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 To capture the essence of Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique, we must lean into the "Dying Earth" aesthetic: a world where the sun is a dim, crimson ember, science has been forgotten in favor of necromancy, and the air is thick with the scent of lotus and decay.In Castles & Crusades, this means emphasizing High Sorcery and Horror, while making resources like light and sanity feel Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The kettle has just boiled and I’ve made myself a cup of tea. It is frigid outside. Absolutely bonkers cold and it’s only going to get colder and more snow is coming. (There is already rather a lot.) Each morning as I leave to “walk to work” I’ve been grabbing my skates from their hook by the front door and they hang over my shoulder cheerfully swaying as I walk a few minutes to an outdoor rink in a local park and have a few turns on the ice before heading back home. If this sounds ridiculously romantic, well it is – especially if you can ignore that I am an absolute crap skater, though practice can only help.

(Last week Elliot and I went for a skate and he’s just learning so spends as much time falling down as he does gliding around. After a little while he said “Wow Grammy you are such a good skater!” and then promptly fell down again. I can honestly say that nobody has ever, ever said that about my skating before and I highly recommend taking a young learner with you if you struggle with your self-esteem. I do not recommend taking them more than a few times though because by next week he’s going to be better than me for sure.)

Today was cold enough that I didn’t take my skates, I couldn’t imagine the minutes without mittens putting on and tying them up and I just went for my walk. I always listen to audiobooks as I walk (or clean, it’s the only way I can bribe myself into doing it) but today I didn’t because I wanted to think without interruption. I walked along, bundled in knits top to bottom (and saw several people wearing leg warmers and thought about knitting some but I think I will wait and see if that urge is still there when it’s not -25 since I have never wanted them before) and thought long and hard about what I wanted to write today.

Today is my Twenty-second Blogiversary and that means that 22 years ago I sat down and wrote and posted my very first blog entry and the minute I did that I stepped through the door it cracked open and nothing has been the same since. I tell you some version of that every year on this day and I always look for a different way to say it, and that’s what I was thinking about as I walked. It was still what I was thinking about when I came home and knitted a little bit, and made some soup for lunch.

(These are my Self-Imposed Sock Club socks for January- I tried to take them outside so the light would really show off the colours but there was nowhere that wasn’t too %^&^%ing snowy so I put them on the spare bed. Enjoy. Yarn is Indigodragonfly in Spoken Four, last years Bike Rally fundraising yarn, and the pattern is Defying Gravity and it is very fun.)

In the end I decided to tell you about something that happened not too long ago. I was at an event with lots of other knitters and we were knitting and chatting the way we do, and the way only knitters can. (Everyone else takes it so personally when you’re reading a chart, I’m listening to you for crying out loud.) The topic of The Blog came up and someone said they really love The Blog and someone else said “Well, sure but the blog is dead.” Now – before you get your back up on my behalf (I love that about you) there is no need. A big part of me can agree with them. For sure this space isn’t what it was. Like all things there is change and I get it. Gone are the days that I posted five times a week. I hear them, I respect that and I didn’t say anything or feel hurt. I did start thinking though, because while that little piece of me could see their point, a larger part of me wanted to push back hard because in my heart, that feels like a ridiculous statement.

It stayed with me, and I’ve reflected on it often. (Don’t worry it wasn’t that long ago, I’m not consumed.) I can’t tell you how desperately I feel like The Blog is not dead – is it just wishful thinking – something I’m holding onto because I’m not great at letting things go? This is one of my best and worst traits, so I always consider it. I’m GREAT at holding on by my very fingernails and this has both caused me loss and saved things that were important. Was this just my point of view? It wasn’t until I started to write about this that I realized the answer.

As I wrote that this person had said the blog was dead, I noticed a detail. Do you? When I wrote it as I heard them, I typed “the blog”. When I wrote about my feelings that it was still here, I hit that shift key. The Blog. I have written before about what the family and I call you – you are The Blog. We’ll ask ourselves what The Blog would think, or wonder if The Blog would like something. Around these parts The Blog isn’t software, memory, words and pictures. The Blog is me writing to you. Your comments coming back to me – connections made here and in real life. It’s me working on something you made me interested in, it’s you trying a technique I wrote about in 2017. It’s me having a snapshot of you in my mind because I’ve built it out of a collage made of your hundreds of comments over the years. It’s you knowing that Amanda can play the violin – or how this family fared during the pandemic. It’s me understanding what you love because I love it too – it’s you knowing Charlotte’s name. It is you introducing yourself to me in another town and me not really knowing who you are until you tell me your email address or username – and then in that moment having you bloom into the person I know from this town, that you’re a neighbour in The Blog. I’ve seen your socks.

I guess I think too that The Blog isn’t dead because at least once a week I get an email from someone who is reading the whole thing- from beginning to end and they want me to know that they really had their scene scrambled when their mum died too – or that it was helpful to read things I wrote about being a young mother – and that the things I wrote about the value of parenting made them feel better about how absolutely trashed the house their happy kids are playing in. Or they write and tell me something they thought about when they were reading about one of my multitude of insecurities because they thought I might feel less insecure when I read it. (They are usually right.)

A little while ago someone who reads this blog and leaves comments sent me an email and thanked me for a recipe I put here years ago. It was great that she wrote because it just so happened that I was finishing a book she had recommended in a comment.

Another yarn break – I’m knitting Craghill. I think it’s pretty gorgeous.

Essentially – I have never thought of The Blog as something that just I do. We are woven together in this place, knit into one fabric, use whatever textile metaphor you’d like to this is twenty-two years of books and recipes and patterns and bad socks and good sweaters and baby blankets and together we are The Blog, and you just don’t feel dead to me at all. As a matter of fact, I think we’ll be just fine.

Much love, and thank you for everything. Meet you here soon.

