Fantasy Timespans I – The Fury of Ten Thousand Years

On August 29, 2023August 28, 2023 By AnathemysIn MiscellanyLeave a comment

“One of these days we’re going to have to talk about how ridiculous time scales are in fantasy. Ten thousand years is more than you or I could ever hope to comprehend and that is a threat.”

And now, that day has come. Thankfully before ten thousand years had the chance to pass and turn all that I know and love into dust.

Essentially, today we’re going to discuss time in fantasy fiction. Our first point is on the sheer absurdity of most fantasy time scales. Next time, we’ll look at how to rationalize different mortal lifespan lengths into a narrative.

So without wasting further time… let’s begin!

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Homebrew Introspective – Cursed Sorcerer

On August 1, 2023July 31, 2023 By AnathemysIn Brewer's Tools, D&D Homebrew, SubclassLeave a comment

Today we’ll be looking at the Cursed Sorcerer. The intent here was to have a sorcerer whose magic came from an old curse put on their family, which they then took advantage of in order to gain power.

I like the theming, and I like the narrative. The mechanics? Not so much.

And as much as I’d love to crack a joke about this creation being cursed, I can’t really justify that. It just has some issues, that’s all.

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Late Review – The Complete Priest’s Handbook

On July 11, 2023June 30, 2023 By AnathemysIn D&D Homebrew, Late ReviewsLeave a comment

I was quite excited to get The Complete Priest’s Handbook when I first found it. From what I had gathered, it was a bit of a… controversial book. Not in topic (though in hindsight maybe it should have been), but rather in something very near and dear to almost every tabletop RPG player:

Balance (or lack thereof).

Let’s take a look at The Complete Priest’s Handbook, then, and see what’s going on. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll learn why it is generally speaking not a good idea for a single book to include over sixty new character options.

Reading this was a slog.

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DM Me – (More) Tears of the Kingdom

On June 27, 2023June 27, 2023 By AnathemysIn DM Me, MiscellanyLeave a comment

In all likelihood, the fact that I’m talking about this game twice in a row should probably disqualify me from criticizing it. And so here we are, with another post… moderating my criticism.

Since my initial thoughts, I’ve had a few changes of heart. None of which really change the basic core of my dissatisfaction, but changes nonetheless. Because as my wife has played through the game, I’ve come to a realization.

The story is fine, they just really needed to remember what “open world” means.

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DM Me – Tears of the Kingdom

On June 13, 2023June 27, 2023 By AnathemysIn DM Me, MiscellanyLeave a comment

Me and my wife both loved Breath of the Wild. For me, it represented everything I wanted to feel after the soul-crushing experience which was attempting to beat Skyward Sword. And so when they announced a sequel, there was a lot of excitement at my house. The cat was concerned.

And ultimately, I really like Tears of the Kingdom. The gameplay is super fun, the exploration has been massively improved thanks to the addition of caverns to discover, and the fact that the game lets me build a fully-functional tank in a Zelda game is simply delightful.

So why am I writing an article about it? Because 1) it’s my website and I decide what gets written, 2) there are some tangentially related to tabletop RPG things to talk about, and 3) the game’s narrative struck me as profoundly disappointing.

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Late Review – The Complete Book of Necromancers

On May 23, 2023May 22, 2023 By AnathemysIn D&D Homebrew, Late ReviewsLeave a comment

Welcome back to the Late Review, which is both much sooner after the last one than normal and somehow simultaneously a little bit late!

In any case, I decided to look at The Complete Book of Necromancers after finishing up the review of Al’Qadim: Arabian Adventures primarily because I didn’t want to spend too much time being negative. So I chose a book I knew I liked, because that would fix it, right?

And then I proceeded to rag on Lords of Darkness for seventeen years and now here we are.

But still, The Complete Book of Necromancers is an excellent supplement. And, for the most part, this post will focus on that. Because this book deserves praise – it is, simply put, excellent.

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DM Me – Discussing CRPGs and Storytelling

On May 9, 2023May 8, 2023 By AnathemysIn DM Me, Miscellany2 Comments

I’ve been playing Pathfinder: Kingmaker recently. It was on sale for $5 and I’ve been trying out a new exposure therapy in an effort to actually start liking Pathfinder as a system. Results thus far…? Inconclusive.

I do, however, quite like the CRPG. I think I spent entirely too much time on character creation, but that’s 1) not a new problem for me, and 2) partially due to me installing a mod that adds like forty classes. A hell of my own making, as it were.

However the key takeaway here is the degree to which I’ve taken to the game, and the drastic difference between this and the many other times I’ve attempted to play a CRPG. And yet I still haven’t finished it, right back to my old tricks – I’m the reigning esports champion at not finishing CRPGs.

But why?

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Late Review – The School of Nekros (Dungeon Magazine #27)

On April 18, 2023April 17, 2023 By AnathemysIn D&D Homebrew, Late ReviewsLeave a comment

I’ve recently been reading through The Complete Book of Necromancers for my next Late Review. One section, covering necromancer organizations, called out a specific example from Dungeon magazine #27 as being a perfect example of the “necromancer group” concept.

As far as I can remember, I’ve never seen any published book mention one of the D&D magazines (Dragon or Dungeon) except as the source of a spell or item used in the published work. This is the first pure “recommended reading” mention, so I decided to look into it.

We’ll come back to The Complete Book of Necromancers next time – because right now, it’s time to talk about A++ adventure module, “The School of Nekros.”

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Homebrew Introspective – The Council Warlock

On April 4, 2023February 21, 2023 By AnathemysIn Brewer's Tools, D&D HomebrewLeave a comment

Welcome back to the Introspective, where I tear apart years-old homebrew in the pursuit of game design understanding. It’s also all my own work, so don’t feel bad about the poor creator of the work – he’s the same one doing the tearing-down in the first place.

Today we’ll be looking at the Council Warlock, one of my more contentious homebrews. Narratively there was the whole “mortal creatures as a Patron” thing, while mechanically it ran afoul of the age-old “INT vs. CHA” argument for the warlock class.

And I think there’s interesting points to make about both. So let’s begin, shall we?

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