Aaron Flavius West
@f1zz3r.bsky.social
Space Physicist at UMN, Game Master for 5e, Cypher, and more. Volunteer playtester for MCDM. 🏳️🌈 (he/they)
The messages I picked up (That Rey could be just anybody, and that dynasties are toxic to people at all levels of their societal hierarchy) stuck with me hard, but there's so much sloppy 2nd act plot threading I wish I could see the edited down version like a bootleg student film.
December 16, 2025 at 6:18 AM
The messages I picked up (That Rey could be just anybody, and that dynasties are toxic to people at all levels of their societal hierarchy) stuck with me hard, but there's so much sloppy 2nd act plot threading I wish I could see the edited down version like a bootleg student film.
stawl.app/books/monsters
You can check it out for free here!
There's some classic (chimera, goblins), and some new (like the Frankenstein-like "War Dogs" or the head stealing giant "Bredbeddle")
You can check it out for free here!
There's some classic (chimera, goblins), and some new (like the Frankenstein-like "War Dogs" or the head stealing giant "Bredbeddle")
Draw Steel: Monsters - Stawl
Digital tools for playing and running Draw Steel
stawl.app
December 14, 2025 at 4:12 AM
stawl.app/books/monsters
You can check it out for free here!
There's some classic (chimera, goblins), and some new (like the Frankenstein-like "War Dogs" or the head stealing giant "Bredbeddle")
You can check it out for free here!
There's some classic (chimera, goblins), and some new (like the Frankenstein-like "War Dogs" or the head stealing giant "Bredbeddle")
Not sure what the VTT barrier is, but the Delian Tomb for Draw Steel covers more than 10 sessions. My IRL group are on session 8 and not even halfway through.
December 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Not sure what the VTT barrier is, but the Delian Tomb for Draw Steel covers more than 10 sessions. My IRL group are on session 8 and not even halfway through.
"How the Lich Stole Christmas" by Wizard Sleeve Studios? It's a little goofy, particularly at lower levels with kobolds stuffed into a Santa suit, but it shouldn't be too hard to fill out a Draw Steel version (2 combats and a puzzle)
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/2...
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/2...
How The Lich Stole Christmas - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild
You’re a foul one, Mr. LichYour flesh smells like decayFor the crimes you have committedThere will be hell to payWhen the heroes come to save Christmas Day
How The Lich Stole Christmas is a short 3-4 ...
www.dmsguild.com
December 7, 2025 at 4:35 PM
"How the Lich Stole Christmas" by Wizard Sleeve Studios? It's a little goofy, particularly at lower levels with kobolds stuffed into a Santa suit, but it shouldn't be too hard to fill out a Draw Steel version (2 combats and a puzzle)
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/2...
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/2...
Wanderhome could fit very well, I think. Some reskinning necessary (all animalfolk in the base game), but it's entirely about the journey to find home, questioning what home looks like for you.
possumcreekgames.com/products/wan...
possumcreekgames.com/products/wan...
Wanderhome (PDF)
Wanderhome is a pastoral fantasy role-playing game about traveling animal-folk, the world they inhabit, and the way the seasons change. It is a game filled with grassy fields, mossy shrines, herds of ...
possumcreekgames.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Wanderhome could fit very well, I think. Some reskinning necessary (all animalfolk in the base game), but it's entirely about the journey to find home, questioning what home looks like for you.
possumcreekgames.com/products/wan...
possumcreekgames.com/products/wan...
The Oz books get weird, and now I need a rewatch/reread myself
a person in camouflage pants is crawling on the ground in a field .
Alt: A wheeler from the Oz movie, with arms and legs ending in wheels instead of hands and feet, rounds the corner to scare a young girl
media.tenor.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:20 AM
The Oz books get weird, and now I need a rewatch/reread myself
More earnestly, the concept of zooming in on a sunspot to reveal the roads and buildings of cities on the surface of the sun blows my mind in such a great way. I'm very excited for where MCDM can take it.
