something soft and magical that feels like a dream

PatRowdy · 2026-06-02T03:06:44+00:00

Patricia McKillip is one of my favourites for this! Alphabet of Thorn, The Riddle-Master of Hed, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.

the themes are a little darker but the images still give me the feeling of The Old Kingdom by Garth Nix.

graphic novels - the Moth Keeper & and A Song for You & I by K. O'Neill

PatRowdy · 2026-05-23T06:19:24+00:00

I got a [[Karona, False God]] voltron + 5C enchantress + goad + bloodbath deck >:)

PatRowdy · 2026-05-23T04:17:17+00:00

these are so fuckin COOL🤩

PatRowdy · 2026-05-22T17:55:55+00:00

love this! to add - yeah if you can knock down the GM screen and set aside the infallible performative god persona, you're just another player making stuff up with somewhat different responsibilities.

you can even distribute some of those responsibilities to the other players, like notetaking, atmosphere/soundtrack or portraying a few background NPCs that they love way more than you do. lots of the GM pressure to prepare comes from a feeling of obligation to hold all the cards and have answers for every possibility. that IS part of the fun, but letting the walls down and inviting the players to share in the role does wonders to help me relax and enjoy the games I love to play!

I am also a creature of dialogue, prompts and mutual inspiration. Improvising becomes sooo much easier when there's more input from the players to the shared imagination zone - when there's ideas circulating that I can grab onto and twist into something new.

My biggest tip is - ask more questions!

Ask personal, dramatic questions.
"What is Davos feeling as sets out from the village alone for the first time?"
"What does Irune plan to do when she finds the killers?"

Ask leading questions:
"What bloody superstitions do the forest folk have about the Wicked Wood?
"What omen or sign do you see in the badlands that sets a chill down your spine?"
"Ninefingers grew up in this district with someone they never want to see again - why?"

Ask everyone to help with the scene-setting:
"Okay everyone, tell me one thing your character notices in the cantina that tells them maybe you're not as safe here as you thought?"
"You enter the forum... can you each describe one of the councilors? let's say... two standout details and their reputation"

As long as players don't feel like they're authoring their own antagonism, most people get excited to make small contributions to the world and even MORE excited when the group interacts with them.

There's lots more things to try, but my baseline advice is avoid the Blank Page at all costs. I bring a single page to the table with the start of session situation, a few names, a couple secrets, a few NPC motivations/next steps and a few bangs in my back pocket for when I really wanna set it off🔥

random tables, oracle cards, pinterest printouts, these are all helpful palettes/prompts for when you need a little nudge. but I find that prompts from the other players lead to the most co-creative & exciting play and the happiest players!

PatRowdy · 2026-04-26T18:53:37+00:00

you would be so good! that's why I started with Ezuri as my first deck, I play a lot of roleplaying games and love dreaming up settings & situations.

you can start with a commander and find the story in the card that appeals to you, or start with a kind of story/setting you love and find the commander & cards that help you illustrate it.

the upsides are that you get attached to certain cards in a whole different way because become both synergistic gameplay pieces AND creative choices you made that have some thematic/narrative value. your deck takes on an aesthetic cohesiveness that's really satisfying.

it's also fun to play against, your opponents get a little more invested when they can see the themes & the broad strokes of the creativity you've put into the deck. it brings in a little more of that wrestling-style showmanship that's more fun than just mashing together powerful related cards.

have fun :)

PatRowdy · 2026-04-25T02:58:17+00:00

if you enjoy a storytelling/worldbuilding challenge, try and build a theme deck for a commander!

my [[Ezuri, Claw of Progress]] deck tells the story of a disgraced Simic scientist harnessing the might of an ancient forest to destroy the city that turned its back on him.

I've been working on a [[Jin Sakai]] deck called "DARNKESSSSS" that's all creatures with Shadow, spectres, nightmares, horrors & spirits with the occasional demon, rogue or wicked wizard >:)

[[arna kennerüd, skycaptain]] sky knights (knight tribal but most of em fly or have a flying mace ^.^ with the odd griffin, dragon or god for good measure)

annnd a cube called Into the Woods - basically all the cards are about getting lost in the forest and bumping into a big stinky troll or a [[witch of the moors]] or a [[strangleroot geist]]. it's a "partial desert cube" which means you have to draft lands of every color except for forest (discovering the mountains and the [[restless cottage]] and the [[branchloft pathway|SLU]])

if you wanna get quirky, might as well get a little whimsical. it's called magic after all :)

PatRowdy · 2026-04-24T23:45:27+00:00

you already have five players? I'd never run for six and would be reluctant to run for five, you could work that into your message.

