The first ever GLOGGIES!

    After a while of working with a talented council of GLoGGers, I'm happy to announce the very first GLOGGIES! This is intended to be a sort of community showcase of some of our favorite hacks, specifically to guide people to what we perceive to be exemplars in their particular fields. Keep in mind that all of the results are just out opinions, and the GLoGscape is much too large for us to comb through all of, so if you have any contenders you also like that we've overlooked, please pop them in the comments below for other people to peruse! I've tried to link and pay lip service to every hack that was nominated, as to make sure to spread the love and include as many people as possible.

Here are the staff of the GLOGGIES review board:

PHLOX, Architect of the Vain Sword, He Whose Measure God Could Not Take

WALFALCON, He Who Cries “YAGH!” In Battle, Herder of the Mall Rats, Marine Japanese Translator

MERGO-KAN, Captain of the Ship of Theseus, Illusionist of Immersion

SUNDEREDWORLDDM, Biter of Bone Marrow, Collector of Sundry Shields and Shillings

S: “I'd like to stay away from Orthodox GLoG and MRoS because they get enough attention. If this is to be a community showcase, perhaps we shouldn't be putting medals on the mainstream titles.”

P: “Maybe the standard for what qualifies for a GLOGGY should be that we should be able to cite the hack in question. The content doesn’t necessarily have to come from the same document, just be traceable.”

BEST CHARACTER CREATION: MIMICS AND MISCREANTS (HONORARY MENTION: SPWACKHACKS)

M: “Mimics is so clean, so efficient, and provides so many options. If I still had a printer this would be sitting on my kitchen table for next game night. Its ease of use and legibility leaves my formatting brain stunned. GLAIVE is very legible and solid as well, but Walfalcon compared it to Maze Rats and I have to agree. It's basically a massive improvement on that, but it's not really standing out on its own in terms of character creation.”

S: “I feel like we can group the SpwackHacks as a runner up, but generators for character creation feel like cheating.”

P: “I think in most cases that’s true, but the Spwackhacks are so tied to generators as to make them a Main Thing. They are the core of the game, and if we are considering Die Trying what is there to consider when the generators are removed? Just my two cents.”

S: “Fair enough, let’s give them an Honorary Mention.”

BEST NON-CASTER CLASS: ZOUAVE

P: “In this case, what do we mean by “best”? Is a class the best because it’s super-solid, or because it revolutionizes things?”

S: “I think the idea (in my mind) is one that toes the line between them. A novel element, executed cleanly and concisely.”

Though we collectively nominated *deep breath* the Shaman, the Crew, the Martial, the Berserker, the Traveller, the Butcher, and the Amazon, we ultimately decided on the Zouave because it most closely fit the established criteria of a solid, well-executed concept, and because it already had a lot of renown as a popular Fighter archetype in GLoG circles, for good reason.

W: “The Zouave has very strong flavor without relying on too many major setting prerequisites. The flavor is malleable enough that you don't have to include anything way specific, while still being a very specialized class.”

BEST CASTER CLASS: CALLIGRAPHER

While a couple of strong casters like the Draconic Disciple and Alchemist were nominated, the Calligrapher was on most of our lists before we even came to discuss. The simplicity and flexibility of the main casting mechanic was too good to pass up, and the really concise flavor didn’t hurt its odds at all. It definitely deserves the GLOGGY!

BEST ANCESTRIES/RACES: CRAWL INTO A HOLE AND FUCKING DIE

P: “CIAHAFD is marked by splashy, strong advantages and debilitating weaknesses.”

M: “Like that Gnoll, and that Orc! They’re really good.”

W: “There’s a number of cases, though, when abilities are vague when they should bring more specific data to the table, like the Lizardfolk and the Tiefling. I tend to prefer to not have rules that are ‘incomplete’- like, if it hints that you can do something, I'd like there to be either rules for that, or some clear way that the given rules extend to cover it. But I understand that some people are fine with rules that "evoke" more rules. I'm just getting it out of the way that that's where I'm reading these from. But my critique of a hack is not proportional to how much I like it; I think it narrowly beats out the competition.”

P: “I would be comfortable giving it the crown.”

S: “The fact that Robot is a playable option is the cherry on the cake.”

Rise Up Comus wrote a small set of race-as-classes. Ultimately, we couldn’t find a source hack for this one, but we liked it so much we wanted to at least mention it in the post. 

S: “I like how they treat humans as a full race-as-class. The two classic markers of humanity: xenophobia and being tall. Halflings are good, psychic gnomes are phenomenal, elves and dwarves are meh as ever.”

W: “There's just so much more there compared to the other non-race-as-class options. It's not perfect for every situation, but it almost feels like it should be an honorable mention for volume alone. I liked the elf and dwarf classes, actually. They’re fairly orthodox, to be sure, but the execution is rather good, I think. Why do you find them meh?”

S: “When compared to the gnome and human, I found their novelty lacking. Though you’re right, the execution is very solid!”

Other remarkable nominations included Vain the Sword, MARROW, this Animal People post, The Mountain from GROG, and the Knife Hawk as a joke. If Nuclear Ooze still had a working link, it would have also been on the table.

BEST ART: RUNAWAY PRINCESS (HONORABLE MENTION: GLAIVE)

Though Amulets and Eclipses, Moonhop, and Mall Rats all do have great accompanying art, Runaway Princess is chock full of flavorful and fantastical illustrations that go above and beyond to convey the whimsical, romantic feeling of the game without sacrificing quality or readability. Check it out, it’s truly a feast for the eyes.

S: “To be fair, Runaway Princess is not original art, though there is a good amount of alteration, plus the graphic design I think adds to the aesthetic intent meaningfully.”

