K Monsters at the Opera

A B C D Demon Dragon E F G1 G2 G3 H I Jackalwere K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Credit: Richard Whitters

K monsters are all plundered from various cultures around the world, perhaps outside the "default" medieval England / France milieu popular high fantasy normally anchors itself within. Anywhere from Japan and China to Germany and Norway to... uh, Atlantis?

Jackalwere at the Opera

A B C D Demon Dragon E F G1 G2 G3 H I Jackalwere K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Credit: this comic

Uhhh... yeah, so I guess this is basically the only major "J" monster in D&D's history. There's a couple other minor ones but only this guy has found his way into the majority of editions. And usually in the core books, too!

I spent literally months with this post sitting in my drafts folder trying to come up with something worthwhile to say about the jackalwere, knowing that it would get an entire post to itself. Unfortunately, I really got nothing.

It's yet another iteration of the classic folklore "stranger danger" monster. It's reminiscent of lycanthropes, it borrows a lot from the Arabian ghul, yet it's not as potent as a Rakshasa or even just a doppelgänger. The art has never been great, and jackals themselves aren't very interesting (even though the word "jackal" is wonderful). Worst of all, I've never used one in a game!

I just started playing The Caverns of Thracia. Guess who guards the entrance. Some gnolls and a jackalwere. You know what that guy ended up doing? Getting sucked into a black hole I opened. Didn't even get a chance to open his mouth or swing a sword or nuthin'. He never stood a chance.

The letter J deserves better.

-Dwiz

I Monsters at the Opera

A B C D Demon Dragon E F G1 G2 G3 H I Jackalwere K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Credit: Prem (aka Coool Brain)

Been quite a while since the last one of these, huh? Sorry about that, for the three people who found this series interesting. The purpose of this series was to help keep me regularly blogging, but as you may have noticed, I've been busy blogging for the last year. But hey, that's no excuse to leave something unfinished.

Now, where were we?

Board Game Endings, Ranked

This is my tier list for "ways that board games end." Either the trigger for the ending or the way you evaluate the results or whatever. Anything having to do with the ending of a board game. Many of these are mutually compatible, obviously.

I've put them in order of worst to best, and I've included some examples of board games for each one. However, that doesn't mean I'm rating the whole game based on that tier. Diplomacy remains my beloved.

This post is an olive branch to Quinns after my last post.

Broken Hearted

"Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot."

You have likely seen or been recommended the newest episode of Quinns Quest, in which Quintin Smith finally makes his long-awaited foray into the OSR by reviewing Mythic Bastionland, the latest game by Chris McDowall.

His review is very positive, and reception to the review has likewise been very positive. Yay! But also, he's gotten a bit of shit for this snippet near the beginning:

I'm not here to dunk on Quinns. But this moment inspired me to write about something that's been percolating in my mind for the last year or so, as I feel like I've heard similar sentiments more and more frequently. He's just the unlucky voice in the chorus who's easiest to direct these feelings at.

(But seriously, Quinns. Expensive? That's one of your complaints about the OSR? Cairn is literally free)

Seven-Part Pact: Authority

Continuing my posts about The Seven-Part Pact (7PP) and some of its nifty mechanical design ideas, I want to discuss this game's approach to authority.

This is, of course, a pretty huge topic in RPGs. There've been tomes written on different models of authority you can build a game around. GM-as-god, GM-as-player, GM-as-umpire, rotating authority, location-based authority, etc. In classic Jay Dragon fashion, 7PP doesn't even have a GM, instead trusting everyone to share the responsibility of adjudicating the rules and simulation.

But the notable thing about 7PP specifically is that it's not just a simple "everything is adjudicated by consensus" kumbaya. So much of this game is about struggling for power. Against the world, against the other Wizards, against the other players, and against the system itself.

Seven-Part Pact: Consequences

Continuing my posts about The Seven-Part Pact (7PP) and some of its nifty mechanical design ideas, I want to discuss this game's approach to consequences.

Jay has often explained this design idea by articulating a distinction between "laws" and "rules," but I personally have some quibbles with the particular language and framing and blablabla. Well, this is my blog, so I get to explain it how I want to. But the underlying idea is what's important, not the terminology.