Stephanie

PS: This year I’ll ride my 15th Bike Rally. To be honest it was a harder decision this year but in the end the world could use all the good acts it can get. It has become tradition to kick off my fundraising on my blogiversary, so here we are. It’s also become tradition for your donations to be the number of years we’re celebrating here, or some multiple – 22, 44, 66… that way the fundraising staff processing them is super bewildered, especially when the explaination is simply “That’s the knitters.” The link to my page is here if you’re so inclined, and it’s also a great day to recognize Ken, the patron saint of The Blog, since he’s the one who gave it to me in the first place. His Bike Rally link is here.

There's a trio of new yarns from Bernat, all created with sustainability in mind! Bernat Future Inspire Yarn is a blend of recycled acrylic and recycled wool - and we're taking a closer look and giving away 8 skeins here on Moogly! Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Yarnspirations and may include affiliate links; all […]

The post Bernat Future Inspire Giveaway appeared first on moogly. Please visit www.mooglyblog.com for this post.

1

 Contrary to the popular entertainments of the Latter Age, there is no cohesive group known as the druids. Rather, there are individuals and networks of individuals across several cultures that adhere to similar beliefs and practices. Though the Instrumentality labels druidism as heretical "Earth-worshippers," these practitioners generally no more worship the Earth Mother than the Instrumentality itself does.

Like the clerics of the Instrumentality, those that might be termed druids are aware to one degree or another that in more lucent ages the environment of the Earth and its citizens interaction with it were managed by a great Mind. This Mind is no more, at least not in any unified form (so the clerics believe), but the many of the component minds still haunt the world, and the particles of its sensory apparatus of that superintelligence still weave through the winds, fall with the rains, and course through the bloodstreams of animals. 

By means of secret lore and technology, the druids are able to converse and with the lesser minds that record and synthesize this sensory data. These processes are known as elementals. While the elementals occasionally form connections with more active systems on their own, the druid's involvement often bridges the two, giving the earth a voice to humankind that dwells upon it. Like the magi, druids are at times able to command the remnant nanotechnological systems, though how they achieve these powers is a closely guarded secret. Among their more impressive abilities, they can cause avatars to be instantiated from natural features for short periods of time or effect change in local weather patterns.

Unlike the Instrumentality, the druids do not believe that the Gaean mind is irrevocably destroyed. Instead, they view her as suffering from an illness, and illness from which they work to help her recover. They don't seek the re-ascendence of humankind, but rather the restoration of a balance they feel the Ancients achieved but then squandered.

In Part 1, I talked about my love for Worlds Without Number and how it scratches that specific itch for fantasy d20 gaming. But what about everything else? What about pulp sci-fi, weird westerns, or space operas?

For everything that isn’t strict fantasy, my heart belongs to Savage Worlds.

If you follow me on social media, it may not be a shock, but if you’ve been reading this blog for a long time, that might come as a surprise. I didn’t always love this system. In fact, if you dig into the archives, you’ll find a long-winded retrospective from 2012 where I detailed my struggle to “get” it. I eventually ran a sci-fi campaign, a nearly two-year-long Wanderers of the Outlands campaign, using it. It resulted in two follow-up posts (the 1st and 2nd post) in which I detailed what I liked and did not like about the experience, as well as the house rules I proposed back then.

I’ve always said that Savage Worlds is a system that plays better than it reads.

For me, it was actually crucial to play it to get the mechanics to click. Coming from a strong d20 background, the shift was jarring. Things like card-based initiative and wound levels (instead of hit points) felt alien. I remember struggling to understand the difference between “Shaken” and “Wounded” during those early attempts.

But once it clicked? It became second nature.

Savage Fading Suns

I am currently running a Fading Suns game using the Savage Worlds rules, my Savage Fading Suns conversion, and it has been incredibly successful. We have been playing for three years now.

The system is not “rules light,” on the contrary, it has all sorts of fiddly bits and options, but it is easy to understand. It provides a toolkit that lets the group make the game as complex or as streamlined as they want.

The current Adventure Edition (SWADE) is a vast improvement over previous editions. It does a fantastic job of making the system easier to parse and follow. I don’t use any of the house rules I proposed before!  Even the conversion rules I put together for the Savage Fading Suns campaign seem overly wrought. Looking back, I added more than the system needed. Live and learn!

Why It Works for Me

The biggest plus for me is the narrative control it hands to the players. The use of Bennies—tokens that allow players to reroll dice or soak damage—changes the flow of the game. It makes players feel competent and heroic.

I also swear by the Adventure Cards produced by Pinnacle. They add a layer of chaotic fun and player agency that I absolutely love.

There are so many different campaigns, published by Pinnacle or other companies, and the game itself is easy to adapt to many settings and properties. When I get around to running my long-awaited (at least for me!) Torg campaign, I will use Savage Worlds.

Currently, I have the Without Number games for whenever I get that d20 fantasy itch, and Savage Worlds for literally everything else. I haven’t played with the current Fantasy Companion yet, so who knows? That distinction might blur in the future.

Addressing the Recent Controversy

I can’t write about Savage Worlds without addressing the reality of the recent controversy. I know the game’s creator made some unfortunate comments in the current fraught political climate in the US.  While he has since apologized and attempted to make amends, I know that for some, that bridge is burned. I have friends in that camp, and I respect their decision to walk away from the system.

However, I also know other people who work on the game—folks I know personally who are well-meaning, talented, and kind. Because of them and the joy this system has brought to my table over the years, I’ve decided to continue supporting it cautiously for now.

It’s a personal choice, but one I wanted to be honest about.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a game that can handle pulp action, horror, and sci-fi with equal ease—and you’re willing to unlearn a few d20 habits—Savage Worlds is hard to beat. It might read a little strange at first, but trust me: get it to the table, deal the cards, and let the dice explode. You’ll see what I mean.

