OSR News Roundup for April 29th, 2024

It's the last Monday in April and time for another Roundup. Last week I had the privilege of interviewing gaming journalist Lin Codega. They talked about their new project, Rascal News, the state of the gaming industry, AI, and more. You can find the interview here. This issue seems a little light on released to me; perhaps many creators are finding themselves drawn outside to work in the garden and enjoy the warmer weather like I have been.

• There's an itch bundle going on right now to support trans rights in West Virginia. You can get an amazing 529 titles for 5.00, and this includes a number of OSR titles, including FIST, Brewkessel #1 (one of the my favorite adventures from the past two years; am eagerly awaiting Vol. 2), The Dessicated Temple of Locha, and more.

• I stumbled across the PÈLERINES x AORI NOX Kickstarter and was immediately intrigued by it. Written by a team of French creators, and beautifully illustrated, it's an ambitious, two book collection of science fantasy gaming designed for solo or group play. I'm really impressed by the scope and the attention to detail in all aspects, from illustrations to the physical construction of the books. They could use support in reaching their goal, though, so if it sounds interesting you should consider backing.

• I really don't see that much stuff being sold through Lulu, but Wuggy has just released their print version of The Undermall on that platform. I mentioned the Undermall awhile back in a previous Roundup; it's written for Electric Bastionland and is set in an abandoned, underground mall.

• Jeffrey Jones, of Gary's Appendix, has just launched Journey Into the Madlands, a post-apocalyptic setting using Old School Essentials.

• Attack from Space: the Mork Borg Ditto Game, is available on Drivethru. Play a medieval knight battling alien invaders in this game, formatted to look like the ditto worksheet copies many of us will remember from school in the 80s and 90s. The art is absolutely top-notch.

• Downsized Press has released Volume 4 of Downsized Dungeons, their OSE compatible mini-zine. This issue is influenced by John Carter on Mars.

• ZZ Walker has released Kobolds of Karnath Canyon, where the players take the roles of kobolds battling invading adventurers. It looks like there are some interesting ideas in this produt.

• Sometimes I see something that I don't know how to classify, and Candle III falls into that category. It bills itself as a "fantasy audio magazine", but I must confess I'm not sure what it is. You can get a pdf or a print version, and it looks like it contains some interesting stuff, but I'm left with the feeling that I'm not cool or punk enough to get it. Some of the readers of this column may be, however, so this one goes out to y'all.

• I haven't seen that much recently coming out of the immensely creative LatinX scene, but I did see the other day that Tragos Games has released Metamorphosis BX, a hack of Rolim's MiniBX that is a South American take on Metamorphosis Alpha.

• Medieval Mercenaries is a short zine that provides guidance for adding mercenary companies to your fantasy games. Ever since I read Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion trilogy in middle school I've been fascinated by this overlooked aspect of gaming.

• Shadow and Fae 2e has just been released on Drivethru. It allows characters to take the role of fairy tale characters. It looks like a delightful little system, inspired by GLOG, that is in the process of being polished.

• We've added a number of Used titles to the Sabre webstore, including a selection of classic Rolemaster titles.