OK attempt at a new idea. I like the idea of a fantasy tavern (or I wouldn't have bought the book!) but by including literally every fantasy race ever invented makes it a mess to play. The rules are OK - but when we tried it the concept just didn't seem to gel too well at all.

I need to have at the rule set with a pencil erasing about 30% of it and try again. I suspect there is a decent game buried in there.

Old School D&D with a superb twist.

Human centric (it assumes all characters and NPC's are human by default) this game focuses on the dark side of fantasy life. A world where killing innocents and taking what you need is seen as morally neutral. Not to be applauded, but not forwned on either. Your character does what it needs to to make some money and keep on adventuring.

Magic and monsters are rare and unusual. you certainly wont be running "monster of the week" type campaigns with this rules set. But if you wanted to do "Lies of Locke Lamora" then this would be almost ideal.

I love the artwork, and the short pirce of fiction at the start and end set the tone very nicely indeed.

It's very nearly everything I want in an OSR game. If I combine this with the magic system from Maze Rats or something like Whitehack, it might be my favorite game ever! I am also keen on reading the expansion book for this game. Might change my rating for the game as a whole even. In any case, it is well written and well conceived. Give it a read!

This game has all the character customization, easy to learn, micro-setting fun you could want! I just wish it had some sort of relationship or bond type mechanic so that the characters could have an easy way to fit together without elaborate backstories or full handwaving away their pasts. Otherwise, a solid title.

I am currently loving OSR games. The whole philosophy of rulings not rules, player skill vs character skill really drives me in, but I always wanted those principles applied to the fantasy that I most love, which is the Tolkenian fantasy. The Hero's Journey Second Edition does that and ace it! I really hope I can see more adventures, streams, and resources for VTTs for this system!

Really nice addition to a game which should have been much much more of a success.

PDF copy is good value and gives you whole lot of new options for your campaign.

Fuller review can be found at StickyBunton on 2/24/2021.

I acquired Running Out Of Time via the Kickstarter, as well as the other two zines from the same line.

Mechanically speaking, the game is a simple OSR mechanic, rolling low on a d20 to determine success. Unlike other OSR-style games, combat is sincerely fast and deadly, with attacks that always hit and damage that can take you out in one hit, buit character creation is almost equally fast to balance things out. That said, the mechanics as a whole are simple; I read the full set of three in an afternoon, and could have run any of them comfortably by that evening, making this a great purchase for a convention-bound GM.

The biggest appeal to this zine is the number of useful tools within it. Diogo does not skimp on random tables to help generate interesting situations or characters on the fly with a couple dice rolls, and even if I'm not running the game the tables alone are worth the price of admission.

Sadly, the color schemes of each of these may cause problems for those with eyesight issues and/or color-blindness. While the text is light color on a darker background, these are overlapping images on every page, which can be a bit problematic at times.

If you like OSR titles, useful tables for other games, or the general themes of this zine, absolutely pick it up. If you're not a fan of brutal combat and potential character death, dislike OSR, or don't like the theme of the zine, you'll want to give it a pass.

Fuller review can be found at StickyBunton on 2/24/2021.

I acquired The Dead Are Coming via the Kickstarter, as well as the other two zines from the same line.

Mechanically speaking, the game is a simple OSR mechanic, rolling low on a d20 to determine success. Unlike other OSR-style games, combat is sincerely fast and deadly, with attacks that always hit and damage that can take you out in one hit, buit character creation is almost equally fast to balance things out. That said, the mechanics as a whole are simple; I read the full set of three in an afternoon, and could have run any of them comfortably by that evening, making this a great purchase for a convention-bound GM.

The biggest appeal to this zine is the number of useful tools within it. Diogo does not skimp on random tables to help generate interesting situations or characters on the fly with a couple dice rolls, and even if I'm not running the game the tables alone are worth the price of admission.

Sadly, the color schemes of each of these may cause problems for those with eyesight issues and/or color-blindness. While the text is light color on a darker background, these are overlapping images on every page, which can be a bit problematic at times.

If you like OSR titles, useful tables for other games, or the general themes of this zine, absolutely pick it up. If you're not a fan of brutal combat and potential character death, dislike OSR, or don't like the theme of the zine, you'll want to give it a pass.

Fuller review can be found at StickyBunton on 2/24/2021.

I acquired Screams Amongst the Stars via the Kickstarter, as well as the other two zines from the same line.

Mechanically speaking, the game is a simple OSR mechanic, rolling low on a d20 to determine success. Unlike other OSR-style games, combat is sincerely fast and deadly, with attacks that always hit and damage that can take you out in one hit, buit character creation is almost equally fast to balance things out. That said, the mechanics as a whole are simple; I read the full set of three in an afternoon, and could have run any of them comfortably by that evening, making this a great purchase for a convention-bound GM.

The biggest appeal to these zines, but especially in Screams Amongst the Stars, is the number of useful tools within them. Diogo does not skimp on random tables to help generate interesting situations or characters on the fly with a couple dice rolls, and even if I'm not running the game the tables alone are worth the price of admission.

Sadly, the color schemes of each of these may cause problems for those with eyesight issues and/or color-blindness. While the text is light color on a darker background, these are overlapping images on every page, which can be a bit problematic at times.

If you like OSR titles, useful tables for other games, or the general themes of this zine, absolutely pick it up. If you're not a fan of brutal combat and potential character death, dislike OSR, or don't like the theme of the zine, you'll want to give it a pass.

Great book! Amazing rules & lots of nice tables. If your thing is OSR, just get it!