Useful Links:

• Savage Worlds Adventure Edition is $9.99 for the PDF at the time that this post is written.
• Test Drive Rules: Try the rules for free.
• Pinnacle Entertainment Group

My question:

2 Corinthians 4:4 (HCSB) – In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Without the incarnation could Jesus according to the Hebrew mind be the image of God?

ChatGPT response:

Short answer: no — not in the full, concrete sense Paul means in 2 Corinthians 4:4.

And the reason cuts straight through Hebrew categories of image, glory, and visibility.

Let’s walk it slowly.

1. What “image of God” means in a Hebrew frame

In Hebrew thought, image (צֶלֶם / tselem) is never abstract. An image is:

Visible Embodied Located Representational

That’s why idols exist at all: an “image” is what makes a god present in a place.

In Genesis 1:26–27, humanity is God’s tselem — not because humans are mentally like God, but because they are visible representatives placed within creation.

So from a Hebrew standpoint:

An image that cannot be seen, encountered, or located is not an image at all.

2. The problem before the incarnation

Israel already knew two things at once:

God has a form (Exod 24:9–11; Dan 7; Ezek 1)

God cannot be seen directly by humans and live (Exod 33:20)

That tension is everywhere in the Hebrew Bible.

God’s glory (כָּבוֹד / kavod) appears:

in fire

in cloud

in throne visions

in the tabernacle / temple

But never as a stable, fully accessible human image.

So pre-incarnation, the best Israel could say was:

Humanity is the image of God (corporately, vocation-wise)

Certain figures bear God’s presence (priests, kings, prophets)

God’s glory dwells somewhere

But no one could say:

“Here is the image of God himself — look at him.”

3. Why Paul’s statement depends on the incarnation

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that Christ is:

“the image of God”

(εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ)

That Greek εἰκών (eikōn) maps cleanly onto Hebrew tselem: a visible, representational manifestation.

And here’s the key:

Paul is not saying Jesus is like God, or reflects God.

He is saying:

God has become visible without destroying the viewer.

That is only possible because of the incarnation.

Without incarnation:

God’s glory overwhelms

The image cannot be gazed upon

The light blinds rather than reveals (cf. Sinai)

With incarnation:

Glory is veiled but real God is seen in a human life The image becomes encounterable

That’s exactly why Paul pairs:

image of God

with the glory of Christ

and with light that can now be seen

4. Why the blinding language matters

Paul says the minds of unbelievers are blinded so they cannot see.

Seen from a Hebrew lens, that’s devastatingly precise:

The problem is not lack of information

The problem is failure to recognize God’s image when it finally stands in front of them

Which again presupposes incarnation.

You cannot “fail to see” an image that is not visible.

5. Could Jesus be the image of God without incarnation?

You could say (and Hebrews 1:3 does) that the Son is the exact imprint of God eternally.

But that’s ontological language, not humanly accessible language.

Paul’s claim in 2 Corinthians 4 is epistemological and revelatory:

God is now knowable by sight — not mystical sight, but lived, historical, embodied sight.

That only works if:

God takes on flesh

Glory dwells bodily

The image walks, eats, suffers, and dies

In other words:

Without the incarnation, Jesus could be the image of God in heaven — but not the image of God for us.

6. Bottom line (Hebrew logic)

From a Hebrew standpoint:

Image requires embodiment

Revelation requires visibility

Glory requires mediation

So yes — your instinct is right:

Without the incarnation, calling Jesus “the image of God” in Paul’s sense collapses.

The incarnation isn’t a bonus doctrine.

It is what finally resolves the ancient tension between:

a God who has form and a people who cannot see him

Makes me think of this…

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (HCSB)
So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth
and made of dust;
the second man is from heaven.
Like the man made of dust,
so are those who are made of dust;
like the heavenly man,
so are those who are heavenly.
And just as we have borne
the image of the man made of dust,
we will also bear
the image of the heavenly man.

Godspeed, to the brethren!​

Check out my book!

MooglyCAL2026 Block 2 is a fabulous new design by Linda Dean Crochet! The Radiate Champion Block is a center-out square that features tall stitches and unique clusters to create gorgeous texture. Get all the details for this free crochet along, and the free pattern link below! Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links; materials provided by […]

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15

By Greg Daley
Tarichan Games
1e
Level 1

There’s work a-plenty at the edge of civilised lands. Can young adventurers help a local community and forge new ties? A village at the far end of civilisation offers our novice adventurers employment, and the chance of advancement. Do the scrub and plains beyond The March offer discovery, daring, or death? A shady offer of work at the hidden gnomish settlement of Opus beckons the adventurers into the wild. Can they truly fathom the danger that awaits?

This 41 page regional sandbox presents one of the more grounded and fun versions of a local starting setting. Each site has something short, a line or so, that is also memorable without being over the top. It is also clear that the designer has no idea how to present and format information. But interactivity, relatability, and specificity? It brings it without going over the top.

Man, this thing is great! There’s no wormhole monsters or saving the world or anything exotic or set piecey. I’m not even sure there’s a whole lot of treasure in it. But what there is a game world full of shit that you are just BEAMING to run as a DM. Glee, just glee. Or, maybe, scene after scene that builds to a great finale. 

