When triggered, the characters suddenly find themselves moving in the opposite direction, back the way they came. This will occur even if the characters are not touching the floor (Levitation spell, magical flight, etc.). The characters can turn back and try again, but the same thing will keep happ...
This appears as an expensive necklace of gold and jewels, with an embossed image on a central pendant of a smiling face. It will radiate magic if tested, and appear to be magicked to allow the wearer to speak and understand any spoken language.
Upon first being used when it really matters, the...
This will appear as an animal or creature figure, like for a charm bracelet, made of stone or ivory. When tested, it will radiate magic, but not a curse, as this item is more broken than cursed. Upon careful inspection and research, it will appear to give the wearer the ability to transform into...
I presented at an international tech conference this week, speaking about game design and, specifically, the Lua programming language (which you might know if you ever tried your hand at modding World of Warcraft or Garry's Mod, and a dozen other games and software titles).
To mix things up...
Back in the 1980s, there was a TV show called Knight Rider, about an artificially intelligent car, called KITT, and his trusty human sidekick. At the end of the series, the human actor continued on to fame, while KITT more or less faded from public consciousness.
Unless, that is, you happen...
Upon triggering, the area seems to darken and expand in all directions, so that the exits are no longer visible. High winds start up, and sea water seeps up from the floor, rapidly filling the area as far as the eye can see. Clouds form overhead, and soon the characters appear to be out in the open...
A pressure plate or hair-thin tripwire on the far side of a door triggers deadly frost rays to shoot from the door frame at whatever is passing through it.
The first person to pass through the doorway is safe, but anyone or anything immediately following is blasted with 1d8 cold damage. The pre...
Shortly after reading a book on Fermat's last theorem, I convinced myself that I was the appropriate audience for pop mathematics books. You know the kind of book I mean: they're not text books, but pithy and friendly tales mixing history with whimsy with a brief peak in at the technical stuff. Jus...
This appears as a full set of plate mail armor, which, if tested for, will radiate magic. It has a +3 magical bonus on it, adding to the wearer's AC and Saving Throws. It may be removed easily at this stage. Testing for curses may or may not reveal the armor's true nature (GM's choice). The magic o...
The trapped area is quite large, and has a very high ceiling. Carvings on the wall depict storm clouds and lightning. Upon triggering, dark magical clouds appear in the corridor/room overhead, and begin dropping torrential rain and lightning on the characters. Anyone in the area has a 50% chance of...
A mirror, should the eldest living creature in the room look into it, shatters violently for 1d6 piercing and slashing damage, and a 50% chance of blindness for 1 hour.
Optionally, to add insult to injury, if you own the Tome of Beasts from Kobold Press, see the Mirror Hag on page 243 for an...
Therefore, Repent is a supremely unique and inventive and bold graphic novel, the likes of which I don't believe I shall ever see again.
The story's a post apocalyptic tale, quite literally, with angels roaming the street of the Earth, wearing combat helmets and bearing arms. It's a divine p...
One of the cool things Klaatu has cooked up for us with this blog is a way to load it with content, to be published on set dates in the future. Now, lots of blogging software allows for that sort of functionality, but our situation is unusual; we use the version control system Git on the back e...
These appear to be a bundle of twelve +2 arrows, which, if tested, will radiate magic, and if specifically tested for curses, will reveal their true nature (in practice, most groups don't seem to look for curses in arrows; that will likely change after this). Until used in a crisis, these arrows...
Spellcasters and Thieves only. A particularly nasty item, this appears as an ornate ring with a magical aura. If tested, it will seem to be a ring of great power and utility. The Ring Of Severing will always have a spell function such as Fireballs, Flying, Teleportation, etc.
The ring can be...
Yesterday, Klaatu and I worked on rolling up a character for Starfinder. We recorded it for a future Hacker Public Radio episode, which he volunteered to edit. Klaatu was traveling that day, and we got ready to record once he got settled in his motel room. It was a comedy of errors at first, d...