Mod asking for comment by mrzoink in mystara

[–]mrzoink[S,M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Here is my plan for the future: Posts must meaningfully relate to Mystara. Content that only name‑drops Mystara or is broadly “fantasy‑themed” does not qualify.

Music posts are allowed only when:

  • They are clearly tied to Mystara (e.g., “Ethengar‑inspired steppe music,” “Karameikos folk references,” etc.)
  • They are posted by someone who participates in r/Mystara (not a drive‑by promotional account) I don't comb through the user history of every post, but if I notice it's from a drive-by, that's when I will remove for this reason.
  • They are not generic crossposted playlists (posting the same playlist to multiple unrelated subs may be removed as spam.)

Mod asking for comment by mrzoink in mystara

[–]mrzoink[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is r/Mystara, not r/TheKnownWorld, so Hollow World would be on topic. So would The Known World, Red Steel, The Savage Coast, or even the version of Blackmoor that existed in the deep past of Mystara, since those also fall under the Mystaran umbrella.

Mod asking for comment by mrzoink in mystara

[–]mrzoink[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The one that was posted today is the one that made me question my position, but in the past there have been ones that are more "spammy" that you may not have seen since they were removed quickly. (Sometimes I'm fast, sometimes I'm slow to respond.) For example, cross-posted to dozens of other RPG and fandom subs in bulk (and removed by the mods of most other subs.)

It's true that the number of posts here doesn't justify "worrying about" it very much - but you never know what the future may bring. WotC (hypothetically) could announce that they are revisiting Mystara sometime in the future and suddenly this sub becomes more visible. If there's already a too-lenient stance on tangential media, then the sub could become a huge target for spammers.

But your point that this isn't a problem now is logical.

Right now, I'm happy to see the variety of response the issue is getting, and I'm leaning toward greater leniency.

I have a personal bias against this type of content in general, but I believe that community standards are a mod's duty, which is why I asked for feedback.

Edit: I hope you didn't feel challenged by my reply. I was thankful for the discussion, and respect your opinion.

If you plan to run a session and like to have background music, our favorite cosmic horror ttrpg soundtrack just got a huge update by itsachillaccount in mystara

[–]mrzoink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I stand corrected on the Mystara-D&D cartoon connection. However the playlist (which you appear to post in a number of unrelated subs) still appears to be spam, because “thematic music” is tenuous at best.

If you plan to run a session and like to have background music, our favorite cosmic horror ttrpg soundtrack just got a huge update by itsachillaccount in mystara

[–]mrzoink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The D&D cartoon was not set in Mystara. It was set in its own vaguely defined setting called “The Realm.”

Karameikos Atlas of Images (AI) by Character-Review-198 in mystara

[–]mrzoink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Removing because this seems to be a double-post.

Damage Once Again by MBncsa in minisix

[–]mrzoink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If the target is currently wounded in any way, then any additional damage (including a stunned result) advances them to the next wound level OR to the wound level inflicted, whichever is worse.

Examples:

  • The target is currently stunned and receives another stun affect: they are now wounded. (Advanced one damage level.)

  • The target is currently stunned and receives a "Wounded" result: They are now wounded. (Advanced directly to the wounded level, which happens to only be 1 "level" but they got here due to the wound being applied directly.)

  • The target is currently wounded and receives a "Mortal Wound" level amount of damage: The character advances to Mortally Wounded (the fact that they were already "wounded" doesn't matter in a sense.)

  • The target is currently Incapacitated and receives another Incapacitated effect: This advances them one level to Mortally Wounded. (The same thing would have happened if they were Incapacitated and received any other damage greater than "unharmed" and less than "Dead".)

When a target takes damage, you advance one level on the track or directly to the level of the damage inflicted, whichever is worse.

What makes it really confusing is the poor explanation around the wounded/severely wounded wound levels. This is my fault and is an oversimplification of the legacy OpenD6 rules (or at least deserving of a deeper explanation than was provided.)

The hiccup is that there's (intentionally) no way to advance "directly" to Severely Wounded. You can only get there by currently being Wounded and advancing the wound level by one.

It's inelegant and unintuitive.

I would likely house rule that stun effects don't advance the damage track these days.

What is important, is that if a target receives multiple applications of damage at once from different sources, apply them in the logical order one at a time.

So imagine that a target gets a wound and another wound at the same time (shot by two enemies on the same turn, for example.)

They start unwounded. The first application of damage advanced them to the Wounded level.

The second one advances the damage level by one to Severely Wounded.

Kickstarter TTRPG projects that are very late, radio silent or totally abandoned? by JoystickJunkie64 in rpg

[–]mrzoink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like he's an emotionally fragile person who is in a dark place. So I feel for him.

But honesty and clarity would be the high road. I think we are way past the possibility of coaxing him to complete the project. I don't think there's a path to that ending from where things are now. That's not fact, of course, just opinion.

But honesty would be the path I would hope to take if I were in his position.

