DEAD BIRDS #2: COLLECTED OCTOBER UN-THOUGHT

Two dead crows, hung by string from Chris Packham's gate. Image courtesy The Guardian

I actually did restore that twitter account, purely to protect my burgeoning brand, man. Follower count is a proud zero. You're here instead, welcome to my mind, October 2022. 

1. SEA TROLLS: Barnacle-encrusted and carrying driftwood clubs, they hide beneath the sands (or shingle, if you live on the Blighted Isles). Regenerate only by bathing in seawater. Courtesy Louis and family 
   
   

Inktober 2022

2nd "Cartography"

A friend on the Garblag Games discord asked if there were any D&D/fantasy based inktober prompts. Instead of looking them up, I suggested we write a set together, and waited.

I’m quite impatient.

I wrote this list:

DEAD BIRDS #1: COLLECTED SEPTEMBER UN-THOUGHT

Still Life with a Dead Bird by Marina Dormidontova

 It's good to have a filter. Here's what would happen if I did not.

1. OSR IS AN OPERATING SYSTEM: there's a post in this, it may become one. What FKR newbies don't realise is that old school D&D is just a framing device. DISCUSS. 2022.09.02
   
   

BECMI Intelligent Swords

During a recent discussion on the NSR discord server the subject of intelligent magic items popped up, and I was immediately reminded of the rules for generating intelligent swords in the Frank Mentzer Expert Set.

Drawing of a  magical—possibly intelligent—sword by Larry Elmore

There are other, similar rules for intelligent swords in Moldvay. Seeing as this is the go-to old-school ruleset (and likely the basis for any similar rules in OSE or Basic Fantasy), I'm ignoring those. Likewise—as with my [positively ancient] post about dwarf clerics— this is a paraphrasing of existing mechanics. I'm not adding anything original here.

I have a more interesting stab (ha!) at this topic over on Iconoclastic Flow:
https://flowiconoclastic.blogspot.com/2022/10/blades-with-brains.html

...and yes, it's swordtember, so I suppose the timing is germane.