Death By Mage
LightNews LightNews
banner
deathbymage.bsky.social
Death By Mage
@deathbymage.bsky.social
1.2K followers 430 following 670 posts
He/无也 | Bi Greygender NBi AsAm | Award-winning Game Designer, Writer, & Editor | Creative Lead for @unbreakable-pub.bsky.social | Previously Fallout 2d20, Tian Xia, Candela Obscura | Opinions Mine | deathbymage.carrd.co

✉️: archmage@deathbymage.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
deathbymage.bsky.social
YASSSSS
The buzz lightyear and woody meme from Toy Story where buzz gestures to a greater unknown that's offscreen and the text says "my images be like: yuri, yuri everywhere"
November 5, 2025 at 7:21 PM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Which film have you seen an unhealthy number of times?
Chinese release theatrical poster for Studio Ghibli's Castle in the Sky featured in 2023. The image shows a large robotic hand with moss and flowers on its fingers extending downward to a small girl with pigtails and red ribbons wearing a lavender blue dress while floating in the sky through a magical gemstone necklace. The background consists of many clouds surrounding them, obscuring the source of the hand. There is next in the upper right that is written in Chinese and English that denote the name of the movie.
August 11, 2025 at 3:13 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
My bad, I only read like half the post and realized you already said Gylwain. Then if I suggest at the very least the nonsense man that is Tom Bombadil as the master storyteller that he is lol
Card image of Tom Bombadil. He is a legendary god bard that costs one white, one blue, one black, one red, and one green mana with 4 power and toughness. He has the following abilities that reads: As longas there are four or more lore counters among Sagas you control, Tom has hexproof and indestructible. Whenever the final chapter ability of a Saga you control resolves, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a Saga card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. This ability triggers only once each turn.
July 15, 2025 at 6:35 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Out of the ones not mentioned...there's Gylwain, Casting Director, there's also Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ. You can also go with Yisan, the Wandering Bard and Zinnia, Valley's Voice too.
Image of Gylwain, Casting Director. A legendary Human Bard with 2 power and 3 toughness that costs one generic mana, one green, and one white. It has the following ability that reads: Whenever, Gylwain, Casting Director or another nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, choose one: Create a Royal Role token attached to that creature, Create a Sorcerer Role token attached to that creature, or Create a Monster Role token attached to that creature. Image of Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ. He's a Legendary Human Bard with 1 power and 5 toughness that costs one generic mana, one red, and one white mana. He has the following ability that reads: Whenever you attack, you may pay 2 generic mana and sacrifice an Aura attached to Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ. When you sacrifice an Aura this way, for each other attacking creature you control, create a token that's a copy of that Aura attached to that creature. Card image of Yisan, the Wandering Bard. He's a Legendary Human Rogue Bard with 2 power and 3 toughness and costs two generic mana and one green mana. He has the following ability that reads: Pay 2 generic and one green mana, tap it, and put a verse counter of Yisan to Search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to the number of verse counters on Yisan, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Card image of Zinnia, Valley's Voice. It is a legendary bird bard that costs one blue, one red, and one white mana with 1 power and 3 toughness. It has the following abilities that reads: Flying. Zinnia gets plus X and plus 0, where X is the number of other creatures you control with base power 1. Creature spells you cast have offspring for two generic mana. You may pay an additional two generic mana as you cast a creature spell. If you do, when that creature enters, create a 1/1 token copy of it.
July 15, 2025 at 6:32 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
A reminder that if you want to celebrate something today, you could be celebrating the creation of the Caesar salad.
A screenshot of an image of a web link that details the invention of the Caesar salad on July 4th, 1924, by Caesar Cardini at his restaurant, Caesar's Place, in Tijuana, Mexico. It was a steamy night, and Cardini was struggling to feed an influx of Californians who had crossed the border to escape Prohibition.
July 5, 2025 at 2:40 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Advertise your account with a Simpsons image.
An image of Homer Simpson sking through the highway on anodized fry pans while shirtless and wearing a red bandana. Homer is being pulled by a two-timer white tourist bus, some of the tourists are hanging out of the bus windows trying to capture the moment on their phones and cameras.
