Venger strikes again, this time with X-Cards!

 It's been awhile since I've caught up with Venger.  You can check out his going's on here: http://vengersatanis.blogspot.com/
He just released some Cha'alt X-Cards
Here is the blurb: 

If you love Cha'alt, then here's a mechanic that brings those Cha'altian vibes to the fore!

This describes an entirely new and strange technique for improving your roleplaying game sessions... and making them weird, gross, horrific, hilarious, and exciting.

Use Cha'alt X-Cards with Cha'alt or any other RPG that's about or promotes eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalypse, humor, sleaze, pop-culture, and grindhouse exploitation.

Want custom-made cards or the Cha'alt hardcovers?  Let me know, hoss!

The best part, they are FREE! 

And speaking of free, if you haven't had a chance to try out Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer yet, wait exactly are you waiting for? 

Here's the link.  

This is my own heavily house-ruled hack of B/X and 5e, suitable for one-shots, convention games, virtual play, and even face-to-face campaigns.  I'm currently 16-sessions into my Crystals of Chaos campaign set in the eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic world of Cha'alt.  Check out my session reports on Venger's old school gaming blog for details.

Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer is the updated version of Crimson Dragon Slayer D20, and going forward, this will see incremental adjustments (hopefully, improvements) here and there over the years.

In fact, there's room for a couple new races, and I've decided to run a contest to see who will come up with the most Cha'altian suggestion... that will be included in the next update, sometime in early November.  So, get your suggestions in by Halloween (not that it has to be horror-themed or anything, but it can be... whatever, yeah - totally up to you).

4 classes, tons of races, ascending AC, spell casting drains hit-points, lots of standard OSR type stuff, and plenty of weird things I threw in to mesh better with Cha'alt.  Plus, a character sheet (3 slightly different versions)!!!

Okay, that's almost all the things.... actually there's one more! 

Alpha Blue d20 (another super fun RPG) 

This is a different kind of Alpha Blue... for starters it's D20; it's also not quite as silly.  Yeah, this version is darker and grittier than the original.  Just as sleazy, though!  Maybe you've played Alpha Blue before, maybe you haven't.  Either way, I'd love to know what you think of this version.
I'm hoping to playtest and get feedback on Alpha Blue D20 before it goes into Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise.  
Okie dokie, that's what I got this morning.  Which isn't too bad considering I've only had a few cups of coffee this morning. 
I'm going to try and do a few more blogs once in awhile.  Highlight some fun stuff, like Venger.  
Maybe the next blog will be about my buddy Tim and what's happening over at Gothridge Manor.  
While you patiently wait, you can check it out here:  
http://gothridgemanor.blogspot.com/

Speaking of Tim, I should probably shoot him a message and see what's up, as well see if he's running a game currently.  My guess is likely! 
Alright folks have a good one. 

The epic weirdness of Cha'alt

I kindly received a copy of Cha'alt from Venger.  You can grab a copy here.

This is a BIG book.  It comes in at 218 pages!  I'm always amazed at his work ethic, inspiration just flows thru him.

Here's the elevator pitch:

Cha'alt is the beast of a book (218 pages) I've been working on for the past year.  It's a ruined world focusing on a couple of introductory dungeons before getting to the main event - the megadungeon known as The Black Pyramid.  

The Black Pyramid is like nothing you've ever seen before.  Unique design, purpose, feel, magic items, NPCs, monsters, factions, motives, agendas, strangeness, the works!

There's a decent amount of setting detail besides dungeoncrawling - space opera bar, domed city, mutants, weird ass elves, desert pirates, a city ruled by a gargantuan purple demon-worm, and much more!

Cha'alt is compatible with both old school and 5e D&D purposefully blended for maximum usability.  Full disclosure: aside from advantage/disadvantage and bounded accuracy, there isn't much in the way of 5th edition mechanics. It's predominantly OSR.

Venger has included his own rules Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 within the book.  As well there is a pdf for Pregens and old school feats / skill-sets and background details.

Knocking the layout out of the park is Mr. Glynn Seal From Monkeyblood Design (whose done a pile of work for Venger, and he's won an Ennie for his setting The Midderlands!)   Damn I love the map on page 65.

Interior Art by Monstark, Yannick Bouchard, Brent Schreiber, Dan Brown, Paul Carrick, Luke Oram,
Matthew Bailey, and Slappy.  Additional images licensed from Adobe Stock.  I gotta say the art is fantastic! And it's what you expect from Venger's releases.  Inspiring.

