Recent content by talien

It took me a bit to understand what happened. They flipped the image on the opposite side. Since Destro is one of the few characters pointing up and to the right, when flipped he's pointing to the left. The cardboard has to accommodate both his pointing right hand and his (on the reverse)...

Me too. For better or worse I'm not sure the property is quite as hot as it was since it moved to HBO Max. I've been watching all the episodes in order with my daughter, but we started with Fiona & Cake, and going back to the original Adventure Time is, tonally, a shock. The show got better...

It's weird how D&D really struggles with dreaming. I suspect it's because the sleep rules have been fuzzy and undefined (and the strange decision to have one species, elves, not actually sleep, and thus make it difficult to ensure a party all dreams together). Dreamscapes, active dreaming...

The intersection of Egypt and dreams is pretty much the Dream Stele, so when I was looking for a graphic it made the most sense. Your link describes it well, but here's an overview with more details: The Dream Stele: How a Dream Changed the Course of Egyptian History

Dreams are not an uncommon trope in fantasy settings, but the first recorded nightmare haunts us to this day. Picture by Carl Richard Lepsius - Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien, Band V, Neues Reich, S. 69, Public Domain, File:Giseh Traumstele (Lepsius) 01.jpg - Wikimedia Commons The...

Wrote my comment without seeing yours. Hard agree.

From a distance I thought this cover was amazing. Up close? The wizard is looking in a completely different direction (did he summon it? is he trying to stop it? unclear). The warrior seems unconcerned that she's about to be pulled into a pit by a monster. I'm not sure if it's how the models...

Oh that's right, the original was a side view (and less clothes).

Although AI has a lot in common with the crypto-fad, the barrier to entry for it is way lower. As others have pointed out, AI is something you can use right now (I certainly do) for running our own campaigns. That's a far cry from "replace all humans with AI." But you absolutely have the right...

How might WOTC launch an AI-powered DM assistant? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. We know Wizards of the Coast is tinkering with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tools for its multiple properties, including Dungeons & Dragons. But what might that look like in practice? Interactive NPCs Large...

I never considered it a problem, but it was clear one of my players did. We don't play anymore as a result, which is a shame. But I get it -- familiarity can breed contempt, I suppose, even in RPGs.

Where this becomes a problem is when you start playing with players you've known most of your life. I did get to a point where some of my players were like "oh look, another plot twist -- exactly like you did five years ago in that other game" and I didn't even realize I was repeating myself. Or...

I was super excited to have a battle of succession in which a cursed line of royals are all tested by Edgar Allen Poe-inspired trials that the PCs must help see them through (or condemn them to the curse) and then ultimately decide who would sit on the throne. It all revolves around a looming...

RPG Creators Relief Fund President Hal Greenberg spoke with me about the importance of the charity's work. I've worked with the RPG Creators Relief Fund (RCRF) for years, donating the proceeds from 5E Foes: Nightmares Before Christmas and 5E Foes: Armies of the Christmas War to the charity...

For me, this comes down to "is there read aloud text" or "bulleted item lists" for descriptions or not. As much as "read aloud" text is mocked sometimes, it clearly indicates what's meant to be read aloud to PCs. So often, there's stuff buried everywhere -- treasure, notes, clues. The DM has to...