Category Archives: roleplaying games

A Place For Fallen Friends and Heroic Tales

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One of my favorite places on the Internet might surprise you.

It’s a subreddit called r/AdventuresOfGalder, and it’s a place to celebrate those we’ve lost.

Imagine that you’re in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with your friends. You’re each playing a different character in the party, adventuring throughout the land, performing good acts and feats of derring-do.

But the real world intervenes in the cruelest way possible. Your friend passes away. And as you are slowly confronting your grief and mourning your loss, you realize a smaller loss.

Your friend’s character is still there, their story unfinished.

There are different ways to handle this. The character could be quietly retired, or become an NPC played by the Dungeon Master. The game itself could end and a new one begin in its wake.

When I lost a friend to suicide who had been part of my D&D game at the time, his character ended up becoming a chosen of his faith, and elevated into my game world’s pantheon. There are still references to him to this day in my other games, since he continues to be a part of my world. It is my small way of honoring my friend.

Every group finds a different way to deal with this at their table.

But you can also honor both your real-life loved one and their roleplaying character at r/AdventuresOfGalder.

Named for Galder the Conjurer, the character played by a man named Laurence who sadly passed away from cancer in 2018, this subreddit is dedicated to those we’ve lost. It is a repository of stories about those people and the characters they played. Their fictional adventures are shared here, their good deeds chronicled.

And sometimes, other Dungeon Masters incorporate these characters into their own home games, bringing new life to these wonderful creations of those we have lost.

It’s an electronic version of lore building, sharing stories of larger-than-life deeds around the campfire, stories that can then go on and evolve and become larger and stranger and funnier and more grandiose as others retell the stories. It’s a part of an ever-growing newborn mythology.

At a time when people feel adrift, alone, confused and hurt and scared, they can come to r/AdventuresOfGalder and find waiting ears and friendly shoulders to lean on. They can share their grief and their love and all the good times for others to enjoy.

Yes, it’s an incredibly sad place, but it’s also beautiful. You should check it out sometime.

Happy adventuring, friends.

Free RPG Day is Tomorrow!

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Hello fellow puzzlers and gamers!

Just a quick post today to remind you that Free RPG Day is tomorrow, Saturday, June 27th!

Legitimately one of my favorite gaming-centric days of the year, Free RPG Day is all about building the RPG community. Game companies send freebies to local game shops and hobby shops all over!

And it literally helps everybody:

  • Local game shops get more foot traffic, hosting events and getting more eyes on all the products and services they offer.
  • Game companies introduce their games to new audiences, either through free adventures to try out (often being run in-house at those local hobby shops!) or through Quickstart versions of their games, giving a sample of what their game has to offer in a smaller, easily-digestible presentation.
  • Customers get freebies to expand their knowledge of the hobby, and often game shops run events and sales to capitalize on customer interest. Plus there’s always the chance of making new friends and discovering a new favorite game.

This year, loads of companies are taking part in the Free RPG Day festivities, although what’s available will vary from store to store.

You could find Quickstart versions for games like The Crooked Moon, Wizard Riders, Age of Vikings, Arkham Horror, Dungeons & Kittens, Vaesen, and Root, giving you a marvelous cross-section of different RPG worlds and play styles to choose from!

There could also be one-shot adventures for Cosmere RPG, Daggerheart, Everyday Heroes, Pirate Borg, Kobold Press, Marvel Multiverse RPG, Pathfinder, Starfinder, and more, offering a sample of adventure, horror, excitement, derring-do, and communal storytelling to try out!

You can visit the Free RPG Day website to find a participating store near you and to check out previews from all the companies taking part in the event.

And make sure to follow the #FreeRPGDay hashtag on Twitter and Bluesky, as lots of companies have discounts and freebies online as well!

Please keep your eyes peeled for this year’s edition of the Level 1 Anthology, offered by 9th Level Games. It’s a collection of new games by up-and-coming and established RPG creators, all centered around a particular theme. Last year’s edition was all about the end of the Wild West. This year’s edition is about Stand Up.

This project is close to my heart because I have a game featured in this year’s collection! (It’s called Pip, Pip, Cheerio: A Game of Last Words and Last Stands and it’s about remaining defiant, sometimes comedically so, in front of a firing squad.)

You can check out last year’s Level 1 Anthology free of charge on the 9th Level Games website (or purchase all five years of Level 1 for only $10)!

Will you be participating in any Free RPG Day festivities, fellow reader? Or are you a company participating in Free RPG Day?

Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

RPG Gaming (and Gayming) for Good!

