Scored free loot!

Sword & Wizardry module
Castle & Crusade module
Tunnels & Trolls module
2x LotFP modules (most neglected of them all, I think the 18+ scared many away)
DCC/ X Crawl module

and best of all... a DCC core rulebook! (was a grand prize for PF We Be Goblins, Too, for those who ranked best on tables and wanted it. but they all wanted the PF module instead and no one else wanted the DCC book. score!)
:cheerleader:

Skipped out on the Star Wars, Cosmic Patrol (and crayons!), and Shadowrun/Mechwarrior. They might still be there later this week when I return for my weekly rpg game. Or perhaps in the trash, who knows. Though I want to get another LotFP module, as that thing is hoss! Danforth art on T&T always worth it.

Gonna see if I can wrangle a Smash TV Pathfinder X Crawl game next week, too.

Quote from: RPGPundit;663377What I meant was that Free RPG day escalated quickly; the level of quality of free product seems to me to have gone up exponentially this year compared to last.

Last weekend I visited a game store in Berlin.
The last Gratis Rollenspieltag item they had (of the German edition of Free RPG Day, held February 2) was the German Call of Cthulhu quickstart booklet.
64 pages (24 pages rules, plus two adventures), small print.
I didn't count words but this is close to the amount of text that made up the first edition of Das Schwarze Auge.

(The content of a retailer box can be seen here.)

Quote from: Opaopajr;663506and best of all... a DCC core rulebook! (was a grand prize for PF We Be Goblins, Too, for those who ranked best on tables and wanted it. but they all wanted the PF module instead and no one else wanted the DCC book. score!)
:cheerleader:

A score indeed!  Enjoy the full-metal-goodness!

Quote from: Opaopajr;663506S

and best of all... a DCC core rulebook! (was a grand prize for PF We Be Goblins, Too, for those who ranked best on tables and wanted it. but they all wanted the PF module instead and no one else wanted the DCC book. score!)
:cheerleader:

So what you're saying is you benefited due to the immense stupidity of others?

Man, I dunno if you're trying to harsh my mellow or congratulating my fortune.


But yeah, CCGs are big here and PF really scratches that deck building itch for them. Everything else seems like an afterthought. The joys of modern gaming competitiveness, I guess.

However I do try to insert my love of the zany, and a few are toying with wacky deck madness. I hope the attitude becomes infectious. I'll run a DCC game and see if it inspires.

Quote from: Opaopajr;663774Man, I dunno if you're trying to harsh my mellow or congratulating my fortune.

I personally find it extra-gratifying when I profit from the stupidity of others.  The Pundit-haters being significant contributors to my success, for example...

Quote from: RPGPundit;663762So what you're saying is you benefited due to the immense stupidity of others?

That's often the best way to get ahead in life.  

JG

So, I dropped by Wizards Chest this last Saturday to see if anything was left over for the Free RPG day.

I did find the Cosmic Patrol had a couple of leftovers, so I snagged one.

But what was really curious for me is that they had about 15 or so (didn't count) copies of the Hall of Bones adventure there.  I don't blame people who didn't pick it up - the cover didn't excite me, and the book is... uninspired, and the adventure is just a handful of rooms in a dungeon without much life to it.  Compared to Pathfinder's offering it's not a very good module, and compared to "Better than any Man" it's useful to start fires.

I was also underwhelmed by 'Hall of Bones'.

After receiving '1975' (introductory by design, basic, vanilla) as swag for attending NTRPGCon I was surprised to see that 'Hall of Bones' was similar fare; especially after hearing that 'Grimmsgate' is similar to '1975'.

An adventure designed to introduce old-school dungeoneering doesn't have to contain the 'same old stuff'.  The Cobbler in 'Hall of Bones' was the most interesting part.

I think I would've rather seen something S&W that refers to (or "sells me on") the settings of Slumbering Tsar or Rappan Athuk or something; or something designed to nest within Stater's Hexcrawl Chronicles (and then say so in the adventure).  Dazzle me, then upsell me!

I thought the braggadocccio on the back cover "when men were men..." and two inside pages describing old school aesthetics were salt on the banal wound. If you're going to upsell, you best deliver. Overpromise and underdeliver is a bad combination.

The cover art was meh, but the interior stuff was decent. Some of the treasure was pretty clever, too. The traps were a bit meh, but at least they seemed logical defenses and natural habitat, instead of insane byzantine affairs.

The lack of NPCs, or even any non-confrontational encounters, upon the surface of the abandoned town, let alone the lair, really cut an unflattering OSR presentation, IMO. That more than the linearity really sucked the wind from the sails. I don't need gonzo, and I can spice a linear stroll down a pier like the next GM, but outside the motivations of "adventure! treasure!" it's a lonely trek to the treasure chest. I need something besides static scenery to interact with; even a basic time pressure or BBEG escape route (or non-combat sub-routine) would have been enough.

Less chastising the modern gamer, more showing the modern gamer what he may have missed.