May 23, 2025 at 8:26 PM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Quote post this with a picture of an airplane you'd accept as a bribe
An image of the White Star class of advanced destroyed maintained and used by the Anla'Shok (also known as Rangers) from the series Babylon 5. The ship has a jet-like design with two wings interlocking to a dual weapons port at the end of each wing (imagine if the ends of an X-Wing were bent towards each other at the ends), with a central bridge at the top and the hull with an purple and blue pattern resembling cephalopod skin. A brilliant collaboration of Minbari and Vorlon technology that served as the main arsenal during the Shadow War, which was developed in secret. The ship would later see use during the Earth Civil War led by Captain John Sheridan, and later the ships would become the main backbone of the Interstellar Alliance fleet. The ship was outfitted with a Vorlon bio-armored hull that would "learn" from previous engagements and also "heal" itself over time between engagements. These ships were capable of inflicting substantial damage against larger capital ships, but were maneuverable enough to tackle small fighter-class vessels as well. It was capable of creating its own jump point into hyperspace, a feat seldom seen in craft of its size, granting it greater flexibility when fighting or during a chase. The vessel makes its first appearance in the first episode of Season 3 of Babylon 5, titled "Matters of Honor" where we are also introduced to Marcus Cole and the Rangers formally as an organization.
May 14, 2025 at 11:55 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Do you have a favorite meme EDH deck?

My personal favorites are Jared Carthalion "They Went to Jared!" as a 5-color bad gifts deck & my Bane, Lord of Darkness "Hot Bisexuals Sitting" as all art features chairs & bisexually sitting in them.

All of my decks are memes btw 😂
Image of Jared Carthalion. A legendary planeswalker card that costs one white, one blue, one black, one red, and one green mana. It enters with five loyalty counters. It has three loyalty abilities. The first loyalty ability gives it one loyalty counter and creates a three power, three toughness Kavu creature token with trample that's all colors. The second loyalty ability removes three loyalty counters has the owner choose up to two target creatures and places a +1/+1 counter on them for each of their colors. The final ability removes six loyalty counters and returns target multicolored card from your graveyard to your hand, and if that card was all colors, the controller draws a card and creates two Treasure tokens. Jared Carthalion can be played as your commander. Image of Bane, Lord of Darkness. He is a Legendary Creature with the God subtype with five power and two toughness. He costs one colorless mana, one white, one blue, and one black mana. He has the following abilities: "As long as your life total is less than or equal to half your starting life total, Bane, Lord of Darkness has indestructible. Whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, target opponent may have you draw a card. If they don’t, you may put a creature card with equal or lesser toughness from your hand onto the battlefield."
January 15, 2025 at 5:33 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
I like inciting violence
Card image of Kros, Defense Contractor. A legendary creature, cat advisor. Costs one colorless, one green, one white, and one blue mana. It has 2 power and 4 toughness. It reads: At the beginning of your upkeep, put a shield counter on target creature an opponent controls. Whenever you put one or more counters on a creature you don't control, tap that creature and goad it. It gains trample until your next turn. The card image includes an anthropomorphic cat person wearing a suit magically conjuring a blue shield.
December 30, 2024 at 3:58 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
This Discord Has Ghosts In It is a great use of modern tech with Discord servers. I use to ghost hunt back in the day & this a fun social game. One player is the ghost and haunts the various rooms. It can go up in ghost count. It's an honest entry into the modern Internet era. Worth checking out.
Cover of the game, This Discord Has Ghosts In It. It has the text on the cover, the authors' names, Adam Vass and Will Jobst. It also has the tagline, "a ghastly roleplaying game explicitly designed for online play"
December 5, 2024 at 7:14 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Beak, Feather, and Bone by @possibleworlds.bsky.social is a wonderful collaborative, worldbuilding game and tool. Ever want to fill in a city with buildings & NPCs? This game does that in a super meaningful and engaging way. I used this years ago in a long run City of Mist game and it was fantastic.
Cover image of the game, Beak Feather and Bone. The cover features a crow or magpie character wearing a long cape with a scarf looking towards the left of the cover.
