"The Planeshifted Insectarium of St. Tindalonius" - One Page Dungeon 2020

Summary: The title is rather self-explanatory, this is my entry for the annual "One Page Dungeon" contest. Short description and a download link included below.

The Wandering Misfits, session #5 - "Prison of the Hated Pretender", part 1

Summary: An extremely belated session report of our game that happened two weeks ago. The party continued delving deeper inside the stone head, discovering things that led to an almost deadly encounter.

The Gygax 75 Challenge: Week #1

Summary: Thoughts and musings regarding my creative process during the first week of the challenge. The summary of bits that I found easy, the difficulty of wrangling certain parts of it and what I learned as an outcome of some pitfalls.

Just a note right at the beginning, I won’t include any of the material that I created during week numero uno, this is mostly just a rambling post about the actual process, not its result.

The Wandering Misfits, session #4 - "Into the Unknown"

Summary: Session report from the game we had last Monday. The party does some much needed shopping/prep before finally taking the first steps on their journey towards the Rosewater baths. Along the way, the serene, yet tedious, trip is interrupted by a storm and an unexpected discovery.

The Gygax 75 Challenge

Summary: A post in which I announce my quest to heed and utilize the words of the master in order to achieve greatness.

Player Assumptions: Kaleidoscope World-building, Chapter 1

Summary: First post delving into the player character assumptions and how I will incorporate those into the world of Kaleidoscope. A continual flux of work in progress fun.

The Wandering Misfits, session #3 - "Interlude"

Summary: Report from a mini-session that the Misfits had this previous Monday. Lots of in-game discussions and then a final decision regarding what to do next. A hook has been grasped.

Random Table: Location Tension

Summary: A random table featuring various unnerving things happening to your players whilst exploring a dungeon or forested area. Who needs wandering monster tables? Killing your players is so passé, just freak them out.

The Wandering Misfits, session #2 - "The Trail of Stone and Sorrow", part 2

Summary: Session report and wrap-up of “The Trail of Stone and Sorrow” module by Z. Kowolski, as the group is slowly creeping up into uncharted territory beyond the adventure. Includes a review of the adventure, as well as post-game musings and thoughts. Spoilers abound.

Monster: Memory Eater

Summary: A monster entry inspired by its cool-sounding name and my enjoyment of writing lengthy random tables. Further animated by elements of the fair folk, dreams and spirits.

The Wandering Misfits, sessions #0 and #1 - "The Trail of Stone and Sorrow", part 1

Summary: Session report of a B/X game that I started running online for several of my co-workers. It’s an experiment all around, trying out some homebrew things while also tackling the challenge of finally storytelling a game in English. In case you have not played “The Trail of Stone and Sorrow”, then beware, spoilers abound.

Random Table: Strange starting items and how you got them

Summary: A random table featuring thirty peculiar items to be given to characters during creation, as well as a list of ways the characters may have acquired the said items. Weirdness abound.

Character Class: Witch

Summary: A custom character class for B/X D&D, Lamentations of the Flame Princess or any other  similar retroclone/OSR-adjacent system. There are a few other Witch classes out there, but for some reason none of them were to my complete liking, thus I resorted to brewing my own. Mostly inspired by medieval witchcraft and various similar "dark" arts of Europe.

God's Chosen Bastards, session #2 - "Forgive Us"

Summary: Second and last session report for God’s Chosen Bastards storyline. Great module stained by a bad session, but still turning out good for what I needed it for. Review of the "Forgive Us" module included, so spoilers abound, and a hint at what the next post will most likely be about.

The Garden of Hanging Faces

Summary: A short story set in a work-in-progress setting called Amasia, inspired by neoclassic, symbolist and similarly romantic paintings from the western art movements. The story will probably be shaped into a properly mapped, playable location. Many elements of the story are left vague and without explanation or context, in order to be further explored in future pieces.

