“Oh look, a glass wall between us and the treasure.”

It is a simple book, a codex, a few dozen loose folios bound together. The cover is heavy stock with a simple red hand that one hopes is impressed in red ink rather than blood.

The members of this obscure order specialize in growing funghi. Growing, researching and studying many kinds, they even try to create new ones.

The Brotherhood’s goal was to preserve traditional Eshal practices and customs, with emphasis being placed on the belief that every member of the tribe mattered and that to ignore his rights and contributions, would result in the Clan collapsing.

The principal axiom of the Curalon Hestaris, and the basis of all its teachings, is this:

"Inhale. Kill. Exhale."

The Order is about the past. It is a collection of people who love history, ancient times, and artifacts of the past. Only people who are really interested in past should be members. A passing interest is not enough. One must be dedicated to the past to be invited into this organization.

Via Humanitae - For Humans to live and thrive, non humans must be removed.

This organization began with a simple idea to protect the common people from the danger of magic run amok. Far too many disasters and atrocities were being commited by irresponcibe, evil, or mad wizards with no one to answer to but their own degraded consciences. But like so many things, it started off good and has shifted to the dark side.

Dungeons, should make sense, in an ecological way. However, to have life, you need to have a physical place to use them. This expands upon the ecological dungeon, giving it a framework to exist in.

We have all seen articles on how Dungeons don’t work. I’ve seen such articles before. But this time, an idea struck me: Why not do a dungeon that really works? Where creatures live their lives in harmony; just the right ecological way?

Millenia ago the Gods changed how the mystical forces on the world were governed and used. No longer were the mortals able to pluck the power from the very air and use it. So they altered it, thinking the mortals were not clever enough to find a way to use it again. The God’s crystalized the magic and placed the power in the four elements of the world. Now mortals did indeed determine a way to use magic again, albeit at a much lower proficiency. Magic users now require a focus staff made of the very essence of magic. These crystal staves store the mystical energies required to cast spells, needing to be recharged over time. The magic users scribe, etch, or carve the spells symbols directly on the staves and focus the energy through the symbols.

Rome. It was defined by its Glories and its Horrors. What were its military’s ranks.

I am always looking for rank structures to use in games. It is my hope that you will share some of your historical knowledge or ranks and/or reveal to us the hierarchy of ranks in the games that you play.

Every culture has a different idea of what constitute’s breakfast. Even regions inside the same culture can vary quite a bit (like grits with hot sauce in Texas or Fishcake mix in omelets in New Hampshire). What do they consider “food” first thing in the morning in your space?

Folk magic is more of a magical tradition than a school of scholarly research being as old as the hills, some say as old as time itself. It is as deeply ingrained to the psyche of the country folk as the changing of the seasons and has been passed down from father to son and mother to daughter for countless generations.

These are mystic traditions and their attendant sources.

Following a discussion we had on the site, I thought we could start up a thread to post the pre- and post-apocalyptic effects of a comet/minor planetary impact on a campaign world.

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is “Never get involved in a land war in Asia.” But only slightly less well known is this: “Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.”

More Viceral Tips for Horror Gaming!

This piece is dedicated to Captain Penguin

[VO: Vincent Price ]
There are things that go bump in the night. Things that will unnerve you. Things you should never meet. These are the things you are gaming.