We did a whole episode of the podcast on Swordthrust (1984) last year. That probably tells you something about the adventure’s place in the line. If not, I’ll say it directly: this is probably Role Aids at its weirdest, most experimental and, consequently, at its best.

In short: a titan sleeps atop a high mountain. The party goes in the titan’s ear and explores his brain, looking for a powerful artifact that is calling to them. Inside, there are monsters that have taken up residence, angelic creatures that are manifestations of the titan’s better nature, reptilians that embody his baser impulses, and strange apparitions that are, essentially, his dreams and memories made flesh, making for a very odd variety of environments inside what is supposed to be a complex of ice caves.

All of this is super interesting, especially for the year it was released (compare this to any give Dragonlance module, for instance). It doesn’t go as hard or as bizarre as it could, but that’s OK — it paved the way for plenty of others to get weird (Silent Titans sprints immediately to mind) and leaves plenty of room for the GM to odd it up.

Cover art is another recycled Boris Vallejo, though in this case, the authors incorporated the scene in the adventure — there, this guy is one of the Titan’s dreams who left the brain to live on the mountain and has, essentially, become real. He’s an interesting chap. Interiors are by Robin Wood. She did a lot of Role Aids work and it’s rather variable — I think she was using it as an opportunity to experiment with different styles. These drawings are pretty solid!

DragonFinds has gotten a few new dnd titles. Today I found the AD&D Reincarnated Temple of Elemental Evil and the classic Role Aids Dragons adventures.

Evil Ruins (Role Aids, 1983)

People don’t really differentiate between authors’ voices when discussing roleplaying game scenarios. There’s a bit of it when people are really into it. They will talk about Gygaxian naturalism, or Jaquaysing Xandering dungeons [note check this Alexandrian post regarding the name change]. If it’s a Hickman scenario there’s gonna be railroads. That stuff.

Stephen Bourne is not one of those…

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My Role Aids collection continues to grow! Role Aids are my favorite old-school supplement series. Some of my most memorable adventures have been Role Aids. I used to own "Witches" long ago. It was very controversial in its day for researching/referencing "real" witchcraft, and it details classical "Dianic" witches, "fairie" witches, ceremonial magic "Golden Dawn" style witches and so on. I dislike that they're all "NPC classes," and I will admit I've always found those to be completely pointless. But the Deryni, the only class writeup in the book based on a fictional series, are really cool, and I think they can work as a PC class. I have to state I greatly dislike their classification of "voodoo" as inherently evil, and it flies in the face of the legitimate research they seem to have done with other types of "witchcraft," but what can I say? They can't all be zingers. "Crystal Barrier" may be the greatest thing I've ever run(after my own little tweaks, and tying parts into one of the PC's secret backstories!). Way too much to get into now, but maybe I'll tell you all more about it another time! That adventure did use their version of dragons, described more fully in the above left supplement. I really like their take on dragons. All dragons get fire breath. A lot get another special type. And many have random abilities and gifts, making every dragon unique. They're all also very arrogant and self-superior, so even the lawful good ones will expect you to literally hand them over anything they see you with that they want - so smart adventurers hide their good stuff and take out some things they don't mind parting with for when the dragon inevitably demands them! The "Gilgamesh" adventure in "Wizards" was also great. Not only was a journey to a version of ancient Babylon really cool, the climax was a dungeon hack with Gilgamesh through a step pyramid with Gilgamesh furiously kicking down doors, triggering encounters, and moving on in his desperate search for Enkidu's necklace. The players enjoyed the opportunity to rush around recklessly slaying monsters! Many monsters were very unique, and the finale is both touching and awe-inspiring, as the PCs discover Enkidu's necklace is just a string with pine cones and twigs and leaves - but to Gilgamesh it is worth more than all the jewelry on his body, and so he strips it all off and gifts it in handfuls to the heroes. And "Old Durnick Ruins" in "A Portal to Adventure" also deserves a mention. Expanding the church and adding some underground areas and some hidden threats kicked the whole thing up a bit. I liked how the ogre magi weren't described as blue, but utilized the other color schemes with which they're described. Often, a monster will be described with two or three different color schemes or looks, and only one will ever be used or depicted(and sometimes one at variance with the description, a problem sometimes consistent through editions, I'm looking at you, norkers!), so I always give a nod to the ones that depict the grey trolls and the purple ogres. Finally I have to say "Dark Folk" is a supplement I've been using since my teen years. It does a wonderful job of giving the different races cultures and laws and histories and traditions, and the sample adventures are pretty neat, too. The kobold adventure is kinda grueling as it's wave after wave of little guys, but they really use them well, with lots of simple but annoying traps and so on. Also, I play kobolds with the idea that the older they are, the more important they are, and thus the biggest groups of foes are the smallest, beginning with hatchlings! I have a lot of fun playing up the "Gremlins" factor with them as they use tripwires, cut down chandeliers(while hanging from them!), throw containers of slippery oil or even worse substances, nets and so on. I'll talk more about some of these supplements another time, along with a play report for "The Hamlet of Volage," which I converted and ran for an upcoming system from Penny Thought Exchange...!

