These are a few of my favorite things...

We've been having some fun discussion on G+ about favorite old-school and new old-school/OSR titles, and I in it pulled out part of my list of favorite RPG books:  adventures, supplements, rules sets, campaigns I'd most like to run, etc.  I didn't put all of that into the G+ thread (it wasn't all relevant), but I've been evolving (and reformatting...) the list over time, and thought it would be worth sharing here.

So without further ado!:

My favorite RPG adventure/module ever is Masks of Nyarlathotep for Call of Cthulhu.

The longer answer:

My favorite D&D adventures of all time (roughly in order):

1.  G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King by Gary Gygax (D&D; TSR)
2. Maure Castle (Paizo)/WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure by Rob Kuntz (AD&D; TSR)
3. T1 Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
4. A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by David Cook (AD&D; TSR)
5. Maze of Zayene #4 Eight Kings by Rob Kuntz (AD&D from Creations Unlimited, or d20 from Different Worlds)
6. WG4 Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
7. Dark Druids by Rob Kuntz (1e/Guy Fullerton's Chaotic Henchmen)
8. D3 Vault of the Drow by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
9. Starstone by Paul Vernon (OD&D; Northern Sages)
10. S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
11. Caverns of Thracia by Jennell Jaquays (D&D; Judges Guild)
12. Return of the Eight by Roger E. Moore (AD&D 2nd edition; TSR)
13. Tomb of Abysthor by Clark Peterson and Bill Webb (d20; Necromancer Games)
14. "Treasure of the Dragon Queen" by Rutgers University Gamers (D&D convention tourney c. 1983; Rutgers University Gamers; details on my site @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_tourneys_dragon_queen.html)

Honorable Mentions for D&D adventures (in no particular order):

• Maze of Zayene #1 Prisoners of the Maze by Rob Kuntz (AD&D from Creations Unlimited, or d20 from Necromancer Games)
• D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth by Gary Gygax (D&D; TSR)
• The Lost Abbey of Calthonwey by Bob Charette (AD&D; Phoenix Games)
• Castle Zagyg: Dark Chateau by Rob Kuntz (d20; Troll Lord Games)
• Beastmaker Mountain by Bill Fawcett (AD&D; Mayfair Games)
• R1 To the Aid of Falx by Frank Mentzer (AD&D; TSR)
• Crucible of Freya by Clark Peterson and Bill Webb (d20; Necromancer Games)
• CH12 Seren Ironhand by Tom Moldvay (AD&D; Challenges), as well as the two other modules in the Morandir series CH-1 The Morandir Company and CH-3 The Mountain King)
• B1 In Search of the Unknown by Mike Carr (D&D; TSR)
• B4 The Lost City by Tom Moldvay (D&D; TSR)
• X2 Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay (D&D; TSR)
• X4 Master of the Desert Nomads by David Cook (D&D; TSR)
• X5 Temple of Death by David Cook (D&D; TSR)
• N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God by Douglas Niles (AD&D; TSR)
• WG6 Isle of the Ape by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
• N5 Under Illefarn by Steve Perrin (AD&D; TSR)
• Three Days to Kill by John Tynes (d20; Atlas Games)
• Demons & Devils by Bill Webb and Clark Peterson (d20; Necromancer Games)
• The Abduction of Good King Despot by Will and Schar Niebling (AD&D; New Infinities Productions)
• The Original Bottle City by Rob Kuntz (AD&D from Black Blade Publishing in 2014, OD&D from Pied Piper Publishing in 2007)

My favorite adventures of all time, for any system, are, in alphabetic order:

