Who is the GLOGosphere? 2026 Edition

 In 2019, Anne wrote a partial survey of the big names and blogs related to the GLOG scene. Seven years on, the landscape is a bit different, and you may be interested to see what it's like now.

2016 saw the publication of Arnold's hack, which won many dabblers and champions. By 2020, there was a reliable population of gloggers on the OSR discord server, which grew to become very active in the early days of the pandemic. As a design scene, it started to see more second- and third-order characteristics and shared language. Some details from Goblin Guts or Many Rats on Sticks saw lots of copycats, others were left behind or iterated on. This is when the glog scene acquired a reputation for focusing on the creation of classes to the exclusion of other pursuits, and for affected a madcap and silly air. Honestly, I think the post-G+ OSR scene had a lot of silliness, and the glog reputation for it might just be downstream of the volume of the work the scene produced at that time.

By about 2021, the Pandemic boom started to slow. I had made a discord server for glog discussion, and the scene was old enough that you could track when formerly active people moved on or went silent, and you could tell the difference between someone who was just getting into the glog and old-heads who had known about it for nine whole months or more. People settled into developing their personal projects, and while the creation of glog classes— virtuous and healthful— never stopped. A few large-scale play-by-post domain games further cemented a culture of play by getting ten or twenty gloggers involved in the same setting and same sorts of in-game goals. I feel like around this time you see more anthropological blogposts, with settings describing cultures and customs that feel both real and arcadian, frankly exciting both wonder and a desire to adventure in those worlds.

At some point new bloggers started resorting to Bearblog instead of our beloved, useless blogspot. Talented writers started to come to us, and in the past couple of years we've seen more literary and artsy blogposts, poetic and interested in pushing the bounds of a typical fantasy adventure game— something that feels at the same time both vital and in keeping with the experimental days of early OSR blogging that I wasn't present for but learned about by picking through the archives of older blogs. Community events and bandwagons are semifrequent, and we seem to enjoy Goncharoving and yes-anding each other's work, altogether still a healthy, friendly, collaborative community.

Anne's post in 2019 listed contributors by blog. While blogging is still king in terms of creative output, it's interesting to look at my own blog list below and think about what it fails to represent. On discord servers, we see dozens of contributors in critique, play, and comity who don't themselves blog about their games. The GLOGosphere properly understood includes all those people to, but I have no way of showing them to you.

The following list which partially covers the GLOGosphere in 2026 was mostly drawn from my discord server's blogroll, and includes almost everyone who has posted in it in the past year. It fails to capture some all-timers who wrote in the time between 2019 and 2025, but it's pretty representative. If I failed to include you, it's probably an oversight rather than an intentional slight. The list is in order of the blogs as I found them scrolling through, so you'll find old stalwarts sprinkled among new lights, with no hierarchy of place in the list. There has been a constant stream of new blood, and so you'll observe a broad penumbra of blogs only a year or two old.

BENTHIC ZONE NARCISSUS
Blogger: Hawkbeetlette
Founded: May 2025
Location: https://or-the-feast-of-blood.blogspot.com
Known more to the glog serverites for their conversation and company, Hawkbeetlette's blogging brings a lot of real-world texture to some classic RPG blogging. I especially like their pitch for War in the Land of Poppies

Musings on Monstrousness
Blogger: Squamous
Founded: May 2025
Location: https://musingsonmonstrousness.blogspot.com
I believe we picked him up around the time of Alex's Cataphracts game, just a bit before he started posting. A year in, he already has a respectable body of blogposts, most made in a frenzy of the blog's first month.

Mediums and Messages
Blogger: Vivanter
Founded: June 2023
Location: https://mediumsandmessages.bearblog.dev/blog/
A reliable hand and community-minded, Vivanter has always been the first to volunteer to run events like the Gloggies or participate extensively in the blogging prompts of Glogtober and Glaugust. He keeps up a lot of session notes, which I know to some are true signs of the RPG blogging craftsman.

Garamondia
Blogger: Louis Mason
Founded: May 2024
Location: https://garamondia.blogspot.com/
Author and artist, Louis's impressive Barony setting reminds me of the very best of what you'll find on the Against the Wicked City blog. The blog is prolific, and in many ways has led the charge for more literary posting.

Whose Measure God Could Not Take
Blogger: Phlox
Founded: October 2018
Location: https://whosemeasure.blogspot.com/
This is me. I wasn't actually listed in Anne's initial list, being even more obscure than now and mostly posting general OSR or heartbreaker content, though I was already playing GLOG at the time.

Archon Smarchon
Blogger: Semiurge
Founded: October 2018
Location: https://archonsmarchon.blogspot.com/
Thought starting in the same month as me, Semiurge has been posting quality and consistent tables from the beginning. Though he has some great adventures and classes, his d20x5 monster generators are the blog's bread and butter.

Grackle Court
Blogger: Grek
Founded: May 2024
Location: https://gracklecourt.blogspot.com/
Grek shows a classic trajectory of a curious RPG mind, with many initial posts showing off and working through various glog classes; then a very cohesive hack, GLOW; and more recently a post playing with combat resolution.

Numbers Aren't Real
Blogger: deus ex parabola
Founded: October 2019
Location: https://as-they-must.blogspot.com/
Witty and erudite, deus ex parabola has given the glog scene a lot of its most cherished shibboleths and hallmarks— the THREE WORD SWORDs, the conversions of 5e subclasses into something suitable for a glog game, and memories of a legendary mountaineering expedition campaign in his Unfinished World setting. Still producing lifeful work despite a challenging real-life schedule which must dry the leather of creativity's pump. Currently producing a much-anticipated squad combat game.

Salty Goo
Blogger: Salty Goo
Founded: Salty Goo?
Location: https://saltygoo.github.io/
A fellow with a very snappy blog layout and trve knowledge of how to format things. But he's not just flash and panache, putting a lot of work into his projects to be not only fun but extensively useful.

Megzone
Blogger: Cowfrog
Founded: February 2024
Location: https://cowfrog.bearblog.dev/
Good worldbuilder, friendly and grounded. Sort of a stochastic poster, skipping a few months and then posting 2d6 blogposts in a month. Everybody likes her River Kingdom posts.

400 Independent Bathrooms
Blogger: Grace
Founded: February 2024
Location: https://choir-of-fire.bearblog.dev/
Grace has a sort of playful approach to the hobby that you might consider a classic glog style. Like a classic glogger, she has a grab bag of theory, classes, and oddities on her blog. Also, check out her music!

Archon Scourt
Blogger: Archon's Court
Founded: January 2018
Location: https://archons-court.blogspot.com/
Another there since the beginning. I don't know a lot about his current Navigator campaign, though all his players seem to love it. It is gratifying to see that he is making session notes for an ongoing Libra game, using a ruleset first formulated on his blog years ago, to acclaim. Always a very solid guy.

Mad Man's Menagerie
Blogger: PRIMEUMATON
Founded: July 2025
Location: https://madmansmenagerie.blogspot.com/
Settinghead and class-maker, with a good grasp of that RPG principle many champion, that of making your game legible by using unsubtle names like Saint Knife and Lady Satan, sketching out the shape of the story to be filled in later by the investigation of the PCs. Some say that he's a bit like deus ex parabola, except he's all-caps and deus is uncapitalized.

