Two Girls And A Poem

 

For the girly bandwagon, and for my beloved Weird Writer <3. 

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Names, handles, profile pictures

All blent together.

Seeing a person 

Through the shape 

Of what they've written.

Blogs like old friends,

Keeping me company.

 

Women who write

With fevered imaginations,

Creating art that makes me wonder

How much brilliance we lose

To the ephemerality of the internet. 

Some kind of beauty in that,

In it's own right. 

 

Girls I've fucked and

Girls I'll never see

And girls I hope 

To hold hands with

And giggle alongside

As we kiss and play games

One day.

 

Clumsy attempts at poetry,

Tending towards prose,

To express my love

For you all.

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For Lost Girls.  

 

The Tag-Along  

Shy, suspiciously nondescript, often bookish. She lurks on the fringes of different girl gangs, never quite a part of the group. A hanger on. Present, but not really there; unacknowledged, unincorporated, unrecognized; forever standing a little bit apart from everyone else. There is a high likelihood she becomes quietly obsessed with a girl. Once and a while, she will be able to offer up a startling insight or piece of information, exactly what the gang needs to solve a problem. But if ever acknowledged by the group, the superposition of the tag-along (a part of the group and yet not) collapses and she becomes another kind of girl, often messily; 2 in 6 chance she turns on the group and swears vengeance, particularly if jilted. 

 

The Feral

Some girls just can't stand the pressure of having to think constantly, all day long. They crave sweet release from sapience, and seek out magical means to lock, dampen, or shut down the higher functioning of their brain, becoming like animals. Some find a place in a girl gang, others roam the alleyways. Knowing a feral girl can boost one's street smarts, but it's often difficult to interpret her. Feral girls often will become obsessed with girls who perform feats of Charisma, or who are affectionate towards them. They will loyally follow the object of their obsession and even defend them, but also become possessive, and will lash out at others who come to close to their girl. 

Fiend Folio Review T-Z

Really this should have been finished a long while ago, but better late than never. Seeing the estimable Marsworms post her Part 15 (almost two months ago now -_-) reminded me I need to get this wrapped up.

Tabaxi

★★★☆☆

WHAT is that illustration, I want to shoot it with a hunting rifle. Much like with the Kenku, it is interesting to see the roots of what later becomes an extremely popular player character choice. This ancestral tabaxi is much wilder. I like the bit about them disguising scent with aromatic herbs. The tool use and innate weapon comprehension thing is weird. The cat behaviors could be played up more and them hunting in "prides" is silly. Learn about any cat other than lions people.

Tentamort

★★★★★

I must admit to a weakness for weird dungeon ecology creatures, especially one's with a name as excellent as 'tentamort'. The creature hits the sweet spot between too mundane and too weird. Defeating one would require some cunning and observation. My one qualm would be that it's liquid digestion needle attack is extremely lethal to a healing magic-less party, but that's an easy fix.

Terithran

★☆☆☆☆

The illustration is uninspiring unfortunately, and the entry's not great either, lacking a distinctive theme, aesthetic, or gimmick. I do enjoy the idea of an otherworldly creature just being pissed about wizard magic causing weird weather in their home plane and marching off to fuck the wizard up, but it is poorly implemented. The terithran is just some guy with miscellaneous spell powers who randomly appears to attack the magic-users of the party. There's nothing to really build it into a more interesting encounter.

Thoqqua

★★★☆☆

Larval rock-worm that melts its way through the earth and will set you on fire and melt your stuff if it attacks is pretty good, unfortunately there's no clear reason why it would attack besides "because." Once again we have an example of a monster who you can only interact with through combat. At least the khargra (which is of a similar type to this burrowing worm) had its affinity for metals and gems. Nonetheless I could imagine using the thoqqua as is, so it gets three stars instead of two. 

Thork

★★★★★

Giant metal bird which spews super heated steam. Hell yes. Another entry that hits the line perfectly between naturalistic and weird. It feels akin to the best of medieval and ancient bestiary entries. I can see myself using the thork as a piece of weird-wildlife for populating some jungle river basin, or island. As well, the description of its behavior if it is attacked (and the incentive to do so, owing to its valuable copper plumage) is well written in terms of utility in the moment; sucking up water in preparation for its attack and whatnot.

Throat Leech

★★★★☆

Feels more like an environmental hazard than a proper monster, that said it's gross and nasty and creates a fun problem to solve.

Tiger Fly

★★★☆☆

Baffling illustration. Not really sure what the theme is supposed to be here. I do love parasitic wasps though and the egg laying is deliciously gruesome.

Tirapheg

★★☆☆☆

Why's it got three legs, three arms (two nothing but spikes) three heads and a mouth in its belly? Why's it got two tentacles above its mouth? Who knows! It likes eating decaying flesh though and makes exclusionary copies of itself in a fight. Another entry which doesn't really have a readily comprehensible theme. Maybe it was pulled from some sci-fi novel? As an encounter its gimmicks are neat enough but there's nothing here that would let me plug it into a wider game world.

Trilloch

★☆☆☆☆

It's a life-draining energy blob which you can't interact with except for the spell 'dispel magic' and can't even detect without the spell 'detect magic.' Boo.

Giant Troll

★☆☆☆☆

It's just a big troll. Good illustration though, I like it's crude poleaxe.

Giant Two-Headed Troll

★☆☆☆☆

Again, it's just a big troll, but with two heads now. You already have a two headed giant, you literally mention the ettin in the description. At least make the heads argue. A missed opportunity all around. If you treat trolls as a sort of walking cancer you could have it be some horrible conglomerate of two trolls that regrew together and hate each other or something.

