The Doug Alone

On Why A REBIRTH Is Needed A few months ago I had an idea: a solo game that could be played entirely on my phone or on a few index cards with some dice. The ultimate portable solo RPG. Not only portable physically but also mentally . Playable in about an hour across 2-3 sessions: perfect for playing in downtimes and lunchbreaks.  This blog exists because I wanted somewhere for me to take these notes and sum them up with additional ideas and reflections so it wasn't me having to sort through a bunch of post-it notes and Google Keep documents. Continuity could be kept low with a fairly episodic vibe where I did not have to worry much about referencing various threads or open plotlines. This was in part an anti-continuity campaign where each episode was like a 90s TV show. Worldbuilding would be going on but it could be summed on a napkin to avoid scaring off new viewers.  Over time, though, the episodes got longer and the accruing silt was getting chunkier. A lot longer. "Episo...

Note: This whole post will be out-of-character and just in "Doug Notes" mode. Leveling Up to Level 4 The four adventurers hit level four with the most recent outing so we will work on that, first.  Grusk gets +6HP (bringing his total to 21). His Weapon Mastery will also hit 1+2 (1+1/2levels rounded down). This brings his total bonus to hit to +4 for all weapons (STR+ & Talent) and +7 for axes. He also gets +3 damage when using axes. My boy! His title rank remains Barbarian Inar gets +3HP (18 total). He gets an additional 2nd level Priest spell. While Smite is tempting, I'm going for Cleansing weapon (+1d4 extra damage, +1d6 vs Undead) since he tends to be the kind to cast spells on others for effect. His title remains Invoker. Tom gets +4HP (15 total). He gets an additional dice to his backstab (+3D in total, though that is +3d4 for his attacks). His title remains Outlaw.  Rance gets +3HP (12 total). He gets an additional send level Wizard spell. I'm going for Mis...

The lifecycle of your average cyclops is barely studied by civilized folks because your average cyclops is prone to tossing large rocks (see also: large sheep, small boats, horses) at any one who gets close enough to ask where do cyclops babies come from. The answer is essentially the obvious one. Despite being very solitary, despite being very territorial, cyclopes are born the same way as you and I. Just more aggressively. There are certain species of large cat that roam the Pearl that have a similar mating cycle. A temporary truce, of sorts, is established to allow for procedures. Unlike big cats, the typical cyclops mating ritual involves a gift of a few sheep, a few barely missed boulder throws, and a loud argument about who should approach first. At some point, the offspring are deemed old enough to be interfering with the mother's territory and more large boulders and shouting tends to commence. However, sibling groups can occasionally tolerate each other a shade better and ...

"The Bleak" (in this case, using the term to mean the remains of the Barthic Empire that have been attacked and absorbed by "The Bleak," folks in Grunce use the word to mean roughly eighteen different things at the same time) is the large scale corpse of a once thriving empire built upon the back of an even more Ancient empire whose technology once dominated the world even beyond the late . Though the spread of The Bleak took decades, that was relatively abrupt for an empire stretching back two millennia. Even a hundred years into Bleak's spread, several of the great Houses and Cities attempted to hold fast, gathering up their people and their treasure into a open air grave.  Now those many, many last stands are abandoned or their new residents no longer remember what it was like to be human. Strange misshapen things wandering through halls full of gold and silk crying out in a voice of a language that no sane throat could make.  For those brave enough to travel...

On Being and Becoming and the Fall of the Ancients In the language of the ancients the names of the twin islands were Artuunila and Siluutila: the place of being ( siluut ) and the place of becoming ( artuun ). There were not mere philosophical notions, but a way to describe the great immanent energy in these lands. Artuun warped and changed those exposed to it. Siluut reinforced the nature of things but in doing so made things outsized. Artuun turned a mountain into a magical plateau of strange fay magic. Siluut turned a mountain into a huge monolith beyond comprehension.  Both took time. The creatures and plants on Artuunila shifted and merged in strange ways. The creatures and plants on Siluutila grew large and strong and severe. Neither was a place for civilization, both would inherently destroy any attempt to tame the land. Until the Ancients did just that by discovering uuxa: a form of energy generated by the tension where the two forced clashed.  Uuxa is the same energy...