Woefully Encysted Creature
@forlornencystment.bsky.social
West Philadelphia. TTRPG blogger at forlornencystment.blogspot.com.
pine nuts on top. very jiggy.
pine nuts on top. very jiggy.
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
RELEASE: The complete #hexmas map is now available for you to peruse! Download the pdf version to see all the bloggers who contributed to this awesome blogwagon by @prismaticwasteland.com.
#blog #ttrpg #bloggers #blogosphere
bakenshake09.itch.io/hexmas-map-2...
#blog #ttrpg #bloggers #blogosphere
bakenshake09.itch.io/hexmas-map-2...
Hexmas Map 2025 by Bakenshake
A hexcrawl of all the hexes created by Bloggers for Hexmas 2025
bakenshake09.itch.io
January 5, 2026 at 8:07 PM
RELEASE: The complete #hexmas map is now available for you to peruse! Download the pdf version to see all the bloggers who contributed to this awesome blogwagon by @prismaticwasteland.com.
#blog #ttrpg #bloggers #blogosphere
bakenshake09.itch.io/hexmas-map-2...
#blog #ttrpg #bloggers #blogosphere
bakenshake09.itch.io/hexmas-map-2...
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
It’s Bloggies Time! This is a thread of what I’m nominating, so you can, if you choose, read them and nominate them yourself! Firstly, please nominate something of mine that made an impact on you — a series like Critique Navidad or a single post like my Module-Writing Play by Play! Thanks! 1/🧵
January 2, 2026 at 5:59 AM
It’s Bloggies Time! This is a thread of what I’m nominating, so you can, if you choose, read them and nominate them yourself! Firstly, please nominate something of mine that made an impact on you — a series like Critique Navidad or a single post like my Module-Writing Play by Play! Thanks! 1/🧵
Just in time for your Bloggies consideration, I present the Forlorn Encystment AD&D Series, 2026 Collector's Edition! If you enjoyed this series and would like to submit it in the Best Series category, there is now one handy post you can use to do so. Thank you!
January 1, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Just in time for your Bloggies consideration, I present the Forlorn Encystment AD&D Series, 2026 Collector's Edition! If you enjoyed this series and would like to submit it in the Best Series category, there is now one handy post you can use to do so. Thank you!
Bloggies submissions are open! If you enjoyed any of my writing this year, please don’t hesitate to submit your favorites for nomination! Even just getting into the voting bracket would be a huge accomplishment for me.
The Bloggies 2026 submissions are now open!
Submit your favorite posts, series, and debut blogs via the official Bloggies page between now and Jan 31st!
Please share this around. I'll be making regular Bloggies-themed announcements throughout the month.
www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
Submit your favorite posts, series, and debut blogs via the official Bloggies page between now and Jan 31st!
Please share this around. I'll be making regular Bloggies-themed announcements throughout the month.
www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
The Bloggies 2026
A yearly celebration of blogging in tabletop roleplaying games.
www.explorersdesign.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Bloggies submissions are open! If you enjoyed any of my writing this year, please don’t hesitate to submit your favorites for nomination! Even just getting into the voting bracket would be a huge accomplishment for me.
Getting in one last post before the end of 2025. It was a very good year. I feel much better about blogging than I did 12 months ago. Presenting the Blog of Forlorn Encystment's year-in-review:
2025 Year-in-Review
If the theme of my 2024 Year-in-Review was despondence, lack of direction, loneliness, and uncertainty, then the theme this year is one of ...
forlornencystment.blogspot.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Getting in one last post before the end of 2025. It was a very good year. I feel much better about blogging than I did 12 months ago. Presenting the Blog of Forlorn Encystment's year-in-review:
My blog post about toyetic dungeon rooms in B1: In Search of the Unknown made it into this month’s Glatisant! Go check it out if you haven’t already.
December 29, 2025 at 4:46 AM
My blog post about toyetic dungeon rooms in B1: In Search of the Unknown made it into this month’s Glatisant! Go check it out if you haven’t already.
For my contribution to the Merry Hexmas blog bandwagon, I made a mini sandbox: the Jinglebell Barrens, a land which lives in the shadow of a lost city which forgot the meaning of Hexmas. Will the adventurers restore warmth & cheer to its streets, or simply plunder everything not nailed down? #osr
'Tis the Season (for a Sandbox): Into the Jinglebell Barrens
This post is a part of Prismatic Wasteland's Hexmas Blog Bandwagon . The intention was for participants to make a single holiday-themed hex...
forlornencystment.blogspot.com
December 24, 2025 at 2:16 PM
For my contribution to the Merry Hexmas blog bandwagon, I made a mini sandbox: the Jinglebell Barrens, a land which lives in the shadow of a lost city which forgot the meaning of Hexmas. Will the adventurers restore warmth & cheer to its streets, or simply plunder everything not nailed down? #osr
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
Best Series was undoubtedly the closest contest this year, but "Stocking a Sandbox" by @forlornencystment.bsky.social clinched a victory from the jaws of second place! I highly recommend making your own silly little sandbox using these procedures.
forlornencystment.blogspot.com/2025/02/stoc...
forlornencystment.blogspot.com/2025/02/stoc...
