2025-12-30
Session 13, 2nd Week of Midspring, Grimshank Woods (5-14-25) Odette says a prayer over the fallen bandits and then they hide the bodies in case a larger group of bandits travel the game trail. Felix stands watch. The party takes a short rest, sharing a loaf of bread and some hard cheese. It is about […]
2025-12-29
Here is a recap of session 12 that I played 5-12-25. It seems so long ago. XP calculations thus far…3xp for the manticore encounter. Beck now has 8xp, all the others have 4xp. Still a long way until level 2. Two weeks pass in the frontier town of Bree. Beck and his companions rest and […]
Another day, another review. Merry Christmas to all you oldschool D&D fans out there, and while we are recovering from days of fine dining, family, friends, gezelligheid and christmas cheer, why not settle down and enjoy a delve into the greatest zine the OSR ever was and ever did produce, Fight On Magazine. Incidentally, the … More [Review] Fight On #5 (OSR); Status Artis
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- Fight On!
- Magazine
- OSR
- Review
Maybe- FU-2
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- Punk Rock
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- music
- post-punk
- proto-punk
- punk
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By Ethan DunningSelf PublishedOSELevels 1-4 [Error! No Marketing blurb! Error!] This eighteen page adventure features fourteen rooms across two levels in a classic fairytale-like giants cottage. Experience being small and looking at big things. And not doing much else. Classic … Continue reading →
Each holiday season, I review different modules, games or supplements as a thank you to the wider tabletop roleplaying game community. All of the work I review during Critique Navidad is either given to me by fans of the work or the authors themselves. This holiday season, I hope I can bring attention to a […]
2025-12-28
![CDATA[ OSRIC 3.0 Player Guide PDF has just been released for free on DriveThruRPG. Offset print and print-on-demand will be available next year, as well as GM Guide, adventures, and a host of other material. OSRIC, Old School Reference and Index Compilation, was the first retroclone of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Released almost 20 years ago, it led the charge during early days of OSR, providing means to legally publish content compatible with AD&D. OSRIC 3.0 brings a host of improvements, fo…
Edit: A friend pointed out that the original name (The Verbs of Play) didn't make sense, since these are all verbs that books are doing, not play. I realized I wrote the title to the post first and never updated it to match what got written, so I'm just doing that now.¶ The following is in response to Seraphim Seraphina's excellent post "What do we mean when we say a game “supports” play?". I want to engage with the question of a thousand arguments: Does Dungeons & Dragons support cozy coffee-sho…
The grottos beneath are for them whose eyes need no longer see, for their marvels are too strange and terrific for those who tread in sunlight to behold. Otrogg gave unto his worthies the great holes beneath the earth and placed within them his riches and wonders. These treasures are the inheritance of that which … More [Actual Play] Stonehell Delve II (AD&D 1e); Ghost Beggars
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- Reviews
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Date: Dec. 27, 2025 (A.D.M. 25, Dec. 27)¶ Players: Ammonia Doolittle, Veteran (TK), Aloysius Cranberry, Blue Medium (ERK), Grandiloqua Sneep VII, White Medium (AK), Pickle Melrose Jr. (KK)¶ Summary¶ Four adventurers gathered on the trail to Murdicog's Manse, enticed by tales of fabulous treasure therein.¶ They chose to enter the manse by following the stream into the cliffside cave, having heard that a past cohort successfully entered this way earlier in the month. Gary the hireling was ordered to t…
Categories:
- murdicogs-manse
- odnd
- session-report
Vigil of Angels Nuli finished her prayer and a barrier of shimmering light appeared all around them, just as the tall, spiky infernal creature appeared snarling from the shadows.‘Just in time,’ said Thoz as the barbed devil lunged at them … Continue reading →
Categories:
- Magic Spells
- Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
- BD&D
- BFRPG
- Dragonslayer Rpg
- Iron Falcon
- Labyrinth Lord
- OD&D
- Old School Essentials
- and more…
It is an oversized owl charm, silver on a silver chain. The eyes are set with flints, and a fil de fer runs through the silver links of the chain, forming a silken iron thread.¶ The wearer of the periapt gets +4 Wisdom as long as they wear it.¶ Wisdom, contributing to hindsight, is first heard in an idea that most feel when they put the periapt on. I probably shouldn't have done that.¶ Removing the periapt ends its magical effect. That is, the doffing character loses 4 wisdom. They become duller, l…
Each holiday season, I review different modules, games or supplements as a thank you to the wider tabletop roleplaying game community. All of the work I review during Critique Navidad is either given to me by fans of the work or the authors themselves. This holiday season, I hope I can bring attention to a […]
Categories:
- Critique Navidad!
