2021-04-15
Lots of people have made potion tables. This one is mine.
I got back into Magic: the Gathering recently, and remembered that 5e did a massive hack job of converting MtG settings into D&D content. It doesn't let me use actual Magic cards to play the game! I have to stick to D&D's schools and spells, and can't ruin my enemy's whole day with a well-aimed Thoughtseize or Sword of Feast and Famine. So I'm taking matters into my own GLOGgy hands and writing a class that lets you do exactly that - a set of guidelines for converting printed magic cards into ef…
Categories:
- class
- GLOG
- magic the gathering
- rules
- spells
- summoning
- wizard
2021-04-14
In conversation on the tweet-machine about the desired properties of RPG supplements I framed it up as: "I want more art, lore and random tables in books; help me run the same six foes at the party in a dozen fascinating ways in your setting - circumstances, terrain, etc. Better same monsters, better environment than weirder foe in same 10 x 10 room."¶ WotC or whomever can sell me these things by the bucket load - I backed a bunch of kickstarters purely on the basis of getting my hands on this ki…
I went a walking this evening, back into that space once field now meadow. With me: my partner and those two dogs of ours. In the hours before, rain and wind Burst across the scene, bringing Much needed drink for those of us that take root here. But now that meadow danced with life. A rabbit took to foot, the cardinals declared the evening mass, and the red winged blackbirds canted their songs. Further back we went, the dogs finding sticks to fetch or chomp. I checked in on the recent transplant…
0one have a collection of blueprint themed battlemaps in the Bundle of Holding.
Categories:
- Tabletop & RPGs
- 0one Games
- battle mats
- bundle of holding
- bundles
- cartography
- sales
Some HistoryIn OD&D, Gygax lays out his procedure for randomly stocking a dungeon in "Section 8: Referee Information," beginning on page 68 (Single Volume Edition from 2011).¶ "Thoughtfully place several of the most important treasures, with or without monstrous guardians."¶ Roll 1d6 for each remaining room: 1-2 indicates a monster.¶ Roll 1d6 for all rooms again: 1-3 on "those rooms or spaces with monsters in them indicates some form of treasure is present." A 1 on a "room or space which is unoccup…
This is the BEST product of D&D 5th Edition. I crown it so. It’s a modular set of books, filled with classes, races, equipment, spells, dungeons, monsters feels very similar to Old-School Essentials, but without using rigid numbers or mechanics. Instead of saying “you spend one action to heal a target you can touch for … Continue reading A Young Adventurer’s Guide is Old-School Essentials for kids →
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- Uncategorized
- personal
- playing with youngers
City of Azadmere¶ Columbia Games released their latest Harnquest the dwarven city of Azadmere. If you needed a dwarven city in your campaign this is the one to get. Compared to the original release the NPCs have been fleshed out and numerous adventure hooks been added to proved reasons for (mostly) human PCs to adventure there.¶ Kingdom of Kaldor Kickstarter¶ Except in a few rare instances Harn has been presented as a series of loose leaf article designed to be placed in a three ring binder. Now th…
Jasta 11 has the superior phone network of the German Army to inform the aerodromes where and how many Allied planes are crossing “No Man’s Land”. The mission parameters for the Germans is simple. Reinhardt gets the report on the Allied flights in his sector and decides who goes up to take it out. Being a man of honor, he will be found most mornings taking the dawn patrol himself. The wire
Available from today are new Draconic options. The free PDF includes three alternatives to the dragonborn race, a new look at kobolds, feats and then spells.
Categories:
- Tabletop & RPGs
- dragons
- Dungeons & Dragons
- unearthed arcana
- wizards of the coast
I've played with all the variants, except the 5-Second Game for this wargame classic. I can only see to mash the variants I have played together and run the full campaign scenario, Bloody April, which comes with the original game. I am playing a solo run through so my game master knack for creating stories, plots and adventure seeds will embellish this play and create my own fictional battle
Questo è il resoconto della campagna che sto conducendo di Ultraviolet Grasslands, un viaggio psichedelico attraverso le immense Praterie Ultraviolette fino alla Città Nera.¶ Questa è la sessione 11, e qui trovi l'inizio di tutto.¶ Personaggi presenti: Blu Colpa, Blallo Judgement, Malachite Diamandis¶ Giorni 62-68, L'Ultimo Serai Il gruppo decide di investigare la strana manifestazione dei fantasmi statici, sperando di venire ricompensati dai Satrapi dello Spettro in caso riuscissero a risolvere il…
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- Campagna di UVG
- ITALIANO
- OSR
- resoconto
- Ultraviolet Grasslands
History is loaded with entertaining and surprising stories. Some of them are just as interesting as movies are now-a-days.¶ Today, I like to share the story by Plutarch of Chaeronea about Young Julius Caesar and the Pirates.¶ The Romans were never the greatest sailors so piracy was rampant in the Mediterranean. It didn't help that the pirates would take prisoners and sell them to the Romans, so they very people who should have put a stop to the practice were instead benefiting from the pirate's ac…
Categories:
- Boastful History
- inspiration
I made this sheet for myself. I had a hand-written version stuck on the wall above my desk for easy reference when I referee games online. But I decided to gussy it up (with some royalty free B&W art) and now I have this version printed out and stuck on the wall.¶ The Monster Reaction table is taken from 1981 Moldvay Basic D&D. The Encounter Die is my version of the Overloaded Encounter Die (started by Necropraxis and riffed on by many other bloggers).¶ Referee Reference Sheet
Mm-mm-mmm.¶ Despite what I wrote Sunday, yesterday (Tuesday) was the first opportunity I had to play-test the new game...and that was just fine. I mean, the weather hereabouts has been beautiful and we decided to go on a nature hike instead of gaming (and, yes, actually it was my idea. I'm not worried...it will eventually rain again in Seattle!).¶ And yesterday was just as nice, but the kids had nothing go on in the afternoon and we were able to hang out on the freshly mowed grass in the sunshine …
Categories:
- design
- dmi
- gygax
- kids
- origins
- playtest
- STA
The new Symbaroum Player's Guide adds new rules appropriate to the mysterious dark setting, such as travelling and rests, social challenges and how Corruption is an ever-present threat to magic.
