We Live Again
Rules for resurrection, soul transference, reincarnation, and cloning (in roleplaying games. If I knew how in real life, would I really be spending my time pretending to be an elf?)
Rehabilitating the To-Hit Roll
Musings on removing the damage roll and replacing it with the to-hit roll for use in games that are heavy on looting enemies.
Overloading the Random Encounter Table
A all-in-one roll for random encounters, reaction, surprise, and distance.
Toybox Creativity: The Genius of Dragon Ball
What Akira Toriyama can teach you about creativity and worldbuilding.
Wizards Playing Telephone
Using a strange spell as a jumping off point for stranger worldbuilding.
Potion Clues
Advice for identifying the potions you find in dungeons, ideally before quaffing them.
Pedantic Wasteland - Vampire Cruise
A review of Vampire Cruise, a system-neutral comedy-horror adventure (originally published on Bones of Contention).
Schrödinger’s Chat 2: Amended & Restated Quantum Language Rules
Quantum language rules for TTRPGs, along with musing on language in games, in Mausritter, and more.
Blog Challenge: New (Year’s) Resolution Mechanic
I present a brand new resolution mechanic and challenge all bloggers to do the same!
I’ll include links to every blog that accepts my challenge.
My Weird Wizard Show
Soft-boiled rules for casting spells that is fast, flexible and fascinating.
In Defense of Ability Scores
Ability scores have become vestigial in modern corporate D&D and Pathfinder, but there is a different D&D lineage where they are evolving into an elegant mechanic.
The One-Shot Pubcrawl
Suggestions for running Barkeep on the Borderlands as a one-shot adventure, plus a new character background: Monarch’s Bastard.
Pedantic Wasteland - A Rasp of Sand
A review of A Rasp of Sand, a rogue-like TTRPG adventure for Knave (originally published on Bones of Contention).
Social Monsters
Monsters should be more than just a threat in the dungeon to your player characters’ physical health and wellbeing. Here is how to make a monster a threat to their reputation in town.
Barkeep on the Borderlands Wins an Ennie
Barkeep brings home gold, and I have some people to thank.
D&D Initiative & The McDonald’s Problem
New initiative rules plus some theory about a counterintuitive way for speeding up your combat.
Shopping in D&D is Garbage, And How to Fix It
Don’t let shopping for gear be a chore. Make it part of the game with this Yahtzee inspired shopping minigame.
Humpty Dumpty Should Die: Fixing Falling Damage
The original rules for falling got changed (for the better) by an editing mistake, but I propose some rules that keep the simplicity while adding some of the realism that Gygax aimed for.
Posters, Posers and POSR(s)
A brief history of the OSR as an artistic movement and some thoughts on what comes after it.