The Glatisant: Issue #68
Halloween OSR sales, scifi megagames, and modules as DM screens
It’s time for the monthly link roundup! This is a free public post for all subscribers.
Sales
Tons of sales are on right now for Halloween! Here’s some of the standouts.
My highly-acclaimed haunted mansion crawl The Waking of Willowby Hall is 50% off (only $3.75) for a limited time!
Exalted Funeral has a 20% off sale on their horror titles, and if you use this link or the code “QUESTINGBEAST” at checkout you should get an extra 10% off the books they publish, like OSE’s Halls of the Blood King.
At Humble Bundle, World of Darkness has a Physical Bundle and a Digital Bundle where you can get hundreds of dollars worth RPGs for a fraction of the MSRP. Magpie Games also has a massive bundle of 27 of their games.
DriveThruRPG has a big Halloween Sale here, or you can check out just the discounted OSR titles here, including titles like Ashes Without Number, The Stygian Library, and The Shrike.
This Month at Questing Beast
I published several new articles for Questing Beast supporters. If you would like to read them, as well the rest of my locked posts, consider becoming a paid subscriber here or on Patreon! Building the Real-Time Dungeon explores how far we can take Shadowdark’s real-time torch mechanic by applying it to other subsystems and Truman Show Campaigns asks: “What happens when RPG worlds revolve around the PCs’ lives?”
I published five new book reviews on YouTube: The Land of Eem Boxed Set, 28 Collected (a look inside the grimdark Warhammer subculture), Parsely (a text-adventure party game that my kids love), Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy, and Barrows & Borderlands.
I also attended two conventions: GameHoleCon in Madison, WI and TsunamiCon here in Wichita. I played a ton of games, including Mythic Bastionland, DCC XCrawl, Daggerheart, Nimble 2e, and five games of Shadowdark, including one set in Barkeep on the Borderlands! I got to meet and hang out with James Maliszewski, Mike Mearls, Ben Riggs, Dave Thaumavore, Justin Alexander, Travis Miller, Tyler Stratton (of Pirate Borg), Esper the Bard, and many others. Thanks to everyone who said hi, came to my panel, or played in my Knave game!
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Have an upcoming Kickstarter or an RPG project you want to promote? Advertise in The Glatisant (23k subscribers) using this form or on the Questing Beast channel (113k subscribers) using this one. If you want to send me books for review consideration on Questing Beast, mail them to Ben Milton, 6446 E Central Ave #127, Wichita, KS, USA 67206.
Reviews
Mythlands reviews James Spahn’s White Box: Cyclopedia
. . . if you could only ever game from a single rulebook for the rest of your life, it’s hard to imagine a game that would yield more good times at the table than this one. I don’t think I can give higher praise than that really.
Playful Void reviews the delightfully weird What Ho, Frog Demons!
Overall, What ho! Frog Demons is a flawed but fascinating module, that innovates on a few interesting things that clearly haven’t caught the popular imagination . . . The series as a whole is probably one of the consistently strongest I’ve read, despite my criticisms.
Valeria Loves has a very interesting take on how to make Fabula Ultima work by playing it completely “wrong.”
Old Men Running the World reviews the free game False Kingdom.
IN A SENTENCE: It’s Medieval Forged in the Dark Paranoia.
Deficient Master reviews Taryn Pound’s (Indestructoboy) game Vagabond.
News
The biggest news in RPGs right now is the completely bananas Mega-wargame OVER/UNDER that’s being run as part of Mothership Month 2025. I can’t wait to hear about what happened once it wraps up.
Two adventures that got their start on the Knave 2e Adventure Jam are now crowdfunding! Check out Duginthroat Divided (amazing art) and Turn it Off: An Eldritch Horror Adventure.
James Spahn is developing a solo RPG called Torch and Blade based off of my game Maze Rats!
The recent Appendix N Jam ended and produced a ton of excellent, free adventures to run. Here are some of the best.
Direct Sun will be launching the Puzzle Dungeon Jam in 5 days!
Cats Have No Lord has launched the Onegeon Jam, which is all about creating a single interesting dungeon room.
Patrick Stuart’s books are once again shipping again to the USA.
DriveThruRPG is apparently now selling offset books as well as POD ones. Curious to see what the quality looks like.
Gavin Norman announces an important update to OSE.
While publishing the game in these multiple formats caters to different tastes and preferences, it’s also proven to be confusing for new players, not to mention logistically complicated keeping all the different formats in stock. Going forward, we’ll be consolidating Old-School Essentials into a pair of core books: the OSE Player’s Book and Referee’s Book. These two books form what we’re calling the 2026 Update of OSE.
Theory and Advice
Fae Errant: The Lost Art of Getting Lost
Puzzle Dungeon Design: Themes and Gimmicks
Dungeonfruit: Zero Sum Game (A Magic System)
Cryptickeyway: SOMETHING Happens on Every Watch
Patchwork Paladin: Making Good Choices
Traipse: The 10 types of special rooms
Pointless Monument: Bastion Station Mall: Alternate Mothership Starting Equipment Loadouts
Tales of the Lunar Lands: Modules as DM Screens
Among Cats and Books: Glory as Reputation
Grinning Rat: 100 Ways to Improve Your GMing
Worldbuilding
The Nothic’s Eye: Consumerism, Consume Me (Treasures from the Maul of America)
I Don’t Remember That Move: STRANGE AEONS - SYDNEY
The Alexandrian: Elven Teeth
Nerd of the Rings: ArdaCraft: A Tour of Middle-earth in Minecraft 2025! This might be the most astonishing worldbuilding project I’ve ever seen.
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So great to see a review of Borders & Borderlands! OD&D releases tend to fall by the wayside.