https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DbPJi-_94ms
Maybe not. Good vid. Idea is all land vertibrates have nostrils in front.
Blood vessels indicate maybe those sauropods like Brachiosaurus did too.
Friday, April 24, 2026
Neo Geo
Hah you saw they re releasing the neo geo, new console version still backwards compatible with original cartridges? Out in November
Backstory 2 maybe
Elminster Aumar, known as the Sage of Shadowdale, was born around 212 DR in the kingdom of Athalantar. His life changed dramatically when a dragon killed his parents, leading him to seek revenge and eventually become a powerful wizard after being trained by elves and a sorceress, while also experiencing a life of thievery and adventure
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Backstory maybe - Pathfinder char. Portrait maybe.
You know... from the gpt.
Had to start over b/c each iteration was erasing the magic.
Much manual editing.
==========Possible Names from me, not ai slop
- Blklzrd
- See the list from the vid game, Absolum
- Fangorn -> Fengron / Fengorn
- Osprey Fengron
==========
==========Below is the ai backstory. Below that is an edit of it.
He was born where the dirt never really leaves your hands.
Out beyond the last real road, where fences give up and forests take over, his family kept a small stretch of land carved out of wild country. They weren’t rich, and they didn’t try to be. They raised what they needed, traded when they had to, and learned early that nature wasn’t something you owned—it was something you survived alongside.
His name is Rowan Hale.
As a boy, Rowan didn’t talk much. While other kids learned stories from books, he learned them from tracks in the mud, broken branches, and the way birds went silent before something dangerous moved through. He could tell when a storm was coming by the smell of the air, and he knew which animals to leave alone—and which ones needed help.
The magic came quietly.
It started with small things: a wounded fox that didn’t run from him, a dying sapling that somehow took root again after he sat beside it for hours, whispering without knowing why. His mother called it a blessing. His father called it something to keep quiet about. Out there, anything strange could bring trouble.
Rowan didn’t see it as strange. It felt… natural. Like breathing.
As he grew older, the woods began to answer him more clearly. Vines shifted when he asked. Animals lingered near him, not as pets, but as equals. A hawk once followed him for three days straight. A wolf pack let him pass through their territory untouched, watching but never threatening. He never claimed to control them—he understood them. And they understood him.
Then came the men who didn’t.
A band of raiders—cutthroats and deserters—pushed into the region one hard summer. They hunted recklessly, burned brush to flush out game, poisoned a creek to trap animals more easily. When Rowan’s family confronted them, it didn’t end in words.
By the time it was over, the land was scarred, and Rowan was alone.
Grief did not break him. It hardened him.
He buried his family where the forest meets the field, planting trees above them—oak, ash, and pine. He stayed there through the changing seasons, and the magic within him deepened into something sharper. No longer just growth and healing, it learned teeth.
The next time the raiders returned, they didn’t leave.
Rowan did not chase them in anger. He waited. The forest helped him. Paths twisted. Roots tripped. Wolves howled in the night, driving fear into men who had once brought it so easily. One by one, the raiders fell—not to rage, but to inevitability.
Afterward, Rowan understood something important: nature does not forgive. It balances.
Now he walks beyond his home, carrying that balance with him.
He is not a druid in robes, nor a wandering sage. He looks like what he is—a man from the country. Worn boots, practical gear, a bow that’s seen real use, and a quiet intensity that makes most people think twice before crossing him. Animals still travel with him at times—a crow on a branch overhead, a stray dog that refuses to leave, a stag watching from the trees—but never as servants.
He protects wild places first. People second.
But when people become the kind that poison rivers, burn forests, or prey on the helpless… Rowan doesn’t hesitate. To him, they’re no different than a blight or a rot.
And rot, he has learned, must be cut out.
============================================
==========version edited below [it is REALLY a Druid vibe, too much for the char]==========
Ideas for cantrips or 1st lvl: https://ashenvault.com/pathfinder-sorcerer-spells/
Out beyond the last real road, where fences give up and forests take over, his family kept a small stretch of land carved out of wild country. They raised what they needed, traded when they had to, and learned early that nature wasn’t something you owned—it was something you survived alongside.
His name is Rowan Hale, Osprey Fengorn, Ylf Blklzrd. Ylfar . Ylgorn.
As a boy, Rowan while he learned stories from books, he learned more from tracks in the mud, broken branches, and the way birds went silent before something dangerous moved through. He could tell when a storm was coming by the smell of the air, and he knew which animals to leave alone.
The magic came quietly.
