A few thoughts about the list:
First of all, this list is remarkable because it's so huge. 165 blogs is a lot. I really wonder if any other RPG or tabletop gaming subculture has this many blogs associated with it...? Do any of you have a feeling for this? I wonder how this compares with the Warhammer, D&D 4e, or World of Darkness blogospheres.
Second, a lot of the blogs have a lot of followers. There are over 60 blogs with more than 50 followers. This suggests an overall high level of reader interest.
Third, many of the blogs lower on the list are newer blogs with a lot of very interesting and creative content. If you have time, I'd recommend checking some of them out. If you like them, show your appreciation by becoming a Follower!
DISCLAIMERS:
1. Only blogger.com blogs are included. There are a number of excellent blogs using Wordpress and other platforms. I did not include these simple because I don't how to assess the number of Followers or RSS feeds for these types of blogs.
2. Of course I am overlooking some blogs. I encourage you all to post links for interesting blogs I have missed - I will try to include these next time I make a list!
3. Some of these blogs may be only tangentially related to old school roleplaying. I'm not claiming anything more than a fast-and-loose curation of the list.
4. Some of these blogs may be inactive - I have not gone back to systematically verify the activity levels of these blogs.
NOTE: I updated this list on September 21, 2010. It now includes 209 blogs. The blogs at the end with no followers listed are non-blogger.com sites for which no data are available.
You can find direct links to all blogs here.
Here's the list:
1 | GROGNARDIA - 643 followers |
2 | Playing D&D With Porn Stars - 510 followers |
3 | Jeffs Gameblog - 376 followers |
4 | LotFP: RPG - 259 followers |
5 | Beyond the Black Gate - 223 followers |
6 | ChicagoWiz's RPG Blog - 220 followers |
7 | Lord of the Green Dragons - 212 followers |
8 | The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope - 183 followers |
9 | Monsters and Manuals - 175 followers |
10 | A Paladin In Citadel - 170 followers |
11 | B/X BLACKRAZOR - 167 followers |
12 | Dungeons and Digressions - 161 followers |
13 | The Hopeless Gamer - 154 followers |
14 | I SEE LEAD PEOPLE - 151 followers |
15 | Bat in the Attic - 149 followers |
16 | The Underdark Gazette - 149 followers |
17 | Greyhawk Grognard - 146 followers |
18 | Trollsmyth - 145 followers |
19 | The Lair of the Evil DM - 133 followers |
20 | Swords Against the Outer Dark - 128 followers |
21 | The Gallery: Russ Nicholson - 125 followers |
22 | HeroPress - 121 followers |
23 | Ode to Black Dougal - 120 followers |
24 | The Grand Tapestry - 119 followers |
25 | The Tao of D&D - 118 followers |
26 | Old Guard Gaming Accoutrements - 117 followers |
27 | Tankards & Broadswords - 115 followers |
28 | Akratic Wizardry - 113 followers |
29 | Cyclopeatron - 111 followers |
30 | How to Start a Revolution in 21 Days or Less - 111 followers |
31 | TEMPLE OF DEMOGORGON - 111 followers |
32 | The RPG Corner - 111 followers |
33 | OEF - 107 followers |
34 | The Keep on the Gaming Lands - 105 followers |
35 | Sham's Grog 'n Blog - 101 followers |
36 | Daddy Grognard - 98 followers |
37 | Back in '81 - 96 followers |
38 | Joethelawyer's Wondrous Imaginings - 95 followers |
39 | Telecanter's Receding Rules - 94 followers |
40 | PLANET ALGOL - 93 followers |
41 | The Savage AfterWorld - 92 followers |
42 | Gothridge Manor - 90 followers |
43 | The Warlock's Home Brew - 86 followers |
44 | Destination Unknown - 85 followers |
45 | From the Sorcerer's Skull - 83 followers |
46 | The Other Side blog - 83 followers |
47 | Havards Blackmoor Blog - 80 followers |
48 | Green Skeleton Gaming Guild - 79 followers |
49 | Dungeonmum - 77 followers |
50 | I Waste The Buddha With My Crossbow - 76 followers |
51 | Uhluht'c Awakens - 76 followers |
52 | Delta's D&D Hotspot - 75 followers |
