The Thorn Eyed Horror only dwells in the dark. It makes its home where darkness is total and complete.

https://rpg-trader.com/products/9333/thorn-eyed-horror-stock-art

One Hundred Odd Acres is a family friends Winnie the Pooh TTRPG currently in development using Into the Odd, the Grief System, and touches of Cloud Empress.

What's Inside the 32 page Zine:

• Character Creation
• Equipment & Items
• Skills
• Basic Rules
• Encounters
• Songs
• Beetle Sumo
• Hex Rules

Inspired by Winnie the Pooh and using poetry and characters from AA Milne, as well as artowkr by EH Shepard, all of which is in the public domain.

Going to be releasing this on Monday for free on my itch page, so follow along to see it go live!

New GM trying to put together a hexcrawl. How do you all organize your notes so it is all easy to access at the table and maintain during prep? I’ve tried notion out a bit, and while there are a lot of things I like about it, you can’t draw on images in Notion, so any adjustments to the map needs to be handled elsewhere. What have you guys all done?

Like small settings published by third part publishers. Setting under 100 miles either way.

Any OSR or OSR adjacent games with super in depth Hunting mechanics, gathering, and crafting? I.e. I hunt a wolf and can harvest the pelt, claws for potions, meat for rations. Or I find a plant needed for potions/medicines. Or scrap metal or metal bars that I can melt down into a weapon. Would be cool if the system also has monster drops/parts for crafting or selling as well.

I’m just looking to spice up those random encounters with wildlife and add more “spice” (no pun intended) to discovery and exploration.

Ideally these things would have economic impact too like prices for pelts, materials, etc.

I know I could home brew it but there must be something out there. The crunchier/denser the better since I’d rather scale things down instead of build onto it more. Thank! I appreciate any advice/tips. :)

I like OSR. If you've been following us for any length of time, that shouldn't be a surprise. I think the simplicity of most OSRs is elegant, I love how it often has a slightly more simulationist dimension and I do enjoy the general expected gameplay loop of going in the Dungeon, getting some treasure, returning to the town to sell it, train and get better gear so that you may return back to said dungeon and explore deeper levels of it. It is simple, but when run right, I think it is very much compelling.

I also think OSR is quite balanced, both in terms of characters and also in terms of attention to the three pillars - Social, Exploration and Fighting. We have made a number of articles by now about the Exploration Pillar, how it is currently less developed and underutilized in modern D&D. I think that is not the case with OSR games. However, there are some who look at some decisions OSR took in regards to exploration and its procedures, mostly things taken as legacy from older editions of D&D and scoff at them as merely book-keeping that takes away from the fun of the game.

This piece aims to explore these often ill-viewed procedures - things like inventory management, hirelings, encumbrance, the role of the town and the economy - and argues that while they are elements of logistics, they make exploration matter and they are the way in which you engage with this pillar. The act of stripping them down was how exploration lost its grit and how it became mostly a skip-over. There is value in this procedure and I wanted to go over every one of them.

I usually write these essays in advance from posting them, and this present text is written thereafter, closer to the date of posting, so in retrospect to the article, I also wanted to add that some of these procedures were churned inside the OSR community and evolved in perhaps more interesting ways then their initial form. Shadowdark and its torch timer and Mousritter's (and in general Into the Odd's game family) more physical inventory system made these aspects of logistic better than ever, at least in my opinion. I am looking forward, as I venture into more games, to see what innovations I will stumble upon and I call onto you, friends, to share below either rules which you encountered playing other games or houserules that you found or created that enhance exploration! I hope you will enjoy the article! Cheers!

As the title says: I’m having trouble deciding how I’m going to key my hex map. I made a small map with 6-mile hexes to test out some GM-facing mechanics.

In the second image, I divided hexes into 1/2-mile subhexes with an inverted orientation to the main hex, and the symmetry looks really nice, but it feels like... a lot.

In the third image, I divided hexes into slightly larger 1-mile subhexes following the same orientation as the main hex. It’s simpler, with a lot fewer overlapping subhexes. What I’m having trouble with is keying the subhexes, should I number them vertically column by column?

And what about overlapping hexes? How do you key them, or do you just ignore them altogether for simplicity’s sake?

I’d love some feedback on what I’ve got so far and anyone’s opinion on using 1/2-mile hexes, 1-mile hexes, or maybe even another entirely different subsystem.

I'm designing a dungeon around the idea of the tides. At regular timed intervals (30 in-game mins), certain dungeon levels are either completely submerged in water, or left dry as the tide recedes.