- into-the-odd
Whenever I say Warcry is the best game Games Workshop has made, someone always chirps up to reply that I am wrong, that title belongs to Blood Bowl. It was hard to argue about a game I have never played. Blood Bowl is Games Workshop’s skirmish fantasy football game. You are basically playing Jervis Johnson’s take on American Football. Now having finally played, I have to admit it is pretty wonderful.¶ My friends and I decided to get start a league. I grabbed the Imperial Nobles team, and a rule b…
Inspired by interesting setting details for Meg's River Kingdom and Matthias's Vrivmiya, here is a proof of concept for a perfectly normal way of slicing the classic RPG pie, with gender-as-race and (Conan-style) race-as-class.¶ Race¶ In the culture group of Senes, they recognize three genders: the feminine Chena, the masculine Phersun (or boundary-crossing Trintos), and the child Phalakros (and the abberant Canavar).¶ Chena¶ Marked out by their ability to bear children, diligence and insight, sexua…
Personal misfortune or sickness was often blamed on witches or demons. Witches were also thought to secretly put curses on people. Priests developed rituals to counteract malign influences and collected them in nine Maqlu tablets, first compiled around 1600 BCE. They were passed down through generations of ashipu for about the next thousand years. A […]
Categories:
- Book Excerpt
- curses
- demons
- magic
- Mesopotamia
If I post this and three other articles, I'll have posted an average of one blogpost a week, which would hearten me a bit.¶ When Disco Elysium came out in 2019, it was broadly admired and, as though it were a Fromsoft game, many OSR bloggers tried to adapt its marquis mechanics to ttrpg form. In imitation of the game's "thought cabinet", you see games with psyche slots, mental inventory, and similar schemes. These attempts contend with natural obstacles posed by the difference of the medium. In D…
2025-12-27
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This session was played on October 4th, but the next day I left for a long term project out of town for work and am only now getting around to writing the recap, in advance of Session 32 tonight.
At Hilander's suggestion, here are examples of a great cheap trick to make normal D&D events feel more connected to the characters while still being very play-focused. "You are the ex-wife of the master of the nearest dungeon" are very efficient words. In our tradition, we tend to plug rootless PCs into adventure situations. But it really adds a lot imo to change "a sword" to "your rightful sword" and "an apocalypse" to "your apocalypse"¶ See also Louis's magnum opus.¶ d20¶ 1. you are the local dun…
Not far from the village of Bramblgulf a large tumulae has been discovered, hidden under the forest floor. How was it discovered you ask? A local ranger on his patrol surrounding the city came upon a swath of forest that had begun to rot, trees withering, vines turning to dust in his hands, and the remains of animals - untouched by prey - rotting in the gloomy death of the forest. A deeper
By Giuliano Gianfriglia, La Tavola Rotonda APSLa Tavola RotondaOSELevel 1 A SIMPLE CONTRACT. A SILENT WRECK. A SECRET THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN AWAKENED. In the sprawling Citadel of Aurion, an offer too good to refuse puts you on the … Continue reading →
Each holiday season, I review different modules, games or supplements as a thank you to the wider tabletop roleplaying game community. All of the work I review during Critique Navidad is either given to me by fans of the work or the authors themselves. This holiday season, I hope I can bring attention to a […]
Categories:
- Critique Navidad!
- dragonslayer
Categories:
- in English
- theory
- teoriakatsaus
This isn’t the focus of your article, but it feels really good to see someone saying that their longest campaign lasted 23 sessions over roughly a year and a half. Way too many people seem to believe that the average gamer plays every week, without stopping, for years. — @vaskrag.bsky.social¶ It’s true! We can’t all be James. Those 23 sessions felt long and epic, and become more mythic in my head as time passes. The most successful campaign I have participated in was Pahvelorn. We managed to play…
2025 in Review¶ This was a banger year for actually playing games. I got to be part of five campaigns:¶ Castle Mordengard (OD&D, in-person, referee), was a great learning experience & opportunity to bust out some of my weirder ideas for a dungeon game setting. Though it is currently dormant due to several players moving away & the resumption of REDUX (below), I do hope to revisit it someday.¶ The Northern Strata (OD&D, online, player) has been an absolute pleasure to participate in. EvilTables is a…
2025-12-26
In my last post, I said that X2 Castle Amber made me a better DM, but I did not fully explain why.¶ What makes a good DM and good players is understanding the assignment. There is a reason that meme exists. Most role-playing games give players and referees specific roles, often resolved through specific die rolls. Understanding which choices matter, which rolls apply, and what the consequences are is critical to fun and successful play.¶ I used to be a teacher, and one of the hardest lessons to le…
Categories:
- DM tricks
- DMing
- Old School Essentials
- OSE
- X2 Castle Amber
The old/basic D&D level titles are kinda pointless when divorced from their war-game roots. But we can repurpose them to be goals in the following super-short leveling system:¶ At session's end you will be awarded between 0 to 3 XP, depending on how metal things got. At 10XP, you are ready to quest. Your quest depends on the level title you are earning.¶ Fighty types¶ 2. Warrior: Deal the killing blow on a biggie baddie that is giving a community trouble.¶ 3. Swordsman: Square off with an armed boss…
Categories:
- DumbRPGidea
- house rules
- OSR
- use this
(Header image by DC Stow)¶ Seasons greetings! As we approach the final days of 2025, it's time to take a look at what lies ahead for Necrotic Gnome in the coming year. All told, despite the manifold challenges of 2025, we're fighting fit and have big plans for OSE and Dolmenwood!¶ Major Releases Coming in 2026¶ 2025 saw the retail release of the complete Dolmenwood RPG, including the 3 core books, 4 adventure scenarios, 1 supplement, the referee's screen, a soundtrack album, and loads of accessorie…
Life in a small fantasy town is pretty dull when you're not being menaced by monsters. Harvest the turnips, tend the sheep, laugh at Old Hob getting drunk and falling off a stump... but when the travelling carnival comes to town, there's some relief from all that.¶ The carnival offers spectacle and regrettable snacks, but peer behind the tent flaps and there's also intrigue, danger, mysticism and adventure to be found. (By PCs, that is. Those turnips won't wait.)¶ The first thing you notice is (1d…
That which I did read this year.
