GM Games

Mini Manor: Faces Without Screams

Created for Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day and Faces Without Screams is available for free for you to download at RPGNow. It is a mini adventure formatted in a quarter-page zine. It's a quick, adult oriented adventure with a new spell, new race and five new magic items. It may be little, but it is a mighty adventure. Enjoy.

Reviews

This little adventure is very unique, strange, gross, and all together awesome.

- Matt Jackson of Lapsus Calumni

There is a bit of a grindhouse feel to this module, so it isn't for the faint of heart (or the young). This is clearly labeled as a "mature audiences" module, and I think that it lives up to that label. This isn't a tee-hee 13-year old sniggering at naked breasts sort of mature, but the real deal.

- Christopher Helton of Dorkland

I had never participated in the zine scene before. The idea of someone sending me something in the mail just never appealed. But this is pretty cool. Changing my mind on these things.

- Greg Christopher of Chubby Funster

The Manor, Issue #3

The Manor is back with more old school gaming goodies. Within these pages you'll find:

The Village of Aberton is suffering from a mysterious sickness. Undead have been spotted on the dark countryside. The Baron has not responded. The monks of Ambrose Abbey seemed to have abandon Aberton. Only a group a kick ass adventurers can cure this disease.

Pog Nog strolls through the streets with his creaky wheeled cart. He's got a surprising selection of trinkets. He's got stuff you don't even know you need, but he'll make sure the right item gets the right person.

And the Monster Hunter class. This class was created for the Blood & Treasure RPG, but can kill monsters in any edition of any game...ever.

Where's it going?

Available on PDF at RPGNow.
Available on PDF at Lulu.

Reviews

...some people actually like haikus, I hate them enough to kill them.

Matt Jackson of Lapsus Calumni

Even if are a joyless curmudgeon that can't see the fun in dropping Pog Nog the goblin into your game or you think a haiku ode to the black dragon is nonsense, there's an adventure w/ map, new magic items, and ideas and inspiration galore throughout.

Danjou's Hand of Tabletop Diversions

Mine of Rot & Disease...has the potential to truly involve the players emotionally, especially if this is their starting town.

Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern

Knowledge Illuminates

Grab your dice and hire some henchmen, you're going to need them. Knowledge Illuminates is a campaign starter adventure full of possibilities. Explore a dark fantasy world in search of an unending treasure. But within this adventure lurks a horror that will haunt the players for years. So buckle up that helmet, sharpen that sword, and bring an extra pair of iron spikes, this adventure is for the big boys. Knowledge Illuminates is the first in the One-Shot Adventure Series.

Where do you want it to go?

Available in PDF at RPGNow.
Available in PDF at Lulu.

Reviews

All the bits and pieces build into a cool story for the players, and it was an enjoyable read.

- Studio Arkhein of Rather Gamey

Knowledge Illuminates is so good that I wish I could take my group back to level one and start all over from scratch using this work as my campaign starting point.

- Carter Soles of The Lands of Ara

...the text of Knowledge Illuminates that is the main attraction here and I'm happy to say it does not disappoint.

- James Mal of Grognardia

What starts out as an everyday ordinary adventure and in the end comes up as a pretty unique and interesting adventure.

- Matt Jackson of lapsus calumni

Cave of Seiljua

Ragnar has slandered a fellow clansman, but fled before he was brought before the Thing. The jarl orders the players to return Ragnar...alive. The jarl believes Ragnar is hiding in an old cave within the wildlands. A place once hunted often to thin out the horrible creatures that lived there.

This is a mid-level, one page, viking themed adventure. No stats have been included since I've used the one-page dungeon theme. Enjoy.

PDF Available for FREE on RPGNow.

The Manor, Issue #2

Issue #2 comes out swinging with a fully realized shop, Hugo's Healing Potions, that can be dropped into any fantasy campaign. Maps, personalities, adventure hooks and even a random customer table. The second half is dedicated to a versitile site, Snugglers Inn. It can be used as a reoccuring place of operations or used as an adventure.

This zine is for old school way of thinking or more importantly just having fun. So grab a copy, see if you can get Hugo to crack a smile then if you dare, travel across Ten Killer Lake and get into a game of chance with Halla. Beware of what you gamble. What you lose on the table may be the least of your worries.

Where's it going?

PDF available at RPGNow.
PDF available at Lulu.

Reviews

Hugo's Healing Potions will most assuredly get used in my current campaign, maybe as soon as next week. I love the personalities that are presented, and the table of random customers / events can easily be used elsewhere (much like the Toys For the Sandbox series). When one article has multiple uses, you know it's damn good.

- Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern

I have to say, he certainly has a knack for creativity. There's a perfect balance of information and great ideas, but it's not burdened with too many details. Another thing I really enjoy is the cross pollination (for lack of a better term) of people, locations, or plot hooks, etc between the different articles.

- Socalcanuck of The Dungeon Workshop

I particularly love the little touches Tim adds to his descriptions; they add atmosphere and realism. I mean, "During business hours, the door is held open by a rock." I love it. I have a player that WOULD ask how the door is being held open, and would probably take the rock and use it for nefarious ends.

- Boric G of The Dwarven Stronghold

The Manor, Issue #1

The Manor is a jammed packed, Old School zine. Inside you'll find a stink'n old salt pit with one of my favorite creatures, a d12 table from the mischievous mind of Jason Sholtis, one of the many secrets of Rural Pennsylvania, a poetry slam by an old time blogging favorite Rusty Battle Axe, a table of random forest encounters and a boot merchant with a bad, bad past.

Where's it going?

PDF is available at RPGNow.
PDF is available at Lulu.

REVIEWS

There are a few things that always please me in a 'zine. A good cover, a few good ideas and a little of the magic that takes me back to the days when TSR meany Gygax and Co., Dragon Mag wasn't glossy and Judges Guild was just starting to crank out their first guidebook supplements/adventures and Dungeonneer was itself a digest-sized 'zine. Tim Shorts' The Manor succeeds in all of this for me.

- Jason Zavoda, Hall of the Mountain King

Issue #1 of The Manor is a solid premier issue, one that highlights what I like most about Tim Shorts's approach to gaming, namely his interest in investing even the most basic scenarios and encounters with little inspirational details, whether it's the magic potency of spiderwebs found in the forest, the grave of a beloved pet, or uses for bugbear hide. These all add interest to what might otherwise seem like well worn, even banal, gaming elements. It's my hope that, as further issues of The Manor are released, we'll see Tim continue in this vein, improving on the foundation he's established in the first issue.

- James Maliszewski, Grognardia

The Manor was a great little zine and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it, which is something I can't say about any professionally produced magazine I have bought in a long time.

- William Dowie, Ramblings of a Great Khan

I feel this love in the content but I feel it more in the carefully assembled papers with the near-perfect staple binding...This 'zine was not rushed out to make a quick buck - it had careful and thoughtful work put into it and holding it in my hands feels like I'm holding a precious heirloom left to me by a parent or a brother. It is only six pieces of paper (for 24 pages of double-sided half-page content) and a piece of lightweight construction paper on the outside. I'd say it is quite a bit more than the sum of its parts.

- Mr. Blue, The Cobalt Kobold