Are those Will-O’-Wisps?

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H6kFRvtqDbA&pp=0gcJCRMMAYcqIYzv

The House of Ghosts (1906) // The Haunted House (1907) - a French film says wikiped. 

Time 5:30 or so, fireballs flying around, about 5 inch diameter. Seems like Will-of-the-Wisps to me. Well, wikipedia says something about ball lightning, so maybe it is that. But that's not very ghostly is it? There was a lightning bolt in an earlier scene. 

This blog says the fires are "little ghosties", so yeah, to me that's back to the Will-o'-Wisps. https://monstermoviemusic.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-house-of-ghosts-1906.html

Gygax and Arneson - a Seventh Game was Created by Humanity

 I love this little piece, how it opens up  your mind. We are starting to see all the ramifications of D&D (every other video game created, movies, etc. etc.). What lies in the future? 

https://kotaku.com/fantasys-widow-the-fight-over-the-legacy-of-dungeons-1833127876 quote:

Stormberg, a former archaeologist with circular glasses, clean-cut blonde hair, and an excitable disposition, sees the 1973 birth of Dungeons & Dragons as nothing less than a major moment in human history. “For two millennia, no new games had ever been created,” he said. “Human beings had only created six types of tabletop games. Dice games, plot games, card games, board games, miniature games and pen and paper games like Hang Man.”

“A seventh game was created by humanity. A seventh game! That didn’t exist before! And it was created by two guys who lived in the United States in my lifetime! It’s just a game, right, but millennia have gone by without a new type of tabletop game being created. This is the event horizon. We’re right here on the event horizon. We can’t see it. We’re not far enough away from it to understand how it has changed the world.”

 

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. 

The D&D cartoon items in D&D 5.5e 2024

 Energy Bow, we have it, love it, so versatile: https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/magic-items#Energy-Bow

• Can restrain
• Can save your friends from a distance (treats like a teleport back to you, but we reskin to be it grabs you and brings you back quickly)

Hat of Many Spells, might be good: https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/magic-items#Hat-of-Many-Spells

Shield of the Cavalier, nice: https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/magic-items#Shield-of-the-Cavalier

• Has a super invul type sphere thing like in the cartoon
• Powerful bash attack

Quarterstaff of the Acrobat, quite nice: https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/magic-items#Quarterstaff-of-the-Acrobat

• once per rest when you're hit with an attack while holding the quarterstaff, you can spend a reaction to gain a +5 armor class bonus against that attack.
• Adv on acrobats checks when 10 foot pole form, but can't use it to deflect or throw this way. 

Thunderous Greatclub - I love in the cartoon how he has to knock it on something, gently or hard, to activate, very cool: https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/magic-items#Thunderous-Greatclub

• Can knock people down
• Destroys objects well (just like cartoon)

D&D Cartoons episodes 4 and 5 on youtube

 More official D&D cartoons on youtube, episode 4 and 5. Great as usual!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAo1XVR-JiQ

DM's crazy eye "You might just be right" scene was great. 

They snuck in some demon statues/altars. 

Monsters, good and bad aplenty. Always unique stuff. 

Venger's eye beams, yeah. 

Warduke, a fan favorite. 

D&D cartoon on official YouTube

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-34TlmRULR8&t=351s

Free Zine,

 

https://sites.google.com/view/tayurzp-the-gamers-digest/home

Newest issue free on drivethru:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/558417/tayurzp-the-gamer-s-digest-issue-4

I think main guy might be from Greece... read near the end, he mentions that. 

Popcorn Initiative in D&D

Sounds iffy to me, but someone on startplaying with 30 yrs experience is using it. Guy's name is Northern Dungeons on startplaying. 

https://theangrygm.com/popcorn-initiative-a-great-way-to-adjust-dd-and-pathfinder-initiative-with-a-stupid-name/

Well he uses it for "I like to use Popcorn initiative for exploration and skill challenges when there is an urgency or danger that opens up space for cinematic descriptions and allows equal opportunities for the spotlight."