It started with small things: he could see further in the dark than his friends. A breeze would stir up leaves in the exact way he would imagine it just a moment before. Sometimes he could feel magic coming from a place alongside a wooded trail, then suddenly gone as quickly.
Rowan didn’t see it as strange. It felt… natural. Like breathing.
As he grew older, the woods began to answer him more clearly. Vines shifted when he asked. Animals lingered near him. A hawk once followed him for three days straight. A wolf pack let him pass through their territory untouched, watching but never threatening. He never claimed to control them—he understood them. And they understood him.
Then came the men who didn’t.
A band of raiders—cutthroats and deserters—pushed into the region one hard summer. They hunted recklessly, burned brush to flush out game, poisoned a creek to trap animals more easily. When Rowan’s family confronted them, it didn’t end in words.
By the time it was over, the land was scarred, and Rowan was alone.
Grief did not break him. It hardened him.
He buried his family where the forest meets the field, planting trees above them—oak, ash, and pine. He stayed there through the changing seasons, and the magic within him deepened into something sharper. It learned teeth.
And he wasn't exactly alone after all. Besides the animals, one day he found a magic item... seemingly left for him. It might have been a rod or a wand... didn't matter, he knew as soon as he touched it what it could do.
The next time the raiders returned, they didn’t leave.
Rowan did not chase them in anger. He waited with the item of magic the fairy[or unknown] left behind. The forest helped him. Paths twisted. Roots tripped. Wolves howled in the night, driving fear into men who had once brought it so easily. Waiting down a twisting rabbit trail with just enough openess to see the bastards from afar, he'd strike. One by one, the raiders fell—not to rage, but to inevitability.
Afterward, he understood something important: nature does not forgive. It balances. So it was with him.
The magic in the stick spent, his family avenged, he set out. Now he walks beyond his home, carrying that balance with him.
He is not a druid in robes, nor a wandering sage. He looks like what he is—a man from the country. Worn boots, practical gear, a bow that’s seen real use, and a quiet intensity that makes most people think twice before crossing him. Animals still travel with him at times—a crow on a branch overhead, a stray dog that refuses to leave, a stag watching from the trees.
He protects wild places first. People second.
But when people become the kind that poison rivers, burn forests, or prey on the helpless… Rowan doesn’t hesitate. To him, they’re no different than a blight or a rot.
And rot, he has learned, must be cut out.
Fighter Wizard Elf - game by the D&D 3e guy
Fighter Wizard Elf
Very interesting. One of the main authors of 3e, Ars Magica, 13th Age, etc. (and teamed with main guy from 4e for one of those games after 3e) from what I understand, is Jonathan Tweet.
- An $8 stripped down 90% complete RPG book from the mind that made those others.
- Just by the name, I already kinda like it.
- https://angusabranson.com/2026/04/10/rpg-pdf-spotlight-fighter-wizard-elf-my-rules-for-bare-metal-d20-gaming-by-jonathan-tweet/
- (RPG PDF Spotlight) Fighter Wizard Elf — My Rules for Bare Metal D20 Gaming by Jonathan Tweet
- Jonathan Tweet is the ONLY author for this RGP, so you get a clear vision.
- Gist is, says SlyFlourish,
- Give new school powers at old school speed.
- Summary of Fighter Wizard Elf features:
- Player-centered Campaigning
- Quick Character Creation = Nice but not a huge deal. Unless you die a lot(?).
- Hard-hitting Class Powers = Good.
- Cut-to-the-chase Combat = I like a lot.
- Improvisation-friendly Monster Building = Interesting.
- Powerful Magic Weapons, Potions, and other Items = Good.
Sly Flourish talks about midway thru: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecEqsFoCPZY
https://slyflourish.podbean.com/e/fighter-wizard-elf-%E2%80%93-lazy-rpg-talk-show/
Can buy on drivethru here (vanilla link, no affiliate or yt stealing, etc.) : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/561593/fighter-wizard-elf-my-rules-for-bare-metal-d20-gaming?src=hottest_filtered
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Osric Portrait grab needed; super cool trap drawings
Time 5:10, yt about Osric. That mage, just edit out the clocks.
Free PDFs:
- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/550861/osric-3-0-player-guide
- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/553628/osric-3-0-gamemaster-guide
And maybe more after that
- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qdX0XVocd3M&t=312s
- Trap drawings at 5:46.
Full Mage, from the free PDFs on drivethru:
Ai took out clocks.
From free version:
Monday, April 20, 2026
Libre wolf instead of pure FF?
LibreWolf is Built on FireFox with all telemetry turned off. Comes w/ ublock origin. Sounds nice.
