Author Archives: Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

Trust in the Ocean Game

BTavern over on the Pelgrane discord asks if we’re using the Trust mechanics from Night’s Black Agents in the Ocean Game. It’s an excellent idea, since the Ocean Game’s a contest between players and only one person’s going to reach Briny Heaven – but they have to work together until then. So, while the Trust rules aren’t […]

Let It Hide!

There’s a gameplay principle articulated in Burning Wheel called Let It Ride. The idea is that in most situations, when a player scores a success on a test, the player doesn’t need to roll again unless circumstances change. For example, the player’s called to make an Athletics test to climb a cliff in the face […]

Eyes of the Stone Thief: After The Orc Lord

The upcoming 2nd edition of 13th Age updates the rules, tweaks the classes, gives lots of useful Icon-related advice – and murders the poor Orc Lord. It’s up to you how the Orc Lord perished in your campaign. The Eyes of the Stone Thief campaign does make quite a few references to the Orc Lord, […]

Dracula Dossier Location: The Retirement Home

In celebration of the lovely Spanish translation of the Dossier, some added content for the Campaign That Never Stops.  A somewhat dilapidated facility out in the countryside, surrounded by fading gardens. If it’s in the UK, it’s called Milton House; in Romania, Casa Sântoaderi. The aged residents while away their remaining hours watching television, playing […]

The Hypnos Connection

One of the more curious subplots in The Borellus Connection involves an Agent attracting the attention of the god Hypnos (p. 035 of the massive tome). We call out several places where Hypnos (or “Samuel Loveman”) might intercede, but if you wish to delve into the perilous regions of slumber, here are some added options: […]

Talking Swords and Magic Birds

All the pregenerated characters in The Paragon Blade – Conn the Unslain, Aletheia, and Puc – have a supporting cast consisting of a human Companion and an Artefact. Conn travels with his old trainer Genkai and the Paragon Blade; Aletheia has her mechanical owl and her servant Aram, and Puc has the Demon Amulet and […]

Dark Knowledge of Cthulhu City

Exploring a graveyard under Arkham, detective Martin Harvesson glimpses a hideous goat-headed, cloven-hoofed monster gnawing on a human skull. Stricken with horror, Martin turns and flees blindly down the tunnel – only to emerge into the grand concourse of a huge subway station, a vaulted ceiling of marble arching high above him, and engraved on […]

Eight Random Weird Dockside Encounters

I was about to write up an article about the weird, quasi-Venician city of Tyros Ashem in the upcoming Paragon Blade setting, but we’ve also got the weird quasi-Venician city of Eversink in Swords of the Serpentine, and the less-Venician-but-even-weirder city of Drakkenhall in 13th Age (doge? No, no, Dragon), which triggered two thoughts in […]

The Nailsuit Variations: Frag Man

Various Pelgranes have written mini-posts inspired by a different filtered image of a mysterious man in a suit of nails. Gareth’s contribution is a scenario hook for Fear Itself. We received a request to reset your password. If this wasn’t you, you can safely ignore this email. If this wasn’t you… What if it was? […]

GUMSHOE Whodunnits: Assess Honesty

Of all GUMSHOE abilities, perhaps the most confusing is Forensic Etymology. Wait, no, it’s Bullshit Detector. Or Assess Honesty in the more genteel environs of Trail, or Liar’s Tell in Swords. The tell-when-they’re-lying ability. The customary use of Bullshit Detector is to confirm when a witness is being truthful so the investigators don’t need to […]

This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.