt to make a web app to run tabletop encounters without the complicated setup process needed for other VTTs. For a more in-depth review of this fantastic tool, check out Mike Shea's post on the topic.

Nostalgia and Print on Demand

Captcorajus 

This YouTube channel is all about Retro Dungeons and Dragons. Just as advertised, old school D&D definitely does rock! Whether you're an old-school D&D player like myself, or brand new to the hobby, Captcorajus' reviews of old rule books and modules are informative and non-confrontational. This channel is not about trying to convince you that the version of D&D you're playing sucks and you need to get back th Thac0 if you really want to call yourself a D&D player. This is a channel where you're invited to discover how much fun old school modules and settings can be to play even today. Old school or new school, gamers can learn about the history of D&D, and how they can use classic modules in modern D&D or D&D retro clone games. 

I recently dived head-first down the Captcorajus rabbit hole, and as a result I discovered the following: 

1. I really missed out on Mystara, or "The Known World". There's a lot there to explore, especially when bringing new / young players into the game.
2. There are a lot of great things to be learned, particularly about dungeon crawling, from old school retro clones, or modern games made from Original D&D.
3. The most important thing I learned, though, is that DriveThruRPG has a lot of old games available as Print on Demand. This means I can re-visit the worlds of Planescape and Dark Sun without spending hundreds of dollars on Ebay.

DrivethruRPG

So for the last couple of years, I've lived in bitter disappointment. Somewhere between a divorce and 3 moves, I lost my 4 Planescape Box Sets and my original Dark Sun box set. I got a Pdf for the original Planescape setting, but it's just not the same as having it in print. I considered trying to use Peechu or a similar service, but was concerned whether I would get flagged for copyright. Then I was watching a Captcorajus video and found out about DrivethruRPG's Print on Demand service. I went on the site to buy the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, and ended up being one of the first folks to get the newly available Planescape Campaign setting as Print on Demand. I wish I had sprung for Hardcover, and I may yet do so. This thing is beautiful! I can't wait to get the rest of the sets.