iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 11h

I'd say that OD&D used "magic-user" to be in line with Chainmail. In Chainmail, a wizard was a top-level spellcasting unit, and there could be weaker spellcasters who were not "wizards". So likewise in OD&D, "wizard" was a top-level ("name-level") spellcaster, with other names for lower-level ones.

120

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Good to know, thanks. Still haven't heard of anyone doing it in a real campaign. There are lots of OSR campaigns out there now, and I haven't heard of parties subduing dragons.

160

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

OD&D had the ad hoc rules style you see in Chainmail, while 3rd Ed rigorously enforced an object-oriented approach of universally applicable rules. If 2e had kept it, we might have adapted it, but probably not. And because I'd never heard of anyone doing it in all my years playing early D&D.

060

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Never for once considered bringing that back for 3E

1121

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Thanks! That's pretty interesting! Deckbuilding is part of TCG gameplay the same way building characters can be in Champions.

281

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Last fall, I downloaded and read this adventure because it promises "fairness without mercy". Today I recommended it to someone who was looking for a roleplaying experience less about theatrically portraying your character and more about making choices that have practical results.

180

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It’s especially sweet that they got Doug Shuler to do this piece. His art was a big help to Ars Magica back in the day.

0134

Reposted by Jonathan Tweet

Christian Aldridge @studiozut.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Wrote up an enhanced fumble table for #dragonbane for our campaign: some mirth & mayhem with inspiration from #DCCRPG and the Arduin Grimoire. It also incorporates the Escalation Die mechanic from 13th Age #13thAge. Full details on the blog www.telrhin.com/blog/dragonb...

092

Reposted by Jonathan Tweet

Christian Aldridge @studiozut.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

More delightful #Arduin weirdness: if the Grey Horror stings a Hobbit they dissolve. Everyone else is just paralyzed.

Arduin Grimoire volume 1, Grey Horror (monster)

283

Reposted by Jonathan Tweet

worm @rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

she loves her unicorn

19621

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I sure have a soft spot for old game books with semi-professional quality. The approachable style reminds us that we can be creative even if we're not pros. Here's a #Glorantha magazine from 1995, with Sandy Peterson writing about dragon magic. This & more now on eBay. www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_...

1348

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

trying to visualize the hyper-dimensional demons that the bad guys would summon in my Fighter Wizard Elf campaign

050

Reposted by Jonathan Tweet

Evil Hat @evilhat.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Historian @shannonappelcline.bsky.social spent nearly a decade researching the history behind each and every release TSR put out for OD&D, AD&D 1e, and Basic D&D. How many products does Designers & Dragons: Origins cover? Answer: this many. Find it at your FLGS on Monday evilhat.com/product/desi...

17821

Reposted by Jonathan Tweet

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 03/10/2026

I have absolutely wondered about this. Amazing.

311800322

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

As a breeder myself, I've long wondered on what basis I might recommend having offspring to other people. Years into this question, the best I can come up with is that having children is miraculous. That's not enough for some people, and that's OK.

1130

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

In my heavily hacked high school D&D campaign, you could survive being below 0, but you recovered with permanent hit point loss. It made sense, but it felt terrible. Wish I'd had better examples back in the day. That's my rulebook.

060

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Electric lights and a horse-drawn carriage. When I look at scenes like this from the past I try to imagine being someone of the time and considering it as current. I never succeed.

030

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Does it strike you as strange that it on OD&D takes just as much XP to get from level 2 to level 3 as it does to get from level 1 to level 2? I'd multiply all the "level 2" XP thresholds by 0.7 to smooth it out.

110

Reposted by Jonathan Tweet

Jason Bradley Thompson @mockman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hey everyone! I'm so excited to announce this! If you like the D&D 'walkthrough maps' I've done over the years, I'm proud to present my new book... DUNGEONS! ILLUSTRATED MAPS OF CLASSIC DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ADVENTURES, coming from Ten Speed Press on April 27, 2027! (1/4) #dnd #ttrpg

"Dungeons!" book cover showing the exterior of the Tomb of Horrors, in a nighttime swamp, surrounded by red-eyed monsters. A group of stick-figure adventurers stands with a lantern preparing to enter the tomb

1213439

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Use my trusty old flee rule and let the party get out safely at any point, at the cost of an irreversible setback in the campaign narrative.

030

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

For Fighter Wizard Elf, crits are simply double damage, and fumbles simply deal zero damage (as opposed to 1/5 damage on a regular miss), so crits are natural 18–20 and fumbles are natural 1–3. Damage is flat so the attack roll is where the randomness lives. www.drivethrurpg.com/de/product/5...

drivethrurpg.com

Fighter Wizard Elf — My Rules for Bare Metal D20 Gaming | Tentacles Press | DriveThruRPG

Fighter Wizard Elf A crafty vizier, a conquering general, and a rogue prince of land and sea struggle for control of a ravaged world. The gods look away in horror, but you must pick a side … In this K...

