iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 03/09/2026

So close to being the D&D tie-in that unseats bologna

DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 29/08/2026

During wilderness travel in Crows, our ref @d20play.bsky.social rolls a random encounter and gets a curious elephant. It grabs a random item from a party member. The die chooses a rage potion and the beast samples it. Now we have a raging elephant problem. I like when the dice create a story

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 14/08/2026

Real, preserved armor that looks like D&D splint in the Golubac Fortress in Serbia.

In a museum case, aged and pocked metal plates arranged on a torso mannequin

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 30/07/2026

A sun appears on the video screen at the D&D keynote. Dark?

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 30/07/2026

The field of play at Lucas Oil Stadium, Gen Con

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 30/07/2026

Here for the big game. You know, D&D and so on

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 26/07/2026

I’m gathering miniatures for the games I’m DMing at Gen Con. Here are 4 aspects of Venin, Grim Hollow’s Arch Daemon of Deception. Which is real?

4 miniature figures of women in blue dresses

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 28/06/2026

A while back I thought about getting a phoenix mini for an adventure, so I shopped the Elder Elemental Phoenix figure. At $179, I skipped it. Now that WizKids put it on sale for $54, I splurged. I totally failed to appreciate its massive size. I’m going to need a bigger adventure.

Phoenix miniature towers over ogre and summoner figures

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 25/06/2026

I ran it a few times in a 4-hour convention slot. When 3 hours passed, the time came for a not-so-random encounter with the bad guy the party came to defeat. One of my favorite con mods! This photo dates to one of those games in 2016. 10 years ago. Damn

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 25/06/2026

Pulling out some old maps, I came across this one of Dengor’s Palace from DDEX315 Szith Morcane Unbound. Opal the cat found it inviting

A cat walks on a hand-drawn, gridded D&D battle map of a cavern

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 30/05/2026

How our Crows game with @d20play.bsky.social went: Check out our tokens after just travelling to the dungeon. Those skulls mean everyone is either boned or double boned. Later: Many dead PCs Crows is brutal and fun

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 26/05/2026

Down into the dungeon Not sure where to stow my 10-foot pole

A narrow spiral staircase constructed of timeworn stone descends into darkness

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 25/05/2026

Belogradchik Fortress in Bulgaria dates back to the Romans and substitutes natural rock formations for some walls. Real world D&D inspiration

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 09/05/2026

Players formed teams and played the same adventure. The highest-scoring teams advanced through rounds of competition. The A1-4 Slavers adventures come from the multiple rounds of a 1980 D&D tournament. For a sense of the scoring, look at the TOURNAMENT SCORING page in Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 09/05/2026

Here are better pictures of the finale

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 09/05/2026

I saved 4 characters from the 2012 D&D championship at Gen Con. Here’s a shot of the final showdown. I love that the DM came equipped with at least 2 Balors!

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 09/05/2026

I don’t remember story details from the event, but I do have 4 characters and a photo of the final battle

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 01/04/2026

After Mike Mearls left the D&D design team, the group stopped focusing on speed of play in their design. In an essential new post on playtesting, he talks about speed of play.

I am a huge fan of mechanics that fade into the background, ones that become part of the routine of play in a way that merges with the flow. If a mechanic is big and messy, I want it to come online in a dramatic way (I rage!). If it's a routine effect, I want players to manage it themselves without needing to bring the game to a halt.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 31/03/2026

You may have seen videos of North Korean defectors setting foot in western grocery stores for the first time. Those folks were less over-stimulated than me walking into a Japanese Mega Don Quijote store for the first time

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 28/03/2026

This life-sized unicorn Gundam statue proved way cooler than I expected

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 02/02/2026

I’m prepping to run 3 Grim Hollow adventures at Winter Fantasy. In my own adventures, I add “Leads” sub-sections that list the players’ likely next steps after a scene. In these GH mods, I’m thrilled to see “Moving On” sections that serve the same purpose. So helpful!

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 01/02/2026

Remember when the pages of the original 2014 D&D books all fell out of their bindings? I put the pages in these comb bindings, but I suppose it’s time to recycle.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 16/01/2026

I love books of random tables, but few reach the heights of The Creative Game Masters Guide to Extraordinary Locations by Duncan Rhodes. This book keeps adding ways to prove invaluable, including dispensing advice, inspiration, and adventure seeds. It’s rocket fuel for your imagination.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 15/01/2026

I picked up Sign of the Labrys (1963) because it features a megadungeon-like underground that Gary cited as an inspiration. Also, it’s post apocalyptic like Gamma World.

Sign of Labrys by Margaret St Clair among other books that inspired D&D and Gamma World

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 05/12/2025

If you have a wand of magic missiles with 7 charges and a DM who lets you pass it from character to character, then you can fire 21 missiles in a round. If you just fire once with all charges, then you only get 9. Work for hirelings? (Check out my latest post on the awkward necessity of turns.)

Vincent Price shoots magical rays from his fingers in The Raven (1963)

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 21/11/2025

Look what arrived on my doorstep.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 09/11/2025

What the D&D 2024 Alert feat feels like to me. Black Bart goes for his gun, his gang raises weapons, and then the heroes take a time out to discuss who should have the quickest draw today.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 05/11/2025

On last night's d20Play Live stream, @d20play.bsky.social and I perused some randomly selected Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn. "What Wakes Below" stood out with the strong ideas and situations a DM needs to build 500 words into a full session. The wonderful map could be a campaign!

