OSR News Roundup for May 27th, 2024

It's the last Monday in May, and in the States it is also Memorial Day. There are a number of interesting and cool-looking projects coming up on Kickstarter, and I'll be covering those when they go live. Until then, here's what I found from last week.

• Not a new game, but one that is new to me and I thought looked really cool. Born From the Sand, by GM Shail, is written for Into the Odd and features a dungeon in the shape of an inverted pyramid. It's a free, playtest version of the adventure, and from what I've read of it there's some really good ideas in there.

• I'm a sucker for games with charming artwork, and FTW scratches that itch as well as providing an interesting framework for non-OGL rogue-like dungeoncrawl games. There's a ton of content in there for a PWYW game.

• I've been a fan on cats have no lord for awhile; they produce consistently good, quirky little games and adventures. Their most recent release is Leviathan. It's a system-agnostic sci-fi horror written for the 2024 Sci-fi one shot jam. I'm impressed by how CHNL is able to produce content in a variety of styles and systems.

• Vaults of Vaarn is a cool-setting/game that's been difficult for us to keep in stock. Issue 4 of the Vaults of Vaarn zine is currently out in pdf form, and it sounds like print copies will be available through the author's webpage.

• I'm never sure what to think of releases that are dual statted for 5e and OSR games. I've got nothing against 5e -- goddess knows I incorporate some of the aspects of 5e into my stuff -- but I'm never sure how well they convert directly as dual-statted releases. I bring this up because I see that Project 666, Vol. 2 is live on Drivethru, with a bunch of random tables, items, and more statted for both 5e and standard OSR-style stat-block.

• The Thing From the Swamp is a B-movie inspired adventure for Mork Borg. I think it's an interesting idea concept and might play really well with Mork Borg.

• As many gamers of a certain age, the Spelljammer giant space hamsters holds a special place in my heart. Downsized Press has released issue 5 of their zine, which presents giant space hamsters inhabiting a mini-dungeon.

• My social media feeds have been blanketed by art previews for the Painted Wastelands, a new game that will be hitting Kickstarter pretty soon. The art is absolutely gorgeous and remind me of the Ultralight Grasslands. They've got a free preview of the PW up on Drivethru.

• Charles Ferguson-Avery, of Into the Wyrd and Wild and others, has released their megadungeon Ave Nox on Drivethru. It's designed to be system neutral, with an emphasis on exploration and piecing together forgotten histories.

• Faces of Clay is an interesting looking release for OSE. It's billed as either an easy role-play encounter or a difficult combat encounter, and I see it as potentially being a good introduction to OSR-style play for those who might not be as familiar with the playstyle.

• It's the last week (sale ends May 31st) to take advantage of our zine sale. You can take 35% off all in-stock zines by using the coupon code "Spring24" at checkout.