P: “It was certainly well chosen, and I won't lose sleep if we choose RP over something with original art, though I do think it's a better example of good presentation more than anything. I also feel like we have to give GLAIVE points for having original art. Even stripping the art from the design and just looking at it in a slideshow, I think it really stands out.”

W: “I agree, let’s make it an honorable mention for original art.”

An intermission.

P: Remind me the difference between "best graphic design" and "best presentation/information design”?

M: Graphic design meaning like, header designs, good fonts, logos, etc. Presentation and Info design means legibility, formatting, and/or ease of use with things like bookmarks.

BEST PRESENTATION/INFORMATION DESIGN: SALTY GOO

M: “My main vote for info presentation is Salty Goo. I think having a whole website dedicated to the rules is really useful!”

Mergo was ultimately right- though contenders like Catacomers, Freeform Space Jazz, and G20 all made good use of the page, Salty Goo’s website was instantly easy to navigate, and very intuitive in a way that a stagnant PDF or doc really couldn't be. Though there was some tough competition, Salty Goo deserves its place at the top.

BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN: MALL RATS

W: “wat?”

P: "It would probably be something different if they were all in print, but Mall Rats is a nice read on my laptop."

There was a lot of overlap between art, info design, and graphic design. Salty Goo, M&M, and GLAIVE all got repeat mentions. Nothing Ventured and YAGH were two strong new contenders, but Mall Rats got it because of its awareness of medium and how well the layout and design supports not only the clarity of the rules, but the “feel” of the game.

BEST OVERALL: BONEPUNK

I have a secret: I’ve been omitting one nomination from the lists above. The reason for that is that it popped up over and over again. It was up for BEST ART, BEST CHARACTER CREATION, BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN, even BEST ANCESTRY, for crying out loud! And boy does it deserve it. The visual design is incredible, the game design is really focused, and the world and gameplay are really fun- I’ve had the opportunity to play it, and it’s great fun, I highly recommend it. The other nomination for best overall was BE SILENT, another phenomenal game with some truly inventive mechanics.

M: “BONEPUNK is just hard to beat! It's got a ton of thought put into it, and the mechanics involved are really creative. So much flavor.”

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed reading and discussing these hacks! It was a lot of fun- If you have any favorites or exemplars we missed, please leave them in the comments below, or make your own post and hand out some GLOGGIES yourselves! It’s a great way to show appreciation and good vibes, and having more voices and perspectives saying what they like in hacks really helps out and encourages designers too. Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

Jojiro's Orthodoxies of Narration

I don´t have to explain what´s happening here. You´re not the boss of me.

Some noise is coming from a building.

-A tired Game Master somewhere, probably

1. Rewrite this, still as a single sentence. You want to convey that the structure is not sound. You hear the sound of rotting timbers wetly creaking from inside a poorly-mortared stone hovel beside you.
2. Rewrite this, still as a single sentence. You want players to picture a safe haven, a feeling of comfort that we get with freshly baked cookies at grandma’s house. But do it implicitly – “Grandma’s baking noise is coming from the safe haven” is not the point of the exercise, here. The sound of gently hissing fire meets your ears from the abode beside you, a familiar crackle.
3. Rewrite this, still as a single sentence. You want to convey that this location is mildly dangerous. As you hear the sound of gentle scurrying and scratching coming from the building beside you, you get the nagging feeling that you're being watched.
4. Rewrite this, no sentence limit. You want to convey that this location is lethally dangerous – try to suggest a different type of danger than what you used for exercise #3. As you hurry past, a sickening noise causes you to stop in your tracks- a scream caught in a throat, before the wet sound of steel cleaving flesh and meeting bone. A deep, infernal laugh rises from an inhuman throat as the unseen blade is forcibly removed from the victim, then as the chuckling subsides, the sound of rusted blade on grindstone. Something terribly unpleasant is happening.

5. The dungeon entrance is kinda big even to the humans in the party, but it positively looms over the halflings, like a bloated elephant. There’s even trumpeting and general cacophany to match! It’s a right circus in there. There seems to be an emphasis on the feeling of grandeur and an attempt to create a lighthearted tone, though I need a lot more context to make sense of how a dungeon could be circus-like; is it some form of literal funhouse?

6. As you round the bend, Martha, you hear the crackling of flame and popping of glass. The upstairs window that you spent much of your childhood daydreaming from bulges outward and shatters with a resounding crash, and the stoop where your mother always stood in the evening to greet your father groans as it folds in on itself. Mercerian levels of backstory are being engaged here, with an attempt in eliciting an emotional reaction from a single character. Fairy-tale nostalgia weaponized, to what could potentially be a very powerful effect at the table.

7. The floorboards creak and groan despite the party’s best efforts to stay stealthy. The incessant scuttling sound continues too. First in the wall. Then in the ceiling. Then down another wall, and finally to the floor beneath your feet. Cackling follows the scuttling, half a beat delayed. Dread, suspense, a folkloric horror. Scuttling is associated with natural creatures, particularly insects, and when melded with cackling definitely implies witchery. Plus the party is already being stealthy, so the strong implication is trying to stay out of the sight of a powerful witch, and failing.

A person hits a person.”