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- Tabletop & RPGs
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Free League Publishing
- kickstarters
- Symbaroum
Timothy S. Brannan has recently written an interesting post on The Other Side blog, comparing monster stat blocks in different old school systems. Take a look, it is well worth the read.¶ Making smaller stat blocks is an idea I've been pursuing myself in the context of "minimalist D&D". But, once again, I realized "minimalism" might be misleading, so terms such as efficiency, essentialism or elegance might be clearer - even though the very concept of minimalist, as I've mentioned in the link abov…
Categories:
- Basic D&D
- Brainstorming
- D&D
- Design
- House rules
- Minimalism
- Monster
- Multipurpose mechanics
- Old school
- Rewriting
- RPG
Quick post. The work on the Broken Luck zine for the Troika!Fest Jam has continued. (it started here)¶ I've been rewriting some content originally drafted for The Lost Bay, which universe has a pantheon of annoying divinities, giving it a weirder, space fantasier feel. In the process, I've been very much inspired by perplexingruins older drawings.¶ There should be 4 to 6 six backgrounds, magical Tarots, associated spells, and a few tables to generate unluck. Hopefully, I'll post it to the Jam by t…
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- brokenluck
- gamejam
- tarots
- troika
- troikafest
Lilith by Isra Llona¶ Last verse, same as the first.This one should not be a surprise really. I have done Lilith many times before in my April A to Z. She was in my A to Z of Demons (2013), A to Z of Witches (2014), and my A to Z of Vampires (2015). So naturally, I want to bring her back for my A to Z of Monsters.¶ Lilith is fantastic. I am a sucker for any story she is in, and if she shows up on a TV show, even better.¶ In my A to Z of Demons (2013) I talked about how she is the mother of the Lili…
Categories:
- A to Z Challenge
- basic
- blogfest
- demon
- Lilith
- monsters
It's been over a year since I concluded my last campaign. Time to get into the GM's chair and begin the next chapter in my world building. The focus moves south of Hounds Head and the Komor Forest to a town known as Scorn. The seat of power of Baron Maybray.¶ Welcome to Crawlers of Scorn.¶ This campaign starts as an urban setting and I'll see where the party takes it. Streets, alleys, shops, tenements, and more NPCs than I can name. Most shy away from urban crawls, but I love them. I spent years w…
Categories:
- Crawlers of Scorn
- Komor Forest
- My Campaign
By Jonathan Snodgrass Tuesday Night Fiends Club Star Crawl/MCC/DCC Level 3 You’ve been hired to scavenge a long-forgotten robot factory and failure is not an option! This forty page digest adventure uses about eight pages to describe about seven rooms. … Continue reading →
Image by Evlyn Moreau¶ Aside from the actual PLAYING of games, my favorite things about this wonderful hobby are those two bastions of DIY creativity, zines and blogs. Join me each Wednesday on the Thought Eater podcast as I share the blogposts, zines, and RPG bric-a-brac that caught my eye over the week.¶ Have you started a new blog recently? Are you working on a zine? Are you a content creator that would like to be considered for an interview on the show? Want to send me review copies of what yo…
Categories:
- 4e
- 5e
- Dungeons and Dragons
- hex crawl
- humpday blog-o-rama
- Maps
- online gaming
- OSR
- podcasts
- Random Encounters
- retro-gaming
- reviews
- solo gaming
- Sunday Zine Club
- zines
One More Multiverse creates a JRPG style world in a 2.5D environment with health metres above monsters and shops to visit. As it implies, this is all the creation of a GM guiding a party through their adventure.
