A blog on 40 years of gaming and Sandbox Fantasy.
One of the biggest challenges of publishing today is getting people to look at what you produced. This is why tools like DriveThruRPG's Promotion Points are crucial to publishers, especially those like myself who rely on online websites for the bulk of their sales. Thanks to your support of the release of the Northern Marches back in May, I had enough points to submit the Northern Marches to the…
So for a couple of years, I've been slowly putting together an explanation of how I run tabletop roleplaying campaigns, and I finally got a good intro and summary that tie everything together and give me a foundation for organizing the details of what I do. The Living World Sandbox A Sandbox Campaign is a way to run a tabletop roleplaying campaign in which the players, rather than the referee,…
Since the release of the guidebook and the poster maps, I have gotten excellent feedback on both. Several comments made me realize that I was too focused on the 12" by 18" poster format. Based on that feedback, I realized we also need the maps in book form. So I divided the four poster maps into 25 overlapping sections and created a visual index to make them easy to use. This format has several…
My friend Joe the Lawyer and I are having a live discussion about the Northern Marches, along with other OSR and RPG topics, tomorrow, Sunday at 5 pm Eastern Daylight Time. I hope you will join us. Feel free to ask Joe and me questions during the livestream. If you are unable to make it, post your questions in the comments on the post or video, and I will try to answer them. Into the Majestic…
I have known Agile Monk for a long time, and we have talked a lot over the years about my work and the OSR in general. Recently, he and his team at Fantasy Companion Workshops launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund two books designed as expert-level gaming resources. The Kickstarter is due to end in two days, on June 25th at 4 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Wonderous & Dangerous Consortiums & Xendria…
So everyone knows I will be at North Texas Con this week. My books and maps will be for sale at the Black Blade Publishing Booth. I am running three sandbox adventures for the event: Scourge of the Demon Wolf, The Domain of the Rat Lord, and The Deceits of the Russet Lord. I will be available to answer questions throughout the event, and I am looking forward to meeting everyone who can make it.
I am happy to announce the release of the Premium Color edition of Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: The Northern Marches. Because of a mistake on my part, I wasn't able to enable this version of the Northern Marches during my public release on April 30th. For those wanting to purchase this version, I have attached a $5 off coupon valid until June 15th. Discount DriveThruRPG coupon…
Last year, I launched the Kickstarter for Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms : The Northern Marches. Over 800 backers brought my projects to life, and now it is time to let the rest of the hobby into this project and experience the Northern Marches and the freedom that a well-supported sandbox campaign offers. At 8pm EDT tonight, April 30th, on the Vlog of Many Things I will be releasing the…
I’ve been a fan of Columbia Games and the Harn setting since the early 1980s. It’s not just a strong medieval fantasy world in its own right. What has always set Harn apart is its modular design. Each product consists of self-contained articles, which makes it easy to incorporate material into other campaigns. I’ve used it extensively in my own Majestic Wilderlands and Majestic Fantasy Realms.…
Long-time readers of my blog know I have a long-standing abiding interest in space exploration. One of my hobbies is flying space simulators and writing realistic add-ons for them. Artemis II launched a few days ago and is now heading to the moon for a fly-by. The flight's purpose is to check out the Orion capsule on a multi-day mission. Rather than just orbit the Earth the whole time like Apollo…
This past January, I had the privilege of attending the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo and participating in a discussion panel on the State of the OSR. The panel was hosted by Luke Stratton, author of Pirate Borg and host of the Ship of the Dead podcast. My fellow panelists were Kelsey Dion (Shadowdark), Tiger Wizard of Exalted Funeral, and Levi Combs of Planet X Games. We had a lively and positive…
As I wrap up Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, the Northern Marches , I am thinking ahead to my next major project, the full version of the Majestic Fantasy RPG . While I still need to write the final manuscript, the rules themselves are written and have been playtested extensively. I started out with Swords & Wizardry by Matt Finch back in 2008 and adapted it to my Majestic Wilderlands setting.…
Packing up and heading to the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo . I’ll be running Scourge of the Demon Wolf and The Deceits of the Russet Lord on Friday and Saturday, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the State of the OSR during a panel on Thursday morning. Hope to see some of you there!