December 4, 2024 at 4:30 PM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Poutine is a story game about love, regret, and delicious poutine. What I love is that you can turn this in any sort of diner or cafe in small town and tell the stories of the people that frequent it. It's like Cheers or Gilmore Girls but sadder. It's GM-less due to the Server and Menu mechanics.
The background consists of a stereotypical cafe that's out of focus, but consists of several tables and chairs with the bar area in the back of the image. The bar has an assortment of glasses arranged with the menu in a glass case resting prominently in the center. Various knickknacks and memorabilia adorn the backsplash green-tiled wall. A portion of a chalk menu hangs over the top with the rest obfuscated due to the size and image focus. The title card reads: "Poutine, a story game about love, regret, and delicious, delicious poutine"
December 4, 2024 at 4:19 PM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Next up is Orbital by! If anyone knows me, they know I'm a huge Babylon 5 & Deep Space 9 fan. This game has you create a space station and setting while also having your specialists fend off various threats. It uses the same system as Dream Askew. I'm thankful for my zine copy—it's gorgeous.
The lower half of a space station in deep space. Various cargo ships drift into the lower docking area. A large transport barge is already docked into the station with a dozen smaller vessels circling into place. The upper portion of the station consists of a large ring that is obfuscated due to its size with small tube-like clusters sporadically placed within them to grant space for rooms and facilities. In the center of the tower-like space station, the game's title, Orbital, is vertically placed.
December 4, 2024 at 4:10 PM
deathbymage.bsky.social
First up is City of Mist! I love noir and incorporating different mythos satisfies that Grimm/Once Upon A Time fan in me. It's a crunchier PbtA meets Fate hybrid of a system and I have to resist the urge to create NPCs and develop an entire city to house them.
Three characters, one in a hoodie sitting on a car's front hood, a female character with her back facing wearing a leather jacket and wielding a baseball bat, and a male character wearing a suit and tie with a fedora hat. A mist hangs below them and their shadows are mirrored, revealing their inner selves as their mythos, which are awakened legends and myths. In the background is the city, cast in shadow with lights to offset the darkness yet portray an underlying serene mystery. The cover also says: "A detective roleplaying game in a city of ordinary people and legendary powers"
December 4, 2024 at 4:01 PM
deathbymage.bsky.social
I have a massive 500+ long YouTube playlist I use for when I'm writing, it's an odd mix of anime, 90s alternative, punk, hip hop, rock, synth, edm, and whatever the hell I can dance or groove to. I like to sometimes dance while I'm thinking. LAY IT ON ME!
An image with a white background and red text that reads: "Like this and I'll post a random song from my playlist"
November 22, 2024 at 10:17 PM
deathbymage.bsky.social
If you know me, I'm a big Power Rangers and Tokusatsu fan. I had a wonderful chance to write for this book's featured campaign and more. Preorders are up now! If you preorder now, you also get the PDF as well! 10-year-old me would be losing their mind!

renegadegamestudios.com/power-ranger...
Image of Power Rangers Roleplaying Game supplement: Through the Shattered Grid. Image shows a Mighty Morphin Green Ranger fighting alongside the Magna Defender (a black suited ranger with bull aesthetics and horns) and an Eltarian hero (a blue alien species in broze armor and wielding a double-bladed sword. They are fighting off a legion of Ranger Sentries (humans turned fascist enforcers) in the Red Tyranno and White Rhino varieties. Additionally, Lord Drakkon (an evil version of Tommy Oliver from an alternate universe) morphed in his signature white and green Ranger form sitting the broken stone throne of Lord Zedd.
November 21, 2024 at 11:58 PM
deathbymage.bsky.social
The first white card I've featured! Serra Avatar was a great combo deck piece I built as a shitpost way back during Urza's Saga Standard. If you saw Sneak Attack above, I use to run Sneak Attack, Serra Avatar and Fling (which was Stronghold) and just dome anywhere from 14-16 damage. So much fun.
Card image of Serra Avatar. A magical figure sitting on top of a stone monument on a hilltop while blindfolded and wearing a winged helmet, their left hand gripping the hilt of a curved blade resting in its scabbard hanging on the back of their belt. It is a white creature card with the Avatar subtype with star power and star toughness that costs four colorless and three white mana. It reads: Serra Avatar’s power and toughness are each equal to your life total. When Serra Avatar is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner’s library.