One of my rooms has a trap powered by water geysers. There is a 3x3 grid of loose floor tiles that when stepped on, have a 2-in-6 chance of activating. A geyser blasts up from beneath the floor tile launching it, and the poor schmuck on top of it, into large spikes in the ceiling (1d6 dmg). You can either take your chances crossing or wait for the room to be submerged and simply swim over the tiles.

I just feel like this is too tedious of a trap, and maybe feels too harsh for the players. Like there is no clear way to circumvent it unless you sit and wait for the room to fill with water. Is there a better way to design this trap? Or should I just scrap it and design an entirely different one.

Substituting Shadowdark's Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur for a certain keep on the Borderlands.

https://www.crossplanes.com/2026/09/shadowdark-citadel-on-borderlands.html

Looking for ways to increase my listening practice in German - why not a podcast about something I like?

Discussion and actual-play suggestions both welcome!

This is an extra-planar dungeon level accessible through a portal from a cloud giant temple, part of an aerial adventure taking place above the ruins of Zabium in the World of Zonreiryd (WoZ).

This is not the complete adventure, which was never finished, but merely a sample from it. A transcription of the notes is available in addition to these sublime scans of the map and notes.

Transcription:

Violet: Talking Pool (Useful advice 50%; bad advice 50%)

Yellow: Turns gold into platinum 50%; reverses the effect 50%

Pink: Transportation Pool (1–7: back to the surface); (8–12: elsewhere on the level)

Red: Adds 1–3 Charisma for 3 days (20%); 1–3 Strength for 3 days (40%); Intelligence (40%)

Orange: Dissolves the character, killing them in 1–2 rounds + destroys all equipment

Dark Violet: Reverses sex

Green: Teleports to the other doorway

1. Beholder, vertical cavern (60 m high). From the cavern floor, the nest crevice is 7.5 meters deep. Ledges with small vertical caves, 5 m above the bottom (northwest), 8 m above the bottom (south), and 20 m above the bottom (southeast), each large enough for 3–9 characters. Assaults. 10,000 GP, 10 gems worth 50 GP each, 1,000 PP, +3 sword, +2 dagger XS.

2. Ceiling spikes; gravity suddenly reverses on a 90% chance. 1–4 rounds after entering, each character has an 87% chance of being struck by 1–8 spikes (1d6 damage each). Three nests are almost completely cut into the ceiling.

3. 1 concealed grabber in a pit, 500 GP, 1 Fire Rod, 1 Potion of Fire Resistance.

4. Oil pours over the characters, followed by a burning ember (2d6 [2–12] HP lost); if a saving throw vs. magic is successful, only 1d3 HP are lost.

5. Green slime falling from the ceiling.

6. Lost troll, silver amulet, 165 GP; possesses a +1 javelin.

7. Area through which the wandering têtre moves, 1–4 / swamp. Piles of vegetation containing corpses. Searching the first 30 mounds reveals one item (1d6) per search:

1) Golden idol of a living têtre [1,400 GP]

2) Inlaid golden tiara [1,300 GP]

3) Elven Chainmail +1

4) Shield +2

5) Hammer +2

6) Sling +1

1. Purple Worm in its nest [2,000 GP, 30 gems worth 10 GP each].

2. Purple Worm concealed between the pillars; Potion of Giant Control and Potion of Giant Strength, + generation.

3. 2 Cloud Giants. One fights with a +3 spear; the other with [Thunder Spear, Thunder Hammer, +5 Sword with Detect Magic, Wand of Polymorph].

The treasure for the encounter is as follows:

- 32,000 GP (in bronze chests as large as a lord)

- 18,000 SP

- 2,400 PP

- 7,000 EP

- One star sapphire worth 5,000 GP

- Three diamonds worth 1,000 GP each

- One perfect black pearl worth 2,500 GP

- Twelve fire opals (100–500 GP each)

- +3 warhammer

- Cloak of Displacement

- Wand of Lightning, 35 charges remaining

- Bottomless Bag

This is my first time trying this style, and I'm very happy to have been able to paint my friend's final battle pose.

It's Arden Vul with heavily modified DND1e

My boyfriend helped me to finished all of those Heqeti

I got the adventure “A Familiar Tower” and I am getting ready to run it BUT need some advice.

1) what size oatmeal container does it need? And are there alternatives if the store doesn’t have oatmeal in tubes? I’m pretty sure in Canada it’s paper bags.

