Retirement, Redemption, or Ruin: What Happens After the Game?
Long-Term Character Arcs in Zoo Mafia In a world where animals walk, talk, and deal in back-alley peanut deals, Zoo Mafia offers more than just heists and speakeasies—it offers legacy. What happens when your crew’s marker meter is low, the rival bosses are either buried or...
In the Shadow of the Veil: Using the Aethernati in Your TTRPG Campaign
Working With, For, and Against Aether Skies’ Most Dangerous Organization The floating cities of Aether Skies may soar above the cursed world, but they're held aloft by more than just Aether coils and dreamtech—they’re kept safe by silence, secrets, and the unblinking eyes of the Aethernati. Part...
Shifting Flesh and Altered Forms: How to Transform Your D&D Character’s Body
From claws and wings to shadow-skin and monstrous might—build the form that matches the fantasy [caption id="attachment_54364" align="alignright" width="300"] When it comes to the magic power of words this merfolk knows what I'm talking about. [Art by Howard Lyon][/caption] One of the coolest parts of Dungeons &...
The Bulette Reforged: Unleashing Elemental Terror Beneath the Earth
Because sometimes, a land shark just isn’t terrifying enough… The bulette—often called the “landshark”—has been a part of D&D monster lore since the early days. It's a burrowing brute, all armored plates, snapping jaws, and raw subterranean aggression. A classic low- to mid-level menace, sure—but let’s...
Smoke, Grind, and Grit: Designing Grind-Powered Vehicles for Under the Dome
“Tires are for cowards. Real engines scream when they drink grind.”—Rassa Coilbite, skiffwright of the Slag Market The wastelands outside the dome cities are hostile, irradiated with chaos storms, crawling with monsters, and pocked by sinkholes, living fungus, and bone-sanded dunes. On foot? You're prey.On a...
The Ice Queen Cometh: Turning Disney’s Frozen Into a D&D Adventure
An unexpected castle, a cursed storm, and a world on the brink of being frozen solid… Okay, we know—it’s a little cheesy. But take off the mouse ears and squint a little, and Disney’s Frozen is one heck of a campaign hook. A sudden, supernatural winter....
Crime Ecology in Zoo Mafia: What Happens When a Mob Boss Falls?
In Zoo Mafia, the game is built on shifting power, fragile alliances, and the looming threat that nothing — and no one — is permanent. The jungle may have its laws, but Furton City has its own: survival, loyalty, and territory. And in a setting...
Making Your Ship a Character: Living Skyships in TTRPGs
Designing Vessels with Souls, Secrets, and Stories In Aether Skies, the ship isn’t just where your characters sleep. It’s a crew member, a home, a secret-keeper, and sometimes a goddamn mystery. Whether it’s cobbled together from driftwood and dream-forged hull plates or powered by an unstable...
Beyond the Lute: 8 Real-World Instruments That Belong in Your D&D Game
Expanding Your Bard’s Toolkit—One Exotic Sound at a Time Let’s be honest—the instrument list in the Player’s Handbook is… fine. Lute, pan flute, horn. Serviceable. But Dungeons & Dragons is a game of infinite worlds, strange cultures, and magical invention—so why are we stuck with the...
Chronicles from Beneath: Natural Disasters & World-Altering Events Under the Dom
"You don't live under the Dome—you survive it."—Common saying in Crystalia’s Outer Warrens The lands under the Dome are not defined by calm days or gentle nights. They are shaped, scarred, and reborn through catastrophic upheaval. The truly terrifying truth? These disasters are not rare. They...