Creature Companion: Shadowdark Edition!

Coming to Kickstarter this January. Creature Companion, with art by Evlyn Moreau and the imaginings of R.J. Thompson. Translated from Old-School Essentials to Shadowdark by Taylor Seely-Wright! Watch for it this January.

Creature Companion Pre-Order Store!

 If you missed out on the Creature Companion (formerly Creature Collection) Kickstarter for Old-School Essentials, BX D&D and other OSR games, now is you chance to pre-order at a $10 discount! What's more, you can add on our entire catalog at discounts as well! If that isn't enough, we have the OSE Rules Tomes (Classic AND Advanced) available at discounts as well! So come check it out and take advantage of the pre-order!

Last 7 Days of our Current Kickstarter!

 We are in the last week of our latest Kickstarter Campaign for Gateway To Adventure Trilogy for Old-School Essential, Classic Dungeons & Dragons and other OSRs! Please check it out if you or your players are looking for some fresh takes for Old School games! Classes, types of magic, spells, combat, all new options can be found here! We have plenty of solid stretch goals! Did we mention that these are sized to fit right along side your current OSE collection? What's more, we have all 3 OSE rules tomes available in various tiers, or as add ons! Check it out:

Gateway To Adventure Trilogy Kickstarter

Wobblies & Wizards "Gateway to Adventure" Interview

 We have been interviewed on Wobblies & Wizards again! This time we were on discussing our latest Kickstarter Gateway To Adventure Trilogy! Go ahead and give it a listen!

Gateway to Adventure interview on Wobblies & Wizards

Wobblies & Wizards Zine Quest 4 Interview!

We were interviewed by our friends over at Wobblies & Wizards again! This time we talk about what Appendix N Entertainment has in store for Zine Quest 4!

You can listen to the episode here!

You can bookmark the Kickstarter for "Zines With Class for OSE" here!

So go give it a listen and if you like what you hear, get a reminder for the Kickstarter, launching the first week of August 2022!

Wobblies & Wizards Zine Thursday Interview: Solar Sanctuary of the Cannibal Corpse

 We were interviewed by our friends over at Wobblies & Wizards again a few weeks back! This time for Zine Thursday discussing our adventure module Solar Sanctuary of the Cannibal Corpse! You can listen to the episode below.

Listen to the Episode Here!

Last Week For Our Current Kickstarter, Creature Collection I

Hello all!

In case you have not been following along, we are currently in the last week for our current Kickstarter campaign to produce "Creature Catalog I"! This is a bestiary for Old-School Essentials featuring and inspired by the art of the talented Evlyn Moreau. At the time of this posting the book will feature at least 46 new monsters, 12 petty gods, clerical orders for those gods AND will be our first hardcover publication. You can check it out here on Kickstarter!

Wobblies & Wizards: Appendix N Entertainment Inverview

 We were recently interviewed on Wobblies & Wizards! The interview cover an array for subjects from gaming and game development to records to the influence of David Lynch on our work and a spot light on our current Kickstarter for Creature Collection I Bestiary!  You can listen to the interview right here!

As always, thank you for supporting us! 

Hidden Hand of the Horla Review On Wobblies & Wizards

 For everyone out there, our adventure, Hidden Hand of the Horla, was recently reviewed on the Wobblies & Wizards podcast. You can listen at the link below!

Listen Here

We Were Interviewed

While we wait of our latest Kickstarter to be approved (the preview can be found here,) we would like to highlight an interview that our owner and author R.J. Thompson was interviewed by Third Kingdom Games a few weeks back! You can read the full interview here Meet the Publisher: Appendix N Entertainment! 

Enjoy, and don't forget to click the "notify me" button on the new Kickstarter so that you know when it launches! 

