Free paper miniatures!

It's been a while since I last posted about anything free. I found these paper miniatures the other day via the Barbarians of Lemuria message board. These are from an outfit called One Monk Miniatures. They look very cool, but to be honest I've been too busy to try them out. If any of you guys can come back with a short review I'm sure everyone would appreciate it. Until then, free is good and I for one appreciate the gesture.

Labyrinth Lord

Labyrinth Lord is the new favorite in the Lair (at least amongst the minions). I can really get behind it as it's all about Basic D&D cleaned up and totally free. I bought the Minions copies of the basic D&D books of my youth which I found on EBay. I then sat back in shock as they proceeded to trash them in the same way 10 year olds all over the world trash their books. No disrespect intended on their part.

Hell, they love playing D&D, but they are just hard on books. This is where Labyrinth Lords comes in- everything you love about Basic D&D but free and downloadable-over and over. Labyrinth Lords is available at Goblinoid Games. They also have a lively forum. Give it a look.

Have you been to Zen's basement?

This is one of Those sites. Those sites that have the greatest collections of cool stuff. They pop up, lay their gems out on a velvet cloth for all to see and then disappear into the net-verse. Let's hope Zen stays for awhile.

Go check it out!

Make Mine Microsoft!

For the past week or so I have been struggling with trying to get some type of website put together for the up-coming release of Legends of Steel –Savage Worlds Edition. 

Since I started Evil DM Productions I have received lots of offers for website and Logo design. Unfortunately, I really cant afford the prices that I’m being quoted. At least not until I can recoup some of my initial investment.  So I needed to take the “do it yourself” route.

I can cut n paste – drag n drop with the best of them, but when you start talking about source codes and HTML, my eyes just kind of glaze over.

So I not only needed something free but also easy.  My first stop was my usual go to- Google.  I had a crappy site there already and I figured all I needed to do was update it. But then I find out that Google is no longer supporting their Google pages product, though they keep it running for those who want to keep using it. I really didn't want to tie my site to that hitching post.

So then I went to Tripod. And quickly left.

Finally I looked at Microsoft .

Now I’m gonna say something that may cost me a few readers, but fuck it.  I happen to like Microsoft. Nay, I LOVE MICROSOFT!

When I was In college Microsoft Office got me through many a late night.  I know for a fact that Power Point was responsible for at least three A’s based on my final presentation. And if it wasn't for Excel I would have dropped out midway through my statistics class.  And the first computer game I ever bought “Close Combat: A Bridge too far”  was from Microsoft ( I still whip that baby out and run it every so often), and as if I needed one more reason: my XBox360 lets me kick Nazi ass every day with Call of Duty . So yeah, me and Microsoft- tight.

So anyway, I do a lot of stuff on office live. I noticed that office live has a sub site-office live small business. Hey that's exactly what I want to be- a small business. in this suite of stuff they have a website designer. Nothing fancy at all, but it works and its free.

Even with this bare bones, no-frills program It still took me almost two days to hammer something halfway decent out of it.

So here it is.

http://evildmproductions.net/default.aspx

She aint gonna win any beauty contests but she does her job.  Thanks Bill.

More later.

New issue of Danger Magnet available now!

Yeah I know I’m late on this. But since this is their Halloween issue I figure you guys can cut me some slack.  Good stuff!

Free Comic book creator

Off and on for a few years I've played around with a piece of software known as Comic book creator. the software is good for guys like me who just kinda tinker around and post the occasional comic. When it comes to the guys who know what the hell they are doing It seems that the software lags in several areas. Here is one I did a few years back:



A version of their software is know apparently available online for free. The price is right so go check it out.

The Evil DM picks some free movies!

300 plus channels and not a damn thing on TV? Well then mosey on over to the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB)and check out some free full length movies.

Here are few suggestions from The Evil DM's personal video library. Some are campy, some are classics, and a couple are guilty pleasures. But the price is right.

Free Game- Swords & Wizardry / Cool setting GURPS Godzilla

Swords & Wizardry is a revisit of real "Old School" gaming. And yes my friends, it's free.Taking the original Dungeons and Dragons rule set from the mid 70's the authors goal seems to be to try and re-kindle that feeling many of us had as we perused the game for the first time. You can pick up a PDF copy at Lulu.