This book as the description states is a setting book/megadungeon.  There's a nice over view of the world, all of the strange factions, a cantina that's in the middle of a desert (filled with patrons).

Venger loves to include random tables into his books, there's a pile of them! Including a handy chart for ability scores, typical +/- found in different iterations of D&D.  I probably should have noted this earlier, this is a OSR/D&D book.  You could technically run it with other systems (most OSR stuff is pretty easy to convert).  Alternatively you could pull a pile of inspiration from this book, and run with your own version of the Black Pyramid and Cha'alt.

There are six awesome factions detailed in the book.  A crap ton of new monsters for your players to contend with.

Example:  A ga'athrul is what we on Earth would describe as an alien dinosaur. They are massive creatures living in the wasteland, vying for territory and resources…such as delicious humanoids.

Also Gigantic Spider-Droids!!!!!!!!

An incredibly detailed city, with lots of random tables! KBrae’andeuamthek City of the Purple Demon-Worm. (About the only thing that I`d really give Venger a dig at, is the names of things in his books.  I can`t pronounce em! That of course is not Venger`s fault.  And Honestly KBrae’andeuamthek sounds a lot cooler than Waddingtonsforth... or something).

Excerpt from the city details: Periodically, the Purple Demon-Worm priesthood imbibes hallucinogenic drugs. So,all but the High Priests and Ipsissumus are easily distracted and/or misled by a clever ruse.

The Black Pyramid:  There's so much going on within this pyramid! Each room is almost a vignette unto itself.  There's weirdness, there's fruit! there's death around pretty much every corner.  This place begs to be explored.

I really dig the map style.  It`s these oddly triangular rooms with passages between them.

Here`s a few excerpts from the dungeon. 

Videodrome:  Black robed humanoids are abusing and humiliating each other as cameras record the
degradation. The leader has black crosses drawn all over his face, neck, and hands.  There are certain individuals within the Sect of Kara'as who've been exiled to this room for worshiping Ara'ak-Zul. They call themselves The Order of The Black Trapezoid. This is where they live.

Chartreuse Sphere
The yellow-green line of illumination running along the top of this room perfectly matches the color of the glowing sphere that hovers in the center of this small room.

All told there`s a 111 rooms in this creepy assed pyramid!

This book will bring you years of craziness and gaming.

The book was printed at Friesens (which is super cool, as it's really close to my actual home, and they do really good work!).

Quoting Prince Of Nothing in the afterword: 

Running Cha'alt is not about control, accuracy, or preparation. It’s not a series of
encounters that requires a delicate balance of character classes, feats, and consumables to
circumnavigate successfully.

If you only ever buy one book of Venger's, buy this one!  - Shane 

(Note: it's a great idea to buy the others as well, there's some amazing wonderfully covered pages of purple slime, with strange androids and gonzo weirdness within Venger's catalog).  

Interview with the purple tentacled mega dungeon writer

It's been a minute since I sat down over some bubbling slime and had a discussion with Venger Satanis.  https://3toadstools.blogspot.com/2015/10/its-your-turn-venger.html 

And since the tentacled one just put out a new RPG setting called Cha'alt, I figured now was a good time to catch up with him.

1.  So I hear that you released Cha'alt! Give me the elevator pitch.  


Cha'alt is eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalypse adventuring for the OSR, but also with 5e D&D in mind.  It's 2 normal sized dungeons, a sleazy space bar, and a megadungeon surrounded by a radioactive wasteland.  The campaign setting is an ultra-light "kitchen sink" and is mostly there to support play in and around The Black Pyramid - that's the megadungeon.  
Note:  Get Cha'alt here.  

2.  I really like that you included Crimson Dragon slayer in the back on the book.  Was that always the plan?  

There's almost never a plan!  Actually, how that came about was I needed to playtest Cha'alt on Roll20 and needed a rule-set that was both old school and Basic 5th edition D&D.  My online games are all short and text only.  So, there's no time for complicated backstory, figuring out feats, determining ability scores, etc.  If we only have 60-90 minutes to play, we have to move things along or else nothing gets accomplished.  I created Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 and gave the free PDF to players so they could get up to speed without too many surprises.  Once the entire book was finished, it seemed like a good idea to include the 5 or 6 pages of rules in case anyone wanted to have them in a printed form, rather than just PDF.

