Finally...ZeFRS is out!

After months of writing and years in production, the PDF for the Legends of Steel: ZeFRS Edition has finally been released. It's been a long haul, and to be honest, until I reread the PDF the other day I had forgotten how cool a system ZeFRS is.

Zeb's Fantasy Roleplaying System or ZeFRS is a reimagining of the original Conan© Role-Playing game written for TSR® by legendary game designer Dave "Zeb" Cook over a quarter of a century ago. Mark Krawec, with the permission of the original author, has brought this classic game back to life. And now, Evil DM Productions brings together ZeFRS and the latest edition of its critically acclaimed Legends of Steel campaign world to let you trample the kingdoms of Erisa beneath your sandaled feet!

Legends of Steel: ZeFRS Edition contains the complete Legends of Steel Campaign world and an LoS-adapted version of the ZeFRS rules engine.

Get $3.00 off Through Monday!

Use coupon code: 

Dicey Tales status report

I’m currently at work on the last part of the manuscript a South Seas adventure titled “The Perils of Bonaga Bay”, after that it’s off to layout.

The first issue will include the basic guidelines to create a pulp era character using the Barbarians of Lemuria rules. It will also contain two adventures.

“The Horror in Jade”, written by Pat Dixon, is a supernatural adventure tale that takes place in San Francisco.

“The Perils of Bonaga Bay” is a straight forward adventure tale that takes place in the South Pacific.

I currently plan to have DT#1 ready for purchase at RPGNow by the end of February. 

Mini Six

I just downloaded Mini Six. I like what they've done with it. I understand the rise and fall of WEG is quite a story. You'll have to look it up somewhere else though.  All I'm gonna say is that this volume looks nicely put together and the price is right. I'll have a more in depth look later once I wrap up some of my Dicey Tales commitments.

But by all means head on over to AntiPaladin Games, download Mini Six and show your support. 

Great job of helping to keep a much loved system alive. Thank you AntiPaladin.

The Evil DM salutes you! 

I want it now.

I went to order this on RPGNow and got to the paypal part when suddenly my comp went wonky on me. It took the money but didn't give me the link. 

I know it will all get straightened out, but I want this now!  ARRGGHH!!

Anyway, this is from the guys who do Colonial Gothic, so I'm very interested to see what they have done with the Sword & Sorcery genre.  This has received quite a few positives from all the usual suspects in the know, and is fast on its way to "Indy Darling" status. 

I see James Maliszewski named as one of the writers, so I'm very interested to read it. James has a great gaming blog called Grognardia that I follow and heartily recommend. He's also another Old school gamer from 1979, so his "Gamer Cred" is solid in my book.

Once I get my PDF copy of Shadow, Sword & Spell  I'll post more. 

But dont wait for me- Order it now!

Hard Boiled Adventure tiles

I ran across these pulp styled adventure tiles the other day at RPGNOW. 
They are a great resource for any Pulp game. Of course they could be easily used for just about any modern/supers/horror setting as well but they're gonna be used for Pulp (specifically Dicey Tales) here at the Lair!
I bought Craven Manor and The Docks set. The dock set printed up beautifully. they look like they come straight out of an old Robert Mitchum movie like Macau. 

The PDF's are layered for complete customization. they also include a nice set of crates and cars and furnishings. Both of these tile sets are packed with value and as your going through them your mind will just start coming up with adventures to use them with on the spot. Did I mention that the manor set has a hidden laboratory and cells for prisoners? well it does!
 I have plans for both of these set and for the Rumored "Airfield" set that is supposed to see release soon- till then check out what this line has to offer. 
Two thumbs up from The Evil DM!

A new game for the Old West

I’m sure that nostalgia is what feeds my love of westerns and my endless quest to find a gaming group that would be willing to start up a western campaign. Of all the genres I’ve played (and I’ve played many) westerns for some reason are the hardest sell. People will play mice with tiny swords before they will be willing to play a western game.  I just don’t get it- and its not like the genre hasn’t been stretched to its limits- there are classic western games, gritty western games, supernatural western games, and every major generic system has a western supplement. 

People must be buying them or folks wouldn’t spend their time writing them. The reason I’m writing about this is that I just picked up a new addition to my western RPG collection- Dave Bezio’s WildWest Cinema RPG from Spectrum Games.  

The game looks to be about “Rules Medium”.  And, as the Cinema in the name implies, geared more to the western TV shows I grew up with, than say GURPS Old West. I’ve always liked the games that Spectrum releases and their production values are top-notch, so my hopes are high for a good read and maybe a few good ideas to mine. 


You can find Wild West Cinema at RPGNow.

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.

