About two years ago Dungeon World wrapped up their successful Kickstarter, and Sage Kobold Productions entered the forefront of tabletop roleplaying games. The game quickly found favor with countless dungeon masters, and players around the world. The modern rules mixed with old-school style seemed to be just what the gaming community wanted.

Since that time many blog and video reviews have continued to support the game systems bold claims.  Simple Rules, Dynamic Play, Classic Adventuring, and Highly Customizeable being the key features touted. Many actual play recordings, from some of the highest rated podcasts on iTunes, have also showcased Dungeon World.

One of my favorite examples od Dungeon World at work so far is from The Esoteric Order of Roleplayers. They took a break from Deadlands for one session to try the indie RPG Dungeon World. And in moments their featured players Des, Jen, Jade, Dave, and Brendan - all new to Dungeon World - picked up the rules and exhibited some excellent gameplay.

And get this! Dungeon World - while a highly successful Kickstarter from a commercial firm - is still shared openly and freely online! Dungeon World's entire text is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. That means you are free to make anything based on Dungeon World for fun and profit so long as you credit Dungeon World. That spirit of openness has led to all kinds of player and game master created supplements.

I am beginning to explore the Dungeon World system for possible improvements to Realms of Adventures going forward. There are many ways to use Realms of Adventures right now - to explore different themes. However, the focus on narrative story advancement with every round is what piqued my interest in Dungeon World!

Tabletop Talk Interview with Adam Koebel, Co-Creator of Dungeon World!

The Gaming Paper 'Megadungeon 3, Sewers' on Kickstarter is Fully Funded! Which is great, because that means anyone who contributes before project funding closes will get some great stretch goals.

'Sewers' is the third product in the Gaming Paper 'Megadungeon' series. At least 36 pages of amazing preprinted maps, which together form one giant map! Best of all - anyone pledging $7 or more will be eligible for the FREE Stretch Goals. Whaaaaaaa!?! No kidding - check it out...

While you're at it - check out their track record on Kickstarter. The Megadungeon 1 and Megadungeon 2 battlemaps are exquisite. They even come with prewritten adventures your players can enjoy.

If you haven't heard of them, Gaming Paper produces the latest innovation in roleplaying and miniatures accessories. Their low-cost alternative to expensive battlemaps and tile sets are great. It's an inexpensive, reusable and disposable way for gamers and dungeon masters to really ramp up their adventures.

You can get Gaming Paper in convenient rolls 30 inches wide and 12' long. For the math challenged that's 30 square feet of playing surface! And the high quality graphics printed are just a fraction of the cost of other gaming mats on the market today. Use them for your miniatures games, and bring them to your roleplaying games. You'll be able to eat all the chips and salsa you want while your players are drooling over the new game space.  (* Drool not recommended on Gaming Paper surface.)

First let me say that this is not an original idea, but one I borrowed from elsewhere. But it applies in spades to the roleplaying games being enjoyed at Realms of Adventures.

Play-by-Blog in its very nature has an enemy. That enemy is all-powerful, ever-present and strikes at any time without warning. That enemy is called Real Life.

We have all been there. A game is fun and interesting and then a player (or the GM) is suddenly gone without warning. It is frustrating at best for all the others in the game and also very often caused by that monster, Real Life. We know this cannot be stopped, nor should it be! Real life, family, jobs, etc. SHOULD always come first. For a game or hobby to come first would be extremely bad.

However, I believe there is a solution that satisfies both worlds. With today’s technology there are many ways to get on the internet; PC’s, phones, tablets, internet cafés etc. Many places even have PC’s you can use for free. This availability of technology leads to a theorem: No matter what Real Life throws at us, we can still find 3 minutes to post “Hey, the monster got me and I won’t be back for a month or more”.

Wouldn’t that be preferable to just not knowing why someone was gone, or for how long? Well, I think so. Enter the Oath of Sangus; the Roman god of trust, honesty, and oaths. So how does this work? I am so glad you asked.

The Oath
By commenting here, I agree to take the Oath of Sangus. In doing so, I promise to never simply disappear from a game, either as a Player or a GM.
When Real life happens to me – and it will – I agree to find 3 minutes to comment so that the others in the game know I have left, and if I shall return or not.
I give my oath to never just vanish from RoA without a comment, even though it may be very brief.
If I lose interest in a game or for ANY reason want to stop playing, I will let the GM/other players know I am leaving.

If you agree to take the Oath then simply post a comment here stating you have done so. Then you can say so in your character sheet, comment signature, and email correspondence. This will let everyone else know that you will make your very best effort to never just disappear.

This entry is NOT for opinions, or lengthy comments. You may or may not agree with it, but please have the courtesy to not post anything except taking the Oath as above. If you feel so strongly that some part of this should be discussed, feel free to Contact the Game Master.

Thank you for reading, and for considering the Oath!

Live the adventure,
A.E. Jackson, Game Master