011

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

If crits & fumbles are slapstick (eg, "arrow through spleen" or "hit self & fall down"), then 10% is too many. Arduin's crits were brutal, but Hargrave rolled 2d10 for attacks, so only 1% of attacks were crits. 1/2

130

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

We're playing in "Arduin", and Hargrave listed Christianity on his long list of pantheons active in the multiverse. Can I pass up the chance to play a Christian in a fantasy RPG? No, reader, I cannot. 2/2

030

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The ironic one. Currently playing a lawful evil gray elf magic-user who's also a Christian (see crucifix). Of course, his sect of Christianity is not widely accepted outside his clan. He's also the only magic-user in his decadent clan to have a pseudodragon familiar (his one unique thing). 1/2

130

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Reducing spells/day also got me thinking about magic spells that one could "re-prepare" with a short rest, sort of like the psychic warrior's ability to recover their expended focus. These could be higher-level spells with lower-level effects, or the effect could be an additional metamagic feat.

080

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

...each combo is custom-balanced, so combos that would be better or worse can be brought into balance with each other. Most 3e combos are too bad or too good. The 3e Brb-1/Ftr-1/Rgr-1 multiclass, for example, is good but not flavorful, while the classic fighter/wizard multiclass is hobbled. 2/2

120

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Multiclassing in 3e/5e works much better for some combinations than for others, so it can't be balanced, especially because there are multiple ways to combine any two classes, let alone N classes. In 13th Age, the multiclasses are fixed at character creation, as in 1e/2e, and... 1/2

120

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Maybe if D&D had come up out of the board game industry instead of wargaming, our characters would be represented by cardboard squares. Sometimes they were (Melee, etc). Also, the rules would have been coherent.

110

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yes, or maybe three activities: painting, playing, and collecting new minis that you'll never paint.

010

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

At first I balked at limiting low-level spells so much, but then I remembered bonus spells for high Int, and then I went ahead with the smaller numbers. It's possible that the first time you unlock a new level of spells, you get 0 of them. That is, you get 1, but only if your Int is high enough.

010

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

That's sure intriguing. That said, I don't like how multiclassing works (even though it was my idea), so I'm not sure how I would do multiclassing and prestige classes. And prestige classes might have been the best part of the multiclassing system.

140

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I suddenly understood why gravity declines with the square of the distance! So that weed was worth every penny! I suddenly understood that kids should mimic their evolutionary ancestors, so that weed was worth every penny! etc...

010

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

"Our findings point out that evolutionary murder may claim many victims simultaneously and highlight the need to take different interaction types into account to gain a comprehensive understanding of the links between evolution and biodiversity in ecological communities." Nature plays for keeps.

020

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I wish I'd known it was that easy 40 years ago!

110

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yeah, I sure poured a lot of time into minis, even when I resorted to soaking minis in diluted black paint to bring out the details.

110

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I might observe the results at a distance... for science.

010

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I'm torn between asking you to tell me what it's like and insisting that I try it myself without any further lead-in.

110

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It's weird that a hobby a cerebral as TTRPGs has been closely connected to a hobby as material as painting miniatures. It's another way of viewing the distinction (within one activity) between telling a story and simulating battles, Or maybe it's not weird but rather ineluctable. #ttrpg

3131

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My dog thinks that "Penny" means "Hey you, and I mean you!" My cat thinks "Cosmo" means "–––"'

010

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"genetic effects of self-fertilization, including the expected reduction of population-level genetic diversity & hence effective population size (Ne), are often ignored in demographic inference, despite the fact that selfing is a common reproductive mode in both invertebrates and plants." So true!

020

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It's like I've always said, selfing-aware demographic inference highlights local population structure and bottlenecks in Hawaiian Caenorhabditis elegans.

130

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

“Close quarters is [the shotgun's] playground.” —ChatGPT and a "hypothetical" mass shooting that it promoted.

020

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

knowledge is power, and information wants to be free (that's why eukaryotes took over the biosphere and whey the modern world is leagues more prosperous than any historical precedent)

010

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

So that weed was worth every penny. 2/2

120

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Suddenly it struck me what we were doing with matrices in advanced linear algebra back in 1983. If you have a bunch of polynomials that all equal 0, you can mess with them to hell-and-gone and they'll still be zero. Multiply them, divide them, subtract them from each other. It's all good. 1/2

110

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Thanks. Almost all the class work was @robheinsoo.bsky.social's. I mostly helped with power balance and playtesting.

010