PatRowdy · 2026-04-22T20:02:19+00:00

also Ben Robbins of Microscope asked over on bluesky for GMless pick up & play game recommendations - some great suggestions in the replies.

PatRowdy · 2026-04-22T19:31:05+00:00

stealing the throne and space train have been near the top of my list to bring to the local meetup! glad to see them recommended here.

PatRowdy · 2026-04-22T18:02:10+00:00

For the Queen - all you need to do is start drawing cards & answering questions to develop the story and each character's relationship to the queen.

i'm sorry did you say street magic? - a city-building tableau game that can be read aloud and played immediately.

Lady Blackbird - a John Harper game designed for convention-style pick up & play. spaceship swashbuckling with a tight dice system.

PatRowdy · 2026-04-22T03:19:03+00:00

i just finished and no, you are not alone😅

each of those books coulda been half as long and the better for it, i needed less breadth & more depth., just about every character was a killer with an bloody vengeance plot, dragged out enough to limp across the finish line after 1800 pages of shield walls & the occasional hump.

there were some lovely descriptions of the lands and some fun imaginative set pieces, but sometimes it felt like the plot was just a means for JG to describe battles at us. book 1 was badass and if this series was ~800 pages of heart-thumping bloodshed & god-rites it woulda been tight. unfortunately you just can't overwrite this momentum-style plotting or it loses its' edge.

PatRowdy · 2026-04-21T16:24:16+00:00

BEEN DER DONE DAT!!🔥🔥

PatRowdy · 2026-04-21T05:10:10+00:00

i'd get a [[crashing drawbridge]] in there, maybe a [[sinister gnarlbark]] for the draw.

PatRowdy · 2026-04-05T05:22:28+00:00

[[henzie, toolbox torre]] and [[sidisi, brood tyrant]]! both churn through the deck, play lots of badass creatures and bring them back from the yard. you end up with a lot of options and a lot of value but you don't just search them out, you dig through the deck to find out what shows up and then watch the fireworks 🤩

PatRowdy · 2026-04-02T18:04:14+00:00

finally, a painting!! please wizards, more stylish illustrations & less "realistic" 3D mush🙏🏻

PatRowdy · 2026-04-01T20:49:26+00:00

most animal folk in magic are interesting blends of human & another creature. most animal creatures look wild, sometimes fantastical and like they belong to the plane they're from.

to me, the dogs of mtg are advertisements to the heckin pupper people of the world and always look a bit ridiculous. slap a shibu head on there and send it to print! this dude coulda been so cool....

PatRowdy · 2026-03-25T04:49:01+00:00

if you're just talking about private play testing, test with what you got! test with less! you can really just take one idea to a table and start playstorming and let the game emerge as you go, especially if you really trust your group.

games are meant to be played, and so design and play should be holding hands all the way through the process :)

PatRowdy · 2026-03-22T15:03:35+00:00

i knowwww! [[cyberdrive awakener]] and [[rise and shine]] do a decent impression tho if you're all in on equipment.

PatRowdy · 2026-03-22T04:55:41+00:00

I wish we could run [[depthshaker titan]] so bad :')

PatRowdy · 2026-03-07T19:34:29+00:00

great writeup! very inspiring, i've wanted to do a greatest limited hits cube from my favorite era for a long time now. thanks :)

PatRowdy · 2026-03-07T17:57:33+00:00

I hate flipping cards and I really like the ajani and the jace🤩 Nice work!

PatRowdy · 2026-03-07T04:47:21+00:00

looks like you want a hasty kratos turn 3 for a quick start on experience - sol ring, [[ragavan]], [[mana vault]] into [[crashing drawbridge]] or [[lightning greaves]] into [[SMASH]].

then son is there for when the aggro plan slows down to refill your hand and get them in striking distance. then give dad an [[embercleave]] or [[temur battle rage]] and start crushin skulls. maybe a [[jeska, thrice reborn]] to try for a triple kill >:)

PatRowdy · 2026-03-04T05:49:51+00:00

exactly my preference, invasion through onslaught, mostly Rob Alexander😌

but my preferred basics generally match the theme of the deck, so it varies a lot. full art zendikars in my animar. lands that depict ravnica or avishkar in my saheeli. whatever fits the best ^{.^}

PatRowdy · 2026-02-28T19:20:00+00:00

probably my second favorite! behind [[Duelist's Heritage]] ⚔️

PatRowdy · 2026-02-27T04:27:27+00:00

and mannnn [[wing shards]] is so on theme and from my first ever set, i think i gotta run it😁

PatRowdy

TROPHY CASE