You’ve got the innkeepers perhaps making some inquiries, on the side, for “Thieves’ Guild financier Clarence Stoddard, staying upstairs.” There’s something interesting, the thieves guild financier. In a regional encounter, the party comes across a farm with a fence around it and a horse grazing in it’s pasture. You watch three men take down a fence railing and approach a horse. Hmmm. Then a middle aged woman comes running out of the house with a sword … horse thieves! Horse thieves in D&D?! Of course! Everything is taxed, labour allotted for, and someone out to steal it. I’m an idiot for not thinking of this. It’s obvious. And the  three dudes on the road taking down a fence railing. The party is just going to stand there and watch. They won’t know. And almost certainly be just as stunned as I was. And stunning me in a D&D adventure is a rare event. Those witches that were harpies got me in that one adventure. And the horse thieves in this one got me. But it’s so natural. The designer TOLD you what was going on. It’s so natural. In one place you might go out with the fishermen to catch some fish. You ever go out fishing with the dregs of the earth? “Those who go out with the fishers may get into arguments with them. If there is an argument, the fisherfolk will turn violent.” This is fucking great! A surly fisherman, just drinking enough to be pissy, breaking the parties balls, starting fights, hazing them. OF COURSE the fishermen are a rough crowd. Duh! I love it! They may also make some conversation with the party. Asking about their lives, where they come from. “If they believe the no-one knows they are here, they may attempt to drown them.” Gah! “Yes, I am travelling along and no I have no friends or family at all and no one knows I am here and I am traveling with a large amount of expensive gear. Why do you ask?” This fucking shit is wonderful. A herald in the inn taproom announces news in a great way. It FEELS like a dude stopping by to spread the news. 

There’s this whole element of some druids causing problems, with a lot of little quests and tasks that the party can perform, some that track with the thieves (pirates and shipwreckers!) and some with the druids and some isolated. Things end up with the party returning to the town/village and seeing dead bodies and animals attacking people! Packs of dogs! Wolves! More! Fucking Earth First druids man. D&D: if you have any alignment then you’re the problem. Anyway, shit kicks off in to high gear. At least in terms of the shit I love in an adventure. You gonna maybe meet three fellow adventurers kicking the shit out of some wolves. You geta bit about them and then “These adventurers are slick, amoral, and spend freely on alcohol and meals. If a player character hangs out with them, they may easily leave them with the bill for entertainment. Ser Christan is particularly well connected, coming from a prestigious family in Origee (the nearby civilised province)” You know the type. And here they are! How about the bar?! “Barkeeper Jasque and her husband cook Ferdo have closed up the inn, and even blocked the fireplace. Several villagers wait in the bar, drinking from boredom or tension.” Every apocalyptic movie ever has sullen people holding up in the bar. And here it is!  “Nalia will crush on an adventurer who helps save them, but her affluent family will overrule and engage her to a titled, or landed bachelor” Fun! Hey man, the village school has kids hanging out of the windows hooting and jeering. Fuck those brats! How about the town well, eh? “The well of ancient stone has all four side basins full, but no-one is around, and this area is still. A sound rises from the well, like the skirl of bagpipes. A nightmarish, heaving, hairy carpet washes toward the characters.” Fuck yeah! Classic!  These fucking things are short. Almost all of the good shit in this is. It reminds me of the very best of the hex encounters in Wilderlands. “Here is something greatI can build and riff off of. I can’t wait!” Except I think maybe this does that better than WIlderlands. The scale is smaller, and thus you can have perhaps some more interconnections and so on, which perhaps helps. It doesn’t drone on. It doesn’t skip the mechanics. It fucking hits hard and moves the fuck on, letting you riff. And it’s fucking great at it! 

What it does NOT do well is almost everything related to actually publishing an adventure. Dude knows what makes a D&D adventure good and almost nothing at all about how to format one. It does have two column. But the words and tables spread across pages and columns in weird ways (Guy Fullerton has a series of articles about the most basic of layout issues: http://www.chaotichenchmen.com/2012/05/publishing-tips-introduction-and-order.html) There’s a kind of lack of summary of the situations going on, at least in a way that makes sense and a potential DM could follow. The formatting is such that the encounter areas are hard to pick out and had to tell when a new one begins. Following threads from A to B to C could be reinforced a bit. The chaos of the village attack needs a little summary of MAJOR things that could attract attention. 

It’s fucking great is what the fuck it is. But, also, it has those ease of use/formatting and layout issues. I do fucking love the shit going on here. It’s perfect as a starting region. Get to know people. Shit goes down. This iis going to take some study and a highlighter, but it is packed with good stuff. If dude can figure out the mechanics of layout, editing, and publishing then their next could be really good.

This is $3.36 at DriveThru. The preview is three pages and shows you nothing with which you can make an informed purchasing decision with. Shitty preview. 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/549622/em1-eastern-spark-old-school?1892600

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on January 24, 1984.

Detective Comics #549: Moench and Broderick/Smith complete Harvey Bullock's journey from villain to buffoonish minor character to secondary protagonist. Moench reveals that Bullock's slovenly appearance and gruff demeanor are a bit of a put on. The inner Bullock is really a more introspect fan of classic Hollywood with a very tidy apartment. When a gang trashes that apartment and movie memorabilia in revenge, Bullock proves himself a capable fighter as well. 
The Green Arrow and Black Canary backup, "Night Olympics" is a rare superhero story by Moore with art by Janson. It's a humorous piece where Green Arrow's opponent has a breakdown thanks to the number of times he's been unlucky enough to get caught by superheroes (and the last was Metamorpho!) while Canary confronts a couple of thugs who think she's Wonder Woman and surrender immediately to avoid being beat-up by a woman. Things turn serious when they're attacked by a crook who's gotten a bow and arrow from a super-villain armor.

Action Comics #566: Boldman and Randall bring back Captain Strong (DC's take on Popeye), not seen since 1981, for his last appearance. Clark Kent and Lois Lane go on a cruise with Strong and his wife Olivia and run into trouble on an island inhabited by the sorcerous Old Woman of the Sea (a Sea Hag stand-in) and Strong's long-lost Pappy.
The second story by Newell and Bender/Oksner has a young girl trying to get into an Autograph Hounds club by getting Superman's autograph. The Man of Steel discovers the girl is an orphan raised by an older couple like himself and helps her out.