Was It Likely?
Blogger: Ms. Screwhead
Founded: April 2019
Location: https://wasitlikely.blogspot.com
A blog which underwent something of a renaissance of late. Spearheading the drive towards inscrutable and artful evocation— she is more Cummings than Tennyson, she sells tarot readings, she pens theories which find purchase because they are unrobotic and informal.

Goodberry Monthly
Blogger: Martin O
Founded: January 2018
Location: https://goodberrymonthly.blogspot.com
Author of Everlasting Summer, Under Gallax Hall, and other impressive projects. Martin always has a good handle on his inspirations and the history behind the sorts of things he writes about, and always seems to write with an eye to maximizing usefulness to the reader.

Temporal Negativity
Blogger: Antitime
Founded: January 2025
Location: temporalnegativity.blogspot.com/
This guy loves classic-style play, with grotty traps and fighters with the supernatural ability to be allowed to use swords and all that. Always very keep to get a game together. In his writing, shows a child's instinct for what is cool (complimentary)-- blades, blasts, orcs, and other things which we sometimes foolishly lose trust in.

Tabletop Curiosity Cabinet
Blogger: Panic Pillow
Founded: November 2024
Location: https://tabletopcuriositycabinet.blogspot.com/
I'm not actually sure if Panic Pillow has posted any explicitly gloggy work, but they make good posts. A rare member of the glog server who is also a regular contributor to the RPG blog carnival. My favorite is their d6 diseases of metal, rock and soil post.

Nrdblog
Blogger: Nrdman
Founded: January 2025 (but was posting to Reddit earlier)
Location: https://nrdblog.bearblog.dev/blog/
Good old Nrdman has been keeping the mostly-superfluous r/glog subreddit afloat almost single-handedly. Mostly a maker of classes, fitting into the stereotype of the average glogger in 2020, but the classes are handsome and well-considered.

CarrionGods
Blogger: AConspiracyOfRavens
Founded: January 2025
Location: https://carrion-gods.blogspot.com/
Known for her Nine Rivers setting, Acon has been slowly but diligently accreting a body of blogposts. I'm a fan of all the reference photos she puts in her posts. Consistent and engaged personality on the glog server.

Nothic's Eye
Blogger: Loch Eil
Founded: March 2020
Location: https://nothicseye.blogspot.com/
Another author and artist, Loch runs the seminal Ashes to Ashes pbp domain game and other campaigns whose goings on you'll sometimes hear about in the glog server. Playing a game with Loch is crazy because you'll get these beautiful visual aids they draw out as a matter of course, and it's often more beautiful than any diagram you'll see in a printed product. Also very chill person.

Anxious Mimic
Blogger: Thistlebelle
Founded: March 2017 (with a 6 year hiatus!)
Location: https://anxiousmimic.blogspot.com/
I don't have the strongest sense of who this is, but I do recall her being friendly in discussion and writing good posts. Her Magicien class shows good glogging instincts and the system ideas she has up from January of this year are cogent and interesting.

Spiceomancy
Blogger: Chris M-S
Founded: July 2020
Location: https://spiceomancy.blogspot.com/
A friendly and productive artist, who's pulled off flashy projects like the Craftsman ARG and his own "trading card game". If he doesn't have a career in illustrating a dozen cool independent zines, it won't be for lack of merit. Does some classes but really comes up with a lot of toys to put in your game.

naybasplacetoputrpgideas
Blogger: Nayba
Founded: March 2024
Location: https://naybarpg.bearblog.dev/blog/
Another person who doesn't do patently gloggy content, but does good content and is friendly and happy to engage. Her thoughts are worth consideration to anyone interested in classic fantasy play.

Playthings of Mad Gods
Blogger: Madperson
Founded: July 2023
Location: https://madgods.bearblog.dev/blog/
A very careful and detail-oriented blogger who seems to want their gameworld to "make sense" and values high coherence. Writes many session notes, which as stated is a pursuit many belove. Writes good classes.

The Transiapheian Bulletin
Blogger: Shiftyhomunculus
Founded: August 2023
Location: https://iapheia.bearblog.dev/blog/
Known mostly as a commenter and glog server netizen in good standing, Shifty also has a blog with a few posts. My favorite is d86 Volatile City-State Governments.

The Red Lantern
Blogger: Sylvanas
Founded: October 2023
Location: https://redlantern.bearblog.dev/blog/
Another longtime glogger whose history belies their smaller body of blogposts. With a good mix of classes, tables, and trinkets, it's by no means worth overlooking, and those who write seven or eight blogposts a year are doing much better than those who write none, and much much better than those who write a hundred.

Shadow and Fae
Blogger: Hilander
Founded: February 2022
Location: shadowandfae.blogspot.com/
Hilander is a double-threat; a writer, an artist, and a layout editor. It's been great to watch him grow into confidence with his skills, and frankly surprising how quickly he can churn out first drafts of a project that look and read and play better than what some people are selling at a premium.

Path Unending
Blogger: Ecksian Raven
Founded: April 2024
Location: pathunending.wordpress.com/
The rare wordpress user. Ecksian draws their own art for each blogpost, a charming touch. The content is good, though I'm not as familiar with its extent as I could be.

1d12 Dragons
Blogger: Fifth Dragon
Founded: September 2021
Location: https://1d12dragonhoards.blogspot.com/
An intermittent poster, but always with a lot of pizazz. Fifth is solid enough and always keen for discussion, and it's been good to play with it in domain games.

Xeno's Ramblings
Blogger: Xenophon of Athens (not that one)
Founded: February 2020
Location: https://xenophonsramblings.blogspot.com/
Xeno has always been a good blogger to go to for well-considered rules and evocative classes with clear inspirations. Yet in the past few years it seems she has unfolded like some clever puzzle, showing depth and dimension unsuspected, an artful side and jwaw de veev (sic). Infrequent poster, good glog person.

Sundered Shields and Silver Shillings
Blogger: SunderedWorldDM
Founded: June 2020
Location: https://sunderedshillings.blogspot.com/
Another pandemic get. Sundered has an approachable vernacular style I assume is derived from his work with the youths. This is surprising giving the foreboding intricacy and implied worldbuilding of his renowned setting, Fe.

Oversights and Oubliettes
Blogger: Regalia
Founded: October 2020
Location: https://oversightsandoubliettes.blogspot.com/
Occasional contributor, but with good insights and a steady perspective. Hoping to see his Lizard Lords setting come to fruition some day. I like the cut of his jib.

Heroic Geology of the Limestone God
Blogger: Robot_Face
Founded: August 2020
Location: https://hglog.tumblr.com/
Occasional contributor, but a familiar face. Participates in the events and has a good head for writing abilities. 

Mascara Knight
Blogger: Blatella
Founded: August 1971 (but actually July 2023)
Location: https://mascaraknight.blogspot.com/
A moderate of the artsy set. Evocative writer of prose. Knowledgeable and a good sense of humor.

Half Again As Much
Blogger: Dr Curious VII
Founded: May 2024
Location: https://halfagainasmuch.blogspot.com
I don't know too much about this writer but they are a good writer. Good words on sphinges.

The Lovely Dark
Blogger: Vulnavia
Founded: ??? 2019
Location: https://thelovelydark.blogspot.com/
A rockstar of the artsy set. Could it be xe has only been blogging a year? Seems longer. The renown of the blog is in very artfully described classes, evocative beyond all expectations, so that one feels that to play a Lovely Dark paladin is to be allowed into a character with an expressed interiority, most uncommon for a class.

