OSR News Roundup for August 19th, 2024

Let's jump right in and see what's new, shall we?

• BlueMountainBooks has released a free hexcrawl on itch, inspired by Luke Gearing's Wolves Upon the Coast. At the Base of Blue Mountain includes seven dungeons, nearly sixty hexes, and more.

• Ventis was an entry in the Vaarn Summer jam, and is a city located at the edge of Vaarn. The art is really stunning in a minimalist, Vaarnian sort of way. I think this is a great little product to pick up either for Vaarn or to mine for ideas to plop into other settings.

• Another Vaarn adventure is Penumbral Oasis, Part One, a three level dungeon for characters of level 1-3.

• Trouble at Bigby's Meadery is a system-neutral, lighthearted adventure that packs a surprising amount of content into 34 pages. It's the publisher's first product, which is always really great to see.

• Dice Goblin Games has published Deep Delve, an adventure inspired by The Stygian Library and compatible with either Block, Dodge, Parry or Cairn. If you're looking for an adventure set in an abandoned dwarven mine this is the one for you. It's also available through Drivethrurpg.

• Dark Tales for Dark Times is an OSR bundle now available on Drivethrurpg. It features eight publications by different authors, some adventures, some supplements, that all are written for OSR-style games. It looks to be a good bundle to pick up to get a sampling of some lesser-known OSR authors.

• I'm a sucker for a good kids on bikes game, and Teenage Oddyssey (not a typo) is another entry into the genre, this one embracing the awkwardness and humor of adolescence. The art is spot on and really captures the vibe. This game uses the Mark of the Odd system used by Into the Odd and others.

• One of my favorite things about doing this roundup is when I get to mention a game that is crowdfunding and then it pops up as published some time later, and I get to plug it again! The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow is one of these. It's the first hardback adventure written for Liminal Horror. It also features art by one of my favorite artists: Amanda Lee Franck.

• Another such adventure is the seacrawl Wind Wraith, by Lazy Litch, who has really found a niche putting out spooky, creepy mini-settings and games.

• Continuing with the nautical theme, The Undying Sea, by Dungeon Age Adventures, is an Into the Odd game set in a dying world.

• I'm in the process of harvesting peppers as the growing season begins to wind down, so it was perhaps serendipity that I stumbled across The Chili Rat Chiefs, an Into the Odd (lots of stuff for ItO this week!) adventure, a fun little short scenario that would work well as a one-shot.