Categories:
- PC
- Tabletop & RPGs
- multiverse inc
- one more multiverse
- twitch
- virtual tabletop
There are good guidelines on Old School Essentials regarding the generation of rival adventuring parties (SRD here). And even a handy online generator to quickly have a new party created!¶ But as useful as that is, I want to shake things up a bit...¶ Generate a rival adventuring party with a dice drop, taking each of a kind from the full array (d4, d6, d8, d10, d%10, d12, d20) and reading all results at once from tables below. Let's assume the following example is for your favorite flavor of B/X, …
Part 1, Part 2¶ Here's another batch of titans as weather. See part 1 for explanation. The unifying factor with this batch is that these titans interact more directly with people. The first stretches the concept of "weather" a bit.¶ The Hard-hearted King of Dragons¶ Logan Feliciano¶ The artist's description is also pretty good RPG brainfuel.¶ On the horizon (visible in neighboring hexes)¶ : Just the dragon's sharp silhouette seen occasionally in the sky.¶ Environmental Effect¶ : Blades and claws become …
Categories:
- creatures
- elements
- hexcrawl
- titans
- worldbuilding
Wizards, Magic-Users, Sorcerers, and Spell Casters – what clearly makes them unique are the spells cast, enchantments woven, sorceries worked, and mysteries unlocked. Though many magic-users are painfully similar to any other when it comes to the spell book itself.…¶ Continue reading →
This is a translation of L'art de la guerre dans Dune (May 2013) by retired Colonel Michel Goya. He authorized me to translate and publish this article. Translation is treason... But I'm no Doctor Yueh. Dune presents a rich universe mixing in a baroque but very coherent set, elements of past human societies and purely imaginary elements. War is waged in a particular way, but it stays war, with its own grammar. How to destroy a great house The political system in Dune is the result of a great con…
Mind Melter for Cepheus Atom & Barbaric!¶ Some beings are capable of amazing powers of the mind. You may communicate telepathically with a sentient creature you can see even if you don't share the same language. Additionally, as long as you have at least 1 point of Endurance you may telepathically assault a creature's mind, sentient or not, forcing them to make a Knowledge throw of 8+ or they suffer 2d+1 damage.
Categories:
- Barbaric!
- Cepheus Atom
- OSR
- Rifts
Cliched? Yes! That's why we like it!¶ Outland is a scifi movie made in 1981, and is of the same vintage and style as Alien and Blade Runner - and Classic Traveller! As many have noted, it is essentially High Noon in space. A federal Marshal comes to the mining colony of Io run by the interplanetary conglomerate Con-Am, and finds the place violent and corrupt, and the men abusing stimulants to work harder. Scientifically, it falls down in three places: lights inside helmets, explosive decompressio…
I had epic luck today. I found a bunch of things for my gaming garden.¶ First up, solar lights.¶ The flower shaped ones are from the Dollar Store. The really bright ones are from Ollies. I paid about $21 for 13 of them. I have no intention of leaving them in the raised bed, I'll probably arrange them around the hot tub and along the back of the garden.¶ The raised bed is almost complete, I need to put up a center rail and some screens or chicken wire to protect the cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, bas…
2021-04-13
The Broken Luck Troika! zine completion is getting closer (you can read about why/how I started working on the zine here, and about the KID GOD background here). ETA should be 20 April 2021.¶ The zine contains¶ 5 backgrounds: Kid God, Holy Deserter, Sun Helmet, Fake Demigod, Roaming Fortune Teller¶ 22 Arcana Major Tarot cards spells + Arcana Tarot combos spells¶ 3 Broken luck tables:¶ Which immortal did you piss off?¶ Where the Godly Palace is hidden?¶ Using the backgrounds as NPCs¶ Quick Adventure Spar…
Categories:
- brokenluck
- gamejam
- jdr
- osr
- rpg
- troika
- troikafest
[Adventure]I6 Ravenloft (1983)Tracy & Laura Hickman (TSR)Lvl 5 – 7 “One day I shall have a hall that is dedicated to trad gaming. Through gates of gold and ivory, marked with the motto ‘Roleplayibus non Rollplayiberent’ the players will enter, leaving all their mortal burdens behind. Amid thick wallpapers daubed with the masterpieces of Michaelangelo, … More [Review] I6 Ravenloft (AD&D); First Heretic
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- Reviews
- ****
- AD&D 1e
- Castle
- Lvl 4 - 6
- Ravenloft
Early D&D is a maze game. Ok, that’s a tad reductive, not least because early D&D is a number of different game systems bolted together, including a tactical skirmish game, a resource management game, a hex exploration game, etc. D&D is also, of course, a framework to improvise outside of the rules and to generate […]
Here are the rules I have been using to run games of FKR Warhammer.¶ Join the discord to play a game! https://discord.gg/FAGRQjfeHs¶ Overview of the Game:¶ There are at least three players, one is the referee.¶ The other two or more players are in command of a number of units (the referee determines how many units/how powerful the units are/unit selection/point limit for their force/etc).¶ The referee describes the battlefield to the commanders and the unit positions on this battlefield. The commande…
HEX 0703: FINMARK TOWN AND ENVIRONS¶ ANCIENT RUINS: Ancient ruins, of glittering crystal and electric blue rusting metal, said to have been from the Uttermost War, can be seen on clear days on the floor of the deep Gloedenvik, between 800 and 1,000 feet down. Some of the twisted towers of crystal and rusting blue metal are hundreds of feet tall! It is said that these ruins are the source of the blue waters that flow out of the Gloedenvik into the Perlevik that create the Blue Pearls of the oyster…
Categories:
- Blue Pearls
- Fin and Griselda
- Finborg
- Finmark
- Finnings
- Hex 0703
- Markka
- Marklands
- Roglaras
- Sverkka
- Wilderlands of High Adventure
We head further down into the library, to find things oozing amongst the books and a dread wraith hiding behind the shelves. Iä! Iä! Iä!
