Sunday, April 30, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Zombie Mob

And finally, we come to Zed.  Really, what else could I include here?  I'm building a dungeon, after all...


I'm not completely sold that this should be a Monster card as opposed to an Event that just has you put some Zombies into play; this one may switch soon.

And with that...wow...we complete the alphabet and the challenge!  A very big "thank you" to anyone and everyone who has stopped by this month.  I hope you've gotten at least some mild entertainment...and if you've happened to enjoy it, please stay tuned, as I think I'll be following up on this project quite a bit in the coming weeks...!

(Oh!  And please let me take this chance to point out one blog that I failed to highlight with a "tribute card" this month, but that I'll hopefully target as I expand the game a bit more.  Celia over at WordWacker had a very simple but cool theme for the month...a geeky haiku riddle for each letter.  WordWacker is another blog that I discovered through the A to Z this year, and I've enjoyed stopping by to check out the riddles.

Also, I'm actually scheduling this post ahead of time...quite out of character, I know...and I'm kind of hoping Celia will go with Zombie for Z so this can almost-sort-of-coincidentally-but-not-really count as a shout-out in card form...!)

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Young Minotaur

I think I'm going to finish up the A to Z challenge with a couple of final monsters that can be used as simple, basic villains for the Dungeonstack.  Like this fellow...


I like having this guy (multiples, almost undoubtedly) as a throwback to the "basic" monster I used in one of my earlier experiments with card-based dungeoneering:


And so, tomorrow we close out the alphabet.  See you then!

Friday, April 28, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Xenos the Wanderer

The good thing about having a topic like mine for the A to Z blogging challenge is that when you hit a tough letter like X, you can just make up a name for a character.

So...here's the last of the "basic" classes to be used as a Hero in the Dungeonstack, the rogue Xenos:


(Skills in Dungeonstack will be handled via Xd6-roll-under...ranks in a skill subtract dice from the roll.  A simple application of this can be seen on the card Locked!  For more info on the class structures I used to build these Heroes, you may want to look over my alternate...and somewhat simplified...classes for Swords & Wizardry Light.)

Wow...just two days to go now!

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Witch of the Otherside

With hardly any time to spare...I am momentarily caught up once again in the A to Z challenge with this entry for "W"...


On this one:

That name...I'm thinking of the Otherside as some version of the Celtic Otherworld...which, of course, has some analogues in other belief systems...

Although just about anyone who spends enough time online to come across my little blog will probably recognize that this card is a nod to the RPG blogosphere stalwart that is The Other Side.  +Timothy Brannan does some awesome work over there, giving great snippets of D&D history while consistently bringing something new to the game (one of his favorite muses: witches!).  Oh, and he seems like a nice guy to boot.  Tim isn't doing the A to Z this year, but he's tackled it multiple times in the past (along with being part of the crew that keeps the challenge rolling).  So, overall, a tip of the hat from this blogger...and you should check him out sometime...!

Oh!  And I very rudely left this out in the tired state I posted in last night...big thanks to Justin of Halls of the Nephilim for his advice on a "witchy" ability that would be simple enough to fit onto a card.  It's awesome having this online community as a think tank!

Dungeonstack A to Z: The Venerable August MacMulligan

Trying to quickly play catch-up in the A to Z challenge once again.  (This year's definitely had some timing snags!)

Here's another Hero card.  He represents the 4th class in the game, and yes, he's definitely a relative of April (just have to figure out how sometime)...


And like the 9 Realms' Guardian, he has a "cheat card" for the magic he wields...


Please join me tomorrow...or maybe today, let's see...as things get a little witchy around here...!

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Undead Infestation

Going into today's Dungeonstack entry, I knew I wanted to make something undead...something that would give some importance to The Good Doctor's Crypt, and the ability to turn undead, and having Undead as a preferred enemy of a Scout.

And then at some point, I thought, "Why not just turn a bunch of monsters into the undead?"  So I made this:


I hope to roll out at least one more legitimate undead enemy before the month is out.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'd love it if you'd join me tomorrow, when another of April's relatives will be revealed...!

Monday, April 24, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z (double!): Tavern Bouncer and Tome of Adventure

As the A to Z blogging challenge enters its final week, I've realized that I'm going to need to double-dip once or twice in order to hit on all of the items I want to cover.  Today is one of those days, with a classic Two-for-...Monday.

First up is a Monster card...


