FABRICATED VENTURERS — a Classless Hack for Vieja Escuela

I have written a classless, patchwork/piecemeal character hack for Vieja Escuela. Taking advantage of the format of VE: Pamphlet Edition, it’s written as a modular variant to the Character Creation rules. Just swap out and use without changing the rest of the game! Or you can just print out, fold up, and tuck it in your original VE rulebook. The Concept Fabricated Venturers ditches classes. Everyone starts as a d6 hit die character, proficient in simple weapons and Leather armor. Continue reading

VIEJA ESCUELA: Pamphlet Edition

I have taken the core rules of Vieja Escuela (which I’ve praised on herebefore) and repackaged it. As the name implies, this version is intended to be printed out and folded into three “zig-zag” or “accordion” style pamphlets (Character Creation, Game Rules, & Tables). Of course, it also looks good on tablets, or printed out and left on their own. Do whatever pleases you! This was a first time project for me using Affinity Publisher, and I’m pretty happy to share the results! Continue reading

ATHAS: DARK SUN, DESERT PLANET (SB&CS)

Filed Under: Campaign Ideas I Need Out of My Head. Premise: The Dark Sun setting re-imagined for the space fantasy game Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells. Other Influences: Dune, Heavy Metal, and the artwork of Moebius. Preface: I really love Dark Sun on the surface. The core AD&D 2e boxset did a great job setting up the world of Athas and showing the “world at a glance” so to speak. The places where I start to tune out is when it essentially shoe-horns D&Disms into its unique setting, and the metaplot of events didn’t really impress me. Continue reading

Rambling On: Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells

It’s been a hell of a wait, but at long last I have Diogo Nogueira’s latest offering: Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells. Built off the same rules as his sword & sorcery offering (Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells), SB&CS is more than a science-fantasy re-skin — it is a massive offering of everything you would want or need for a gonzo, pulpy space adventure.

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Rambling on: Vieja Escuela

I’m mad at myself for not blogging about this until now. In the past year or so we’ve seen a lot of cool minimalist and “OSR-Adjacent” D&D clones come out. Black Hack 2e, Untold Adventures, and Knave are a few of the ones I enjoy. But the one that stole the show is a little booklet named Vieja Escuela, a Spanish RPG that had been translated to several languages (including English). Continue reading