America vs. the Justice Society #4: The committee hearing draws to a close, and I really can't see what they would have gotten out of hearing the JSA related their adventures, but a few character witness testify for them. One person who does get something out of the history lesson is Dick Grayson. He realizes the stories and the diaries seem to circle around the disappearance of Professor Zee. He goes to his residence and finds Per Degaton there, waiting for the return of the time machine so he can again make a bid for conquest. This was apparently what Batman's false account was meant to point at: the periodic return of the time machine and Per Degaton. Why Batman didn't just tell somebody is put down to the mental effects of his cancer and his distance from the JSA. Anyway, the whole team and the committee show up to rescue Grayson and capture Degaton.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #30: Duursema returns for this arc. Atlantis is beset by unnatural storms that Arion traces to mysterious ancient tower than looks like a nuclear plant cooling tower on the edge of the city. Arion and Chian go inside through an underground passageway and are attacked by a group of beast-men, who of whom is a transformed Wyynde. The scientist who created them then sends drones after our heroes. Arion's magic causes the drones to explode, and the feedback destroys the computers guiding them, killing the scientist. Now they must find a way to restore Wyynde. 

All-Star Squadron #44: Thomas/Kupperberg and Jones/Marcos have Hourman and Firebrand and Phantom Lady and Tarantula go on a double date to a costume party thrown by Firebrand's father, a steel magnet. Nazi supervillains Night and Fog crash the party because prior to Pearl Harbor Ed Reilly was helping the Germans against the Russians and the British (who, as an Irishman, he hated). The two threaten him to get him back on their side. When he refuses, they throw him out a window. Our heroes battle the villains, ultimately forcing them to flee, but Ed Reilly is killed.

Jonah Hex #90: Morrow comes aboard on art duties as it seems like Fleisher may be moving the disparate strands of his story to some sort of conclusion. Silver Ames, a woman out to prove herself the fastest gunfighter in misguided grief over her father's death, shoots Hart in the back after he refuses to duel her. Mei Ling identifies the body at the mortuary. 
Ames sets out to find Hex, who has left Mrs. Crowley's boarding house to find Emmylou. He has a run of bad luck, though, getting caught in a rockslide that kills his horse. Then he's attacked by a cougar. Meanwhile, Emmylou, in grief over believing she killed Hex, finally gets up the courage to make a break from the gang of robbers. She slashes Brett with a knife and escapes the house.
Hex visits the doc in Red Dog before he's accosted by Ames who admits to Hart's murder and demands Hex fight her. Hex tells her she'd lose and gives her some constructive criticism on her technique. When she draws on him, he shoots her in the chest twice and walks away, leaving her body in the street.

Spanner's Galaxy #5: Spanner and Gadj castle into a factory town on an alien world beset by a serial killer. Spanner is sort of drafted into the position of sheriff but also gets reunited with his family. Spanner and his sister (whose on the force, herself) discover the identity of the killer, and that he's being using robots to do the job. Baka and the intergalactic cops arrive, and we are finally given a reason why they are after Spanner: he's a carrier for a contagious illness. Seems odd that they couldn't have said this previously, but anyway, he turns himself in and is put on solitary quarantine on an asteroid.

Sun Devils #10: Jurgens takes over as writer and artist with this issue. After their defeat and betrayal last issue, the Sun Devils are disgraced, grounded, and soon to be disbanded. With the Sauroid fleet heading toward Centauri, Rik goes rogue and lies to the team to get them to go on a daring infiltration mission to recapture the Starcrusher weapon. He also gets a new look too, with stubble and a sleeveless vest with no shirt. Anyway, they manage to get onto the Sauroid cruiser but head the wrong direction and stumble upon Anomie.

Tales of the Legion #322: Dawnstar seems to be falling for the priest Jhodan and him for her even as the high priestess Awian orders them both brought in for apostasy. Jhodan's novitiate, jealous of the relationship, leaves vowing to bring her form superior down. Meanwhile, Brainy is taken by the apparently mentally ill guy he's fallen in with to a village where he is (surprisingly) accepted. Digging around, he finds the hint of a mystery and some ancient Earth recording tapes. 
The Newell/Levitz story here feels very Star Trek, but I'm not sure that's what the Legion needs. 

V #3: Bates and Infantino/DeZuniga complete the story of Sparkle Springs. Captain Devon and his troops arrive and manage to capture some of the resistance fighters. When the kid, Billy Lee, takes a shot at the Visitors to help the captives escape, he's killed by the soldiers. Donovan tries to get the townsfolk to rise up at Billy's funeral, but they don't seem to listen. Later though, after the resistance sabotages the aliens' extraction of the spring water with explosives, the townspeople finally join the fight and help drive the Visitors out.

World's Finest Comics #312: Cavalieri and Woch/Alcala reveal an unscrupulous company using substandard steel in a newly constructed bridge in Gotham. Superman works to stop its collapse while Batman saves a whistleblower from an assassin. Interesting, the Monitor shows up still testing the two heroes for weaknesses to sell. Apparently Cavalieri didn't know this issue would hit after Crisis #1 changed our view of the Monitor.

If you follow my Sunglar’s Musings Facebook page description, you might have noticed I mention reviews there. Well, it is time to deliver. I am writing this post here and a similar (Facebook-friendly) version there for the different audiences that read my content.

As I mentioned in my recent post chronicling the 100 games I’ve played in 40 years, I have played D&D in almost all its forms. I played the latest version, D&D 5th Edition, until 2017, but I haven’t run a campaign using that system since. I’ve played a pick-up game here or there, but my tastes have shifted.

Fantasy remains my absolute favorite genre of tabletop role-playing games, with sci-fi coming in a remarkably close second. I also still genuinely enjoy d20-based games. I know the limitations and the critiques surrounding the d20 system, but they are familiar, I speak the language, and I enjoy them.

So, if I’m not running 5e, what fantasy rules system would I use?

My current favorite iteration of the d20 fantasy game is Kevin Crawford’s Worlds Without Number.