3.  Prince of Nothing helped you out during the process of creating Cha'alt, what role did the Prince play? (he?) 

Yes, he's a dude.  Prince of Nothing looked at everything and gave me advice, both general and specific, on various encounters, the setting, and whatnot.  What I value him most for was pushing me harder when my energy waned; it kept me from slacking off when I needed to be vibrant and awesome.

NOTE: Prince of nothing blog here. 

4.  Reading thru the preview I really dig all the stat blocks, it’s pretty straight forward D&D, and should be relatively easy to pick up and run.  Was this a design goal? 

Yes, one of the few pearls of wisdom I've gleaned from reviewers such as Bryce of Ten Foot Pole is that the text should help the GM run the adventure.  If it's not easy to pick up and run, that's yet another obstacle in the way of a satisfying game.  Some gamers are young with lots of time on their hands.  I'm not.  I'm 44 with 5 kids, a wife, career, and this hobby.  I need things to be quick and easy or else it probably doesn't get done.

5.  What has the response been so far? 

Really positive. I've heard it compared to The Temple of Elemental Evil mixed with Expedition to Barrier Peak and Tomb of Horrors.  I think that's a justified comparison.  
Unlike everything I've created up to this point, it's super long (218 pages) and deep.  There's lots of stuff going on, layers and layers that most people won't see just by reading it.  Unfortunately, to really know the full measure of Cha'alt, it really needs to be played... and then I think it'll be considered one of the greatest RPG books ever made.  

6.  Did you run a kickstarter campaign for this? 

Yes, I did.  I wanted to give it the premium hardcover treatment, so I raised over $10,000 to help pay for the art, layout, cartography, and off-set printing of 2,000 books.  Believe me, 10k wasn't enough.  But, thank Cthulhu, I was able to borrow money in order to see the project through.  

7.  I gotta say as per usual, the art is fucking amazing!  Was there any one piece you found that kicked the whole thing off? 

I think the one with the black pyramid sticking out of the desert, the alien sandworm in the background, and adventurers in the foreground getting ready to either fight that worm or flee into the pyramid.  Once I saw that, Cha'alt really started to solidify into reality.

8.  So tell me about this black pyramid? (also why isn't it purple dude?) 

I needed a new schtick, or color, rather.  Cha'alt ain't the purple islands, hoss!  
The Black Pyramid is a megadungeon half-sunk into the desert.  Numerous rumors and legends have been passed down for generations about it. The thing was built with stone from some nightmare plane of existence.  And it's big enough to have both civilized communities and grotesque monstrosities living almost side-by-side with each other.  The size and shape is trans-dimensional, like the Tardis.  
There's lots more, but I'll leave the rest up to your imagination.  Suffice it to say, you could run a robust campaign for months just using The Black Pyramid.  

If gamers do like The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence, they'll love Cha'alt.  Feel free to mix and match, as well, since both have a similar vibe.

9.  I read that your printing the book with Friesens, when will that be due?  
(Note: I live very close to them.)  

Well, there's a slight delay on the printing because I upped my order to meet demand, and the interior paper is higher end than usual.  So, I should have the books in early October, tentacles crossed.

10.  What are you playing at home? What system? 

Are you running any published adventures or your own home brew playtesting? 
Putting the finishing touches on Cha'alt and dealing with everything at work and home has stressed me out beyond belief.  I haven't done any gaming for a couple months.  Instead, I've been watching movies with friends and painting miniatures.  Actually, later this afternoon will be my first Roll20 game since the playtesting ended last Spring.

Flashing forward a day, that session was great.  I came up some new ideas and ways of presenting the world.  My hope is that Cha’alt, it’s essence, sticks in the GM’s imagination enough that he can spontaneously riff and adlib as much as he wants because the weird pulp sword, sorcery, and starship fundamentals are so strong.

Also, The Black Pyramid claimed another PC’s life.  So, now the count has grown to 14 [see below].

11.  When you were writing Cha'alt, what were you listening to/watching/reading etc? 

I tried to re-watch a number of inspirational works in order to get me in the mood.  Land of the Lost, Dune, Star Wars, Heavy Metal, Logan’s Run, Zardoz, etc.

The world of Cha’alt has an Arabian Nights feel crossed with the American southwest, like New Mexico… except reskinned to resemble Mos Eisley by way of Arrakeen.  

When at home, working late at night, I’d usually have some dark ambient “music” playing in the background.  Especially when I was working on The Black Pyramid.  I wanted to get the fun to disturbing ratio just right.  It’s kind of like a horror movie, but an enjoyable one that occasionally goes to “11” like Evil Dead II or something. 

