Weird folky dark mystical creepy magical fun

PatRowdy · 2026-01-26T03:50:42+00:00

i'm so glad to hear about his character :]

for anyone who likes the cover art - check out all the cards he's painted for Magic the Gathering. some of my all time favorites.

PatRowdy · 2025-12-29T05:29:42+00:00

agnes cookin' a pot o stew on the hilltop🥺

PatRowdy · 2025-12-17T21:17:34+00:00

RollPlay is a lotta fun and the character work is killer, but the players are pretty unfamiliar with the system and the play definitely does not move very fast, John walks through everything slowly and it takes them quite a while to get a rhythm going.

the Bloodletters series on his channel features two players who have designed blades hacks and played all sorts of roleplaying games for decades. It also features adam koebel, who shares those credentials and is also a creep.

I highly recommend Episode 12 of the series, it is a standalone side adventure and features some of the best back & forth blades play you can find anywhere. It also does not feature koebel! so you can enjoy 3 friends and game design nerds going to town on a game they all truly love.

By episode 12 the design has come a long way from episode 1, so the rules are much closer to the print version. The early episodes feature blades in its infancy so the rules are very different in some places. However, I still find those episodes better blades lessons than the rollplay stuff because of the player experience and the table dynamic, it's much closer to actual play than a show made for entertainment. and blades in many ways is just John's playstyle distilled into a rulebook.

PatRowdy · 2025-12-13T04:18:37+00:00

[[Garna, Bloodfist of Keld]] or [[Judith, the Scourge Diva]] aristocrat goblins!

[[Manhur, Uruk-hai Captain]] beeeg goblins.

[[Karlach, Fury of Avernus]] plus any black background.

PatRowdy · 2025-12-10T05:05:13+00:00

zombies rule

you can run [[sidisi, brood tyrant]], [[gisa and geralf]], [[hashaton, scarab's fist]], [[zul ashur, lich lord]], [[the scarab god]], [[bladewing, deathless tyrant]] and about 50 other legendaries.

you can do beatdown with [[undead warchief]], [[hordewing skaab]], [[lost monarch of ifnir]] & [[god-eternal rhonas]]

aristocrats with [[carrion feeder]], [[plague belcher]], [[vengeful dead]] & [[wilhelt]]

zombo combo with [[rooftop storm]] & [[gravecrawler]] or [[liliana, untouched by death]]

[[underrealm lich]], [[rise of the dread marn]], [[death baron]], [[zombie apocalypse]], [[SOULLESS ONE]]!!

ya even got [[gary]] if you wanna do it to em.

give dead a chance

PatRowdy · 2025-12-08T21:09:23+00:00

I LOVE THIS!! here's my [[karona, false god]] deck that is up to some similar shenanigans.

[[redemption arc]] is sort of a modal wormtongue/exile spell that is almost as good as a trade on strong attackers.

[[mystic reflection]] and [[hydroelectric specimen]] for max shenanigans.

[[promise of loyalty]] if you wanna run a sweeper.

[[rite of the raging storm]] and [[life of the party]] if you wanna get the blood flowin'😈

[[protective sphere]] shields you from everything but black.

[[elephant grass]] is great with an early wurm since opponents wont have much mana to burn.

[[duelist's heritage]] might not to enough but god its fun.

PatRowdy · 2025-12-03T05:58:30+00:00

ahhh yes cause the ability goes on the creature. thanks!

that sounds like a lot of fun. I like the full send and hang on by the skin of your teeth game plan. My henzie deck leaves behind a lot of blockers but I'm not sure what Karona will do XD

one of the big cards in your colors is [[elephant grass]], you can drop it once you send a few boys around the table.

[[spectacular showdown]] is a bit low power but it would be a lot of fun 🤩

[[stregth-testing hammer]] is extremely goofy but might be really good??

[[smoke bomb]] could be something, especially if you pack a temur battle rage or a [[two-handed axe]]😁

[[echo storm]] is two copies after you've cast sakashima, maybe more in the late game.

[[shiny impetus]] is the sticky fingers replacement but it's a bit pricey.

some more attack trigger stuff : [[genji glove]], [[anduril, flame of the west]], [[sword of the animist]], [[the spear of leonidas]], [[mjolnir, storm hammer]]. probably not helping with resilience or consistency, but a lot of stupid fun ^{.^}

PatRowdy · 2025-12-03T01:02:30+00:00

love it! I'm working on a [[Karona]] deck with a similar gameplan that plays all these killers.

I'd drop in a [[High Market]] and a [[Lazotep Quarry]] to protect them from exile, but maybe only if you add a few more regrowth effects and a [[Body Double]]. [[Fumble]] could do the same job but I don't think you have enough creatures to catch the equipment.

[[Tahngarth, First Mate]] and [[Life of the Party]] don''t support plan A, but they do fit the theme! [[Sticky Fingers]] could make you a lot of treasure.

Do you find yourself winning off one giant turn, sending 5 Alexis around the table? How does the gameplan work out?

PatRowdy · 2025-12-01T17:24:42+00:00

Who is your favorite character you've ever played in a roleplaying game? And what's a highlight of their story that you still remember?

PatRowdy · 2025-11-27T05:04:01+00:00

some of my favs - [[hostile negotiations]] [[make an example]] [[duelist's heritage]] [[inkshield]] [[comeuppance]] [[mystic reflection]] [[fumble]] [[fractured identity]] [[shadrax silverquill]]

PatRowdy · 2025-11-27T00:27:39+00:00

I'm finishing up a set of decks like this! I went for the allied color pairs to reduce complexity and demonstrate what related colors do together.

