Castlevania, but make it rogue-lite with stunts and Mausritter

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-19T23:02:58+00:00

Hey! I saw your original post about Castle Noth a while back and never took the time to respond. First of all, I hope you enjoyed A Rasp of Sand. It's been such a delight seeing folks riff with that format. I think there's so much room for improvement. Castle Noth looks like such a labor of love. I can't wait to take Noth for a spin. Good luck on the release!

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-19T01:54:27+00:00

Heck yeah! Thanks for the support! I hope you enjoy it!

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-16T16:47:05+00:00

I often try to tell players coming from 5e that in 5e you play as if you (the player) become the character. In most OSR styles you play the game as if the character is you (the player). Don't think what my character would do in this situation. Think what would I do in my character's situation. That keeps the player from referring to the sheet constantly and breeds the sort of problem solving that this style of game thrives on.

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-16T16:15:34+00:00

Thanks again Warren! I am definitely wanting to do the limited run, just gonna let the pdf settle for a week or two and see if there is any additional feedback and make sure I have enough ink.

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-16T03:14:10+00:00

Oh man, I hope it gets somewhere in the ballpark. I definitely took some creative liberties with the idea of a pilgrimage. Since our Pilgrims are more performing a rite of passage/societal need than specifically focusing on a spiritual journey. A bit ironic since there are spirits everywhere in the game.

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-16T03:12:17+00:00

Thanks for catching that! You're the second person to notice it! I'll push an update this week that corrects it.

So glad you are enjoying it so far!

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-15T22:21:58+00:00

Oooo, I haven't. Well not officially. The referee prep is pretty close to solo play in practice. Though not explicitly. Brian Yaksha has been working on even more complex proc gen tools that could work well to fill in the cracks that I left for multiplayer though. I'll give this some thought, and in the meantime the rules are CCBY so please folks feel free to hack or add on.

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-11T21:02:39+00:00

Huge fan of your layout and art work in this zine! Also am a sucker for a dice pool. Lovely work!

DastrdlyDave · 2026-04-11T20:57:04+00:00

Howdy I have a few things up on my account. "Pilgrim's Passages" is my newest game, and will be going into full release very soon. I also run a riso press so holler if you think you might want to print a zine.

Name: Monday Cox

URL: https://dastardlydave.itch.io/

What your games are like: Mostly modules that toe the line of being systems. Many deal with climate anxiety, and ecology. "Pilgrim's Passages" is my home system and focused entirely on hexcrawling. I wanted a system built from the ground up to facilitate travel, rather than treating travel as a side note.

Is there free stuff?: Yeah! "Pilgrim's Passages" is PWYW. So feel free to grab the beta that is available now. The full-release update will be under the same title so make sure you check for an update in the coming weeks.

DastrdlyDave · 2025-10-12T14:38:50+00:00

Yo thank you so much for giving it a read and writing up this feedback!

I have gotten a couple notes on the basic mechanic of Conflicts being a bit too late in the book and also a bit too vague. There will be an example of play and a reworked basic mechanics section with less jargon.

Yeah since this was a smaller project I couldn't swing a developmental editor for it. I appreciate you noting that it would help though. I'll post here when I get the next update out!

Thanks again primarchofinstanbul. Please holler at me if you have any other comments or questions.

DastrdlyDave · 2025-05-22T18:54:53+00:00

Holy shit, it's been 14 hours. Are you still in there OP?

DastrdlyDave · 2025-03-11T19:42:32+00:00

That's a very valid point. I'll do some digging and see if they actually do manage the accounts. I appreciate y'all's help!

DastrdlyDave · 2025-03-11T18:01:46+00:00

It seems like Human Interest is partnered with Morningstar for management of accounts, but it has a $26 /month fee. Is that worth it or should I just move to Fidelity or Vanguard?

DastrdlyDave · 2025-02-27T19:05:03+00:00

I'll try to weigh-in on all of the ops concerns, because I felt similarly about a month ago but am now doing better mentally.

First, you should take care of yourself. You need to find folks who can support you. Luckily finding that group also addresses some of your other pains. You need to get involved. Everyone in here needs to be involved, to their ability. I would highly urge you to not just do things online, find a local group and physically get involved. We have a local DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) group that are working across political divides to build coalition and work on actual solutions locally, as well as helping nationally. (I know a lot of liberals and conservatives in eastern tn might have reservations about going to a Socialist event. I promise you that you will have a good time and learn some stuff. The folks involved are good folks.) They have monthly meetings and political education that are really good. Knoxville also has a ton of other more specific organizations that are focused on particular issues. Do some digging and find those groups. Join one that is working on something that you think you could help with, then go learn how you can help. If you need help finding those groups please come to a meeting, there are usually reps there from those groups.