-That same tired Game Master, probably

8. Rewrite this, no sentence limit. The focus should be on a specific body part, the texture is meant to be visceral. You’re drawing out a moment and making the hit meaty and with impact. His fist soars, almost slow motion, down through the air. You watch as it collides with your lower abdomen, an instant ache blooming through your solar plexus. You stagger backwards, the wind knocked out of you for half a second as you struggle to regain breath and composure. He cracks his knuckles after such a direct hit, a sadistic grin exploding across his face.
9. Rewrite this, no sentence limit. The focus is on the person who hits, not the person who is being hit. The texture is something personal to the person who hits – you’re framing this as an important moment for them as a character. Your knuckles white, you take a steadying breath as you stare into those steel blue eyes that have haunted you for so long. In one instant, your body uncurls and springs into action, like a spring being released, and you strike forward with lightning precision and a well of determination. Your fist soars, colliding with his temple. You barely register the force of the impact as adrenaline courses through your body, and as he reels back from the blow, you take a moment to shake the pain out of your hand. You´ve been wanting to hurt him back like that for a while, and damn does it feel good.
10. Rewrite this, no sentence limit. The focus is on the scenery, and the texture is one of bleakness. Whatever combat is happening is ultimately pointless, and you’re trying to make sure the party knows it. Zoom out, make the fight less personalized, less meaningful. Distance your description. As your fists rain down blow after blow, pummeling her into the dirt, her dazed and empty smile directed almost past you, though you, mocks you. Dead silence fills your ears as you continue your senseless assault, your sinews losing their adrenaline and screaming in protest. (This one was tough for me, and I don´t think I did a great job, because I need more context.)
11. Rewrite this, no sentence limit. The focus is on conveying facts. There should be as little texture as possible. It’s the end of the session, everyone is tired, and while making this accurate is important, making it anything more would be a waste of time. You can see one of your players is already half-asleep. You may want to rush this and call it a night. Your blow connects solidly, and they grunt in pain. Alrighty, who´s next?
12. Rewrite this, no sentence limit. You are trying to focus on a pathetic target of the hit, but not like, an assault victim or anything serious. Tonally you’re aiming for a slapstick character who is the butt of jokes, bad timing, and who keeps getting beat on. This blow, which for most people would be considered but a light tap, sends this guy on his ass. As he goes to stand back up, you try and help him to his feet, but he slips out of your grasp and falls back the other way. You can´t help but suppress a chuckle.

I think the most significant thing I got out of this round is how much description relies on context. You build off of ideas you´ve previously presented, you frame descriptions in the same sorts of metaphors and highlight the same sorts of details, you slowly give sensory information over time instead of loading it all in at once. There´s a strange sort of poetry you can weave that you can´t convey with a three-sentence chunk of narration.

A world, in 13 items.

1. Your mother's katana
2. A life raft that won't inflate
3. Notebook labelled "Blasphemies Yet to Pass"
4. A digital Hello Kitty watch with a shattered screen
5. A mugshot with a pentagram drawn on it
6. A lock of hair from a CEO
7. Some off-the-street experimental amphetamine
8. A "Mutant-Be-Gone" (TM) mosquito net
9. A painting of a moss-choked, half-sunken skyscraper dated 5 days from now
10. 100 dollars of unmarked cash
11. A pendant of a mutant, nine-tailed fox
12. A news clipping from before the Melt
13. The Trillionare's missing Necronomicon

now you do it

GM Orthodoxies

 I'm on a blog-question-answering spree. Let's do this.

1. What's in the abandoned pantry? Mouldering bread, some fuzzy pickles in a revoltingly-colored jar, and a very large centipede.

2. Magister in the morning? He's still in bed with his husband. If the players were to wake him, he would draw the bedsheet around him and furiously point out that he has business hours in the coutrthouse, and the importance of following the gods-be-damned PROCEDURE for once instead of interrupting his home life.

3. Blue hair? I'd ask them why they want it, and work out a solution from there. Is it a motivation to emulate a pop culture character? A cry for individuality? Are they an artist who would find that fun to draw? Whatever the source of desire is, we can address it directly.

4. Description? When I describe things at the table, I tend to go for more "novel-esque" sensory detail in my description, leaving out some details to be discovered in play.. As the mid-afternoon sunlight filters through the verdant leaves, you see a vine-choked marble structure gleaming in front of you. The angular blocks imply dwarvish architecture, but the flowing dome and compact size show the structure to be a shrine. In the center, a small basin is filled with crystal clear water. Standing in front of the basin, wielding a massive golden spear, is a serpentine figure, flames curling off of its crimson scales. The salamander doesn't seem to have noticed you, what do you do?

5. "It's too tough"? If they need something in it, I remind them of their objective. "How badly do you want the Orb of Aggimoto?" Or some information they're forgetting. "Remember, you can get up to the balcony if you have a way to avoid the Ropecutter Hawks, and make your way around the basilisk den." If they're in the dungeon without a clear idea of purpose, I'd let them leave and explore other things. Usually my players don't back down- when you use the Timer Threat Treat method, you usually introduce enough variables into every combat for players to make sense of it all and triumph in the end.

6. Speak with Insects? In the moment, I defer to the player who wants to speak to the spider, because that sounds reasonable to me, and I'd rather reward them using their creative/roleplay abilities than hamper them with rules. I'd set the protester to look up the rule for next time to see what the book says, but I'd be willing to override it for the good of the table and that player's fun. Rules serve the game, not the other way around.

Try your hand at the Orthodoxies, and see what patterns emerge. Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

Vayra Asks...

What class knows the most martial arts? Are they real martial arts like kung fu, or made up ones like krav maga? There are no classes, but the most common form of marital arts is the made-up bullshit of windstepping. On the upside, it involves surgically increasing lung capacity in order to literally blow oneself up into the air or knock enemies over with a sigh, so it's not boring as shit.