It probably won't surprise many people who happen upon this blog to hear that this is a nod to the OSR watering hole known as Tenkar's Tavern.  As I've noted, my intention with "tribute cards" this month was to focus on some other bloggers taking part in the A to Z challenge, but I had a hard time not giving some sort of tip of the hat to the locale that serves as the hub of the online gaming community for a lot of OSR types.  And once I pieced that picture together from a couple of public domain images...well, I kinda liked it, so we got the Bouncer!  If you're one of the few people who somehow finds themselves reading my blog without knowing anything about the Tavern, you should go check it out!  It's a very friendly place (as long as you don't screw people over on a Kickstarter).

Oh, so why is this tavern bouncer wandering a dungeon and fighting the Heroes that come through?  Eh, not sure...but it's probably better not to worry about that until his war hammer is no longer a threat.

On we go!  Card #2 today is another Item to find in the Dungeonstack, and a little salute to another A-to-Z'er...


While almost certainly a more subtle shout-out than some I've managed this month, I hope that won't make you any less inclined to check out the good stuff that Stuart and the team have to offer over at Lloyd of Gamebooks, a great blog covering anything and everything having to do with participatory fiction and related endeavors.  It's pretty awesome to see how much passion people have for that art form!

Thanks for reading, and please come back tomorrow as I try to give The Good Doctor's Crypt a worthy denizen...!

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z (extra): 23rd Legionnaire

This month has gone by way too fast!

Hmm.  Well, I've included a bugbear, but I haven't yet put a regular old goblin into the Dungeonstack, so it's time to correct that...


I guess this isn't a regular old goblin, as he's a legionnaire.  I thought it was one of the coolest things ever when WotC printed Goblin Legionnaire, their first Goblin Soldier for MtG, back in the Apocalypse expansion...


...and since, on these A to Z "off days," I've struggled a little coming up with names incorporating the date rather than a letter...well, it all just came together for this little guy.

Join me tomorrow for more fun with placing a monster's image on top of a background it clearly doesn't fit...!

Saturday, April 22, 2017

A happy Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day to one and all!

(And also a happy Earth Day, and a shout-out to all of you Science Marchers out there!)


As you may know, today is Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day, hosted at the excellent Gamers & Grognards.  While I don't have an awesome new product to release or discount to offer, I do want to join in the festivities...and so I'm presenting what's been jangling around in my head quite a bit lately: alternate classes suitable for Swords & Wizardry Light, simplified even more than the standard classes in some ways, that I've been working out to feature in the card game I'm working on (Dungeonstack).

I present them here to do my own little part in celebrating today, to show a little bit of the logic I'm trying to build the Dungeonstack upon, and to maybe even help out one or two people out there who want to shake things up a little in their game.

Click the link below for the doc in Google Drive, and if you do so, please enjoy!

Alternate Classes for Swords & Wizardry Light

(And yes, I might figure out a good way to work in a backstab ability someday...)

Dungeonstack A to Z: Spells

This is really just a bit of a "bookkeeping" card, but as I'd like for everything in the Dungeonstack to be playable from the cards themselves (once the basic rules are known), I thought it was important to include.  Here's reminder text for the spells known by the Heroic Mage presented earlier, the 9 Realms' Guardian (worded with the card game in mind):


I may look to spice up the presentation at some point, but at the moment I think it's pretty functional, looks decent when trimmed...

...and matches up nicely with its associated hero.


I hope to present another magic-wielding Hero before the month is over, so I'll be sure to make a spell card for her or him, too.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Ruinous Pact

As I've mentioned before, I think the Event cards in the Dungeonstack are going to be one of the more difficult card types both to design and to make worthwhile to anyone who wants to use the cards for a purpose other than just playing the game outright...which is a minor design goal for me, to make the cards useful as OSR gaming tools by themselves.  I think that one of the ways of approaching this may be to think of effects that fit simply onto a single card and hold a bit of flavor that might put some ideas into a GM's head.  Maybe something like this...


Maybe.

I mean, the idea will probably work nicely in the card game.  And maybe...maybe...things like this can make a referee think a bit about what sort of magic-user would enchant a room like this...and why...

Definitely gonna have to put some thought into this.

Also, a tip of the hat with this card (however subtle it may have ended up being) to Paul over at The Iron Pact!  Paul keeps up a top-notch blog focused solely on stuff for the Swedish dark fantasy RPG Symbaroum.  I wasn't familiar with either the blog or the RPG before this year's A to Z challenge, but I'm glad it brought them to my attention, because they both seem pretty outstanding!  Lots of fantastically presented grimness to be found...so if that sounds like your type of thing, definitely check them out!