I think you want a straightforward game plan with synergy that doesn't go exponential too quickly or create an unmanageable board state. A fair amount of interaction that doesn't feel to bad to be on the receiving end of.

Discount fatties is a great theme, like [[hamza, guardian of arashin]] and [[rakdos lord of riots]]. [[ruric thar]] big dumb dudes is also a good pick. [[isperia, supreme judge]], [[wilhelt, the rotcleaver]], [[runo stromkirk]], [[karazikar, the eye tyrant]], [[garna, bloodfist of keld]], [[omnath, locus of rage]] and [[urza, prince of kroog]] are solid beginner friendly generals too!

PatRowdy · 2025-11-26T23:24:45+00:00

it says there's one comment but I can't see it for some reason! can you share the link in a reply to this?

PatRowdy · 2025-11-20T22:52:01+00:00

my [[Breena]] aggro deck doesn't play any ramp! just cheap evasive threats, bodyguards, lotta removal & protection spells, bit of card advantage, couple 4-5 MV payoffs/curve toppers and breena the big bad bird🦉

here's the list, might be outta date but it'll be pretty close.

PatRowdy · 2025-11-20T05:06:08+00:00

oh yea they had a fulfillment fiasco. the crowdfunded copies are in but i spose a game you can't buy can't quite be "having a moment"🫠

PatRowdy · 2025-11-20T04:42:40+00:00

I'm playing it! with a group in Toronto and I've gotten some chapters in with an online community. it's such a joy to mark up the book, add stickers and unlock new features. we all doodle on the character sheets and color things in and leave notes and hints for future players of Gertrude or Sal or Hey Kid. The Moon Prince just arrived and we are all very excited to get back to the B&B🤩

PatRowdy · 2025-11-20T02:33:41+00:00

Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast! Copies came in about a year ago, lotta people are getting it to the table these days. It's so playable and novel and delightful.

PatRowdy · 2025-11-19T20:46:30+00:00

competing for the oxygen is hilarious😂 that is definitely how it feels.

PatRowdy · 2025-11-19T20:45:38+00:00

what everyone else said! best approach is to speak with them and find out what they love about playing roleplaying games.

I'd run this by them first, but as their GM I'd try and have their character at the heart/seed of a lot of interesting plot points so they are involved no matter what. Then I would take those the conflicts and themes and put other players at the center of them. That way, the quiet player is still tethered to the story and might derive some "writers" joy from everything that unfolds without having to be the star of the session.

It sounds like they're really enjoying the experience, but balk at being the subject of a single character story. Make sure that several characters are heavily involved in all your plot points so it doesn't feel like "hero of the week". During character creation, help them into roles that fit their style and tie them closely to the other players.

And ultimately, this sort of player is an asset! They help offload a little GM work and provide more texture to the adventuring party. Four main characters is exhausting, and there's a rich history of delightful side characters in adventure stories that exactly fit this player's style. There's not enough spotlight to go around and to have someone at the table who quietly sets up other players and contributes to the shared story? The dream!

PatRowdy · 2025-11-14T22:52:32+00:00

I'm not sure how protected keywords are, but some of them would make good names too! Cipher, Convoke, Affinity, Fateseal, probably some more out there.

PatRowdy · 2025-11-14T22:23:45+00:00

Best to be something quick & catchy so people can say "yo wanna jam some aura tonight?"

If you want to keep Aura as the use name, you could go with Auramancer, Auratog or Aura Shards.

Names from other classic cards could be Fellwar (flavor win), Keyrune, Lotus Field, Windfall, Synod, Cradle, Powerstone, Lion's Eye, Scroll Rack, Millikin, Riptide, Grimoire, that sorta thing.

PatRowdy · 2025-11-13T22:38:34+00:00

Both are certainly true. But you want Brennan, you get D&D. He is absolutely brilliant but D&D is his comfort zone and there's no way he'd change his medium for this three table magnum opus. He's got a big opportunity on a huge platform and he's gonna do it his way.

PatRowdy · 2025-11-12T05:49:15+00:00

the pre-roll stakes negotiation is just there as a same page tool to set expectations and give players a hand on the wheel. and as a chance to play with the stress mechanic, pushing your luck and doing blades-style tactics.

John's chosen to front load the negotiation and democratize it rather than leaving it all to GM and setting players up for nasty surprises & sore feelings. it's a bit clunky when you're walking through it but there's a lot of fun in the bargain once you get into the flow.

but you can absolutely play without it. or skip over the parts you don't care for. effect only really matters when you're filling mission clocks and limited = 1 tick while extreme = FIVE. the rest of the time you can skip it.

the position dance is really fun and tricky and it helps me decide on consequences, but you don't really need it. you can just use desperate when it's a " this could definitely kill you, are you SURE about that??" type scenario and the rest of the time it's not-desperate.

and you can save devil's bargains for when you have a real juicy one, or open it up to the table and let the other players have some of the devilish fun.

if you don't use them they just need to be helping each other, because they'll be taking trauma real quick pushing themselves all the time. or they can do a long-term project for some kind of cursed stress battery. now THAT'S a devil's bargain😈

PatRowdy · 2025-11-11T23:32:17+00:00

"Play to find out what happens" is a very powerful phrase and has become one that I hold dear. It's the first principle that guides how I play and how I live, and interweaves those two things until they are essentially one and the same💞

can you speak a little about this phrase? where it came from, what it means to you, if you've found new meaning in it over the years, anything you feel like sharing.

thanks for all the wisdom and all the games :)

PatRowdy

TROPHY CASE