TTRPG goodness from about the internet. For more, see last weeks collection found here or on the weekly r/OSR blogroll or check the RPG Blog Carnival. Originally inspired by weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links.
Swan and Raven Studio hosts the HELLO//GOODBYE Charity Bundle for Legal Aid
Fluorite Guillotine gives us fabula ultima was made for me
Bat in the Attic asks What is the point of the OSR?
@alexanderwales gives us Majority and Minority
Blog of Forlorn Encystment shares The Monster Economy of AD&D
Ever & Anon publishes Issue #4 of this successor to Alarums & Excursions
World Building and Woolgathering gives us Another Return to Yoon-Suin
Idraluna Archives writes Footnotes in RPGs
PhD20 gives us Unprepared and Never Better
Your Scent Has Attracted A Bear shares Leonard Cohen's Advice for Novice OSR Referees
False Machine gives us A review of The Golden Peaches of Samarkand
Valeria Loves asks Why Don't I Hate Fabula Ultima?
Creighton Broadhurst shares GM Advice: Three-Tier Design for the Busy GM
Garamondia gives us SimAnt Cataphracts - the roughest outline and follows up with More Bugaphracts
13 October 2025
11 October 2025
On complications and retuning my GM'ing for 2d20
I am a few sessions into running my Lizard Kings campaign - below are my notes on trying to get up the learning curve of running 2d20 by tapping the wisdom of those who have gone before.
Written up to follow Gorgon Bones first best practice: "Record your hobby experience", this is a ressurection of the campaign world I could up after receiving the revelation of the OSR, spun back up on the online open-table model of my Southern Reaches campaign, but switching system to 2d20 Conan on the intuition that the momentum/doom system would better fit the high-energy shenanigans atmosphere.
I have tried to pull forward a lot of what worked - encounter tables / random generation, player-driven action, baiting hooks, open-table/roster system - but after spending the past few years honing my style around player agency and truth-in-the-world along the anti-blorbo line, adapting my DM'ing to 2d20 is a shift.
I have on my shelves 2d20 Homeworld, Star Trek Adventures: Klingon Empire and a ton of pdfs for 2d20 Conan and standard Star Trek Adventures from bundles - all of these I have read through but still ran up against a few things while playing that I am going to put here, a breadcrumb trail for those who come after.
Complications
The biggest trick so far has been calibrating complications or "what to do with the doom pool". I was having some challenges callibrating between 'spend some doom, make some random stuff up' and 'doom has no effect' - trying to hit that sweet spot of doom being consequential but to a somewhat known level. The goal here is that players can see the doom pool ticking up and have some idea of how bad that it. Doom of 4-5 could get a bit hairy but probably handleable. Doom north of 20 is time to abandon this enterprise and just start running.
First, I initially missed that reactions all incur Doom - if you dodge or parry incoming attacks, the GM gets doom points. This is in on top of 'complications' from natural 20's which can be converted to 2 doom or the players giving doom to achieve rolls. This builds the doom pool a lot faster than I initially thought.
Spending doom when there are active foes in play always made sense to me, soak their wounds, add more foes, etc. The bit I was unclear on was calibrating how complicated a complication should be - how to play it out mechanically which was ambiguous even after reading the various rule books.
The first good guide was the 'minor epiphany' Gebir had the grace to post as a comment on the Modiphius forum which exactly answered my question on how impactful complications were supposed to be: "2 Doom or 2# [stress] damage + Effect or D2 Minor Action to Clear". This was the rosetta stone I needed.
There was a great list of example complications posted by Feond on a different thread.
There was also a recommendation for taking a post by The Walking Mind on Risks for FATE but considering it as applicable to 2d20 complications in the sense of what opposes what - for a scene about pursuit, complications can be delay, for one about stealth, complications are being revealed, etc.
General Summaries - this character generator cooked up by Mariano Cavallo is very helpful for quickly getting started, next was the website for The Scrolls of Erathius - just seeing what explainers, cheat-sheets and downloads they thought necessary was a great guide on what comes up a lot and what is unclear.