Over on Reddit, Kaliburnus asks What the point of the OSR is ? He concludes his post with some questions. So, honest question, what is the point of OSR? Why do they reject modern systems? (I’m talking specifically about the total OSR people and not the ones who play both sides of the coin). What is so special about this movement and their games that is attracting so many people? Any specific…
In my last post , I argued that “rulings, not rules” wasn’t a gap to be patched but a foundation for how tabletop roleplaying works. The early hobby assumed referees would make calls, and in doing so, developed a craft of rulings. That craft became the foundation for the rulesets that shaped the hobby in the mid and late ’70s. In this post, I want to build on that idea by asking a deeper question:…
There's been a lot of discussion over the years about how Original Dungeons & Dragons handled (or didn't handle) the common situations you'd expect in a tabletop role-playing campaign. Things like jumping a chasm, climbing a wall, or fast-talking a city guard. The critique often boils down to: OD&D wasn't complete, it left too much out. What people forget is that Gygax wasn't writing OD&D for…
My Kickstarter for Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: the Northern Marches is now in its last day! Link to the Kickstarter Random Party Generater Everybody invited to tonight's Random Party Generator when the kickstarter will end at 10pm Eastern Daylight. Random Party Generator Link Overview Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: Northern Marches is built from the ground up for sandbox play. It’s a…
My Kickstarter for Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: the Northern Marches is now in its last three days. Link to the Kickstarter Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: Northern Marches is built from the ground up for sandbox play. It’s a fully detailed hexcrawl formatted setting with dozens of lairs, dungeons, and adventure hooks, designed not just to be read, but played. Every location, encounter, and…
Debates about what the OSR is have been going on since at least the late 2000s. Lately I seen more rounds of discussion on this topic on various forums and on youtube like this panel discussion. What sets the OSR apart, from the beginning, is that, unlike most corners of the hobby, it hasn’t been driven by a single author, company, or creative vision. While it grew from interest in out-of-print…
I'm excited to announce the launch of Kickstarter Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: the Northern Marches A Sandbox Fantasy Setting What if your players could shape a world that remembers them? From the frostbitten ruins of the Wild North to the magical storms of the Ring Islands, The Northern Marches is a massive sandbox setting built for classic fantasy play. Created by Robert Conley, the author…
I'm excited to announce that my third Kickstarter launches on Wednesday, May 28th, just two weeks away! Click the link below to get notified when it goes live. Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: the Northern Marches A Sandbox Fantasy Setting What if your players could shape a world that remembers them? From the frostbitten ruins of the Wild North to the magical storms of the Ring Islands, The…
I noticed an increase in visitors, and since my last post was in March, I figured a quick update was in order. The writing for The Northern Marches is complete, and I’m now working on the Kickstarter setup. Expect a preview page soon, with the full launch planned for two weeks after that. The last section I worked on was the travel rules and encounter tables. These expand on the travel rules…
It's time for another Bat in the Attic update! I am halfway through the first draft of my upcoming project, Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, the Northern Marches. It will be divided into two sections. The first half focuses on the Northern Marches, which combines and expands Blackmarsh, Southland, and the Wild North into four 12" by 18" maps. Rob's Note: The dark grey blobs are outlines of…
Happy New Year Folks! This would be a good time to update everyone on what has been happening with me and my plans for the upcoming year. Personal I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes a few years back. This wasn't unexpected, as my family has a history of the disease. But I didn't do myself any favors being overweight. However, I caught a break when my doctor switched me to Mounjaro. It…
Most years, I save up my vacation time and spend the last week or so of the year with my family. Outside of the holiday celebrations this gives me some time to do various projects. While my main focus is on finishing up the draft of Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms , I try to do one or two small projects. This year, I worked on updating the Classic Traveller Character Generator that I host on my…