rootring
rooted in blogs, linked in a ringWhose Measure God Could Not Take
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On the ring since 2026-03-23
Latest activity 6y ago
491 posts
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In general, D&D players assume that melee combat is the order of the day, with attacks from a distance usually offered by mages. This is all fine, but as a thought experiment I...
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An intrusion from April 2025Arnold K. has an interesting post that (in part) investigates the border between what is magical and what is mundane. I appreciate it for two main...
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The GLOG is Arnold K’s homebrew system. Notable work has been done with it by Skerples, and many others. A tradition in the GLOGosphere is the creation of unique wizard...
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"The Brankoviches of Erdély count in Tintzar, lie in Wallachian, are silent in Greek, sing hymns in Russian, are cleverest in Turkish, and speak Serbian only when they intend...
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Dictionary of the Khazars is a "lexicon novel" by Milorad Pavic. Basically, it is a fictional encyclopedia about an obscure ancient ethnic group and the researchers who study...
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When my players started running around in Ynn, they constantly asked for directions. It was hilarious every time to have a salamandar blink, nod, and say "follow me!," tramping...
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The Gardens of Ynn is a delightful procedural pointcrawl, written by the talented Emmy Allen. I was fortunate enough to receive two copies as a gift from friends and family,...
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I've been reading the Memoirs of Usama Ibn-Munqidh, translated by Philip K. Hitti. The memoirs provide the fascinating perspective of a Syrian poet reminiscing on his escapades...
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Of late I have not published many blog posts. This is due in part to the advent of my latest weekly game, a campaign of a quite different character from what has previously...
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I've been running players through a "proper" dungeon, with multiple levels, random encounters, and treasure tables. So far it's been great fun and I originally thought to post...
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Arnold K. says that when designing a dungeon you should ask "What is tested?" What follows is a list of standard equipment and how an environment may test for it. This list...
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d10 Economic Exchange Systems Currency (coins) Currency (coins and notes) Currency (coins and notes and stock and capital) Currency (rai stones) Barter (simple) Barter...
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In Holy Selmat, the first gigre was revealed to a village elder in a dream. It was the recipe for a drug that protected holy men and gave them miraculous powers. Since then,...
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There are ten great cities in Holy Selmat. Though no book records it and few guess at its name, there used to be an eleventh. It is a city pulled from memory and from history....
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One of my favorite pieces on writing is Edgar Allen Poe's "The Philosophy of Composition," which he wrote for a semiyearly literary magazine. He explains his own perspective on...
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One of my favorite pieces on writing is Edgar Allen Poe's "The Philosophy of Composition," which he wrote for a semiyearly literary magazine. He explains his own perspective on...
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This is the first in a series of informational briefs of some of the 90 gods in the Holy Selmat setting. IRON Belief: Ironism. Adherent: Worshipper of Iron. Collective: All...
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When I began my Holy Selmat campaign, one of the players requested a small collection of sayings and writings that they might be familiar with related to the ever-important...
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The Rose: a stylish, silvered rapier. The basket hilt has a clip to hold a flower like a corsage. Impeccably balanced, and a wielder counts as having a shield. Weeping Blade: a...
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My weekly Holy Selmat game is basically just a sneaky way to get my players to write a book report. Their characters have been sent to the holy land to catalogue an accurate...
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Angels are servants of the god Occulat, who created the Earth and the Optical Focus (or "sun" as humans call it.) Her angels send messages, offer tutelage in optics and...
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This is the method employed by the sufficiently sensitive. You can’t choose this as a character option. It’s the sort of thing that is lent to you by another sensitive, or...
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There are three channels to binding demons, and they correspond to the three essential forms: magic, word, and matter. They are generally used in combination with each other....
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Daniel Romanovsky (Note to Anni: you have shared my table with me, and so I prevail on that acquaintance to beg you to be kind with these my early works. When I put this...
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In old 3.5 parlance, "initiator" referred to three classes from the Tome of Battle. They were martial classes that used stances and maneuvers that they studied like spells....
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LANGUAGE A character starts play knowing a very small amount of languages, conceivably one. Each language they know can be fluent, accented, or broken. If they start play only...
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A lot of these items are very basic, and are shown mostly just to give you an idea of how crafting them works. I know you know what a bag of holding is. MAGIC ITEMS Many...
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Scholars in Selmat have a tradition of unfun, oblique riddles that are meant to make you better understand creation. These are not those. These are the riddles told for fun, to...
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LORESAGE (druid, investigator, sage, oracle) 1 Spells 1 slot per day 2 Mystery 2 slots per day 3 Second Magnitude, new skill proficiency 4 slots per day 4 Mystery 7 slots per...
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PRIEST (cleric, prophet, inquisitor, pilgrim) 1 Render, Sect 1 base slot per day 2 Petition for Second Magnitude 2 base slots per day 3 Tend the Flock 3 base slots per day 4...