The Master of the Sandbox

If you aren’t familiar with Kevin Crawford (Sine Nomine Publishing), let me elaborate. Crawford specializes in OSR (Old School Renaissance) distillations of classic D&D, but with a specific goal: facilitating sandbox-style play.

“Sandbox” is a term that gets thrown around a lot. I’m oversimplifying, but generally, it refers to open-world campaigns where players drive the action rather than following a linear “adventure path,” or storylines that give players massive agency where they go next.

Running a true sandbox can be intimidating for a Game Master. It feels like “homework.” This is where Crawford shines. His game line is built around making running sandbox-style games easier. He delivers handy tools, random tables, and faction systems that spark a GM’s imagination with minimum prep.

He has applied this philosophy to almost every major genre:

• Stars Without Number: His first game in the “Without Number” series, and an incredible sci-fi toolbox.
• Cities Without Number: A toolkit for cyberpunk games.
• Ashes Without Number: For post-apocalyptic settings (ranging from Walking Dead style grit to Gamma World mutant gonzo fun).

And then there is Worlds Without Number, my current favorite fantasy game.

Old School Bones, Modern Muscle

The game is written with a “Dying Earth” / Jack Vance-style default setting (The Latter Earth), which gives it a distinct flavor. However, the tools and system are generic enough that you can use the game for almost any fantasy campaign.

Beyond the tools for sandbox gaming, the book includes an exquisite, simple d20 system.

I’d describe the system as classic Basic/Expert (B/X) D&D with modern sensibilities. While the core math is familiar and straightforward, it offers players many customization options, specifically through a system of “Foci” (essentially Feats). This really makes characters stand out from each other mechanically, satisfying that itch for “builds” without the overwhelming crunch of 3rd Edition or Pathfinder.

The book also includes robust processes for dungeon exploration, faction play, heroic or high-level play, and domain rulership. These are modular—you can use them to enhance your campaign or ignore them entirely.

The most distinct mechanical shift is spellcasting. In Worlds Without Number, spells are potent, but you get far fewer of them per day. To me, that’s the most significant change in “feel” from standard D&D. (Though, if you prefer traditional OSR-style spellcasting, the author includes notes on how to adapt that, too.

The “Without Number” DNA

One of the strongest selling points for me is cross-compatibility. The Without Number series all share similar systems, and the rules are easily interchangeable.

The books include notes on converting between the different bits in different systems. So, technically, your fantasy games could be mashed up with sci-fi, cyberpunk, or post-apocalyptic rules. Even some of Crawford’s older games, like the Lovecraftian Silent Legions, can be used with these modern iterations with little work.

The Critique

The game is not perfect, and I want to be honest about that.

First, it has far fewer illustrations than a modern audience is used to. I would certainly like more art, but that is a matter of personal taste. Second, the layout. While the rules are straightforward to understand, the books are written in a dense, “wall-of-text” style. Some rule reorganization and a more “breathing” layout would make the game truly perfect.

But these are nitpicking. The book is truly an excellent TTRPG resource, written by a single person, which is a staggering achievement.

Try It for Free

You don’t have to take my word for it. The barrier to entry is non-existent.

The game is available for free in PDF format. And I don’t mean a “Quickstart” with levels 1-3. The free version is a massive, complete game. There are “Deluxe” versions with extra rules (which I own in PDF and print, and believe are worth every penny), but the free version is likely all you will ever need.

I REALLY like these books and wholeheartedly recommend them.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where I’ll discuss the other system vying for the top spot on my shelf.

Get the Books:

• Worlds Without Number (Free Edition)
• Worlds Without Number (Deluxe Edition)
• Stars Without Number (Deluxe)
• Cities Without Number (Deluxe)
• Ashes Without Number (Deluxe)
• Sine Nomine Publishing Website

Preamble: This post is closely tied to a post I wrote during RPG a Day this year, for day 21, Unexpected. It inspired me to dig deeper into adventures I’ve run as a GM. It may rehash some of the same topics, but this one goes deeper into my motivations and covers other topics. I hope you like it. On with the post!

If you gather a group of gamers from my generation in a room and shout “G1,” someone will inevitably whisper back, “Steading of the Hill Giant Chief.”

There is a core, shared language among players who grew up in the 80s and 90s. It’s built on the foundations of the classic D&D modules. The Keep on the Borderlands. In Search of the Unknown. The Slavelords series. The legendary GDQ series of adventures that took players from fighting giants, down into the depths of the earth, all the way to the Demonweb Pits to face Lolth, the Queen of Spiders herself.

These names are gaming landmarks. They represent a shared cultural experience that binds the Old School community together.

And I have a confession to make; I missed almost all of them.

I didn’t run through the Caves of Chaos. I never faced the Slavelords. I didn’t even play the “modern classics” like The Sunless Citadel.

You can see the map above on Dyson Logos’ blog here.

As a player, the only true “classic” I can claim is The Haunting, that terrifying walk through the Corbitt House from the original Call of Cthulhu boxed set, which, by the way, Chaosium recently revisited for their latest edition of CoC.

This art is by Mockman, and you can get an art print here.

But on the D&D side? I did not play those classic modules.

For decades, I’ve told anyone who would listen: “I don’t do modules.” I found them constraining. I didn’t want to read a script; I wanted to build worlds. I prided myself on my homebrew settings and the scenarios I cooked up from scratch. To this day, if you ask me, I’ll probably tell you I don’t like running pre-made adventures.

But as I’ve been digging through my history for this “40 Years a Gamer” series, I realized something funny. My memory was lying to me. I have run adventures—quite a few of them.

When I sat down to list them, I realized that while I avoided the “classic,” I was running scenarios. Here is the actual track record:

Adventures Run

• D&D Mentzer Basic Set Adventure (Castle Mistamere) – 1986 & 2016

I ran this for my very first game, and quickly began to improvise and add details, never really populating the second level, instead going straight to another module, the next on this list.