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Quiet Hall(s)

The 2017 A to Z Blogging Challenge marches on to the letter Q...and I march on toward regularly posting my contributions on time!

Today is another Room card...much like the Interior Walkway, it's fairly straightforward and comes in a couple of varieties...


Something to note here: I really need to figure out which words I'm going to capitalize in card text.  I like capitalizing "Heroes," as it's a specific thing (and a card type) that has meaning in the game...but really, so is "room," and if I'm not careful I'm just going to end up capitalizing everything.  Gotta think on it...

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Potion of Cure Light Wounds

Since I'm trying to get caught up on the A to Z Challenge in the midst of a work trip, I'd be crazy not to take advantage of the times when the letter of the day gives me an obvious choice for a really simple card to make.  (Wouldn't I?  I'm not completely sold, but here we go...)

Hrm.  With that in mind, I present another very simple Item for the letter P:

I know!  I'll spice this post up with a caption...
Just print at 2.75" x 3.75" and cut along dotted lines.
Collect 'em all!

That is all.

Maybe something more interesting will come to me tomorrow...?

Post edited to include an updated card...added italics and the "+1"...

Dungeonstack A to Z: Ogre Freebooter

Late as usual (hrmph)...here's a Dungeonstack card for the letter O...


A dual-wielding ogre pirate ought to fit in just fine.  I'm not sure about making him a Giant type, but it does let him work well with the abilities of Nat Twinny.

Also, I should maybe think about spicing up the background of that image...

Now, back to playing catch-up...!

Monday, April 17, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Nat Twinny, Woodsman

I'm guessing due to my affinity for nonhuman animals (I like humans too, but you know what I mean), I've been drawn to Druid, Ranger, and classes in the style of those two.  So, in wanting to present at least a small variety of Hero cards that can be matched against the Dungeonstack, it's only natural (heh) that I'd try to work one in here...


In addition to Nat, April, and the 9 Realms' Guardian, I hope to find space for two more Heroes before the month closes out...in classes somewhat like those other two you'd probably expect if all the bases are to be covered.  If all goes well, I'll present all of these as alternate classes for S&W Light for the upcoming Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day...in part to show that I really am building these Heroes with a rational structure, and not just throwing numbers onto virtual paper...!

And with this, I am briefly caught up on the A to Z challenge!  How long will it last?  Stay tuned...

Dungeonstack A to Z (extra): The 16th Pawn

Well, this card was made in the hope that I'll have an entry for every day in April (not just the A-Z days), but with the way I'm falling behind, perhaps the time would have been better spent on an "N" post...?

Anyway, here we go...!


Again...something pretty basic.  It's kind of a random cryptic treasure to find (which, who knows, could maybe inspire some brainstorming in a DM's head), but I do see a purpose for it in the game as I'm building it.  With my earlier experiments in card-based dungeons, I had a card in the deck that served as the "target treasure," the item that must be retrieved to treat the delve as a success.  The 16th Pawn is what I see as the focus of April's Quest...

I'm shaking my Magic 8-Ball now to see how likely I am to get an "N" post up today...

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Mountain Giant

On to the letter M we go!

Just gonna put something basic here, so I can get caught up in the A to Z challenge.  How about...


Considering the monster cards that have come along so far, that's a big dude up there.  I was thinking maybe a Mountain Giant should be bigger than a Hill Giant, but I'm gonna have to assume this is big enough for now...

Alright, I'm officially caught up!  Hoping for an extra entry later today; let's see how life plays that out for me...!

Oh, and if you celebrate it, Happy Easter, y'all!

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Locked!

Darn it, real life!  Why must you intrude on my nerdblogfuntime??

Ah, well.  I've fallen behind on my A-Z goals due to the tasks of a work trip, but I hope to catch up today!  First up: an Event card for the letter L...that little dungeon annoyance, the locked door...


First of all...about that "test" on the card...

I've determined that my preferred way of handling skill/attribute checks in this game...and potentially any OSR gaming I manage to run anytime soon...is the good old Xd6 roll-under-ability-score.  So anyone will have a chance to overcome this...but Mages with a Knock spell, and hopefully Rogues/Thieves with lockpicking skill will have a better shot at it.  At any rate, 5d6 might be too onerous a task to be any fun, but I hope to see that as I test it out.

As far as nitpicky stuff goes, I realized with this card that I'm not necessarily doing all that great with consistent templating of rules text.  The Hero/character is referred to as "you" on here, while other cards take a wholly third-person approach.  Something else I'll need to think about...