Liches Get Stitches
Blogger: Lichesgetstitches
Founded: April 2019
Location: https://lichesgetstitches.blogspot.com/
A blogger more active in the past, he did impressive work in making his pokemon game operational when many of us doing similar things in a similar space did not.

Mad Queen's Court
Blogger: Vayra (age 5)
Founded: March 2020
Location: https://www.madqueenscourt.com/
While not as active any more, Vayra's blog has some incredible dungeons and adventures, as well as seminal classes, all written in an unself-serious style that readers are calling winsome and winning. Her knight-as-superweapon glog class is sort of the apex of the OG glog's idea of simplifying all a class's progression into four levels by simplifying a classic 3E build along the same lines.

Sinusoidal Freakshow
Blogger: Lunatic Bematist
Founded: February 2023
Location: https://sinusoidalfreakshow.blogspot.com/
One of those blogs that serves as someone's personal public notebook. It's endearing to see someone exorcise their thoughts about some system or concept that itches to be expressed. I think it's something many of us bloggers can relate to.

Glass Ziggurat
Blogger: Whisperling
Founded: May 2023
Location: https://glassziggurat.blogspot.com/
A rare poster, but I really like their 15 powers that came to me late at night post. Feels like a classic osr blogpost from the old days.

A Blasted, Cratered Land
Blogger: Lexi
Founded: January 2019
Location: https://crateredland.blogspot.com/
Formerly prolific, now in a cozy state of semi-retirement. Lexi doesn't seem to ever half-ass her posts, and gives you copy that feels like it's already been through the editing passes needed to reach a zine's final draft. Her Facility project seems like it would be really fun to play through, and it's always a delight to see her participating in a community event.

Dungeon Fruit
Blogger: Morgan
Founded: October 2020
Location: https://dungeonfruit.blogspot.com/
Another visual artist of great skill and renown. Makes neat little games or gives lists of interesting trinkets. Always a worthy read.

What's On Your Mind, Then?
Blogger: Kachow
Founded: May 2022
Location: https://yourmindthen.blogspot.com/
Kachow is always nice to see around, but I haven't fully investigated their blog. Their Ring-Bearer class has some of the sauce.

Uncanny Ramblings
Blogger: Domopunk
Founded: November 2023
Location: https://uncannyramblings.blot.im/
Producer of session notes, miscellany, and most notably a community list of settings, which I always thought was an interesting task. As much as I admire deus ex parabola's Unfinished World or Locheil's Qal Ashen, I've never considered the value of those settings as "merely" represented by the blogposts which touch on them, deprived of game experience. Still, I bet it has connected many people to interesting posts.

Velvet Inks and Crystal Fires
Blogger: Purplecthulhu
Founded: August 2020
Location: https://velvetinks.blogspot.com/
Low-frequency, but has developed from competent to uniquely capable, with a strong artistic voice. Purplecthulhu has been a reliable glogger for forever, and she does well representing both the lyric and the simple common sense virtues the scene values.

Seed of Worlds
Blogger: Xaosseed
Founded: April 2019
Location: https://seedofworlds.blogspot.com/
While Xaoseed absolutely has a glog pedigree, I actually mostly think of him as an OSR public utility blogger— aggregating links, doing statistics, and shining a light on the scene as a whole. It's just a cherry on top that he also shares his personal work, writes classes, and so on. He also writes reviews which are oddly rare in the greater scene.

Goblin Punch
Blogger: Arnold K.
Founded: November 2012
Location: https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/
By rights as originator of the glog, Arnold should be at the top of this list, but he's not too involved with the scene, and from what I hear has been busy the past few years riding around on motorcycles and curing COVID and such, so no one can blame him. While he doesn't post with much frequency, I like that he's still always tinkering.

Library of Attnam
Blogger: Red_Kangaroo
Founded: July 2018
Location: https://attnam.blogspot.com/
A classic blog with posts I remember scouring years back, like the d100 glog wizard schools list made up of links to everyone else's blog. Red has always been friendly and keen to check out other people's work. These days the blog seems like a miscellany or personal public notebook, with a few fun classes sprinkled in.

Routes and Routs
Blogger: Epistellar
Founded: Jan 2025
Location: https://rar.bearblog.dev/blog/
I think of Epistellar as a rules guy. His interest in systems does him a lot of credit, as does his consistency writing session reports. Good person to discuss a game with.

Roll to Doubt
Blogger: Weird Writer
Founded: September 2021
Location: https://rolltodoubt.wordpress.com/
Weird writes relatively sprawling and comprehensive analyses. She also covers game theory, and it's hard to disagree with her about such things.

On Unnamed Horizon
Blogger: Ro
Founded: September 2018
Location: https://unnamedhorizons.blogspot.com/
A game and friendly poster. His Heading Out Unknowingly game seems well-considered and fun, and I really liked his Angevine post for the Cloak and Sword bandwagon.

Pilgrim's Temple
Blogger: Pilgrim Procession
Founded: March 2017
Location: https://pilgrimtemple.blogspot.com/
Many glog classes and setting things. A 4e illiterate like me won't understand the Dawn War, but I trust the stuff he does with it is very clever. I liked his Huguenot class.

Whimsical Mountain
Blogger: Zmia Garina
Founded: July 2018
Location: https://whimsicalmountain.blogspot.com/
Long-time glog server netizen. I feel like her writing has really developed over time, and I'm glad to see she's writing session notes, as it feels like a sign of her DMing chops getting put to work.

Craggenloch Tribune
Blogger: Random Interrupt
Founded: May 2021
Location: https://craggenloch.blogspot.com/
Another relative long-stander. Check out his Four Grimoires post from September of 2025 to get a sense of his writing— complete, evocative, neat.

Knicks and Knacks
Blogger: CommonUse
Founded: September 2023
Location: https://bitspieces.bearblog.dev/blog/
Great grab bag of content here— classes, settings, characters, spells. Very likely there's something on their blog that's directly helpful to whatever fantasy RPG thing you're thinking about running right now.

Pillar of Worms
Blogger: Anon
Founded: August 2025
Location: https://pillarofworms.blogspot.com/
Very neat Hollow-Knight inspired project. Some very evocative classes.

Froward Friend
Blogger: The Froward Friend
Founded: August 2025
Location: https://frowardfriend.blogspot.com/
Seemingly a blog that was made for Glaugust(?), Beeptest is a longstanding glogger. Most of his posts seem to be setting work and interesting place-bounded tables. 

Occultronics
Blogger: Josie
Founded: May 2020
Location: https://occultronics.blogspot.com/
The blog of ever-unfolding polydidact Josie, Occultronics is home to at least a couple scary naked women with sword classes. Her Hex setting is exciting for its well-realized descriptions and the promise of modern second-world adventure.

Carotid Canvas
Blogger: Ell
Founded: September 2023
Location: https://carotidcanvas.blogspot.com/
Perennial poster. I hadn't actually looked through his gloghack before, but it seems promising and I hope it's served his Northern Lights game

Same is Shark in Japanese
Blogger: Walfalcon
Founded: March 2016
Location: https://sameissharkinjapanese.blogspot.com/
Originally known for wacky glog classes and glog games set in malls, the blog has developed into even more of a melange for Walfalcon's skills and interests, showcasing his fiction alongside session reports and— actually I'm not sure if the blog actually covers his music and audio media skillz. Wth if so.