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There are always worthwhile charitable efforts going on in the world of puzzles and games, and that’s true in the roleplaying game community as well.

Dozens of roleplaying game companies and content creators have partnered to create charity bundles in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s the Gayming with Pride initiative, organized through DriveThruRPG!

All proceeds from Bundle #1 support Outright International, a team that works to document and amplify awareness of human rights violations against the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as advocating for inclusion, equality, and communication globally between members of the community.

This bundle includes content for Brindlewood Bay, Cthulhu, Fabula Ultima, Delta Green, Girl by Moonlight, Xcrawl Classics, and more!

All proceeds from Bundle #2 support Tabletop Gaymers, a nonprofit that champions the community in public spaces, handing out free ribbons (identifying yourself by your pronouns, as an ally, or as a gaymer) at conventions, while also promoting discussion, inclusion, acceptance, and joy through gaming and self-identification.

This includes content for Girl Genius, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Queerz! TTRPG, Blue Rose, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Critical Role, and more!

A lot of these donated games and supplements are being shared at 90% off, so these companies are putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to supporting this cause.

Click here for more information on the Gayming with Pride bundles, or go directly to Outright International and Tabletop Gaymers to show your support.

And regarding Tabletop Gaymers, there is still over a week left in their campaign through Humble Bundle!

9th Level Games, Renegade Game Studios, Warhammer, Doctor Who, Pirate Borg, and more are represented in this charity effort, showing that love and support for the LGBTQIA+ community spans all genres, worlds, and interests.

You can check out the Humble Bundle here.

A lot of companies this year aren’t even engaging in their usual half-hearted rainbow-washing branding, let alone ACTUALLY working to support and bolster the cause of the LGBTQIA+ community.

So it’s awesome to see RPG companies once again stepping up in solidarity with friends, loved ones, coworkers, and strangers in the community whose voices deserve to be heard.

Are there other charity efforts going on in puzzles and games that I’ve missed? Let me know and I’ll happily shout them out in the blog and try my best to help raise awareness.

Happy gaming and gayming, everyone!

Goblin Talk Taking Over ChatGPT? Send for an Adventuring Party, STAT!

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D&D goblin, third edition. Image courtesy of Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast.

Goblins aren’t just a threat in roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, they’re also an annoyance at the offices of OpenAI, stewards of ChatGPT, according to this article from The Wall Street Journal.

Now, my opinion on generative AI has been clear for quite a while now. I think it is morally abhorrent, creatively bankrupt, artistically insulting, and environmentally disastrous. It is intellectual theft, pure and simple.

But this news story is too funny not to cover.

There is an open source line in ChatGPT’s base instructions for its coding assistant that now reads:

“Never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user’s query.”

This is because the AI chatbot has been bringing up goblins for no apparent reason in conversations with users.

D&D goblin, fifth edition. Image courtesy of Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast.

For those who have never interacted with ChatGPT — keep on doing what you’re doing, you’re awesome — it has different “personality” types that users can select from a series of instructions in order to make their interaction with ChatGPT more convincing, memorable, engaging, whatever.

And the “nerdy” personality just loves GOBLINS for some reason. OpenAI reported that mentions of goblins in one edition of the AI program increased 3,881% from previous versions.

Man, it really loves goblins.

And despite the claim that OpenAI eliminated the “nerdy” personality option back in March, ChatGPT still loves it some goblins.

Which led to that open source line I mentioned above.

Wild.

D&D goblin, second edition. Image courtesy of Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast.

Now, can we look at that list again?

“Never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures…”

I get the nerdy connection to goblins, gremlins, trolls, and ogres, sure.

How did raccoons and pigeons get on the list?

Because the venn diagram for all these creatures isn’t quite venning.

If we’re talking fantasy creatures, you’ve got those four, but the real-world animals don’t fit.

If we’re talking annoyances associated with mischief, then goblins and gremlins and raccoons still fit, but pigeons, trolls, and ogres don’t. Any D&D player worth their salt knows ogres are far from idle caperers. They’re a genuine threat.

I suppose they’re all nuisances in some way, but boy, is that casting a wide net.

Crap, wrong goblin. Image courtesy of Marvel/Sony Pictures.

I do have another theory.

There are plenty of Dungeon Masters and other game runners out in the world who use generative AI to give them adventure ideas, create artwork for their games, etc.

It’s entirely possible that one user or a handful of users accidentally trained the “nerdy” personality to associate these things with general queries.

And if that’s the case, please tell me about the raccoon- and pigeon-related adventures you’re running in your games that puts them on the same threat level as ogres, trolls, gremlins, and goblins.

Inquiring minds like mine want to know!