• Rahasia (We played about halfway through) – 1986

I really like the module’s concept and story. It gave us the classic moment when one of the players wanted to pee in the water where a Water Weird lurked, and it just grabbed him by the unarmored lower portion of his body and dragged him into the water. But the player lost interest in the exploration, and I soon transported them into my first homebrewed adventure.

• The 14 Quests of HeroQuest – 1991to1992

These I used as teaching tools; the board game as an introduction to tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), but it was their simplicity and ease of use that I enjoyed.

• Dragon Mountain (The first book only) – 1993

Another module with an ambitious storyline, which also gave us a classic moment in our games, when the arrogant elven fighter wizard threatened the enemies inside a house, and the antagonist spellcaster cast the Feeblemind spell on him! (If you click on the link, apologies for the text of the spell.)

• DragonStrike (Ran about half the adventures included) – 1993

These, like HeroQuest above, were used as teaching tools. However, these were not as much fun as the previous game. I think the best thing about the game was the “instructional video”. In this post-LOTR era, with Critical Role animation as popular as it is, it is incredible to think how thrilled I was for this video. I showed it to people who wanted to know what D&D was about. You can see it for yourself in the video above,.

• Lords of Darkness: The Dread Lair of Alokkair (The Lich adventure) – Circa 1998

By this time, I had decided not to run pre-written adventures. One of my players back then disliked this. I think he thought adventures were balanced and proper, but found some of mine too wild. I think the adeventure beforeI rand this moduel they had been shrunk by a magical pool and found themselved invoved in a war between homanoid insects in a magical faerie realm. Regardless, he asked me to run one, and I chose one I could adapt to the campaign. I didn’t have fun playing this. My lack of interest wasn’t a commentary on the adventure itself (I remember little of it), but on my mindset at the time.

• Lady Blackbird – 2010 & 2013

This changed my mind! By this time, Puerto Rico Role Players had formed, and I wanted one-shot adventures I could run at events, such as the Geeknics (a picnic for geeks). This was a delight to run. It started to change my mind about running adventures.

• Alien Survivor (a Lady Blackbird hack) – 2010

I couldn’t find a copy of the game online, and then found out the author has an unfulfilled Kickstarter I did not know about. I found someone hosting a copy of the game if you want to check it out. On to my memories of the game. I tried this hack with my regular weekly group, after playing Lady Blackbird, but it fell flat. I think they just didn’t want their regular campaign interrupted for a one-shot. I then thought: Well, pre-written adventures are for conventions, Geeknics for other events, but not for the weekly group.

• Pathfinder 1e Beginner Box Adventure – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, & 2016 (I ran this using D&D 5e rules for the last two sessions!)

If you see how many times I’ve run this adventure, you’ll see it is the one I’ve run the most. The Pathfinder 1e Beginner Box was a great tool to teach the game; the adventure was so good that I started using it to run D&D 5e. It ran in one session, ideal for teaching people about TTRPGs.

• The Wild Hunt (Savage Worlds Test Drive Rules) – 2014 & 2025

I’m a big fan of Savage Worlds; it is the system we use for our current weekly campaign, so teaching it to others was a big thing for me. I ran it for new players in 2014 and for more experienced players who had not played the system last year.

• Wreck of the Magellan (Alternity Playtest) – 2017

I was a huge Alternity fan, so when Sasquatch Games came out with a playtest for the new system, I was all in. I ran it over two or three sessions; we streamed the game (in a very rudimentary way), and it led to the Desde La Fosa project. The adventure was ok, the new Alternity system was a disappointment, and ultimately, I think Sasquatch Games handled Kickstarter fulfillment and the line poorly.

• Invasion (TORG Eternity Free RPG Day Special) – 2017

We were still doing Desde la Fosa, and this was a Free RPG Day adventure for TORG Eternity. I loved running this. I am a massive fan of TORG, and you can see the videos here. Mind you, they are in Spanish.

• Down Darker Trails (Call of Cthulhu Western adventure) – 2019

When my son was born, I took a short three-month break, and when we went back to playing, I wanted to run a campaign that took as little prep as possible so I could concentrate on taking care of my child. I decided to run Chaosium’s Down Darker Trails adventures. I was so pleasantly surprised by them. Easy to run, with lots of ideas and details, but open enough for me to run in my style. This was a turning point.

• Blood on the Range (Savage Worlds Test Drive / Deadlands) – 2024

I ran this Savage Worlds Test Drive for Free RPG Day 2025 at Titan Games Caguas to teach people about the system. It’s a great introduction to the rules and to the Deadlands setting. I took considerable liberties with the plot to make the story mine.

• The Dare (Call of Cthulhu) – 2025

This was our Halloween game last year. Initially written for Call of Cthulhu, I ended up using Eldritch Hack instead. The plot is very detailed, but I was able to read it, run it through the details, and really make it my own at the table again.

• The Quintessential Dungeon – 2025

I ran this over the holidays and wrote about it in this post. A one-page adventure with a map and details so you can improvise on and run it. This is ideally the perfect type of adventure for me.

The Pattern in the Noise

Looking at this list, the pattern becomes obvious. I don’t hate adventures; I hate homework.

Most of the games on this list fall into two categories: Teaching tools and One-Shots. I love a module designed to introduce a system, like the Pathfinder Beginner Box or the Savage Worlds Test Drives. They are efficient, focused, and do precisely what they promise.

The others are what we could call outline or framework adventures. Look at Lady Blackbird or The Quintessential Dungeon. These aren’t rigid scripts; they are situations with an outline of a plot that demands the GM be creative to fill in the gaps.