53 | It's okay; Gary sent us. - 74 followers |
54 | THE LAND OF NOD - 74 followers |
55 | A Hamsterish Hoard of Dungeons and Dragons - 71 followers |
56 | Save Vs. Poison - 71 followers |
57 | Troll and Flame - 70 followers |
58 | HUGE RUINED PILE - 68 followers |
59 | Axe & Hammer - 67 followers |
60 | SANDBOX EMPIRE - 66 followers |
61 | Aeons & Augauries - 63 followers |
62 | Dungeonskull Mountain - 63 followers |
63 | Vaults of Nagoh - 63 followers |
64 | Grimmhaus - 62 followers |
65 | Sickly Purple Death Ray - 61 followers |
66 | Warning - Mutagenic Substance - 61 followers |
67 | Dungeon Mistress - 58 followers |
68 | Discourse and Dragons - 57 followers |
69 | Risus Monkey - 55 followers |
70 | Tenkar's Tavern - 55 followers |
71 | Weird Worlds of Geoffrey McKinney - 55 followers |
72 | What a horrible night to have a curse... - 55 followers |
73 | Back to the Dungeon! - 52 followers |
74 | Bite The Bulette - 51 followers |
75 | Rule of the Dice - 50 followers |
76 | The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms - 50 followers |
77 | elves ate my homework - 49 followers |
78 | Terminal Space - 49 followers |
79 | aldeboran - 48 followers |
80 | Tower of the Archmage - 48 followers |
81 | Carjacked Seraphim - 47 followers |
82 | Fabled Lands - 47 followers |
83 | Mandragora: The Mandrake March - 47 followers |
84 | The Metal Earth - 47 followers |
85 | EXONAUTS! - 46 followers |
86 | The Frothy Friar - 46 followers |
87 | Superhero Necromancer - 45 followers |
88 | Sword and Board - 43 followers |
89 | Castle Dragonscar - 42 followers |
90 | Old School Heretic - 41 followers |
91 | The Blog That Time Forgot - 41 followers |
92 | The Delve - 41 followers |
93 | Roles, Rules, and Rolls - 40 followers |
94 | Drawings & Dragons - 39 followers |
95 | In Like Flynn - 39 followers |
96 | Swashbuckler's Hideout - 39 followers |
97 | The Omnipotent Eye - 39 followers |
98 | There's a Bugbear in my Kitchen! - 39 followers |
99 | Reviews from R'lyeh - 38 followers |
100 | The Library: Retro and Classic Fantasy Games. - 38 followers |
101 | The Lands of Ara - 37 followers |
102 | Like Being Read To From Dictionaries - 36 followers |
103 | THE WHEEL OF SAMSARA - 36 followers |
104 | Semper Initiativus Unum - 35 followers |
105 | Valley of Blue Snails - 35 followers |
106 | Asshat Paladins - 34 followers |
107 | malevolent & benign - 34 followers |
108 | Blood of Prokopius - 33 followers |
109 | Coffee swillin' analog gamer - 33 followers |
110 | Shouting Into The Void - 33 followers |
111 | Tales from the Flaming Faggot - 33 followers |
112 | Carto Cacography - 32 followers |
113 | chirine's workbench - 32 followers |
114 | Places to Go, People to Be - 32 followers |
115 | Spell Card! - 32 followers |
116 | Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition - 31 followers |
117 | Hill Cantons - 30 followers |
118 | Sorcery & Super Science! - 30 followers |
119 | Swords of Minaria - 30 followers |
120 | SWORD & SHIELD - 29 followers |
121 | The Moldy Vale - 29 followers |
122 | Threads of Adventure! - 29 followers |
123 | Saturday Night Sandbox - 28 followers |
124 | For A Fistful Of Coppers - 27 followers |
125 | Swords of Abandon - 27 followers |
126 | Archive of the Rotted Moon - 26 followers |
127 | Forgotten Runes - 26 followers |
128 | Jasoomian Dreams - 26 followers |
129 | Lawful Indifferent - 26 followers |
130 | Oubliette Magazine - 25 followers |
131 | The Contemptible Cube of Quazar - 25 followers |
132 | FightingFantasist - 24 followers |
133 | The Vorpal Spork - 24 followers |
134 | Middenmurk - 23 followers |
135 | The Polyhedral Dicebag - 22 followers |
136 | Kingdoms in Trevail - 21 followers |
137 | A Wizard in a bottle - 20 followers |
138 | Age of Ravens - 20 followers |
139 | Mike's Amazing RPG Fun Pad - 20 followers |
140 | Polar Bear Dreams and Stranger Things - 19 followers |
141 | SAVE OR DIE! - 19 followers |
142 | THE DOOMED WASTELAND - 19 followers |
143 | ENCOUNTER - 18 followers |
