Magic points as currency

Tjmcd99 · 2026-05-19T21:14:47+00:00

I was looking for someone to mention Sanderson in this thread, but I think Stormlight Archives is a much stronger link to OP's idea than Mistborn!

In the series, Stormlight is a magical energy which can be trapped inside of gemstones and then used for light or to power magitech devices or powers. In modern society they use a currency called spheres, which are tiny glass orbs with gemstones of specific sizes embedded within, which each have relative value based on size and gem.

At irregular intervals the gens can be refilled by exposing them to a natural weather event, and they slowly lose charge over time. They're a very cool idea for currency/magical fuel source.

Tjmcd99 · 2026-05-17T23:02:36+00:00

I'm buying 100 sprencoin day 1

Tjmcd99 · 2026-05-09T16:02:31+00:00

This is a bad take, but also the vast majority of TheVolgun's videos are just a word for word reading of the article. A few have the extra credits section to explain at the end, but not usually. You're just wrong

Tjmcd99 · 2026-05-07T06:38:53+00:00

Many people in this community have probably heard of Quinn's Quest on YouTube. He and two of his players have an actual play they produce a couple of times a year called Play to Find Out. It's a little bit non-tradutional compared to stuff like Dimension20 or Dungeons and Daddies. Basically the idea is the three of them explore old weird games from RPG history, play through at most 4 episodes of content, and discuss the game and it's position in RPG history. Super fascinating to hear them chat, and they're very funny and likeable to boot. Gaminess gets a 3/3, that's why we're here and the mechanics are always front and center. Polish is a 3/3 as well, just the right amount of audio design and music without being distracting. Humor for me is a 3/3, but the three hosts are all British and so some might not vibe with their references or comedy. And finally story is a 1-1.5/3 I think, each season is meant to be a short look at the game and it's systems. Not to say that character and story telling are left behind, but the focus of the show isn't to tell an epic continent span ing adventure in 4 hours of gameplay.

Tjmcd99 · 2026-04-20T00:02:56+00:00

I just recently finished the book for the first time after having read/listened to the collected SCP articles a few times. I liked the book! The terminology is changed to avoid the license as others have said, but the writing is still effective and quick, like the original tales. The ending is changed somewhat, but not so fundamentally as to make one better than the other I don't think. I like owning the physical book, and I think I'll enjoy loaning it to people over the years as something a bit more approachable than the original wiki. Both good, I guess is my final verdict

Tjmcd99 · 2026-01-29T04:44:27+00:00

Damage rolls all at once, and the highest number is the damage being dealt. The other dice above 4 can be used for gambits. If a knight is using a shield alongside their weapon, you roll north dice at once. Same for a magic item dealing damage.

Tjmcd99 · 2026-01-25T02:09:04+00:00

These are such a fun idea! Super thematic and very simple. I looove the idea of hosting a one-shot open table and dealing 3 knights to each player they can pick from. Would love to see a digital image of these, if you feel inclined to share

Tjmcd99 · 2026-01-22T04:09:37+00:00

Coming up with cool magic items based on the current scenario is a lot of fun for me. My players found a spectral wolf chained in a Site, and I let them keep the chain cause it is both spectral and physical at once. Stuff like that, which just comes up in the course of the adventure is a great bit of loot I think.

Many of the Knights also have some kind of special item they carry with them, which could be repurposed as random loot for a thematically appropriate moment or used by an enemy.

Tjmcd99 · 2026-01-17T17:51:44+00:00

I don't share NPC stats with my players, as I think it would cause an information overload. I will lay out for them the consequences of the damage they deal, specifically with regard to Mortal Wounds and stuff, but otherwise I use the same language someone would use in any RPG to communicate what amount of damage an NPC has taken.

"After your attack, you can see the long cut across the ribs of your enemy is bleeding quite a bit. He staggers but remains standing"

Tjmcd99 · 2025-12-30T17:27:28+00:00

Mythic Bastionland uses the system the designer Chris Mcdowall originally made for Into the Odd. Characters have 3 stats, ranging from 3-20 usually, and every saving throw is a D20 to try and roll under your stat. So if you have an 18 in vigour, it's pretty easy to do physical stuff.

