Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Zombie Encounters

Welcome to the final entry in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I have posted 26* d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... zombie encounters.

Of course it's zombie encounters. You expected zebra encounters?

I know, I know, I know. Everybody and his mama is probably doing Z for Zombies today. Who gives a zombie's ass? This is a free PDF download. How many of those other zombie posters are doing that?

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Zombie Encounters page from MediaFire.




It was actually 27, since I posted two "i" PDFs, but the goal was to post
1 PDF for each letter of the alphabet, which I have done.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Yanked, Cranked, and Turned

Welcome to entry 25 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... things that are yanked, cranked, and turned
(i.e., levers, switches, gears and other assorted devices).

Coming up with a really great "Y" entry was tough. As is evidenced by the fact that, even with the offer of a free PDF up for grabs via a Google+ post, that nobody guessed right what it would be. Again, this is one of those entries where the letter-to-subject connection is a tad of a stretch, but still leads to a very useful set of tables.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Device Generator from MediaFire.


Monday, April 28, 2014

A-to-Z d30: "X" Marks the Spot

Welcome to entry 24 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today, "X" marks the spot... on this Treasure Map Generator.

Tired of generic "treasure maps" that lead to buried treasure? Use this generator to generate more interesting maps, and even determine if they're usable at all!

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Treasure Map Generator from MediaFire.


Saturday, April 26, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Wizard Encounters

Welcome to entry 23 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... wizard encounters.

At first, I was thinking I'd upload a couple of new worksheets for today's post. I actually have notes on a Major Locations Worksheet and a Minor Locations Worksheet. But that just didn't seem right. My goal is to do 26 d30 charts; that would have made it 25 d30 charts and a couple of worksheets. (Although my "i" day double-post would have technically put me at 26 by the time I finish the challenge, the challenge for me is to a d30 page for each letter of the alphabet. It's bad enough that "Y" is fast approaching and I have no idea what to do for that one. Oddly enough, "X" and "Z" I have covered.)

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Wizard Encounters page from MediaFire.


Friday, April 25, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Village Generator

Welcome to entry 22 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... a Village Generator.

This is really meant to be an extension/companion piece to the "Settlement Suppliers by Size of Settlement" table on page 34 of the d30 Sandbox Companion, but can also be used completely independently of that chart.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Village Generator from MediaFire.


Thursday, April 24, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Underground Entrances

Welcome to entry 21 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... underground entrances.

Essentially, this page generates dungeon entrances. I know it's a bit of a stretch to make it a "U" entry, but I think it works... it's entrances that go from above ground to below ground (and are, therefore, underground entrances).

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Underground Entrances page from MediaFire.


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Tavern Encounters

Welcome to entry 20 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... tavern encounters.

I fully expect this to be the most downloaded PDF for the month. 'Nuff said.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Tavern Encounters page from MediaFire.


Tuesday, April 22, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Swamp Encounters

Welcome to entry 19 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... swamp encounters.

I know these encounter charts by terrain aren't as popular as some of the others I've been doing, but I really like these for a couple of reasons. When you think about it, they really provide you an overview of what should/shouldn't be common in an area. The way I look at it, the common and uncommon types should be the basis for your wandering monster charts in any given area (e.g., roll for 6 different commons types, and 2 uncommon types). Then use a few rare types and 1 very rare type as the centerpieces for adventures in the area. Then everything makes sense naturally. I truthfully believe this is why the founding fathers included frequency as part of the 1e MM listings.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Swamp Encounters page from MediaFire.


Monday, April 21, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Riddles

Welcome to entry 18 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... riddles.

Let's face it, we'd all use more sphinxes in our games if we just had more riddles lying around. Okay, we wouldn't, but you can never go wrong with a decent riddle or two thrown in to your adventure. Most of the riddles on this PDF are taken from Heithreksgátur ("The Riddles of Heithrek"), a series of verse that should have probably been included in the Poetic Edda, but wasn't.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Riddles page from MediaFire.


Saturday, April 19, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Quills

Welcome to entry 17 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... quills.

Today's chart is based on an idea I've had for quite a while.

