This...

 

Progressively Fated Back to Live

 

(Sasch, Dr. John PhD, J.A.S.)

Huzzah! Our gaming group (ha, well some of us anyway) met for an in-person game only the fourth time since Covid restrictions first manifested in March of 2020. We had BBQ, jam, game - the works, almost like The Beforetimes(!).

We generally run our "New-Old" OSR game every-other month (plus we has a special going-away game with Anton last November), so that's 4 out of 16 - not to bad.

The turnout was a bit low. Two players were online and another home sick with Covid. We have a couple gamers who weren't attracted to our online deal and we have yet to entice them back to the ways of the flesh.

It was good to actually roll them bones though. During the lockdown I got all new Gamescience non-borked dice. Don't look today though, all the good shit is out of stock. Except the "Pound of Dice" for sixty bucks. Hmmm what is up with that then? Of course I have all these precision dice, and I roll on the table with all these decorative divots in the glass.

Humans - not perfect - and I like it that way. 😊 

Honor Among Thieves

Trailer released for the New D&D movie "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"

I spy...

Neverwinter(?)

Black Dragon

Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love"

Vecna(?)

Giant Spider

Owl Bear

Gold Dragon

Underdark

Drow

Fireball

Mimic

Displacer Beast

Gelatinous Cube

Tarrasque

Party: Barbarian, Bard, Mage, Fighter, and Druid.

DunDraCon/Green Hell Post Mortem

 

Santa Clara Marriott with Eerie Green Parking Lights

Room 147

Player's Facing Screen Sides

Ref's Facing Screen Sides

Ha, I was busting my ass to make this multi-faceted Arduin time warping mystery scenario, then only had three players show up. Drat! But I am still super glad I made it out to the inaugural DunDraCon at the Santa Clara Marriott hotel.

It was all good though, I was able to use the random encounter tables and dungeon map then relocated the weird encounter and Mcguffin - right as rain! 

And while I was able to use my fancy "Green Hell" Arduin Ref's Screen with to-hit, saves, and turning tables, I do need to get more familiar with the Arduin Trilogy physical book. I have been so used to using the old PDF that I just search by term for what I am looking for rather than understand where information is in the context of the whole tome. 

We did it though - ran Arduin Trilogy right out of Dave Hargrave's rules. Har, except there are some bits, such as spells for instance, where the Trilogy presumes at that point you have access to some D&D.

All-in-all I had a great time, made new friends, and scoped out the new hotel for when my regular gaming group makes an excursion. Take aways: Be flexible, don't trip, and get the adventure started!

Green Hell at DunDraCon

 

109 Green Hell
Friday February 18, 2022 at 6 PM in 147 for 8 hours
GM: Matt Morrison
Type: RPG
System: Arduin Grimoire
Edition: Original Trilogy
Players: 5
Provided: All characters provided by GM
Power Level: 15th
Variations: enhanced w/OD&D, AD&D, B/X D&D, BECMI D&D
Rules Knowledge: Useful
Game Content: Mainstream

Lost in the tracks of the Green Hell is a bitter wound on the land that suppurates a poison that once almost slew the world. Here, in this salted land, something stirs once more to trouble the world...

Emperors Choice Games and Arduin are Back In Business!

 

Great and Fantastic News for Arduin Fans!

Dave Bukata and George De Rosa from Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures Corporation announced yesterday (Wednesday, October 27th) that the company is re-opening after a years-long hiatus and Arduin gaming materials will again be distributed back into the TTRPG wild!!! (Very exciting for folks like myself.)

I reproduced their complete announcement below, but key is that through the end of the year December 31, 2021 you will be able to order from the Arduin catalogue items at their prices from 2015!

Shipments understandably will be somewhat delayed, essentially these will be pre-orders to be shipped between now and end of January 2022 as existing stock is inventoried and new production ramped up. But for an opportunity to get print editions of long-out of print Arduin products at regular retail prices this is GOLDEN!

