The Glatisant: Issue #61
The Tabletop Gaming Newsletter from Questing Beast
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Sales
A number of the fantasy art books I reviewed recently like Gwelf and Faeries of the Faultlines are on sale.
Humble Bundle has some huge discounts on Dungeon Crawl Classics, Delta Green, and Pathfinder.
Reviews
Direct Sun Games does an in-depth analysis of Of Mud and Magic, a 1992 puzzle dungeon for AD&D. How does it hold up today?
False Machine reviews Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons & Dragons, which reprints many of the most iconic short stories that inspired AD&D.
Play Material reviews the collaborative world-building game Worldwizard.
I think that Worldwizard is just the Best In Show for games for a group that wants to sit down and build an epic fantasy world from scratch . . . It’s like Sid Meyer’s Civilization meets the Silmarillion
Twilight Dreams reviews the OSE adventure The Shrike.
Plainly stated, this is probably one of the best OSR products I’ve read in a long while, and I’ve read a lot at this point. It’s definitely in my top 5 and I think is what I’m going to reach for when I reach for something to play next.
Playful Void reviews the Mausritter adventure collection Tiny Fables.
This, in my esteem, the best release I’ve seen for Mausritter — it gives away the weakest aspects of the classic Mausritter formula for the strongest parts of the Old School Essentials formula.
Professor Dungeon Master and Baron De Ropp examine some of their favorite indie RPGs like FIST, EZD6 and Into the Odd.
I really enjoyed this flip through of a bunch of RPGs you can only pick up in Japan. It like looking into a parallel universe.
At Questing Beast, I reviewed the Wonderland setting and the Nausicaa-inspired Mothership setting Cloud Empress.
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News and Culture
Dolmenwood has released a very comprehensive Online Rules Reference.
The Black Sword Hack has released a System Reference Document.
Designers and Dragons asks: Is the OGL Era Over? (Two Years Later)
Mazirian’s Garden announces a limited-edition zine called the Oneironaut.
Bob Worldbuilder: The Money Doesn't Lie: D&D Kickstarters have Changed
Phil Edwards: The secret economics of Dungeons & Dragons
SciShow: Your DnD Party is Too Big
Rhystic Studies: 50 Magic Cards about Everything & Nothing
NoClip: The Origins of Dwarf Fortress
Quinn’s Quest: Play to Find Out, S1E1: Skyrealms of Jorune
Little Wars TV: The Surprising Death & Rebirth of Warmaster
Theory and Advice
Save Vs. Total Party Kill pushes back on the idea that the OSR is mostly focused on nostalgia and that “experimental” works are a recent phenomenon.
Gus from All Dead Generations (one of the best adventure writers out there) explains his adventure writing process, and why most adventures are bad.
Gus also has a new Introduction to Dungeon Crawling for the uninitiated.
Sam Sorensen examines what it takes to “Do a Cool Move” in different types of RPGs.
Chris McDowall at Bastionland shares some of his lessons learned from Paranoia.
Murkmail considers different flavors of rules crunch.
Wandering Amid the Fields thinks that running a mystery the easy way boils down to two simple points.
A Knight at the Opera has a seven part deep dive into urban gameplay.
Among Cats and Books also examines how to prep and run sandbox settlements.
I love techniques for skipping dice rolling and resolving things in-world, and this post from Ward Against Evil on running illusions does just that.
The same author also has an excellent post on growing the RPG tradition.
Lost Pages discuses what happens when you give your magic-users limitless spells.
Mediums and Messages reveals how you can create interesting dungeon schemes by examining everyday objects around you.
Matt Colville discusses the phenomenon of the Forever DM.
Worldbuilding
Goodberry Monthly: Ivory Towers
Goblin Punch: The Hungering Dark
Rise up Comus: Scars, Ten Staves of Wizardly Might, and Worldbuilding through the Rebuking Cleric
All Dead Generations: Fear in a Handful of Dust: A Brief Barrow Fields Gazetteer
False Machine: Deep Janeen
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