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- Gaming
- GM Notes
- Pathfinder
- Roll20
- RPG
- Strange Aeons
Here is an organized compilation of all my recent thoughts on 5e armor:¶ ---¶ GET DRESSED FOR BATTLE!¶ Manual of Arms is a series of booklets that enhance, change and reinterpret existing equipment and mechanics for non-magical combat. Each booklets deal with a single subject. If there is enough interest, they’ll be collected in a single tome in the future.¶ What is this book about? This book is a collection of ideas to make armor and shields more diverse, streamlined, balanced, varied, and fun. Man…
Categories:
- 5e
- Brainstorming
- Combat
- creativity
- D&D
- Design
- House rules
- RPG
- sale
- Weapons and Armor
The Class Alphabet for DCC¶ In spring 2016, David Coppoletti reached out to me and a couple dozen other DCC fans on Google+. He had an ambitious idea - a sourcebook of 26 character classes for Dungeon Crawl Classics. Sometime in fall or winter 2020, David's idea appeared as a finished book, The Class Alphabet for DCC RPG. You can read Raven Crowking's review here.¶ I was convinced by David's G+ pitch, and wrote the Knave. Later, due to the logistical challenges of managing the contributions of so …
Categories:
- dcc
- shameless self-promotion
I love the idea of running one-shots with a definite end. There’s no “oh, we should continue this game until it totally peeters out and slowly chokes to death.” It’s gotta be quick and clean. Clear beginning, middle, and end. So, what would you do if you knew there was only one day left of … Continue reading Last Day on Earth →
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- Uncategorized
- advice
- design
I've been a long time fan of The New Mutants. The idea of seeing the characters come to life on the big screen got me really excited.¶ Until I saw it. This damn film has been to Limbo more times than Illyana has. It was not worth the wait, it seems to suffer from some sort of technovirus in addition to many questionable story and plot choices.¶ Here is the run down of the character's names and powers:¶ Rahne Sinclair, aka Wolfsbane. A mutant that can take the form of a wolf or a transitional human/…
Categories:
- Comic Books
- Movies
- New Mutants
- Review
The Monster Overhaul has reached another milestone. 17/20 chapters are complete and 10/20 chapters have art completed or in progress.¶ Iguanamouth¶ What is the Monster Overhaul? It's a ludicrously ambitious 200-entry bestiary designed for at-the-table utility. Every entry is unique, with extra useful tools like generic dungeons, name tables, detailed random encounter tables, interesting twists, or variant forms. You can read more about it here:¶ The Initial Plan¶ What To Include in the Monster Overh…
Tarsakh sits along a quiet stretch the Flatbrong Beck, well enough south of the Azurewood Hills so as to not …¶ Continue reading →
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- Commercial Maps
- Fantasy
- Maps
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Hex Map
- Labyrinth Lord
- Manor
- Old School Essentials
- OSE
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- Regional Map
- RPG
- Town
- Urban
- Village
This is going into my next PDF (Manual of Arms: Armor and Shields). It is still unfished, but I think I can publish the PDF in the next few days.¶ I like the idea of piecemeal armor, but since I'm abstracting the whole thing (as you've seen here), I don't need to deal with specific bits and pieces. The notion of creating your own armor from bits and pieces is interesting. Adding strange materials and the hides of supernatural creatures is even better.¶ Here is what I've got so far.¶ Art by dleoblac…
Categories:
- 5e
- Brainstorming
- Combat
- creativity
- D&D
- Design
- House rules
- RPG
- Weapons and Armor
This is not my original insight; it's something that comes up in the ACKS discord occasionally, but that I don't think I've ever seen talked about in the rest of the OSRosphere¶ It can seem kind of cruel to have monsters with save-or-die poison on the first level of the dungeon. But it's actually important for the long haul.¶ Save-or-die poison threatens characters regardless of their level (particularly in combination with "a natural 20 always hits"). When you put save-or-die monsters in the firs…
About 2 or 3 weeks ago, I posted a pair of small roles to CastingCallClub.com. I got nada. Nothing. Zero by way of auditions or interaction and so I chalked it up to a good try, but ultimately a waste of effort.¶ Instead, I put out the call on Twitter and got 20 DMs on the first day. Much more than I had expected. And then... I got 2 auditions on CCC.¶ Nice to have so many talented people to choose from, but I hate to turn down anyone who has an interest in the show. Man, what timing!¶ If you are r…
Earthquake for One The snarling hill giant was bearing down on the three adventurers. When it had gotten close enough Fellhorn the druid twirled around and cast a spell. The giant immediately stopped dead in its tracks and began howling … Continue reading →
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- Magic Spells
- Uncategorized
- Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
- BD&D
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- OS Essentials
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Go to Part 1 To check for encounters, roll 1d12 once per watch. A roll of 1 indicates that an encounter should be rolled on the hexcrawl’s wandering encounter table. A roll of 12 indicates that the characters have encountered a keyed location within the hex as an exploration encounter. Most hexes only have a […]
Categories:
- Roleplaying Games
- d&d
- hexcrawl
This is a game of Finders Keepers set in the city of Marlinko. The dramatis personae are:¶ Atiin Brigantia, a brilliant but lazy lunatic¶ Edward "the Wild" Bleestocles, a leper disowned by his wealthy family¶ Jacobin "Jackass" Valentin, a soulless bastard¶ Tadzio, an estranged son of a powerful mage¶ Victory Alder, a young vampire¶ A map of the way to the Frog Demon Temple.¶ prior | next¶ The Medacious Mercator district, later that morning¶ Atiin and Jackass are walking down the streets towards the South…
This is a game of Finders Keepers set in the city of Marlinko. The dramatis personae are:¶ Atiin Brigantia, a brilliant but lazy lunatic¶ Edward "the Wild" Bleestocles, a leper disowned by his wealthy family¶ Jacobin "Jackass" Valentin, a soulless bastard¶ Tadzio, an estranged son of a powerful mage¶ Victory Alder, a young vampire¶ From here.¶ prior | next¶ Atiin's apartment, afternoon¶ Eventually, everyone gets back to the flat - except for Tadzio and Edward, who spent the whole day here in a deep discu…
7.¶ There is nothing like civilization in Weird Wood. The tumultuous and dangerous nature of the place make it impossible to settle. The only exception is the Surrendered, a small group of squatters who hide amongst the half submerged towers of the Sunken City.