Rio Draco from Fat Dragon Games

Fat Dragon games has long been a "Friend of the Lair". And every chance I get to promote their products I will, Not only because they are good products but because they have a very high standard of quality and originality.

Stop by RPGNow and check out their latest release Rio Draco

The Rio Draco base set kicks off Fat Dragon Games new line of wild west terrain. This starter set includes everything you need, six unique buildings, each with multiple texture options, 3D boardwalks, balconies, hitching posts, water troughs, out houses and even a covered wagon!


This set included:

• American west style ground tiles including multiple detail options.

• Stream and pond tiles

• Bonus 2D tiles for building layouts

• Sheriff's office

• Saloon

• Dry Goods/General Store

• Hardware Store/ Trading Post

• Gun Shop

• Bank

• Outhouse

• Covered Wagon

• Hitching posts

• Water Trough

• Building texture options that YOU customize

• Full color beginners guide



As much as I love their fantasy inspired products, there is always a warm spot in my heart for westerns. I'm crossing my fingers for a western fort and eventually a move towards more pulpy fare such a Desert outpost and maybe a tramp steamer.

Pick up a copy of Rio Draco today at RPGNow.

1Page system and support

If you’ve been around here for a while you know that I’m not a big fan of Yahoo (why?  Click here).

But there are several Yahoogroups that I belong to that I really don’t want to give up.  One of which is the 1PG group.  The 1PG group is a fan site that discusses and shares information in support of the 1PG game line from Deep7 Games.  In the world of fast-play “Indie” games the 1PG system is often overshadowed by other systems such a Microlite D20 or Risus,  but 1PG still has their core audience of adoring fans that not only keep the games alive by supporting the line but also by creating their own fan based materials.  If you join the 1PG group and head over to the files section you will find a very impressive number of fan made 1PG games .  Here are just a few-

MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN: Roleplaying in the British Empire

Lost Tales: High Fantasy

Semper Seven: A special missions force versus a ruthless terrorist organization.

Sherwood: The First and ONLY Robin Hood 1PG

BABEWATCH: Sun, Sand, Sea & Sex Roleplaying

The 1page fansite is a great place to get a hold of a lot of support material on a great game system.  1Page is just so damn user friendly it's hard not to like it.

 Stop on by Deep7 games and have a look at what they have to offer. They  have great games, covering just about every RPG Genre.  The prices are certainly easy on the wallet, and they have a  small but very dedicated fan-base. 

Oh and don’t forget Heyoka Studios – they are an exclusive producer of commercial 1PG games and supplements.

Thank you!

Last week I asked Heyoka Studios to remove The World of Broadsword from their virtual shelves. The reason being is that very soon Legends of Steel- Broadsword Edition will be coming out. The Broadsword Edition of Legends of Steel will contain all of the material from the World of Broadsword plus additional content such as a beautifully rendered full color map, additional Advantages, and more locales.

The World of Broadsword was my first solo attempt to create a commercial RPG product. I'm glad to say it was a success. I'd like to thank all of you who purchased WoB and promoted it on the various Blogs and Forums we all belong to. I'd also like to thank James Stubbs of Heyoka Studios and Todd Downing of Deep7 Games for allowing me the chance to expand on the Broadsword 1PG.

As a special thank you to everyone who helped support Evil DM Productions by purchasing a copy of WoB, you will be receiving a free upgrade PDF copy of Legends of Steel- Broadsword Edition once it becomes available.
Thanks again everyone.
Jeff

Evil DM update

Just to let you all know that I have been hard at work on not only the ZeFRS version of Legends of Steel but also on Lost World of Hador. This explains my lack of posting and presence on some of the message boards I usually frequent. I can easily blow half a day just reading blogs and looking at funny pictures.

So if the posting is sparse, it’s because I’m actually trying to be productive.

Legends of Steel is at layout. I heard from James via email this weekend and we went over a couple of design things. It is being worked on and will come out as soon as It possibly can.

Lulu is starting to look like a viable option for those who want a printed copy in their hands (I know I want one at least). So I’m tackling that.

Hador is coming along nicely, Ryan is making good progress on the map, Joffrey is coloring the cover art, and I’m getting all my thoughts onto paper.

Evil DM Productions update

Legends of Steel is at Heyoka studios. Its queued up for layout and will be ready for release in a few weeks at most. I’m really excited about this. I started this journey back in 2005 and I'm finally getting to the end. This hobby is full of dreams and imagination, lots of people with cool ideas and concepts. Unfortunately few are ever seen all the way through, I’m kind of proud that I was able to see this through. The plan is to release Legends of Steel –Savage worlds as a PDF.