144 | Trollish Delver - 18 followers |
145 | gnotions - 17 followers |
146 | Stocking The Dungeon - 17 followers |
147 | The Weirdlands of Xhuul - 17 followers |
148 | Wilderlands of Runequest - 17 followers |
149 | Cimmerian Chronicles - 16 followers |
150 | Crawdads and Dragons - 16 followers |
151 | Fame & Fortune - 16 followers |
152 | KOK'ed Dice - 16 followers |
153 | DUNGEON ADVENTURES - 15 followers |
154 | Redbeard's Ravings - 15 followers |
155 | The Badger King's Den - 15 followers |
156 | The Hydra's Grotto - 15 followers |
157 | Iron Rationales - 14 followers |
158 | The Fantastical Art of Walter Simon - 14 followers |
159 | Tombs of Horrors - 14 followers |
160 | Unfrozen caveman dice-chucker - 14 followers |
161 | Where'd my Vorpal Sword Go? - 14 followers |
162 | Bloody 20s - 13 followers |
163 | Let's Make Believe - 13 followers |
164 | World of Wonder - 13 followers |
165 | My RPG characters - 12 followers |
166 | Rocket-Propelled Game - 12 followers |
167 | Ramblings of a Gentleman Gamer - 11 followers |
168 | Creative Mountain Games - 10 followers |
169 | MF WARS - 10 followers |
170 | No School Like The Old School - 10 followers |
171 | No Signal! - 9 followers |
172 | BigDungeon - 8 followers |
173 | Embrace the Dungeon! - 8 followers |
174 | Gaming All Over The Place - 8 followers |
175 | Romance Monsoon - 8 followers |
176 | Tower of Zenopus - 8 followers |
177 | Tremulous Antennae - 8 followers |
178 | Disambiguation - 7 followers |
179 | I Remember Lemuria! - 7 followers |
180 | O RPG da Vida Real - 7 followers |
181 | Teleleli - 7 followers |
182 | The Grumpy Old Troll - 7 followers |
183 | The Incredible Fétide Grigou Rôliste Show - 7 followers |
184 | The Paradigm Traveler - 7 followers |
185 | The Realm of Zhu - 7 followers |
186 | Visions of Paradise - 7 followers |
187 | GAME SNOB - 6 followers |
188 | Quickly, Quietly, Carefully - 6 followers |
189 | The Devil's Janitor - 5 followers |
190 | Cradle of Rabies - From role to games - 4 followers |
191 | Musings from Myern - 4 followers |
192 | Tempora Mutantur - 4 followers |
193 | The City of Iron - 3 followers |
194 | Rather Gamey - 2 followers |
195 | The Purple Wurm - 2 followers |
196 | DungeonCurmudgeon - 1 follower |
197 | Penguin Overlord - 1 follower |
198 | The Zonked World of Holmold - 1 follower |
199 | Welcome To Dungeon! - 1 follower |
200 | A character for every game |
201 | Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: a tradit... |
202 | Crypt of the Sorcerer/Caverns of Doom project |
203 | Joeskythedungeonbrawler's Blog |
204 | Lord Kilgore |
205 | NeoGrognard |
206 | Old School Rant |
207 | Paul's Blog |
208 | Robertson Games |
209 | The Dwarf and the Basilisk |
I've always considered my blog (HeroPress) to be 'old school', although I'm certainly not as eloquent or erudite as the majority of OSR blogs I follow ;)
ReplyDeleteI also don't write exclusively about gaming - which is why my site might have slipped under your radar(I also embrace films, TV, comics and general geekiness)
http://www.heropress.net
@Flea and everyone: I know I've definitely missed some great blogs. I'm only human and there are lot of blogs out there. Understand that if I missed a blog it's no reflection on the quality of that blog, only that I accidentally missed it.
ReplyDeletePLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know about your blog if I've overlooked it! Don't be shy! This is my formal request to everyone!
I probably won't go back and fiddle with this post, but I will try to post an updated list sometime soon.
The Tao of D&D has 117 followers, but I don't see it up there. It may just be me though.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm actually surprised to find myself in the top 100. Don't you people know there is free porn on the internet?
Here's my blog: Kingdoms in Trevail, not updated very frequently but it is OSR-ish being focused on Classic D&D (BECMI/RC). 19 Followers, w00t!