In the 1e DMG, you'll note that, in order to manufacture a scroll, "A fresh, virgin quill must be used for each spell transcribed." Furthermore, "the quill must be from an animal of a strange or magical nature." Okay... so how often has that character sat down to manufacture a scroll, and assumed they were doing it with a goose, duck, or chicken quill? Not gonna work, my friends. And where are they getting those strange and extraordinary feathers needed to prepare them for writing (and thereby turning them into a "quill proper")? Especially considering they need a new quill after each spell. Yes! Not each scroll, but each spell!

So what I've done is outline a list of extraordinary (i.e., "strange") and magical creatures that have feathers (as well as a couple others of a "normal nature" beyond the standard 1 gp goose, duck, chicken). I've calculated costs for a prepared quill (not the same as a raw feather, mind you), and how that affects the scribe's chances for scribing the scroll, as well as any possible increased effects that may result if the scroll is scribed successfully using that quill.

Use this chart to stock that magic-item shop.
Throw a couple into that secret study behind that secret door in that evil MU's bedroom.
Put a few in a small scribe's case and mix it in with that treasure horde.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Quills page from MediaFire.




Friday, April 18, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Paladins

Welcome to entry 16 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... paladins.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Paladin Encounters page from MediaFire.


Thursday, April 17, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Orcs

Welcome to entry 15 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... ORCS!

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Orc Encounters page from MediaFire.


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Necropolis Generator

Welcome to entry 14 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... necropli. Or is that necropoleis? I'm pretty sure it's not necropolises. Anyway...

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Necropolis Generator from MediaFire.


And the winner of the free print copy
of The Ogress of Anubis is...

First off, thanks for all the comments... and not just the pandering/begging "Gimme, gimme, gimme!" kinds. The "Love the d30 (fill in blank)" kind are greatly appreciated as well.

Next, you guys made the die-rolling easy! With 59 official entrants, that meant I got to roll a d30 and a d6, with the result of the d6 deciding low (1-30) or high (31-60). I would have only had to re-roll if the result came up 30/6. It did not. I did not have to re-roll. The official roll was 11-6, which means entrant #41 is the winner of the free print copy of The Ogress of Anubis.


TROY TUCKER! COME ON DOWN!
Just email your mailing address to ogress@newbigdragon.com
and I'll get it packaged up and sent out to you.

For those of you who don't have a PDF copy, it's a pay-what-you-want at RPGNow (so you can actually get it free if you want!) In addition to the adventure proper, it's got some adventure seeds and blank tomb maps in the back. And it might make a nice springboard into the d30 Necropoleis A-to-Z chart I plan to release later today. (I know that "necropoleis" looks weird, but that's an acceptable plural form of "necropolis" in addition to "necropoli." Who knew?)

Thanks again everybody!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Money (Coins)

Welcome to entry 13 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... money. Specifically, coins.

Haven't you always wondered what's on those coins in that horde? Well wonder no more! Simply roll a few d30's and figure it out! The first roll will determine what kind of image is on each of the coin's 2 faces. And the other rolls take it from there.

Click here to download a free PDF of this 2-page
d30 Coin Generator from MediaFire.


Monday, April 14, 2014

Win a free print copy of The Ogress of Anubis!!!

(Sorry, this is open to U.S. addresses only.)

Whilst printing postage as part of fulfilling an order from the New Big Dragon Square storefront, I accidentally printed postage for the flat rate cardboard envelope rather than the flat rate padded envelope. That means I have a paid stamp ready to go for priority flat rate mail to a U.S. address, so I'm giving away a free print copy of The Ogress of Anubis.

Simply post a comment at the bottom of this blog post by Midnight CST (US) tomorrow (Tuesday) night. On Wednesday, I will randomly choose a winner from the pile and send them a print copy of the book, along with a red/white New Big Dragon button! And if I somehow break 200 unique commenters, I will give away a second module/button set to a different commenter.

A-to-Z d30: Library Details

Welcome to entry 12 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... library features.