This is where my tastes have evolved. In recent years, I’ve become very interested in usability. I love the modern design philosophy we see in Old School Essentials, Dolmenwood, or the Merry Mushmen adventures. I’m currently reading adventures by Joseph R. Lewis (I’m dying to run Raiding the Obsidian Keep), and I find myself nodding along to the advice from Ben Milton at Questing Beast regarding adventure layout.

I prefer a one-page dungeon like The Quintessential Dungeon over a 300-page campaign book any day. Give me a map, some evocative bullets, and let me drive.

Growing into the Role

I think a lot of my early aversion to modules came from insecurity.

When I was a young GM, I felt like the module was a test I had to pass. I thought I had to run it exactly as the author intended. If the book said the door was locked, it had to be closed. I felt constrained by “canon” and the fear of “doing it wrong.”

40 years later, that fear is gone. I’ve grown confident enough to know that the book is just a tool in my toolbox. It’s not my boss. I can take a module, rip out the parts I like, ignore the parts I don’t, and reshape it to fit my table. It’s always been supposed to be like this; it took me a while to internalize it.

So, I must revise my stance. I do run adventures. I have a “type.” I like frameworks, clean design, and room to improvise.

But I’m curious, what about you? Are you a devotee of the classics, or do you prefer to roll your own worlds? And did anyone else miss the Caves of Chaos back in the day, or was it just me?

By Jack Frank
OnceWas RPG
OSR
Levels 4-5

The elven city of Silvandor has stood for ages, guided by Yavanna’s light. But with the shattering of the sacred artifact that once banished the demon Malthar, a dark change spreads through the Eldertree Forest. A growing cult of lycanthropic elves—the Sereg Ithil, or Moonblooded—claim their curse is not corruption but ascension. Though the Light of Yavanna has been recovered, it is cracked and weak. Before it can be restored, the Moonblooded must be stopped. They gather in the ruined city of Ithol Lael, preparing to unleash a wave of lycanthropy across the land in Malthar’s name. Lady Lorien cannot move against her own people without proof or risking civil war, so she calls upon you—outsiders—to infiltrate the cult, uncover the truth, and put an end to the Moonblooded threat.

This forty page adventure uses about 22 pages to launch a lot of monologue at the party in a series of brief railroaded encounters. It’s a plot!  It’s a story! It’s boring.

I’m unfamiliar with the system, OnceWas. From the adventure, it looks like it’s a basic kind of D&D with some skill checks added in, and an adventure that seems a lot like a late 2e/3e railroad/plot/story thing. Some kind of bullshit DM story is not my bag baby, but I’m going to try and keep those opinions, about how shitty and misguided that entire nonsense genre is, to myself. 

We see the start of the problems with the DriveThru page. There is no description. None. It’s entirely blank. I’ve spoken at length on the Scum of Humanity just pumping shit out to to make money, be it through AI or hand-crafted. This is an age old problem, with scale perhaps changing but not that it exists. But, on the other side, if you’re NOT just grinding out $100 a month by ruining joy, then presumably you’re doing it because you love it. In which case you should be taking your time and really polishing your work. Really trying to put the best product out you can. After all, it reflects not just you, as a person, but presumably the joy you have in the game. I am mystified by folks that don’t do this. I can, certainly, empathize with loathing your creation so much that you want to either burn it or get rid of the chore of working on it by publishing it. But, otherwise, you’re either a grifter or should be taking joy in your work? So, why be sloppy like this?

Speaking of sloppy, here’s a couple of pages of read-aloud from the three room cave with elven werewolf cultists in it that serves as the climax of the adventure. You see where that read-aloud ends, right above “Northern Pool”? I’m certain that that is where the big climactic boss fight is supposed to be. But it’s missing. There’s nothing there. No one cared, not even the designer. Just fucking look it over once you’re “done.” Or, better yet, get one other person to proof-read it. It doesn’t have to be complex. A simple scan of the document should be enough to reveal shit is OBVIOUSLY not right.

Your town is infested with wererats. You’ve got a broken Phial of Galadriel. You go to an elf town. Queen elf tells you they can repair it in three days. While you are guarding it a read-aloud has a werewolf elf steal it. You go to their cave, above, and don’t get the fight details. End. There’s maybe one encounter in the woods with a werewolf elf. You’re not making any choices in this.

Everything is very high prescribed. Read-aloud for everything. The DM notes say the tone is Moral complexity, tragic antagonists, beautiful but fading world, but none of that is really present and/or the DM isn’t really assisted in brining that tone in to play. Which is what proper design should do.

This is $7 at DriveThru. There is no preview. Bleech!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/549236/a5-silvandor-and-the-shattered-light?1892600

Our Land of Azurth 5e game continued last night as the party confronted the Wizard of Azurth and Morzengersturm over the fate of Roderick Drue, a young occultist, at the Columbia Exposition in 1893 Chicago.

The Wizard recognizes the party calls forth shadows in the form of Expo attendees to attack them. And there are a lot of them! Luckily these are minions (as per the minion rules in Flee, Mortals!), so the party is able to mow them done, but it takes a while and gives them a moment of fright as there are a lot of them. Erekose, Waylon, and the activated Figurine of Wondrous Power Bear takes down five at the entrance of the tent. Shade goes after those coming through the side of the tent with her bow. Zabra witchbolts a couple of them.

Zabra's familiar, a cat, is dutifully carrying the transport gem to the target, Roderick Drue. When it breaks the gem with a bite, a cloud of colorful smoke engulfs both cat and occultist and transports them to the Land of Azurth. 

Waylon gets frightened by the shadows, so moves inside for an attack on Mortzengersturm. The party has a history with the Mad Manticore as they killed him in--well, their past, his future. Zabra delivers a psychic bolt that incapacitates the Manticore wizard before he can act.

His ally and his minions gone, the Wizard teleports away.

The party uses their other jewels to return to Azurth themselves. After some healing they are ready to plan their next mission: black to the Shadow Tower.

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