Appendix N Entertainment: Open Submissions For Modules

Appendix N Entertainment is currently accepting submissions from authors and hopeful authors of adventure modules written for Old-School Essentials Retro Adventure Game. Contracts will vary by individual but will generally follow these guidlines:

1. Pay and contract to be negotiable dependent upon word/page count, ownership of material, and rights for reprinting. 

2. Payment made in USD by check, PayPal or Payoneer.

3. Manuscripts length may vary from the original submission due to layout needs and will be discussed with the author.

4. Manuscripts should include all needed maps or illustrative devices and rough handouts. These can be rough drawings maps and will be reproduced by a professional illustrator or cartographer. If the author wishes to produce their own professional quality maps/handouts/illustrations these will have their own contracts drawn separate from the writing contract.

5. If you don't have a manuscript written, please send a short summary, contact info below.

6. Please look at one of our published adventures to understand the Gateway To Adventure line. We don't use boxed text or text that is designed for the referee to read aloud. 

7. Formatting of monsters stat blocks, spells etc. to follow OSE standards. Guidlines can be found right here.

8. Our mission statement of inclusivity in old-school gaming will be discussed upon contact.

9. The rights of unaccepted, rejected or otherwise unused manuscripts will be maintained by the original author.

You can contact us and submit to appendixnentertainment@gmail.com. Please title the submission "Gateway To Adventure Submission".

We look forward to your submissions!

Solar Sanctuary of the Cannibal Corpse: REMASTERED!

 Hello all! This is just a brief post to let everyone know that we are are currently remastering Solar Sanctuary of the Cannibal Corpse. This will be done in our current format, as we have recently done with The Child Thieves and the remasters of Octhorrorfest! and Hidden Hand of the Horla. Solar Sanctuary will be re-written and feature a new layout for ease of use a the table, along with some additional material and new cover art! 

You can back the Kickstarter here: Solar Sanctuary of the Cannibal Corpse: Remastered Kickstarter

New cover with new art from Clayton Williams!

2nd Printing of Octhorrorfest, 3rd Printing of Hidden Hand of the Horla - Now on Kickstarter

Appendix N Entertainment has launched our 5th Kickstarter! The purpose of the Kickstarter is to put to of our best selling Old-School Essentials/B/X supplements back into print! We are completely out of the 1st printing of Octhorrorfest and both the 2nd and 3rd printings of Hidden Hand of the Horla! If you're playing OSE and looking for a starter adventure, more spells, more classes and new BX compatible rules, this is the place to be! If you are playing OSE and haven't been able to get these in print again, here they are, better than ever before.

This time around we want to get a more professional printing done, for both. Both will be offered in professionally printed full color covers (seen below.)  Both will be printed in A5 format to match the size of the official Old-School Essentials product line. If we can hit our $3500 stretch goal Octhorrorfest will be printed in an A5 hardcover to sit proudly next to your OSE rulebooks! 

Also, if you missed out on our Zinequest 3 Kickstarter for "The Child Thieves," it is being made available as an add on!

At the time of this posting we are $36 shy of funding. We have 92 followers of the Kickstarter right now that have not backed! If every one of these backed for the $23 level to get both Octhorrorfest and Hidden Hand of the Horla in print, we would not only fund, but hit that stretch goal of getting Octhorrorfest on your shelves as a hardcover! There's plenty of time to do it folks, we have 24 days left, but there's no reason to wait around! 

What's more? Since everything for this KS is ready to go to print, rewards will be sent out in October. That's right, rewards will be out the month after the Kickstarter ends!

You can BACK IT HERE!

St. Patrick's Day Release - The Leprechaun

I would like to take a moment to direct you to special St. Patrick's Day release, and latest release in the Gateway To Adventure line! Today we release "The Leprechaun" for Old-School Essentials and B/X D&D! In this little booklet you get a new Advanced Race, new class and a new magic item, all for $2.00! If there is interest, I will do a small print run of these.

"The enigmatic leprechaun has long been a staple of folklore and fairy stories, yet they are hardly represented fantasy role playing games. This work corrects that oversight! Here we present a leprechaun class and Advanced race for use with Old-School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord and B/X!"