Ice Troll

★★★☆☆

Much better. Excellent illustration here, a nice enough variation on troll's normal regeneration gimmick although you lose a lot of the meat horror. Not stellar but I could see myself turning it into something fun.

Spirit Troll

★☆☆☆☆

It's a magic invisible fog troll which is a "perverted crossbreed of a troll and invisible stalker" yadda yadda. Does not bring anything interesting to the table.

Tween

★☆☆☆☆

Awful name. One of the worst kinds of monsters are the ones you can't hurt except with very specific spells/items. Kind of a neat idea, what with having a host and boosting their luck by seeing slightly into the future but at the cost of fucking over everyone else's luck around you, but seems like it would be frustrating in play and there's just no meat to it, evocatively speaking.

Umpleby

★★★★★

Hell yeah, weird seal guys. Actually, upon rereading this entry I can find no mention of the umpleby being aquatic. It just seems like they should be. Their hair nets are weird and go well with their electrocution attack (entangle then zap) and the dynamic of them forcibly joining a party as demanding henchmen is fun.

Urchin

★★★☆☆

Did the authors think regular sea urchins can shoot their spines like a crossbow bolt? Mildly baffling, would be like making an entry for dogs and then saying they have detachable tails that they can regrow. That said, I'm weirdly infatuated with these things (also the concept of sea urchins being able to infest land as well as sea is terrifying).

Vision

★☆☆☆☆

Doesn't even have a form. Vaguely attacks with illusions that you can throw off with a roll. Extremely boring.

Vodyanoi

★★☆☆☆

Points off already for stealing the name of an excellent Slavic mythological creature and using it merely for a 'close aquatic relatives of the umber hulk'. Basically just a big underwater brute that rips up your boat and tries to eat you. I do like the hint at a salt-water species twice as large and more ferocious, that's nice. 

Volt

★★★★★

Funky little thing, feels like a Vancian monster. Has a nice lil gimmick (blood drain plus electric whip tail) and design. Could see these guys flying around in a wizard's lair after having broken out of their big glass holding jars. Maybe their from a strange moon.

Vortex

★☆☆☆☆

It's a whirlwind. Basically just an air elemental. Eh.

Whipweed

★★★☆☆

A murderous plantanimal. It's okay, not super exciting. Could put it in some murderous wizard garden or some such.

Witherstench

★★☆☆☆

Evil skunk. Its stench isn't even as bad as a normal skunk, it wears off when the creature leaves. Good name though.

Witherweed

★★★★☆

Really more of an environmental hazard than a monster, but a good one nonetheless. The toxic smoke is an excellent counter to a typical strategy and makes it a potential asset for players who can think up ways to exploit the weed's effects. Honestly I don't know why it has an attack, mechanically speaking, it would work just fine if grabbing at it poisoned you.

Xill

★★☆☆☆

More parasitism baby. Good visual design, okay motivations, weird mechanical gimmick. Decently evocative. Could use some more elements to make encountering them interesting. 

Xvart

★☆☆☆☆

Boring humanoid made to fill a mechanical niche between goblins and kobolds that did not need filling.

Yellow Musk Creeper

★★★★★

Stellar. Stupendous. A weird fucking flower that makes zombies to propagate itself. It's weird, it's ecological, it's got a sick visual design going. It could be encountered in the wild or in a wizards fucked up garden. Could be weaponized by players. Maybe some prince is cultivating a garden of yellow musk creepers in order to unleash a terrible apocalypse.

Zombie, Yellow Musk

★★★★★

See above.

And that's a (belated) wrap!

Not False But Rather Outdated : Rumours

Rumours are a valuable, perhaps crucial, part of any sandbox game. The ideal means for players to passively gather information and learn about a region (or the setting more broadly). And ever since the first rumour table graced a module there have also been false rumours; the classic type being "bree-yark is goblin for surrender" found in Keep on the Borderland.

The pitfalls and potential use cases of false rumours have been written about before, but I'd like to add a variation to the table: the Outdated Rumour. 

Similar to having false information come from an obviously untrustworthy source, an outdated rumour banks on players knowing that the information is potentially unreliable. The fun of it thus lies in committing to the risk. For this reason, outdated rumours are best when players either cannot obtain more information or must pay a cost to.

 

A good example of this can be found in The Hobbit. When staying at Rivendell the dwarves—and Bilbo—act upon old information and avoid a pass subject to goblin brigandage in favor of a less used route. Of course, the goblins have also moved to this new pass.

Free Kriegsspiel & The Flat Circle Of Time

FKR (Free Kriegsspiel Roleplay) is a new appellation for an old playstyle, one with a diversity of roots, a limb of which lies in the 19th century among the wargames of the Prussian officers. Indeed it is this limb which donated the first two letters of the acronym FKR. 

 

Free Kriegsspiel, as practiced by the Prussians, did away with much of the humdrum of "Dice, and Tables of Losses, and Rules." in favor of relying on Referee (Umpire) jurisprudence and adjudication. One of the primary documents we have from the period which describes this style is "Beitrag Zum Kriegsspiel" or "The Tactical Wargame," of which an English translation made in the same period can be found here. 

While the whole of the text is interesting from a historical perspective, what I chiefly want to share in particular is several segments of the two prefaces which have proven themselves to be rather timeless.

To quote my friend Weird Writer (of the blog Roll To Doubt):

 

"The Elusive Shift presents the flat circle as starting after the publication of OD&D, but it seems we're one century late on repeating stuff"

Without further ado, a series of excerpts from "The Tactical Wargame."

