Quick note: Continuing Conversation

Since my last post, Kainenchen and the Wombat Warlord (which could be the title of a kind of awesome YA novel, I think) have each written extensive posts on topics related to mine. As they’ll be relevant to any further posts I make on this topic, I wanted to post […]


Player Investment and the Unfamiliar 12

For the past several weeks, I’ve been involved in relatively frequent conversations on a related set of topics with Kainenchen, Samhaine, the Wombat Warlord, and this guy. This got started as a result of talking about the theoretical setting in which the veytikka and the beruch dwell. From the start, […]


The Dust to Dust Website and Rulebook

I am pleased to announce the launch of the Dust to Dust website and rulebook.Please excuse a few remaining issues in the editing of the rulebook and a few remaining areas of the website.Committee members will do all that we can to answer your questions. We are accepting early drafts […]


Spirit of the Century: Thoughts from a few sessions 4

Particularly because Samhaine is writing his system review of Spirit of the Century right now, I’m going to pull together as many thoughts as I can about my experience playing in the sessions he ran. My character was Max Gable, lesser-known twin brother of This Guy. Max was particularly skilled in […]


Another new race: the Beruch 3

As promised in the last post, here are the beruch. Since their initial mention, I’ve decided that their growths are actually silicate, so they actually are quartz growths. But anyway, on to the idea.The BeruchThe partially crystalline beruch have arrived from an island reportedly far to the south. Their red […]


Late-night ideas: the Veytikka 18

I am giving myself permission to look away from the Dust to Dust rulebook writing long enough to post this. I’ve been thinking of creating some completely new races for whatever my next D&D campaign might be. I came up with one a few days ago, and another two last […]


Money Sinks: A Different Angle 3

In talking about the system of upkeep I discussed in the last post, Kainenchen, this one guy, and I worked out another sort of monetary drain, to be used in place of or in conjunction with the upkeep mentioned previously. This started as a discussion of how players should be […]


Play, As Time Goes By 7

If this isn’t the first post you’ve read in this blog, you’ll probably realize that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about crafting in tabletop games lately. Talking around and through the problems with designing a crafting system has brought me to another point that bears discussion, and that […]


Crafting Systems in Tabletop Games: AD&D, Second Edition 3

I made some references in this post to crafting in 2e. Since then, I dug out my 2e Player’s Handbook and Complete Fighter’s Handbook to reread the rules there. What I found there was interesting for what it is and what it isn’t. Let me start by pointing out that these […]


MKULTRA D&D: Session report 2

(See previous post.) I was fortunate that we eventually wound up with four players and a lot of time to play in the game I ran this past Sunday. It looked for awhile like that might not pan out thanks to the Great Southern Ice Age of 2010. The party […]