As always, thanks for checking this stuff out, and hopefully I'll be back later today to get fully caught up to the halfway point of the A to Z Challenge...!

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Knight of Unreality

Time for the letter K in this year's A to Z Challenge.  I present another Monster that's not necessarily a monster (although who knows what's under that armor...and that's not meant to sound dirty...):


Some notes on the Knight:

That ability was pretty much lifted straight from the old (and, I think, going again...?) Warlord CCG.  It's pretty darned powerful, I suppose...but I really like the way it fits the "Unreality" theme of the card.

Also, I've enjoyed working in a few tips of the hat so far to other bloggers of geekdom who are taking part in the A to Z Challenge this April.  While this post doesn't quite fit in, I really liked this art and wanted to at least give a little nod to my blogging bud +Tim Knight.  His site HeroPress is one of my favorite daily stops and always deserves a look...!

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Jade Bear

Is it an Item card?  Is it a Monster?  Roll 1d6 to find out...


I think this guy (or girl) could introduce a fun little bit of extra variance into the game...I suppose I'll see...!

For what it's worth, fellow cardfloppers may recognize its jade-ness as a reference to a pretty classic Magic: the Gathering card:


The Statue may have gotten more than one MtG homage over the years, but the main one I'm familiar with is this one from the set Champions of Kamigawa:


Even Hearthstone has gotten in on the jade monster action, with ever-growing Jade Golems' being a key mechanic in a recent expansion...


So I guess there's something about jade.  That comes to life.  Seems cool to me.

All those 2's on the card are also a little nod to another classic MtG creature...


This original 2/2 for 2 mana has become so iconic that Magic creatures in general that match those stats and cost are referred to as "bears."

-----

So, ah...I guess that's all on today's ursine offering.  I appreciate your taking the time to read this...and hope you'll stop by tomorrow for another Monster...!

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Interior Walkway(s)

For Dungeonstack's representative of the letter "I," I present what will be one of the most straightforward cards of the month, the Interior Walkway:


It is...a room.  Where stuff is found.  There are a few things I can note about it, though.

On that artwork...not very fantasy, eh?  Well, I like the generic name of this card, as it could fit artwork and settings of all types...in this case, fairly modern, or even a bit SF.  Also, I've been thinking lately about how He-Man is probably one of the strongest fantasy influences I have floating around in my brain, so I'm happy to include a picture like this alongside the more fantasy-oriented stuff, to maybe give an overall Science Fantasy feel.

I also like this artwork because it nicely translates into the directions that a Hero can exit the room, since it shows a doorway on one side and ends in what could very easily be another doorway.  It was also really easy to flip it around and have a new card:


I think that 2 or 3 of both of these in the initial Dungeonstack will be a good direction to go.

Oh!  One final note...because this card is so basic, and doesn't really have any rules text, I wanted to throw some flavor text on there to give it a little extra...um, flavor.  Hopefully this won't end up complicating things.

Thanks for stopping by!  Tomorrow, I'll have my most experimental card yet...although they're all pretty darn experimental at this point...

Monday, April 10, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Hall of the Wandering Nephilim

Good morning, gamers and wanderers.  Today's Dungeonstack card reps the letter H and is another room to navigate on April's Quest...


A tip of the hat to +Justin Isaac at Halls of the Nephilim with this one...he's detailing an Appalachian-inspired fantasy RPG setting, Portsmaw, for the A to Z challenge this month, and it's shaping up into something pretty awesome, so be sure to give it a look...!

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z (extra): 9 Realms' Guardian

I'm really enjoying the card-making this month, so why not step outside the alphabet for another extra card today, eh?

The 9 Realms' Guardian is another Hero that can be used in April's Quest...as an alternative to April herself (or maybe even in tandem...still figuring all of this out, after all...).


While Warriors are definitely more straightforward, I like the idea of bringing in a Mage here so that the game isn't always about critters hacking each other back and forth.  And as far as managing the spells...well, that could add another nice little element of variety.  I'll have to return to magic later in the month...

Oh!  And that artwork...pretty cool, isn't it?  No idea what's going on, but I really like the look!  I'm pulling all of the art this month from the freely useable images at Pixabay; I had to use this one somewhere...!

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: The Good Doctor's Crypt

Today brings another room to be encountered on April's Quest.  Pretty straightforward, I think.  More rooms to come soon...!

Oh yeah, I've been forgetting to put this caption...
Print at 2.75x3.75" and trim along dotted lines.
Collect them all!