Can I start out having already made a deal with the devil or do I have to do that in game? Depends, but usually that happens in game, in your hour of greatest need. Do you want me to write an 8-page backstory? Can I write an 8-page backstory, if I want to? If I write something down in it like I'm the timelost princess of the brass city and the daughter of the sun and I commanded legions in the Hell War but was betrayed by my father's vizier but I don't know that, or that I'm elf conan and cooler than everyone else, will that be true? No, yes, and if you do all that I will comb through it and talk with you about every aspect so we can comb out what you think is coolest while making sure you don't force yourself into the spotlight and also fit into the world (but resent you for making me do that). All you need is a character with some sort of goal. If I eat someone's heart, will I gain their powers? What about their brain? Heart, not unless you're under the influence of a specific drug, brain succeeds more often than you would initially think, especially for those used to living underground. Apparently an unlit brain is one with easily-transferable knowledge. These classes are boring, can I be one from somewhere else? What about from a different system entirely? Once again, no classes, but we can certainly talk. If I make a sword, which one of us gets to name it? If it happened randomly, you. If it happened because I put it there, me. Am I allowed to kill the other player characters? What would I have to do to be allowed to? Do I win if I kill them all? Actually, how do I win in general? You can't kill another PC unless everyone at the table agrees that not only you can, but you should. You win by forcing me to end the session early because whatever you've just done requires more than a bathroom break to process and bounce back from, like using a nuke on an archangel or ripping a hole in reality. What language stands in for 'Common'? Or what are we all talking to each other in? Like the party, mostly, but also everyone else? You're just speaking English, because otherwise wordplay couldn't be diegetic. Plus, English is basically the Common of our world, and that statement (as well as the fact that this fantastical post-apocalypse worls speaks our language) has spicy implications.

How do I learn how to talk to rocks? No not once a day just, like, normally? Study under an earth elemental or mountain, huff a lot of chalk dust, and/or some people just know how to do it. Which kinds of wizards get to serve kings and live in towers and shit and which ones are run out of town or stoned to death in the streets? Can I be both? At the same time? The wizards who serve royalty are the equivalents of the people who graduate just to immediately start teaching, they have no practical experience and most of their advice is just made-up bullshit. If a wizard is covered in runes, shivering in an alley, injecting vibrant purple fluid into their feet, fear them, for they have plumbed the cosmos for all it has to offer.

HATS

I needed a creative jolt, the Oblidikjsdftch delivers a prompt unto me. "Hats". This post is d10 hats, in response to SteppedOnAd4's challenge.

1 The Fish of the Bowling Bear. This is a large, taxidermied carp attached to a leather cap, in a faux sort of flopping motion. It is given as a prize to the person who manages to stomach the most Fire Eel, a drink of flaming Dwarvish ale with a live eel in it, within an evening. The Fire Eel is sold exclusively at the Bowling Bear tavern, and is currently held by Bjorkstel Untergaardt, the barkeeper and resident mixologist of the Bear.

2 Psychic Cap. This cap uses illusion magic to look like whatever sort of headgear any onlooker would find most impressive or fearsome, whatever that might be.

3 Coward's Beanie. This was some Elvish artificer's Sophomore year final, and they got a D+ on it. While wearing this bloodstained beanie, if you pull it over your eyes, you become invisible, but inexplicably emit a high-pitched whining sound. In addition, you can rip in in half to tear open a portal to the Astral Plane that sucks everything around it inside. Generally regarded to be a useless piece of garbage, which is code for ripe for adventurin'.

4 Skull-Crown of the Corpse Warlord. While wearing this rotten mass of spongy and mold-infested bone, you can roll CHA to command any mindless undead creature you can see. Once you have 10 commanded undead in your retinue at once, your skin begins to slough away. When you get to 15 at once, you become the new avatar of the Corpse Warlord, reborn in malice.

5 Helmet of Orb Attraction. This large, crystalline mass, covered in multifaceted spheres carved from magical gems, really puts a strain on the neck. When the conspicuously large switch on the back is flipped, it acts as a magnet to any and all orbs (smaller than an astrological scale) near you. If it can't be pulled to you, you are pulled to it. Once you put it on, you are cursed so that you cannot take it off.

6 Fez. This strange hat makes the user immune to aging and withering effects, and can be used once to travel to any other point in time, at which point it is destroyed. Once, it belonged to the Medic of Many Faces, but was since lost after his fall at the Battle of Trenzalore. (Sorry, had to.)

7 Twiggsley's Crown. Twigglsey is an archdruid from a far away woods. They are also a vulture. This mighty holy artifact, to the untrained eye, looks like an unkempt and empty bird's nest. Druids and priests of the old gods pay pilgrimages to visit this mobile shrine. Wear it and keep it safe for long enough and Twiggsley will lay an egg in it...

8 The Slime Helm. At first it looks like a globby, gelatinous mass on someone's head, but upon closer inspection, the ooze is actually congealed atop a steel helm. The ooze can attack with pseudopods at the wearer's command, destroying equipment with a corrosive touch, but if it remains unfed for to long, it will crawl into the wearer's eyes and begin to pilot their body.

9 Xymanthur's Cowl. An ancient lich-lord from Not Egypt (TM) was the bearer of this gaudy, bedecked cowl. The lich can speak in deathly whispers to anyone who wears the helm, making offers of power in exchange for "favors". There are three sapphires set in the front of the cowl's brim, the eggs of the eagle set just above. Touch the eagle after having drunk fresh blood to fly for a TURN.

10 The Dread ANTI-HAT. Nothing is atop your head, and nothing will ever be atop your head. If you put on a hat, it is instantly sent to a parallel dimension, never to be seen or heard from again save ungodly powerful magics. If you put something else on your head, the object sparks, burning you enough to make you drop it.

Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

A footnote on pirate games

    One of the hallmarks of the pirate genre, besides being a very classic DnD structure (hero chooses to pursue some adventure hook or is tossed into it by fate, goes through ever more difficult challenges that result in the loss of more and more resources, then stumbles upon the final challenge and completes it with creativity and ingenuity to get a shit ton of treasure that is in inexplicably spent before the next movie adventure), is how much freedom the main character has. Their actions drive the story. Without their interference, nothing happens- no pirate movie if the pirate is stuck in jail with half a bottle of rum, the movie starts when they use that bottle to hold a guard at ransom and break out of jail and onto the rowboat with the old fisher and her daughter.