Cyber Jazz Fusion
Blogger: Cyber Chronometer
Founded: November 2020
Location: https://cyberjazzfusion.wordpress.com/
I actually forgot that our bookish and informative friend Cyber made classic posts like the lo-fi paladin. Ever-thoughtful, they just now finished "An Esotery of Skills" which seems to have won some immediate fans. Hoping there's more to read on along those lines.

Sage's Sanctum
Blogger: Lizard
Founded: October 2025
Location: https://sagesanctum.bearblog.dev/
A newer blogger with a lot of vital energy. Her cyberpunk work is very interesting, obviously that's a milieu that doesn't often get extensive treatment in the space.

Coins and Scrolls
Blogger: Skerples
Founded: February 2017
Location: https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/
One of the true glog OGs, Skerples wrote Many Rats on Sticks, a gloghack which was once acclaimed as the basis of most other hacks. These days, he brings out oddities from history or does a deep dive on old D&D math. Would be of interest to OSR folks of all stripes.

Among Cats and Books
Blogger: Elmcat
Founded: February 2024
Location: https://elmc.at/
Like Xaoseed, this is a public utility, aggregating posts and doing other useful things. He also engineered the rootring which OSR blogs have taken up to increase the joy of discovery of new writers. Also, he's a sweetie.

Trick's Tales
Blogger: Trick the Giant
Founded: April 2021
Location: https://tricks-tales.blogspot.com/
Relative newcomer (to us), interesting Mongolian-inspired setting.

Infernal Pact
Blogger: Domicilius
Founded: July 2023
Location: https://infernalpact.bearblog.dev/blog/
I mostly know Domicilius from his Cataphracts retrospective and Pokemon campaign retrospective, but I'm surprised in doing research for this list to see that he actually has glog classes as far back as the beginning of his blog years ago. Good writer with sensible points to make when he discusses RPG theory.

Subjunctive Moods
Blogger: Matthias
Founded: November 2025
Location: https://subjunctive-moods.bearblog.dev/blog/
I've had occasional positive interactions with Matthias in the OSR sphere for a few years now, and so I'd say their blog, which has but a few posts (mostly about the theory of play) only represents a small piece of Matthias's value.

Press the Beast
Blogger: NBateman
Founded: December 2023
Location: https://pressthebeast.bearblog.dev/
An inspiring and approachable blog that knows how to say "JUST DO IT" in a way that makes you more likely to fr fr just do it. Runs the gamut of lovely arcadist play and tactical advice to very open essays or fiction.

Two Smoking Boots
Blogger: Mercury
Founded: March 2024
Location: https://twosmokingboots.blogspot.com/
Interesting collection of posts— monsters, situations, things to consider. Not super long in our little corner of the internet, but I hope they'll post more and win their acclaim.

Ravenous Ambiance
Blogger: Ambnz
Founded: January 2019
Location: https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/
As a blogger, Amnbz has not been very active in years. Yet when they do post, or pop into the glog server with a question, they're always working on something interesting. This is a very good sort of person to have in your server.

Vikugna Vikugna
Blogger: Vikugna
Founded: Kwietnia 2026
Location: https://vikugnavikugna.blogspot.com/
Every so often, like a bolt from the blue, someone will join the glog server and drop five or six very slick glog classes, or some creative and well-formed hack, putting their best foot forward. So with Vik, who besides her work has been charming and affable.

Necromancers Killed Our Master Club
Blogger: Leo the Hobbit
Founded: October 2023
Location: https://nkom.bearblog.dev/blog/
Has been putting out a pleasant mix of glog classes and procedures, as well as the odd oddity. Leo seems to be of the set of bloggers who was inspired by the charismatic Cavegirls and Vayras of the world but who write in the competentist style of the Lexis (Blasted, Cratered Land). I wonder what's up with that.

Kludge Kauldron
Blogger: KludgeKauldron
Founded: October 2023
Location: https://kludge.bearblog.dev/blog/
In addition to classic fantasy milieu and underserved historical-infused settings, the glog community has a definite interest in freaked-up modern campaigns. Kludge has some great examples of this on his blog. Check out his Fighter in Los Tronos post— it's a classis (a class chassis), the most generic form of that class as it will appear in his game, yet it is clearly painting with the brush of a modern combatant rather than a knight or swordswoman of eld.

Explode Corpse
Blogger: Homunculus
Founded: October 2024
Location: https://explodecorpse.blogspot.com/
A blog with less than ten posts, but clearly gets the vibe of the scene. Check this line from his Glogmas post: "It’s bite does [sum] damage to a relationship (the average of the two characters Will scores) if the relationship goes to 0 HP they have to 'break up' and not be associated with eachother any longer," I tell you it's good, and furthermore could be found on the blog of any great glogger.

Federal Agent Make-Believe
Blogger: Dragoleaf
Founded: August 2024
Location: https://federalagentmakebelieve.blogspot.com
Also a formidable in the world of Delta Green, Dragoleaf has some very artful glog classes, some cool session reports, and basically anything you'd want from such a blog. Check out their Pelts for XP series.

False Idols
Blogger: Renegade
Founded: September 2020
Location: https://falseidolstla.blogspot.com/
Artist and partner par excellence. Ren hasn't posted too much in recent years but wherever he can be seen he delights me.

Ten Years of GLOG (and! the Tomb of the Khan)

Everyone has a homebrew ruleset, and everyone wants to show it to other people, or at slap it around until it's presentable. And a lot of people are interested in your fantasy heartbreaker. When you first published your "Version -1.0", the world was a very different place, and the niche of a niche of a niche that talked about retroclones and hit dice and the grossest monsters a creative biologists can imagine was a little different too.

Ten years ago, on May 7th, 2016,  we were introduced to the Goblin Rules of Gaming. Since then, partially because of the conversational tone and DIY spirit, partially because it distilled good parts of E6 and old school D&D, in overwhelming part due to accidents of history, people have hacked and rehacked glogs of their own, and it became a very happy gaming scene, with active blogs, daily discussion, friendships, the inevitable sprinkling petals of loves blossoming, and general goodwill.

It's bad to mythologize the history of your niche social scene. I don't want to act like we're something totally unprecedented, or that anyone is some great hero. But it's good to appreciate what you have while you have it, and I've been immensely enriched by the acquaintance of the many gloggers, and by friendly and open blogs such as yours which have become the basis of so many games, rules, stories, like, loves, and lively vertices. Hurray for ten years of GLOG! Yippee for rolling dice! Yay for my internet friends, and even my acquaintances!

With that out of the way, here is a short dungeon: 

The Tomb of the Khan

Three hundred years ago, a warriors named Sartak tricked and defeated the undying sorcerer Attila the All-Seeing, chewing up his teeth and drinking up his blood to become something more than a mere man. Two hundred years ago, the vampiric Khan Sartak was felled by the twelve noble jarls of King Karlstorr, whereupon the  khan's horse carried him back to his people, who dutifully buried him in preparation for his inevitable return. Since then, people have had more immediate problems to focus on, and the underground complex in which Sartak lay was forgotten. Two weeks ago, a minor earthquake revealed a shaft descending into the dark, ornate and well-worked stone fit for a king and a king of kings. Exposed to the elements, local bookworms fret that fragile documents perhaps stored within will be ruined when the next storm comes. Two hours ago, it started to drizzle.

