Recent content by Castlin

How about ye olde ouroboros. You could make the serpent symbolic of life, as it often is, or perhaps change it a bit into a man (or orc) eating himself.

The Characters Allow me to introduce the characters. Wilhelm Plattsburgh: Wilhelm is a prophet from Gasmithon, who is traveling with Olaf to learn more about the garoulin which have begun to threaten their land. He receives sporadic and often conflicting visions. Junior Senator William...

I lurked the heck out of Mr. Noah's 3e site, and subjected my players at the time to a horrific, chimeric mishmash of 2nd edition and 3e rumors ("Everything is skills now! Put more points in Longsword!"). It was a good but scary time... and I think I'm gearing up to do it again.

The thing I'm looking forward to most is more. You can have more encounters. The balance is by encounter. The rules promise to be cleaner, meaning you can get more done in your play session. The DM isn't brain-fried from running a hugely complex encounter, so is more willing to do something...

Vis Major is a setting I've been cobbling together for a few months on and off. When a member of my current group decided to take a few months off to care for his new daughter, we put that game on hold. I decided to try out my new setting on the group in his absence. The players are mostly new...

I would like to see some rules for making new weapons and armor in the DMG, and lots of examples in the PHB. Then, I would like to see these rules followed throughout other works, so we do not end up with any more mercurial greatswords. I've had an article on this bookmarked for a long time...

Agree. People will be clamoring for druids too, so Nature seems like a good third choice. Though if ranger is going to be in PHB1, what other classes might use Nature as a power source? I am not too up on my splatbook knowledge. It would seem odd to have a power source for just one class.

I believe to the medieval mindset, "darkness = evil = unknown". Anyway, what about intelligent predators. They fall somewhere in the middle of raiders and beasts. They are going to steal you away from your home... and eat you. Ogres are the first ones that come to mind. I think you also have...

If an adventure doesn't end with a collapsing castle, I write it off as a failure~ It is possible I have played too much Castlevania. I was surprised nobody mentioned starting occupations. I know they're not in SWSE, but even if they don't make it into 4E (and I have no reason to suspect one...

How, exactly, does an animated bashing shield work? I guess it's pretty simple if the wielder is only using the shield and a one handed weapon. That would basically be two-weapon fighting, right? How would it work with a two-handed weapon, like a longspear? Or if the wielder was two-weapon...

Check out Dougal Dixon's "The New Dinosaurs". It's kind of expensive on Amazon there, but maybe you could find a copy at the library. They're not dinosaurs; they're dinosaurs that kept evolving. And check out H.P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness". Build a society, or the ruins of a...

I got the idea that movement in the ethereal is slower than the corporeal from the blink spell. It says you move at three-quarters speed. I figured since you were spending half your time in the ethereal, that meant movement in the ethereal was halved. I could be wrong. If you make Tillix's...

The wizard died... but his familiar didn't. Familiars are pretty smart. Even a low-level wizard's familiar has an Int of 6 or more, which is animal cunning combined with some simple reasoning. The master's death turned it mean and vengeful. It might not be able to kill its master's murderer...

The last time I sent an assissin after the PCs, it poisoned their anti-toxins. They were extremely upset. Also, I'm pretty sure that movement in the ethereal is slower than corporeal movement. You should keep that in mind. What does leather armor for a spider look like? If you pump that Use...