    So the first most important component is agency. For a classic nautical adventure game, characters should be given situations, not plotlines. The experience is made more rewarding when the players get to do exactly as they please, and live or die by their own hand. Otherwise, the whole thing feels inorganic, which is anathema to the way an adventure should unfold, particularly in this idiom.

    The other component is creativity. When you think to pirate media, the memorable moments are when the eponymous character makes use of the available resources to turn the tide. I have been running a pirate game for the past 6 months or so (which I will get to in a moment), and the same is true of an RPG. Instead of building in "ways out" or making the players reliant on the dice to do cool things, spend your time giving them tools. Describe the ropes and rigging on the ship about to plunge off the edge of the earth, hand the players a bag that miniaturizes anything put into it, describe a crack in the jail wall with a bundle of sticks in it. Create these little treats, and (this is important) DON'T GO INTO IT KNOWING HOW THEY'LL BE USED. Play the game and enforce consequences as normal, even letting the players miserably fail, and let THEM be the drivers of the creative use of these resources.

    Now, all that leads to the thesis: pirate games thrive on flexibility. In the plot, in the way that tools are utilized, and, in my opinion, most importantly, in the mechanics. If the players feel like they're in a system where the main way they can have agency is pushing mechanical buttons, like 5e, the game won't feel as organic and spontaneous as it has to. My pirate game started in 5e, and the further I hacked it away from 5e to get it run faster and more flexibly, the more my players have leaned in the the tropes and created memorable moments. Recently, I made the switch to MARROW, and that really made me see this issue in a lot of clarity, because the amount of freedom and agency the players have is so much higher, and that increases the engagement, as well as the drama.

That's all some nice talk, but how do you integrate it into your game? Well, here's a bulleted list:

    -Transition to a lightweight system. 5e works for many things, but it only serves to hamper here. Try something new, like GLoG, Black Hack, ICRPG, or any number of other lighter games.

   -When you're building your adventures, create a branching path with options with what happens if the players either succeed or fail in a given scene, with enough notes to flesh out the secret third option players always find. Be receptive to change- this flexibility and non-commitment to victory will be what will emulate the genre best.

    -Build tools into your encounters. Don't be literal or outright about it- a potion of health is a decent tool, but a strength potion is a much better one, and a potion of flight with a 7-second duration is even better. Give the players things that even you don't know how you would use. Let them use these things creatively, and be sure to reward them when they do it with mechanical advantages.

    -Let the players drive the story. Let them make up their own adventure hooks ("I heard there was a treasure below a volcano put there by a mad iron golem named Smee Shamil"), choose between multiple paths ("do we help the baron or kill him and hold his daughter at ransom?"), watch the world around them change to their actions and not the other way around.

  --

    Let my experience improve your game, and help you run the best damn nautical adventure you can. Let me know if you think of anything else down in the comments below. Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

Blog challenge: Transformative Posts

A NEW CHALLENGE FOR EVERYONE: Hunt down the blog posts that have forever changed how you have run your games, prepped your games, done your game design, or is otherwise terribly significant or personal to you. Here are a few of mine.

7 MYTHS EVERYONE BELIEVES ABOUT DRUIDS This was the first post I'd ever read from an OSR blog. I think it was linked to in a Power Score post, and I was instantly hooked by the style and flavor. By that point, I was pretty exclusively 5e, so the intensity and gritty flavor really took me aback, and instantly opened my eyes to the wider possibilities of grittier worldbuilding.

THE APE A post from perhaps my favorite OSR blog, Basic Red RPG. Out of all the posts from this blog that have inspired me, I chose this one because it was the spark of inspiration for MARROW's advancement system. Just as I was discovering this new vista of ways to play (the OSR scene), I saw this class, which got abilities randomly each level. The idea of a table you rolled on instantly inspired me, and I opened up a google doc and began to draft the tables you now see in MARROW.

OSR CLASS PYRAMID An incredible labor of love from the Manse, a favorite of mine. 100 unique and rich-feeling classes built out of a single ability. It really helped me "understand" retro-style class design, and a lot of the stuff here also went into the MARROW tables.

CHANGES I'D LIKE TO SEE IN NEW RPGs This is a newer one, but no less significant to me. A well-reasoned set of pointers for writing and presenting new RPGs and RPG material. I'm always hunting for new ways to write up games and adventures, and while I as a consumer don't agree with all of what's presented, I appreciate the thought and scrutiny that went into this list, and it's defining how I do my stuff here on out.

SMALL TABLES I just really like this philosophy, it's always intimidating to go into a project expecting to have to write really long lists of random encounters to have everything be complete and usable, and so this sort of creative release allows you to put more effort into making a few things as good as they can possibly be. This is at a tie with the one about railway-style route mapping, that one is also lovely and you should check it out.

BONES. I've talked a lot about this game on my blog, and it was the seed from which grew MARROW. This got me into GLoGhacking, an unparalleled gift.

There are so many more, and this might become a series here (because I love spotlighting content from others in the RPG community who know how to do this whole blog thing so much better than I), but I want to turn the torch to you. What posts have changed your games and given you food for thought? Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

Forge Priest, a randomly-generated GLoG class

No, YOU'RE super late to hopping on a trend. Get off my back.

 

SOURCE

FORGE-PRIEST

Start with a portable anvil, donated scrap metal, and a holy weapon made of rusted iron

Each level, roll on the table below for your ability.

