Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

Exactlyyy...which is why I wouldn't put it past them to kill the pegasi & sell their eggs if they really need cash. Sometimes you dangle the Evil hook in front of them & just see what they do.

1

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

But I agree that most players probably won't have the stomach for this sort of thing. Me, on the other hand - if I'm playing an Evil character, I'm going beaver hunting. :)

1 1

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

(Obviously a Good ranger would come into conflict with an Evil assassin looking to sell beavers into slavery without the need for the rules to tell us so.)

1 1

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

If you follow the rules to the letter, paladins cannot associate with Evil characters at all, & will only do so with non-Evil Neutrals for a single expedition (this precludes thieves, assassins, & even druids). Interestingly, rangers have no such restrictions, even though they must be Good.

2 1

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

For every Good paladin or ranger, however, there is more than likely a Neutral or Evil thief or assassin. I can't imagine that (Neutral) druids would partake.

1 1

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

Oh yes, definitely. I think this is the behavior of solely Evil (& probably some Neutral) PCs. If a Good character wanted to sell baby giant beavers into slavery I would have to sit them down for a chat first lol.

1 1

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

...but I can't imagine why the Monster Manual would list the exact gold piece value of various monsters' children & eggs unless it was assumed that the player characters might occasionally take an interest in selling them.

1 1

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

I don't think there's anything in the rulebooks to suggest that PCs are or should be "generally" good or neutral in AD&D. It is definitely an assumption of the play culture nowadays (I can't speak to the play culture of the time)...

3 2

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

Wyrd Science Magazine @wyrdscience.bsky.social · 3d

Systems Matter

In this week's Gazetteer we look at preserving games, pushing coins and more!

wyrd.science

2 9

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

Wyrd Science Magazine @wyrdscience.bsky.social · 2d

Banger post alert!

Also I now want an AD&D style bestiary in a Pokémon RPG

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote about the prevalence of monster poaching, egg-snatching, and giant beaver slavery in AD&D, why it's even more Evil than it sounds, & why that has kind of fun gameplay implications, plus some musings about how much you might be able to sell a mind flayer brain for.

The Monster Economy of AD&D

AD&D's most endangered creature. We all know that larger towns and cities will usually have a market for dragons . That is, it is generally ...

forlornencystment.blogspot.com

3 11

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

ktrey @ktrey.bsky.social · 2d

All those scattered "Monster Parts" throughout the MM definitely informed our games. Inspired me to whip up some tables on the topic as well:
blog.d4caltrops.com/2022/03/d100... and blog.d4caltrops.com/2022/03/d100...

d100 - Monster Parts for Magical Reagents & Research

C onfession Time: I’ve always found myself to be very fond of Spell Components, even though tracking such things is often a bit too fiddly...

blog.d4caltrops.com

1 4

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote about the prevalence of monster poaching, egg-snatching, and giant beaver slavery in AD&D, why it's even more Evil than it sounds, & why that has kind of fun gameplay implications, plus some musings about how much you might be able to sell a mind flayer brain for.

The Monster Economy of AD&D

AD&D's most endangered creature. We all know that larger towns and cities will usually have a market for dragons . That is, it is generally ...

forlornencystment.blogspot.com

2 7 36

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 8d

It is interesting that he provides a % chance for non-humans to be multiclassed but doesn't do the same for humans being dual-classed

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

Prismatic Wasteland @prismaticwasteland.com · 8d

A (not yet final) full TTRPG (top secret project) is available only for my Patrons (even those just throwing a single dollar at me monthly), along with some cover art for another project I'm slowly working on. Consider joining for this and MORE!
www.patreon.com/posts/rough-...

Rough Draft of Into the Odd(ish) and New Cover Art | Prismatic Wasteland

www.patreon.com

3 16 43

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 9d

That is a possibility I hadn’t considered!