Shadow Stalker ‘We showed that wizard!’ exclaimed Grovum the fighter.Sadly, that was the last word from his adventuring group as the others just nodded in agreement as a shadowy figure lashed out at them from the Ethereal Plane. Shadow Stalker: … Continue reading →
Categories:
- Monsters
- Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
- BD&D
- BFRPG
- Dragonslayer Rpg
- Iron Falcon
- Labyrinth Lord
- OD&D
- Old School Essentials
- and more…
Colors- Minutemen
Categories:
- Punk Rock
- Punk Song of the Day
- music
- post-punk
- proto-punk
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In 2017 I needed a small fortified community for a game set on the Manticore Peninsula. A small fortification that …¶ Continue reading →
Categories:
- Fantasy
- Maps
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Fortification
- Labyrinth Lord
- Old School Essentials
- OSE
- OSR
- RPG
- and more…
A special combined Fantasy Friday with Boxing Day. Today I am diving into the Dragonbane boxed set. I picked this up my local RPG auction, still in the shrink wrap. This is less a traditional review and more an overview, a brief dive into the history of the game, and my thoughts after spending some time with it.¶ Dragonbane¶ Dragonbane is Free League’s modern reworking of the Swedish Drakar och Demoner. I picked it up last fall, primarily out of curiosity about Drakar och Demoner and out of a long…
Categories:
- christmas
- Fantasy Fridays
- other systems
❤Flowering(C) 2025 Kyrinn S. Eis All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Each holiday season, I review different modules, games or supplements as a thank you to the wider tabletop roleplaying game community. All of the work I review during Critique Navidad is either given to me by fans of the work or the authors themselves. This holiday season, I hope I can bring attention to a […]
Two different folks asked me (on a recent post) to describe how I run combat using the AD&D system. The short answer is: "mostly By The Book." What follows is an elaboration of my standard operating practice, whether I'm running for two players (my kids, for example) or 8+ (such as my sessions at Cauldron last October).¶ It all works the same.¶ First, you have to approach combat...and the AD&D game...with the proper mindset. Understand that it's meant to be fast and furious; understand that it's m…
The Forge of Yakul¶ Yakul was obliterated, and his temples were sunk. Memories of the dead god were struck from the souls of men. A heavy punishment was levied on Yakul, for he strove mightily against the Authority in the early days of the First Temple.¶ Yakul is merely a curiosity nowadays, and a testament to the strength of the Authority. Even today, the obliterations still hold their force. Learn a prayer of Yakul and it will vanish from your mind by morning. You can walk among the ruins, and l…
Masters of Carcosa is the longest campaign I have run. My friends and I played 23 sessions, starting at the end of 2014, ending near the start of 2016. The game began after Brendan took a break from running Pahvelorn, likely to focus on his PhD. I hadn’t run a game since I was a kid! Playing in Brendan’s Pahvelorn campaign was hugely inspirational, and has informed how I have run games since. With Pahvelorn we were exploring a megadungeon, with the occasional trips out to explore the larger worl…
Beneath the official pantheon, including the likes of Enlil, the Assyrian sky god, and Ea, the god of wisdom, was a layer of demons, such as Lamashtu, who threatened pregnant women, and Namtaru, the plague-demon, who needed to be mollified. Natural phenomena such as floods and lightning, or epidemic diseases, were not scientifically understood despite […]
Categories:
- Book Excerpt
- curses
- demons
- divination
- magic
- Mesopotamia
2025-12-25
It's Christmas. I'm in my office. Snowing outside. Coffee in hand. Netflix in my ears. Drawing a map. I wanted to share an adventure I shared with my Patreon a few days ago. I used a different layout. Very much inspired by the one page dungeon contest. It's full of great artwork! It's an adventure using ShadowDark. Grab the PDF for free. As all of my adventures are available for free on PDF. Grab a small stocking stuff adventure gift for yourself.¶ Enjoy!¶ https://www.patreon.com/posts/ma-115-unba…
Categories:
- Adventures
- Patreon
- shadowdark
The Devil's Harmony ~14':00" RuntimeQuirky li'l story.❤
Currently in Mexico, staying up way too late and eating way too much. Tis the season.¶ ; )¶ I know not all of my readers share my religion, but know that I wish you all peace and love and happiness and joy on this day, and in the days and New Year to come, and that I hope more of us will endeavor to embody the spirit of Christ in our relationships to our fellow humans. I know I'm going to try.¶ In gaming news, there's a new Classic Adventure Gaming podcast episode discussing this year's (2025) Caul…
Categories:
- cauldron
- convention
- holiday
- mexico
- podcast
Over at Advanced Grognardia, I've offered up a small Christmas gift in the form of a new version of an old monster from the early days of the blog. Enjoy!
