I am once again overjoyed to be a credited contributor to 2 Gold ENnie winning products this year!
Dolmenwood Maps Book Best Cartography I handled the cartography for this book as well as the wonderful cartography work by Johnathan Newell (coloured by Zach Kallas) and those wonderful settlement maps by Arlin Ortiz. Congratulations to you all.
Dolmenwood Campaign Guide Best Setting As well as my cartography that appears in the book (Dolmenwood Referee’s Map and Pipes on Droomen Knoll maps), I also wrote a few hexes! Congratulations to the whole team!
Needless to say, a huge thanks to Gavin at Necrotic Gnome and the Exalted Funeral Crew! Check out all the nominees and winners here: https://ennie-awards.com/2026-nominees/
Happy to be contributing the Havenland map symbols collection to this bundle of great map products!
A medley of magnificent maps!
Discover 27 maps, map collections, and map kits from 27 different creators, with a combined value of $150.87. Whether you’re looking for battle maps, world maps, dungeon maps, isometric maps, map parts, or any other kind of maps to enhance your games, you’ll find something interesting in this bundle. Get the entire bundle for a minimum of $15, or choose your own price if you’d like to contribute a little extra to support the creators.
This bundle will be available until 11 Aug 2026, 01:00 BST.
Areas of Knowledge are the skill system for Jewel-Delvers of Nagor Kadir and the Scimitar System.
The beauty is that anything that can be applied to a test, can be an area of knowledge. Here are some examples of areas of knowledge:
Every time a test is required, and the player can use the area of knowledge, they get a reroll of 1 dice.
If you gain the exact same named area of knowledge, it provides additional ranks. If you have three areas of knowledge with the exact same named you can reroll 3 dice in a related test.
Synergistic Areas of Knowledge
When you can apply areas of knowledge to a test that do not have the exact same named they are called synergistic. You gain a reroll of 1 dice for the first area of knowledge, and a +1 die modifier for each synergistic area of knowledge.
Example: An elfin hunter has Woodland flora & fauna (Yithmyr Elfin) and Land-based fauna (Yithmyr Hunter). He is attempting to identify some spilled animal entrails on a forest path which require passing a 1COG Test rolled using his COG score of 3. He rolls 3d10 scoring a 1, 3 and 5, a failure. For his rank in Woodland flora & fauna he re-rolls the 1 getting an 8, still a failure. Now for his Landbased fauna synergistic AoK roll he applies the +1 modifier to the 8 getting a 9, granting 1 success. He passes the test and discovers it’s a brown bear’s entrails. Remember, all AoK re-rolls and SAoK modifiers are optional unless a rule states otherwise.
Applying Rerolls
Area of knowledge rerolls generally only apply to Core attribute tests (STR, AGI, END, COG, PER, and OCC).
If an area of knowledge can be applied to a Secondary attribute test (H2H, RANG, THRO, MANI, HNDL, and CRFT) they are enclosed in square brackets with the related test in superscript afterwards.
[Scimitar mastery]H2H
Example 1: The Mergalese Swordmaster profession has [Scimitar mastery]H2H, and the Street Brawler profession has [Unarmed fighting]H2H, which are enclosed in square brackets. This allows their characters to re-roll dice on each of their H2H Tests (this includes a re-roll for each attack). The Mercenary profession has Combat tactics, which isn’t in square brackets so cannot be used to influence their attack tests.
Example 2: The Elryth Sorceror profession has [Summoning]MANI, and is able to re-roll MANI Tests when manifesting summoning spells, or other summoning-related MANI tests.
Grab the Current Rules
If you want to grab the current version of the play-test rules, then head to the feedback form here and download them from the link provided:
I’ve had the pleasure to provide the artwork for 76 unique items for the Encyclopaedia of Incredible Artefacts. Two volumes of incredible magic weapons, armour, items, and trinkets, usable in any 5E setting!
