We've made it to the final month of the year—despite the best efforts of The Year That Shall Not Be Named. And we kick off the month with our annual Holiday Adventure Module, this one being The Doom That Came To Christmastown!
For those who aren't familiar (or even if you are) we also point you towards Doug Kovacs' Inferno Road adventure. And we also give you a sneak peek at 101 City Encounters and showcase the new DCC Kickstarter for A Conspiracy of Ravens.
Add to that articles on The Best of Sword-and-Sorcery panel from Bride of Cyclops Con, Brian Murphy's Flame and Crimson, Where to Start with Poul Anderson's Fantasy Fiction, and an Adventure in Fiction with Poul Anderson we've got a full week of news for you.
Oh, we also mention a little thing called Spawn of Cyclops Con that is heading your way next year...
Let's get to it!
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NEW IN THE ONLINE STORE:
THE 2020 DCC HOLIDAY MODULE
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Ho-ho-holy cow! It’s time to welcome the new DCC Holiday Module!
Now in our online store, we are proud to present The 2020 Holiday Module: The Doom That Came To Christmas Town.
And since this product is print + PDF, you’ll be able to download the PDF version immediately and start playing right away. And that’s always a good thing, especially during THIS holiday season.
Let’s look at the details!
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A level 2 holiday adventure!
The Yule-Light is dying.
Perched atop its majestic pine of old, this strange gemstone tree-topper has sat for untold millennia, shining its joyful and life-giving light over the small hamlet of Christmas Town that surrounds it. Its radiant light, a symbol of peace and hope to all, now wane and dimming.
While far to the north, hidden in the gloom of a mountain-top cave, the vile creature known as the Grinch has awakened. Foul, mean, and a real rotter, this king of sinful sots possesses a small heart and a hatred for the holidays above all things.
Now, with only days left before Christmas Eve, a sour-sweet wind blows across the land, spreading a vile taint that threatens the yearly tradition that sees Lord Claus travel the realm delivering cheer and good faith to the masses.
With the fate of Christmas and peace in the realm resting upon a knife’s edge, a group of brave adventurers gathers to embark on a heroic quest to fight back the darkness and save the holidays from The Doom That Came to Christmas Town…
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BUY DOUG KOVACS LATEST ZINE! |
The roars of the betrayed Dark Lords shake the foundations of hell. The Grand Architect of Evil is enraged. Satan shakes his chains and the whole of hell shakes with him...
It’s like Dungeon Crawl Classics meets Hieronymus Bosch & Mad Max in HELL. We’re referring to Doug Kovacs’ Inferno Road, which has returned in a new printing entitled Inferno Road: Plague Edition!
If you have experienced Inferno Road at one of the various Cons over the past years, you already have a feeling for the insanity inside this book. But if you tap into the minds of Doug Kovacs and Wayne Snyder, don’t expect to come back unchanged!
This is gonzo gaming at its most extreme, so buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life.
Inferno Road: Plague Edition is a 44-page book with a color cover, B&W interior, and more art upgraded from the original ashcan version. In addition, you’ll find a color spinner poster with new art by Stefan Poag and 4 more bonus pages of additional charts and Inferno Road weapons with new art from Steve Gomez.
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SNEAK ATTACK PEEK
newsletter exclusive
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SNEAK PEEK AT 101 CITY ENCOUNTERS |
Undead are some of the favorite monsters in role-playing, and it's always fun to explore the creepy, strange world of these non-living beasties.
The folks over at Psychoda Press not only have explored the concept of undead in detail, but they've allowed us to present this preview of their fantastic book, The Forgotten Rites of The Mouldering Dead.
Filled with new illustrations printed on 100# paper, this hefty 96-page supplement contains:
- Nearly 100 tables to liven up the un-dead
- Stat blocks for un-dead monsters, animals, and scavengers
- 5 necromancy spells
- The Un-dead Hunter class
- 2 adventures
Check out the preview images below! And grab the full book over on our online store!
Enjoy!
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SUPPORT THE DCC CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS KICKSTARTER |
The night is always something that brings out the mysterious. The shadows and change in sound make it the perfect setting for a strange, spooky story—or third-party DCC RPG adventure!
A Conspiracy of Ravens is the new Kickstarter from creator Matt Robinson creating an adventure that is equally served as a 0-level funnel or 1st level adventure.
Here’s what they have to say about the module:
A Conspiracy of Ravens is a horror-themed adventure module that can be played as a 0-level funnel or as a 1st level adventure that uses Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. A “funnel” is a game in which players will play 2 to 4 everyday townsfolk who begin at 0-level with no special abilities or skills. Players use cunning, tactical retreat, and brute force through strength of numbers to overcome perilous situations and bloodthirsty monsters to save the day. The very few, lucky peasants who survive become emboldened with new abilities as 1st level characters and embark on glorious, treasure-filled quests with a newfound spirit of adventure.
The “funnel” game is synonymous with Dungeon Crawl Classics tabletop gaming. It is an excellent way to introduce completely new players to role-playing and a very fun way to keep veteran players on their toes. A Conspiracy of Ravens takes classic aspects of horror that you love and reimagines them in a frightening new light… or darkness.
- Lost children in need of being saved… or are they?
- A suspicious old lady… she could be a benefit or curse to the party.
- Man’s best friend… think Cujo but much, much more gruesome.
- Possession… who doesn’t love someone who can spin their head 360°
- A sacrificial finale that puts the Salem witch trials to shame… and much more!
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SPAWN OF CYCLOPS CON IS COMING! |
That thing you hear rustling amongst the holiday decorations—the one you haven’t been able to locate—it’s coming. And it’s looking to play…
Spawn of Cyclops Con is right around the corner! And we want to make sure you have all the information you need to start planning your con for late February.