MerricB, on AD&D and new D&D... he hasn't updated his site in a while

 MerricB, on AD&D and new D&D... he hasn't updated his site in a while, but lotsa good stuff as I recall. Totally agree with this one:

https://merricb.com/2025/04/24/i-want-magic-weapons-to-matter/?unapproved=41222&moderation-hash=3f148576cd007ea2439c57da4097c818#comment-41222

https://merricb.com/2014/10/22/add-review-c3-the-lost-island-of-castanamir/

A D&D thought to keep treasure interesting I think

Thought stemmed from here: https://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/2025/12/ad-assumptions.html

The thought is, sometimes it is a character's JOB to get money or treasure. Why?

A paladin or cleric needs to get money for the church to survive and spread the word. 

Maybe a druid even needs stuff like:

• gold to create a magical item to help a grove do something.
• money to "pay off" the nearby town so it doesn't infringe on a forest. On 2nd thought this feels a little off, but maybe something around this idea would work... heck  you could say money for weapons, and then chase off poachers or something. 

Any class, that is good aligned:

• money to help a poor town better build up defenses/ defend itself from bandits or monsters.

The kid figured this out during the Strahd/Ravenloft games we had (our weird mix of 1e and 5e)... he gave away the thing, what's it called... it reminded me of a robot and an iron golem, but it was super powerful. He gave it away to the town b/c well, the town was surrounded by evil creatures and was desperate. Nice kid I have, huh? 

Crazy Mastodon D&D and LARP (music) video

 https://youtu.be/6Aw1WnNVcYw

Found on an old post here: https://beyondtheblackgate.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-06-25T07:15:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=21&by-date=false

I tend to dig Mastodon, but this video was very dnd entertaining. 

LichHouse on Isle of Dread

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kFIxrBjYCk&t=120s

Great info early on.

• Bundled in Expert set.
• Fan favorite but controversial bcuz
• Thin story. (Fine by me). 
• Monsters are a little just thrown in all over. That’s fine too. 
• But lotsa potential 
• Kinda Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, kinda Pirates of the Caribbean
• A lurking evil hides on the isle

Mystara info, cool, around 14-15 minute mark. 

• Ka the Preserver. Puts ancient civilizations and dinosaurs before extinct into the Hollow World of Mystara. Actually has an interesting backstory/write up, see these - 
• https://realmofadventure.fandom.com/wiki/Ka_the_Preserver
• https://1d6chan.miraheze.org/wiki/Ka_the_Preserver
• 
  
  
  

  
  
  

And here is The Great One, the patron immortal of all dragons in Mystara:

AD&D vs 3.5e vs. D&D - Chuuls maybe came from Garbugs

I ran into the Garbug monster, doing my nightly AD&D 2e monster perusing. And the site I was using didn't have a picture. These guys had the picts up, and a nice theory about ... maybe since Garbugs disappeared after 2e AD&D and the Chuul appeared in 3e/3.5e D&D... maybe they are sort of the same monster. 

https://ravencrowking.blogspot.com/2022/08/lets-convert-fiend-folio-garbug-black.html

https://www.tumblr.com/thecreaturecodex/185094259930/garbug

A Chuul. Avg 8 ft long. 

A Garbug. They could fly a tiny bit. ~Same size as Chuul tho, 8-10 ft long. 

This guy has a Deep Dive on Chuuls. https://dumpstatadventures.com/blog/deep-dive-the-chuul

• They love to eat Lizardmen. The bastards. 
• Yeah, a good story would be saving / allying with lizardfolk to rid the swamps of the Chuul monsters. 
• ***also, underdark Chuul.
• Quote: Some Chuul prefer to live underground, and they prefer the meat of troglodytes and the occasional drow. If none are around, they are more than willing to make do with you.
• 
  

Cadash arcade game had a Roper, Black Pudding. What else?

 See Vanguard’s arcade video time 4:45 or so for the first Roper. A Black Pudding boss was before that.  

