Rolling Up a Pub

Taberna Celeris's cover image
(via Old Book Illustrations)

I'm doing the final proofing read-through of my new trifold Taberna Celeris. It's a collection of random tables to name and detail a Bar, Inn, Tavern, or Publick House (Pub). I'm viewing this as the second entry in a Random Table Trifold Triptych of Zines (yeah, it's a mouthful), starting with Tabula Mortis, (available in my itch shop) and ending with a third thing that hasn't even been named yet.

So let's grab some dice and roll up a drinking establishment with the latest draft of Taberna Celeris.

(As a quick aside, Taberna Celeris literally means "Quick Tavern", but it also translates as "Fast Food Restaurant". I love that, and I'll take it.)

What's It Named? The Silent Rudder Pub. A black rudder hangs over the door with a dark grey cloth tied around it like an bandit's face mask.

What's It's Vibe? Gaudy and tired. It catered to thieves and pirates when it started years ago, but that was before the owner went straight. Now it's a shabby, declining pirate-themed pub that needs a deep cleaning. The Rudder tries way too hard to be edgy, with weapons and pirate flags all over the walls, but the patrons and staff stopped caring years ago, and it shows.

Updating Images In Here

I fixed a bunch of these.

Thought I'd jot down a quick update. I use plenty of images from Wikimedia Commons to illustrate posts in here, like the one attached to this post. Come to find out, the "Use This Image On The Web" HTML code that I cut-and-paste into the post source stopped working recently. So I spent about an hour this morning clicking links, getting the "clean" URLs for the image source from Wikimedia Commons, editing and updating the post, checking that it works, and moving to the next one.

I've checked and updated posts for the past 2 years, so I think I'm pretty safe for anyone clicking "Older Posts" a bunch, but not so much with specific posts. I know some older articles have broken links and images, mostly because the gaming blogosphere has changed over the past 2 decades, and links die sometimes. If you find an issue and point it out to me, I'll try to link to the Wayback Machine instead of a now-nonexistent URL.

Anyway, I just wanted to document that I updated and fixed some images, so when I forget I'll have at least some record that things changed.

Thanks for reading this little nothing update. As a reward... naah, just stay tuned for more stuff. I'm almost done with Taberna Celeris and I need to make some maps for my Appendix N Jam entry.

Onward!

Bolthaven Folio #4 Is Live

Space Marine
by blanketfort

Howdy, all!

I just hit the "Make Public" buttons for Bolthaven Folio #4: On Our Honour at my itch.io and DriveThruRPG stores. I wrote the first draft of this zine back in 2019, when I first conceived of Bolthaven Folios, and then I sat on it for 7 years. Thanks COVID-19, undiagnosed depression, and the general enshittification of America.

BUT WE'RE BACK NOW. I overhauled what I wrote, and my kid wanted a second crack at the art (and I love what they did!). So we spent most of June making this zine to unleash upon you and your tabletop game cohorts. Head over and download a copy, kick in a few bucks if you're able, and don't forget to rate and review.

Go grab your copy:
Folio #4 at itch
Folio #4 at DriveThruRPG

On the Limits of Random Tables

I love random tables. Knowing that I can roll a few dice and get a solid idea to build from gives me confidence when running my games. Sometimes the ideas I get go well beyond what I can come up with on my own in a short time. These are all positive points about tables.

But there's a downside.

Every table has limits. Limits on how many options exist. Limits on the scope of ideas available. Limits on what the table can do for you. Don't get me wrong: A d% or d66 table offers plenty of options. But vanishingly few tables exhaust the limits of options available in reality.

Republishing Old Projects

So I've been re-releasing a few old projects on my itch store. I want everything I've made in one place, and I've settled on itch as my publishing home for now.

NanoRegent

First up, NanoRegent (originally mentioned over here) strives to create a more free-form domain management game. Players take on the role of nations on an international stage. The nations ebb and flow, conflicting and cooperating, mostly through creating and using Aspects to fuel or resist changes as directed by Edicts made by each country. Actions resolve through a roll of 4 Fate Dice, with the victor being able to narrate the results. The game ends by mutual agreement when the story seems to have run its course.

It's not for everyone, since all of the creative burden falls on the players rather than the system, but I'm excited to see if this resonates with the more adventurous groups out there.