My personal recommendations:

1. The Arduin Trilogy hardbound - $ for $ this is the most iconic Arduin product, completely in the original words and writings of David Hargrave, and virtually ready to drop into your old-school OSR D&D, AD&D, OSRIC, Swords & Wizadry, Labyrinth Lord, Lamentations and other OSR rules based around the classic versions D&D.
2. World Book of Khaas - This tome has been "unobtanium" for almost a decade, not out there for any price. The World Book was written long after Dave Hargrave passed in 1988, but it is based on Dave's extensive archives and others who gamed with Dave and carried on the setting long afterwards. It is bar-none the most complete description of the Arduin setting in a system-neutral, stat-free, encyclopedia. 
3. Map of Arduin - Emperors Choice map for the Country of Arduin is a spot-on reproduction of the map from Dave's home game. The map is printed on durable parchment-style paper and includes the locations of 3 of the 4 Arduin dungeons Dave published during his life, plus Talismonde and other major cities, significant sites such as the Plateau of Forever, and more.

This is a HUGE development for RPG fans who want to broaden their gaming vistas with additional gameable races and classes, monsters galore, new spells and magic items, fabulous adventure locations, and more. Fans of Arduin should get their orders in once they can to support the universe one of the giants from RPG history, David Hargrave! You will not regret it. 😁

The "Complete" Arduin Announcement:

Hello Fans,

Emperors Choice Games & Miniatures Corp. (EmpCho) has updates to share:

The new online store will be located at www.empcho.com  

The new website/store is scheduled to be fully operational on November 7, 2021, for taking pre-orders.

Emperors Choice Games & Miniatures Corp. is an independent company, which produces its own products; we do not have large quantities of stock on hand in between manufacturing runs.  Miniatures are often manufactured on demand in house, and printed products need time to be ordered, produced, and delivered to EmpCho. Books and miniatures are then, packed and shipped by EmpCho.  Pre-Orders will allow us to determine how much product we need to manufacture and order. We apologize for pre-orders, but we are anticipating a lot of orders. All of Emperors Choice Games & Miniatures Corp. products are proudly made in the USA.

An email will be sent by November 1, 2021, to everyone with past unfilled orders to place their order into the new store. We cannot import the past orders into the new store. Therefore, if you wish to keep your past unfilled order, please place a new order into the store.

All orders received will be shipped by the end of January 2022. This is due to the large quantity of past orders, time to produce the books, manufacturing of the miniatures, and shipping during the holiday season. If overall production escalates more rapidly, then the timetable will be moved up. Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures Corp. (EmpCho) will work extremely hard to complete all orders as quickly as possible!

As a Thank You to all our fans, our prices that are 7+ years old will remain in effect for all orders, with only very minor change for very few items. These prices will remain in place until 1/1/2022, at which time an increase will take effect due to increased raw material and/or printing costs.  In addition, our 10% discount for all Veterans will remain in effect indefinitely and all customers with a past order will receive an additional 10% off their entire order! This can be combined with the Veteran discount, for a total of 20% off for a Veteran, with a past unfilled order.

We also wanted to take the opportunity to clarify a bullet from the last post on which was: “There are things in the works besides the new website and storefront. I will be posting news on Arduin as it becomes a reality.” This statement simply means Emperors Choice Games & miniatures Corp. is working on NEW Arduin products for the future, and as things are developed for release, then we will inform everyone.

Emperors Choice Games & Miniatures Corp. looks forward to continuing to bring Arduin to the world. This cannot be done without all your help and support through the years, now and in the future!

In the words of David A. Hargrave:

“To you and yours, I lift a tankard of Rumble Tummy’s ale in respectful salute!” 

Dave Bukata
President
Emperors Choice Games & Miniatures Corp.

George De Rosa
Vice-President
Emperors Choice Games & Miniatures Corp.

Game Coming Up

 

(Original art by Robert Altbauer)

Our next in-person & remote hybrid game is upcoming. Sasch runs a Pulp Cthulhu game with some of the same players from our D&D game so we are expecting aberrant encounters.

Ruh-roh, atmospheric river approacheth...