1 +1 DEFENSE while wearing Armor

2 You make one small, magical trinket

3 This Level acts as a SKILL in 2 tool sets of your choice

4 Summon a small metallic object +1 times per day

5 Your touch burns/you can breathe fire CLOSE/you can breathe fire FAR/roll again

6 Resistance to fire/immunity to fire/roll again

GLoG reviews 4

Overview here. I know, only 3 this time, sorry.

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BONEPUNK, by BaaL

OVERVIEW Jesus, 4 pages in and the theme really punches me in the face already! Bonepunk is a newer(?) hack about the dead and damned making their way through an adventuring life. With saturated pages and flavorful woodcarved art reminiscent of Dia  de los Muertos, this is a wondrous romp through a broken and bleak world.

FLAVOR 4.5. If you didn't guess it, this is a real winner. The word "necrografts" should tell you all you need to do. Check it out. A truly natural fit with Patrick Stewart's Lichjammers.

PLAYABILITY 3.5. I'm definitely interested in this game, and it intrigues me, but it wouldn't be the first one I'd take off the shelf to explore.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 3.5. There's more cruft than I would like, but I can identify what I would cut from a game easily, which is a good thing. Otherwise, seems like a really clean and easy system!

OVERALL 4.25. I don't like to give out quarter points, but this is where Bonepunk belongs. A cut above a standard 4, but yet the world isn't quite in full enough focus for me to appreciate it as much as Vain the Sword, so it remains below a 4.5. Still, a phenomenal product with a lot of love put into it and an admirably tight focus and commitment to theme.

THINGS TO STEAL The character creation skillfully blends many inspirations and principles, from Electric Bastionland to Dungeon World. The entire hack is brilliantly focused on theme. The GM section has three nice bullet points that form the core of the setting, which is a BRILLIANT idea that I will be stealing and you should too. There's some great classes and mechanics in here. This one is definitely worth your time.

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GRAVEROBBERS, by D. G. Chapman

OVERVIEW Not a GLoGhack, but a game from a blogger I've been following for a short while. A gothic game of crime and larceny in the shadows of the House. The alpha rules, plus designer's notes, all fit on two pages, so the game is incredibly light, and uses a deck of cards, an interesting twist that could help create further immersion into the grubby Victorian world.

FLAVOR 4. There's scant worldbuilding throughout, but I rank this a 4 because of how vividly I "see" adventures in this game. The flavor draws on influences, and I can tell that this game is an exercise in genre emulation. Life is SUPER cheap- you can die in character creation, in preparation, during a heist, and more.

PLAYABILITY 3. There's a lot of cool stuff here, and it seems to emulate supernatural Victorian heist pretty well. I would definitely want to explore this longer-form style of day by day RPG play. If someone proposed a game, I would definitely not say no.

COMPREHENSIBILITY Unfortunately, 2. I understand the basic principles, but the specifics and the loop still evades me. I want more examples- another page's worth of a play example would do this game a HUGE service. As of yet, I could not hope to run this without playing it with myself for a little bit, and I don't know if this game is worth that for me.

OVERALL 2.5. I like the principle, and there's a lot of good groundwork there that has the space to create a lot of innovation, but as of yet, it's a little too unrefined for my tastes, and I don't "get" the picture yet. That said, this game still intrigues me, and I'm excited to see where it goes!

THINGS TO STEAL I can't really make a bullet list, this game takes the typical RPG structure and tips it a little sideways in a charming way, saturated in heist flavor. Check it out if what I've said thusfar intrigues you.

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MOONHOP, by Type1Ninja

OVERVIEW This is the go-to hack when people ask how far GLoG can be stretched. A future-fantasy hybrid where the visual identity and mechanics are punchy and distinctive. Mechs and wizard teeth and interstellar hopping collide in an appetizing, lightweight stew.

FLAVOR Inevitably a 4. All the setting is between the lines, keeping it from a 5, but what's there is evocative. I don't think a single person imagines the exact same game or world looking at this, but the DNA is there for a really unique experience. Blacksmiths in space? Sign me up!

PLAYABILITY 3.5. I like this system quite a bit, and while it isn't my first choice, I would not turn down the chance to run it or play it.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 4. SUPER lightweight, and every rule is parsed down to the literal bare minimum. I could run this RAW with little problem. However, there are some (rather important) things missing I would have to rule. What happens if I occupy 11 inventory slots? The rules do not say. This game will lean on your ability to make rulings a little, but if you're okay with that, this will serve you well.

OVERALL 4. One of my favorites, the simplicity is an asset, and it's a truly charming game I think everyone should check out, at the very least for inspiration.

THINGS TO STEAL HP rerolls every session, another killer race list, cover as armor, the light combat system, simplified GLoG wizardry, interplanetary travel rules, the mastery of the implied worldbuilding, and just how parsed down it all is

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...and I've now got a backlog of 2. If you have a GLoGhack, or a favorite hack, or any sort of free, lightweight game that you want to see a review of (and really, I just want to act as free advertising and a reference guide to anyone looking for something specific to steal), leave it in the comments or @ me on the OSR Discord. Thanks so much, and happy gaming!

GLoG reviews 3

You know the drill. Important info here.

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DIE TRYING, by Meandering Banter

OVERVIEW This system invented the X-based advancement, and is a longstanding pinnacle of GLoGhacks. One foot in orthodox GLoGery, another one in new-age, distant hacks, this has a lot of great developments to check out.

FLAVOR 1. Anything with an implication can be cut out, this would work very well for a generic game.

PLAYABILITY 4. I really enjoy what I see. Seems like a system that's right up my alley, and has a lot of potential. What's stopping this from being higher is the volume of content to be combed through, and the lack of delineation between optional content and rules as intended.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 2. There's a hefty amount of cruft that could be trimmed, and the sheer volume of optional rules, while quite nice, detract from the core of the system. I would have to spend a lot of time printing this out and combing through it to get it to a runnable state.