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"The General, it will be seen, holds the view that the elaborate rules for deciding certain results by the throwing of dice are needless and that the Umpire may well be left to settle all doubtful questions arbitrarily. Whether he is or is not correct in this is not, for the student, of great importance. The principles of the Game are the same whether the Umpire is left entirely free to decide all the issues, or has in certain cases to to resort to the dice. There is no difficulty in applying the recognized "tables of losses," &c., to a Game played on the lines laid in the present treatise." (page 6, italics mine)  

The fiction takes precedence over the method of adjudication used.

"The utility of the War Game is universally acknowledged at the present day. Nevertheless, cases are often met with in which attempts to practice is have been very speedily abandoned... Now, when I have inquired into the reason, I have, in most cases, received the answer, "We have no one here who knows how to conduct the game properly." (page 9).

A classic problem which no doubt resonates with many nowadays.

"For what the Game especially requires is a knowledge of the capabilities and fighting power of all arms, as well as of their principal accepted formations. Now, the elementary training of an officer ought to have laid the foundations of these acquirements; and even what it has not sufficed to do so, the very playing of the Game would develop more fully such knowledge as might be already possessed." (page 9, italics mine).

 

Playing the game is the best way to learn it.

 

"It is, indeed, only by severe toil and a great expenditure of time that any one who has not learned the Game by actual practice can, through unassisted study of the books of instruction, so thoroughly master the subject as to be competent to undertake the conduct of an exercise of this kind. So it comes about that there are assuredly in the smaller garrisons many officers who should be especially fitted, from their position, to take the matter in hand who utterly shrink from doing so." (page 10, italics mine).

As above, the game exists as a social game which is best learned via actually playing rather than merely reading, and the style of Free Kriegsspiel is a method which allows for a greater ease of entrance into play.

 

"I in no way underrate the service which the received books of Instruction, with their Rules, Dice, and Tables of Losses have rendered, and will render in the future. It consists chiefly in this, that the Umpire finds in the Rules, fixed principles by which the limits of the capacity and fighting power of the troops are defined, that the effective use of weapons gains full credit by means of the Tables of Losses, and that the dice, which give to chance its due influence, provide an apparent security and partiality in the decisions." (page 11, italics mine).

 

Rules and procedures still have their places as tools for the Referee.

"In the exercises on the ground itself, when it becomes necessary, for example, to say to an officer, "Imagine that you see a column of infantry debouching from that village on to the high-road," it is often found that very good officers who, when they see the enemy immediately know what they ought to do, find it very difficult or even impossible to think of him in a given position. The reason of this is, that they want the needful imagination, and this defect is generally overcome by the placing of the pieces." (page 13).

Theatre of the mind not working for your players? Use some minis!

 

"The following pages are only intended to assist those who may not happen to have learned the Game in the third form." (page 14).

 

Rulebooks, play examples, and the like are means for introducing players who lack a group to learn from via play.

"I write especially for those of my brother officers who, it may be, have been hitherto frightened away by the Dice, and Tables of Losses, and Rules." (page 15).

Once again, a statement which resonates with many who, in the current era, will cite similar reasons for having been drawn to FKR as a playstyle.

 

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As you can see, many of General v. Verdy's thoughts and comments have a kinship with those of the present day. Throughout the history of the hobby FKR as a playstyle (or rather its many antecedents upon whom the appellation is backwardly applied in this case) has proved itself a well-used option to those issues that arise in games which drift away from the world and into the mechanics of play, which under a Free Kriegsspiel derived playstyle remain but tools. 

Simple Reaction Rolls

 

When encountering NPC's or a group whose disposition is uncertain to the Referee, use these procedures.

 

Roll 1d6...

• High is positive, low is negative
• The exact number rolled can be used as the number of key social interactions an NPC will field before getting fed up and 'resolving' the encounter*
• A positive reaction does not necessarily equal full-friendship, but it does mean an otherwise hostile war-band might simply tell players to get lost instead of outright attacking.
• Likewise a negative reaction may mean outright attack, or it may just mean being snubbed or berated.

* Use it likes this: suppose Jorge rolls up to the wealthy burgher Hesod to try and convince him to sponsor their expedition to the old ruins and see if the burgher knows anything about their rivals plans, the Referee rolls a 3, a fairly neutral reaction with 3 'chances' to get information or make arguments, Jorge must consider how to use this short bit of attention he has out of Hesod. Firstly, he rattles of his request and reasons why, Hesod isn't convinced, he tries again and the burgher is still apprehensive about the idea, does Jorge use his last chance before the Burgher dismisses him to switch tracks and learn about the rivals or try to get funding one more time?

It doesn't need to be overthought, or argued over the precise number of "tries" just use it as a rough resource mechanic, attention and patience is a resource after all! Negotiate with players. One social action could be a Question, or any sort of exchange of goods (seduction leverages sex, intimidation leverages fear or threats, trade via barter is a classic).

Also have a mass combat post

How I Run Diceless Violence

I enjoy using Hits, their simple and effective lending themselves well to decisive combat with clear stakes. Generally I give player characters 4-6 hits (depending on the degree of grittiness) and have 2-3 hits as the "base damage" from blades and simple weapons or so such.

Hits are an ongoing event, not a thing you Have. It's an abstraction to tell you what sort of effect to expect. It's more about showing the effect violence will have, rather than an individuals resistance to it.

Conversely you can treat hits more traditionally, as dramatic points of saving grace, if you were so inclined. I would argue however, it is easy to give a bit more cinema to fight simply by upping the number of hits (as Skorne does) while keeping their impact. A more horror-violence approach, would use less and place more cost onto actions. To do something will cost something, to do nothing will cost more.

***

The "I pick, you choose method"* where one side declares their intent and the opposite decides whether to let it succeed or take exchange damage. With the small margins that Hits give a player this becomes a very attractive bargain. And vice versa for npcs, monsters, and so forth. 