I was listening to @Judd’s podcast, Daydreaming about Dragons the other day. In episode 74 he was talking about avoiding mono-cultures in our world-building.¶ Good point! This tendency to think of monsters a bit like a different species in terms of biology, or calling it race, and then ascribing a single culture to all of them is something that often has me squirm in my seat. I know this is how we learn about the game, but there is an uncomfortably close connection to racism and all that. It both…
Another "revised" monster today. This one though is a revision of a monster that appeared back in the AD&D Fiend Folio from 1981. Now I loved the Fiend Folio. While the Monster Manual was the first D&D book I ever looked at, the Fiend Folio was the first hardcover monster book I ever bought. I would use it with my Basic and Expert Sets (Moldvay/Cook) and that would be my game.¶ One creature though I more or less ignored until I began reading Celtic myths was the Kelpie.¶ Now in the Fiend Folio, th…
Categories:
- A to Z Challenge
- basic
- blogfest
- celtic
- monsters
B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" by Gary Gygax replaced B1 "In Search of the Unknown" in the original Basic Set and was also sold separately. A revised version was included in the 1981 Basic Set, edited by Tom Moldvay.¶ Illustration by Erol Otus from the back cover to module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" (1980) depicting a group of adventurers on their way to the Keep, its ramparts lit by the rising sun.¶ There has been more discussion online concerning module B2 than for module B1 (see the Dra…
Module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" includes a section for "Adventures Outside the Keep" together with a map of the surrounding area (cartography is uncredited, but was by David S. LaForce (aka DSL, or "Diesel", who was also responsible for the map of the Keep).¶ Wilderness Map from module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands". Scale: one square = 100 yards.¶ A few observations regarding the wilderness map:¶ According to the module "The normal movement rate is 1 square per hour searching, 3 walking.…
I saw a post to a group asking 'was it normal to game 6-7 hours sessions twice a week' for 12-14 hours of table time per week. Short answer - that is a lot of gaming, well over what most people seem to be getting in.¶ Sweeping up a bunch of surveys to try and get a sense of whether players are playing more through time it appears the answer is yes; this could be down to virtual tools enabling quality online gaming or just a wider player base allowing more people to find a table.¶ So it appears fro…
How long has it been since I just straight-up invented something purely for the blog? A long time.¶ ...¶ The Sunlands would be ever-haunted by the ghosts of its raptorial otherlife, were it not for the cold winds that scour it.¶ Bright and cold, rolling beneath an eternally clear sky. No rain, but hail that thunders for a minute and quickly melts. Cold in the shadows and the wind, but warm where walls still the fast air yet still allow the sun.¶ Home to a peaceful and optimistic people; "The chances…
Note: For those unfamiliar with Dark Sun, psionics are called the Will for wild talents and the Way for trained psionicists.¶ Alaxander teleported to Abu's pile of ash and belongings. He began rummaging through the items, looking for the gem. One of the four henchmen did likewise. A portal to the Plane of Elemental Earth opened and Jessel fell through it.¶ Another henchmen, who was robed in brown, reached his hand toward the ground and the sparse vegetation around him crumbled into ash. Vashti scr…
> BTW there's been progress on the Troika! zine development, check here <¶ So I'm taking a short detour from The Lost Bay development.¶ I've been asking myself a lot of questions lately. Questions that can end into an unsolvable loop, like: D20 or D6? 3 stats or 1 stat? PC backgrounds or tables? I feel that I need to answer those before continuing to write the TLB zine.¶ As I decided to get to know better Troika!, for that research purpose, the Troika!Fest Game Jam 2021 was announced. So I took tha…
Categories:
- brokenluck
- gamejam
- tarots
- troika
- troikafest
Honestly, I don't know what it is. I just don't seem to be able to write anything in March. Nothing against the month, nor indeed this poor unfortunate:¶ A man from Mars, aka. "Martian man". Absolutely nothing to do with Martian Manhunter.¶ At the turn of the century, when blogging was still sort-of fashionable, there would be a million blog posts that would begin "wow, sorry for not posting in so long!". Not going to do one of those, nor make any promises to commit to posting frequently again. I'…
Categories:
- blogging
- campaign diary
- campaigning
- Pariah
This session took place on 3rd March 2003.¶ Players:Slayer of the Father (Nye) https://twitter.com/ersatzexpert?lang=en¶ Chasing Ape (TinheadNed) https://www.stdin.co.uk/blog2/¶ Timidly Hindered Dwelling (Sofinho)¶ Louis Gen2K of https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1l359KSJetX0WTiE0AnWbw is the gamemaster.¶ Lions at Chauvet cave.¶ Season:Early to middle spring¶ Session:Players started having spent a few days/a week or so in the Boru tribe settlement against the coastline after aiding them in a ritual to …
Categories:
- campaign diary
- campaigning
- Pariah
- Sandbox
This is the summary of the 31st week of the PARIAH campaign, covering 14th-20th February.¶ The previous session report is available at this link:¶ https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-unlucky-ones-pariah-campaign-week-30.html¶ You can catch up on all the session reports via this link here (all posts tagged "unluckyones"):¶ https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/search/label/unluckyones¶ I've decided to lump these updates together as there were only 3 sessions played in that period. …
Categories:
- Actual Play
- campaign diary
- campaigning
- Pariah
- Sandbox
- unluckyones
I was googling something unrelated and stumbled across this nice Carjacked Seraphim post called Spontaneous Wizard Magic. Spontaneous clerical casting was introduced in 3E, if I recall correctly. The idea was that you didn't need to load up all your spell slots with various cure wounds spells. Instead, you could burn off any memorized spell and turn it into dice of heal.¶ Jim at Carjacked Seraphim nicely applies that logic to magic-users. I think he is writing for 5e, but I actually think his con…
Beast Men for Barbaric!¶ Mercenary warriors from the Vine Jungle on¶ Eternia's Light Hemisphere. 12/15, Move 15m/round, Armor 3, Electron Whip (2D, slashing), Combat-1, Physical-2, Stealth -1, Survival-1.¶ If you like this post and others like it and have an extra $1 a month, please consider becoming a Patron of Cross Planes on Patreon.
