probably going to last for about two weeks
(the post is written on August 13, 2026 and backposted to June 10, 2026 partially because I wish to fill up some gaps in the timeline and partially because it is a piece of in-world text as given by unreliable narrator (instead of something detached and useful) and is likely not very interesting to read as such) “One of the greatest shackles ever put on mortals was not, formally, a curse. No…
I dreamt a piece of the world. A setting for a certain second dream which is nested into this place like a hidden jewel, somewhere. While it is still somewhat fresh in my mind I wish to make notes of this world here; sadly I don't yet have a time to paint any map. The text is plain and kind of haphazard. I want to record everything as close to the dream as possible, even if it leaves places and…
This is uncharacteristic post because I don't usually speak about the culture (for the lack of the better word) surrounding TTRPGs blogs, but this situation personally peeved me enough that I wish to speak about it. (also, as it is a personal peeve, I wish to specify that this is not a take-down in any shape, colour or form on Bloggies themselves, nor on a person(s) who runs them, nor on any…
(this post is written on December 31, 2025 but backposted into December 17, 2025) picture by Dylan Mirales There is nothing more to magic than to be a scar in the world. A mage is a gap not fully closed, a wound not fully healed, plastered over with thin film of human skin, but under it all are raw cracks and broken connections, physics re-grown wrong, nature gone septic, poetry cluttered in…
(this post was written on December 8, 2025, but backposted to November 8, 2025) In certain world to travel the wilderness quickly the traveller sacrifices to the demons, to the dead or to the dreams. art by Rovina Kai Either of these will do. Either of these will take the traveller and carry them through the pathways known only to the forsaken – safe and mostly sound until they arrive at their…
This is an homerule which became in in-world phenomenon. The homerule was initially for Inspiration, a mechanic from DnD 5th (2014) edition, which I liked as an idea but found to be either finicky, mercenary (i.e. role-playing not for the fun, story or artistry of it but for a 'profit' of Inspiration point), or tedious as an actual part of the game. Under Resonance rules any character can reroll…
In the sun-deprived kingdom of Melrose, between the Coast of Chains and eastern Butterfly Forest there is a grand manor, sitting all alone at the top of the hill overlooking long-abandoned village of Owlswell. The area was abandoned for about two decades now but the manor doesn't look that terribly worse for wear. Even if all its windows are barren from inside with heavy shutters, the walls are…
(just an idle thought) A fragment of recent Dan's post about books had stuck with me: "Regardless of the circumstances, I think that eventually, inevitably, people will come to understand the basics of the Weird Shit. Sure, we don’t know why the statue shits blood and snaps your neck if you blink, but we know that it shits blood and snaps your neck if you blink. We can work with that." from Throne…
Dream-realm of somebody older and vaster than humanity, unchanged even after the dreams of previous rulers of earth all but faded away. Place of infinite red skies, of dry lightning, of fragmented ruins not sized for human proportions or use, of monoliths wormed with vast caverns. Self-sufficient, unending, perhaps eternal. The anti-thesis to the endless fragile acceptance of the abyss . Oneiros…
(this post was written in July 2025 but backposted into February 2025 so the winter doesn't look quite so empty) To note: I am not speaking about worlds/settings here, only about maps and even more so about the grids over said maps. Most beautiful map can have a boring world, and sketch on a napkin could be for the most beautiful setting. * * * I both like and dislike hexes as a mapping grid. Here…
I had an idea a while ago to write an ideal spark table, for a thousand or maybe even ten thousands best, most imagination-stirring words that exist. Just put all my favourite words into one place, and let it inspire wonders. It never went anywhere and, as I think now, this approach had a mistake in its core. It was Dominic Bailey's article in 'Casket of Fays' #7 that made me to rethink the whole…
Iteration on City Dark proto-system , with big thanks to E. Steiner for the inspiration to revisit the previous proto-system, and "Disco Elysium" for creating a cool detective game without combat, something that previously was a fate of only some visual novels; additional thanks to "Esoteric Enterprises" by Emmy Allen for the grievous wounds effects and the idea of player's doppelganger (which…