Riffing off this we come to more general dilemmas, "suffer hits" becomes an easy mechanisms of imposing costs onto choices. I personally mix it up between pick and choose and entirely player facing costs.

Example :

Margot is brawling with a guard. She has the option to take 2 hits, while giving none, but ensuring the opponent is pinned down and takes it; wrestling the guard to the floor despite his slashing knife...

 

Example :

While dueling a pig-man, Lot is charged and given the option of taking 3 hits, or getting bowled over the parapet edge onto a nearby roof, and out of the fight. Lot chooses his own skin over blocking the walkway and takes the tumble...

Don't think of fights happening in discrete segments, like a turn-based video game's trade of blows, actions flow into and from one another; momentum and weight matter. The previous positioning informs further actions and positioning.

Example :

The dragon slams Jorge into the ground, knocking the wind from him and crushing ribs (-3 hits), he drives his sword into the wyrm's leg as it pushes down, and the wound makes the dragon recoil (-2 hits),dangling Jorge in the air as he holds onto his sword...

 

Alternatively fights can be abstracted out, hits taken can be elaborated into broader pushes and retreats or the tallied results of a dust-cloud obscured brawl. Likewise time can be stretched and contracted as needed.

Example :

Pent and their hirelings held the line against the grub-dog onslaught suffering 2 hits each in the process, while Maureen cut her way to the capstan, taking 1 hit, and released it, dropping the gate closed...

 

Note also how in the previous example a numerically superior enemy is treated more as an environmental hazard than as discrete individuals. 'Blobification' of monsters and npcs (friendly or hostile) is a useful tool. For visual reference consider Kurosawa film where large groups move as one, and repeat emotions and movements for larger impact.

When running proper blob on blob violence; that is, unit skirmishes; said 'blobs' or detachments, to steal a turn of phrase from Into the Odd, can be assigned with stats as an individual. Maneuvers for units should be broader and more basic, retreats, pushes, and holds mainly. Consider morale heavily, when units break (at 0 hits perhaps), and so forth. A handy way of handling large scale fights is to treat them as series of decisive clashes, punctuated by retreats, regrouping, and repositioning.

Example :

Holland holds the road with his spear armed villagers against the mercenaries, the two groups collide and the villagers fall back having suffered a whopping 4 hits, but held firm thanks to Holland's exhortations. They retreat behind the nearby stonewall, and Calliope's villagers ambush the pursuing mercenaries, bloodying their noses (-1 hit) and sending them back onto the road...

 

Individuals in mass combat, unless targeted, can come out suffering a lesser form of whatever was inflicted on the detachment. So an individual fighting in a shattered unit might come out with musket ball through the leg and bleeding from a head wound. But a character fighting with a lightly scuffed unit may come out perfectly hale.  

Hits should renew frequently with rest, in fact it may be best to have them automatically renew any time there is an interval between fights. Rely instead on injuries and effects to have lasting consequence and inform future conflicts. A grievous leg injury, for example, would effect a fight.

 

This is of course suited for a grittier aesthetic approach.

 

Slushpost Mark 6.

More scraps and scribbles. 

