This Will Drive Vault Keeper All Excited

Risus Monkey has just posted this truly awesome document of rule-clarifications and house-rules to the original Dungeons & Dragons game, written back in 1977. I've read through it, and it's amazing!

McKinney's Blog Missing

Weird Worlds of Geoffrey McKinney seems disappeared. I hope this is just another Blogspot fault, and everything is good out there...

Le Château des Sortilèges

Hi guys, just a communication service! The one of you who follows the blog of my fellow gamer The Keeper, might be interested to knowing that he moved his AD&D Seconda Edizione blog to Château des Sortilèges. You may remember the guy for his many ramblings on the most obscure and forgotten Roleplaying Games of the 80's, and particularly for his (successful) role in bringing Beasts, Men & Gods back in print and PDF download. So fix your blogroll, spread the word and show this awesome compatriot some Old School Love!

Questions, Updates & Cool Stuff

First of all, let me say that I'm so excited to see the magical number "100" to show up in my Followers bar!

And now for some serious shit about the New Blood-gers column. I'm trying to get two very cool bloggers to participate in a little Round Table in the style of the one that appeared on Beyond the Black Gate quite a few days ago – I really hope they're going to answer the call! Still, I have two new unpublished interviews to post, and some others that should arrive sooner or later. My question is this, should I post them daily? Weekly? Monthly? I'm thinking that if I post'em weekly, I can have a "blog free" day once in a while, which is not a bad thing at all. Be sure to post your own opinion in comments.

And now for a very exciting, upcoming product, check out the announcement of the new Exquisite Corpses edition by Lamentations of the Flame Princess here and there! I can't help but say that between Zak, Geoffrey and Stefan, Mr. Raggi has truly found the way to make all my dirty dreams come true! Definitely can't wait for these.

And finally, for some (Hopefully) Cool Stuff! The bad news is that I have completely lost interest in posting the game recap of my birthday party, because it's too boring. Seriously. The good news is that instead I'm gonna give you my notes from the session! As long as Austrodavicus proofreads them for me (you don't wanna read my crappy english, I guess.) So stay tuned, the good stuff is on the way.

New Blood-gers: Terminal Space & Underworld Kingdom

Today, for the regular New Blood-gers column here on The Yaqqothl Grimoire we're going to meet one of the big ones in weird science fantasy gaming: Mr. Omlet! You probably already know this awesome guy because of his incredible Terminal Space Supplement for OD&D (and if you don't, go now!!) or for his brand new Bandits and Basilisks RPG! Check out his very cool blogs Terminal Space & Underworld Kingdom for more.

This is pure awesome!

1. Hi Buddy! Tell us where you come from, how old you are, when you started gaming, your secret weapon to fight pimples and so on:

I'm from Poland, I'm 27. I started gaming in 1997 with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, but later we switched to no-rules fantasy sandbox game. Later I played over 30 different games, now I'm running Call of Cthulhu campaign (which I run interchangeabely with Dark Heresy campaign). I don't have any favourite game or genre, but more often I play sci-fi games than fantasy).

2. What's your blog focus?

My blog is an attempt to solve and classify the material that I have accumulated over last 12 years of gaming. This lead to creation of Science Fantasy / Sword & Planet campaign, which is a conglomerate of material created in different periods (heavily spiced with Cthulhu Mythos), but is now revised, corrected and standardized. Blog also contains additional rules (for OD&D), monsters and my beloved random tables :D Sometimes I post some artwork created by my friends :-)

3. Are you a player or a DM?

In 80% I'm DM.

4. How did you come to join the OSR? And why? Did someone inspire you? Or did you think that if 'jamal can blog every fucking day about how to be even more Grognard than he actually is you could certainly do better?