November 30, 2025 at 3:44 AM
More earnestly, the concept of zooming in on a sunspot to reveal the roads and buildings of cities on the surface of the sun blows my mind in such a great way. I'm very excited for where MCDM can take it.
This is the green M&M all over again
November 15, 2025 at 4:07 PM
This is the green M&M all over again
I think that's part of my problem with it, really. It establishes an expectation of brutal, visceral description in abilities that the rest of the class doesn't live up to (so far in playtest).
For some it squicks them out, for others it hypes them up, but I don't think it serves either group well.
For some it squicks them out, for others it hypes them up, but I don't think it serves either group well.
November 10, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I think that's part of my problem with it, really. It establishes an expectation of brutal, visceral description in abilities that the rest of the class doesn't live up to (so far in playtest).
For some it squicks them out, for others it hypes them up, but I don't think it serves either group well.
For some it squicks them out, for others it hypes them up, but I don't think it serves either group well.
That's pure Timescape style to me, excellent work
November 9, 2025 at 3:17 AM
That's pure Timescape style to me, excellent work
That cover art got me to check out the book description, and I'm very glad I did. I'm excited to read my copy when I get it!
November 4, 2025 at 3:46 AM
That cover art got me to check out the book description, and I'm very glad I did. I'm excited to read my copy when I get it!
Love the bandana!
November 3, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Love the bandana!
This reads like a bad Futurama B-plot, woof
November 2, 2025 at 4:01 PM
This reads like a bad Futurama B-plot, woof
"Of course no one is perfect, and I would never hold anybody to that standard. Buuuuuuuut I'm not anybody, I'm nobody, eh?"
*therapist presses extremely loud incorrect buzzer*
*therapist presses extremely loud incorrect buzzer*
November 1, 2025 at 1:08 AM
"Of course no one is perfect, and I would never hold anybody to that standard. Buuuuuuuut I'm not anybody, I'm nobody, eh?"
*therapist presses extremely loud incorrect buzzer*
*therapist presses extremely loud incorrect buzzer*
I don't think each level needs to specifically add ranged weapon abilities. The Alchemy Shadow has ranged abilitiesat every level, even if they aren't weapon-based. (Trick healing arrows, eh?)
If that's insufficient, I think a 4th Shadow subclass could work. "College of the Deadeye" or something?
If that's insufficient, I think a 4th Shadow subclass could work. "College of the Deadeye" or something?
October 31, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I don't think each level needs to specifically add ranged weapon abilities. The Alchemy Shadow has ranged abilitiesat every level, even if they aren't weapon-based. (Trick healing arrows, eh?)
If that's insufficient, I think a 4th Shadow subclass could work. "College of the Deadeye" or something?
If that's insufficient, I think a 4th Shadow subclass could work. "College of the Deadeye" or something?
I think the Delian Tomb intro fights are a bit of a slow intro for a group that groks tactical combat, but our IRL table has a mix of familiarities (story games, only 5e, cyberpunk, etc).
The biggest hit so far seems to be DS initiative, and the teamwork it brings. (Also forced movement, of course)
The biggest hit so far seems to be DS initiative, and the teamwork it brings. (Also forced movement, of course)
October 31, 2025 at 4:11 AM
I think the Delian Tomb intro fights are a bit of a slow intro for a group that groks tactical combat, but our IRL table has a mix of familiarities (story games, only 5e, cyberpunk, etc).
The biggest hit so far seems to be DS initiative, and the teamwork it brings. (Also forced movement, of course)
The biggest hit so far seems to be DS initiative, and the teamwork it brings. (Also forced movement, of course)
Last session was a bunch of Downtime in Broadhurst, meeting people, deep roleplay scenes, and figuring out more of the group's dynamic. Great stuff!
The two sessions before that were occupied by the tutorial intro for the combat system using a dungeon crawl (The titular Tomb of Delius).
The two sessions before that were occupied by the tutorial intro for the combat system using a dungeon crawl (The titular Tomb of Delius).
October 31, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Last session was a bunch of Downtime in Broadhurst, meeting people, deep roleplay scenes, and figuring out more of the group's dynamic. Great stuff!