Let’s look at some dates.
- Event submission opens: January 2
- Event schedule posted: January 22
- Badge sales open: January 23
- Event pre-reg for volunteers and judges: January 25
- Event registration opens to all: January 29
- Last day for ticket refunds: February 25
- Con Start: February 26
So get your adventures planned, your traps placed, and your monsters spawned! If you sign up to run 2 or more events, we’ll even give you a Judges badge for free—and all judges get to register for events early on January 25, before regular registration begins on January 29.
We’ll see you in February at Spawn of Cyclops Con!
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THE BEST OF SWORD AND SORCERY PANEL |
Back in October Goodman Games held a weekend-long virtual convention, The Bride of Cyclops Con! Tales From the Magician’s Skull was of course in attendance, taking part in several round table discussions from writers, editors, critics, and fans that ran the gamut of topics in fantasy fiction and publishing. And, thanks to the Skull’s potent command of certain eldritch technologies, we bring you The Best of Sword-and-Sorcery, a panel featuring Jason Ray Carney, Jeff Goad, Howard Andrew Jones, Brian Murphy, and Bill Ward...
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BRIAN MURPHY'S FAME AND CRIMSON
A HISTORY OF SWORD AND SORCERY
by Bill Ward
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In Flame and Crimson (2019) Brian Murphy has crafted no less than the first book length history of the sword-and-sorcery genre, from its origins and antecedents right down to its reflection in the popular culture of the present day. It is a work both indispensable and long overdue, one that fills a gap in our collective bookshelves while establishing an academic and historical baseline for discussion of sword-and-sorcery going forward. But Murphy also accomplishes the most difficult task of all, balancing the need for critical rigor with readability, and the result is a book that not only provides a compelling and comprehensive view of its subject, but is also as fun to read and impossible to put down as the classic stories referenced in its pages...
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WHERE TO START WITH THE FANTASY
FICTION OF POUL ANDERSON
by Bill Ward
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Poul Anderson (1926-2001) is one of those authors whose prolific output – over one hundred novels and at least as many short stories – is as impressive as it is potentially intimidating. A great many of our contemporary authors tend to stick with one kind of story or book for branding purposes, often adopting new pseudonyms if they dare deviate from the brand, but this was most definitely not the case for the old school genre giants of the mid-twentieth century. For this group, science fiction and fantasy were all under one very big umbrella, specialist short fiction markets were still a viable way to achieve name recognition with readers, and audiences generally seemed to understand that writers weren’t locked into writing one sort of thing... |
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ADVENTURES IN FICTION: L. SPRAGUE DeCAMP
by Jeff Goad
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Did you know that L. Sprague de Camp coined the terms “extraterrestrial” and “E.T.”? It’s true! While the noun existed before de Camp, he was the first to use it to describe alien life in a 1939 article for Astounding Science Fiction. This is one of many examples of how De Camp’s impact on the genres of science fiction and fantasy far exceed his level of contemporary fame.
It is easy to draw a straight line between de Camp and the eccentric renaissance men who populate his stories. Besides authoring more than 100 books, he was also an aeronautical engineer, surveyor, patent expert, and a school principal, among other things...
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NEW IN THE ONLINE STORE:
SPANISH TRANSLATIONS AND FACE MASKS
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It is officially gift buying season! Which makes the timing on these releases perfect for any of your friends who happen to speak Spanish. Or breathe.
Hey, it’s the Year That Shall Not Be Named. Gifts to help people stay safe while breathing are a real thing.
And to that end, we’ve got two new Spanish translations of adventure modules, put out by our publishing partner, Other Selves. They do a great job with the Spanish editions of our product, and we’re sure you agree. Plus, we’ve got a small supply of DCC Face Masks now available in our online store!
Let’s look at this week’s product!
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A Level 3 Adventure for 5E
This is the Spanish language edition of our classic adventure from our publishing partner Other Selves.
Along the windswept sea coast are several natural stone columns, sacred to the Sea Goddess Pelagia. One of these pillars is the tower of a reclusive wizard, a devout follower of Pelagia. But the wizard has gone missing, and the locals suspect foul play. Surely a powerful wizard must have many enemies!
A band of fledgling heroes is tasked with entering one of the Pillars of Pelagia to contend with all manner of magical defenses, while uncovering cryptic clues to the wizard’s disappearance planted by an unknown benefactor. The insidious evil plot they uncover could spell eventual doom for the surface world. But the Pillars are sacred to Pelagia, and the Sea Goddess herself might just play a minor role, aiding the heroes as they attempt to thwart a nefarious plot.
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A Level 1 Adventure for DCC RPG
This is the Spanish language edition of our classic adventure from our publishing partner Other Selves.
The rumors are true! The secret cave of the mystics holds a hoard of treasure vast enough to buy the kingdom seven times over. Gold coins piled as high as snow banks! Gleaming swords and jewel-encrusted wands crackling with arcane energy! Precious gems as large as your fist! The only thing standing between your present circumstances and a life of fabulous wealth is a pesky, slumbering elder god with a penchant for consuming entire worlds, an endless army of vat-grown hybrid monstrosities, a veritable tidal wave of disembodied eyes with awesome powers, giant acid worms, and a curse with the power to rip the still-living eyes from your skull. Do you have the mettle to stare down a god or will your eyes forever adorn the vault of The One Who Watches From Below?
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DCC #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea – Portuguese Edition |
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DCC #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea – Spanish Edition |
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Cool Non-Medical Face Masks! |
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We have a limited supply of DCC Face Masks now available! Grab them while you can. Or give them to a loved one as a gift. It’s the gift that might save lives.
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