You can get "The Leprechaun" here!

 

Our Latest Kickstarter - The Child Thieves For Old-School Essentials

Good afternoon, all!

As I write this we are one week away from the ending of our 4th Kickstarter for the Old-School Adventures Retro Adventure Game! This is, again, apart of Zine Quest! To date we have published 2 adventures focused on Basic level play, 1st - 3rd level. This year we are upping the ante a bit and going with an Expert level sewer and dungeon crawl. At the time of this posting we are just shy of hitting a stretch goal of our first color cover. You can see a list of stretch goals  below. 

About the Module:

In the poorest of districts of the city a plague of rats has come from the sewer every year at the same time for many years. During a more recent occurrence a wandering piper happened along, claiming to have the magical ability to control and lead the rats away. The people gladly paid his small fee. During subsequent years the piper has arrived in the city close to the time that the rats swarm, but his price had gradually escalated. This year, the people could not pay him what he wanted for his services and he swore vengeance for their parsimoniousness. One night while the district slept, the children were taken. Not one or two, but every child in the district. In the morning claw marks were found on windowsills and in the wooden floorboards of children's bedrooms, like those of a rat, but much larger. Some prints of similar claws were found at a grated sewer entrance. What's more, a crude pendant was found in one child's room, its chain broken. The symbol on the pendant was the sigil of the Demon Prince, Arimaniux patron of sewers and plague. Now the people fear the worst. They have beseeched the city leaders to find and hire help to descend into the sewers and take their children back from the suspected cult before it is too late.

Stretch Goals:

$1200 - More art (funding level only gives up the cover and 2 more pieces of new art for the project this will fund 3-4 more illustrations.)

$1500 - Cover image will be colorized!

$1700 - More interior art!

$2000 - The new Demon Prince Arimaniux will get a full write up and art in the appendices of the adventure!

$2200 - Even more interior art!

$2500 - Wererat class and advanced genre racial stats added to the appendices!

$3000 - New cleric spells and rituals added to the adventure and the appendices!

$5000 -  A complete second zine! Will will complete writing and print The Book of Sorcery featuring our upcoming Sorcerer class, new spells, new rituals (as presented in Octhorrorfest,) and new magic rules for Blood Magic. All individual backers will get a copy in digital. All individual backers getting physical rewards will also get a physical copy of this zine. Retail/Distribution backers will have the opportunity to buy copies at the same discount they are receiving at their tier. Note, if you back for 2 copies of The Child Thieves you will receive only one copy of The Book of Sorcery, additional copies will be extra.

500 Backers - If we reach 500 backers. Appendix N Entertainment will print a new edition of The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning with the original Kate Greenaway illustrations. This will  be printed as a limited edition Kickstarter exclusive for individual backers of this project, similar to our printing of The Horla that was an exclusive with last year's Kickstarter for Hidden Hand of the Horla. You will only receive one copy of this Kickstarter exclusive, even if you have backed for 2 copies of The Child Thieves. Additional copies will not be printed.

Personally, I would love to hit at least $3000 and get new cleric spells and rituals in the appendices! 

You can back "The Child Thieves" right here!

Octhorrorfest 2020! Preorder Is Open!

 That's right! This year Octhorrorfest is coming in ZINE format! If you missed out on the Kickstarter we are giving you the chance to get a hold of this now! Preorders will ship once all Kickstarters have been fulfilled. We have 2 levels open for preorders. The first is strictly for the Octhorrorfest zine itself. The second matches the "All of the Horla: For Real!" pledge that he had on the Kickstarter. For this preorder, you get Octhorrorfest, plus our three previously published Old-School Essentials compatible products, in a limited edition orange cover printing! PREORDERS WILL BE CLOSED ON OCTOBER 22ND! 