• Angmar: Land of the Witch King (MERP; ICE)
• Broken Covenant of Calebais (Ars Magica; Lion Rampant)
• Caverns of Thracia (D&D; Judges Guild)
• The Court of Ardor (MERP; ICE)
• "Deep Sh*t" (Blue Planet convention tourney; Biohazard Games)
• The Enemy Within campaign (Warhammer FRP; Games Workshop):  
• The Enemy Within (1986) by Jim Bambra, Phil Gallagher, and Graeme Davis
• Shadows Over Bögenhafen (1987) by Davis, Bambra, and Gallagher
• Death on the Reik (1987) by Gallagher, Bambra, and Davis
• Power Behind the Throne (1988) by Carl Sargent
• Something Rotten in Kislev (1989) by Ken Rolston with Graeme Davis
• Empire in Flames (1989) by Sargent
• G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (D&D; TSR)
• "Grace Under Pressure" (Call of Cthulhu; Pagan Publishing)
• Griffin Mountain (Runequest; Chaosium)
• "In Media Res" (Call of Cthulhu; Pagan Publishing)
• Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu; Chaosium)
• Shadows of Yog-Sothoth (Call of Cthulhu; Chaosium)
• T1 Village of Hommlet (AD&D; TSR)
• Tomb of Abysthor (d20; Necromancer Games)
• "Treasure of the Dragon Queen" (D&D convention tourney c. 1983; Rutgers University Gamers; details on my site @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_tourneys_dragon_queen.html)
• Walker in the Wastes (Call of Cthulhu; Pagan Publishing)
• WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure (AD&D; TSR) and the "Maure Castle" series (d20 in Dungeon; Paizo)
• Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues (Paranoia; West End Games)

My favorite supplements of all time are, in alphabetical order:

• Big Rubble (Runequest; Chaosium)
• Chessboards: The Planes of Possibility (generic D&D; WotC)
• Cities 2nd edition (generic D&D; Midkemia Press)
• Delta Green (Call of Cthulhu; Pagan Publishing)
• Different Worlds Magazine (1979-1986; Chaosium)
• Dragon Magazine Archive (D&D; WotC)
• Dungeon Magazine 1986 to present (TSR, WotC, Paizo)
• Faeries (Ars Magica; Lion Rampant)
• GURPS: Illuminati (GURPS; Steve Jackson Games)
• GURPS: Russia (GURPS; Steve Jackson Games)
• Order of Hermes (Ars Magica; Lion Rampant)
• The Primal Order (generic D&D; WotC)
• Thieves World box set (multiple systems; Chaosium)
• World of Greyhawk box set (AD&D; TSR)

My favorite city-based supplements and adventures of all time are (in no particular order):

• Gabor Lux's settlements from Echoes from Fomalhaut contain many city/settlement adventures: http://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/
• Lankhmar City of Adventure (TSR)
• Thieves World (Chaosium, boxed set and Thieves World Companion booklet; FASA also published four TW adventures, including the rare Blue Camel at https://web.archive.org/web/20071013122156/http://www.thievesworld.info/roleplay/bluecamel.htm)
• The Free City of Haven (plus supplements, by Gamelords; various Thieves Guild materials would also fit in nicely; see http://diffworlds.com/gamelords_thieves_guild.htm and http://diffworlds.com/haven.htm)
• Cities, Tulan, Carse, Towns of the Outlands (Mikdemia Press but Cities, Tulan, and Carse were also reprinted by Chaosium)
• Bard's Gate (Necromancer Games)
• Marienburg and Warharmmer City (Games Workshop)
• FR1 Waterdeep
• Citybook series (Blade/Flying Buffalo)
• "Barnacus: City in Peril" (Dragon Magazine #80; pairs up nicely with "Can Seapoint be Saved?" too)
• Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins (WotC; using Denis Tetreault's map from the Living Greyhawk Journal #2 at http://melkot.com/locations/cogh/cogh.html)
• Pavis and Big Rubble (Chaosium)
• Irillian (White Dwarf 42-47)
• Tarracina Port (by Kent Krumvieda/Dreamborn at http://www.dreamborn.com/p_tport.html; also has two modules set in the city)

My favorite RPGs/core rule books of all time are:

• Amber Diceless (Phage Press)
• Ars Magica, 5th edition (Atlas Games)
• Blue Planet, 1st edition (Biohazard Games)
• Call of Cthulhu 5th edition (Chaosium)
• Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium (Last Unicorn/WotC)
• Dungeon Masters Guide, third edition revised printing (AD&D 1e; TSR)
• Eclipse Phase (Posthuman Studios)
• Fading Suns, 2nd edition (Holistic Design)
• Kult, 1st edition (Metropolis Ltd.)
• Paranoia, 2nd edition (West End Games)
• Star Wars, 2nd edition Revised and Expanded (West End Games)
• Vampire: The Masquerade, 1st edition (White Wolf)

I'll follow-up this post with favorites from Dungeon Magazine and other zines, and campaigns I'd like to run or play in next, and perhaps get a few more of my historical reviews republished to my web site RPG reviews section, too.  We'll see....