Categories:
- Barbaric!
- Bestiary
- Masters of the Universe
- Monster Monday
- OSR
La Fase de Invierno Gaoth pasa un invierno sin dificultades en Grimstead. Las cosas se han calmado respecto del año pasado, al no haber rastro de espíritus o presencias extrañas en los caminos que asusten a los campesinos, que se sienten seguros por la protección que se dispensan Sir Gaoth y sus hermanos. Además, en … Continúa leyendo Logres, año 485 – La batalla de Mearcred Creek
Categories:
- Campañas
- La Gran Campaña de Pendragón
- Pendragón
2021-04-12
This letter has been going around the Free Kriegsspiel Discords. I’ve written it up here for easier reading, with the emphasis being mine. This is a letter from Sandy Eisen to Gary Gygax about D&D. It speaks to a feeling that many of us gamers, game masters, and players have experienced when reading the rules, … Continue reading Sandy’s Reply to Gary (that is, Gygax) →
Categories:
- Uncategorized
- advice
- free kriegsspiel revolution
I don't know how right now, but I'm gonna figure out some reason for my next Magic-User to be pimped out with these dope threads. The matching hat, I lack words.¶ Source & Info if you like, want to learn about art and history and stuff.
Here is an old favorite of mine that I just never got right. I had featured the Jack O'Lantern on three different occasions in three different witch books and each time there were differences. But none of them felt 100% right to me. This one is better, but I am not sure I got the nature I want the creature to have exactly right.¶ Jack O'Lantern¶ Medium Plant (Fire)¶ Frequency: Rare¶ Number Appearing: 0 (1d4)¶ Alignment: Neutral [Unaligned]¶ Movement: 90' (30') [9"]¶ Armor Class: 5 [14]¶ Hit Dice: 3d8+3*…
Categories:
- AtoZChallenge
- basic
- monster
FKR at its finest.
Categories:
- Uncategorized
- battle
- fkr
- free kriegsspiel
- free kriegsspiel revolution
- krieghammer
- miniatures
Found this site called Fiverr that promotes online teaching. It claims to be the adult version of Outschool and only takes a 20% cut instead of Outschool’s 30%. Could you use this to run RPGs for money? Sure. Of the categories listed, DND or whathaveyou would probably fall under “Lifestyle.” I probably won’t because I … Continue reading Run games for ADULTS for $ →
Categories:
- Uncategorized
- advice
- design
- personal
Next up in our sneak-peeks for our upcoming not-so-secret game is the Scoundrel! Two-faced and conniving, the Scoundrel is your secret card up your sleeve. As good at backstabbing with his twin daggers as he is sneaking around, no one will see him until it’s too late.
BUREAUCRAT BRAVO¶ You are a bad person. A very, very bad person. You're also a bureaucrat, with an intimate knowledge of the oppressive machine. You know how to twist the knife of semi-annual audits, how to make rich and poor alike squeal in confused agony, how to replicate the wheels of Hell itself.¶ You know how to game the system. It's War Tax Season. Time to get to work...¶ Every Template: +2 to Bureaucracy checks.¶ Starting Equipment: Official Stamp, Registered Ledger, Pen¶ Random Starting Skill…
We spend a lot of time talking about how rules work in rpgs. So let's think a bit on why we use rules at all. … Continue reading The Many Utilities of Rules →¶ The post The Many Utilities of Rules appeared first on The Indie Game Reading Club.
Categories:
- Indie Game Reading Club
- Philosophy
- Blades in the Dark
- Burning Empires
- For The Queen
- Impulse Drive
- King Arthur Pendragon
- Night Witches
- PbtA
"I agree, we should leave," says Vesania, "but let the lich get a head start. We don't want to antagonize it any further."¶ They wait by the door. Wait, wait, wait... and as they wait, untold aeons pass. Whole galaxies of stars coalesce from whirling cosmic dust and die in cataclysms of fire, and still the explorers are sat by the cathedral door, waiting in lugubrious silence. Or maybe its only been, like, half a minute or so.¶ "Maybe we could make better use of our time and poke round the other s…
It was the 11th of the Sviftmonth, with autumn creeping across Karameikos, and transforming the whole of the dymrak into a tapestry of yellows, orange, browns and ochres. Struck by queer impulses, and not yet ready to venture south in search of the missing Rancher, they instead set out to hunt for the Hive of … More [Actual Play] Swords Against Chaos 33 (Mystara B/X); Bees
Categories:
- Actual Play
- Actual Play Bitches
- Actual Play? Scandalous!