ReplyDeletehttp://kingdomsintrevail.blogspot.com/
@Aos:
ReplyDeleteWait... there's porn(!) on the internet too? Cool!
Thanks for the list a few of those blogs just got one more follower.
ReplyDeleteWhile I really appreciate the add, and anyone who wants to come and read my rambling is welcome. I'm not sure if I really fit the bill for " Old School RPG Blog ".. I play Dungeons and Dragons yes.. but almost strictly a 4th edition player with only some 3.0 and 3.5 under my belt. I've never had the pleasure to play OD&D or AD&D before.
ReplyDeleteRightfully Hill Cantons should hold the mighty position of 101. So sad to be slighted by those pretenders ; )
ReplyDeleteHooray! I hit the top 40! I feel like a Lady Gaga!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing, not just the number of blogs out there (I actually think there are closer to 200+ OS blogs, some updated with greater or lesser frequency) but also the really insightful comments and brilliant ideas being generated from them.
ReplyDeleteThe blogs in the top 10 certainly deserve to be where they are, as they are consistently putting out interesting content.
Looking at that list of great blogs -- it easy to conclude that we in the OSR are suffering from an embarrassment of riches!
Ho ho, Cyclopeatron - looks like you've made a rod for your own back here as the "unofficial tally-man of the OSR". ;)
ReplyDeleteHope I didn't come across as snotty or accusatory - certainly didn't mean to. And I wouldn't for one moment consider myself in the same league as many of these blogs, particularly the top 10 or 20!
Hey, I was feeling like 1000+ posts in my blog reader wasn't quite enough--thanks for making it easy for lazy me to see more of what's new and happening in the blognardosphere!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post and all these links.
ReplyDeleteThough with my recent postings of D&D4 Essentials, my Old School street cred might not be as strong as some of the others here that have fewer followers than me.
Since you are on Blogger you might want to make this into a "page" for future access.
@Tim Brannon: Good idea. Maybe next week I'll make a dedicated page with actual clickable blog links in it...
ReplyDeleteI feel pretty good about being #50, considering how rarely I was posting for a while there, and how little actual rules content I there is on my blog. I'm pretty sure your previous list netted me a follower or two, so thanks!
ReplyDeleteI knew it! I'm just not Old School enough :(
ReplyDeleteYay! 64th place! Too bad that I'm not publishing new stuff very often (and too bad that my English sucks!)
ReplyDelete@Dungeonmum: Sorry about the accidental omission - I'll definitely add you to the list!!
ReplyDelete@ Cyclopeatron: that's okay ;) and thank you!
ReplyDeleteHey Mr. Tally-man, tally me a game blog...
ReplyDeleteWhat an enormous undertaking - to list and rank all these blogs! Thanks very much; I really appreciate this as a resource for finding still more great old school blogs to read. I'm also absolutely astounded to find myself in the top 100 - very gratifying considering that I'm a newbie swimming in a sea of top notch quality of so many of the blogs.
I've got two blogs up there. Bwahahaha....several hundred followers to go and I'll ...well, post more often?
ReplyDeleteMan! That's impressive! Are we still a niche of a niche?
ReplyDeleteI feel left out.
ReplyDeleteI've said it before, but those numbers are amazing. I've only had the current blog for a couple months, and already have more followers than I ever had for Thool or Wilderlands OD&D. If you put out regular content, it ramps up FAST compared to a couple years ago.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lotta blogs. Just as a point of info, over at FTW,BoLS, and YTTH, there are a good several hundred 40K blogs listed.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of 3 bloggers that covers WOD on any sort of regular basis. I cover lots of other stuff, so I'm not sure who wants to claim me. (It's sure not OSR)
Thanks for an interesting read!
Hey, don't forget me. :(
ReplyDeleteI'm barely literate and only vaguely original, but if you cut me open, I damn /bleed/ BECMI. That counts, right?
Maybe mine? http://towerofthearchmage.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI have 46 followers, and 81 subscribers via google reader.
I had no idea my blog had that many followers. Woot!
ReplyDeleteEh, I'm mostly old school on my blog, but indi games grab my attention more often then not. Nice list tho. The Blog Roll, she be a changing soon it seems. More is definitely better ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd have tied at 58 tho... damn Skippy!