How? To be honest - I didn't even know about all this "retrogaming" stuff, still alive old school gaming rules and so on. As I mentioned before - In my early years in hobby we haven't used any rules, but general form of game was very similar to the "basic" (primordial? :D) form of RPGs. So I fell in love :-)

5. Tell us about the very best stuff we are going to find on your blog and why it's so fucking cool:

RANDOM TABLES. Why they are so cool? You tell me :-)

6. Are you involved in a campaign? Are you planning one? Are you one of those people who never game but speak a lot about gaming because you like to do so?

I'm currently running two campaigns (interchangeably) and playing in one. Soon we want to start playing and Underworld Kingdom, but first I must make some maps :D
I play two, sometimes three times per week.

7. Now you have three sentences to say whatever you want:

Emmm...

1) I'm very happy that you enjoy my work with Terminal Space and Underworld Kingdom - there is no better motivation than (cold beer) kind words :-)
2) Forgive me my crappy English (my grammar is even worse than I suspected)!
3) NICOLO - POST SOMETHING MORE ABOUT YAQQOTHL CAMPAIGN! :D

8. Now tell all the fucking old-gaming-guys out there why they should really be following your blog, or ask a friend to do so:

Why? Because I believe that even if my gaming experience is not as big as yours, even if my English sucks and even if I live in TOTAL HELLHOLE I still have something to share with you :-) So follow my fookin' blog and I will reward you with the best creative content which I'll be able to create.
Ia Shub-Niggurath!

YOU'RE UNDER 35 AND WANT TO BE NEXT? SHOOT ME A MAIL AT MALSETTO-AT-GMAIL-DAWT-CALM OR LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE INTRODUCTION POST!

New Blood-gers: Cimorra

Already time for the first New Blood-ger on The Yaqqothl Grimoire! For today we have Logan at Die Wilde Welt Von Cimorra: if you're a fan of weird wild gonzery, you're fucking going to love this guy!

Hot Chicks from Cimoria

1. Hi Buddy! Tell us about where you are from, how old you are, when you started gaming, your secret weapon to fight pimples and so on:

Hi! My name is Matthias and nickname is Logan. I'm comming from Germany and I'm 31 years old.
I think, I started gaming in the age of 12 with HeroQuest, which was the base for my very first RPG. Later I played the first editions of DSA (Das Schwarze Auge, engl. The Dark Eye), (A)D&D 1st & 2nd Edition and Call of Cthulhu. But mostly I played self-made RPGs, based on D&D or Call of Cthulhu rule sets.

your secret weapon to fight pimples
True fucking Metal!

Ehm...ok.
I like nearly every kind of the fantastic, especially Sword & Sorcery, Sword & Planet, Sci-Fi, Horror, Steampunk and so on.
I love fantastic movies (my fav is "Conan, the Barbarian"), fantastic books, especially from H.P.Lovecraft, R.E.Howard, C.A.Smith, C.T.Miéville, etc., metal, especially Bal-Sagoth, Dimmu Borgir, The Vision Bleak (Is from my hometown!), Behemoth, etc. and soundtracks from movies (Conan, V for Vendetta, The Ring,...) or games (Gears of War, God of War,...)

2. What's your blog focus?

My blog focus on my second RPG world: The Savage World of Cimorra, some other settings like my apokalyptic-fun-splatter Setting "Bloodgrind: New Angeles", my own WIP RPG rule set WARLOCK, some material for Dungeon Slayers, fantastic art, inspirational stuff and halfnaked girls...which are inspirational stuff. But the main focus is Cimorra, Sword & Sorcery, Sword & Planet, Weird Fiction, RPG philosophy and WARLOCK.
My first and still living RPG world Gaia is a little bit bigger than Cimorra, so she have her own homepage: www.gaia-rpg.de
The Savage World of Cimorra is like GAIA a melange of different genre-types like Sword & Sorcery, Sword & Planet, Weird Fiction, Post-Apocalypse and some more.
My main inspiration for the World are the works of Robert E. Howards "Conan", Lin Carters "Thongor", Edgar Rice Burroughs "John Carter of Mars", Michael Moorcooks "Micheal Kane", H.P.Lovecraft, C.A.Smith, C.T.Miéville, Flash Gordon, Star Trek, D&D, Logan's Run, Star Gate, Heavy Metal, different Sindbad- and Jules Verne-Movies, the pictures of Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, Scott Herve Flament and many more.
It's an exotic, strange, wild and savage world. Young and ancient at the same time and ruled by dark magic, bizarre technology and gods from the darkest universe.

