Ostensible Cat

Wahoo!!!! This Saturday it's game time. I finally managed to have the time, motivation, and opportunity to assemble a gaming group and play some OSRIC/AD&D this weekend! I'm testing out my adventure idea for Polstrus Lev City of Degenerates. I'm a bit nervous as its been years since I've gotten my game on. However, the good news is that none of my group is really experienced in gaming (other than a recent foray into trying out some 3.5) and extremely excited to try out Old School game play. I had them read Matt Finch's excellent Quick Primer to Old School Gaming to familiarize them with the old school gaming ethos. So Saturday it is. Here's an excerpt of my background for Polstrus Lev: Over six hundred years ago, the citizens of Dustchapel Downs established the colony of Polstrus Lev as a detention camp for the diseased, malformed, mentally infirm, and other such undesirables believing that they were the cursed of the gods and they thus sought t...

One of my biggest mental obstacles in regards to adventure design is undoubtedly map design. It is mostly because I gt so damn fiddly and wishy washy that they just seem to get out of hand and ultimately go nowhere. That said, I do like the idea of making maps. Here's one that I did about a year ago under the auspices of using it for my as of yet vaporware old school project. I've got a little bit of momentum built up and would like to ultimately tie together the random fits and starts of my adventure/project ideas. The idea behind this particular site is an abandoned island that as in the past used solely for ritualistic/funerary purposes. There is a funerary complex, a few scattered ritualistic sites to observe celestial/seasonal events, altar sites, a ritualistic cleansing site, and some other ideas. The smaller island is the gatehouse that has was the only part of the whole complex that had any semi permanent inhabitants in the form of priests/monks/nuns that wer...