- DnD Basic
A little epiphany last night — Dungeons & Dragons 4e magic items and artifacts look like a very good model for these things — caused me to want to reexamine some of my assumptions or memories of other editions. In this post I do a little more rigorous examination of …
Title: Home Worlds¶ Publisher: Looney Labs¶ Designer: John Cooper¶ Artist: OTHER Studio¶ Year: 2020¶ Pages: 32¶ Rating: 5 of 5 stars¶ The first page of the instruction sheet sums it up: "What Chess is to medieval warfare, Homeworlds is to Star Trek and Star Wars."¶ Yup.¶ This game is fascinating. You're off to fight an interstellar war against an opponent, manage resources, planets and ships with just 4 types of game pieces. Insane, but it works. This is one of many games by Looney Labs which use the Loo…
Categories:
- Boardless games
- Game Review
- Looney Games
- Review
Just finished playing out yet another variant from the pages of the General, the old house organ of the long defunct grand daddy of wargame companies Avalon Hill. This article is written by Kenneth Erby and smacks of the perfect tenor for the Campaign Game, the April air war when the Baron met his fate. This is indeed what the game was designed for, to play out this large, multi-day scenario. A
The iconic, unnamed keep in module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" has been recreated in both Minecraft and Sketchup. A 3D printable version is available at MyMiniFactory. Some photographs of a scale model being constructed were also shared, here.¶ Map of the Keep, from module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands" (1980). Scale: one square equals 10 feet¶ The Keep is overseen by the Castellan, (described as a "governor or warden of a castle or fort" in the module's glossary). The AD&D 1e DMs Guide pro…
6.¶ Time is strange. Things age at different rates. Buildings and landmarks appear, disappear and reappear, seemingly at random. Time can flow differently from place to place or from person to person.
Villains and Vigilantes was one of the great superhero RPGs from the period before the release of official Marvel and DC games in '84 and '85 respectively. Written by Jack Herman and Jeff Dee and illustrated by the latter, V&V had a lot of good stuff going for it. Unlike it's #1 rival Champions, V&V used both level mechanics and random generation. As a kid I though that made the point-buy based Champions the better game. But nowadays I look back at the period where I played a lot of Champions an…
Delta asked on the OD&D Forums What dice do you use to roll large numbers of creatures? Which got me thinking about some things...¶ For those not clicking the link, we're talking about monsters listed in Monsters & Treasure as appearing in numbers like 10-100, 20-200, 30-300, and so on, the immediate example being bandits. Delta's asking about what dice most GMs use (he's been asking a lot of survey questions lately, to get a better idea of how many techniques are out there in the wild.)¶ But I'm …
By Nick Milton Nick Milton Publishing Generic/Universal/No Stats Deep inside the bowels of an Elderwolf god lies a crumbling cabaret. Like an intergalactic traveling circus, the cabaret is constructed from ingested realities, only the truly bizarre and profane making the … Continue reading →
Categories:
- Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Review
- Reviews
The two guards depart with Lilly, leaving Imogen alone with Selendis to have a private conversation in the interview room, at least as private as possible when one of them is connected to the Khala. As soon as the door is closed, Selendis says, “I do not know why it is so important to you ... Read more
Categories:
- FRAWD Investigators
- StarCraft
- Serialization
The two guards escort Lilly from the interview room back to the veterinary center. Sunshine is asleep, still lightly sedated. A couple researchers stand around her, looking at readouts from the sensors lightly attached to the lyote. “The fleet commander said you might have questions for me?” Lilly says when she comes up to the ... Read more
Categories:
- FRAWD Investigators
- StarCraft
- Serialization
The room into which Selendis leads lmogen and Lilly is stark, especially in contrast to the colorful and sophisticated medical room. These walls are a light blue color and unusually uniform with no metallic or crystalline flourishes. The room is just large enough to contain a table with two seats near the far wall and ... Read more
Categories:
- FRAWD Investigators
- StarCraft
- Serialization
Selendis interrogates Lilly and Imogen about their true goals at the protoss base.