Categories:
- dwimmermount
- monsters
- ose
- patreon
❤Dispatches From the Front (FR0NT Z3RO)(C) 2025 Kyrinn S. Eis All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Christmas Wrapping- The Waitresses I mean, you knew this one was coming on a Christmas…
Categories:
- Punk Rock
- Punk Song of the Day
- music
- post-punk
- proto-punk
- punk
- rock
The author of these is a mystery. I tried searching about. Due diligence here. Sign your work, people. I think it was on one of the many blogs that jerks closed up (WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT?!)¶ Face Sucker Ooze: Init: +5; Atk grasp +4 melee; AC 10; HD 1d8; MV 50’, climb 30’; Stealth +4; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to fire and cold; Align: Neutral. This small but deadly ooze will stalk its prey for hours for a chance to take it by surprise. A successful melee attack results in the …
For me, Thirteen Parsecs is an homage to a time when I was really into everything SciFi. Star Wars, Star Trek, Buck Rogers on TV, Battlestar Galactica, and of course all the toys of the time.¶ After 1977, when Star Wars had hit the scene, toy companies rushed to get anything out for a Science fiction-hungry audience. Some of these toys are fondly remembered by Gen X still today.¶ Ever since I took out my Star Wars figures and tried to figure out D&D rules for them (one of the reasons I still hold …
Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa — and Happy New Year to you. I’m still alive and kicking, although life has been kicking me around more than usual. 2025 has been rough. I’m hoping 2026 has better days to come.
Are you prepared for the death¶ you've earned, little man?¶ Running a little Arden Vul Shadowdark lately. Sign up via my email at the bottom there.¶ We had been playing with "CON score is your back real HP". But it seems a bit too easy. Just a bit. So I'm thinking of a new rule (I think Arnold K and Cavegirl deserve some idea credit for wound systems here):¶ Minimum HP is zero. While you are at 0 HP, you are fine, but you can only take a number of extra hits equal to your CON mod before you enter th…
Categories:
- mechanics
- My Campaigns and houserules
- optional rules
Well, miniatures hobbyists, anyway. May all your lead piles of shame be topped up and fortified. RPG hobbyists should just picture a bunch of unused rulesets and adventures instead.
Categories:
- RPG
- Tabletop Miniatures
- Merry Christmas
Everything is alive. Mountains, winds, the earth itself. Even cities can dream.¶ But "city" is an arbitrary concept isn't it? There is no clear boundary, nor any clear membership criteria.¶ This is irrelevant. Everything is alive. Everything strives. Every collection of anything that has any sort of a shared identity. Sentience comes from identity, not structure, and identity is not something that brute material can dictate. We decide.¶ What is a human, except a collection of singular cells that dr…
And now my last(?) gift to shove under the OSR Discord Secret Santicorn tree:¶ Sylvanas_iii - A dX table of medieval dragons that look nothing like any self-respecting dragon should (e.g. the original French tarrasque)¶ First of all, before diving into this assignment, I must ask, who gave St. George all the good press for killing such a puny dragon? I mean, this thing looks like it could barely accost a self-respecting princess. Not to mention an armed and armored knight. This creature looks like…
Categories:
- art
- humor
- inspiration
- Santicorn
2025-12-24
Woking, Surrey¶ 24/12/1953¶ Dear Mr Lacy,¶ It is a strange sensation indeed to be writing a letter which one has read before. Even stranger is the idea that if I misremember parts and write something different then what I read before will have been what I have written even though I don’t remember it! I look forward - and I do remember this part - to discussing the implications with you. I appreciate now why the framed copy of this letter in your stairwell will only contain the first page.¶ Anyway, t…
❤DESERT ROSE(C) 2025 Kyrinn S. Eis All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Nuna needs a few more hours of my life then it’s out into the world. Quickstart rules, pay what you want.¶ Core book coming in 2026. Includes the adventure path Return of the Shamans