12.  Since we last spoke in 2015, you've released a pile of stuff!  Where does all that inspiration come from? 

All the great fantasy, sci-fi, horror, exploitation, and comedy that I’ve absorbed in my 44 years on this Earth.  Clearly, H.P. Lovecraft is a huge inspiration to me.  Pretty much everything I create has one or more tentacles attached.  

13.  How many characters have been killed during the playtesting of Cha'alt? 

Hmm, good question.  I’d say… maybe a Devil’s dozen, 13 or so.

14.  Ever think of writing a vanilla high fantasy adventure?   

I’ve thought about it, but if you’ve played in one campaign with elves, humans, and dwarves braving a haunted forest to get to the dark tower of an evil wizard… then you’ve probably played hundreds.

15.  Have you managed to get out to any cons in the last few years? What were you running? Any con tips for someone like me whose never been?  

The only convention I’ve been to in the last couple years has been Gary Con, and just before that Game Hole Con.  Wish I could do more but with 5 kids, it’s too much for my wife to handle all on her own.  My wife just went to brunch with some of her friends for part of the day and it was fucking nuts – so much screaming and chaos!

At Gary Con earlier this year, I playtested Cha’alt to get a sense of how it would be perceived by random gamers I’ve never met before.  Obviously, my home game is full of people who like my style and aesthetics.  But what about “normal” gamers?

The old school version (Swords & Wizardry, I think) went very well.  However, the 5th edition gamers didn’t like the minimalist Basic version of 5e that I used.  In the end, they enjoyed themselves, and it was a lot of fun.  5e gamers have a lot of preconceived notions.  They’re not as flexible and forgiving as the old school, generally speaking.

16.  How long did it take to complete the writing for Cha'alt?   

 From the first inkling to the finished product, about a year.  That would be July 2018 to July 2019.  I really buckled down in January when the Kickstarter began.

17.  How many levels is the black pyramid? 

I agonized over the pyramid’s interior for quite a while.  For the longest time, I conceived of it as a standard pyramid buried in the sand.  The top part, entrance, would be small levels and they’d get bigger the further down the adventurers traveled.

But then I just said fuck it, and decided to make the pyramid’s interior one big sprawling level of weird shaped rooms connected with mesh corridors surrounded by an unquiet void.

18.  Just looking at Drivethru, and Alpha Blue is super popular, what do you think makes it so fucking awesome? 

 I’d like to think it’s the VSd6 system, but that’s not it.  Alpha Blue’s strength comes from its vintage sleazy sci-fi essence.  In a massive field of fantasy RPGs, sci-fi RPGs, superheroes, horror, westerns, spies, and everything else under the sun, only a select few focus on trying to get laid in zero gravity.  Sex makes Alpha Blue popular.  Sex is fucking awesome.  I should know.  I watch people doing it on the internet all the time!

Grab Alpha Blue Here.

19.  Any plans for more "how to like a fucking boss" books? Perhaps Volume 2 of both?   

 Yeah, one day there will be more “like a fucking boss” books.  I don’t know exactly what they’ll be about, but a subject that needs to be grabbed by the horns. 

20.  I watch Inappropriate Characters once in a while, how did that all start?

RPG Pundit wanted to do a regular video series and was looking for a co-host.  He narrowed it down to me and Grim Jim Desborough.  I said, “Why not all three of us.”  That was it.

Inappropriate Characters Youtube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwLoj3sQDSyaxi9tMERtO4A

21.  Another question about Inappropriate Characters, I am aware of the RPG Pundit's books, has Grim Jim released any books? 

 Yes, he wrote Machinations of the Space Princess, which helped pave the way for Alpha Blue, actually.  He created an RPG based on John Norman’s Gor series of novels.  Grim Jim has done a bunch of stuff.  He’s a very creative guy.

RPG Pundit stuff:  https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/6747/DOM-Publishing
Grim Jim Stuff: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/384/Postmortem-Studios

22.  Ever think about doing a live Venger D&D show (ala Critical role, but you know with purple slime, demons and radiation)?  

Now that you say it like that, it sounds kind of awesome.  Yeah!  Sure, I’ve thought about it.  I’m not good with tech stuff, but now that Cha’alt is finished, maybe I’ll explore that.  