First off, I’m going to send a few review copies out to a few key people who post on message boards, blogs and podcasts and then I’ll make it available at my website. Later, I’ll pass it over to Heyoka so they can host it at RPGNow and Drive through RPG.

At the moment the price is going to come in around $12.00, I really gave this a lot of thought. I’ve always been a firm believer in not paying more than $15.00 for any PDF products and so I’m sticking to that same conviction when it comes to my own stuff. But I do need to make sure that I at least recoup my investment. The cover art and the full color map are great, but they’re great because I had talented professionals create them, and talented professionals don’t come cheap (and rightly so).

I figure to sell directly initially and try to avoid the RPGNow commission bite. I have a PayPal account in place and I’ll monitor it closely. I may not be able to provide the instant downloading that RPGNow can, but I’ll make sure that orders are processed within a couple of hours at the most.

The second release in the Legends of Steel line will be the “Broadsword Edition” which will be geared to the Broadsword 1PG system RPG by Deep7. LoS-Broadsword will be released directly through Heyoka Studios, as they hold the license from Deep7 for all new 1PG products.

And third in line will be Legends of Steel the “ZeFRS Edition”. This edition will be a collaboration between myself and Mark Krawec, with all proceeds going to purchase new art and fund content for further ZeFRS Projects.

As for now, I hope to follow-up with The Lost World of Hador within a few months of the Legends of Steel release. I received a preliminary sketch of the cover art back from Joffrey Suarez and I’m really pleased with what he’s come up with.

Here’s is a sneak peek at the concept sketch for the Lost World of Hador cover…

The end is near.

Legends of Steel- Savage Worlds Edition is going through a second round of editing. This should be the last hoop. The cover and interior art are all ready. Following this last bit of editing it's off to Heyoka to be scheduled for Layout.


I've found a cover artist for Lost World of Hador. We are currently tweaking the sketches. Ryan is working on the map and the manuscript is coming along nicely. Hador should follow right on the heels of Legends of Steel by a month or two, and then it's time for serious work on Mission: Adventure!

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!

Gearing up with Hador

Legends of Steel is at the proofreaders right now. So I'm focusing more on getting The Lost World of Hador ready to go. Ryan Shelton is working on the map and I'm currently awaiting some preliminary sketches from a new artist for Hadors cover. for those of you who may not be familiar with the Lost World of Hador project, here is a rough outline-


The Lost World of Hador is an adventure and setting created in the vein of Lost World stories and Sword & Planet romance tales made popular in the pulp writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and others. The setting is non-system specific and can be used by any number of different role playing game systems.

Hador is a planet in a distant galaxy. Beings from throughout the multi-verse (including earth) may find themselves transported to this barbaric world.

Amongst the Various cultures one may encounter on Hador are :

French Knights from the Crusades.
Japanese Sailors from the Russian/Japanese War.
A technologically superior culture known simply as "The Ancients".
A people known as the Habeshan. Possibly one of the "Lost Tribes of Israel".
A race of large Arachnoids with powerful psionic abilities.
A race of serpent men (of course).
A deadly band of 17th century pirates from the South China sea.

Plus many other groups and lone individuals from throughout time and space (from Cave men to Starship pilots) all stranded on Hador and trying to survive.

Some of the cultures have made strides in this new world and have established themselves, others have splintered off and died out. Our intent is to make Hador a world of adventure with many of the classic tropes one would expect in a "Lost World" or "Sword & Planet" setting, but adding just enough twists and surprises to keep your adventurers guessing.

Up and at 'em... ADAMANT! $1.00 PDF Sale!

Can you ever have enough RPG PDF's? I can't, I love them. I have dozens. I've even read a couple of them.

Giving thanks is great and Adamant Entertainment is being especially thankful this year and offering all of their PDF's for a buck a piece.
Read on...

To celebrate five great years in operation, Adamant Entertainment is running a special sale from Thanksgiving Thursday through the weekend -- the entire Adamant catalog of products have been reduced to a recession-friendly price of one dollar apiece! In addition, every customer during the sale will be registered in a drawing that will take place on Monday, December 1st -- and the winner will receive a subscription for every PDF product that Adamant will release in 2009! (No purchase necessary -- email marketing@adamantentertainment.com for a free entry.)

Now Adamant has always been a little hit and miss in my book, but they do have some solid products and they know how to market well.
I'm Grabbing me the Mars and Northern Crown books peppered with a few Thrilling Tales products. Check out the deals at:

Legends of Steel Cover (Proposed)

Well folks Here is the proposed cover for Legends of Steel- "Savage Worlds" edition.

The art is by Jeremy Mohler. The layout is by me with a lot of help from friends (you know who you are).

Any similarity to the classic Marvel comics of the 70's is purely intentional.

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.

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...