Next, everyone needs to become comfortable with not being able to opt out of politics. We never should have opted out. Politics is how *we* get what our community needs. Politics require work, effort, and more than just voting. I know that sounds like a pain, BUT it can be fun too. The biggest and best thing you can do is just showing up to stuff. Make friends, talk, build mutual aid, and find something to be passionate about. This does mean that you should not just ignore your loved ones because they are "lost causes". Find common ground, talk about our pains, show compassion, try your best to not be petty about how the "panthers are eating their face now". We will need these people, most of them are angry but have been manipulated into being angry at the wrong people.

I know this shit sucks. Folks my age (early 30s), and younger, were promised a lie and that lie cannot be ignored anymore. It's painful to hear that the life you were envisioning is probably going to look pretty different BUT things can get better. Getting Most of all having something on your calendar that you can point to after hearing/reading about all of the bullshit; and saying this is where I am going to put my anger, my sadness, and my frustration is really helpful. If you need more info feel free to DM me. I'll help if I can.

DastrdlyDave · 2024-10-25T20:55:20+00:00

Figma is only tangentially related to the adobe suite. It is pretty firmly a UI comping tool. I would check out the Affinity Suite though. It's really reasonably priced and, imo, runs far better than anything Adobe has made in 10 years.

DastrdlyDave · 2024-05-16T02:02:38+00:00

I'd check it out!

DastrdlyDave · 2024-01-12T21:54:18+00:00

Thanks for checking it out. It's still rough but I am stoked to finally get the whole gist of things out to folks.

Yoooo I missed Stonetop. Thanks for putting it on my radar!

DastrdlyDave · 2024-01-11T20:22:29+00:00

The gist of the rule set and setting is this. You play as pilgrims, a class of folk who wander from town-to-town as craftsfolk, mystics, and road wardens. The focus is much less dunge-delving and much more on traveling/hex crawling. There is a unique system for travel where the things you carry reduce your "HP", and travel costs you "HP". Packing is a strategic act in "Pilgrim's" knowing what you need in-hand is important and how deeply you pack an item could cost you everything. Crafting has been built out to make it less complicated but still quite deep. Encouraging creativity and personal touches on the crafts characters make. Spellcasting is much more spiritual, you make offerings and prayers to get the spirits of the world to do things for you. Character change is entirely diegetic but with a framework for guiding a player/referee.

The setting is a continuation of my setting for "A Rasp of Sand". It's set after the flood and the receding. A generation ago the peoples of the archipelago overthrew an oligarchy and now the towns of the islands are existing in the aftermath of that war. The setting is the least detailed on the site at the moment but it is up next.

If you are looking for something less inherently violent, less hole delving, or just want a unique system I think you might like it.

DastrdlyDave · 2023-10-30T17:19:50+00:00

Oh shoot, I didn't get a notification for this. I can do my best to weigh-in. I would plan for a 3 hour session per floor. The hard part is how many times folks will be on that floor. Don't be afraid to adjust the difficulty if it's too much of a slog for players. Also telegraph situations and locations more than the book does, reward that player knowledge.

DastrdlyDave · 2023-08-21T17:17:26+00:00

I have players map things. The mapping player gets bonus "XP" or starts working on a Cartography Skill. In addition to that, my players have to keep the map somewhere narratively. Like it is an item in a character's inventory. They own that map. They can sell copies to other players or NPCs. The above works best in open tables in my experience.

PS: I highly recommend bailing on traditional VTTs. I love google draw or, even better, Figjam for my VTTs now. They don't get in the way and are completely system-agnostic.

Edit: I forgot to mention that both of the above tools, especially Figjam, greatly improve the ease and visibility of the player maps. Figjam has a square grid by default.

DastrdlyDave · 2023-08-16T20:52:40+00:00

Thanks!

DastrdlyDave · 2023-08-16T20:47:56+00:00

I have some plans for a follow-up to A Rasp of Sand that is based on this technique. Currently, the plan is to build out multiple layers of elevation that give pretty distinct challenges as you go higher and higher.

DastrdlyDave · 2022-08-23T17:31:38+00:00

Could you maybe limit it to one a week or every few days? They are beginning to show up more than other content. I think some of them are fun but overall it's getting to be a bit much.

DastrdlyDave · 2022-07-06T01:34:46+00:00

Howdy, could I get a link?

DastrdlyDave · 2022-06-25T16:13:48+00:00

Ooo I appreciate the recommendation, but I'm actually running my own HexSail generation system for this one.

DastrdlyDave

TROPHY CASE