Here are a Hundred ideas for tying some Magical Effects to your Ropes, Restraints, Cables, and Cordage of all kinds. Sometimes the even most mundane piece of Equipment deserves a little dressing up 😊
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
d100 - Five Hundred Names for Dolmenwood Games
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
d100 - Wilderness Landmarks & d100 Overland Discoveries
Here are a few tables I have been working on that reached a point where I wanted to share their initial stages. Someday this list will likely meander its way to a thousand or some other ridiculous number, but until then, I decided to get these posted so I can move onto a few other tempting tables that are vying for my attention.
Wilderness Exploration is my favorite Tier of Play, so I try to sprinkle in some Landmarks or Features throughout. These Landmarks/Discoveries are useful for orientation and can make any mapping during Wilderness Adventuring (mental or otherwise) much easier. They can also make Overland Journeys more memorable by injecting Choice, a bit of Mystery, or even just some simple embellishment applied to the Shared Imagined Space that constitutes a Campsite or a place the Players decide their Characters need to Rest.
Landmarks/Discoveries are simply a mostly static feature within a Hex relative to another Feature/Encounter. These could easily work in conjunction with Hazards, Resources, or even Monster Lairs/Entrances to Site Based Adventures (the other categories I tend to create when stocking a map) or simply serve as Decorative Waypoints during Journeys. It stands to reason that within a given Hex (especially within the ubiquitous six-mile), there would likely be several of these memorable features, but sometimes a Referee might find themselves at a loss for something specific. Here are two hundred to hopefully help with that process.
Thursday, September 22, 2022
d100 - Magical Hats & Helms
Another Random Table in my Series of Magic Items, this one focuses on Magical Helms, Hats, and other Assorted Headgear. It was a little tricky to try and insure that they could apply to all sorts of Head Coverings!
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
d100 - What's At The Bottom Of This Pit?
Decided to go ahead and round out this particular Table that has been lingering on my list for a spell. Sometimes those Pitfalls and Pit Traps don’t really receive much more attention than a Saving Throw after all.
See also: One Hundred Clues & Tells for the Tersely Detailed Trap, and I often find myself sometimes sprinkling a bit of Random Impedimenta down there as well.
Monday, September 19, 2022
d100 - Potential Spell Recharge Conditions
Here’s a quick d100 table I put together of some potential Mausritter-style Recharge Conditions to the GLOG spells that have been lovingly rendered for Cairn here. These sorts of requirements could come into play with each casting or on doubles or triples (like conventional GLOG Mishaps/Dooms) or after three "charges" are exhasuted (how Mausritter handles them).
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
d100 - Instigative Scenery & Interactive Décor
Sometimes when I’m stocking a Dungeon room or Indoor Encounter Area, I like to woolgather a bit about what might make an Encounter that takes place in this area more interesting or exciting. My rooms are seldom swept-bare or sparse affairs, but I’ve found it incredibly productive to sprinkle in some more proactive and even downright tempting descriptions into my set dressing from time to time. The way I see it, Adventurers are canny/competent folks and would always have an eye out for any kind of advantage they could eke out of the mise en scène, so to help get those ingenious juices flowing, I’ll sometimes embellish props with little hints like this. Just a suspicious soupçon here and there is sometimes all it takes to get that mindset established, and then the players end up embracing the frangibility in the fiction and start striving to exploit their surroundings.
These casual clues can sometimes make for much more dynamic and unpredictable combats but be fully forewarned that some Referee Rulings might be necessary to adjudicate these. When in doubt, I tend to clarify the actions the players are taking and ask questions about their goals and intensions to close any gaps, but sometimes a little bit of random chance can make a cunning plan or novel approach that much more exciting and engaging. Repurposing an X-in-6 or Reaction Roll can always work in a pinch, but even if it fails, the players have altered the environment in some significant way generally, and that can further inform the situation in intriguing ways.
Naturally, this sort of thing could be considered fair game for foes as well, but as with any potential Hazard or Trap, I find they tend to work a bit better when adequately telegraphed rather than sprung on the utterly unsuspecting. Sometimes this even leads to a race to see which side gets to avail themselves of the fight-shifting feature first.
Search
Labels
Blog Archive
-
▼
2026
(13)
- ► September 2026 (2)
- ► April 2026 (2)
- ► March 2026 (1)
- ► February 2026 (2)
- ► January 2026 (3)
-
►
2025
(47)
- ► December 2025 (6)
- ► November 2025 (1)
- ► October 2025 (6)
- ► August 2025 (1)
- ► April 2025 (1)
- ► February 2025 (10)
- ► January 2025 (14)
-
►
2024
(26)
- ► December 2024 (10)
- ► November 2024 (4)
- ► October 2024 (2)
- ► September 2024 (1)
- ► August 2024 (1)
- ► March 2024 (3)
- ► February 2024 (1)
- ► January 2024 (2)
-
►
2023
(34)
- ► December 2023 (5)
- ► November 2023 (4)
- ► October 2023 (1)
- ► August 2023 (4)
- ► April 2023 (3)
- ► March 2023 (5)
- ► February 2023 (4)
-
►
2022
(46)
- ► October 2022 (2)
- ► September 2022 (3)
- ► August 2022 (1)
- ► April 2022 (8)
- ► March 2022 (11)
- ► February 2022 (1)
- ► January 2022 (2)
-
►
2021
(17)
- ► December 2021 (4)
- ► November 2021 (1)
- ► March 2021 (3)
- ► February 2021 (2)
- ► January 2021 (2)
-
►
2020
(141)
- ► December 2020 (1)
- ► November 2020 (2)
- ► October 2020 (5)
- ► September 2020 (2)
- ► April 2020 (27)
- ► March 2020 (27)
- ► February 2020 (29)
- ► January 2020 (4)
-
►
2019
(31)
- ► November 2019 (1)
- ► August 2019 (1)
- ► April 2019 (9)
-
►
2018
(12)
- ► November 2018 (2)
- ► October 2018 (1)
- ► September 2018 (1)
- ► March 2018 (2)
- ► February 2018 (5)
-
►
2017
(1)
- ► April 2017 (1)
-
►
2015
(24)
- ► September 2015 (8)
- ► March 2015 (4)
- ► February 2015 (1)
- ► January 2015 (11)
-
►
2013
(5)
- ► December 2013 (3)
- ► November 2013 (1)
-
►
2012
(2)
- ► October 2012 (2)
-
►
2009
(2)
- ► February 2009 (2)
-
►
2008
(18)
- ► April 2008 (1)
- ► March 2008 (7)
- ► January 2008 (1)
-
►
2007
(6)
- ► December 2007 (1)
- ► November 2007 (1)
- ► October 2007 (3)
- ► January 2007 (1)