What you get:

Octhorrorfest Preorder - 1 copy of Octhorrorfest 

Octorrorfest Plus Back Catalog Preorder - Octhorrorfest, Lost Classes: The Arnesonian Classes, Solar Sanctuary of the Cannibal Corpse, Hidden Hand of the Horla all in orange print covers, only to be printed during the presale! Note: Lost Classes will not be printed again! These titles will only be printed in this format for those preordering. These special orange covers will not be printed again! 

Follow the links to preorder yours: 

Octhorrorfest Preorder

Octorrorfest Plus Back Catalog Preorder

Public Release Of Hidden Hand of the Horla, NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

 Hey folks!

I just wanted to get it out there that Hidden Hand of the Horla for Old-School Essentials is now available for purchase as a physical module! The physical copies have a detachable cover with the maps on the inside, just like the old days. The bad news is that it is currently only available for sale in the U.S. I've had some issues with getting international packages returned by the USPS recently, so until that is resolved, I won't be shipping outside of the U.S. 

The good new if you are outside of the U.S. is that we are still selling PDFs on Drivthrurpg.com. 

Additionally, if you missed either of our other OSE releases, Lost Classes: The Arnesonian Classes or Solar Sanctuary of the Cannibal Corpse we still have a small number of first prints available for each. 

You can find links to purchase them all here in the: 

Appendix N Entertainment Catalog

If you want more information, this is what Hidden Hand of the Horla is all about:

A 1st-3rd level adventure for use with Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy Adventure Game 

Legends tell of the Hand Mage's Tower that once stood at the edge of the realm. Within the Hand Mage experimented and hoarded his magical treasures. The tower stood for many years until one day it mysteriously vanished. Rumors spread that the mage had offended the gods and had been eradicated from existence, or else had made a pact with a demon prince and was now paying his due. Whatever the case, the tales became legend and all but the oldest elves were unsure if the tower had ever existed at all. Now the tower has reappeared where it once stood. Will you dare to enter the ancient tower in search of riches and magical secrets?

So, if your OSE or B/X game needs a fresh adventure, go ahead and pick it up!

Simple Cantrip Rules For Classic D&D and OD&D

Cantrip is an archaic word originally meant to define a trick performed by witchery. Later it was used to mean a malicious trick or a sham. In recent years (at least since the publication of the AD&D version of "Unearthed Arcana") it has come into usage in fantasy role playing to mean a bit of minor magic. This is typically in the form of 0 level spells in D&D and it's simulacra. I like the idea of a magic user having access to spells that are useful little utilitarian spells that do not have major effects. That said, I don't believe that these effects should be individual spells themselves. I like the idea that a Vancian mage could memorize a spell and siphon off some of it's power without releasing the spell. This does not work with divinely granted magic like that of a cleric or druid.

 

How are we going to make this work? Well, this takes bargaining between the referee and the player. A mage can attempt to cause a minor magical effect based upon the effect of any spell currently memorized (or known spells not expended in the case of my sorcerer class.) For example, a mage with fireball written may want to light a pipe from his finger. A witch being bothered by a would be suitor may want to make him drowsy, heading off to bed, without expending the full effect of the spell and making him not off there and then. Likewise a sorceress with telekinesis may want to cause a bell that she can see ring, or wind chimes sound, without using the full effect of her spell. Minor effects like this might be allowed without question (possibly allowing a saving throw for the chap that is getting drowsy.)

