Sunday, March 31, 2019

Thought Eater Podcast: Night Below Session Recap 3.31.19

Sundays on the Thought Eater podcast, I talk about my Night Below campaign. The Night Below is this massive 2e AD&D box set; I run it with a mashup of 1e and B/X.

Today's show includes a listener call-in, a discussion of my houserules, then a look at what happened last night. The good news is, nobody died. The bad news is...well...you've seen The Exorcist, right?

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN




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Saturday, March 30, 2019

Free and PWYW 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 3.30.19

Every week, talented creators upload products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers. Dozens of new free and pwyw products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve. You can find previous posts in this series HERE.



Sora Esma's Cart of Wonders from Jarrod Taylor and Cody Steward



I love trinkets. If you are running a game in Eberron, this product offers a bunch of trinkets specific to all of the major regions.



Common People Paper Miniatures and Clip Art from Misosile Busher (HIZIKI)



Paper minis are an attractive, affordable option, plus you get to avoid the frustration of random packs. These have sort of a Legend of Zelda/anime vibe.



Mike's Free Map Collection #5 from Michael LaBossiere



Can you ever have too many maps? Of course not! Towers, underground lairs, and a bunch of other useful free battlemaps.



Iron Fated-A Martial Archetype for Fighters from Will Mayer



This flavorful archetype is all about the relationship between a fighter and their "signature weapon". Think Excalibur, not some random axe from the local shop. Includes rules for having the weapon scale along with the PC in play.


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Friday, March 29, 2019

Thought Eater Podcast: Five Minute Friday: A Hypothetical Question

Fridays on the Thought Eater podcast I do really short episodes of five minutes or less. Today I was thinking about this hypothetical question I saw on social media. Basically, you have to flee your residence and you only have a few seconds. You can only grab ONE rpg product. What is it?

Tough question for you? Or do you know what you would grab instantly? Leave a comment and let me know!

You can hear what ol' Froth grabbed RIGHT HERE.




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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Funny Blogger Spam: "Plagiarism Checker Tool"

Spam here on Blogger is just a way of life. On a couple of the Humpday episodes on my podcast, I mentioned blogs sharing some outrageous and humorous examples. Someone mentioned using some of these as plot hooks, an idea I wholeheartedly endorse. Last night I got a doozy...the "Plagiarism Checker Tool". I thought it was amusing enough to share. I bolded my favorite sections.



Technology has been every a miracle and a curse in terms of plagiarism. No doubt, it's become easier to hunt out the specified knowledge and duplicate it. Since people sometimes do this whereas not attribution, it's collectively become easier to identify and have an effect on plagiarism.”

With Plagiarism checker free tools which can search billions of documents, and spot matches although they are only some words long, finding plagiarism has become as simple as detecting knowledge in Google. it's presently only a matter of simply method your question and provision you with the results.

“Plagiarism definition is admittedly simple. once you employ someone else’s work whereas not crediting them, it's seen as stealing their holding. rather like stealing, the penalties for derived work area unit severe everyplace the earth. the $64000 draw back is that just about all people do not appear to be even responsive to what they are doing.

With our Plagiarism checker online, we tend to decide to unfold awareness of plagiarism whereas property people information they will stop it. you will be ready to notice myriad real-life samples of plagiarism to help you identify it in future.

Our Plagiarism detector free tool can be a decent platform to envision paper for plagiarism, thus on verify the integrity of its written content. Our article, paper or essay plagiarism checker is trustworthy by loads of people everyplace world, World Health Organization use it daily as a section of their studies or work.




Sounds safe to click!


If you enjoy my free zinepodcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Humpday Blog-O-Rama 3.27.19

Blogs are an integral, vital part of the RPG hobby. They serve as incubators for new games, sounding boards for new ideas, and platforms for up-and-coming talent. They keep "forgotten" games alive, foster discussions, and build communities. Not everyone can work for a big game company, command a large audience on Twitch, or make a living from their art or cartography, but every RPG enthusiast can easily create a blog and start sharing their passion with the world. Every Wednesday on the Thought Eater podcast and blog, I take a look at what is going on in the vibrant RPG blog scene.

I was out of town last week, but still tried to follow along with things the best I could. As a result, this week's episode features material from the last couple of weeks. It's a big boy.


LISTEN TO THIS WEEK'S EPISODE HERE



LINKS FROM THIS WEEK'S EPISODE



MAPS



http://sorcerersskull.blogspot.com/2019/03/maps-of-eternia.html



http://sorcerersskull.blogspot.com/2019/03/maps-of-inner-space.html



https://goblinshenchman.wordpress.com/2019/03/26/tuesday-toot-mad-magazine-map-musings/



http://sevendeadlydungeons.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-quick-look-at-medieval-fantasy-city.html

http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2019/03/who-makes-maps.html



TERRAIN



https://www.matakishi.net/making-things.html



http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2019/03/some-days-this-hobby-of-ours-makes-one.html