Session timing - I lost my source but another top tip for trying to time these sessions was to plan ~ 30 mins per scene. The 2d20 style of moving from 'action to action' contrasts with the slightly more wandering around, flexing hexcrawl and encounter tables I have been doing lately, so definitely out of my comfort zone and good to get a frame to think about it.
Intros - another neat tip I got that I think helpful for framing things was to ask players to describe introduce their characters as if for the opening credit sequence of the TV show. Was sufficiently different to other 'describe how you appear in this tavern' intros that it resets expectations.
Campaign So Far
I have been running things as close to RAW as I understand for now, but I am also aware of some modifications from later 2d20 such as having additional d20s beyond the first bought with momentum cost more or be otherwise restricted. Thus far players have been relatively frugal shepherds of their momentum and have not been getting into many fights so doom pools have not been exploding such that I can throw lots of complications at them yet.
In a similar vein, players are proving very conscious of when a scene will end and sap their momentum pool.
The main instance of complications off a rolled 20 was a busted stealth attempt; attempting to be unobtrusive got unlucky and spotted by just the wrong person - consequences may be long term.
Written up to follow Gorgon Bones first best practice: "Record your hobby experience", this is a ressurection of the campaign world I could up after receiving the revelation of the OSR, spun back up on the online open-table model of my Southern Reaches campaign, but switching system to 2d20 Conan on the intuition that the momentum/doom system would better fit the high-energy shenanigans atmosphere.
I have tried to pull forward a lot of what worked - encounter tables / random generation, player-driven action, baiting hooks, open-table/roster system - but after spending the past few years honing my style around player agency and truth-in-the-world along the anti-blorbo line, adapting my DM'ing to 2d20 is a shift.
I have on my shelves 2d20 Homeworld, Star Trek Adventures: Klingon Empire and a ton of pdfs for 2d20 Conan and standard Star Trek Adventures from bundles - all of these I have read through but still ran up against a few things while playing that I am going to put here, a breadcrumb trail for those who come after.
Complications
The biggest trick so far has been calibrating complications or "what to do with the doom pool". I was having some challenges callibrating between 'spend some doom, make some random stuff up' and 'doom has no effect' - trying to hit that sweet spot of doom being consequential but to a somewhat known level. The goal here is that players can see the doom pool ticking up and have some idea of how bad that it. Doom of 4-5 could get a bit hairy but probably handleable. Doom north of 20 is time to abandon this enterprise and just start running.
First, I initially missed that reactions all incur Doom - if you dodge or parry incoming attacks, the GM gets doom points. This is in on top of 'complications' from natural 20's which can be converted to 2 doom or the players giving doom to achieve rolls. This builds the doom pool a lot faster than I initially thought.
Spending doom when there are active foes in play always made sense to me, soak their wounds, add more foes, etc. The bit I was unclear on was calibrating how complicated a complication should be - how to play it out mechanically which was ambiguous even after reading the various rule books.
The first good guide was the 'minor epiphany' Gebir had the grace to post as a comment on the Modiphius forum which exactly answered my question on how impactful complications were supposed to be: "2 Doom or 2# [stress] damage + Effect or D2 Minor Action to Clear". This was the rosetta stone I needed.
There was a great list of example complications posted by Feond on a different thread.
There was also a recommendation for taking a post by The Walking Mind on Risks for FATE but considering it as applicable to 2d20 complications in the sense of what opposes what - for a scene about pursuit, complications can be delay, for one about stealth, complications are being revealed, etc.
General Summaries - this character generator cooked up by Mariano Cavallo is very helpful for quickly getting started, next was the website for The Scrolls of Erathius - just seeing what explainers, cheat-sheets and downloads they thought necessary was a great guide on what comes up a lot and what is unclear.
Session timing - I lost my source but another top tip for trying to time these sessions was to plan ~ 30 mins per scene. The 2d20 style of moving from 'action to action' contrasts with the slightly more wandering around, flexing hexcrawl and encounter tables I have been doing lately, so definitely out of my comfort zone and good to get a frame to think about it.