As you may be able to guess, this card is another nod to a fellow A-to-Zer...a little shout-out to Stacey, who keeps up a great horror blog (I guess that's the best way to categorize it...!) over at Dr. Theda's Crypt.  His theme this month is the monsters of his childhood - you should check 'em out!

(Also...looks like I'm also going to need to include some undead monsters this month...!)

Friday, April 7, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Fiery Updraft

And now, to round out the card types I definitely plan on including in this first go-round of Dungeonstack, here is an event card...


Some thoughts that might be of note:

First, on the rules...pulling from my post a couple of days ago:

When a hero moves into a new room (with possible directions indicated by the arrows on the cards), cards are turned over from the top of the Dungeonstack (deck) until a room card is revealed.  Any items turned over can be found in the room...any monsters are there for an encounter...and any events take place immediately.

Easy enough, I hope...these are the little twists of fate that occur while the dungeon is delved.  It happens before the room can be dealt with.

Second, on saves:

I left off any reference to saves on the hero cards...seems like an easy sacrifice to simplify things.  I do like the way Swords & Wizardry keeps things easy with the unified saving throw, and I don't mind taking things a step further:  All classes save the same in this game.  If there needs to be a class that's especially good at saves - or specific saves - well, fine, that can be part of their rules text.  The basic rule for saving throws will be to roll and add level (or hit dice for monsters), aiming for a target number, with the default being the round-ish target of 15.  (If I recall correctly, the D&D minis game used level for all saves...I think it's a nice simplification, but I guess I'll see if it's too simplified...)

And finally, I just want to use the event cards to highlight another reason I settled on Dungeonstack: April's Quest rather than Henchmen & Hirelings: The Quest of Atoz for my theme this month.  H&H, as the card game I envision it to be, includes cards like this one:


Now, all of that gibberish has meaning in my mind and in the game that might eventually materialize...but I wanted my efforts this month to produce something that might be generally useful to OSR gamers that have no interest in playing my little card game.  I don't think things like the Quest of Atoz up there hit that mark very well.

For Dungeonstack, I think the event cards probably stretch universal useability the thinnest, but even they might have some use in general RPG play.  I'll be pondering this more as the month continues and more cards are added...

Thanks for reading!  Tomorrow, I give another nod to an internet bud...!

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Elven Chainmail

Today's card, representing the great letter E, is another simple item to be found on April's Quest...good old Elven Chainmail...


I definitely wanted to include some armor as an item to be found...April is a warrior, after all, but based on the art I chose, I kept her at the base Defense/AC value for her starting card...


(Of course, the option will also be there to give her the armor from the start for an easier go of it.  I'm all about options.)

Thanks for stopping by!  Tomorrow, I finally round out the card types...!

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Dark Stairwell

I guess it's time that I finally got to the heart of the game of Dungeonstack.  Here's a room card...where the action happens:


A few things to note on this one:

First, that border.  Using a brick pattern of some sort as the border on room cards is really growing on me, and I kinda like this one.  I think it could look nice on the table once the cards are trimmed...


Second, on the rules(!):  Dungeonstack is based on my experiments with The Stack Hack, a solo, card-based dungeon crawl modeled on The Black Hack's rules.  With apologies to anyone who might be disappointed by my abandoning TBH as a base (although really, you'll be able to play things just about as easily using David Black's excellent ruleset), I'm switching things up to make the game more generally OSR-accessible (with special nods to the simpler versions of Swords & Wizardry).

In a nutshell, when a hero moves into a new room (with possible directions indicated by the arrows on the cards), cards are turned over from the top of the Dungeonstack (deck) until a room card is revealed.  Any items turned over can be found in the room.  Any monsters are there for an encounter.  And...as I'll get to in the next couple of days...any events take place immediately.

A quick aside:  One of the main reasons I settled on "Dungeonstack: April's Quest" for my A to Z topic, rather than "Henchmen & Hirelings: The Quest of Atoz," is that among my card game ideas, this one lends itself really well to solo playtesting.  Since, for the most part (and while I'd like to develop some competitive rules), it's about solo play, after all!  I'd like to think this will help me actually produce something complete and worthwhile in the long run...!

And finally...you may notice that "darkvision" is mentioned in the rules text for the Dark Stairwell.  That's connected to the fact that a convention of Dungeonstack is that all rooms are assumed to be sufficiently lit...except in cases like this.  Overall, that seemed like a simple enough allowance to eliminate a fair amount of rules complexity and tedium in what will hopefully be a quick-playing game.