- (Doesn't come with noscript tho so... meh, I'd have to redo that).
- OKKKKK, I installed noscript and it had all google and youtube trusted by default. What?? Kinda fishy. Is that a noscript new thing or a librewolf thing. Very weird. That is with the default STRICT DENY ALL option right out of the gates. Very funky, never saw that before.
Duckduckgo doesn’t use Chromium, uses webkit and and.
And many super unknown browsers from Japan and stuff use other things, not Chromium, says the commentors.
GloomRaider - a small TTRPG (free stuff), like Shadowdark
GloomRaider... guy says "Gloomraider is an RPG based on Shadowdark, but with many changes or adjustments taken from or inspired by the 1970s and 80s editions of D&D. In this video I .."
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwn-bE69QA0&t=1048s
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhy5HbZ8qHA&t=1060s
It is interesting, and I'll say very cool for gamer folks to make their own thing to such a degree it's an official release. Wish I had the time and umph to make one.
Well, here is a lot of it for free or pay what you will:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/513378/gloomraider-osr-rpg-quick-start-basic-rules
Free module, basic on purpose: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/515076/gloom-beneath-the-sorcerer-s-tower-osr-adventure-for-gloomraider-rpg?src=also_purchased
- I need to go review it, once they make me wait long enough ... reading this free module, it sounds really solid (if simple).
Personally, if it has ascending AC, I wouldn't mind giving it a try. I like what he says here:
Official description partly says this, which I like:Thanks! In short I'd say GloomRaider is like Shadowdark for AD&D instead of 5e. The primary difference is the way various mechanics are handled. I go more with old school D&D mechanics as opposed to 5e mechanics. If you are familiar with all the editions of D&D, you'll see bits and pieces of many of them in GloomRaider, like: - Ability score modifiers are the traditional bell curve -3/+3 (Basic D&D editions) - Modifier improvements are more tied to leveling than increasing ability scores (Pre-WotC D&D) - Racial ability score adjustments (AD&D) - Racial traits (AD&D) - Spells (AD&D & Basic D&D) - Casting spells includes "Vancian" style - Monsters (AD&D) - Class traits more in-line with AD&D Things from Shadowdark that I handle differently: - Advantage/Disadvantage is adding or subtracting 1d4 - Class traits are a bit different, but generated similarly to Shadowdark - Incorporates "roll-to-cast" spells differently - Gear slots is very similar but has slight differences The one-hour real time light is unchanged from Shadowdark. In general GloomRaider is more like AD&D and Basic D&D than 5e and Shadowdark, but is easily adapted into Shadowdark as houserules.
You have been blessed with certain gifts above the average folk in the world that you have chosen to put to use to either defend the world from those denizens of the dark or simply to raid into the gloom to return with riches and glory. You are known to the common folk as a gloom raider! A hero to some, a menace to others.
The idea behind GloomRaider is to take place in a "world of megadungeons". To do that, take any medieval fantasy/D&D setting (published or homebrew) and advance it 2,000 years after a post-Medieval apocalyptic event where gods, angels, titans, demons, devils, and dragons warred for control of the world. The common peoples living on the surface went underground for protection, carving out vast labyrinths in which they lived for a thousand years before being forced to escape back to the surface. And for another thousand years they've been remaking their civilizations in the sunlit world. Those old underground homes are now the "megadungeons" of the Gloom, as numerous under the lands as cities and towns are on the surface.
Gloomraider is an alt-D&D RPG that came out of work I had been doing to create my own OSR RPG since 2009 after running the Castles & Crusades RPG for a couple years. It is a mix of AD&D, B/X D&D, with some 3e D&D elements and heavily influenced by the Shadowdark RPG, plus some of my own additions.
And he said all money (from the small pay what you will thingie) will go to paying for custom art to put in the main books. Cool.
Sunday, April 19, 2026
Analysis of Alice in Wonderland characters
Great Analysis of book chararcters: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/alice/character/the-mad-hatter/
Film from 1972 had the griffin from the book. There was a weird turtle with a calf's head in both also.
Blog about 1972 film https://fairylayers.blogspot.com/2011/04/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-1972.html
Cartoon: I thought he was more menacing... maybe that was the caterpillar.
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Giant statues kiinda kneeling but looking up, Ben Hur movie
In the 1959 Ben Hur movie at the start of the big chariot battle, time 2:43:00 on Tubi.
These statues are weird… remind me of the gnoll boss miniature. Slightly oft proportions, some gands too big n blocky. Stylized tho. Squatting kneeling grimacing, looking upwards clutching their weapons and shields. One guy has an axe and helmet. Another guy, holds his tiny shield like a discus, and he has what looks like a flute... see the bearded statue guy below.
