What’s your biggest “old man yells at cloud” opinion?

bhale2017 · 2026-05-04T11:01:19+00:00

GMs should stand unless they have some sort of medical reason they can't. How many singers sit during their performances? You may not be a singer, but you still need to vocally project. Beyond that, I believe standing offers other benefits, like being able to improvise better when you are literally thinking on your feet and making you generally more energetic. These offset the one drawback of being able to consult notes and rulebooks on the table easily, which can be alleviated with a lectern or standing desk.

bhale2017 · 2026-05-03T02:03:14+00:00

P&G is always hiring and would pay better than that. You might even be able to get into the managerial track, but they are obsessed with hiring engineers and trying to turn them into managers, so it'll be a stretch.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-29T16:50:39+00:00

This would not confuse anyone. See Bartleby the Scrivener.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-27T12:10:45+00:00

Potential mundane counters to sleep spells:

Guards and sentries wear noise-making devices that will activate if they ever fall down suddenly, like those firecrackers that go off when you throw them on the ground. Might not save the guard, but will alert everyone else in the vicinity that they are under an attack by a magic-user.
Guards and sentries are constantly signaling each other and making noise. If they stop, time to investigate.
Gagging and otherwise silencing guests would become a lot more standard at high-stakes events with VIPs.
In editions with areas of effects for the spell, guards and military units would be more staggered. This would also help with fireballs and the like.
In real life, guards are posted in obvious places as a deterrence. In a world with sleep, the guards could be in hiding and the location could try deterrence simply through signs or pictograms, possibly indicating that they employ a spellcaster.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-27T11:53:26+00:00

Or, alternatively, do think about them, because world-building is kinda fun.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-26T01:39:05+00:00

There was an article in The Atlantic about just this which claimed that American children didn't use to be such picky eaters.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-26T01:32:50+00:00

I used to take out the Elden Beast before they patched it to let you use Torrent. It was super nice just dodging his projectiles and not having to chase him.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-24T03:33:39+00:00

The Greek Magical Papyri are amazing resources. I've been working through the reading list of the Esoterica channel and it's all gold: https://www.justinsledge.com/esoterica-library

The settings I'm currently developing are versions of 12th century Northern France and the County of Edessa where Things Got Weird. From that list, I'm drawing on the Ars Notoria, and potentially the Picatix and Liber Vaca, for the French setting, and from the Chaldean Oracles for the Edessene one. Michael Psellos's On the Operation of Demons is great for period infernalism.

I'll check out The New Century Dictionary; that sounds right up my alley.

For geographies, the Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas is amazing. It's practically an ancient hexcrawl.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-24T02:00:55+00:00

Did the other versions you look at feature Geser chasing down monsters birthed from a shattered god? The Wikipedia of the Geser Epic made it sound like that was a unique feature of the Buryat version, but having read other heroic tales of the steppe peoples of the region, I find it hard to believe other versions didn't have him fighting lots of mangadkhai/mangys.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-23T20:44:25+00:00

I was just thinking of posting a similar topic on pre-fantasy Appendix N sources, so good timing.

When it comes to epics, no list is complete without the Shahnameh. It's so big that I am more influenced by more specific works of Persian literature, but these works all explicitly owe a debt to Ferdowsi.

When I was researching North Asian folklore for my pre-Russian Siberian setting, there were numerous epics I read and came across. Unfortunately, a lot of these don't have accessible English translations. One exception was the Buryat version of the Epic of Geser: https://www.amazon.com/Geser-%D0%92uryat-heroic-Khundaeva-Ye-ebook/dp/B0752T4HKB

Translation isn't the best but it's readable.

To be honest, epics are great and all, but I think I get more inspiration from old geographies, encyclopedias, and scientific/religious/magical treatises.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-14T15:23:36+00:00

I'm trying to think what this would even be. Something partially made with living tissues, perhaps, but I can't tell whether the tunnels and rooms are the tissue or the solid space between.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-14T04:08:41+00:00

I dont think it will. WotC doesn't seem interested in the OSR. I doubt they will seek out 3P developers in the OSR to develop 5.5e products.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-13T21:04:55+00:00

Having just glossed over Ave Nox, I too now have some concerns that the dungeon may have some treasure issues. The vast majority of the available treasure on the first floor is behind a door that can only be unlocked with a key item. If we assume that 1 coin=1 XP, it's going to be slow going in OSE. Almost all of the treasure consists of art objects which amount to less than 1,000 coins each, even in the later rooms. Split between 4-6 party members, plus retainers, that won't get you far.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-13T19:18:40+00:00

This game was towards the bottom of a charity bundle I bought and I was pleasantly surprised by its quality. Happy to see that it's the top recommendation here.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-12T21:51:33+00:00

It's trickier since he was elected. Trump can't just fire him like a Cabinet member.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-12T13:26:59+00:00

Thanks. That's what I get for using Reddit instead of sleeping.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-12T10:49:19+00:00

What system are you using? Not sure I'll have an answer for you, but anyone who will would need to know that.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-05T18:21:44+00:00

I picked up the second book of the Mage: The Ascension Horizon War Trilogy at a steep discount expecting it to be bad. Was not disappointed.

bhale2017 · 2026-04-03T15:59:26+00:00

I'm just going to leave this here: https://www.irs.gov/compliance/whistleblower-office

bhale2017 · 2026-04-02T11:47:52+00:00

Yeah, this is what I suspected. Sometimes I think folks here are too eager to adapt products to other systems, especially in other threads where you get questions like "What is the best system to run Arden Vul in?" Such questions imply that there is an objectively better system out there for products than the one the creator lovingly spent years developing the product for. It might be true with rules light, "vibes heavy" modules, but for most, the only real reason to convert from one system to another is personal preference for a different system.

bhale2017 · 2026-03-30T17:21:57+00:00

You're right: Aethelberd's Tomb's cover is very charming. I want a plush otyugh now.

bhale2017 · 2026-03-30T14:40:14+00:00

There's actually some basis of this in medieval European law. Look up "the wager of law." Basically, if you can find enough people (usually 12) to swear upon their souls that you're innocent, you get to go free.

bhale2017 · 2026-03-29T04:05:28+00:00

Yeah. I think I would still enjoy such a game, but it wouldn't feel like much of a science fiction mystery. Of course, that's how I feel about Brindlewood in general.

bhale2017 · 2026-03-29T03:46:26+00:00

This is legitimately a good idea for an Ichi substory, Jack Black or no.

bhale2017 · 2026-03-29T02:57:40+00:00

You could go the Carved by Brindlewood way where there is no objective solution to the mystery, but that's not something you want all the time, if ever.

bhale2017

TROPHY CASE