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Unreal Worlds: St. George and the Dragon
Rumor has it there’s a new Dungeons and Dragons out there, and we here at the Illuminerdy are justifiably excited. A wise man once said there’s no better (and certainly no more lavishly detailed)...
View ArticleArkham Archivist: The Eldritch Icons Project
I previously gave an overview of how I imagine re-skinning the Dragon Empire of 13th Age to fit a Clark Ashton Smithian/Lovecraftian theme: Eldritch Icons. I plan to write pairings of a mythos entity...
View ArticleBehind the Screen: See Spot Run
Nothing kills the mood like accidental metagaming. Most GMs are well acquainted with how much metagaming can damage a campaign when players intentionally seek to circumvent the rules because they feel...
View Article100 Word RPG Hook: Refraction
She twisted her spine to look across her shoulder, grimacing as she looked herself over, multiple reflections echoing the sour expression back at her in the angled mirrors. “These jeans,” she hissed....
View ArticleEldritch Icons: The Goat in the Queen’s Wood, Pt. 1
This post is in the Eldritch Icons Project, which will weave a narrative to supplant the 13 Icons of the Dragon Empire with more sinister icons born of Weird Fiction. The Goat Against The Queen It...
View Article100 Word RPG Hook: Ambassador to the Loa
They moved through the fields as if sleep-walking, cutting down the sugar-cane with awkward, robotic motion. Sweat soaked through their rough-spun clothing, but beyond that the oppressive heat did not...
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Zombie Week: The Top 10 Causes of a Zombie Apocalypse
Whatever flavour of zombie you have, there’s always something that caused the apocalypse. That reason is never, however, ‘rage infected monkeys’. That just leads to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes....
View ArticleZombie Week: Random Zombie Effects Table
Zombies are great as bad guys. But they get a little boring, you know? A few Turn Undeads and they are all taken care of. Spice up your zombies with this random zombie enhancement table. Bill Murray...
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Dog Day Apocalypse
To celebrate the airing of Season Five of The Walking Dead, we’re having a zombie themed week of posts here at The Illuminerdy. This offering is the outline of a system free zombie survival scenario...
View ArticleBehind the Screen: Bringing New Life to the Undead
It’s sad for me to say this, here at the end of Zombie Week, but it’s a bit difficult at times not to feel like the zombie concept is a bit, well, dead. Popular media seems like it can’t get enough of...
View Article100 Word RPG Hook: TOP SECRET//MAJIC//EYES ONLY, SERIAL 9/TI/00676-14
DATE: 20141016 0604Z SUBJECT/CRITIC: RESUMPTION OF CONTACT WITH OTV-3/X-37B “PENDRAGON” EXECSUM: STRATCOM/OFFUT AFB/GOG RECEIVED A NEW TRANSMISSION FROM PENDRAGON AT O558Z ON 16 OCTOBER 2014, AT WHICH...
View ArticleBehind the Screen: Staring Literal Daggers
They say love is a battleground. I say “then why not stat up love-tanks?” I’ve talked before about alternatives to standard combat to break up the monotony. At the same time, I know that few things...
View Article100 Word RPG Hook: Trick or Treat
“Trick or treat!” it says, with a false enthusiasm that never reaches its face. Its hand – only three fingers, which no one ever notices – hovers near the doorbell, ready to ring again. It struggles to...
View ArticleEldritch Icons: The Goat in the Queen’s Wood, Pt. 2
The previous Eldritch Icons post for Shub-Niggurath described her conflict with the Elf Queen and gave a background on her description in literature. Now, let’s take a look at some of plot hooks her...
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Lost and Forgotten: The Worm Latitudes
August 2014, and Ål, the world’s oldest eel, dies in a well in Sweden at the age of 155. He was, reportedly, grotesquely grown, with oversized eyes and other aberrations stemming from his advanced age...
View Article100 Word RPG Hook: Misdirection
The neighbors stand on front porches and sidewalks, craning their necks to try to see more but unwilling to move their rooted feet. The screech of the siren, the flashing lights drew them out of their...
View ArticleEmergency Gaming Kit: The Supply Run
It’s game night, and real life has struck down half or more of your players, leaving you with two guys and no way to realistically run that epic battle that keys off each characters individual...
View ArticleBehind the Screen: The Butter Zone
It’s always reassuring to me to realize that brilliant people can get table-flipping mad when they run into a wall, just like everyone else. When Einstein said “God doesn’t play dice,” it was because...
View Article100 Word RPG Hook: 1958, Among Other Years
“Earlier this morning, the Pentagon discovered the designs for an honest-to-God death-ray. Part of the DARPA program Ike just started to try to catch up with the Soviets after Sputnik. Within three...
View ArticleArkham Archivist: Dracula Dossier Kickstarter & Director’s Handbook Mini-Review
What if Dracula weren’t just a novel? Good news, vampire/vampire RPG fans—it’s not! In fact, it’s a censored after-action report of the failed British Intelligence attempt to recruit a vampire in 1894....
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