OVERALL 2.5. Good core, nay, phenomenal core, but WAY too much around it. This is a 10 page hack tops, everything else can go or be put in an optional document.

THINGS TO STEAL Magic words, X-based advancement (man oh man PLEASE check that out I've yet to implement it but I'm THIIIIIIS close), random abilities upon character creation, interspersal of fun side mechanics throughout the rules (how can you regain magic dice?), achievements. I'm very close to pulling a BONES to MARROW on this bad boy and ripping the bloat off. DIE TRYING? More like... uh... fuckn... uh...

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MIMICS AND MISCREANTS, by Lexi

OVERVIEW This hack is from a pillar of the GLoG community, chocked with fan-favorite classes. It's unique in its own right because it combines a roll-under mechanical sensibility to a roll-over system with a fixed DC of 20 that works really elegantly and is very intuitive if you're versed in both systems.

FLAVOR 2, but a good 2- the assumptions here are ones you can easily work with, and that inspire and open the door instead of feeling restrictive. This is a canvas where a corner has been painted in fantastical things, and you have the freedom to explode that outward. Generally, though, I'm left wanting more flavor to be drawn into the rules, so it's gonna stay at a 2.

PLAYABILITY 3. This document inspires me to steal more than it does to play, which isn't a bad place to be at all. Would not complain at all if I had to play or run this system.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 4. There's more than I generally would want, but it's all very clear, so I would be able to use it or know when not using it would cause problems, so this scores very well on comprehensibility for me.

OVERALL 3.5. A very solid hack with a lot of good stuff, the only real ding for me is that it's not particularly memorable or remarkable. It would be in the top tier if it consolidated and leaned into a cool angle, but as it stands, it's a perfectly serviceable and hackable game.

THINGS TO STEAL More reward rolls for sticking with the random character generation, combining roll-over mentality with roll-under mechanics, dodging vs. taking it in combat, spellscars, really solid classes, great summoning and mutation tables.

Hey Lexi, finish posting SAWN OFF so I can review that too.

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Cavegirl's Really Simple DDnD, by... you know what, take a guess

OVERVIEW This is a technically-not-a-GLoGhack whose rules fit entirely on a (lengthy, but still) blogpost. There's so little on the bones here, it's a tight system that does what it needs to frankly and simply, but it's executed in a very good way.

FLAVOR A clean 1. The simplicity and lightness of the rules don't belay much flavor, making this suitable for all sorts of low-fantasy shenanigans.

PLAYABILITY 3.5. There's a lot of intriguing stuff here, and the procedures seem to be, in many small and important ways ways, novel. The simplicity and genericism could easily be homebrewed and spun outwards, and so there's a lot of potential for a really cool game from these rules.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 4. The clarity and bluntness of the rules is a great strength, and there's a lot of robust flexibility built in there to work on. Everything is clear and concise, for the most part. I could run this if I were asked to.

OVERALL 4. Very much like this hack, can't really pinpoint why. A lot of it is wrapped up in the dry humor of the tone. This game knows exactly what it is, what it can do, and how it can do it.

THINGS TO STEAL Grit vs. flesh, the darkness rules (hehe), the skill system with one foot in the X-out-of6 tradition and another in modern skillage, the surprise and chase rules, super lite magic rules, classes woven into the fabric of the rules.

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OWLBEAR STEW 2, by Spwack

OVERVIEW This game is one of a few GLoGhacks characterized by a full random character generator, and has been a mainstay for a while. A prime example of a hack grounded in orthodoxy but with a heavy reductionist lens applied, the influences from other systems are palpable, but well-executed with a bunch of twists that make everything simpler and easier to run.

FLAVOR 3. This was close to being a 2 until I saw the reference images at the end and saw the full picture. A color-saturated, larger than life world that is yet plagued by great evils and powerful magics. It evokes wonder while toeing the line of cartoonish comedy, and it does that well, but again, I want more. I want an adventure, a world primer, monsters, I want to immerse myself further in the world being painted.

PLAYABILITY 2.5. The system isn't the selling point here, I don't think, it's the implied setting and the randomness that inject this game with fun. I would have to be sold on the adventure to play this game on its own terms.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 4. Very simple, well laid out, a google doc version could easily make this a 4.5. If I had to run this, I wouldn't have too much trouble at all, especially with the generator, which is a GODSEND. There is a slight bit of ambiguity- is the DC always 20, or is that a suggestion?

OVERALL 3.5. Very solid indeed, and the character generator and reference images are super useful. Not too many critiques besides "I want to see more"- this is well executed, but an adventure in particular would really help pull this up to a 4+, because I'm invested in seeing this implied world executed.

THINGS TO STEAL A random character generator (!! always useful), various XP methods built in, the "out of X" dying rules, the interesting take on advantage and disadvantage, diegetic stat increases, nice random lists of extra abilities (implemented well, very clearly a set of optional rules with specific ways to use them)

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Thanks for reading, and happy gaming. See you next time.

GLoG reviews 2

Check out part 1 for a description of the axes upon which I judge and the obligatory "this is my opinion".

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RUNAWAY PRINCESS, by Alcoops

OVERVIEW A hybrid of GLoG and 5e (nice to see, 5e wasn't all bad) with a whimsical tone. Reminds me of RUNEHAMMER's 5e HARDCORE MODE, which is a good thing. Honestly, I got more for ways to improve my 5e game than my GLoG game reading through this, so if you play 5e, give this doc a readthrough.

Disclaimer: I did not read the class doc, so I can't offer any insights as to the contents of that, simply the core rules.