Intros - another neat tip I got that I think helpful for framing things was to ask players to describe introduce their characters as if for the opening credit sequence of the TV show. Was sufficiently different to other 'describe how you appear in this tavern' intros that it resets expectations.
Campaign So Far
I have been running things as close to RAW as I understand for now, but I am also aware of some modifications from later 2d20 such as having additional d20s beyond the first bought with momentum cost more or be otherwise restricted. Thus far players have been relatively frugal shepherds of their momentum and have not been getting into many fights so doom pools have not been exploding such that I can throw lots of complications at them yet.
In a similar vein, players are proving very conscious of when a scene will end and sap their momentum pool.
The main instance of complications off a rolled 20 was a busted stealth attempt; attempting to be unobtrusive got unlucky and spotted by just the wrong person - consequences may be long term.
08 October 2025
d30 Entertainingly Weird Guests
Inspired by @prokopetz making the point that "hospitality was a major part of a wealthy household’s basic social obligations" and "at any given time, a large household might be playing host to a bewildering assortment of friends, relatives, friends of relatives, relatives of friends, celebrities both far-ranging and local, dignitaries, con artists, miscellaneous weirdos, and that one guy who nobody can quite place" so that "you’re missing an opportunity if you never talk about the Guests" here are some entertainingly weird guests that can be hanging around your nobles court or castle - or wizards tower, if they are hospitable, roadside inns while they are travelling or the hostelries of a city in a pinch.
d30 Entertainingly Weird Guests
1. Latest playwright, needing inspiration. Slightly desperate to repeat crushing success of recent efforts.
2. Cultural tastemaker hiding from supplicants.
3. Clique of artists.
4. Poets come to attend on the host, their muse. Swing between wild revels and sighing melancholy.
5. Host leading a cultural moment of artists, writers, poets and designers. Other guests liable to be sketched, painted and rendered in prose, verse and song.
6. Illusionist, playful. Noone is clear anymore on exactly how many people are here.
7. Conjurer, practicing. Strange things appear and vanish with flashes and bangs at mysterious times.
8. Planar scholar. Has travelled far to peruse the hosts library and study the details in the background of the family paintings.
9. Visitors from beyond. Almost entirely hidden within high-collared clothes and elaborate wigs. Fascinated by everything, talks to the pot-plants, tastes the fire-irons.
10. Young noble on wandering year. Significant power and responsibility waiting at home, does not want to think about it.
d30 Entertainingly Weird Guests
1. Latest playwright, needing inspiration. Slightly desperate to repeat crushing success of recent efforts.
2. Cultural tastemaker hiding from supplicants.
3. Clique of artists.
4. Poets come to attend on the host, their muse. Swing between wild revels and sighing melancholy.
5. Host leading a cultural moment of artists, writers, poets and designers. Other guests liable to be sketched, painted and rendered in prose, verse and song.
6. Illusionist, playful. Noone is clear anymore on exactly how many people are here.
7. Conjurer, practicing. Strange things appear and vanish with flashes and bangs at mysterious times.
8. Planar scholar. Has travelled far to peruse the hosts library and study the details in the background of the family paintings.
9. Visitors from beyond. Almost entirely hidden within high-collared clothes and elaborate wigs. Fascinated by everything, talks to the pot-plants, tastes the fire-irons.
10. Young noble on wandering year. Significant power and responsibility waiting at home, does not want to think about it.
Home campaign Bard plus pal during her wandering years, by The Bard
06 October 2025
Shiny TTRPG links #245
Things I found interesting over this last week online. For more, see last weeks collection found here or on the weekly r/OSR blogroll or check the RPG Blog Carnival. Originally inspired by weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links.
Swan and Raven Studio hosts the HELLO//GOODBYE Charity Bundle for Legal Aid
@molomoot gives us Crossword Dungeons
Sly Flourish shares Go Easy On Yourself
Blog of Forlorn Encystment writes Warring Guilds and Rogue Assassins Plague the Streets of AD&D
Dungeons & Possums shares Things to Support With Your #$%* Disney Money
d4 Caltrops gives us d100 - “Bottle Episodes" - Seafaring Scenes & Situations
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse... asks Are You Missing the Forest for the Trees? Plant an Orchard.