ReplyDeleteBTW, i pay google a whole 10 bucks a year to have tenkarstavern.com as my domain name... that an an email domain i dont even use... so im blogger w/o saying blogger... kinda sorta
Thanks for this! I've obviously been missing out on a lot of great blogs. I really appreciate you putting this together in an easy to find place, which saves me having to trawl through everyone's friends lists :-)
ReplyDeleteAlso thought I'd add my name to your list. My blog is only updated when my whims and free time converge, but generally fits the bill.
43, huh? Nice!
ReplyDeleteThere's quite a few of us out there.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot to all my followers. I'm humbled, and delighted!
I'm on Wordpress and I don't really use Gmail much so I don't have any Blogspot/Blogger subscriptions. Wordpress's subscription feature seems to be a turn-off. I have just four subscribers! But get about 300 visits a day. I don't know if either number means anything.
ReplyDeleteI understand that my blog JasoomianDreams flew under the radar with merely 23 follows; however, my blog is about Gaming and Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom.
ReplyDeleteAccording to EGG, it doesnt get anymore old school than . . .
"These rules are strictly fantasy. Those wargamers who lack imagination, those who don’t care for Burroughs’ Martian adventures where John Carter is groping through black pits, who feel no thrill upon reading Howard’s Conan saga, who do not enjoy the de Camp and Pratt fantasies or Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser pitting their swords against evil sorceries will not be likely to find Dungeons and Dragons to their taste."
mine has 29 followers:
ReplyDeletehttp://addsecondaedizione.blogspot.com/
I'm honored that the Amazing RPG Fun Pad is not only on your list, but counted among a mass of truly great RPG blogs.
ReplyDeleteHow many reviews of Old School books do you have to do to qualify for demi-old school blog status?
ReplyDeletehttp://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/
I'm honored and humbled to be on the list.
ReplyDeleteParty on Wayne! Party on Garth!
I'm in the top 25? Unreal! I had no friggin idea!
ReplyDeleteI'll throw my hat into the ring; "of Pedantry" at http://antiledo.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I used to carry more followers, but I changed up my blog. It used to be "The Call of the Dungeon", but now it's "Embrace the Dungeon."
ReplyDeleteJM.
I got a little somethin' somethin' at Saturday Night Sandbox
ReplyDeletehttp://saturdaynightsandbox.blogspot.com/
Since you asked.
I'm not really OSR, but I do post about classic D&D, the Wilderlands, and - especially - Pendragon, which I consider to be one of the all-time great old school games.
ReplyDeletehttp://shirosrpg.blogspot.com/
Whoo-hooo! #23! I'm'a gunnin fer you, Tao of D&D!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should post something really insulting to get my numbers up?
This is a neat idea, Cyclopeatron. I do wonder how much of this is us,(rpg bloggers)just following each other in circles though.
Do you think this indicates that we're having any impact on the larger population of gamers who arn't specificly interested in OSRish gameing?
@Everyone - Thanks again for your input. I think I'm caught up now - at least for another 5 minutes...
ReplyDelete@E.G.Palmer - Good question... While there is a certain level of cross-following, when I browse the the followers of my own blog I get the impression that most of them are not bloggers themselves. This being said, blogs like GROGNARDIA, Playing D&D With Porn Stars, and Jeff's Gameblog are definitely the major gateway blogs into our niche.
THis is a really nice list you put together for OSR. I will have to check some of these guys out. I do mostly newer stuff like Pathfinder using Forgotten Realms (or my own setting) as a background. I do enjoy doing Call of Cthulhu and playing Tales from the FLoating Vagabond, Traveler, Gurps and the occasional game of Paranoia though. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDelete*ahem*
ReplyDeletehttp://wastedlandsfantasy.blogspot.com/
59 followers.
I'll pimp my blog...
ReplyDeletehttp://henchmanabuse.blogspot.com
I don't do the follow thing, so I won't appear on this list ever, but this is a great way to discover some new blogs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rolang.com/
I want to thank everyone who shared a new link with me. I am tracking all of these links on the "RPG Blog List" page. At some point in the future I will make an updated Follower ranking and these newly added blogs will be included.
ReplyDeletewere these linked to the blogs before, or was I imagining that?
ReplyDeletewere these linked to the blogs before, or was I imagining that?
ReplyDeleteYou can find links on the big alphabetical list page! Click Here.
Sorry for coming at this late, but THANKS for this great resource and please note another good one, "Back Screen Pass" (43 followers):
ReplyDeletehttp://backscreenpass.blogspot.com/
You're missing Once More Unto the Breach! (41 followers):
ReplyDeletehttp://unto-the-breach.blogspot.com/