OSR Merry Mushmen US Store, should I buy something?

[Scribe]

That's a nice way to put it. The shipping is still insane. $16 for one book. GTFO. I resisted buying their stuff before because of the international shipping. This is only slightly less than that. Absolutely nuts.

As a Canadian I'm used to getting gouged on shipping, every time.

"Hey, your country is too big, you all are too spread out!"

That said, I ordered 3 adventures and they are on their way.

 

[Sossij]

So my stuff came. Both items have printed covers with additional maps and information (a dust jacket with just a unique map for Knock!, the adventure maps for Ragged Hollow) and are solid with great printing and graphics design. Worth the money (including the shipping). Also came with PDFs of everything (including the covers and a large bookmark that came with Knock! and has rules for a cool dynamic magic item).

No idea when I'll ever have time to run Ragged Hollow, or how useful anything in Knock! will be to my current (5E) campaign, but they are quality stuff with piles interesting articles and the adventure seems really solid.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I find about half of the advice in Knock to just be general cool ideas, whether it's worldbuilding or ways to think about adventure games.

 

[Sammael99]

I obviously won't recommend Dungeon, Inc since I'm the author, but I will point to some reviews of some of their modules that I really liked.

My favorite is Hounds of Hendenburgh, which I am currently running for my daughter and friends. Review is here: The Horrendous Hounds of Hendeburgh by Liam Pàdraig Ó Cuilleanàin. It's a western fantasy flavoured sandbox with elements of monotheistic faith, faeries and witches. Lots of varied things that can be done, it's really worth the price of admission considering how many game sessions you can run just on this one adventure. My teenagers have currently entered the mines, and I'm really concerned there'll be a TPK, but I'm running it with DCC so with a bit of luck the spellcasters will roll high...

I liked Ragged Hollow as well but I felt it more centered on a core mystery which I couldn't imagine my inexperienced players could tackle effectively (right now, when a session is mostly spent gathering information and such, they apologise at the end for having "done nothing" ;-) With more experienced players though I think it's a really good pick: Nightmare Over Ragged Hollow by Joseph R. Lewis

As for Knock! I own them all but I haven't read them all by a long stretch. It's the kind of thick zine that you flick through and read an article here and there, or get an idea from a random table, or even read a bit of mini-dungeon and go "ooooh, I'll know what I'm running as a side-quest next month". The vibe is very OSR but really the material is relevant to anyone playing D&D or derivatives. Some articles on play styles and early approaches to RPGs have really opened my eyes to what was happening at my table as well.

Finally, Black Sword Hack is really cool. It's the easiest toolkit to run a Moorcock style game, but it's not limited to that, I don't think. I haven't run it but I played in a couple of games and felt it ran really smoothly and stayed fun at all times.

 

[darjr]

I got my Knock issues and the bestiary!

 

[Mannahnin]

I had the others, but this was an excuse for me to pick up the 5th issue of Knock!, and it's very cool. Also sweet to have the PDF of this one. I had a hiccup with my payment method and accidentally ordered two, but that's not their fault.

 

[darjr]

I had the others, but this was an excuse for me to pick up the 5th issue of Knock!, and it's very cool. Also sweet to have the PDF of this one. I had a hiccup with my payment method and accidentally ordered two, but that's not their fault.

I got two #2s!

 

[Scribe]

My order arrived, modules are a bit dinged up on the corners, not terrible but considering I also got nailed with customs/tariffs thats a yikes.

Will need to be convinced to make another order considering.

 

[Sossij]

My order arrived, modules are a bit dinged up on the corners, not terrible but considering I also got nailed with customs/tariffs thats a yikes.

Will need to be convinced to make another order considering.

Aww, boo. Mine came in great, but considering that the excellent physical presentation is a big part of the appeal I'm sure I would have been bitter if they hadn't so I don't blame you.

 

[Scribe]

Aww, boo. Mine came in great, but considering that the excellent physical presentation is a big part of the appeal I'm sure I would have been bitter if they hadn't so I don't blame you.

Yeah it's not the end of the world, but my little OSE hard cover adventures are pristine, and the soft cover that came with them. The tariff surprise pushed this into a bit of a bitter territory.

Oh well, we live and learn!