3. Are you a player or a DM?

I'm playing the DM. Mostly. 99%.

4. How did you come to join the OSR? And why? Did someone inspire you? Or you thought that if 'jamal can blog every fucking day about how to be even more Grognard than he actually is you could certainly do better?

The idea of Cimorra was in my head since some month before I found the PLANET ALGOL-Blog in the Web - and I was totally flashed! This blog and the setting was so cool and inspirational. Then I found more great blogs like the great Weirdlands of Xhuul, Ix, Metal Earth, Playing D&D with Pornstars and the great Yaqqothl Grimoire, so I said to me: Fuck! Now it's the right time for Cimorra!
Than I started the blog, because of two points:

1. I don't want to make another homepage again like Gaia. It has taken nearly a six month of web design, writing and so on. I want do use a faster technology and simpler technologie for Cimorra. And so I found the blogging for myself.
2. I need a vacation from Gaia. The World exists since nearly 12 years. So I need something different. Something new. Getting my head free from ideas which are not fitting with Gaia anymore. So cimorra is the Weird Mirror of Gaia: Everything which does not fit into Gaia comes to Cimorra.

5. Tell us about the very best stuff we are going to find on your blog and why it's so fucking cool:

Good question. Well...The blog, the world and the rules are still WIP, but I think, thats the fucking coolness of the blog. When something is still WIP, it grows, it lives. So I could say: Cimorra is a living RPG-World. And I really try to make my own stuff. Ok, some beast like Shoggoth, Nagas or something else are known, but I try to find my own weird way. So, on cimorra there are no fucking elves, goldaddicted dwarfs or more tolkienish standard-fantasy-stuff. And this is really fucking cool! *twothumbsup*

6. Are you involved in a campaign? Are you planning one? Are you one of those people who never game but speaks a lot about gaming because they like to do so?

At the moment my girlfriend and I playing a campaign on Cimorra, using the rules of Barbarians of Lemuria.
It's a classic "John Carter"-style campaign. Her heroine is a ex-special forces "G.I. Jane"-like soldiergirl, which flown by an areoplane thru a dimensional gate in the Bermuda Triangle and crashed on Cimorra. The campaign started like "Lost", but than came the difference with dinosaures, half-naked girls and warriors, demons, witches, cyborgs, mad masterbrains, blue giant and many more stuff.
It's a really bloody and epic campaign. At the moment she's hunting a diabolic archmage, who threaten her friends with terror, slavery and death. It's really great and it makes a lot of fun.

7. Now you have three sentences to say whatever you want:

Really? Whatever I want? Ok...

1. I hope everyone can read this, because my english is not very good.
2. Inspiration is everything, so open your mind, take everything you can get and make your one, great fucking world.
3. The best in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women. And a some good dices and beer...
4. I really love the OSR-Blogs! They are so inspirating, so weird, so strange! So full of great ideas and passion. Thanks everyone!

Fuck! This were four sentences! Shut!

8. Now tell all the fucking old-gaming-guys out there why they should really be following your blog, or ask a friend to do so:

Ehm...Because Cimorra is a old-school, pulp world like in the good golden days of the fantastic. No elfcrap! Only badass barbarians, hot martian-style princesses and many more.
And you can play Cimorra with nearly every RPG-system in the world.
And...I have boobies every friday! :D

Greetings from Germany

Logan

YOU'RE UNDER 35 AND WANT TO BE NEXT? SHOOT ME A MAIL AT MALSETTO-AT-GMAIL-DAWT-CALM OR LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE INTRODUCTION POST!

New Blood

Look at these candies! YUM!