Like most of the charts/tables I've been doing this month, I don't see this as much of an end-all-be-all to randomly determining a library. Instead, I see it as as a set of d30 tables meant to start the juices flowing in adding color to that encounter area. Aw, c'mon. You know that more adventures than you care to mention have a library (or at least should have a library).



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Library Details page from MediaFire.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Demented and sad... but social
(a.k.a. "A True Renaissance")

While it's not uncommon to be browsing the RPG blogosphere and see posts beginning with thoughts stemming from something seen on the History Channel or the Smithsonian Channel, how often does one begin with an inspiration or insight gleaned from an interview on the Bloomberg? Well, you may now count at least one among that number.

Early Saturday morning, I happened to catch a replay of an interview with Twitter founder Biz Stone on Bloomberg West (Bloomberg West's content is particularly tech-driven, compared to the company's other various viewer/reader touchpoints). In this interview, Stone talks about a peer relationship with Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter and founder/CEO of Square). He talks about Dorsey being an abstract thinker, and how Dorsey sold the concept of Square... "Payments are a social activity." At 6:30 a.m. CST on Saturday morning during this replay of a interview from days before, that statement blew my mind. That's really a big thought. Think about it. When you buy that cup of coffee at Starbucks, or buy that pint at the local pub, or buy a product from one of your OSR/RPG cohorts... that's a social activity.

I think at the end of the day, that's the reason I preferred the Square platform for the New Big Dragon storefront. I really understood that inherently about Square. My original goal with Square was to be able to take in-person payments at cons, etc. To find out they had a storefront capability was a bonus. By comparison... once I'd made the mistake reaching out to Bank of America to express an interest in their mobile payment options, they were relentless about trying to get me to sign up for their payment device and merchant services (i.e., storefront). If there's one thing I understand about BoA after having been with them since they were NationsBank, it is that they are NOT about people.

I know what you're thinking, "Well that's not really any kind of mind-blowing revelation. In fact, this sounds more like a shameless plug for your storefront." You're right. In an of itself, that statement wasn't a mind-blowing revelation. Everyone knows BoA is not about people, and it's pretty obvious I'll push the the New Big Dragon storefront whenever I get the chance. The mind-blowing thing really came as a result of having recently been privileged enough to spend a little time in Tim Shorts' recently-inaugurated OSR BS Hangout on Google+.

For a while now, people have constantly tried to re-examine the OSR and attempt to make sort of definitive statement about what it is (or is not). Don't worry, I have no plan on doing that here. But the Stone interview mentioned above made me realize that there is one facet of the OSR that is unmistakable... it is inherently social.

We touched on this during Tim's hangout. We each had out own stories about how we discovered the OSR (and what was happening "out there" beyond our individual gaming worlds) and how, in turn, others discovered our blogs/books/etc. I can honestly say, that the reason the d30 Sandbox Companion exists at all, is because in the early days of my blogging, my d30 charts were easily the posts that garnered the most attention and favorable reaction.

The history of role-play gaming is just as social... a group of folks with common interests, gathering week-after-week in an inherently social gaming activity. Blogger and G+ are social mediums that support that. What I'm getting at here is this... we cannot underestimate the impact that social platforms have had on bolstering this OSR community. They have brought us together, forged new friendships, and continue to bring us closer together every day. They allow us to share ideas, insights, and resources. They have bolstered a renaissance not only in gaming style, but in creativity as a whole. And as new platforms become available, the ground for creativity and innovation is going to continue to become more fertile.

Due we truly appreciate that this renaissance extends beyond the old-school slice of that pie? We're not just in the middle of an old-school renaissance. We're in the middle of an everything renaissance.

I have no doubt that the invention of the personal computer is akin to the invention of the printing press. In the last 25-30 years, the computer has put the power of creation and connection at our fingertips (literally). Ironically, though, the internet in-and-of-itself is not much more than a big library. In fact, modernist designer Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (better known as "el Lizzitzky"), actually augered the invention of the internet in his manifesto "The topography of typography" in 1923. (Yes, you read that right... 1923.) He envisioned a infinite, interconnected series of books. But, like I said, at the end of the day, the internet is nothing more than one big-ass library.