There are no random encounters. After three hours, water will start to damage all unstowed parchments and worse (see area 9 and area 12).

Key

1. Hole. Looking down, one can see a hundred foot shaft, its walls of beautifully sculpted stone arches arrayed around a spiral staircase. The hole has torn through part of what was once a vaulted ceiling. If it's midday, enough light breaks through the gathering stormclouds to show the twinkle of a small pool of water on the floor. If you have a long rope, it would be easy enough to stake it and climb down.

2. Main Exit. Climbing the spiral stairs, another staircase branches off and comes to a chamber that comes within five feet of the surface, and porous rock allows vampires, who can turn into clouds of particles, to flow up and down through it. In the chamber is a courtesy sarcophagus. Lifting the lid gives a hiss and releases an invisible floral-and-pepper-scented gas which burns the lungs if you breathe it in (1d6 damage). Dissipates in ten minutes.

3. Shaft Base. A couple small pools of water, not yet gathered into drains carved to resemble a bearded man drinking. Short hall leading to area 4.

4. Meeting Chamber. Murals showing the khan drinking blood and turning into a bat and riding a cool skeleton horse, etc. Stone table and seats. Every surface piles with scraps of old parchment-- mostly the receipts and random notes of the khan's servants (some arguing about whether they should just drink his body dry), but also an envelope containing powder of gaseous form (snorted, as potion). A small polished bone box on a pile of papers serves as a watertight, airtight vaultlet. Contains a deed to a manse east of here, as well as a homoerotic vampire biography (300 gp).

5. Hallway. Murals cover the walls. A party of six skeletons-- three archers and three spearwomen-- stand guard. Speaking only the ancient language, they may be convinced that the party belongs. There are three spinning block traps dispersed through the hallway which the skeletons are aware of and will avoid-- stepping on the block causes it to spin freely, depositing you into a ten-foot-deep pit (one of which is almost totally waterlogged). Unless you're very tall it's hard to push the block above you away and climb out on your own. If the party seems tough, the skeletons may retreat back to guard area 6 and monitor them to attack from behind as they descend the upper stairs (area 8).

6. Storage. Cracked old pottery and mouldering scrolls. A gilded horse skeleton stands on a pedestal in the middle of the room. If touched (or enticed), it turns to face the party, gold leaf cracking away. It is Khongor Mini, the khan's mummified horse. (Stats as mummy, but +1 reaction, Morale 8. Can only be tamed by one who has the blood of Attila running through their veins.) Careful search of the room reveals a scroll with innovative saddle diagrams (worth 500 gp to a saddler or knight) and a palette of rouges and powders (worth 200 gp to a fancy person or thief).

7. Temple. Statues depicting Khan Sartak drinking blood from the wrist of Attila the All-Seeing, who is drinking from the wrist of the Devil. An altar holding the remains of a traitor vampire, now ash except for a black diamond heart (1000 gp, combusts in even a hint of sunlight). Another couple bone boxes-- one empty, one containing a spellbook with the spells Viscerkinesis (telekinesis but only for organic matter), Horste (haste for horses), Sanguine Visions (see through your blood for two hours), and Walking Coffin (coffin or similar grows four legs and serves loyally, if clumsily, for four hours).

8. Upper Stairs. Steep and dry. Fighting on these would give a -2 to attacks and make you tumble down on a natural 1 or if you're hit by a critical. Also, as you descend if you aren't silent the stone-headed thrall comes up from area 9 to investigate.

9. Rink. Massive domes ceiling leaking the occasional drip into a massive rink of ancient, long-dried blood. The scale of the rink is logistically horrifying, and it's not clear how deep it is. The dripping roof has made little pools of liquid blood on the very surface, and a humanoid imprint is seen in the deepest pool, as though someone has yanked themselves out of it, leaving bloody footprints leading up to an emaciated clot-covered freako whose head has been totally covered by ancient cement. The stone-headed thrall is a minor vampire, weakened by decades of ravenous stillness. (Stats as ghoul, but -4 reaction, grapple instead of paralysis, 4 to-hit ungrappled foes due to blindness, headbutt instead of bite, and if max damage is rolled for headbutt the cement cracks and it can see and do a normal vampire bite.). After three hours, enough water will start streaming down the domed roof and the steps that the whole block of dried blood will liquify, spilling its contents down into area 12-- nineteen stone-headed thralls, a thousand skulls, and six random treasures.

10. Lower Stairs. The occasional sycophantic well-wish from a minor vampire, left on a scrap of repurposed parchment.

11. Throne Room. Wide and low golden chair (worth 1500 gp, slows you down), brocade on the wall made of thread-of-gold (500 gp, heavy), chest-high golden puzzle box built into the floor (spend 10 minutes shifting around tiles to roll 1d20+intelligence. On a 30 or higher, reveals Lamentation, an insane sword with a needle-like tip and skeptical eye in the fuller. +2 to hit and damage vs things with blood, and each hit replenishes their blood into you, healing 2 hp most of the time but possibly having alternate or dangerous effects based on the blood into you question.

12.  Tomb. The body of Sartak lies on a low bier-- ten feet tall, naked, with many wounds but the blush of not-quite death and a peaceful expression. Pillars support a vaulted ceiling that seems to be covered in dried blood. In fact it is the underside of the rink in area 9. After three hours, the liquefied blood will crash down, flooding this chamber. Sartak will rouse from his brumation, drinking enough blood to fully wake, before draining the more delectable half the of thralls and enacting plans for a new conquest. While still brumating, he is not totally defenseless. Immune to mundane weapons, his hypnotic defenses require a save to be attacked with any weapon. Teeth, on the other hand, seem to slide into his flesh like biting into an apple. If one creature drinks Sartak's final lifeblood, they become a super vampire, though the spirit of the merged mind of the Devil, Attila, and Sartak will require them to perform vampiric deeds to actually get any XP they earn-- darke soirees, murder of the innocent, so on. If multiple creatures drink of him, each gets a vampire power of their choice (no repeats) and a vampire weakness of the DM's choice).

In Hiding and Without Renown (Classes: Ironmonger and Journeyman)

 Armor

  Armor is simple. You have an AC (pronounced "Ahs"), which is 10 if unarmored, 12 if wearing a helm, 14 if wearing a cuirass or other armored shirt and a helm, and 16 if wearing lamellar and a helm. Normally to cast spells the aspects in the soul (housed in the organs) can't be entrapped in armor, but may be dignified by robes or other rich things

Class: Ironmonger

   Ironmongers have an unsavory reputation in Yarfu, though rumors say they are exalted abroad. Their loose order is united by one ambivalent decree, to go where the sun does not warm, and find who you are when no one is watching.
   Start with: an iron shortspear, an iron mask, an iron hammer and twenty nails-of-iron, a skull, a cosmetic kit, and a hood.

   Every template after the first, get +1 MD and +1 to-hit. (Beware, you don't learn any spells from leveling up. (This is the grindset class.))

• A: Cantrips
• B: Comity, Iron Spell
• C: Blood Eyes
• D: Residue
• E: Bounty

Cantrips: with a touch, you can sharpen a blade, sense a metal's purity, conjure a metal glove, or drive a nail. You can use the sling, throwing sticks, and any one-handed bladed weapon.