Stocking a Sandbox with the AD&D 1e DMG (Part 1)
I thought it would be a fun exercise to try stocking a sandbox using the procedures presented in the appendices of the AD&D 1e DMG. I'll be ...
forlornencystment.blogspot.com
December 21, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Best Series was undoubtedly the closest contest this year, but "Stocking a Sandbox" by @forlornencystment.bsky.social clinched a victory from the jaws of second place! I highly recommend making your own silly little sandbox using these procedures.
forlornencystment.blogspot.com/2025/02/stoc...
forlornencystment.blogspot.com/2025/02/stoc...
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
New Dungeon (in blog form): Castle Claus, or The Keep on the North Pole
A Rankin Bass Christmas-themed dungeon for the Merry Hexmas Blog Bandwagon. Possibly one of my more high effort blog posts to date
#osr #ttrpg
A Rankin Bass Christmas-themed dungeon for the Merry Hexmas Blog Bandwagon. Possibly one of my more high effort blog posts to date
#osr #ttrpg
Castle Claus: The Keep on the North Pole — Prismatic Wasteland
A Merry Hexmas location: dungeoncrawl through Santa Claus’ castle. Whether you lead an elf and reindeer uprising is up to you!
www.prismaticwasteland.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:56 PM
I am once against digging into AD&D. The question: Who can build a stronghold? Different classes can build different strongholds at different levels, but demihuman characters are limited to certain levels as certain classes. Who can attain a high enough level to build a stronghold in this world?
Who Can Rule a Stronghold in AD&D?
This is something interesting that came up when I was messing around with the AD&D DMG's Appendix B to create a sandbox ( okay, many sand...
forlornencystment.blogspot.com
December 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I am once against digging into AD&D. The question: Who can build a stronghold? Different classes can build different strongholds at different levels, but demihuman characters are limited to certain levels as certain classes. Who can attain a high enough level to build a stronghold in this world?
I love these posts about turning the area surrounding Middle Earth's Shire into a hexcrawl!
"Well, I'm back" he said.
Over the last three months, I've keyed every hex in the bounds of the Shire, including rumors, nested random encounters, and five embedded mini-dungeons. I've collated them into a document, linked on the blog:
Over the last three months, I've keyed every hex in the bounds of the Shire, including rumors, nested random encounters, and five embedded mini-dungeons. I've collated them into a document, linked on the blog:
Middle-earth Hexcrawl Project: The Shire (Complete)
Back in September of this year , I began a daily writing prompt inspired by this year's reread of The Lord of the Rings and Idraluna Archiv...
riseupcomus.blogspot.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I love these posts about turning the area surrounding Middle Earth's Shire into a hexcrawl!
Finished my read of B1: The Keep on the Borderlands today. Peep the whole thread from the beginning here 👇
Here we go! I'm starting a readthrough of Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands! Is it a better introductory adventure than B1? Let's find out!
December 10, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Finished my read of B1: The Keep on the Borderlands today. Peep the whole thread from the beginning here 👇
Since B1: In Search of the Unknown provides little context for the area where the dungeon adventure takes place, I created a sandbox in which to locate Quasqueton. I talk about my thought process & provide descriptions of several new locations to place in the area surrounding the dungeon.
Creating a Sandbox for B1: In Search of the Unknown
B1: In Search of the Unknown is a very self-contained dungeon module. That is, the dungeon is the module. There is a hint of civilization n...
forlornencystment.blogspot.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Since B1: In Search of the Unknown provides little context for the area where the dungeon adventure takes place, I created a sandbox in which to locate Quasqueton. I talk about my thought process & provide descriptions of several new locations to place in the area surrounding the dungeon.
Today's Keep on the Borderlands thread 👇
The caves of the minotaur. The DM is instructed to give the players incorrect directions when they're exploring here due to a spell of direction confusion (great name, Gary!). I like the idea of rolling a d8 to determine random directions & using those. It seems like a bit of a pain to run but idk.
December 10, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Today's Keep on the Borderlands thread 👇
Continuing with the Keep on the Borderlands 👇
We have at last reached the Caves of Chaos, which get this flavorful description:
December 9, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Continuing with the Keep on the Borderlands 👇
Continuing my reading of B2: The Keep on the Borderlands here 👇
It wouldn't be Gygax's D&D without some bureaucrat squeezing money from working people! I would imagine this applies to player characters selling off trade goods inside the Keep. The Master is important NPC to befriend - just don't drink around him!
