The official blog of Elf Lair Games, producers of Night Shift, Wasted Lands, and Thirteen Parsecs. All the old content is still here, and we'll still talk old school gaming, recipes, and all you loved - we're just combining both blogs into one, with all the news about Elf Lair Games in one place!
Wasted Lands - FINAL 24 HOURS
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Good morning, faithful Elf Lair Supporters!
We are entering our final 24 Hours. It's crunch time! As always, stick with us - you have nothing to lose by letting your pledge ride, but a fantastic new game to gain when we fund at the end of this thing. If you're already in, please put the word out and get others in! We need a street team to make this happen; it's CROWD funding, after all! Get your gaming groups in. Get your friends in. Hit all your social media channels. If you haven't backed yet, this is a final call for it. We need your help! You're in on our newsletter because you're a fan of Elf Lair Games. Help us to keep producing the quality games you love.
Our first Powered by O.G.R.E.S. game, Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars, is a celebrated take on modern urban fantasy and horror, which is rated 4.7 stars on DriveThruRPG (and sat at 5 stars for over a year). Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age is the next in a trilogy of games which will eventually allow us to cover past, present, and future gaming with the O.G.R.E.S. rules.
This game is an exciting alternative to other traditional fantasy games for those looking to try something different, or which can enhance other fantasy games with new ideas and new approaches. It demystifies old school rules, and offers a means to customize everything from the level of grit in your game right down to the core mechanics you choose to use at the table.
In the end, I believe in this game. It has the potential to be something special, both in the Elf Lair Games line, and at home gaming tables. I've put my heart and soul into this one and I really want you all to get to play it. You don't have to take my word for it, though: Download the Free Quick Start Kit and see for yourself!
Support Small Publishers
Also remember that in the face of big companies doing hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars in Kickstarters, we are by far the little guy... but when you support a SMALL publisher like us, your pledge really matters. It's really making a difference. You are actually MAKING THIS HAPPEN. You're a PART of Wasted Lands. And we appreciate it in a way the big boys don't. When you stick with us, you're making a difference, helping someone use Kickstarter for its intent, and we appreciate each and every one of you.
That's about all I've got for you. One last push for backing. If you have supported us in the past, support us now and into the future. Every dollar you spend on Elf Lair games is important. When you're looking at a choice between us and one of the big boys, think of this: the big boys? They never needed a Kickstarter to begin with - it's all pomp and circumstance. Their product is coming out regardless, and you're just more profit to them. Put your money where it's appreciated.
More Information about Wasted Lands
WWe have been publishing a series of articles looking behind the curtain on Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age. Here are some relevant highlights.
Here's a fun observation. The spell darkness, in 5e, has absolutely zero mechanical effect in 5th edition D&D. Darkness creates a heavily obscured area . Creatures within that area effectively suffer from the blinded condition. Blinded characters suffer disadvantage on attacks, and creatures attacking them have advantage. The spell negates darkvision . All characters within the sphere of magical darkness have disadvantage to attack, but advantage to attack other creatures in the darkness. This advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out . All creatures within the space of a darkness spell battle as normal. The spell is, from a mechanical sense, pointless and negated. Certainly this discounts a proper GM who looks past it and says, "no, that's stupid," but yeah, strictly BY THE BOOK it's a pretty gross oversight by the designers of the game from a mechanical standpoint. Also, I pointed this out to the Sage Advice people some time ago and they confirmed ...
Here's a recipe I put together for Lembas bread. Didn't know I could bake, did you? Well, I can, and I'm pretty durned good at it when I want to be. Note: Okay, this isn't exactly directly related to OD&D, but we all know that there is a relationship between OD&D and Middle Earth, and this makes for a good holiday treat, or a nice, filling and fairly healthy snack at the gaming table. Here's how it came about: we were doing a Lord of the Rings marathon at my buddy Mike's house when the RotK extended edition came out. Mike has a 42" widescreen and a really kick ass surround sound system, so we got together at 9:00 AM on Saturday and watched all twelve-plus hours of the epic trilogy back to back. It was awesome. Anyway, I wanted to contribute something so I started searching for recipes for Lembas bread. My efforts that year were futile, but flash forward to last Christmas. I got the hankering to try again, so I looked up some recipes onli...
I'd like to take a couple blog entries to explore the concept of psionics in the early editions of D&D--specifically, original D&D and AD&D first edition. Psionics, traditionally, have been a much-reviled part of the D&D opus, and those who do not include them in their game are certainly far more common than those who do include them. It's no secret that even Gary Gygax lamented and regretted their inclusion, and didn't use them himself. As with any aspect of the game, ask 100 players why they don't like psionics, and you'll get at least 50 different answers (if not more). The vast majority, however, will come down to one of two major points: They are science-fiction feeling and simply don't have a place in a fantasy game They are overcomplicated, confusing, and simply arcane and unworkable. I can't really address point one. If you simply don't like the idea of psionics, if you feel like they're not fantasy-feeling, and y...
