Locked & Loaded: More Firearms for Modern Into The Odd & Similar games

I came across Cyber by Oskar Świda recently, a really neat cyberpunk version of Cairn. Since I've been playing a lot of Cyberpunk 2077 recently, and since I already made some firearms rules in the past and since I already made some new weapon tags for fantasy Into The Odd/Electric Bastionland/Cairn, I figured I'd combine … Continue reading Locked & Loaded: More Firearms for Modern Into The Odd & Similar games

Modular Magic for Cairn

First off: I'm making a thing! I'm working hard on combining, tweaking, expanding, and upgrading my Cairn-related posts into a full publication. It aims to be both a toolbox you can pick-and-choose from, as well as a neat way to combine everything together to get a sort-of Advanced Cairn, if you will. I've dubbed this … Continue reading Modular Magic for Cairn

Oh? You’re Approaching Me? Closing The Distance in Dungeons & Dragons Encounters

Most of my systems and posts are about adding interesting, meaningful choices to TTRPG procedures that tickle the players' sense of risk and reward. This particular system was originally written for ships at sea, but can be repurposed just as well for on-foot encounters in the wilderness - or spaceships venturing into parts unknown. This … Continue reading Oh? You’re Approaching Me? Closing The Distance in Dungeons & Dragons Encounters

Hostile Negotiations: A Conversational System for Into The Odd/Cairn

I'm a big fan of Emmy Allen's Duels in OSR rules, so I made a small adaption for it to suit a game I'm running at the moment. Image: Senat by Pascal Quidault I also love OSR tendencies to just leave out any dialogue- or social stats & mechanics, leaving it to the actual players … Continue reading Hostile Negotiations: A Conversational System for Into The Odd/Cairn

Lightweight Careers for OSR RPGs

Recently, I've been really interested in classless RPGs. I'm working on a quite extensive system that I'm currently playtesting, but in the meantime, I got a pretty lightweight take that I made in preparation for a Star Wars campaign I'm running. Image: Prepare to war by Darek Zabrocki Design Notes I primarily designed this for … Continue reading Lightweight Careers for OSR RPGs

There Was A Firefight: Gunfighting Rules for Into the Odd/Electric Bastionland/Cairn

This is an attempt to bring the risk-management decisions of my Dark Souls inspired combat to a more contemporary form of fisticuffs. Be it for Old West, modern-day, cyberpunk, or sci-fi type adventures, I hope these rules give you some bang for your buck (it helps that it's free!) Image: Oscillator by Kevin Moran What … Continue reading There Was A Firefight: Gunfighting Rules for Into the Odd/Electric Bastionland/Cairn

Dodging, Blocking & Parrying in Practice

Image credits: Merciless by Vlad Marica I've started playtesting my aforementioned Dodge, Block & Parry system! I've tied it into the Weapon system as well, and it's working quite good, so far! Design Notes Fight back makes combat even more lethal, by allowing for essentially a double attack (attacking in response to the enemy => … Continue reading Dodging, Blocking & Parrying in Practice

Old School Fisticuffs: Bar Brawls in D&D 5e and OSR RPGs

old building facade with creative letters behind mount in mist

Samuel Bennett of Tales of the Lunar Lands wrote two neat blog posts about bar brawls in TTRPGs. I couldn't agree more with "In a way, bar brawls could be considered a sort of mini-sandbox" - so here are some mechanics I personally use to spice up tavern-centered conflict! These rules are pretty generic, and … Continue reading Old School Fisticuffs: Bar Brawls in D&D 5e and OSR RPGs