Allan.

New titles at Black Blade Publishing booth at GaryCon X

Black Blade Publishing will have a pile of new books and games available at our GaryCon X booth at this year, with new titles from Black Blade as well as from our many friends and fellow-publishers.

Black Blade Publishing

 

Black Blade's newest title, Tales of Peril - The Complete Boinger & Zereth Stories of John Eric Holmes makes its debut appearance at GaryCon X:

Tales of Peril by John Eric Holmes

Jon and I will have the remaining copies of the signed and numbered limited hardcover edition available.  Tales of Peril features front and back cover art from Ian Baggley:

Amazons Attack the Temple of Dagon	Characters Engage the Dagonite EHP

...and interior art from Jim Roslof and Chris Holmes. For further information about the book, you can read these preview blog posts:

• Tales of Peril - the Fifth Preview: Front Cover Art!
• Tales of Peril - the Fourth Preview: Back Cover Art! 
• Tales of Peril - the Third Preview: Illustrations and Artwork
• Tales of Peril - the Second Preview:  Table of Contents
• Tales of Peril - the First Preview: Signature Page  

...and also follow-along with Zach "Zenopus Archives" Howard's Tales of Peril Book Club reading group!

Robert J. Kuntz

Black Blade will also stock copies of Robert J. Kuntz's publications, including RJK-1 Cairn of the Skeleton King, RJK-2 Tower of Blood, and LGCC-1 The Original Bottle City, as well as Rob's Dark Druids adventure from Guy Fullerton's Chaotic Henchmen Productions, and Dave Arneson's True Genius, El Raja Key Archive (in USB and DVD formats), K1 Sunken City from Three Line Studio and TLB Games. 

Lastly, Black Blade's stock of graph and hex paper has been replenished in time for the convention, and is available in the following sizes and formats:

Graph Pads

6 spi graph double-grid, top	5 spi graph double-grid, bottom

• Graph Paper, 11 x 17  -  double-sided, 6 squares per inch double-grid on front, 5 squares per inch double-grid on back; $13 per 40 sheet pad
• Graph Paper 8.5 x 11 - double-sided, 6 spi double-grid on front/5 spi double-grid on back; $6.50 per 40 sheet pad
• Graph Pads, 4.25 x 5.5 - single-sided, with a 6 spi double-grid; $2.50 per 40 sheet pad

Hex Pads

Campaign hex pad, top	Campaign hex pad, bottom

Wilderlands-sized hexes, top	Greyhawk-sized hexes, bottom

   

• Hex Paper, 11  x 17 - double-sided, double-grid with Wilderlands-sized hexes on front, and Greyhawk-sized hexes on bottom; $13 per 40 sheet pad
• Hex Paper, 8.5 x 11 - double-sided, with triple-grid Greyhawk-sized hexes on front, and Wilderlands-sized double-grid hexes on bottom; $8 per 40 sheet pad
• Hex Pads, 4.25 x 5.5 - single-sided, with single-grid Greyhawk-sized hexes; $2.50 per 40 sheet pad

Old-School Publishers

Black Blade will also have copies of The Twisting Stair issues #1 (Spring 2017), #2 (Summer 2017), and the new #3 (Spring 2018), which will be fresh-off-the-presses for the show:

The Twisting Stair

Hyqueous Vaults is the OSRIC 10th anniversary adventure module, published by Guy Fullerton.  It celebrates the original retro-clone game system for first edition AD&D, and is also fresh-off-the-presses:

 

The Hyqueous Vaults

Other books and games new to Black Blade and GaryCon X this year include:

• Mothshade Concepts - Mauvolg and Eldritch Avremier (also fresh off-the-presses!)
• Gamers Group Publications - DC1 The Ruins of Quinstead
• Greg Gillespie - The Forbidden Caverns of Archaia
• Gamewick - the new Roswell 51 boardgame
• Empire of the Petal Throne - Swords & Glory volume 2, and various other tomes
•  Anthony Huso - A Fabled City of Brass (both books) and The Night Wolf Inn
• +Jon Wilson's Fantastic Exciting Imaginative: the Holmes Art Zine, volumes 1 and 2
• Atomic Cycles - Exhumed Obscura:  Paul de Valera and Grant Parrinello's OSRIC rules expansion sourcebook
• Swordfish Islands - The Dark of Hot Springs Island and A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island

We will likely receive some other titles with uncertain arrival times that are being hand-delivered, so be sure to check back throughout the convention!

Goodman Games

Goodman Games, as usual, will have a pile of new Dungeon Crawl Classics adventures and supplements at the show, including Kickstarter-backer-only copies of the Mutant Crawl Classics rulebooks.  Their Coming Soon page displays their newly-available books as well as those shipping soon.

Of particular interest to old-school gamers will be the Into the Borderlands collection.  It reprints two versions of each B1 In Search of the Unknown (by Mike Carr) and B2 Keep on the Borderlands (by Gary Gygax; B2 info at same link).  This book also includes 5e conversions, essays about the history of the modules, new encounters, and more!

Other highlights include the new DCC fiction collection, Tales from the Magician's Skull, and, as an experiment for Black Blade, we'll carry the Goodman Games Fifth Edition Fantasy adventures for the first time at GaryCon this year.  So, if you're playing 5e, drop by and check out the titles!

Stop By and Say Hello!

Jon Hershberger and I are always happy to catch up with old friends, chat with fans of the games we stock, and to put faces to names of folks we've only known online, so even if you're not interested in any of our books, do please drop by to say hello :D

Allan.
 

The Twisting Stair #3 (Spring 2018)

*** UPDATE 20 March 2019:  TTS#3 has been reprinted, and is now available for mail order again ***

*** UPDATE 2 March 2019:  TTS#3 has been reprinted, but will not be available for mail order until 13 March 2019, after we return from GaryCon ***

*** UPDATE 6 Feburary 2019: TTS#3 is now out-of-print, and unavailable until after our return from GaryCon ***

After a longer delay than planned, Tony Rosten and I are happy to announce that the Spring 2018 third issue of The Twisting Stair is going to press this week, and will debut at GaryCon next week (8-11 March 2018, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin)!

The Twisting Stair, issues 1-3

Like TTS#2, The Twisting Stair #3 is 20 pages long, is priced at $5, and is available in print format only.  

TTS#3 Contents

Here's the TOC for The Twisting Stair #3 (Spring 2018):

• From Kuroth’s Quill by Allan -- "Mega-Dungeon Mapping Strategies for Players" (in which Allan attempts to make mapping fun!)
• Mapping the Problem: An Introduction
• The Main Functions of a Map - Why to Map
• grodog's Three Mapping Modes - How to Map
• Replicated Maps - aka, the Ernie Gygax Method
• Descriptive Maps - The Captain's Log
• Trailing Maps - A Hybrid Approach
• grodog's Mapping Tips and Tricks
• Playing Mapping Tactics
• In-Character Mapping Tactics
• Critters and Glitters
• New monster - Fire Weird by Allan (a firey variation on Ernie Gygax's classic monster)
• New magic items - Ying’s Fantastic Fireworks by Tony (a collection of ten new one-shot magical devices)
• The Centerfold Mega-Dungeon Map by Tony and Allan -- The third 11"x17" level of The Twisting Stair dungeon
• Wandering Pairings by Tony -- Third-level wandering monsters
• Down the Twisting Stair by Tony -- Vertical Design in the Mega-Dungeon
• The Ups and Downs of Vertical Encounter Design
• Encounter:  "Will you climb into my Parlour?" said the Great Red Spider to the Fly
• Vertical Design Involving Multiple Encounters
• Encounter:  The Upside-Down Water Lock
• Vertical Design that Spans Multiple Dungeon Levels
• Stackable Geomorphs Add Verticality to Your Mega-Dungeon by Tony and Allan -- A new type of geomorph designed to increase vertical space in dungeon design
• 3 stackable base geomorphs
• 6 stackable geomorphs
• 3 blank stackable geomorphs

Ordering and Shipping Process, New Paypal Account

New orders can be placed by sending $4 for TTS#1 and $5 for TTS#2 or TTS#3 and using the above postage guidelines to calculate postage due.  You can submit payment via our new TTS Paypal account:  thetwistingstair@gmail.com. 