My second gift as a member of the OSR Discord Santicorn 2025 Reserves(tm).¶ energycrow666 - Carousing tables themed around winter and/or its attendant festivals, such as solstice, yule, and the new year.¶ by Arthur Rackham¶ Oh no. Don't make me do another D66 list. Please no... 😜¶ Inspired this morning under the influence of two cups of coffee and a bowl of Chocolate Honey Bunches of Oats.¶ Party on!¶ Note: Realized I totally forgot a krampus encounter, as well as a Yule Cat. There are just too many w…
Scarf of Noble Glamour ‘Whatever happened to that twonk of an illusionist we encountered back in Yillga?’ Bakra-do asked as he and his companions stared into the campfire.‘I believe that after you heckled him the locals shook off his tricks … Continue reading →
Categories:
- Magic Items
- Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
- BD&D
- BFRPG
- Dragonslayer Rpg
- Iron Falcon
- Labyrinth Lord
- OD&D
- Old School Essentials
- and more…
Heaven- Leatherface
Categories:
- Punk Rock
- Punk Song of the Day
- music
- post-punk
- proto-punk
- punk
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Fighting filled the noble’s need of something to do, a way to exert himself. It was his substitute for work. His leisure time was spent chiefly in hunting, otherwise in games of chess, backgammon, and dice, in songs, dances, pageants, and other entertainments. Long winter evenings were occupied listening to the recital of interminable verse […]
Categories:
- Book Excerpt
- aristocracy
- Europeans
- tournaments
- war
Of course it is. This is Dungeons & Possums, after all. It’s in the name! The Dungeon as a concept has been written about so much that I occasionally worry that one day our tattered remaining writings, devoid of context, devoid of Rosetta Stone, devoid of keys, will wash up in the future archaeological record in such a way that a human of 3091AD will waste his life trying to find White Plume Mountain on whatever cave drawing of the world (or holographic model) they have by then. The written reco…
Categories:
- 2025
- Blogging A to Z
- D&D
- DnD
- Dyson Logos
- map
- Skerples
0501¶ Southwest: Valley of Eternal Cheer¶ South: Snomes¶ Southeast: Jinglebell Barrens¶ RANKIN/BASS PRO SHOP: A pyramid of silver and gold. The single obvious entrance at its base is guarded by an angel (HD14) with a flaming sword. He forbids all entrance to the pyramid and is invulnerable to all weapons except for the fiery sword that he himself wields.¶ Anyone who enters the pyramid transcends the fictional dimension and becomes real. They literally enter the real world. This is how Baby Jesus inca…
In GOZR, you have hit points (HP). I'd say 99% of you know what that means. For the others, a HP is your life force. It's a number that gets reduced when you are hurt by something. When it hits zero, you are dead.¶ Or are you? And why did I go with something so common, so ho-hum unoriginal as hit points?¶ DEATH OR DEBASEMENT?¶ I didn't want zero HP to simply mean death. But I didn't want any fiddly "you really really die at -10" type of stuff. So in the end it seemed obvious to me and a light bulb …
In GOZR, you have three primary stats, which are called Action Classes: Cunning, Magic, and Prowess. All rolls are based on one of those stats. The lower your stat's number, the better. Why?¶ ORIGINS OF THE THREE STAT SCHEME¶ Because GOZR's system started its life as another game called Dead Wizards, a sword & sorcery RPG set in the city of Kanebok, which later was folded into the Black Pudding setting of Yria. (I have a lot of lore that only really matters in my head, but I gotta say it out loud.…
Categories:
- game design
- GOZR
- sword and sorcery
It is 6:00 am here right now (give or take), and I am at work in a meeting.¶ Back in September, I got a new job. Similar to what I was doing before, but this time working directly with a University. In fact, I just got a new assignment today to graph various time series in Python. My language of choice for this was SAS or SPSS. Looks like I am getting more Python lessons for Christmas!¶ So...that means some of my plans for 2026 are getting moved. I wanted to dedicate the year to Sci-Fi games to co…
By Ken TaylorRipped Tabard AdventuresCastles & CrusadesLevels 3-5 The autumn wind whispers through the corn, carrying the sound of crows and the rustle of straw. Somewhere in the fields, justice denied walks on legs of wood, seeking those who wronged … Continue reading →
