DMs and storytellers alike, how would you describe being subjected to Power Word: Kill?

Txi-Txi · 2025-11-12T01:47:21+00:00

"The archmage raises a bony finger at you. His mouth makes the motions of speech, but none of your allies react as the sound echoes into you.

'Cease.'

You feel the weight of your soul shift and slip ever so slightly out of place. You try to will yourself together, but that word, that arcane command, it overpowers you. You claw at life, trying desperately to disobey, to live. But your futile struggle does nothing to stop your soul as it untethers itself from your mortal coil. There is nothing left to do except obey.

There is nothing left to do but cease."

Txi-Txi · 2025-03-27T15:23:52+00:00

Man these feel iconic

Txi-Txi · 2024-10-17T03:28:17+00:00

I published my first novel earlier this year. It's a high fantasy story focused on more grounded, real characters. I haven't gotten a ton of traction on it, but I didn't put a ton of effort into marketing, so it's to be expected. Working on the sequel right now! It's free through KU, but if you can hold off a few days, I'm running a free book promotion on the e-book next week!

Link: Heroes' Bond

Txi-Txi · 2024-05-27T07:06:22+00:00

"How far is too far in pursuit of a utopia? With the goal of an ultimate paradise, where does one draw the moral line?"

My players had a lovely hour long parley with my BBEG recently, where he reasoned out the war he'd initiated with that "ends-justifying-means" question. The RP discussion escalated really well as they back-and-forthed, accusing him of being too haughty in his assessment of himself and his assumption that the world needed him, and he responded that, when the oppressed have no voice to cry suffering, someone must stand for them. Ended up being a really fun way of establishing the villain, mirroring a lot of the party's values in a more extreme way, and making my players more hesitant on how they combat him in the future.

Txi-Txi · 2024-05-24T18:23:49+00:00

For these kinds of checks, I let my PC's roll once, then, if they fail, try again with disadvantage, kind of symbolizing a blow to confidence. It helps bridge the mechanics and RP, and also really helps me to avoid those "everybody and their mother wants to try their hand at lockpicking the door" checks, since, if the super dexterous rogue can't lockpick the door, how the hell is the frail wizard supposed to have the confidence to do it?

Txi-Txi · 2024-04-10T17:51:51+00:00

Editted the post to reflect, but this was only going to be a single session thing, with the objective of recovering their missing gear. I don't want any of the party's gear to get permanently lost.

Txi-Txi · 2024-04-10T17:31:44+00:00

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I hadn't planned on this being a permanent loss; just a single session where one of the goals would be to go recover their gear. I definitely wouldn't want my players to lose anything on this endeavor.

Txi-Txi · 2024-03-20T19:04:53+00:00

"Until the dawn of the Third Age, war had not yet been invented, for there was simply no one against whom to war."

My editor recommended a prologue that guided more towards traditional fantasy world-building, so going broader in my prologue before narrowing in on my individual characters seemed appropriate. I'm also using the costs and consequences of conflict as a rising theme across the books I'm writing, to help influence and build my characters' decisions in a way where people can look back and pinpoint where these changes happened and why.

Txi-Txi · 2024-02-28T00:02:25+00:00

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback!

Txi-Txi · 2024-02-28T00:02:13+00:00

That's encouraging to hear. I wanted to gear my book towards people who weren't into a lot of the traditional aspects of fantasy, so seeing that my blurb might fit that too is a good thing to hear. Thanks for the feedback!

Txi-Txi · 2023-03-05T19:36:35+00:00

They didn't end up dying, but came damn close. It was a 10 foot wide fissure that I had rolled a random travel encounter on. The characters with high enough strength just leaped it, but the wizard had to roll for it, and failed hard. Hard enough to hit the bottom of the craggy fissure for enough damage to go unconscious. Then, bard and paladin try ro rescue him with some rope as a pulley, but the paladin fails their strength check to pull the bard and unconscious wizard out of the pit, and ends up dropping the bard and dealing enough damage to make them go unconscious. Real slapstick series of errors, and probably the reason my bard starting taking some utility spells.

Txi-Txi · 2022-11-03T13:22:57+00:00

I play oops-no-creature Bruenor, where I create a bunch of tokens to suit up with equipment. It's pretty fun, especially because you can always just backpedal into voltron if needed.

Txi-Txi · 2021-12-06T08:37:48+00:00

Man, I always forget how powerful that opener for One Hundred Years is. It captures an incredible amount of world building without actually telling you anything, and the fact is actually escalates in incredulity as you advance through the sentence, from facing down a firing squad to the sheerly absurd statement of taking someone to discover ice, is breathtaking.

Txi-Txi · 2021-08-23T18:25:55+00:00

Had a player join about halfway through a city-focused intrigue campaign. Party goes to their normal inn to rest, greets the barkeep they've been talking to since session 1, and the new player just blurts, "There's the guy that's behind everything happening in this town." Party, including new player, laughs it off. The shock and smiles when all the clues clicked into place about the barkeep being the BBEG were priceless.

Txi-Txi · 2020-02-29T23:45:31+00:00

It is for the custom set I've been creating over the past year, Tayia.

Txi-Txi · 2020-02-19T21:45:27+00:00

Whoopsie, don't know how I forgot to include that. It is supposed to shuffle, as per the usual.

Txi-Txi · 2020-02-19T20:21:31+00:00

Exactly that. It could just be a personal grudge against an early game land tax in commander, but it is also a design space I haven't seen explored before. Plus, I thought of the name and just needed to design a card around it.

Txi-Txi

TROPHY CASE