 

Occasionally a player may want to make a cantrip a little more powerful. If this is allowed it should only be allowed once prior to expending the spell, and be possible to fail at. For an example, let's look at the fellow who lit his pipe with a fireball based cantrip. He may want to use that fireball for other things. He may want it to deal damage with it, to a lesser extent, than normal. Perhaps he is in close quarters and wants to reduce it to a 1d6 "firebolt" cantrip focusing on one enemy? Or maybe he and his companions are in a cold region and cannot light a fire. In this instance, perhaps he wants to use it to generate heat? These things are more game affecting than using the cantrip to light a fire or pipe. The referee can, of course, just rule that these sorts of things are not possible. Alternatively this could be allowed, but making an attribute check based upon the caster's prime requisite. My Power attribute could be substituted, if it were being used. If the check were successful, the effect could go off. Note that as stated before, more powerful cantrips should be of limited use. If the check fails, however, a saving throw should be made at a penalty of the spell's level. If the save passes, the effect does not occur. If the save is failed, the spell is expended for the day as if it were cast normally.

 

Let me know what you think. I've been playing around with this for a while.

Simple Dice Mechanics for Reaction Rolls in OD&D and Classic D&D

Reaction rolls are something that many modern games have gotten rid of, or are at least ignored by most Referees of said games. There may be some encounters in which reaction rolls could be ignored, especially those crucial to the adventure, after all, the dragon guarding her hoard shouldn't looked favorably upon adventurers coming to take it from her! Still, for lesser encounters, and random encounters, reaction rolls are a boon to the Referee, and can add interesting twists to the adventure.

 

 

OD&D and gives us this rule for reaction rolls:

 

 

"...the Referee may roll 2d6 to determine whether the monsters will attack if they surprise the adventurers. On a roll of 2-6, the monsters will be hostile and attack; on a roll of 7-9, the monsters will withhold judgment and wait to see if the adventurers are hostile; on a roll of 10-12, the monsters will have a positive initial reaction to seeing the adventurers, and might even be convinced to offer some help – if they are well paid, of course!"

 

That's OK...

 

Looking at a later edition, Moldvay gives us this option:

 

Reaction Roll Table (2d6+Charisma modifier)

Roll	Result	Explanation
2 or less	Immediate Attack	The monsters are so offended that they attack immediately.
3-7	Unfavorable	The monsters do not like the player characters, and will attack if they may reasonably do so.
8-11	Favorable	The monsters will consider letting the player characters live if they choose to parley; it does not necessarily mean that the monsters like the player characters.
12 or more	Very favorable	The monsters (or perhaps only the monster leader) do, in fact, like the player characters; this does not mean that the monsters will just hand over their treasure, but it does indicate that they may choose to cooperate with the player characters in mutually beneficial ways.

Both have merit. I think we can do a good job at using the best of both rules while making the rule simpler and more simulationist at the same time. In fact, I need to track my source, but I'm pretty sure that Uncle Gary gave us another method. See, the above rule for OD&D might have never been used at his table. Again, I need to check the source, but I believe it was in the 1E DMG that Gygax stated that he had a poker die with all four card suits on it. The heart was marked on one side, diamonds on two, clubs on two and a spade on one. According to memory in the DMG Gary said that he used this die for reaction rolls. The heart was very favorable, the diamonds we somewhat favorable, the clubs were cautious/suspicious and the spade was hostile. This is the basis that I use for my reaction rolls. I use a Gamescience "averaging die," which is a d6 marked 2, 3, 3, 4, 4 and 5. It is essentially the same thing as the die that Gary is talking about. That said, it's not like you need the novelty of either of these dice to get the same sort of results out of a normal d6. So, without further ado, here is my method as slightly altered from Gary's.

 

Ruling on Reactions

 

Reaction Check, roll 1d6.

 

Roll                Result                 Explanation                                                               

 

    1               Hostile                   Creature is hostile toward the PCS and attacks         

                                                   The creature(s) is suspicious or untrusting of the

    2/3  Unfavorable/Suspicious  PCs, it will take little to provoke it.                           

                                                   The creatures trust, or have reason to trust or like 

    4/5    Favorable/Trusting        the PCs. They could be cautious but are favorable    

 

    6    Very Favorable/Friendly  The creature(s) is very favorable and willing to help

 

 It's clean. It's simple. It simulates real possibilities. It's also scalable based upon the environment. It is very easy to knock of one extreme or the other and scale thing back. Take this variant as an example.