I was tardy in signing up for the OSR Discord's annual "Secret Santicorn" writing prompt exchange. But I let the organizer know that I'd be happy to pick up an orphan "gift" if need be. And so I was called off the bench.¶ Hello _ !¶ Your gift is for Houndmoon, who asked for:¶ “Set of useful downtime activities & the locations and characters they’re attached to.”¶ I can do this. In the tune of D66, of course...¶ Ooo! Downtime. Whee. Another Carousing Table! Can I roll a Suspicious Rash? Sketchy Busine…
Categories:
- d66
- groupthink
- inspiration
- randumb
- Santicorn
Dark Arts by Eric Stener Carlson¶ My rating: 3 of 5 stars¶ Let me start by saying that I absolutely love Tartarus Press. In fact, I just had Mark Valentine's most recent collection from them show up in my mail this past week. My first Tartarus book was a copy of Meyrink's The Golem, which a good friend of mine gifted me many, many years ago. I think I own about twelve volumes from Tartarus, most of them hardcovers (though I'd have to verify that number). I've never been disappointed by a Tartarus …
Categories:
- Books
- Existentialism
- Horror
- Indie
- Small Press
As I mentioned recently, I’ve started playing in a Lyonesse campaign. I’m quite excited about this, as Jack Vance’s Lyonesse trilogy is among my all-time favourites. Also, I'm a bit burnt out from running two campaigns. While I enjoy being a GM, I prefer to focus on one campaign at a time (my "Against the Court of Urdor" campaign is still going strong), and it’s a pleasant change of pace to alternate between playing and gamemastering.¶ In case anyone is interested in what a Lyonesse player charac…
Categories:
- BRP
- D100
- Jack Vance
- Lyonesse
- Mythras
- RPGs
It's been a while since I posted anything on this blog. Part of that is because I haven't had the time or energy to write much, and part of it is that I've run through the material I had prepared for ongoing projects like The Saga of the Ortegids and don't have anything to fill the spots I would ordinarily be using for that content. Regrettably, this means that I've been behind the curve on the blogosphere, and that means it was only just now that I discovered Hexmas, Prismatic Wasteland's chall…
Categories:
- challenge
- Christmas
- encounters
- fantasy
- hexcrawls
- magic items
- monsters
- npcs
- settlements
The following text I retrieved from the dead Gorgonmilk blog.¶ I wonder what happened to old Gorgy; IIRC, he was half of Dolmenwood and fell from grace after saying something that disturbed some people on a dead platform. Anyways, the artist is deadish now, so enjoy! --Claytonian¶ The kernel for these ideas is found in the description of the weird brew sent by Jim [of Hereticwerks] for our Table of Weird Drafts. Jim alludes to a mysterious group of liqueur-crafting undead monks. It was suggestive …
2025-12-23
Here's a bunch of sketches of the barbarian warrior Hymla the Horn, slayer of demons, scourge of bandits and handsy wizards, and seeker of adventure!¶ Hymla presented herself to me over years, at first a vague representation of slayage and only since late 2023 fully corrupting my mind and revealing her identity to me. She is here now. I can't turn her away. She has free access to my inner life.¶ She wants me to make comics about her. She knows about those other barbarians who have their own comics…
Work today was stupid, so to destress and end on a good note, I took to my handy dandy little journal and drew a quick work map. Enjoy.I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years, blessings to you and yours!
Just as there is a Mythic Underworld and Mythic Wilds, why not also cultivate Mythic Oceans? Perhaps when one spends a bit too long aship, or adrift and lost, the Sea begins to change them. Should you find yourself in need of some rather Misfortunate Fates to befall those Adventurers who have spent far too long afloat and away from safer shores, here is a table with a Hundred Ideas. These might also serve as suitable Callous Curses from fickle Kelp Dryads, territorial Sea Hags/Whitecap Wizards, …
Categories:
- curses
- d100
- misfortunes
- nautical
- oceans
- random tables
- sailing
- sea
- sea faring
- and more…
Reviewing (almost) all Planescape modules one at a time.
