Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
I see there are now two Shadow of the Demon Lord bundles (each with their own starter and bonus levels). I've heard of the game but never read or played it. Does anyone have opinions to offer?

This is a link to the original bundle and this link leads to the Demon Lord Legacies bundle.

I've GMed it. My group only lasted a few sessions, however. They didn't take to the D20 rules, though they did have fun refusing to wind up the Clockwork (a character type). There appeared to be a dramatic power uplift from level1 to level2 for the thief and there were a few skills we were never sure we were playing correctly. That's the only complaints I remember about it. At any rate, it never gained enough traction. It has great art, decent layout, and is interesting enough that I think it would be worth purchasing just to read and pluck ideas from.
 
That clockwork wind-up is great. I ran one session set in an inn (which I cribbed from the old WFRP adventure Rough Night at the Four Feathers), at the end of the night, zombies attacked the inn and the party, had to organise a fighting retreat to get the people in the inn and themselves to safety by boarding a river barge. The clock work was making up the rear and carrying a baby and they were about to get away when the player rolled a one at the worst possible time and came to a complete frozen stop in need of a wind up.

I think it's a good game, and we had a blast, but I only got through a few sessions of a pick up game, so I can't really speak that much to it longer term.

In some ways, it feels like it's the 5E but done but better, without the compromises that being official D&D brings with it.
 
Last edited:
We ran a full level 1-10 campaign of SotDL (keeping in mind its intended to be a game where you advance a level a game), and it definitely has its virtues. There are a few problem areas (which is generally hard to avoid in games, and even harder with exception based design), and I found the embedded setting elements overly grim, but it was one of the more enjoyable D20 based games I've played in the last several years.
 
We ran a full level 1-10 campaign of SotDL (keeping in mind its intended to be a game where you advance a level a game), and it definitely has its virtues. There are a few problem areas (which is generally hard to avoid in games, and even harder with exception based design), and I found the embedded setting elements overly grim, but it was one of the more enjoyable D20 based games I've played in the last several years.

Can you summarize what those problem areas are? Are they in the system or the setting?
 
Can you summarize what those problem areas are? Are they in the system or the setting?

Well, as I commented the setting is pretty dark, which can be or not be a problem based on your perspective.

The mechanical problems weren't systemic as such; as with all exception based design, the devil was in individual character Paths, spells and the like. I remember there was some elvish fighter-mage Path that seemed too good, but its been too long for me to remember the specifics.
 
Yeah that's an odd statement. I've read The Night Land and I'd say he is a better writer than Lovecraft personally, although I do really like 'At the Mountains of Madness,' The Shadow Out of Time' and 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.'

Interesting that the first two were the last stories he ever wrote. A lot of Lovecraft's other stories are fun but hardly great. It is a shame he died just as he really found his voice as a writer with those chily sf horror stories.
 
Trouble is, aside from the screen, I have the Kult: Divinity stuff already. I’m waiting on the next wave of supplements via Kickstarter.
 
Book of Cthulhu 1 & 2 are solid anthologies of modern writers speculative Mythos. Great tangents to spill into your next new fave author. Stuff like that's how you discover a Ramsey Campbell or T.E.D. Klein. Especially nowadays since literature magazines are all but invisible now (or should I say drowned in the cacophany).
 
The CAS collections are very pricey in hardcopy, I already have a lot of his fiction but this is pretty comprehensive so there may be some gems here I haven't read.

Too bad there's no collection of his first rate poetry and poetry translations though, unlike Howard and Lovecraft CAS is quite a good poet.

I think that the CAS Collected Stories from Nightshade Books have gotten a lot cheaper since they went into reprint in paperback. Amazon seems to sell them for about $15 a volume; I recently bought the first one. I'm tempted by this bundle, but I imagine I will eventually buy all the CAS collections in paperback, so I'm not sure I want to pay for them twice.
 
I think that the CAS Collected Stories from Nightshade Books have gotten a lot cheaper since they went into reprint in paperback. Amazon seems to sell them for about $15 a volume; I recently bought the first one. I'm tempted by this bundle, but I imagine I will eventually buy all the CAS collections in paperback, so I'm not sure I want to pay for them twice.

Good to hear when I last looked they were going for crazy prices.

These days I try to minimize my physical books as I already own a huge library.
 
Good to hear when I last looked they were going for crazy prices.

These days I try to minimize my physical books as I already own a huge library.

I feel that. Not only is shelf space limited, my eyes are older and being able to zoom in with my IPad has made it my reading platform of choice.
 
I'm having a hard time telling what exact stories are in these collections. Does anyone know if the Zothique or Hyperboria stories are in these collections?
 
I'm having a hard time telling what exact stories are in these collections. Does anyone know if the Zothique or Hyperboria stories are in these collections?
I'm curious too. I have a hardback of the Arkham House edition of Rendezvous in Averoigne, and I am not sure how value I will get out of this.
 
Yeah, I grabbed it. After the fact, I noticed that they are all in EPUB/MOBI format, which is something I'll have to grapple with.
 
I feel that. Not only is shelf space limited, my eyes are older and being able to zoom in with my IPad has made it my reading platform of choice.
About 20 years ago, I was working at Borders and shelving books in the Large Print section with a co-worker. She commented on how depressing it was going to be when our eyes began to go, and all we could read was the bland selection of bestsellers that came out in that format. I'm grateful that tablets and e-readers came along before that happened.
 
