rootring
rooted in blogs, linked in a ringRise Up Comus
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On the ring since 2026-03-17
Latest activity 5w ago
319 posts
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Here is a copy of an activity from a 1919 issue of the Danish magazine Familie Journal.Click to download the full-sized imageChildren were invited to cut out these blocks and...Linked by the ring
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I watched Princess Arete and it got my brain going. What's the right word for this genre? I hesitate to say "Ghibli-esque" because it's so overused as to almost be meaningless,...Linked by the ring
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OD&D elves have the ability to automatically Detect Secret Doors. I do not like hidden information rolls and prefer my rule systems that do away with them. I would also prefer...
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No matter what you call them, Beholders are vile servants of the coastal wizards. But worry not. They have monstrous cousins that can be used to populate (monsterate?) your...Linked by the ring
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Here is a modular dungeon node to connect to others, with potential connectors left exposed for the GM. Since I showed my brainstorming process before, I'll skip doing it for...Linked by the ring
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This post delivers on the promise of our last brainstorming post. Go and read that one (and the definition of a dungeon patch) first, if you haven't.Here is a dungeon patch...
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Per this post last week, I have issued a challenge to start writing chunks of a dungeon as a creative exercise. The Worm community is calling this elemental, nodal building...Linked by the ring
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For people who get upset about reviews of modules unplayedWould you get mad at playwrights giving feedback after reading a script on a play not yet produced?This post brought...
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There was a post on Facebook (cess pit that it is) that I found really inspirational. Here's a screenshot so you don't ritually defile yourself by going there.It's a node-based...
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Sometimes I kvetch about how boring I find fantasy pantheons that are just Greek gods with a bad coat of paint. Sometimes I've blogged about it.Guys do you want to hear about...
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My colleague Warren of ICastLight was kind enough to send me a copy of the MERP module The Haunted Ruins of the Dunlendings. MERP modules can be a little hit or miss, but I...Linked by the ring
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Part 4 of my investigation into "Hobbits have a Roadside Picnic." Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.Dragon gold We must away ere break of dayTo seek the pale...
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Part 3 of my investigation into "Hobbits have a Roadside Picnic." Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.Traps"I don’t exactly understand your terminology. What traps?”Noonan laughed....Linked by the ring
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Part 2 of my investigation into "What if the Desolation of Smaug was a Zone from Roadsic Picnic?" Part 1 is here. Maybe I should have called this series "Hobbits have a...
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When people give me a recommendation for a book, a show, whatever, I always say "I'll add it to the list!" And I'm not kidding: I have a list. It sits at the bottom of my To Do...Linked by the ring
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Alas, to be an indie RPG designer is to be both the author, the project manager, the social media, and the marketer (among other things). You may have heard me mention this...
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An installment of my hexmap for Middle-earth project. Follow the "Middle-earth Hexmap" tag for all entries in this series.Art by Goran GligovicThe Angle is a wedge of land...Linked by the ring
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The Designing Dungeons Course: Or, How to Kill a Party in 30 Rooms or Less has been nominated for 🏆Best Online Content in the 2026 ENNIES🏆. I mean it when I say that it's an...
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I bet you've seen notes in dungeon keys that say something like: The murals depict an ibis-headed god handing out the tools of writings to grateful humans. (Clerics know that...
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When Sean McCoy proposed the Dungeon23 project, I couldn't help but join in. I wrote two dungeons--one for His Majesty the Worm and one for Under Hill, By Water. This effort...Linked by the ring
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Working on the Middle-earth Hexcrawl Project has made me want to articulate some brief thoughts I've had on writing material for canon settings. This is a microblog, unedited,...
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Sufficiently advanced technology blah blah blah. But I do think it's helpful thinking of wizards as people with access to out-of-place technology as a way to conceptualize what...
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Herein I read the monster manual entries from OD&D in order and try to parse them into groupings and categories that let me use them at the table.Every attempt to read OD&D is...Linked by the ring
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Spells are never spoken aloud. That's just superstition. Spells are always written on scrolls. The spell is the scroll. The wizard writes "chain." The scroll functions as...
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A while back, when juggling all the materials I needed to run a game, I had the idea for and mocked up a proof of concept of a hexcrawl dashboard--something that had everything...Linked by the ring
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I've long been a big fan of kung fu movies, but only recently started dabbling in the core texts by reading a translation of The Legend of the Condor Heroes. This has prompted...Linked by the ring
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"I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope...
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When you level up, you gain a random benefit based on your race or class. Here's what goblins get. You can also use this table for folks like half-orcs or maybe even tieflings,...Linked by the ring
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There's nothing revolutionary in this post, but I think it contains generally good advice and feels worthwhile articulating.When an RPG gives you something generic, a player...
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Another year and the Bloggies have come and gone! I'm very pleased to have taken home some medals in the Best Series category!Gold: The Designing Dungeons Course, or, How to...