Terrors of the Ancient World – Preview Video

I made a Youtube video of me looking through the print version of Terrors of the Ancient World, so all y’all could see it and know what it looks like. Hopefully it makes you want to buy a copy!

Terrors of the Ancient World Wallpaper

Digital wallpaper of the cover art: http://www.patreon.com/creation?hid=949280

Terrors of the Ancient World

Last year, I started a Patreon thing in order to make monster manuals with a friend of mine, because he can draw real good and I can write pretty well. So we make two monsters every month, and now, finally, we’ve put some of them together into an rpg book.

Terrors of the Ancient World is a monster manual for the Dungeon World role-playing game. It has over a dozen monsters, illustrated in full colour, along with all the things that make Dungeon World unique, like fronts and dangers, custom moves, and a fiction-first focus. There’s also a new character class, the Satyr, and plenty of adventure hooks, items, NPC ideas, and even a few locations.

This is NOT just a reprint of the Monthly Monster material. Terrors of the Ancient World contains plenty of new material, corrections and edits, and new illustrations. Monsters that were originally illustrated in black and white are presented here in colour.

Please Note: Although the monsters we release every month as part of the Patreon campaign include versions for both Dungeon World and Labyrinth Lord, this book contains only material for Dungeon World and is designed to highlight the particular strengths of that game. It is not compatible with Labyrinth Lord in any meaningful way. There will, of course, be a Labyrinth Lord compatible book of our monsters that presents them in ways best suited for old school fantasy role-playing, but we are still working on that.

WHERE TO GET IT: From DriveThruRPG, click this link.

The pdf is digest-sized, full colour, 107 pages, for US$15.
The print is US trade-sized, full colour, 108 pages, for US$30 and comes with a free pdf if you want one.

You can also buy the print version by itself (no pdf!) from Lulu at this link. The quality is about the same as DriveThruRPG, but some countries get much better shipping rates from Lulu.

Bluish Multitudes

These hideous abominations were invented by the archmage Drakdagor as a way to both punish his failure-prone minions and guard his underground storehouses. Once he had transmogrified a minion into a doughy, bluish creature with a blob-like torso that slowly absorbed the minion’s original head, he could add more minions to it and they would meld with the blob. The result was a new creature with multiple limbs and mouths, and a ravenous appetite for intruders. Those minions that failed Drakdagor would often find themselves becoming part of a bluish multitude.

Ultimately, Drakdagor created too many of them and they destroyed him, devouring his flesh and his magic. Those multitudes that ate of their master became magical themselves and have proved to be far longer-lived than the others.

Dungeon World stats:
Amorphous, Construct, Hoarder, Large, Solitary.
Teeth and claws (1d10+2 damage)
Hand, Close, Forceful
15 HP
1 Armour
Special Qualities: Infectious.
Instinct: Protect the underground storehouse.

• Grab a foe and begin to eat.
• Push and shove a group of foes apart.
• React strangely when touched by magic.

Labyrinth Lord stats:
No. Enc.: 1 (1d6+1)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Armour Class: Leather & shield
Hit Dice: 2 to 7 (1d6+1)
Attacks: 2 claws and 1 bite
Damage: 1d6 / 1d8
Save: F4
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: IV / S (XVII / F)

Art by Nathan Jones.
Text by Johnstone Metzger.

You can find more monsters, with more text and larger pictures, on PATREON.

The Metamorphica: A Book of Random Mutation Tables

UPDATE: A new, revised version is now available.

See the new blog post HERE.

As promised, the book is finally done!

The Metamorphica is a very large system-agnostic collection of random mutation tables, for any table-top role-playing game. The digest-sized PAPERBACK VERSION is available from lulu.com for only US$6.66 plus shipping, but you can download the pdf version for free (either FROM LULU or FROM HERE for less hassle) from DriveThruRPG HERE.

How did this happen? Good question!

I was originally inspired to make this when I started using the old Realm of Chaos mutation tables while I was running old Red Box D&D. We had a lot of fun with mutagenic substances so I decided to make a much larger collection that included mutation ideas from a whole range of other role-playing games. Along the way I added a lot of new ones as well, and when it became too big to be a stapled booklet, I decided to add procedures for creating all sorts of monsters and mutants. And also to make it available as a printed book and not just a pdf.

The Metamorphica is system-agnostic, meaning there aren’t any rules in it per se: no attack bonuses, no hit points, and no task or conflict resolution systems. I intend to use this for more than just D&D, but making the book compatible with such disparate systems as Metamorphosis Alpha, Burning Wheel, Apocalypse World, and Diaspora would make it way too long, and take way too much time. You can just make up rules in play if you need them, that’s what I do. It’s really not that hard.

The Metamorphica was written by Johnstone Metzger and illustrated by Andrew Gillis, Nathan Jones, Johnstone Metzger, and Nathan Orlando Wilson. If you need to get in touch with anyone about this book, Red Box Vancouver (no spaces) has a standard gmail address that will accept your inquiries.

Also? It’s free!

Yes, this is (essentially) a free book. But if you would like to not-so-subtly encourage future products of a similar nature, or just buy me and/or the artists a drink by way of thanks, feel free to donate whatever you feel is appropriate. I will also happily accept pdfs, which you can send to the above-mentioned gmail address (the name of this blog, no spaces).

Or, if you would really like to do me a favour (warning, real-life bummer stuff follows):
I find the violence surrounding coltan mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the economics of the electronics industry that encourage it, particularly concerning. Especially since this book would not have been possible without such electronics. However, I have neither the time nor the expertise to track down and properly vet charitable organizations working to solve this issue. If you know of one, and can make an adequate case as to their accountability and their work in the DRC, please let me know. If you don’t know any charities working in this area specifically, don’t worry about it, just enjoy the book. And if you are unaware of this issue, please look it up, the information is readily available. Thank you.