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I love this reprint, absolutely love it. There's enough info here to keep a GM/DM whatever you want to call them busy with their players for a LONG time. Calling this an adventure would be incorrect, it's more like an entire campaign setting and it's one of the first for D&D. Like the other Wee Warriors DM Kits it will need some fleshing out and preparation by the DM. The maps are beautifully reproduced here and the text is crisp and legible. It seems like it was originally set up to be played by low level characters but any DM worth anything can certainly raise the stakes with this kit. There's plenty of intrigue within these pages but it's up to the DM to decide how far and where to take it.
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Amazing! Thank you for bringing back this hidden gem! Storytelling at its best!
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I can't say enough good things about this reprint. The artwork on the borders of the maps is crisp and clean as is the line work on the maps themselves. The imperfections in the hashlines on the map have been dutifully recreated giving this reprint a truly authentic feel to the original. The text is clean, and is a faithful recreation of the orginal as far as I can tell. Descriptions are sparse in this publication, practically non-existant but this is not a critical comment from me as this Dungeon Master's Kit is more of an outline for an adventure; it was expected that the Dungeon Master plop this down into their campaign and flesh it out with their own details and expand on the bare bones story given at the beginning of the book. There are no added tables or stat blocks in this reprint, as there were none in the original since it was assumed by the authors that the reader would have access to books with the stats for creatures and fighting men readily to hand. Not to belabor the point, but this is as far as I can tell a completely faithful recreation of the original. If you're interested in owning a piece of gaming history or don't mind putting in some minimal work for an adventure then you need to buy this.
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This is a stunning recreation of this classic title, the text is clear and legible, the maps are crisp and sharp. I've been looking over the text carefully and it's a faithful recreation of the original word for word as far as I can tell (minus the welcome removal of some glaring typographical errors in the original). If you don't want to use the additional "Mythical Section A" that was added on to give more flavor to the title you don't have to, it's not required for this "DM's Kit" but I like it and it's well written within the style of the original publication. I absolutely love what Precis Intermedia has done in preserving this title including letting the reader know what parts were added onto the original so an "authentic" experience can be had if one wishes.
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Full review with other Palace of the Vampire Queen related material here: http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2020/01/classic-adventures-revisited-palace-of.html
In the beginning, there was a belief that all DMs would naturally create all their own adventures and there was no market for pre-written ones. The only printed adventure out at this time was "Temple of the Frog" in Blackmoor. Seeing a need, the Palace of the Vampire Queen was written by Pete and Judy Kerestan. Yes, the very first adventure was co-written by a woman.
The first edition was self-published, followed by a second and third edition by Wee Warriors (1976 and 1977) and distributed exclusively by TSR.
The "Dungeon Master's Kit" (module was not being used yet) presented a simple adventure with a singular goal; defeat the Vampire Queen. The plot, such as it is, is very thin even by the standards of what would later be the norm. The maps are fantastic, but the descriptions are little more than that; what's in the room in terms of monster and treasure. We get a background, the missing princess of the Dwarf King Arman of Baylor. Vampire Queen herself remains nameless.
The adventure itself is fairly straight forward. Go to the Palace, defeat the monsters and the Vampire Queen and save the Dwarven Princess.
Despite, or maybe because of, this limited background this adventure can be used anywhere with nearly every version of the game. I became aware of this adventure many years ago and it immediately went on to my "must find" list. Around 10 years ago I was able to get a copy and I ran it for a group using Moldvay Basic/ Cook Expert (BX) D&D. It was a lot of fun. There was no indication on how many characters were needed or what levels.
The adventure reminds me a bit of the Dungeon! board game. You walk the halls, kick in the door, kill the monster, take the treasure, repeat. Of course, this adventure is the first of such adventures so it gets a huge pass on this. There is a lot though here to keep any DM and party busy.
Since 1976 the adventure has had a few reprints. The first ones were by Wee Warriors. These prints regularly go for over $1,000.00 on eBay. There were two such covers, the "black" cover with a castle in the background and the "queen" cover, featuring the vampire queen herself.
Now today, Precis Intermedia has a new cleaned up reprint of the adventure.
This version of the adventure also preserves much of what made the original a classic. The PDF of this book has a "special feature" to show a reprint of the original NSFW art. The print copy is all paper, with the cover made out of heavier weight paper (like résumé paper).
At 24 pages it might be the most faithful reproduction yet. While the cover is new art, the interior looks like the classic. No additions have been made to the text. The maps are cleaned up, darker ink and clearer to read.
At under $5 this is a great price for a piece of RPG history.
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Completely over the top fun. The mechanics and setting both strike a perfect balance between humour and functionality. It's good humour and good mechanics combined. In addition to facing down the alien lizardfolk and their high tech devices scenarios are also provided for battling greedy dwarven artificers and undead farm animals (zombie meat!) looking for revenge against the carnvirous barbarians.
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The Enhacement Pack has a few add on rules for Coyote Trail; A bunch of new Cliche options to customize your characters, rules for explosives in the game and three new ready to play character teplates; the Foreign Madam (brothel owner archetype), the Troubled Doctor (Seeking to quiet the voices of war patients he couldn't save) and the Woodsman Hunter (the mountain man type who only comes to town to sell his catches and resupply).
Best of all, you get a full game adventure! A wealthy gambler enlists the aid of the pc gang in finding a missing stage coach, his friend who was a passenger on it, and its cargo...confederate gold! It's a great one or two session scenario for just about any gang of PCs.
The material mostly appears in the revised Coyote Trail Expanded core rules, but if you're still running the original Coyote Trail or Shady Gulch rulesets, it's a great expansion. The adventure alone is worth the modest price!
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This addition to Swords and Six-Siders really makes an already great game even better. Many more optional features, classes, spells, monsters, etc. are introduced in this supplement, and it is packed with the old-school goodness you'd expect. Clerics and their accompanying spells are finally in the game, along with “Pathfinders", which remind me of Rangers --- sans magic. There's also Alignment (even for Intelligent Swords!), Languages, Beyond 6th Level, Strongholds, Hirelings, Familiars, Move Ratings, Criticals and Fumbles, Special Damage (asphyxiation, fire, etc.), Traps---with a ton of them already made up for you!, and several new monsters. With this Companion and the Swords & Six-Siders RPG you have almost everything you'd find in the other retroclones, but only needing 1d6 to pull it off instead of a full set of polyhedral dice! The thought of a 1d6-OSR anything seemed impossible in my mind ‘til I took this system for a spin. I'm SO glad I did! Everything is much simpler… combat, monster stats, you name it! Get Swords & Six-Siders and this Swords & Six-Siders Companion and dial back all the complexity but keep all the flavor for yourself! You absolutely deserve it!!!
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Quite a bargin at $5, the Fudge dice I bought are more expensive (but you don't need Fudge Dice).
Somehow just the right level of detail. Love it. Especially love characters on an index card.
Does not include random character generation rules. But I didn't need them anyway.
BUY IT
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks for taking the time to provide your thoughts. |
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Good and interesting graphical design, good layout, and it's important to try and promote diceless gaming, although, I would have liked to see less lists and more fucus on directing good play around the table.
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This PDF is 173 pages (169 are the content).
Artwork is ok, b&w.
Exiled in Eris is Sword, sorcery and blaster fantasy.
P15-24: Your character concept, involves: where you came from, Family background and Profession, and why are you in Eris.
Artifact hunters are the general profession.
Certain weapons and armour are restricted (only available to military and Noble houses).
Exiled in Eris uses a D20 for tasks; other dice are used (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12).
Races: Human, Cyberdroid, Dakazi, Deru, Drudge/Brux. Myrmidon/Orix, Savant/Ix.
Attributes are: Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Agility, Intellect, Wits, Charisma, Willpower.
There are 16 skills, and 6 restricted skills.
Exiled in Eris does remind me a little of Mekton (first edition)..
At £5.25/$6.95, it's worth a look.
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This PDF is 42 pages, 40 are the content.
Your party guide the scholar to some 'ruins'.
Some encounters, a puzzle, etc. Not too bad.
There are portraits of the NPCs; also Maps (some are quite small, need enlarging).
Artwork is OK.
Like the rulebook, this PDF gives me the 'Mekton' feel', in style, look, etc.
Not bad for $5.00/£3.18.
Worth a look.
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Great for when you want to add cards to tailor the Masterdeck for a specific genre or an idea you have for a campaign! The cards can easily be added or switched out for different genres or campaigns to capture a different feel. Same quality as the Masterdeck and subplot/plot development cards also sold on Drivethru. Thanks for making these available!
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It's agood useable system, with a small amount of tweaking I've adapted it to a post apocalypse, alien invasion style game, simple but totally great basics for a mixed player age group
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This is a super lite fantasy offering in the vein of 0-e of the original RPG. In it you will find ideas for the standard races and classes found in most fantasy games.
The games hook is that you use a single d6 for all rolls. This means attributes are generated with 1d6, tasks are performed the same way. It is a perfect way of doing things for a pick-up group or even a longer term set of sessions. It is lite enough to allow for quick play but has room to add things as you go.
Very fun and quite worth the read!
And lest I forget... there is a small group dedicated to this game forming up over on G+
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/100500584349717966351
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks! I'll note that the group has moved to MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/sss |
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