See his axe. Note the golden dolphin fish they flipped to keep track of race laps.
The poster even has one of the statues.
And this freaky tree thing... it's like 4 tortured trees merged into one. Or maybe it was one gigantic tree at one time but the middle rotted away, it's hard to tell. Time 3:39 at at other times:
Blogs to see: https://www.peplumtv.com/ has a ton of old sword and sandal stuff, pretty cool stuff I've never seen before. Like:
Scenes from QUO VADIS (1951)
Sheids from THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HELEN OF TROY (1927)
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Dnd ish game, Esoteric Ebb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJaJEUkh_b4
Looks great. Ok, it is a talker… super talker.
Styled after this 2019 game apparently https://www.wired.com/story/disco-elysium-the-final-cut/
Quote
you need similarly obsessed writers. Revachol, the city you’re in, has 1 million words per square kilometer. The game remembers that ludicrous thing you said about art and that mishap you had with that gardener. Your mind—through the talking skills—will later prompt you to become an art critic. And that gardener will eviscerate you for your comments.”
Space atmosphere trivia; living things size trivia game
- Most meteors burn up in the mesosphere... about 48 tons every day.
- Temps in the thermosphere can get up to 4500 F but molecules are very far apart, such that a person wouldn't feel the heat (from the "air").
- Sprites (atmosphere ... Pecos Hank type) can be 50 km long, while normal lightning is around 4 km in length.
- Bar-tailed Godwit is a bird.
- There is more than one type of Griffin vulture.
Via
https://neal.fun/space-elevator/
This is awesome too: https://neal.fun/size-of-life/
- Polio facts are scary... read up on:
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/history-disease-outbreaks-vaccine-timeline/polio
- 1948-1955 - Before a polio vaccine became available, several polio epidemics had occurred between 1948 and 1955. Many people avoided crowds and public gatherings, such as fairs, sports games and swimming pools, during this time due to concern about getting polio. Some parents wouldn't let their children play with new friends and regularly checked them for symptoms.
- Wow did this attitude affect how parents/grandparents of that time functioned and lived? Wild.
- Had no idea about Myxobolus Shekel, the smallest known animal, a parasite.
- We produce ~ 1 billion white blood cells a day
- Amoebas are weird
- Why are water bears so ultra tough?
- House mice can fit in a hole the size of a DIME?!
- While the largest insect fossil was like 1' 4'' long or something, the giant centi/millipede thing, Arthropleura was 8.5 or maybe 9 feet long. Nine Feet Long. OMG, I knew about this thing, but realizing it is so much bigger than the giant dragonfly-cousin is crazy. The Carboniferous period for the oxygen win I guess (for both of these monsters).
- Weird stalked eyes like a crustacean. https://www.sciencing.com/1761804/largest-prehistoric-arthropod-nightmare-fuel/
- Kinda a real life Carrion Crawler. Yikes.
- Speaking of the giant dragonfly cousin, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganeura, back then hardly anything was flying. This is before dinos, etc. so like... only insects flew maybe?
- A scientist lady on yt said they think insects became strong flyers b/c of birds eating them. So this original giant dragonflycousin was probably more clumsy.
- https://a-z-animals.com/animals/insects/the-10-largest-dragonflies-in-the-world/
- There is a jellyfish, Lion's Mane, that has a 7 foot diameter top bell thing. OMG. It's sort of taking up the space of a Mammoth, are you kidding me.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Portraits for D&D, some ai (puke) tweaking for speed
If I get time, I might just color it myself. The ai, puke, ai stuff is killing me a little.
FINAL I HOPE:
#10, final i hope.
Real from B/X books.
Oh yeah... it combined the blackness of the cloak with the robes so now it looks wonky, like the robes are 6 feet wide at the chest height level.
Manual edit in gimp... slightly better. But now I notice the glyph on the head looks wrong, cuz it looks like it is a metal band sitting right on top of his head. Better to be just drawing this by hand with a pencil and paper.
OK headband kinda fixed, looks less like a metal headband at least. I filled in the glyphs on his robe's arm... meh.
More to do (way more manual edits in Gimp):
- need to straight line the cape or remove it.
- add more glyphs on the robes, see orig.
- I wonder if making all the glyphs more silver and less dull grey would be better. And do they need that outline?