Comity: You know Kavetek, the language of Ironmongers, elves, giant ferrets, and barren fiends.

Iron Spell: When wearing anything lighter than lamellar, you can cast spells as long as you keep one hand free.

Blood Eyes: Iron suffuses your HP, strengthening its "degree". By pressing your tongue hard into the roof of your mouth, you can push your second eyes into place. They glow red, and pierce through the darkness like bulls-eyes, allowing you to see in the dark up to 60'. They are blinded by mist and fog.

Residue: your sweat is poisonous to non-ironmongers. Those who swallow a shot of it save with magical amulets or take 1d6 damage. Your mounts and lovers develop shallow scarring.

Bounty: as long as you carry at least four inventory slots of iron objects beyond the armor you wear and any weapons in your hand, you may reroll a single MD in every spell you cast.

 Inventory

   Inventory is simple. You have twenty slots. Some identical items can bundle (e.g. a quiver of arrows, a tranch of torches, a sac of ball bearings). Helmets and armored shirts each take up two slots, while lamellar takes up four. Otherwise pretty much everything is just one slot unless specified.

Class: Journeyman

   Strangers in the midst of the vo, and awkwardly received among the savadur. Journeymen are blamed for ancient wrongs, and they make the high and powerful feel guilty. They are considered to be of the race of man, more out of honor than conviction. 
   Start with: an extra two feet of height and five pounds of hair, an oversized spear, an empty skull-sized cage, a jug of houch, and a wheelbarrow (five slots, carries twenty when rolled) with straps to carry it over the shoulder.

• A: Physique, Food for Energy
• B: Comity
• C: Guise
• D: All Of The Rules

Physique: Your nails are like daggers. You can use all weapons and armor that suit your great size, and attack with +2 to-hit. You have a 4-in-6 chance of hearing remote sounds, and can smell blood up to 100' away, discerning between blood fresh, long-shed, that of a hot blooded fighter, or that of a personage or degree-strengthened ironmonger. 

Food for Energy: Get +1 HP when you eat something you find in a dungeon, abandoned hive, or other dangerous location. You can use this ability multiple times per day, but each instance must be more gross or more dangerous than the last. 

Comity: Normal retainers and followers in your employ get -1 morale. They see something in you that disquiets them, even if they followed you gladly before. Rodents, vermin, and other ratainers get +2 morale. You may squeak with rats as though you spoke their language. 

Guise: Like twisting into an acrobat's knot, you may take on a human seeming, including 2-in-6 chance of depicting a particular person, +1 with their clothes, +1 with their tongue, +1 if you know what they love most of all. 

All of the Rules: Your ancestors were made by the wizards of eld, set out for servitude and study. Those chains still connect you to magic, occultation, and the life after life, and you have become aware of the tug that always pulls you. You can grapple magic-users, ghosts, and apparitions from a distance of 100', and do not suffer penalties for any akhs you endure.
 

At the Last, Abundant Equipment for the Tomb (Classes: Fighter and Ranger)

HP and Saves

HP is a measure of your vital spirit (pronounced "hep"). Level 1 PCs start with 6 HP, which is reduced by harms and regained at a rate of 1d6 HP every sunrise. At 0 HP, roll on the Table of Consequences so secret and revolutionary, I haven't written it yet.

There are three types of saves, and they all start at +0.

• Talent: Physical skill.
• Favor: Divine grace.
• Magical Amulets: efficacy of charms and icons.

To test with a save, roll a d20, plus the bonus, and try to get a 13 or higher.  

Class: Fighter

In Yarfu, the bow is the prince of all weapons. Note with pride the fighter's facility with it. Vo men are sought for formal armies in each nation-state, standardizing the more diverse martial traditions that precurse them.
Start with a horn bow and arrows, a spear, a helmet and chain shirt, a tin of pink poppies, a fierce mask, and a bright blanket.

• A: Comity, National Pastime
• B: Captain
• C: +1 attack
• D: Hot Blood

Comity: You know how to use all weapons, including the bow. If you own a magical bow, you are brothers with all other true warriors who carry one. No one can punish you for winning a fair fight against another archer, and you are entitled to what they carried into that fight. You get +4 to-hit with all weapons, and when unarmed.

National Pastime: You are proficient in the fighting style of your people, and honor or shame them by your deeds. Here are some nearby styles:

• The fighters of Faras are dartiers, and their javelins throw a foe off-balance (reduce AC by 2 for a round)
• The maidens of Sawl are moirologists, and when their morale would fail them they keen, slowing or severing the spirit of the undead.
• The knights of Qusair are soldiers, and when they lay low a foe they can attack another one immediately with the fallen enemy's own weapon.
• Zanquecant People are ambushers, and when striking an enemy's flank with an axe, they get an extra attack.
• The Savadur Pacoste Clan are witches, and their charges ignore all resistance and immunity to damage.
• The Savadur Saritur Clan are totemists, and when wearing scale armor they can leap 16 cubits horizontally or 8 cubits vertically.

Captain: No matter now indifferent or cruel you are, you can always find a number of 1 HD Fighters equal to your level in a community.
Hot Blood: You get +4 HP and are immune to the cold, capable of lending that warmth to [level] snuggle pals. Those who drink your blood feel your emotions.

Origins and Speech

• Vo Wanderer. You speak your national language and one other language of your choice.
• Vo Citizen. Decide if you're a nationalist. If you are, you speak your national language, get +2 reaction when receiving reward, position, etc from the nation-state, and get -1 reaction with vo whose nations aren't allied with yours in the war. If you're not a nationalist, you speak your national language and a local language you can use to exclude anyone from more than 100 miles away.
• Savadur Priest. You speak a national language and a dialect of Kha (called, for obscure historical reasons, by ranking. You speak First Kha, Second Kha, etc., up to the Eighth Kha.) Dialects near in number are easier to understand. Kha has no written form, save heraldic strangifiers painted on walls or stamped in armor to You get -1 reaction with Savadurs of other clans.

Nearby languages:

• Crocodolean: spoken by people of the nation, and therefore skeletons, scarab swarms, garden ogres, and crocodiles.
• Abydor: spoken in Abydor, and therefore by Turgid Bastards and gliding lizards. Hostile to Crocodole.
• Vezan: spoken in Vezan, and therefore by temple ogres, rams, rock baboons, and rebel dogs. Hostile to Crocodole.
• Zaun: spoken in Zau, and therefore by Visceral Bearers, aubade fey, and shaggy dingoes. In a compact with Crocodole.
• Koumoulen: spoken in Koumoul and therefore by Wasting Bearers, rock baboons, and maned wolves. Unaligned.
• Tremanian: spoken in Tremanan and therefore by cometary ogres, scrub flies, and pangolins. Hostile to Crocodole.

Class: Ranger

There are many undeveloped places in Yarfu, rugged terrain haunted by the dead. The realm of mankind is narrow, and a rugged few resist the press of chaos on its borders.
Start with a khopesh, a machete, 40' of rope, a portable tent, a tinderbox, climbing gear, a Douglas gray cloak, and four javelins.

• A: Turn Undead, Ranger
• B: Comity
• C: Apotropaic Trophies
• D: Kingsfoil

Turn Undead: You get +2 to-hit and +2 damage vs undead creatures, and undead foes have -1 morale.

