I Wrote a Things

Some of my other posts have added a completely new element to a game that facilitates play in a whole new genre, this post is not one of those. It’s more a collection of cool things to use in games, specifically a collection of magical books and journals. I hope you enjoy reading about them, and if you use one in a game, have a question about one, or for whatever other reason want to make your voice heard feel free to comment. A Book to be Read by All Any words written in this blank book may be read by any being who can read any language with the words appearing to them in their preferred language. Autonomous Journal When the name of a person is signed in blood by their own hand in this journal it begins to automatically record their actions in detail. The book will automatically write down, in third person and in the preferred language of its subject, every action the subject takes, even actions the subject is unaware they are taking (for instance while they are drugged or ...

Hey! I haven't updated this in a while and that's generally the fault of Savage Worlds Adventure Edition becoming my new shiny game, as none of the stuff I wrote for it felt easily shareable. I don't plan to have a schedule or anything, at least not as of yet, but I'm gonna publish some more stuff here pretty soon. Thanks a ton to anyone who has read or will read anything I publish here!

In the last session of my urban-fantasy Scarlet Heroes game the player characters introduced several NPC’s to the supernatural for the first time and I realized I was ill-equipped to play that out. Introducing a character to the paranormal can be a really cool scene and it can lead to some compelling consequences and challenges, but it’s also hard to do on the fly. Part of the intrigue inherent to pulling back the curtain, so to speak, is that different people will react in very different ways. This makes for a diverse range of possible consequences as well as a way to reveal more about a character through their actions. However, this diversity also makes it hard to discern reactions on the fly, especially for characters that have just recently been introduced. Characters having to explain things on the fly to an innocent bystander endangered by the monster they’re hunting is really cool, but thinking up how the bystander reacts to this information off the top of your head is really d...

Recently I've been running and enjoying a lot of  Scarlet Heroes  by Kevin Crawford. The game is built specifically for one GM one PC games, specifically OSR style fantasy gaming. However I've found it also works with 2 PCs better than any other game I've tried and I've had a ton of fun running modern espionage games with it. In fact the games focus on a single Hyper-Competent PC makes it a natural fit for emulating spy fiction. In which focusing on a single protagonist is not only cool as hell but also emphasizes the questions of trust and loyalty that are explored within. Therefore I'd like to provide you with the tools I've created to run modern, and especially espionage, games using Scarlet Heroes. To start with we're discussing a staple of modern action fiction: guns. These rules for Firearms evoke action movie gunfights. Ammo runs out quickly forcing characters to get creative and actions evoking classic tropes like dual wielding pistols and rushing ...

I want more games to add mechanics that deal with characters comfort. Things like food, bedding, hygiene, etc. In so many games characters function identically when eating hardtack and sleeping In a dungeon as they do sleeping in warm beds and eating lavish meals; even while the game provides detailed prices for different inns and meals. In real life I can distinctly remember days when working on an empty stomach or bad nights sleep made every task seem a degree of magnitude harder. Likewise I can remember bad days turned good by a nice meal or a hot shower. Furthermore, the comfort of characters is often brought up in the fiction that inspires many RPGs. Scenes of feasts, descriptions of homes and bedrooms and monologues emphasizing characters tiredness, hunger or thirst are littered throughout the literature that makes up appendix N and beyond. It's no accident either, comfort and the lack thereof are experiences everyone shares and understands viscerally. Therefore they're a...

Stay Frosty  is smart, fun and cool game about space marines straight out of 80's movies and 90's first person shooters made by (full disclosure my personal friend) Casey Garske. A while ago I made a short expansion to the game, adding new MOS's and more gear to the game, so now I'm posting it here. Stay Frosty 1 Page Expansion

1d4 Practice Belief 1 Villagers cultivate seemingly useless white vines to encircle trees that grow near their homes. This is especially common with useful trees, such as those that bear fruit shade or lumber. The vines occur naturally and may be found growing wildly or spreading out from where villagers grew them. Villagers believe these pure white vines ward the tree from disease.In actuality the vines leech off the trees energy to survive without need for sunlight (something villagers may attribute to magic powers possessed by the plant). Even if this is mere superstition the vines may catch diseases before the trees thus serving as an early warning. 2 Privileged and wealthy people have an unrelated child sleep in the same room as them. This may be a servant's child or the child of a less fortunate family who are paid for the service. Having a child nearby supposedly keeps one from having nightmares. The idea is that nightmares are more attracted to the in...