The Wondering Monster writes How to Help Your Players Investigate Rumors in an OSR Campaign
Arcane Mutterings gives us The Gap in TTRPG Culture
Smoldering Wizard shares Musings on the OSR Blogosphere and Forums
Swan and Raven Studio hosts the HELLO//GOODBYE Charity Bundle for Legal Aid
@molomoot gives us Crossword Dungeons
Sly Flourish shares Go Easy On Yourself
Blog of Forlorn Encystment writes Warring Guilds and Rogue Assassins Plague the Streets of AD&D
Dungeons & Possums shares Things to Support With Your #$%* Disney Money
d4 Caltrops gives us d100 - “Bottle Episodes" - Seafaring Scenes & Situations
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse... asks Are You Missing the Forest for the Trees? Plant an Orchard.
The Wondering Monster writes How to Help Your Players Investigate Rumors in an OSR Campaign
Arcane Mutterings gives us The Gap in TTRPG Culture
Smoldering Wizard shares Musings on the OSR Blogosphere and Forums
04 October 2025
Review: Hyena Child
tl:dr; a city sandbox with a grounded feel, packed full of hooks, sites and factions to sustain a good chunk of play.
I grabbed this in the last days of Planet Harry's, spotting that it was by Gazerpress, a local RPG shop here in Vienna that I had been on the lookout for. It got brought home and admired but not brought to table until I met the writer at the recent Indie RPG Con which prompted me to pick it up again with a focus on bring it to play - and reading at the level of detail a review requires. I liked it on first impression and after reading it in detail, that has changed to I like it a lot.
Looks wise this is a gorgeous chunky A5 hardback, distinctive black-and-orange, two ribbons, black and white watercolour art by Marianne Musek throughout plus maps by Markus Schauta. Within the text is all double column per page, overall the layout and artwork are great, giving us a clean, clear, uncluttered book. Statted up for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, relatively light mechanical ties throughout mean you can easily adjust to whatever your system of choice is.
So what is do you get in the book?
Introduction 33 pages on Alexandria circa 1632
The Adventures 62 pages with five adventures
The Dungeon 81 pages on the catacombs beneath Alexandria
Appendices 23 pages of factions, rumours, encounters and items
So what is in here chunk by chunk?
I grabbed this in the last days of Planet Harry's, spotting that it was by Gazerpress, a local RPG shop here in Vienna that I had been on the lookout for. It got brought home and admired but not brought to table until I met the writer at the recent Indie RPG Con which prompted me to pick it up again with a focus on bring it to play - and reading at the level of detail a review requires. I liked it on first impression and after reading it in detail, that has changed to I like it a lot.
Looks wise this is a gorgeous chunky A5 hardback, distinctive black-and-orange, two ribbons, black and white watercolour art by Marianne Musek throughout plus maps by Markus Schauta. Within the text is all double column per page, overall the layout and artwork are great, giving us a clean, clear, uncluttered book. Statted up for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, relatively light mechanical ties throughout mean you can easily adjust to whatever your system of choice is.
So what is do you get in the book?
Introduction 33 pages on Alexandria circa 1632
The Adventures 62 pages with five adventures
The Dungeon 81 pages on the catacombs beneath Alexandria
Appendices 23 pages of factions, rumours, encounters and items
So what is in here chunk by chunk?
01 October 2025
Actual Test: Murkmail Mixed Hexes Technique
Murkmail had a cool idea for hex/sub-hex encounter tables - Mixing hexcrawl encounter tables and I gave it a spin as part of Hexcrawl25.
I used it in a case where I had three influences in play - a chaos cult of shaven-headed snatchers who had been kidnapping locals and travellers, the local raccoon population and the beasts of the forest.
