Creating a fantasy world? Running a medieval fantasy RPG? Here’s a great article on Medieval Demographics, based on the Paris tax lists of 1292 and other original sources.
fantasy
Strange Grogge Black Powder Fantasy Rules
Strage Grogge is a set of free wargames rules for playing Black Powder fantasy games.
Deathball Pit Fighting Rules
Heresy Miniatures offers a set of free miniatures rules called Deathball. There’s also an arena for you to download.
In Deathball, the authors write:
The team’s objectives tend to revolve around the placing of heads and the inflated organs of sacrificial victims into stone goals or onto mighty altars, while at the same time killing and maiming as many of the opposing dark lord’s fighters as possible. In Deathball, deaths are frequent and spectacular: the ‘ball is always the secondary consideration. It is the roar of the crowd, that greets the players with howls of lust and fury as gold changes hands; the laughter of the Dark Lords as another creature is slaughtered; the thrill and relief of surviving; this is what Deathball really is!
Beautiful Watercolors Illustrate Tolkien’s Silmarillion
Evan Palmer has created a series of beautiful watercolors illustrating Tolkien’s Silmarillion.
Trapdoor Dungeon Adventure Rules
Trapdoor is a set of free rules for dungeon adventures. The authors write:
TRAPDOOR is a set of rules which allow players to explore perilous subterranean fantasy worlds using little more than dice, miniatures and their imaginations. It was born chiefly from two desires:
- To devise a simple dungeon adventure rules engine that still allowed for detailed character development and thus longevity.
- To create a set free from the constraints of being tied to a predetermined sword & sorcery background. In this way players can use whatever fantasy miniatures they have to hand and can place their games in whatever ‘world’ they like.
The bestiary chapter provides the profiles of numerous generic fantasy creatures – from Goblins Warriors to Fire Drakes – but gamers are also free to create their own too using a simple points system. Trapdoor is also scale-free, so whether you want to adventure using 28mm or 10mm scale miniature or anything in-between the choice is yours. Whatever divergent fantastical lands you wish to explore Trapdoor provides the tools for you to do so!
Like most conventional dungeon exploration games Trapdoor pits a single referee or ‘Games Master’ against players who control individual characters, the ‘heroes’. The hero players can choose from four races – Human, Halfling, Elf and Dwarf – and six classes: Barbarian, Cleric, Knight, Mage, Ranger and Thief. Whichever race-class combination you choose each has attendant strengths and weaknesses, but all will form an integral part of your party!
To get gamers started an introductory quest is included. Fans of classic dungeon crawl systems need look no further!