The internet is not the true innovation, here. The true innovation is the concept of social interaction over said internet. That is unlike anything the world has ever seen... ever! in the last 5-10 years, that ability to share and support socially (support is the biggie here) has produced the kind of flowering of creativity the likes of which have never been seen in history.

AND WE'RE JUST GETTING WARMED UP!!!

Now do you see why what Stone said impacted me so much? Not just because "Payments are a social activity," but because almost everything we do these days is a social activity.

(BTW, if you +1 this post, you'll only be proving my point.)

Saturday, April 12, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Kobolds

Welcome to entry 11 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... KOBOLDS!



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Kobold Encounters page from MediaFire.

Friday, April 11, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Jungle Encounters

Welcome to entry 10 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... jungle encounters.



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Jungle Encounters page from MediaFire.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

A-to-Z d30 Bonus: Intelligent Swords

Welcome to entry 9B in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
This is the second of my possible four posts for the day for the letter "I."

Earlier today, I released entry "9A" — a d30 Illusions Generator. In that post, I mentioned several "I" topics that I put up as candidates yesterday. By the time the votes came in, I was already underway with the Illusions Generator, and had a start on this Intelligent Swords Generator. If time allows today, I plan on doing as much of the other two candidates as I can (a set of d30 injury tables, and some sort of d30 insanity tables). But we'll see how the day goes.

This Intelligent Sword Generator is a lot like the Sage Generator from the d30 Sandbox Companion, in that it attempts to take a lot of rolls and boil them down to as few rolls as possible. In both 1e and BX, rolling an intelligent sword takes a minimum of 7 rolls (assuming you're giving the sword a special purpose), and up to around 10 or 11 (depending on the number of primary abilities and extraordinary powers possessed by the sword). This page gets it down to as few as 5 and a standard maximum of about 8 (there are some very rare cases where an additional roll or two might be required to replace a primary ability with an extraordinary power, but in BX/1e, this is when you start to get into 12 and 13 roll territory). Anyway... here it is—



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Intelligent Sword Generator from MediaFire.

A-to-Z d30: Illusions

Welcome to entry 9 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... illusions.

I had hopes of getting to at list one of the other "i" topics I threw out on Google+ yesterday (intelligent swords, insanity charts, and injury tables), but the evening got away from me. I did get about halfway done with the intelligent swords page, so you'll probably see it at some point.

I'm not 100% sold on everything about this illusion generator, but think it does a good job of being a thought starter (which is really what I want most of these d30 charts to really do). Will it change over time? Possibly. A lot of charts from the d30 Sandbox Companion went through a lot of refinement before I thought they were book ready. This may be one of those kinds of pages (not that I have any kind of next book planned... which I may or may not).



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Illusion Generator from MediaFire.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Hauntings

Welcome to entry 8 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... HAUNTINGS!



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Hauntings encounters page from MediaFire.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Goblins

Welcome to entry 7 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... GOBLINS!



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Goblin Encounters page from MediaFire.

Monday, April 7, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Forest Encounters

Welcome to entry 6 in my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... forest encounters!

This chart feels pretty balanced to me (as far as creating a good variety of what should be forest encounters, and how common or rare those encounters are). The chart is by no means exhaustive, but it's fairly comprehensive (culling from the 1eMM, as well as the monster sections of the BX books). I think these kind of charts do a particularly good job of putting the common/uncommon/rare/very rare monsters into perspective. For example, most of us probably think of skeletons being fairly common, especially compared to something like vampires. But in the 1eMM, skeletons and vampires are both officially "rare." Hmm.

I did not attempt to convert the number appearing details into a strict d30 variant rolls. I think doing that really jacks with the way the numbers are generated, and levels out bell curves that shouldn't be leveled out. If you insist on rolling the number appearing with a d30, then I suggest checking out the Monster Encounters: Overview, Number Appearing Determination Chart on p. 14 of the d30 DM Companion.

