Zoo Mafia: Flaws, Scars, and Secrets—Let ’Em Bleed
In Zoo Mafia, every bullet wound, busted tooth, and broken alias is more than just a bad roll—it’s fuel for the story. The best fights don’t just chew up hit points; they drag out the things your crew would rather keep buried. Combat isn’t just about...
Madness Is a Choice (and a Weapon) in Aether Skies and more
Letting Players Wield Corruption for Power in Aether Skies and D&D In most games, madness is treated as a punishment: fail your save, lose control, wander off muttering until someone drags you back. But in Aether Skies, where the skies themselves whisper and Aether burns brighter...
Barbarian: Path of the Warbeast
Fleshwarped Barbarians Bonded with Symbiotic Predators This is the first in a series of subclasses that I am working on for subclasses that use symbiotes. I made a blog post a while back about using symbiotes as Magic items. You can flavor anything as a symbiote,...
More fun with Fantastical Mounts with the Thornback Crawler
Among the twisted jungle vines and rotting ruins, there is the sound of a thousand legs clicking in unison. Not all predators slither or stalk—some skitter, and those are often the deadliest. The Thornback Crawler is one of the strangest and most unnerving creatures to ever...
Player-Driven Stakes & Street-Level Choices in Under the Dome
What matters most in the moment? Under the Dome, survival isn’t a puzzle with one right answer. It’s a dirty gamble where you never have enough hands for all the cards on the table. The ganger with intel is bolting down an alley, your crewmate is...
Optional Rules: Succeeding with Consequences in D&D
Dungeons & Dragons, at its core, has a fairly binary resolution mechanic. You roll a d20, add modifiers, and compare the result against a DC or AC. If you meet or beat the target, you succeed; if not, you fail. It’s a simple and elegant...
Use Your Animal, Use the Setting in Zoo Mafia
Here’s the secret sauce to making Zoo Mafia combat legendary: lean into the fur, feathers, tusks, and tails, and then set it loose in the madhouse that is the zoo. [caption id="attachment_89881" align="alignright" width="300"] The mob has just made a big score in tonight's session of...
Your City Shapes You in the floating lands of Aether Skies
How Your Skyborne Home Defines Who You Are in Aether Skies In the floating world of Aether Skies, the place you’re from isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a lens through which you see the world.The sky may be shared, but life in gilded Orashul is nothing like...
Arcane Evolution: Comparing the 2014 and 2024 Wizard Core Classes
Wizards have always been the quintessential spellcasters of Dungeons & Dragons—masters of arcane knowledge, with the broadest spell list and the deepest magical toolkit. In the 2014 Player’s Handbook, Wizards were powerful but complex, leaning on tradition and versatility. The 2024 revision doesn't reinvent the...
Odd NPC Vendors for Your Magical World: Fuzzlewick’s Bottled Whimsy
Meet the Proprietor: Fuzzlewick Tinglejar Fuzzlewick Tinglejar is a wiry, pale-skinned gnome with a pointy chin, spectacles that always seem slightly askew, and a coat full of mismatched pockets. Each pocket rattles, glows, or giggles when touched. He speaks in quick bursts, rarely looking in...
Mutations are More Than Skin Deep in Under the Dome
Fleshwarp. Spell-scarring. Chaos blessings.Some folks under the Dome talk about them like they’re trophies. Power-ups. New tricks to throw around in a fight. But the truth?They’re scars with teeth. 🧬 Power Isn’t the Whole Story Sure, maybe that extra arm lets you dual-wield with style, or the molten...
A faithful fey for Fantastical Mounts – The Gloomtail Drifter
There are shadows that slither, some that stalk—and then there are the ones that float just behind your thoughts. When a Gloomtail Drifter takes you, you drift with it...
Flaws Make Legends in Zoo Mafia
In Zoo Mafia, the legends aren’t the smooth-talking masterminds with flawless alibis and perfect jobs. The legends are the screw-ups. The hotheads. The heartbreakers. The animals who get the job done, but leave a trail of chaos in their wake. Perfection might look good on paper,...
The Aethermancer’s Curse, will you give in in Aether Skies
Power is a Gift. And a Poison. In Aether Skies, Aether is life.It lights the towers, keeps the cities afloat, powers the aetherships, and fuels the greatest magical wonders the skies have ever seen. It also rots you from the inside. The deeper you drink from the well...
Pacts Reforged: Comparing the 2014 and 2024 Warlock Core Classes
The Warlock has always stood apart from other spellcasters—a charismatic wielder of eldritch powers, bound to otherworldly patrons. But in 2014, the Warlock’s unique spellcasting model made it both exciting and controversial. With the 2024 revision, Wizards of the Coast has restructured the class to...