1. In an ancient levant world there is a demon of plaster and whitewash, it demands MORE limestone MORE hardwoods MORE charcoal to feed its lust for plaster, it shall never be satisfied with its eternal deforestation until the whole region is ecologically devastated.
2. Familial ties are a major thing, considering making lieutenants and various other functionaries siblings and cousins to their boss. 
3. A cocky young nobleman has whipped up a frenzied gang to go and kidnap (voluntarily) his future wife from her family.
4. A posse of flea-knights riding about on an animal, hop to a new host and command them to act as their noble steed/page.
5. A necromancer's cavaliers riding upon slavering ghoul-back, horse pistols and sabres in hand.
6. Spirits care not for casualty, spirits are ideal for fueling an ftl engine, the devil wants your soul because they are a used spaceship salesman and hell is a junkyard.
7. Random equipment tables are tricky to write because you don't want players to all end up with the same stuff, but when they have a bit of overlap it can generate fun ideas. How did they both end up with a bunch of stick grenades? Maybe they robbed an arsenal together. And so forth...
8. Butchers who serve the Red God, and who have many rituals and holy laws concerning the proper methods of killing and processing an animal. Have dealings with the gutter vampires who sup upon abattoir temple run-off.
9. Eutrpænursgið the glacial troll.
10. The oldest business in the city is Ma Wu's cockatrice bucket restaurant.
11. A devout giant hermit crab that uses ruined temples for shells, profuses a weird syncretic blending of several different faiths.
12. Jags Kaaba 
13. Oh fuck, zeppelin pirates stole our sheep again.
14. The king's acolytes chop off their own heads to show fealty, serving on even headless.
15. Venus figurine-esq goddess with a hagfish's head, barbels enlarged to dangle like long braids, the patron of scavengers, waste technicians, and worm-handlers. 
16. Game where you play as expatriate abductees of the Mi-Go, your brains resleeved into new bodies, worker for a Fungi patron salvaging ancient megastructures, mining great old one brain-matter, or otherwise bumping around a mythos, alien filled, interstellar space-setting.
17. Use giant shrews
18. A cavern full of speleothems, each stalagmite and stalactite carved like reaching fingers,
19. A silver-bound spellbook, when you dream it transforms into a silver snake to speak with you.
20. A fad for oiled silk umbrellas has been imported from a neighboring land, umbrella owners have been met with derision and assault by carriage drivers fearful of losing their business.
21. Two rival cities, each besieged by the other's mercenaries, little violence, each is involved in a protracted bidding war trying to buy out the others mercenaries, this has been going on for a while.
22. Knife-fencing, a thick woolen blanket is wrapped around one arm as a shield, a knife in the other....
23. At the printmakers shop, inky skeleton have clawed their way out of the woodcuts and are terrorizing the apprentices, somebody needs to lure them away!
24. Ritual infrugality.
25. Mad Meg (lass) (dulle griet) has lead her all-woman army to pillage hell.
26. Painted ships all made of brass, that orbit astrologically.
27. Giant crocodile carrying her human babies in her mouth.
28. Paper lanterns with writing on them as an archaic form of neon sign.
29. Darian Groy.
30. Techno-Dwarves.
31. HP is how many souls you've stolen, each time you suffer a terrible injury a soul evaporates like ablative armour, kill and eat peoples souls to regain HP and get stronger.
32. The traditional peace offering gift among lizard folk is to offer up your own tail for the other parties consumption because this represents a great deal of food/energy given away combined with intimacy of offering up a piece of your flesh. 
33. In addition to the above; long/big tails are seen as a sign of status and dominance but also (if interpreted so) of cruelty or refusal to see others as equals, lizard folk caricaturists often draw different politicians with shorter or longer tails as their opinion goes.
34. Pig-folk armed with carbines riding upon baboon post-humans.
35. A sword which beheads everyone within 10 meters when unsheathed, including the wielder.
36. The empire is riven into warring provinces, the crown prince is presumed dead. But two different people claim to be the real crown prince and are mustering armies. One has even been declared the true heir by the princes widow. The fact that the prince was executed by cannon doesn't seem to bother either of them. 
37. A key which inserted into the body, makes the chest unfold into panels allowing access to all of the organs and innards.
38. Hiber-knights slumbering in their asteroidal vaults, rousing only in times of great crisis.
39. Mail order stooge.
40. Sepulcheracy, rule by those of the sepulchers (the dead perhaps). 
41. Bicycle haruspex, divines the future from the gutted gears and chains.
42. Wooden dummies hanged for absentee condemnations.
43. A jar of computer keycaps floating in disinfectant = cyber potion.
44. Post-apoc, the design for kalashnikovs has persisted, and the term 'akay' has become synonymous with automatic weaponry of any sort.
45. A place like a storm drain or pillared cistern but its upper reaches are blinding light.
46. A alien megastructure factory monolith is found and dragged back to the solar system, it makes ftl drives, one day it goes boom, no more earth/sol system and no more ftl drives, the scattered diaspora of man is left with what few ships they have.
47. In Deb Lota violence is obscene, weapons are hidden from the world under thick cloth wraps, soldiers are considered sultry degenerates who wear heavy veils disguising them. 
48. A metal coffin wrapped in chains carried upon a palanquin by collared slaves, a voice of ink and scratching nibs whispers from within.
49. Crystal ships hovering above a city of red glass spires, squat forges, and slag pits.
50. An rpg supersition : always include a rule in your game that lets you leave or end the game, lest you be perpetually trapped in a game by rules lawyering demons.
51. Oldtech often requires a dna sample, usually no more than a thimble full of blood, unfortunately centuries of spotty translation leads to some wizards reading 'blood sacrifice' in their tomes and deciding to up and gut someone.
52. The alien's ships are massive affairs, vast floating bricks and ovaloids. It's economics. Gravitics and neutronium annihilation plants don't come cheap and ain't subtle. Its easier to build a massive cargo ship to fly interstellar space then spring for a bunch of small ones.
53. Adventure upon a squalid miserable guano island, revolting miners/slaves, cruel overseers, weird birds, foreign spies, home-brewed fertilizer bombs, general shenanigans.
54. Item : a ring with a secret lighter built in.
55. Knife scabbards that bend in sharp angles to display the wealth of the owner, the more unnecessary angles and bends the better. The scabbard is usually longer than the knife itself. 

35 Cheap Tricks

In response to Phlox, some cheap refereeing tricks.

