An Abominable Fancy

My affection for harpies as a playable race comes directly from Donna Barr's art from the old Lace & Steel rpg. Lots of folks consider flying PCs to be a problem, especially at low levels. I think this is obviated if, as I am planning, the flyers are one of your core races. If you have flying PCs in mind, then you build challenges with flight in mind. Donna Barr Harpies have the heads and torsos of humans and the wings, talons, and bodies of large, predatory birds. Their hands emerge from the prominent joint of their wings. Their plumage ranges from brown to slate to black, often with lighter markings. They are a distinct species from the monster of the same name. Female harpies are larger and stronger the males, and dominate harpy society. It is common for young females to seek their fortune outside the aerie. Harpy society is hierarchal and legalistic. They are generally considered to have invented law and civil organization, and brought these c...

Centaurs are a very cool, very dramatic race, as centuries of pastoral fantasy art readily attests. But they're a little too big and unwieldy to be practical members of an adventuring party. They won't fit in the little boat tied up by the subterranean lake. They can't hide in the Duchess' closet. And, of course, they can't climb ladders. May I suggest a smaller, shaggier, humbler alternative? Onocentaurs have the torso, arms, and head of a human, and the legs and body of a donkey. Shaggy donkey ears grow from their head, and buck teeth are common. Google didn't have any  onocentaurs, so I drew this one. They are smaller than their wild cousins, the noble centaurs, and more adapted to life among humans. They fit more easily into human-scaled buildings, and are much better climbers—Onocentaurs have an easy time navigating stairs and can even learn to climb ladders. They are rustic creatures, often living on the rural outskirts of ci...

D&D is full of evil little frog guys. But little frog guys don't have to be evil, right? Heinrich Kley Froschlings are anthropomorphic frogs, standing between three and four feet tall. They typically have green skin with black mottling, although skin colors ranging from blue to brown are known. They have distinct round typanums behind their eyes, with which they hear. They usually do not wear clothing for any practical function, but may adopt a few flashy accouterments, such as a plumed hat or a brocaded sash. They are a proud, flamboyant people, and every Froschling—no matter their station—has a long name, an aristocratic title, a storied lineage, and an elaborate network of alliances, feuds, and intrigues with seemingly every other Froschling.   In early adulthood, they are eager explorers, passionate lovers, and ready skirmishers. A good life for froschling-kind is one in which much glory and recountable incident has been gathered early, so that ...

It may be a natural law that rule-hacks must constantly vacillate between (1) coming up with delightfully specific systems (for, say, regional haggling , or watercraft chases, or being an agnostic cleric in a world of exoteric gods), and (2) paring things down to the cleanest, simplest, write-it-on-a-single-grain-of-rice set of ultra-light rules. The former is fun, even when you're creating things that you know will never see play ( f'rinstance, Hummels as a playable race) . Like every creative form I can think of at the moment, there is joy in articulating experience and imagination within the limiting strictures of the chosen medium—the meter of a poem, the panels of a comic, the mechanics of an rpg. The latter is refreshing, because it reminds you how very little you need to invoke the magic of this hobby. An Organic RPG Character Generation: Each player briefly describes who their character wants to be. The referee decides how close they are to this ideal, so that...

Nate Treme kindly sent me copies of two of his pamphlet-dungeons, Temple of the Bat Serpent , and The Mephitic Laboratory of the Pescamancer. Both are perfect for a low-prep one-shot, which was exactly what this past weekend called for. I choose Temple of the Bat Serpent , because I didn't want to describe some of the surgical horrors of Pescamancer to kids. Prep: I read through the pamphlet, went through it again to double check some details, put about 30 seconds of effort into thinking about how the cultists would talk. The pamphlet contained all the information I needed, and it was all readily accessible. The only supplement I used was a handful of Rory's Story Cubes for when I wanted to fluff up some extra flavor. System: Bat Serpent would run as-is with anything in the OD&D/B/Xish spectrum. I used Knave, which was great. My three players quickly generated two characters each, and everyone enjoyed the scallywags that resulted. And I enjoyed letting the play...

Several years ago, Benjamin Baugh posted this document, At Fifth Level, Everybody Rides. It generates fantasy mounts for B/X-ish D&D-alikes. It is a lot of fun. With Benjamin's permission, I've adapted it for D&D 5e. I hope this is fun, too. At Fifth Level, Everybody Rides (5e) Let's call this a beta document. I'll be implementing it soon, and we'll see how it stands up to a little play-testing. If there's interest, I'll lay it out properly with decent proportions and hyperlinks.

This post documents content from the G+ 1d∞ OSR Obstacles Group . It was good while it lasted. What's wrong with this treasure? • A classic from way back: The gold coins, stamped with the face of the Dungeon Boss, are just alive enough to love the Boss and want to be with him/her/it. They will call out at the worst possible time, and can shift their weight to throw you off balance. Joel Priddy • Another classic: The gold coins are actually chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. Chocolate is rare, so they're still worth 1 gp, and they're much lighter than real gold. But they'll melt at anything above room temperature, and, obviously, there's a fire-breathing whatsit coming down the hall. Joel Priddy (Chocolate coins - and everyone knows chocolate causes acne ... and berserker rages in dwarves.) John Stater (Also outlawed as a poison in polities dominated by werewolves, wolf weres, and canid furries.) Peter Kisner • The gold is sacred to Mam...