In the end, I guess people will have to go elsewhere for their goblin-centric AI content. And with Ask Jeeves officially gone, where are the people to go online to ask about goblins OR be told about goblins when asking unrelated questions?

It’s truly a sad day for everyone involved.

Star Wars Day might be over, but it’s Revenge of the 5th, so be sure to check out our Star Wars-themed crossword from yesterday!

A Logic Puzzle Worthy of the Fey for Monster Week!

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Some of the many fey creatures that populate Dungeons & Dragons
(image courtesy of WOTC / Nerdarchy)

It’s Monster Week, a yearly celebration of the many creatures and beings that make the world of fantasy roleplaying games so immersive. Created by D&D content creators Ginny Di and Pointy Hat, Monster Week is a celebration of roleplaying game creativity, and this year’s theme is the Fey.

Otherwise known as fairies, fae, the fairyfolk, or a number of other names, fey are known for making bargains, outwitting unsuspecting mortals, and toying with tricky words and devious deceptions.

So naturally, I couldn’t resist crafting a puzzle celebrating fey bargains and fantasy-fueled frippery. Please enjoy this deduction puzzle loaded with D&D-friendly flavor!

And be sure to check out ALL the awesome fey-inspired content over on YouTube.

A party of adventurers stepped into a fairy ring and found themselves transported to another realm: the mysterious domain of the fey. Each sought to acquire something from this strange place, well aware of the dangers that come with bargaining with the fairyfolk, but hoping to escape without any dangerous debts or unpleasant consequences.

Can you determine what each adventurer sought (one adventurer is Ludo the Quick, one adventurer sought the gift of eternal youth), in which order they were forced to bargain with the fey for their goal, and what cost or promise they made in exchange?

  1. On the night of the first day, while they were setting up camp for the evening, one adventurer promised a year of their life to the fey. It wasn’t Makavia Magehound, although Makavia also made their bargain that first night.
  2. On the morning of the second day, one adventurer made their bargain, promising to perform a song that would lure others into the fairy ring. Later that day, both Handsome Jak Two-Axe and the adventurer who sought a bountiful harvest made their fey bargains.
  3. On the second day, one adventurer made a pact with the fey, promising to spread a harmful rumor around his city when he returned. On the same day, the adventurer who sought an enchanted lute that could bring fame and fortune made their bargain with the fey.
  4. One adventurer promised their firstborn child to the fey. This was sometime after the adventurer who sought eternal beauty, but before Elowen Sharpthistle made their bargain.
  5. Either Bethany the Bold (who wasn’t the adventurer who sought a bountiful harvest) or the adventurer who sought a rare medicinal flower from the fey bargained away a treasured memory (which was not the first or second bargain made), and the other promised to perform a song that would lure others into the fairy ring.
  6. The adventurer who sought the rare medicinal flower did not make their bargain immediately before or immediately after Bethany the Bold.

Did you unravel my fey-filled logic puzzle? Do you have a favorite fairy or fey creature in your game? Let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you.

DICE… IN… SPACE!

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Resin space dice…

Storytelling has been with us as long as humanity has existed. From the first stories told around the campfire to podcasts and television shows and novels, stories are not just part of the human experience, but one of the most crucial parts.

It’s a significant reason why I enjoy roleplaying games so much. I get to sit around with my friends and tell stories, and that story is a magical once-in-a-lifetime combination of the actions each of us take and the random results of dice rolls.

The same people could gather around the same table a hundred times, and each time, the story would turn out a little bit different.

That’s MAGIC.

There are all kinds of roleplaying systems out there. Many use dice, but some use tarot cards, or playing cards, or a Jenga tower, or even more esoteric mechanics.

So there are lots of ways to play. But have we ensured that we can play in other environments?

I haven’t encountered an underwater roleplaying game yet, for instance, but I imagine it would be doable with scuba tanks, laminated character sheets, and some weighted dice so they don’t just float to the surface.

Check out these Steve the Scuba Diver dice…

But what about roleplaying in SPACE?

No, I don’t mean playing Starfinder or Traveller or Mothership or Orbital Blues or See You Space Cowboy. I mean actually playing roleplaying games in space.

Well, thankfully, our best and brightest are already investigating the possibility!

Check out this Instagram post from astronaut Rabea Rogge, who was experimenting with how to roll a D20 in space.

Yes, as one of the commenters pointed out, there’s a chance for biasing the die by rolling it so it doesn’t change its axis, but for the most part, Rabea’s technique seems solid.

(Though we really need to get her dice that are easier to read!)

It just goes to show that wherever we go, we will take our stories with us.