FLAVOR 3. This seems like a game where whimsy is not offset by danger. Knights in shining armor grabbing the chalice and dashing through the woods as the Questing Beast chases them, a princess who delves into the crypts below the castle to find her fortune.

PLAYABILITY 4. If someone put a gun to my head and told me to play 5e, this would be one of the first games to come to my mind to suggest instead, along with HARDCORE MODE, a favorite of mine.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 3.5. There's just a lot here, it's a large and robust system, and so I would need a few readthroughs and sessions at the table to get it all working like a well oiled machine. However, so much of it is stolen from 5e and GLoGhacks I know that I could either piece it together or cut it so it works for me, so it gets a little boost.

OVERALL 4. One of my favorites thusfar, a great take on 5e with a good blend of rules from other sources and a very distinctive style.

THINGS TO STEAL There's a lot of hooks built into character creation for making things like your personality, mannerisms, and relationships with other characters, which look like they would work great to encourage players to get themselves into character more. Clear rules for helping often get neglected, and there's a really good set here. The equipment rules have one foot in a bunch of doors, and is sort of a "best of" compilation from other hacks. The funeral rules are great.

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BASIC RED RPG, by Daniel Dean

OVERVIEW While not technically a GLoGhack, I wanted to put this here because the Basic Red RPG is one of my favorite blogs, and this is my way of giving back. With a layout that really uses the whole page and a minimalist attitude, this game really hits you hard and fast, telling of a dark and magical world.

FLAVOR 3. The world is dark and magical, and the heroes are in over their heads. I can draw in the style this game is peddling, even if I can't name a scene or a monster (though the fact that elves are a monster and not a player race is *chef's kiss*).

PLAYABILITY 4. I want to seek out and play a table of this game, because it intrigues me so. The inherent worldbuilding and playstyle makes me want to see what story this is supposed to tell. It's a world where magic is the lifeblood of the earth itself, but is a dangerous and terrifying force of nature. It's all an intriguing sort of soup packed into 9 pages.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 1. Hate to say it, but I could not make heads or tails of this game. Is it roll under? What do you roll when? Absolutely no clue. Luckily, the game is enticing enough that I would want to pick it up and figure it out, because it just seems so cool, but it would take a lot of combing to even get it to a comprehensible state.

OVERALL 2. If it were clearer, it would be higher, but as it stands, I cannot say that I understand how to play the game, which is kind of the bare minimum. However, extra points for the cool flavor.

THINGS TO STEAL Uh... pretty good travel rules, the idea of "mana" as the pervasive magical power and non-humans being intimately tied to it, very simple classes, the spell and artifact lists are gold, specific summoning rules are great and add to that implicit worldbuilding, monster rules in the hack (cannot stress how important this is) and some great idiosyncrasies therein, and that intensely tight layout and direct writing style.

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FREEFORM SPACE JAZZ, by Nyandromeda

OVERVIEW A game about things going wrong, in space, infused with a heavy dose of jazz music. A delightful and original twist on the sci-fi genre, this one was fun and easy to read.

FLAVOR 4. While there's no world information, all the rules are framed in musical stylings, which, when juxtaposed with the sci-fi background, immediately evokes a hectic and madcap stellar romp, which is, I think, exactly what the author was going for.

PLAYABILITY 4. I would actively seek to play this, it's exactly in my wheelhouse and I'm excited to see if it runs like it reads.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 3.5. There are some formatting and ordering things that are a little bewildering, but the worst sin is a lack of examples. I would love to have little blurbs of the mechanics used in a real game situation. Plus, I think they would be fun to read- "As Zeta fumbles while trying to fix the lights as the pirates raid the deck, the wrench drops into the lava below, and the tempo increases"!

OVERALL 4. A great game filled with a lot of things that I love, including jazz, space, and plot development metacurrency. Again, like LIBRA, I just need more to get the picture in my head.

THINGS TO STEAL Failed rolls always propelling forward and never stagnating, tempo (oh my lord tempo! so good, if you play DWRPG steal this immediately), note token combat, monsters (yes!!!), spaceship rules.

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VAIN THE SWORD, by Phlox

OVERVIEW I've been wanting to read this for a while. A psuedo bronze-age hack written for Phlox's setting of... oh, I want to say Mesomergos? Phlox is one of my favorite OSR bloggers, so seeing his highly flavorful take on GLoG should be a lot of fun.

FLAVOR 5. Even the descriptions of the stats build the world. By the time you get to the race list, you already have a vibrant picture in your mind. The influence of the gods, the mysteries of magic, the importance of languages, the absence of metal, all of these contribute to this brilliant understanding of the world.

PLAYABILITY 4.5. If Phlox were ever to host a game of this, I would probably see if I could clear my schedule to make it. The world is so enticing that I'd love to get a character rolled up and explore it.

COMPREHENSIBILITY 3.5. There's a fierce commitment to keeping things simple and interpretative without sacrificing completeness. I can't think of anything that needs to be there that isn't, and it's pretty intuitive. There are a few instances where there's some lack of clarity, especially among all the optional Lots and in the combat rules, and the occasional typo, but I could run this if need be, and the most important thing (setting lore) comes across almost perfectly.

OVERALL 4.5. This deserves its (hotly contested) place as the best GLoGhack I've seen thusfar. With an innovative setting rivaling Planescape or Dark Sun, flavorful mechanics and classes, simplifications of most rules, and great DM advice, you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't give this a read. Extra points for a brilliant layout job, this was clearly a product of long hours of working, tweaking, and cutting, and the quality shows.

THINGS TO STEAL The folk list, the idea of skills ('kens') as near-divine gifts of unparalleled mastery instead of a mundane knowledge, setting written into the game rules, interesting class abilities and gigres, an adventure at the end of the rules, and so much more. Just read the damn thing!