Watch Well Games #57
Looking for a bestselling OSR RPG? Wazza has a recommendation.
Welcome to our RPG community newsletter!
Hi. I’m K.J.
Warren Davidson (aka Wazza) reviews Tales of Argosa, a best-selling OSR tabletop RPG published by Pickpocket Press.
Botch Dice’s Kickstarter launches July 1st. They’ve partnered up with Paizo and Hitpoint Press for special dice sets. Scroll down for a sneak peek.
But first, I give a quick recap of Free RPG Day.
What’s Up, K.J.? How Free RPG Day Came & Went
My little game “Saving Ruacinth” was one of the entries accepted into 9th Level Games’ 2025 Level 1 Anthology. (A free PDF version will be available on 9th Level Games’ website later.) I hope you’ll let me know how things went for you once you’ve played the game.
The newly formed Watch Well Games Creators Coalition - which includes me and nine other indie creators - released a free bundle. Thank you to the 1,000+ folks who downloaded this! This far exceeding our expectations.
Would you be willing to leave a review on DTRPG for the games, adventures, and maps you most enjoyed? If something wasn’t clear, reach out and ask us questions on our Bluesky. If you didn’t enjoy something, critique us so can keep improving as game creators. Thank you! ✨
This same coalition is diligently working to release our first-ever team project. You’ll start to see sneak peeks for the zine (title TBD) on Bluesky as we get closer its digital release. I’ll also share some of the fun bits over here as well.
Moving forward, I’m preparing a couple of small games for release soon, working on artwork, and getting ready to attend some smaller, local cons later this year. Fun stuff, as long as I balance it with IRL responsibilities. What are you enjoying or doing right now?
Review: Tales of Argosa
by Warren Davidson (aka Wazza)
Game Master: How thick would your rulesbooks need to be, at 8.5” by 11” to withstand the pressure of 1200 pages of rules?
Publisher: That's easy, 6 inches. We carry stuff that big in stock.
Game Master: Aye, I've noticed. Now suppose, ...just suppose, ...I was to show you a way to publish a roleplaying game that would do the same job but be only one inch thick. Would that be worth something to you, eh? Hands over book.
Publisher: “Tales of Argosa?”
Game Master: That’s the ticket, laddie.
Is it me or are roleplaying rulebooks larger, longer, heavier, and more expensive? Most rules books are 300+ pages and weigh in at $50-60. So the appeal of a single, easy-to-read and competitively priced book packed to the brim with gaming material is hard to pass up. Tales of Argosa hits all these marks and then some. Quite simply this is one the best OSR games out there. So let's get down to brass tacks.
Tales of Argosa by Pickpocket Press is currently a Gold best-seller on DriveThruRPG, where you can buy the PDF for $24.95 which includes a free GM Screen and two adventures. A physical softcover costs $34.95, while the hardcover is $44.95. For your money you’ll receive a 264 black-and-white rulebook which is packed to the brim with content. It’s amazing how much they’ve managed to cram in and still make it an enjoyable read.
Published in 2020 with 60+ easily adaptable adventures available online, Tales of Argosa has its roots in another OSR RPG called LFG (Low Fantasy Gaming). The rules system incorporates elements of the 5.1 SRD while embracing its own unique rules interpretations. Roll 3D6 for your eight attributes of: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception, Willpower, Charisma and Initiative (that’s right Initiative is an attribute), which modify your d20 rolls for combat, skills, and everything else. In this game however you want to roll under your stat on a d20.
Luck is a special 9th attribute covering saves and other benefits. Players choose from five races: Humans, Dwarves, Elves and Halflings and the Half-Skorn (beastmen); and nine classes: Artificer (steampunk inventor), Barbarian, Bard, Cultist (creepy Cleric), Fighter, Magic-User, Monk, Ranger, and Rogue. Each progresses though nine levels offering advancements to AC, attack bonus and class-related special abilities. If you manage to survive past ninth level, you can retire to head up your Barbarian clan, start a Thieves Guild or become a High Priestess to an alien god. Everything is well laid out, text is easy to digest, and all of this is complimented by some truly wonderful black-and-white line drawings. At certain levels you gain Unique features where you can work out the details with the GM or choose from 40 examples, ensuring no two characters will be the same. You too can be an armour master, enter into a faustian pact with an immortal, or put Houdini to shame with your escapology skills.
Combat is brutal covering criticals, fumbles, fighting styles, and so on. Weapons cause special effects from a plethora of critical tables when you roll a natural 19 and there’s a neat game mechanic which allows the party to flee (or should I say tactically withdraw?) if things go pear-shaped.
We move onto Sorcery which is a tumultuous affair, with Magic-Users rolling for Dark & Dangerous Magic effects. Roll poorly and bad things will happen. An innovative spell list includes such colourful titles as: “Fetid Fog of the Pit People” and “Riddle of Bones” - no magic missile clones here! Downtime follows where you can indulge in building keeps, black market trade, and good old fashioned carousing and gambling. And while you're at it, why not buy a pet, brew potions, and research some dungeons yet to be pilfered?
We’re halfway through, and there’s an incredibly useful section of GM tools. What’s here you ask? Well a comprehensive list of diseases & parasites, dungeon crawling and hexploration which, given the sandbox nature of the game, are essential, then 17 pages of random encounter tables for all the wilderness environments and urban settings you can imagine. Hirelings are detailed, you know the poor unfortunates who carry all the gear and spring all the traps. Then short and sweet rules on madness and mass battles. Up next is a fan favourite - monsters! With all the standard fantasy faire on offer for your party to kill or run away from. We have: animals, aberrant terrors, demons, dinosaurs, elementals, giants, golems, humans, lycanthropes, serpentmen, and zombies - plus many more. Stats blocks are short and concise, providing the over-worked GM with everything they need to run combat smoothly. I was pleasantly surprised with the addition of naval combat rules for all the pirates amongst you with a naval yard full of ships to sail and sink.
Oracle tools are an improvisation guide for the GM, comprising a “Deck of Signs” card deck and dice. You can buy a physical set or download them for free from Gamecrafter or DTRPG. The dice allow GMs to have fate intercede with yes or no questions posed by the players such as “Is there a sentry keeping watch? And if so, are they alert?” While the cards, based on tarot’s major arcana, depict numerous fantasy troupes and icons.
We’re near the end, and to finish off we have a grand mélange of extras. There’s a section on playing the game solo, traps, a copious amount of mundane and magical treasure and two pages of variant rules to make things less or more deadly. And there you have it. If swords and sorcery is your thing with rules to cover pretty much any eventuality then Tales of Argosa is for you. Highly recommended!
Botch Dice: Update - Humblewood & Pathfinder Sets!
At the time of writing, the Botch Dice Kickstarter has almost 700 awaiting the crowdfunding launch on July 1st. If you want to know whether these dice are legit, check out my less-than-3-minutes review on YouTube. I show you my set of Botch Dice in the style of Synth Nights (which are gorgeous!).
Shameless plug: Please use my affiliate link here to order your own Botch Dice when the campaign goes live. This costs you nothing and helps me know this newsletter and its reviews are worth the time and energy. Thank you! ✨
BIG UPDATE: Botch Dice is partnering with Hitpoint Press for Humblewood dice sets, as well as with Paizo for Pathfinder dice. Check these out!
That’s a wrap! And remember:
The desert hedgehog is one of the smallest hedgehogs. (Source: Wikipedia)
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Thank you.
Great review of Tales of Argosa.