1. Have some npcs that are nice, have them invite players to tea, show them hospitality. It'll make the dangerous and duplicitous parts of the world stand out more and endear npcs to players. 
2. Colliery to above, have weird or scary npcs that are nice, nothing makes an encounter memorable like a giant eldritch demon-spider inviting players to a tea party.
3. Seriously just have more tea or coffee or brunch parties. Having discussions over meals keeps conversations with npc's more interesting and can provide some fun setpeices. They can even be tense or hostile.
4. Theatre and plays are fantastic ways to deliver information, world build, and have some fun. Also have your players exploits be turned into comedic theatre once they become sufficiently known.
5. Give items, locations, objects, and such personalities. Perhaps as explicit spirits, or even just in a 'my rusty umbrella can be temperamental when I try to open it'. Anthropomorphizing things quickly fixes them in peoples minds. 
6. Give players a goodly but finite quantity of explosives, it will wreck so many things but its worth it.
7. When I doubt, roll a d6, if the number is higher events are favorable to the players, lower and its bad for the players. Super handy oracle.
8. Overemphasizing things can be good for some levity and to really reinforce an idea. 'It's a really big pig, like really really big, really really really big, this is just a whopping huge pig.' 
9. Sometimes fights should just devolve into cartoonish masses of flailing limbs that resolves when the dust clears.
10. Have crowds gather when players do unusual things in populated areas. Have them heckle and provide un/helpful advice. 
11. Sometimes having the consequences of a fight be being beaten up and robbed of all their belongings is better than death.
12. Travelers on the road might buddy up with players for a while if their going in the same direction, for safety and conversation.
13. Have players overhear npc conversations more often as a way of imparting info, it also helps make npc's feel less like information-kiosks, and can let players in on details about hostile npcs that they might not easily get otherwise (such as that these minions are dissatisfied with their boss).
14. The Men In Black can fit into nearly any game.
15. Have players get stuck, in squeezes, on thorns, in mud, and so on. As consequence, hinderance, and flavor.
16. Throw in little details to spice up combat, instead of the player just successfully hitting their opponent, they press the advantage, causing the brigand to slip on a patch of moss, and surely driving their blade into the brigands heart. And so on.
17. Likewise, let both players and npcs and monster all get caught out in the middle of doing things.....
18. Have npc's who hold grudges and act upon them. That street thug the players slighted is going to jump them with his buds the next time they come into town.
19. Concealed weapons and hidden pockets are excellent fun for both players to have and npc's to use.
20. Secret doors, hidden pockets, and so forth should always have some outward sign in the description letting you find them.
21. Describe what happens to leftover food, or prompt your players to.
22. Giving monsters and npc's a gimmick upon death (like exploding) is good fun, especially if more than one entity has it allowing players to learn it and potential exploit it.
23. Put at least one big buff boisterous man who sounds like Brian Blessed in your game.
24. Hair standing on end is handy for conveying powerful magic... or electricity. 
25. Colors are a quick way to flavor and name things. The Purple Barony. The Greenfolk. So on.
26. In-world lurid or saucy literature and songs are good fun.
27. Weird fish are a great way of adding subtle flavor to the world. Casually describe a fish market full of coelacanths and radiodonta.
28. Slightly uncommon but historical currency names are great for flavor. Get some ducats in there.
29. Give players unreliable information, but let them know its potentially unreliable so they can choose to act on it or not. Out of date information especially is useful as players know its potentially going to be misleading but can they afford, or even get up to date info?
30. Give npc's tics like eating something, chewing on something, fiddling, tapping, pacing, and so on, it characterizes and is easy to remember to include in description.
31. Let npcs be overly enthusiastic and brash, remember that some people are in fact the kind of person who'd join a bunch of strangers in doing something dangerous and stupid.
32. Locales, people, and monsters are almost universally improved by the addition of some incongruous element you wouldn't normally think of. 
33. Don't forget that teeth can be just as useful as hands.
34. Don't forget to describe what languages sound like in addition to what's said (in general terms of course, don't go full conlang).
35. Give players split second moments of reaction and oh shit as things go bad, traps go off, bushes are sprung, wrong levers are flipped, and so on.

Might do some more! They're very fun and also useful. I particularly loved Phlox's number 4, color coding things is just such a useful trick that I do not use enough.

Fiend Folio Review R-S

Here we go again! 

Retriever

★★★★☆

A funky fellow, the different eye rays feel cobbled together, I would likely narrow the range of what they do if I reinterpreted, the spider aesthetic is good, cleaver arms used while the ray's are recharging good, all together I warmed up to this one a lot more on second reading. I adore this line, 'demons sometimes mount howdahs on the back of a retriever and ride the creature to the hunt' it pushed me over from being eh, to being yah! The name is odd tho, since it seems to come out from the singular line about being servants of demogorgon.

Revenant 

★★★★★

An undead with a purpose! Besides aimlessly shambling around. Silliness aside its nice to see an undead that comes back for matters of unfinished business, a classic staple of undead in folklore. The particularities about it being driven by sheer will power, and not necessarily being evil (and thus immune to turn undead) are wonderful and suggests that players can perhaps reason with it. Strangulation as method of choice, but being guileful enough to use other tactics. Retainment of some abilities from life. Just a solid entry all around.

Rothé

★★★☆☆

These are really just underground yaks but I like them regardless. Feels like something some medieval travelogueist would write about"'... and in the mountain caves there dwell short, yak like creatures that the locals do call rothé, which are shy beasts with an aversion to the rays of the sun...."

Sandman

★★☆☆☆

I feel like you shouldn't be allowed to write a creature whose whole gist is putting you to sleep and then not have any weird dream adventures or mind eating happen. The Sandman could be great, but sadly falls extremely short here. I would steal its aesthetic and put it to better use.

Scarecrow

★★☆☆☆

Bit of an odd one, but a decent monster. I enjoy that its 'charm' effect is one of fascination. Needs a bit more idea fuel and intractable elements for players.

Screaming Devilkin

★★★☆☆

Is described as looking like a mephit. Art does not look like mephitic art (for the better I think, why have a entry that just looks exactly like another one). The pain howling screaming is rather neat in that it complete drowns out all player voices entirely. Yet another 'always attacks' monster though, disappointing if not crippling since it should provide for a fun one off combat encounter. 

Shadow Demon

★★☆☆☆

It's just a demon themed evil shadow. Normal shadow weaknesses and strengths. Eh I'm just meh on it. Maybe someone else has a more favorable look at it.

Sheet Ghoul

★★★☆☆

.... how does corrosive nose acid tie into an evil bedsheet....

Well its a decent enough sub-monster to go with the sheet ghoul.

Sheet Phantom

★★★★☆

Something tells me this and the scarecrow came from someones halloween one-shot. Its got a good combat gimmick going for it, attacks hurting its victims its draped over is a nice touch. The details about it perhaps being an undead form of cloaked are fascinating though bizarre and not to my tastes at all. Surprisingly I find myself giving this one a four out of five.

Shocker

★★★☆☆

Zap! Nice aesthetic, good abilities, lacking in behavior. I think it should have something more interesting to either do, or drop when dead. Give it an agenda, or a more unique treasure than gems. The 'others postulate the existence of an electromagnetic plane' line is good fun. Reminds me of the dune stalker, similar pulp sci-fi energy (in no small part due to the same artists illustrations).