-----

So, there we are...a room!  I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I fit another very simple item into the 'stack...!

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Crossplanar Barbarian

Today...another monster!  I'm following up on yesterday's bugbear with this guy in part to show that I'm going with that old-school RPG tradition that holds that "monsters" aren't necessarily monsters in the traditional sense.  They're just stuff to fight...!


This fellow is also signifcant in being a little nod to another gaming blog that's part of this year's A to Z Challenge...if you have any interest in the stuff I post here at Monstrous Matters, you're sure to love +Mark Craddock's Cross Planes.  I was drawn to his work by our shared interest in a certain Eternian defender (hence this entry); he's putting together an RPG hexcrawl this month, and I'm looking forward to watching it unfold...!

Monday, April 3, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: Bugbear Scavenger

April marches on, and so does the Dungeonstack!  Since today is #MonsterMonday, I thought it only appropriate to post something...well, monstrous.

Encounters in Dungeonstack are centered on the monsters found in each room.  Like this guy:

Just print at 2.75x3.75" and cut on dotted lines.
Collect them all!
The top of the card has Hit Dice and name, and the bottom holds all the important combat stats (shifted down from just below the picture on the hero cards).  Based on typical old-school monster presentation, I know I could get away with not having the attack bonus listed...and probably hit points, for that matter...but I liked the consistency with the hero card.

And yeah...I realize that's probably not really a bugbear in the art, but I think it looks like it could be pretty close...even with the horns.  If you're a stickler for that kind of thing...accurate portrayal of bugbears and all...well, sorry!

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z (extra): 2 Platinum Pieces

Well, like I've been saying, I'm really excited about April this year, and that means I don't feel like letting this Sunday slip by without getting an extra card in for Dungeonstack!  So, after hitting on hero cards yesterday, today I'll introduce something much much simpler: item cards.  Sometimes, this will be stuff that can be used on the adventure.  Sometimes, it'll just be plain old treasure.  Like this:

Just print at 2.75x3.75" and cut on dotted lines.
Collect them all!

Yep.  Simple.

While I'm posting, I may as well also give a bit more detail on the form in which I'm presenting these cards.  They really are set up to be printed out at 2.75"x 3.75" and trimmed along the dotted lines (rounding the corners if you like) to come out to poker size.  They can then be slipped into card sleeves (or not, if they're printed on a thicker stock) for play.  I do plan on putting up PDFs that make printing at the proper size much easier.  Eventually, I'll be able to take this...


...and make this easily enough...


So yeah...that's the plan!

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Dungeonstack A to Z: April MacMulligan

Holy crap...I can't believe April is here.  And y'know...I'm pretty stoked to see what those around me in the tabletop-gamey-and-generally-geeky blogosphere have to offer for the 2017 Blogging From A to Z Challenge...!

I haven't even had a chance to post since that fateful day last month when we revealed our topics for the year.  And so, to recap...I will be presenting one playtest card per day for a game I call...

Henchmen & Hirelings: The Quest of Atoz


Oh...wait.

Scratch that.

Henchmen & Hirelings: The Quest of Atoz


I will be presenting...something very similar...but slightly different...

Dungeonstack: April's Quest


The beauty of this change is that pretty much no one has the slightest idea what the hell I'm talking about with either of them, so it's almost like no change at all!  As the month goes on, I will share why I made the change and give a little bit of background on both ideas.

For now, though, I'll just get to the card!  This is April MacMulligan, our game's hero.  Dungeonstack, you see, is essentially to be an OSR-based dungeon crawl card game where the deck is the dungeon, and to play it, you'll need someone to do the crawling.  That's what April...and any other heroes that come along this month...will be for.  Or, y'know, just roll up your own character.  Up to you, really.

Just print at 2.75x3.75" and cut on dotted lines.
Collect them all!

(April herself is clearly a relative of a previous adventurer I've used in a similar enterprise.)

Now, what do we have on this card?  It is, as you can probably tell, a condensed character sheet.  Level, class, and name at the top.  Attack bonus, damage (that's 1d6+1, by the way), armor/defense, and hit points under the artwork.  And then ability scores at the bottom, along with the bonuses that are there.  The base system here is essentially Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox or Light; I might have even tried to keep up "official" compatibility if it weren't for that pesky descending-AC requirement.

But hey, I like sending out generic OSR love!

So, this is how Dungeonstack starts.  I can't wait to find out how it plays itself out...

Now, to see what you other cats are posting today...!