But a Roper!? Seriously surprised… has to be the only game to unofficially have one.  

https://www.youtube.com/live/YZA4k-LeWa8

What else, what other monsters are clearly inspired by dnd? Where the bone throwers just trolls? Actual useful game links below:

• Ropers https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/#jp-carousel-237880
• Black pudding
• Small slime/oozes
• Maybe trolls, but man sized https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/#jp-carousel-237878
• Pigmen, probably are orcs https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/#jp-carousel-237814
• Rock hand spell, forgetting name https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/#jp-carousel-237886
• Weird sea Beholders with crab claws… I think they are in dnd somewhere https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/#jp-carousel-237931
• 
  

Check out the big red flying blob here… not seeing it in motion it already gives me dnd ideas.  A Lovecraft monster? Or almost like a firey blob elemental… sounds like a fun new monster to spring on the party in G3’s firey areas.  

https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/

https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/#jp-carousel-237822

And

https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/#jp-carousel-237812

Oops, i think it is just death gore animations, see here.. https://thekingofgrabs.com/2023/02/13/cadash-arcade/#jp-carousel-237816

But that’s ok, still cool looking.  

PLAYING CADASH INFO, best info here https://retromaggedon.com/index.php/cadash-tg16-walkthrough-2/#CadashTG16gameplay

What kind of Undead is this

What kind of undead is this? At first glance, I thought it was a skeleton. But look at the hands... not very skeletal. And check the teeth... extremely pointy.

Funny D&D T Shirts

They've got some good ones... ordered a few, why not. 

 https://wizardlytees.store/products/you-can-certainly-try?variant=42580410728536

I like several, like some of these:

The Monty Python reference... yeah. 

White Plume Moth (real life) vs. White Plume Mountain (D&D)

 Could it be that these crazy moths with impossible wings were the inspiration for the [name of] the White Plume Mountain module in D&D in the 1970s? I saw a white one on the outside of our window the other day, and noticed what crazy a55 wings it has. Looks like some have equally crazy leg spikes. Interesting little dudes. 

Origins - funny hats on Clerics in old D&D books came from the Jason and the Argonauts movie

 Origins - the funny hats on wizards  clerics in old D&D books came from Jason and the Argonauts movie. Check out funky hat the king dude had when spreading the hydra teeth to make skeletons rise from the ground. There were some good closeups of his face, too, for added effect (I didn't screenshot 'em tho):

Compare to ... let me go find some. Yeah, take a look at the 2nd guy from the left, that hat:

Yt “no one of consequence” G2 the two white dragons, very cool.

 His dbl white dragon encounter is very useful… love every single idea that went down.  From the surprise attacks, to the demanding food animal, to no trickery, to “i said no tricks” more breath weapons… then ghost sheet and carriage teleport get out of dodge. All super cool.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irooz1HfnuA

For fun: Alice in Chains Lyrics almost sound like a Lich's Thoughts

 Alice in Chains's: Grind

Our 2e AD&D lich again.

[Verse 1: Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell]

In the darkest hole, you'd be well advised
Not to plan my funeral 'fore the body dies, yeah
Come the morning light, it's a see-through show
What you may have heard and what you think you know, yeah

(((my comments on verse 1: sounds like a Lich warning his foes that... he will not die. The phylactery being unknown to them and all.)))

[Chorus: Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell]
Let the sun never blind your eyes
Let me sleep so my teeth won't grind
Hear a sound from a voice inside

(((my comments on the chorus: sun never blind your eyes... sounds like the Lich is familiar with either being underground for long periods of time, or creatures which hate daylight. And let him sleep, or he'll be pissed off AKA grinding his teeth. )))

[Verse 2: Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell]
Sure to play a part, so you love the game
And in truth, your lies become one and same, yeah
I could set you free, rather hear the sound
Of your body breaking as I take you down, yeah

(((my comments: sounds like a Lich warning his foes that... it may be a game to them, lies or not... he could easily destroy them and take them down.)))

[Chorus: Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell]
Let the sun never blind your eyes
Let me sleep so my teeth won't grind
Hear a sound from a voice inside

[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 3: Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell]
In the darkest hole, you'd be well advised
Not to plan my funeral 'fore the body dies, yeah