Design

  • A Wee Mechanic: Levelling up by alignment

    I like little bespoke mechanics. Here’s one: Levelling up by alignment If you’re good, you get XP for giving gold to benefit the poor or needy. For example, starting a soup kitchen, tithing to a church, donating to an orphanage. If you’re neutral, you get XP for spending gold to benefit the betterment of your… Continue reading

    ,

  • A Wee Mechanic: Stabilising the dying

    I like little bespoke mechanics. Here’s one. How to stabilise a dying person If you have a medical kit, it contains five tools a tincture (d4), a tourniquet (d6), a lancet (d8), a trephine (d10), and a bonesaw (d12). When you’ve used one to stabilise someone, cross it out. When you go to stabilise someone,… Continue reading

    ,

  • Taking the Highest Die (Make Dice Work For You #4)

    Make Dice Work For You is a series where I’ll regularly talk through a new way to use dice in your game. It came out of conversation surrounding What to randomise when you’re randomising, and what advanced techniques you can use for specific needs. I’ll where I know, but please help me out if you… Continue reading

    ,

  • Dice Curves (Make Dice Work For You #3)

    Make Dice Work For You is a series where I’ll regularly talk through a new way to use dice in your game. It came out of conversation surrounding What to randomise when you’re randomising, and what advanced techniques you can use for specific needs. I’ll where I know, but please help me out if you… Continue reading

    ,

  • Likelihood and room size in AD&D

    I’m thinking about megadungeons at the moment, and thinking about the smallest possible unit in a megadungeon, because I know level doesn’t work for me as a smallest unit because I have trouble with a scope of perhaps 10-12 rooms at a time. It occurred to me in the car the other day that geomorphs-type… Continue reading

    , ,

  • Equal Opportunity Dice (Make Dice Work For You #2)

    Make Dice Work For You is a series where I’ll regularly talk through a new way to use dice in your game. It came out of conversation surrounding What to randomise when you’re randomising, and what advanced techniques you can use for specific needs. I’ll where I know, but please help me out if you… Continue reading

    ,

  • River Dice (Make Dice Work For You #1)

    Make Dice Work For You is a series where I’ll regularly talk through a new way to use dice in your game. It came out of conversation surrounding What to randomise when you’re randomising, and what advanced techniques you can use for specific needs. I’ll where I know, but please help me out if you… Continue reading

    ,

  • What to randomise when you’re randomising

    You may have noticed that a common theme in my reviews is that I criticise people’s random tables: Their wilderness generators, their wandering monsters, their weather tables, their treasure tables. Why? Because often I see randomisation misused, particularly when taking the form of a random table. So, I’m going to break down a few of… Continue reading

    ,
    , ,

  • Preparing for City 26 (Week 0)

    I’m a sucker for these challenges. But, every day feels like an overcommitment. So I’m toning down the expectations, and I’m going to post something every week, here.My two favourite cities are Fever Dreaming Marlinko and of course, Duskvol. I want to try to meet Marlinko’s scale with Duskvol’s detail, which hopefully will be a… Continue reading

  • Idle Cartulary Awards for Excellence in Elfgames

    Everyone loves an informal end-of-year awards ceremony. This year, everyone’s doing it! I’ll join the bandwagon! Best Single-location Module Gold: Cyro-Siq (review here) is a tiny module, that hits so far above its’ weight you couldn’t believe. You’re trapped in a space-ship, and one of you is an assassin hired to murder the others. Will… Continue reading

Want to support Playful Void or Bathtub Reviews? Donate to or join my Ko-fi!

I use affiliate links where I can, to keep reviewing sustainable! Please click them if you’re considering buying something I’ve reviewed! Want to know more?

Have a module, adventure or supplement you’d like me to review? Read my review policy here, and then email me at idle dot cartulary at gmail dot com, or direct message me on Discord!

Recent Posts

rootring: follow the ring from blog to blog, catch up on recent posts, and discover new TTRPG writing without relying on feeds, timelines, or recommendation algorithms.
Prev Next Random Ring

Categories

Archives

June 2026
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  

Recent Posts