Categories:
- FRAWD Investigators
- StarCraft
- Actual Play
- Genesys
Twelve weeks! Twelve weeks we have been doing this and still there are more interesting TTRPG things on the internet! Previous list found here. Inspired by weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links.¶ A pair of magnificent planar cosmology variations for your sages to argue over - Hexian cosmologies by Bearded Devil and Planescape variations by Locheil.¶ Cool magical cloaks from Chaudron Chromatique.¶ I saw someone ask after 'where are my wierd race combos' - which I had seen on tumblr by 'homebrew from th…
One month ago, I was sawing one dollar plastic abacuses in three and getting ready to track damage for the creatures I opposed to my players. I played two sessions with those truncated abacuses behind my referee screen. Itt did the job, but there were three problems. Primo, my eyesight is not as good as it was. Wearing a mask and glasses may also temporarily blind me these days. The abacuses are a bit small and I am not always behind my screen during a fight. the right size but light Secundo, I …
The last of my Reaper Bones evil warriors (for a bit), say hello to Ragnaros.¶ Ragnaros, Evil Warrior - Bobby Jackson (SKU: 77150)¶ I wasn't terribly enamoured with this sculpt to begin with. He is basically an acre of plate and scale armour with a couple of skull motifs and a crude shield. It wasn't until I got stuck in painting him that I decided that the shield was his best feature.¶ I painted it like dragon scale. Ragnaros is so hard that after besting a huge red dragon he peeled off the side o…
Categories:
- Bones
- Fantasy
- mini
- Miniatures
- Painting
- Reaper
Following the success of the original Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy Kickstarter in 2019, the game was published in two forms: the all-in-one Rules Tome and the Black Box set of 5 books.¶ The Rules Tome is now on its second printing, after the first printing sold out in a matter of months! The Black Box is now also sold out, but we've not reprinted it yet.¶ We get a lot of inquiries about if and when we plan to reprint the Black Box, so I thought it was worth writing a quick blog post about…
Dog Boy for Cepheus Atom & Barbaric!¶ Genetically uplifted canoids created by the Coalitions States to hunt non-humans. They may throw Lore 6+ to sense any sorcery that has been used in the general vicinity in the last four hours. Further, they gain Advantage on Lore throws to track a target, but require a way to gain their scent.
In this episode Hannah and myself are chatting about how maps can be a great source of inspiration for your RPG campaign world. Title Music: Fireworks by Alexander Nakarada (Public Domain) : https://freepd.com/electronic.php Want to get involved in the conversation? You can leave us a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/RDDRPGPodcast If you’re having issues with Speakpipe you can … Continue reading "Maps as Inspiration"
Categories:
- Podcast
- Tabletop RPG Ramblings
- dungeons & dragons
- maps
- OSR
Every month we go through our back catalog of maps and the many amazing supporters of the blog over on …¶ Continue reading →
Categories:
- Commercial Maps
- Fantasy
- Maps
- Dungeon
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Isometric
- Labyrinth Lord
- Old School Essentials
- OSE
- OSR
- Release the Kraken
- RPG
- Tomb
- Tombs
2021-04-11
The Leprechaun King carousing with a human friend.¶ I had a dream the other night that there was a Leprechaun King named Zap! Yes, his name had an exclamation mark at the end. Consider the notion that all leprechauns are named liked that. And by "like that", I mean after the visual sound effects of the 1966 Batman TV show. So here are all the canonical names for leprechauns under this scheme:¶ Random Leprechaun Name (d87)¶ from Space Gamer #74, IIRC¶ Aieee!¶ Aiieee!¶ Arrrgh!¶ Awk!¶ Awkkkkkk!¶ Bam!¶ Bang!¶ …
As I mentioned back in January, the main gaming I've been doing over the last year has been Tunnels & Trolls solos. Sitting around a table with folks has felt like a health hazard, while my entire job moving onto Zoom has reduced the appeal of online gaming. But I got my second dose of the magic juice today, so maybe I'll get back to a tabletop game sometime soon.¶ Meanwhile, I have killed a lot of characters in various T&T dungeons. Here are just some of the deaths that survive in my recent note…
Just a short blog post today to let you know – I’ve got a Patreon. There’s currently one level of funding, £2 a month, and for that you get Early access to all Burn After Running posts (you’ll get them a week prior to them landing on the actual blog) The option to request articles […]
1. A local artist has created a sculpture garden and is being praise for their lifelike sculptures. Problem is that people in a nearby village are disappearing and the sculptures look awfully like them. Turns out the artist has trained a cockatrice from birth and is using it to create their 'sculptures'¶ 2. A beggar has come upon a hoard of gnome treasure and has quickly become Camelot's latest wealthy noble. Problem is the gnomes of the unseelie court are out to get their treasure back, wherever…
One of the facts about reality that I find weirdest is that 1) homo sapiens sapiens are the only members of the homo genus, and 2) this has only been true for a relatively short amount of time.¶ Also, despite being pretty gung ho about Star Trek forehead ridge aliens or elves/dwarves/etc., the idea of seeing something that looks human but isn't triggers my fight or flight response. I get upset.¶ In that spirit, here are two upsetting creatures to place into your games. Natural philosophers charact…
Sunday. Our last day of Easter vacation (kids are going back to school tomorrow) and I, for one, am a little sad for it to be coming to an end. It's been enjoyable for the whole family, despite not really doing much of anything...I think the kids really needed a break from the "grind" of clock-punching for school. All of us are a little more slack these days...the wife even said she's not looking forward to her office reopening (she's been working from home since last February), and I'd imagine …
Categories:
- design
- diego
- dmi
- family
- grubb
- holiday
- lmz
- msh
- supers
- supers! rpg
Yesterday, April 10, was the 24th Anniversary of Wizards of the Coast purchasing TSR and of course, D&D.¶ Wizards of the Coast bought the failing TSR for $25 Million. Today Wizards of the Coast is worth nearly $1 Billion.¶ This means that Wizards of the Coast has been publishing D&D longer than TSR.¶ TSR D&D 1974 to 1997, 23 years¶ WotC D&D 1997 to 2021 (so far), 24 years.¶ 2024, just 3 more years, D&D will celebrate its 50th Anniversary. IF I was WotC and looking to a new Edition that would either b…