The two sessions before that were occupied by the tutorial intro for the combat system using a dungeon crawl (The titular Tomb of Delius).
The two sessions before that were occupied by the tutorial intro for the combat system using a dungeon crawl (The titular Tomb of Delius).
I'm assuming you mean this post?
retiredadventurer.blogspot.com/2021/04/six-...
It's interesting. For my play experience, PF2E feels *too* limited by its setting/mechanics, but my Numenera games very much adopted the "mysteries presented for the table to solve" approach to setting. DS is inbetween.
retiredadventurer.blogspot.com/2021/04/six-...
It's interesting. For my play experience, PF2E feels *too* limited by its setting/mechanics, but my Numenera games very much adopted the "mysteries presented for the table to solve" approach to setting. DS is inbetween.
Six Cultures of Play
A blog about roleplaying games and theory focused on Mythras, Dungeons and Dragons, and OSR games.
retiredadventurer.blogspot.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I'm assuming you mean this post?
retiredadventurer.blogspot.com/2021/04/six-...
It's interesting. For my play experience, PF2E feels *too* limited by its setting/mechanics, but my Numenera games very much adopted the "mysteries presented for the table to solve" approach to setting. DS is inbetween.
retiredadventurer.blogspot.com/2021/04/six-...
It's interesting. For my play experience, PF2E feels *too* limited by its setting/mechanics, but my Numenera games very much adopted the "mysteries presented for the table to solve" approach to setting. DS is inbetween.
🤷♂️ It's felt flexible at my table.
I don't play Draw Steel for verisimilitude, I play for the teamwork and power fantasy. I don't know how "trad" DS really gets, when it explicitly eschews the dungeon crawl, resource attrition loops of earlier trad games. Maybe that's a definition we don't share?
I don't play Draw Steel for verisimilitude, I play for the teamwork and power fantasy. I don't know how "trad" DS really gets, when it explicitly eschews the dungeon crawl, resource attrition loops of earlier trad games. Maybe that's a definition we don't share?
October 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
🤷♂️ It's felt flexible at my table.
I don't play Draw Steel for verisimilitude, I play for the teamwork and power fantasy. I don't know how "trad" DS really gets, when it explicitly eschews the dungeon crawl, resource attrition loops of earlier trad games. Maybe that's a definition we don't share?
I don't play Draw Steel for verisimilitude, I play for the teamwork and power fantasy. I don't know how "trad" DS really gets, when it explicitly eschews the dungeon crawl, resource attrition loops of earlier trad games. Maybe that's a definition we don't share?
"...who makes a brutal weapon strike that cuts through multiple targets with a single action. Maybe the body of the original target is hurled into an unfortunate ally. Maybe additional minions affected by a single-target strike pass out from fright!" 2/2
October 29, 2025 at 2:42 PM
"...who makes a brutal weapon strike that cuts through multiple targets with a single action. Maybe the body of the original target is hurled into an unfortunate ally. Maybe additional minions affected by a single-target strike pass out from fright!" 2/2
From the Monsters book, in the section about minion rules (pg 8):
"Allow the player to narrate how their hero takes out additional minions killed by a single attack. For instance, if a goblin spinecleaver takes 12 damage from a fury’s Brutal Slam ability, maybe the minions surround the hero," 1/2
"Allow the player to narrate how their hero takes out additional minions killed by a single attack. For instance, if a goblin spinecleaver takes 12 damage from a fury’s Brutal Slam ability, maybe the minions surround the hero," 1/2
October 29, 2025 at 2:40 PM
From the Monsters book, in the section about minion rules (pg 8):
"Allow the player to narrate how their hero takes out additional minions killed by a single attack. For instance, if a goblin spinecleaver takes 12 damage from a fury’s Brutal Slam ability, maybe the minions surround the hero," 1/2
"Allow the player to narrate how their hero takes out additional minions killed by a single attack. For instance, if a goblin spinecleaver takes 12 damage from a fury’s Brutal Slam ability, maybe the minions surround the hero," 1/2