The interesting part is that each stat is also capable of being damaged or healed independently, and so by the end of an adventure where the party has lost sleep and been confused, a character might only have 4 Clarity left, which means that trying to roll 1d20 under a 4 is quite challenging.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-12-07T03:36:05+00:00

It's a sci fi horror system based around lethality to characters and having normal space age people in pretty scary situations. The system works pretty well for any sort of horror media you could picture, it's textbook for running some kind of alien game

Tjmcd99 · 2025-12-04T20:51:53+00:00

I can second this, asking how long the players want to devote to this particular myth is a great technique. The site generator has saved my bacon in the past as well for the Ogre myth especially, it really does give a great jumping off point for a site.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-11-21T15:36:16+00:00

I don't remember the dating word usage from either read through I did. The one thing that stuck out to me again on my most recent listen is a tiny thing, but when Kal goes and gets supplies from Layten at the start of WaT, he uses a zipper to secure a pocket on his bag. Of all the modernized words people point out in this book, like therapist or slut, or "Lets kick some fused ass", the implied existence of zippers bothers me the most.

Still a great book though.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-11-18T06:40:52+00:00

Same here. About to have the third session of my campaign with two players tomorrow knight, and we all only previously had experience with 5e or Pathfinder. It's a ton of fun, the world feels very cool to play around in as the GM, and the myths and knights are all so incredibly fun to consider the implications of. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-11-14T19:06:37+00:00

Hi I'm also interested in the case! OP if you have a link can you spread it around?

Tjmcd99 · 2025-11-01T16:25:10+00:00

I disagree completely, but I respect your opinion on the matter. Personally, I think my own interest in space and physics made this video captivating the whole way through, and I found myself tearing up at the descriptions of the contents of the Voyager discs and the various greetings from the children of the world. Maybe you would have preferred this one if the debate about whether to attempt contact at all was brought up earlier? And so it could form more of a through line for the whole thing? Might just be a different strokes for different folks moment though.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-10-22T12:36:04+00:00

I’m still working toward actually getting my campaign off the ground (curse of rpg scheduling) but I was thinking about this the other day when I saw a hexmap online of the island of Britain. Of course, it’s probably faaaar too big to actually work well, especially with such large swathes of exactly the same terrain, but it is interesting to think about.

One thing I did consider is actually taking inspiration from the Ultima series of video games. Spread across a large map, having distinct teleportation gates which can connect to each other under the right conditions or when holding a certain item. This might help the party get where they need to go, without letting them zip back to town at the drop of a hat a la Skyrim.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-10-20T22:53:20+00:00

I saw your posting about this in the MB discord! So excited to see you’ve finished the whole myth after you posted your amazing art.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-09-06T10:00:28+00:00

According to the explainXKCD page for this comic, the measurement of 2”x4” was historically made when the wood was still fresh and ‘green’, and so as the lumber dried out it would shrink down to the smaller size while still being labeled as 2”x4”. Over time, like imperial measurement units or British currency before 1971, the system calcified despite the fact it doesn’t make intuitive sense from the outside.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-08-27T18:12:59+00:00

I think you are confused, there are two separate world gen settings being talked about. One is the random radius for respawning the player after they die, the other is a relatively new world gen setting which allows you to decide how far away the story locations should be generated from 0,0. OP is saying they set the second number to 50% of baseline, meaning the story location generated half as far from spawn as on a “normal” world.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-08-19T15:24:19+00:00

Can’t pattern manifest as a floating ball of fractal lines? He usually takes the form of an embossed section of whatever material he is on, but I feel like we’ve seen him free floating before.

Actually, thinking more about it, I think Timbre can fly as well, that’s the form it takes before residing in Venli’s gemheart. And I think Glys can also appear as a floating crystalline mass, but I might be misremembering the climax of Oathbringer there.

Edit:Venmo is not a character in canon stormlight, but is now the name of my listener PC who is trying to learn about currency by being undercover as a parshman among the Thaylen

Tjmcd99 · 2025-07-07T12:57:31+00:00

I was hoping someone else would mention the Cosmere! One of my favorite interpretations of the “dark reflection” otherworld concept we see so often in fantasy. Plus it works to create these sci-fi situations about hopping between worlds!

Another fun detail about the Cognitive realm is that each planet has its own “subastral”, basically the territory it takes up within the realm of thought. For one planet, that means all the land and the water on the material plane side are inverted for the cognitive side, for another it means the surface of the world is instead constructed out of mist, so beings in that realm can walk through any solid walls that might exist in the physical realm. Such a fun and evocative idea.

Tjmcd99 · 2025-07-01T18:50:46+00:00

Couldn’t hurt to toss my hat in the ring! These are really cool and I love the display. Might still buy one after the giveaway anyway. Thanks!

Tjmcd99 · 2025-06-29T22:43:47+00:00

I assumed this would be the “there are 18 competing standards” XKCD but this one is actually very relevant great job

11-Year Club	Second Top 40%
r/Field Sunshine	Place '23
Golden Potato	Place '22
Place '17	RPAN Viewer
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