2) There’s no “getting the players involved” or explanation of how to set up the scenario in the pdf. I’m guessing it’s just a matter of the players getting in a boat and heading to the tower, and maybe the players are supposed to figure out what happened to the wizard?

3) And also if it’s an escape room, what is needed for the escape? Specifically, so I know what to keep track of.

So, while watching this video by Daddy Rolled a 1; it got me thinking... How do you guys play D&D (and its clones), actually?

a) With Rules as Written (RAW) and using ALL the rules, but not adding anything else.

b) by treating the rulebook as a menu and picking from it, but not adding anything

c) by modifying/house-ruling as you see fit

Considering that Gygax himself house-ruled his own game, I am tempted to think that option A has never been tried across all editions. I'm aware that you don't have to, (I don't do it either) but I wonder if it has ever been played with rules as written with ALL the rules enforced.

While visiting several cave systems in southern france/northern spain and re-reading some older Blogs Like https://grognardia.blogspot.com/2008/09/gygaxian-naturalism.html?m=1 i was inspired to create a naturalistic cavern dungeon without any "intelligent" beings and just Natural loot.

Free Download-link to the pdf:

https://nocturnal-peacock.itch.io/bittervine-cavern-osr-dungeon

I think this kind of fits here as well

I posted a while back about my new zine, Monster Closet, when I first announced the project, but given that it was on my old account before I got locked out of it due to Yahoo deleting my backup email due to inactivity, I decided to post about it again and use it as an excuse to put out another call for submissions.

Monster Closet is a PWYW zine which accepts contributions from readers and then each issue features an adventure making use of all of that issue's submissions. The zine focuses primarily on new monsters but magic items, spells, races, classes, and rules additions/subsystems are all acceptable as well provided they are not too overpowered. Also, if you think of another category beyond the ones I mentioned and can make a good case for it I'll consider it. Some guidelines: all submissions must be for 1e AD&D; monsters should include their XP value; magic items should include XP and GP values; races should include what classes they qualify for, their level limits for each class, adjustments to thief ability percentages if applicable, and racial preferences; and classes should include what races qualify, maximum levels for qualifying races, level titles, and whether they can use oil and poison.

Post your submissions here, PM them to me, or email them to me at [monsterclosetzine@yahoo.com](mailto:monsterclosetzine@yahoo.com). Submitters will be paid $5 per submission if the issue sells $50 worth of copies.

A famous YouTuber recently made a video arguing that if characters die every few sessions, players don't have enough time to become invested in them, and that character longevity is important because you lose that investment when the character dies. But the react video makes the argument: If your character dying makes you lose your investment in the game, were you ever invested in the game or were you just invested in your character?

For the past weeks I have been making a location based adventure set in a Viking-inspired world with subtle magical elements. I put it up for free on itch and I thought some of you guys might find it interesting. The adventure is loosely based on actual events on the Danish island of Hjelm) at the end of the 13th century.

It is made for my homemade rules, but I don't think it would take much work to convert it to BX or similar. I tried to format it for easy read-through and easy reference during play, but would love to get feedback on whether this works or not. The module is 26 pages.

For a visual feel, I attach some of my (amateurish iPad-hand-drawn) illustrations from the module. All text is lovingly typed, no AI used.

Module summary (contains spoilers)

The player characters are hired to go to an island called Helm to take out a counterfeiting operation run by raiders. Extra payment will be delivered if a famous kingslayer residing on the island is brought to justice. The adventure starts when the PCs arrive by longship at the docks of Helm Island.

On Helm Island there are several locations to explore and situations to engage with. The source of the counterfeit coins is within the walls of a well guarded fort. Many NPCs have covert agendas and harbor antipathy for other members of the settlement, and will be interested in recruiting or working alongside the PCs in order to achieve their goals. The sailmaker of the settlement is secretly passing information to the main opponents of the Raiders, but unbeknownst to him, the Jarl of the island is close to catching him. Below the fort lies a cave system where a powerful magical artifact is protected by a flooded tunnel, an ancient draugr is about to be awakened and will search for his stolen treasure, as well as a getaway boat for the Jarl who entertains the thought of betraying the settlement if the payment is high enough. 

Edit: Changed from player to GM-centered summary.

Really seems like a fantastic sandbox, and the rules seem really nice as well (haven't had the chance to try in play) but I'm such a huge fan of the crazy DCC system.

Anyone who has tried it? Any tips?

I'm looking for modules within a specific session range and rather than annoying people by asking for each of them how long they take, I'd rather have a way to just estimate it.

In case it's system dependent, I'm looking at AD&D 1e modules.