Recent Wild Fires Cause Food To Be Scarce; Animal/Monster Reactions:
 

Roll                Result                 Explanation                                                               

 

    1/2               Hostile                   Creature is hostile toward the PCS and attacks      

                                                     The creature(s) is suspicious or untrusting of the

  3/4/5  Unfavorable/Suspicious   PCs, it will take little to provoke it.                         

                                                   The creatures trust, or have reason to trust or like 

     6      Favorable/Trusting        the PCs. They could be cautious but are favorable   

PC Attempts To Affect Reactions:

PCs can attempt to alter the reactions of creatures they encounter. The PCs can attempt to move influence the creature's reaction either in their favor, or provoke the creature toward hostility, if they believe this to be a smart idea! This is done with a Charisma attribute check. This can be done using any rule that the Referee chooses for attribute checks. If the check is successful the creature makes a saving throw. A failed save results in the creature's temperament moves in the intended direction by one number. If the save is failed by a large margin, the Referee may deem that it's temperament moves more than one number. Of course, the referee may deem that the creature receives a bonus to their saving throw, depending upon conditions. If, on the other hand the PC fails the attribute check by a large margin, the Referee may move the creature's reaction in the opposite direction.


Gear, Wear,Tear & Repair

Any post from me has been a long time coming. It's been a pretty busy month.

You all know from previous posts that I like my games to have a simple simulationist quality. As of late I find myself thinking about adventuring gear and the wear and tear that it takes. This, of course, includes weapons and armor. I believe that I've come up with a very basic rule that will help to keep things simple while still making them "feel" like they are real and happening. My objective is to bring a simulationist immersion to this part of play, while keeping the rule simple to use. Without further ado, here is a rough sampling of the rules.

The Rules

 

1. All adventuring gear can be in one of four conditions:

 

Good, Worn, Damaged and Ruined

 

This is called the condition track

 

These conditions are self explanatory.

 

2. All types of materials have a base saving throw:

 

Cloth - 15

Wood - 13

Soft Metal (Gold, silver etc) - 10

Durable Metal (Steel) - 7
Stone - 5

Extraordinarily Durable Materials (Mithril, Adamant etc.) - 2

Magic Items (case by case at Referee's discretion - not damaged under normal circumstances)

Referees may give bonuses or penalties depending upon situations or damage caused by specific hazards (i.e. wooden items catching fire) as they see fit.
 

3. To keep gear in good condition, PCs must perform maintenance or upkeep in between adventures/on the road etc. If it is deemed that the PCs possess the skill to upkeep their gear, they can (with proper tools) do so themselves. As a note, if a PC can use a given weapon, they know how to perform basic maintenance of that weapon. The same goes for armor. This include oiling and sharpening blades, oiling and cleaning armor, etc. If whetstone and oil are owned, this can easily be done while camping and on watch. If it is deemed that a PC knows how to upkeep other gear and has the proper implements to do so, that is fine as well, however, this must be kept track of by the Referee for time keeping purposes. It takes a great deal of time to take care of equipment.

Alternatively, players can also have items professionally repaired, replaced etc. while in town for 20% of the value of the PCs total adventuring gear, more at the Referee's discretion if any gear is in Damaged condition. Ruined items cannot be repaired.

4. Normal wear to gear: Gear will naturally deteriorate to lesser conditions if it is not upkept, per point three. Outside of this, all gear that is used during a session must make a saving throw at the end of the session. If the saving throw fails, that piece of gear moves down the condition track by one step.

Gear that specifically takes damage must make a saving throw or move down one or more conditions along the track as well. This is based upon a variety of conditions, catching fire, items specifically targeted or damaged by foes etc.

5. Weapons and armor are subject to the same rules as adventuring gear, but may also be subject to wear and tear from especially hard hits (giving or taking maximum damage etc.) at the Referee's discretion.