So I didn't have an actual Lego set. I vaguely recall a set which was very much like Lego, but not called that, and didn't have any theme – just a bunch of various bricks and plates in blue, white, yellow, red, and possibly black, and a short manual with examples of what can be made out of these. So I rolled randomly on brickset.com until I got inspired. Unfortunately, the inspiration took a shape…
List of colours made by tweaking the names of existing colours or colour-related materials. They are tangentially dungeon related. Orphyry – light of the underworld. All torches and lamps in the underworld are tinted with orphyry, which is why they tend to self-relight after a while and then just as suddenly die again. Looking into orphyry too long gives prophetic visions but renders person unable…
Everybody who comes to the ivory labyrinth of Gheste comes with their hearts open. However harsh the life was before, however cynical or nihilistic a person might have been the godbox re-defines a mere human experience into an (arguably) divine one, just like it does with everything else. It doesn't necessary affects the personality, although many of newcomers do feel awaken or reborn to a various…
I chanced upon a preview of "Sandbox Generator" from Atelier Clandestin which is 11 pages of straight-to-terrain-generation procedures with examples. While I cannot say anything for the remaining 145 pages of the book (as I haven't bought it), the preview is easy to grasp and useful on its own, but what I didn't like that the generated terrain in the preview is only concerned with most common…
In the light of Gackling Moon getting ready for the book release I found some of the fanart I did for the inspirational moons of that strange land. Wasp Moon Sorrowful Moon Ruinous Moon Painted Moon New Moon Goblin Moon Forgotten Moon Fine Gackling Moon (to specify the obvious, I am not in any way affiliated with the project; these pictures were just for my own practice; they were supposed to be a…
"Was it Likely?" is a blog with very inspirational generators. I suggest to go and read the original posts, there are some amazing examples there made from the generators below and many others. With permission of the author I've made HTML generators for a few of them (specifically, "The Laws of All" , "Laws of the Land"/"Indoor Terrain/Laws of Places" , and a combination of " "Stabbing hearts"…
"Planescape" is going to be relaunched soon: tomorrow for those who pay for the privilege of DnD Beyond , in a week or two for the rest. Before it happens, and "Planeverse" replaces ADnD sourcebooks as a New and Shiny Thing in a common perception, I want to memorize my own understanding of the setting. So in a sense this article is somewhat of a personal memory knot. To me "Planescape" as a…
(this post is mostly a quote) Saw Socially Appropriate Noesis post by Liche's Libram and couldn't help but think that the list of things we consider "sane" that they present as an example of sanity, to quote in full: "• the world makes sense; • everything will work out in the end • bad people will be punished and the good will be rewarded • but if good people suffer there’s an unknown good reason…
(All this might be related to the same world) 1) Instead of level(s) being drained from a person, the drained level coalescence in a bubble creature who clumsily tries to run/fly away (how well maybe depending on how many levels got drained at once); if a drained person catches and eats it before 24h / next sunset had passed, they get their levels back. I imagine some adventuring anxiously asking…
(post for my own amusement) To me different DnD editions are also different ages of "typical fantasy world" relatively mapped on the traditionally-viewed historical development of what is considered to be / possible to be for Western civilization; this progression is considering both how different editions implemented certain rules and sub-systems, and on meta-level, with how general process…
Once upon a time playing a high-level fighter class in Pathfinder 1st edition, my character got paralysed for about 12 rounds. The party had two other damage dealers (a paladin and a rogue) so they handled the situation rather well but it meant that the cleric was busy enough not to have a round to spare to cast "Remove Paralysis" and I was stuck in that state until the end of the fight. In…
1) Thumb-sized heavy coin of light-grey metal with a rather lackluster sheen. Usually caged in a secondary ring of gold, steel or lead to make it safer to handle. Do not touch with bare skin. Do not ingest. Do not inhale. Stored in air-tight glass container when not in immediate use but might be found freely among other treasures, a mere oddity if its value is not suspected. One side of the coin…
These are the primary currencies in the Gheste, valued for their rarity and capability to affect the world. Bones: the foundation, the armature, the framework, the simplest of basics, the reduction of complexity, stalwart and unmovable core on which every other excess is built upon, the first arrival and the last remainder of multitudes that come and vanish as mere moments. Keeper of the longest…