These Old Games

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Making a List and Checking It Twice...

I have a list of things to do regarding the blogs, the podcast and my products and DriveThruRPG. Here is a list of things you should see in the coming months.

These do not include continuing series posts which shall continue as per normal. So far, those are reviews, spring model posts and a summer gaming updates.

General cleanup on the blog will continue pace, which is something I try to hit once a week. I will be updating the photos of figurines to be compliant with my planned updates. This will allow me to play with my camera for item 5.

1. Rerelease Swashbuckler Character Class as "Character Pack for OSR and AD&D"
A. Write new character classes.
      i. Write 3 Kobold character classes.
          a. Classic kobold class as per monster stats.
          b. Folklore kolold class as per legends.
          c. The kobolds of Minawan tribe character class in my campaign.
      ii. Adapt 3 new classes for this pack.
          a. The Hoodlum/Gangbanger class.
          b. The Monomach class.
          c. The Unicorn/Pegasus class.
      iii. Create 2 new classes based on military fiction.
          a. The 70's Era Veteran class.
          b. The Space Marine class.
B. Provide files in four types.
      i. A4.
      ii. 8.5x11
      iii. 8.5x11 folding book style.
      iv. 5x7 booklet style, requiring cutting on the purchaser's part.

2. Remaster Kobold's Folly on Drivethru.
A. Create a map suitable for printing, poster size.
B. Ensure this map is suitable for VTT online games.
C. Add the aforementioned mention Kobold character classes.
D. Write an adventure for this book.

3. Remaster Compass Rose Inn mini-settling on Drivethru.
A. Create a map suitable for printing, poster size.
B. Ensure this map is suitable for VTT online games.
C. Write an adventure for this book.

4. Record new podcast based on HuckSawyer's feedback.
A. Avoiding the TPK.
B. Why TPK's happen.
C. Avoid dicing your way through TPK's.

5. Put FridayNightDeathSlots.com into production
A. Record videos.
B. Edit video.
C. Record audio voice over.
D. Launch Pilot.
E. Collect data on viewer's opinions.

6. Update 716exchange.com blog
A. Coming phone changes in the Western New York area for national suicide prevention hotline launch. (Deemed critical. complete.)
B. More reviews of Western New York products, companies and events.

7. Update unpwned.com blog with tutorial on flash drives.
A. Purchasing.
B. Drive formats for a variety of OSes.
C. Troubleshooting.
D. Common flash drive ripoff schemes and how to address.

Saturday, May 8, 2021

A-Wing Test Two - Coding Crazy

I'm still monkeying around with code. I like it! I closed up those spaces between the rows of hexes. Here is a screen grab on from a desktop browser.

I need to make this mobile compliant.

Friday, May 7, 2021

Episode 009 - Gwyneth Paltrow and the Total Party Kill

It's Friday and I have another episode out.

Gwyneth Paltrow and the Total Party Kill.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Lighter Reading - What I Do on Wednesdays

I'm reading for my next couple of reviews. I like to print stuff out for reading. Today, I fired off The Lake of Abominations -- Hex 17.23 by Third Kingdom Games (Todd Leback) to the printer. Since I have Mr. Leback's Into the Wild coming in the mail, I was going to use this as a model for a hexcrawling module.

Yeah... I don't know about a hexcrawl module, either.

Anyway, this funny thing keeps happening. My printer insists that blue is a grey scale color.

I should have printed in color, because the whole thing is packed with color maps. But in grey scale, my printer keeps coloring the black lines of the art in blue. I couldn't do that if I tried. I actually like it a lot.

Wacky technology.

Anyway, back to the module idea. I'd like to revamp both my Kobold's Folly and Compass Rose Inn mini-setting maps into full blown modules. It will probably take months.

I also have a third idea for a map of Miledown, another setting placed in the middle of my Peninsula of Plenty map. Miledown is a small town in a valley. I already have the cover art ready to go. It's just a matter of writing... you know... a description, a story and an adventure.

Little things.

Let's hope this comes out
less phallic looking.

Of course, since I am going to need maps, I am updating the Peninsula map to a standard 6-mile hex map. When I started out, I was just blue skying and didn't have the scales right. This will fix that. I have an area 150 hexes by 60 hexes planned. About the size of Italy, which the campaign is based on.

One upside to this is I now have a name for the Human Capital: "Rhoom". I wanted run with a counter-factual idea that Remus instead of Romulus survived the foundation of the city.

Guess what? That doesn't work because Rome was named before Remus and Romulus and "Romulus" means "a man of Rome". Crazy ancient mythology.

I decided to just steal from Shakespeare:

That her wide walls encompassed but one man?

Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough,

In Shakespeare's time, "room" and "Rome" were pronounced differently and rhymed, making the pun complete. So with a little poetic license the capital is now called "Rhoom".

I started with the Lake Potamus area and moved out from there. This lake is squeezed between forests, mountains and savanna lands. It's named for the Hippos that live in the region.

This detail allows me to have chains of forts and fortified houses on the plains. They are fortified against the wildlife and not actual invaders. It's kind of handy because it keeps the Rhoom Empire and Elven Dwarven Combine in a cold war in the area. It's hard to travel the savanna without encountering beasts.

This is the valley of Miledown.

It's less thought out right now, but coming along nicely. Since it is a hidden vale, they don't have many visitors. It doesn't look unusual to visitors but it does have several mysteries.

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

That's Not New - Episode 008 - And... Ah... This Episode Was Recorded Before a uh... a Live Studio Ah... Audience

In this episode, I talk about Gemstone IV, RoleMaster, Computers, Beginnings, Endings, Changes and Connections.

The Tek - April 2021

In April, my DriveThruRPG downloads were up. Probably because they couldn't go down.

AD&D Character Sheet For Use with Unearthed Arcana: 8
Compass Rose Inn Minisetting: 2
Kobold's Folly: 3
Swashbuckler Character Class for D&D and AD&D: 2
These Old Games Presents: The Hex Pack: 3
Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners: 2

Webstats were also up.

Google Analytics Pageviews - 1,032
Google Analytics Sessions - 591
Pageviews per Session - 1.75

All and all I am pleased. I need to work on updating both my products on DriveThruRPG and rethinking my next couple of series. I am afraid I won't be able to hit all of them this year.