GURPS Godzilla
When I first ran across this site I dismissed it. I'm not into fighting monster games. But as the author Jonathon Woodward states in his introduction:

"When most people consider "GURPS Godzilla", they picture playing a very flat, scorched character. I'll admit, that doesn't sound like much fun. However, in the course of nearly three dozen films starring Godzilla and his antagonists, Toho Studios has created an exciting universe, full of things to do that don't involve 300 foot monsters stepping on your character's head. This document is an attempt to explore that universe and suggest ideas to the imaginative GM."

The world of Godzilla, as created by Toho studios, is a complex and rich weird science campaign made to order. I can just see a group made up of tough "Adventuring Scientists" battling all kinds of enemies from Aliens to foreign dictators, as they unlock the secrets of these giant creatures.





Sit down and go over this stuff for a few minutes. If you cant dream up half a dozen pulp science scenarios as your reading through it, then you need a double dose of Geek Mojo.

A couple more freebies

The other day I mentioned some free RPG's for your gaming pleasure. I wanted to follow it up with a couple more offerings that have come to my attention.



Star frontiers remastered is an exceptional effort to revisit one of the grand old games of yesteryear. The folks in charge have been doing an exceptional job of cleaning up and re releasing material for this game and also coming up with a regular offering of new material through their PDF fanzine called the Frontiersman. seriously, all gaming products-free or commercial- should look this good. The newest issue (#9)of the Frontiersman has just been released, you can find it here.



I haven't really had a chance to look into this too much, but for those of you who have trouble making time in real life for a game, Screen Monkey might be just what your looking for. And now Screen Monkey is teaming up with the gamer networking site RPGLife and releasing a free version of their platform. So now you have the means to game online and a place to find other like-minded geeks. It may not be the ideal role playing experience, but for some it may be the only game in town.


This last freebie doesnt have anything to do with gaming but it's a cool freebie I ran across last week. it's a web-based image editor from Finland called Sumo paint. Like I said not strictly gaming but it may come in handy.

Free RPG's to the rescue!

Financially it's tough all over, and I'm sure some of you guys may find it a bit harder to explain away that new $45.00 RPG purchase to the wife. Well the Evil DM is here to lend a hand. A little research can put a lot of gaming goodness on your table for free (and no, I'm not talking about pirated PDF's).

Here are a couple of recent offerings that have popped up. Now these aren't "Preview" or "Light" versions of games. They are complete, 100% playable, and fully supported efforts.



Mazes and Minotaurs is a well supported game of adventure in the "Age of Heroes" They have just recently released the third issue of Minotaur, a quarterly pdf that supports Mazes and Minotaurs with a bunch of new fun stuff.




Atomic Sock Monkey Press has just released a new core rules set for their popular PDQ system. it's called PDQ Sharp and is available for free at RPGNow.


Now if your hankering for a little "Gamma World" / Thundarr action, might I suggest Goblinoid Games- Mutant Future.




From Rob Lang's wonderful Free RPG Blog comes word of yet another game system -or "YAGS". Rob gave it the once over and posted a positive review, so you might want to take a look at it as well.

So there you go. Three to get you started. Now go roll some dice!

I found just the thing - LibraryThing

Right before the most recent crash I posted on a few of the forums that I was looking for a book/game organizer. The thing is, I have tons of books and games strewn about in different parts of the Lair and all too often I come back from a “book run” only to find that I bought something I already have. One of the suggestions was a place called LibraryThing.

LibraryThing not only organizes your book and game collection it also acts as a social networking site similar to My Space and Facebook. I’m not into networking sites such as Facebook etc. they seem to me intrusive with their silly polls and other time wasters, but this one might be worth it for the networking I can do in a specific are of interest (books).

I like the feel of it so much so that I actually invited many of my online friends who also have a literary bent.

A few months ago I was talking with Howard Jones the editor of Black Gate Magazine and we were discussing the lack of a message board dedicated to Heroic Fiction or Adventure Fiction. There are a couple of Sword & Sorcery boards out there and of course many dedicated to specific characters and authors, but nowhere that one can go to discuss the various works of Mundy, Howard, Burroughs or Lamb all on the same site. LibraryThing might be the place to form such a group.

Anyway, I’m on there and trying slowly but surely to get my books entered and organized. I’m shooting for entering maybe 20 books a day. So stop by sign up, I just checked I actually have a “friend” there now.

My new goal is to be the Tia Tequila of LibraryThing!

A public service announcement from The Lair of the Evil DM

This year being an election year, it's important to be aware of our rights and responsibilities as Americans.