Cross-section map of caverns below Bryn Shander featuring giant runes, throne room, ooze swam, and a frozen horror.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 20/10/2025

Erol Otus drew art for Dave Hargrave's Arduin Grimoire (1977). Later on TSR staff, Erol drew the regional map for White Plume Mountain with the caption, "Beyond to the lair of Dragotha, the undead dragon, where fabulous riches and hideous death await." An electrifying bit of flavor!"

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 18/10/2025

Fun and informative! Played @alphastream.bsky.social‘s trap gauntlet interspersed with discussion of trap design. Key quote: “You just learned something important,” but not key for the reasons you might think.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 17/10/2025

At GameHole con, playing Grim Hollow. The party learns of an NPC named Darrin. Hours of play later, we find him possibly under some enchantment. I get to organically ask, “Does Darrin seem bewitched?” Do I credit (blame?) DM @joeraso.bsky.social or author @shawnmerwin.bsky.social for this delight?

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 14/10/2025

Some convention DMs can bring A+ production values. If you run something many times over a weekend, the work pays off. From Origins in 2018. Recognize the adventure?

A hand sculpted, gridded diorama featuring miniature figures facing off in a box canyon and a giant goat.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 11/10/2025

Here's my Gen Con 2004 Schedule shown in Palm Desktop. I just had to restore a 20-year-old backup using old software CDs, and then install Palm on a virtual machine. Yikes! I'm deep in this rabbit hole.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 09/10/2025

When I saw this beholder figurine (WITH GLOWING EYE!) for half price, I bought it despite not needing any more tchotchkes. The included Guide for Training Your Beholder reminded me of How to Care for Your Monster, a book I loved as a youngster.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 04/10/2025

A 2021 photo of a battle in an iron fortress in the Abyss versus a sibriex and some iron golems. From my first run through of my tier 4 adventure Battle Walker From the Abyss.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 02/10/2025

I’m easily amused by Halloween decorations that seem more D&D than spooky like this ogre I met in the neighborhood.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 28/09/2025

At $100, I passed on the Deck of Many Things, but on sale at $50 I succumbed. I’m pleasantly surprised by this chimera. A deck, more cards, plus help using it for divination as in Ravenloft, & for random adventure ideas. Plus 192 pages of loosely related PC options, locations, NPCs, magic & more.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 26/09/2025

Years ago I posted about D&D adventures that included poster battle maps. I never uncovered a series of boxed adventures that followed the 1991 black box basic edition of D&D. Adventures like The Dragons Den (1992) included maps, counters, and more. They even got a Thunder Rift setting box.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 25/09/2025

After my 1st-level party met a gelatinous cube, I'm thinking about it's transparency. Originally surprise on 1-3. As a DM, I've been inconsistent in running that aspect. We spotted the cube once and ran away (smart), and later walked right into it (1 dead PC and nearly 2 more).

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 24/09/2025

In 1983, D&D had pages of tables to determine to-hit numbers. In the D&D-inspired Palladium RPG (1983) the to-hit number on a d20 for every attack was 5! Always 5. That quirk fascinates me.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 22/08/2025

Look what arrived in the post. Wee little RPG books!

Three Nimble RPG books boasting a fast, tactical RPG

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 06/08/2025

Given the niche subject, I’m astonished that The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games got made. I know the story, but I’m still loving the retelling. No superpowers or slugfests so far. Will Gary battle Dave over AD&D royalties in the sky above Lake Geneva?

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 27/07/2025

I love reading about the history of roleplaying games, so I relished Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in Ground. Experience Points is a slim pamphlet of outtakes cut for space At $15 it’s a bad value compared to the hardcover, but a good value considering I’ve spent more on a drink I enjoyed much less

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 26/07/2025

I bought this 175-page, full-color Ultimate Random Encounters Book for under $12 and I’m charmed by it. Most of the encounters are very evocative adventure hooks. Some are more goofy than anything I would use, but they all fire my imagination.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 22/07/2025

If Pixar made a Forgotten Realms movie, it would look like these covers. (I’m unbothered by that)

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 06/07/2025

I’m fascinated by the death mechanics in D&D-adjacent games like Draw Steel and Dggerheart that let PCs die in glorious sacrifice. Perhaps my favorite appears in the unreleased Delve RPG by @delvesrm.bsky.social. I still want to see that game.

Heroic Sacrifice
Heroics
She fought like a demon. She saved us all.
Trigger You are reduced to O Hits. Requirement Spend 1 or more Heroics up to the number you
currently possess. Effect For a limited time you are not considered dying, and can continue to take actions. You gain as many actions as the number of Heroics you spent on this reaction. You can no longer use Heroic talents, you are vulnerable, and as long as you have the actions to spend, you must spend at least two actions on each of your turns. Until all the actions granted by this talent are taken, you stay alive and you can take an unlimited amount of damage, though effects may otherwise harm or debilitate you. When all the actions are spent, you fall permanently dead. A permanently dead creature cannot be resurrected, but they can become
undead.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 05/07/2025

Lately I’ve been full nerd reading The Meints Index to Glorantha and This is Free Trader Beowulf - A System History of Traveller. The vast history of 3rd party stuff for Runequest & Traveller astonished me. Despite being an early fan, I had zero idea any of it existed.

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DM David Hartlage @dmdavid.com · 22/05/2025

Spotted in the cruise ship’s game room. Anyone fancy a game?

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