https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I54YA3qp64Q&t=877s
Dnd 0. Supplements. Caltech’s addons.
Imlike the art, dragon at time 14:47.
Saturday, August 1, 2026
Dnd inspiration from Tarzan, the new adventures of (1935)
On tubi.
Near end of first episode, maybe 27 min or 37 min… the shot of the ruins as an archway with giant vines hanging down. Large columns in a row to either side fading into the distant background.
Some cool scenes and scenery. Ideas. The swarming savages. The ruins in the jungle. Sure there are some goofy parts, but a lot to be gleaned.
Magic Schools by daddy rolled a 1
Commenter- ericpeterson87… says
- Book, Ursula LenGuin’s Wizard of Earthsea and the Isle of Roak. maybe started the schools thing in 1968
- Master Chanter
- Master Namer
- Master Summoner
- Etc
- Those book(s) use True Names and other softer magic ideas, not Vancian. More art than science.
Friday, July 31, 2026
The Changeling (movie 1979/1980)
Spooky. Good. Disturbing. About 3/4 through it. Wheelchair covered in dust and cobwebs at the top of the stairs. Is she related to the boy? Oh….
https://mihocinema.com/the-changeling-1979-227464
The acting is really good.
Well… I’m not crazy about the rich and corruption angle. I prefer a more grounded, normal humanistic movie. Not some thing that glorifies this type of money grubbing political type.
But! The ending seems to be ramping up. Maybe satisfying , let’s see.
Broader movie landscape thoughts - -
The Amytyville Horror was released the same year 1979. The Shining in 1980. The first Spielberg movie about a haunted house was a tv movie in 1972 (nobody watched), but his (he wrote it) blockbuster haunted house movie Poltergeist with the line “They’re here” must have not been long after, maybe 1982. Lotsa haunted house movies.
Thursday, July 30, 2026
Hilarious analysis of prestidigitation
Hilarious analysis of prestidigitation by “xp to level 3” guy https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5ixXjdVt4kI&t=917s
Scooby-Doo’s influence on D&D
The influence would seem to be there overall, but it is seemingly obvious in the episode
Hassle in the Castle, s01:e03 of Scooby-Doo Where Are You?
- Old knight armor in haunted castles (one that is basically a trap with the axe coming down next to Shaggy’s head)
- A magic carpet
- a trap door (Daphne says “they say these old castles are full of traps” or something )
- A talking skull
- It’s in a castle!
- Finding loot (giant key clue) in an old chest
- Catacombs
- An old mummy sarcophagus in the background
- Magic items (ok it’s just a top hat and wand but you know… )
- A ghost
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Wrath of Khan, even better on rewatch
So why did he (Kahn)keep his right glove on? The world may never know.Supposedly Michael Jackson started his thing two years earlier in 1979 but it became a thing a year after this movie in 1982 (which is when us youngsters saw it) … so is it related or not? Coincidence I think. https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/19bfia8/what_is_the_purpose_of_this_device_that_khan/?solution=a5815bf4a4387efba5815bf4a4387efb&js_challenge=1&token=7afd7253fec22262ff1c52b1703fe9ecff6f378825601f4c8e1634b30517e585&jsc_orig_r=
Ole Ricardo Montalban was a heck of a villain. But the Pock scene and the lines of Kirk and son afterwards were moving. Good stuff.
Sunday, July 26, 2026
Results so far, our campaign - Entrope statblock, work in progress for 5e
G3, third level, mostly clear. Room 8 and room 15(?).
Wand of viscous globs… used the 5e version. Will only last an hour… sunlight (sunsword) will destroy in one hour. Kid beat me to it, used dimension door. Smart.
Killed 8, aka half the drow with a level 8 spell. Rest of drow retreated.
Then uncovered… the Entrope (2e monster). For next time! I've never been compelled to use a 2e Planescape monster, but this one works for what we are doing in G3 I think. It's like the drow worshipping the elder elemental evil type stuff have caused problems/caught the attention of this thing.
The Entrope is a fairly difficult sounding foe till you figure him out.
- https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Entrope
- https://www.completecompendium.com/appendix/entrope/
- Ote the book is Planescape Monstrous Compendium https://www.completecompendium.com/catalog/ps/2635/
- Some 2e stats below... so think of them in 2e terms and convert.
- For 5e conversion: I'm going to add 1 die to each super attack AoE thing... hell maybe I should add two, but we'll see.
- For 5e conversion: Maybe add a +5 per melee dmg.
- WHAT ELSE
- 2e stats below, as I was saying...
- Intelligence: Low to average (7-10) (((doesn't talk, but understands common))).
- Hit Dice: 11+6 --->>88+6 max HP for 2e, so in 5e terms probably stay around 200-300HP range.
- Movement: 12 for 2e, that means speed 60 ft. for 5e. VERY fast.
- Damage/Attack: (3 attacks) 1d8/1d8/1d12 for 2e, so add +5 for each for 5e.
- And for 5e, I think allow it to do these attacks AND the super AoE attacks ... almost every round instead of every 3 rounds. Need to do some math to be sure though... maybe every 3 rounds is better (But TELL the party??? Or do the visual description... all four of its eyes are lit up, BAM, a major AoE attack, now only one eye is lit up, next round 2 eyes light up, once four are lit up again, BLAM!) .