1

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 9d

I wrote about the ubiquity of guilds of thieves and assassins in AD&D, why they might declare war on outsiders or each other, and how you can (& why you should) get the player characters mixed up in the middle! #AD&D #OSR

Warring Guilds and Rogue Assassins Plague the Streets of AD&D

Thieves guilds and assassins guilds are ubiquitous in AD&D cities and towns. Both assassins and thieves are found on the DMG's city/town enc...

forlornencystment.blogspot.com

2 14 47

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

Prismatic Wasteland @prismaticwasteland.com · 15d

A review of one of the earliest official 5e adventures (but one you’ve never heard of) which also explores the 5e play culture of the time and whether you can “fix” an adventure with lots of fun aspects without subverting the intended play culture
#dnd #rpg #osr

Review: Outlaws of the Iron Route — Prismatic Wasteland

Reviewing one of the earliest adventures for 5th Edition D&D: how I would improve player agency and how my proposed fixes grind up against the play culture of 5e.

www.prismaticwasteland.com

2 15 45

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 16d

I wrote about the disease & parasitic infection, the under-discussed save or die effect which lurks not just in dungeons & the bites of monsters, but in cities, aboard ships, in the food adventurers eat, the water they drink, & the very air they breathe:

Advanced Diseases and Diagnoses

Adventuring is dangerous business. Dungeons are filled with monsters, tricks, and traps. The wilderness is littered with small armies of orc...

forlornencystment.blogspot.com

3 12 36

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

Amanda P. ➡️ PAXU @weirdwonder.bsky.social · 21d

Today my new adventure Orestruck is officially released! Return to the Tannic Forest to confront monstrosities, both magical and mundane.

Itch weirdwonder.itch.io/orestruck
DrivethruRPG www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

@spacepenguinink.bsky.social spacepenguin.ink/collections/...

Image with black background of a figure holding a torch in a cave that looks like teeth with the Words Orestruck an adventure by Amanda P. out now

6 64 120

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

Magnolia EEK! @magnoliakeep.itch.io · 22d

From the brilliant mind of Magnolia Keep homes a high-octane blogpost about monster rights abuses! @forlornencystment.bsky.social spoke about how adventurers built their own dungeons, and now I take that to its endpoint.

https://magnoliakeep.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-dungeon-as-abandoned-zoo.html

The Dungeon as Abandoned Zoo

Very handsome man and much better blogger than me Forlorn Encystment recently put out Adventurers Long For The Dungeon , which features the...

magnoliakeep.blogspot.com

1 8 21

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

Prismatic Wasteland @prismaticwasteland.com · 22d

A roundup of the biggest blog bandwagon ever: over 69 different bloggers wrote about their Appendices N and I collected and categorized them all for you
#osr #ttrpg

Bandwagon Roundup: The Appendices Ns

Over 69 (!) bloggers came together for the largest bandwagon of the year and I round them all up for your perusal

prismaticweekly.substack.com

6 33 72

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 23d

❤️

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

Lysus @lysus.bsky.social · 23d

I've really been enjoying Forlorn Encystment's look through the AD&D DMG and this is another interesting analysis.

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 23d

I wrote about the challenges posed by treasure in AD&D, Gygax's weird insurance guy actuarial accounting of items, & why it was important to him & to the game to make dealing with treasure such a hassle:

It Did Not End with a Mere Slaying of Ogres: Treasure as a Source of Challenge in D&D

It's easy to think of treasure as purely reward - the player characters have overcome the challenges of the dungeon or wilderness and have s...

forlornencystment.blogspot.com

1 1 3

Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature

ktrey @ktrey.bsky.social · 23d

Love the logistical Challenges Treasure can create at those lower levels. I even whipped this up to help *ease* my Players into the concept of Big, Bulky, or Fragile things taking up *more hands*:

Encumbrance Image. A Green Dragon curled over a Hoard of Expensive Treasures, the larger ones each feature a call out recommending their weights in coins, but also the number and *types* of hands they require to carry.

1 4 15

Woefully Encysted Creature @forlornencystment.bsky.social · 23d

This rules

6