A great low-fantasy rpg system based on Swords & Wizardry White Box. There are no elves, dwarves or halflings as PCs in this. They're briefly mentioned as being part of the writer's personal campaign world, but only as NPCs.

Instead, there are multiple types of fighting-based classes, and one magic-user.

The one magic user is the Sage, which cannot use any spells until at least level 4. The writer mentions that if you want to bring in the Mage and/or the Cleric from the White Box, you are free to. I, personally, will be keeping the Mage, but as a rarity, while Clerics and Paladins will be restricted to NPCs.

I will say that I do like magic in rpgs, but not as pew pew as it has become. Magic in my perfect rpg would probably bore most players with its less showy effects and having to wait 1d20 days to see if it was a success or not.

My personal setting will be using Earothril as a base, with White Box Gothic overlayed, with the addition of the Witch class (from The Witch for Swords & Wizardry White Box). This will give me a nice Castlevania/Ravenloft setting where the PCs are a bit more vulnerable (and human) and have to rely more on outside sources for healing.

Back to the actual product, Eorathril is a great foundation if you're wanting an OSR game reminiscent of Dark Age of Camelot, Conan or even Ray Harryhausen films (or, as in my case, Castlevania). The book is well laid out and easy to read. And the illustrations are top notch. Some of the best art I've seen in an rpg game book.

I was also thrilled to see that the print size (6x9) places it perfectly the same size as some of my books for Dragonlance: Fifth Age, a game that I thought of when I say the cover design and the interior flourishes. I think when my physical copy gets here, I'll look through my Fifth Age material to see if there's anything in there worth mining for it.

Thank you again for releasing your personal setting book to the public through Eorathril. Others do share similar tastes.

From my blog: https://sisypheantales.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/sharp-swords-sinister-spells/

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells, by Diogo Nogueira, is an OSR style, swords and sorcery game all about minimalist rules, quick play, and giving Referees and Game Masters the tools to craft adventures, locations and items on the fly with plenty of tables and idea generators.

It is 46 pages of easy to learn, quick to practice medieval fantasy roleplaying goodness. The layout is digestible. Paragraphs are not cluttered together, each topic and section is given space for the reader to take in the information without distraction from art or a blurring of tightly bound paragraphs. Keywords in the rules are put in bold print to make them easier to reference. In three pages, an aspiring Game Master or player can become familiarized with the basic rules of the game and be ready to play.

In this game, character creation is broken down to 3 Archetypes ( Warrior, Specialist, Magic User) using 4 Attributes (Physique, Agility, Intellect, Willpower). Sharp Swords uses a roll under d20 system with some additional bells and whistles like luck and usage die for adding an additional layer of chance and simplifying inventory respectively.

While the base game is simple and easy to pick up, what makes Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells great is the GM tools in the back. The first 24 pages of the book get players and the GM ready to start play and the last 13 give the GM the tools to keep the good times coming. It has what you’d expect any good Game Master section to have, a bestiary, reaction table, morale rules, and how to reward players with XP and treasure. One of my favorite things to see are the tables and kit designed to give GMs longevity. There are tables for goals, locations, NPCs, adversaries, complications and rewards. All of which are system agnostic and can be used in any other game, as a result is a simple 2d6 roll away.

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells is an ideal addition to any Game Master, Referee, DM, etc. that enjoys light, hackable, sword & sorcery roleplaying games that not only aim to provide a solid rule set for play but a competent tool kit as well.

Post Script

There is also an Addendum to Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells that offers an expanded tool kit with optional rules for expanded vocations, handling zero level characters, sanity and madness rules, monster generators, forgotten artifacts and random life events. It, like the GM section in the core book, is just as valuable to anyone looking to run Sharp Swords or any other sword and sorcery RPG.

I'm not good at giving reviews so here is what I said about it elsewhere.

It's a solid addition all around. What's in it?

1. Monstrous Heratages that are interesting and add a lot of 'story' elements for Players and Gms alike. I usually roll my eyes at monster pc's, but I felt many of these had a lot of good rp potential.
2. A nice tiny bestiary of interesting creatures from a region I feel is often overlooked and can add some outside the cliche options to anyone encounter lists. Why settle for just another goblin?
3. A, what I will call a boss or encounter focus, creature that is just some silly fun. (Careful, it can still wreck you!) Might be a little past its best seasonal introduction, but hey, now you are ready for next year!
4. Some interesting variants creature types for Zombie fans, and a new encounter mechanic that adds a nice escalation of tension.
5. Thematically related and combat expansion focused traits that I think will be enjoyed by Munchkins and character designers alike.

Thoughts and notes; Zombie Encounter mechanic: I get why the focus is on Zombies, as they are traditionally very psychologically disturbing, and mentally fatiguing. I know I'd S%&t myself if under siege by zombies, or really any creature of the night such as vampires, werewolves, ghouls, etc. Basically any Supernatural vs Mundane encounters. I like the mechanic so much that I think it could translate well in to a state of morale clock should someone want to try and build up a large scale battlefield scene with different troop regiments, etc. Maybe something for others to pounder on. In regards to 'The Beast' and it's play mechanics, I felt that it would translate really well into a Kulu type creature is someone was wanting to do a certain 'Hunter of Monster's' type campaign. Just a thought.

Here is my full review of Tiny Supers... https://youtu.be/qi7sLXfeE-A

It may or may not be a game I actually run at some point. The games gritting setting and play elements were great to incorperate into my homebrew world.