 Ranger: You are trained with snares, melee weapons, and the use of slings and javelins. Each overland turn, pick one of the following:

• Forage: gain +1 ration from biting heads off lizards, enticing snowlice with drops of blood, sucking on that secret herb, exc.
• Survey: +1-in-6 chance of detecting hidden or secret features.
• Scout: +1-in-6 surprise chance for you, -1-in-6 surprise for encounters.

Comity: You now qualify for one of several societies of rangers. In Yarfu, there are three of note:

• The Tatouet. Claim to be descended from ancient rebels. They mark their chins with ink and tattoo dots onto their arms and legs. When in a desert region, you can sense secret routes and weather changes.
• Maa Kheru. Claim to be of a hereditary line descended from Saver Heol, despite membership based on skill and achievement. They know the name of the secret herb. Wear golden jewelry in brow piercings and oiled dark boots. When in a scrubland region, you can sense secret routes and weather changes.
• Plijet Hudjefa. Mostly linger and stare with sinister intention and foreign moustache. When in a tundra region, you can sense secret routes and weather changes.

Apotropaic Trophies: Keep a record of every type of creature whose blood, flesh, or other leavings you've incorporated into your amulets. Add+2 to any saves made to resist such a creature. For human types, the bonus rather applies to the traps and hazards of their hive or other home complex.

Kingsfoil: a sweet lie has swept Yarfu, one that organizes its many people into a tight handful of nation-states, languages, and destinies. It is a reality the unpainted border denies, and in your dreams you practice the liberator's perfect blow. Deal +3 damage to serpents and those who claim dominion over more than one hive.

Gloggies Nominations 2025

 This year, the Gloggies follow a democratic process, in which members of the community are called upon to nominate the posts that stuck with them and inspired them, for later voting and accolade.

I really appreciate the community events that come up in the GLoG server. Despite owning the server, I'm the author of very few of these events, and it's the work of civically-minded luminaries like Vivanter, or Hilander with his GLoGmas hosting, or Locheil with their GLaugust MCing, that make these events so vibrant.

To select my nominations, I scrolled through blog posts made so far this year and clicked on some of my favorites, the ones I kept thinking about since they were posted. If you read every blogpost in my glog server, you would be reading about three a day, and I know I ended up reading only a fraction of them. So as you are reminded of some of the best-appreciated blogposts, I'd recommend maybe looking at a post from someone you don't normally follow and commenting on their work. Certainly we have many great names who have come to grace the server who were not well-known a year ago.

Nominations

Best Dungeon Post: Alxin Lake Caravanaserai, by Locheil. This great scenario shows the strength of Eil's writing and her attention to detail. The whole thing fits together as a mystery, a dungeon, and a story on its own.

Best Class Post: The Ichabod, by TheFirstGokun. An example of his easy and evocative style, and a character type I would love to see explored in a campaign.

Honorable Mention: A trio of classes from Locheil's bespoke single-level cloak-and-sword class bandwagon. Vivanter's Academian (neat worldbuilding, full realization of concept), TheisticGilthoniel's Huguenot (charmingly direct translation of history), and The Spaniard, by SunderedWorldDM (needs no explanation). Bandwagons like this really show the strength of collective creativity, and I think these classes are better than the sum of their parts because of how they all eventually relate to each other.

Best Monster Post: The d666 Monster Generator, by Louis and Locheil. Really fun to play around with, and created some really cool creatures.

Best Rules Post: The 2 Arbitrary Beings Who Are Exes Table by Louis. There were a lot of one-neat-trick posts this year, and this one was my favorite.

Honorable Mention: Esprit, recorded here by Lexi. While this was a hallmark of Locheil's bandwagon, I think the mechanic itself is just rock-solid.

Best Lore Post: Arise, Ye Wretched by Occultronics. Her bombastic and vital Hex setting takes a lot of the footwork, creative energy, and enthusiasm that I previously associated with Josie's ancient settings and puts it in this whole other milieu that just works so well. Sometimes it feels like a more grounded and modern setting can trade off with storytelling possibilities, but this just doesn't feel like it's the case here. Seems really fun.

Honorable Mention: I'll Have You Die for This! by Locheil. A trademark wit shows his trademark wit.

Best Theory Post: Firearms in Dungeon Crawls, by G. R. Michael. Just spitting the facts. In the past, I've complimented Michael's settings sense of materiality, and this is a good example of the mastery of basic facts that makes a DM seem authoritative to the laity.

Best Non-Dungeon Adventure Post*: I made this category separate from the others because I didn't know where to put those adventures that weren't per se dungeons, and it felt weird to place them under Rules or Other. I nominate The Heart of Communication by Regalia. Great execution on concept and thematic consistency, and some really fun details. I love Wolphelia d’Ream, the literal wolf who is the fourth most eligible lady in the region.

Best Other Post: the Spiceomancy Trading Card Game, by TheFirstGokun. Not only impressive for the art put into it and the special touches, but for showing the power of imagination. You could keep clicking the generator until you owned every card, you could could neglect to delete cards you trade away. But that would suck and you don't do that.

Honorable Mention: Anybody Remember the Gallon Man? by Mergo-Kan. When I was making the first draft of my noms, I knew that the Craftsman was going to be my nomination for Other, and as I was scrolling through I made Anybody Remember the Gallon Man by honorable mention. Then I noticed that the Craftsman was actually from 2024, which meant that for the ten minutes or so before I remembered the card game, Gallon Man was my #1 choice for miscellaneous glog posts in 2025.

My Conduct Can Want No Vindication (GLoG Class: Princess)

It is a tricky class to write. You want it to be social, but at home in dungeons and adventure situations. You want it to be capable, though it draws from a character type known for restraint. So it's tricky.

art by Arthur Rackham

Princess

Start with fine outfit (2 slots), knife-fan, monogrammed kerchief, silver mirror, candelabrum, pint of wine, velvet coinpurse, and Political Prospects. Each level, get +1 WIS.

A: Innocence, Command

B: Token

C: Soprano

D: Diplomacy

Innocence: each slot of finery or culturally significant attire gives you +2 AC, up to the point of equaling plate armor. If you take no dramatic action, no one will harm you worse than dragging you around by the arm. If you fight non-lethally, so will your adversaries. If captured, even scoundrels will spend a long time wheedling and threatening before harming or executing you.

Witches and demons are immune to Innocence.

Command: when not in immediate conflict, you can issue a demand for some kind of accommodation or favor and it will be received favorably, met according to what the target thinks is reasonable. You can use this ability only up to [template] times on the same target (undifferentiated squads and staffs count as the same target) before they sneer at your impetuosity.

Token: by conferring a kerchief or maunch on an ally, you empower them to act on your behalf, both politically and dramatically. If you spend a combat round intent on the willing bearer of your token, you can basically take an extra turn for them; moving them, having them strike a foe, etc.

The token must be prominently displayed and if lost the effect ends. Other PCs will probably be cool about the arrangement, but NPCs might expect some kind of alliance or favor in return.

Soprano: your singing is sweet and clear. In dungeon areas, it can summon an immediate random encounter with a minimum reaction roll equal to [template]x2

Diplomacy: as your envoy, the bearer of your token benefits from your Innocence ability when without armor and you may issue Commands through them. 