"Americans can't deal with death unless they own it. If they own it, they will celebrate it, like in the air force base museum of the atomic bomb, where whole families of camera-toting tourists gather after the required i.d. security checks. In the gray-carpeted rooms, they walk the mazes of portable screens and platforms and enlarged photographs of death and incineration as seen from a discreet distance. The distance is far enough so you can't see the bodies, only the architecture."

David Wojnarowicz, Close to the Knives, 1991

new yoke sonic :^)

the palm tree is great and all, but what about the flickies?? in this backwards world, those little animals are his only friends, so he’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect them. when the chaos council took over, they were in great danger, and bullet made the tough choice to trade his freedom for their safety, acting as an enforcer on their behalf.

Imogen: “I don’t think I want to save the gods if they don’t care about me.”

FCG: “Have you tried getting to know them?”

Imogen, known for her limited patience and absolute willingness to just rip information from people because if she’s not learning what she needs to know right away then it’s a waste of her time: “What does that have to do with anything?”

locked tomb modern au but its us politics. john is a congressman or governor or even president or smthn and the mithraeum team is his political staff. this is the worst timeline btw

Right off the bat, I love the name of Evil Ruins (1983). It doesn’t get more generic than that, and generic is sort of the Role Aid aim, right? Second, the Boris Vallejo cover painting is a favorite. To my knowledge, it was originally used on the Science Fiction Book Club edition of Roger Zelazny’s Nine Princes in Amber (1979) and it is just as preposterous there as it is here.

The adventure itself is pretty good. The ruins (modeled after the real-world Castle Tintagel for no particular reason) have a rich history of tragedy and betrayal. Unraveling that history is the only way to entirely deal with the pair of evils currently inhabiting the dungeons. The story isn’t super surprising (resentment and murder among the royal residents several generations ago lead to the establishment of a temple of evil in the depths, as well as the haunting by a tormented spirit) but it works as a good puzzle to drive exploration and keep players thinking. I like this one a lot.

Solid interior art by Hannah Shapero. The altar of Arawn is particularly nice.

Sooooo the last few days i’ve been seeing stars and suddenly i’m juggling 6 sorcerer boyfriends. Whats a polar bear to do?

Also this is my MC, 🍨✨ Sorbetes ✨🍨.

Context why my MC is a sentient polar bear.

The MC doesn't have a set appearance and then there was this dialogue. And the emotes are polar bear themed 😂😂😂 is also literally its own spoiler

you know how in twst they can sense if someone is magicless?

now imagine there’s a timeskip and you reunite with any of the twst boys and they sense powerful magic within you much to their surprise, only to reveal that it’s not from you but rather the baby growing inside your belly? and they’re like confused at first until they hear a familiar voice slowly approaching them

“that’s because i’m the father” and enters, say, any twst boy you have in mind but i was imagining azul in this scenario, i think it would be kinda funny but also cool cause he seems like the kind of a guy to make a dramatic entrance just to reveal he and the prefect are now in a relationship and expecting

I'd say this is very on brand for Azul considering he had the tweels drop down from seemingly the sky in the Octavinelle manga for this goofy entrance:

He would be so dramatic with the reveal. You know he rehearsed what he'll say in the mirror and he went through so many variations of "I'm the father" just so he can really make an impact and drive this reality home to his and your old schoolmates. But then he also can't stop feeling so smug upon seeing the shocked/envious/upset/etc expressions of his old classmates and the way they're so obviously still lusting after you. He just got lucky (read: he trapped you in a contract) and now he has you all to himself and the two of you are in love forever and will be starting a family together. <3

ned told arya, on page, that she is a stark of winterfell and she has a duty to her house therefore she needs to grow up in order to best fulfil her responsibilities and arya "vowed" that she would do so while thinking she had never loved her father so much. she completely embraced the idea of community that was one of ned's most fundamental lessons for leadership

sometimes i think about how falsettos fans really minimize charlotte and cordelias role in falsettos and i frown and shake my head and go Aye Yi Yi....

orym running, skipping over mister, tumbling and rolling under fearne’s legs, holding his shield up and shoving fearne backward, shouting “you’re a little close, fearne! find a safe spot!” (bonus: fearne shouting “teamwork!”) 🥹

What are your thoughts on Yuma x Vivia? I seem to be in the minority cause Vivia's mostly shipped with Yakou, but I personally see Yakou as more of a father figure to Vivia. Also amazing art as always.

short answer: they mean da world 2 me 💜