I should also let you know, these kinds of charts are pretty involved and time-consuming. In fact, the wandering monster tables in the d30 DM Companion were some of the most time-consuming of the entire book. So don't think you'll see too many more of these kinds of charts between now and the end of this year's A-to-Z challenge. You're more likely to see the charts like the bandit, dwarf, and elf encounter tables. (In fact, tomorrow's chart will be a d30 Goblin Encounters chart, very similar to those.) While I do find tables like this Forest Encounters page handy, I prefer the storytelling aspects of the other type anyway.



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Forest Encounters page from MediaFire.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

We interrupt this A-to-Z blogging broadcast to announce the opening of the New Big Dragon Square Storefront (and free buttons for those who order from it during the next week)

First off, thanks to those who've already bought from the storefront.
It launched yesterday, and so far so good.

Next, here's the link to said storefront. >>

Unfortunately, I can only offer U.S. shipping right now,
so if you're outside the U.S., you'll still have to buy through Lulu.

For those who are stateside, what's different about
ordering direct from the storefront vs. buying through Lulu?

1. You'll save about $1 per title when buying individually.
Lulu has a lot of margin built in for their vendors/operations.
Without those middlemen, I'm able to offer much better pricing.

Title Price @ Lulu Price @ NBD Storefront
d30 DM Companion $8.95 $7.95
d30 Sandbox Companion $10.95 $9.95
The Ogress of Anubis $5.95 $4.95
Valley of the Five Fires $11.95 $9.95

2. You can save even more on bundle deals.
Again, something Lulu really can't do with print books. For example, if you buy the two d30 Companions as a bundle, you'll save another $1.95 (in addition to the $2 you're already saving). That makes a savings of about $4 vs buying those 2 books together from Lulu. If you buy all four titles together, you'll save almost $7 off the individual pricing (in addition to the $5 you're already saving off Lulu pricing), which makes a savings of about $12 – that's like getting a 33% OFF sale every day!

3. Because it submits your email as part of the order,
getting the free counterpart PDF of print titles is seamless!

As soon as your order is processed (and moves into the "order fulfilled" stream on my end), you'll get an email to that address through RPGNow with a link to free PDF copies of the print titles you've ordered. No more having to email copies of your Lulu invoices to prove your purchase.

4. Generally, your order will ship 1-2 days after you order.
Because the books are already printed, there's no waiting around for the print queue to wait for your turn to print. Even better, everything ships for a flat added rate of $5.95 via priority mail (no matter how many copies/titles you order), which means you get your package 1-3 days after that. (Please note: the 7-day statement on the storefront is just a "safety" in case issues arise with inventory, etc.)

5. I can throw in added premiums.
For the next week, anybody that orders through the NBD Storefront (including those that have already made purchases) will also get a selection of New Big Dragon Buttons! Anybody ordering a d30 title will get a green d30 button, and anybody ordering a non-d30 title will get a red/white or a yellow/red NBD logo button (color depends on available supply). Finally, anybody ordering 2 or more titles will get 1 of each, and anybody ordering the 4-book bundle will get all 3 buttons (the green d30 button, a red/white NBD button, and a yellow/red NBD button). (BTW, in the future, I'll be offering free premiums like 4-page mini-adventures, NBD stickers, etc.)
I'm sure there's some other things I'm forgetting here, but as the day/week goes on, I'll make sure to update this post with that information.

Again, here's the link to said storefront. >>


Saturday, April 5, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Elves

Welcome to day 5 of my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... ELVES!



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Elf Encounters page from MediaFire.

Friday, April 4, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Dwarves

Welcome to day 4 of my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... DWARVES!



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Dwarf Encounters page from MediaFire.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Curses

Welcome to day 3 of my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... CURSES!



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Curses tables from MediaFire.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Bandits

Welcome to day 2 of my A-to-Z blogging challenge,
wherein I attempt to do 26 d30 charts during the month of April.
Today... BANDITS!



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Bandit Encounters chart from MediaFire.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A-to-Z d30: Altars

Yes. I know already I'm going to regret attempting a month straight of d30 charts.
But here's my first A-to-Z blogging post for 2014... "A is for Altar."



Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Altar Generator from MediaFire.