God's Chosen Bastards, session #1 - "Tales of the Scarecrow"

Summary: A report from the first session of "God's Chosen Bastards", yet another storyline set in my Quassus setting. A two player session running for almost five hours using the rules and module from Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Again, this post also includes post-game musings, a small homage to Dungeon Crawl Classics and a brief review of "Tales of the Scarecrow", so spoilers abound.

Secret Jackalope 2020 - Table of Lost Races

Summary: My entry for the Secret Jackalope 2020 community event over on the OSR Discord. The request in question was as follows:

"A random generator of "lost races": origin, features, technology/magic/artifacts, vice, reason of disappearance/decline, how many of them remains and in what form? Maybe put this on a d6 (or d10) table, with a column for each detail. Pulp, early science fantasy style."

- by evil scientist of Eldritch Fields

Weavers of Fate, session #1 - "Tower of the Stargazer"

Summary: A rather short report from the first session of my "Weavers of Fate" game set in the Quassus setting. A three player game that ran for a handful of hours. Post also includes some post-game thoughts about "Tower of the Stargazer", what I thought were the positives and how to make the most of it.

Historical background: Psoglav

Summary: Follow-up to the previous post about the Psoglav, here I take a look at the historical origin stories of the monster and getting an overview of what exactly inspired such a creature.

Monster: Psoglav

Summary: A monster entry inspired by a creature from Serbian mythology. This post includes background information and stats for the dreaded Psoglav tailored for my Quassus setting, as well as some ideas on how to use it as a random encounter, thoughts on how to create hex tiles around it and a small rumor table.

...and an introduction to "Weavers of Fate"

Summary: The second part of the introduction to the Quassus setting. This is a slightly more zoomed-in perspective on the story, showcasing how the previously mentioned events around the Despotate have been perceived by the player characters. These passages marked the beginning of the game session and it was extremely satisfying that this spoken prelude hooked the players so hard into the setting, it felt to me that they went into it with a ton of zeal.

Welcome to the shattering...

Summary: The first (zoomed out) introduction post to the setting I'm working on and the initial words spoken to my players during a one-shot game that I ran some weeks ago. Eventually known as Quassus, this is a continual work-in-progress, a setting based on an alternative history of Medieval Serbia. 

Stay a while and listen

You might consider me a relatively new creature on the online (OSR) RPG scene, so a short introduction of yours truly is required.

I'm an IT guy from Serbia. Been heavily into collecting/playing RPG's for more than 20 years, ever since I laid my eyes on a copy of the Monstrous Manual for AD&D, 2nd Edition back in 1998. I was the first to pick up the GM mantle in my initial gaming group and have been the dedicated Game Master ever since, rare are the occasions when I get a chance to actually play.

I've always been in love with old-school D&D, quite possibly because I'm a sucker for nostalgia, and the OSR movement fans these flames for me very well. In those regards, I mostly use Lamentations of the Flame Princess and B/X D&D.

Some non-fantasy favorites: literally anything released by White Wolf Publishing, Kult, Cyberpunk 2020, Call of Cthulhu, Mutant Crawl Classics.

Without any concrete plan moving forward, this blog will feature OSR content first and foremost. Topics most likely encountered here will be:

- world building and hexcrawl content

- lore about various settings

- custom/modified classes/spells/mechanics (to a far lesser degree than the stuff already mentioned above)
- game session reports
- content outside of the OSR spectrum
- other assorted randomness which may or may not be strictly RPG related
- tons of old art which I find aesthetically pleasing and inspirational

Outside of RPG's, I'm into board/card/video games, hardcore punk, black metal and not eating animals.

Thanks for reading, I hope that you will enjoy your time here and maybe even discover something useful along the way!

...gridando: / ...crying:

"Dante, Virgil and Cato of Utica" by Gustave Doré

“Guai a voi, anime prave!

Non isperate mai veder lo cielo:

i' vegno per menarvi a l'altra riva

ne le tenebre etterne, in caldo e 'n gelo..."

"Woe unto you, ye souls depraved!

Hope nevermore to look upon the heavens;

I come to lead you to the other shore,

To the eternal shades and frost..."

"Divine Comedy"; Inferno, Canto III
by Dante Alighieri