23.  What are you excited about in the scene right now? 

 The OSR’s “death” is kind of interesting.  It’s like the band’s broken up and every individual or extremely tiny faction is off doing their own thing.  That’s good, but also bad.  I blame politics as much as I blame natural cycles of human organizing principles.  Nothing lasts forever.
One day, I think the best people, meaning the most creative, in the OSR might get back together to accomplish something tremendous.  But that’ll have to wait for a time when people can take a joke and get off their high horse.  My advice: focus on the actual work, rather than the community.

24.  We all know that G+ blew the fuck up, and everyone is on all different platforms.  Do you think it was a good thing in the long run? 

I’m still sad about G+. I invested a lot in that platform and had to re-start my social media presence after it blew up.  I think G+’s demise contributed to the OSR’s fracturing.  It separated us, forcing various people to grow in unexpected ways.  So, good and bad, like most things.

25.  Where do you get your RPG news from?

 I still read blogs and check the major RPG sites, even though I’m not a fan of their rules, policies, culture, and what they go on and on about.  It helps to know what other people in the hobby/industry are talking about.

26.  Ever get to be a player in D&D games? 

Rarely, but that’s something I’d like to get back into.  The next convention I go to, I’ll have to make that a priority.  Maybe I’ll wear a disguise and join an OSR game that’s using Cha’alt… just to see how it’s being used, step into that world as a fellow traveler, instead of the creator. 

27.  Other than traditional D&D, what other games do you like playing (tabletop or board games)? 

I enjoy the classics. Awhile back, I ran some Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, and recall a couple years before that GMing Encounter Critical, 1st edition Vampire: The Masquerade. It’s one of my goals to run Toon again, just like I did back in High School.  Amber: Diceless Roleplaying, too.
Someone on the internet keeps asking me to try out one of those new wave RPGs, either powered by the apocalypse or Fate.  I can’t remember which.  I’m not opposed to trying that, since I want to keep growing as an RPG designer.

28.  What's next for Kort’thalis? 

I’m still on break.  Making Cha’alt, for me, was like Merlin changing that dude’s appearance so he could bang that girl and take the castle.  I have to rest in order to recover.  While I keep scribbling ideas, I’m not ready to actually create anything at the moment.  The act of creation takes a lot more than a good idea and getting started.  There’s an act of will required to continue on ‘till the finish line.  That’s something a lot of would-be writers lack.  At the moment, I’m lacking it, too, because I’m just creatively exhausted from the year-long process that Cha’alt took.
However, once I’m ready again… I really need to do more for The Outer Presence and Blood Dark Thirst.  I’ve neglected them, and want to support those RPGs – for both myself and the fans.
Stay tuned by checking on my old school RPG blog: https://vengersatanis.blogspot.com/

Your probably living under a rock

I'm sure you know about this already, but if you don't.  The rules cyclopedia is now available thru drivethru (this has been the long awaited thing).  You can get it in dead tree format as well!

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17171/DD-Rules-Cyclopedia-Basic?term=rules+cy&test_epoch=0&it=1

As well +Mike Evans has been crazy busy.  Check out his latest blog post about the upcoming products.  They all sound like a ton of fun!

https://wrathofzombie.wordpress.com/2018/02/06/upcoming-diy-rpg-productions-projects-and-some-tasty-art/

You know who else is busy? +Venger Satanis.  He just released "Dead God Excavation" and he is currently running a kickstarter for a Battle Star Trilogy Trek Wars (a supplement for Alpha Blue).  Speaking of Venger I wrote a review of "Players Handbook Like A Fucking Boss" you can check it out here.  I also have to get to reading Dead God, Venger was kind enough to send me a copy.

As for me, I finished up the "Off the wall hex crawl" vanilla weirdness fantasy that's system neutral.

I'm hoping to do an edit on "Dusty Door" after the playtest is finished.  You can watch the awesomeness of +God Emperor Leto II during the first session (subscribe to his channel to, he puts out some great stuff).

Also we are all working on "The return of the blue baron part deux", if you are up for writing a room come on over and check it out!

I'm onto working on paperwork stuff, and listening to the "Swords Of Jordoba" by the wonderful +Matt Finch Here is episode 3.

A review of Player's Handbook Like A Fucking Boss

Full disclosure, I received a free copy of the pdf from +Venger Satanis

Alright, here is the pitch: 

This is a grab-bag of fantasy goodies for use with O5R roleplaying games.  That means everything from Basic D&D, AD&D, all the various retro-clones, systems similar but not identical (like Crimson Dragon Slayer), and 5th edition.

