October 2026 - Marshland Baptism

Welcome! This Hallowtide, the veil feels thinner than usual. From the creative sphere, we've been wowed by biomutant black-ops and generational ghosts. Later: Taylor's got a mesmerizing preacher for Mythic Bastionland, while Rowan reviews the gloomy frog knights of BOG. Whatever your taste, we hope this fills your cup. Enjoy!

Roll to Carouse!

1. Lighten your coin purse at the Projects Pavilion.
2. Pilfer ideas from the Blog Bazaar.
3. Sample the delights of the Gameable Gallery.
4. Hear the raving of Reviewers Row.

Projects Pavilion ⤴

Blogwagon: How to Be a Good Player by Prismatic Wasteland
Prismatic Wasteland organizes another blogwagon, this time centered around advice for players. If you've got a blog, you're encouraged to blog on the topic between October 24 and November 7 (though some have started already) - Markus M.

Dungeon Gestalts by Sersa Victory
A series of abstract organizational structures for dungeons, boiling down interesting problems in space, time, and inhabitants into simple building blocks. It's a thoughtful exercise, but also a cool way to avoid disconnected "funhouse"-feeling adventure sites. - Taylor B.

Solo TTRPG Bookclub by Heart of the Deernicorn
Heart of the Deernicorn is hosting an online solo TTRPG bookclub through their discord. If you like bookclubs and are interested in getting into solo TTRPGs, check them out! - John B.

Arbor Point Antiquity by Juniper H. Lark
Arbor Point Antiquity is a live text RPG developed and run by Juniper of The Garden Below. It will run over multiple seasons of 10 days each, the first has just started on October 16th, so there is still time to join! If you enjoyed Over/Under or Baseline Drift, or missed out and think it would be fun, here's another chance to give large-scale live text RP a go! - Markus M.

SOPHONT by Gwen Clark of BRITTLE STAR
A Panic Engine game about symbiote-fused black ops slitting throats behind the scenes of a global power struggle. Gwen's tapped into a cosmic vein of graphic design and opened her third eye into some truly astonishing layout. The energy here is crazy. Crowdfunding 'til November 13th. - Taylor B.

Blog Bazaar ⤴

Pawn Stance is Objectively Correct* by Seraphina at Dice Exploder
Seraphina fires an opening salvo in the player advice blogwagon, describing how using the pawn stance can in her eyes solve many common issues at the table - Markus M.

Enter Here by Paper Mazes
Jedediah Berry, author of The Naming Song and one of the creators of Wildendrem, started a blog! - Rowan H.

My family is proud of our ghosts by Melon
Spooky season vibes + a great idea about player character legacies in a pre-hispanic ttrpg setting - John B.

Gameable Gallery ⤴

The Hierophant, a Myth for Mythic Bastionland

by Taylor B.

Omens

1. Tolling bells. Waist-high water. A crowd wades past the company towards the myth hex. With each ring, the youngest collapses and is gone.
2. A gaunt-faced woman, Deborah, hunts clumsily with a bow. Her parents donated their last good heifer to a mendicant preacher. "The Hierophant's tithe", she spits.
3. The bells again. Glassy-eyed locals cluster around a guillotine just as the blade comes down. The Hierophant's voice preaches from the corpse's fresh stump; three Lamplight Shepherds wipe up blood.
4. Deborah, surrounded by congregants, her parents among them. She rails against them as they prepare to stone her. Blood coats her hair. She is deaf by her own hand.
5. A headless corpse propped between abandoned houses. From the stump, the Hierophant's gentle voice imparts his desire to become a Seer. Five Shepherds prepare an ambush from the homes, just in case.
6. The bells toll from a misty steeple. Inside, kneeling congregants offer their heads to the Hierophant. He preaches calmly from the pulpit as two Shepherds hoist their axes in solemn rhythm. Left alone, he will thread his veins through the offered heads and ascend to Seerdom.

Cast

The Hierophant, Beheaded Baptist
VIG 8, CLA 12, SPI 17, 7GD
Holds own head on platter; light pulses from stump.
Scornful prayer (d8 SPI)
Compelling voice. Knights and Seers are immune.
Can Deny attacks in range of his voice.

Farmer's Daughter, Deborah
VIG 10, CLA 112, SPI 12, 3GD
Patched-up dress, sunken eyes
Homemade bow (impaired), tent-pin (d6)
Bows her head to no man or god.

The Congregation
VIG 10, CLA 6, SPI 6, 3GD, as warband
Shining eyes. Unceasing prayer.
They hear his voice and nothing else.

Lamplight Shepherds
VIG 12, CLA 8, SPI 9, 5GD
A1 (reinforced white robes)
Crooks (1d8, long) or poleaxes (1d10, long, omen 6)
Pale, waxy skin; heads shine from within.

Notes

Printable version available here using a Homebrewery template by schnickers.

Art made with help from Chaoclypse's XEROX HELL.

Made for my current campaign after a player mentioned wanting a myth where they helped people break out of supernatural control. I like that the base game uses some, but not all, of the Major Arcana as myths, so I turned to one of the unused ones for inspiration.

Reviewers Row ⤴

Review: BOG

by Rowan H.

Released earlier this week, BOG by M. Niezgoda is a game about “brave Frog Knights setting out on quests in a strange, dark, and mysterious world.” It’s set in the cursed and gloomy Marsh, abandoned by humans and littered with the ruined remnants of their kingdom. It also features my new favorite game master moniker: Bogmaster.

In about 60 pages, the rulebook presents a procedure for creating a frog knight, rules of play, brief guidance on creating adventures, a bestiary, and a sample seven-room dungeon.

For me, Niezgoda’s art is the highlight of this book. I appreciate his clean line work, and his depictions of frog knights perfectly match the tone: “The world of BOG is dark and melancholic, but the Frog Knights bring an absurd and comedic touch to it.” The BOG frogs are charming and a little silly, but with their notched blades, cracked shields, and dour expressions, they look like they’ve been through it.

The basic rules are fairly familiar: hit points, item slots, four traits, and a universal action roll. The traits range from 1–3, and an action roll uses that many six-sided dice, the highest of which determines success. Dice mechanics are the least interesting aspect of RPGs for me, but it’s worth noting that there’s contradictory information here. A list shows success on ≥4 for a difficult action roll, but on the same page states that “A 5 or a 6 succeeds” on a difficult action roll.

This brings me to my main criticism: BOG would have really benefitted from an editor. I found the informational organization somewhat muddled. There’s unnecessary repetition in places. The action roll rules in particular lack clarity.

The layout feels perfunctory. You won’t find control panels here. Tables stretch across columns and pages, their latter entries marooned on otherwise blank pages. The page numbers in my PDF appear redacted, hidden behind black boxes. There’s a clear lack of polish.

I do appreciate some of the less conventional design touches in BOG. There’s a communal metacurrency called Bravery that frog knights earn through chivalrous acts. Each creature in the bestiary has a weakness that—if exploited—may give the frog knights an opportunity to perform a coup de grâce.

Ultimately, I don’t regret purchasing a copy of BOG, especially for only $5. Yes, it’s a bit rough around the edges, but it’s also quite charming and presents a clear vision. I’d love to see an expanded and edited version with cleaner layout. In particular, I’d appreciate seeing many of the tables expanded, along with more robust advice on running the game and writing material for the setting of the Marsh, which feels a bit underdeveloped. In any case, I congratulate Niezgoda on releasing his first game and look forward to his future projects.