Categories:
- adventure
- dnd
- osr
- planescape
- ps-infinite-staircase
- review
- ttrpg
I have been deep in the development mines this month. I've made good progress on a roughly testable version of the Mad Biographers, but I've been recently seized by one of my favorite curiosities: historical wilderness/property surveys. A few years ago, I read Mason and Dixon by Thomas Pynchon and was struck by how adventurous these ambitious field surveys were. I wrote a campaign setting for what ended up amounting to a short-lived 5e game where players were members of a high-profile survey exp…
Well, this is a bit awkward.¶ Content¶ I only published one (1) singular post this year, Brief Thoughts on Fantasy Monotheism. It was a short, mostly stream-of-consciousness pondering of a model of fantasy divinity that better merges Standard Fantasy Polytheism with Big Centralized Church in a way that allows a lot of the broad tropes, stories, and dynamics people want out of both of those, while at the same time opening new and more detailed possibilities by making this model explicit and visible…
Categories:
- Blogging
- Meta
- State of the Blog
If it’s not already obvious by now, a lot of my articles are inspired by Reddit. The latest example is a discussion about GMs finding sandbox games hard to run relative to the trad style of plot-driven adventure or campaign. Which is really unfortunate because sandboxes should, in fact, be easier to run while offering far more player agency.¶ Justin Alexander illustrates this point in his 2009 article “Don’t Prep Plots.” In the article, he outlines the necessary steps to prep both types:¶ For Plot…
It has been a little over 25 years since The Hex Girls first appeared in Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost, and I’m still comfortable saying this out loud: they are the coolest thing Scooby-Doo ever did, by accident or otherwise.¶ While I am sure I watched “Dark Shadows” before Scooby-Doo, there is no doubt that my desire to put horror into all my games, or at least the trappings of horror, comes from Scooby-Doo.¶ Scooby-Doo has always flirted with horror aesthetics, but the Hex Girls went further.…
Categories:
- 1st ed
- Advanced
- hex girls
- Occult D&D
- witch
You touched the metal disc on the wall, vast and engraved with scenes you couldn't quite make out. There was a flash: the sun, moon and stars wheeled around you, and you saw one or two constellations you think you could name. Then a voice said With it or on it, return to the waves.¶ You found yourself in a new and strange place, inhabited by a people speaking an unknown tongue (so unknown, that translation spells fail). Their eyes gleam like mercury. So does their blood. Clearly, you wish to esca…
Categories:
- Literature
- Something actually useful for a Change
- Unlikely Sources
0203¶ North: Conifer Mountain¶ Northeast: Three Calves¶ Southeast: The Grumpus¶ South: Gingerbread Village¶ HOUSE OF THE KRINGLES. A snowy landscape in the domain of the Winter Warlock. A cottage called the Least Homely House shelters a clan of svartalfar who practice the forbidden art of toy making.¶ There are five svartalfar remaining in the clan: Dingle, Bingle, Tingle, Wingle, and Zingle. Stats as dwarves.¶ The svartalfar offer specialist training for those who are willing to accept quests to deliv…
I wasn’t thinking about a murder. I was thinking about killing. The Japanese martial dojo is a training hall remarkable for its beauty. Clean lines. A lack of clutter. The warmth of wood and the stateliness of ritual. Don’t be fooled. Look closely at us as we move in that space. We watch each other […]
Categories:
- Book Excerpt
- Japanese
- life
- martial arts
- training
Recently if I have some spare time during lunch at work I have been watching some recordings of Warhammer Total War 3 on YouTube. Don't judge me.¶ One of the things I have noticed is that there is something which makes some of these recordings much more compelling than others, which I would with some reservations describe as the feeling that there is something at stake in the outcome of the battle.¶ Now, obviously nothing is at stake in the outcome - it's just a recording of a load of computer spr…
Since returning to the hobby I have been impressed with the number of layouts which feature turntables. I want one of those I thought...¶ An evening of eBay left me winning an auction for a secondhand Peco NB55 turntable and a ridiculously large motor and gearbox. It put the fear of God into me as it was a 30v monster. The frame was bent and when I checked the motor's vintage data plate, realised it required a 30V input, so this gearbox must have some ungodly amount of torque.¶ Total overkill IMHO…
Categories:
- 3DPrinting
- Model Railway
- Scenery
- Thirdstone
Last year I fell in love with Dorfromantik, the cutesy hex tile laying boardgame where you try to score points and evolve your game by opening boxes with extra tiles and rules. I also played the Japanese inspired version Dorfromantik - Sakura which is wonderfully pretty and adds different mechanics to spice up your game.¶ It was no surprise then that when I discovered The Lazy Train Game demo on Steam that I had to download it.¶ It's a great little computer game demo which you can download for fre…
Categories:
- Boardgame
- Computer Game
- Fluff/Inspiration
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,¶ 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.¶ 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.¶ 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they pres…
When we last left Rety and the gang, I promised an adventure to X1 Isle of Dread.¶ Erase and Rewind, because I've been changing my mind.¶ The problem with X1 following B2 Keep on the Borderland is that my party lost nearly all of its resources in exchange for survival. They have no means to get a ship, short of some divine intervention. I could just make it so because it's my solo game, but I really don't want to do it. It seems like cheating.¶ I have been replacing all of the modules and books I l…
Categories:
- amazon ads
- module
- POD
- X2 Castle Amber
