Tower of the Moon Free OSR Adventure

The Tower of the Moon is a monster-haunted ruin, its shadow falling over dark forest and desolate wilderness. Only the brave or foolish dare its secrets. A classic style adventure of Gothic Horror for three to five 3rd-6th level adventurers.

Those familiar with the Original Edition line of RPGs I've been developing over the years will recognize David Pulver's work. He is a well known long time writer in the RPG business, most of his work was for Steve Jackson games on their GURPS line. We've been talking for a while about publishing a line of books from his own personal writings and gaming.

This first one is a test to see if Pay What You Want would be the best pricing for an OSR adventure.

As you can imagine writing for RPGs is demanding work with minimal compensation, and I thought it a good idea to create some products that could provide some royalties for him later in life. He get's 50% of each purchase, your generosity is appreciated. If this does well we'll try to publish more of his books.

Check it out here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/289553/Tower-of-the-Moon

My First 10 RPG's

These are the first 10 RPG's I ever owned.

1. Keep on the Borderlands
2. AD&D/D&D (Moldvay edition)
3. Gamma World
4. Star Frontiers
5. Marvel Super Heroes
6. Indiana Jones (TSR)
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
8. Top Secret SI
9. GURPS
10. Dragonquest

But Keep on the Borderlands is an adventure, not a stand alone RPG...well it was the very first RPG product I ever owned and it had those invaluable combat matrix and equipment tables which allowed me and a friend to fumble through playing the game.

The first AD&D books I got were: Player's Handbook, DM's Guide, Deities & Demigods, and Fiend Folio for Christmas in 1982. I didn't get the original Monster Manual until a year later. So the FF was my monster manual, which might explain a lot of my weird tastes.

Indiana Jones (TSR) gets a lot of flack for being the worst RPG ever, and probably deserves that moniker if you only consider the boxed set. Once you add the Judges Survival Pack it's a pretty nifty game that captures the spirit of the genre.

Gamma World 2nd edition is the best version and shows if TSR had any awareness should have turned the AD&D system into a universal roleplaying game before GURPS took that title.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of my favorites, and the first non-TSR RPG I owned. I still get a warm fuzzy feeling when I think about it, even though the Palladium system isn't the greatest.

I played way too much GURPS in the Army. It was during the 2nd edition era of AD&D and we hated what TSR did to it. Looking back it's not all that bad, just some aesthetic decisions that were a turn off. It didn't go far enough in redesigning and improving the game. 3rd edition is really what 2nd edition should have been. GURPS had a fully skill based system, crunchy combat, and no classes or levels. Everything I thought was wrong with D&D at the time, now I think the opposite.

Dragonquest was feared by TSR as a potential D&D killer. Looking back their fears were a little silly, it's ok but was never a threat. They bought the game, published like one book or something, then quietly killed it.

Bookmark Dungeon: Shrine of Odolric the Cruel

This is a mini adventure that fits onto a standard 2"x6" bookmark.

Shrine of Odolric the Cruel
Deep in the jungle a lost shrine to a forgotten goddess bodes ill will.
A bookmark adventure for 2-5 players of 4th-6th level.

1. The entrance is covered in detailed sculptures of snakes. Staring at them too long they seem to writhe.
2. Three columns each in the form of a naga. They have 6 jeweled eyes worth 50gp each.
3. The ceiling has partially collapsed. To the left the passage is completely blocked. There is a 50% chance some rubble will fall when exiting causing 1d6 points of damage.
4. A Bone Naga lurks here. She is a guardian who will attack any trespassers.
5. Chimes hang from the ceiling covering the entryway here, they are easily passed through, but will be noisy.
6. Four small worship chambers are here. Searching each of them can uncover up to 200 gp, but will alert the Yuan-Ti in room 7.
7. 2d4 Yuan-Ti are worshiping a demonic statue of Odolric the goddess of cruelty. She is in fact a Marilith demon. Reading the inscriptions on the statue will open a secret space with a bejeweled +3 dagger, and summon her within 1d6 rounds, she is not pleased.

Dungeoneer Review

A rather positive review of Dungeoneer by the writer/director of Bone Tomahawk (a really well done independent film staring Kurt Russel!).

"A clever dungeon crawler that focuses on quests, exploration, resource management, and battle.
Dungeoneer is smartly done and really enjoyable, though an undervalued boardgame...
Generally speaking this is a clever dungeon crawler that focuses on quests, adventuring/exploration, character modification, resource management, and battle. Leveling up occurs quickly, altering playing styles, and during the course of a game (approx. 40-60 minutes for 2 players), characters will explore rooms, escorts prisoners, take skill tests, alter the shape of the dungeon, challenge other players, fight monsters, deal with traps, boost skills, build a pack of monsters, and do many other things.
...
That so much memorable and creative adventure comes in two decks of cards rather than a 20 pound box of stuff is to be applauded."

Read the full review here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RLV7ZGCTJXQV2/

Clip Art for your Small Press Book

Do you need artwork for that really cool adventure you wrote? Need an old-school style cover layout for your OSR inspired roleplaying game? On my store are several images you can purchase as clip art to use. The prices are very reasonable, especially compared to the cost of commissioning art.

Each image includes a license and full resolution image. Some of them are even layered PSD files and have suggested color schemes and fonts for layouts you might want to use. Check it out on ThomasDenmark.com

If you need adjustments to the layout, or minor changes to the art you can purchase additional graphic design service to customize the image to your needs.

New images are being processed and continually updated. If you'd like a particular image you've seen on my art blog or portfolio you can ask if licensing rights are available. Thanks for checking it out!