The Heritage Foundation , a non-partisan, non-profit research and educational organization, is offering-free of charge- copies of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

They even pick up the shipping.

It's very easy for someone to deprive you of your rights if you are unaware of what they are in the first place.

Take a minute to pass this on, especially to the idiots who send you all those chain letters and Email promises of $100.00 checks from Bill Gates. At least you'll be sending them something useful.

We now return to our regular posting here at The Lair of the Evil DM.

Danger Magnet Magazine Premier Issue

Danger Magnet is a brand new Gaming magazine specifically geared towards Pulp adventure. The offerings are written for the Ubiquity gaming system, the system used for Exile Games “Hollow Earth Expeditions”, but they can be very easily adapted to any pulp style system with very little effort.

First off, I have to say the magazine is beautiful. It sports a wonderful action packed cover full of pulp flavor. The layout is crisp and stylish. I was very impressed by the look of Danger Magnet.

Since this is a PDF product I have to suggest two points to consider in future issues.

#1 Numbered pages. The table of contents has page references but as I printed it up there were no page numbers.
#2 No black backgrounds. Black backgrounds eat up a lot of ink and may keep people from printing it up. Making the magazine as “printer friendly” as possible will insure that your readers print up a copy and use it rather than looking at it once and then leaving it on their hard drive to soon be forgotten.

The feature articles include:

Professor Scrumtumbler’s BEASTiary
A “New Monsters” feature that not only introduces new creatures but also offers hooks for using them in adventures. This issue featured “Tomb Beetles” very similar to the ones that wreaked havoc in the movie “The Mummy” (1992).

The Society Page
This issue was devoted to Howard Carter the archeologist responsible for discovering King Tutankhamen’s tomb. It also gave information on incorporating Professor Carter into the “Hollow Earth” game world. This article also offered hooks or “Seeds” to help get the Professor involved in your campaign. Good stuff.

Next up is an adventure titled “The Thule Death Ray”
This is a nice solid adventure (with handouts) that adds Game master tips for setting mood and describing conditions by the sense. Good tips that even experienced game masters forget from time to time.

The Twelve Talismans of Tali’ Theus
This article introduces a dozen items for use in your adventures, either as rewards, treasures to discover or heirlooms to be passed down in the battle against the forces of evil.

Desolation
This appears to be a licensed product for the Ubiquity system. A bit of D&D meets Gamma World as the survivors of a post apocalyptic fantasy world struggle for survival. This offering is a locale (a cave complex) that can be inserted in a campaign. I would have preferred a write up of desolation itself. Something that would tell me in detail what the game offers and such. While the article was well written, I think it would have better been left for a future issue, after a introduction article to Desolation was done.

Finally we have an article called “Tools of the trade”
“Tools of the trade” goes over, in nice detail, the various accoutrements used by Indian Jones on his various adventures. Very well researched and fun. This is the type of “Meat and Potatoes” article that I love, very useful to any Pulp GM no matter the system being used.

The whole issue comes in at a healthy 35 pages, and was a very enjoyable read with quite a few handy tips and adventure ideas.

This premiere issue is free, though you can donate a few bucks to the cause.

For those of us who enjoy Pulp gaming we have been experiencing a renaissance as of late with great games like Savage Worlds, Spirit of the Century, Hollow Earth Expeditions, Dime Heroes and Two Fisted Tales, just to name a few. But what we haven’t seen is a magazine that addresses the genre in full and with such style as Danger Magnet. I would implore all of you to not only download the free copy but to also pony up a few bucks to insure that this effort continues. The production values of this magazine are excellent and rival any other PDF product out there. $5.00 is a very decent price for the amount of content that you’re getting. So be sure to give Danger Magnet a chance, I’m positive you won’t be disappointed. And be sure to tell them the Evil DM sent ya!

Colonial Pulp Hero - The Black Coat

"The Black Coat is America's first superspy! Set in New York City in the days before the Revolutionary War, The Black Coat fights against the British and forces of the occult to protect the burgeoning nation."

-Black coat website





Check out a free online issue.

Savage Worlds Black Coat campaign anyone? The Solomon Kane rules are out there, It would probably be a nice easy conversion.

There's also Colonial Gothic and Colonial Record (Hell' I just noticed the Colonial record "Bundle" which includes the Coyote trail core rules is only $8.00, now THATS a bargain).

Here is my take on The Black Coat Action Figure...