Category Archives: Nonfiction

The best trail mix!

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Confanity

To save money and avoid cooking stuff that requires heat in the summer I make my own trail mix every now and then. I buy nuts and dried fruit in bulk, usually the plainest (cheapest, and I hope healthiest) form: … Continue reading →

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A thought on toddler cognitive development

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Confanity

So the kid is a year old now, and he has learned how to throw things. He enjoys taking things out of containers and sometimes putting them back into containers… although not always the same container, such as when he … Continue reading →

Posted in Musing, Nonfiction | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

On spicing up your dungeon crawl with… sensory output!

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Confanity

Noisms just put up a thought-provoking post about “consequences” in the dungeon. Not the social consequences of PC actions within the fictional world, though (although that would be an excellent topic to explore in depth, if you’re up for a certain kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous, Musing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Thought of the day: baby arms

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Confanity

When a baby is startled, even if it’s asleep, it will often go like this: I’m not sure how much scientific literature is out there about this particular reflex. Someone I was talking to idly theorized that its roots go … Continue reading →

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NYT bump for D&D

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Confanity

So this happened in the New York Times. One thought: I’m obviously a fan of D&D, and I agree that the whole subculture surrounding it is immensely good for fostering and encouraging creativity. It’s nice to see one of your … Continue reading →

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Divine/Arcane Divide

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Confanity

I’ve added Ten Foot Polemic to my RSS feed, and spent a little while trawling back through the archives. While there are a few things there that aren’t entirely my cup of tea, it’s creative and inspiring enough that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Essay, Miscellaneous, Nonfiction, World-Building | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

More Musings on Skill Points and Economies Thereof

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Confanity

When I think about pen-and-paper RPG design, I invariably come around to skill systems and skill points. One thing that strikes me as odd about D&D is the almost complete disconnect between the systems for combat and the systems for … Continue reading →

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An SP Economy

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Confanity

(Yes, there are some bloggers who have talked about replacing the venerable “gold piece”-centric currency system with a silver standard, but that’s not what this post is about.) (By the by, I’m in favor of world-specific, idiosyncratic currency systems. It … Continue reading →

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Forging Ahead

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Confanity

If you’re looking for random fantasy terms, whatever your purpose, there’s worse you could do than “The Forge.” There are four “generators”: one for creatures, one for locations, one for magical-sounding stuff, and one that’s sort of all-purpose. Choose one, … Continue reading →

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Meters, Made

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Confanity

This is another post on what seems to be turning into a series of re-imaginings of D&D-style RPG play. In fact, I’ve gone to Obsidian Portal and started creating a wiki in order to keep everything organized; for the curious, it can … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Rules, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments