Dungeon Salvage Project

Over the last few months, I've had a good sort through my old gaming collection, and also taken the opportunity to snag a few bits and pieces from eBay. Some of these items are games that hold no interest for me as games, but are crammed full of good things that may be harvested, and bent to the will of the OSR gamer.

First up is Parker's 2003 Dungeons & Dragons: The Fantasy Adventure Board Game.  If released today, this could easily retail at $60.  On eBay they appear for next to nothing. In fact, I picked up my copy from a local seller for 99 pennies, as no one else bid for it.

Ignoring the rules, the character sheets, and most of the cards, the rest of the contents have real potential for using in a regular game of D&D.

Here's what you get:

• 5 double-sided, full-colour card gameboard tiles
• 3 slot together trees
• 6 slot together columns
• 100 small red counters
• A selection of counters to represent: slimes, chests, doors, and runes
• A selection of cards with magic items and traps that reworked for other games

Plus a good selection of plastic minis (all about 25/28mm scale). My box came with an additional set of painted versions of the adventurers, which was a nice bonus.

• 4 adventurers
• 6 goblins
• 1 lich
• 2 wights
• 3 ghosts
• 6 skeletons
• 2 carrion crawlers
• 3 trolls
• 5 gnolls
• 4 bugbears
• 4 ogres

The game itself might be okay, but I think I'd rather stick to Carcasonne.

Lego Heroica

When I saw the post about this game on Grognardia , I was intrigued.  There's a little more detail game on Brickipedia, but I think it will be a few months before we get much more.  The first four products in the line are:

• 3860 Castle Fortaan (basic set)
• 3857 Draida Bay (expansion set)
• 3858 Waldruk Forest (expansion set)
• 3859 Caverns of Nathuz (expansion set)

On Brickipedia, one of the expansions is shown priced at $14.99, which may not be final, but seems about right when you compare it to existing Lego games.  If that price is correct, I would expect the larger, basic set to come in at $24.99 or $29.99.  Sadly in the UK, it will probably cost the same amount in pounds.  Like most of the other Lego games, the scale uses tiny, micro lego figures, rather than the larger, mini-figures.  This may disappoint people who have an existing collection of mini-figures, but the smaller scale does help keep the sets at reasonable price points.

Ashby de la Zouch Castle

I'm quite lucky to have several castles, and a load of old churches and manor houses, all within 10 miles of my home in Leicestershire. One of my favourites is Ashby Castle. Until the 15th Century, it was little more than a fortified manor house. Then King Edward IV gifted it to Lord Hastings, who set about giving the I'm 9th Level build so I'll build a stronghold treatment.

 Although the castle is now just a ruin, visitors can still climb 78 feet to the top of Hastings Tower. A later addition to the castle also survives in the form of an underground passageway, linking the kitchen and the tower. This dungeon isn't always open to the public, as it can get a little flooded, but luckily it was last time I was there. Only minimal artificial light has been installed for safety in the entrance chamber, and spending just a few minutes down there makes it easy to imagine you've just wandered into Stonehell. Another thought that struck me was how narrow the corridor was. It makes me wonder if dungeons with five foot wide corridors would be likely. Also, underground chambers would be fairly cramped places, with lots of irregular architectural features for nasty things to hide behind or in.

 Here's my pictures of the castle. The ones in the dungeon were taken with flash, but they still give a sense of how dark it was down there (my wife and daughter are standing about 25 feet down the passageway in one of them, and are barely visible).  I'll snap some pictures of some other local buildings as I revisit them throughout the year.
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dragon Warriors less than Half Price Sale!

I had a great day of gaming on Saturday, and central to it was the Dragon Warriors adventure which features in the hardback edition of the main rulebook.  Our group also welcomed back another old player from 25 years ago, so it was all the more fitting to play a game that we hadn't played since the 80's.

Our interest is Dragon Warriors has been largely rekindled thanks to Mongoose offering huge discounts on their edition of the rulebook and supplements.  The hardback rulebook is on offer for just $17.99/£12.99, or you can get a bundle with an additional 6 supplements for $79.99/£49.99

Main Rulebook Link
Bundle Link

Mongoose are selling off all their stock, at what must be fairly close to cost price, as their license for the game is about to expire.  A new company will picking them up though, so the game will continue to be supported with existing and new material.  I may also start to include some Dragon Warriors features in future issues of Oubliette.

Oubliette 5 Printed Edition Out Now!

The printed edition is now available to buy at Lulu.com.  Back issues of the previous Issues are also available, along with a Compilation Edition of Issues 1-4.

Oubliette Issue 5 Print Edition

Oubliette 5 Chalks Up 500 Free Downloads!

Just a quick note to say thank-you to everyone who has reviewed or given this issue a mention.  The giveaway is proving to be very popular, and a short while ago reached 500 downloads.

Issue 5 Now Available for FREE Download!

Issue 5 of Oubliette is now available for FREE download from RPGNOW.com Here's a link straight to the page for it:
Oubliette Issue 5

As a thank-you to everyone who has supported the magazine by buying it, reviewing it, and generally offering encouragement, Issue 5 will be available for free download from rpgnow.com until the end of March.

Here's the full contents:
• Tales from Hell – Words of Wisdom from the Soothsayer
• Monster Club #8 – The Monstermark System for Labyrinth Lord
• The Vampire – 12 Pages of Alternative Rules for Creating Labyrinth Lord Vampires
• Good Shop/Bad Shop – Mad Varto's
• What's on the Battlemat? – Dungeon in a Box
• PC for PCs – A Very un-PC Approach to Dealing with Paladins
• What's in the Oubliette? – A Selection of Gaming and Other Reviews
• Mouse Watch – Our Heroes Enter a Storytelling Contest
• The Song of Sithakk – Part 5 of our Serialized Story
• Plus Bonus Material comprising: Cleric Spell Cards for Labyrinth Lord, a Blank Vampire Record Sheet, and a Blank Template for Dungeon in a Box