Now that we've looked at how Psionics work in original Dungeons & Dragons, let's examine how they work in Advanced D&D. Readers may be shocked to discover that psionics in AD&D are, in many ways, much easier and more straightforward than they are in OD&D. The two systems are very similar, but there are some important and notable differences. The next blog entry in this series will compare and contrast the two systems, but for now I want to focus on how they work to keep a clean exploration and explanation of these two rules sets, both of which offer a lot of fun and something different and mysterious for D&D games that have become a bit rote in their approach. Psionics can present an interesting approach to mysticism in an AD&D game, particularly one that seeks to represent certain styles of 1970s and 80s fantasy, particularly those of writers like Mercedes Lackey, Ursula K. LeGuin, Andre Norton, and Marion Zimmer Bradley, which in modern terms system...
Yeah, I know, this is an old-school gaming blog, but I needed somewhere to put this, and it's a bit of a ramble, so bear with me. If anyone is cutting the cord, this may come in handy for you. Juliette and I upgraded our streaming box today to an NVIDIA Shield TV. I had originally purchased a Xiaomi MiBox S as a test case for cutting the cord. I can now compare the two for anyone interested in going for an Android TV box. Note that I did NOT go with the $190-$200 SHIELD Pro, which is the high end gaming version of the Shield TV, and comes with double the memory and an extra USB port. I went with the NVIDIA SHIELD TV "base" model, which looks like a cylinder. Xiaomi Mi Box S NVIDIA SHIELD TV Price The MiBox S EASILY wins in this category, going for between $64 and $66 on Amazon. The Shield TV goes for $149 on Amazon and at Best Buy, where we bought ours. Looks Again, I have to give the edge to the MiBox, here. It's a very unassuming small, black, square box that sit...
Here we go, folks! The final blog before the Wasted Lands Kickstarter launches ! Stay tuned for more behind the curtain looks as the campaign progresses, but this one completes the big lead-up! Previous blogs in this series: Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age is Imminent! Will Wasted Lands be a Retroclone? What Are Divine Touchstones? Races (Species) and Cultural Backgrounds How Do Tiered Abilities Work? Class Abilities in Wasted Lands For some time now we've been pushing "Your Game, Your Way" as a slogan for Powered by O.G.R.E.S. games , and many wonder what kind of meaning that carries. After all, everyone claims that their game is the one you've been looking for, and the concept of a universal game system has been around almost as long as RPGs themselves. Even the earliest versions of D&D had sci-fi elements and the first edition DMG discussed melding the system with a range of genres. So what do we mean exactly when we talk about O.G.R.E.S. as a customizable s...
(Stock Image) Source: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/45390000 Introduction To put a crown jewel on their “Premium Reprint,” series, Wizards of the Coast has re-released the original Dungeons & Dragons rules. Specifically, this reprint is of the sixth printing, or “OCE” (Original Collector’s Edition) version of the rules. Like many fans of the old school, I was rather excited and more than a little nervous about this product. For $150, would they screw it up? Would it be handled properly? Would it, unlike the reprints for second and third editions, truly be premium? Yesterday, I headed to my FLGS and picked up my OD&D Premium Reprint. Here are my thoughts. Presentation This set is really nice. It comes in an actual wooden box, a nice nod to the original rules which came in a printed woodgrain box. The box construction is sturdy and just overall excellent. It has a nice velvet pad on the bottom to keep from scratching...
I don't care what anyone says, Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears was a damn great fantasy cartoon back in the day, and it deserves a D&D treatment. If you've never heard of it, here it is on YouTube for free, or you can watch it in a less clumsy format on Disney+ www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcdHhJ83WveO5S9AeAeDKD-qQrsfB4dpw Also, the theme song is one of the catchiest cartoon themes ever. Okay, so... Source: https://www.deviantart.com/tomarmstrong20/art/Adventures-of-the-Gummi-Bears-1985-1991-566374688 GUMMI BEARS (Stats for Original, Basic, Advanced and most OSR games) No. Appearing: 1-8 Hit Dice: 1-5 Armor Class: 7 (2 with gummi berry juice) / 13/18 high AC Attack: By weapon or bounce slam (1d6) Special: Gummi Berry Juice, Stealth Move: 12 (18 with gummi berry juice) / 30ft/45ft Modern games Size: Small % in Lair: 60% Alignment: Lawful Treasure: C XP: Varies by hit dice Primes (for Castles & Crusades): P,M Description...
Like a great deal of gamers in this day and age, I have long been enamored of the idea of a so-called "unified mechanic," that is, a single die roll approach to resolve most, if not all, issues in a game. Current versions of D&D, for example, use a d20 ability check approach for everything--even combat is a Strength or Dexterity check. The only things that don't use the d20 are random probability rolls (which use straight percentile) and damage. The Unisystem is another universal mechanic system, using d10 + attribute + skill vs. a target number of 9, and the cinematic version uses this for everything; there aren't even damage rolls, as damage is a flat number. Even my own Spellcraft & Swordplay original ORCS system used 2d6 for everything, with damage rolls using xd6. The Elegance of Non-Unified Mechanics There's a certain ease and straightforward-ness to this approach that's easy to appreciate. Recently, however, I've come around to a new...
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