So Dr. Jeff made this post about looking for hidden treasures in Cyclopeatron's monthly OSR blogs rank. I do agree with Jeff a lot, and I also remember quite well what being an ignored blogger was like (in seven months of activity the Doomed Wastelands blog never reached more than 36 followers.) Still, I also have another interest in it. Most of you guys are from the old-guard: you know, you started playing with Holmes in early 80's when my mom was 18. 18, got it?! She didn't even care about marrying, let alone having children.

Therefore, I would like to promote a column where I talk about "Under 35 Bloggers", giving particular attention to the ones who have less than 30 followers. That's how it will work: if you have a blog about the OSR and you're Under 35 (let's say Your Age <= 35), post a comment here or shoot me an e-mail at malsetto-at-gmail-dawt-calm and I will dedicate an interview-post on The Yaqqothl Grimoire to you, so that you get (even) more visibility! Also, I don't care if you don't blog in english – people out there have Google Translator! The only thing is that the interview will be in english (even if you're italian, I'm not translating the interview for you.)

I can't wait to hear about you and your blog!

DM Skills

I came across this post at Symptoms of Radness about DM Skills. Finding it pretty cool, I say I'm doing it:

STR: 10
INT: 8
WIS: 17
DEX: 13
CON: 15
CHA: 10

Yes, maybe these scores are not that accurate, I should ask my players. By the way, I think I'm good at improvising (being the lazy guy I need to be good at improvising), though I'm not sure I understand the Constitution meaning that good. As for Charisma, I like to give all my characters (and monsters) different voices, but I feel as if I go too much on stereotypes (ya know, The Old Taverner, The Godfather, The Tough Warrior and so on.) So why Superman? Hell everyone loves Superman.

HOT ELF CHICKS COMMAND YOU TO JOIN THE OLD SCHOOL REVOLUTION!

Save vs. Charm, Elves are not immune

So you were looking for Hot Elf Chicks, and instead you are going to discover a surprisingly vast Community which support the old editions of Dungeons & Dragons published by TSR from the middle of 70's till its doom. We are not just 3d6 in order and Combat Matrix fetishists, we have also made the rules available again as free downloads and print on demand! And it's all perfectly LEGAL! And we also have TONS of new stuff available for you to steal for your next or current campaign: there are over 200 active blogs and a dozen of forums out there with thousand people involved in keeping the hobby alive and prospering as never before! So whether you're still running an AD&D campaign, or think that nobody else still plays this awesome game: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Check out these links:

• Swords & Wizardry, a recreation of the Original Dungeons & Dragons rules from 1974
• Labyrinth Lord, a recreation of Basic/Expert Dungeons & Dragons
• OSRIC, a very easy to use, recreation of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
• Dark Dungeons, a massive compilation of the old Rules Cyclopedia
• A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming by Metthew J. Finch
• The Underdark Gazette, a weekly blog-zine with links to the hottest new stuff from the blogosphere and elsewhere!

And if you still want you Hot Elf Chicks, remember that the Porn Stars are with us!

*Campaign promoted by The Underdark Gazette*

Community Megadungeon Project and Humanspace Empire!

Origób, Lord of All Creatures of the Demon Planes, commands you to check and download the outstanding Humanspace Empire Playtest Draft. Remember when the Old Guy ChicagoWiz asked about the OSR equivalent of projects like Empire of the Petal Throne and Blackmoor? Well, it looks like the time has finally come. Let me also say that IX used very impressive artwork for it! I couldn't imagine it illustrated any better.

On the other hand, Evan @ In Places Deep has some proposals for a Community Designed Megadungeon, which I suggest you check out. The idea, in short, is to create a bunch of one-hour dungeon maps, key in the special rooms, and leave everything else for the various DMs to key. I'm very happy with this one, and I would be glad to see a complete pdf with all the entries published on the net! I imagine it to be just like the Good 'Ol Mines of Khunmar, with tons of maps and the levels barely fleshed out. If you join the quest, let me know: I will be happy to add a page that points to each related post!

