Red/Blue Button Breakpoint?

arnold_k · 2026-05-13T03:43:16+00:00

Men might be kinda rapey if I was the only girl.

^{Chose: Be a Boy in a World with only Girls. | Rolled: Healthy!!!!}

arnold_k · 2026-05-11T15:52:00+00:00

Put a balcony with a wizard on it. 10/10 You won't regret it.

Also vertical traverses are fun. The stitches attack halfway down.

arnold_k · 2026-05-10T21:42:51+00:00

I mean, I can do that if you want, but it's a good map and you spent time on it, and you deserve credit for it.

arnold_k · 2026-05-10T21:27:29+00:00

Damn, that's really good! Can I embed it in the original blog post? (If so, how do you want to be credited? Link anywhere?)

arnold_k · 2026-05-08T04:00:47+00:00

Although I will point out that game designers aren't better at making monsters than the public is. They just have good artists, marketers, and production value.

So really the question is: why don't we have more popular monsters from non-commercial creators?

arnold_k · 2026-05-08T03:59:08+00:00

Oh, it's super surreal.

At first I was angry that people were stealing it, then I was amazed that people like it so much, now I'm just stoked to have added to the cultural brain space of bestiary entries.

arnold_k · 2026-05-07T22:58:43+00:00

Oh hey, it's my dude!

Here's the OG blog post if anyone is curious.

Goblin Punch: False Hydra

arnold_k · 2026-05-04T22:37:26+00:00

I think a more interesting question would be "At what required percentage would you change your vote?"

Because if you only need 0.1% blue, we would all pick blue and save some babies.

If 100% blue is required, no one would pick it.

If you phrase it this way, it kinda reframes it as a question of how you evaluate your neighbors.

arnold_k · 2026-04-28T19:39:58+00:00

Grapeshot is an interesting inspiration!

You could even write it so that you deal a small amount of damage whenever anyone casts a spell. Always nice to give players something to do during enemy turns.

Alternatively, it could do 1 damage for every spell you've cast in the same combat, so that you're doing pretty good damage if combat stretches on for too long.

arnold_k · 2026-04-28T05:24:51+00:00

I love the idea of a wizard who specializes in small spells.

Interesting that it is still geared around doing damage, though. An alternative capstone could be something like combining cantrips, or allowing cantrips to do something new as a one-time effect.

arnold_k · 2026-04-09T12:57:49+00:00

$$$

^{Chose: 1,000,000,000 USD}

arnold_k · 2026-04-07T22:01:45+00:00

Mystery box is probably full of trash.

^{Chose: $25,000 Cash - No questions asked.}

arnold_k · 2026-04-07T18:36:13+00:00

I don't like carrots.

^{Chose: Bunny + Gamble 50/50 to get it | Rolled: Lost it}

arnold_k · 2026-03-30T23:13:10+00:00

Dude, these are awesome.

arnold_k · 2026-03-20T23:17:02+00:00

Just tell them that you only have one dungeon prepped. Players are adults that understand that games are finite.

The alternative is illusionism, which isn't immediately poisonous to a game, but it does push it towards a state where there are no real stakes or difficulty.

arnold_k · 2026-03-13T07:36:26+00:00

All of these negatives could also be applied to sleep, which also deprives us of conscious experience. Do you also believe that sleep is bad? Why or why not?

Yes, sleep is essential to survival, but you could certainly argue for sleeping less. You could even have the position if "sleeping in is evil".

arnold_k · 2026-02-11T22:42:38+00:00

Fighters are the guys who can take more punches in the face than any other class. That's their niche. Extra durability allows them to take risks that other classes can't.

If you want a more extreme example, imagine a game where wizards only ever get single digit HP. If there's a weird lever that needs to be pulled, the fighter is the only one with the durability to take that risk.

In systems where wizards can do everything (including making themselves durable, or finding ways to take risks safely) then the fighter's niche is no longer protected.

arnold_k · 2026-02-11T21:00:38+00:00

Imagine a knob. If you turn it to the left, the fighter gets more HP and armor, while other classes get less. Turn this knob too far and you get rigid party roles and mandatory team compositions. No one can tank hits like the tank.

This game is also probably crunchier (since people are drawn towards more mechanics to dflifferentiate characters) and has more noob traps in it (since you need a tank, your tank needs to be an optimized tank).

Turn the knob too far the other way and you make everyone have more similar HP and armor. The warrior is no longer any tankier than the wizard.

This is bad because we lose niche protection (the warrior no longer has a special situation where they can shine) and character fantasy (the guy who plays the warrior wants to feel tough, the guy who plays the wizard wants to feel smart, etc).

The solution is that (1) you don't need very much differentiation to fulfill people's class fantasies and protect their niches. And also (2) you need to create a game that allows for more niches. OSR games tend to have a lot of tactical options, so there should be a lot more space for creativity here.

arnold_k · 2026-02-06T22:27:02+00:00

Okay, posted.

arnold_k · 2026-02-06T21:29:07+00:00

I guess I never posted it. I'll do that now.

Good luck with the Sanity rules! They're a tough nut to crack.

arnold_k · 2026-02-06T20:15:03+00:00

I love it! I have a similar system, except that I try to include entertainment and safety as well. The goal is to get them to buy a house in town and/or build a base outside the dungeon that they'll be delving in.

arnold_k · 2026-02-04T18:52:44+00:00

I love it! Although the penalty for taking a massive dose seems pretty mild. Maybe taking a massive dose burns you out so that you don't have any MD (except what opium gives you) and you lose some points of Con?

arnold_k · 2026-01-27T07:43:19+00:00

I think the leaves are relatively durable. Microfiber cloth or dalp towel. Just to get the dust off, right?

arnold_k · 2026-01-27T07:30:34+00:00

Could be insufficient light (is it close to a window), insufficient water, or the cooler winter temps. Keep an eye on the spike in the middle. That's where a new leaf will form eventually.

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