Shadow & Fae

  I 've been desperately trying to get this out before Halloween, and HERE IT IS! https://shadowandfae.itch.io/harwood This idea struck me a few weeks back while I was watching Over the Garden Wall and reading "Where the Dark Stands Still" I knew if I didn't get on it soon, I'd never finish it at all. It's been a very fun little hex crawl to write, but I must confess it is not fully play-tested.  Things I'm Proud Of A complete mini-hexcrawl, dungeon, and human-made art! A little village with its own history, holiday, and hauntings! A solid adventure scenario with some interesting possibilities. Things I'm Not Sure About I think the village could be fleshed out with a bit more intrigue, but it's probably sufficient for play. I hope you enjoy... A Walk in the Harwood!

We're Ogre-Posting today. "Buck", by Changming Xu Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. - Phil. 6:13 An ogre is a hollow creature, never satisfied with its lot, always trying to fill itself up. Despite opinions of lesser  monstrologists (Such as E.F. Curd and Company), it is clear that ogres are intelligent beings, at least as intelligent as the average human. Their fault is in their inescapable longing . - Carrivilus Barq, Monstrologist. 1. Buck At first Buck only wanted friends. As a young human boy, he longed to be included in the gaggle of peasant children that gathered each morning by the well in the early hours, but his twisted face earned him the scorn of his would-be companions. One can feel sad about this for a moment. Unfortunately, Buck chose the route of violence to solve his problems. A thrown stone marred the face of a boy a little older than him, and in the ensuing ...

" From Goblin Market " Arthur Rackham, 1933 Mushroom cap, tail of rat, gall of cat, dripping fat, Boil and boil, never toil, wind is free, n'so is me! -The Goblin Rhyme Etesia When toads yet sang and cats had two tails, Etesia was a peaceful place. The Lofty Lady walked her lands with gentleness and strength, and all her subjects—even the lowly humans—enjoyed an age of quiet labor and joyful rest. But that was long ages ago. Now we struggle on like the rest of the world, prying life out of thorns and the maws of wolves, even from our own kin. In all the bloodshed, and pox, and lack, we die young and leave our young to fend for themselves. So they do. The Soup It is not known when the first Soup was boiled, or who boiled it, or what the intention was, but the soup has been boiling for long ages now, and those who eat it are turned strange. Their bones, their muscles, and their hearts grow hard as stone. Depending on the ingredients present in the soup—which may be anything...

We're playing as these guys. MiniLOG Ages ago I wrote a One Page GLoG as a challenge to myself. I looked back on it recently and shuddered. While there were some good ideas there, I felt it lacked precision, beauty, and was still plagued with too much bulk. I slimmed it down and painted it up into MiniLOG, which is everything a player really needs to know to enjoy a game of GLoG. The basic rules are: 3 Attributes (Might, Grace, and Will) that are  the modifiers. 3 Fixed DCs Boons and Banes that stack, cancel each-other out, and boost the Crit/Fumble chance. A simplified Death & Dismemberment table. Simple and familiar gear, spells, and leveling. Plus some other things. All on one page. You can take a peak here . MiniDELVE   We're slaying these things. To accompany such a small game, I needed an equally small but punch-packed GM toolkit. Enter MiniDELVE, a distillation of everything I know (or think I know) about dungeon crafting. Dungeon overview prompts. Layout guidelines...

From time to time I tinker with a ruleset that is an abominable crossbreed of OSR concepts and the Heroic Fantasy aimed at by 5e. This ruleset may never see the light of day, but here's a little portion of it, inspired by Skerples and various others.  Boss Fights A Boss is a unique creature that is designed to be dangerous for a full party of 3-5 adventurers of average level equal to its HD. Boss creatures are marked in the creature section with an *. A boss’s HP is equal to its HD*10. Boss Actions: A boss activates 3 times per combat round: once during its normal turn, once at the end of the combat round, and once as a telegraphed action. A telegraphed action is announced at the start of any player’s turn, and then occurs immediately following that player’s turn. Boss Saves: If a boss fails a saving throw it may choose to only partially suffer the negative effects. E.G. it may be polymorphed into a half-dragon, half-rabbit abomination. Or a knight targeted by the sleep spell may f...

  A Spluttering and a Splashing, by John Batten I'm not sure why I am the way I am. Inspiration hits me like a shot of espresso, and I write and write and write until I collapse. Then I wonder if it's any good at all. Then I slap it on itch and call it a day. Then, a week later, I remember to post something about it on my blog. Goblin Tales As a kid, I loved all sorts of weird goblin and fairy stories. Lord of the Rings, Narnia, The Knights of the Round Table, and then a ridiculous  amount of books by Terry Pratchett. There was something fun about the juxtaposition of the credible and the incredible, that made me wonder if there were  fairies or goblins hiding around here somewhere. Goblin Tales was spawned by my love of those old stories, some talk on Phlox's GLoG server, my curiosity about rolling-under, and too much free time due to being out of work for the moment.  Find it over on Itch: Goblin Tales

GLOG Solutions An archdevil rules the City Beneath with legions of devils and human thralls at his command. The party wishes to end the devil's infernal reign, and sets out to slay him and lift the city from its ashes. 5e's solution: The 300 HP, AC 19 Pit Fiend. The Pit Fiend makes 4 attacks, averaging 73 damage per round. It also has magical weapons, the ability to cast a few spells, and a few nasty traits like a fear aura and Magic Resistance. GLOG's Solution: Archdevil This being commands an infernal legion of approximately 500 soldiers. It is imbued with unholy magic, and seeks to bring all peoples under its command. Archdevils rarely work together, unless brought into servitude to another of their kind. HD: 12+10 (64 HP), AC : 18 (Infernal Plate), Morale : 10 STR:  +4, DEX : +2, CON : +3, INT : +2, WIS : +3, CHA : +4 Motive : Dominion Move : 45' Fly Flaming Greatsword:  x3, STR+3, d12, 1d6 Fire Hellfire : A 45' cone of flame shoots forward from the Archdevil...