Presented in two volumes, the Encyclopaedia of Incredible Artefacts is designed to be a tome of legendary magical items for use in any 5E fantasy setting. These items are created so as to be befitting of a campaign’s ‘big bad’ or a fitting reward for the most deserving of heroes. Rather than simply providing a table of stats and rules, these books provide a rich and detailed look into the heritage, background, and journey of these items. Each item is presented alongside beautifully crafted fiction telling that item’s journey through time. Though each of these stories take their own twists and turns, each is designed to inspire Dungeon Masters/Game Masters to find ways in which to include these incredible artefacts in their games. Need a valuable treasure for your party to stumble over? Take your pick. Need a cursed blade for the campaign’s big threat to wield? The following pages have you covered. Want something that gives high risk for high reward? Pick something that poses the risk of possession and see how the character handles the presence of a dark entity! Whatever you need, the Encyclopaedia of Incredible Artefacts seeks to inspire!
My friends over at Columbia Games have got the latest Hârn offering over on Kickstarter! Linkage below!
The Kingdom of Kandayis a feudal kingdom in southwestern Hârn. Founded after the collapse of the despotic Theocracy of Tekhos, Kanday now stands as a realm committed to peace and prosperity. The kingdom is ruled by King Andasin IV of Clan Kand from his seat at Dyrisa. Aleath, a chartered freetown, is the largest settlement.
An OSR Roleplaying Setting & Bestiary. A 224-page A5 Hardcover book – Gold Winner – 2018 ENnie Awards – Best Cartography This is the 3rd Printing with revised layout and minor changes. The book includes an A2 (folded to A5) map of The Midderlands setting. The Midderlands is an old-school game setting with bestiary for…
As I wind down for a few days over the festive period, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all my friends, colleagues, clients, supporters, reviewers, picker-uppers, and all-round great RPG people. I couldn’t continue to do this without you. Some great things are coming up in 2024 and I can’t wait to share the news about each and every one. I expect to be busier than ever.
I hope you all have a great holiday and that 2024 is the best year yet! Happy gaming!
The first four OSR Shorts releases are now up in digital format over on DriveThruRPG. Written for Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised and using the AELF gaming license. Also easily usable in Old School Essentials (OSE). More is to come!
We are having a MASSIVE 50% OFF sale over at DTRPG!
I don’t run sales on DriveThruRPG very often, but this is a BIG one! Don’t miss out on some highly-acclaimed and award-winning gaming material including ENnie Award-winning and nominated titles. Ends 09:00 CST on Monday 28th August 2023. Get them while they are HOT, HOT, HOT!
The following titles are included!
Setting Materials
The Midderlands – OSR Bestiary and Setting ENnie winning
The Midderlands Expanded ENnie nominated
The City of Great Lunden
The Midderlands – Rivers & Lakes
Midderzine Issue 1
Midderzine Issue 2
Midderzine Issue 3
Midderzine Issue 4
Midderzine Issue 5
Midderzine Issue 6
Midderzine Issue 7
Ascoleth: The Last Great City
Map Symbols & Icons
Havenland Fantasy Map Icon/Symbol Set/Pack
Narrasil Fantasy Map Icon/Symbol Set/Pack
Neath 3D Dungeon Map Components for SketchUp
Myrklund Fantasy Overland Map Icon/Symbol Set/Pack
The Bats of Saint Abbans – Books 1, 2 and 3 plus the Adventure Aid Cards
Rancid Canyons of the Floating Death Sheep (Swords & Wizardry, 5E and DCC versions)
YouTube Content from MonkeyBlood Design
We have really leant into the YouTube content which is hopefully the start of a wider push to create YouTube content rather than having multiple social media apps.
We’ll still keep Facebook and Twitter, but everything else is up in the air, so the best way to keep in touch if you don’t use those is to join our infrequent newsletter (fill out the details below) and/or follow our YouTube channel!
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As part of the DriveThruRPG ‘Christmas in July’ sale, we’re thrilled to offer you deals and discounts on our entire range of products. Don’t miss this golden opportunity to stock up on adventures, supplements, and resources at prices that will make your gaming group cheer!
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