- XP Value: 10,000 for 2e, (that means dangerous at medium to even medium high levels maybe even in 5e).
- Dangerous tone right off the bat in description- There are holes throughout the multiverse. Call them conduits, portals or any other name, they're still holes. The Inner Planes are no exception. In fact, these planes in particular are full of tiny leaks where bits of one element seep into another plane. Some graybeards theorize that one day, in the far distant reaches of the future, the borders of the Elemental Planes will completely break down and all the elements will combine. Such a thing could signal the end of the multiverse, if it's true.
- Combat: Because the entrope can literally break down the fabric of reality, it's nothing to fool around with. Anywhere within the Inner Planes, the beast can “eat” through elermental borders, creating a small, temporary hole in space leading to any other Inner Plane. The rent results in a mass of the foreign element bursting into the plane with great power. While the entrope itself isn't harmed by this action, anyone within 25 feet is subject to the elemental explosion. The results depend on which plane the hole leads to (a decision made by the entrope):
- Air, Earth, Mineral, Ooze, Salt, Water: Matter or air explodes through the hole with great force, inflicting 3d10 points of impact damage (save versus breath weapon for half). Victims must save versus breath weapon or be knocked down and/or back 10 feet; they're also stunned for 1 round afterward.
- Ash, Dust, Smoke, Steam: Particulate matter bursts through the tear, inflicting 2d6 points of impact damage (save versus breath weapons for half). What's more, all victims must save versus poison or cough and choke for 1d6 rounds, incapacitated.
- Fire, Lightning, Positive Energy, Radiance: Raw energy gushes through the rent, inflicting 8d6 points of damage (save versus breath weapon for half).
- Ice, Magma: Energy (along with varying amounts of matter) erupts through the tear, inflicting 6d6 points of heat or cold damage (save versus breath weapon for half). Victims must save versus breath weapon or be knocked down and/or back 10 feet.
- Negative Energy: This hole sucks the life energy from all victims, draining one experience level from each. (((In 5e Terms, it'd just last a day)))
- Vacuum: Matter and energy is drawn into this rent. The implosion inflicts 3d6 points of damage (save versus breath weapon for half) on victims and requires them to make a save versus death magic to avoid being pulled into the plane of Vacuum before the hole closes. (((In 5e terms.... OMG this is scary as hell. Good thing party has some wish ring stuff.)))
- The entrope can open these holes once every three rounds. The rest of the time, it defends itself with two huge claws (1d8 points of damage each) and a gigantic tooth-filled maw (1d12 points of damage).
- The strange creature is also immune to the effects of all elements, even ignoring impact damage from thrown boulders or similar attacks. Graybeards know of only two ways to harm an entropy[entrope they meant]: strike it with a magical weapon of +2 or greater enchantment, or subject it to nonelemental-based spells such as cause light wounds, magic missile, and so on.
- ok
- So Extras I might add for our 5e campaign -
- maybe it can go into a hole in one spot and teleport to anywhere nearby and reappear... making a new hole. OUCH. So maybe that makes it seem gone for half a round or something? Think of it like 5e Lair Actions or something, in which case it is skipping the turn of one or two goodguys and then appearing in backlines to do dmg on casters.
- Head or body changes
- it's head might change to be the head of a dragon for a split second when doing certain elemental attacks
- head might be more like an UNDEAD(?? or is that spacey enough) for a split second when doing a Negative Energy attack. How about... Black Void like a blackhole??
- head might be like a beholder (it already looks like one) when...
- head split second like a fish-sea-serpent-whale when water and salt attack
- head split sec like a ... volcano(????) when doing ash, dust, smoke, steam............ maybe something better, but what..........
- If it hits with a claw, maybe it gets an auto-bite and doesn't have to roll to hit for bite? Or maybe if it hits with 1st or 2nd attack, it auto hits on just one more attack. If MISS MISS then HIT I'm rolling for 3rd attack, that's it... it'll either hit with 3rd attack or not.
- So in 5e Terms -
- can say arcane type dmg would work, like magic missile or eldrich blast. I might still stick to +2 magic weapons or greater, since the party has SOME of those.
- NOPE, they mention Radiant.
Would RADIANT dmg count... that'd make the sunsword yet another counter to something so... not sure it should count. Think about it though. Radiant spells aren't super common, the warlock has them and has eldrich blast. Maybe that'd be OK since only Sunbeam would work for Druid.... - Since it is about entropy, I think a RANDOM save stat roll is appropriate for each big AoE attack. So it could be anything if I do it this way... might be Int, might be Dex, might be Con. Is that cooler/funner?
Sidenote, what is this?! https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmonsters/comments/yl9ims/monster_manual_expanded_ii_2nd_edition_update_2/
Movie - Night of the Comet
Better than expected. What a slice of 1980s west coast teen movie… favorite pieces so far are
- The competition around initials on arcade games… Tempest was cool.
- After practice with a Mac-10 machinegun, it keeps jamming… the younger sister says something like “That’s the problem with these things. Daddy would have gotten us an uzi.” This is definitely 1980s lore we all knew.
Origins and future influence (I think)
- 28 Days Later. Speedy zombies. Empty city.
- Shaun of the dead. Zombie comedy. Empty city.
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