And so we come to the end. Did I know this would be the last session of the campaign? Hard to tell, but I posted about it going on hiatus shortly afterwards. This session ended up being a fitting conclusion for the campaign. Gus and Eric were both in attendance. We ended on real cliffhanger. The whole campaign had been building towards this moment: the party decided to attack the Jale Slaves based.¶ I had shared a dispatch from Space Alien Strike Force after the previous session, a couple weeks b…
I had been playing RPGs for many years before I ever even considered getting into homebrew. Of course, I wasn't against homebrew. I routinely took homemade gameable content from my favorite RPG blogs and put them into the games I was playing. But I just never wanted to make it myself, y'know?¶ Boy how things change.¶ It was around 2016 that I started dabbling in game design, but even then it was all confined to 2014 D&D 5E stuff. That's when I came up with my first dungeoncrawling procedure, Advan…
Lately, I've been thinking a bit about the so-called "values" of OSR adventure design and the things reviewers tend to focus on. The most commonly cited factors are usability, formatting, and the author's ability to concisely express their ideas. But tone is often glossed over, and adventures that don’t comply with the “old-school aesthetic” often are disregarded for it. Today, I’d like to make the case for novelty achieved through humor.¶ Is it more NSR than OSR to value fun over realism? Defini…
Another blogwagon time. This go around its a hex for a Christmas themed hexcrawl in the style of them old Rankin/Bass stop motion pictures outta the 60's. You know the one: young kid runs away from home because he's different from the others, meets various barely contained psychopaths, and returns years later to be accepted because the cruel taskmaster overlord needs to exploit him. A noble yeti is forced into domestication via violence. Something about a toy Vapula? Yeah, that's the one. That a…
Categories:
- bandwagon
- Creatures
- Setting
Blurb: I listen to podcasts, some of which often throw out a game design ‘nugget’. If I find a nugget interesting, I think I’m going to put a pin in it and post it here. Consolidated List #4 Taking the Pith (keep it short) Between Two Cairns – Warped Beyond Recognition – 6 Nov 2025, […]
Categories:
- Game Mechanic
- Opinion piece
- PodcastTaughtMeWhat
- actual play
- AD&D
- AD&D 1e
- Beast Hunt
- Carapace
- D&D
- and more…
2025-12-22
Shaman of the Drudglade¶ Session 205- A Return to Barovia Part 55; Lamordia 4¶ 12/13/2025¶ They don’t see the strange follower the next morning as they prepare¶ to leave Neufurchtenburg. They do however experience a tearful¶ Valan, whose gratitude for Team Rams saving him in the mists and¶ bringing him somewhere relatively safe, is shown through copious¶ tears and entreaties to come back and visit as he has secured¶ employment as a bar helper at the Laughing Golem. He wants to¶ treat them their next time…
Categories:
- 2nd Tarokka Reading
- 5e
- Actual Play
- D&D
- DIY D&D
- Halloween Extravaganza 2
- LotFP
- OSR
- Ox/Tiger Campaign
- and more…
The word for food is slugs.¶ by Vergvotre¶ The following is the collated work of the late Emeritus Master and Polar Explorer Wimm Oxwoe, who through some mysterious method (now, perhaps lost forever) had claimed to have reconstructed the ancient language spoken by the thralls of the Dread Hyperborean civilization. Whatever uncanny technique Oxwoe employed, it's efficacy is undeniable. Now, through the language's use, many of the strange arctic hominids who lurk that malignant land can now be commu…
Categories:
- Dread Hyperborea
- Ephemera
- OSR
Winter warlocks are the mortal agents of the otherworldly entity known as Ithaqua, the Wind Walker. They haunt the coldest corners of the world, where the nights are long and the wind howls louder than the wolves. Medium humanoid (human)No. Appearing: 2d3-1, often accompanied by winter-aspected seely wights or itinerant berserkers in their thrallHit Dice: … Continue reading WINTER WARLOCK
Categories:
- Crunch
- Homebrew
- Worldbuilding
- adversary
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Ithaqua
- magic-user
- NPC
- Role-Playing Games
- and more…
Burden of Allies The dwarf priest sighed as another poison victim was brought in. Potions and prayers were expended for the day, the other clerics were still miles away.‘I have a solution,’ the priest said. The others knew that the … Continue reading →
Categories:
- Magic Spells
- Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
- BD&D
- BFRPG
- Dragonslayer Rpg
- Iron Falcon
- Labyrinth Lord
- OD&D
- Old School Essentials
- and more…
This map was drawn as a set-piece for a climactic encounter where the PCs either rush for the ending while …¶ Continue reading →
Categories:
- Fantasy
- Maps
- D&D
- DnD
- Dungeon
- Dungeons & Dragons
- dungeons-and-dragons
- Labyrinth Lord
- Old School Essentials
- and more…
Session 294 was played on 08/17/25¶ Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)¶ Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)¶ Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)¶ Nick, Fighter 8 (Me)¶ Koltic, Cleric 9 (Cindy)¶ Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)¶ Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)¶ Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)¶ After spending some time back at the keep recovering from the fight with Sarek the Fallen, and getting the ratfolk settled in with the kobolds, the party discusses what to do next, and settles on returning to Rappan for some worm hunting. Morgana seems espec…
Categories:
- actual play
- flailsnails
- flailsnails stonehell
- Rappan Athuk
Representing a full fourth of the Random Results when Scrolls are generated as Magical Treasure in most of the earlier presentations, Treasure Maps can sometimes end up making quite frequent appearances. B/X even recommends that the Referee prepare several in advance for this reason. I always endeavored to have a few handy, tucked away in the binder, just in case.¶ In world artifacts that get used in Play like this are wonderful things, and I know over the decades I’ve made many a Map replete wit…
Categories:
- d100
- maps
- props
- random tables
- treasure
- treasure maps