Primarily, Player's Handbook like a Fucking Boss is meant for players (duh, just look at the title).  Contained within these occasionally dark, humorous, gonzo, Lovecraftian, high, and low fantasy pages are useful character suggestions, awesome bonuses, radical deeds, sneaky skills, random tables, XP sweeteners, life-lines, and get out of jail free cards that will hopefully bring balance to the force (but will most likely just spread untold chaos and evil throughout the galaxy).

If dying seems too easy (as it should be), these tools could save your miserable, gutter and dungeon strewn life!  If you love bards, get this.  If you hate bards with an unnatural purplish passion, then you really need to get this!

And here's the affiliate link to grab a copy.  

Here's my thoughts (pardon the swears): 

Even though this fucking book is called a "player's handbook" there are a ton of awesome resources for DM's as well!  The book is technically system neutral, although it leans towards old school games that use polyhedral dice.  As is the case with everything that Venger puts out, the layout and artwork is fucking fantastic.  I originally downloaded the printer friendly pdf and read it the other night, (which btw is a wonderful thing to add as an extra in the downloads section), but flipping thru the actual pdf, the whole thing pops!  The amazing +MonkeyBlood Design (Glynn Seal) was on it!

The book is filled with tables, charts, and interesting ideas for old school  (or stripped down 5e games) for players.  For instance my players always have fucking trouble coming up with a name.  Well there's a excellent table for that! 

There is a cool table for basically what "sign" you are born under, which of course gives extras to players.  It reminded me of Oblivion (the video game) where you get little bonus's depending on the month of your birth (beats the crap out of being a Cancer anyways).  My only issue at first was "k wait there's only 8 entries for months, aren't there 12 months".  However when you look closely some of the months last longer that Earth's typical 30,31 day cycle. And why shouldn't it? I mean we are talking about fucking fantasy world's here! 

The "stranger things" table is similar to the trinkets table in 5e, however it has the wonderful fucked up Venger twist to it.  "this table is a list of items, abilities and weirdness to start your adventuring career".  This table is getting printed out and put in my DM binder next to my character backgrounds table (d100 mildly plausible backgrounds for old school characters).  

I thoroughly enjoyed the table for naming magical weapons.  This is another table that I will start using on a regular basis.  option 1, player:  "I hit it with my plus three axe", option 2:  "I unsheathe Zod Bjorn Crushing Blow"  fuck that is fantastic! 

Some of the background mechanics presented here will also be of use to me (I'm guessing as time goes on in a session).  The dishonor & infamy and "did you bring it" tables specifically.  

The book comes in at 33 pages, and there are little nuggets of things on every single page.  As a DM/Player you don't have to use every single table.  Heck you might only use one, maybe another character will use a few of the options.  The thing I like about this book, is if I was say going to run a basic old school game it adds a nice little spice to it.  However it doesn't make my old school game all new and fandangled like a 5e game.  As an example I use adv/disadvantage in my old school games, because it makes thing's fun.  I enjoy the flip flip that can occur.  I don't use it all the time however, only when situations dictate.  The same goes for some of the fun tables in this book. 

I agree with +Eric Fabiaschi  on the following point (take from Eric's review here).  

What the hell did I just read?! At thirty two pages this was way too short of a book. Venger is a solid writer & designer who needs to settle down & do more writing & designing. This is a three & a half or four star book because of the fact that I was expecting more from a book with the title Player's Handbook Like A Fucking Boss. This book seems to be a catch all of random tables & PC options for players with a few solid random tables and it seriously needs a lot more expansion before it hits the four or five star territory. 

This book is a solid effort, my only thought is that its not really a "players handbook" per se.  Well it is and it isn't.  If this book had a bunch of fucked up spells in it, maybe a table of "weird trainers and what they cost", proficiency's, etc (Your basic "player's handbook" that we have seen time and again).  Counter point, this is a cool fucking book that gives a player some inspiration, fuels the imagination and gets them ready to game.  That's a fucking handbook isn't it? 

As a somewhat side note, I really do like the idea of O5R.  I would be very curious to see the outcome of a book (set of rules) if someone locked Venger in a basement with the 5e SRD for a month.  His version of the game, would be super fucking cool! 

Player's handbook like a fucking boss is going to be sitting on my gaming table in the near future.  If you like weird things, random tables, excellent naming resources, interesting fucking mechanic ideas and you play elf games with fucked up dice, this book is for you! 

Get it here: 

And here's the affiliate link to grab a copy.