Skeleton Warrior

★★★★★

Love this sucker, quality design right here. Could use streamlining like most of the entries (all this dross of ranges and what) I love the risk of losing the circlet and having the skeleton warrior straight up attack, as well if the warrior is being used by an opponent it creates further fun (I would be tempted to let the skeleton warrior communicate some way (perhaps writing?) to make for fun ethical dilemmas in controlling it). Their creation is a nice vague hook that could be nicely tied into a setting in some way or another. All in all one of my favorite entries.

Skulk

★★★★☆

Fascinatingly weird entry, cuttlefish human sub species that hide from most society which will kill them if found out. Surprised no one has adopted this one for their edgy loner persecution characters (update: I have been informed they were a player race in 3e (?). This entry feels like it was written by anti-skulk bigots, 'their cowards who murder whole families in their beds!'. Fear-mongering the lot of it.

Slaad

★★★★☆

Chaos frogs chaos frogs chaos frogs. I'm wobbly on the slaadi symbols/head jewels, on one hand it makes for a neat method of control/summoning beyond true names. On the other they shouldn't require specific spells to remove. Unfortunately, though I adore them, the actual slaad entries are a bit lacking in distinction and unique gimmicks being rather same-y. 

(also it bothers me that the entries are not in their hierarchal order but rather alphabetical).

(also also all the dross about different percentage chances of gating in other slaad types is neat but a bit clunky)

Blue Slaad

★★★☆☆

The blue/red rivalry is nice. The blue slaad only having defensive psionic has interesting implications for the other slaad (though not really expounded upon). Besides that there's three meh spell-abilities (which I must say I greatly dislike, an entity should have any abilities shortened to spells be tied into their character, not just pegged on with no discernible ties to their theme/gimmick).

Death Slaad (the lesser masters)

★★☆☆☆

Four is quite a small number! I feel like they should have a more coherent aesthetic (perhaps with individual differentiation (like the nazgûl)) if their so powerful yet small a group. I'd enjoy grabbing onto the detail about swords and expanding upon it since most of the other slaad don't seem to use weapons (except in human form?) and the mental picture of a hulking frog with naught but a loincloth and massive sword (heheh) is a good one. More spell-ability lists... sigh.

Green Slaad

★★☆☆☆

Sadly lacking in unique gimmick or abilities, instead having a pile of a spell list. The illustration makes me think some kind of bureaucrat/consular/merchant-ly sort. The bit about reincarnating as a blue slaad if killed I think should be expanded to all the Slaad reincarnating as a color lower when killed.

Grey Slaad (the executioners)

★☆☆☆☆

Unfortunately not as evocative as the name, pretty eh all around, not much I can even spin off of. Its all essentially just 'they will have spells and maybe some magic items'.

Red Slaad

★★★★☆

Decently set up, has more aesthetic coherency than the bloated spell lists of the others. The pellet bit is weird though evocative, feels like it should either just be venom/poison or you should be able to try and dig out the pellet with a knife or whatnot. Details on a Wish spell allowing for forcing it into obediance but only with other spells is weird but I guess it made sense in the milieu of ad&d's rules.

Ssendam - Lord of the Insane (slaad lord)

★★★☆☆

Giant amoeba with a brain inside. Beautiful. The black sword is interesting (potentially could tie into the death slaadi swords if you went that route). Sadly another spell list. Interesting idea that he always gives his name, very arrogant announcement like I presume. I think this entry has a lack of solid coherency/vibes/personality but the giant amoeba form is neat enough so I'll bump it up to a three star.

Ygorl - Lord of Entropy (slaad lord)

★★☆☆☆

Hrm, aesthetics feel out of wack with rest of slaad and ssendam. Always being in shadow is neat. Sickle is a neat enough signature weapon (though feeling out of place with the rest of the slaad again). Sigh... spell lists.... the dragon steed is cute.

Snyad (pestie)

★★★★☆

Pretty neato, solid behavior, most of the aesthetic draw is owed to Russ Nicholson's art, suggested interaction with mites is fun, feels like you could fit it into a dungeon 'ecology' easily. Small thieving humanoids are rather generic (this could easily just be goblins if this is how you wanted to do goblins) but it sails by with just enough of its own uniqueness. 

Son of Kyuss

★★★★★

Excellent, could use some polish, cutting back of the ad&d dross and percentiles with disease infliction and what (its mostly just the intersection of the monster and ad&d rules which necessitates quantifying elements of the monster, so to be expected), but the base is sturdy as cement. Walking corpses full of worms that jump out at you to turn you into one of them. Probs one of the best undead, pity it doesn't see more use (that I know of). Specially since there's an excellent implied hook with the name.

Stunjelly

★★★☆☆

Ehhh, it's not bad? Its kind of just another tricksy ooze variant but it is sort of unique, disguising itself as a wall and paralyzing then trying to envelope. But its just a variation upon the basic gist of a translucent gelatinous cube  (which is mentioned in the very entries text). I might be being too harsh on it.

Sussurus

★★★★☆

Fascinating entry here, another one with pulp sci-fi vibes. The dronesong effect on undead is neat, unexpected, and potentially very very gamible for players. Attacking oxygen consuming flame is also a nice touch that forces players to figure out how to interact with this beastie. I would love to throw this in as a random encounter in a bit of a gonzo game. It'd feel at home in the ultraviolet grasslands. 

Svirfneblin (deep gnome)

★★★★☆

I found myself liking these fellows surprisingly, the excellent illustration helps, as well as several interesting tidbit such as their stun-gas darts (an excellent mental image there, of short underground folks flinging darts which explode in puffs of colored smoke). I like also, the mention of having to pay hefty bribes to escape earth elementals. But besides bits I can string out into more interesting features, most of the entry is decent at best. Lots of percentiles for things, some okay behaviors, more spell abilities, etc.