If you would like to buy more than 2 copies an issue of The Twisting Stair, please request a postage quote by emailing thetwistingstair@gmail.com, then Tony or Allan will get back to you.

FYI, if you're ordering just copies of TTS, Allan will ship those orders; if you're ordering copies of TTS as well as other Black Blade Publishing books, then Jon is happy to combine shipping for those orders, and you'll place the order and remit payment via his Black Blade email address tacojohndm@yahoo.com.  

USA DOMESTIC Shipping & Handling

• Envelope Only
• 1 copy @ 3.0 oz.: 1st class large envelope @ $2.50, Priority Flat Rate Envelope @ $8.00 
• 2 copies @ 5.2 oz.:  1st class large envelope @ $2.50, Priority Flat Rate Envelope @ $8.00 
• 3 copies @ 7.0 oz.:  1st class large envelope @ $3.50, Priority Flat Rate Envelope @ $8.00
• Envelope + Cardboard Backing
• 1 copy w/cardboard @ 5.1 oz:  1st class parcel @ $4.50, Priority Flat Rate Envelope @ $8.00 
• 2 copies w/cardboard @ 7.3 oz.:  1st class parcel @ $5.25, Priority Flat Rate Envelope @ $8.00 
• 3 copies w/cardboard @ 9.2 oz.:  1st class parcel @ $6.00, Priority Flat Rate Envelope @ $8.00  

INTERNATIONAL Shipping & Handling

• Envelope Only
• 1 copy @ 3.0 oz.:  1st class international large envelope @ $4.00 to CANADA, @ $5.50 to AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, HUNGARY, and the UK 
• 2 copies @ 5.2 oz.:  1st class international large envelope @ $4.50 to CANADA, @ $8.00 to AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, HUNGARY, and the UK 
• 3 copies @ 7.0 oz.:  1st class international large envelope @ $5.00 to CANADA, $9 to BRAZIL, @ $10.00 to AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, HUNGARY, and the UK 
• Envelope + Cardboard Backing
• 1 copy w/cardboard @ 5.1 oz:  1st class international parcel @ $11.00 to CANADA, @ $16.00 to AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, HUNGARY, and the UK
• 2 copies w/cardboard @ 7.3 oz.:  1st class international parcel @ $13.00 to CANADA, @ $17.00 to AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, HUNGARY, and the UK
• 3 copies @ 9.2 oz.:  1st class international parcel @ $18.00 to CANADA, @ $25.00 to AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, HUNGARY, and the UK 

Combined Shipping:  We're happy to combine shipping of copies of TTS#1 and #2, of course, as well as with existing Black Blade Publishing stock when possible. 

The Fine Print on Postage:  All prices are in United States Dollars (USD), and we may need to change them with issue #4 (which may be larger than the 20 pages in issue #3), or if I go to the post office and find that our due diligence didn't quite pan out for some reason.

Back Issues Availability, Subscriptions, Submissions, PDFs, and Other Questions

Copies of The Twisting Stair #1 (Spring 2017; $4) and The Twisting Stair #2 (Summer 2017; $5).  

At this time, we are not offering subscriptions to The Twisting Stair, but we are in the process of setting up freelance submissions.  If you are interested in contributing to TTS as a freelance author, cartographer, or artist, please email us at thetwistingstair@gmail.com.  We also only offer TTS in print at this time, no PDFs.  Those statuses may-well change in the future, but since The Twisting Stair is a new venture for both Tony and Allan, we're trying to keep things manageable while we get our sea legs. 

If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please post them here, or via The Twisting Stair Google+ community or The Twisting Stair Facebook Page or email us at thetwistingstair@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Allan.