 

d12 Political Prospects

1. Single parent is the ruler of a small kingdom. They are evil and have opposite politics to you.

2. Parent and viperous step-parent rule a small kingdom. Step-parent wants you out of the way.

3. Loving parents rule a small kingdom, deep in debt to a witch, fallen chosen one, or dragon.

4. Loving parents driven from their small kingdom in a coup, slumming it in the hinterlands.

5. Loving parents rule a small kingdom despite being hopeless judges of character, trying to marry you off to a shitty baron.

6. NEVER RIGHT EXCUSE. She is a matte black +1 seax, with a hilt of damascene gold and colorful and distracting ribbons of fabric hanging from the pommel. Hates bullshitters and wormtongues, and will whisper to you, lambasting the phonies and suggesting that they'd be more useful in twain.

7. Parents murdered by conquering barbarian. Their former vassals seek to use you to retake the small kingdom.

8. Loving parents lead a complicated aristocratic elective monarchy. Always wheedling to the vassals.

9. Decent parent serves as figurehead of popular government that seized power 15 years ago. Desperate to use you to solidify their position.

10. Loving parents, uncommonly just and humble rulers of a small kingdom but about to combust due to an affair or guilt of a great crime.

11. Pragmatic parents rule a small suzerainty in fief to a hostile culture group, plotting rebellion.

12. Evil yet loving parents rule a small kingdom, running it into the ground and making you a political pariah.

Homo Ferox (GLoG Class: Assassin)

 The man who everyone wants to kill will only die by mistake. Whoever wins the hate of their people must have cruel guards and impervious safeguards, else they would have been taken away from life long ago. Sometimes, the mistake that kills them is the presence of someone who could not have intentionally gotten into the right position, but finds themselves in it now. A man sits in a restaurant and decides to hide a bomb on the sixth floor instead of the first, and his mark survives. Another man sulks in a restaurant because his mark got away, and he looks up to see that same mark in a stopped car, and so he gets his second chance.

Part of an assassin GLoG class bandwagon. Yo.

-ASSASSIN-

Start with a fold-out knife, petard, highly illegal thief's rope (50'), discrete cap and coat, and one really big time-delay bomb. At each level, get +1 to-hit or DEX.

• A: Infamy, Luck
• B: Improvisation
• C: Patience
• D: Old News

Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,

And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;

He knew human folly like the back of his hand,

And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;

When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,

And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

- Epitaph on a Tyrant, W. H. Auden

Infamy: By lucking into success precisely once, you have cut a clean line between your life before the kill and after. Authorities will hunt you, even if the leader you killed was their state's enemy. Such is life in this bitch age. Revolutionaries and creatures of the margins will assume you must be a high-level character, not to be trifled with lightly.

Luck: You have a pool of up to three Luck Points, which can be spent to reroll a failed attempt at moving quickly, sneaking, fast-talking, or searching; or to cause someone (of the DM's choice, usually a random civilian) to happen to be passing by; or to make it so an NPC recognizes you. You start with two Luck Points, because you spent one happening to be able to kill your famous mark. Recover a Luck Point every time the DM thinks you're screwed, or when you participate in the killing of a monstrous leader.

Improvisation: You have developed an instinct for sudden and shocking violence. Whenever you roll initiative, you can take an action, like attacking someone or running for it, before the combat starts. If that action is to attack someone unaware they're in danger, you automatically hit.

Patience: Spend a few days conferring with your contacts to establish where and when in the next couple weeks your target will come from their stronghold. Learn a bit about the guards and measures they will bring with them, and about their itinerary. There is a 2-in-6 chance that there are no trivial changes that threaten to scuttle your plan of attack.

Old News: The authorities you bested no longer hunt you; other authorities no longer fear you. This is just as you come into your own training the next generation of stupid daredevils. Your maximum number of Luck Points increases to six. They can be spent to aid an ally or protege you've prepped to do anything you can use them for; to tell if someone is hunting for you; or to reroll a save vs magic, explosions, and gunshot or stabbing-related wounds.

Those Things Which Happiness Distract Us From (GLoGtober 2024)

Acrostic GLoG class for GLoGtober 2024.

Edward Penfield

Bought Death

Commencing Skill: 1. Archaeology, 2. Glassblowing 3. Camels
Devices: gauzy cloak (as leather), worn staff, necklace of ineffectual charms, and a Nameless Wonder.

• 1: equipment slots +1, Intentional Hostage, Jacinth Eyes
• 2: find secret door +2-in-6, Kismet
• 3: grapple +2, Lacuna
• 4: HP +2, Mirage

Intentional Hostage: As long as you serve him, you are immune to other charm effects, suffocation, and swarms. Whenever you find a magic scroll, potion, or similar item, there is a 2-in-6 chance he will claim it and give you a different one, of similar power. All blunt weapons are loyal snakes in your hands, and magic blunt weapons are venomous.

Jacinth Eyes: They itch. You can glimpse fortune and misfortune. With a round of careful staring, you can sense if someone is cursed, or it they've hidden valuables on their body. If an ally would be the target of a critical hit, you can anticipate it and take the blow for them.

Kismet: In the wilderness, ask for an object and throw away valuables worth ten times what you ask so that no one will ever find it. Then, dig a hole. Your request will be granted.

Lacuna: With a minute of quiet begging, you can turn into [level] slots of red sand for any duration that you specify. After the specified duration, a random mote of sand grows back into you. Your belongings all transform with you, except for sufficiently powerful magic items or banes of your master.

Mirage: In the wilderness, ask for an oasis (50 gp), a village (100), a city (300) or other negotiated point of civilization and throw away the proper fee so that no one will ever find it. On the horizon, your request will be granted. Any inhabitants are his servants as well, but though most are less powerful they consider themselves of a separate and higher order than you, and always will.

Nameless Wonders (d12)

1. Opalescent belt. Converts sunlight into nourishment through pins along your waist.
2. Proven blade. Always lands blade-first when thrown. 1d4 damage, and attack with advantage if thrown while charging.
3. Quiver of sandstone arrows. Six. Utterly shatter against stone or metal targets, releasing the acid-jaw beetle within.
4. Red sash. Magic projectiles fired at you stick harmlessly to the silk, transfixed like stars in the heavens. Wizards will be able to identify your allegiance on sight if they spot the sash.
5. Secret name. Overheard when your death was paid for. Can be used to intimidate his other servants.
6. True death mask. Half-finished clay. Those who don it resemble you. When you don it, resemble a freakish (but anonymous) beetle-dame.
7. Unproven blade. Always lands handle-first when thrown. 1d4 subdual damage, and can be tossed to allies with no risk of harm out to 30 feet.
8. Vicious dog. Floppy ears and lanky build. The only one who may ever tolerate you.
9. Wax seal. The first thing you attach it to belongs to him. A most complicated sigil, but you can draw it without lifting your pen from the page.
10. Xenomorphic idol. When upended, makes a constant rainmaker sound. When fed, dances around.
11. Yellow cloak. Glistens in the midst of riches, and becomes powerful camouflage in treasuries, including inside dragons, fine coffins, and the Unsinking City of Altunsehir.
12. Zombie shoes. The first time you die, after 1d4 Turns you awake, mental stats halved. Slowly, slowly rot. At that point if you remove the shoes you shrivel up and fully cease.