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!

Why Appendix N Entertainment?

Some out there might be wondering about the name of our company, even if you are aware of the origin of Appendix N. First I'll give a little insight into what "Appendix N" is for those reading that may not know. "Appendix N" was a literal (Ha!) appendix in the AD&D 1st Edition Dungeon Master's Guide, in which E. Gary Gygax posted most of the things that influenced him in the creation and early stages of his contribution to D&D.  It was placed in the DMG to help to educate players as to what it was the D&D was meant to emulate and represent, as well as give inspiration. This is the original Appendix N: 

"Appendix N:

Inspirational and Educational Reading

Inspiration for all of the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a tad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerers and dauntless swordsmen. Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young, from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples. Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950. The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as just about any other imaginative writing or screenplay you will be able to pluck kernels from which grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!

Inspirational Reading:

• Anderson, Poul. Three Hearts and Three Lions; The High Crusade; The Broken Sword
• Bellairs, John. The Face in the Frost
• Brackett, Leigh.
• Brown, Fredric.
• Burroughs, Edgar Rice, Pellucidar series; Mars series; Venus series
• Carter, Lin. "World's End" series
• de Camp, L. Sprague. Lest Darkness Fall; Fallible Fiend; et al.
• de Camp & Pratt. "Harold Shea" series; Carnelian Cube
• Derleth, August.
• Dunsany, Lord.
• Farmer, P. J. "The World of the Tiers" series; et al.
• Fox, Gardner. "Kothar" series; "Kyrik" series; et al.
• Howard, R. E. "Conan" series
• Lanier, Sterling. Hiero’s Journey
• Leiber, Fritz. "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al.
• Lovecraft, H. P.
• Merritt, A. Creep, Shadow, Creep; Moon Pool; Dwellers in the Mirage; et al.
• Moorcock, Michael. Stormbringer; Stealer of Souls; "Hawkmoon" series (esp. the first three books)
• Norton, Andre.
• Offutt, Andrew J., editor. Swords Against Darkness III.
• Pratt, Fletcher. Blue Star; et al.
• St. Clair, Margaret. The Shadow People; Sign of the Labrys
• Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit; "Ring Trilogy"
• Vance, Jack. The Eyes of the Overworld; The Dying Earth; et al.
• Weinbaum, Stanley.
• Wellman, Manly Wade.
• Williamson, Jack.
• Zelazny, Roger. Jack of Shadows; "Amber" series; et al.

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you." - Gary Gygax

Since learning about Appendix N and reading it's offerings, I have loved the idea of presenting an inspirational appendix in every work that I publish. I believe that it may help referees and players to better understand the work they are reading/playing and what the intent was. Additionally, fiction and works of art tend to be welcome where most gamers are concerned. I had often wondered at what films influenced the game as I am certain that choice science fiction, horror and fantasy pieces influenced the creation of D&D. In fact there are a few choice films that we KNOW influenced the creation of the rules. So it was that I decided to include a full "Appendix N" in every offering that my publishing house would produce. Not only would I include literature but films and television as well. I decided not to stop there, but to also include albums that were listened to during the period of the creation of any given work. In this way, the reader/player can better get into the head of the creator and create an ambiance in the game that fits the mood of the work. With an Appendix N, full of inspiration, in every work I was to produce/publish the name of the company came fairly readily.

- Ryan J. Thompson

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!

Event Submissions Are Open For Virtual U-Con, A PWYW Convention This Year!

 It's event submission time for Virtual U-Con! 

UPDATED DEADLINES

• October 2: Events Due for Pre-Reg

• October 10: Events Preview opens

• October 17: Pre-Reg opens at 11 am ET.

• October 30: GMs need to have their virtual meeting info in the registration system

• Nov 13-15: U-Con Gaming Convention 2020!

U-Con 2020 

November 13-15

Online Everywhere

Back in July U-Con made the announcement that we would be going virtual this year. You can read it right here.

You can check out exactly how Virtual U-Con will work in this post. Note that Virtual U-Con is a PAY WHAT YOU WANT event! This year our GMs will have to pick and post their platform of choice for hosting their games.

Here is a list of dates for event submission and registration.

Please read over all of the articles linked here if you intend to run games or attend the convention. Please also read over our Conduct Policy.

Now, on to my bit of business.

As the OSR Track and Tekumel Track event coordinator I am looking for Referees, Judges and Dungeon Masters to come run old school games and Tekumel games! If your game is going to be on either of these tracks, please say so in the  notes or comments section of your submission. What constitutes "old school" for purposes of convention, you say? Well, let me tell you.

Old School Games are:

Actual Old School Games With OSR sensibility:

B/X D&D

AD&D 1E and 2E

Runequest 2nd Edition

Boot Hill

Gamma World 1st - 3rd

Pacesetter Games (Chill, Timemaster Etc.)

MARVEL Phaserip

Gangbusters

Star Wars D6

Chivalry & Sorcery

Fantasy Wargaming

007

Top Secret

Tunnels & Trolls

Arduin

Spacemaster

Rolemaster

MERP

Alternity

Etc.

Retro Clones:

Old-School Essentials

OSRIC

Cryptworld

Zweihander 

Labyrinth Lord

Dark Dungeons

Delving Deeper

Blueholme

OpenQuest

Against the Dark Master

Etc.

