New Old School Games & Art
For those enjoying the Celtic Legends books, here is a simple character sheet done in the classic B/X style but formatted for a half-sheet. The hue of the green is the same as the Irish flag.
Celtic Legends Faeries & Spirits
Celtic Legends The World of Eire
On a side note, someone asked about the order of the Saving Throws on this sheet. I explain it here: Saving Throws by Edition, Unified
The print-on-demand edition of Book of Valkyries made it through the approvals gauntlet and is available at last. If you've been waiting for this, you can also get the Print + PDF combo.
Print & PDF are available here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/559961/book-of-valkyries
If you are curious, here is a preview video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0kzJLhBwHY
Yesterday I received the proof copy of The Book of Valkyries. It's hard to believe it's been over 5 years of work on this little book. Though this is only the tip of the iceberg of this project. The proof had a few tiny things to fix (normal last-minute polish), but those are done, and the final file is off to the printers.
While the print copy is still in the approval stage (it takes ~2 weeks typically), the PDF is ready now! For those only interested in a digital copy for your collection, it's available. Or you can wait for the print copy if you prefer that format. I'll announce here and on various forums when that's available.
This project has been a true labor of love. Every illustration was done by hand, and a lot of care went into making sure the material feels grounded and respectful to the source myths while still being usable at the table. The Valkyries are such compelling figures, beautiful, fierce, mysterious, and a little unsettling in the best way.
Your campaign will be enriched by the inclusion of these beautiful and terrifying demigoddesses. Even if you're not running a Norse Mythology setting, these characters will fit in well with any epic fantasy as emissaries and violent instruments of the gods.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/559961/book-of-valkyries
The Ranger class makes its first appearance in Strategic Review Vol. 1 Issue 2, in an article written by Joe Fischer. It is remarkable to note that no official Ranger class exists in original D&D even though it is considered a staple. It isn't until the publication of the AD&D Players Handbook that one is published.
Who is Joe Fischer?
On another thread this was posted:Gygax says: “Joe Fischer played in my group, and he did an article in THE STRATEGIC REVIEW introducing the Ranger Class for the D&D game. From that I built the AD&D version.”
Q: "Likewise the Rangers use of magic user spells, as opposed to more nature based magic. Was the ranger originally intended as something else than the foresting, robin hood type ?"
Gygax: "Ask the originator of the class, Joe Fischer. I polished his original material for The Strategic Review, and all the readers loved it the way it was, to it remained in that general form for the AD&D game. No sense in fixing something that isn't broken as far as most players go."
Joe also wrote a series of articles in Strategic Review and early The Dragon magazines on Hints for D&D Judges: Part I - Towns, Part 2 - Wilderness, Part 3 - The Dungeon which were reprinted in Best of the Dragon I.
The original Ranger has many of the tropes that are still associated with the class: hard to surprise, a bonus against giants, some spell use at high levels, and tracking of course. This article is written a little rough; it can be a bit hard to make out how it all works, and it has one of the worst kludgy mechanics to be found in OD&D (and that's saying a lot). 4 XP for every 3 XP until 8th level. Why not just reduce the XP required per level by 25% at levels 1-7?
The third book in the Celtic Legends series is now out, and it feels like a good time to say a bit more about how it fits into the broader pile of things I’ve been tinkering with.
If you’ve seen the Norse material I’ve shared here before, this sits in a similar space. I tend to think of these lines less as separate projects and more as related branches, different expressions of the same underlying idea. That idea is something I’ve been calling Terra Mythica for a while now: a loose framework where real-world mythologies can coexist within a shared campaign space.
It’s not meant to be overly systematized or locked down. The appeal, at least for me, is in letting these traditions retain their own tone and identity while still brushing up against one another at the edges. If I had to point to a comparison, the closest might be Riverworld, though the similarity is more conceptual than literal.
Celtic Legends itself is written by Rob Stone, someone I’ve collaborated with quite a bit over the years. This particular corner of mythology is very much in his wheelhouse, and it shows. My role on these books was limited to layout, the voice and substance are all his.
If you’re curious, you can take a look here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/559206/celtic-legends-the-world-of-e-ire
More to come on Terra Mythica as it continues to take shape.
