rootring
rooted in blogs, linked in a ringTRAIPSE
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On the ring since 2026-03-19
Latest activity 13d ago
26 posts
Earlier
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My marble visage wrinkles with an Ozymandian sneer when I read the countless posts advocating the disposal of this rule or that procedure because they are, and I'm trying my...
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Everyone has a fix for the Fighter. Every OSR game. Every blogger. I have. You have. It's a veritable right of passage. I have tried quite a few in my home games over the...Linked by the ring
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About month ago I made a Bluesky thread (follow me) some people found useful, and I wanted to share it here. This isn't me cannibalizing my thoughts across platforms. This is...Linked by the ring
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Puttering around the dungeon on its little bowed legs, the TICHENORTIME appears! A dozen lifelike hands radiate from its circular clock-face body, each with a number of fingers...
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The question “How do I make a fantasy setting feel real?” is one people never really ever stop grappling with. Especially in games.There is a lot of good input on this topic:...Linked by the ring
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Join me, dear reader, as I indulge in some self-reflection...2025 RetrospectiveThis past year was a quite a solid one for my home game. We completed our 24th session after...
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A magic item inspired by Josh's version of Phlox's version of the Periapt of Wisdom.The idea is to take a traditional passive stat-boost item and turn it into something active....
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Recently, my players have turned their attention away from the dungeon and began exploring a bit of the overworld. They opted to embark on a few rather self-contained...
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I've written before about how Chaos are the bad guys. That doesn't mean Law can't be the bad guys either. ---The Aeternum is a radical sect of the Church of Law rapidly gaining...
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"A Special is anything not exactly a trap, but placed for special reasons." Moldvay Basic pg. B52Traps, monsters, secret doors, and treasure all cohere into continuous flows of...Linked by the ring
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It's not a novel observation to point out that, in BX D&D, a system which articulates a clear distinction between dungeon and wilderness adventures (the former described in...
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I'm not an "orc guy" by any means (hobgoblins are more my speed) but for better or worse they're intrinsic to D&D fantasy. Similar to what I wrote about elementals in my last...
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ElementalsCertain ideas are on their face kind of lame or frustratingly executed, but have a kernel of something resonant that keeps bringing you back. It's like the flaws are...
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Every once in a while you see something and think “I don’t care how or when but this is going in my game.” That happened to me recently with the early concept art of the Final...
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"My life... my job... my curse... is to vanquish evil."-Van Helsing, 2004As the story goes, clerics were introduced to the game when the players wanted a character class that...
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Jasper, this month, is the Word. Jasper is the pass/code/warning that the Singers of the Cities (who, last month, sang “Opal” from their divine injuries; and on Mars I’d heard...
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Add these to the list of troublesome resource-consuming creatures like rust monsters, oozes, and the like.Tongue crabOrnery crustaceans that come to about mid-thigh with a dull...
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To live is to be at war. Some liken the world to a vast wilderness, where dangers silently roam the forests and hills beyond the safe confines of civilization. This is false....
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After discussing active abilities a little while ago I've been thinking more about passive features and ways to make them interesting. Many mischaracterize passive abilities as...
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Two psions can choose to engage in psychic battle. Duels are conducted by rolling attack dice and adding to a shared total called PRESSURE. Attacks come in 3 forms: HEAVY...
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I’ve been kicking around a design rule recently I’m calling “1, 10, or 1000000.” The idea is that when you’re determining how prevalent something should be in your game there...
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The long-awaited conclusion to the Flying Island adventure. The final session may have been many months ago but the memories last forever or something. Part I, Part IIClassic...
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The common wisdom, popularized by Arnold K. here and recently invoked by Josh McCroo here, goes that active abilities are superior to passive bonuses because they present...
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Fed up with the fact that buying gear is a major bottleneck in the otherwise exquisitely streamlined character creation process, I took it upon myself to give my players the...
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The MORNINGSTAR SCORPION!HD: 6 AC: 3 Attacks: 4 x Morningstar claw (crush 1d12 or grasp 1d6 + grab), sting (1d4 + poison) Move: 150' (50') Morale: 10 No. Appearing: 1...
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I had a player express interest in seeing a list of deity options available for his chaos cleric so I put together a list based on a bunch of ideas I've been sitting on. Here...