Oh.. C'mon!!

Guess who's Number #2 this month on Cyclopeatron's Hottest Blogs Chart? I'm even above Grognardia! So I guess Yaqqothl is having his 15 seconds of popularity, and that's so cool that I actually want to eternalize this moment with a pic:

Yaqqothl is hot!

If you don't want to look at my "SCREW YOU, WHO'S THE HOTTEST NOW?!"-dance you only have Mr. Beedo to blame , who's definitely riding the wave! I'm glad to share this hit with Greyharp, who has made this blog "readable" to anyone out there by still checking my poor syntax-fu: I OWE YOU A BEER BUDDY!! OK, let's stop with all this self-glorification and get back to work on awesome stuff for YOU gentle readers, who made that all happen.

... BUT HELL I'M NUMBER TWO I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!! Ok that's all.

The Blog That Will Put You Upside Down

ALL HAIL TO THE AUSSIE GAMER!

GIANT FUNGI EVERYWHERE!!!

Despite the fact that I'm still on a sabbatical (actually Black Sabbath-ical), I felt an urge to exalt the first attempt by my favorite Tasmanian Devil to run a blog! I've been in contact with Greyharp from months, and I have to say that he is a really kind and wonderful person, and I had a blast reading his quick biography. So do yourself a favor, and join his follower list! Also, I can't wait to read something from his actual campaign! Back to Black Sabbath-ical right now.

I'm a 5th Level Blogger

At least, according to Trey's Old School RPG Blogger Advancement Table, at From the Sorcerer's Skull. So now I'm a Thinker, therefore I guess I have to think rather than comment. By the way, I'm looking foreword to the Maven title, whatever it means (I'll ask Google Translator.) I wish to thank all you followers: your support and interest is what really feeds this blog. Fight on!

Sexualized Women

There has been some talk in the blogosphere about sexualized women in rpg art, here, here and here and possibly elsewhere too. To be honest, I have little to no interest in anything Mr. Errant says, but since I hold Mr. Aldeboran in high regard (and admiration, since I find his art disturbingly awesome), I have decided to give my two cents worth. The first thing I have to say, is that the Elmore idea of what a sexualized woman is, is pretty far from mine.

Being a fan of heavy to grind through doom, sludge, death and black metal, there are very few things that annoy me more than indie rock and mods. Still, I have a weakness for skinny girls with little to no curves and dressed in a somehow masculine way. I'm heterosexual, indeed – not that I see anything wrong in other sexual inclinations, except, of course, pedophilia – I just like girls. To give you an idea of what I consider to be pretty hot, I offer you two pics:

Melissa Auf Der Maur

Agyness Deyn

I just wonder why girls in rpg art couldn't look like these girls, but seem to have to be overly plump at all costs. Probably Playboy was the only reference for Elmore to draw women. That said, I strongly agree with Mr. Aldeboran's point of view: give me more Fat Cotton and Stefan Poag weird and disturbing art cause I don't give a fuck for chainmail bikinis. Also, girls playing bass guitars are hotter than any other due to the fact they do play a bass guitar.

SCREW GRAVITY!

According to mr. Tray @ From the Sorcerer's Skull, The Yaqqothl Grimoire has recently reached Level 4, Commentator. I wish to thank all of you, kind followers, and particularly Austrodavicus aka Greyharp for keeping this blog safe from The Syntax Horror. Kudos to you all!

Thank You, Mr. Gorgonmilk

Very kind :D

Xothique

Ok, I know this blog is for Yaqqothl development, but hey: this is pertinent. In case you missed this, G. Benedicto is (apparently) finally publishing the module that sits at the top of my "Most Wanted Gamer Porn Supplies Ever" list. This is totally awesome and I can't wait to hold Xothique in my agog, sweaty hands! A plus for having it published by a company named TPK (although I admit that Eiglophian Press was way more appropriate for such a publication). Maybe one day we will see Quantique too (second place in the aforementioned list).