Near Clones: 

Dungeon Crawl Classics

Mutant Crawl Classics

Dark Trails

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea

Castles & Crusades

Mutant Future

Crypts & Things

The Blackest of Deaths

Dark Places & Demogorgons

Etc.

Post OSR Games:

Mothership

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells

Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets

The Hero's Journey

Lost in the Fantasy World

Torchbearer

Into the Odd

Neoclassical Geek Revival

SEACAT

Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars

Macchiato Monsters

For Coin & Blood

Knave

The Black Hack (and all of the hacks spawned by it)

Blood & Treasure

Etc.

We’re ready to accept your event submissions. Event submissions must include some information about the software platforms to be used in each game, e.g. Roll20, Zoom, Tabletopia, etc.  If you want to host a game or play in events, please mark your calendars with our key dates and deadlines:

• October 2: Events Due for Pre-Reg

• October 10: Events Preview opens

• October 17: Pre-Reg opens at 11 am ET.

• October 30: GMs need to have their virtual meeting info in the registration system

• Nov 13-15: U-Con Gaming Convention 2020!

Irons In the Fire At Appendix N Entertainment

Alright folks. This post is for my own organizational needs, as much as it is an announcement as to what is going on with upcoming and future releases. So, here is an update regarding our releases.

Gateway To Adventure: Old-School Essentials Compatible

T1 -Hidden Hand of the Horla - Old-School Essentials version. All backers have PDFs. Most backers in the states should now have, or soon have their physical copies. International shipping will begin next week. After everything is out, to backers, the physical copies will go up for sale to the general public. PDFs are currently for sale to the public (see the Appendix N Entertainment Store.)

Octhorrorfest zine- Old-School Essentials - Writing is nearing completion, voted upon and backer submitted monsters need to be stated.  Most art is in. Editing to begin early August. We are on track to deliver late August. Late September this will be available to non-backers.

PY1 - Solar Sanctuary of the Cannibal Corpse - This title is getting a revision to make it cleaner and fit the new Gateway To Adventure format, similar to the appearance of Hidden Hand of the Horla. Some errata will be added as well. Those who have purchased the PDF on Drivethrurpg will get the update automatically. Those who purchased through Kickstarter will be contacted to received a free copy of the new format through Drviethrurpg. No date set currently. Likely late August - early September.

Untitled Sorcerer Booklet - This will be a booklet featuring a sorcerer class for OSE. New spells and magic rules will also be featured. - Early in development.

Lost Classes: The Alchemist and Healer - A book featuring an OSE update for two classes inspired by two early classes in Dragon Magazine these will be different than the originals in several ways, streamlined for OSE. This booklet will also feature new spells and alchemy rules. - Early in development.

SW1 - Rats! - A sewer crawl adventure for OSE with a basis in the Pied Piper of Hamlin, and influenced by mid-1980s Warhammer. - Early stage development.

Gateway to Adventure Guide To Skills & Combat - Intended to be our first hardcover book, this will feature modular options for combat, a full system for running tournaments with a revised jousting system based on the one presented in Chainmail, a non-weapon profieciency system, alternate thief skill system and alternate Secondary Skills lists for Sword & Sorcery and Weird Fantasy settings. - mid stage developement. - Estimated to go to Kickstarter Winter/Spring 2021.

PY2 - Quarantine, PY3 - Cemetery Gates, PY4 - Blood & Fire - These are the sequels in the plague year series. I had been working on Quarantine this past winter. When the pandemic hit full force I put these on hold. Some things are just to close to reality. PY2 is explicitly about the epidemic in the first module sweeping through a major city, the government quarantining it's people and shifty town guards abusing some of the folks in quarantine, causing much of the populace to riot. It is intended as a city based sandbox, in which the PCs can involved themselves in the strange currently events in any way they choose to deal with the plague and the injustice being done by the government of Ludolph's Pointe. As what I was writing and trying to put into game terms became mirrored in reality, I put the project aside. I felt that the game books would be in bad taste, and detract form the similar real world issues happening at this time. Someday I will get back to these. -On hiatus

Mothership Compatible Products:

Jungle Moon Death Ziggurat - Sandbox Hex crawl dealing with Corporate colonization, morality in a bleak future and mad science cults worshiping eldritch horrors. - Early stage development

Espers - Splat book dealing with an Esper class, psychic powers and Corporate experimentation. Early stage development

Six-Cess System:

The Six-cess system will be Appendix N Entertainment's own in house system for cinematic roleplaying. This uses a Player/Director shared character and setting creation system and a D6 dice pool success based conflict resolution system. Very light modules, called "Trailers" provide the base plots for adventures in this system.

198X - Kids and teens on adventures and fighting the supernatural is the name of the game. Many systems have tackled the genre, but none in quite the same shared cinematic storytelling way that we are coming at it. Playtests have provided a more "cinematic feel" to the game than any game we have encountered to date. - Early stage development. Intended as a boxed set containing Six-Cess System core rules, 198X genre rules and several Trailers. - Early stage developement

198X: Teenage Wasteland: 198X rules explicitly meant to create grittier teen and early twenties characters and stories. Provided are rules for government/cold war experimentation resulting in psychic characters. Basic campaign Trailers will be included which created a gritty game in which teens escape government test facilities and combat the corrupt government with their new psychic abilities. - Very early stage development.

Appendix N Entertainment, Gateway To Adventure, Six-Cess System, 198X and 198X: Teenage Wasteland © Appendix N Entertainment.