Symbiotic Jelly

★★★☆☆

A very d&d monster, existing within the context of treasure hoards and monster killing to acquire them. I personally don't like it, but it's a fairly solid monster as written. With a clear motivation, and some decently interesting tactics to achieve thereof with its charming of monsters and illusions of treasure and weakness.

My analysis so far has been rather slapdash, but if there's one thing Im hitting on it's the importance of a Gimmick for any entity. That being of course a combination of aesthetics, behavior, and abilities all tied up in a core idea of the creature which can be spun out and extrapolated upon. 

The Skeleton Warrior is a good entry because it has a solid gimmick with its control circlet, skeletal demeanor, and desire for freedom. The Green Slaad is a poor entry because it doesn't have solid gimmick, just a generic list of spell abilities. And so on and so forth.

We're getting near the homestretch!

Fiend Folio Review M-Q

YOU THOUGHT IT HAD BEEN FORGOTTEN BUT ITS BACK

Phew this book is longer than I remember.

Magnesium Spirit

★☆☆☆☆

Seems extremely overpowered, pretty much no means of interaction besides fighting (and tbh it doesn't sound like it make for a good fight) could be much improved if perhaps the spirit still did its whole 'fight to take over a host body' shtick but then has to take time preparing its complex ritual to return it home. Giving players options to disrupt, negotiate, etc...

Mantari

★☆☆☆☆

Its a flying manta ray that murders people... well its not the worst... not very interesting either.

Meazel

★★★☆☆

Solid. A tricksy foe, signposting via 'sacks full of bones' near their lairs, a unique attack (garroting, which suits its sneaky ambush demeanor well). Could use one or two more bits. Maybe a specific item that they go after/want to steal? Or some interaction with another creature/people (besides just 'they want to kill it').

Meenlock

★★★☆☆

Creatures which transform (or try to anyway) characters are always great, and this one's got a strong location to go with it, neat tactics (paralyzation + trying to extinguish light), the hunting is good. Biggest flaws is that 1) why would adventurers go to shaft (besides curiosity) 2) the transformation into meenlock should have more intractability, perhaps proceeding slowly in stages so it could be stopped?

Mephit

★★★★★

I love mephitis, their serve excellently as like 'elemental imps' and their cheerfully vulgar demeanor is wonderful, they'd make a good greek chorus to throw into a game. I particularly love this bit "if they can obtain them... they will wear clothes of the most garish design and colour possible." Oh and of course this "They are often seen puffing upon smoking rolls of exceedingly foul-smelling dried vegetation" (mephit's smoke weed y'all)

Mezzodaemon

★★★★☆

I like Mezzodaemons their a bit messy and lack a strong identity but a kernel of excellence is there, and the bug fella illustration is amazing. Mostly the entry needs focus, I've rewritten it a few times myself choosing to play various abilities. 

Mite

★★☆☆☆

This is just another Meazel but with more traps? The two should just be rolled together.

Necrophidus

★★★★★

Magical dancing skeleton snake that dances you to death love it. Silly and awesome.

Needleman

★★★★☆

Excellent, pulpy creature that's not what you'd expect. I'd run this thing so players assume its some ghoulish zombie thing stumbling through the woods then NEEDLES. Very fun. 

Nilbog

★★★★★

Could be fun to make players carefully think out their actions to get rid of this nuisance, or couple it with some 'normal' goblins who're using this one's abilities to their advantage. Though I would make it so the actions players take are reversed, rather than them being compelled to do things so they retain their agency. Feels very goblin all around. I like it.

Nonafel 

★★★☆☆

Solid beastie if only a combat encounter mostly, you should be able skin it and use its fur to mimic the duplication ability.

Norker

★☆☆☆☆

??? Its just an aesthetically different kind of tough hobgoblin ???

Nycadaemon

★☆☆☆☆

They don't really have anything unique to them. Just a kind of generic higher level demon/devil.

Ogrillon

★☆☆☆☆

What if an ogre but with next to no of an ogres unique traits.

Osquip

★★★★☆

These things are grotesque and I love them. Could use some more interactive bits though. Maybe people train them as attack animals. Maybe they hold vendettas. Something to add some more interaction.

Penanggalan

★★★★☆

Wayyyyy to much text >:P great otherwise, classic monster (seriously though why is there so much text for this one?????).

Pernicon

★★★★☆

Love insects, water finding antenna, pincer attack that sticks fast even when they're dead. All solid.

Phantom Stalker

★★★★☆

The illustration is a bit at odds with the text, looks more like some kind of pulp biotech spaceman rather than an elemental spirit. I'd flavor things more ifrit like (and steal the illustration for other purposes) but otherwise this one's pretty neat. Bound spirit to a wizard, clause that makes it hunt the party down after its masters death. Could use a clear way to communicate this to the players however, maybe the wizard and the spirit have a big glowing sigil on their heads that any wizardly sort could tell is a 'revenge' charm or something like that.

Poltergeist 

★★☆☆☆

Ghosts always have lots of potential though the passage squanders it a bit by just having the ghost 'attack' and drive away any who comes near its haunt. Needs more interactivity.

Protein Polymorph

★★★★☆

This is just a more shoggoth-y mimic.

Quaggoth

★☆☆☆☆

Hairy ape people? Theres really not anything unique here that distinguishes them from any other pulp style hairy ape person. The illustration and name are nice enough I guess.

Quipper

★★☆☆☆

I kinda like these things for some reason, they have a good name. But otherwise they're pretty bland, bitey fish. Meh. 

Qullan

★☆☆☆☆

Insane naked savages (implied to be inhuman as well by the text) who do nothing but attack on sight are... not great to put it lightly :I The confusion ability is kinda of neat, might steal that and build some kind of special magically cursed warrior out of it. Otherwise I'll pass on this one.

Slowly, we are inching towards the end.