There was some adjustment required because the Hexcrawl25 set-up I am using is pointy side up and Murkmail uses flat side up but I was able to muscle through that and fit the cultists (yellow), raccoons (blue) and forest beasts (pink) into the format.
Splitting down the 19 sub-hexes into 7/7/5 was helpful as a concentrator - I was able to use my 'five things a faction is doing' for both the raccoons and the cult - then throw in a few points of mutual interference. After that the forest beasts and provided opportunity to showcase terrain hazards and then throw in some monsters too. I had an existing general monsters encounters list that was usually getting superseded by hex-specific encounters, this provided a good opportunity to refocus on that.
Re-written into Murkmails format
I used it in a case where I had three influences in play - a chaos cult of shaven-headed snatchers who had been kidnapping locals and travellers, the local raccoon population and the beasts of the forest.
There was some adjustment required because the Hexcrawl25 set-up I am using is pointy side up and Murkmail uses flat side up but I was able to muscle through that and fit the cultists (yellow), raccoons (blue) and forest beasts (pink) into the format.
Splitting down the 19 sub-hexes into 7/7/5 was helpful as a concentrator - I was able to use my 'five things a faction is doing' for both the raccoons and the cult - then throw in a few points of mutual interference. After that the forest beasts and provided opportunity to showcase terrain hazards and then throw in some monsters too. I had an existing general monsters encounters list that was usually getting superseded by hex-specific encounters, this provided a good opportunity to refocus on that.
Re-written into Murkmails format
29 September 2025
Shiny TTRPG links #244
Shiny links from about the internet. For more, see last weeks collection found here or on the weekly r/OSR blogroll or check the RPG Blog Carnival. Originally inspired by weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links.
I Cast Light! asks WHY MEGADUNGEONS? A Campaign Structure for Modern Lives
Patchwork Paladin gives us How to Read Blogs
Elven Enchantress writes Folkloristics of Playing RPGs
Grinning Rat shares 100 Ways to Improve Your GMing
Verdant Core provides a design for a Lectern Book
Sly Flourish proposes Use Agnostic Tools
Crow’s Corner shares Table-Tested Review of "Cyberpunk Red"
Son of Sun Tzu blog gives us Lessons From Running a Hybrid Megagame
5th Dimensional Tavern writes Warlock and the allure of complexity
Trick's Tales gives us I published a game (and have cool friends)
Dozens and Dragons shares Diplomacy in FKR and open-strategy matrix games
Hill Cantons gives us Oiorpata and Battle Barge Contest
Patchwork Paladin writes Stop with all the rolling already
Hobloglin gives us Sunday School DM
ars ludi shares The Star-Pattern: a Pitfall of GMing
dungeon doll gives us A Small Combat Matrix
Blog of Forlorn Encystment shares Advanced Diseases and Diagnoses
Leicester's Ramble gives us Create
Bundle of Holding offers discounted Weird Wizard
I Cast Light! asks WHY MEGADUNGEONS? A Campaign Structure for Modern Lives
Patchwork Paladin gives us How to Read Blogs
Elven Enchantress writes Folkloristics of Playing RPGs
Grinning Rat shares 100 Ways to Improve Your GMing
Verdant Core provides a design for a Lectern Book
Sly Flourish proposes Use Agnostic Tools
Crow’s Corner shares Table-Tested Review of "Cyberpunk Red"
Son of Sun Tzu blog gives us Lessons From Running a Hybrid Megagame
5th Dimensional Tavern writes Warlock and the allure of complexity
Trick's Tales gives us I published a game (and have cool friends)
Dozens and Dragons shares Diplomacy in FKR and open-strategy matrix games
Hill Cantons gives us Oiorpata and Battle Barge Contest
Patchwork Paladin writes Stop with all the rolling already
Hobloglin gives us Sunday School DM
ars ludi shares The Star-Pattern: a Pitfall of GMing
dungeon doll gives us A Small Combat Matrix
Blog of Forlorn Encystment shares Advanced Diseases and Diagnoses
Leicester's Ramble gives us Create
Bundle of Holding offers discounted Weird Wizard
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