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"The fact that you can just randomly encounter a Longship filled with Vikings...
Every week I google "zylarthen" to see if anyone has written a new review or whatever of Seven Voyages of Zylarthen, my OD&D neo-clone. After I gave the game it's somewhat distinctive name, I...
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Witches in Early D&D
A witch (one assumes) from the "Witchcraft Supplement in Dragon Magazine #5 (March, 1977)Witches have a curious history in early Dungeons & Dragons (here, I'm defining "early" as 1974-early 1980)....
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Demons in Early D&D, Part 1
A demon from Eldritch WizardryThere were plenty of demons in early Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1979). Not only were there many kinds of demons, but demons could be summoned by spells, they could...
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Demons in Early D&D, Part 2
The Arch-devil Asmodeus, from the AD&D Monster ManualSee Part 1, here.Dungeons & Dragons "Holmes Basic" Set (July, 1977): There were only a few passing references to demons in this edition. I...
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Monsters as Player Characters - OD&D vs. AD&D
I don't know - it looks good to meI'm taking a three-day break from demons to talk about something I rediscovered while looking for demons. I'm sure what I'm about to point out has been mentioned...
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Announcing SEVEN YEARS of FANTASY WEATHER!
Adventurers in the Snow, from "Weather in the World of Greyhawk," in The Dragon, No. 68Campion & Clitherow has just published its first system-neutral product!It's called Seven Years of Fantasy...
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THE ALMANAC of FANTASY WEATHER is now live on DriveThruRPG
Campion & Clitherow has just released THE ALMANAC of FANTASY WEATHER. It's available on DriveThruRPG and Lulu.THE ALMANAC of FANTASY WEATHER is a new and greatly expanded edition of SEVEN YEARS of...
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"Weather in the World of Greyhawk" from Dragon #68
As I might have mentioned before, the idea for designing what would eventually become THE ALMANAC of FANTASY WEATHER came to me when I was re-imagining druid spells for the Book of Spells supplement to...
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"Weathering the Storms" (Dragon #137) and the Köppen Climate Classification...
The second major inspiration for what would later become THE ALMANAC of FANTASY WEATHER was Lisa Cabala's article "Weathering the Storms" in The Dragon #137.The central insight of the article was to...
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Fantasy Weather: How to Create a Temperature Algorithm in Just 16 Easy Steps!
Or at least I'm going to tell you how I did it for THE ALMANAC of FANTASY WEATHER.I'm not a computer programmer. The last (and only) programming language I learned was Fortran, as a college sophomore...
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Villanelle for Easter Eve
The athlete and missionary, Eric LiddellFor years, I sought to walk a godly pace, Not sensing all things rushing into God.But now I run, I run as in a race. There was a stream, but one I could not...
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ZYLARTHEN Bundle (Booklets plus Deluxe PDF) Now Available on DriveThruRPG
Campion and Clitherow has (finally) bundled the physical instantiations and combined PDF of its classic OD&D "neo-clone"SEVEN VOYAGES of ZYLARTHEN.The bundle includes the five physical booklets...
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Historical Analysis: D&D Prices Then and Now (Is 5e the Most Expensive...
To me, a middle-aged person who started purchasing Dungeons & Dragons Rulebooks forty years ago, the contemporary product offerings of Wizards of the Coast seem wildly overpriced.I bought the...
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Story for Earth Day: "A Narrow Escape" by Lord Dunsany
"A Narrow Escape" from Tales of Wonder, 1916, by Lord DunsanyIt was underground.In that dank cavern down below Belgrave Square the walls were dripping. But what was that to the magician? It was secrecy...
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Flight 93 - "Stand Up and Bring the Ship Down!"
The last minutes on the fourth plane (from the film United 93)This is a repost (with some edits and supplementary comments) of a piece I wrote a year ago on September 11, 2017. Obviously I think the...
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Alternate Weapons and Combat Rules for Seven Voyages of Zylarthen and OD&D
The first edition of Seven Voyages of Zylarthen features melee and missile attack tables by weapon, not class or level. Additional to-hit adjustments are then made for higher-level characters or...
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Save Versus All Wands Contest: What is the Value of the Coin Hoard?
Treasure Type H Announcing the third annual (well, not quite) Save Versus All Wands contest!You can read about and see the results of the first two - Seven Voyages of Zylarthen: What's in a Name and...
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Announcing the Contest Winner! (Plus Some Interesting US Coin Facts)
The third semi-annual Save Versus All Wands contest - What is the Value of this Coin Hoard - is over.$1,000 was the winning guess, only a bit below the actual total of $1,216.It was made by Mark Clover...
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