November 17, 2024 at 1:41 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Rewind is still a great counterspell even after all these years. The untap bonus from it really puts a blue player ahead on the tempo. I once played a Commander game where I got to cast Rewind, untap my lands, and counter another spell on the next player's turn. Great times.
Card image of Rewind. Barrin, a master wizard creates a magical circle in front of him to reverse the flow of time with building in the background. It is a blue instant card that costs two colorless and two blue mana. It reads: Counter target spell. Untap up to four lands.
November 17, 2024 at 1:41 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Sneak Attack is a very me card. Cheat big things in for free? Why yes please! Give them haste? You shouldn't have! What's that? If I run this in black and use Reanimate then I get double the fun? You're absolutely right!
Card image of Sneak Attack. Five green-skinned goblins stand over a cliff top preparing to ambush a large, sleeping red dragon below. It is a red enchantment that costs three colorless and one red mana. It reads: Pay one red mana: You may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. That creature gains haste. Sacrifice the creature at the beginning of the next end step.
November 17, 2024 at 1:41 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
I talked about loving to run stax decks and of course the namesake is derived from the one and only, Smokestack. I love building decks with asymmetrical value. When Throne of Eldraine premiered, it released Doom Foretold which was this card's spiritual successor.
Card image of Smokestack. Largely smoke stacks made of biomechanical parts emit dark smoke into the air with other similar stacks in the background in a landscape of red, bloody nightmares. It is a colorless artifact card that costs four colorless mana. It reads: At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a soot counter on Smokestack. At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player sacrifices a permanent of their choice for each soot counter on Smokestack.
November 16, 2024 at 7:28 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Now, we're finally starting the Uzra block. This was the block that power crept the entire game. We got a lot of bangers. First was Priest of Titania, which led me to build elves and I ran deck for many years until I sold it to a friend. It took a long time for reprints too.
Card image of Priest of Titania. An elf druid wielding a wooden staff and wearing a shoulderless dress leads an entourage of other elves through a meadow of dandelions. It is a green creature card with the Elf Druid subtype and it costs one colorless mana and one green mana. It reads: Tap it: Add one green mana for each Elf on the battlefield.
November 16, 2024 at 4:59 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
I love Un-sets for their humor but also largely for playtesting possible mechanics. For this, I feature Chicken a la King. Nowadays, dice mechanics are a part of the magic experience. This card now would be seen as perfectly normal. Of course, getting the Bird errata helped this card a lot.
Card image of Chicken a la King. There is an anthropomorphic rooster with a sword in its scabbard on its hips looking right inside of a room with a painting of potted plant and small ornate table. Its a blue creature card with the bird subtype and it costs one colorless and two blue mana. It reads: Whenever a 6 is rolled on a six-sided die, put a +1/+1 counter on each Bird. Tap an untapped Bird you control: Roll a six-sided die.
November 16, 2024 at 4:52 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
We're gonna touch on Unglued for a bit largely because these were the first ever full-art lands in Magic. I'm a big advocate for full art lands, they look great & should be standard across the board. Especially the Commander products, don't get me started on the battlebond lands being auto includes.
November 16, 2024 at 4:39 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Oh Curiosity. Back then, I would just smack this on pingers to get an extra card. Then Niv-Mizzet, Firemind came out and that sure led to some great times in Commander. Years later, we get the green colorshifted variant, Keen Sense, in Planar Chaos.
Card image of Curisoity. It is a blue enchantment card with the aura subtype and it costs one blue mana. It reads: "Whenever enchanted creature deals damage to an opponent, you may draw a card."
November 16, 2024 at 4:11 AM
deathbymage.bsky.social
Hatred was one of those cards that you thought was bad, but once enough cheap, evasive black creatures arrived, this thing just needed the right format. Legacy was easy, given that most games started around 16 to 17 life. But I splashed this in Blue-Black Infect and some people didn't see it coming.
November 16, 2024 at 3:49 AM