REVIEWS



https://themetalearth.blogspot.com/2019/03/review-weg-star-wars-30th-anniversy-set.html



https://www.tribality.com/2019/03/13/review-conan-adventure-in-an-age-undreamed-of/

https://www.theseoldgames.com/2019/03/title-crash-on-volturnus-code-sf-0.html



http://backtothekeep.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-fantasy-trip-kickstarter-i-want-it.html



TUNNELS AND TROLLS

http://www.trollishdelver.com/2019/03/how-to-get-started-with-tunnels-and.html



KARAMEIKOS

http://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/2019/03/revisiting-karameikos.html

https://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/2019/03/human-lands-of-karameikos.html

http://www.pandius.com/thrs_mag.html



GREYHAWK

https://grodog.blogspot.com/2019/03/celebrating-greyhawk-fandom-renaissance-garycon-seminar.html



https://greyhawkonline.com/oerthjournal
https://greyhawkonline.com/OJ_issues/OJ_28.pdf



GLOG

https://diyanddragons.blogspot.com/2019/03/who-is-glogosphere.html



VARIANTS

https://tenfootpolemic.blogspot.com/2019/03/titan-scale-mass-combat.html



https://goblinshenchman.wordpress.com/2019/03/22/uno-an-initiative-system/

https://daimon-games.blogspot.com/2019/03/skills-part-one.html
https://daimon-games.blogspot.com/2019/03/skills-part-two.html

https://eldritchfields.blogspot.com/2019/03/variations-on-vampiric-drain.html



INSPIRATION: THE OCCULT



https://monstermagazineworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/history-of-occult-part-1.html
https://monstermagazineworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/history-of-occult-part-2.html
https://monstermagazineworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/history-of-occult-part-3.html
https://monstermagazineworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/history-of-occult-part-4.html



"COMMUNITY", EXCLUSION, AND IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2019/03/what-does-community-mean-to-you.html
http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2019/03/rise-of-community-reason-i-was-asking.html

http://goblinstomper.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-magic-of-exclusion.html

https://anchor.fm/follow-me-and-die/episodes/Episode-93---Thursday-Thoughts---Impostor-Syndrome-e3faui



CLOSING

https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2019/03/osr-indefinite-train-community-project.html

https://www.dungeoncontest.com/

https://dreamsofmythicfantasy.blogspot.com


If you enjoy my free zinepodcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Free and PWYW 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 3.23.19

Every week, talented creators upload products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers. Dozens of new free and pwyw products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve. You can find previous posts in this series HERE.



The Beast of Benson Manor from Pie Rat Press



I really enjoy "haunted house" sorts of D&D adventures, so maybe I am biased, but I loved the dark fairy tale feel of this one.



Trinkets of the Blood War from Bendjinn Games and Art of Karthik



Well, THIS isn't your everyday d100 trinket list! Grim and flavorful detritus from the endless war between demons and devils. A lot of these could practically be campaign starters.


The Fungus Garden - An Undermountain Encounter from Green Bird RPGs



Short but sweet fungal cavern location/encounter that you can plug in to your Mad Mage campaign. I especially wanted to mention the artwork and map. So good. Reminiscent of a cool children's book.



Shopkeeper NPCs from Dungeons and Djinn



Handy collection of brief descriptions of various shopkeepers. A time saver if you aren't feeling very creative.



Squall Shaping Wizard Tradition from Brandon Laing



I really liked the flavor of this wizard tradition, and it should fit in just fine with the upcoming Saltmarsh book. You can do cool things like summon sea creatures and use an improved "shape water" cantrip. Also makes fun suggestions, like having a parrot or monkey familiar.



If you enjoy my free zinepodcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 


Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Humpday Blog-O-Rama 3.13.19

Blogs are an integral, vital part of the RPG hobby. They serve as incubators for new games, sounding boards for fresh ideas, and platforms for up-and-coming talent. They keep "forgotten" games alive, foster discussions, and build communities. Not everyone can work for a big game company, command a large audience on Twitch, or get paid for their art or cartography, but every RPG enthusiast can easily create a blog and start sharing their passion with the world. Every Wednesday on the Thought Eater podcast, I take a look at what is going on in the vibrant RPG blog scene.

LISTEN TO THIS WEEK'S EPISODE HERE


LINKS FROM THIS WEEK'S EPISODE

Maps



https://joyfulsitting.blogspot.com/2019/03/traveller-supernova-local-stellar.html
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Traveller_Subsector_Generator
https://travellermap.com
https://devilghost.com/software/travellercharacter/



https://rthorm.wordpress.com/2019/03/06/ruvifelns-cavern-rooms/



https://eltomocarmesi.blogspot.com/2019/03/un-extenso-subterraneo-en-blanco.html
https://www.patreon.com/emenica/posts

https://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2019/03/who-makes-maps.html

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1l-7JbIsb60osH0f06iNzHVnq-0oY-VNp