- check Raistlin glyphs
- no outline
- thinner
#10, final I hope. OK, on DNDbeyond, you can't see the rune detail anyway so, glad I didnt' spend time on that. Made the robe more natural (thinner) under his armpit/that side, looks better. Defined the cloak darker, helped. Had to get rid of Swoosh lines, it didn't read correctly on the tiny portrait display on dndbeyond. Also had to make the white outline under his armpit to make it more defined. Seems OK now.
NEED TO DO:
- Now I think the top of the cape/cloak on the left needs a lighter shade to show light on the edge (see orig).
======================================
Earlier was thinking - Maybe I'll try another route.
Monday, April 13, 2026
The Dark Queen of Mortholome, game
You are the final boss. Souls style game, flipped on its head. Cool idea.
Yt is ai talker, but https://www.youtube.com/shorts/unEZ18Vcjj8
Sunday, April 12, 2026
History of fossils and archeologists
Way more drama and entertaining than youd think.
The Bone War finally explained and why (one guy slighted the other for his mistake on elasmosaurus).
Interest in dinos through 1920s, then died out by snobbery during depression and ww2.
Deinonychus and that awesome art was by a paleontologist grad student, it changed everything around 1975, the Renaissance of dino fossil reaearch.
Fossil middle of stone axehead or spearhead
Handaxe on left. Right? Spearhead would be cool . A shell fossil in middle get pict
Time 1:45 examples of 2:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V7jbRjZ0al8
Twisted Sifter - dnd story
From Noone of Consequence. He found. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=555IBXHv6D8&pp=0gcJCdoKAYcqIYzv
Btw, random trinket and name generator https://www.thievesguild.cc/tables/trinkets-large
Tensor’s floating Disc - ideas
Use for offense/trap.
Door -
Hide a “bomb” under it, knoxk on a door and watch the wnemy open a door, see the disc… will they hop on top? Cancel disc at right moment.
Bomb= Could have snakes under it.
Pit traps - Cover a pit trap and run across, drop disc when enemy on it.
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Zog Bogbean, names for dnd from music
Zog Bogbean is the Marcy Playground singer guy's temp alternate band/ album.
And that’s a perfect name in dnd.
Also near perfect names are some of the small plant names around like
- Giant ragweed
- Leavenworth’s Vetch
- Vetch
- Cleavers
- Fiddle dock
- Zog Bogbean
Friday, April 10, 2026
Dnd cartoons ep 10 and 11 official
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n1RshIJTqX0&ra=m
Time 16:40, love the midair turn around pose of the phantom stalker… great fight!
Time 17:00, great comedy... what a minute, did the The Princess Bride's funny slow priest guy's long winded marriage stuff come from this little D&D cartoon episode, am I remembering right?
The Princess Bride's quote "Mawage. Mawage is what bwings us togethah today. Mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam wifin a dream!
__________ and __________ have come here to make this tweasured agweement in front of their family and fwiends, pwomising their commitment in this holy and magnificent pwace, today and each day fowawd.
We would not be here today without wuv. Wuv, twoo wuv between these two. Twoo wuv will follow you forevah, so tweasure your wuv, __________ and __________, always. "
Creatures:
Ep.10 - The giant dragon looking thing with the venomous tooth is claimed to be a Dragon Turtle, by wikipedia.
Phantom stalkers in ep 10.
Bullywugs, with pronunciation at the end of ep 11. "Dear me! Bullywugs!"
Both episodes had me scratching my head even years ago… the DM said go north. Soon after, south. Well it was an imposter. But then, they went that way anyway.
I love it when the phantom stalker was still trying to impersonate DM, and was speaking but he changed back and was in his scary PS voice.
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Good weeds for insects, pollinators
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nhxlGEltPGI&t=313s
The funny Backyard Ecologist dude with the eyebrows beard n hat.
priest doing exorcism
Note 2 versions of priest doing exorcism. What is spraying out of the cross/crucifix, is that blood?
https://fineartamerica.com/art/paintings/exorcism
Monday, April 6, 2026
Inspiring Views of Canadian mountains
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1YNPcXX6ygA&t=5608s
Time 1:33:28 might be my favorite. Mystical, haunting, and beautiful.
Our campaign idea- dragonborn wildshape
As a druid, he knew the druid powers only allowed for animals… not magical creatures. But being dragonborn, couldn’t help but think… maybe, just maybe.
And inf G3, when going against the 2 red dragons… the Acorn Amulet might activate to help him make the change to a dragon himself.
Saturday, April 4, 2026
D&D Triceratops custom stats
To make it compete with the Giant Croc, can hit twice every round
+9 for 4d8+6 gore
+9 for 3d8+5 stomp
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