About 20 years ago, I was working at Borders and shelving books in the Large Print section with a co-worker. She commented on how depressing it was going to be when our eyes began to go, and all we could read was the bland selection of bestsellers that came out in that format. I'm grateful that tablets and e-readers came along before that happened.
I need pretty specific light to be able to read paperbacks without eye strain these days. I hate not having physical copies though, and regret that access to my collection is contingent on online services still letting me access what I paid for, but the tablets are just so easy to use and so nice on my eyes in dark mode.
 
I need pretty specific light to be able to read paperbacks without eye strain these days. I hate not having physical copies though, and regret that access to my collection is contingent on online services still letting me access what I paid for, but the tablets are just so easy to use and so nice on my eyes in dark mode.
Paperbacks are the biggest issue for me as well. I have a lot of old paperbacks, and they were first thing that became impossible for me to read. I try to buy books through services that let me actually download them, which is the case with this bundle.
 
Good to hear when I last looked they were going for crazy prices.

These days I try to minimize my physical books as I already own a huge library.

That makes a lot of sense; I'm moving in that direction myself. When I'm reading simply for pleasure I prefer a printed copy, although I have been enjoying the e-versions of various Mignola comics I can borrow from the local library.

Yeah, I grabbed it. After the fact, I noticed that they are all in EPUB/MOBI format, which is something I'll have to grapple with.
I've found the free Adobe Digital Editions software pretty good for epub format; I tend to use it for Project Gutenberg texts these days.

About 20 years ago, I was working at Borders and shelving books in the Large Print section with a co-worker. She commented on how depressing it was going to be when our eyes began to go, and all we could read was the bland selection of bestsellers that came out in that format. I'm grateful that tablets and e-readers came along before that happened.

The days when I could read anything without glasses are pretty far in the rear view for me. The upside, if there is one, is that with the glasses I can still read most books without trouble.
 
World Builder's Toolkit bundle is up, with an assortment of GMing and World Building products:


Most of the good stuff I know if is in the Bonus Collection (like Robins Laws of Good Gamemastering and Dyson Logos map packs). And I already own most of in some form (though the math may work out for getting electronic copies of some of this stuff).
 
Paperbacks are the biggest issue for me as well. I have a lot of old paperbacks, and they were first thing that became impossible for me to read. I try to buy books through services that let me actually download them, which is the case with this bundle.
I am having the same issue. I have enjoyed perfect vision until a few months ago. Now all of the sudden I need bright light to read paperbacks and have to ask the Mrs to take a look at small print on packaging.
 
I am having the same issue. I have enjoyed perfect vision until a few months ago. Now all of the sudden I need bright light to read paperbacks and have to ask the Mrs to take a look at small print on packaging.
It happened really fast for me as well. I took a book off the shelf one day, and I simply couldn't focus on it. I always expected it to be a more gradual process.
 
I found out quickly that eye problems just usually happen that way. My cataracts were there before I noticed them but one morning I woke up and there was like a fuzzy spot in my vision both times. The right eye I wasn’t exactly sure it was a cataract because I had no experience but the second eye I knew immediately. I knew both were coming at some point though because anytime a doctor goes into your eye cavity it’s almost a forgone conclusion you will get them within a year.
 
Yeah that's an odd statement. I've read The Night Land and I'd say he is a better writer than Lovecraft personally, although I do really like 'At the Mountains of Madness,' The Shadow Out of Time' and 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.'

Interesting that the first two were the last stories he ever wrote. A lot of Lovecraft's other stories are fun but hardly great. It is a shame he died just as he really found his voice as a writer with those chily sf horror stories.

Lovecraft had great ideas, but some of the implementation was kind of weak. Many (most) of his co-conspirators of the mythos were better writers. Of course part of that comes from writing as a primary source of income, art takes a back seat to eating so you see works that might have been further polished, or discarded if finances were not part of it. Not unusual to see writers of the pulp era recycle stories into different genres with "new" characters. I think many of the later works from authors in the period improve both through experience, but also less pressure to spit out stories as their value increased, and sales were more secure.

Not to knock the guy, I'd be pretty hungry if writing were my form of employment. :ooh:
 
It happened really fast for me as well. I took a book off the shelf one day, and I simply couldn't focus on it. I always expected it to be a more gradual process.
I think it's happening right now for me. I have noticed however that alcohol and caffeine consumption have a huge effect on my vision. Both dry my eyes out and the less moisture in my eye the poorer my vision and range adjustment.
 
I found out quickly that eye problems just usually happen that way. My cataracts were there before I noticed them but one morning I woke up and there was like a fuzzy spot in my vision both times. The right eye I wasn’t exactly sure it was a cataract because I had no experience but the second eye I knew immediately. I knew both were coming at some point though because anytime a doctor goes into your eye cavity it’s almost a forgone conclusion you will get them within a year.

My optometrist has noted that due to my extreme near-sightness and thining of my retina I'm in danger or retinal tearing. Fingers crossed and best wishes to you my friend!
 
World Builder's Toolkit bundle is up, with an assortment of GMing and World Building products:


Most of the good stuff I know if is in the Bonus Collection (like Robins Laws of Good Gamemastering and Dyson Logos map packs). And I already own most of in some form (though the math may work out for getting electronic copies of some of this stuff).
I particularly endorse the Suppressed Transmissions books, which are pretty much peak Ken Hite distilled into easily-used nuggets. I consider it one of the great tragedies of our hobby that these two books represent only a fraction of the original columns, the rest of which may never see the light of day again.
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top