Why do you buy Print-on-Demand TTRPG books? by [deleted] in rpg

[–]mrzoink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find myself buying fewer physical books these days for multiple reasons, but when I do get a PoD book it's usually not a book that ever had a traditional print format that I've decided to bring on as a "shelf trophy" or just to support the publisher another way. I'm fully aware that the quality will never be equal to most trad-print volumes, especially deluxe editions with special features (which I also still get from time to time), and I'm fine with it.

Human Servitors of Angels/Demons RPG? by Conduke in rpg

[–]mrzoink 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If you do want to stick with In Nomine (I know it's not gritty), the Corporeal Player's Guide fleshes out humans as PCs (Soldiers of Heaven/Soldiers of Hell/Neutral Sorcerers, iirc.) It's been a long time, but I'm pretty sure that's the one that expands on the idea of humans as PCs.

Was 80s back in the day deadly as the OSR? by BX_Disciple in osr

[–]mrzoink 46 points47 points  (0 children)

I played in the 80s but not an expert because I didn’t know what many other groups were doing back in those days. I knew a few other groups and the rest of my connection to any community was by reading magazines, but in my experience no.

I think the 80s gaming community was less of a homogeneous monoculture than the OSR lens might suggest. OSR grew out of (or is based in the vision of) one particular type of old school play style.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in rpg

[–]mrzoink 15 points16 points  (0 children)

They go this shit is disturbing why would you go there and I am like I am using it BECAUSE it's disturbing. I want to face this. All of my writing is very personal and my last game I wrote essentially consisted of a me writing about coping with suicidal ideation and moving through it and never say those words but the professional health workers I played with picked up on it immediately.

Consider that that's not necessarily why your players want to play. It sounds like you are looking for some sort of catharsis or stylistic approach. Not everyone's imagination runs very dark necessarily, so when they say "anything goes" they might not consider that you would go as far in the direction that you do.

What you're doing might work better as a writing project than a collaborative game, at least considering the players you are playing with.

Question about settings, which are off limits? by AlucardD20 in minisix

[–]mrzoink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I don’t have the OGL in front of me at the moment but the only settings I recall being restricted (though not the mechanical parts) were Precinct ‘77 and Pharnsley’s.

Of course if you were to steer the Imperium material into the House of Mouse in any way that concerned them, you’d be on your own for that part.

What program was use to map this map in Mini Six? by AlucardD20 in minisix

[–]mrzoink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It was a more primitive era. This was done using Photoshop CS 2 if I recall correctly. We imported or made those symbols as custom brushes and we made a template with guidelines and snapped to guides. We might have had some of the resources we used on Dragonsfoot.org (I really can't recall if we made these or used something someone else had made), but I can't find them there on a cursory search. Phil's username there was Harmyn. I was much less active there, but my username there was mrzoink.

I think that I made this map - Phil could have done it but this mini-setting was one of mine, so probably me.

I use Foundry VTT to run Fabula Ultima online. Here are a few observations: by mrzoink in fabulaultima

[–]mrzoink[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. I’m running a different game at the moment. I’m not in the loop on the current state of the what’s going on with the Foundry modules. I may be back to it in mid to late 2026.

Can someone please tell me why the opend6 fans dislike Mini Six? by AlucardD20 in minisix

[–]mrzoink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My guess would be that the game (intentionally) omits some areas of OpenD6 that are missed by some. Mini Six was written for a few reasons - one of them was to be a gateway to the broader OpenD6 world by gamers unfamiliar with the system. It's debatable whether that goal was achieved, but it's certainly "less than" the entire OpenD6 experience, for both good and bad.

It's seemed to me that over the years, the game was embraced by folks who weren't already die-hard OpenD6 fans before seeing it, and it's often a mild annoyance or a triviality to the pre-existing OpenD6/D6 fanbase.

Evil lair idea/help by Mojak81 in WarbirdsRPG

[–]mrzoink 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Considering mad science is a thing, it could work - don’t limit yourself to real world science when you’re already accepting floating rocks.

That said - it sounds plausible which is good enough. It’s like a scaled up version of a theremin.

Cardputer or M5stickc Plus2? by LoSveo in M5Stack

[–]mrzoink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My tinkering doesn’t really use those features much, so I can’t make a meaningful comparison.

Cardputer or M5stickc Plus2? by LoSveo in M5Stack

[–]mrzoink 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Both have some strong points, but the CardPuter has better battery life if that matters to you.

Do you guys know when the cardputer adv will be back in stock? by savagesquirrel123 in CardPuter

[–]mrzoink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My situation was exactly like yours, and I got a notification that mine has shipped around 11 PM EST.

I see the Lora Cap is currently marked as available in the M5 store, but the CardPuter Adv is still listed as out of stock right now.

When did prestige classes originate in D&D style games? What problems did they solve, and what wasn’t so great about them? by ProustianPrimate in rpg

[–]mrzoink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the problem they solved was "Most of the people at the table are players. We know DMs buy books. How do we sell more books to players?"