December 8, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Continuing my reading of B2: The Keep on the Borderlands here 👇
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
Like pokemons, all D&D monsters should speak by saying their own name with different inflection.
You heard it here first - if you're playing the role of an unintelligent monster, you ought to be making animal noises!
December 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Like pokemons, all D&D monsters should speak by saying their own name with different inflection.
I like this description of the Realm of mankind as "narrow and constricted" with the forces of Chaos always pressing upon its borders. I don't love the assumption that the player characters are heroic Lawful types out to do good, but eh.
December 5, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I like this description of the Realm of mankind as "narrow and constricted" with the forces of Chaos always pressing upon its borders. I don't love the assumption that the player characters are heroic Lawful types out to do good, but eh.
Here we go! I'm starting a readthrough of Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands! Is it a better introductory adventure than B1? Let's find out!
December 5, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Here we go! I'm starting a readthrough of Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands! Is it a better introductory adventure than B1? Let's find out!
I wrote about B1's role as a teaching module & how that affects its room descriptions, which are filled with stuff to look at, poke, & question. As a result, almost every room is a playground for the DM's imagination when placing monsters & treasure. Write your rooms like this! #TTRPG #D&D #BX #OSR
B1 and Toyetic Dungeon Rooms
Over on Bluesky, I did a walkthrough of B1: In Search of the Unknown . I already wrote about how B1 tells the story of Rogahn and Zelligar ,...
forlornencystment.blogspot.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
I come to you like Paul Revere on the back of a liger. The Bloggies are coming!
Like, share, and subscribe.
www.explorersdesign.com/the-bloggies...
Like, share, and subscribe.
www.explorersdesign.com/the-bloggies...
The Bloggies 2026!
The blogosphere's annual celebration is coming back.
www.explorersdesign.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I come to you like Paul Revere on the back of a liger. The Bloggies are coming!
Like, share, and subscribe.
www.explorersdesign.com/the-bloggies...
Like, share, and subscribe.
www.explorersdesign.com/the-bloggies...
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
The Explorateur #14 is out now! The only newsletter designed to level-up your design skills (how's that for sales copy?).
Please like, share, and subscribe. If you have any links you particularly like, drop a comment on Explorers Design or here.
www.explorersdesign.com/explorateur-...
Please like, share, and subscribe. If you have any links you particularly like, drop a comment on Explorers Design or here.
www.explorersdesign.com/explorateur-...
The Explorateur: Issue #14
Monthly design jams, critique, theory, and inspiration for tabletop rpg designers by rpg designers. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
www.explorersdesign.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:06 PM
The Explorateur #14 is out now! The only newsletter designed to level-up your design skills (how's that for sales copy?).
Please like, share, and subscribe. If you have any links you particularly like, drop a comment on Explorers Design or here.
www.explorersdesign.com/explorateur-...
Please like, share, and subscribe. If you have any links you particularly like, drop a comment on Explorers Design or here.
www.explorersdesign.com/explorateur-...
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
Every RPG blogger is allowed one “What is the OSR?” post. Here’s mine:
The OSR Onion
The OSR may be best understood as a layered approach to design centered around a specific way of writing, refereeing, and playing adventures.
dododecahedron.blog
November 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Every RPG blogger is allowed one “What is the OSR?” post. Here’s mine:
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
d100 - Brainfood for Burgeoning Blogs
One Hundred Tentative Topics to Post About
blog.d4caltrops.com/2025/11/d100...
#osr #randomtables #ttrpgs
One Hundred Tentative Topics to Post About
blog.d4caltrops.com/2025/11/d100...
#osr #randomtables #ttrpgs
d100 - Brainfood for Burgeoning Blogs
R ecently, some impressive work Mapping the RPG blogosphere by elmcat had me thinking about the recent surge in new Blogs about these ga...
blog.d4caltrops.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:44 PM
d100 - Brainfood for Burgeoning Blogs
One Hundred Tentative Topics to Post About
blog.d4caltrops.com/2025/11/d100...
#osr #randomtables #ttrpgs
One Hundred Tentative Topics to Post About
blog.d4caltrops.com/2025/11/d100...
#osr #randomtables #ttrpgs
Reposted by Woefully Encysted Creature
Here’s my recap of PAX Unplugged 2025 weirdwonder.net/pax-unplugge...
PAX Unplugged 2025 Recap
This past weekend I attended PAX Unplugged for the third time, a con that I highly recommend as it is a very fun mix of board games and roleplaying games.
...
weirdwonder.net
November 28, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Here’s my recap of PAX Unplugged 2025 weirdwonder.net/pax-unplugge...