Props for Call of Cthulhu and Other Games

https://heropresstwo.blogspot.com/2019/03/making-paper-trail-great-big-story.html



https://propnomicon.blogspot.com/

https://cthulhustreasurebox.blogspot.com/

www.hplhs.org/



The Illusionist

https://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-complete-od-illusionist.html

https://anchor.fm/Thedicearescreaming/episodes/Episode-62-Illusions-e39lke



Tables and Generators

https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/p/list-to-html-generator.html

https://thewizardofmacketown.blogspot.com/2019/03/d6-ways-to-introduce-your-next-npc-or.html

https://gamurgin.blogspot.com/2019/03/chumming-dungeon.html



Reviews



https://ynasmidgard.blogspot.com/2019/03/review-eldritch-tales.html



https://chaosgrenade.com/2019/03/05/rambling-on-solar-blades-cosmic-spells/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gallantknightgames/dark-streets-and-darker-secrets



https://punverse.blogspot.com/2019/03/survive-this-vigilante-city-core-rules.html



https://laughleviathan.blogspot.com/2019/03/first-time-playing-knave.html



Inspiration

www.thehistoryblog.com/

https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/

https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/



https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-clothes-of-the-future-were-supposed-to-be-set-on-fi-1833057731



https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/this-television-monocle-from-1938-was-silly-and-wonderf-1830067727



Gary Con




https://savageafterworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/gary-con-day-0-my-return-pilgrimage-to.html
https://savageafterworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/gary-con-day-1-berserk-robots-hotel.html
https://savageafterworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/gary-con-day-2-tulipak-lonely-d6-and.html
https://savageafterworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/gary-con-day-3-overpowered-wineskins.html
https://savageafterworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/gary-con-day-4-weasel-disguises.html

https://greyhawkery.blogspot.com/2019/03/greyhawk-going-on-at-gary-con-xi.html

https://twitch.tv/garycon

https://anchor.fm/plundergrounds

https://followmeanddie.com/2019/03/11/gary-con-xi-recap/
https://anchor.fm/follow-me-and-die/episodes/Saturday-Scrawl-Gary-Con-XI-Special-e3dsa8



Closing

https://chaudronchromatique.blogspot.com/2019/03/pdf-versions-of-my-zines.html
https://dreamsofmythicfantasy.blogspot.com


If you enjoy my free zinepodcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for only $1 per month. 

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Review: Calpurnia's 101 Lesser Magical Items for 5e D&D by Joel Kelley

So, one of the benefits of doing reviews here on the blog and over at MeWe has been people sending me review copies of things. I joked at one point that I wished I had done more reviews a long time ago, given some of what I was sent. I don't always have time to work on them, so I don't really actively solicit things. Still, when I can, if someone sends me something I do my best to take a look at it and at least mention it somewhere. Joel Kelley was kind enough to send me a copy of his 5e magic item supplement and just kind of said "Review it if you like". I got around to looking at it today and was really impressed. So here we are.



Magic items lost a lot of luster over the course 3x and 4e. They pretty much ended up being tools in character optimization. They would appear in rulebooks along with the player options, like in Pathfinder. Players could pick and choose specific items. This isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on what kind of game you like to run, but it made for a very different feel compared to classic editions. I eventually just went with inherent bonuses in 4e. 5e made a real effort to change this, putting the items back into the DMG, doing away with the magic item economy to a large degree, and featuring item design more in line with the classic edition versions.

I admit that I am not much of a "house ruler" when it comes to items. I usually just use the 1e DMG in my home game. There are some areas of homebrew D&D design where I feel very creative, but designing items just isn't one of them. Joel Kelley doesn't have this issue. For $3.50, here you get 101 creative items.

This is a really nice pdf. I like the layout. I LOVE the hyperlinked table of contents; it makes jumping around really easy. There are items of all shapes and sizes and of all power levels here. I think Joel did a really good job tying many of them to specific 5e mechanics and class features. This isn't a bunch of thrown-together ideas. Honestly, given the quality and the large amount of items here, I could probably get by with just this supplement and the officially published stuff and never need to look anywhere else.




All in all, I have no real criticisms. I think this is a great value. There are items for every class, fluff fitting multiple campaign styles, and more than enough variety to give magic a unique feel in your games.

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Free and PWYW DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 3.9.19

Please note: I will be out of town next week, so this series will resume on 3.23.19

Every week, talented creators upload products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pwyw in order to reach customers. Dozens of new free and pwyw products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve. You can find previous posts in this series HERE.


There were several new products this week supporting the new UA Artificer class.

Artificer Pet Stat Blocks from Michael O'Connor (ThinkDM)



Basically a handy-dandy reference with the turret and homonculus stuff from the playtest reformatted into stat blocks for easier use.



Artificer Spell and Infusion List also from Michael O'Connor (ThinkDM)



Another good playtest tool to help track all of the spells and infusions for the artificer.



The Artificer's Handbook by Griffin Porche



Presented in the style of UA, this crafting-focused reference guide organizes magic items pertaining to the artificer class and provides some relevant alternate rules from the DMG and XGtE. Put this together with the aforementioned supplements and you are more than ready to playtest.



100 Non-Combat Random Encounters (The North) by Dungeons and Djinn



You had me at "random".



The Iceberg of Rime and Ruin by Brendan Hainline



Excellent cold-weather adventure that ties into the Tyranny of Dragons campaign. The first in a series. Some really great new monsters. I will be keeping an eye out for future installments.


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